Lei Guo | Boston University (original) (raw)

Journal Papers by Lei Guo

Journal of Communication , 2017

This study contributes to international news flow literature methodologically, by significantly e... more This study contributes to international news flow literature methodologically, by significantly expanding its scope, and theoretically, by incorporating intermedia agenda-setting theory, through which we reveal how news media in different countries influence each other in covering international news. With a big data analysis of 4,708 online news sources from 67 countries in 2015, the study shows that wealthier countries not only continue to attract most of the world news attention, they are also more likely to decide how other countries perceive the world. However, international news flow is not as hierarchical and U.S.-centric as found earlier. Online-only, emerging media in core countries are not necessarily more impactful in setting the world news agenda than those in (semi)peripheral countries.

New Media & Society, 2018

This study examines the agenda-setting power of fake news and fact-checkers who fight them throug... more This study examines the agenda-setting power of fake news and fact-checkers who fight them through a computational look at the online mediascape from 2014 to 2016. Although our study confirms that content from fake news websites is increasing, these sites do not exert excessive power. Instead, fake news has an intricately entwined relationship with online partisan media, both responding and setting its issue agenda. In 2016, partisan media appeared to be especially susceptible to the agendas of fake news, perhaps due to the election. Emerging news media are also responsive to the agendas of fake news, but to a lesser degree. Fake news coverage itself is diverging and becoming more autonomous topically. While fact-checkers are autonomous in their selection of issues to cover, they were not influential in determining the agenda of news media overall, and their influence appears to be declining, illustrating the difficulties fact-checkers face in disseminating their corrections.

International Journal of Communication, 2017

In China, the emergence of WeChat—a comprehensive mobile application—has introduced millions of o... more In China, the emergence of WeChat—a comprehensive mobile application—has introduced millions of older adults to the digital world. This study conceptualizes the use of WeChat among Chinese older adults from the theoretical framework of alternative media. Based on four focus group discussions in Shanghai, China, with 35 individuals aged 50 years or older, the study found that WeChat exposes many Chinese older adults—for the first time—to a large amount of controversial information and viewpoints that are critical of the official discourse; it also enables some of them to participate in civic life online. The research also reveals a number of constraints such as Internet censorship and WeChat’s profit-driven environment, which to a large extent limit the potential of the mobile application to facilitate alternative communication among this group of people.

Communication Research , 2017

This study investigated the network agenda setting (NAS) model with data gathered from Taiwan’s 2... more This study investigated the network agenda setting (NAS) model with data gathered from Taiwan’s 2012 presidential election. Networks of important objects and candidate attributes in the news were compared with the counterparts generated from public opinion. The overall correlation between the media and public network agendas was positive and significant, thus supporting the NAS model in a non-Western context. In addition, this study found that the NAS model offered more predictive power at the attribute than the object level. The effects of selective exposure in a partisan media system were also incorporated into the investigation. Results showed that partisan selective exposure did not lead to consistent findings about the accentuated association between like-minded media consumption and candidate evaluation.

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2017

This large-scale intermedia agenda–setting analysis examines U.S. online media sources for 2015. ... more This large-scale intermedia agenda–setting analysis examines U.S. online media sources for 2015. The network agenda–setting model showed that media agendas were highly homogeneous and reciprocal. Online partisan media played a leading role in the entire media agenda. Two elite newspapers—The New York Times and The Washington Post—were found to no longer be in control of the news agenda and were more likely to follow online partisan media. This article provides evidence for a nuanced view of the network agenda–setting model; intermedia agenda–setting effects varied by media type, issue type, and time periods.

This article presents an empirical study that investigated and compared two “big data” text analy... more This article presents an empirical study that investigated and compared two “big data” text analysis methods: dictionary-based analysis, perhaps the most popular automated analysis approach in social science research, and unsupervised topic modeling (i.e., Latent Dirichlet Allocation [LDA] analysis), one of the most widely used algorithms in the field of computer science and engineering. By applying two “big data” methods to make sense of the same dataset—77 million tweets about the 2012 U.S. presidential election—the study provides a starting point for scholars to evaluate the efficacy and validity of different computer-assisted methods for conducting journalism and mass communication research, especially in the area of political communication.

Journal of Communication, 2014

Twitter. The results demonstrate that during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, distinctive aud... more Twitter. The results demonstrate that during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, distinctive audiences "melded" agendas of various media differently. "Vertical" media best predicted Obama supporters' agendas on Twitter whereas Romney supporters were best explained by Republican "horizontal" media. Moreover, Obama and Romney supporters relied on their politically affiliated horizontal media more than their opposing party's media. Evidence for findings are provided through the NAS model, which measures the agenda-setting effect not in terms of issue frequency alone, but also in terms of the interconnections and relationships issues inside of an agenda.

