Johanna Dunaway
Washington, D.C.Syracuse University · Maxwell SchoolCV updated October 2026

Research

Overview

Most of my work has implications for civic literacy, engagement, and democratic deliberation. I focus on questions such as: What makes news more or less informative? How are changes to the contemporary communication landscape influencing elite and mass linkages and political polarization? What are the effects of mobile communication on citizen news engagement and civic literacy?

Areas of expertise

Substantive: Political communication; news media and politics; local news; partisan media and polarization; mobile and digital news consumption; trust in media and misinformation; political knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.

Methods: Survey design and question wording; survey and laboratory experiments; cross-platform (mobile versus desktop) experimental design; large-scale content analysis; eye tracking; psychophysiological measurement; local news data and mapping.

Books

Cover of The House that Fox News Built? Representation, Political Accountability, and the Rise of Partisan News

The House that Fox News Built? Representation, Political Accountability, and the Rise of Partisan News

Kevin Arceneaux, Johanna Dunaway, Martin Johnson, and Ryan J. Vander Wielen

Cambridge University Press, 2025

Cover of News and Democratic Citizens in the Mobile Era

News and Democratic Citizens in the Mobile Era

Johanna Dunaway and Kathleen Searles

Oxford University Press, Digital Politics Series, 2022

Cover of Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization

Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization

Joshua P. Darr, Matthew P. Hitt, and Johanna Dunaway

Cambridge University Press, Elements in Politics and Communication, 2021

Textbook: Dunaway, J.L. and Graber, D.A. (2022). Mass Media and American Politics, 11th edition. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

Selected articles

Local news and democracy

  1. Abus, M., Bai, K., and Dunaway, J.L. (2025). “Local News, Partisanship, and Perceptions about Election Administration.” Electoral Studies 97: 102970. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102970
  2. Peterson, E. and Dunaway, J.L. (2024). “The ‘New’ News Barons: Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Political Reporting Staff.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 707(1): 74–89. doi:10.1177/00027162231211426
  3. Darr, J.P., Hitt, M., and Dunaway, J.L. (2018). “Newspaper Closures Polarize Voting Behavior.” Journal of Communication 68(6): 1007–1028.

News on mobile and digital platforms

  1. Dunaway, J.L., Searles, K., Sui, M., and Paul, N. (2018). “News Attention in a Mobile Era.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 23(2): 107–124.
  2. Dunaway, J.L. and Soroka, S.N. (2021). “Smartphone-size screens constrain cognitive access to video news stories.” Information, Communication, & Society 24(1): 69–84. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2019.1631367
  3. Carbone, M.G., Dunaway, J.L., and Soroka, S.N. (2024). “Physiological Responses and News Avoidance: Does Negative Affect Drive both Attention and Inattention to News?” Journalism Studies 25(12): 1460–1475. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2024.2310672
  4. Collier, J., Stroud, N.J., and Dunaway, J.L. (2021). “Pathways to Deeper News Engagement: Factors Influencing Click Behaviors on News Sites.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 26(5): 265–283.

Partisan media, identity, and polarization

  1. Arceneaux, K., Dunaway, J.L., Johnson, M., and Vander Wielen, R.J. (2020). “Strategic Candidate Entry and Congressional Elections in the Era of Fox News.” American Journal of Political Science 64(2): 398–415.
  2. Arceneaux, K., Dunaway, J.L., Goidel, S., Nickerson, D., and Settle, J.E. (2025). “Popularity or Partisanship? Cue Taking on Social Media Among Teens and Adults.” American Politics Research 53(5): 399–413. doi:10.1177/1532673X251343035
  3. Darr, J.P., Dunaway, J.L., Perry, B., and Sui, M. (2020). “Seeing Spanish: The Effects of Language Based Media Choices on Resentment and Belonging.” Political Communication 37(4): 488–511.
  4. Padgett, J., Dunaway, J.L., and Darr, J.P. (2019). “As Seen on TV? How Gatekeeping Makes the U.S. House Seem More Extreme.” Journal of Communication 69(6): 696–719.

Under review and in progress

Under review

  1. “Information Infrastructures Explain Polling Error.” With Spencer Goidel. Revise and resubmit, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties.
  2. “Media Institutions, Clarity of Responsibility, and Political Corruption.” With Ana Beatriz Dutra, Spencer Goidel, Thiago Moreira, and Ali Kagalwala. Under review.

Work in progress

  1. Database development. Mapping and Tracking Geospatial and Economic Characteristics of Local News, 1996–2021. With Murat Abus, Kexin Bai, Joshua Darr, Spencer Goidel, and Erik Peterson.
  2. Database development. Mapping and Tracking Cross-National Media, Party, and Electoral System Characteristics and their Attitudinal and Behavioral Correlates, 1996–2023. With Murat Abus, Joshua Darr, Ana Beatriz Dutra, Spencer Goidel, Ali Kagalwala, and Thiago Moreira.
  3. Database development. Mapping and Tracking Cross-National Media Use, Institutional Trust, and Attitudes toward Democracy, 1996–2023. With Murat Abus, Kevin Arceneaux, and Ali Kagalwala.
  4. “Spatial Analysis of News Deserts: The Distribution of U.S. Local Newspapers.” With Murat Abus.
  5. “Media Consolidation and Representation.” With Bradley Madsen.
  6. “Polarizing News.” With Stuart Soroka and Kevin Arceneaux.

