Center for Media Engagement

What questions do readers have about your stories? Taking their answers into account during the reporting process can better connect readers to your content and build trust. Read More

Fake news posts and Twitter trolls were just the beginning. What will happen when misinformation moves from our social media feeds into our everyday lives? Read More

Under the direction of Dr. Samuel Woolley, our propaganda division will focus on how emergent technologies are used in and around global political communication. Read More

We know it’s important for people to understand what type of news story they’re reading. Many newsrooms add a label like news, analysis, opinion, or sponsored content to help make…

1. Build trust by using an “Explain Your Process” box. Audience trust is key to a newsroom’s success. But in this era of “fake news” and fading confidence in the media, it can…

Attending the NCA Convention? Don’t miss these presentations by our CME team members. Thursday, November 14 The Impact of Relationship Quality and Partisan In-group/Out-group Perception on Perceived Interpersonal Competence in…

You’ve probably heard the complaint: news is just too negative.  You can’t stop covering the bad stories, but you can give readers some of what they want – positive news coverage that…

The Center for Media Engagement is thrilled to announce new roles for two of our team members. Gina Masullo Chen will move into the Associate Director position, taking on new…

Comments sections can be brutal. When faced with an onslaught of negative messages, your first thought is most likely about how the problem will affect readers (the answer? It’s not…

Whether political or social, the divisions in our society seem to be growing swiftly and aggressively. And with these divides come new challenges in facilitating the exchange of information. The…

Covering the latest outrageous political story seems like an obvious choice. The digital world is competitive and, bottom line, you need the clicks. But this type of story might not…

Audience trust is key to a newsroom’s success. But in this era of “fake news” and fading confidence in the media, it can be difficult to earn. In our latest…

CME researchers are presenting on a variety of topics. Find one that interests you and check it out!   5/24 Friday  Pre-Conference Principles for Elevating Engaged Journalism on Social Media:…

“Us-versus-them.” It’s a mentality that can make it difficult to find common ground. Lines of division are everywhere: Religion, economic disparity, race, and political identity create invisible barriers to understanding.…

1. Images and links at the bottom of the page help keep readers on your site.  Getting readers to stay on your site can be a challenge. Our research found a few ways…

Anthony Dudo Scott R. Stroud             The Center for Media Engagement is thrilled to announce two new additions to our team. Dr. Anthony Dudo and…

We are happy to announce that Dr. Gina Masullo Chen has been appointed Assistant Director of the Center for Media Engagement. Gina is a former journalist and an assistant professor…

Dr. Talia Stroud, director of the Center for Media Engagement, has been named to the advisory board for SciLine, a new service from the American Association for the Advancement of…

The Center for Media Engagement (CME) is one of the first organizations to receive a grant from the News Integrity Initiative at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.  Launched in…

The Engaging News Project – a news media research and outreach initiative in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin – is expanding and renaming…

Photo courtesy of New Politics Forum. Dr. Talia Stroud, director of the Center for Media Engagement, had the opportunity to lead a talk with Washington Post reporter and Pulitzer Prize…

The Center for Media Engagement has received a grant from the Lenfest Institute for Journalism to study mobile news engagement. The Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to both supporting…

This summer, CME research was published in several prestigious academic journals. First, researchers Josh Scacco, Cynthia Peacock and Talia Stroud had their work on how the structure of the comment section…

Want to learn how to make political content go viral? Then vote for our proposal in the SXSW PanelPicker! Click here to vote for our session, titled “Making Politics Popular…

How do you measure the success of a news site homepage? And what makes for a good news homepage in 2017? Researchers from the Center for Media Engagement will be…

Dr. Talia Stroud, director of the Center for Media Engagement, recently led a webinar on audience engagement for the Local Media Association (LMA). Slides and video of the presentation, “Top…

This summer, Center for Media Engagement research was published in two prestigious academic journals. First, CME researchers Josh Scacco, Cynthia Peacock and Talia Stroud had their work on how the…

CME Director Talia Stroud speaks during the ISOJ breakfast panel. Center for Media Engagement Director Dr. Talia Stroud was one of five researchers to participate in a breakfast panel during the…

