Megan Duncan
148 Shanks Hall
181 Turner Street, NW
Blacksburg, VA 2406
ORCID: 0000-0002-0547-2387
Academic positions
Assistant professor, Department of Communication, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Fall 2018
Articles
Duncan, M., & Culver, K. (2020). Technologies, Ethics and Journalism’s Relationship with the Public. Media and Communication, 8(3), 101-111. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3039
Duncan, M., Pelled, A., Wise, D., Gosh, S., Shan, Y., Zheng, M., & McLeod, D. (2020). “Staying silent and speaking out in online comments sections: The influence of spiral of silence and corrective action in reaction to news.” Computers in Human Behavior 102, 192-205. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.026
Duncan, M. & Coppini, D. (2019). “Party v. The People: Testing corrective action and supportive engagement in a partisan political context.” Journal of Information Technology and Politics. 16(3), 265-289. DOI: 10.1080/19331681.2019.1644266.
Duncan, M. (2019). “The effectiveness of credibility indicator interventions in a partisan context.” Newspaper Research Journal. 40(4), 487-503. DOI: 10.1177/0739532919873707.
Duncan, M., Culver, K. B., McLeod, D., & Kremmer, C. (2019). Don’t Quote me: Effects of Named, Quoted, and Partisan News Sources. Journalism Practice. 13(9), 1128-1146. DOI: 10.1080/17512786.2019.1588148.
Mirer, M., Duncan, M. A., & Wagner, M. W. (2018). Taking it from the team: Assessments of bias and credibility in team-operated sports media. Newspaper Research Journal, 39(4), 481-495.
Coppini, D., Duncan, M., McLeod, D., Wise, D., Bialik, K., & Wu, Y. (2017). When the whole world is watching: A motivations-based account of selective expression and exposure. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 766-774
Dissertation
“In Partisanship They Trust: Audiences, News Brands and Learning Credibility Heuristics in Emerging Journalism.” (2018). Dissertation committee: Michael W. Wagner (chair), Jason Fletcher. Young Mie Kim, Jonathan Renshon, Sue Robinson.
Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison. – Ph.D. in Mass Communication. 2018
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. – M.A. in Mass Communication. 2012
Point Park University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. – B.A. in Journalism. 2005
Grants
Credibility Coalition – Summer 2019
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication – Newspaper and Online Division Research Grant – 2016.
Elections Research Center Graduate Research Funding Competition – Fall 2015 with D. Coppini.
Doctoral research scholarship, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UW-Madison – 2015 & 2016.
Vilas Travel Grant – 2015 & 2016.
Panel presentations and invited research presentations
“Technologies, ethics and journalists’ relationship with the public.” September 2019. Journalism from Above International Workshop. Mid-Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden.
“How can journalists effectively respond to fake news at scale?” on Electronic News Division panel “Fake News in Canada and the U.S. – Seeing it, responding to it across borders.” August 2019. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
“Audience expectations of journalism ethics in the age of drones.” October 2017. Panelist at the Seventh Annual International Symposium on Digital Ethics, Center for Digital Ethics & Policy at Loyola University Chicago.
“Pressing Issues in Digital Ethics.” August 2017. Panelist at annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Illinois.
Refereed conference papers
Duncan, M., Perryman, M., & Shaughnessy, B. (2020). “Same scandal, different standards: The effect of partisanship on expectations of news reports about whistleblowers.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, California.
Duncan, M. & Coppini, D. (2020). “The geolocation gap: The effect of being a political minority in communities on news media trust.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, California.
Duncan, M. (2020). “Selective rating: The effect of choice in crowdsourcing news rating systems.” Presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Gold Coast, Australia.
Duncan, M. (2020). “Alternative news, mainstream audience: Audience definitions of mainstream news and its influence on news trust.” Accepted for presentation at “From the rise of alternative media to the (dis)engagement of MSM: – making sense of the new political news environment and its audiences.”(Panel was canceled because of COVID-19).
Duncan, M. & Mirer, M. (2019). “The Sinclair Effect: The effect of ‘must-read’ scripts on the perception of sincerity, credibility and parasocial relationships.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Toronto, Ontario.
