By: Cameron Jordan, Zack Ewing, Togan Ozbek, Matt Kyin
Professor Emily Erickson Ph.D Teaching Areas | Core, Entertainment and Tourism
For our Scholar Interview, we were able to meet with Professor Emily Erickson, PhD. in order to discuss her article, “The Watchdog Joins the Fray: The Press, Records Audits, and State Access Reform”. During her time as a Professional, she has become an award-winning teacher and researcher, with her focus being on communication law. In her time as a grad student at the University of Alabama, she collected, sorted, and published a study that combined elements of both quantitative and qualitative relating to her topic that highlighted the systematic failures of government transparency. In order to gain a deeper insight and understanding on our own research as well as her own, Dr. Erickson was able to provide insight and constructive criticism on how we should conduct our research. Our research question is, “How do political leaders use communication strategies to influence public perception and policy support?” In the information below, the analysis contains detailed responses from Dr. Erickson in regards to our questions. A short recording of our interview has also been provided in order to highlight one of the most important parts of our interview.
How did you select your sample in “The Watchdog Joins the Fray”, and why did you choose this particular group or set of cases?
In Dr. Erikson’s research, her sample groups and or set of cases in which she chose to dissect were selected based upon a specific set of criteria that focused on states with active Freedom of Information (FOI) organizations that conducted experiments based upon government validity and transparency. Throughout her research, she chose to delegate her efforts towards 12 states that met two points of her chosen criteria. The first condition that each of these states met was the presence of an active FOI organization that was dedicated to promoting government transparency and public access to government records. Secondly, each of these states must have undertaken audits led by local newspapers or non-profit organizations that investigated the compliance and coordination of these states in regards to transparency laws. During the interview, she expressed, “How in some of those same states that newspapers had done these big Freedom of Information audits and turned them kind of into investigative pieces that they published and that in some cases, they managed to get legislative reform as a result” By focusing on states with more formal organization, Dr. Erickson was able to select and decipher in regards to her selection tactics how each of the FOI campaigns were being carried out.
What roles do individuals with political power or authority play in shaping decisions, policies, media coverage, and outcomes during conflicts, and how does their level of influence vary within different societies?
In regards to the role that individuals such as political actors and politicians play in the overall construction and alteration of decisions, media coverage, and confliction based outcomes, government officials directly play a role. Dr. Erickson focused a majority of her study on not only the outcome of her studies, but the role that each of these government officials played in influencing policy responses. Dr. Erickson also stressed that not only did political individuals and officials play major roles in these decisions, but she also feared that, “Newspapers have basically been ransacked by corporate raiders. And then of course suffered because all of their advertising dollars from newspaper prints kind of just disappeared”. Erickson argued that while newspapers may still have an influence, their overall influence is heavily limited by newly encountered financial restraint. Dr. Erickson added, “If you’re not a player in terms of campaign finance and stuff like that, you’re not going to get them to answer your phone call as a journalist”. She wanted to make it known that political leaders are able to control media narratives, regardless of public opinion or policies.
What role does traditional media (TV, newspapers) play in political communication efforts?
Dr. Erickson was very adamant and quick to support the role that these traditional forms of communication play in political communication. Political leaders and people who hold some sort of political power rely on these traditional forms of media to broadcast policy proposals and may even use their platform to discuss crisis communications. She went on to talk about how, “In journalism you have to give U.S. news as quickly as possible while still trying to make it responsible”. Credibility and validity are constantly shaping the way public policies and certain individuals are seen and discussed. She added that in the near future, “You know, depending on how the election goes. It’s very possible that we will see journalism become a form of resistance”. While society begins to stray away from more traditional outlets and forms of traditionally driven political media, newer forms of publication and societal outreaches are being used. She talked about how apps such as “TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook” are being used to distribute and inform individuals about public policy, campaign perception, and other opinion based topics. She went on to express that while these platforms can be used to discover information, deliberate fact checking and in-depth analysis is needed in order to maintain and manage an accurate public image and a campaign content accuracy.
What role do you think communication plays in building trust with the public over time and which communication platforms are the most trustworthy/transparent?
At this time, Dr. Erickson had dove deep into the importance of topics such as communication, content validity, and the key elements of her article “The Watchdog Joins the Fray” She stressed that during her time as a student during this study, the idea of content validity and fact checking took precedence over just about any other piece of her study. Without a sense of trust and transparency that goes alongside the author’s credibility, the role that communication plays in the relationship with the public can be lost. Dr Erickson mentioned that even during her time conducting research, the most credible and trustworthy sources are the platforms and sources that prioritize extensive factual reporting and that are held to high editorial standards. For maximum effectiveness while building trust with the public, credible forms of traditional media paired with the direct engagement platforms such as Tik Tok or Instagram must maintain a high level of credibility and impartiality. In modern media, websites such as The Associated Press and Reuters can both be used to access unbiased and trustworthy sources and data.
Photo courtesy Shafaq Fatema, Li Yanbin, Dong Fugui research article: “Social media influence on politicians’ and citizens’ relationship through the moderating effect of political slogans”
How did you address potential biases in collecting or interpreting the data?
Dr. Erickson addressed potential biases in her research by focusing on the methods of both Qualitative and Quantitative research and data collection. She said that, “I did a little bit of quantitative stuff, so that- that’s just very much. I mean that is pretty straightforward, right? So I’m just taking these results and crunching the numbers, but the rest of it was qualitative”. In regards to her qualitative research, she became well versed, and as she called it, “an expert” in both the law and also the access that the state had. She was able to conduct extensive interviews with lawyers, journalists, and politicians that allowed to gather a deeper understanding and unbiased opinion in which she could base her analysis and findings off of. As for the quantitative portions of her research, she was able to compare different sets of data and findings to help create a well-rounded form of research that contained both qualitative and quantitative models of research.
After conducting our interview with Dr. Erickson, her insight and expertise that she provided in regards to our research question, “How do political leaders use communication strategies to influence public perception and policy support?” provided me and my term project group a deeper understanding on not only our own topic, but also her research article “The Watchdog Joins the Fray. Her focus on content validity and transparent communication provided our group with much needed insight in regards to our own research.
Thank You Dr. Erickson!
The Society for Communications Research 