Curriculum Vitae

current as of July 2010

Emily K. Vraga
ekvraga@gmail.com

Education

2008:  M.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison
School of Journalism and Mass Communication

2005: Bachelor of Arts with honors 
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Majors:  Journalism and Spanish

Publications

Gil de Zuniga, H., Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., & Shah, D. V. (2010). Digital democracy: Reimagining pathways to political participation. Journal of Information Technology and Politics, 7, 36-51.

Thorson, K., Vraga, E. K., & Ekdale, B. (2010). Credibility in context: How uncivil online commentary affects news credibility. Mass Communication and Society, 13, 289-313.

Vraga, E. K., Carr, D. J., Nytes, J. P., & Shah, D. V. (2010). Precision vs. realism on the framing continuum: Understanding the underpinnings of media effects. Political Communication, 27, 1-19.

Vraga, E. K., Edgerly, S., Wang, B. M., & Shah, D. V. (forthcoming). Who Taught Me That? Repurposed News, Blog Structure, and Source Identification. Accepted for publication at Journal of Communication.

Vraga, E. K., Tully, M., & Rojas, H. (2009). Media literacy training reduces perceptions of bias. Newspaper Research Journal, 30, 4, 68-81.

Invited Chapters

Fung, T. K., Vraga, E. K., & Thorson, K. (2010, forthcoming). When bloggers attack: Examining the effect of negative citizen-initiated campaigning in 2008 presidential election. In L. L. Kaid & J. A. Hendricks (Eds.), Techno-politics and presidential campaigning: New technologies, new voices, new voters. Lexington Books.

Awards

Honorable mention in the student paper competition for submission at MAPOR 2006.
Vraga, E. K., Lee, N., & Atkinson, L. (2006). To understand or to persuade? Cognitive breadth, motivation to talk, and deliberative participation. Paper presented to the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Top faculty paper in Mass Communication & Society at AEJMC 2008.
Vraga, E. K., Carr, D. J., Nytes, J., & Shah, D. V. (2008). Is it frames or facts? Testing internally vs. ecologically valid frames on risk perceptions. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Il.

Top three student paper in Communication Technology and Methodology at AEJMC 2009.
Vraga, E. K., Thorson, K., Fung, T., & Meyer, H. K. (2009). Emotions vs. cognitions?
Testing competing models of response to a media message in predicting participation. Paper presented to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, Ma.

Top three faculty paper in Communication Technology and Methodology at AEJMC 2010.
Vraga, E. K., Bard, M., Bode, L., Carr, D. J., Edgerly, S., Johnson, C., Kim, Y. M., & Shah, D. V. (2010). The correspondent, the combatant, and the comic: How moderator style and guest civility shape news credibility. Paper to be presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Denver, Co.

Conference Papers

Bode, L., Borah, P., Vraga, E. K., & Shah, D. V. (2009). A New Space for Political Expression: Predictors of Political Facebook Use and its Democratic Consequences. Paper presented at Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, Ma.

Bode, L., Thorson, K., Vraga, E. K., & Shah, D. V. (2010). Learning how to vote: Vote determinants for parent-child dyads in the 2008 election. Paper to be presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Mass Communication & Society), Denver, Co.

Borah, P., Edgerly, S., Vraga, E. K., & Shah, D. V. (2009). Hearing and talking to the other side: Antecedents of cross-cutting exposure. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Toronto, Canada.

Borah, P., Vraga, E. K., & Shah, D. V. (2009). The origins of media perceptions: Judgments of news accuracy and bias among adolescents. Paper presented at the International Communication Association (Journalism Studies), Chicago, Il.

Carr, D. J. & Vraga, E. K. (2008). Wait, who said that? Candidate cue placement in the 2008 campaign environment and its effects. Paper presented to the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Carr, D. J., & Vraga, E. K. (2010). Wait, who said that? The role of source cue placement in argument evaluation. Paper to be presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (GEIG), Denver, Co.

Carr, D. J., Vraga, E. K., Johnson, C., Bard, M., & Kim, Y. M. (2010). Pundits or pugilists? The role of guest incivility in televised debate. Paper to be presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Mass Communication & Society), Denver, Co.

Edgerly, S., Vraga, E. K, Fung, T., Moon, T., Veenstra, A. S., & Yoo, W. (2009). YouTube as a public sphere: The Proposition 8 Debate. Paper presented at the Association of Internet Researchers, Milwaukee, Wi.

