The world is awash in information. Communications researcher Yotam Ophir digs into news articles and survey results to show how beliefs form and spread.
TV stars and terrorists may appear to have little in common. But after watching YouTube videos by members of a violent terrorist organization, Yotam Ophir realized the two groups deploy similar tactics to connect with remote audiences. The terrorists dressed casually, stared straight at the camera when talking and narrated their pasts in gripping, plot-driven fashion, just like actors.
Since then, Ophir has remained intrigued by how various people — whether terrorists, policy makers, journalists or public health officials — communicate information and beliefs to broader audiences. The last 20 years have dramatically changed the way we interact with media, says Ophir, now a communications researcher at the University at Buffalo in New York. “All of my research is about humans’ attempt to cope with the crazy and increasing amount of information that now surrounds us 24/7.
But the portrayal was misleading. Lynch had not been shot or stabbed as initially reported. And Iraqi soldiers had already abandoned the hospital Lynch was in by the time the U.S. military arrived. Reporters, who had not witnessed the “rescue,” leaned heavily on a five-minute video clip released by the Pentagon.
But his focus changed in 2014 when an Ebola outbreak began sweeping through West Africa. Ophir devoured news stories about U.S. medical personnel carrying the disease home. “It scared me personally,” he says. For instance, Ophir automated his analysis of over 5,000 articles about the H1N1, Ebola and Zika epidemics in four major newspapers: theFew articles included practical information on what individuals could do to reduce the risk of catching and spreading the disease.
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