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Sebastián Valenzuela
  • Facultad de Comunicaciones,
    Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,
    Alameda 340, 7° piso
    Santiago, C.P. 8331150
    Chile
  • +56 2 354 19 59
  • Sebastián Valenzuela is Associate Professor in the School of Communications at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chi... moreedit
This chapter discusses contemporary directions of agenda-setting research. It reviews the basic concept of agenda setting, the transfer of salience from the media agenda to the public agenda as a key step in the formation of public... more
This chapter discusses contemporary directions of agenda-setting research. It reviews the basic concept of agenda setting, the transfer of salience from the media agenda to the public agenda as a key step in the formation of public opinion, the concept of need for orientation as a determinant of issue salience, the ways people learn the media agenda, attribute agenda setting, and the consequences of agenda setting that result from priming and attribute priming. Across the theoretical areas found in the agenda-setting tradition, future studies can contribute to the role of news in media effects by showing how agenda setting evolves in the new and expanding media landscape as well as continuing to refine agenda setting’s core concepts.
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... more
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.
This study analyzes what “emergency sources” (authorities, emergency managers, and experts) expect from journalists during a disaster, using a mixed-method approach with six focus groups and a survey of 166 official Chilean sources. Based... more
This study analyzes what “emergency sources” (authorities, emergency managers, and experts) expect from journalists during a disaster, using a mixed-method approach with six focus groups and a survey of 166 official Chilean sources. Based on the first three levels of the hierarchy of influences model, we explore how they perceive journalists’ roles and performance when covering disasters. The results suggest that emergency sources’ evaluations, while affected by a combination of individual, routine, and organizational variables, are mostly shaped by sources’ direct and mediated experience with journalists. Thus, a more fluid relationship between journalists and emergency sources, as well as more communication experience by sources, could lead to a better understanding between both groups, which, ultimately, may lead to delivering more accurate and timely information.
Previous research has shown that corruption diminishes citizens’ level of political support and engagement. We extend this line of reasoning and evaluate whether previous levels of perceived corruption can influence subsequent levels of... more
Previous research has shown that corruption diminishes citizens’ level of political support and engagement. We extend this line of reasoning and evaluate whether previous levels of perceived corruption can influence subsequent levels of political knowledge. We test this proposition with data from a two-wave panel probability survey applied in Chile between 2016 and 2017, just after a 2-year period in which an avalanche of corruption scandals shook the country. Our estimates confirm that perceived corruption reduces subsequent political knowledge, while controlling for prior knowledge. This pattern is particularly strong among non-ideologues and people ideologically distant from the incumbent government. Given the status of political knowledge as a democratically valuable trait, our results uncover some normatively disturbing consequences of corruption.
This chapter discusses how a constantly changing media landscape affects political participation. After pointing out the affordances brought forward by digital communication technologies, six game changers are identified: information... more
This chapter discusses how a constantly changing media landscape affects political participation. After pointing out the affordances brought forward by digital communication technologies, six game changers are identified: information overload, changing habits of media use, crisis of media business, the shift from audiences to content creators, the emergence of new agents of information sharing and user cues. The chapter then discusses how and to what extent such game changers influence the different dimensions of political activity, from electoral to protest participation and then discusses the public role of private platforms. The final section concludes the chapter by highlighting the importance of critically assessing changes in media communication when examining political participation. Specifically, a call is made for adopting an innovative, dynamic attitude towards digital media research, while maintaining the focus on political deliberation.
Despite widespread concern, research on the consequences of misinformation on people's attitudes is surprisingly scant. To fill in this gap, the current study examines the long-term relationship between misinformation and trust in the... more
Despite widespread concern, research on the consequences of misinformation on people's attitudes is surprisingly scant. To fill in this gap, the current study examines the long-term relationship between misinformation and trust in the news media. Based on the reinforcing spirals model, we analyzed data from a three-wave panel survey collected in Chile between 2017 and 2019. We found a weak, over-time relationship between misinformation and media skepticism. Specifically, initial beliefs on factually dubious information were negatively correlated with subsequent levels of trust in the news media. Lower trust in the media, in turn, was related over time to higher levels of misinformation. However, we found no evidence of a reverse, parallel process where media trust shielded users against misinformation, further reinforcing trust in the news media. The lack of evidence of a downward spiral suggests that the corrosive effects of misinformation on attitudes toward the news media are...
