UCLA Communication

CPG Speaker: Dan Hiaeshutter-Rice
2025-10-02 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Rolfe 2125
Enemies of the (E)state: Examining the Role of Attacks on The Press and Media Content
Dan Haieshutter-Rice, Michigan State University
A healthy critique of the free press is vital in a democracy. Like the other pillars of a functional democratic system, the press performs its role best under a receptive but critical eye. Yet broad and sustained attacks by political elites can undermine a free and independent press. These attacks may pressure outlets to alter their content, potentially through defense of the press or pulling back their negative coverage. These responses may also vary based on the kind of news organizations. Certain outlets may be more susceptible than others; for example, publicly funded media could be especially responsive to accusations of bias given their reliance on government support and donor goodwill.
This paper examines how a wide range of news outlets—including local news organizations, public media, major broadcast networks, and cable news—have responded to public accusations of bias and threats of regulatory action over the past 20 years. Drawing on the Congressional Record and a database of political newsletters from members of Congress (DCInbox), it analyzes changes in tone, language, sourcing, and thematic emphasis in news coverage following political attacks. The findings will illuminate the extent to which critiques of the press translate into measurable shifts in coverage, and the conditions under which media outlets are most likely to alter their content in response to political pressure.
Part of the Communication and Politics Group speakers series.

Department Speaker Series: Kaiping Chen
2025-10-30 11:00 - 12:30 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
From Digital Portrayals to AI Refusals: Gendered Patterns in Science and Technology Communication
Kaiping Chen, Associate Professor in Computational Communication, Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Part of the Department of Communication Speakers Series, and co-organized with the Communication and Politics Group.

CPG Speaker: Marc André Bodet
2025-11-12 15:00 - 16:30 | Rolfe 2125
Accent as a factor of differentiation in a pluralistic society
Marc André Bodet, Professor, Université Laval
Abstract. There exists substantial research on the impact of various characteristics on the definition of national identity. Factors such as skin color and other phenotypical characteristics associated with race and ethnicity have played a central role along cultural and religious symbols. Language acquisition has also been a strong indicator of integration. In this article, we focus on an understudied area that often signals otherness, namely the importance of accent as a factor of differentiation. We focus on the impact of standard versus nonstandard accents, alone and in combination with ethnic cues. Making use of a preregistered online experiment conducted in the Canadian province of Québec, we randomize the ethnicity and accent of a person making a political statement and test whether these two characteristics are associated with differentiated evaluations of two types of statements about diversity (one more intercultural and one more multicultural), as well as assessments of the speaker’s belonging to the majority group.
Part of the Communication and Politics Group speakers series.

Department Speaker Series: Eunji Kim - Columbia University
2025-11-13 11:00 - 12:30 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
How social media creators shape mass politics: A field experiment during the 2024 US elections
Eunji Kim, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
Part of the Department of Communication Speaker Series, and co-organized with the Communication and Politics Group.

Department Speaker Series: Idan Blank - UCLA
2025-11-20 11:00 - 12:30 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
Understanding ‘Understanding’ in Large Language Models
Idan Blank, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Linguistics, UCLA
Part of the Department of Communication Speaker Series.

Department Speaker Series: Nancy Molina-Rogers - UCLA
2026-04-30 11:00 - 12:15 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