*Duncan, M. (2018). “Credibility labels and perception of partisan news brands.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C.
Duncan, M. (2018). “Learning news credibility cues in politicized news.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C.
Duncan, M., Culver, K., McLeod, D. & Kremmer, C. (2018). “Don’t Quote Me: Effects of Named, Quoted and Partisan News Sources.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C.
Pelled, A., Wang, S., Choung, H., Lukito, J., Duncan, M. & Wu, Y. (2018). “Beyond left and right: Constructing a contemporary voter typology based on cluster analysis.” Presented the annual conference of the World Association for Public Opinion Research, Marrakesh, Morocco.
Duncan, M. (2017). “Do people watch what is not ‘mainstream”? A survey of ideology and the mainstream news label.” Presented at the at the annual conference of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Illinois.
Pelled, A., Choung, H., Lukito, J., Duncan, M., Wang, S., Wu, Y., Gill, H., Suk, S. & Kniaz, T. (2017). “Who are the voters? A contemporary voter typology based on cluster analysis.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Illinois.
Pelled, A., Duncan, M., Wu, Y., Choi, M., Suk, J. (2017). “Meet the Independents: Using Cluster Analysis to Construct a Typology of Independent Voters.” Presented at the annual conference of the American Association of Public Opinion Research, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Yang, J., Sangari, A., Duncan, M., Kornfield, R., Zhang, Y., Bialik, K., Lukito, J., Kim, S. & Cao, D. (2017). “Obamacare and Political Polarization on Twitter: An Application of Machine Learning and Social Network Analysis.” Presented at the annual conference of International Communication Association, San Diego, California.
Duncan, M. & Coppini, D. (2016). “Effects of information cues in a mobile application environment on audience engagement online and offline.” Presented at the International Conference on Media and the Public Sphere: Empowering Audiences in the Digital Age, Athens, Georgia.
Duncan, M. & Coppini, D. (2016).”Party or Peers: Where is the loyalty? Corrective action effects on opinion and expression in the context of intergroup political conflict.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Duncan, M., Wise, D., Pelled, A., Gosh, S., Shan, Y., Zheng, M. & McLeod, D. (2016). “Comment is free, but biased: Spiral of silence and corrective action in news comment sections.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Chong, H., Coppini, D., Schmidt, J., Xia, Y., Choi, M., & Duncan M. (2016). “Testing two competing mechanisms of expressive behavior in online discussion.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Duncan, M. (2015). “Citizen in-group bias effects on credibility in Ebola news coverage.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, California.
**Mirer, M. & Duncan, M. (2015). “Taking it from the team: Assessments of bias and credibility in team-operated sports media.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, California.
Coppini, D., Duncan, M., Wise, D., McLeod, D., Bialik, K., Wu, Y. (2015). “When everyone’s watching. A motivations-based account of selective expression and exposure.” Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, California.
Davis, C., Coppini, D., Hull, S. & Duncan, M. (2015). “Can I Live? Stereotypes & The Intersectional Identities of Black Gay Men.” Presented at the 65th annual conference of the International Communication Association. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Duncan, M., Wise, D., Jaime, T. & Barnidge, M. (2014). “Effect of Opinion Climate on News Bias.” Presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Illinois.
Duncan, M. (2013). “Credibility and Recall Effects of Source Documents in News.” Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C.
Wise, D., Duncan, M., Jaime, T., Coppini, D & Kim, Y.M. (2013). “Reading the Truth-O-Meter: The influence of partisanship in interpreting the fact-check.” Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C.
Awards and fellowships
*Third place student paper – AEJMC, Communication Theory and Methodology, 2018.
Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center Fellow – 2018
**Top student paper – AEJMC, Newspaper and Online News Division, 2015.
Helen Firstbrook Franklin Fellow – UW-Madison, 2016-17.
Textbook
Culver, K. B., Duncan, M., Forster, S., and Wagner, M.W. 2015. The Media Handbook: Writing and Producing Media for the Public (UW-Madison e-book).
White papers
Culver, K. B., Duncan, M. 2018. Drones in the news: Journalist conceptions and public engagement.
