Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Faculty Member, Facultad de Comunicaciones

Assistant Professor

About

I'm an assistant professor in the School of Communications at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Catholic University of Chile), where I study and teach social media, journalism and political communication. Currently, I'm teaching a graduate course on journalism and social media (com3071.wordpress.com)

I completed my Ph.D. in 2011 in the University of Texas at Austin, with a concentration on Political Communication and Digital Media, under the supervision of Max McCombs and Homero Gil de Zúñiga. Previously, I had an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Journalism and Social Information from Catholic University of Chile.

My research is concerned with the role of the news media, social media and citizen-to-citizen communication in public opinion formation—the broad effects of journalism and interactive technologies on political knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. I study political communication from an individual-level perspective, that is, my primary focus is on the role of communication for the citizen to fulfill his/her role in society. As such, my research covers three areas:

(1) The use of online technologies for political and civic purposes. For instance, what is the role of social media on individuals' social capital and engagement? How do social networking sites relate to political participation? How do citizen journalism sites compare to professional journalism in terms of informing and mobilizing citizens to action? In which ways bloggers behave as journalists?

(2) News media, public opinion and political elites. My research delves into agenda setting, media priming, and the interplay between polls, politicians and the media. What role does political interest, attentiveness and sophistication play in strengthening and/or dampening media effects on issue salience? What is the agenda-setting power of presidents, media and public opinion in new democracies? To what degree budgetary policy reflects the public's policy preferences?

(3) Informal conversations about public affairs, including news and politics: What are the psychological antecedents as well as the cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral effects of discussion, both online and offline? How do discussions and media use interact and affect citizens? What attributes of discussion networks matter for participation?

Some of my work has been published or is forthcoming in Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, International Journal of Press/Politics, International Communication Gazette, Journalism, CyberPsychology & Behavior, and Cuadernos de Información.

I was a Fulbright scholar and my research has been awarded by the World Association for Public Opinion Research (the Naomi C. Turner Prize), the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication (the Chaffee-McLeod Award), the International Communication Association (Top 3 faculty paper), the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (Top 2 Student Paper Award), and the International Symposium on Online Journalism (Top Research Paper Award).

I sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Communication and have served as graduate student liaison of AEJMC's Communication Theory & Methodology division. I have also been involved in other organizations, including AEJMC, ICA, NCA, WAPOR and MAPOR.

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