Research

Today, the Annenberg School for Communication released a report entitled "Divided We Feel: Partisan Politics Drive Americans' Emotions Regarding Surveillance of Low-Income Populations." It is the first national survey that examines Americans’ emotional responses to surveillance practices that disproportionately affect low-income populations. In the US, low-income individuals and people of color are more likely than others to experience commonplace monitoring by government and business.

A new report from Panoptykon Foundation and Annenberg's Internet Policy Observatory (IPO), "Digital Propaganda or 'Normal' Political Polarization? Case Study of Political Debate on Polish Twitter," examines the polarization of public debate, the rise of populism, and digital propaganda.

Despite the persistent notion in Hollywood that films starring people of color aren’t marketable to a broad audience, the success of Black Panther — a Marvel movie starring a Black superhero and with an almost entirely Black cast — provides a clear counterexample, having grossed $1.3 billion worldwide.

Research by Professor Diana Mutz shows that fear of losing their privileged status in America and the world motivated many 2016 voters. The study also debunks the oft-cited idea that voters were driven by economic grievances.

On April 13, Annenberg hosted its sixth annual Graduate Student Symposium. The event was organized by a student committee and featured presentations by 18 doctoral students and candidates.

More than 65 faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and research staff will present research at the International Communication Association’s 68th Annual Conference, to be held May 24-28 in Prague.

"Using Research in Digital Rights Advocacy: Understanding the Research Needs of the Internet Freedom Community," a new report from Annenberg's Internet Policy Observatory, is based on a 2017 survey of 79 organizations engaged in digital rights advocacy from around the world. The report seeks to provide clarity on how the community understands and utilizes research within current advocacy efforts and to identify the needs for future research and collaboration efforts.

People’s willingness to use a Zika vaccine when it’s available will be influenced by how they weigh the risks associated with the disease and the vaccine, but also by their misconceptions about other vaccines, a new study has found.

While a Zika vaccine is in development, the study by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania examined factors that will affect the eventual acceptance or rejection of such a vaccine.

One of the recurring media narratives about the nature of science today is that it is “broken” or “in crisis.” In the mainstream press, some stories about the failure to reproduce study results or the rising retraction rate or incidents of scientific fraud have been accompanied by assertions about a “systemic crisis” in areas of science — or in science itself.

Through the Senior Honors Thesis course, three Annenberg Communication majors received funding to study graffiti along the U.S./Mexico border, how the news portrays Latinx immigrants, and the virality of online video advertising.