My scholarly research examines the influence of emerging social and participatory media platforms on the practice and content of journalism, particularly political journalism. …

Word cloud of research articles

My research has appeared in such peer-reviewed journals as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication and Society, and Newspaper Research Journal and has been presented at the annual conferences of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the International Communication Association (ICA), and the International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ).

My doctoral dissertation, “The Boys on the Blogs: Intermedia Agenda Setting in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign,” examined the use of political blogs by newspaper and wire service journalists in the reporting of the 2008 presidential race and the agenda-setting influence of the candidates, journalists, and political bloggers on one another. The dissertation research, under the supervision of Dr. Wayne Wanta, included a survey of newspaper and wire service journalists who covered the 2008 campaign and a content analysis of news coverage, blog posts, and candidate press releases.

My subsequent research has focused primarily on the influence of Twitter on journalism and politics.

Here are highlights of my research and scholarship, including publications and conference papers. Please contact me if you have questions or would like more information.:

GRANT / FELLOWSHIP

Recipient of a 2014-15 AEJMC/Scripps Howard Foundation Visiting Professor in Social Media Grant. I was awarded one of six $4,000 grants nationwide, chosen from 43 applicants. I visited The Knoxville News Sentinel in July 2014 to study the newspaper’s use of social media and multimedia. I spent two weeks shadowing News Sentinel editors and reporters, attending newsroom meetings, and learning about the newspaper’s multiplatform approach to covering East Tennessee. I also organized a reciprocal visit in February 2015 by a News Sentinel editor, who met with Seton Hall University journalism and public relations students and faculty.

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Heim, K. (2021). Tweets and source diversity: Newspapers’ sourcing of Twitter posts from 2009 to 2016. Mass Communication and Society, 24(3), 394-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2021.1883063

Heim, K. (2015). Need for orientation predicts reporters’ reliance on blogs. Newspaper Research Journal, 36(4), 455-468. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532915618406

Heim, K. (2015). Live tweeting a presidential primary debate: Comparing the content of Twitter posts and news coverage. #ISOJ Journal (Journal of the International Symposium on Online Journalism), 5(1), 208-228.

Heim, K. (2013). Framing the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses: Political blogs and second-level intermedia agenda setting. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(3), 500-519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699013493785

BOOK CHAPTERS

Heim, K. (2021). Crunching the data: Crowdsourcing and the Lay’s potato chip ‘Do Us a Flavor’ contest. In R. Luttrell, S. Emerick & A. Wallace, Digital strategies: Data-driven public relations, marketing, and advertising (pp. 147-160). New York: Oxford University Press.

Heim, K., & Craft, S. (2020). Transparency in journalism: Meanings, merits and risks. In L. Wilkins and C. G. Christians (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of mass media ethics (2nd ed., pp. 308-320). New York: Routledge. (Note: This was an extensive update from the previous edition.) https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315545929-21

Craft, S., & Heim, K. (2009). Transparency in journalism: Meanings, merits and risks. In L. Wilkins and C. G. Christians (Eds.), The handbook of mass media ethics (pp. 217-228). New York: Routledge. https://routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203893043.ch16

BOOK REVIEWS

Heim, K. (2019). Review of the book The Presidency and Social Media: Discourse, Disruption, and Digital Democracy in the 2016 Presidential Election by Dan Schill and John Allen Hendricks (Eds.). Presidential Studies Quarterly, 49(1), 249-250. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12520

Heim, K. (2015). Review of the book Presidential Campaigning and Social Media: An Analysis of the 2012 Campaign by John Allen Hendricks and Dan Schill (Eds.). Presidential Studies Quarterly, 45(2), 410-412. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12196

NEWSPAPER COLUMN

Heim, K. (2014, July 20). Journalists embrace new digital platforms (Trending column). The Knoxville News Sentinel.

REFEREED CONFERENCE PAPERS

Heim, K. (2018, August). All the news that tweets: Newspapers’ use of Twitter posts as news sources from 2009 to 2016. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Newspaper and Online News Division). Washington, DC.
Top faculty paper in the division

Heim, K. (2015, April). Live tweeting a presidential primary debate: Comparing the content of Twitter posts and news coverage. Paper presented at the annual International Symposium on Online Journalism. Austin, TX.

Heim, K. (2014, August). Blog sites and blog cites: Newspaper journalists’ use of blogs as news sources (2004-2013). Poster session at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Newspaper and Online News Division), Montreal, QC.

Heim, K. (2013, June). Inverting the pyramid? The interactions of elite and non-elite U.S. political journalists on Twitter. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association (Journalism Studies Division), London.

Heim, K. (2011, August). Follow the leaders: Newspaper journalists’ networks of association on Twitter. High-density session at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Newspaper Division), St. Louis, MO.

Heim, K. (2010, August). Need for orientation and journalists’ use of political blogs in covering the 2008 presidential campaign. Poster session at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Mass Communication and Society Division), Denver, CO.

Eckler, P., Heim, K. & Rodgers, S. (2009, March). Effects of congruity, sponsor type, and news story valence on psychological processing of E-sponsors. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Advertising, Cincinnati, OH.

Heim, K. (2008, August). Fair comment? The ethics of anonymous postings on news Web sites. Poster session at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Media Ethics Division), Chicago, IL
Runner-up, Carol Burnett/University of Hawaii/AEJMC Award for graduate research in media ethics

Heim, K. (2008, August). Blogs and the Iraq War: A time-series analysis of intermedia agenda setting and agenda building. High-density session at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Mass Communication and Society Division), Chicago, IL
Third place, best student paper in the division

Heim, K., & Rodgers, S. (2008, August). Effects of congruity, sponsor type, and news story valence on E-newspaper outcomes. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Newspaper Division), Chicago, IL.

Heim, K., & Craft, S. (2008, May). In the interest of full disclosure: Transparency at The New York Times. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association (Journalism Studies Division), Montreal, QC.

Heim, K. (2007, August). Does gender still matter? Issue emphasis in 2006 U.S. House and Senate campaign ads. Poster session at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Mass Communication and Society Division), Washington, DC.

Heim, K. (2007, May). Editor’s notes and transparency: What do major U.S. newspapers deem noteworthy? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association (Journalism Studies Division), San Francisco, CA
Top-three student paper in the division