We use original survey data to examine (1) the motivations people have for engaging in online and interpersonal discussions, and (2) the influence of instrumental and relational goals on civic participation. Using structural equation... more
We use original survey data to examine (1) the motivations people have for engaging in online and interpersonal discussions, and (2) the influence of instrumental and relational goals on civic participation. Using structural equation modeling, we find that both goals trigger discussions online and offline, which in turn lead to civic engagement. These results cast citizen-to-citizen communication on a different perspective than deliberative theory and point to social motivations as an alternative path to civic life.
El propósito de este capítulo es examinar con mayor profundidad, desde un punto de vista empírico, el uso y los efectos de Facebook y Twitter en las protestas estudiantiles y ambientalistas en el invierno chileno de 2011. Específicamente,... more
El propósito de este capítulo es examinar con mayor profundidad, desde un punto de vista empírico, el uso y los efectos de Facebook y Twitter en las protestas estudiantiles y ambientalistas en el invierno chileno de 2011. Específicamente, se intenta hacer un retrato sociodemográfico y tecnológico de quiénes se manifestaron y de qué forma el uso de las redes sociales online se vincula a la participación en actos de protesta. Adicionalmente, se busca establecer si la relación entre redes sociales online y participación en protestas es diferente para personas con valores materialistas y posmaterialistas. Si los movimientos ciudadanos son sintomáticos de un proceso de transformación de la sociedad chilena, entonces es de suponer que el empleo de nuevas tecnologías en red será aprovechado principalmente por personas que valoran la expresión política, la libertad y la calidad de vida por sobre el orden, la seguridad y el crecimiento económico.
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La magnitud del desplome y posterior repunte de la aprobación de Bachelet constituye una fascinante incógnita en el estudio de la opinión pública chilena. Ello ya es motivo suficiente para realizar un análisis pormenorizado de la... more
La magnitud del desplome y posterior repunte de la aprobación de Bachelet constituye una fascinante incógnita en el estudio de la opinión pública chilena. Ello ya es motivo suficiente para realizar un análisis pormenorizado de la fluctuación en la popularidad presidencial. Dadas las actuales circunstancias, este ejercicio cobra aún más relevancia. Es enteramente posible—y deseable—desarrollar un modelo que explique por qué la opinión pública evolucionó de la manera que lo hizo en determinado período. Con ello, todos (partiendo por los asesores del segundo piso de Piñera) podemos sacar lecciones que nos permitan entender mejor qué mueve a la opinión pública. Es lo que haré aquí usando los datos mensuales de aprobación presidencial recogidos por Adimark GfK vía encuesta telefónica a una muestra representativa de residentes en zonas urbanas.
Research Interests:
In the past 2 decades, cable television and the Internet have greatly increased the availability of media content. The phenomenon has reinvigorated a longstanding debate about the effects of this media landscape, as people selectively get... more
In the past 2 decades, cable television and the Internet have greatly increased the availability of media content. The phenomenon has reinvigorated a longstanding debate about the effects of this media landscape, as people selectively get exposed to specific content. Based on US national survey data, this article advances research in this area by analyzing the interplay between individuals' ideological predispositions, their selective exposure to cable news, and the relationship between selective exposure and their ...
Citizens' growing disaffection with the political system in the US and elsewhere has been explained mostly in terms of institutional, economic, and cultural changes. In this paper we provide an additional explanation—one that... more
Citizens' growing disaffection with the political system in the US and elsewhere has been explained mostly in terms of institutional, economic, and cultural changes. In this paper we provide an additional explanation—one that recognizes the major political role currently played by the media. ...
Contrary to popular narratives, it is not clear whether using social media for news increases belief in political misinformation. Several of the most methodologically sound studies find small to nonexistent effects. However, extant... more
Contrary to popular narratives, it is not clear whether using social media for news increases belief in political misinformation. Several of the most methodologically sound studies find small to nonexistent effects. However, extant research is limited by focusing on few platforms (usually Facebook, Twitter or YouTube) and is heavily U.S. centered. This leaves open the possibility that other platforms, such as those that rely on visual communication (e.g., Instagram) or are tailored to strong-tie network communication (e.g., WhatsApp), are more influential. Furthermore, the few studies conducted in other countries suggest that social media use increases political misperceptions. Still, these works use cross-sectional designs, which are ill suited to dealing with omitted variable bias and temporal ordering of processes. Using a two-wave survey fielded in Mexico during the 2021 midterm elections (N = 596), we estimate the relationship between frequency of news exposure on Facebook, Twi...
