About My Research
My research lies at the intersection of media processes and effects, politics, and public health. I use mixed methods—including surveys, experiments, and natural language processing—to explore three core areas:
Informed Citizenship: I investigate how news, political entertainment, communication technologies, and the individuals who create and use them shape public understanding, beliefs, and engagement with social issues.
Koo, G. H., Johnson, T. J. Santillana, M., & Jeon, G. (2025). Toxicity of political participation and news cynicism: How social media news use predicts disinformation beliefs and support for political violence. Journal of Information Technology & Politics. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2025.2504518 * 50 free online copies: link
Koo, G. H., Kim, S., Lin, Z., Johnson, T., Jung, S., & Hurdogan, S. (2025). Exploring HIV conspiracy beliefs among Black LGBQ+ individuals: The roles of public health sources, social media, algorithmic assistants, and religious leaders. Health Communication. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2025.2479636 * 50 free online copies: link
Koo, G. H., & Chen, B. (2025). Far-right conspiracies and online engagement: how #stopthesteal leveraged moral appeals, group identity, and #Blacklivesmatter to capture audience attention on Parler. Journal of Information Technology & Politics. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2025.2468948
Koo, G. H., Johnson, T. J., Lee, T. & Jia, C. (2023). Politically contested beliefs: Support for Trump better predicts having inaccurate beliefs about COVID-19 than conservative/Republican political identity. Mass Communication and Society. 26(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2144380
Lee, T., & Koo, G. H. (2022). What drives belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories? Examining the role of uncertainty, negative emotions, and perceived relevance and threat. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2134703
Peifer, J. T., Lee, T. & Koo, G. H. (2022). Selectively sharing satirical news: Strengthening an empirical understanding of how agreement, mirth, and perceived informativeness contribute to the diffusion of mediated comedy. Computers in Human Behavior. 128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107108
Active Citizenship: I examine the role of media in civic engagement and public discourse, conducting cross-national and cross-platform studies to understand these dynamics. My work considers individual psychological and sociological factors, as well as the influence of platform governance and content moderation policies on online participation and dialogue.
Koo, G. H., Lukito, J., Masullo, G. M., Overgaard, C. S. B., & Orr, B. (2025). The Consequences of “The Bird is Free”: A Computational Analysis of Aversive LGBTQIA+ Tweets and Engagement Trends Before and After Elon Musk Dismantled the Platform’s Moderation System. New Media & Society. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251356240
Koo, G. H., Masullo, G. M., Orr, B., & Huang, E. (2024). “What flipping right does a teacher have to say being [LGBTQ+] is okay?”: Understanding Twitter discourse around U.S. anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation. Howard Journal of Communications. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2024.2421859
Koo, G. H., & Chen, B. (2024). It's not just “8 dead”: Examining News and Twitter's social construction of the Atlanta spa shootings through the lens of networked gatekeeping and affective publics. Social Media + Society. 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241269278
Chen, B., Lukito, J., & Koo, G. H. (2023). Comparing the #StopTheSteal movement across multiple platforms: Differentiating discourse on Facebook, Twitter, and Parler. Social Media + Society. 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231196879
Chen, B., & Koo, G. H. (2022). Journalistic roles and news framing: a comparative framing analysis of COVID-19 pandemic across China, South Korea, and the United States. International Journal of Communication. 16. 4254-4274. https://ojs3.ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/19479/3879
Improving Media and Journalism Practices: I design interventions to support sustainable and culturally responsible media environments. Through research, I explore strategies to strengthen journalistic practices, correct public misperceptions, and promote news literacy.
Koo. G. H. & Coleman, R. B. (2025). Solutions-oriented Framing and Responsibility Attribution in Urban Youth Crime: Effects on Policy Support and the Mediating Role of Emotions and Social Inequality Perception. Journalism Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2025.2546842 * 50 free copies: link
Koo, G. H., Wilner, T., & McCann, C. (2025). Defining and Validating News Skepticism: Distinctions from News Trust and Cynicism, and Links to News Literacy and Misinformation Belief. Mass Communication and Society, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2025.2534983 * 50 free copies: link
Koo, G. H. (2021). Are you frightened? Children’s cognitive and affective reactions to news coverage of school shootings. Mass Communication and Society. 24(6). https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2021.1996609