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Despite increasing academic attention, several questions about fact-checking remain unanswered. First, it remains unclear to what extent fact-checks are effective across different political and media contexts. Second, we know little on whether features of the fact-check itself influence its success. Conducting an experiment in 16 European countries, this study aims to fill these gaps by examining two features of fact-checks that may affect their success: whether fact-checks include the political source of the misinformation, and the source of the fact-check itself. We find that fact-checks are successful in debunking misperceptions. Moreover, this debunking effect is consistent across countries. Looking at features of fact-checks, we find no indication that it matters whether fact-checks include the political source of the misinformation claim. Comparing fact-checks from independent organizations with those from public broadcasters, we do find, however, that who the fact-checker is matters, especially in combination with trust in this source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media coverage on terrorism can lead to negative attitudes toward Muslims. We theorize that undifferentiated news—i.e., not explicitly distinguishing Muslims from terrorists—can accelerate these negative effects. In a quota-based 2 (news differentiation: differentiated and undifferentiated) × 2 (expert interviewee source: Muslim and non-Muslim) between-subjects experiment (N = 291), participants read news about Islamist terrorism. A control group received news unrelated to terror. Building on the concept of news differentiation and extending this line of research, we analyzed effects on explicit and implicit attitudes toward Muslims. Drawing on social identity, self-categorization and mediated intergroup contact theories, findings revealed that undifferentiated news increased hostile attitudes toward Muslims and attitudinal undifferentiation. However, undifferentiated news did not activate implicit attitudes. We also found that undifferentiated news had the strongest negative effects when coming from sources that are perceived as similar (i.e., non-Muslim). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamist terrorist attacks and existing terror threat can seriously affect intergroup relations and policy making. Drawing on hostile media effect theory and intergroup threat theory, we hypothesized that perceived threat of terror influences perceived news media bias in favor of Muslims as well as support for surveillance policies that are perceived to be restrictive for Muslims. In addition, we assumed that media bias positively predicts surveillance policy support. Results of a quota-based two-wave panel survey (NT2 = 524) revealed that perceived threat of terror increased perceived media bias in favor of Muslims over time, but did not have a direct effect over time on support for surveillance policies. However, perceived media bias was found to be a positive predictor of support for surveillance policies over time. In addition, support for policies was a positive predictor of perceived terror threat over time, suggesting a vicious cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative campaigning is a central concept in political communication research. However, most conceptualizations of the term are rather broad, summarizing all kinds of negativity such as substantial criticism and offensive behaviors. In this paper, we distinguish negative, dirty, and positive campaigning. While negative campaigning refers to critical, civil, and non-disrespectful arguments, dirty campaigning, by contrast, is defined as "below-the-belt" attacks including incivility and unfair campaign methods. In a two-wave Austrian national election panel study, we tested the reciprocal effects of perceived negative, dirty, and positive campaigning on distrust in politicians. Using auto-regressive models, we found that perceived dirty campaigning positively predicted distrust in politicians over time. Furthermore, distrust in politicians led to increased perceptions of dirty campaigning over time, suggesting a reciprocal relationship. However, perceived negative and positive campaigning were unrelated to distrust in politicians. Theoretical and methodological implications of distinguishing negative, dirty, and positive campaigning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has regained its position as a prominent political issue in Australia, where a new migration cap had been introduced in 2019.[1] With unresolved military conflicts in several regions of the world, and inequalities in life standards between developed and less developed nations persisting, migration is likely to remain an issue high on public and political agendas (Castles, [13]). Based on the observation that most people do have little to no direct contact with migration and immigrants in their daily lives, it is argued that media provide a vital link between actual migration processes and migrants and the citizens of the host society. Second, a growing literature on the potential effects of immigration news coverage on public opinion among majority population, oftentimes focusing on whether the way migration is portrayed in the media would lead to holding more negative attitudes toward migration and migrants. [Extracted from the article]

This study analyzed the portrayal of alcohol in the most popular workplace-related TV dramas. Based on social cognitive theory, we coded the extent and context of all alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage appearances as well as character-beverage interaction. Motivations to drink, topic, portrayed outcomes related to alcohol, and the characteristics of models associated with alcohol were also analyzed. More than 90% of the episodes contained depictions or references to alcohol. Although less alcohol was portrayed at the workplace compared to other locations, still nearly one third of all consumed beverages at work were alcoholic. Regardless of the location, character–beverage interaction was more likely for alcoholic than nonalcoholic beverages. The main motivation to drink alcohol was social ease, and only a few outcomes of alcohol consumption were presented. Overall, findings suggest that television dramas convey the image that alcohol at the workplace is ubiquitous, socially accepted, and without many serious consequences. Implications for mass communication and society are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous research shows that news about Islamist terrorism can seriously affect citizens’ fear reactions and influence non-Muslims’ out-group perceptions of Muslims. We argue that news coverage that explicitly links Islam to terrorism or terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) may trigger fears in non-Muslim individuals. In contrast, news differentiation (i.e., explicitly distinguishing between Muslims and Muslim terrorists) may dampen particular fear reactions in citizens. To test the specific effects of news differentiation, a controlled laboratory experiment was conducted. Results showed that undifferentiated news about IS terrorism increased participants’ fear of terrorism and resulted in hostile perceptions toward Muslims in general. However, fear of terrorism only enhanced hostile attitudes toward Muslims for individuals with negative and moderately positive prior experiences with Muslims. For those with very positive experiences, no such relationship was found. Implications of these findings for journalism practice and intergroup relations in multicultural societies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined whether affect induced by television commercials influences the perception of news programming. An experiment showed that viewers in positive moods generated by television commercials perceive news stories viewed both after and before watching the commercials as more entertaining, relaxing, realistic, and more credible than viewers exposed to neutral commercials do. Of interest, viewers in positive mood, as compared to neutral mood, perceived the topic presented in the news story as less important and serious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article calls for papers that study the depiction of the refugee crisis in mediated communication, focus on how mediated depictions influence individuals' reactions to the refugee crisis, and take a comparative view of the issue.