ENGLISH | DEUTSCH

Political Communication

In the context of political communication, we study the perception, processing, and the effects of mediated campaigns. In addition, we are interested in the effects of routine reporting (i.e., off-election coverage) on the audience. Specifically, we focus on the cognitive and affective processes that contribute to the reinforcement or change of attitudes. We ask questions such as: what is the role that positive or negative emotions (or specific emotions) play in public opinion formation processes? How do these influences differ between recipients with low vs. high interest or knowledge?

Current

  • Matthes, J. & Schemer, C. (in press). Diachronic framing effects in competitive opinion environments. Political Communication.

  • Kühne, R., Wirth, W., & Müller, S. (in press). Der Einfluss von Stimmungen auf die Nachrichtenrezeption und Meinungsbildung: Eine experimentelle Überprüfung des Affect Infusion Models [Mood influences on news processing and opinion formation. An experimental test of the Affect Infusion Model]. Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft 60(3).

  • Weber, P. (2012). Nachrichtenfaktoren & User Generated Content: Die Bedeutung von Nachrichtenfaktoren für Kommentierungen der politischen Berichterstattung auf Nachrichtenwebsites. [News Factors & User Generated Content: News value's influence on reader comments on news websites] Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft, 60(2), 218–239.

  • Weber, P. (2012). Der virtuelle Stammtisch. Determinanten interpersonal-öffentlicher Kommunikation auf Nachrichtenwebsites [Determinants of interpersonal-public communication on news websites]. In M. Ockenfeld, I. Peters, & K. Weller (Eds.), Social Media und Web Science. Das Web als Lebensraum. (pp. 457–459). Frankfurt a.M.

  • Baumgartner, S.E. & Wirth, W. (2012). Affective priming during the processing of news articles. Media Psychology, 15, 1-18.

  • Wettstein, M. (2012). Politische Partizipation im Social Web: Hinweise zum Aufenthaltsort des totgesagten politischen Engagements jugendlicher Internetnutzer. [Political Participation and Social Web: Clues to the Abidings of Written Off Youth Political Engagement] In: Ullrich Dittler & Michael Hoyer (Eds.), Aufwachsen in sozialen Netzwerken: Chancen und Gefahren von Netzgemeinschaften aus medienpsychologischer und medienpädagogischer Perspektive (pp. 129-146). München: Kopaed.

  • Schemer, C., Wirth, W. & Matthes, J. (2012). Value resonance und value framing effects on voting intentions in direct-democratic campaigns. American Behavioral Scientist, 56(3), 334-352.

  • Schemer, C. (in press). The Influence of News Media on Stereotypic Attitudes toward Immigrants in a Political Campaign. Journal of Communication.

  • Wettstein M. (2012). Frame Adoption in Referendum Campaigns: the Effect of News Coverage on the Public Salience of Issue Interpretations. American Behavioral Scientist 56(3), 318-333.

  • Wirth, W., Matthes, J., & Schemer, C. (2011). When campaign messages meet ideology: The role of arguments for voting behaviour. In H. Kriesi (Ed.), Political communication in direct democratic campaigns: Enlightening or manipulating? (pp. 188-204). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Wirth, W., Schemer, C., Kühne, R., Matthes, J. (2011). The impact of positive and negative affects in direct-democratic campaigns. In H. Kriesi (Ed.), Political communication in direct democratic campaigns: Enlightening or manipulating? (pp. 205-224). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Kühne, R., Schemer, C., Matthes, J., Wirth, W. (2011): Affective priming in political campaigns. How campaign-induced emotions prime political opinions. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 23(4), 485-507.

  • Wettstein, M. (2010): Politische Partizipation über Soziale Netzwerkdienste: Qualitative und quantitative Charakterisierung der Facebook-Gruppe als Mittel zur politischen Meinungsäusserung und Partizipation [Political Participation in SNS: A characterization of Facebook Groups in Political Deliberation and Participation]. In: Medien Journal, 34(3), 4-21.