research topics media communication

100 Communication Research Topics

Table of contents

• 1 What Is Communication Research?
• 2.1 Top Research Topic Ideas
• 2.2 Research Topics for College Students
• 2.3 Business-Focused Research Topics
• 2.4 Social Media Research Topics
• 2.5 Mass Communication Research Topics
• 2.6 Interpersonal Communication Research Topics
• 2.7 Intercultural Communication Research Topics
• 2.8 Virtual Communication Research Topics
• 2.9 Health-Related Research Topics
• 2.10 Interesting Communication Research Topics
• 3 Coming up with a Thesis Statement
• 4.1 How to Create Strong Questions for Your Paper?
• 4.2 How to Find the Right Research Topics?
• 4.3 What Makes a Research Paper Topic Strong?
• 4.4 Tips for Structuring and Writing Your Paper
• 5 Conclusion

All fields of study have fresh and intriguing new research paper topics to explore. Within the subject of communication, there are loads of possibilities for research papers . This is thanks to the development of mass media and the growing popularity of various modern communication methods.

This article covers a broad range of effective research paper topics that are both interesting and relevant for this field. Any of them would make a suitable focal point for any research paper to do with how we interact with one another.

What Is Communication Research?

This is the study of how we interact with one another. It includes how the way we interact is affected by technology, culture, and individual differences. Researchers in this field use a variety of methods to study the way we converse and interact with each other, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and experiments.

Research in this area can be used to improve communication skills in personal relationships, in the workplace, and in other settings.

Lists of Key Communication Research Topics

The range of research paper topics in this field is extensive, to say the least. Below are 100 relevant topics that are arranged in groups of 10.

They cover a broad selection of modern communication issues and debates, from corporate and computer mediated communication to effective interpersonal communication, communication strategies, and more.

Top Research Topic Ideas

The topics in this first group mostly focus on how different factors impact the way we interact with one another. These are some of the key issues in the communication discipline today.

• The role communication plays in organizations.
• How technology influences it.
• The way globalization affects it.
• How it’s influenced by broadcast media.
• Ways in which advertising impacts it.
• The influence propaganda has on it.
• How it’s impacted by public relations.
• The effects of international journalism and journalism ethics on it.
• How the use of social media influences it.
• How it’s affected by language.

Research Topics for College Students

These topics are ideal for college students. They focus on how communication processes can influence someone’s mental health and personality traits. Both of these are important since they can influence a student’s academic progress.

• How does communication shape our identities?
• How do we use it to build relationships?
• What role does it play in influencing our emotions?
• How is our thinking influenced by it?
• In what ways do we use it to manage conflict?
• How is our behavior influenced by it?
• What factors influence the effectiveness of communication?
• In what way is it impacted by technology?
• What influences do cultural differences have on it?
• How does it shape our physical and mental health?

Business-Focused Research Topics

Having effective business communication is necessary for any sort of commercial activity to improve its marketing value. Both business to business communication and interactions with the public have to get the right message across. Below are some potential areas to do with organizational communication and public relations.

• The impact of new communication technologies.
• The use of social media and external communication.
• What effects does globalization have?
• How organizational communication is used in virtual teams.
• The impact that intercultural communication has.
• The way humor is used.
• What are the effects of gender?
• How we use non-verbal communication.
• The effect that technology has on corporate communication etiquette.
• The way we use business communication in crisis situations.

Social Media Research Topics

The focus of these topics is on social media, and it affects the way we communicate with one another. Using social media and being exposed to social media marketing can both have significant effects on practical communication skills. These topics focus on the way modern digital platforms influence our interactions.

• The effect of social media on communication practices and patterns.
• How social media changes relationship development.
• What influence does social media have on how people interact with each other?
• The effect of social media on the way people share information.
• How social media impacts the way people interact with businesses.
• The effect of social media on the way people interact with governments through proper communication channels.
• What consequences does social media have on online interactions?
• The effect that social media has on the way people interact with each other offline.
• Social media’s influence on the way people interact with each other in different cultures.
• What effects does social media have on the way people interact with each other in different age groups?

Mass Communication Research Topics

Mass communication is when you share information with a large number of people at the same time. Topics to do with mass communication are very relevant, thanks to the internet, social media platforms, and other kinds of mass media. The purpose of mass media is simply to inform loads of people about something as quickly and conveniently as possible.

• What effect do social media platforms have on mass communication?
• How does new technology affect it?
• The impact that advertising has on it.
• How news media influences it.
• Ways in which propaganda impacts it.
• The influence that public relations have on it.
• How it’s impacted by digital media and print media.
• Globalization’s impact on it.
• How new forms of media affect it.
• The ways it’s influenced by social networking.

Interpersonal Communication Research Topics

This is a broad term that refers to the exchanging of information between people. It’s when you use effective communication skills to share thoughts, ideas, and facts with at least one other person. The topics in this section look at some of the latest interpersonal communication trends.

• The effect of technology on interpersonal communication.
• The effect of culture on it.
• How gender influences it.
• The effect of age on it.
• How someone’s interaction style may impact it.
• The way context may influence it.
• How relationships can influence it.
• How it can be influenced by social apprehension.
• The effect of social competence on it.
• How it’s impacted by satisfaction.

Intercultural Communication Research Topics

This is when people from different cultures exchange information. Things like different languages, traditions, and even artifacts affect intercultural communication. The topics below look at intercultural communication and how culture shapes the many ways we interact with one another.

• How culture influences the ways we interact with one another.
• The impact of intercultural communication styles on relationships.
• How culture impacts our perceptions of interaction.
• The effect that interaction has on business relationships.
• How culture influences the way we interpret nonverbal communication.
• The impact of culture on our way of interpreting speech.
• How culture influences our information processing.
• The way culture impacts our process of making decision.
• The impact of culture on how we solve problems.
• How culture influences our interactions with others.

Virtual Communication Research Topics

Are virtual communication skills essential? You have to be just as proficient at virtual dialogue as you are at spoken words. Mastering interactive online communication is key for anyone who wants to succeed, and the topics below delve into this further.

• The impact on the development of personal relationships.
• The use of virtual dialogue in the business world.
• How it influences the way we think and learn.
• The benefits of virtual communication for people with social anxiety.
• The way it’s used in education.
• How it impacts our mental health.
• Ways in which it influences family relationships.
• How it’s used in the workplace.
• The effect it has on relationships.
• The advantages and disadvantages of virtual communication.

Health-Related Research Topics

It’s essential to have effective communication strategies in any sort of healthcare setting. Having interpersonal communication competence is vital so that practitioners can speak with patients clearly and effectively. The topics below look at how internal and external communication in the healthcare industry affects and is affected by different factors.

• The effectiveness of health communication campaigns in changing health behaviors.
• The impact of social media on interactions in the health industry.
• How humor is used in it.
• How storytelling is used in it.
• What effects it has on reducing health disparities.
• What effects it has on increasing health literacy.
• How new media technologies are used in it.
• How it influences public health outcomes.
• The role it plays in health education.
• The impact it has on patient satisfaction.

Interesting Communication Research Topics

This last batch of topics looks at how both spoken words and non-verbal communication affect different things. Some of the topics are about how we interact with one another in different areas of life.

• The impact of new communication technology on social interactions.
• The way it is used in the workplace.
• How we use it in education.
• Ways in which it is used in marketing.
• How people use it in healthcare.
• The way it affects personal relationships.
• The effects it has on organizational cultures.
• How it impacts individual productivity.
• Its effects on consumer behavior.
• The influences it has on the environment.
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Coming up with a Thesis Statement

Once you have come up with a potential research topic, you should start writing. Your first step is to write an effective thesis statement .

Your thesis statement is the argument or main point you want to make about your topic. It’s a summary of what your paper is going to be about. The purpose of it is to show the reader what you will be discussing and invite them to read your work.

Once you have your thesis statement, start writing your paper. Make sure to include evidence from scholarly sources to support your work.

Topic Selection and Writing Tips

How to create strong questions for your paper.

This question doesn’t have a single answer, as the best way to create strong questions for your paper will vary depending on the specific research project and its goals.

However, some tips on how to create strong questions include:

• Start by thinking about the specific goals of your research project. What are you trying to learn or understand?
• Draft a few potential research questions that can help you answer your goals. Be sure to make them as specific as possible.
• Test your research questions by asking them to others to see if they are clear and understandable. Are they interesting to people outside of your field of study?
• Revise and refine your research questions as needed. Be sure to keep them concise and easy to understand.

How to Find the Right Research Topics?

When writing a communication research paper, first, you should decide what topic you want to learn more about.

• Do the effects of social media and mass media on communication interest you?
• What about the role of communication in a competitive global business environment?
• What is the impact of new technology on the ways we exchange information?
• Whether effective communication is necessary to ensure credible reporting?
• How do improved relations make broadcasting media laws effective?

Once you have a general topic in mind, you can begin to narrow it down by focusing on a specific aspect of this field that interests you.

For example, if you are interested in the communication importance in a business market, you might want to focus on the impact of effective business interactions on employee productivity or customer satisfaction.

Alternatively, you could look at how private media ownership is affecting mass media, bringing journalism ethics into the discussion, and how journalists are ensuring credible reporting.

What Makes a Research Paper Topic Strong?

There is no one answer to this question, as it depends on the individual and the specific research goals. However, some factors that could make a research topic strong include its relevance to current events or real-world issues, its potential to generate new and innovative ideas, and its ability to generate interesting and valuable research findings.

Additionally, a strong topic should be interesting and engaging to read and write about, and it should be something that the researcher can be passionate about.

Tips for Structuring and Writing Your Paper

When writing communication research papers, it is important to structure your argument in a manner that’s clear and concise. Your paper should have a clear research paper introduction , body, and conclusion. Within the body of your paper, there should be a strong thesis statement, evidence that supports your argument, and a conclusion summarizing your argument.

Additionally, throughout the research paper writing process, it is significant to use clear and concise language. Use communication tips to help you put your own points across more effectively.

Deciding what to focus your research paper doesn’t have to be daunting. There are a huge number of research topics available. Finding the right one is easy.

First, think about the ideas that interest you the most. Which part of communication studies are you most passionate about? Is it media ethics, mass media, or something else?

When you’ve settled on one of the research topic ideas , start the research paper writing process. Find key sources such as books and academic articles. Think about what needs addressing in your research paper.

Now, it’s time for you to produce an excellent communication research paper.

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250+ Communication Research Topics & Ideas for Students to Consider

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Picture this: you're sitting at your desk, racking your brain for a killer communication research paper topic. You've scrolled through countless websites, but nothing is resonating. Sounds frustrating, right?

Well, good news – your search ends here. Our blog has been carefully designed to combat this exact problem by providing a broad array of unique communication research topics. Aimed at students like you, it offers topics that are not only relevant, but also engaging and thought-provoking.

We invite you to dive into these communication research paper topics, sure to set your communication study on the right track. They're ready to be picked, expanded, or simply serve as a spark to ignite your creativity. Forget the nightmare of topic selection! With our blog, that's a problem of the past. Dive in this collection from our paper writers online and let the inspiration flow!

What Are Communication Research Topics?

Communication studies is an academic field that integrates aspects of sociology, psychology, media and politics to examine human communication. It's an incredibly dynamic field that explores how information is transmitted and understood among people, organizations, cultures, or nations. 

In this regard, communication research topics cover a wildly diverse range of areas. Some subjects might revolve around understanding social media algorithms, while others focus on the power of political speeches. Basically, if your research explores sending, receiving, and understanding of messages – it fits right into communication studies.

Characteristics of Good Communication Research Paper Topics

Finding the right communication topics for a research paper is like looking for the perfect ingredient. It's not just about grabbing the first thing you see. Instead, you need to select a topic that satisfies your professor’s requirements and adds value to the academic conversation. 

So, what makes a communication research paper topic truly stand out? The answer is simple. You should be governed by a few key attributes that elevate a topic from good to great. Below are some of these features:

• Present-time significance Choose a topic that resonates with contemporary issues. These subjects may vary from understanding the impact of social media on public discourse to exploring the ethics in digital advertising.
• Novelty Communication field is vast, but repetitive themes can lose their appeal. Strive for novelty. A fresh viewpoint or a new exploration in a familiar domain can make your paper truly distinctive.
• Practicality Grand ideas are wonderful, but an effective topic is the one that can be comfortably researched given your resources and timeframe. Consider your access to data, available literature, and your expertise while navigating through research topics for communication.
• Personal engagement A study should keep you involved. Your own enthusiasm can make the research process more rewarding.
• Precision A crucial attribute is the scope. An overly broad topic can lead to a surface-level discussion, while a hyper-narrow theme can limit the scope of your research. Make sure your communication research topic keeps that balance.

How to Choose a Communication Research Topic?

Selecting a good research topic in communication can be a time-consuming process since there are many areas to pick from. But with these steps, making a choice can be way easier.

• Discover Stay updated with the latest trends, theories, and debates in communication studies. This can help you identify emerging or important areas that could form the basis of your title.
• Ideate Generate a list of possible topics for communication research based on your readings, interests, and specific requirements. Ensure these themes are intriguing and meet instructions.
• Refine Critically assess your ideas considering the availability of resources for research. Narrow down your list to ideas that can be researched with the resources you have.
• Finalize Select a theme that you are genuinely interested in. Confirm your choice after discussing it with your mentors, peers or online research paper writing service .

Communication Research Topics List

Before you begin searching, remember to align your topic with your instructor's guidelines and course objectives. Our expert term paper writers have curated a list of engaging communication research paper topics. These ideas, both intriguing and diverse, can provide a robust starting point for your exploration.

• Impact of emojis on digital conversation.
• Non-verbal cues in virtual meetings.
• Evolution of political discourse on social media.
• Crisis communication in the age of Twitter.
• Role of memes in shaping public opinion.
• Ethics of persuasion in advertising.
• Are podcasts a new form of storytelling?
• Influence of cultural nuances on business communication.
• Fake news and media literacy.
• Language barriers in international diplomacy.
• Social media influencers as modern change-makers.
• Impact of technology on interpersonal communication.
• Role of humor in effective communication.
• How does workplace diversity affect communication styles?
• Accessibility in digital communication.

Interesting Communication Research Topics

Great communications research topics should also tackle real-world issues and invite further exploration. We've tailored our suggestions to align with these criteria, aiming to pique your curiosity. Here are fascinating topics that you might find interesting:

• Role of communication in climate change awareness.
• Deconstructing political rhetoric in election campaigns.
• Can emojis replace words in digital conversations?
• Impact of influencers on consumer behavior.
• Fake news and public trust in media.
• Miscommunication: Root causes and effects.
• Bridging cultural gaps in international negotiations.
• Understanding gender dynamics in conversation.
• Ethical boundaries in persuasive advertising.
• Memes as a form of political commentary.
• Podcasts: Reviving oral traditions in a digital age?
• Influence of social media on body image.
• Digital detox: A solution for information overload?
• Negotiating language barriers in global diplomacy.
• What impact does social media have on public opinion?

Good Communication Research Topics

If you are still in search of something more specific, the following communication research topics ideas can help. They cover a range of disciplines and avenues for exploration, from healthcare research topics to business topics and ideas.

• Crisis communication in natural disasters.
• Role of body language in job interviews.
• Digital activism: Effective tool or just noise?
• How does social media shape our self-image?
• Impact of AI on interpersonal communication.
• Ethics and transparency in public relations.
• Humor as a communication tool in education.
• Can language shape our perception of reality?
• Exploring intercultural communication in multinational companies.
• Analyzing propaganda techniques in modern media.
• Role of storytelling in organizational leadership.
• Communication strategies in health campaigns.
• Power dynamics in family conversations.
• Navigating digital communication etiquette: Do’s and don'ts.
• Is anonymity empowering or threatening in online communication?

Simple Communication Research Paper Topics

Browsing through tons of research topics in communication can quickly become overwhelming if not managed properly. To simplify the process, these easy yet comprehensive ideas may be of help.

• Role of silence in effective communication.
• Influence of celebrity endorsements on brand image.
• Impact of texting on language skills.
• Social media as a tool for social change.
• Power of non-verbal communication in public speaking.
• Exploring communication styles across cultures.
• Understanding effective communication in sports teams.
• Cyberbullying: A new face of aggression?
• Role of communication in customer service excellence.
• Music as a universal language: Myth or reality?
• Exploring personal space in different cultures.
• Are billboards still effective advertising tools?
• Impact of language proficiency on academic performance.
• Bridging generational gaps through effective communication.
• Role of communication in conflict resolution.

Latest Communication Research Topics

Keeping pace with the latest trends is crucial, as it allows you to tap into contemporary debates. It's about understanding the pulse of the present, exploring the new, and challenging the status quo. To help you get involved in these current discussions, here are some trending communication topics for research:

• Role of TikTok in shaping youth culture.
• Impact of remote work on team communication.
• Is cancel culture affecting freedom of speech?
• Rise of mental health conversations on social media.
• Understanding AI's role in customer service communication.
• Influencer marketing: Revolutionizing traditional advertising?
• Dealing with misinformation in the era of instant news.
• Impact of virtual reality on interpersonal communication.
• Communication strategies in pandemic crisis management.
• Role of livestreaming in shaping consumer behavior.
• Can chatbots replace human customer service?
• NFTs and their impact on digital art communication.
• E-sports communication: New rules of the game.
• Voice technology: Future of human-machine communication?
• Communication patterns in online learning environments.

Communication Research Topic Ideas for Students

Requirements to research differ depending on the academic level. If you are searching for research topics on communication divided into separate groups based on their academic complexity, don’t go any further. Below we selected the best communication research ideas for both college and university students.

Communication Research Paper Topics for College Students

College-level studies require a more sophisticated approach than a high-school one. You should explore beyond the surface and engage critically with various facets of communication. To meet these academic expectations, we offer you a selection of communication research topics for college students.

• Biases in news media coverage.
• Understanding communication breakdown in diplomatic relations.
• Role of data visualization in business communication.
• The psychology of persuasion in advertising.
• Impact of subliminal messaging in advertising.
• Cross-cultural communication in global business.
• Role of LinkedIn in professional networking.
• Impact of language nuances on legal communication.
• Political correctness in public discourse: Necessity or limitation?
• Social media algorithms and user behavior.
• Analyzing crisis communication in the airline industry.
• Impact of cyber communication on teenage self-esteem.
• Exploring echo chambers in digital media.
• Communication strategies for environmental advocacy.
• Role of whistleblowers in corporate communication.

Communication Research Paper Topics for University Students

University-level research is often more intensive and complex. To help you cope with this, we've prepared a selection of communication research topics for university students. These ideas should give you plenty of material to investigate.

• Impact of bilingualism on interpersonal communication.
• Role of visual aids in classroom communication.
• AI's influence on journalism: A revolution?
• Social networking sites: Anxieties and self-presentation.
• How does music communicate cultural identities?
• Body language in job interviews: What does it communicate?
• Gated communities and their communication culture.
• Graffiti: A form of social communication?
• Comics: Communicating societal issues through art.
• Silent films: Mastering communication without words.
• Decoding communication in dance forms across cultures.
• Role of color in marketing communication.
• Dealing with information overload in the digital age.
• Visual communication in the age of Instagram and Snapchat.
• The impact of dark social on marketing.

Research Topics in Communication by Subject

Navigating through different communication research paper topics can be daunting, which is why we've categorized them by subject for your convenience. Whether you're focused on interpersonal communication, media studies, or communication technology, there's something here for everyone. Below, you'll find an array of communication paper topics, thoughtfully organized to cater to your specific academic needs.

Interpersonal Communication Research Topics

Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages. It's not just about what is said or expressed, but also how it's perceived and understood. Below are some interpersonal communication research paper topics you might find interesting:

• Impact of language barriers on interpersonal relationships.
• Perception of sarcasm in online communication.
• Power dynamics in family communication.
• Self-disclosure in romantic relationships: Benefit or bane?
• Face-to-face vs. digital communication.
• Exploring communication styles in leadership roles.
• Interpersonal communication in multi-generational workplaces.
• Art of persuasion in interpersonal communication.
• Examining the role of empathy in effective communication.
• Listening skills: Their impact on interpersonal relationships.
• The role of humor in easing interpersonal tensions.
• Social etiquette: Unspoken rules of interpersonal communication.
• Impact of cultural norms on interpersonal communication.
• Role of interpersonal communication in fostering team spirit.
• The psychology of small talk.

Intercultural Communication Research Topics

Intercultural communication investigates how people from different societies interact and communicate with each other. It encompasses various topics, including language acquisition, cultural identity, political discourse, cross-cultural differences in business communication, and more. Here are some intercultural communication topics for research papers to get you started:

• Body language: Deciphering variations across cultures.
• Cultural adaptations in international business communication.
• Etiquette in digital correspondence between representatives of different cultures.
• Role of cultural intelligence in effective intercultural communication.
• Impact of cultural stereotyping on communication.
• Religious sensitivities in intercultural dialogue.
• Challenges in international diplomacy.
• Interpreting emotions across cultures.
• Exploring cultural nuances in humor.
• Role of intercultural communication in global marketing.
• Cross-cultural adaptation of immigrants: Communication barriers and breakthroughs.
• Cultural perceptions of privacy in communication.
• Role of translation in intercultural understanding.
• Impact of globalization on intercultural communication.
• How cultural backgrounds affect negotiation tactics.

