Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: How Civic Journalism Influences Political Learning and Deliberation

民主理论家认为，良好公民的两个标志是知情的公民和理性的，批判性的公共话语政策问题。 虽然这些规范性的理想推动了政治学的大量研究，但记者们也开始利用民主理论来证明政治报道的巨大变化。 这种方式被称为“公民新闻”（civil journalism），其显著特征之一是强调问题，而在政治报道中放弃“赛马”报道。旨在评估公民新闻对学习的影响的调查研究得出了相互矛盾的结果，学者们还没有衡量该运动对审议的影响。 利用实验和实验焦点小组，本研究项目将评估公民新闻和赛马报道对政治学习和审议的影响。 这些是中心的研究问题：第一，个人学到更多的问题，是公民新闻，赛马报道或两个框架的组合的特点的报道？ 其次，在个人层面上，当读者讨论他们所阅读的材料时，这些信息的使用如何因帧而异？ 第三，在群体层面上，议题信息是否更有可能产生民主理论家所珍视的广泛的、寻求共识的审议？这个博士论文研究支持奖推进媒体对政治学习和话语的影响的研究在四个方面：第一，借鉴社会心理学和政治科学文献，本研究阐明和测试媒体效应的催化剂理论的认知和情感框架。 其次，本研究拓展了框架理论的研究范围。 第三，通过实验的使用，这个项目进一步隔离的问题覆盖的影响，形成公民新闻的核心。 第四，本研究以焦点小组为实验对象，延伸意见形成理论与民主审议理论的应用范围，将可增进我们对议题的了解。

Democratic theorists argue that two of the hallmarks of good citizenship are an informed citizenry and rational, critical public discourse about policy issues. While these normative ideals have fueled considerable research in political science, journalists also have begun to draw on democratic theory to justify a dramatic change in coverage in of politics. This approach is called civic journalism and one of its defining features is an emphasis on issues and the abandonment of "horse-race" coverage in reporting on politics.Survey research aimed at evaluating the effect of civic journalism on learning has yielded conflicting results, and scholars have yet to measure the movement's influence on deliberation. Using experiments and experimental focus groups, this research project will assess the effects of civic journalism and horse-race coverage on political learning and deliberation. These are the central research questions: First, do individuals learn more from the issue coverage that is characteristic of civic journalism, horse race coverage or a combination of the two frames? Second, at the individual level, how does the use of this information vary by frame when readers discuss the material they have read? Third, at the group level, is issue information more likely to generate the wide-ranging, consensus-seeking deliberation prized by democratic theorists?This Doctoral Dissertation Research Support award advances the study of media effects on political learning and discourse in four ways: First, drawing on the social psychological and political science literatures, this research articulates and tests a cognitive and affective framework for a catalyst theory of media effects. Second, the research extends the literature on framing. Third, through the use of an experiment, this project further isolates the effects of the issue coverage that forms the core of civic journalism. Fourth, this project uses experimental focus groups to extend the application of theories of opinion formation and democratic deliberation.The research should enhance substantially our understanding of the topic.