Michael Beam

Michael Beam, Ph.D. is the Interim School Director of the School of Media & Journalism and a Professor in the School of Emerging Media and Technology at Kent State University. His research explores personalized social and algorithmic recommender systems for news exposure and health communication, the influence of partisan news sources on political polarization and political information processing, how design choices impact user experience, and the way new media systems change information distribution patterns. His  research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Communication Research; Communication Monographs; Public Opinion Quarterly; Information, Communication & Society; Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly; New Media & Society; Journal of Internet Medical Research; and the Journal of Health Communication.

Michael teaches courses in media effects, political communication, communication technologies, human-computer interaction, and quantitative research methods. 

His interest in communication research stems from his experience working in media and information technology. Before entering academia, he spent over a decade working as a computer system administrator and network technologist. He also has worked in community radio for over 15 years and produces a weekly radio show and podcast, The Beat Oracle. More information is available on his website.

Selected Scholarly, Creative and Professional Activities

Beam, M. A., Egbert, N., Smith, T. C., & Zhu, Y. (2026). Unraveling News Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Spiral of Silence or a Spiral of Noise? Frontiers of Political Science, 8, 1864038. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2026.1864038

Bowen, M. & Beam, M. (2026). Goal Setting and Anchoring Effects on Meditation Using a Digital Platform: A Large‑Scale Digital Field Study. Journal of Internet Medical Research, 28, e85801. doi: 10.2196/85801

Beam, M. A. & Pu, Z. (2025). News Recommender Systems. In A. Nai, M. Groemping, & D. Wirz (Eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication. Elgar Publishing. [ISBN: 9781035301430 / 9781035301447]

Hmielowski, J. D., Beam, M. A., & Hutchens, M. J. (2025). The Hate Between You and Me: Media Psychology and Affective Polarization. In R. Bailey & L. R. Glenna (Eds.), De Gruyter Handbook of Media Psychology. De Gruyter. [ISBN: 9783111291710 / 9783111292144]

Hmielowski, J. D., Hutchens, M. J., & Beam, M. A. (2025). Interventions Targeting Affective Polarization: Media, Journalism, and Technology. In M. Torcal & E. Harteveld (Eds.), Handbook of Affective Polarization. Elgar Publishing. [ISBN: 9781035310593]. doi: 10.4337/9781035310609

Bowen, M., Beam, M., Semb, J. & Yoo, D. W. (2025). Evaluating Theory-Driven Messaging to Overcome the Barriers to Meditation: A Large-Scale Digital Field Experiment. JMIR Mental Health, 12, e71732. doi: 10.2196/71732

Beam, M. A., Hutchens, M. J. & Hmielowski, J. D. (2024). The Fragmented Social Media Landscape in the 2024 U.S. Election. In D. Jackson, A. Carson, D. Sarver Coombs, S. Edgerly, E. Thorsen, F. Trevisan, & S. Wright (Eds.), U.S. Election Analysis 2024: Media, Voters and the Campaign. Poole, UK: The Centre for Comparative Politics and Media Research, Bournemouth University. [ISBN: 978-1-910042-39-7]

Pu, Z. & Beam, M. A. (2024). The Impacts of Relevance of Recommendations and Goal Commitment on User Experience in News Recommender Design. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 34, 925-953. doi: 10.1007/s11257-024-09405-1

Egbert, N., Zhu, Y., Choi, M., Beam, M. A., & Smith, T. C. (2023). Family Communication Patterns and Parents’ Intentions to Vaccinate their Child against COVID-19. Health Communication, 38, 2774-2781. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2022.2114768

Hmielowski, J. D., Staggs, S., Hutchens, M. J., & Beam, M. A. (2022). Talking Politics: The Relationship between Supportive and Opposing Interpersonal Discussion with Partisan Media Credibility and Use. Communication Research, 49, 221-244. doi: 10.1177/0093650220915041

