Toril Aalberg
Background and activities
Interests: comparative politics, election campaigns, media effects, public opinion, the relationship between media and politics, the role of stereotypes
Toril Aalberg is Professor at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at NTNU in Trondheim. She was head of the same department from 2017-2021, and chair of COST Action IS1308: Populist Political Communication in Europe from 2014-2018. She is a member of NEPOCS (Network of European Political Communication Scolars) and the research group EVPOC (Elections, Values and Political Communication). Toril Aalberg is the author or editor of 9 books, some in conjunction with others. These include Challenges to Representative Democracy (1999), Achieving Justice (2003), Communicating Politics (2007), How Media Inform Democracy (2012), Populist Political Communication in Europe (2016) and Communicating Populism (2019). She has also contributed to many other books and have published extensively in international peer-reviewed journals, such as Electoral Studies, European Journal of Political Research, European Sociological Review, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, International Journal of Press/Politics and the International Political Science Review. Aalbergs research Interests include comparative politics, election campaigns, how media affects public opinion, the relationship between media and politics and the role of stereotypes. She has had a number of visiting appointments including longer periods at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Trinity College Dublin, and the Centre for Advanced Studies in Oslo.
Scientific, academic and artistic work
Displaying a selection of activities. See all publications in the database
Journal publications
- (2021) Navigating High-choice European Political Information Environments: A Comparative Analysis of News User Profiles and Political Knowledge. The International Journal of Press/Politics.
- (2021) Social Media and Trust in News: An Experimental Study of the Effect of Facebook on News Story Credibility. Digital Journalism.
- (2021) Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries. New Media & Society.
- (2021) Does a Crisis Change News Habits? A Comparative Study of the Effects of COVID-19 on News Media Use in 17 European Countries. Digital Journalism. vol. 9 (9).
- (2019) Why perceived political bias on TV does not inevitably lead to a polarized audience. the case of NRK and TV2 in Norway. Communications. vol. 44 (4).
- (2019) Economic and Cultural Drivers of Immigrant Support Worldwide. British Journal of Political Science. vol. 49 (4).
- (2018) Populism as an Expression of Political Communication Content and Style: A New Perspective. The International Journal of Press/Politics. vol. 23 (4).
- (2018) Start Spreading the News: A Comparative Experiment on the Effects of Populist Communication on Political Engagement in Sixteen European Countries. The International Journal of Press/Politics. vol. 23 (4).
- (2017) Political communication in a high-choice media environment: a challenge for democracy?. Annals of the International Communication Association. vol. 41 (1).
- (2016) Wearing the veil: hijab, Islam and job qualifications as determinants of social attitudes towards immigrant women in Norway. Ethnic and Racial Studies. vol. 39 (15).
- (2016) Why Are “Others” So Polarized? Perceived Political Polarization and Media Use in 10 Countries. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. vol. 21 (5).
- (2015) Political Journalism in Transition. Western Europe in a Comparative Perspective. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism.
- (2015) Human Interest Framing of Irregular Immigration: An Empirical Study of Public Preferences for Personalized News Stories in the United States, France, and Norway. American Behavioral Scientist. vol. 59 (7).
- (2014) Who is afraid of preelection polls? How perceptions of polls influence support for polling regulations among elites. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. vol. 26 (4).
- (2014) Reconsidering ‘virtuous circle’ and ‘media malaise’ theories of the media: An 11-nation study. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism. vol. 15 (7).
- (2014) Fra biologidiskurs til miljødiskurs? : pressedekningen av minoriteter i norske aviser fra 1902-2010. Norsk Medietidsskrift. vol. 21 (1).
- (2014) Attitudes towards Muslim Immigrants: Evidence from Survey Experiments across Four Countries. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. vol. 40 (1).
- (2014) Sources in the news: A comparative study. Journalism Studies. vol. 15 (4).
- (2013) Media Choice and Informed Democracy: Toward Increasing News Consumption Gaps in Europe?. The International Journal of Press/Politics. vol. 18 (3).
- (2013) INTERNATIONAL TV NEWS, FOREIGN AFFAIRS INTEREST AND PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE: A comparative study of foreign news coverage and public opinion in 11 countries. Journalism Studies. vol. 14 (3).
- (2013) Internet Revolution Revisited: A Comparative Study of Online News. Media, Culture and Society. vol. 35 (7).
- (2013) Towards a rolling news logic in fixed time bulletins? A comparative analysis of journalistic interventions in the US, UK and Norway. European Journal of Communication. vol. 29 (1).
- (2013) Do Attitudes About Immigration Predict Willingness to Admit Individual Immigrants? A Cross-National Test of the Person-Positivity Bias. Public Opinion Quarterly. vol. 77 (3).
- (2013) Online Threat, But Television is Still Dominant — A comparative study of 11 nations’ news consumption. Journalism Practice. vol. 7 (6).
- (2013) Auntie Knows Best? Public Broadcasters and Current Affairs Knowledge. British Journal of Political Science. vol. 43 (4).
- (2012) Who is a 'Deserving' Immigrant? An Experimental Study of Norwegian Attitudes. Scandinavian Political Studies. vol. 35 (2).
- (2012) The framing of politics as strategy and game: A review of concepts, operationalizations and key findings. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism. vol. 13 (2).
- (2012) Tuning out the World of News and Current Affairs. An Empirical Study of Europe’s Disconnected Citizens. European Sociological Review. vol. 28 (1).
- (2012) Political Information Opportunities in Europe: A Longitudinal and Comparative Study of Thirteen Television Systems. The International Journal of Press/Politics. vol. 17 (3).
- (2012) De vanskelige nyhetene. Hvordan krav om politiske forkunnskaper og kildebruk kan gjøre nyhetsdekningen vanskelig å forstå. Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift. vol. 28 (1).
- (2012) Makrofaktorer og offentlig opinion: En gjennomgang av forskning på økonomiske venstre–høyre-holdninger. Sosiologisk Tidsskrift. vol. 20 (4).
- (2011) Media-driven men and media-critical women? An empirical study of gender and MPs relationships with the media in Norway and Sweden. International Political Science Review. vol. 32 (2).
- (2011) Measuring Political Knowledge in Telephone and Web Surveys: A Cross-National Comparison. Social science computer review. vol. 29 (2).
- (2011) Between Trust and Suspicion. A Comparative Study of the Relationship Between Politicians and Political Journalist in Belgium, Norway and Sweden. Javnost - The Public. vol. 18 (4).