Student Research Guide SPQ25/ Effects of the 24/7 News Cycle

WHERE TO START

• SURVEY: "2024 Stress in America Survey." American Psychological Association, Oct 2024, https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2024. Accessed 8 June 2025. 
  • This source was useful because it was the most recent study of stress levels in America and what specific issues the stress is resulting from.
  • This survey was done by the American Psychological Association, which is the largest organization of professional psychologists in the world.
• PUBMED/Scholarly Journal: Caporino, Nicole E., et al. "Youth Anxiety About Political News." Child Psychiatry & Human Development, vol. 51, no. 5, 2020, pp. 683-98. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.skagit.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10578-020-00972-z.
  • This study examined youth anxiety as it pertains to political news specifically surrounding key topics in recent elections. 
  • It was written by a professor of psychology at American University.
• PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE: Chen, Bin, et al. "Journalistic Roles and News Framing: A Comparative Framing Analysis of COVID-19 Pandemic Across China, South Korea, and the United States." International Journal of Communication, vol. 16, no. 21, 2022, pp. 4254-74.
  • This study looked at the different kinds of framing used in China, South Korea, and the United States when reporting about the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially whether the news was reported in a positive light or a negative one. It serves to illuminate the differences between American news cycles in comparison to those in other countries, especially during times of crisis.
  • This study comes from the University of Texas.
•  PUBMED/Scholarly Journal: de Hoog, Natascha, et al. "Is the News Making Us Unhappy? The Influence of Daily News Exposure on Emotional States." British Journal of Psychology (London, England: 1953) vol. 111, no. 2, 2020, pp. 157-73. doi:10.1111/bjop.12389.
  • This study examined the effects of daily news exposure on people's mental health.
  • It was published in the British Journal of Psychology, which is peer-reviewed.
• PUBMED/Scholarly Journal: Kan, Irene P., et al. "Exploring Factors that Mitigate the Continued Influence of Misinformation." Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, vol. 6, no. 76, 2021. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00335-9. Accessed 8 June 2025.
  • This study looked at what is known as the "Continued Influence Effect," wherein people who have consumed misinformation are still affected by it despite being made aware of corrections to the knowledge. This article is very helpful for understanding the effects of misinformation and what can be done to combat the spread of it.
  • This study was published by a peer reviewed scholarly journal.
• PROQUEST DATABASE SCHOLARLY ARTICLE: Mach, Katharine J., et al. "News Media Coverage of COVID-19 Public Health and Policy Information." Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, vol. 8, no. 1, 2021.
  • Article examining the different ways the COVID-19 pandemic was covered by news media in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Specifically analyzes whether or not the reporting was sensationalized and whether or not it was scientifically accurate. Helpful for analyzing the differences between American news cycles and other countries' in times of crisis.
  • Study was published in a peer reviewed scholarly journal.
• ARTICLE: McAuliffe, Gisele. "How Elections Influence Voters' Media Consumption." University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, https://www.jou.ufl.edu/insights/how-elections-influence-voters-media-consumption/#:~:text=Two%20key%20findings%20emerged:%20Those,the%20losing%20side%20might%20respond. Accessed 8 June 2025.
  • This is an article about a study that found voters on both the winning and losing side of presidential elections continue to consume news media at a high rate after elections are over. This research is helpful to understand how much news is being consumed by Americans.
  • This article was written by a former international journalist and is based on a study done by the University of Florida.
• PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE: Nelson, Jacob L., et al. "The Structures that Shape News Consumption: Evidence from the Early Period of the COVID-19 Pandemic." Journalism, vol. 23, no. 12, 2022, pp. 2495-512.
  • This is an academic article that explores news consumption by Americans surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that Americans were consuming more news during the pandemic, allowing this to be a helpful resource in explaining the "negativity bias" phenomenon in news consumption.
  • The research was published by SageJournals who only publish peer-reviewed articles.
• PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE: Soroka, Stuart, et al. "Cross-national Evidence of a Negativity Bias in Psychophysiological Reactions to News." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, no. 38, 2019, pp. 18888-92. doi:10.1073/pnas.1908369116. Accessed 25 May 2025.
  • This study found that there is a "negativity bias" in the way news in consumed internationally, but more specifically the information written as background for the study was very helpful in understanding the way humans are more attracted to negative news stories as opposed to positive ones.
  • This is a peer reviewed article published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
• PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE: Vettehen, Paul H., et al. "Explaining Effects of Sensationalism on Liking of Television News Stories: The Role of Emotional Arousal." Communication Research, vol. 35, no. 3, 2008, pp. 319-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650208315960. Accessed 8 June 2025.
  • This article looked at specific aspects of sensationalized news media and what the direct and indirect effects are on the emotional state of humans. It was critical in understanding the dangers of sensationalized news media.
  • This is an article published by SageJournals who only publishes peer reviewed articles.
• PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE: Vosoughi, Soroush, et al. "The Spread of True and False News Online." Science, vol. 359, no. 6380, 2018, pp. 1146-51. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26401644. Accessed 24 May 2025.
  • The most useful takeaway from this article is how much faster fake news spreads on social media in comparison to fact-checked news. This is helpful in understanding why mainstream news channels have a harder time producing fact-checked news stories in the modern news cycle.
  • This is a peer reviewed article published by MIT.

HELPFUL SEARCH TERMINOLOGY

1. "Fake News" AND "Anxiety" OR "Psychology"
2. "Misinformation" AND "Anxiety" OR "Psychology"
3. "News Media"
4. "Reporting"
5. "News Framing"
6. "Sensationalism"