Communication Research Paper Topics on Public Relations

Public relations involve strategic communication and relationships between organizations, their target audiences, customers, suppliers, employees, media stakeholders, and other relevant publics. Below are some topics related to communication and public relations:

• Ethics in PR: Navigating gray areas.
• Social media's influence on modern PR strategies.
• Celebrity endorsements: A PR perspective.
• Public relations and communication in corporate social responsibility.
• PR for start-ups: Building a brand from scratch.
• The influence of PR on consumer decision-making.
• PR in sports: Handling controversies and scandals.
• Environmental PR: Advocating for sustainability.
• Impact of fake news on PR practices.
• Diversity and inclusion in PR campaigns.
• PR and event management: Making a splash.
• Dealing with PR failures: Lessons from high-profile cases.
• PR in the hospitality industry: Ensuring customer satisfaction.
• How does PR shape the public image of celebrities?
• Communication strategies for handling negative PR.

Mass Communication Research Topics

Mass communication is a mechanism for disseminating information and ideas to large audiences. It can be used for educational, marketing, or advertising purposes. Here are some of the best mass communications research topics on offer:

• Influence of political bias in news reporting.
• Analyzing audience behavior in the digital age.
• Impact of sensationalism on news quality.
• How mass communication shapes societal norms.
• Mass communication in health promotion campaigns.
• Effects of product placement in television shows.
• Understanding censorship in mass media.
• Media literacy: The need for critical consumption.
• Role of mass communication in electoral politics.
• Effects of celebrity culture on mass audiences.
• Representation of minority groups in mainstream media.
• Pop culture influence on youth.
• Role of mass communication in environmental awareness.
• Impact of digital platforms on print journalism.
• Mass communication and its effect on consumer behavior.

Communication Research Topics on Social Media

Social media has revolutionized the way people communicate, with far-reaching implications for marketing and public relations. Below are some research topics in communication for your next social media essay or project:

• Balancing privacy and connectivity on social platforms.
• What makes content shareable?
• Brands navigating cancel culture on social platforms.
• Social media and mental health: Exploring connections.
• LinkedIn etiquette: Navigating professional communication online.
• Snapchat's influence on short-term content consumption.
• Crisis management on social media: Case studies.
• The evolution of Facebook's news feed algorithm.
• How does social media affect political discourse?
• Twitch and the rise of livestreaming cultures.
• Ethical considerations in data mining on social platforms.
• Digital activism: Social media's role in social movements.
• Analyzing the growth and influence of TikTok.
• Determining the impact of fake news on voting preferences.
• Pros and cons of using AI for content moderation.

>> View more: Social Media Research Paper Topics

Communication Research Topics on Journalism

Journalism is an integral part of our society as it informs and shapes a public opinion. As this field evolves, especially with digital technology, new research angles constantly arise. We did our best to collect the best journalism communication related topics below:

• Challenges of investigative journalism in the digital age.
• Citizen journalism versus traditional journalism.
• The role of artificial intelligence in news generation.
• Journalism ethics in the era of "clickbait."
• Combating fake news: Strategies for news outlets.
• The impact of podcasts on journalism.
• Role of photojournalism in conflict reporting.
• Impact of social media on newsroom practices.
• 24/7 news cycle: A boon or a bane?
• Exploring objectivity in political journalism.
• The decline of print media: What's next?
• Environmental journalism and its role in climate change awareness.
• Multimedia communication: Integration of text, audio, and video.
• Journalism's role in fostering social change.
• The rise and impact of opinion journalism.

Communication Research Ideas on Negotiations

Negotiations are at the heart of business communication and diplomacy, making them a highly relevant topic of research. Explore these research topics about communication and negotiations:

• Role of cultural understanding in international negotiations.
• How do emotions affect negotiation outcomes?
• Strategies for dealing with deadlock.
• The art of persuasive language in communication.
• Power dynamics in business negotiations.
• The effect of gender stereotypes on negotiation.
• Online negotiations: New rules and dynamics.
• The psychology of 'win-win' scenarios.
• Pre-negotiation stage: Preparation and its importance.
• Building trust in communication processes.
• Negotiation styles across different industries.
• The role of ethics in negotiations.
• The impact of negotiation training on business outcomes.
• Strategies to handle aggressive negotiators.
• Do introverts or extroverts negotiate better?

Virtual Communication Topics for a Research Paper

Virtual communication refers to the process of exchanging information between two or more people within a simulated environment. This could be anything from social media platforms to online gaming forums, virtual reality, and computer-mediated conferencing. Here are some digital communication research paper topics to consider:

• Exploring how virtual teams bridge geographic divides.
• Investigating how emojis and emoticons are changing language norms.
• Defining digital etiquette and rules for the new age.
• Virtual communication and work-life balance.
• What is the role of virtual reality in revolutionizing communication?
• Is social media a friend or foe in professional communication?
• The evolution of language in the age of texting.
• How does 5G influence our communication habits?
• Is e-learning an effective method or just a convenient option?
• How to navigate misinformation in online conversations?
• Telemedicine marks a new era for healthcare communication.
• Are virtual meetings a productivity booster or a time waster?
• Is blockchain a game changer for secure communication?
• The use of virtual reality in public speaking training.
• Digital communication and the paradox of loneliness.

Communication Research Topics on Advertising

Advertising is the process of attracting attention to products and services through various forms of communication — from TV commercials to creative content marketing campaigns. Take a look at these advertising communication research ideas to pick a fitting topic:

• How does emotional appeal work in advertising campaigns?
• How do colors influence purchasing decisions in advertising?
• Can humor in advertising guarantee a positive response?
• The role of nostalgia in marketing campaigns.
• How do different cultures react to the same ad?
• Analyzing the communication techniques in Nike's 'Just Do It' campaign.
• Evaluating the 'Got Milk?' campaign: The role of concise messaging.
• The influence of McDonald's 'I'm Lovin' It' campaign on consumer behavior.
• The impact of Apple's 'Think Different' campaign on brand perception.
• Analysis of 'Share a Coke' ad: Personalization as a communication tool.
• The 'Because You're Worth It' campaign by L'Oreal: A study in self-affirmative messaging.
• 'Don't Be Evil': Understanding Google's corporate identity through its original slogan.
• How are 'Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt' (FUD) used in smear campaigns?
• How do 'Calls to Action' affect the success of digital campaigns?
• The role of user-generated content in advertising.

>> More ideas: Marketing Research Topics

Communication Research Topics on Leadership

Leadership is all about effective communication. Leaders must be able to communicate their vision effectively in order for their followers to understand and buy into it. Below are some communication research topic ideas for your leadership essay or scholarly study.

• Impact of transformational leadership communication on employee morale.
• Persuasive techniques of successful women leaders.
• Leadership and team productivity: The unspoken connection.
• Comparison of narrative styles among autocratic and democratic leaders.
• Communication pitfalls in leadership.
• Effect of non-verbal communication in leadership efficacy.
• Role of effective message conveying in conflict resolution among leaders.
• Analysis of Steve Jobs' leadership communication style.
• Assertive message conveyance and its effect on leadership success.
• How does style of expression influence perception of leadership?
• Importance of cultural intelligence in leadership communication.
• Emotional intelligence and empathy in leadership.
• Role of open dialogue in leadership and trust building.
• Examining the importance of listening skills in effective leadership.
• Communication strategies for leading remote teams.

Extra Communication Research Topic Ideas

As the field of communication is vast and encompasses multiple subjects, not all topics find their exact match in pre-established categories. For those unique, fascinating, and sometimes offbeat communication research paper topics, we have created an extra section. Here, you can explore additional ideas that although didn't neatly fit into a particular category, hold immense research potential.

Communication Research Questions

Are you about to write a research paper or a dissertation in communication but haven't settled on a topic yet? If so, then you can consider one of the following communication research questions:

• In what ways has COVID-19 influenced remote communication techniques?
• Can online video platforms replace face-to-face meetings fully?
• How do different age groups perceive and interpret memes?
• Is digital detox a viable solution for communication overload?
• How does color psychology influence marketing communication?
• What role does silence play in non-verbal dialogue?
• How do political leaders use body language in public speaking?
• How has podcasting influenced knowledge dissemination?
• What are the communication challenges faced by astronauts during space missions?
• Can communication training improve emotional intelligence?
• How does culture impact our perception of visual communication?
• How is AI changing the landscape of communication in healthcare?
• Does text messaging and instant messaging deteriorate writing skills?
• How does bilingualism influence communication styles?
• What role does music play in cross-cultural communication?

Research Topics on Communication for Exam

If you have scrolled down this far, chances are you are about to take an exam on communication topics. To help you make the best of your exam preparation, we've compiled a list of communication research paper topics that you might face on your exam.

• Evolving trends in workplace interactions.
• The impact of social media on personal connections.
• Ethical considerations in journalistic practices.
• Influence of culture on conversation styles.
• Symbolism in advertising messages.
• Effect of virtual reality on social interactions.
• The role of storytelling in organizational dialogue.
• Gender differences in dialogue styles.
• Importance of active listening in effective exchanges.
• How leadership effectiveness is influenced by dialogue techniques.
• Effects of mass media on societal behavior.
• AI's impact on future interaction systems.
• Technological advancements in telecommunication fields.
• How does noise affect the quality of conversation?
• Influence of personal branding on messaging.

Main Approaches to Studying Communication

Scholars have developed multiple frameworks to study this discipline. These techniques provide the backbone to many communication research studies and guide how we understand, analyze, and interpret messages. In the subsequent section, you can see 4 major approaches to studying communication, each offering a unique perspective.

Bottom Line on Research Topics About Communication

We hope that this assortment of communication research paper topics will aid you in finding the right idea. Keep in mind that the research questions are just a starting point. Don’t hesitate to build on them or explore related sub-topics based on the direction your project takes. And remember to always cite properly when using existing studies for your paper. From how to cite a book in APA to how to cite a journal in MLA or create a Chicago website citation , we’ve collected the latest guidelines and examples for any citation format.

If you're feeling overwhelmed or simply need some expert guidance, reach out to our team of academic professionals. They all have solid experience in the field and are eager to assist you. Just say " write my research paper ," and get your project done in no time.

Joe Eckel is an expert on Dissertations writing. He makes sure that each student gets precious insights on composing A-grade academic writing.

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Research Topics & Ideas: Journalism

50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research Project

If you’re just starting out exploring journalism-related topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research by providing a hearty list of journalism-related research ideas , including examples from recent studies.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . These topic ideas provided here are intentionally broad and generic , so keep in mind that you will need to develop them further. Nevertheless, they should inspire some ideas for your project.

To develop a suitable research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan to fill that gap. If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Journalism-Related Research Topics

• Analyzing the impact of social media on news consumption patterns among millennials.
• Investigating the role of investigative journalism in combating political corruption.
• The impact of digital transformation on traditional print media business models.
• Examining the ethical challenges of undercover reporting in investigative journalism.
• The role of citizen journalism in shaping public opinion during major political events.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of fact-checking platforms in combating fake news.
• The impact of smartphone journalism on the quality of news reporting.
• Investigating the representation of minority groups in mainstream media.
• The role of photojournalism in humanizing the impacts of climate change.
• Analyzing the challenges of maintaining journalistic objectivity in conflict zones.
• The impact of artificial intelligence on newsroom operations and reporting.
• Investigating the influence of media ownership on editorial independence.
• The role of journalism in shaping public policy on environmental issues.
• Analyzing the portrayal of mental health issues in news media.
• The impact of live streaming technology on broadcast journalism.
• Investigating the challenges faced by freelance journalists in the digital era.
• The role of journalism in promoting government accountability in emerging democracies.
• Analyzing the effects of sensationalism in news reporting on public trust.
• The impact of virtual reality technology on immersive journalism.
• Investigating the role of press freedom in protecting human rights.
• The challenges of reporting on science and technology in mainstream media.
• Analyzing gender representation in sports journalism.
• The impact of media consolidation on diversity of perspectives in news.
• Investigating the ethical implications of drone journalism.
• The role of independent media in fostering democratic processes.

Journalism-Related Research Ideas (Continued)

• Analyzing the portrayal of immigration in national news outlets.
• The impact of censorship and media regulation on journalistic practices.
• Investigating the role of podcasts in the future of journalism.
• The challenges and opportunities of bilingual reporting in multicultural societies.
• Analyzing the dynamics of news reporting in authoritarian regimes.
• The impact of audience analytics on news content and presentation.
• Investigating the implications of deepfake technology for journalistic integrity.
• The role of local journalism in community engagement and development.
• Analyzing the effects of journalism on public health awareness campaigns.
• The impact of economic pressures on investigative journalism.
• Investigating the challenges of reporting in a polarized political climate.
• The role of media literacy in fostering critical thinking among audiences.
• Analyzing the influence of celebrity journalism on cultural values.
• The impact of cross-platform journalism on audience reach and engagement.
• Investigating the effects of social media algorithms on news distribution.
• The role of data journalism in enhancing transparency and public understanding.
• Analyzing the impact of crowd-sourced journalism on news authenticity.
• The challenges of balancing speed and accuracy in digital news reporting.
• Investigating the role of international correspondents in the digital age.
• The impact of public relations practices on journalistic independence.
• Analyzing the representation of LGBTQ+ issues in mainstream journalism.
• The role of journalism in addressing societal issues like homelessness and poverty.
• Investigating the effects of editorial bias in shaping public perception.
• The impact of journalism on political activism and social movements.
• Analyzing the challenges of maintaining journalistic standards in entertainment reporting.

Recent Journalism-Related Studies

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual studies in the journalism space to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of recent studies to help refine your thinking. These are actual studies,  so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• Imagination, Algorithms and News: Developing AI Literacy for Journalism (Deuze & Beckett, 2022)
• Evaluation of the Effect of a Live Interview in Journalism Students on Salivary Stress Biomarkers and Conventional Stress Scales (Roca et al., 2022)
• Professional and Personal Identity, Precarity and Discrimination in Global Arts Journalism (Sharp & Vodanovic, 2022)
• The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Journalism in the Digital Ara A Descriptive and Critical Approach (Chettah et al., 2022)
• Women in Mass Communication (Creedon & Wackwitz, 2022)
• Newsgames: Experiential Reality, Ludenic News Reading, Conflict of Purposes and Norms (Cengi̇z & Kaya, 2022)
• Deep Journalism and DeepJournal V1.0: A Data-Driven Deep Learning Approach to Discover Parameters for Transportation (Ahmad et al., 2022)
• A View From the Trenches: Interviews With Journalists About Reporting Science News (Anderson & Dudo, 2023)
• Understanding Journalisms: From Information to Entertainment by Persuasion and Promotion (Bernier, 2022)
• Role of educational institutions in promoting medical research and publications in Pakistan (Aslam, 2022)
• Ethics for Journalists (Keeble, 2022)
• “I Felt I Got to Know Everyone”: How News on Stage Combines Theatre and Journalism for a Live Audience (Adams & Cooper, 2022)
• Newsafety: Infrastructures, Practices and Consequences (Westlund et al., 2022)
• The Golden Age of American Journalism (Alent’eva et al., 2022)
• Advancing a Radical Audience Turn in Journalism. Fundamental Dilemmas for Journalism Studies (Swart et al., 2022)
• Mcluhan’s Theories and Convergence of Online and Papers’ Newsrooms (Barceló-Sánchez et al., 2022)
• Scientific communication after the COVID-19 crisis: TikTok publishing strategies on the transmedia board (Neira et al., 2023)

As you can see, these research topics are a lot more focused than the generic topic ideas we presented earlier. So, for you to develop a high-quality research topic, you’ll need to get specific and laser-focused on a specific context with specific variables of interest.  In the video below, we explore some other important things you’ll need to consider when crafting your research topic.

Get 1-On-1 Help

If you’re still unsure about how to find a quality research topic, check out our Research Topic Kickstarter service, which is the perfect starting point for developing a unique, well-justified research topic.

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The Top 10 Most Interesting Communication Research Topics

Communication students usually face two problems when it comes to research. The first is identifying compelling communication research topics. The second is crafting appropriate communication research questions that are specific and relevant.

Fortunately, choosing communication research paper topics doesn’t have to be challenging. This article outlines all you need to know about selecting the right topics for your research. It also lists 10 interesting examples of communication research topics you can consider for your essay or thesis.

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What makes a strong communication research topic.

Simplicity is what makes a strong communication research topic. Your research topic should contain relevant content that gives readers a general insight into what you intend to study. However, it must be concise and free from unnecessary jargon or wordy sentences.

As a communication researcher, you must also tackle relevant subjects. Your research should contribute to existing knowledge in your field by corroborating previously known facts or drawing attention to new insights.

Tips for Choosing a Communication Research Topic

• Find out your school’s requirements. Some schools have curriculum requirements that may streamline your communication research topic ideas. For example, your department may have a specified word count for research papers. Such a condition would prevent you from selecting a topic that would require a lengthy write-up.
• Read industry-related surveys. If you want your research to address a specific industry pain point, industry-related surveys can help you choose a suitable topic. Some communication and media firms release their survey findings to the public. You can explore these surveys to identify the direction your research should take.
• Visit an academic journal. Journals like The International Journal of Communication and Journal of Health Communication can provide you with inspiration for choosing your communication topic. These reliable sources cover many subjects and contain ideas that can steer you on the right path.
• Attend conferences. Conferences are a credible source to learn about the future of communication research. This knowledge can be beneficial for choosing a topic that would attract much interest. You can visit online sources like conferenceindex.org to find a list of upcoming communication conferences.
• Avoid over-researched topics. There is already a wealth of research available on many communication topics. As much as you can, it’s best to avoid over-researched topics. Choose topics that allow you to provide unique information rather than rehashing previously published ideas.

What’s the Difference Between a Research Topic and a Research Question?

A research topic highlights the researcher’s area of focus during research. Research questions are usually narrow enough to allow the researcher to focus on a particular sub-topic within their field. However, they are also extensive enough to allow for exploration of the chosen subject from various angles.

Research questions, on the other hand, are more succinct. They are usually derived from the chosen research topic and leave no room for ambiguity. Research questions show the purpose of the study. They clearly define the parameters being studied. They may also provide insight into the research methods employed.

How to Create Strong Communication Research Questions

Strong communication research questions must focus on addressing a particular issue. Also, they must be presented objectively. Your research question should not reflect bias or attempt to tilt the reader’s mind toward a particular direction.

Top 10 Communication Research Paper Topics

1. personality differences and their effect on negotiation techniques.

Different factors affect how individuals approach a negotiation. One of the most influential factors is personality type. A compelling research idea would be to provide insight into the most common negotiation styles applied by individuals based on their personality type.

2. The Influence of Public Relations in Building Thriving Businesses

Most highly ranked companies place a premium on maintaining their brand image through external communication. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for public relations specialists are expected to increase by 11 percent between 2020 and 2030. An examination into the impact of public relations in building a reputable business would make a great research topic.

3. Critical Approaches for Dealing With Fake News

Due to the prominent role of bloggers in contemporary society, there is a shortage of legitimate sources for information. This challenge has brought about a need to provide credible reporting and establish proper communication channels. Your research could provide a critical approach for examining the spread of fake news and suggest effective methods for building reliable communication networks.

4. Practical Communication Skills for the Development of Intimate Relationships

Interpersonal dialogue is one of the most intriguing aspects of communication. Several studies have been carried out on effective dialogue as a tool for building strong personal relationships. However, there is still a wide knowledge gap on the subject. You could carry out communication studies on practical communication skills that can facilitate the growth of relationships.

5. Email as an Effective Business Communication Tool

All emerging tech businesses use email as a corporate communication tool, according to Statista. Despite this, some still have concerns about the adverse effects of email on business-to-business communication. You could carry out research to determine the positive or negative influences of email and instant messaging on the overall work culture of organizations.

6. The Evolution of Horizontal and Downward Communication in the Business Environment

Workplace culture has changed massively in the 21st century with the advent of Zoom meetings and other non-traditional discussion channels. Your research could examine the history of communication in organizations. It could also highlight the changes in downward and horizontal communication practices in leading global businesses.

7. Regular Social Media Communication and Its Impact on Human Behavior

Social media has become a vital part of our personal life. Unfortunately, regular social media use has been linked to vices like substance abuse and several mental health challenges. A study of the effect of social networks on the attitude of viewers would make a very relevant topic for a communication research paper.

8. Techniques for Improving Virtual Communication

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in the use of virtual dialogue globally. Various companies have experimented with different techniques to improve the experience of virtual communication technology. Your research could compare these strategies and, if possible, offer some communication tips for virtual environments.

9. The Relationship Between Organizational Communication and Workplace Culture

Communication is one of the vital factors that affect employee performance and workplace culture. Different companies have devised effective communication strategies to eliminate organizational uncertainty. You can study these various communication processes and show how they influence employee behavior in the workplace.

10. The Growth of Instant Messaging and Its Effect on Modern Society

No one can deny that instant messaging apps have become a ubiquitous phenomenon. Presently, Whatsapp has a total of 2 billion active monthly users , according to Statista. For your research paper, you could explore the impact of this mass adoption of instant messaging apps on our overall quality of everyday life.

Other Examples of Communication Research Topics & Questions

Communication research topics.

• Building successful mass media campaigns
• Non-verbal communication and its impact on relationships
• Teenage texting and its impact on relational development
• Religious affiliation and its impact on communication
• An in-depth analysis of communication theory

Communication Research Questions

• What are the most effective public health communication methods for patient-centered communication?
• What is the importance of non-verbal interpersonal communication in developing professional relationships?
• What is the role of mass media in improving international relations?
• What are the most effective communication styles for social marketing?
• What is the role of social media platforms in promoting intercultural dialogue?

Choosing the Right Communication Research Topic

Although it is essential to learn different research methods , your research won’t have much impact without choosing a strong topic. So, selecting an excellent research topic is the first step in writing a noteworthy research paper on communication.