This article presents an empirical study that tests a new concept, “issue ownership network,” whi... more This article presents an empirical study that tests a new concept, “issue ownership network,” which is based on the network agenda setting (NAS) model and the theory of issue ownership. Big data analytics and semantic network analysis were used to examine the large data set collected on Twitter during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Results showed that the news media could determine the public's identification of a political candidate with not just individual issues but also entire networks of issues. Here we argue that traditional news media still set the public agenda in this new media environment, and do so in ways more complicated through constructing message networks. The study also demonstrates that the NAS model and its unique focus can potentially enrich the understanding of other communication and social science theories and concepts.

In light of continuing trends of globalization, media scholars are increasingly examining and com... more In light of continuing trends of globalization, media scholars are increasingly examining and comparing transnational issues. This study argues that although such research is timely and necessary, it requires a more structured approach. By analyzing existing cross-national framing studies, this study exposes gaps in the literature that a new model of approach proposed here could help fill. This transnational comparative framing model provides a framing pool for collecting generic, domestic, and issue-specific frames and proposes a three-dimensional framing matrix as a systematic framing codebook. Discussion of the model centers on its possible application to the analyzed cross-national framing studies to illustrate its ability to provide a more unified approach in this emerging area of research.

This study used an international perspective to analyze how newspapers in the United States and C... more This study used an international perspective to analyze how newspapers in the United States and China framed a specific global sweatshop issue: a continuous spate of suicides at the Foxconn Technology Group, a major supplier to Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 92 newspaper articles appearing in US and Chinese newspapers, this study found Chinese newspapers framed the suicides mainly as the psychological problems of a young generation rather than a sweatshop issue. Newspapers in the US used a traditional human rights abuser frame to portray the suicides. Foxconn was the main social actor cited in most news coverage. Both the US and Chinese newspapers framed the case as a China-specific problem, ignoring global social justice and world economy aspects. This study contributes more broadly to framing research by developing an approach that is distinctly used for cross-cultural framing studies about a global issue.

Most alternative media research has examined media content and the production process, largely ig... more Most alternative media research has examined media content and the production process, largely ignoring another important component: the audiences of alternative media. To narrow this gap, this study investigates audience participation in one alternative media outlet: community radio. Case studies were conducted on 2 U.S. community radio stations through participatory ethnography, in-depth interviews, and a listener survey. Results suggest that community radio continues to be relevant in this digital era. While people lose faith in mainstream media and become increasingly suspicious of online content, they still consider community radio the most trustworthy. The study also demonstrates the limitations of audience participation in community radio, and the difficulties this medium faces in adopting new technologies and adapting to this digital world.

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2014

This study examines the Network Agenda Setting Model, the third level of agenda-setting theory. I... more This study examines the Network Agenda Setting Model, the third level of agenda-setting theory. It seeks to expand the model’s scope by testing five years (2007-2011) of aggregated data from national news media and polls. The study finds evidence that the news media bundled issue objects and made them salient in the public’s mind. Findings of the study also demonstrate strong network correlations of issue salience among different types of news media.

Howard Journal of Communication , 2014

This study examines representations of African Americans, Lati- nos, and Asians in YouTube videos... more This study examines representations of African Americans, Lati- nos, and Asians in YouTube videos, exploring whether YouTube serves as a type of alternative media where the status quo is con- tested. Results show that most videos analyzed perpetuated racial stereotypes. Further, videos that included stereotypes, most of which contained user-produced content, were more popular. The authors argue citizens to a large extent use YouTube to perpetuate the same stereotypes found in the mainstream media, rather than use it as an alternative counter-public sphere.

Journal of Communication , 2014

This study finds support for agenda melding and further validates the Network Agenda Setting (NAS... more This study finds support for agenda melding and further validates the Network Agenda Setting (NAS) model through a series of computer science methods with large datasets on Twitter. The results demonstrate that during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, distinctive audiences “melded” agendas of various media differently. “Vertical” media best predicted Obama supporters' agendas on Twitter whereas Romney supporters were best explained by Republican “horizontal” media. Moreover, Obama and Romney supporters relied on their politically affiliated horizontal media more than their opposing party's media. Evidence for findings are provided through the NAS model, which measures the agenda-setting effect not in terms of issue frequency alone, but also in terms of the interconnections and relationships issues inside of an agenda.

Journalism Studies, 2014

Walter Lippmann's description in Public Opinion of the news media as the bridge between “the worl... more Walter Lippmann's description in Public Opinion of the news media as the bridge between “the world outside and the pictures in our heads” is particularly apt for the two goals of this study: exploring a new perspective in agenda-setting theory grounded in network analysis, which, in turn, provides the setting for a comparative analysis of the Iraq War news coverage in newspapers of the United States, Mainland China, Taiwan and Poland. Exploring competing hypotheses about the globalization of news versus the influence of cultural and political stances in the construction of attribute agendas during the opening two years of the Iraq War, this study found some support for both factors, but with the preponderance of the evidence reflecting the political stance of each newspaper's government. In regard to the emerging perspective of network agenda setting, this study found that a focus on bundles of message attributes highlights the larger context of these individual attributes on the media agenda and presents a more nuanced measure of salience in contrast to the traditional focus on the frequency of discrete objects or attributes to define the media agenda.