This trend study describes changes and continuities in the stratification of usage of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp in Chile between 2009-2019—the decade that witnessed the rise of social media. Using the Youth, Media and... more
This trend study describes changes and continuities in the stratification of usage of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp in Chile between 2009-2019—the decade that witnessed the rise of social media. Using the Youth, Media and Participation Study—a probabilistic survey conducted on an annual basis among 1,000 individuals aged 18 to 29 living in the three largest urban areas in Chile (N = 10,518)—we analyze how frequency of use and type of activities conducted on social media has varied over time along socioeconomic status, gender, and age cohort. Instead of a uniform trend towards less (or greater) inequality, the results show that each platform exhibits a unique dynamic. For instance, whereas SES-based inequality in frequency of use has decreased on Facebook over time, it has remained stable on WhatsApp and increased on Twitter and Instagram. In addition, significant differences in the likelihood of conducting different activities (e.g., chatting, commenting news, sharing l...
Pre-registration for survey experiment on fact-checking
The tension between health and economic considerations regarding COVID-19 has resulted in a framing contest, in which proponents and adversaries of strong containment measures hold oppositional frames about the pandemic. This study... more
The tension between health and economic considerations regarding COVID-19 has resulted in a framing contest, in which proponents and adversaries of strong containment measures hold oppositional frames about the pandemic. This study examines the effects of competing news frames on social media users' policy preferences and the moderation of framing effects played by melodramatic news treatment. Results from a pre-registered online survey experiment in Chile (N=518) show that participants exposed to Facebook posts with an economic frame were significantly less supportive of measures that restrict mobility (e.g., quarantines) than participants in the control group. Contrary to expectations, exposure to a public health frame also reduced support for stay-at-home orders, and the presence of melodramatic features had no significant impact on users' preferences. Other variables, however, did alter these framing effects, such as fear of COVID-19 and frequency of social media news us...
ABSTRACT How do political candidates combine social media campaign tools with on-the-ground political campaigns to pursue segmented electoral strategies? We argue that online campaigns can reproduce and reinforce segmented electoral... more
ABSTRACT How do political candidates combine social media campaign tools with on-the-ground political campaigns to pursue segmented electoral strategies? We argue that online campaigns can reproduce and reinforce segmented electoral appeals. Furthermore, our study suggests that electoral segmentation remains a broader phenomenon that includes social media as but one of many instruments by which to appeal to voters. To test our argument, we analyze the case of the 2017 legislative elections in Chile. We combine an analysis of Facebook and online electoral campaign data from 80 congressional campaigns that competed in three districts with ethnographic sources (i.e., campaigns observed on the ground and in-depth interviews with candidates). The results of this novel study suggest that intensive online campaigning mirrors offline segmentation.
En el contexto latinoamericano, Chile historicamente se ha destacado por ser un pais con una menor prevalencia de delitos violentos como homicidios y secuestros, pero a la vez por ostentar tasas de preocupacion y temor al crimen similares... more
En el contexto latinoamericano, Chile historicamente se ha destacado por ser un pais con una menor prevalencia de delitos violentos como homicidios y secuestros, pero a la vez por ostentar tasas de preocupacion y temor al crimen similares o mayores a las de sus pares del continente.1 Desde el ano 2000 a la fecha, y con independencia de los gobiernos de turno, la delincuencia ha sido asi permanentemente senalada por la ciudadania chilena como uno de los tres principales aspectos prioritarios a resolver, marcando un peak durante el ano 2015, con el 60% de la poblacion que lo indica como el mayor problema del pais (CEP, 2015)
People use the news media to learn about the world beyond their family, neighborhood, and workplace. As news consumers, we depend on what television, social media, websites, radio stations, and newspapers decide to inform us about. This... more
People use the news media to learn about the world beyond their family, neighborhood, and workplace. As news consumers, we depend on what television, social media, websites, radio stations, and newspapers decide to inform us about. This is because all news media, whether through journalists or digital algorithms, select, process, and filter information to their users. Over time, the aspects that are prominent in the news media usually become prominent in public opinion. The ability of journalists to influence which issues, aspects of these issues, and persons related to these issues, are perceived as the most salient has come to be called the agenda-setting effect of journalism. First described by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in a seminal study conducted during the 1968 elections in the United States, agenda-setting theory has expanded to include several other aspects beyond the transfer of salience of issues from the media agenda to the public agenda. These aspects include: the ...
