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A major influence operation is systematically manipulating Western media to spread propaganda and disinformation that supports Kremlin interests, a report from Cardiff University concludes. Researchers from the Crime and Security Research Institute have found evidence that 32 prominent media outlets across 16 countries have been targeted via their reader comments sections.

Taking a novel perspective, researchers have studied political polarization in online news consumption rather than content production, looking at whether the backlink structure of online news networks alone, or users' explicit reading choices contribute to the partisan divide. In the past decade it seems political polarization has been on the rise, as measured by voting behavior and general affect towards opposing partisans and their parties.

Research results show that news diversity in Flanders is decreasing. The cause, according to his research, is the concentration of media organisations in the Flemish news landscape.

Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the Spanish Centre for Subtitling and Audio Description (CESyA, in its Spanish acronym) have analysed the state of representation of people with disabilities in the Spanish digital press. The study, recently published in the Spanish Journal of Disability, analyses media representation of disability with the aim of determining whether the media analysed is spreading a stereotyped or discriminatory image of this group of people, which may affect their relationships with other members of society.

The ease of creating fake virtual identities plays an important role in shaping the way information - and misinformation - circulates online. Could 'pseudonym' parties, that would verify proof of personhood not proof of identity, resolve this tension' Social media platforms have completely changed the way information flows online.

A study by the researchers Lluís Mas, Frederic Guerrero, Xavier Ramon and the alumni Laura Grande, of the Department of Communication published in the journal The Political Economy of Communication . The Spanish daily newspaper El País applied interpretative frames of patriotic journalism to cover the events of the Catalan process in October 2017.

Professor Díaz-Noci, a researcher with the DigiDoc research group, is involved in this book that recovers and studies the first gazette to appear in the Iberian Peninsula. 1618 is the year in which the appearance of the first Spanish newspaper can be established, of which eleven issues published in Valencia are known and is now being recovered in the critical edition Gaceta de Roma (Valencia, Felipe Mey, 1618-1620).

The revenue model that has sustained the newspaper industry for centuries no longer works in the digital age, but another age-old concept with some modern adaptations could be the answer to profitability, says a University of Michigan researcher. As newspaper and other similar content has gone digital over recent years, publishers have tried several funding models to strike the right balance between advertising, subscriptions and, in some cases, free content to lure readers.

From Alexa and Siri to translation programs and computer-generated news, anything seems possible these days.The Media Technology Center is searching for applications that could lend a hand with day-to-day editorial work. Every time you talk to Siri on your phone and ask a question or give a command, you are communicating with artificial intelligence.

Newspaper coverage of COVID-19 is at least as politicized and polarized as climate change coverage, say University of Michigan researchers. Both newspaper and network news COVID-19 stories were polarized in early coverage of the pandemic, which may have shaped pandemic attitudes, according to a new U-M analysis of U.S. media coverage from March to May 2020.

The Stanford Cable TV News Analyzer is an interactive tool that uses AI to search transcripts and calculate the screen time of public figures appearing on cable TV news. Cable TV news is a primary source of information for millions of Americans each day. The people that appear on cable TV news and the topics they talk about shape public opinion and culture.

When a story in the Los Angeles Times recently claimed that the novel coronavirus behind COVID-19 had mutated into a more contagious version, it was quickly amplified by other outlets and stoked fears that the virus was becoming more dangerous. The problem is, that wasn't necessarily true. Scientists quickly took to Twitter to point out the research paper the story was based on was a preprint - a first draft of scientific findings.

From newspapers to television, from the internet to social media, we experience an overload of information on the Covid-19 pandemic. Science journalism has become an important source to help individuals understand what is true and what is false. In this video Philip Di Salvo, a post-doc researcher at USI Institute of Media and Journalism, proposes four key words to comprehend what is happening to the media.

Recent economic news has certainly been gloomy. Studies confirm that negative economic news causes us to think more negative thoughts and can lead to a loss of confidence in the political system. Surprisingly, these effects are the same regardless of our age, work and education level. The content and tone of news items and relevant economic context are key: we are most susceptible to negative news before the start of an actual crisis.

Guidelines on reporting suicide are aimed at preventing further suicides and minimising distress to the bereaved. Here Dr Alexandra Pitman (UCL Psychiatry) writes about her research looking at how relatives of suicide victims respond to news, and speaks to others in the field. You are a junior reporter on a busy local newspaper.

The Swiss population's trust in science and research is high to very high. As the Science Barometer Switzerland 2019 study shows, people in Switzerland have a positive attitude towards science and are keen to receive information about research, with climate and energy considered the most important topics.

The #MeToo movement has encouraged women to share their personal stories of sexual harassment. While the movement amplifies previously unheard voices, a Carnegie Mellon University analysis of #MeToo media coverage shows accusers are often portrayed as sympathetic, but with less power and agency than their alleged perpetrators.

Researchers at the Institute of Psychology show how news about immigrants and language describing immigrants shape prejudice against immigrants and other social minorities, as part of the project «Immigrants in the Media». For instance, nouns used for describing the ethnicity of immigrants enhance prejudice against immigrants more than adjectives.

Photo credit: Lucía Vergara and Article 19-Mexico City, Mexico Photo credit: Lucía Vergara and Article 19-Mexico City, Mexico Researchers from 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries, hosted by the Institute for the Advanced Study of the Americas, will share information on the challenges journalists face and their contributions to society.

While the influence of Facebook and Google on the news landscape has been well examined, Wikipedia's role as a source of breaking news has not received enough attention, says a University of Sydney expert. Dr Bunty Avieson  from the University's  Department of Media and Communications  has examined Wikipedia as a breaking news source, in a new research paper published today in prestigious internet studies journal  First Monday .