Indiana University School of Journalism

Professor

Ernie Pyle Hall, Room 201

Wednesdays 2:00 - 4:00 pm, or by appointment

Before joining the IU School of Journalism in 2009, I taught for 12 years at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and for four years at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I have also taught as a guest professor in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Switzerland. My research interests include media effects on political attitudes, theoretical aspects of public opinion formation, and political effects of global communication. My main research activities, however, focus on political communication issues in Asia — an area of the world where media, politics and culture mix in fascinating ways.

I’m currently working on an edited book (Social Media, Culture, and Politics in Asia) that investigates social media use and political participation in 10 Asian nations or territories: China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan. By employing a comparative, cross-national approach, the book will analyze how the use of social media such as Twitter or Facebook interacts with culture and politics in each of the selected nations – and how this interaction might affect political participation of individual voters. Specifically, the book will address the following questions: (1) are social media expanding individual-level political involvement; (2) are social media affecting mass political behavior; (3) can social media be used as an effective medium for diffusing political information; and (4) do voters become more informed and involved in the political process when they use social media to access political information?

Professor David Weaver and I also completed (finally!) our edited book The Global Journalist in the 21st Century, which not only updates the original Global Journalist book published in 1998 with new data, but also adds a dozen new countries with comparative research about journalists. As with the first edition of The Global Journalist, our major assumption is that journalists’ personal backgrounds, working conditions and ideas are related to what is reported and how it is covered in the various news media around the world — and that this coverage matters in terms of world public opinion and policies.

Teaching interests include international communication, media theory, research and methods courses, public opinion, and political communication. Research interests include media effects on political attitudes, theoretical aspects of public opinion formation, cross-national and comparative survey research, global communication, and political communication in Asia.

Refereed Journal Articles

• Willnat, L., Tamam, T., Wong, J., & Aw, A. (forthcoming). Online Media and Political Participation: The Case of Malaysia. Mass Communication and Society.
• Wei, L., Willnat, L., & Shao, L. (2012). Cultural Differences in the Use of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and American Youth. China Media Research, 8(4), 77-89.
• Willnat, L., Weaver, D.H., & Choi, J. (forthcoming). The Global Journalist in the 21st Century: A Cross-national Study of Journalistic Competencies.Journalism Practice.
• Willnat, L., & Luo, Y. (2011). Watching the Dragon: Global Television News about China. Chinese Journal of Communication, 4(3), 255-273.
• Willnat, L., Aw, A., Hamdy, N., He, Z., Menayang, V., La Porte, T., Sanders, K., & Tamam, E. (2006). Media Use, Anti-Americanism, and International Support for the Iraq War. International Communication Gazette 68(5-6), 533-550.
• Kim, S. T., Willnat, L., & Weaver, D. H. (2006). Measuring the Third Person Effects of Public Opinion Polls: Focusing on Online Polls. Korean Journal of Communication & Information 32, 49-73. (in Korean)
• Lee, W., Detenber, B. H., Willnat, L., Aday, S., & Graf, J. (2004). A Cross-Cultural Test of the Spiral of Silence Theory in Singapore and the United States. Asian Journal of Communication 14(2), 205-226.
• Brewer, P. R., Gross, K., Aday, S., & Willnat, L. (2004). International Trust and Public Opinion about World Affairs. American Journal of Political Science 48(1), 93-109.
• Brewer, P. R., Graf, J., & Willnat, L. (2003). Priming or Framing: Media Influence on Attitudes toward Foreign Nations. Gazette 65(6), 493-508.
• Willnat, L., & Weaver, D. H. (2003). Through Their Eyes: The Work of Foreign Correspondents in the United States. Journalism 4(4), 403-422.
• Willnat, L., Lee, W., & Detenber, B. H. (2002). Individual-level Predictors of Public Outspokenness: A Test of the Spiral of Silence Theory in Singapore. The International Journal of Public Opinion Research 14, 391-412.
• Willnat, L., He, Z., Takashi, T., & Lopez-Escobar, E. (2002). Perceptions of Foreign Media Influence in Asia and Europe: The Third-Person Effect and Media Imperialism. The International Journal of Public Opinion Research 14, 175-192.
• Kim, S. T., Weaver, D. H., & Willnat, L. (2000). Media Reporting and Perceived Credibility of Online Polls. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 77, 846-864.
• Sigelman, L., & Willnat, L. (2000). Attitudinal Differentiation Between Black Urbanites and Suburbanites: A Test of Three Accounts. Urban Affairs Review 35, 185-187.

