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"This paper reviews research on the role of communication in political socialization. Starting from a basic definition the impact of different agents (family, peers, school, mass media) and communicative processes (interpersonal vs. mass communication) on various outcomes of political socialization (i.e. political knowledge, norms and values, attitudes, participation) is discussed. It is argued that research has amply demonstrated the role of media and communication as agents of socialization. However, the paper highlights that changes in parental generations, the media landscape, and in adolescents themselves provide good reason to revisit questions of how communication impacts how adolescents develop into citizens in democratic societies. Finally, the chapter addresses several aspects that researchers should consider in their future work on political socialization." (publisher's description).

Young citizens increasingly turn to social media platforms for political information. These platforms enable direct communication between politicians and citizens, circumventing the influence of traditional news outlets. We still know little about the consequences of direct contact with politicians on such platforms for citizens' political participation. Here, we argue that the interplay of different actors in the political news diet of citizens should be investigated from a networked communication perspective. Relying on a cross-sectional survey of young Danes (15–25 years old, n = 567), we investigate the relationship between following politicians on social media and: (a) the composition of young citizens' political media diet; and (b) their civic messaging and campaign participation. Following political actors on social media relates to increased campaign engagement and can be a catalyst for young people's exposure to campaign news, but their friends and followers function as the main node of their political online networks. We document a process of the de-mediation of politics on social media: Established news media lose influence as primary information sources for young citizens. We discuss these results in the context of users' active curation and passive selection of their political social media diet.

Young citizens increasingly turn to social media platforms for political information. These platforms enable direct communication between politicians and citizens, circumventing the influence of traditional news outlets. We still know little about the consequences of direct contact with politicians on such platforms for citizens' political participation. Here, we argue that the interplay of different actors in the political news diet of citizens should be investigated from a networked communication perspective. Relying on a cross-sectional survey of young Danes (15–25 years old, n = 567), we investigate the relationship between following politicians on social media and: (a) the composition of young citizens' political media diet; and (b) their civic messaging and campaign participation. Following political actors on social media relates to increased campaign engagement and can be a catalyst for young people's exposure to campaign news, but their friends and followers function as the main node of their political online networks. We document a process of the de-mediation of politics on social media: Established news media lose influence as primary information sources for young citizens. We discuss these results in the context of users' active curation and passive selection of their political social media diet.

"This paper reviews research on the role of communication in political socialization. Starting from a basic definition the impact of different agents (family, peers, school, mass media) and communicative processes (interpersonal vs. mass communication) on various outcomes of political socialization (i.e. political knowledge, norms and values, attitudes, participation) is discussed. It is argued that research has amply demonstrated the role of media and communication as agents of socialization. However, the paper highlights that changes in parental generations, the media landscape, and in adolescents themselves provide good reason to revisit questions of how communication impacts how adolescents develop into citizens in democratic societies. Finally, the chapter addresses several aspects that researchers should consider in their future work on political socialization." (publisher's description)

AbstractDigitally networked and new, unconventional activities allow citizens to participate politically in activities that are low in the effort and risks they bear. At the same time, low-effort types of participation are more loosely connected to democratic political systems, thereby challenging established modes of political decision-making. This can set in motion two competing dynamics: While some citizens move closer to the political system in their activities (upstream effects), others engage in political activities more distant from it (downstream effects). This study investigates non-electoral participation trajectories and tests intra-individual change in political participation types over time, exploring whether such dynamics depend on citizens' exposure to political information. Utilizing a three-wave panel survey (n = 3490) and random intercept cross-lagged panel models with SEM, we find more evidence for downstream effects but detect overall diverse participation trajectories over time and a potentially crucial role of elections for non-electoral participation trajectories.

Onlinejournalistsareoftenbelieved,notleastintheindustryitself,to followdifferentprofessionalstandardsfromtheirprintandbroadcast colleagues. There is, however, little empirical evidence to support or to refute this perception. This paper intends to help fill that gap by investigating whether offline and online journalists differ in their professional principles and practices. Drawing on previous conceptual research by Deuze, we operationalize the concept of journalism as an ideology comprising four ideal professional values: public service, objectivity, autonomy, and ethics. Using survey data from the Worlds of Journalism Study we compare professional principles and practices among online, offline, and multiplatform journalists in nine Western and Eastern European countries (N= 6,089). We find, contrary to previous research, that principles and practices among online and offline journalists broadly conform. However, we also find that online journalists are more likely than their offline colleagues to find justification for publishing unverified information and less interested in holding politicians to account, despite reporting that they have more freedom to select and frame news stories. We also find important differences between our samples of Western and Eastern European journalists.