Culver, K. B., Duncan, M. 2017. Drones in the newsroom: Insights into audience opinions and expectations.
Teaching
Courses taught:
- Introduction to communication research (Virginia Tech)
- Mass media practices (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Mass communication writing (University of Florida)
- Media effects (Virginia Tech)
- Multimedia reporting (Virginia Tech)
- Undergraduate research, with a focus on protest frames in news (Virginia Tech)
Course development – Data Journalism online course creation with quality assurance, Networked Learning Initiatives, Virginia Tech – Summer 2019.
Teaching at a Distance – Online teaching course, Networked Learning Initiatives, Virginia Tech – Summer 2019.
Ph.Digital Bootcamp: Preparing Future Faculty to Lead Innovative Curriculum – Knight Foundation and Texas State University – Summer 2018.
Co-creator – Data Visualization course, University of Wisconsin-Madison – 2014.
Guest lectures and invited teaching talks
“Data journalism.” Feb. 8, 2019, at Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington & Lee University.
“Methods.” Nov. 2, 2018, in Beth Waggenspeck’s Prospectus Practicum, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
“Data journalism and budgets.” Feb. 13, 2018, in Michael W. Wagner’s Intermediate Reporting, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Industrial Society: Newspapers.” Feb. 13, 2018, in Lew Friedland’s Mass Media History, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Popular and industry press
Thompson-Reuters Foundation – “ANALYSIS-Sky’s the limit: Rise of delivery drones has cities asking who owns airspace.” June 17, 2019. https://news.yahoo.com/analysis-skys-limit-rise-delivery-090000801.html
News-To-Table – “Why isn’t getting harassed motive enough?” April 22, 2019. https://medium.com/news-to-table/from-anita-hill-to-lucy-flores-94c4d6eeb2eb
VT News – “Study draws connections between sports fandom and political tribalism.” Jan. 30, 2019. https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2019/01/sports_fandom_study.html
Morning Consult – “How perceptions of news accuracy shift with outlet – and topic.” Aug. 16, 2018. https://morningconsult.com/2018/08/16/how-perceptions-news-accuracy-shift-with-outlet-topic/
Poynter – How do news audiences actually feel about Elon Musk-style credibility scores? – June 13, 2018. https://www.poynter.org/news/how-do-news-audiences-actually-feel-about-elon-musk-style-credibility-scores
NPPA – Drones in the news: Newsrooms need to develop drone policies. Aug. 1, 2018. https://nppa.org/news/drones-news-white-paper
Service
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Professional Freedom and Responsibility chair – Political Communication Division, 2019.
Panel moderator – Political Communication Interest Group – 2017
Member – Newspapers and Online News Division; Political Communication Division
Manuscript reviewer – Journalism Practice; Virginia Social Science Journal; Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Political Communication & Newspaper and Online News divisions); International Communication Association (Political Communication division).
Textbook reviewer – SAGE Publishing.
Judge – Graduate Student Research Conference, Virginia Tech. 2019.
Research group leader – Mass Communication Research Center: Media and Politics, UW-Madison – 2015-16
Professional development coordinator – Graduate student-led group, UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication – 2014
Research chair – Crossroads Communication Conference, University of Wisconsin-Madison – 2014
Professional work
Project assistant – Center for Journalism Ethics – 2015-16 & 2017-18
Research assistant – Drones in the Newsroom – 2016-17
e-Textbook assistant – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Media Handbook – Summer 2015
Web editor – The Confluence – University of Wisconsin-Madison – Summer 2015
General assignment and education reporter – Butler (Pa.) Eagle. – January 2006 to August 2010
Election reporter – The Associated Press (stringer) – 2007-10
Page designer and copy editor – Trib PM, Pittsburgh. – 2005
Reporting intern– Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Spring 2005
Freelance reporter and photographer – Lawyer’s Journal of Allegheny County – 2004-05
Editor-in-chief – The Globe (student newspaper of Point Park University) – Fall 2004
Editorial assistant – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 2003-04
Journalism awards
- Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh – 2004
- Vincent LaBarbera – 2003
