Erik Knudsen

I am an internationally recognized expert in quantitative audience research. I have a proven track-record in research and infrastructure leadership, fielding and analyzing experiments (e.g., Knudsen, 2022; Knudsen & Johannesson, 2019), and conducting and analyzing panel surveys (e.g., Knudsen et al., 2023). More recently, I have developed my area of research by combining my expertise in fielding experiments and surveys with computational approaches to analyzing large datasets of digital trace data. For instance, within the NEWSREC project (https://www.newsrec.ai) that I currently lead, I am the main supervisor of an information science PhD candidate with the aim to build a prototype of a news recommender system and test the effects on citizens’ news use. To achieve this, we are combining the methods of field experiments, software development (i.e., the recommender system), and computational approaches to measure the effects of the recommender system on citizens’ exposure to cross-cutting versus like-minded news.

Infrastructure and data collection leadership

I have a strong background in developing and leading social science data collection processes, infrastructures, and tools. This includes:

• Currently leading the process of developing the MediaFutures’ tool, DATADONOR (freely available here: https://github.com/sfimediafutures/Data-Donation).
• Currently leading the Norwegian Citizen Panel’s Political Behavior and Communication Data Collection Group at DIGSSCORE. The group coordinates questions and experiments three times a year for a probability-based survey panel with over 11,000 active panel members. I have led the group since 2017. The group is flourishing, bringing together researchers from communication science, political science, economics, and sociology.
• Currently leading a group that designs and fields the annual Media Survey—a coordinated survey with Norwegian journalists, editors, and citizens. I have led the group since 2018.

Research leadership

I currently lead the NEWSREC project, managing an international (i.e., Uni. of Bergen and Uni. of Amsterdam) and interdisciplinary team of researchers within information science, computational communication science, and political communication. The role as PI has provided me with considerable experience in research leadership, considering my career stage. This makes me uniquely qualified to lead future large-scale projects.

Outreach

I am passionate about research dissemination and regularly disseminate my research. I am regularly used as a source, and cited in Norwegian news media as an expert on news use, public opinion, polarization, and trust. I also lead the annual ‘Media Survey’ which I present to approximately 500 Norwegian journalists and editors at the annual media industry conference, Nordic Media Days. In addition, I have considerable experience speaking to a large audience (e.g., my TED talk at TEDxBergen in 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3qHJC5LwJQ).

My most important publications

My work has appeared in some of the most prestigious and highly ranked journals within the field communication research and the sub-fields political communication and journalism research. While most of my work is co-authored, I lead the writing and submission process of almost all my articles and have published a sole-authored article in Journal of Communication which iswidely regarded as the most prestigious journal in the field of communication research. In terms of independence, none of my publications are co-authored by my PhD thesis supervisors or mentors. My research is highly visible: I have presented my work at 29 peer-reviewed international conferences, ten of which were at the field’s most prestigious conferences (ICA and APSA). I have published nine articles in international peer-reviewed journals, two articles in national peer-reviewed journals, five book chapters, and one PhD dissertation (Monograph). I consider the following seven publications my most important publications.

1. Knudsen, Erik (2022) “Modeling News Recommender Systems’ Conditional Effects on Selective Exposure: Evidence from Two Online Experiments.” Journal of Communication, published online ahead of print. The journal is the flagship journal of the International Communication Association (ICA) and is the most prestigious journal in the field of communication research. Single authored.  Open access.

2. Knudsen, Erik ⓡ Nordø, Åsta Dyrnes & Iversen, Magnus Hoem (2023) “How Rally-Round-the-Flag Effects Shape Trust in the News Media: Evidence From Panel Waves Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis.” Political Communication, published online ahead of print. The journal is one of the most prestigious journals in the field. The “ⓡ” symbol indicates that the author order is randomized. Shared first author, I am corresponding author.  Open access.

3. Knudsen, Erik and Johannesson, Mikael Poul (2019) “Beyond the limits of survey experiments: How conjoint designs advance causal inference in political communication research.” Political Communication, 36(2), 259-271. Citations: 38.  Open access.

4. Johannesson, Mikael Poul ⓡ Knudsen, Erik (2020) “Disentangling the Influence of Recommender Attributes and News-Story Attributes: A Conjoint Experiment on Exposure and Sharing Decisions on Social Networking Sites.” Digital Journalism, 1-21. Citations: 10. The journal is one of the most important journals within the subfield of journalism studies. Shared first author, I am corresponding author.  Open access.

5. Knudsen, Erik (2021) “Affective Polarization in Multiparty Systems? Comparing Affective Polarization Towards Voters and Parties in Norway and the United States.” Scandinavian Political Studies. Citations: 37. Single authored. Impact: cited in 1 policy document. The article is already among the 20 most cited and the 5 most read articles of the journal.  Open access.

6. Iversen, Magnus Hoem, and Knudsen, Erik (2019) “When Politicians go Native: Consequences of Native Advertising for Citizens’ Trust in Political News.” Journalism, 20(7), 961-978. Citations: 53. Journalism. Shared first author, I am corresponding author. Impact: cited in 2 policy documents. Won Best Article award by the Norwegian Media and Communication Association.

7. Knudsen, Erik, Stefan Dahlberg, Magnus Hoem Iversen, Mikael Poul Johannesson, and Silje Nygaard (2021) “How the Public Understands News Media Trust: An Open-ended Approach.” Journalism. Citations: 8. I am first author.  Open access.