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 well-informed through their peers and social networks. We label this the "news-finds-me

Opinion leaders can be influential in persuading their peers about news and politics, yet their potential influence has been questioned in the social media era. This study tests a theoretical model of attempts at political persuasion within social media in which highly active users (''prosumers'') consider themselves opinion leaders, which subsequently increases efforts to try and change others' political attitudes and behaviors. Using two-wave U.S. panel survey data (W 1 ¼ 1,816; W 2 ¼ 1,024), we find prosumers believe they are highly influential in their social networks and are both directly and indirectly more likely to try to persuade others. Our results highlight one theoretical mechanism through which engaged social media users attempt to persuade others and suggest personal influence remains viable within social media. The growing prominence of the Internet and social media in contemporary society has coincided with gradually smaller segments of the population who actively engage with news and political information, while more individuals opt instead for nonpolitical or entertainment-oriented content (Prior, 2007). At the same time, there is evidence that individuals are becoming increasingly reliant on others in their online social networks for news recommendations and political information, and that their knowledge, opinions, and behaviors are

Ordinary citizens are increasingly using mobile instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp for politically-related activities. Compared to other 'semi-public' online platforms, WhatsApp provides a more intimate and controlled environment in which users can almost simultaneously gather and share news, discuss politics, and mobilize others. Relying on twowave panel data collected in Spain, USA, and New Zealand, this study examines the mediating role of WhatsApp political discussion in the relationships between different types of news use and various forms of political participation. First, our findings reveal WhatsApp discussion has a positive influence on activism, and a more nuanced effect on conventional participation. Second, results are partially supportive of a fully mediated set of influences between news media and social media news uses and both types of participation via WhatsApp. Finally, the study examines age differential effects between younger (Gen Xers and Millennials) and older (Boomers) age groups.

Citizens’ levels of mistrust toward the media, as well as their perception of media bias, have increased in past years in most Western democracies. This study explores how these negative observations on journalism may influence their use of traditional, citizen, and social media for news. Drawing on two-wave U.S. panel data, results suggest that media trust and perceived bias relate to media consumption differently. Trust in social and citizen media positively predicts use of news via social media, but has no effect on traditional or citizen news use. By contrast, perceived media bias is associated with decreased news use overall.

No abstract

Recent approaches from social psychology lend support to conspiracy beliefs as a motivated form of social cognition, structured around and consistent with a higher‐order belief system, which may have an impact on the way people understand their political environment and respond to it. Building on these accounts, this study examines the influence of conspiracism on political efficacy and, indirectly, on conventional and unconventional forms of political participation. Drawing on two‐wave panel data collected in five democracies (United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Poland, and Estonia; n = 5,428), results suggest that individuals who hold conspiracy beliefs tend to regard the political system as less responsive to citizens’ demands – external dimension of political efficacy. We also found a less clear and country‐specific effect of conspiracy beliefs on perceptions of being less equipped to partake in the political process – internal efficacy. Furthermore, conspiratorial beliefs negatively affect conventional modes of political participation, indirectly through reduced external efficacy. We finally examine group differences by country that suggest that both individual‐ and contextual‐level factors may explain the observed pattern of influences. Our results emphasize the potential of currently widespread conspiratorial narratives to undermine attitudes and behaviours that lie at the heart of the democratic process.

Página 423Cómo citar este artículo / Referencia normalizada A Ardèvol-Abreu (2015) Abstracts [ES]La teoría del framing, traducida al castellano como teoría del encuadre o de los marcos, ha experimentado una rápida evolución desde mediados de los años sesenta, donde encuentra sus orígenes en el campo de la sociología, hasta la actualidad. El framing se ha convertido en un paradigma multidisciplinario que permite abordar globalmente el estudio de los efectos de los medios de comunicación sobre los individuos y los públicos. Lejos de situarse exclusivamente en los emisores de información, el encuadre está localizado en cuatro elementos del proceso de comunicación: el emisor, el receptor, el texto (informativo) y la cultura. El presente artículo, bajo la forma de revisión de la literatura, realiza un recorrido por la teoría desde sus antecedentes en los años cincuenta hasta la actualidad, describiendo además el desarrollo de la investigación sobre framing en España y su estado actual.[EN] Framing theory has experienced a rapid development since the mid-1960s, when it emerged in the field of sociology. Framing has become a multidisciplinary paradigm that allows the holistic study of media effects on individuals and audiences. Far from being exclusively located in the sender of information, framing is located in four elements of the communication process: the sender, the receiver, the (informative) message and culture. This article, in the form of a state of the art review, examines the main developments made in framing theory since the 1950s to this day, as well as the development and current state of framing research in Spain

This article explores the role of trust in professional and alternative media as (a) antecedents of citizen news production, and (b) moderators of the effect of citizen news production on political participation. Using two-wave panel survey data collected in the United States between December 2013 and March 2014, results show that trust in citizen media predicts people’s tendency to create news. In turn, citizen news production is a positive predictor of both offline and online participation. More importantly, trust in the media moderates the effect of citizen news production over online political participation. Overall, this article highlights the importance of trust in the media with respect to citizen news production and how it matters for democracy. Thus, this study casts a much-needed light on how media trust and citizen journalism intertwine in explaining a more engaged and participatory citizenry.