Growing concern about the democratic impact of automatically curated news platforms urges us to reconsider how such platforms should be designed. We propose a theoretical framework for personalised diversity nudges that can stimulate diverse news consumption on the individual level. To examine potential benefits and limitations of existing diversity nudges, we conduct an interdisciplinary literature review that synthesises theoretical work on news selection mechanisms with hands-on tools and implementations from the fields of computer science and recommender systems. Based thereupon, we propose five diversity nudges that researchers and practitioners can build on. We provide a theoretical motivation of why, when and for whom such nudges could be effective, critically reflect on their potential backfire effects and the need for algorithmic transparency, and sketch out a research agenda for diversity-aware news recommender design. Thereby, we develop concrete, theoretically grounded avenues towards facilitating diverse news consumption on algorithmically curated platforms.

While communication and media studies tend to define privacy with reference to data security, current processes of datafication and commodification substantially transform ways of how people act in increasingly dense communicative networks. This begs for advancing research on the flow of individual and organizational information considering its relational, contextual and, in consequence, political dimensions. Privacy, understood as the control over the flow of individual or group information in relation to communicative actions of others, frames the articles assembled in this thematic issue. These contributions focus on theoretical challenges of contemporary communication and media privacy research as well as on structural privacy conditions and people's mundane communicative practices underlining inherent political aspect. They highlight how particular acts of doing privacy are grounded in citizen agency realized in datafied environments. Overall, this collection of articles unfolds the concept of 'Politics of Privacy' in diverse ways, contributing to an emerging body of communication and media research.

While communication and media studies tend to define privacy with reference to data security, current processes of datafication and commodification substantially transform ways of how people act in increasingly dense communicative networks. This begs for advancing research on the flow of individual and organizational information considering its relational, con-textual and, in consequence, political dimensions. Privacy, understood as the control over the flow of individual or group information in relation to communicative actions of others, frames the articles assembled in this thematic issue. These contributions focus on theoretical challenges of contemporary communication and media privacy research as well as on structural privacy conditions and people's mundane communicative practices underlining inherent political aspect. They highlight how particular acts of doing privacy are grounded in citizen agency realized in datafied environments. Overall, this collection of articles unfolds the concept of 'Politics of Privacy' in diverse ways, contributing to an emerging body of communication and media research.

The relationship among media, politicians, and the public has been studied a lot, especially how the media's portrayal of politics affects people's (cynical) attitudes. Scholars know little about the antecedent of this assumed spiral of cynicism: How cynical are politicians and journalists about each other and about politics? Based on a survey among Dutch politicians and political journalists, the research presented in this article tries to fill this gap. The results show that politicians are rather cynical about media and journalists, especially when they feel media are out to set the political agenda. Journalists are equally cynical about politicians as the latter are about themselves, but it is a relative cynicism since it is lower than that of the general public. Journalists are, however, convinced that most politicians are driven by what we call "media salacity," a drive to get journalists' attention and coverage, a conviction shared, surprisingly, by the politicians themselves.

Understanding how citizens keep themselves informed about current affairs is crucial for a functioning democracy. Extant research suggests that in an increasingly fragmented digital news environment, search engines and social media platforms promote more incidental, but potentially more shallow modes of engagement with news compared to the act of routinely accessing a news organization's website. In this study, we examine classic predictors of news consumption to explain the preference for three modes of news engagement in online tracking data: routine news use, news use triggered by social media, and news use as part of a general search for information. In pursuit of this aim, we make use of a unique data set that combines tracking data with survey data. Our findings show differences in predictors between preference for regular (direct) engagement, general search-driven, and social media-driven modes of news engagement. In describing behavioral differences in news consumption patterns, we demonstrate a clear need for further analysis of behavioral tracking data in relation to self-reported measures in order to further qualify differences in modes of news engagement.

This study investigates users' artificial intelligence (AI)-related competencies (i.e., AI knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and identifies the vulnerable user groups in the AI-shaped online news and entertainment environment. We surveyed 1088 Dutch citizens over the age of 16 years and identified five user groups through the latent class analysis: the average users, the expert advocates, the expert skeptics, the unskilled skeptics, and the neutral unskilled. The most vulnerable groups with the lowest levels of AI knowledge and AI skills (i.e., unskilled skeptics and neutral unskilled) were mostly older, with lower levels of education and privacy protection skills, than the average users. Overall, the results of this study resonate with the existing findings on the digital divide and provide evidence for an emerging AI divide among users. Finally, the societal implication of this study is discussed, such as the need for education programs and applications of the explainable AI.