Frontiers in Communication 

About: Frontiers in Communication is an academic journal published by Frontiers Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Psychology & Medicine. It has an ISSN identifier of 2297-900X. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 1003 publications have been published receiving 5099 citations.

Prejudice Toward Asian Americans in the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Effects of Social Media Use in the United States

Abstract: The ongoing Covid-19 outbreak has brought increased incidents of racism, discrimination, and violence against “Asians,” particularly in the United States, with reports of hate crimes of over 100 per day. Since January 2020, many Asian Americans have reported suffering racial slurs, wrongful workplace termination, being spat on, physical violence, extreme physical distancing, etc., as media and government officials increasingly stigmatise and blame Asians for the spread of Covid-19. The links with social media are increasingly evident, as anti-Asian sentiment increases, with reports of anti-Asian sentiment spreading and Asian-Americans fighting hate via social media. Using integrated threat theory, this study explores the links between prejudice/hate toward Asians-Americans, in particular Chinese, and social media use. Three key results emerged from the study. First, the more a social media user believes their most used daily social media is fair, accurate, presents the facts, and is concerned about the public (social media believe), the more likely that user is to believe Chinese pose a realistic and symbolic threat to America. Second, men and women significantly differed on each type of prejudice, with men scoring higher on intergroup anxiety and women higher on symbolic and realistic threat. Third, respondents who do not use social media on a daily basis are less likely than those who use Facebook to perceive Chinese as a symbolic threat. Implications and recommendations for practitioners, health workers and government are proposed.

Psychological Reactance and Persuasive Health Communication: A Review of the Literature

Abstract: Psychological reactance theory is a commonly relied upon framework for understanding audience members’ resistance to persuasive health messages. This review article provides an overview of reactance research in the context of persuasive health communication. The article begins with an overview of psychological reactance theory. The major concepts of the theory are discussed, as well as recent developments by communication researchers in measuring reactance. Following this, contemporary reactance research in the context of persuasive health communication is summarized. An emphasis is placed on research examining message features associated with reactance, as well as the moderating role of trait reactance. The article concludes with a discussion of several promising directions for future research.

Science and Environmental Communication on YouTube : Strategically Distorted Communications in Online Videos on Climate Change and Climate Engineering

Abstract: The online video-sharing website YouTube is extremely popular globally, also as a tool for information on science and environmental topics. However, only little is known about what kind of information users find when they are searching for information about climate science, climate change and climate engineering on YouTube. This contribution presents results from an exploratory research project that investigates whether videos found on YouTube adhere to or challenge scientific consensus views. Ten search terms were employed to search for and analyze 200 videos about climate and climate modification topics, which are contested topics in online media. The online anonymization tool Tor has been used for the randomization of the sample and to avoid personalization of the results. A heuristic qualitative classification tool was set up to categorize the videos in the sample. 89 videos of the 200 videos in the sample are supporting scientific consensus views about anthropogenic climate change, and climate scientists are discussing climate topics with deniers of climate change in 4 videos in the sample. Unexpectedly, the majority of the videos in the sample (107 videos) supports worldviews that are opposing scientific consensus views: 16 videos deny climate change and 91 videos in the sample propagate straightforward conspiracy theories about climate engineering and climate change. Videos supporting the scientific mainstream view received only slightly more views (16,941,949 views in total) than those opposing the mainstream scientific position (16,939,655 views in total). Consequences for the public communication of climate change and climate engineering are discussed in the second part of the article. The research presented in this contribution is particularly interested in finding out more about strategically distorted communications about climate change and climate engineering in online environments and in critically analyzing them.

Rising Above Misinformation or Fake News in Africa: Another Strategy to Control COVID-19 Spread

Abstract: Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually gaining much popularity and amplifying the threat facing humanity about the continuous spread of the virus regardless of one’s location Although some of the influx of these falsehoods may be harmless, others might pose a serious threat by misleading the general population to depend on unjustified and/ unsubstantiated claims for protection and show preference for them against scientifically proven guidelines This paper provides a clear understanding on some COVID-19 misinformation, the inherent implications this poses to public health in Africa and highlights the potential strategies to curb this trend

Framing Climate Change: Economics, Ideology, and Uncertainty in American News Media Content From 1988 to 2014

Abstract: The news media play a seminal role in shaping public attitudes on a wide range of issues – climate change included. As climate change has risen in salience, the average American is much more likely to be exposed to news coverage now than in the past. Yet, the content of these news stories has been underexplored in academic literature, despite likely playing an important part in fostering or inhibiting public support and engagement in climate action. In this paper we use a combination of automated and manual content analysis of the most influential media sources in the U.S., including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press, to illustrate the prevalence of different frames in the news coverage of climate change and their dynamics over time. We focus on three types of frames, based on previous research: economic costs and benefits associated with climate mitigation, appeals to conservative and free market values and principles, and uncertainties and risk surrounding climate change. We find that many of the frames found to reduce people’s propensity to support and engage in climate action have been on the decline in the mainstream media, such as frames emphasizing potential economic harms of climate mitigation policy or uncertainty. At the same time, frames conducive to such engagement by the general public have been on the rise, such as those highlighting economic benefits of climate action. News content is also more likely now than in the past to use language emphasizing risk and danger, and to use the present tense. To the extent that citizens may not be informed of the gravity of the risk posed by uncontrolled greenhouse gas emissions, or discount threats that appear to be far in the future, these are welcome developments.