WP1 focuses on the first step of the communication flow where people are directly exposed to exemplars in the media. The work package provides a cross-national investigation of whether bias-matching exemplars in news stories have a stronger effect on factual perceptions and responsibility attribution than exemplars without a psychological match. To test this, we offer a novel and ambitious cross-national research design with online survey experiments collected in Denmark, France, and the United States.

WP2 focuses on the second step of the communication flow where people tell each other about exemplars from the news. The work package asks whether bias-matching exemplars are shared and recollected more and with greater impact in interpersonal communication than exemplars without a psychological match. To answer the research question WP2 includes analyses of real-world Twitter data on news articles featuring exemplars from leading news media Twitter profiles in Denmark, France and the United States, and the number of re-tweets they receive. Second, to maximize internal validity and test the effects of recollected exemplars on factual perceptions and democratic responsibility attribution, we will implement a unique experimental design from cognitive psychology – the chain transmission design in studies in all three countries.

WP3 investigates the segments of citizens who are most susceptible to the effects of bias-matching exemplars. The project will study a series of psychologically relevant individual differences. Methodologically, the project will rely on validated survey instruments collected in cross-national surveys as part of the data collection for WP1 and WP2.

WP4 asks how the effects of unrepresentative bias-matching exemplars can be corrected. WP4 implements cross-national survey experiments in Denmark, France, and the United States to test whether the impact of an unrepresentative bias-matching exemplar can be corrected by providing a bias-matching counter exemplar and through optimized reporting of statistical base-rate information. The ambition is to provide an evidence-based foundation for developing best-practice guidelines for reporting of statistical information and counter-exemplars.