The Laboratory for Comparative Social Research announces the next  regular seminar, which will be held in Moscow (Myasnitskaya st., 22, room 511) on October 15 at 18-00 p.m. Dr. Erik Nisbet (Ohio State University) will deliver a report “The “Bin Laden Effect”: News and American Public Opinion about Terrorism Policies”. 

How has American media coverage of terrorism since the September 11th atacks influences the association between terrorism and Islam in the minds of the American public? What are the consequences for American public opinion about terrorism and implications for public attitudes toward the Syrian conflict? Reviewing and building upon comparative political communication research examining the relationship between media and attitudes toward the United States among foreign publics, the speaker will review the results of two studies delving into how American news media influences mental images of conflict and the policy preferences of Americans. The first study is a natural experiment stemming from a nationally representative telephone survey conducted by the investigator that was fielded before and after Bin Laden’s death in 2011. The second study is a controlled experiment replicating the findings of the natural experiment demonstrating how exposure to terrorism news influences policy preferences. The results of these two studies allow a better understanding of what drives current American public opinion about the threat of ISIS and attitudes about American involvement in Syria.

The speaker is Erik Nisbet, PhD, Associate Professor at School of Communication, Department of Political Science, School of Environment & Natural Resources at Ohio State University. Among his research foci there are comparative political communication, science communication, and public opinion. Doctor Nisbet served as a principal investigator on projects with the focus on public diplomacy, comparative studies of national elections, democratization and politics in the greater MENA region, terrorism and immigration, framing of global climate change, and health science communications.

He is an active member of various research and professional organizations, such as:

• The Mershon Center for International Security Studies;

• Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University;

• American Political Science Association;

• Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication;

• International Communication Association;

• Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research;

• World Association for Public Opinion Research.

Dr. Nisbet has numerous publications and articles in academic and professional journals. He is an Editorial Board Member of one of the most prominent global academic journals - International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Erik is also on the Editorial Board of VCIOM’s academic journal “The Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes”.

Everyone interested is invited!

Working language is English.

Videoconference with St. Petersburg office of the LCSR (room 303, 55-2, Sedova st.) will be provided. Guests are free to enter the building.

Guests from Moscow are free to enter to the 5th floor from 17:45 till 18:15. For questions: +7-495-772-95-90 extension number 12244.

Also after the seminar a videotape will be put up after the summary of the presentation.