Also, selecting the right communication research paper topic can help you identify which communication discipline is right for you. If you are wondering what you can do with your communications degree , a research paper is a perfect way to get a feel of various areas of interest before you graduate.

Communication Research Topics FAQ

Qualitative questions are open-ended and aim to explore a thought or subject matter through qualitative methods. For example, with qualitative research, rather than comparing data sets, the goal is to gather and interpret data to generate a hypothesis.

Quantitative research questions usually seek to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between two or more data sets. Unlike qualitative research, quantitative research aims to confirm or test the accuracy of a hypothesis.

A thesis statement is a brief overview of the main point of a research paper. Your thesis statement should be short, straightforward, and inform the reader of what your paper is all about.

Yes, online communication master’s degree programs also involve research work. So, if you are considering getting an online master’s in communication , you must be ready to write a research paper as one of the major requirements for graduating.

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• A Research Guide
• Research Paper Topics

40 Media and Communications Research Paper Topics

• What is communication? The birth of the media as we know it
• Media, Censorship and Propaganda
• The freedom of speech and its impact on the media
• The main aspects of communication
• The triggering topics. What do you need to start an instant “holywar” in media?
• The phenomenon of hype and its usage of the media
• Single bloggers versus media companies
• Communication and media psychology
• The history of advertising and its important in the modern business
• The popular culture in the media
• Video games. Can they be considered a media now?
• Violence and controversial topics. Shall the media censor it out?
• The peculiarities of children media
• Are the videoblogs the new diaries?
• Mainstream media versus arthouse
• What is the age of post-truth in the media?
• Social networks as the main way of communication in the modern world
• Why exclusive material is so important in the media?
• Fandom and fanfiction in the media
• Mass Communication Laws in different countries
• Media and disasters: enhancing panic or preventing it?
• Terrorism in the media
• Changes in the media during the wartime
• Journalism ethics: what is it?
• International journalism
• Journalists on the battlefield
• Media policy and regulation in different countries
• How did the Internet influence media development?
• Media: reacting to the events or creating them?
• Virtual reality: may it be the future of the media?
• Media downshifting: why do people revert to newspapers again?
• Social media marketing campaigns
• Media, politics and public relations
• The styles and types of media. How they differ depending on the audience they are aiming for?
• The phenomenon of Disney. Media or the new mythology?
• Scientific journalism: shall science be popular?
• Media for educational purpose
• Radio media: why radio is still popular?
• Hidden messages in the media made for entertainment
• Media images of the representatives of different countries

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• Journalist's Resource Curated scholarship relevant to media practitioners, bloggers, educators, students and general readers.
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• The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (Harvard Login) Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets.
• Communication Abstracts (Harvard Login) Source of communication-related publications including 230 journals, books, and reports and papers produced at research institutions. Topics covered in Communication Abstracts include: journalism; mass media; social media; advertising, political rhetoric; the sociology and history of communication; communication theory, and more.
• American Journalism (Harvard Login) Peer-reviewed, quarterly journal of the American Journalism Historians Association, publishes original articles on the history of journalism, media, and mass communication in the United States and internationally. The journal also features historiographical and methodological essays, book reviews, and digital media reviews. 1997-present.
• Global Media Journal Open access journal that publishes works that assess existing media structures and practices, such as global media concentration, globalization of TV genres, global media and consumer culture, the role of media in democratic governance and global justice, propaganda, media reception and cultural practice, commercialization of news, new media technologies, media regulations, regional media, alternative media, and other timely issues. 2002-present.
• Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (Harvard Login) Peer-reviewed journal of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, JMCQ publishes original articles and book reviews on topics including theoretical and methodological developments in journalism and mass communication, international communication, media technologies and society, advertising, public relations, journalism history, media law and policy, media management and economics, political communication and health communication. 1955-present.
• Media Intelligence Center (Harvard Login) Provides circulation and subscription data for thousands of primarily US journals, newspapers, and magazines.
• Media Cloud Media Cloud is an open source platform for studying media ecosystems.This suite of tools allows researchers to track how stories and ideas spread through media, and how different corners of the media ecosystem report on stories.
• eMarketer (Harvard Login) Market research and trend analysis on Internet, e-business, online marketing, media and emerging technologies. eMarketer aggregates and analyzes information from leading information industry sources and brings it together in analyst reports, daily research articles, and a database of e-business and online marketing statistics.
• Gale Directory of Print Publications & Broadcast Media 2019 (Harvard Login) Listings for radio and television stations, cable companies and print media publishers that also includes ad rates, circulation statistics, local programming information and other essential data for U.S., Canadian, and international media outlets.
• State of the News Media Project Detailed data on trends in the news industry from the Pew Research Center.
• News Media and Habits Polls related to media consumption and opinions from the Pew Research Center.
• S&P Global Market Intelligence, Media & Communications (Harvard Login) News, data, and analysis of technology, media & communications markets. This resource requires users to create a login by going to New User and then entering their Harvard e-mail address. If you do not see media data when logged in set your profile to the Media & Communications Sector-Focused User under settings.
• Gale Directory of Print Publications & Broadcast Media 2019 (Harvard Login) Listings for radio and television stations, cable companies and print media publishers. Entries provide full contact information, including address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses and Web site URLs.
• Leadership Connect (Harvard Login) Contains contact and biographical data for news media outlets.
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Media Research Paper Topics

Three main concepts of media inform communication research. The first is Harold D. Lasswell’s paradigm – “who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect” – which approaches media as neutral conduits of information. The second conception is the mathematical theory of communication by Claude Shannon that emphasizes technical aspects of communication systems. The third concept represents humanistic perspectives on media as cultural carriers of meaning. In this last respect, Roman Jakobson has made an important distinction between channels or contacts (concrete entities such as books, newspapers, or the internet) and codes (forms of expression such as speech, writing, music, or images).

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Much media and communication research is characterized by efforts at integrating these concepts theoretically as well as analytically. Studies commonly identify three aspects of any medium: Media are physical materials in a particular social shape that enable communication. Such materials are the vehicles of modalities – language, music, moving images, etc. Finally, media are institutions through which individuals and collectives can reflect upon themselves and the rest of society.

Digital media have stimulated renewed interest in the relationship between technologically mediated communication and face-to-face communication, and in the reshaping – remediation (Bolter & Grusin 1999) – of older media. One may distinguish between media of three degrees (Jensen 2010). Media of the first degree are humans – biologically based and culturally shaped resources of communication. Media of the second degree are mass media – from the printing press to television. Media of the third degree are digital media that recombine all previous media on single platforms.

Media Economics Research Paper Topics

Media economics is the study of economic theories and concepts applied to the media industries. Media economics is diverse and includes such topics as policy and ownership, market concentration, performance of firms, and political economy of the media. Media research paper topics related to media economics include:

• Antitrust Regulation
• Audience Commodity
• Circulation
• Commercialization of the Media
• Commodification of the Media
• Competition in Media Systems
• Concentration in Media Systems
• Consolidation of Media Markets
• Consumers in Media Markets
• Cost and Revenue Structures in the Media
• Cross-Media Marketing
• Distribution
• Diversification of Media Markets
• Economics of Advertising
• Economies of Scale in Media Markets
• Globalization of the Media
• Labor in the Media
• Labor Unions in the Media
• Markets of the Media
• Media Conglomerates
• Media Corporations, Forms of
• Media Management
• Media Marketing
• Ownership in the Media
• Political Economy of the Media
• Privatization of the Media
• Public Goods

The Development of Media Economics

The origins of media economics began with the study of economics. The classical school of economics centered on the interplay of economic forces, operation of markets, and the cost of production. The classical school would later be challenged by ‘marginalist’ economics and Marxism. The marginalists introduced demand and supply, and consumer utility. Marxism identified labor as the source of production. Marxism rejected the capitalist system and the exploitation of the working class.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, neoclassical economics was introduced, differed by its use of analytical tools and mathematics to examine market behavior and price. Later the development of macroeconomics shifted the focus to aggregate economics, encompassing the entire range of market activity. Economic theories are constantly changing and evolving. By the 1970s new approaches included monetarist theories, which re-emphasized growth in the money supply; and rational expectations, which argues that the market’s ability to anticipate government policy actions limits their effectiveness.

As the study of economics evolved, scholars began to investigate different markets and industries. Media economics emerged during the 1950s. The media industries featured all of the elements necessary for studying the economic process. Content providers represented suppliers, with consumers and advertisers forming the demand side of the market. Regulatory agencies (e.g., Federal Communications Commission (FCC)) in the US, the Federal Trade Commission, and other entities) affected macroeconomic market conditions, while the relationship among suppliers in various industries created microeconomic market conditions.

Concentration of ownership emerged as a critical topic as it impacts both regulatory and social policy. Other studies examined media competition, consumer expenditures, barriers to entry for new firms, advertiser/ownership demand, and consumer utility.

Theoretical Dimensions and Methods

Media economics utilizes many theoretical approaches: microeconomic theories, macroeconomic theories, and political economy of the media. Microeconomic studies center on specific industry and market conditions. Macroeconomic studies take a broader focus, examining such topics as labor, capital markets, and gross domestic product. Political economy emerged as a critical response to positivist approaches.

The industrial organization (IO) model offers a systematic means of analyzing a market. The model consists of market structure, conduct, and performance. The model is also called the SCP model. The model posits that if the structure of a market is known, it helps explain the likely conduct and performance among firms. Each area can be further analyzed by considering specific variables within each part of the SCP model. Critics contend that the IO model does not capture the nuances associated with new technologies. However, the model remains a key theory in microeconomics.

The theory of the firm examines the most common types of market structure: monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and perfect competition. Defining market structure is complicated due to consolidation across the media industries. Media concentration is examined in one of two ways. Researchers gather data on firm/ industry revenues to measure concentration by applying tools such as concentration ratios. Another method tracks concentration of ownership among the media industries. Research has shown there are a limited number of firms which control media markets. Globalization has contributed to media concentration. Competition studies draw upon niche theory, which originated in the field of biology. These studies consider competition within an industry or across industries. Indices are used to measure the breadth, overlap, and superiority of one competitor over another. Finally, macroeconomic analysis in media economics includes policy and regulatory analysis, labor and employment trends, and advertising revenues and expenditures at the national level.

Media economics embraces different methods. Many include trend studies, financial analysis, econometrics, and case studies. Trend studies are used to compare data over time for topics such as concentration and performance. Financial analysis utilizes different types of financial statements and ratios to measure performance of firms and industries. Econometric analysis uses statistical models to address its research questions. Case studies embrace different methodologies as well as data. Case studies in media economics research tend to be very targeted examinations.

Critics of media economics research contend research is too descriptive in nature, and that methodological approaches are limited. There are also concerns researchers would study only major companies, and not pay sufficient attention to new media enterprises.

Future Directions for the Study of Media Economics

There are a number of steps researchers need to address to further develop media economics. In terms of research, media economics must address how to define a media market given the convergence and consolidation across the media industries. Most media companies are now multimedia enterprises, generating content across a variety of platforms.

In addition to refining key concepts, media economics research must also expand into new arenas. Among the areas where new understanding and investigation are required are social media, and mobile markets. Media economics scholars should consider new inquiries that draw upon multiple methods of investigation. The interplay of regulation, technology, and social policy presents new opportunities for scholars to generate new theories. Scholars need to examine variables that describe evolving market structures. Improvements in methodological tools are needed to complement expansion in research and theory. New measures are needed to assess within-industry concentration and competition.

Media economics helps to understand the activities and functions of media companies as economic institutions. Media economics research continues to evolve as it analyzes and evaluates the complex and changing world in which the media industries operate.

References:

• Albarran, A. B. (2010a). The media economy. London: Routledge.
• Albarran, A. B. (2010b). The transformation of the media and communication industries. Pamplona: EUNSA.
• Albarran, A. B., Chan-Olmsted, S. M., & Wirth, M. O. (2006). Handbook of media management and economics. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Croteau, D. & Hoynes, W. (2006). The business of media: Corporate media and the public interest, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.
• Dimmick, J. W. (2003). Media competition and coexistence: The theory of the niche. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Gershon, R. A. (2013). Telecommunications and business strategy, 2nd edn. London: Routledge.
• Napoli, P. M. (2003). Audience economics. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Noam, E. M. (2009). Media ownership and concentration in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Picard, R. G. (2011). The economics and financing of media firms, 2nd edn. New York: Fordham University Press.

Media Effects Research Paper Topics

Mass media can produce a broad spectrum of effects – on knowledge, attitudes, emotions, social behavior, reputation of people covered by the media, etc. Effects may be the consequences of media use, but also a result of interactions with people who have used the media. Explanations are usually based on two types of theories. Learning-theory approaches address the correct reproduction of information. Therefore, divergences between beliefs and information provided by media are considered learning deficits that may also be interpreted as a lack of media effects. Cognitive-theory approaches address the processing of information triggered by media reports. Beliefs and opinions are not regarded as copies of media presentation but indicate the type of information processing. Media research paper topics related to media effects include:

• Agenda-Setting Effects
• Albert Bandura
• Appraisal Theory
• Carl I. Hovland
• Catharsis Theory
• Cognitive Availability
• Credibility Effects
• Cumulative Media Effects
• Desensitization
• Diffusion of Information and Innovation
• Direct and Indirect Media Effects
• Effects of Entertainment
• Effects of Exemplification and Exemplars
• Effects of Nonverbal Signals
• Effects of Sex and Pornography as Media Content
• Effects of Violence as Media Content
• Elaborated Models of Media Effects
• Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
• Emotional Arousal Theory
• Excitation Transfer Theory
• Fear Induction through Media Content
• Framing Effects
• Frustration Aggression Theory
• George Gerbner
• History of Media Effects
• Intercultural Media Effects
• Knowledge Gap Effects
• Latitude of Acceptance
• Leon Festinger
• Linear and Nonlinear Models of Causal Analysis
• Mainstreaming
• Media Effects Duration
• Media Effects on Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs
• Media Effects on Emotions
• Media Effects on Public Opinion
• Media Effects on Social Behavior
• Media Effects on Social Capital
• Media System Dependency Theory
• Mediating Factors
• Mediatization of Society
• Observational Learning
• Opinion Leader
• Order of Presentation
• Physical Effects of Media Content
• Priming Theory
• Reciprocal Effects
• Schemas and Media Effects
• Secondary Victimization
• Sleeper Effect
• Social Judgment Theory
• Steven H. Chaffee
• Stimulus–Response Model
• Strength of Media Effects
• Structure of Message Effects
• Trap Effect
• Two-Step Flow of Communication

Effects on Reality Perception

Media coverage of current affairs has an influence on the public’s assessment of the significance of social problems and the urgency for solving those problems. Comparison of all issues on the media’s agenda with the population’s agenda over a short period of time, as well as comparison of the development of media coverage on single issues with the development of the population’s beliefs over a longer period of time, may indicate media effects.

The media – and above all TV – are also an important factor in cultural and political socialization. Through both information and entertainment TV conveys ideas of the state of society in which people live. The more frequently and intensely people watch TV, the stronger the influence of its presentation of reality.

Individuals generally have good judgment concerning the relative frequency of causes of death, but they typically overestimate the occurrence of rare fatalities and underestimate the occurrence of frequent causes of death. The concept of availability heuristic explains how this is related to media coverage.

Effects on Social Perception

People tend to overestimate negative media effects (perceptual hypothesis) on other people and take action (behavioral hypothesis) to prevent these negative effects. In addition, a general correlation between presumed media effects and behavior is assumed. The perceptional hypothesis has been often tested and confirmed. The behavioral hypothesis has seldom been tested and if so, subjects have been uninvolved bystanders instead of decision makers who are protagonists of media messages (Sun et al. 2009).

As ‘social beings’ people depend on the society of others. Therefore, they constantly monitor their environment in order to avoid social isolation. They draw on their interactions with other people and personal observation as well as media presentations. Each of these resources can incidentally stimulate correct or incorrect ideas about the distribution of opinions. People who consider themselves in the minority tend to withhold their opinions in public. In the process, the presumed majority opinion is artificially inflated, which in turn increases the pressure on the actual or alleged minority.

Cognitive and Emotional Effects

Citizen assessments about politicians and voting intentions are based in part on beliefs about politicians’ competence. Repeated coverage of issues sensitizes recipients to some issues and makes solutions to the issues seem especially urgent. Thus, the presumed ability of politicians to deal with the issues becomes more significant, contributing to a positive or negative image of them. Accordingly priming effects are based on agenda-setting effects.

Framing theory is based on the assumption that media recipients do not take up individual pieces of information independently of one another and derive meaning from them, but interpret them consistently according to a predetermined frame (or schema). Frame-induced information processing can be controlled by media reports that present events from a certain perspective (Entman 1991).

In the 1940s it was already known that there was a positive correlation between education and the use of information presented by the media. As consequence, in the course of time existing differences in the distribution of information can increase.

Descriptions of events trigger predictable emotional reactions. If the damage is attributed to uncontrollable natural forces, the event evokes sadness; if it is attributed to a person acting in a controlled way, it evokes anger. The extent of reactions is enforced or diminished by the interaction of emotions and cognitions. Appraisal theory combines elements of attribution theory and emotional arousal theory (Nerb & Spada 2001).

Axioms of Media-Effects Research

Most studies in the effects of mass media are based on three, mostly unspoken, axioms. The first is ‘events happen, media cover.’ According to this axiom, current events on which the media report happen independently of the media. This is doubtful because a number of events on which the media report are the result of previous coverage. Some events would happen without media coverage, but their character is modified by media coverage (mediated events). Some events happen only in order to generate media coverage (staged or pseudoevents).

The second assumption is ‘no effect without change.’ The axiom holds true only under two conditions. First, if the media did not support the existing beliefs, opinions, and behaviors of its audience, these characteristics and attributes would still exist. Second, beliefs, opinions, and behaviors have developed independently from previous media use. There is evidence that the mass media have at least partly established the information and opinions which are already held and used to interpret news on current events.

The third axiom is: ‘no effect without contact.’ This axiom is only acceptable if at least one of two conditions is fulfilled: first, existing attitudes largely prevent the reception of dissonant information; second, dissonant information will be reinterpreted according to existing attitudes. As far as conveyors or opinion leaders pass on information and opinion from the mass media unchanged, their effects have to be attributed to the media. Therefore, opinion leaders and other interlocutors do not necessarily restrain the influence of media reports, but rather extend them to those who lack direct contact with media coverage.

• Bennett, W. L. & Iyengar, S. (2008). A new era of minimal effects? The changing foundations of political communication. Journal of Communication, 58, 707–731.
• Bryant, J. & Zillmann, D. (2002). Media effects: Advances in theory and research, 2nd edn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Entman, R. M. (1991). Framing U.S. coverage of international news: Contrasts in narratives of the KAL and Iran air incidents. Journal of Communication, 41(2), 6–27.
• Nerb, J. & Spada, H. (2001). Evaluation of environmental problems: A coherence model of cognition and emotion. Cognition & Emotion, 15(4) 521–551.
• Perloff, R. M. (2003). The dynamics of persuasion: Communication and attitudes in the twenty-first century, 2nd edn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Sun, Y., Pan, Z., & Shen, L. (2009). Understanding the third-person perception: Evidence from a metaanalysis. Journal of Communication, 58, 280–300.

Media History Research Paper Topics

Media history as a concept in its own right possesses a relatively recent lineage. In the early decades of the twentieth century, when references to ‘the media’ – newspapers, magazines, cinema, radio, and the like – were entering popular parlance, university academics tended to be rather skeptical about whether these institutions were important enough to warrant scholarly attention. Traditional historians, in particular, were inclined to be dismissive. Matters would gradually improve over the course of the century, but even today, media history continues to occupy a contested terrain between the principal disciplines informing its development, namely media studies (broadly inclusive of communication, cultural, and journalism studies) and history. Media research paper topics related to media history include:

• Academy Awards
• Antecedents of Newspaper
• Cable Television
• Civil Rights Movement and the Media
• Coffee Houses as Public Sphere
• Collective Memory and the Media
• Electronic Mail
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Fleet Street
• Fourth Estate
• Freedom of Communication
• Historic Key Events and the Media
• History of Advertising
• History of Censorship
• History of Cinematography
• History of Citizen Journalism
• History of Digital Media
• History of Documentary Film
• History of Elections and Media
• History of Magazine
• History of News Agencies
• History of News Magazine
• History of Newspaper
• History of Postal Service
• History of Printing
• History of Public Broadcasting
• History of Sports and the Media
• History of Telegraph
• History of Violence and the Media
• Illustrated Newspapers
• Literary Journalism
• Music Videos
• Newscast, 24-Hour
• Nineteenth-Century Journalism
• Paperback Fiction
• Penny Press
• Propaganda in World War II
• Radical Media
• Radio Networks
• Radio Technology
• Satellite Television
• Social History of Radio
• Social History of Television
• Television Networks
• Television Technology
• Underground Press
• Virtual Reality
• Watergate Scandal
• Women’s Movement and the Media

Early conceptions of media history frequently accorded the commercial press a central role in promoting social change, one especially worthy of close scrutiny. These days much of this research tends to be criticized for being celebratory, however, even romanticizing the press as the pre-eminent catalyst for advancing the cause of freedom in the face of fierce government opposition. In order to overcome the limitations of this ‘Whig interpretation,’ as it has been described, media historians have begun to diversify their sources and methods. For some this has entailed looking beyond the views of the powerful and privileged so as to recover and interpret the experiences of those typically marginalized – on the basis of class, gender, ethnicity or sexuality – where the making of media history is concerned.