All refereed articles

Show all 36 articles, newest first

2025

  1. Abus, M., Bai, K., and Dunaway, J.L. (2025). “Local News, Partisanship, and Perceptions about Election Administration.” Electoral Studies 97: 102970. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102970
  2. Arceneaux, K., Dunaway, J.L., Goidel, S., Nickerson, D., and Settle, J.E. (2025). “Popularity or Partisanship? Cue Taking on Social Media Among Teens and Adults.” American Politics Research 53(5): 399–413. doi:10.1177/1532673X251343035

2024

  1. Carbone, M.G., Dunaway, J.L., and Soroka, S.N. (2024). “Physiological Responses and News Avoidance: Does Negative Affect Drive both Attention and Inattention to News?” Journalism Studies 25(12): 1460–1475. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2024.2310672
  2. Peterson, E. and Dunaway, J.L. (2024). “The ‘New’ News Barons: Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Political Reporting Staff.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 707(1): 74–89. doi:10.1177/00027162231211426

2021

  1. Dunaway, J.L. and Soroka, S.N. (2021). “Smartphone-size screens constrain cognitive access to video news stories.” Information, Communication, & Society 24(1): 69–84. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2019.1631367
  2. Collier, J., Stroud, N.J., and Dunaway, J.L. (2021). “Pathways to Deeper News Engagement: Factors Influencing Click Behaviors on News Sites.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 26(5): 265–283.
  3. Ploger, G., Dunaway, J.L., Fournier, P., and Soroka, S.N. (2021). “The psychophysiological correlates of cognitive dissonance.” Politics and the Life Sciences 40(2): 202–212.

2020

  1. Darr, J.P., Dunaway, J.L., Perry, B., and Sui, M. (2020). “Seeing Spanish: The Effects of Language Based Media Choices on Resentment and Belonging.” Political Communication 37(4): 488–511.
  2. Arceneaux, K., Dunaway, J.L., Johnson, M., and Vander Wielen, R.J. (2020). “Strategic Candidate Entry and Congressional Elections in the Era of Fox News.” American Journal of Political Science 64(2): 398–415.

2019

  1. Padgett, J., Dunaway, J.L., and Darr, J.P. (2019). “As Seen on TV? How Gatekeeping Makes the U.S. House Seem More Extreme.” Journal of Communication 69(6): 696–719.

2018

  1. Darr, J.P., Hitt, M., and Dunaway, J.L. (2018). “Newspaper Closures Polarize Voting Behavior.” Journal of Communication 68(6): 1007–1028.
  2. Dunaway, J.L., Searles, K., Sui, M., and Paul, N. (2018). “News Attention in a Mobile Era.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 23(2): 107–124.
  3. Arceneaux, K., Dunaway, J.L., and Soroka, S.N. (2018). “Elites are people, too: The effects of threat sensitivity on policymakers’ spending priorities.” PLoS ONE 13(4): e0193781.
  4. Sui, M., Paul, N., Shah, P., Spurlock, B., Chastant, B., and Dunaway, J.L. (2018). “The Role of Minority Journalists, Candidates, and Audiences in Shaping Race-Related Campaign News Coverage.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 95(4): 1079–1102.
  5. Darr, J.P. and Dunaway, J.L. (2018). “Resurgent Mass Partisanship Revisited: The Role of Media Choice in Clarifying Elite Ideology.” American Politics Research 46(6): 943–970.

2017

  1. Sui, M., Dunaway, J.L., Sobek, D., Abad, A., Goodman, L., and Saha, P. (2017). “U.S. News Coverage of Global Terrorist Incidents.” Mass Communication and Society 20(6): 895–908.
  2. Potter, J.D. and Dunaway, J.L. (2017). “Voters’ Perceptions of Party Platforms: The Role of Changing Information Contexts.” Social Science Quarterly 98: 804–817.
  3. Turcotte, J., Kirzinger, A., Dunaway, J.L., and Goidel, R.K. (2017). “Influences on News Coverage of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.” Social Science Quarterly 98: 993–1009.

2016

  1. Davis, N.T. and Dunaway, J.L. (2016). “Party Polarization, Media Choice, and Mass Partisan-Ideological Sorting.” Public Opinion Quarterly 80(S1): 272–297.
  2. Potter, J.D. and Dunaway, J.L. (2016). “Reinforcing or Breaking Party Systems? Internet Communication Technologies and Party Competition in Comparative Context.” Political Communication 33(3): 392–413.

