Research
Explore the core research areas of the Political Communication Research Group at the University of Vienna, Austria. Our research investigates how political elites, media organizations, and citizens interact in society, with a focus on digital technologies, diversity of voices, science communication, and the quality of political journalism. Through qualitative, quantitative, and computational social science methods, our Vienna-based team develops evidence-based insights to understand and advance political communication theory and practice.
AI and Digital Technologies in Political Communication
This research area explores the role of AI and digital tools in shaping modern political discourse, with a current focus on automated content moderation, computational propaganda, and data-driven election campaigns. This research investigates both the benefits and ethical challenges of AI, including issues of digital humanism and the need for AI literacy, especially among young people navigating online political spaces. Key projects aim to promote responsible and transparent use of AI in fostering informed political engagement.
Researchers affiliated with this area:
Diversity of Voices in Political Communication
This research area explores how gender, intersectionality, and social identity shape political messaging and audience perceptions, aiming to uncover diverse perspectives within political discourses. It investigates differential media effects, particularly how factors like incivility impact engagement and opinion formation across varied demographic groups.
Researchers affiliated with this area:
The Politics of Science Communication
This research area delves into the complex role of scientific evidence within political debates, examining how scientific uncertainty and politicized science can influence public opinion and policy. We also address the spread of misinformation in science communication, particularly within digital platforms, and explore "third mission" activities where scientific institutions engage directly with the public to bridge knowledge gaps. Affiliated researchers aim to enhance transparency and trust in science by improving how scientific information is communicated and understood in political contexts.
Researchers affiliated with this area:
Quality of Political Communication and Political Journalism
This research area examines how factors such as misinformation and polarization affect public engagement with news and political discourse. This field also studies how incivility and emotive content influence the news, as well as perceptions of credibility and democratic participation. Researchers and projects in this area currently work to understand and address challenges to media integrity and public trust in political journalism, such as emotionality and news avoidance.
Researcher affiliated with this area:
Publications
2024
Schäfer, S., Betakova, D., & Lecheler, S. (2024). Zooming in on topics: An investigation of the prevalence and motives for selective news avoidance. Journalism Studies, 25(12), 1423-1440. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2024.2338114
Mellado, C., Márquez Ramírez, M., Van Leuven, S., Jackson, D., Mothes, C., Arcila-Calderón, C., Berthaut, J., Blanchett, N., Boudana, S., Chen, K. Y. N., Davydov, S., De Maio, M., Fahmy, N., Ferrero, M., Garcés, M., Hagen, L., Hallin, D. C., Humanes, M. L., Himma-Kadakas, M., ... Viveros Aguilar, D. (2024). Comparing journalistic roleperformance across thematic Beats: A 37-country study. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 101(1), 97-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990231173890
Pachinger, P., Goldzycher, J., Planitzer, A. M., Wojciech, K., Hanbury, A., & Neidhardt, J. (2024). AustroTox: A Dataset for Target-Based Austrian German Offensive Language Detection. In Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.08080
Kermani, H., Bayat Makou, A., Tafreshi, A., Mohamad Ghodsi, A., Atashzar, A., & Nojoumi, A. (2024). Computational vs. qualitative: Analyzing different approaches in identifying networked frames during the Covid-19 crisis. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 27(4), 401-415. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2023.2186566
Weikmann, T., & Lecheler, S. (2024). Cutting through the hype: Understanding the implications of deepfakes for the fact-checking actor-network. Digital Journalism, 12(10), 1505-1522. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2194665
Uth, B., Stehle, H., Wilhelm, C., Detel, H., & Podschuweit, N. (2024). Die Journalismus-Publikum-Beziehung als Herausforderung für den politischen Journalismus. Eine Literaturanalyse zu Verständnis und Modellierungen. In C. Nuernbergk, J. Haßler, J. Schützeneder, & N. F. Schuhmacher (Eds.), Politischer Journalismus: Konstellationen – Muster – Dynamiken (pp. 147-162). Nomos Verlag. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748939702-147, https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748939702-147
Mellado, C., Blanchett, N., Stępińska, A., Mothes, C., Lecheler, S., & Blanco Herrero, D. (2024). Does news platform matter? Comparing online journalistic role performance to newspaper, radio, and television. Digital Journalism, 12(3), 376-399. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332
Chu, X., Vliegenthart, R., Otto, L., Lecheler, S., de Vreese, C., & Kruikemeier, S. (2024). Do online ads sway voters? Understanding the persuasiveness of online political ads. Political Communication, 41(2), 290-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2023.2276104
Greber, H. (2024). Power to the User: The Future of Immersive Storytelling Might Lie in Understanding the Audience Authors. 11.