Bernstein, A. de Vreese, C., Helberger, N., Shulz, W., Zweig, K., Baden, C., Beam, M. A., Hauer, M. P., Heitz, L., Jürgens, P., Katzenbach, C., Kille, B., Klimkiewicz, B., Loosen, W., Moeller, J., Radanovic, G., Shani, G., Tintarev, N., Tolmeijer, S., van Atteveldt, W., Vrigenhoek, S., & Zueger, T. (2021). Diversity in News Recommendation. Dagstuhl Manifestos, 9, 43-61. doi: 10.4230/DagMan.9.1.43

Hmielowski, J. D., Hutchens, M. J., & Beam, M. A. (2020). Asymmetry of Partisan Media Effects? Examining the Reinforcing Process of Conservative and Liberal Media with Political Beliefs. Political Communication, 37, 852-868. doi: 10.1080/10584609.2020.1763525

York, C., Ponder, J. D., Humphries, Z., Goodall, C., Beam, M. A., & Winters, C. (2020). Effects of Fact-Checking Political Misinformation on Epistemic Political Efficacy. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 97, 958-980. doi: 10.1177/1077699019890119

Hutchens, M. J., Hmielowski, J. D. & Beam, M. A., (2019). Reinforcing Spirals of Political Discussion and Affective Polarization. Communication Monographs, 86, 357-376. doi: 10.1080/03637751.2019.1575255

Silva, D. E., Hutchens, M. J., Donaway, R. & Beam, M. A., (2018). 300 Million Clicks and Political Engagement via Facebook in the 2016 American Presidential Election: How Online Activity Changes Across Time and Sources. Mass Communication & Society, 21, 742-762. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2018.1497660

Beam, M. A., Child, J. T., Hutchens, M. J., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2018). Context Collapse and Privacy Management: Diversity in Facebook Friends Increases Online News Reading and Sharing. New Media & Society, 20, 2296-2314. doi: 10.1177/1461444817714790

Beam, M. A., Hutchens, M. J. & Hmielowski, J. D. (2018). Facebook News and (De)Polarization: Reinforcing Spirals in the 2016 US Election. Information, Communication, & Society, 21, 940-958. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2018.1444783

Beam, M. A., Hmielowski, J. D., & Hutchens, M. J. (2018). Democratic Digital Inequalities: Threat and Opportunity in Online Citizenship from Motivation and Ability. American Behavioral Scientist, 62, 1079-1096. doi: 10.1177/0002764218764253

Wang, M. Y., Hmielowski, J. D., Hutchens, M. J., & Beam, M. A. (2017). Extending the Spiral of Silence: Partisan Media, Perceived Support, and Sharing Opinions Online. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 14, 248-262. doi: 10.1080/19331681.2017.1338980

Beam, M. A. Hutchens, M. J., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2016). Clicking vs. Sharing:  The Relationship between Online News Behaviors and Political Knowledge. Computers in Human Behavior, 59, 215-220. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.013

Hutchens, M. J., Hmielowski, J. D., Pinkleton, B. E., & Beam, M. A. (2016). A Spiral of Skepticism? The Relationship between Citizens’ Involvement with Campaign Information to their Skepticism and Political Knowledge. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 93, 1073-1090. doi: 10.1177/1077699016654439

Hmielowski, J. D., Beam, M. A., & Hutchens, M. J.  (2016). Structural Changes in Media and Attitude Polarization: Examining the Contributions of TV News Before and After the Telecommunications Act of 1996. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 28(2), 153-172. doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edv012

Beam, M. A. (2014). Automating the News: How Personalized News Recommender System Design Choices Impact News Reception. Communication Research, 41(8), 1019-1041. doi: 10.1177/0093650213497979.

Beam, M. A. & Kosicki, G. M. (2014).  Personalized News Portals: Filtering Systems and Increased News Exposure. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 91(1), 59-77. doi: 10.1177/1077699013514411.

Dylko, I. B., Beam, M. A., Landreville, K. D., Geidner, N. G. (2012). Filtering 2008 Presidential Election News on YouTube by Elites and Nonelites: An Examination of the Democratizing Potential of the Internet. New Media and Society, 14(5), 832-849. doi: 10.1177/1461444811428899.

LaMarre, H. L., Landreville, K. D., & Beam, M. A. (2009). The Irony of Satire: Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in “The Colbert Report.” The International Journal of Press and Politics, 14(2), 212-231. doi:  10.1177/1940161208330904.