Serious reservations have been expressed by some historians about the very legitimacy of media history as a proper academic subject when it encompasses ostensibly trivial, ephemeral media items (advertisements, comics, graffiti, soap operas, paperback fiction, music videos, computer games, and the like) within its purview. Others have challenged this perspective, insisting that such value judgments be avoided so as to engage with the whole spectrum of emergent media in all of their complexity.

Defining Media History

Depending on how one chooses to define ‘the media,’ a case can be made that media history properly begins in the earliest days of human social life and communication. For researchers interested in the emergence of media in oral or pre-literate communities thousands of years ago, for example, the insights of archaeologists and anthropologists have proven invaluable. The advent of reading and writing is of particular significance, enabling the dissemination of news or information at a distance, and thereby helping to sustain a shared sense of social order. Studies have examined the emergence and use of various media facilitating communication, ranging from pictographs written on clay tablets, to papyrus, paper, and eventually the movable type of the printing press (Briggs and Burke 2010).

For many media historians, it is the connection between emergent media of communication and the creation of democratic society that is particularly fascinating. In this context, Anderson’s (1983) analysis of the rise of print as commodity in western Europe illuminates the emergence of nationality – “the personal and cultural feeling of belonging to a nation” – toward the end of the eighteenth century. He singles out for attention in this regard the fictional novel and the newspaper, arguing that the corresponding print languages helped to engender national consciousness in important ways.

Complementing this line of inquiry into how print enriched the ability of people to relate to themselves and to others in new ways have been efforts to understand how these media shaped the formation of public opinion. Here researchers have found the notion of a public sphere, as theorized by Jürgen Habermas (1989), to be useful, especially when investigating how spaces for public discussion and debate were initiated and sustained. Habermas identifies a range of institutions facilitating this process, with special attention devoted to coffee houses and the newspaper press (Mulhmann 2008).

Related studies have elucidated the ways in which various media forms and practices helped to give shape to new kinds of public sociability. Such studies include examinations of advertising, art, music, street literature, exhibitions in museums and galleries, as well as reading and language societies, lending libraries, and the postal system, among other concerns. Historiographies continue to rehearse contrary views on the extent to which the normative ideals of a public sphere have been realized in actual terms, a debate that continues to percolate. Nevertheless, there is general agreement that a consideration of the relative freedoms espoused by these ideals throw into sharp relief many of the factors that have acted to constrain public discussion over time.

Researching Media History

For media historians, the rationale for their craft is often expressed as a commitment to interdisciplinarity so as to situate the evolution of media forms, practices, institutions, and audiences within broader processes of societal change. Compounding this challenge, however, is the recognition that media processes can be ephemeral, and thereby elusive in conceptual and methodological terms. Often their very normality, that is, the extent to which they are simply taken for granted as a part of everyday life, means efforts to de-normalize them require considerable effort.

Media historians, it follows, must strive to be sufficiently self-reflexive about their chosen strategies when gathering source material and interpreting evidence, especially where questions related to ‘effects’ or causation are being addressed. Pertinent in this regard is the status of electronic media, for example, which may pose particular problems for the historian seeking to establish relations of significance. Not only are the actual texts under scrutiny – e.g., an early radio play or television broadcast – unlikely to be amenable to more traditional, print-based methods, but issues with regard to such logistical considerations as access, physical artifacts (microphones, receiver sets, and the like), and format-compatibility (changes in formats can make playback difficult) may surface.

The advent of digital technologies is already engendering similar types of issues for media historians. Scholarship increasingly entails finding alternative ways to manage, interpret, and preserve the extensive array of materials available across different storage systems. The sheer volume and range of these materials, coupled with continuing innovation in hardware and software (the obsolescence of technology rendering some types of data difficult to retrieve), can make for challenging decisions about how to maintain libraries, archives, databases, and other repositories of information. New questions are being posed in this regard by electronic records, including items such as electronic mail, voicemail messages, word-processing documents, Internet websites, message boards, blogs, Facebook accounts, Tweets and the like, all of which are highly perishable.

Precisely how media history research will evolve invites thoughtful consideration. Current efforts to build on the foundations set down by the press histories of the nineteenth century are making progress in enriching these traditions, while also pursuing new directions that recast familiar assumptions – sometimes in unexpected ways. The types of criticisms of ‘standard’ media history identified by Carey, namely that its arguments were based on “nothing more than speculation, conjecture, anecdotal evidence, and ideological ax grinding” (and where conclusions were not “theoretically or empirically grounded; none was supported by systematic research”), no longer aptly characterize the field (1996, 15–16). Indeed, it is reasonable to suggest that there is every indication media history will continue to develop in ever more methodologically rigorous – and intellectually exciting – directions.

• Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities. London: Verso.
• Briggs, A. & Burke, P. (2010). A social history of the media, 3rd edn, Cambridge: Polity.
• Carey, J. W. (1996). The Chicago School and the history of mass communication research. Repr. in James Carey: A critical reader (eds. E. S. Munson & C. A. Warren). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 14–33.
• Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere. Cambridge: MIT Press.
• Mulhmann, G. (2008). A political history of journalism. Cambridge: Polity.

Media and Perceptions of Reality Research Paper Topics

Perceptions of reality, or social reality, can be conceptualized as an individual’s conception of the world (Hawkins & Pingree 1982). What intrigues many social scientists is the exploration of the specifics of these perceptions and the ways in which they are developed. Social perception has been considered from both individual- and social-level perspectives.

The individual-level conception of social reality – or, as McLeod and Chaffee (1972) refer to it, social reality – suggests that others exist in one’s mind as imaginations, and it is only in these imaginations that others have an effect on the individual. The perspective of social reality defines the social system as the unit of analysis. These scholars focus on understanding commonly held perceptions shared in society. They often base their exploration on individuals’ perceptions of what others think, or whether an individual believes that an opinion or attitude is shared by others. Because the media, in particular, provide individuals with indirect representations of reality, communication scholars have been particularly interested in how individuals develop cognitions of social reality based upon their use of and attention to the media. Media research paper topics related to perceptions of reality include:

• Behavioral Norms Perception through the Media
• Body Images in the Media Climate of Opinion
• Computer Games and Reality Perception
• Cultivation Effects
• Disowning Projection
• Entertainment Content and Reality Perception
• Extra-Media Data
• False Consensus
• False Uniqueness
• Hostile Media Phenomenon
• Media and Perceptions of Reality
• Media Campaigns and Perceptions of Reality
• Media Content and Social Networks
• Media Content in Interpersonal Communication
• Media Messages and Family Communication
• Perceived Realism as a Decision Process
• Perceived Reality as a Communication Process
• Perceived Reality as a Social Process
• Perceived Reality Meta-Analyses
• Pluralistic Ignorance
• Pluralistic Ignorance and Ideological Biases
• Social Perception
• Social Perception and Impersonal Impact
• Social Perception and Unrealistic Optimism
• Socialization by the Media
• Spiral of Silence
• Stereotyping and the Media
• Third-Person Effects
• Video Malaise

General Perception Effects

Several phenomena describing perceptions (and misperceptions) of social reality have been outlined in the literature. The term pluralistic ignorance is often used as an umbrella to describe all misperceptions of others’ opinions. Research in this area is primarily concerned with the factors that lead to individuals being more or less accurate about reality, focusing on the discrepancy between individual perceptions and actual reality.

Consensus occurs when homogeneous opinions exist across a group of individuals. Some research has suggested that an overestimate of consensus occurs when individuals perceive greater consensus on their own opinion than exists in reality. In this way, overestimation of consensus is ‘absolute’ because it is objectively false. The concept of false consensus describes the tendency to see one’s own behaviors and opinions as normal and those of others as deviant or inappropriate, which results in exaggerating the prominence of one’s own opinions.

Social projection is generally defined as the psychological phenomenon that drives several other inaccurate perceptions, including the silent majority or false idiosyncrasy effect, which occurs when some individuals support a position on an issue vocally and prominently, while those opposed to the issue – even if they are in the majority – remain silent. The disowning projection refers to the tendency toward attributing selfish motives, evil intent, or ignorance to others and denying these characteristics of oneself. The looking-glass perception occurs when people see others as holding the same view as they themselves hold.

Media-Specific Perception Effects

Another group of theories focuses on individuals’ perceptions about media content or its influence on others. The third-person effect predicts that individuals exposed to a persuasive message will perceive greater effects on others than on themselves (Davison 1981). Impersonal influence describes the influence derived from anonymous others’ attitudes, experiences, and beliefs. From this perspective, media do not need to be universally consonant or even personally persuasive in order to impact individuals’ perceptions of media influence (Mutz 1998).

The hostile media phenomenon suggests that partisans see news media coverage of controversial events as portraying a biased slant, even in news coverage that most nonpartisans label as unbiased (Vallone et al. 1985). An underlying assumption of this phenomenon is that media coverage is essentially unbiased. The persuasive press inference hypothesis draws from the hostile media phenomenon and third-person effect and places the effects into one process, i.e., people overestimate the impact of news coverage on public opinion and because of this misperception, estimates of public opinion are inaccurate (Gunther 1998).

Causal Mechanisms for Social-Reality Perceptions and Misperceptions

Some research on perceptions of social reality has emphasized mass media as the primary causal mechanism explaining perceptions of social reality. Because few people have direct personal experience with politics, mediated information has the ability to influence individuals’ perceptions of social reality at the collective level. That is, media enhance the salience of social-level judgments, in addition to influencing perceptions of public opinion.

First, spiral of silence theory suggests that because the climate of opinion is always vacillating, individuals are “scanning” their social environment for cues of what constitutes majority and minority opinion (Noelle-Neumann 1993). The media are one such source, but often present biased viewpoints. As a result of this individuals perceive a majority perspective, and this perception either promotes or prevents them from speaking out (see Schulz and Roessler 2012).

Second, cultivation implies that, over time, people are influenced by the content on television so that their perceptions of reality come to reflect those presented on television. This theory also purports that media content displays distorted estimates of social reality, e.g., the rates of crime and violence which in turn lead to the overestimation of personal risks (Shrum & Bischak 2001).

Effects of social reality perceptions can also be attributed to other causal mechanisms in three broader categories: individual, individual–other, and social explanations.

Individual explanations include cognitions and motivations. One possible mechanism in this category of cognitive explanations is the accessibility bias, or the tendency to derive estimates of others’ views based upon that information that is most accessible in one’s memory. The third-person effect also is explained by cognitive ‘errors.’ The actor– observer attributional error occurs when individuals underestimate the extent to which others account for situational factors, and overestimate their own attention to these factors. Motivational explanations can also be applied to those theories that claim media as the primary causal mechanism. For instance, Noelle-Neumann cites fear of isolation, or a motivation not to be in the minority, as a driving force behind the spiral of silence.

Social harmony and public expression mechanisms belong in the category of individual–other explanations. Because conflict is not palatable to many people, there may exist motivations to see others’ positions on issues as more like their own in order to avoid argument or dissonance (social harmony). Misperceptions of social reality at the individual–other level also can arise from either intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of one’s opinions in public. The differential interpretation hypothesis describes a conscious decision to publicly misrepresent one’s opinion, while the differential encoding hypothesis suggests that some individuals suffer from an “illusion of transparency,” mistakenly believing that their own and others’ opinions are accurately expressed publicly (Prentice and Miller 1993).

The social explanations are based upon what McLeod and Chaffee (1972) referred to as social reality, wherein a context or situation serves as the causal mechanism underlying perceptions of social reality. For instance, if an issue is particularly divisive, individuals are prone to the false consensus effect because they see one side as more similar to themselves and the other side as deviant or uncommon.

• Davison, W. P. (1981). The third-person effect in communication. Public Opinion Quarterly, 47, 1–15.
• Eveland, W. P., Jr. (2002). The impact of news and entertainment media on perceptions of social reality. In J. P. Dillard & M. Pfau (eds.), The persuasion handbook: Developments in theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 691–727.
• Glynn, C. J., Ostman, R. E., & McDonald, D. G. (1995). Opinions, perception, and social reality. In T. L. Glasser & C. T. Salmon (eds.), Public opinion and the communication of consent. New York: Guilford, pp. 249–277.
• Gunther, A. C. (1998). The persuasive press inference: Effects of mass media on perceived public opinion. Communication Research, 25(5), 486–504.
• Hawkins, R. P. & Pingree, S. (1982). Television’s influence on social reality. In L. B. D. Pearl & J. Lazar (eds.), Television and behavior: Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, pp. 224–247.
• McLeod, J. M. & Chaffee, S. R. (1972). The construction of social reality. In J. T. Tedeschi (ed.), The social influence processes. Chicago, IL: Aldine-Atherton, pp. 50–99.
• Mutz, D. C. (1998). Impersonal influence: How perceptions of mass collectives affect political attitudes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Noelle-Neumann, E. (1993). The spiral of silence: Public opinion, our social skin. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
• Prentice, D. A. & Miller, D. T. (1993). Pluralistic ignorance and alcohol use on campus: Some consequences of misperceiving the social norm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(2), 243–256.
• Schulz, A. & Roessler, P. (2012). The spiral of silence and the Internet: Selection of online content and the perception of the public opinion climate in computer- mediated communication environments. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 24(3), 346–367.
• Shrum, L. J. & Bischak, V. D. (2001). Mainstreaming, resonance, and impersonal impact: Testing moderators of the cultivation effect for estimates of crime risk. Human Communication Research, 27(2), 187–215.
• Vallone, R. P., Ross, L., & Lepper, M. R. (1985). The hostile media phenomenon: Biased perceptions and perceptions of media bias in coverage of the Beirut massacre. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(3), 577–585.

Media Production and Content Research Paper Topics

Research in the sub-field of media production and content seeks to describe and explain the symbolic world of the media with reference to a variety of contributing societal, institutional, organizational, and normative factors. It draws boundaries around a large and diverse body of research efforts, predominantly social science, but also including more interpretive cultural analysis. Media research paper topics related to media production and content include:

• Accountability of the Media
• Accountability of the News
• Bias in the News
• Commercialization Impact on Media Content
• Conflict as Media Content
• Consonance of Media Content
• Construction of Reality through the News
• Credibility of Content
• Crime Reporting
• Endorsement
• Ethics of Media Content
• Fairness Doctrine
• Fictional Media Content
• Framing of the News
• Infotainment
• Instrumental Actualization
• Internet News
• Media Performance
• Morality and Taste in Media Content
• Narrative News Story
• News Factors
• News Production and Technology
• News Values
• Objectivity in Reporting
• Quality of the News
• Quality Press
• Reality and Media Reality
• Scandalization in the News
• Sensationalism
• Separation of News and Comments
• Soap Operas
• Sound Bites
• Stereotypes
• Synchronization of the News
• Tabloid Press
• Tabloidization
• Truth and Media Content
• Violence as Media Content

Scope of the Research Area

If much of the communication field has concerned itself with the effects of media, and the process by which they are produced, this more recently emerging area has treated the media map of the world itself as problematic, something to be understood and predicted through an awareness of underlying forces. These forces provide the context of ‘media production,’ which is examined for its systematic ties to ‘content’ – particularly news and information. Given the multitude of factors influencing the media, this conceptual framework has led the field of communication to devote the same sustained research to the creation, control, and shape of the mediated environment as it has to the effects on audiences of that environment. The objects of study in this area, however, have undergone profound changes, particularly with communication technology, making it more problematic to identify ‘the media,’ ‘the profession,’ and the site of ‘production.’

This research area is often broadly referred to as ‘media sociology’ (reviewed in Berkowitz 1997). Certainly, many of the participant observation ethnographies of newsrooms and other media are so labeled, particularly given their use of traditional sociological fieldwork methods (e.g., Tuchman 1978; Gans 1979). The technology of distributed online production makes identifying the ‘sites’ where news is produced more difficult now, but the ethnography approach continues to be used. The area also encompasses studies of individual media workers, and how their personal traits affect their decisions (e.g., Weaver & Wilnat 2012). Many media critics lodge the blame for press bias squarely with individual journalists, or find fault with the entertainment industry because of ‘out-of-touch Hollywood producers, but important explanations for these communication products lie in structural bias, beyond individual prejudice. Although media organizations – including those supported by the state – employ many creative professionals, the work of those individuals is routinized and structured to yield a predictable product. Even the ‘news’ must be controlled, anticipated, and packaged to allow the organization to manage its task effectively: in Tuchman’s (1978) phrase, “routinizing the unexpected.”

Beginning in the 1950s Warren Breed (1955) and David Manning White (1950) were among the first scholars to examine the influences on content directly, with their examinations of social control in the newsroom and the story selections of an editor, described as the news ‘gatekeeper’. Reese and Ballinger (2001) observed that the gatekeepers in these studies were deemed representatives of the larger culture, and news policies were assumed to help identify as news those events of interest to the community – rendering the production and control issues unthreatening to the public interest and, as a result, of less interest to researchers. Eventually, however, these questions returned to the fore.

The hierarchy of influences model describes the multiple levels of influences – individual, routines, organizational, extra-media (social institutional), and ideological (socio system) – that impinge on media simultaneously and suggests how influence at one level may interact with that at another (Shoemaker & Reese 2014). Within the realm of newsmaking, for example, the individual- level bias of particular journalists may affect their reporting, but journalists of a particular leaning often self-select an organization because of its pre-existing policies, history, and organizational culture (routines). The news organization and its employees, in turn, must function within other institutional relationships and ideological boundaries set by the larger society. Thus, the individual functions within a web of constraints.

The compelling point of departure for this subfield is the idea that media content provides a map of the world that differs from the way that world really is, making the research task one of explaining those discrepancies. Media representations can be tied to objects in the real world, but viewed another way media content is fundamentally a ‘construction,’ and, as such, can never find its analog in some external benchmark, a ‘mirror’ of reality. This perspective directs research to understanding the construction process. Journalists, for example, ‘see’ things because their ‘news net’ is set up to allow them to be seen.

Research Findings

Given the wide variation among media round the world, generalizations about production and content must be made with caution. Now that more comparative research has begun to emerge, it is easier to distinguish between those practices common across countries and those peculiar to one or the other. Certainly, changes in technology have had widespread cross-national effects, blurring craft distinctions in the convergence of media forms.

Although broad generalizations can be made, there are also important differences across the various media. These more organizational issues involve the technological imperatives, audience considerations, economic and other dictates, as well as the regulatory environment that they all face. Each medium, whether radio, television, newspapers, or magazines, has its own unique problems to solve in providing a product to a reader, viewer, or listener. The highest level of the hierarchy of influences model, the ideological or social system, considers how the media function within a society by virtue of there being a certain kind of system – which necessarily binds them to the prevailing social order usually associated with nation-states.

Research Methods

These considerations often require a more interpretive analysis, which considers how the media reinforce the definitions of the powerful and linked to media production practices that support them. A macro level of analysis directs attention to cross-national comparisons of media production, where important patterns can be found. Shoemaker and Cohen (2006) find that news has a number of common patterns across nations, even if these are filtered through specific national cultures.

Global changes in media ownership, new ways of carrying out gatekeeping across national boundaries, and emerging shared norms of professionalism all give greater emphasis to this perspective. So, under the continuing processes of globalization, this area of research faces the challenge of identifying the universal aspects of media and social representation, the enduring particularities of individual national contexts, and the increasing interactions between these levels.

• Berkowitz, D. (1997). Social meanings of news. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Breed, W. (1955). Social control in the newsroom: A functional analysis. Social Forces, 33, 326–355.
• Gans, H. (1979). Deciding what’s news. New York: Pantheon.
• Reese, S. & Ballinger, J. (2001). The roots of a sociology of news: Remembering Mr Gates and social control in the newsroom. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 78(4), 641–658.
• Shoemaker, P. & Cohen, A. (2006). News around the world. London: Routledge.
• Shoemaker, P. & Reese, S. (2014). Mediating the message in the 21st Century: A media sociology perspective. London: Routledge.
• Tuchman, G. (1978). Making news. New York: Free Press.
• Weaver, D. & Wilnat, L. (2012). The global journalist in the 21st century. London: Routledge.
• White, D. (1950). The “gatekeeper”: A case study in the selection of news. Journalism Quarterly, 27, 383–396.

Back to Communication Research Paper Topics .

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100 Best Media Topics For Research Writing

We know you need the best media topics for your next papers. Otherwise, why would you be reading this blog post? The good news is that you have picked the best place to look for topics. Our experienced writers have put together a list of the best media topics for high school and college students. Furthermore, we work hard to keep the list fresh. This means that these ideas will be most likely original. They will work great in 2023 because the list of media essay topics is updated periodically.

The Importance of Great Media Topics

You are probably wondering why we are putting so much emphasis on getting you the best media topics to write about. There are several reasons for it, but we will only tell you about 3 of them:

• Your professor will greatly appreciate your willingness to dedicate the time and effort to finding excellent topics . Trust us, professors know how to make the difference between students based solely on the topics they choose for their papers.
• It is much easier to write essays if you choose good media essays topics . A topic you know something about is the best choice. Also, a good topic enables you to quickly find plenty of information on the Internet. Following this advice you’ll easily write your literature review and the following components of your paper.
• By choosing a great topic, your essay will immediately stand out from all the rest . Your professor is surely bored of reading papers written about the same things over and over again. An interesting idea will entice him to award you at least some bonus points.