Edgerly, S., Vraga, E. K., Fung, T., Dalrymple, K., & Macafee, T. (2010). Directing the dialogue: The relationship between YouTube videos and the comments that they spur. Paper to be presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (GEIG), Denver, Co.

Fung, T., Vraga, E. K., Thorson, K., & Meyer, H. K. (2009). When bloggers attack: Examining the effect of negative citizen-initiated campaigning in 2008 presidential election. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, Ma.

Gil de Zuniga, H., Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., Wang, M., DeShano, C., & Shah, D. V. (2007). Online and offline activism: Communication mediation and political messaging among blog readings. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Communication Technology Division), Washington, DC.

Hwang, H., Thorson, K., Ekdale, B., Borah, P., Veenstra, A.S., Vraga, E.K., Wang, M.B., Shah, D.V. (2007). Why does civility matter in the blogosphere? Examining the effects of civility and ideological dissonance. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Scholl, R. M., Pingree, R. J., Gotlieb, M. R., Vraga, E. K., Wang, M., & Shah, D. V. (2007). Media effects on deliberative processing: Frames, congruence, and emotion. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Communication Theory and Methodology Division), Washington, DC.

Shah, D. V., Hwang, H., Lee, N., Gotlieb, M. R., Scholl, R. M., Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., Wang, B. M., & Gabay, I. (2008). Examining effects of political ads on voter support: OLS and Heckman models of candidate evaluations and partisan voting. Paper presented at the American Association for Public Opinion Research, New Orleans, LA, May 15-18.

Shah, D. V., Gotlieb, M. R., Hwang, H., Lee, N., Scholl, R. M., Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., & Wang, B. M. (2007). Political advertising effects on candidate evaluations and partisan voting. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Thorson, K., Fung, T., & Vraga, E. K. (2008). How you feel makes you what you are: Partisan reactions to political incivility online. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Il.

Thorson, K., Vraga, E. K., & Ekdale, B. (2008). Do you believe this story?!: The impact of uncivil and ideologically incongruent adjacent opinion commentary on news credibility. Paper presented at the International Communication Association (Journalism Studies), Montreal, Canada.

Thorson, K., & Vraga, E. K. (2007). Modeling denominational differences in pathways from church to participation. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Veenstra, A. S., Thorson, K., Sayre, B., Vraga, E. K., & Shah, D. V. (2009). Audience and Authority: The readers that power the blog revolution. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association (Information Technology & Politics), Chicago, Il.

Veenstra, A. S. & Vraga, E. K. (2008). Political expression and opinion leadership: Changes during a campaign cycle. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Midwinter), Pittsburg, Pa.

Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., & McLeod, D. M. (2008). Advertising and views of party differences: Changes through the election cycle. Paper presented at the American Association for Public Opinion Research, New Orleans, LA, May 15-18.

Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., Bode, L., & Gotlieb, M. R. (2009). Campaigns, voters, and agency in the 2008 U. S. Presidential election: Examining effects of campaign-voter interaction on support. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., Edgerly, S., & Kim, S. (2009). Priming news credibility judgments: Interactions in the world of user-created content. Paper presented to the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Veenstra, A. S., Vraga, E. K., Edgerly, S., & Kim, S. (2009). Priming news credibility judgments: Interactions in the world of user-created content. Paper to be presented at to the International Communication Association, Singapore.

Vraga, E. K. (2008). I’m a what?! Effects of cognitive dissonance and dissonant advertising on campaign relevance and information processing. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K. (2009). How persuasive are ads? Cognitive dissonance and political advertisements. Paper presented at the International Communication Association (Political Communication), Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K. (2009). Party preference dissonance, news exposure, and media perceptions:
Message response during the 2008 presidential campaign. Paper presented to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, Ma.

Vraga, E. K., Bard, M., Bode, L., Carr, D. J., Edgerly, S., Johnson, C., Kim, Y. M., & Shah, D. V. (2010). The correspondent, the combatant, and the comic: How moderator style and guest civility shape news credibility. Paper to be presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Communication Theory & Methodology), Denver, Co.

Vraga, E. K., Borah, P., Wang, B. M., & Shah, D. V. (2009). Building the Habit:
Growth in News Use Among Teens During the 2008 Campaign. Paper presented at Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, Ma.

