Accentuating the positive in news media

News media is known for having an effect on people's emotions and behaviours. Emotional cues present in the writing function as a catalyst and can increase the message's persuasiveness. This is particularly the case in EU news coverage during a time of economic crisis. Despite this, there have been only a few studies covering the effect of emotions on individuals and behaviour. Until just recently there were no studies on the role of emotions in the news media across countries and political issues.

The EU-funded project EMOCITI used survey experiments to examine if and how news stories that provoke emotions created changes in the political perceptions and behaviours of citizens. The surveys had a different scope according to country. In the United Kingdom, the range of positive and negative emotions concerning news articles about elderly care was examined. As a comparative aspect, the second experiment was conducted in the United States. It tested emotions with temporal orientation such as articles mentioning relief and anger verses those of hope and fear on the topics of elderly care and gun control.

Findings indicate that positive emotions are more likely than expected to predict media effects. Furthermore, after being exposed to a news article, respondents registered an emotional reaction that led to changes in opinions and behaviours.

A wide range of emotions were tested and an extensive list of moderator variables was used. The collected data can be useful in creating a typology of emotional cues. Results are also valuable to further develop the measurement of emotions and emotional traits in survey experiments.

EMOCITI's work will contribute to the further theoretical integration of emotions into the field of political communication. It can be further used as a roadmap for the inclusion of emotional cues in political campaigns in the EU and elsewhere.