Simulation gesellschaftlicher Medienwirkungsprozesse am Beispiel der Schweigespirale

Der Beitrag stellt mit der agentenbasierten Modellierung (ABM) eine Methode zur Diskussion, mit der sich dynamische Medienwirkungsprozesse auf mehreren Ebenen modellieren und simulieren lassen. Dazu wird das Mikro-Makro-Problem in der Medienwirkungsforschung genauer erläutert und aus Sicht der Komplexitätstheorie interpretiert. Die Methode der Computersimulation sozialer Prozesse, speziell mit-tels ABM, wird erläutert. Schließlich wird die ABM am Beispiel der Schweigespira-le vorgestellt, um ihre Eignung für die Untersuchung dynamischer, gesellschaftlicher Medienwirkungsprozesse zu demonstrieren. Hierzu werden die Annahmen der Schweigespirale nach Noelle- Neumann in einem Computermodell formalisiert und in ihrer Dynamik simuliert. Nach der Darstellung zentraler Simulationsergebnisse werden abschließend Chancen und Grenzen der Simulationsmethode für die Medi-enwirkungsforschung diskutiert

How News Audiences Allocate Trust in the Digital Age: A Figuration Perspective

The article enriches the understanding of trust in news at a time when mass and interpersonal communication have merged in the digital sphere. We propose disentangling individual-level patterns of trust allocation (i.e., trust figurations) across journalistic media, social media, and peers to reflect the multiplicity among modern news audiences. A latent class analysis of a representative survey among German young adults revealed four figurations: traditionalists, indifferentials, optimists, and cynics. Political characteristics and education corresponded with substantial heterogeneity in individuals’ trust in news sources, their inclination to differentiate between sources, and the ways of integrating trust in journalistic and non-journalistic sources

Social Media Literacy Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Results From a Cross-Country Validation Study

When being online, young users are often confronted with insulting, hateful, or misleading messages. To handle these dark forms of participation, it is essential to equip them with resources that support their social literacy in today’s complex online environments. In the present article, we deployed a previously established scale on self-perceived participatory-moral literacy and conducted a broad online survey study with 1,489 adolescents and young adults aged 16–22 years (M = 19.74; SD = 1.65; 51% female) across eight different European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom). The results provided a configural identical model of participatory-moral abilities, motivation, and behavior across the considered European countries. We could confirm weak invariance, satisfactory psychometric qualities, and convergent validity of the scale across the different countries. Implications for digital literacy research are discussed

(Alternative) Media Sources in AfD-centered Facebook Discussions

In this research report, I investigated which (media) sources were shared on 122 AfD-related Facebook pages during the year 2016. Results show that mainstream media outlets were not absent from these discussions. The established media sources Welt and Focus were by far the most frequently shared sources, and all major media outlets were represented. However, many of the outlets, which were often mentioned in the debates on an alternative-right (online) media universe, were also highly visible. They were supplemented by a variety of less well-known websites and YouTube channels, many of which are explicitly positioned against the (self-perceived) political and media mainstream. The comparison of party and user messages indicated that the AfD and its supporters preferred somewhat different sources. The party communicators were more likely to refer to more intellectual, conservative-right outlets; the users were more likely to share more controversial and less well-known alternative sources

Statistical analysis of continuous response measurements in studies on televised debates : improvement of established methods and proposal of a multi-level framework

Die Untersuchung der Bewertung von Kandidaten während einer TV-Debatte mit Real-Time-Response-Messungen hat sich in der politischen Kommunikationsforschung etabliert. Das Studiendesign ermöglicht es, detailliert zu erfassen, wie individuelle Rezipienten die Kandidaten infolge einzelner Aussagen bewerten. Um die Potenziale des aufwändigen Studiendesigns voll ausschöpfen zu können und der komplexen Datenstruktur der Echtzeitmessung sowohl theoretisch als auch statistisch gerecht zu werden, ist eine Reflexion über angemessene Analyseverfahren notwendig. In dieser Arbeit werden zum einen die etablierten analytischen Zugänge kritisch diskutiert und erweitert. Zum anderen wird eine Mehrebenenmodellierung vorgeschlagen, die sich in besonderer Weise eignet, die individuellen Prozesse der Kandidatenbewertungen abzubilden. Die etablierten Verfahren und die Mehrebenenmodellierung werden anhand einer Rezeptionsstudie zum TV-Duell vor der baden-württembergischen Landtagswahl 2011 praktisch demonstriert.Continuous Response Measurement (CRM) as a tool to capture candidate evaluations during televised debates is well established in political communication research. Such systems allow very detailed measurements of individual responses to certain candidate statements. However, CRM studies produce very complex data structures which are not easily accessible by simple analytical procedures while at the same time preserving the individual nature of the measurement. Therefore, we first critically discuss the established analytical approaches and recommend some modifications. Second, we describe how such measurements can be adequately modeled at the individual level in a multilevel framework. All analytical approaches are demonstrated using data from a CRM study on the televised debate in the run-up to the Baden-Württemberg state election 2011

Online health information seeking in Europe: Do digital divides persist?

First- and second-level digital divides are of great concern in health communication research and practice. It is feared that the increased importance of online health information might also increase informational inequalities between those who can and those who for different reasons cannot benefit from online health communication. Using a largescale representative survey from the 28 member states of the European Union (N = 26 566), we investigated macro-level divides between countries and micro-level divides based on sociodemographic and health-related individual characteristics. The Internet is established as a channel for health communication for substantial parts of the European population. Yet meaningful differences were still persistent even within the highly-developed region of the EU. Internet access divides were most pronounced in comparison, both at the macro and the micro level. Substantial differences were also found between the users of health-related Internet services regarding a wider range of online practices and online health literacy

Die Darstellung von Politikern in den deutschen Hauptnachrichtensendungen vor der Bundestagswahl 2005

Dieser Beitrag untersucht den Kontext der Berichterstattung über Politiker in deut- schen Hauptnachrichtensendungen vor der Bundestagswahl 2005. Dabei wird auf inhaltsanalytische Daten zurückgegriffen. Das zentrale Ergebnis der Studie ist, dass Politiker am häufigsten in Zusammenhang mit Wahl und Wahlkampf dargestellt werden. Es folgen Sachthemen und Eigenschaften der Politiker. Unpolitische Eigenschaften spielen gemessen an der gesamten Berichterstattung kaum eine Rolle.This article analyzes the context in which German politicians are represented in German evening news before the parliamentary elections 2005. For this research project data from a content analysis is used. The conclusion is that in evening news politicians most frequently appear in the context of election and campaigning. Policies come second, the characteristics of politicians come third. Private characteristics are not important compared to the over-all

Retrospective Facebook Content Collection

Materials and manuscript for the article "An Evaluation of Retrospective Facebook Content Collection

(Alternative) media sources in AfD-centered Facebook discussions

In this research report, I investigated which (media) sources were shared on 122 AfD-related Facebook pages during the year 2016. Results show that mainstream media outlets were not absent from these discussions. The established media sources Welt and Focus were by far the most frequently shared sources, and all major media outlets were represented. However, many of the outlets, which were often mentioned in the debates on an alternative-right (online) media universe, were also highly visible. They were supplemented by a variety of less well-known websites and YouTube channels, many of which are explicitly positioned against the (self-perceived) political and media mainstream. The comparison of party and user messages indicated that the AfD and its supporters preferred somewhat different sources. The party communicators were more likely to refer to more intellectual, conservative-right outlets; the users were more likely to share more controversial and less well-known alternative sources