Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In this thesis we explore the potential for using content placed on the Internet as a vehicle for influencing public opinion. We conducted an experiment with 110 subjects to test whether subtle changes in a headline for a news article, without changing the content of the article, can affect a user's perception of the news event reported in the article. These online news articles were assembled from a number of major news organizations. The subjects were divided into three groups, each of which was exposed to a different version of the headline: positively biased, negatively biased, and unchanged from the original headline. Afterwards the subjects completed a survey to indicate their views on the news events. We then analyzed this data to determine the cause-effect relationship between perception of the news event and the version of the headline. We found a detectable influence when using positively biased headlines to lessen the impact of negatively biased news stories, although the influence was not statistically significant. No evidence regarding the influence of negatively biased headlines on negatively biased news stories was discovered. This research was focused on detecting the potential influence of subtle changes and does not address the potential influence of less subtle changes. / Ensign, United States Navy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nps.edu/oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/908 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Schwab, Kari |
| Contributors | Michael, James Bret, Buettner, Raymond, Systems Technology |
| Publisher | Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School |
| Source Sets | Naval Postgraduate School |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xx, 95 p. : ill. (some col.) ;, application/pdf |
| Rights | This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. As such, it is in the public domain, and under the provisions of Title 17, United States Code, Section 105, may not be copyrighted. |
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