Drawing on social-psychological and political research, we offer a theoretical model that explains how people become exposed to fake news, come to believe in them and then share them with their contacts. Using two waves of a nationally... more
Drawing on social-psychological and political research, we offer a theoretical model that explains how people become exposed to fake news, come to believe in them and then share them with their contacts. Using two waves of a nationally representative sample of Chileans with internet access, we pinpoint the relevant causal factors. Analysis of the panel data indicate that three groups of variables largely explain these phenomena: (1) Personal and psychological factors such as belief in conspiracy theories, trust in others, education and gender; (2) Frequency and specific uses of social media; and (3) Political views and online activism. Importantly, personal and political-psychological factors are more relevant in explaining this behavior than specific uses of social media.
ABSTRACT This study examines the articulation of public opinion about so-called fake news using a national survey (N = 510) of U.S. adults conducted in 2018. We coded respondents’ open-ended answers about what is “fake news” and found... more
ABSTRACT This study examines the articulation of public opinion about so-called fake news using a national survey (N = 510) of U.S. adults conducted in 2018. We coded respondents’ open-ended answers about what is “fake news” and found that while some respondents adopted a politically neutral, descriptive definition, others provided a partisan, accusatory answer. Specifically, the weaponization of fake news was evident in the way respondents used the term to blame adversarial political and media targets. Perceptions of fake news prevalence, partisanship strength, and political interest were associated with a higher likelihood of providing a politicized and accusatory response about fake news. Accusations were polarized as a function of partisan identity and positively correlated with affective polarization. Results are discussed in light of the linguistic distinction of the term and what it means in the context of news media distrust and polarization.
Intermedia agenda setting predicts a high degree of convergence between news media agendas. However, the rise of social media forces a re-examination of this expectation. Using the 8.8-earthquake of February 27, 2010 in Chile as a case... more
Intermedia agenda setting predicts a high degree of convergence between news media agendas. However, the rise of social media forces a re-examination of this expectation. Using the 8.8-earthquake of February 27, 2010 in Chile as a case study, this article compares which topics were covered by professional journalists on broadcast news and Twitter, analyzing both cross-sectional and longitudinal trends. A positive, reinforcing influence was found among the journalistic agendas of TV and Twitter. However, counter to the idea that social media are echo chambers of traditional media, it was found that Twitter influences TV news more so than the other way around. Thus, the study provides an early lens into the agenda setting function of social media among television news professionals, and its findings are consistent with Twitter succeeding among journalists due to its provision of valuable information.
Need for orientation (NFO) is a key contingent condition for agenda-setting effects. Traditionally, this concept has been measured by two lower-order components, but a recent reconceptualization expanded it to three dimensions. The... more
Need for orientation (NFO) is a key contingent condition for agenda-setting effects. Traditionally, this concept has been measured by two lower-order components, but a recent reconceptualization expanded it to three dimensions. The current experimental study tested how comparable the traditional and new NFO scales are, and how strongly they predict agenda setting. Findings indicate that both NFO scales are (1) reliable tools for predicting first-level agenda-setting effects, and (2) significantly correlated with each other. The question whether or not the new NFO scale predicts second-level agenda-setting effects, however, needs further exploration.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between social media use and protest participation in Latin America. It advances two questions. First, does social media increase the chances of protest participation at the... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between social media use and protest participation in Latin America. It advances two questions. First, does social media increase the chances of protest participation at the individual level, as prior research shows for advanced democracies? Second, in a region with glaring economic and political inequalities, does social media deepen or reduce the gaps in protest participation that exist among men and women, the young and the old, different social classes, or people with varying levels of political engagement? Design/methodology/approach The paper uses cross-sectional Latin American Public Opinion Project survey data from 2012 representing the adult population of 17 Latin American countries. It presents binary logistic regression models with protest participation as the dependent variable, social media use for political purposes as the main independent variable, control variables, and interactions. Findings Using soci...
The article analyzes the nature of communication flows during social conflicts via the digital platform Twitter. We gathered over 150,000 tweets from citizen protests for nine environmental social movements in Chile and used a mixed... more
The article analyzes the nature of communication flows during social conflicts via the digital platform Twitter. We gathered over 150,000 tweets from citizen protests for nine environmental social movements in Chile and used a mixed methods approach to show that long-standing paradigms for social mobilization and participation are neither replicated nor replaced but reshaped. In digital platforms, long-standing communication theories, like the 1955 two-step flow model, are still valid, while direct one-step flows and more complex network flows are also present. For example, we show that it is no contradiction that social media participants mainly refer to intermediating amplifiers of communicated messages (39% of the mentions from participants go through this two-step communication flow), while at the same time, traditional media outlets and official protest voices receive 80–90% of their mentions directly through a direct one-step flow from the same participants. While nonintuitive...
