Taking Corrective Action When Exposed to Fake News: The Role of Fake News Literacy

Fake news poses a threat to democracy. The rise of social media and its lax content regulation have facilitated a dynamic environment where mis- and disinformation are spread. However, social media is also the place where false information may be corrected. Initial scholarly efforts begin to highlight what is needed for citizens to take corrective action when exposed to fake news on social media. This study is a further step in that direction by introducing the construct of ‘fake news media literacy’. Relying on survey data from the U.S. (N = 1338), we show that news media literacy in terms of media locus of control and need for cognition might not be sufficient to take corrective action; individuals rather need to develop specific fake news literacy. Implications for media literacy initiatives are discussed

Structural Influences on the News Finds Me Perception: Why People Believe They Don’t Have to Actively Seek News Anymore

Using data from a two-wave panel survey among 18 countries worldwide, this study investigates the individual- and country-level antecedents of the “News Finds Me” perception (NFM). Results show that older, more educated, and individuals belonging to the ethnic majority are less prone to develop the NFM. However, social media (news) use, incidental news exposure, discussion frequency, and group affiliations lead to a higher NFM. In contrast, information elaboration as well as news use online were found to weaken the NFM. Testing various country-level factors, only gross domestic product was found to be negatively related to the NFM. The findings form a theoretical and empirical basis for future studies that aim at investigating news use in today’s high-choice media environment

The Proliferation of the “News Finds Me” Perception Across Societies

Today, people are exposed to vast information flows while online or on social media. This abundance has led some people to believe that they no longer have to actively seek the news to be well informed about public affairs and that important news will find them through social media or other online channels. Recently, academics have offered a first theoretical account, capturing this belief as the “news finds me” perception (NFM). Initial studies have been conducted in the U.S. and Austria, indicating deleterious effects between NFM and both traditional news use and political predispositions and behaviors. This study seeks to expand this line of research, exploring the proliferation of NFM in 10 societies around the world. Findings give further insights into the degree of NFM proliferation in diverse contexts. Across societies, NFM is associated with age, social media news use, and other meaningful democratic variables such as political interest, political knowledge, and voting behavior

Examining the Role of Online Uncivil Discussion and Ideological Extremity on Illegal Protest

In recent years, there has been an increased academic interest revolving around the beneficial or pernicious effects of ideological extremity and (uncivil) political discussion over democracy. For instance, citizens’ ideological predispositions and higher levels of political discussion have been linked with a more active and vibrant political life. In fact, ideological extremity and uncivil discussion foster institutionalized political engagement. However, less explored in the literature remains whether such polarization and uncivil discussions may be related to unlawful political behavior such as illegal protest. This study contends that one of the main drivers of illegal protest behavior lies in online uncivil political discussion, specifically through the normalization and activation of further incivility. We tested this through a two-wave panel data drawn from a diverse US sample and cross-sectional, lagged, and autoregressive regression models. Mediation analysis was also conducted to test whether uncivil online discussion mediated the relationship between frequency of online political discussion and illegal protest engagement. Overall, we found that illegal protest was particularly associated with online uncivil discussion, while ideological extremity and other forms of online and offline discussions seemed to have no effect on unlawful protest over time

Social media and democracy

Slowly approaching the second quarter of the 21st century, research on social media and its effects over democracy has quickly permeated across various fields in social sciences, particularly political communication. Based on accumulated evidence in this strand of literature, this paper briefly summarizes several established research areas. First, it highlights how social media facilitates individuals’ political expression. Second, it sheds light on how this enhanced communicative behavior has reinvigorated a more participatory society in democracy. Third, it examines social media’s democratic deficit mechanisms in regards to stagnant political knowledge acquisition. Finally, the paper offers a theoretical explanation to this lack of knowledge acquisition through the lenses of the ‘news-finds-me’ perception theory. Overall, the present manuscript explains specific ways in which social media helps and hinders the advancement of healthy democracies, thereby also providing promising guidelines for future research

Contentious Politics in a Digital World: Studies on Social Activism, Protest, and Polarization