Vraga, E. K., Carr, D. J., Nytes, J., & Shah, D. V. (2008). Is it frames or facts? Testing internally vs. ecologically valid frames on risk perceptions. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K., Edgerly, S., Gabay, I., Puig Abril, L., & Borah, P. (2009). Telling you what to think: Effects of an advocacy prime and additional information on argument evaluation. Paper presented to the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K., Edgerly, S., Wang, M., & Shah, D. V. (2008). Who taught me that? Blog structure, information recall, and source identification. Paper presented at the International Communication Association (Information Systems), Montreal, Canada.

Vraga, E. K., Edgerly, S., Wang, M., & Veenstra, A. S. (2009). Feeling the heat: The effects of incivility and structure on fact recall. Paper presented at the Association of Internet Researchers, Milwaukee, Wi.

Vraga, E. K., Lee, N., & Atkinson, L. (2006). To understand or to persuade? Cognitive breadth, motivation to talk, and deliberative participation. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K., & Thorson, K. (2007). Churches as pathways: Modeling religious orientations and their effects on political participation. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K., Thorson, K., Fung, T., & Meyer, H. K. (2009). Emotions vs. cognitions?
Testing competing models of response to a media message in predicting participation. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, Ma.

Vraga, E. K., Tully, M., Atkin, H. E., & Rojas, H. (2009). Reducing hostile media perceptions for an environmental controversy through media literacy. Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association (Journalism), Singapore.

Vraga, E. K., Tully, M., Rolo, M. A., Norris, L., Hinds, J., Hwang, H., & Rojas, H. (2007). Reducing hostile media perceptions: Can news media literacy reduce perceptions of bias? Paper presented to the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Il.

Vraga, E. K., Veenstra, A. M., Borah, P., Shah, D. V., & Gil de Zuniga, H. (2008). The blog public: Bloggers, readers, and the communities they build. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Il.

Research Leadership

Fall 2009-Summer 2010: Served as the leader for the MCRC research group. I organized efforts by a group of graduate students and associated faculty to design, create and test an experiment over the course of the past year. This experiment involved writing a script, hiring actors, filming, editing and producing a set of videos that simulate different formats for political talk shows. As leader of MCRC, I was involved in and oversaw each part of the project. I also run the weekly MCRC research meeting and led a session to teach new students how to analyze data using SPSS.

Fall 2009: Served as the interim leader for the Social Media and Democracy, when our leader could not attend meetings due to a class conflict. I coordinated with the absent student leader and worked to facilitate meetings in accordance with those plans.

Teaching Experience

Fall 2005-Spring 2008: Teaching Assistant for J201: An Introduction to Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Summer 2007 & 2008: Grader for CA325: Mass Media and Human Behavior: Survey of Media Effects Research, instructor Kjerstin Thorson.

Fall 2008-Fall 2009: Teaching Assistant for J202: Mass Media Practices at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Summer 2009: Grader for CA325: Mass Media and Human Behavior: Survey of Media Effects Research, instructor Emily Acosta.

Spring 2010: Teaching Assistant for J614: Communication and Public Opinion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Guest lecture: Guest lecture on Frames and Framing for CA325: Mass Media and Human Behavior: Survey of Media Effects Research, June 4, 2008.

Guest lecture: Guest lecture on Media Effects and Politics for CA325: Mass Media and Human Behavior: Survey of Media Effects Research, June 8, 2009.

Guest lecture: Guest lecture on Psychological Approaches: Attitudinal Models for J614: Communication and Public Opinion, February 4, 2010.

Professional Experience

Summer 2010: Worked as a part-time consultant for Innocorp, a Verona-based firm. The work involved development and decisions about the future marketing of an iPhone application.

Summer 2009 to Spring 2010: Worked as a consultant for KETC regarding their grant work on Facing the Mortgage Crisis. I helped develop a questionnaire to send to the stations involved in the project, coded and entered the data into an appropriate format, and performed analysis for a final report for KETC. This project investigated the links between station efforts to create content to address the mortgage crisis and their success in adjusting citizen contacts to the station and to help mechanisms like 2-1-1.

Summer 2006: Worked part-time as an independent contractor to Cricket Design Works, preparing press releases, presentations, and other media-related materials for clients, especially Seed Savers Exchange.

Other professional experience available upon request.