ABSTRACT Media trust is a crucial element in societies, influencing how citizens perceive and engage with political information. Previous research has established connections between media trust and factors such as media use, political ideology, and institutional trust. However, the effects of media diet and cross-ideological media use on media trust remain underexplored. This study investigates the association between media trust and the use of media from a variety of ideological spectrums. Results suggest that media trust is associated with ideology, partisanship, political interests, populist beliefs, and institutional trust. While overall media diet diversity positively predicts media trust, cross-ideological media consumption decreases it. Both media diet diversity and cross-media use diversity moderate the relationship between trust and populism.

ABSTRACT Obesity is a chronic health condition caused by a variety of social and environmental factors. Described as a game changer for overweight individuals, the FDA approved for weight loss the key ingredient in Ozempic, a diabetic medication. It became a topical issue in the media. Grounded in social identity theory, the researchers used inductive thematic analysis to explore two weight-related subreddits with distinctly different goals by examining how members’ social identities and group norms influence Ozempic-use and weight-loss narratives. Findings revealed in-group and out-group dynamics based on group membership, and identity negotiation, particularly in rejecting dominant narratives that higher-weight individuals are lazy or unhealthy. While one subreddit primarily viewed the medication as empowering for achieving weight-loss goals, the other group largely situated the medication within the discourse of external pressure to conform to the public’s idealized body type and challenged the notion that medication is a universal solution for higher-weight individuals. This study illustrates how social identities shape narratives and health-related behaviors, and how platforms, such as Reddit, serve to reinforce or resist dominant narratives regarding weight and medication intervention.

ABSTRACT The present study employed framing theory to analyze how major Nigerian newspapers constructed the narrative of the cost-of-living crisis following the 2023 fuel subsidy removal and naira flotation. Through a quantitative content analysis of 505 articles from six newspapers (Punch, The Nation, The Guardian, Vanguard, Daily Trust, Leadership), the research applies Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) typology of five news frames and an analysis of news media functions. The findings reveal a stark bifurcation in media narratives. A clear dichotomy emerged: one group of newspapers (Punch, The Nation, The Guardian) adopted an Accountability Model, heavily emphasizing frames of attribution of responsibility and human interest while performing a critical watchdog function. In contrast, another group (Vanguard, Daily Trust, Leadership) employed a Conflict-Event Model, dominated by the conflict frame and a passive information function, thereby depersonalizing the crisis and sidestepping accountability. The study concludes that the Nigerian press did not present a unified narrative but instead constructed parallel realities, fundamentally shaping public understanding along ideological and editorial lines. This fragmentation has profound implications for democratic accountability, highlighting how media framing can fracture public consensus during a national emergency.

ABSTRACT Past research has examined the role of technology in humanitarian crises such as those involving refugees. Scholars have also studied the relationship of feelings of empathy with attitudes and behaviors. In the current study, we investigated the effects of VR technology on people’s intention to share information about the Syrian refugee crisis. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two experiments. Participants for both studies were undergraduate students in the U.S. For both the pilot study and the main study, two experimental groups (VR vs. Non-VR) where participants were randomly assigned by Qualtrics were administered. We conducted a between-subject randomized lab experiment. The findings show that VR condition was associated with higher levels of empathy, and the increased levels were subsequently linked to a greater intention to share information about the Syrian refugee crisis. The current study highlighted the underlying mechanism leading to the intention to share information by general viewers, underscoring the effectiveness of using VR technology to tell stories of the suffering of the impacted communities. The important implications for humanitarian communication and refugee studies are discussed.

ABSTRACT Video games have become a significant form of personal entertainment, attracting growing research attention to their impact on players. However, there remains a gap in understanding how external activities, such as participation in online gaming communities, relate to gaming experiences and mental health, particularly stress and resilience. This study focuses on players of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK) and investigates whether community participation is associated with players’ gaming experiences. Guided by the recovery and resilience in entertaining media use (R2 EM) model, data were collected from 400 TOTK players through a Chinese online gaming community. Results show that community involvement was positively associated with relaxation, psychological detachment, mastery, control, positive emotion, social support, and self-efficacy, suggesting that individuals may experience richer or more positive gaming experiences when engaging in communities. Furthermore, relaxation was associated with short-term recovery, which was related to lower stress. In addition, self-efficacy and social support were associated with higher resilience, which may help players better confront life challenges. This study provides correlational evidence consistent with the R2 EM model and offers guidance for future research in this area.

