Announcements

The Center for Media Engagement has developed a new WordPress plugin that allows users to customize the buttons on their websites, including adding a “Respect” button. With Engaging Buttons, you can design and configure alternatives to the “Like” button, which, we have found, may not always be appropriate. Read More

The Center for Media Engagement is featured twice in Nieman Lab’s list of top 10 digital news research articles of 2015. For the list, a range of scholars, digital gurus and journalists across the county were polled on what they thought was the best research of the year… Read More

The Center for Media Engagement was recently selected for one of more than 500 sessions at the 2016 SXSW Interactive conference, taking place March 11-15 in Austin, Texas. Our panel, “Comments Are Terrible – But They Don’t Have to Be,” will provide attendees tips on improving their interactive spaces — comments and… Read More

The Center for Media Engagement has begun conducting research on the content and effects of different types of headlines. As the first part of our research efforts, we have a new report that shares what we know about the functions and types of headlines, their content and use in news… Read More

On Oct. 6, the Center for Media Engagement took part in the second News Engagement Day, a day devoted to raising awareness about the importance of news engagement. News Engagement Day was created by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC) in an effort… Read More

Center for Media Engagement team members have been busy the past couple months traveling across the country to present at various conferences. Research Associate Alex Curry presented at the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference in San Francisco. Director Dr. Talia Stroud presented our research on… Read More

When Facebook makes a change, everyone has an opinion. That was definitely the case when Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media giant would begin testing out a “Dislike” button. The reasoning behind the decision, according to Zuckerberg,… Read More

There is a significant increase in page views when people browse a news website with a contemporary design compared to a website with a classic design, according to a new report from the Center for Media Engagement. People also learn more from the articles when they view… Read More

The Center for Media Engagement recently gave a training presentation to GateHouse Media editors on best practices for managing comment sections. During the training, research associate Alex Curry shared the latest comment section trends in the news industry, as well as some of… Read More

Philly.com, the website for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, recently made changes to its comments section that were inspired, in part, by the Center for Media Engagement. Based on our research on journalists’ involvement in comments, Philly.com… Read More

For its second News Engagement Workshop, the Center for Media Engagement brought together a group of digital news leaders including, from left: Jennifer Carroll, Gannett Digital; Barry Osborne, The Denver Post; Alex Quinn, e.thePeople; Wright Bryan, NPR; Dr. Natalie Stroud, Center for Media Engagement; Todd Olmstead, The… Read More

Many news websites have online polls on their sites. Although polls can be engaging for site visitors, there are downsides. Specifically, some site visitors may believe that online poll results are accurate reflections of public opinion when, in fact, they are not. Quizzes, however, help participants learn more and increase… Read More

In a recent report, the Center for Media Engagement examined a representative sample of 155 newspaper and television news websites to understand how they were using social media buttons, comment sections, online polls, lists of hyperlinks, and mobile versions. The report shows that: Over 95% of news sites allow… Read More

The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Public Agenda has begun using a version of the “Respect” button, developed by the Center for Media Engagement. On Public Agenda’s blog, if you highlight text anywhere in a post, or see the ReadrBoard symbol, a box appears. In that box, readers… Read More

CME Director Natalie Stroud speaks at the Global Roundup Breakfast at the 2014 International Symposium on Online Journalism. In early April, Center for Media Engagement Director Natalie Stroud presented some of the project’s findings at the International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ), held at the University… Read More

The Nieman Journalism Lab covered featured recent research from the Center for Media Engagement on how television and news organizations use interactive features on their websites... Read More

The Texas Tribune has begun using the “Respect” button on their new site, TribTalk. TribTalk is a digital forum for dialogue, featured submitted commentary and opinion pieces. The “Respect” button is being used in the site’s comment section. To learn more about TribTalk using the… Read More

A new report from the Center for Media Engagement and the Solutions Journalism Network illustrates that solutions-based journalism is an effective journalistic tool that benefits both readers and news organizations. Solutions journalism reports about responses to entrenched social problems. It focuses not just on what may be working, but how and why it appears… Read More

The Center for Media Engagement and the National Institute for Civil Discourse have teamed up on a literature review that presents an overview of what the organizations already know about online discussion, and helps them begin to think about how to best promote civil discourse and online engagement. Read More

In late September, Center for Media Engagement Director Natalie Stroud and Developer John Macon presented the team’s new Create a Quiz feature at the Online News Association’s 2014 Conference in Chicago. During their presentation, the team demonstrated the “Create a Quiz” tool, which allows newsrooms to create multiple choice… Read More

On Oct. 7, the Center for Media Engagement took part in the inaugural National News Engagement Day, a day devoted to raising awareness about the importance of news engagement. National News Engagement Day was created by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC)… Read More

The Center for Media Engagement’s research on civility and quality discussion in comment sections will be released soon in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. In the article, “Changing Deliberative Norms on News Organizations’ Facebook Sites,” the CME team shares its research finding that news organizations can… Read More

The Center for Media Engagement has released a progress report on its work to find new approaches to comment moderation. For three months, CME research associate Arielle Cardona attempted to code for incivility within online news comments in new ways –- using paid Workers in Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, undergraduate… Read More

The Columbia Journalism Review recently published an in-depth Q&A with Center for Media Engagement Director Dr. Talia Stroud. In the Q&A, Stroud provides background on the Center for Media Engagement, as well as shares some of the research we’re currently working on. Read the full interview on… Read More

There are several benefits – and limits — to using a three-column comment section as opposed to using a traditional one-column section, according to a new report by the Center for Media Engagement. The group’s research found that study participants rated a three-column comment section more favorably than the… Read More

For its second News Engagement Workshop, the Center for Media Engagement brought together a group of digital news leaders including, from left: Jennifer Carroll, Gannett Digital; Barry Osborne, The Denver Post; Alex Quinn, e.thePeople; Wright Bryan, NPR; Dr. Natalie Stroud, Center for Media Engagement; Todd Olmstead, The… Read More

Photo courtesy of iStock. Young people today are reluctant to discuss politics with people who disagree with them and view online spaces as somewhat treacherous for interacting politically, according to a new report from the Center for Media Engagement (CME) and the National… Read More

Rolf Dyrnes Svendsen of NxtMedia in Norway presents during the workshop. During this year’s SXSW Interactive Festival, the Center for Media Engagement hosted the World Association of Newspapers and Newspaper Publishers (WAN-IFRA) for a workshop on media innovation at the University of Texas… Read More

In honor of Tax Day, which was April 15, the Center for Media Engagement put together a 4-questions quiz using our “Create a Quiz” tool. The quiz featured a variety of questions that tested readers’ knowledge of taxes, as well as made Tax Day stories a bit… Read More

Research Associate Josh Scacco presents CME research at the International Symposium on Online Journalism. The Center for Media Engagement’s paper, “Digital Divisions: Organizational Gatekeeping Practices” was recently published in the 2015 edition of the International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ) academic journal. Read More