Scholarship

2026

Selected Academic Research

Political Behavior of the American Electorate, 16^th Edition.
Published by: CQ Press.
Authors: Elizabeth Theiss-Morse and Michael W. Wagner.

“When Disaster Experience Shapes Framing Effects: Hurricanes, Partisanship, and Environmental Policy Efficacy.”
Published in: Communication Quarterly. (Forthcoming).
Authors: Yoo Ji Suh, Michael W. Wagner, and Dhavan V. Shah.

“Partisanship in Context: The (A)symmetric Influence of Local Newspaper Availability and Selective Exposure on Political Misperceptions in the U.S.”
Published in: Communication Research. (In Press).
Authors: Li, Jianing and Michael W. Wagner.

“Scalable Observed Correction with Generative AI: How Motivationally Relevant Message Features and Design Choices Boost Communicative Engagement.”
Published in: Science Communication. (In Press).
Authors: Yibing Sun, Ji Soo Choi, Xiaohui Cao, Liwei Shen, Porismita Borah, Michael W. Wagner, Dhavan Shah, Sijia Yang.

“The Joe Rogan Experience: Epistemic Style Over Ideological Extremity in the Manosphere,”
Published in: Political Communication. (In Press).
Authors: Dominik A. Stecula, Dannagal G. Young, Michael W. Wagner, and Dhavan V. Shah.

2025

Selected Academic Research

“To Quit or Not to Quit Twitter? The Interplay of Identities, Perceptions, and Behavioral Reactions to Changing Platform Ownership.”
Published in: Information, Communication & Society.
Authors: Macau K. F. Mak, Zening Duan, Sijia Yang, and Michael W. Wagner.

“Multi-Platform Social Media use and Incidental Exposure: A Two-Step Analysis of the Conjoint and Distinct Roles of Network Heterogeneity and Homogeneity Across Platforms.”
Published in: Social Media + Society.
Authors: Macau K.F.Mak and Michael W. Wagner. (2025).

“Data Visualizations or Visual Exemplars? Testing the Differential Effects of AI-Generated Visual Correction Enhancements.”
Published in: Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.
Authors: Yibing Sun, Liwei Shen, Ji Soo Choi, Porismita Borah, Michael W. Wagner, Dhavan V. Shah, and Sijia Yang.

How Partisan Media Influences Aversion to Political Compromise
Published in: Media and Communication
Authors: Yoo Ji Suh, Michael W. Wagner and Dhavan V. Shah.

Manufacturing January 6th: How Republican County Parties Mobilized Anger to #StopTheSteal
Published in: Politics & Society
Authors: Sadie Dempsey, Jianing Li, Benny Witovsky, Yiming Wang, Lewis A. Friedland, Michael W. Wagner, Dhavan V. Shah.

2024

Selected Academic Research

Does the Losing Side Lose the Democratic Faith? Partisan Media Flow and Democratic Values during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
Published in: Political Communication
Authors: Yiming Wang, Porismita Borah, and Michael W. Wagner

Slant, Extremity, and Diversity: How the Shape of News Use Explains Electoral Judgments and Confidence
Published in: Public Opinion Quarterly
Authors: Yiming Wang, Heysung Lee, Leo Shan, Xiaoya Jiang, Sang Jung Kim, Porismita Borah, Dhavan V. Shah, Michael W. Wagner.

How Do Users and Journalists Express Concerns About Social Media Misinformation? A Computational Analysis
Published in: HKS Misinformation Review
Authors: Jianing Li and Michael W. Wagner

Talking Past Each Other on Twitter: Thematic, Event, & Temporal Divergences in Polarized Partisan Expression on Immigration.
Published in: Political Communication
Authors: Xiaoya Jiang, Yini Zhang, Jisoo Kim, Jon Pevehouse, and Dhavan V. Shah.

“Think Global, Act Local”: How #MeToo Hybridized Across Borders and Platforms for Contextual Relevance.
Published in: Information, Communication & Society
Authors: Jiyoun Suk, Yibing Sun, Luhang Sun, Mengyu Li, Catalina Farias, Shreenita Ghosh, Hyerin Kwon, Porismita Borah, Darshana Mini, Teresa Correa, Christine Garlough, and Dhavan Shah.

Red Media vs. Blue Media: Social Distancing and Partisan News Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Published in: Journal of Health Communication
Authors: Porismita Borah, Juwon Hwang, Shreenita Ghosh, Markus Brauer, and Dhavan Shah.

Building an ICCN Multimodal Classifier of Aggressive Political Debate Style: Towards a Computational Understanding of Candidate Performance Over Time.
Published In: Communication Methods and Measures
Authors: Dhavan V. Shah, Zhongkai Sun, Erik Bucy, Sang Jung Kim, Yibing Sun, Mengyu Li, and William Sethares.

2023

Selected Academic Research

The public sphere and contemporary lifeworld: reconstruction in the context of systemic crises
Published in: Communication Theory
Authors: Lewis A. Friedland, Risto Kunelius

Independence by Permission: Industry-Academic Collaboration and Meta’s U.S. 2020 Election Project
Published in: Science
Author: Michael W. Wagner.