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2014

Considering the debate over U.S. immigration reform and the way digital communication technologie... more Considering the debate over U.S. immigration reform and the way digital communication technologies increasingly are being used to spark protests, this qualitative study examines focus group discourse of immigration activists to explore how digital media are transforming the definitions of “activism” and “activist.” Analysis suggests technologies are perhaps pacifying would-be activists, convincing them they are contributing more than they actually are. Thus, “slacktivism,” or “clicktivism” that takes just a mouse click is potentially diluting “real” activism.

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

This article presents the innovative application of social network analysis to agenda setting res... more This article presents the innovative application of social network analysis to agenda setting research. It suggests that the approach of network analysis enables researchers to map out the interrelationships among objects and attributes both in the media agenda and the public agenda. Further, by conducting statistical analysis, researchers are able to compare the media agenda networks and public agenda networks in order to explore a third level of agenda setting effects. Concrete procedures for applying network analysis in agenda setting research are presented, and a set of hypotheses are suggested in this article.

Critical Studies in Media Communication

Asian/Asian Americans, a minority group traditionally and systematically ignored by the American ... more Asian/Asian Americans, a minority group traditionally and systematically ignored by the American mainstream media, have become extremely vocal on YouTube. This study analyzes the YouTube-based vernacular discourses created by two of the most well-known and influential Asian American YouTube celebrities: Ryan Higa and Kevin Wu. For analysis, we provide a synthesized model, “hybrid vernacular discourse,” to explore the YouTube-based vernacular discourses from three aspects: content, agency, and subjectivity. The study found that Higa's and Wu's vernacular discourses did demonstrate some revolutionary potential, but the potential was largely limited.

International Journal of Communication, 2012

International Communication Gazette, 2012

Journal of Communication , 2017

New Media & Society, 2018

International Journal of Communication, 2017

Communication Research , 2017

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2017

Journal of Communication, 2014

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2014

Howard Journal of Communication , 2014

Journal of Communication , 2014

Journalism Studies, 2014

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2014

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

Critical Studies in Media Communication

International Journal of Communication, 2012

International Communication Gazette, 2012

The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects, 2017

This entry reviews agenda-setting literature from two theoretical and methodological perspectives... more This entry reviews agenda-setting literature from two theoretical and methodological perspectives: aggregate- and individual-level media effects. The literature suggests that all three levels of agenda-setting have found solid evidence at the aggregate level. That is, the news media are able to transfer the salience of objects, attributes, and network relationships among different elements to the public as one generalized group. With respect to the role of individual differences in the agenda-setting process, the entry focuses on the explication of a key psychological concept: need for orientation. Future directions of research in this field are suggested.

Citizen journalism: Global perspectives (Vol.2), 2014

Agenda Setting in a 2.0 World: New Agendas in Communication, 2013

The news media have significant influence on the formation of public opinion. Called the agenda-s... more The news media have significant influence on the formation of public opinion. Called the agenda-setting role of the media, this influence occurs at three levels. Focusing public attention on a select few issues or other topics at any moment is level one. Emphasizing specific attributes of those issues or topics is level two. The Power of Information Networks: The Third Level of Agenda Setting introduces the newest perspective on this influence. While levels one and two are concerned with the salience of discrete individual elements, the third level offers a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective to explain media effects in this evolving media landscape: the ability of the news media to determine how the public associates the various elements in these media messages to create an integrated picture of public affairs. This is the first book to detail the theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and international empirical evidence for this new perspective. Cutting-edge communication analytics such as network analysis, Big Data and data visualization techniques are used to examine these third-level effects. Diverse applications of the theory are documented in political communication, public relations, health communication, and social media research.

The Agenda Setting Journal

This study advances agenda-setting theory by applying it to understand the media influence on the... more This study advances agenda-setting theory by applying it to understand the media influence on the public's perception of health issues. The longitudinal analysis compared news indices, public opinion polls, and reality indicators in the United States from 2001 to 2010. The results show that news media, especially print media, did have some agenda-setting effects on the public's health priorities. However, the coverage had little to do with reality and, ironically, the media representation of certain health issues showed an opposite trend to that of the reality indicators. These findings call into question the responsibility of journalists in providing a complete and proportional representation of health concerns.

This article presents an empirical study that investigated and compared two " big data " text ana... more This article presents an empirical study that investigated and compared two " big data " text analysis methods: dictionary-based analysis, perhaps the most popular automated analysis approach in social science research, and unsupervised topic modeling (i.e., Latent Dirichlet Allocation [LDA] analysis), one of the most widely used algorithms in the field of computer science and engineering. By applying two " big data " methods to make sense of the same dataset—77 million tweets about the 2012 U.S. presidential election—the study provides a starting point for scholars to evaluate the efficacy and validity of different computer-assisted methods for conducting journalism and mass communication research, especially in the area of political communication.