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"This chapter reviews the major lines of research on five prominent concepts of political communication research linked to the cognitive effects of political mass media: Knowledge gains and gaps, cultivation, agenda setting, priming, and framing. Basic ideas, typical methodologies, key findings and the cognitive processes behind the concepts are discussed in detail, common conceptual roots are identified, and key methodological challenges are highlighted. Finally, some of the overlaps and differences between the approaches are discussed in order to take a step toward a more integrative and coherent view of cognitive media effects in political communication. The chapter argues that both empirical and theoretical advances are needed to get to a better and less fragmented understanding of cognitive media effects in political communication." (publisher's description).

"This chapter reviews the major lines of research on five prominent concepts of political communication research linked to the cognitive effects of political mass media: Knowledge gains and gaps, cultivation, agenda setting, priming, and framing. Basic ideas, typical methodologies, key findings and the cognitive processes behind the concepts are discussed in detail, common conceptual roots are identified, and key methodological challenges are highlighted. Finally, some of the overlaps and differences between the approaches are discussed in order to take a step toward a more integrative and coherent view of cognitive media effects in political communication. The chapter argues that both empirical and theoretical advances are needed to get to a better and less fragmented understanding of cognitive media effects in political communication." (publisher's description)

"Political Agenda Setting and the Mass Media" published on by Oxford University Press.

"The Mass Media and the Policy Process" published on by Oxford University Press.

The erosion of media trust raises concerns about the ways in which the conduit of political information could undermine citizens' trust in democracy. While a large body of research in western democracies shows that media trust is contingent on specific media-system, political and cultural factors pertaining to national contexts, little is known about the sources of media trust in the new democracies from Central and Eastern Europe. Based on statistical analyses of public opinion surveys, this research tests if levels of trust in various traditional (television, radio, written press) and alternative mediums (Internet and online social networks) are differentiated along political party lines and depending on media consumption patterns in post-communist Romania. The results reveal a stronger association between trust in political parties and trust in traditional mediums, while trust in online media is more strongly linked to consumption patterns. These findings have practical, theoretical and normative implications for the functioning of democracy in post-communist societies.