ABSTRACT In-feed native posts represent a growing form of social media advertising in the highly competitive Chinese market. This study examines Chinese sportswear brands’ use of native posts and celebrity endorsements for product promotion on Weibo. It conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment (N = 232) to examine the effects of sponsorship disclosure (absent vs. present), endorser type (non-celebrity vs. celebrity), and brand credibility (low vs. high) on Chinese consumer responses. Results revealed that presenting a disclosure label (vs. no disclosure) did not lead to greater advertising recognition, and this recognition in turn had no significant negative effects on consumer responses. However, it was found that using celebrity endorsers in native posts led to greater purchase intentions than using non-celebrity endorsers. Meanwhile, brand credibility positively affected brand attitudes and purchase intentions. These findings suggest that celebrity endorsement and a strong brand reputation are favorable factors for brands to achieve their advertising objectives. These results contribute to the literature on Chinese social media advertising and offer practical implications for the sportswear industry.

ABSTRACT With increased challenges to remove books from public access, it is important to understand the opinion of parents on the banning of books. Guided by parental mediation theory, two studies examined how parents’ mediation styles of their child’s reading influenced parental allowance of banned books. In Study 1, N = 318 parents participated in an online survey. Results showed parents do use active reading mediation styles. Notably, parents who used restrictive mediation to monitor their child’s reading were more permissive of banned books. In Study 2, N = 217 parents completed a survey evaluating their mediation styles and the likelihood of allowing their child to read passages containing frequently banned book themes (i.e. sex, violence, and LGBTQ+ content). The results of Study 2 showed parents evaluate the appropriateness of a passage based on the age of a child and the parent’s use of restrictive mediation. Combined, the studies show the importance of parental restrictive mediation of books. Parents who are aware of what their children read can make informed decisions about the content their child is capable of understanding.

ABSTRACT With individuals increasingly acting as independent agents in the new media landscape, their online behavior has become critical in shaping the information environment. This study employs the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP) model, a behavioral framework often used in public health communication, to examine how New Media Literacy (NML) influences information verification behavior through risk perception of fake news, using structural equation modeling (SEM). Consistent with the KAP framework, the combination of knowledge (NML) and attitude (risk perception) significantly enhanced individuals’ tendency to verify information. Moreover, within NML, critical consumption skills exerted both direct and indirect effects on information verification through risk perception, whereas critical prosumption skills showed only a direct effect. These findings suggest that media consumption skills may play a comparatively greater role in shaping individuals’ information verification behavior. By adapting a public health communication framework to the context of digital media use, this study contributes to theory-building in media effects research and offers practical insights for designing targeted media literacy interventions in response to the evolving dynamics of new media technologies.

ABSTRACT This study focuses on understanding connections between news consumption on TikTok and the credibility of news content. Results from an online experiment (n = 325) revealed that participants who used TikTok intentionally to seek news and political information were more likely to engage with political content and view it as more credible than other TikTok users. Additionally, this study did not find a connection between use frequency and credibility of the news content or news outlets, which contradicts previous research on media consumption and effects. Implications of these findings are discussed.

ABSTRACT Social media is a powerful tool for conservation organizations, but balancing entertainment and education is challenging. This study integrates semiotics with the heuristic – systematic model (HSM) to examine how visual and narrative elements in Facebook videos relate to engagement. A content analysis of 770 videos from 10 AZA-accredited U.S. zoos coded production techniques, video features, and entertainment – education strategies. Heuristic cues – especially iconic signs such as baby animals and affect-forward imagery – were associated with higher interaction patterns (likes, shares) consistent with low-effort processing in fast-scroll contexts. In contrast, systematic cues (e.g. extended human presence) and indexical/symbolic references tended to coincide with lower observable interaction, including comments. Entertainment-oriented videos generally received more engagement than education-oriented videos, suggesting value in pairing heuristic appeal with substantive messaging. Results offer a probabilistic, theory-informed framework for crafting social content that blends visibility with educational aims. Implications for entertainment – education strategy are discussed, alongside limitations and directions for testing cue effects across platforms and outcomes.