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The American flag is a powerful national symbol that political campaigns routinely seek to harness for electoral gain. However, for some candidates with some voters, the flag's benefits may be more elusive than they appear. In this paper, we provide experimental tests of the effects involving flag imagery associated with two candidates, in the context of the 2012 U.S. presidential election. We begin by presenting a content analysis of flag imagery in the 2012 presidential campaign by both campaigns and their Super-PAC surrogates, revealing patterns of use by practitioners. Then in two experiments set amidst the campaign, we find that, regardless of the source, any flag exposure favors Romney and Republicans, particularly among subjects high in prejudice and symbolic patriotism. Finally, in a third study focusing on prospective 2016 presidential candidates, we find similar effects, for prejudice but not symbolic patriotism. Beyond practical implications for political campaigns, these studies emphasize the critical role of audience traits in moderating the effects of campaign messaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on cognitive response theories of persuasion and cognitive appraisal theories of emotion to develop a model of the psychological processes that govern the effects of media frames on public opinion about policy issues. The model posits that different framesâ€"in conjunction with receivers’ predispositionsâ€"can elicit different patterns of cognitive and emotional responses. Furthermore, predispositions, cognitive responses, and affective responses can mediate the effects of frames on policy opinions. The model implies that citizens may counter-argue information in frames that goes against their prior beliefs and that such counter-arguing can help to explain not only the limits of framing effects but also the emergence of “boomerang” effects in response to frames. Similarly, the model implies that emotional responses to framing can limit or enhance framing effects. In short, the model suggests that citizens can play an activeâ€"though not necessarily a critical or deliberativeâ€"role in the framing process. We draw on data from a series of prior experiments to test parts of our model. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spring of 2008 it became clear that Barack Obama would be the first African-American to receive the nomination of a major political party. For the first time ever, an African-American holding the nation's highest office became a real possibility. How did the media deal with this historic candidacy? What role, if any, did racial themes play in media coverage of the 2008 presidential election? In order to answer this question, this paper presents the results of a systematic content analysis of New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today campaign coverage during the fall campaign. We examined substantive campaign coverage, coding for a number of potential racial references or frames. We find, not surprisingly, that racial references were present in the general election coverage. Most often, we found references to Obama's own race or the race of groups within the electorate. References to racism or the potential for racial animosity to continue to play a role in the campaign were also present, though less common. Although we cannot test the effects of this coverage, we suggest that references to race which occur throughout the fall campaign have the potential to prime racial considerations. This paper represents the first part of a larger project in which we also examine print coverage in four battleground states as well as broadcast coverage on nightly network news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the result of a two-part study consisting of a content analysis of the Terri Schiavo case that identified the main media frames and an experiment testing the effectiveness of certain frames in determining opinon on similar issues. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a few weeks in September of 2005, the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the gulf coast captured America?s full attention. In order to understand the nature of the information individuals received from the press during this period, this paper presents the results of a content analysis of New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and Times-Picayune coverage of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. In particular, we analyzed the extent to which poverty and racial characteristics of the victims were a focus of newspaper coverage. We believe frames may be especially consequential when they invoke specific causal arguments. Thus, we also analyzed the causal explanations offered for explaining why individuals failed to leave New Orleans and analyzed who was charged with responsibility for failures of preparation and delays in assisting victims in the aftermath. We compare and contrast this analysis of mainstream newspaper coverage with an analysis of black newspapers. Although the black press was more likely to highlight issues of class, poverty and race these details are present in mainstream news coverage. In focusing on the individual victims in New Orleans, mainstream coverage is just as likely to emphasize individual responsibility as the social or economic factors that might have kept them from leaving the city. In contrast, situational explanations predominate in black press coverage. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the stereotypes that Americans possess of both Muslims and Muslim-Americans. We find that negative stereotypes relating to violence and trustworthiness are remarkably commonplace and that little distinguishes Muslims from Muslim-Americans in the public's mind. These stereotypes are underpinned by a similar set of factors that underpin stereotypes of blacks, Hispanic, and Asians—notably, authoritarian values. Furthermore, these stereotypes have consequences: those with less favorable views of Muslims are more likely to support several measures that are part of the broader War on Terror. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nature of local television news coverage of crime and its effects on emotional response. Specifically, I present the results of a content analysis of two months of local television news coverage of crime from a network affiliate in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Consistent with what others have found regarding local television news, I find that most local news crime stories are episodic in nature and focus on violent crime, particularly murder. Moreover, there is a specific racial cast to this coverage - significant attention is given to black perpetrators while black victims are undercovered. Using an experiment that compared two types of crime stories taken from the content analysis to explore how coverage influences viewers' emotional reactions, I find, contrary to my expectation, that a thematic story about violent crime generates greater and more varied emotional response than an episodic story dealing with a specific murder. When I vary the race of the perpetrator portrayed in the episodic story to try to examine the influence of the prevalence of visuals of black perpetrators in the crime coverage, I do not find differences in how participants in this study respond to the murder story based on the race of the perpetrator. I discuss the implications of my findings and suggest future directions for this research. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In covering politics, the media provide more than “just the facts.” They also provide news frames, storytelling devices that allow readers to understand the news. For example, the media can frame the controversy over mandatory minimum sentencing in thematic terms – in other words, the big picture of national trends in crime, the societal forces behind those trends and the consequences of those trends – or in episodic terms – in other words the small picture of an individual facing such a sentence. The choice of which frame to use in illustrating a story about mandatory minimum sentencing could be quite consequential or it could matter very little. In this paper, I take begin to explore the question of how consequential this choice might be. I present the results from a laboratory experiment examining the effect of episodic and thematic framing on emotional reactions and policy views. Students were randomly assigned to read one of three columns on mandatory minimum sentencing that employed either a thematic or episodic frame. I examine whether the emotions people report after reading the article differs depending upon the frame they receive, whether they give different explanations for their emotional reactions and how these news frames and emotional responses are linked to policy views. My results show that frames influence emotional response. In addition, the results are consistent with the conclusion that news framing effects on public opinion operate through both affective and cognitive channels. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the extent to which mass media's choice of frame in reporting crimes in the U.S. is consequential. It makes use of results from a laboratory experiment which examines the effect of episodic and thematic framing on emotional reactions and policy views of the audience. This experiment's results suggest that frames influence emotional response and that news framing effects on public opinion work through both affective and cognitive channels.

This paper is part of a larger project in which we explore the nature and consequences of media coverage of hate crime. Here we present the results of the first part of the project, an analysis of media coverage of hate crime from 1990 to 2000. We analyze coverage of hate crime in the Washington Post and New York Times to begin to understand the information that is available to readers of mainstream news. Specifically, we examine the frames and causal attributions offered for making sense of hate crime. As a point of comparison, we also analyze coverage in the Washington Blade, the gay newspaper in Washington DC, to understand how the gay community frames this issue. One test of whether mainstream media help their audience to see anti-gay hate crime as gays do is to see if they invoke the same frames as the gay press. We find that the gay press is much more likely to cover hate crime across the decade. Readers of the Washington Blade are much more likely to encounter articles dealing with hate crime than readers of either the Washington Post or New York Times. For the Mainstream papers, substantial coverage only comes with the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard. On the other hand, the Post and Times do include many of the same frames invoked on behalf of hate crime legislation. The perspective of the gay community in this respect is present in mainstream coverage. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We expand upon the race and campaign literature to look at how the dynamics of voting behavior and racial appeals play out in what the candidates themselves say on the campaign trail. Specifically, we analyze campaign speeches from three presidential elections, 1988, 1992 and 1996. We look at the speeches given by the candidates to determine whether candidates vary the issues they discuss or how they discuss them depending upon the race of their audience. Looking at discussion of crime, education, affirmative action, welfare, and taxes, we find that there is less variation in not only issues discussed, but also how they are discussed, to predominantly white, mixed, and predominantly black audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]