Research

Informed by my professional background, my research examines journalism and nonprofit communication practices in addressing emerging global challenges, such as climate change, environmental degradation, health crises, and growing societal inequalities, particularly within the context of evolving technological advancements.

I strongly believe that embracing interdisciplinary research enables us to approach and understand issues in science and society from multiple perspectives, leading to the development of comprehensive solutions. My strong commitment to interdisciplinary research is demonstrated through my collaborative efforts with scholars from different fields including environmental studies, public policy, climate science, and computer science.

I frequently use various research methods including quantitative (e.g., survey, content analysis, experiment), qualitative (e.g., textual analysis, in-depth interview), and computational (e.g., text mining, machine learning, social network analysis, sentiment analysis).

My works have been published in a variety of academic journals including Nature Climate Change, Global Environmental Change, Science Communication, Environmental Communication, Digital Journalism, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and  Health Communication among others. I have also presented papers at various academic conferences. Below is the list of my papers.

Journal Publications

  1. Wu, Y.*, Vu, H. T., Ha, H.* & Do, G. T.* (2025). Compassion and climate change advocacy: A computational analysis of U.S. environmental NGOs’ social media campaigns. Environmental Communication.
  2. Ejaz, W., Vu, H. T., & Fletcher, R. (2025). Disentangling climate news avoidance: Exploring factors across eight countries in a cross-sectional analysis. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism.
  3. Verner, M., Vu, H. T., Marlon, J., Lee, S. Rosenthal, S. A., & Leiserowitz, A. (2025). Gender, development, and belief in anthropogenic climate change. World Development.
  4. Luong, D. N. A.* & Vu, H. T. (2025). Framing under fire: Navigating environmental activism on social media amid digital repression. Social Media + Society.
  5. Lee, S., Vu, H. T., Thaker, J., Verner, M., Goldberg, M., Carman, J., Rosenthal, S. A. & Leiserowitz, A. (2025). Variations in climate change belief systems across 110 geographical areas. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02410-1.
  6. Vu, H. T., Nguyen, N.,* Izhar, N.,* & Diwanji, V. (2025). “Climate change is real, but I don’t want to talk about it”: Unraveling spiral of silence effects regarding climate change among Midwestern American farmers. Environmental Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2025.2477260
  7. Nguyen, Y. K., Vu, H. T. & Tran, M. (2025). Stem cell hype, hope and hardship: A computational framing analysis of news media content. Journal of Science Communication. https://doi.org/10.22323/151920250607095308
  8. Le, T. T., Tran, M., Duong, A., Nguyen, T. L. A., Tran, V. *, Le, T. T., & Vu, H. T. (2025). Building confidence in the digital age: The effects of online professional development on Vietnamese teachers’ media and information literacy. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2025.2505670
  9. Ittefaq, M., Vu, H.T., Dao, A.T., Tran, D.V., & Hansen, C. (2025). Framing a global pandemic: Journalism cultures and media coverage of COVID-19 in China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2025.2450854
  10. Ittefaq, M., Vu, H. T., Ramazan, T., Zain, A., & Kreps, G. (2024). Analysis of public opinion polls about COVID-19 vaccines: Theoretical and policy implications for vaccine communication and campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2437921
  11. Nguyen, N., Peters, P., Ding, H. & Vu, H. T. (2024). When the media goes to war: How Russian news media defend the country’s image during the conflict with Ukraine. Media, War & Conflict. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352241231866
  12. Vu, H. T. & Chen, Y. (2023). What influences audience susceptibility to fake health news: An experimental study using a dual model of information processing in credibility assessment. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2206177
  13. Vu, H. T., Conlin, J., Nguyen, N., & Baines, A. (2023). What influences public support for plastic waste control policies and green consumption? Evidence from a multilevel analysis of survey data from 27 European countries. Online Media & Global Communication. OpenAccess.
  14. Vu, H. T., Trieu, L. T., Nguyen, G. T. T., & Nguyen, N, M. (2023). The gap between what they say and what they do: Journalists’ role conception and role performance in a socialist-communist context.  Journalism Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2022.2159858
  15. Vu, H. T., Baines, A., and Nguyen, N. (2023). Fact-checking climate change: An analysis of claims and verification practices by fact-checkers in four countries. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990221138058
  16. Chen, Y., Hansen, C. & Vu, H. T. (2023). Meditation as panacea: A longitudinal semantic network analysis of meditation coverage in campus newspapers from 1997-2018. Journal of American College Health. OnlineFirst. DOI://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1909042
  17. Saldaña, M. & Vu, H. T. (2022). “You’re fake news!” Factors impacting journalists’ debunking behaviors. Digital Journalism. OnlineFirst. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1884288
  18. Vu, H. T. & Lim, J. (2022). Effects of country and individual factors on public acceptance of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies: A multilevel SEM analysis of 28-country survey data. Behaviour & Information Technology. OnlineFirst. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1884288
  19. Vu, H. T. & Saldaña, M. (2021). Chillin’ effects of fake news: Changes in practices related to accountability and transparency in American newsrooms under the influence of misinformation and accusations against the news media. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, OnlineFirst. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699020984781
  20. Vu, H. T., Blomberg, M., Seo, H., Liu, Y., Shayesteh, F. & Do, H. V. (2021). Social media and environmental activism: Framing climate change on Facebook by global NGOs. Science Communication. 43(1), 91-115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020971644
  21. Duong, H. T., Vu, H. T., & Nguyen, L. (2021). Influenced by anonymous others: Effects of online comments on risk perception and intention to communicate. Health Communication. OnlineFirst. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1723050