Mass Media Topics

Mass media is something of great importance in modern times, so why not write your papers on some mass media topics? Here are some great examples:

• The effect of mass media on psychological health
• Mass media and emotional health
• Mass media addiction in the US
• The role of mass media in politics
• The First Amendment in mass media
• Promoting sexuality in mass media

Media Research Topics

Did your professor ask of you to write a research paper? No problem, we have some excellent media research topics in our list. Check them out below:

• Discuss children media
• Violence in mass media in the US
• Video games in the media
• Controversial topics in the media in Europe
• Discuss post-truth in the media
• Media regulations in China

Media Analysis Essay Topics for Presentation

Would you like to write a media analysis paper for a presentation? It’s not difficult to do, if you pick the right media analysis essay topics for presentation. Here are some excellent ideas:

• Is the media creating events or reacting to them?
• Media and public relations links
• Discuss 3 major types of media
• The use of media in education (one of the most interesting mass media research paper topics)
• Influence of virtual reality on the media (one of the best media analysis essay topics)
• Discuss journalism ethics

Media Research Paper Topics for High School

Are you a high school student looking for some awesome topic for his next research paper on media? Here are some excellent examples of media research paper topics for high school:

• Major innovations in 21st century media
• Compare mainstream media in India and China
• What makes an outlet a reliable source?
• Advertisements in media
• Benefits of mass media for society
• Compare traditional media with mass media

Mass Media Research Topics

If you need to write a research paper and want to talk about something in mass media, we have some very nice ideas right here. Check out our mass media research topics:

• The right of expression in mass media
• Journalism in mass media
• Compare TV, film and radio
• Mass media in democracy
• The war against terror in mass media
• Discuss the rise of mobile media

Media Research Topics for College Students

College students who are looking to research topics about media should choose something that can bring them a top grade. Here are our best media research topics for college students:

• Influences of technology on media
• Latest innovations in media
• Discuss media censorship in China (a recommended media related topic)
• What is media propaganda?
• Mass media and its preemptive effects

Complex Media Related Research Topics

Do you want to try your hand at some difficult topics? If you want to impress your professor, we advise you to select one of these complex media related research topics:

• Mass media violating civil rights
• Does media benefit the economy of the US?
• Define media addition and discuss its effects
• Perform a qualitative analysis of 3 media outlets
• Media’s scare strategies: a case study
• Media influencing a rise in violence in the UK

Controversial Media Topics

Why should you be frightened by controversial topics? You are free to write about them, of course. Here are our best and most controversial media topics:

• Exercising the First Amendment in media in the US
• Promoting gun violence in mass media
• Mass media effects on terrorism
• Digital media is destroying traditional media
• Artificial intelligence in mass media
• Media effects on the death penalty in China

Digital Media Topics

Discussing digital media is a very good way to impress your professor. Let’s face it; the digital realm is extremely popular these days. Here are some brand new digital media topics:

• Define and discuss digital media
• Climate change in digital media
• What is mobile media?
• The fate of journalism in the 21st century (one of the best digital media research topics)
• Effects of digital media on politics

Media Analysis Topics

Writing a media analysis essay can be a very difficult task, especially if you don’t have much academic writing experience. Here are some media analysis topics that should make things easier:

• How Trump lost the media war
• Biden’s coverage in mass media in the United States
• Advertising revenue in media outlets
• Analyze screen time
• What are deepfakes and how to spot one?
• The crisis of journalism in the 21st century

Easy Media Related Topics

The perfect choice for times when you simply cannot afford to spend too much time writing your essay, our list easy media related topics is right here:

• Define mass media in the United Kingdom
• Should children watch the news?
• Promoting violence in mass media
• Spreading awareness via media
• Are newspapers still relevant today?
• The very first occurrence of mass media

Research Topics in Media and Communication

Would you like to talk about media and communication? It is not an easy subject to write about, but we can make things easier. Here are the easiest research topics in media and communication:

• Discuss body image in media
• Analyze children’s advertising tactics
• Freedom of speech in the media
• Copyright law in the media
• Define symmetrical dialogue in the media

Media Debate Topics

Are you interested in a media debate? Getting the best topics for 2023 should be your primary concern in this case. We have some very interesting media debate topics right here:

• The impact of public relations on communities
• Location-based advertising in modern media
• Analyze the concept of yellow journalism
• Good news vs bad news in the media
• Discuss the concept of proportionality in media

Brand New Media Topics

Just like you, our writers are interested in writing about the latest topics. Why don’t you pick one of our brand new media topics?

• Is radio still an important part of media?
• Newspapers going bankrupt in 2023
• Sexual content on TV shows
• Politicians’ love for the media
• Is the backing of the media important for a president?

Media Ethics Topics

Discussing ethics in relation to media is a very interesting choice. It can also get you an A+ on your next paper. Here are some exceptional media ethics topics:

• Including graphic images in media
• Depicting terrorism on TV
• Regulating newspapers in Europe
• Celebrity gossip in the media
• The influence of large media corporations

Media Law Topics

Yes, there is such a thing as media law. Would you like to write an essay about it? Here are some great ideas for media law topics:

• Discuss the First Amendment and media
• The responsibilities of journalists
• Journalists in war zones
• Fake news in the media
• Showing unsuitable content to children

Research Topics in Communication and Media Studies

Writing about communication and media studies has the potential to help you get a top grade. Here are our best research topics in communication and media studies:

• Analyze media bias in the United States
• Is digital media addictive?
• Influence of media on religion

Interesting Media Topics

We know, you want the most interesting media topics to write about. Pick one of these and write a paper that will impress your professor:

• State-controlled media in China
• Effects of media coverage on criminal trials
• The power of mass media in 2023

Trending Media Topics

You may not know which topics are trending when it comes to media, but our writers do. Here are the latest trending media topics:

• The war in Afghanistan
• Joe Biden’s rise to power
• The fall of Donald Trump
• Climate change problems
• Global warming in the media

But what if you need more topics or professional help with thesis ? What if you didn’t find the media research topic you were looking for in the list above? While this is highly unlikely, we are prepared to help you. Would you like to talk about media literacy? In case you do, our ENL writers can create a list of the most interesting (and new) media literacy topics you can find. For anything you need, just get in touch with us.

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120 incredible communication research topics to make your life easier.

February 14, 2020

Possible questions for communication research are drawn from what we do, see, or hear every day. Some are related to the courses we do, and so this is going to be a smooth ride above flat boulders underneath.

With the advent of new technologies, the communication arena has made significant strides. Social media has taken over with the broadcast media resorting to this platform. People can communicate thousands of miles away from each other. Indeed, the world has become a global village.

Let’s now delve into why you are here.

Social Media Research Topics

Research topics on social media are because of its vast nature. Here are some social media research topic ideas for your inspiration:

• How safe are you on social media
• Is social media taking over the broadcast media
• Crime and social media: A case study
• The effectiveness of social media marketing
• Why are people less productive nowadays? An impact of social media?
• What measures can curb false information on social media
• Have Facebook and WhatsApp taken over family time
• Impact of social media on academic progress
• How social media has led to a kidnapping
• The growth of fake profiles
• The effectiveness of social media on campaigns
• Human values lost as a result of social media
• Has depression has resulted from social media
• The speed of news on social media
• Who is responsible for ethics on social media?
• A study of policies related to social media
• How social media has contributed to plagiarism and piracy
• Spamming on social media: Is it possible to curb it?
• How social media has connected and disconnected people at the same time
• What is the future of social media?

Interpersonal Communication Research Topics

Interpersonal research topics deal with communication between two or more people. The issues here include:

• What is the barrier to language and verbal communication?
• How effective is nonverbal communication
• Factors affecting interpersonal communication: gender
• A study of perception in interpersonal communication
• What is the importance of listening in conversation?
• Emotion and its impact on communication
• Interpersonal communication: A study of self-discourse
• Relational development in communication
• How is the connection between family and intimate relationships?
• Interpersonal communication deceptions
• Conflicts arising from interpersonal communication
• Competence of interpersonal communication
• Growth of social and personal relationships
• Culture and communication
• Dealing with blindness as a barrier to interpersonal communication

Mass Communication Research Topics

Research topics related to mass communication include the following:

• An analysis of the role of mass media in rebranding
• Challenges facing freedom of the press in various countries
• Mass media and democracy
• What are the constitutional provisions for mass media?
• The attitude of viewers and listeners towards mass media
• Growth of private media ownership
• Are the airwaves truly liberated?
• Impact of digital media
• Mass communication and media
• Effects of the internet on media ethics and standards
• What are the dangers facing journalists?
• Is print media still competitive?
• Mass media with the law of defamation
• State broadcasting versus private broadcasting
• How effective are phone-in Programmes?

Business Communication Research Topics

These are business-related communication topics dealing with customers, investors, and corporates. It also includes corporate communication research topics. They are:

• Vital issues in organizational communication
• Dealing with organizational uncertainty
• Management of communication crisis in organizations
• Corporate communication and public relations
• Practices for effective business communication
• Business to Business communication
• A guide to writing effective organizational communique
• E-mail writing and management in the workplace
• Creating a balance between upward and downward communication
• How to effectively handle external communication
• Intercultural communication in a competitive global business environment
• Effective horizontal communication in a workplace
• What is the effect of grapevine communication on a company’s success?
• A study of proper communication channels
• How to craft a topnotch business letter
• Corporate social responsibility communication
• Change management and culture of organizations
• Communication in organizations
• The relationship between social media and organizations
• How can organizations benefit immensely from the press?
• How to handle crisis communicational
• The media and economic crisis
• How sharing of messages has affected the business market
• Is stereotyping a stumbling block to economic progress?
• Implications of the political class on the country economy
• Responsible and ethical investor relations
• Organizational identification in the corporate world
• Reputation and why it is vital for the success or failure of a company
• How can corporate businesses incorporate the use of creative designs?
• Symbols and critical features of effective business communication
• How are communication skills essential in marketing?
• How can brand awareness be made possible through communication?
• Practical communication skills for the growth of profit
• Development of marketing value using excellent communication skills
• How the cognitive-communication theory is vital in marketing

Development Communication Research Topics

• Achieving millennium development goals using mass media
• Useful media tools in curbing the spread of coronavirus
• How social media malaria campaigns have helped reduce the spread
• Audio drama as a tool in reducing HIV/AIDS among the youths
• Using the press as a tool in fake drugs sensitization
• Role of mass media in preventing early pregnancies
• Family planning radio Programmes and their effectiveness
• Print media as an awareness tool in the community
• Role of radio in curbing violence in the marginal areas
• How broadcasting media is effective in promoting the use of contraceptives
• Role of social media in preventing Ebola virus spread
• Impact of cartoon Programmes on aggressiveness behavior
• The media as a tool for enhancing profitability
• Mass media and the reduction of maternal deaths
• How compelling is drama as an awareness tool?

General Communication Research Topics

• What is the history of communication
• Theories of communication
• Social networks in the modern world
• Role of bloggers in social media
• Media censorship
• Impact of the freedom of speech on media
• The growth of video blogs
• How accurate is news from the media?
• Media as a watchdog
• Media and terrorism
• How the media has evolved
• New communication technologies
• What is journalism ethics?
• Media and politics
• Virtual reality in the media
• How media differs in style and types
• The growth of international journalism
• Why is radio still popular?
• Decrypting media messages
• How are media laws effective in ensuring credible reporting?

Communication Research Topics Just For You

Communication is an exciting and fascinating field to venture into for students. The beauty is that media is evolving every day. Therefore, there is a wide range of topics to choose from quickly.

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Home » 300+ Social Media Research Topics

300+ Social Media Research Topics

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, and it has transformed the way we communicate, share information, and interact with each other. As social media platforms continue to evolve and gain popularity, they have also become a rich source of data for researchers. Social media research is a rapidly growing field that encompasses a wide range of topics , from understanding the psychological and social effects of social media to analyzing patterns of user behavior and identifying trends in online conversations. In this era of data-driven decision-making, social media research is more important than ever, as it provides insights into how we use and are influenced by social media. In this post, we will explore some of the most fascinating and relevant social media research topics that are shaping our understanding of this powerful medium.

Social Media Research Topics

Social Media Research Topics are as follows:

• The effects of social media on mental health
• The role of social media in political polarization
• The impact of social media on relationships
• The use of social media by businesses for marketing
• The effects of social media on body image and self-esteem
• The influence of social media on consumer behavior
• The use of social media for education
• The effects of social media on language use and grammar
• The impact of social media on news consumption
• The role of social media in activism and social change
• The use of social media for job seeking and career development
• The effects of social media on sleep patterns
• The influence of social media on adolescent behavior
• The impact of social media on the spread of misinformation
• The use of social media for personal branding
• The effects of social media on political participation
• The influence of social media on fashion trends
• The impact of social media on sports fandom
• The use of social media for mental health support
• The effects of social media on creativity
• The role of social media in cultural exchange
• The impact of social media on language learning
• The use of social media for crisis communication
• The effects of social media on privacy and security
• The influence of social media on diet and exercise behavior
• The impact of social media on travel behavior
• The use of social media for citizen journalism
• The effects of social media on political accountability
• The role of social media in peer pressure
• The impact of social media on romantic relationships
• The use of social media for community building
• The effects of social media on gender identity
• The influence of social media on music consumption
• The impact of social media on academic performance
• The use of social media for social support
• The effects of social media on social skills
• The role of social media in disaster response
• The impact of social media on nostalgia and memory
• The use of social media for charity and philanthropy
• The effects of social media on political polarization in developing countries
• The influence of social media on literary consumption
• The impact of social media on family relationships
• The use of social media for citizen science
• The effects of social media on cultural identity
• The role of social media in promoting healthy behaviors
• The impact of social media on language diversity
• The use of social media for environmental activism
• The effects of social media on attention span
• The influence of social media on art consumption
• The impact of social media on cultural values and norms.
• The impact of social media on mental health
• The impact of social media on mental health.
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem.
• The use of social media for political activism and social justice movements.
• The role of social media in promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity.
• The impact of social media on romantic relationships and dating.
• The use of social media for customer service and support.
• The impact of social media on mental health and well-being among young adults.
• The impact of social media on political polarization and partisanship.
• The use of social media for health communication and behavior change.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards vaccination.
• The impact of social media on political participation and civic engagement.
• The impact of social media on political polarization and echo chambers.
• The use of social media for political campaigning and the manipulation of public opinion.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards vaccination and public health.
• The impact of social media on news consumption and trust in journalism.
• The use of social media for promoting sustainable fashion practices and ethical consumption.
• The role of social media in influencing beauty standards and body image.
• The impact of social media on the music industry and the role of social media influencers.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among healthcare professionals.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards gun violence and gun control policies.
• The impact of social media on social activism and advocacy.
• The use of social media for promoting cross-cultural communication and intercultural understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards climate change and environmental policies.
• The impact of social media on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and access to financial services for low-income individuals.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards immigration policies and refugee crises.
• The impact of social media on political activism and social movements.
• The use of social media for promoting digital literacy and technology education in developing countries.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards gender and sexual orientation.
• The impact of social media on consumer behavior in the food and beverage industry.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among first responders.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards racial justice and police brutality.
• The impact of social media on privacy concerns and data security.
• The use of social media for promoting interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards income inequality and economic justice.
• The impact of social media on the film and television industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among military personnel.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards privacy and data security.
• The impact of social media on the hospitality industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting intergenerational communication and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards animal welfare and animal rights.
• The impact of social media on the gaming industry and gamer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting digital literacy and technology skills among seniors.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards renewable energy and sustainability.
• The impact of social media on the advertising industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among children and adolescents.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards online privacy and security.
• The impact of social media on the beauty industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural preservation and heritage tourism.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards criminal justice reform.
• The impact of social media on the automotive industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among marginalized communities.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards sustainable development goals.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting intercultural communication in the workplace.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards mental health policies.
• The impact of social media on the travel industry and sustainable tourism practices.
• The use of social media for health information seeking and patient empowerment.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental activism and sustainable practices.
• The impact of social media on consumer behavior and brand loyalty.
• The use of social media for promoting education and lifelong learning.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards mental health issues.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry and fast fashion practices.
• The use of social media for promoting social entrepreneurship and social innovation.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gun control.
• The impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of adolescents.
• The use of social media for promoting intercultural exchange and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards climate change.
• The impact of social media on political advertising and campaign strategies.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy relationships and communication skills.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards police brutality and racial justice.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and personal finance management.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards LGBTQ+ rights.
• The impact of social media on the music industry and fan engagement.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among marginalized populations.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards immigration and border policies.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of journalists.
• The use of social media for promoting community building and social cohesion.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards healthcare policies.
• The impact of social media on the food industry and consumer behavior.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gender equality.
• The impact of social media on the sports industry and athlete-fan interactions.
• The use of social media for promoting financial inclusion and access to banking services.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards animal welfare.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among college students.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards privacy and data security.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards income inequality and poverty.
• The use of social media for promoting digital literacy and technology skills.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards renewable energy.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among elderly populations.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards online privacy and security.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards criminal justice reform.
• The impact of social media on online activism and social movements.
• The use of social media for business-to-business communication and networking.
• The role of social media in promoting civic education and engagement.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry and sustainable fashion practices.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural diversity and inclusion.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards police reform.
• The impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of frontline healthcare workers.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and investment education.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental sustainability and conservation.
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem among adolescent girls.
• The use of social media for promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards immigration policies and refugees.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of healthcare professionals.
• The use of social media for promoting community resilience and disaster preparedness.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards the Black Lives Matter movement.
• The impact of social media on the music industry and artist-fan interactions.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy eating habits and nutrition education.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among college students.
• The impact of social media on the entertainment industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting workplace diversity and inclusion.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards climate change policies.
• The impact of social media on the travel industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among military veterans.
• The role of social media in promoting intergenerational dialogue and understanding.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of educators.
• The use of social media for promoting animal welfare and advocacy.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards reproductive rights.
• The impact of social media on the sports industry and fan behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting financial inclusion and literacy among underprivileged populations.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among LGBTQ+ populations.
• The impact of social media on the food and beverage industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gun ownership.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among caregivers.
• The role of social media in promoting sustainable tourism practices.
• The impact of social media on the gaming industry and gamer culture.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural heritage tourism and preservation.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards public transportation policies.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among homeless populations.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among immigrants and refugees.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and entrepreneurship among youth.
• The use of social media for political mobilization and participation in authoritarian regimes.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards immigration policies.
• The impact of social media on the professional development of teachers and educators.
• The use of social media for emergency communication during public health crises.
• The role of social media in promoting LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy.
• The impact of social media on body positivity and self-acceptance among women.
• The use of social media for public diplomacy and international relations.
• The impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of marginalized communities.
• The use of social media for crisis management and disaster response in the corporate sector.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental activism and conservation.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of entrepreneurs.
• The use of social media for medical education and healthcare communication.
• The role of social media in promoting cultural exchange and understanding.
• The impact of social media on social capital and civic engagement among young adults.
• The use of social media for disaster preparedness and community resilience.
• The role of social media in promoting religious pluralism and tolerance.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness.
• The use of social media for fundraising and philanthropy in the non-profit sector.
• The role of social media in promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
• The impact of social media on the travel and tourism industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for customer engagement and brand loyalty in the retail sector.
• The impact of social media on the political attitudes and behaviors of young adults.
• The use of social media for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• The use of social media for promoting animal welfare and adoption.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among the elderly.
• The impact of social media on the art industry and artist-fan interactions.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy food choices and nutrition.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards income inequality.
• The use of social media for promoting political satire and humor.
• The role of social media in promoting disability rights and advocacy.
• The use of social media for promoting voter registration and participation.
• The role of social media in promoting entrepreneurship and small business development.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among incarcerated populations.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gun violence prevention.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural heritage and preservation.
• The impact of social media on mental health and well-being.
• The relationship between social media use and academic performance.
• The use of social media for emergency communication during natural disasters.
• The impact of social media on traditional news media and journalism.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and discourse.
• The use of social media for online learning and education.
• The impact of social media on the fashion and beauty industry.
• The use of social media for brand awareness and marketing.
• The impact of social media on privacy and security.
• The use of social media for job searching and recruitment.
• The impact of social media on political polarization and extremism.
• The use of social media for online harassment and cyberbullying.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental awareness and sustainability.
• The impact of social media on youth culture and identity formation.
• The use of social media for travel and tourism marketing.
• The impact of social media on consumer behavior and decision-making.
• The role of social media in shaping beauty standards and body positivity.
• The use of social media for crisis communication and disaster response.
• The impact of social media on the music industry.
• The use of social media for fundraising and philanthropy.
• The role of social media in promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness.
• The impact of social media on sports fandom and fan behavior.
• The use of social media for political lobbying and advocacy.
• The impact of social media on the entertainment industry.
• The use of social media for healthcare communication and patient engagement.
• The role of social media in promoting gender equality and feminism.
• The impact of social media on the restaurant and food industry.
• The use of social media for volunteerism and community service.
• The role of social media in promoting religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue.
• The impact of social media on the art industry.
• The use of social media for political satire and humor.
• The role of social media in promoting disability awareness and advocacy.
• The impact of social media on the real estate industry.
• The use of social media for legal advocacy and justice reform.
• The role of social media in promoting intercultural communication and understanding.
• The impact of social media on the automotive industry.
• The use of social media for pet adoption and animal welfare advocacy.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and wellness for marginalized communities.
• The impact of social media on the retail industry.
• The use of social media for promoting civic engagement and voter participation.
• The impact of social media on the film and television industry.
• The use of social media for fashion and style inspiration.
• The role of social media in promoting activism for human rights and social issues.
• The effectiveness of social media for political campaigns.
• The role of social media in promoting fake news and misinformation.
• The impact of social media on self-esteem and body image.
• The impact of social media on romantic relationships.
• The use of social media for online activism and social justice movements.
• The impact of social media on traditional news media.
• The impact of social media on interpersonal communication skills.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry.
• The use of social media for social support and mental health awareness.
• The use of social media for political lobbying and activism.
• The impact of social media on travel and tourism behavior.
• The use of social media for customer feedback and market research.
• The impact of social media on the restaurant industry.
• The role of social media in political activism
• The effect of social media on interpersonal communication
• The relationship between social media use and body image concerns
• The impact of social media on self-esteem
• The role of social media in shaping cultural norms and values
• The use of social media by celebrities and its impact on their image
• The role of social media in building and maintaining personal relationships
• The use of social media for job searching and recruitment
• The impact of social media on children and adolescents
• The use of social media by political candidates during election campaigns
• The role of social media in education
• The impact of social media on political polarization
• The use of social media for news consumption
• The effect of social media on sleep habits
• The use of social media by non-profit organizations for fundraising
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion
• The influence of social media on language and communication patterns
• The use of social media in crisis communication and emergency management
• The role of social media in promoting environmental awareness
• The influence of social media on music preferences
• The impact of social media on body positivity movements
• The role of social media in shaping beauty standards
• The influence of social media on sports fandom
• The use of social media for health promotion and education
• The impact of social media on political participation
• The role of social media in shaping parenting practices
• The influence of social media on food preferences and eating habits
• The use of social media for peer support and mental health advocacy
• The role of social media in shaping religious beliefs and practices
• The influence of social media on humor and comedy
• The use of social media for online activism and social justice advocacy
• The impact of social media on public health awareness campaigns
• The role of social media in promoting cultural diversity and inclusion
• The influence of social media on travel behavior and decision-making
• The use of social media for international diplomacy and relations
• The impact of social media on job satisfaction and employee engagement
• The role of social media in shaping romantic preferences and dating behavior
• The influence of social media on language learning and language use
• The use of social media for political satire and humor
• The impact of social media on social capital and community building
• The role of social media in shaping gender identity and expression
• The influence of social media on fashion and beauty advertising.