Threats as Political Communication.
Published in: Political Communication, Forum section.
Authors: Nathan P. Kalmoe, Lilliana Mason.

The Effects of Vaccine Efficacy Information on Vaccination Intentions through Perceived Response Efficacy and Hope.
Published in: Journal of Health Communication, 2023
Authors: Linqi Lu, Jiawei Liu, Sang Jung Kim, Ran Tao, Dhavan V. Shah, Douglas M. McLeod.

Political Events in a Partisan Media Ecology: Asymmetric Influence on Candidate Appraisals.
Published in: Mass Communication and Society, 2023.
Authors: Jiyoun Suk, Dhavan V. Shah, Leticia Bode, Stephanie Edgerly, Kjerstin Thorson, Emily Vraga, Chris Wells, Jon Pevehouse.

2022

Ideology and COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: Perceptual Mediators and Communication Moderators.
Published in: Journal of Health Communication, 2022. Online First.
Authors: Xiaoya Jiang, Juwon Hwang, Min-Hsin Su, Michael W. Wagner and Dhavan V. Shah.

Reactive and Asymmetric Communication Flows: Social Media Discourse and Partisan News Framing in the Wake of Mass Shootings.
Published in: International Journal of Press/Politics, 2022.
Authors: Yini Zhang, Dhavan V. Shah, Sebastián Valenzuela, Jon Pevehouse.

Battleground: Asymmetric Communication Ecologies and the Erosion of Civil Society in Wisconsin.
Published in: Elements in Politics and Communication Series, Stuart Soroka, Ed. Cambridge University Press. 2022.
Authors: Lewis Friedland, Dhavan V. Shah, Michael W. Wagner, Chris Wells, Katherine J. Cramer, Jon C.W. Pevehouse.

Spatial Polarization, Partisan Climate, and Participatory Actions: Do Congenial Contexts Lead to Mobilization, Resignation, Activation, or Complacency?
Published in: Political Behavior, 2022.
Authors: Jiyoun Suk, Douglas McLeod, Dhavan V. Shah.

Covering #MeToo Across the News Spectrum: Political Accusation and Public Events as Drivers of Press Attention.
Published in: International Journal of Press/Politics, 2022
Authors: Shreenita Ghosh, Min-Hsin Su, Aman Abhishek, Jiyoun Suk, Chau Tong, Ornella Hills, Teresa Correa, Christine Garlough, Porismita Borah, Dhavan Shah.

Vaccine Discourse During the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Thematic Structure and Source Patterns Informing Efforts to Combat Vaccine Hesitancy.
Published in: PLoS ONE, 2022.
Authors: Juwon Hwang, Min-Hsin Su, Xiaoya Jiang, Ruixue Lian, Arina Tveleneva, Dhavan Shah

Algorithmic Communicators in the Hybrid Media System: How Social Bots Selectively Promoted Polarized Issues during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Published in: Human Communication Research, 2022
Authors: Zening Duan, Jianing Li, Josephine Lukito, Dhavan Shah, Sijia Yang.

2020-21

Free & Fair? The Differential Experiences of Voting Barriers & Voting Policies in American Midterm Elections.
Published in: International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2021.
Authors: Jordan Foley, Michael W. Wagner, Ceri Hughes, Jiyoun Suk, Katherine J. Cramer, Lewis A.Friedland, Dhavan V. Shah.

News Media Use, Talk Networks, and Anti-Elitism across Geographic Location: Evidence from Wisconsin.
Published in: International Journal of Press/Politics, 2021.
Authors: Chris Wells, Lewis A. Friedland, Ceri Hughes, Dhavan V. Shah, Jiyoun Suk, Michael W. Wagner.

Understanding Trump Supporters’ News Use: Beyond the Fox News Bubble.
Published in: The Forum, 2020.
Authors: Dempsey, Sadie, Jiyoun Suk, Katherine J. Cramer, Lewis A. Friedland, Michael W. Wagner, Dhavan V. Shah.

Do Improving Conditions Harden Partisan Preferences? Communication, Context, and Political Evaluations During Periods of Contention.
Published in: International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2020.
Authors: Jiy0un Suk, Dhavan V. Shah, Chris Wells, Michael W. Wagner, Lewis A. Friedland, Katherine J. Cramer, Ceri Hughes, Charles Franklin.

Formative Work

When We Stop Talking Politics: The Maintenance and Closing of Conversation in Contentious Times.
Published in: Journal of Communication, 2017.
Authors: Chris Wells, Katherine J. Cramer, Michael W. Wagner, German Alvarez, Lewis A. Friedland, Dhavan V. Shah, Leticia Bode, Stephanie Edgerly, Itay Gabay, Charles Franklin.

Cultural Worldviews and Contentious Politics: Evaluative Asymmetry in High-Information Environments.
Published in: The Good Society, 2014.
Authors: Michael W. Wagner, Chris Wells, Lewis A. Friedland, Katherine J. Cramer, Dhavan V. Shah.