2015

  1. Dunaway, J.L., Davis, N.T., Padgett, J., and Scholl, R.M. (2015). “Objectivity and Information Bias in Campaign News.” Journal of Communication 65(5): 770–792.
  2. Dunaway, J.L. and Lawrence, R.G. (2015). “What Predicts the Game Frame? Media Ownership, Electoral Context, and Campaign News.” Political Communication 32(1): 43–60.
  3. Wilkinson, B., Garand, J., and Dunaway, J.L. (2015). “Skin Tone and Individuals’ Perceptions of Commonality and Competition with Other Racial and Ethnic Groups.” Race and Social Problems 7(3): 181–197.

2013

  1. Dunaway, J.L. (2013). “Media Ownership and Story Tone in Campaign News Coverage.” American Politics Research 41: 24–53.
  2. Dunaway, J.L., Lawrence, R.G., Rose, M., and Weber, C.R. (2013). “Traits versus Issues: News Coverage of Female Candidates for Senatorial and Gubernatorial Office.” Political Research Quarterly 66: 715–726.
  3. Dunaway, J.L. and Stein, R.M. (2013). “Early Voting and Campaign News Coverage.” Political Communication 30(2): 278–296.

2012

  1. Weber, C.R., Dunaway, J.L., and Johnson, T. (2012). “It’s All in the Name: Source Cue Ambiguity and the Persuasive Appeal of Campaign Ads.” Political Behavior 34(3): 561–584.

2011

  1. Dunaway, J.L., Goidel, R.K., Kirzinger, A., and Wilkinson, B. (2011). “Rebuilding or Intruding? News Media Coverage and Public Opinion on Immigration in Louisiana.” Social Science Quarterly 92(4): 917–937.
  2. Dunaway, J.L. (2011). “Institutional Influences on the Quality of Campaign News Coverage.” Journalism Studies 12(1): 27–44.
  3. Johnson, T., Dunaway, J.L., and Weber, C. (2011). “Consider the Source: Variations in the Effects of Negative Campaign Information.” Journal of Integrated Social Sciences 2(1): 98–127.

2010

  1. Dunaway, J.L., Branton, R.P., and Abrajano, M.A. (2010). “Agenda Setting, Public Opinion and the Issue of Immigration Reform.” Social Science Quarterly 91(2): 359–378.

2009

  1. Branton, R.P. and Dunaway, J.L. (2009). “Spatial Proximity to the US-Mexico Border and Local News Coverage of Immigration Issues.” Political Research Quarterly 62(2): 289–302.
  2. Branton, R.P. and Dunaway, J.L. (2009). “Slanted Newspaper Coverage of Immigration: The Importance of Economics and Geography.” Policy Studies Journal 37(2): 257–273.

2008

  1. Dunaway, J.L. (2008). “Markets, Ownership, and the Quality of Campaign News Coverage.” Journal of Politics 70(4): 1193–1202.
  2. Branton, R.P. and Dunaway, J.L. (2008). “English and Spanish Language Newspaper Coverage of Immigration: A Comparative Analysis.” Social Science Quarterly 89(4): 1006–1022.

2007

  1. Branton, R.P., Dillingham, G., Dunaway, J.L., and Miller, B. (2007). “Anglo Voting on Nativist Ballot Initiatives: The Partisan Impact of Spatial Proximity to the Border of Mexico.” Social Science Quarterly 88(3): 882–897.

Book chapters

  1. Dunaway, J.L. and Ray, N. (2023). “Communication Technology and Threats to Democracy.” In News Quality in the Digital Age, R. Lawrence and P. Napoli, Eds. New York: Routledge.
  2. Dunaway, J.L. and Settle, J.E. (2021). “Opinion Formation and Polarization in the News Feed Era: Effects from Digital, Social, and Mobile Media.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology, D. Osborne and C. Sibley, Eds. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  3. Dunaway, J.L. (2021). “Polarisation and Misinformation.” In The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism, H. Tumber and S. Waisbord, Eds. New York: Routledge.
  4. Dunaway, J.L., Searles, K., Fowler, E.F., and Ridout, T.N. (2018). “The Effects of Political Advertising: Assessing the Impact of Changing Technologies, Strategies, and Tactics.” In Mediated Communication, P. Napoli, Ed. Mouton de Gruyter, Handbook of Communication Science Series.
  5. Dunaway, J.L., Searles, K., Sui, M., and Paul, N. (2018). “The Move to Mobile: What are the Consequences for Citizen News Attention?” In New Directions in Media and Politics, 2nd ed., T.N. Ridout, Ed. New York: Routledge.
  6. Dunaway, J.L. (2011). “Causes and Consequences of Poll-Centered News Coverage in the Digital Age: An Exploratory Analysis.” In By the People, For the People: The Meaning and Measurement of Public Opinion in a Digital Age, R.K. Goidel, Ed. Baton Rouge: LSU Press.
  7. Branton, R.P., Dillingham, G., Dunaway, J.L., and Miller, B. (2010). “Anglo Voting on Bilingual Education: The Partisan Nature of the Impact of Spatial Proximity to the Border of Mexico.” In The Politics of Latino Education, D. Leal and K. Meier, Eds. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Google ScholarORCID 0000-0003-3975-5227Curriculum VitaeCV (PDF)