Awards

2025 Research Paper Winners

Top Faculty Paper

News Finds Me as the Illusion of Competence: Evidence for Overconfidence in Discernment of Political Misinformation

Chris Skurka, Penn State; Zicheng Cheng, Arizona; Manuel Goyanes, Carlos III University of Madrid; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Salamanca / Penn State

Second Place Faculty Paper

From Head to Toe? A Meta-Analysis on the Cognitive, Attitudinal, and Behavioral Effects of Online Political Microtargeting

Selina Noetzel, University of Klagenfurt; Andreas Nanz, Technical University of Munich; Ye Sun, City University of Hong Kong; Alice Binder and Jörg Matthes, University of Vienna

Third Place Faculty Paper

The Self-Effects of Digital Commentary: How Comment Effort and Audience Shape Affective Reactions to Political News

Jinping Wang, Florida; Hai Liang, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Rui Pan

Top Student Paper

What Does the Ideal Democracy Look Like? News Use, Democratic Dissatisfaction, and Alternative Political Processes

Abby Youran Qin, Wisconsin-Madison

2025 Best Teaching Idea Competition

The Political Communication Division is pleased to announce the results of the 2025 Best Teaching Idea Competition. This annual contest recognizes outstanding pedagogical innovations that help students engage with political communication concepts in creative and impactful ways.

Congratulations to this year’s top four winners, who have been invited to present their ideas at the AEJMC Conference this August in San Francisco:

• 1st Place: Presidential Campaign Rhetoric by Stephanie Kelley-Romano (Bates College)

• 2nd Place: Designing a 60-Second Political TV Spot by Kai Vance (University of Minnesota-Duluth)

• 3rd Place: Propaganda Bingo by Seth Knievel (Louisiana State University)

• 4th Place: ChatGPT as a Source: Ethical AI Use to Emulate Interview Subjects for Journalism Students by Josh Anderson (University of Arizona)
  

We thank all who submitted their ideas this year. The review team was inspired by the quality and creativity of submissions received. We encourage all members to attend the presentations in San Francisco and to consider submitting your own ideas in future years.

We look forward to celebrating our winners and continuing to foster pedagogical innovation in political communication education.