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Media and Communication Research Methods An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

• Arthur Asa Berger - San Francisco State University, USA
• Description

This step-by-step introduction to conducting media and communication research offers practical insights along with the author’s signature lighthearted style to make discussion of qualitative and quantitative methods easy to comprehend. The  Fifth Edition  of  Media and Communication Research Methods  includes a new chapter on discourse analysis; expanded discussion of social media, including discussion of the ethics of Facebook experiments; and expanded coverage of the research process with new discussion of search strategies and best practices for analyzing research articles. Ideal for research students at both the graduate and undergraduate level, this proven book is clear, concise, and accompanied by just the right number of detailed examples, useful applications, and valuable exercises to help students to understand, and master, media and communication research. 

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

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it offers individual chapters for all types of qualitative research (semiotic, discourse, rhetorical, etc) it also includes chapter exercises and examples

Excellent Research textbook

• A new chapter on discourse analysis (Chapter 7) defines discourse analysis and offers multiples examples for its application.
• Expanded coverage of the research process offers students new search strategies and best practices for analyzing research articles. 
• A new discussion of binary oppositions and culture helps students to better understand semiotics.
• An expanded discussion of social media keeps students engaged with different perspectives of social media, including discussion of the ethics of Facebook experiments.
• A new discussion of Gangsta Rap encourages students to rhetorically analyze American popular culture.
• A new discussion of Foucault codes and cultural change helps students better understand the methods of textual analysis.
• Several new topics connect key concepts to current events, such as William Dutton on the Cambridge Analytica scandal and an Iranian scholar on mistakes made by pollsters for the 2016 election.
• New insights from experts in the field feature personal correspondence on the personality of the ethnomethodologist Harold Garfinkel and by a psychiatrist on addiction and the relationship between young people and their cell phones.
• Comprehensiveness : From opening discussions on the nature of research to thorough treatment of the methods of textual analysis, qualitative and quantitative methods, and writing up research, breadth of coverage is the hallmark of this text.
• Humor : Chapter-opening conversations with the author’s “Grand Inquisitor” (who poses questions about the nature of research), numerous cartoons, and references to student life use lively humor to make the material approachable and accessible.
• Applications and exercises : In each methods chapter, applications and exercises allow students to practice and apply what they’ve learned.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 3: Semiotic Analysis

Chapter 5: Ideological Criticism

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Media Communications: Research in Psychology, Sociology, and Linguistic Conversation Analysis

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• Michael Charlton  

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This statement will point out and, through selected representative examples, illustrate certain topics in the field of media research, topics where an interdisciplinary approach involving psychology, sociology, communications, and linguistics is possible and even necessary. ‘Media communications’ is a central, multi-faceted topic which can be approached from a variety of disciplinary standpoints. In my presentation of this topic, I will hold myself to the theme of this volume and focus primarily on work coming out of Europe.

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Media Logic or Media Logics? An Introduction to the Field

Strategies, Modes and Styles of Media Use and Reception: An Introduction

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• Published: 22 May 2024

Uncovering the essence of diverse media biases from the semantic embedding space

• Hong Huang 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ,
• Hua Zhu 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ,
• Wenshi Liu 4 , 5 ,
• Hua Gao 5 ,
• Hai Jin 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 &
• Bang Liu 6  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  656 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Cultural and media studies

Media bias widely exists in the articles published by news media, influencing their readers’ perceptions, and bringing prejudice or injustice to society. However, current analysis methods usually rely on human efforts or only focus on a specific type of bias, which cannot capture the varying magnitudes, connections, and dynamics of multiple biases, thus remaining insufficient to provide a deep insight into media bias. Inspired by the Cognitive Miser and Semantic Differential theories in psychology, and leveraging embedding techniques in the field of natural language processing, this study proposes a general media bias analysis framework that can uncover biased information in the semantic embedding space on a large scale and objectively quantify it on diverse topics. More than 8 million event records and 1.2 million news articles are collected to conduct this study. The findings indicate that media bias is highly regional and sensitive to popular events at the time, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Furthermore, the results reveal some notable phenomena of media bias among multiple U.S. news outlets. While they exhibit diverse biases on different topics, some stereotypes are common, such as gender bias. This framework will be instrumental in helping people have a clearer insight into media bias and then fight against it to create a more fair and objective news environment.

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Introduction.

In the era of information explosion, news media play a crucial role in delivering information to people and shaping their minds. Unfortunately, media bias, also called slanted news coverage, can heavily influence readers’ perceptions of news and result in a skewing of public opinion (Gentzkow et al. 2015 ; Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015b ; Sunstein, 2002 ). This influence can potentially lead to severe societal problems. For example, a report from FAIR has shown that Verizon management is more than twice as vocal as worker representatives in news reports about the Verizon workers’ strike in 2016 Footnote 1 , putting workers at a disadvantage in the news and contradicting the principles of fair and objective journalism. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the media bias iceberg.

Media bias can be defined as the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in selecting and covering numerous events and stories (Gentzkow et al. 2015 ). This bias can manifest in various forms, such as event selection, tone, framing, and word choice (Hamborg et al. 2019 ; Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015b ). Given the vast number of events happening in the world at any given moment, even the most powerful media must be selective in what they choose to report instead of covering all available facts in detail (Downs, 1957 ). This selectivity can result in the perception of bias in the news coverage, whether intentional or unintentional. Academics in journalism studies attempt to explain the news selection process by developing taxonomies of news values (Galtung and Ruge, 1965 ; Harcup and O’neill, 2001 , 2017 ), which refer to certain criteria and principles that news editors and journalists consider when selecting, editing, and reporting the news. These values help determine which stories should be considered news and the significance of these stories in news reporting. However, different news organizations and journalists may emphasize different news values based on their specific objectives and audience. Consequently, a media outlet may be very keen on reporting events about specific topics while turning a blind eye to others. For example, news coverage often ignores women-related events and issues with the implicit assumption that they are less critical than men-related contents (Haraldsson and Wängnerud, 2019 ; Lühiste and Banducci, 2016 ; Ross and Carter, 2011 ). Once events are selected, the media must consider how to organize and write their news articles. At that time, the choice of tone, framing, and word is highly subjective and can introduce bias. Specifically, the words used by the authors to refer to different entities may not be neutral but instead imply various associations and value judgments (Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015b ). As shown in Fig. 1 , the same topic can be expressed in entirely different ways, depending on a media outlet’s standpoint Footnote 2 . For example, certain “right-wing” media outlets tend to support legal abortion, while some “left-wing” ones oppose it.

The blue and red fonts represent the views of some “left-wing” and “right-wing” media outlets, respectively.

In fact, media bias is influenced by many factors: explicit factors such as geographic location, media position, editorial guideline, topic setting, and so on; obscure factors such as political ideology (Groseclose and Milyo, 2005 ; MacGregor, 1997 ; Merloe, 2015 ), business reason (Groseclose and Milyo, 2005 ; Paul and Elder, 2004 ), and personal career (Baron, 2006 ), etc. Besides, some studies also summarize these factors related to bias as supply-side and demand-side ones (Gentzkow et al. 2015 ; Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015b ). The influence of these complex factors makes the emergence of media bias inevitable. However, media bias may hinder readers from forming objective judgments about the real world, lead to skewed public opinion, and even exacerbate social prejudices and unfairness. For example, the New York Times supports Iranian women’s saying no to hijabs in defense of women’s rights Footnote 3 while criticizing the Chinese government’s initiative to encourage Uyghur women to remove hijabs and veils Footnote 4 . Besides, the influence of news coverage on voter behavior is a subject of ongoing debate. While some studies indicate that slanted news coverage can influence voters and election outcomes (Bovet and Makse, 2019 ; DellaVigna and Kaplan, 2008 ; Grossmann and Hopkins, 2016 ), others suggest that this influence is limited in certain circumstances (Stroud, 2010 ). Fortunately, research on media bias has drawn attention from multiple disciplines.

In social science, the study of media bias has a long tradition dating back to the 1950s (White, 1950 ). So far, most of the analyses in social science have been qualitative, aiming to analyze media opinions expressed in the editorial section (e.g., endorsements (Ansolabehere et al. 2006 ), editorials (Ho et al. 2008 ), ballot propositions (Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015a )) or find out biased instances in news articles by human annotations (Niven, 2002 ; Papacharissi and de Fatima Oliveira, 2008 ; Vaismoradi et al. 2013 ). Some researchers also conduct quantitative analysis, which primarily involves counting the frequency of specific keywords or articles related to certain issues (D’Alessio and Allen, 2000 ; Harwood and Garry, 2003 ; Larcinese et al. 2011 ). In particular, there are some attempts to estimate media bias using automatic tools (Groseclose and Milyo, 2005 ), and they commonly rely on text similarity and sentiment computation (Gentzkow and Shapiro, 2010 ; Gentzkow et al. 2006 ; Lott Jr and Hassett, 2014 ). In summary, social science research on media bias has yielded extensive and effective methodologies. These methodologies interpret media bias from diverse perspectives, marking significant progress in the realm of media studies. However, these methods usually rely on manual annotation and analysis of the texts, which requires significant manual effort and expertise (Park et al. 2009 ), thus might be inefficient and subjective. For example, in a quantitative analysis, researchers might devise a codebook with detailed definitions and rules for annotating texts, and then ask coders to read and annotate the corresponding texts (Hamborg et al. 2019 ). Developing a codebook demands substantial expertise. Moreover, the standardization process for text annotation is subjective, as different coders may interpret the same text differently, thus leading to varied annotations.

In computer science, research on social media is extensive (Lazaridou et al. 2020 ; Liu et al. 2021b ; Tahmasbi et al. 2021 ), but few methods are specifically designed to study media bias (Hamborg et al. 2019 ). Some techniques that specialize in the study of media bias focus exclusively on one type of bias (Huang et al. 2021 ; Liu et al. 2021b ; Zhang et al. 2017 ), thus not general enough. In natural language processing (NLP), research on the bias of pre-trained models or language models has attracted much attention (Qiang et al. 2023 ), aiming to identify and reduce the potential impact of bias in pre-trained models on downstream tasks (Huang et al. 2020 ; Liu et al. 2021a ; Wang et al. 2020 ). In particular, some studies on pre-trained word embedding models show that they have captured rich human knowledge and biases (Caliskan et al. 2017 ; Grand et al. 2022 ; Zeng et al. 2023 ). However, such works mainly focus on pre-trained models rather than media bias directly, which limits their applicability to media bias analysis.

A major challenge in studying media bias is that the evaluation of media bias is highly subjective because individuals have varying evaluation criteria for bias. Take political bias as an example, a story that one person views as neutral may appear to be left-leaning or right-leaning by someone else. To address this challenge, we develop an objective and comprehensive media bias analysis framework. We study media bias from two distinct but highly relevant perspectives: the macro level and the micro level. From the macro perspective, we focus on the event selection bias of each media, i.e., the types of events each media tends to report on. From the micro perspective, we focus on the bias introduced by media in the choice of words and sentence construction when composing news articles about the selected events.

In news articles, media outlets convey their attitudes towards a subject through the contexts surrounding it. However, the language used by the media to describe and refer to entities may not be purely neutral descriptors but rather imply various associations and value judgments. According to the cognitive miser theory in psychology, the human mind is considered a cognitive miser who tends to think and solve problems in simpler and less effortful ways to avoid cognitive effort (Fiske and Taylor, 1991 ; Stanovich, 2009 ). Therefore, faced with endless news information, ordinary readers will tend to summarize and remember the news content simply, i.e., labeling the things involved in news reports. Frequent association of certain words with a particular entity or subject in news reports can influence a media outlet’s loyal readers to adopt these words as labels for the corresponding item in their cognition due to the cognitive miser effect. Unfortunately, such a cognitive approach is inadequate and susceptible to various biases. For instance, if a media outlet predominantly focuses on male scientists while neglecting their female counterparts, some naive readers may perceive scientists to be mostly male, leading to a recognition bias in their perception of the scientist and even forming stereotypes unconsciously over time. According to the “distributional hypothesis” in modern linguistics (Firth, 1957 ; Harris, 1954 ; Sahlgren, 2008 ), a word’s meaning is characterized by the words occurring in the same context as it. Here, we simplify the complex associations between different words (or entities/subjects) and their respective context words into co-occurrence relationships. An effective technique to capture word semantics based on co-occurrence information is neural network-based word embedding models (Kenton and Toutanova, 2019 ; Le and Mikolov, 2014 ; Mikolov et al. 2013 ).

Word embedding models represent each word in the vocabulary as a vector (i.e., word embedding) within the word embedding space. In this space, words that frequently co-occur in similar contexts are positioned close to each other. For instance, if a media outlet predominantly features male scientists, the word “scientist” and related male-centric terms, such as “man” and “he” will frequently co-occur. Consequently, these words will cluster near the word “scientist” in the embedding space, while female-related words occupy more distant positions. This enables us to evaluate the media outlet’s gender bias concerning the term “scientist” by comparing the embedding distances between “scientist” and words associated with both males and females. This approach aligns closely with the Semantic Differential theory in psychology (Osgood et al. 1957 ), which gauges an individual’s attitudes toward various concepts, objects, and events using bipolar scales constructed from adjectives with opposing semantics. In this study, to identify media bias from news articles, we first define two sets of words with opposite semantics for each topic to develop media bias evaluation scales. Then, we quantify media bias on each topic by calculating the embedding distance difference between a target word (e.g., scientist) and these two sets of words (e.g., female-related words and male-related words) in the word embedding space.

Compared with the bias in news articles, event selection bias is more obscure, as only events of interest to the media are reported in the final articles, while events deliberately ignored by the media remain invisible to the public. Similar to the co-occurrence relationship between words mentioned earlier, two media outlets that frequently select and report on the same events should exhibit similar biases in event selection, as two words that occur frequently in the same contexts have similar semantics. Therefore, we refer to Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA (Deerwester et al. 1990 )) and generate vector representation (i.e., media embedding) for each media via truncated singular value decomposition (Truncated SVD (Halko et al. 2011 )). Essentially, a media embedding encodes the distribution of the events that a media outlet tends to report on. Therefore, in the media embedding space, media outlets that often select and report on the same events will be close to each other due to similar distributions of the selected events. If a media outlet shows significant differences in such a distribution compared to other media outlets, we can conclude that it is biased in event selection. Inspired by this, we conduct clustering on the media embeddings to study how different media outlets differ in the distribution of selected events, i.e., the so-called event selection bias.

These two methodologies, designed for micro-level and macro-level analysis, share a fundamental similarity: both leverage data-driven embedding models to represent each word or media outlet as a distinctive vector within the embedding space and conduct further analysis based on these vectors. Therefore, in this study, we integrate both methodologies into a unified framework for media bias analysis. We aim to uncover media bias on a large scale and quantify it objectively on diverse topics. Our experiment results show that: (1) Different media outlets have different preferences for various news events, and those from the same country or organization tend to share more similar tastes. Besides, the occurrence of international hot events will lead to the convergence of different media outlets’ event selection. (2) Despite differences in media bias, some stereotypes, such as gender bias, are common among various media outlets. These findings align well with our empirical understanding, thus validating the effectiveness of our proposed framework.

Data and methods

The first dataset is the GDELT Mention Table, a product of the Google Jigsaw-backed GDELT project Footnote 5 . This project aims to monitor news reports from all over the world, including print, broadcast, and online sources, in over 100 languages. Each time an event is mentioned in a news report, a new row is added to the Mention Table (See Supplementary Information Tab. S1 for details). Given that different media outlets may report on the same event at varying times, the same event can appear in multiple rows of the table. While the fields GlobalEventID and EventTimeDate are globally unique attributes for each event, MentionSourceName and MentionTimeDate may differ. Based on the GlobalEventID and MentionSourceName fields in the Mention Table, we can count the number of times each media outlet has reported on each event, ultimately constructing a “media-event” matrix. In this matrix, the element at ( i ,  j ) denotes the number of times that media outlet j has reported on the event i in past reports.

As a global event database, GDELT collects a vast amount of global events and topics, encompassing news coverage worldwide. However, despite its widespread usage in many studies, there are still some noteworthy issues. Here, we highlight some of the issues to remind readers to use it more cautiously. Above all, while GDELT provides a vast amount of data from various sources, it cannot capture every event accurately. It relies on automated data collection methods, and this could result in certain events being missed. Furthermore, its algorithms for event extraction and categorization cannot always perfectly capture the nuanced context and meaning of each event, which might lead to potential misinterpretations.

The second dataset is built on MediaCloud Footnote 6 , an open-source platform for research on media ecosystems. MediaCloud’s API enables the querying of news article URLs for a given media outlet, which can then be retrieved using a web crawler. In this study, we have collected more than 1.2 million news articles from 12 mainstream US media outlets in 2016-2021 via MediaCloud’s API (See Supplementary Information Tab. S2 for details).

Media bias estimation by media embedding

Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA (Deerwester et al. 1990 )) is a well-established technique for uncovering the topic-based semantic relationships between text documents and words. By performing truncated singular value decomposition (Truncated SVD (Halko et al. 2011 )) on a “document-word” matrix, LSA can effectively capture the topics discussed in a corpus of text documents. This is accomplished by representing documents and words as vectors in a high-dimensional embedding space, where the similarity between vectors reflects the similarity of the topics they represent. In this study, we apply this idea to media bias analysis by likening media and events to documents and words, respectively. By constructing a “media-event” matrix and performing Truncated SVD, we can uncover the underlying topics driving the media coverage of specific events. Our hypothesis posits that media outlets mentioning certain events more frequently are more likely to exhibit a biased focus on the topics related to those events. Therefore, media outlets sharing similar topic tastes during event selection will be close to each other in the embedding space, which provides a good opportunity to shed light on the media’s selection bias.

The generation procedures for media embeddings are shown in Supplementary Information Fig. S1 . First, a “media-event” matrix denoted as A m × n is constructed based on the GDELT Mention Table, where m and n represent the total number of media outlets and events, respectively. Each entry A i , j represents the number of times that media i has reported on event j . Subsequently, Truncated SVD is performed on the matrix A m × n , which results in three matrices: U m × k , Σ k × k and \({V}_{n\times k}^{T}\) . The product of Σ k × k and \({V}_{n\times k}^{T}\) is represented by E k × n . Each column of E k × n corresponds to a k -dimensional vector representation for a specific media outlet, i.e., a media embedding. Specifically, the decomposition of matrix A m × n can be formulated as follows:

Equation( 1 ) defines the complete singular value decomposition of A m × n . Both \({U}_{m\times m}^{0}\) and \({({V}_{n\times n}^{0})}^{T}\) are orthogonal matrices. \({{{\Sigma }}}_{m\times n}^{0}\) is a m  ×  n diagonal matrix whose diagonal elements are non-negative singular values of the matrix A m × n in descending order. Equation( 2 ) defines the truncated singular value decomposition (i.e., Truncated SVD) of A m × n . Based on the result of complete singular value decomposition, the part corresponding to the largest k singular values is equivalent to the result of Truncated SVD. Specifically, U m × k comprises the first k columns of the matrix \({U}_{m\times m}^{0}\) , while \({V}_{n\times k}^{T}\) comprises the first k rows of the matrix \({({V}_{n\times n}^{0})}^{T}\) . Additionally, the diagonal matrix Σ k × k is composed of the first k diagonal elements of \({{{\Sigma }}}_{m\times n}^{0}\) , representing the largest k singular values of A m × n . In particular, the media embedding model is defined as the product of the matrices Σ k × k and \({V}_{n\times k}^{T}\) , which has n k -dimensional media embeddings as follows:

To measure the similarity between two media embedding sets, we refer to Word Mover Distance (WMD (Kusner et al. 2015 )). WMD is designed to measure the dissimilarity between two text documents based on word embedding. Here, we subtract the optimal value of the original WMD objective function from 1 to convert the dissimilarity value into a normalized similarity score that ranges from 0 to 1. Specifically, the similarity between two media embedding sets is formulated as follows:

Let n denote the total number of media outlets, and s be an n -dimensional vector corresponding to the first media embedding set. For each i , the weight of media i in the embedding set is given by \({s}_{i}=\frac{1}{\sum_{k = 1}^{n}{t}_{i}}\) , where t i  = 1 if media i is in the embedding set, and t i  = 0 otherwise. Similarly, \({s}^{{\prime} }\) is another n -dimensional vector corresponding to the second media embedding set. The distance between media i and j is calculated using c ( i ,  j ) =  ∥ e i  −  e j ∥ 2 , where e i and e j are the embedding representations of media i and j , respectively. The flow matrix T   ∈   R n × n is used to determine how much media i in s travels to media j in \({s}^{{\prime} }\) . Specifically, T i , j  ≥ 0 denotes the amount of flow from media i to media j .