Wilhelm, C., & Schulz-Tomančok, A. (2024). Predicting user engagement with anti-gender, homophobic and sexist social media posts–a choice-based conjoint study in Hungary and Germany. Information Communication and Society, 27(11), 2094-2113. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2275012
de Haan, Y., Kruikemeier, S., & Lecheler, S. (2024). Searching, selecting, and verifying: Online journalistic sourcing strategies. Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, 52(2), 150-176. https://doi.org/10.5117/TCW2024.X.001.HAAN
Wilhelm, C. (2024). Stine Eckert, Ingrid Bachmann (Eds.): Reflections on feminist communication and media scholarship. Theory, method, impact. rezensionen:kommunikation:medien.
Greber, H. (2024). The Effect of Interactivity in Immersive Journalism on Participating In the Media and Through the Media. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 00(00). https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241271089
2023
Kermani, H., Bayat Makou, A., Tafreshi, A., Mohamad Ghodsi, A., & Ataee, H. (2023). Bots versus humans: Discursive activism during the pandemic in the Iranian Twittersphere. Social Media + Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/205630512312169
Kermani, H., Khorshidi, M., & Ashtiani Araghi, M. (2023). A case study on the COVID-19 discourse in politicians’ speeches: Investigations into the speeches of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Studies in Communication Sciences, 23(3), 279-295. https://doi.org/10.24434/J.SCOMS.2023.03.2984
Weikmann, T., & Lecheler, S. (2023). Visual Disinformation in a Digital Age: A Literature Synthesis and Research Agenda. New Media & Society, 25(12), 3696-3713. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221141648
Hallin, D. C., Mellado, C., Cohen, A., Hubé, N., Nolan, D., Szabó, G., Abuali, Y., Arcila-Calderón, C., Attia, M., Blanchett, N., Chen, K. Y. N., Davydov, S., De Maio, M., Garcés, M., Himma-Kadakas, M., Humanes, M. L., I-Hsuan Lin, C., Lecheler, S., Misook, L., ... Ybáñez, N. (2023). Journalistic role performance in times of COVID. Journalism Studies, 24(16), 1977-1998. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2274584
Kermani, H. (2023). Framing the pandemic on Persian Twitter: Gauging networked frames by topic modeling. American Behavioral Scientist. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642231207078
Lecheler, S., Vreese, C. D., Otto, L., Vliegenthart, R., & Chu, X. (2023). On or off topic? Understanding the effects of issue-related political targeted ads. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/0.1080/1369118X.2023.2265978
Guenther, L., Wilhelm, C., Oschatz, C., & Brück, J. (2023). Science communication on Twitter: Measuring indicators of engagement and their links to user interaction in communication scholars’ Tweet content. Public Understanding of Science, 32(7), 860-869. https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625231166552
Lecheler, S., Bos, L., & Egelhofer, J. (2023). Short but Critical?: How “Fake News” and “Anti-Elitist” Media Attacks Undermine Perceived Message Credibility on Social Media. Communication Research (CR), 50(6), 695-719. https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231178432
Noetzel, S., Mussalem Gentile, M. F., Lowery, G., Zemanova, S., Lecheler, S., & Peter, C. (2023). Social campaigns to social change? Sexual violence framing in U.S. news before and after #metoo. Journalism, 24(6), 1232-1262. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211056386
Georgarakis, G. (2023). Yikes! The Effect of Incidental Disgust and Information on Public Attitudes During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Political Psychology, 44(3), 493-513. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12865
Reinhardt, A., Wilhelm, C., & Mayen, S. M. (2023). Time for digital media but no time for school? An investigation of displacement effects among adolescents of Gen X, Y, and Z. Psychology of Popular Media, 13(4), 633-642. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000479
Wilhelm, C., Joeckel, S., & Dogruel, L. (2023). A women’s issue? The role of backlash and issue ownership in users’ engagement with articles about gender equality. Feminist Media Studies, 24(3), 575-592. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2023.2203874
