On June 26, 2025, Dominika Betakova presented the research in her dissertation, which examines the phenomenon of news avoidance through a multi-method approach that combines surveys, experiments, and automated text analysis.
News avoidance is a multi-dimensional audience behavior that previous research has linked to negative democratic outcomes, such as misbeliefs or reduced political participation. Dominika’s cumulative dissertation, consisting of three studies, first explores the relationship between intentional news avoidance and news consumption, and examines attitudinal profiles of people in specific news avoider groups through a cross-sectional survey in Austria. Second, she tests the effectiveness of two digital nudges aimed at reducing news avoidance on digital platforms in Austria and Slovakia through a comparative online experiment, and finally, she analyzes the content features of frequently avoided news topics using automated content analysis. Her dissertation demonstrates that news avoidance has distinct dimensions, and different types of news avoiders have unique traits. Digital news avoidance can be decreased by increasing news consumption through a default nudge (opt-in versus opt-out effects), which could enhance incidental news exposure. However, such changes in the choice architecture of digital platforms should be combined with adjustments in news content to address issues like topic salience, negativity, and semantic complexity.
Dominika’s dissertation received high praise from her committee members, Sanne Kruikemeier and Antonis Kalogeropoulos, as well as from her supervisors, Hajo G. Boomgaarden and Sophie Lecheler. Their recognition highlights both the academic quality and the societal importance of her work.
One of the studies included in her cumulative dissertation was already published in the international, peer-reviewed journal Mass Communication & Society: https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2024.2304759. This study examines the relationship between different types of news avoidance and investigates who can be sorted into one of these categories.
We congratulate Dominika on her successful defense and wish her all the best in her new postdoctoral position at the Centre for Journalism at the University of Southern Denmark!