In a world of polarized societies and radical voices hogging the public digital sphere, this thematic issue aims at identifying the different strategies of old and new social movements in the extremes of the political debates by focusing on the interplay between polarization, uses of the internet, and social activism. In order to disentangle these interactions, this thematic issue covers a wide range of political settings across the globe. It does so by studying: (a) how opposing activists discuss politics online and its implications for democratic theory; (b) how social media uses and online discussions foster offline protests; (c) how the media and state-led-propaganda frame disruptive and anti-government offline protests and how this situation contributes to polarization in both democratic and non-democratic regimes; and finally (d) how civil society uses digital tools to organize and mobilize around sensitive issues in non-democratic regimes

Construyendo Capital Social: cómo las noticias y la fuerza de los vínculos en la discusión política fomentan la reciprocidad

Reciprocity, a social principle that emerges in non-negotiated, inter-personal exchange, is arguably a key construct in generating social capital. However, little research has made this empirical connection. Building on an Orientation-Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response model, this study advances a theoretical and empirical model in which news use and political discussion tie strength contributes to the development of reciprocity and social capital. Drawing on two-wave panel data, results suggest that reciprocity is a strong predictor of social capital. News media use also directly predicts reciprocity, as well as political discussion with both strong and weak ties, and social capital. Additionally, discussion with weak ties and reciprocity mediate the relationship between news use and social capital.La reciprocidad, un principio social que emerge en los intercambios no negociados entre personas, es posiblemente un constructo clave en la generación de capital social. Sin embargo, pocos estudios han abordado de manera empírica esta conexión. Sobre la base de un modelo Orientación-Estímulo-Razonamiento-Orientación-Respuesta, esta investigación presenta una propuesta teórica y empírica en la que la exposición a noticias y la fuerza de los vínculos en la discusión política contribuyen al desarrollo de la reciprocidad y del capital social. Tras el análisis de los datos de un estudio de panel realizado en dos olas, los resultados sugieren que la reciprocidad es un fuerte predictor del capital social. Además, la exposición a noticias de los medios de comunicación se relaciona de manera directa con la reciprocidad; con la discusión política, tanto con vínculos fuertes como débiles; y con el capital social. Por otro lado, la discusión con vínculos débiles y la reciprocidad funcionan como mediadores de la relación entre exposición a noticias y capital social

Effects of the Newsâ Findsâ Me Perception in Communication: Social Media Use Implications for News Seeking and Learning About Politics

With social media at the forefront of today’s media context, citizens may perceive they don’t need to actively seek news because they will be exposed to news and remain wellâ informed through their peers and social networks. We label this the â newsâ findsâ me perception,â and test its implications for news seeking and political knowledge: â newsâ findsâ me effects.â U.S. panelâ survey data show that individuals who perceive news will find them are less likely to use traditional news sources and are less knowledgeable about politics over time. Although the newsâ findsâ me perception is positively associated with news exposure on social media, this behavior doesn’t facilitate political learning. These results suggest news continues to enhance political knowledge best when actively sought.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137553/1/jcc412185.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137553/2/jcc412185_am.pd

Linking Extraversion to Collective and Individual Forms of Political Participation: The Mediating Role of Political Discussion

Objectives Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens’ personality in activating political behavior. We test whether extraversion is associated to collective political activities (i.e., activities that include social interaction) and individual ones (i.e., activities that do not include social interactions). Methods We use originally collected survey data from five countries (Brazil, Korea, Russia, United States, United Kingdom). Results We found that extraversion is positively and directly related to collective political activities in Brazil, Korea and Russia. Results show no direct relationship between individual forms of political activities and extraversion. However, political discussion fully mediates the relationship between extraversion and individual forms of political activities in all five countries. Conclusion This study contributes to growing discussions on the role of personality traits in explaining political participation across countries, arguing that the relationship between extraversion and diverse forms of political participation are also context-driven and nourished by political discussion

Traducción comentada francés-español de un texto del ámbito especializado de la entomología forense

El presente trabajo es una traducción comentada de un fragmento titulado L’entomologie légale perteneciente a la obra Police scientifique. Les experts au coeur de la scène de crime, publicada el 8 de noviembre de 2017. El texto trata sobre la entomología forense y el papel que ocupa la Policía Científica francesa en este campo. En este trabajo hemos realizado un análisis del texto origen y nos hemos documentado acerca del mundo de la entomología forense, para posteriormente traducir el texto. Además, hemos creado un glosario terminológico y hemos analizado los problemas y las dificultades de la traducción.Grado en Traducción e Interpretació