Media bias estimation by word embedding

Word embedding models (Kenton and Toutanova, 2019 ; Le and Mikolov, 2014 ; Mikolov et al. 2013 ) are widely used in text-related tasks due to their ability to capture rich semantics of natural language. In this study, we regard media bias in news articles as a special type of semantic and capture it using Word2Vec (Le and Mikolov, 2014 ; Mikolov et al. 2013 ).

Supplementary Information Fig. S2 presents the process of building media corpora and training word embedding models to capture media bias. First, we reorganize the corpus for each media outlet by up-sampling to ensure that each media corpus contains the same number of news articles. The advantage of up-sampling is that it makes full use of the existing media corpus data, as opposed to discarding part of the data like down-sampling does. Second, we superimpose all 12 media corpora to construct a large base corpus and pre-train a Word2Vec model denoted as W b a s e based on it. Third, we fine-tune the same pre-trained model W b a s e using the specific corpus of each media outlet separately and get 12 fine-tuned models denoted as \({W}^{{m}_{i}}\) ( i  = 1, 2, . . . 12).

In particular, the main objective of reorganizing the original corpora is to ensure that each corpus equivalently contributes to the pre-training process, in case a large corpus from certain media dominates the pre-trained model. As shown in Supplementary Information Tab. S2 , the largest corpus in 2016-2021 is from USA Today, which contains 295,518 news articles. Therefore, we can reorganize the other 11 media corpora by up-sampling to ensure that each of the 12 corpora has 295,518 articles. For example, as for NPR’s initial corpus, which has 14,654 news articles, we first repeatedly superimpose 295, 518//14, 654 = 20 times to get 293,080 articles and then randomly sample 295, 518%14, 654 = 2, 438 from the initial 14,654 articles as a supplement. Finally, we can get a reorganized NPR corpus with 295,518 articles.

Semantic Differential is a psychological technique proposed by (Osgood et al. 1957 ) to measure people’s psychological attitudes toward a given conceptual object. In the Semantic Differential theory, a given object’s semantic attributes can be evaluated in multiple dimensions. Each dimension consists of two poles corresponding to a pair of adjectives with opposite semantics (i.e., antonym pairs). The position interval between the poles of each dimension is divided into seven equally-sized parts. Then, given the object, respondents are asked to choose one of the seven parts in each dimension. The closer the position is to a pole, the closer the respondent believes the object is semantically related to the corresponding adjective. Supplementary Information Fig. S3 provides an example of Semantic Differential.

Constructing evaluation dimensions using antonym pairs in Semantic Differential is a reliable idea that aligns with how people generally evaluate things. For example, when imagining the gender-related characteristics of an occupation (e.g., nurse), individuals usually weigh between “man” and “woman”, both of which are antonyms regarding gender. Likewise, when it comes to giving an impression of the income level of the Asian race, people tend to weigh between “rich” (high income) and “poor” (low income), which are antonyms related to income. Based on such consistency, we can naturally apply Semantic Differential to measure a media outlet’s attitudes towards different entities and concepts, i.e., media bias.

Specifically, given a media m , a topic T (e.g., gender) and two semantically opposite topic word sets \(P={\{{p}_{i}\}}_{i = 1}^{{K}_{1}}\) and \(\neg P={\{\neg {p}_{i}\}}_{i = 1}^{{K}_{2}}\) about topic T , media m ’s bias towards the target x can be defined as:

Here, K 1 and K 2 denote the number of words in topic word sets P and ¬  P , respectively. W m represents the word embedding model obtained by fine-tuning W b a s e using the specific corpus of media m . \(\overrightarrow{{W}_{x}^{m}}\) is the embedding representation of the word x in W m . S i m is a similarity function used to measure the similarity between two vectors (i.e., word embeddings). In practice, we employ the cosine similarity function, which is commonly used in the field of natural language processing. In particular, equation( 5 ) calculates the difference of average similarities between the target word x and two semantically opposite topic word sets, namely P and ¬  P . Similar to the antonym pairs in Semantic Differential, such two topic word sets are used to construct the evaluation scale of media bias. In practice, to ensure the stability of the results, we have repeated this experiment five times, each time with a different random seed for up-sampling. Therefore, the final results shown in Fig. 4 are the average bias values for each topic.

The idea of recovering media bias by embedding methods

We first analyzed media bias from the aspect of event selection to study which topics a media outlet tends to focus on or ignore. Based on the GDELT database, we constructed a large “media-event" matrix that records the times each media outlet mentioned each event in news reports from February to April 2022. To extract media bias information, we referred to the idea of Latent Semantic Analysis (Deerwester et al. 1990 ) and performed Truncated SVD (Halko et al. 2011 ) on this matrix to generate vector representation (i.e., media embedding) for each media outlet (See Methods for details). Specifically, outlets with similar event selection bias (i.e., outlets that often report on events of similar topics) will have similar media embeddings. Such a bias encoded in the vector representation of each outlet is exactly the first type of media bias we aim to study.

Then, we analyzed media bias in news articles to investigate the value judgments and attitudes conveyed by media through their news articles. We collected more than 1.2 million news articles from 12 mainstream US news outlets, spanning from January 2016 to December 2021, via MediaCloud’s API. To identify media bias from each outlet’s corpus, we performed three sequential steps: (1) Pre-train a Word2Vec word embedding model based on all outlets’ corpora. (2) Fine-tune the pre-trained model by using the specific corpus of each outlet separately and obtain 12 fine-tuned models corresponding to the 12 outlets. (3) Quantify each outlet’s bias based on the corresponding fine-tuned model, combined with the idea of Semantic Differential, i.e., measuring the embedding similarities between the target words and two sets of topic words with opposite semantics (See Methods for details). An example of using Semantic Differential (Osgood et al. 1957 ) to quantify media bias is shown in Supplementary Information Fig. S4 .

Media show significant clustering due to their regions and organizations

In this experiment, we aimed to capture and analyze the event selection bias of different media outlets based on the proposed media embedding methodology. To achieve a comprehensive analysis, we selected 247 media outlets from 8 countries ( Supplementary Information Tab. S6) , including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand-six English-speaking nations with India and China, two populous countries. For each country, we chose media outlets that were the most active during February-April 2022, with media activity measured by the quantity of news reports. We then generated embedding representations for each media outlet via Truncated SVD and performed K-means clustering (Lloyd, 1982 ; MacQueen, 1967 ) on the obtained media embedding representations (with K  = 10) for further analysis. Details of the experiment are presented in the first section of the supplementary Information. Figure 2 visualizes the clustering results.

There are 247 media outlets from 8 countries: Canada (CA), Ireland (IE), United Kingdom (UK), China (CN), United States (US), India (IN), Australia (AU), and New Zealand (NZ). Each circle in the visualization represents a media outlet, with its color indicating the cluster it belongs to, and its diameter proportional to the number of events reported by the outlet between February and April 2022. The text in each circle represents the name or abbreviation of a media outlet (See Supplementary Information Tab. S6 for details). The results indicate that media outlets from the same country tend to be grouped together in clusters. Moreover, the majority of media outlets in the Fox series form a distinct cluster, indicating a high degree of similarity in their event selection bias.

First, we find that media outlets from different countries tend to form distinct clusters, signifying the regional nature of media bias. Specifically, we can interpret Fig. 2 from two different perspectives, and both come to this conclusion. On the one hand, most media outlets from the same country tend to appear in a limited number of clusters, which suggests that they share similar event selection bias. On the other hand, as we can see, media outlets in the same cluster mostly come from the same country, indicating that media exhibiting similar event selection bias tends to be from the same country. In our view, differences in geographical location lead to diverse initial event information accessibility for media outlets from different regions, thus shaping the content they choose to report.

Besides, we observe an intriguing pattern where the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, despite their geographical separation, share similar event selection biases as they are clustered together. This abnormal phenomenon could be attributed to their status as international media outlets, which enables them to cover various global events, thus leading to extensive overlapping news coverage. In addition, 16 out of the 21 Fox series media outlets form a distinct cluster on their own, suggesting that a media outlet’s bias is strongly associated with the organization it belongs to. After all, media outlets within the same organization often tend to prioritize or overlook specific events due to shared positions, interests, and other influencing factors.

International hot topics drive media bias to converge

Previous results have revealed a significant correlation between media bias and the location of a media outlet. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to further investigate the event selection biases of media outlets from 25 different countries. To achieve this, we gathered GDELT data spanning from February to April 2022 and created three “media-event” matrices on a monthly basis. We then subjected each month’s “media-event” matrix to the same processing steps: (1) generating an embedding representation for each media outlet through matrix decomposition, (2) obtaining the embedding representation of each media outlet that belongs to each country to construct a media embedding set, and (3) calculating the similarity between every two countries (i.e., each two media embedding sets) using Word Mover Distance (WMD (Kusner et al. 2015 )) as the similarity metric (See Methods for details). Figure 3 presents the changes in event selection bias similarity amongst media outlets from different countries between February and April 2022.

The horizontal axis in this figure represents the time axis, measured in months. Meanwhile, the vertical axis indicates the event selection similarity between Ukrainian media and media from other countries. Each circle represents a country, with the font inside it representing the corresponding country’s abbreviation (see details in Supplementary Information Tab. S3) . The size of a circle corresponds to the average event selection similarity between the media of a specific country and the media of all other countries. The color of the circle corresponds to the vertical axis scale. The blue dotted line’s ordinate represents the median similarity to Ukrainian media.

We find that the similarities between Ukraine and other countries peaked significantly in March 2022. This result aligns with the timeline of the Russia-Ukraine conflict: the conflict broke out around February 22, attracting media attention worldwide. In March, the conflict escalated, and the regional situation became increasingly tense, leading to even more media coverage worldwide. By April, the prolonged conflict had made the international media accustomed to it, resulting in a decline in media interest. Furthermore, we observed that the event selection biases of media outlets in both EG (Egypt) and CN (China) differed significantly from those of other countries. Given that both countries are not predominantly English-speaking, their English-language media outlets may have specific objectives such as promoting their national image and culture, which could influence and constrain the topics that a media outlet tends to cover.

Additionally, we observe that in March 2022, the country with the highest similarity to Ukraine was Russia, and in April, it was Poland. This change can be attributed to the evolving regional situation. In March, when the conflict broke out, media reports primarily focused on the warring parties, namely Russia and Ukraine. As the war continued, the impact of the war on Ukraine gradually became the focus of media coverage. For instance, the war led to the migration of a large number of Ukrainian citizens to nearby countries, among which Poland received the most citizens of Ukraine at that time.

Media shows diverse biases on different topics

In this experiment, we took 12 mainstream US news outlets as examples and conducted a quantitative media bias analysis on three typical topics (Fan and Gardent, 2022 ; Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015b ; Sun and Peng, 2021 ): Gender bias (about occupation); Political bias (about the American state); Income bias (about race & ethnicity). The topic words for each topic are listed in Supplementary Information Tab. S4 . These topic words are sourced from related literature (Caliskan et al. 2017 ), and search engines, along with the authors’ intuitive assessments.

Gender bias in terms of Occupation

In news coverage, media outlets may intentionally or unintentionally associate an occupation with a particular gender (e.g., stereotypes like police-man, nurse-woman). Such gender bias can subtly affect people’s attitudes towards different occupations and even impact employment fairness. To analyze gender biases in news coverage towards 8 common occupations (note that more occupations can be studied using the same methodology), we examined 12 mainstream US media outlets. As shown in Fig. 4 a, all these outlets tend to associate “teacher” and “nurse” with women. In contrast, when reporting on “police,” “driver,” “lawyer,” and “scientist,” most outlets show bias towards men. As for “director” and “photographer,” only slightly more than half of the outlets show bias towards men. Supplementary Information Tab. S5 shows the proportion of women in the eight occupations in America according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Footnote 7 . Women’s proportions in “teacher” and “nurse” dominate, while men’s in “police,” “driver,” and “lawyer” are significantly higher. Besides, among “directors,” “scientists,” and “photographers,” the proportions of women and men are about the same. Comparing the experiment results with USCB’s statistics, we find that these media outlets’ gender bias towards an occupation is highly consistent with the actual women (or men) ratio in the occupation. Such a phenomenon highlights the potential for media outlets to perpetuate and reinforce existing gender bias in society, emphasizing the need for increased awareness and attention to media bias. Note that we reorganized the corpus of each media outlet by up-sampling during the data preprocessing process, which introduced some randomness to the experiment results (See Methods for details). Therefore, we set five different random seeds for up-sampling and repeated the experiment mentioned above five times. A two-tailed t-test on the difference between the results shown in Fig. 4 a and the results of current repeated experiments showed no significant difference ( Supplementary Information Fig. S6) .

Each column corresponds to a media outlet, and each row corresponds to a target word which usually means an entity or concept in the news text. The color bar on the right describes the value range of the bias value, with each interval of the bias value corresponding to a different color. As the bias value changes from negative to positive, the corresponding color changes from purple to yellow. Because the range of bias values differs across each topic, the color bar of different topics can also vary. The color of each heatmap square corresponds to an interval in the color bar. Specifically, the square located in row i and column j represents the bias of media j when reporting on target i. a Gender bias about eight common occupations. b Income bias about four races or ethnicities. c Political bias about the top-10 “red state” (Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Idaho, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Dakota, Alabama, Texas) and the top-10 “blue state” (Hawaii, Vermont, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, Connecticut, Illinois) according to the CPVI ranking (Ardehaly and Culotta, 2017 ). Limited by the page layout, only the top-8 results are shown here. Please refer to Supplementary Information Fig. S5 for the complete results.

Income bias in terms of Race and Ethnicity

Media coverage often discusses the income of different groups of people, including many races and ethnicities. Here, we aim to investigate whether the media outlets are biased in their income coverage, such as associating a specific race or ethnicity with rich or poor. To this end, we selected four US racial and ethnic groups as research subjects: Asian, African, Hispanic, and Latino. In line with previous studies (Grieco and Cassidy, 2015 ; Nerenz et al. 2009 ; Perez and Hirschman, 2009 ), we considered Asian and African as racial categories and Hispanic and Latino as ethnic categories. Referring to the income statistics from USCB Footnote 8 , we do not strictly distinguish these concepts and compare them together. As shown in Fig. 4 b, for the majority of media outlets, Asian is most frequently associated with the rich, with ESPN being the only exception. This anomalous finding may be attributed to ESPN’s position as a sports media, with a primary emphasis on sports that are particularly popular with Hispanic, Latino, and African-American audiences, such as soccer, basketball, and golf. Additionally, there is a significant disparity in the media’s coverage of income bias toward Africans, Hispanics, and Latinos. Specifically, the biases towards Hispanic and Latino populations are generally comparable, with both groups being portrayed as richer than African Americans in most media coverage. Referring to the aforementioned income statistics of the U.S. population, the income rankings of different races and ethnicities have remained stable from 1950 to 2020: Asians have consistently had the highest income, followed by Hispanics with the second-highest income, and African Americans with the lowest income (the income of Black Americans is used as an approximation for African Americans). It is worth noting that USCB considers Hispanic and Latino to be the same ethnicity, although there are some controversies surrounding this practice (Mora, 2014 ; Rodriguez, 2000 ). However, these controversies are not the concern of this work, so we use Hispanic income as an approximation of Latino income following USCB. Comparing our experiment results with USCB’s income statistics, we find that the media outlets’ income bias towards different races and ethnicities is roughly consistent with their actual income levels. A two-tailed t-test on the difference between the results shown in Fig. 4 b and the results of repeated experiments showed no significant difference ( Supplementary Information Fig. S7) .

Political bias in terms of Region

Numerous studies have shown that media outlets tend to publish politically biased news articles that support the political parties they favor while criticizing those they oppose (Lazaridou et al. 2020 ; Puglisi, 2011 ). For example, a report from the Red State described liberals as regressive leftists with mental health issues. Conversely, a story from Right Wing News reported that Obama’s administration was terrible (Lazaridou et al. 2020 ). Such political inclinations will hinder readers’ objective judgment of political events and affect their attitudes toward different political parties. Therefore, we analyzed the political biases of 12 mainstream US media outlets when talking about different US states, aiming to increase public awareness of such biases in news coverage. As shown in Fig. 4 c, in the reports of these media outlets, most red states lean Republican, while most blue states lean Democrat. In particular, some blue states also show a leaning toward Republicans, such as Hawaii and Maryland. Such an abnormal phenomenon can be attributed to the source of the corpus data used in this study. The corpus data, which was used to train word embedding models, spans from January 2016 to December 2021. During this period, the Republican Party was in power, with Trump serving as president from January 2017 to January 2021. Thus, the majority of the data was collected during the Republican administration. We suggest that Trump’s presidency resulted in increased media coverage of the Republican Party, thus causing some blue states to be associated more frequently with Republicans in news reports. A two-tailed t-test on the difference between the results shown in Fig. 4 c and the results of repeated experiments showed no significant difference ( Supplementary Information Fig. S8 and Fig. S9) .

Media logic and news evaluation are two important concepts in social science. The former refers to the rules, conventions, and strategies that the media follow in the production, dissemination, and reception of information, reflecting the media’s organizational structure, commercial interests, and socio-cultural background (Altheide, 2015 ). The latter refers to the systematic analysis of the quality, effectiveness, and impact of news reports, involving multiple criteria and dimensions such as truthfulness, accuracy, fairness, balance, objectivity, diversity, etc. When studying media bias issues, media logic provides a framework for understanding the rules and patterns of media operations, while news evaluation helps identify and analyze potential biases in media reports. For example, to study media’s political bias, (D’heer, 2018 ; Esser and Strömbäck, 2014 ) compare the frameworks, languages, and perspectives used by traditional news media and social media in reporting political elections, so as to understand the impact of these differences on voters’ attitudes and behaviors. However, in spite of the progress, these methods often rely on manual observation and interpretation, thus inefficient and susceptible to human bias and errors.

In this work, we propose an automated media bias analysis framework that enables us to uncover media bias on a large scale. To carry out this study, we amassed an extensive dataset, comprising over 8 million event records and 1.2 million news articles from a diverse range of media outlets (see details of the data collection process in Methods). Our research delves into media bias from two distinct yet highly pertinent perspectives. From the macro perspective, we aim to uncover the event selection bias of each media outlet, i.e., which types of events a media outlet tends to report on. From the micro perspective, our goal is to quantify the bias of each media outlet in wording and sentence construction when composing news articles about the selected events. The experimental results align well with our existing knowledge and relevant statistical data, indicating the effectiveness of embedding methods in capturing the characteristics of media bias. The methodology we employed is unified and intuitive and follows a basic idea. First, we train embedding models using real-world data to capture and encode media bias. At this step, based on the characteristics of different types of media bias, we choose appropriate embedding methods to model them respectively (Deerwester et al. 1990 ; Le and Mikolov, 2014 ; Mikolov et al. 2013 ). Then, we utilize various methods, including cluster analysis (Lloyd, 1982 ; MacQueen, 1967 ), similarity calculation (Kusner et al. 2015 ), and semantic differential (Osgood et al. 1957 ), to extract media bias information from the obtained embedding models.

To capture the event selection biases of different media outlets, we employ Truncated SVD (Halko et al. 2011 ) on the “media-event” matrix to generate media embeddings. Truncated SVD is a widely used technique in NLP. In particular, LSA (Deerwester et al. 1990 ) applies Truncated SVD to the “document-word” matrix to capture the underlying topic-based semantic relationships between text documents and words. LSA assumes that a document tends to use relevant words when it talks about a particular topic and obtains the vector representation for each document in a latent topic space, where documents talking about similar topics are located near each other. By analogizing media outlets and events with documents and words, we can naturally apply Truncate SVD to explore media bias in the event selection process. Specifically, we assume that there are underlying topics when considering a media outlet’s event selection bias. If a media focuses on a topic, it will tend to report events related to that topic and otherwise ignore them. Therefore, media outlets sharing similar event selection biases (i.e., tend to report events about similar topics) will be close to each other in the latent topic space, which provides a good opportunity for us to study media bias (See Methods and Results for details).

When describing something, relevant contexts must be considered. For instance, positive and negative impressions are conveyed through the use of context words such as “diligent” and “lazy”, respectively. Similarly, a media outlet’s attitude towards something is reflected in the news context in which it is presented. Here, we study the association between each target and its news contexts based on the co-occurrence relationship between words. Our underlying assumption is that frequently co-occurring words are strongly associated, which aligns with the idea of word embedding models (Kenton and Toutanova, 2019 ; Le and Mikolov, 2014 ; Mikolov et al. 2013 ), where the embeddings of frequently co-occurring words are relatively similar. For example, suppose that in the corpus of media M, the word “scientist” often co-occurs with female-related words (e.g., “woman” and “she”, etc.) but rarely with those male-related words. Then, the semantic similarities of “scientist” with female-related words should be much higher than those of male-related words in the word embedding model. Therefore, we can conclude that media M’s reports on scientists are biased towards women.