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Existing research on which citizens are most and least likely to exhibit media priming effects is inconclusive. Using data from the 2006 Canadian election, this study examined the moderating role of voters' political knowledge,... more
Existing research on which citizens are most and least likely to exhibit media priming effects is inconclusive. Using data from the 2006 Canadian election, this study examined the moderating role of voters' political knowledge, interest in politics, news attention, and discussion frequency. Results show priming was not constant across political involvement variables. It was strongest for citizens with moderate levels of knowledge and discussion, but was negatively related to interest. Compared to pessimistic and optimistic accounts of voters' ability to resist media influence, the findings suggest a more nuanced perspective on citizen “competence.”
Pre-registration for survey experiment #2 on fact-checking
While much research exists on the role of digital media use in protest movements, few studies compare the long-term impact of protests on online use of alternative and mainstream digital media. This holds particularly true in countries of... more
While much research exists on the role of digital media use in protest movements, few studies compare the long-term impact of protests on online use of alternative and mainstream digital media. This holds particularly true in countries of the global south. Our study addresses this knowledge gap by examining the massive demonstrations that occurred in Chile on 18 October 2019. Based on data from 1,221,487 Facebook posts from 31 media outlets collected 10 months before and after the protests, we detected significant discontinuities in users’ interactions with news content. Whereas both media types display different baseline levels, for alternative media, the time series reflects a “step” type of shock—a long-lasting increase in news sharing—whereas for mainstream media, it is a “pulse” type of shock—a burst of interactions that quickly returned to pre-existing levels. These results suggest that social media users relied on alternative news media to amplify counter-public spheres in Ch...
Public support of governmental action to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is polarized. Whereas some people support the adoption and maintenance of significant restrictions to economic and social life (e.g., closures of... more
Public support of governmental action to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is polarized. Whereas some people support the adoption and maintenance of significant restrictions to economic and social life (e.g., closures of non-essential businesses, schools and borders and other restrictions aimed at enforcing social distancing), other people complain about the detrimental effects these measures have on employment, income and others aspects of economic well-being. The lack of consensus among the public challenges the capacity of governments to contain the pandemic, which depends heavily on individuals' acceptance of restrictions to economic and social life. The trade-off between health and economic considerations can be understood as a framing contest, in which proponents and opponents of COVID-19 restrictions advance their preferred policy preferences by highlighting and promoting different frames about the pandemic. For those favoring the maintenance of lock-downs and ...
Between 2009 and 2019, Chile experienced the rise and fall of a powerful and influential environmental movement. This movement spurred massive protests against large-scale energy and mining projects, successfully blocking many of them.... more
Between 2009 and 2019, Chile experienced the rise and fall of a powerful and influential environmental movement. This movement spurred massive protests against large-scale energy and mining projects, successfully blocking many of them. Although these demonstrations brought together people of all ages and backgrounds, youth were particularly active in advocating for the environment. As digital natives, young people may experiment with new ways of engaging in participatory actions, especially through social network sites, instant messaging and other social applications. We use data from the annual Youth, Participation, and Media Use surveys fielded between 2009 and 2019 to study the individual-level relationship between social media and environmental activism among young Chileans. As expected, we find that social media use is positively associated with participation in environmental issues. Nevertheless, this relationship is dynamic, gradually weakening over time. Thus, our results suggest that social media effects on environmental activism are contingent upon the specific stage of the protest cycle. We close with a discussion of the relevance of our findings as well as their limitations.
Despite early promise, scholarship has shown little empirical evidence of learning from the news on social media. At the same time, scholars have documented the problem of information ‘snacking’ and information quality on these platforms.... more
Despite early promise, scholarship has shown little empirical evidence of learning from the news on social media. At the same time, scholars have documented the problem of information ‘snacking’ and information quality on these platforms. These parallel trends in the literature challenge long-held assumptions about the pro-social effects of news consumption and political participation. We argue that reliance on social media for news does not contribute to people’s real level of political knowledge (objective knowledge), but instead only influences people’s impression of being informed (subjective knowledge). Subjective knowledge is just as important for driving political participation, a potentially troubling trend given the nature of news consumption on social media. We test this expectation with panel survey data from the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Two path model specifications (fixed effects and autoregressive) support our theoretical model. Implications for the study of the ‘d...
