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University of Florida

UF Research

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Family Stories Shape Attitudes Toward Mental Illness

Tuesday June 26, 2018

Family stories about mental illness transmitted from one generation to another can both reinforce stereotypes and yet still teach children important lessons and expectations about the management of …
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Study Uncovers Motivations for Social Media Campaigns Participation

Tuesday June 26, 2018

Social change communicators running social media campaigns should ensure people feel they are able to help resolve the issue and tout the benefits of participating in the campaign to increase …
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People Trust Human Journalists Over Algorithms

Tuesday June 26, 2018

News organizations are starting to experiment with automated content. Research suggests readers perceive news written by algorithms as less credible than if it’s written by a human. However, this …
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Trump Voters Motivated by Economic and Racial Beliefs

Friday April 27, 2018

In the past year and a half, many political researchers and commentators have presented different theories that attempt to explain Donald Trump’s appeal to the American voters who elected him …
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Supreme Court Offers Guidance on How to Handle Fake News

Friday April 27, 2018

The presidential election of 2016 brought with it multiple accusations of so-called fake news, along with actual examples of fictional stories, such as one that spawned a real-life shooting at a …
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Reactions Differ to Humor and Fear in Anti-alcohol Ads

Friday April 27, 2018

Alcohol abuse is no laughing matter, and this serious problem often starts in college, where estimates suggest that 40 percent of college students binge drink. In the past 20 years, many health …
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Digital Games Teach People to Avoid Biases

Friday April 27, 2018

People think that they make decisions based on rationally analyzed choices, but research shows that people frequently make decisions based on irrelevant information due to unconscious cognitive …
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What the National School Walkout Says About Schools and Free Speech

Thursday March 29, 2018

By Clay Calvert Thousands of high school students across the nation left their classes March 14 precisely at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes. The walkout served two purposes: to honor the 17 people – …
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Changing Attitudes of Physicians May Improve Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials

Wednesday March 28, 2018

In the ever-advancing world of medicine, access to a cutting-edge clinical trial treatment can help determine a cancer patient’s future. Although 20 percent of cancer patients are eligible for …
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Health Journalism Exhibits Both Improvement and Decline in Quality

Wednesday March 28, 2018

Faced with dwindling resources, and a news cycle that never sleeps, today’s health journalists must meet a new challenge: provide complete, trustworthy content on health care issues with precision …
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Does Your Company Have a Proactive Crisis Communications Plan?

Wednesday March 28, 2018

Companies can have a variety of reasons for engaging in what the public considers socially responsible (CSR) practices. These motives can range from the purely philanthropic to desiring a favorable …
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It’s About How Employees Feel

Wednesday November 29, 2017

By Rita Linjuan Men Offering employees the information they need and keeping them informed and updated is only one of the basic goals of internal communication. A more important purpose of internal …
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Why People Use Instagram and What Brands Can Learn

Tuesday November 28, 2017

Instagram launched in 2010 as a social media app designed for sharing images from mobile devices. In the short space of five years, it built up an audience of more than 300 million active users and …
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How to Counter Violence in Media

Tuesday November 28, 2017

The portrayal of violence in media has been a subject of widespread debate, argument and study. Some research suggests that viewing violence in media that “sanitize, justify or trivialize violent …
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Readers Prefer Privacy Over Doxxing

Tuesday November 28, 2017

Protecting an individual’s privacy online is a continuing concern in the digital world. The term “doxxing” describes the deliberate disclosure of a person’s identity online, whether that be …
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Communication in Cancer Care

Thursday October 26, 2017

By Carma Bylund Ask anyone about their experience with their own or a loved one’s cancer, and the response will likely include a story or remark about an oncologist, surgeon, nurse, or other health …
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How Health Organizations Should Talk About Colorectal Cancer 

Wednesday October 25, 2017

It’s a challenge troubling health organizations for decades: what is the most effective way to communicate important information about health risks to the public? In research published last August …
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Fight Cancer With Better Communication

Wednesday October 25, 2017

By Janice Krieger In 2016, the National Cancer Institute launched the Cancer Moonshot with the goal of ending cancer. Increasing the financial resources available for cancer research is a crucial …
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Use Social Media to Communicate Cancer Risks

Wednesday October 25, 2017

It’s no revelation that social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have changed the way we learn and communicate new information. But is it an effective way to communicate health risks …
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The Back-of-the-Envelope Guide to Communications Strategy

Friday September 22, 2017

By Ann Christiano and Annie Neimand In an article published earlier this year, we asked nonprofits to stop raising awareness, and instead focus on super-strategic communications efforts that will …
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Is Spam Free Speech?

Tuesday August 22, 2017

The protection of free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment is one of the most cherished — and familiar —rights Americans enjoy. Less well-known to the average citizen are legislative acts …
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When Controversial Speakers Come to Campus

Tuesday August 22, 2017

By Clay Calvert College campuses often are crucibles for free-speech controversies. The first eight months of 2017 were no exception, witnessing multiple incidents where conservative speakers like …
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Audience Analytics 101

Tuesday July 25, 2017

Weather affects the foods we crave, so it’s no surprise that people drink more hot chocolate in the winter and sweet tea in the summer. But did you know that juice sales spike when it’s windy …
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Navigating the Fake News Landscape

Thursday June 29, 2017

by Frank Waddell After the proliferation of fake news during the 2016 election cycle, the journalism field has come to a grim realization: Accuracy is no longer necessary for news to reach a broad …