  22. Seo, H., Blomberg, M., Altschwager, D., & Vu, H. T. (2021). Vulnerable populations and misinformation: A mixed-methods approach to underserved older adults’ online information assessment. New Media & Society. OnlineFirst. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820925041
  23. Vu, H. T. & Saldaña, M. (2021). Chillin’ effects of fake news: Changes in practices related to accountability and transparency in American newsrooms under the influence of misinformation and accusations against the news media.. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 98(3), 769-789. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699020984781
  24. Vu, H. T., McCombs, M. E., Russell, A., & Pain, P. (2020). Deepening the concept of ‘compelling arguments’: Linking the substantive and affective dimensions of attributes in assessing the effects of climate change news on public opinion. The Agenda Setting Journal. 4(2), 219-240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/asj.19009.vu
  25. Vu, H. T., Trieu, T. L. & Nguyen, H. T. (2020). Routinizing Facebook: How journalists’ role conceptions influence their social media use for professional purposes in a socialist-communist country. Digital Journalism. 8(7), 885-903. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1770111
  26. Vu, H. T. & Lynn, N. (2020). When the news takes sides: Automated framing analysis of coverage of the Rohingya crisis by elite press from three countries. Journalism Studies. 21(9), 1284-1304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1745665
  27. Seo, H. & Vu. H. T. (2020). Social media & global activism: A survey of transnational nonprofits. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 49(4), 849-870. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020908340
  28. Vu, H. T., Do, H. V., Seo, H., & Liu, Y. (2020). Who leads the conversation on climate change?: A study of a global network of NGOs on Twitter. Environmental Communication. 14(4), 450-464. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2019.1687099
  29. Duong, H. T., Nguyen, L. T. V., & Vu, H. T. (2020). With whom do consumers interact? Effects of online comments and perceived similarity on source credibility, content credibility, and personal risk perception. Journal of Social Marketing.  10(1), 18-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-02-2019-0023.
  30. Vu, H. T., Liu, Y., & Tran, D. V. (2019). Nationalizing a global phenomenon: A study of how the press in 45 countries and territories portrays climate change. Global Environmental Change, 58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101942
  31. Vu, H. T., Barnett, B., Duong, H. T., & Lee, T. T. (2019). Delicate and durable: An analysis of women’s leadership and media practices in Vietnam. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics. 15(1), 87-108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.15.1.87_1.
  32. Chen, Y. & Vu, H. T. (2019). The role of structural factors in antibiotic use among European Union citizens: A multilevel analysis. International Journal of Communication, 13, 3379-3402.
  33. Nguyen, A. & Vu, H. T. (2019). Testing popular news discourse on the “echo chamber” effect: Does political polarisation occur among those relying on social media as their primary politics news source? First Monday 24(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i6.9632.
  34. Duong, H. T., Vu, H. T., Nguyen, N. (2019). Activists’ strategic communication in an authoritarian setting: Integrating social movement framing into issues management. International Journal of Strategic Communication. 13(2), 133-151.
     DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2019.1590366.
  35. Vu, H. T., Liefu, J., Cuava-Chacon, L., Rield, M., Tran, V. D., & Bobkowski, P. (2018). What influences media effects on public perception? A cross-national study of comparative agenda setting. International Communication Gazette. 81(6-8), 580-601. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048518817652.
  36. Guo, L., & Vu, H. T. (2018). Media vs. reality: Who sets the public agenda on health? The Agenda Setting Journal, 2(1), 3-24..DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/asj.16020.guo. **Lead Article***
  37. Vu, H. T., Lee, T. T., Duong, H. T., & Barnett, B. (2018). Gendering leadership in Vietnamese media: A role congruity study on news content and journalists’ perception of female and male leaders. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 95(3), 565-587. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699017714224. ***Lead Article***
  38. Vu, H. T., Duong, H. T., Barnett, B., & Lee, T. T. (2017). A role (in)congruity study on Vietnamese journalists’ perception of female and male leadership. Asian Journal of Communication. 27 (6); 648-664. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699017714224.
  39. Guo, L., Chen, Y. K., Vu, H. T., Wang, Q., Aksamit,R., Guzek, D., Jachimowski, M., and McCombs, M. (2015). Coverage of the Iraq War in the United States, Mainland China, Taiwan and Poland: A transnational network agenda-setting study. Journalism Studies. 16 (3); 343-362. DOI:10.1080/1461670X.2014.885198.
  40. Vu, H. T., Guo, L., and McCombs, M. (2014). “The world outside and the picture in our head”: A network agenda setting study. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 91 (4); 669-686. DOI: 10.1177/1077699014550090.
  41. Stephens, M., Yoo, J., Mourao, R., Vu, H. T., Baresch, B., Lee, E. J., Gutierrez, F. M. & Johnson T. J. (2014). How app are people to use smartphones, search engines and social media to gather news?: Examining information acquisition tools and their influence on political knowledge and voting. Journal of Information Technology & Politics. 11 (4); 383-396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2014.951137.
  42. Vu, H. T. (2013). The online audience as gatekeeper: The influence of reader metrics on news editorial selection. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism. 15 (8); 1094-1110. DOI:10.1177/1464884913504259
  43. Vu, H. T. and Lee, T. T. (2013). Soap operas as a matchmaker: A cultivation analysis of the effects of South Korean TV dramas on Vietnamese women’s marital intention. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(2), 308-330. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2014.951137.
  44. Guo, L., Vu, H. T., and McCombs, M. (2012). An expanded perspective on agenda-setting effects exploring the third level of agenda setting. Revista de Comunicación (11), 51-68.
  45. Vu, H. T., and Lee, T. T. (2012). State-Press relations revisited: A case study of how U.S. media portray postwar Vietnam. Asian Journal of Communication, 22(6) 549-565. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2012.717093. ***Lead Article***.

