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Marked by both deep interconnectedness and polarization, the contemporary media system in the United States features news outlets and social media that are bound together, yet deeply divided along partisan lines. This article formally analyzes communication flows surrounding mass shootings in the hybrid and polarized U.S. media system. We begin by integrating media system literature with agenda setting and news framing theories and then conduct automated text analysis and time series modeling. After accounting for exogenous event characteristics, results show that (a) sympathy and gun control discourses on Twitter preceded news framing of gun policy more than the other way around, and (b) conservatives on Twitter and conservative media reacted to progressive discourse on Twitter, without their progressive counterparts exhibiting a similar reactiveness. Such results shed light on the influence of social media on political communication flows and confirm an asymmetry in the ways partisan media ecosystems respond to social events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research considers how distinct news frames work in combination to influence information processing. It extends framing research grounded in prospect theory (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) and attribution theory (Iyengar, 1991) to study conditional framing effects on associative memory. Using a 2 x 3 experimental design embedded within a probability survey (N = 379), tests examined the effects of two different frame dimensions--loss-gain and individual-societal--on the complexity of individuals' thoughts concerning the issue of urban growth. Findings indicate that news frames interact to generate more or less complex cognitive responses, with societal-gain frame combinations generating the most detailed cognitions about the causes, components, and consequences of urban growth. Directions for research on media framing are discussed.

Political campaigns often feature jarring revelations against candidates. This study examines how audiences come to understand major campaign events, the extent to which they shape evaluations of candidates, and how their impact is filtered through an increasingly partisan news media environment. Using national rolling cross-sectional survey data collected over the 2016 U.S. presidential election period, we show partisan asymmetries in the way major campaign events influenced candidate appraisals. Event effects during the 2016 campaign were dependent on various media use patterns and concentrated among Independents. In particular, the reopening of the investigation into Clinton's email server by James Comey reduced her favorability, especially when paired with liberal and conservative partisan media use. By providing a nuanced picture of partisan selective exposure and campaign effects, our findings reinforce that the role of campaigns in candidate appraisals should be understood at the intersection of media use, partisanship, and specific events during a contentious race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines whether news media were biased in coverage of the candidates during the 1996 United States Presidential campaign, and whether the quantity of positive and negative news coverage of the candidates was related to the public's preference. Finds balanced media coverage of the two principle candidates (Clinton and Dole) and a powerful relationship between media coverage and public opinion. (SR)

Explores how "moral" issues interact with voters' core values. Finds that subjects' (military reservists, Reserve Officer Training Corps student members, and undergraduate students) interpretation of issues (as either ethical or material in nature) is strongly related to differences in the type of decision-making strategy used, even after accounting for a variety of variables. (SR)