University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Public Relations Professor and Executive Associate Dean Spiro Kiousis is co-author of the opinion column “Is Media Messaging Making the Gaza War Worse? We Need to Revisit How Fights are Framed” published in the Tampa Bay Times on Jan. 30.

Kiousis and Michael Cherenson, executive vice president of SCG Advertising + Public Relations, examine how people think about polarizing topics and if they are influenced by chaotic messaging.

According to the authors, “The concept of gain-versus-loss framing of messages was actually pioneered by Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, who were disheartened by their country’s decision-making failures leading up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As a result, they refocused much of their work and called it prospect theory which says that people don’t look at potential outcomes equally but are risk averse and will weigh gains and losses differently with a preference for gains.”

They add, “Framing the messaging around solidarity provides an appealing sense of unity, especially given the spread of antisemitism, but both history and science inform us that it is strategically better to frame messaging around a threat. Modern information warfare is definitely more complex than the dissemination of planned messaging and reframing.”

They conclude, “Certainly, the hope going forward is for as little conflict as possible. But, when war does come, the ability to effectively frame the fighting may help to determine the victor, and maybe even lessen the frequency of future battles.”

Posted: January 30, 2024
Category: College News
Tagged as: Chaotic messaging, Prospect Theory, Spiro Kiousis, Tampa Bay Times