This study seeks to deepen our understanding of the factors that explain individuals' willingness to self-censor (WtSC)—the proclivity to withhold an opinion from an audience perceived to disagree with that opinion. It does so by... more
This study seeks to deepen our understanding of the factors that explain individuals' willingness to self-censor (WtSC)—the proclivity to withhold an opinion from an audience perceived to disagree with that opinion. It does so by testing the ''impressionable years'' hypothesis, which states that the historical context experienced between the age of 18 and 25 years has a lasting effect on individual dispositions such as WtSC. The study was conducted in Chile, an ideal case to explore possible cohort effects because of the profound political changes experienced there in the past 50 years. Analysis of an original cross-sectional survey shows that—as expected—people who came of age in periods of political repression exhibit significantly higher levels of WtSC later in life compared with those who grew up during less repressive times.
This study advances a theoretical model centered on collective and internal efficacy to explain the separate pathways through which political sharing on Facebook and Twitter may influence individuals to engage in political activities. We... more
This study advances a theoretical model centered on collective and internal efficacy to explain the separate pathways through which political sharing on Facebook and Twitter may influence individuals to engage in political activities. We test the model with data from a 2-wave panel survey conducted with an adult population in 2013 in Chile. We found that frequent usage of Facebook and Twitter for sharing political information is conducive to higher levels of participation through different efficacy measures. Facebook has a significant effect on collective—not internal—efficacy, whereas Twitter's effect is on internal—not collective—efficacy. Results are discussed in light of the diverse affordances and strengths of network ties of Facebook and Twitter.

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In the past 2 decades, cable television and the Internet have greatly increased the availability of media content. The phenomenon has reinvigorated a longstanding debate about the effects of this media landscape, as people selectively get... more
In the past 2 decades, cable television and the Internet have greatly increased the availability of media content. The phenomenon has reinvigorated a longstanding debate about the effects of this media landscape, as people selectively get exposed to specific content. Based on U.S. national survey data, this article advances research in this area by analyzing the interplay between individuals’ ideological predispositions, their selective exposure to cable news, and the relationship between selective exposure and their attitudes toward
an issue with key policy-making implications: Mexican immigration. Results indicate conservative Republicans are more likely to watch FOX News, which is associated with negative perceptions of Mexican immigrants and higher support for restrictive immigration policies. Findings also suggest that liberals who get exposed to FOX News also show less support for Mexican immigration.
Presentación realizada el 19 de octubre de 2016 en el ciclo de charlas #ActualízateUC, jornada para celebrar los 55 años de la Facultad de Comunicaciones UC
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Once regarded as the poster child for democratic stability and sound policymaking in Latin America, in the last two decades Chile has experienced increasing levels of mistrust in political institutions and media elites, as well as... more
Once regarded as the poster child for democratic stability and sound policymaking in Latin America, in the last two decades Chile has experienced increasing levels of mistrust in political institutions and media elites, as well as disenfranchisement. In the wake of the mass protests of October 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic found the Chilean government at record levels of disapproval and with citizens skeptical of messages by authorities and legacy media. Based on data from an online survey and a narrative analysis of public discourse of key government interventions during the first six months of the pandemic, this chapter pays attention to individuals’ perceptions regarding the coronavirus crisis and offers a qualitative assessment of how the government’s handling was addressed in the public sphere. Findings show that Chileans have been skeptical of government measures and critical of officials’ handling of the situation, regardless of their support for the administration. With the news media struggling to hold authorities accountable, the resulting crisis has only deepened the political, economic, and social divisions within Chilean society.
This chapter discusses how a constantly changing media landscape affects political participation. After pointing out the affordances brought forward by digital communication technologies, six game changers are identified: information... more
This chapter discusses how a constantly changing media landscape affects political participation. After pointing out the affordances brought forward by digital communication technologies, six game changers are identified: information overload, changing habits of media use, crisis of media business, the shift from audiences to content creators, the emergence of new agents of information sharing and user cues. The chapter then discusses how and to what extent such game changers influence the different dimensions of political activity, from electoral to protest participation and then discusses the public role of private platforms. The final section concludes the chapter by highlighting the importance of critically assessing changes in media communication when examining political participation. Specifically, a call is made for adopting an innovative, dynamic attitude towards digital media research, while maintaining the focus on political deliberation.
