Yotam Ophir
Yotam Ophir (Ph.D., 2018, University of Pennsylvania) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University at Buffalo. His work combines computational methods for text mining, network analysis, experiments and surveys to study media content and effects in the areas of political, science, and health communication.
Ophir is the head of the Media Effects, Misinformation, and Extremism (MEME) lab, a member of the Center for Information Integrity (CII) at the University at Buffalo, and a distinguished fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. His work includes studying the flow of unreliable information and conspiracy theories online and in mainstream media, the politicization of science, and extremist discourse among white nationalists on the far-right.
Affiliated lab:
Publications in the area of misinformation:
Ophir, Y., Pruden, M. L., Walter, D., Lokmanoglu, A. D., Tebaldi, C., & Wang, R. (2022). Weaponizing Reproductive Rights: A Mixed-Method Analysis of White Nationalists' Discussion of Abortions Online. Information, Communication, and Society. 10.1080/1369118X.2022.2077654:
Ophir, Y., Walter, N., Walter, D., Velho, R. M., Lokmanoglu, A. D., Pruden, M. L., & Andrews, E. A. (2022). Vaccine Hesitancy Under the Magnifying Glass: A Systematic Review of the Uses and Misuses of an Increasingly Popular Construct. Health Communication:
Ophir, Y., Jamieson, K. H. (2021). The Effects of Media Narratives about the Failures of Scientists and Science on Beliefs and Support in Funding Science. Public Understanding of Science, 30(8), 1008-1023. 10.1177/09636625211012630:
Ophir, Y., Jamieson, K. H., Romer, D., and Jamieson, P. E. (2020). Counter-acting Pro-Tobacco YouTube Videos: The Effects of Text-based and Counter-Narrative Interventions and the Role of Identification. International Journal of Communication:
Walter, D., Ophir, Y., & Jamieson, K. H. (2020). Russian Twitter Accounts and the Partisan Polarization of Vaccine Discourse, 2015-2018. American Journal of Public Health, 110(5), 718-724. 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305564:
Visit the Department of Communication website for Ophir’s complete profile, including the latest research and publications.