Dogruel, L., Joeckel, S., & Wilhelm, C. (2023). Are byline biases an issue of the past? The effect of author’s gender and emotion norm prescriptions on the evaluation of news articles on gender equality. Journalism, 24(3), 560-579. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211012176
Kermani, H. (2023). #MahsaAmini: Iranian Twitter activism in times of computational propaganda. Social Movement Studies - Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2023.2180354
Schulz-Tomančok, A., & Wilhelm, C. (2023). „Gender-Gaga-Forschung unerwünscht!“: Eine qualitative Analyse von User:innen-Kommentaren zu anti-genderistischen Hate Speech Postings in Deutschland. Medien Journal, 46(3), 26-46. https://doi.org/10.24989/medienjournal.v46i3.2195
Boyer, M. M., & Lecheler, S. (2023). Social mobility or social change? How different groups react to identity-related news. European Journal of Communication, 38(1), 58-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231221105168
Wilhelm, C. (2023). Die Kaufentscheidung als Lernprozess: The Theory of Buyer Behavior von John Howard und Jagdish Sheth. In T. G. K. Meitz, N. S. Borchers, & B. Naderer (Eds.), Schlüsselwerke der Werbeforschung (1 ed., pp. 119-130). Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-36508-0_11
Jovanović , T., Bodroža , B., Orchard , L., Fullwood, C., Kermani, H., Casale , S., Fioravanti , G., Buljan , I., & Hren , D. (2023). Cross-cultural validity of the psycho-social aspects of Facebook Use (PSAFU) scale. Psihologija, 56(1), 31-62. https://doi.org/10.2298/PSI210702013J
Greber, H., Lecheler, S., Aaldering, L., de Haan, Y., Kruikemeier, S., Goutier, N., & de Bruin, K. (2023). Feeling the news? The differential effects of immersive journalism on emotional response. Digital Journalism, 11(1), 39-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2155205
Schäfer, S., Aaldering, L., & Lecheler, S. (2023). “Give Me a Break!” Prevalence and Predictors of Intentional News Avoidance During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mass Communication and Society , 26(4), 671-694. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2125406
Haberl, M. (2023). Interview mit Melanie Haberl: Das „gute“ Gespräch als Spiel: Unterhaltung durch und mit Chatbots. Mitteilungen des Instituts für Europäische Ethnologie der Universität Wien, 32(Jahresbericht 2023), 107-109.
Stehle, H., Bock, A., Wilhelm, C., Springer, N., Mahrt, M., Lobinger, K., Linke, C., Engelmann, I., Detel, H., & Brantner, C. (Accepted/In press). In/visibility in the digital age: A literature review from a communication studies perspective. International Journal of Communication (IJoC).
Georgarakis, G., & Shapiro, R. Y. (2023). Liberal Internationalism and Partisan Conflict in Post-Trump United States. In Chaos Reconsidered: The Liberal Order and the Future of International Politics Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/ali-20448-036
Kouloglou, N., & Georgarakis, G. (2023). Public Support for European Integration in Greece and Italy Between 2015 and 2020. Politics and Governance, 11(3), 29-44. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i3.6751
Pachinger, P., Hanbury, A., Neidhardt, J., & Planitzer, A. M. (2023). Toward Disambiguating the Definitions of Abusive, Offensive, Toxic, and Uncivil Comments. In Proceedings of the First Workshop on Cross-Cultural Considerations in NLP (C3NLP) (pp. 107-113) https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2023.c3nlp-1.11, https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2023.c3nlp-1.11
Haberl, M. (2023). Über (Un-)Sinn, Magie und paradoxe Ontologien im virtuellen Raum: Interview mit Melanie Haberl über ihre Masterarbeit „Mit Vergnügen: Das ‚gute‘ Gespräch als Spiel. Unterhaltung durch und mit Chatbots.“. Web publication, Institut für Europäische Ethnologie, Universität Wien.
Kermani, H., & Tafreshi, A. (2023). Walking with Bourdieu into Twitter communities: An analysis of networked publics struggling on power in Iranian Twittersphere. Information, Communication and Society, 26(8), 1653-1674. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.2021267