The agenda-setting role of the news media is one of the most documented theories of media effects, with over 500 separate studies conducted around the world demonstrating the influence of journalism on public opinion. At its core, agenda... more
The agenda-setting role of the news media is one of the most documented theories of media effects, with over 500 separate studies conducted around the world demonstrating the influence of journalism on public opinion. At its core, agenda setting predicts that the elements that are relevant in the media agenda, such as issues, public figures and descriptions of these issues and figures, will become relevant elements in the public agenda. Over the five decades since Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (1972) introduced the concept of agenda setting, the theory has expanded to cover six different areas, including: basic agenda-setting effects, contingent conditions for those effects, attribute agenda setting, origins of the media agenda, consequences of the agenda-setting process for people’s attitudes and behavior, and network agenda setting. The different components of the theory are discussed throughout the chapter, paying particular attention to research methods and new digital platforms, such as social media.
A la luz de la realidad chilena, este capítulo busca responder dos preguntas principales, relacionadas entre sí: (1) ¿Qué tan anclada está la cobertura de los noticiarios televisivos en la realidad y experiencia ciudadana del delito? (2)... more
A la luz de la realidad chilena, este capítulo busca responder dos preguntas principales, relacionadas entre sí: (1) ¿Qué tan anclada está la cobertura de los noticiarios televisivos en la realidad y experiencia ciudadana del delito? (2) ¿En qué medida el consumo de la televisión –el medio más usado en Chile para informarse (CNTV,2015)– influye en la opinión pública sobre la delincuencia, específicamente en la determinación del temor y preocupación por el crimen? Tomando evidencia cuantitativa levantada durante 12 años (entre 2001 y
2012), este trabajo dará cuenta de que la exposición a contenidos noticiosos sobre delincuencia en Chile sí está asociada a percepciones de las personas en torno al problema de la seguridad ciudadana, aunque en forma moderada y menos significativa que otros determinantes actitudinales, de predisposición política, vulnerabilidad y experienciales. Con ello, la percepción frente al crimen aparece situada en la realidad social y delictual, en tanto no se puede inferir que la representación que realiza la televisión sobre la delincuencia se desarrolle con total independencia a la ocurrencia real del crimen, y que la exposición a medios de comunicación sea la única causante de las opiniones de la ciudadanía sobre el tema, sino que emerge como un factor más –entre otros determinantes sociales– que actúa de manera heterogénea según el tipo de actitud o juicio ciudadano. Estos resultados han sido alcanzados a través de un trabajo conceptual y metodológico que integra múltiples indicadores y metodologías acordes a los desafíos que impone un fenómeno complejo como la opinión pública sobre la delincuencia. En particular, se realizó (1) un análisis de contenido de amplio alcance sobre la presencia de la delincuencia en los noticieros centrales de la TV chilena entre 2001 y 2012; (2) un análisis de series temporales sobre la relación entre los noticieros y la evolución del temor y preocupación por la delincuencia en encuestas públicas agregadas entre 2001 y 2012; y (3) una encuesta original a más de 1500 personas realizada a mediados de 2012 que estima a nivel individual los determinantes de la opinión pública sobre delincuencia, especialmente los asociados al consumo de medios. Con estos datos se examina hasta qué punto son aplicables algunos aspectos de las teorías de cultivación (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan y Signorelli, 1994; Romer, Jamieson y Aday, 2003), como los efectos de la TV en juicios de primer y segundo orden (Shrum, 2004), y de la agenda setting de primer nivel, referida a la influencia de los medios en la agenda temática de la opinión pública (Gross y Aday, 2003; Lowry, Nio y Leitner, 2003; McCombs, 2004; Scherman y Etchegaray, 2013). El propósito, en este caso, es explicar la opinión pública chilena en torno a la delincuencia, poniendo especial atención al tipo de percepciones más proclives a verse influidas por los medios de comunicación.
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Con la irrupción de las redes sociales, una práctica que se ha visto transformada es la de consumir información y “enterarse por la prensa” de lo que ocurre en Chile y el mundo en tiempo real. Hoy tenemos acceso a nuevas y distintas... more
Con la irrupción de las redes sociales, una práctica que se ha visto transformada es la de consumir información y “enterarse por la prensa” de lo que ocurre en Chile y el mundo en tiempo real. Hoy tenemos acceso a nuevas y distintas fuentes de información pero, además, tenemos la posibilidad de comentar y compartir información sobre diversos temas a través de múltiples plataformas. En este capítulo analizamos, a través de la descripción de un estudio cuantitativo y otro cualitativo, dos fenómenos interrelacionados. Por una parte, exploramos las características de las noticias que se comparten en redes sociales en Chile y el valor que tiene el contenido emocional de éstas para ser compartidas. Por otra, abordamos las motivaciones y prácticas de un grupo de jóvenes en Santiago a la hora de compartir contenidos en Facebook. Ambos estudios dan cuenta de los factores sicológicos y sociológicos asociados a una actividad tan común y cotidiana como compartir contenidos en la era digital.