Center for Media Engagement collaborators at the Chattanooga Times Free Press were recently named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Journalists at the newspaper were recognized for their series “The Poverty Puzzle.”…

The Center for Media Engagement conducted a webinar for the Institute for Nonprofit News on best practices for engaging digital audiences. During the webinar, Director Dr. Talia Stroud discussed: Proven…

Faculty Research Associate Dr. Josh Scacco recently presented Center for Media Engagement’s research on clickbait headlines at the American Copy Editors Society’s national conference. In his research with Dr. Ashley…

The Center for Media Engagement has released its 2016 Annual Report, which outlines the project’s research and accomplishments from last year. Highlights of the report include: CME released 10 research reports…

2016 was filled with major news stories, including unprecedented elections, interesting political moves and events that brought the world together. As the year comes to a close, we’ve created an…

On Friday, November 11, the Center for Media Engagement hosted their first Social Media Summit in partnership with the UT School of Journalism. During the summit, digital news leaders and…

Congratulations to the CME team members who won the Applied Communication Division’s 2016 Bill Eadie Distinguished Award for a Scholarly Article from the National Communication Association! The team received their award…

Research Associate Shannon McGregor presented Center for Media Engagement research at the Online News Association’s annual conference in Denver. Shannon was joined by Scott Smallwood of The Chronicle of Higher Education…

  There’s no question that social media has forever changed the way news organizations connect with their audiences. But has that change helped or harmed news organizations? And what’s in…

Research Associate Emily Van Duyn presents CME research. Research Associate Emily Van Duyn recently presented Center for Media Engagement research at the 2016 American Political Science Association Political Communication Preconference in Philadelphia.…

This post first appeared on the Center for Media Engagement’s Medium page In what can feel like a never-ending list of issues facing the news industry, one issue seems to…

The Center for Media Engagement recently joined Gatehouse Media and Viafoura on a webinar to share what it takes to increase engagement, build a civil community and win in the…

Photo: Girl waiting for the train by Toshihiro Gamo on Flickr. This post was written by CME Director Dr. Talia Stroud and first appeared on the Knight Foundation’s blog.  Many…

The Center for Media Engagement’s paper, “Like, recommend, or respect? Altering political behavior in news comment sections,” has been published in the latest edition of the New Media & Society…

Josh Scacco shares CME research at the pre-ISOJ workshop. Photo courtesy of the Knight Center. The Center for Media Engagement’s Josh Scacco and Katie Steiner, along with ProPublica’s Amanda Zamora,…

Dr. Talia Stroud discusses our latest report on commenters and comment readers at the SXSW Interactive Festival. CME Director Dr. Talia Stroud was part of a panel on improving comment sections…

Participants listen to one another at the News Tools Workshop in Austin, TX. In February, the Center for Media Engagement hosted its third workshop – the first to focus on…

During the past month, the Center for Media Engagement has been featured by a number of media outlets. CME was first featured in Quill, a magazine distributed by the Society…

The Center for Media Engagement has released its 2015 Annual Report which outlines the project’s research and accomplishments from last year.  Highlights of the report include: CME released eight research reports…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

Ashley Muddiman shares Center for Media Engagement findings at the news:rewired conference. Photo courtesy of news:rewired/journalism.co.uk. In July, Faculty Research Associate Ashley Muddiman presented Center for Media Engagement research at…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

CME Research Associate Josh Scacco (center) receives the Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant award. Research Associate Josh Scacco was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant award by the Graduate School at…

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 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…

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…

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…

Research Associate Alex Curry presents at the Texas APME conference. It has been a busy spring for the Center for Media Engagement! Team members have been traveling across the country…

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…

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…

People are more willing to get involved in political discussion when they’re provided with background information containing pro and con arguments, according to a new report from the Center for…

Digital news leaders from across the country came to Austin, Texas for the Engaging News Workshop. Ten digital news innovators recently came together to visit about current practices and future…

The Center for Media Engagement released a report on how newspapers and television news stations use interactive features on their websites. The team surveyed 155 websites to see how features…