Jason Peifer

Biography

Jason Peifer, Ph.D. (The Ohio State University), is an associate professor of journalism in the Media School at Indiana University. With professional experience in public radio, Peifer teaches on topics—at the both the graduate and undergraduate levels—related to the foundations of journalism, news literacy, media ethics, public opinion, and satirical news/political entertainment. His research explores facets of citizens’ uncertainty about and trust in public institutions—especially as related to journalism practices, non-traditional news sources, and individuals’ perceptions of the news media’s importance. Some of Peifer’s most recent work includes examining the efficacy of different forms of journalistic transparency and cross-national perceptions of news and social media’s value/importance within a high-choice digital media landscape. His scholarship has been published in a variety of outlets, including the Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Media Psychology, Computers in Human Behavior, Communication Methods & Measures, and the International Journal of Communication. Peifer is affiliated with IU’s Observatory on Social Media.  Peifer has been awarded with an Emerging Scholars grant by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC),  a Public Humanities Project grant, and a Social Sciences Research Funding Program grant.

Selected Publications

• Peifer, J.T. & Partain, L.P. (2023). Citizen forums: Examining a journalistic transparency initiative’s capacity to foster understanding, connection, and trust. Journalism Practice. doi: 10.1080/17512786.2023.2202207
• Peifer, J.T., Lee, T., Koo, G.H. (2022). Selectively sharing satirical news: Strengthening an empirical understanding of how agreement, mirth, and perceived informativeness can contribute to the diffusion of news parody content. Computers in Human Behavior, 128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107108
• Peifer, J.T. & Meisinger, J. (2021). The value of explaining the process: How journalistic transparency and perceptions of news media importance can (sometimes) foster message credibility and engagement intentions. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. doi:10.1177/10776990211012953
• Peifer, J.T. (2020). Warring with the press: The influence of elite hostility, emotions, and perceptions of news media importance on support for journalism. Journalism Studies, 21, 1852-1872. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2020.1797525
• Peifer, J.T.  & Myrick, J. (2019). Risky satire?: Examining how a traditional news outlet’s use of satirical news can affect media perceptions and engagement with a news source. Journalism. doi:10.1177/1464884919833259
• Peifer, J.T. (2018). Perceived News Media Importance: Developing and validating a measure for personal valuations of normative journalistic functions. Communication Methods & Measures. doi:10.1080/19312458.2017.1416342
• Peifer, J.T. (2018). Liking the (funny) messenger: The influence of news parody exposure, mirth, and predispositions on media trust. Media Psychology. doi: 10.1080/15213269.2017.1421470
• Peifer, J.T. (2018). Imitation as flattery: How TV news parody’s media criticism can influence perceived news media importance and media trust. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 95, 734-756. doi:10.1177/1077699017713002
• Carlson, M., & Peifer, J.T. (2013). The impudence of being earnest: Jon Stewart, the journalistic community, and boundary traversal. Journal of Communication, 63, 333-350. doi: 10.1111/jcom.12019
• Peifer, J.T.  (2012). Can we be funny?: The social responsibility of political humor. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 27, 263-276.  doi: 10.1080/08900523.2012.746110