La evolución de la participación y el uso de medios de los jóvenes chilenos han podido ser medidos a través de la encuesta “Jóvenes, participación y consumo de medios”, un proyecto que a partir de 2009 ha estudiado anualmente estas... more
La evolución de la participación y el uso de medios de los jóvenes chilenos han podido ser medidos a través de la encuesta “Jóvenes, participación y consumo de medios”, un proyecto que a partir de 2009 ha estudiado anualmente estas materias entre la población entre 18 y 29 años. El proyecto ha contemplado una encuesta anual (entre 2009 y 2014) a una muestra probabilística de 1,000 personas que viven en los tres principales centros urbanos del país, que equivalen a 43.2% de la población total del país.

A continuación revisaremos los principales hallazgos de las investigaciones realizadas a partir de la encuesta “Jóvenes, participación y consumo de medios” entre 2009 y 2012. El análisis de estos resulta- dos lo dividiremos en cuatro áreas: a) medios de comunicación y participación electoral; b) medios de comunicación y participación no institucional; c) diferencias de Facebook y Twitter en su impacto sobre la participación política; d) otras variables de interés.
Finalmente, se analizará la consistencia de los hallazgos obtenidos en las distintas investigaciones desarrolladas a partir de la encuesta y se discutirán las principales áreas donde sería recomendable concentrar los futuros esfuerzos de investigación.
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This study examines the articulation of public opinion about so-called fake news using a national survey (N = 510) of U.S. adults conducted in 2018. We coded respondents’ open-ended answers about what is “fake news” and found that while... more
This study examines the articulation of public opinion about so-called fake news using a national survey (N = 510) of U.S. adults conducted in 2018. We coded respondents’ open-ended answers about what is “fake news” and found that while some respondents adopted a politically neutral, descriptive definition, others provided a partisan, accusatory answer. Specifically, the weaponization of fake news was evident in the way respondents used the term to blame adversarial political and media targets. Perceptions of fake news prevalence, partisanship strength, and political interest were associated with a higher likelihood of providing a politicized and accusatory response about fake news. Accusations were polarized as a function of partisan identity and positively correlated with affective polarization. Results are discussed in light of the linguistic distinction of the term and what it means in the context of news media distrust and polarization.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between social media use and protest participation in Latin America. It advances two questions. First, does social media increase the chances of protest participation at... more
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between social media use and protest participation in Latin America. It advances two questions. First, does social media increase the chances of protest participation at the individual level, as prior research shows for advanced democracies? Second, in a region with glaring economic and political inequalities, does social media deepen or reduce the gaps in protest participation that exist among men and women, the young and the old, different social classes, or people with varying levels of political engagement?
Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses cross-sectional Latin American Public Opinion Project survey data from 2012 representing the adult population of 17 Latin American countries. It presents binary logistic regression models with protest participation as the dependent variable, social media use for political purposes as the main independent variable, control variables, and interactions.
Findings – Using social media for political purposes significantly increases protest chances – it is the second strongest predictor. Additionally, social media reduces protest gaps associated with
individuals’ age, gender, psychological engagement with politics, and recruitment networks.
Originality/value – First, the paper shows that the contribution of social media to collective protest travels beyond advanced democracies – it also holds for more unequal regions with weaker democratic trajectories like Latin America. Second, it shows that social media may mitigate participatory inequalities not only, as shown by past research, regarding institutional participation (e.g. voting), but also regarding contentious tactics.
This course will cover current research, theory and methodology in the area of social media and politics, with particular emphasis on individual-level effects. We will adopt an international perspective, including research published in... more
This course will cover current research, theory and methodology in the area of social media and politics, with particular emphasis on individual-level effects.  We will adopt an international perspective, including research published in English conducted both in the Global North and South. We will discuss research from communication, political science, social psychology and computer science to address questions such as: Do social media influence what people know and think about politics? What are the affordances of different social media that matter for political engagement? How does misinformation and conspiracies spread online and influence our political beliefs? What are the effects of informal political conversations held on Facebook and Twitter? Do social media promote cross-cutting exposure or self-reinforcing echo chambers? In which ways governments are reacting to citizens’ activities on social media? When addressing these questions, we will pay particular attention to new theoretical concepts, the variety of methods employed to study social media and politics, and cross-national differences and similarities in published findings.
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