UF Researchers Awarded $918,000 Knight Foundation Grant to Study the Public’s Demand for Confirmatory versus Truth-Seeking Online Information
Knight Foundation has awarded University of Florida researchers a $918,000 grant to support a unique, multi-year research initiative exploring the social forces behind why news consumers demand and engage with inaccurate information online.
Utilizing research proving that news consumers today often seek information to achieve social or psychological goals, University of Florida researchers will focus on finding evidence-based ways that news producers, private companies, and the government can support a sustainable online information ecosystem where demand for factual information and truth-seeking engagement is incentivized.
The research team includes University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) and Levin College of Law Professor Jane Bambauer, UFCJC Public Relations Associate Professor and Chair Myiah Hutchens and Media Production, Management, and Technology Assistant Professor Jieun Shin, and UF Law Professor Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky.
“Right now, there is a lot of attention and resentment directed at social media algorithms and clickbait news,” Bambauer explained. “Lawmakers frequently describe social media companies as if they are bad actors, imposing misinformation and incivility onto their users. But there is mounting evidence that the biggest problems are on the demand side of the market, not the supply side. We are in a unique position to be able to work with UFCJC’s Atlas Lab, the Innovation News Center, and with experts across the UF campus to really understand what types of changes in the media ecosystem might help nudge us closer to that ideal marketplace of ideas.”
The research team will study audience demand, design new metrics of news quality, and test new tools so that industry and lawmakers have a better understanding about how to align the public’s interest in truth-seeking with the private economic incentives of media companies.
“Access to quality information is critical to empowering our communities with the agency to participate in our democracy and in civic life.” said A.J. D’Amico, director/Media and Democracy at Knight Foundation. “Knight is proud to support the University of Florida’s research to grow our understanding of online consumer behavior and its study into how policymakers, news producers, and the media can improve our online information ecosystem to incentivize engagement with facts.”
UFCJC, Levin College of Law, and the UF Hamilton Center for Classical and Civil Education will co-host a public conference to officially launch the initiative on Feb. 14. For more information and to register, visit here.
Posted: February 6, 2025
Category: College News, Research News
Tagged as: Jane Bambauer, Jieun Shin, Knight Foundation, Myiah Hutchens, Online Information