According to the theory of Semantic Differential (Osgood et al. 1957 ), the difference in semantic similarities between “scientist” and female-related words versus male-related words can serve as an estimation of media M’s gender bias. Since we have kept all settings (e.g., corpus size, starting point for model fine-tuning, etc.) the same when training word embedding models for different media outlets, the estimated bias values can be interpreted as absolute ones within the same reference system. In other words, the estimated bias values for different media outlets are directly comparable in this study, with a value of 0 denoting unbiased and a value closer to 1 or -1 indicating a more pronounced bias.

We notice that there has been literature investigating the choice of events/topics and words/frames to measure media bias, such as partisan and ideological biases (Gentzkow et al. 2015 ; Puglisi and Snyder Jr, 2015b ). However, our approach not only considers bias related to the selective reporting of events (using event embedding) but also studies biased wording in news texts (using word embedding). While the former focuses on the macro level, the latter examines the micro level. These two perspectives are distinct yet highly relevant, but previous studies often only consider one of them. For the choice of events/topics, our approach allows us to explore how they change over time. For example, we can analyze the time-changing similarities between media outlets from different countries, as shown in Fig. 3 . For the choice of words/frames, prior work has either analyzed specific biases based on the frequency of particular words (Gentzkow and Shapiro, 2010 ; Gentzkow et al. 2006 ), which fails to capture deeper semantics in media language or analyzed specific biases by merely aggregating the analysis results for every single article in the corpus (e.g., calculating the sentiment (Gentzkow et al. 2006 ; Lott Jr and Hassett, 2014 ; Soroka, 2012 ) of each article or its similarity with certain authorship (Gentzkow and Shapiro, 2010 ; Groseclose and Milyo, 2005 ), then summing them up as the final bias value), without considering the relationships between different articles, thus lacking a holistic nature. In contrast, our method, based on word embeddings (Le and Mikolov, 2014 ; Mikolov et al. 2013 ), directly models the semantic associations between all words and entities in the corpus with a neural network, offering advantages in capturing both semantic meaning and holistic nature. Specially, we not only utilize word embedding techniques but also integrate them with appropriate psychological/sociological theories, such as the Semantic Differential theory and the Cognitive Miser theory. These theories endow our approach with better interpretability. In addition, the method we propose is a generalizable framework for studying media bias using embedding techniques. While this study has focused on validating its effectiveness with specific types of media bias, it can actually be applied to a broader range of media bias research. We will expand the application of this framework in future work.

As mentioned above, our proposed framework examines media bias from two distinct but highly relevant perspectives. Here, taking the significant Russia-Ukraine conflict event as an example, we will demonstrate how these two perspectives contribute to providing researchers and the public with a more comprehensive and objective assessment of media bias. For instance, we can gather relevant news articles and event reporting records about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict from various media outlets worldwide and generate media and word embedding models. Then, according to the embedding similarities of different media outlets, we can judge which types of events each media outlet tends to report and select some media that tend to report on different events. By synthesizing the news reports of the selected media, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the conflict instead of being limited to the information selectively provided by a few media. Besides, based on the word embedding model and the bias estimation method based on Semantic Differential, we can objectively judge each media’s attitude towards Russia and Ukraine (e.g., whether a media tends to use positive or negative words to describe either party). Once a news outlet is detected as apparently biased, we should read its articles more carefully to avoid being misled.

In the end, despite the advantages of our framework, there are still some shortcomings that need improvement. First, while the media embeddings generated based on matrix decomposition have successfully captured media bias in the event selection process, interpreting these continuous numerical vectors directly can be challenging. We hope that future work will enable the media embedding to directly explain what a topic exactly means and which topics a media outlet is most interested in, thus helping us understand media bias better. Second, since there is no absolute, independent ground truth on which events have occurred and should have been covered, the aforementioned media selection bias, strictly speaking, should be understood as relative topic coverage, which is a narrower notion. Third, for topics involving more complex semantic relationships, estimating media bias using scales based on antonym pairs and the Semantic Differential theory may not be feasible, which needs further investigation in the future.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available at https://github.com/CGCL-codes/media-bias .

Code availability

The code that supports the findings of this study is also available at https://github.com/CGCL-codes/media-bias .

https://fair.org/home/when-both-sides-are-covered-in-verizon-strike-bosses-side-is-heard-more/ .

These views were extracted from reports by some mainstream US media outlets in 2022 when the Democratic Party (left-wing) was in power.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/world/middleeast/women-iran-protests-hijab.html .

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/asia/uighurs-veils-a-protest-against-chinas-curbs.html .

https://www.gdeltproject.org/ .

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https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm .

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Acknowledgements

The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62127808).

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Huang, H., Zhu, H., Liu, W. et al. Uncovering the essence of diverse media biases from the semantic embedding space. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 656 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03143-w

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Show and tell: Creating guidelines for assuring the credibility of health information sources on social media

You’re reading Show and Tell, which highlights communication “wins” from our community. Want more inspiration like this?  Subscribe to our Call to Action newsletter . What to see your work here?   Tell us about your win . 

Who I am : Dr. James O’Donovan, MBBS, MRes, PhD, Director of Research at Community Health Impact Coalition , Technical Advisor to WHO, NHS physician, and creator of the Doctor O’Donovan Medical Education channels , which have 300,000+ subscribers and 100,000 million video views.

What I created: In 2023 I was one of two expert clinician creators involved in the co-development of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges guidelines titled “ Assuring the credibility of health information sources on social media platforms “, which were produced with funding from YouTube. These are the first guidelines to help creators and organizations create digital content that is reliable, trustworthy, and accessible. They also highlight ways to identify and continuously assess the credibility of creators and organizations.

Why it matters: Social media content is a major and valuable source of health information for millions of people. In fact, almost 6 in 10 U.S. adults search the internet for health information that they use to inform their health decisions. It is therefore essential that this information is accurate and trustworthy and that health communicators assure the public of the quality and credibility of that information. This is why we developed these guidelines. It is unrealistic and not necessarily desirable to monitor every piece of health information on social media. Instead, we devised a system to help people evaluate the credibility of the sources and communicators of health information.

What I learned: Being involved in this process taught me several valuable lessons:

• Diverse stakeholder engagement is crucial: Developing guidelines with entities like The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, NHS Providers, and patient advocacy groups taught me the importance of engaging with a diverse group of stakeholders. Doing so is critical to create comprehensive and inclusive guidelines.
• Evidence-based communication is essential: The development of the guidelines made me reflect on the importance of grounding communication in reliable and scientifically valid data. Beyond this, it made me reflect on how we communicate this effectively to a general audience. In an age of mis- and dis-information it is critical that health information is conveyed in plain, jargon-free language, is presented in a range of languages for diverse audiences, cites trusted sources, and is delivered in an engaging fashion that harnesses the full ’social-learning’ capacities of digital technologies (e.g. patients sharing their experiences to facilitate community and peer-to-peer learning).
• Effective communication is based on a foundation of trust: Part of the guidelines focus on how to effectively communicate potential conflicts of interest with your audience. This involves disclosing conflicts in a way that is accessible to content users. We need to provide a mechanism for public feedback and post public corrections or retractions. In an age of increasing commercial interests in the health space, establishing trust though clear and transparent communication is paramount. With significant influence, health creators should always adhere to the principle of “primum non nocere” (“first, do no harm”) when creating content that has the potential to be accessed by millions globally.

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Strategic communication and tackling disinformation

Disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference are a serious threat to our societies. They can undermine democratic institutions and processes (such as elections) by preventing people from making informed decisions or discouraging them from voting. And they can polarise societies by pitting communities against each other.

New technologies have made it possible for hostile actors to spread disinformation and to manipulate information at a scale and with a speed never seen before.

Therefore, tackling disinformation and information manipulation is one of the most pressing issues for the European Union and its Member States. 

Source: Standard Eurobarometer 100 - Autumn 2023

With over half the world taking part in elections this year, 2024 will be an important year for democracy. On 6-9 June 2024, around 400 million EU citizens will have the chance to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament.

How are we responding?

The European Commission is strengthening its strategic communication in response to disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference targeting EU policies. This requires a whole of society approach, as many sectors of our societies have an important role in play in preventing and countering disinformation. Beyond this response, it is important to ensure that citizens have access to quality news and information they can trust.

Our response to disinformation is centred around:

• Developing policies to strengthen our democracies, make it more difficult for disinformation actors to misuse online platforms, and protect journalists and media pluralism
• Raising awareness about disinformation and our preparedness and response
• Building societal resilience against disinformation through media literacy and fact-checking
• Cooperating with other institutions, national authorities or third parties

Main fields of action

Promoting free and fair elections, protecting public debate and countering disinformation through the Democracy Action Plan and Defence of Democracy Package

Ensuring that platforms take responsibility in countering disinformation, thanks to the Digital Services Act, the Code of practice on disinformation, the AI Act, and transparency of political advertising

Anti-SLAPP and Media Freedom Act: new rules in place to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU

Debunking common myths and narratives, exposing disinformation tactics and countering Russia’s systematic information manipulation and ensuring preparedness in case of cyberattacks

Enabling citizens to navigate the modern news environment, providing guidance for tackling disinformation through education and helping teachers and young people recognise and stop it

Supporting Europe's independent communities working to combat disinformation and ensuring public access to fact-checked and trust-worthy data and information

Awareness-raising, preparedness and response

A post from the European Commission's social media presence with tips on how to detect disinformation.

The post reads:

"Clickbait, bots, fake stories, deepfakes and much more can come in various forms.

With our Digital Services Act, we are at the forefront when it comes to creating a safer digital space and experience.

But everybody can play an important role in combating the spread of disinformation online.

Look at our visuals and discover how!

#EuropeanUnion #EUvsDisif o #FactMatters "

Awareness-raising is key to our approach to highlighting and debunking false information. 

This includes communication to explain the risks of disinformation, or the most common methods used by disinformation actors, as well as tips to detect disinformation.

EUvsDisinfo

Launched in 2015 by the EU’s diplomatic service, the European External Action Service (EEAS), EUvsDisinfo is a flagship project to identify, analyse and raise awareness of disinformation in its different shapes and forms, with a focus on common narratives and  tactics from the Kremlin.

Read more on what the EEAS is doing to counter disinformation

Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks can happen at the same time as, and even be coordinated with, disinformation campaigns, and can be part of a wider strategy to influence or destabilize democratic processes. 

Boosting cybersecurity and related awareness is also part of the resilience-building. EU countries cooperate to prepare for potential cyber threats. They are supported by EU institutions, bodies and agencies, such as the EU Agency for Cybersecurity or the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU institutions, bodies and agencies. 

Sanctions against Kremlin media outlets

Russia has engaged in a large-scale campaign of disinformation in its attempt to destablise the European Union and its Member States.

To counteract this, the EU has adopted sanctions against the Kremlin's disinformation and information manipulation assets and actors .

Responding to hybrid threats 

The EU has also developed a comprehensive policy framework to address hybrid threats. These are strategies designed to exploit the vulnerabilities of countries and societies by combining military and non-military means such as cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns or economic pressure. 

The EU is deploying  Hybrid Rapid Response Teams to support EU Member States and partner countries in countering hybrid threats. They will provide tailored and targeted short-term assistance to EU countries, Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations, and partner countries in countering hybrid threats and campaigns. 

Building societal resilience against disinformation

To counter disinformation, it is essential that citizens, organisations and public authorities are all well-equipped.

Increasing media literacy

Media literacy is important for building societal resilience against disinformation. The capacity to access, have a critical understanding of the media and interact with it, is crucial.

Media literacy enables citizens to navigate the modern digital news environment and make well-informed choices. It is especially important that we learn how to recognise disinformation from an early age; as such, education forms a crucial role in ensuring a media-literate public.

The revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) seeks to ensure that Member States promote and take measures that develop media literacy skills and to report on these measures.

We have also made available resources to support Member States, educators and organisations to contribute to the fight against disinformation.

Guidelines for Member States to enable citizens of all ages to navigate the modern news environment and make informed decisions

Hands-on guidance on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy through education

With this toolkit, secondary school teachers can support their students to spot disinformation when they are browsing online

Supporting fact-checking organisations

Fact-checking is a crucial pillar of our approach to disinformation. Fact-checkers help assess and verify content to provide the public with accurate, reliable information they can trust.  

To promote fact-checking and raise awareness of fact-checked information to citizens, we are supporting independent fact-checkers. 

European Digital Media Observatory

The  European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) is a project that supports an independent multidisciplinary community, composed of for fact-checkers, academics, media literacy practitioners  and other relevant stakeholders, joining forces to fight disinformation. The EDMO network provides a comprehensive geographic coverage of the EU. In view of the upcoming European elections, EDMO has set up a dedicated task force to detect and alert about the spread of disinformation around the elections. The task force will issue daily updates about debunked disinformation (fact-checks), weekly updates with disinformation trends as well as early warnings and relevant investigations. EDMO will also conduct a media literacy campaign, “Be Elections Smart”.

European Fact-Checking Standards Network

The European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) is an independent association of European fact-checking organisations that upholds and promotes the highest standards of fact-checking and media literacy to combat misinformation for the public benefit. EFCSN and its verified members work to promote access to fact-checked trustworthy information and to educate the public in how to assess the accuracy of information in the public sphere.

Timeline of EU actions against disinformation

The Commission publishes guidelines under the Digital Services Act for Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines to mitigate risks online that may impact the integrity of elections, with specific guidance for the European Parliament elections in June 2024

A new Cybersecurity compendium on how to protect integrity of elections is published

The Commission adopts the Defence of Democracy Package ahead of the 2024 European elections

The Commission publishes a call for proposals to support EU fact-checkers in identifying and debunking disinformation

The Commission publishes guidelines for teachers and educators in primary and secondary schools on how to address disinformation and promote digital literacy in their classrooms

The Commission presents a proposal for the European Media Freedom Act

A strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation is signed by major online platforms, emerging and specialised platforms, players in the advertising industry, fact-checkers, research and civil society organisations

The Commission presents a proposal for new laws on transparency and targeting of political advertising

The Commission presents a proposal for the Digital Services Act

The Commission establishes its European Democracy Action Plan

The European Digital Media Observatory  is launched

The EEAS launches its Rapid Alert System

The Commission and the EEAS establish an Action plan against disinformation  

The first Code of Practice against disinformation is established

The Commission publishes a Communication on securing free and fair European elections  

The Commission publishes a Communication on tackling online disinformation

A Joint Framework on countering hybrid threats is adopted to counter hostile actions designed to destabilise a region or a state

• Show 14 more items

Launch of the EEAS East StratCom Task Force to address Russian disinformation campaigns

Related links

Commission resources.

DG CNECT - Tackling online disinformation

DG CNECT – Media literacy

DG JUST - Democracy and electoral rights

DG JUST – European cooperation network on elections

DG EAC - Tutorial on media literacy ahead of 2024 European elections

Video campaign - Raising awareness of disinformation ahead of the 2024 EU elections

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Climate crisis requires behavioral change, and social media may be a powerful tool to help bring it about, Kelley research shows

Posted on May 24, 2024 by George Vlahakis

Social media can be an effective tool to encourage prosocial behavior benefiting others.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Much has been said about the power of social media – for good and for bad — and its importance as a communications and engagement tool. Research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business shows how social media can be an effective tool to encourage prosocial behavior benefiting others — such as energy conservation.

“By combining social proof appeals with the ease of use, scalability, and cost effectiveness of social media, new media in marketing can help play a role in affecting positive change along many social dimensions, including behavior related to climate change,” Kelley Gullo Wight , assistant professor of marketing at the Kelley School, and her two co-authors wrote in their paper, “ Making Prosocial Social: The Effectiveness of Social Proof for Energy Conservation Using Social Media .”

Kelley Gullo Wight

“Addressing the current climate crisis requires behavioral change, and social media may potentially be a powerful tool to help influence such change,” they added. “Social media is a cheap and scalable channel, which enables users to reach an audience of similarly minded individuals in order to encourage environmentally sustainable behavior, such as saving energy.”

Their findings are consistent with the remarkable results of efforts by climate activist Greta Thunberg , who successfully used social media to encourage fellow school students worldwide to participate in weekly school strikes to raise awareness about climate change. Thunberg employed two powerful marketing tactics – her affiliation with fellow students and social proof – and millions joined her.

In their research, Wight and her co-authors set out to examine the effectiveness of social media in nudging energy-saving behavior and how it can be best leveraged to bring about mass behavioral change to address the climate crisis. To do that, they used evidence from both a large-scale energy efficiency campaign, the Rhode Island Energy Challenge , which was a partnership between non-profit  SmartPower and the electric utility National Grid, and a controlled experiment the authors conducted.

The results of both studies found that social media messages sent by someone with whom the recipients are affiliated — such as local employers, faith-based organizations, or municipal governments — are substantially more effective, particularly when providing evidence of proof that others are taking positive actions – social proof.

This was even the case when an organization isn’t otherwise directly connected to the desired prosocial behavioral outcome.

“This runs counter to what one might predict in other contexts, such as using social media to sell consumer goods, in which nonaffiliate message senders – such as influencers, celebrities and domain experts — may be more effective,” Wight said.

“Prosocial behavior is characterized by an intent to benefit others, through activities such as sharing, helping, and volunteering. It is, by its definition, tied to a community and when we engage in it, we intend to do something for the good of the community,” she added. “Unlike when social media is used to promote a product or service, when a group that a person belongs to encourages a prosocial behavior, it is implied that engaging in it benefits themselves and one another, which is what we found.”

Other authors of the paper, which appears in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, published by the University of Chicago Press, are Bryan Bollinger , professor of marketing and the George A. Kellner Faculty Fellow at New York University’s Stern School of Business; and Kenneth Gillingham , senior associate dean of academic affairs and professor of economics at the Yale University School of the Environment.

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More Americans want the journalists they get news from to share their politics than any other personal trait

Most Americans say it is not important that the news they get comes from journalists who share their political views, age, gender or other traits. But people are more likely to say it is important for journalists to share their politics than any other characteristic we asked about. And certain demographic groups place more value than others on the personal traits of their journalists.

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey asked Americans how important it is for the journalists they get news from to have six personal characteristics that are similar to their own.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis as part of a broader look at Americans’ views of the news media. The data for this analysis comes from a survey of 10,701 U.S. adults from March 13 to 19, 2023.

Everyone who completed the survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the  ATP’s methodology .

Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey  methodology .

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest analysis in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About four-in-ten Americans say it is at least somewhat important that they get news from journalists who share their political views (39%). That is nearly double the share who say the same about getting news from journalists who share their religious views (22%) or who talk or sound like them (20%).

Smaller shares say they want to get news from journalists who are similar to them in age (15%), share their race or ethnicity (14%), or share their gender (10%).

On several of these questions, opinions vary based on respondents’ political views, age and other personal traits.

Political views

Similar shares of Republicans and Democrats say it is at least somewhat important for the news they get to come from journalists who share their political views. Four-in-ten Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say this, compared with 41% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

When combining party and ideology, people who place themselves at either end of the political spectrum are more likely than those toward the center to say journalists’ politics are important.

• Roughly half each of conservative Republicans (47%) and liberal Democrats (50%) say it is important that the news they get comes from journalists who share their politics.
• Smaller shares of liberal and moderate Republicans (29%) and conservative and moderate Democrats (33%) hold this view. 

Younger adults are more likely than older Americans to say they want news from journalists who are around the same age as them. Among U.S. adults ages 18 to 29, 23% say this is at least somewhat important, compared with one-in-ten of those ages 65 and older.

Younger adults are also more likely than older adults to say it’s important that the journalists they get news from are the same gender as them; still, large majorities say this is not important. Some 16% of those ages 18 to 29 say it is at least somewhat important for journalists to share their gender, versus 6% of those 65 and older.

Race or ethnicity

Black Americans are more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to say it is important they get news from journalists who share several of their characteristics – particularly their race or ethnicity.

About four-in-ten Black Americans (41%) say it is at least somewhat important that the news they get comes from journalists who share their race or ethnicity. A quarter of Hispanic Americans, 20% of Asian Americans and just 5% of White Americans say the same.

For more information on how Black Americans answered these questions, read our report on Black Americans and news .

Overall, Americans who identify with a religion are more likely than those who are religiously unaffiliated to find it at least somewhat important to get news from journalists who share their religious views (26% vs. 15%).

Among Christians, Protestants are more likely than Catholics to say it is important for journalists to share their religious views (30% vs. 21%). But there are also differences among Protestants and among Catholics:

• White evangelical Protestants (37%) and Black Protestants (33%) are about twice as likely as White nonevangelical Protestants (16%) to say this.
• About three-in-ten Hispanic Catholics say this (28%), compared with 17% of White Catholics.

Among Jewish Americans, just 10% say it’s at least somewhat important to get news from journalists who share their religious views.

Note: Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey  methodology .

• Journalists
• News Coverage

Emily Tomasik is a research assistant focusing on news and information research at Pew Research Center .

Americans’ Changing Relationship With Local News

Most u.s. journalists are concerned about press freedoms, about one-in-six u.s. journalists at news outlets are part of a union; many more would join one if they could, u.s. journalists differ from the public in their views of ‘bothsidesism’ in journalism, twitter is the go-to social media site for u.s. journalists, but not for the public, most popular.

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