Book Chapters

• Willnat, L., Wei, L., & Martin, J. (forthcoming). Politics and Social Media in China. In Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-Yeh Rawnsley (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media. New York: Routledge.
• Willnat, L., Weaver, D.H., Stepinska, A., & Lo, V-h. (forthcoming). Who Uses News, How Much, and Why? In A. Cohen (Ed.), Foreign News on Television: Where in the World is the Global Village? New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
• Willnat, L., & Cohen, A. (forthcoming). Self-Reflexivity of Gatekeepers on Contents and Viewers of Foreign News. In A. Cohen (Ed.), Foreign News on Television: Where in the World is the Global Village? New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
• Willnat, L. & Martin, J. (2012). Foreign Correspondents – An Endangered Species? In D.H. Weaver & L. Willnat (Eds.), The Global Journalist in the 21st Century (pp. 495-510). New York: Routledge.
• Willnat, L. Lo, V-h., & Aw, A. (2012). Opinion Polls and the Media in Taiwan. In C. Holtz-Bacha & J. Strömbäck (Eds.), Opinion Polls and the Media: Reflecting and Shaping Public Opinion (pp. 198-222). New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
• Willnat, L. (2009). Surfing the News: The Internet and Traditional News Consumption. In P.S.N. Lee & K.W.Y. Leung (Eds.), New Opportunities & Challenges of the Internet (pp. 83-99). Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.
• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (2009). Elections in India: One Billion People and Democracy. In J. Strömbäck & L. L. Kaid (Eds.), The Handbook of Election Coverage Around the World (pp. 123-140). Mahwah, NJ, London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (2009). The Big Unknown: Introduction to Political Communication in Asia. In L. Willnat & A. Aw (Eds.), Political Communication in Asia. (pp. 1-8). New York: Routledge.
• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (2009). The Big Unknown: Conclusions About Political Communication in Asia. In L. Willnat & A. Aw (Eds.), Political Communication in Asia. (pp. 216-228). New York: New York: Routledge.
• Lee, T., & Willnat, L. (2009). Political Communication in Singapore. In L. Willnat & A. Aw (Eds.), Political Communication in Asia. New York: New York: Routledge.
• Willnat, L., & Weaver, D. H. (2005). Journalism Education in the United States. In K. W. Y. Leung, J. Kenny, & P. S. N. Lee (Eds.), Global Trends in Communication Education and Research (pp. 37-52). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (2005). Political Advertising in Emerging Democracies: The Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In L. L. Kaid & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Political Advertising (pp. 399-416). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications.
• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (2004). Political Communication in Asia: Challenges and Opportunities. In L. L. Kaid (Ed.), Handbook of Political Communication Research (pp. 479-503). Mahwah, NJ, London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Books

• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (Eds.) (fortcoming). Social Media, Culture and Politics in Asia. New York: Peter Lang.
• Weaver, D.H., & Willnat, L. (Eds.) (2012). The Global Journalist in the 21st Century (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
• Brians, C.L., Willnat, L., Manheim, J.B., & Rich, R.C. (2010). Empirical Political Analysis. (8th ed.). New York: Pearson/Longman.
• Willnat, L., & Aw, A. (Eds.) (2009). Political Communication in Asia. New York: Routledge.

2012 Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship Award, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea; 2006 Fulbright Scholar, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Robert M. Worcester Prize for “Article of the Year” in International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 1992; MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, 1990-91; International Leadership Award, Washington, DC, 1989; Exchange Scholarship, Free University of Berlin, 1988; Fulbright Travel Grant, 1988.

Editorial boards of Journalism & Communication Quarterly, Chinese Journal of Communication, and Asian Communication Research. Member of American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), American Political Science Organization (APSA), Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), International Communication Association (ICA), Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (MAPOR), World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), and Chinese Communication Association (CCA).

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