Book Chapters & Encyclopedia Entries

  1. Luong, D. N. A. & Vu, H. T. (2022). The U.S. media on the Vietnam War and beyond: In the name of objectivity. In J. O. Hearns-Branaman & T. Bergman (eds). Journalism and foreign policy: How the U.S. and U.K. media cover official enemies. New York, NY: Routledge.
  2. Vu, H. T. (2022). Web analytics. In G. A. Borchard (Eds). The Sage Encylopedia in journalism. Sage Publications.
  3. Vu, H. T. (2022). The macro level: Perspectives embedded in society, culture, and technology. In P. Vossen & A. Fokkens, (Eds.). The perspective web. Cambridge, U.K.: University of Cambridge.
  4. Nguyen, D. A. L. & Vu, H. T. (2022). The U. S. media on the Vietnam War and beyond: In the name of objectivity. In J. O. Hearns-Branaman & T. Bergman (Eds). Journalism and Foreign Policy: How the U. S, and U. K. media cover official enemies. New York, NY: Routledge
  5. Vu, H. T. (2020). Agenda building. The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology. Wiley Blackwell. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0136
  6. Vu, H. T. (2019). Female leadership in Vietnam: Traditional gender norm, quota and media In L., Ha & C. C. Chao, (Eds). Asian Women Leadership: A Cross-National and Cross-Sector Comparison. New York, NY: Routledge.
  7. Nguyen, A & Vu, H. T. (2017). News judgment and gatekeeping in a “click-thinking” culture: the impact of web metrics on journalism and journalists. In A. Nguyen, (Eds). News, Numbers and Public Opinion in a Data-Driven World. London, UK: Bloomsbury.
  8. Guo, L., Chen, Y. N. K., Vu, H. T., Wang, Q., Aksamit, R., Guzek, D., & McCombs, M. (2015). An international comparison of network attribute agendas. In L. Guo & M. McCombs, (Eds). The Power of Information Networks. New York: Routledge, p. 144-158.
  9. Vu, H. T. (2013) “Factors influencing journalists’ gatekeeping role” in Journalism: Theories and Practice, by the Department of Journalism and Communications, Hanoi National University.
  10. Vu, H. T. (2012). “Multimedia: the Media Trend,” in Thuy – Long – Huong – Thu’s eds. Handbook for Journalism: Skills in Collecting Information and Writing for the Media, Hanoi: Thong Tan Publishing House.
  11. Vu, H. T. (2012). “International Reporting,” in Thuy – Long – Huong – Thu’s eds. Handbook for Journalism: Skills in Collecting Information and Writing for the Media, Hanoi: Thong Tan Publishing House.

Leave a comment