Dr. Volha Kananovich, an associate professor of digital journalism in the Department of Communication, has been recognized with the First Place Open Competition Award by the Newspaper and Online News Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
Her work, titled “Whose Money Is It, Anyway? The Effects of News Framing of Public Funds as ‘Taxpayers’ Money’ vs. ‘Government Spending’ on Citizen Oversight,” examines how different ways of describing government spending in news stories can shape citizens’ sense of ownership over public funds and their expectations for government accountability. Drawing on two experiments with nationally representative samples, the study finds that framing public funds as “taxpayers’ money” can increase motivation for citizen oversight and support for harsher penalties in cases of fiscal wrongdoing.
The project was supported by a University Research Council (URC) grant.
Dr. Kananovich will accept the award during the 2026 AEJMC Annual Conference in New Orleans in August.
Dr. Kananovich headshot
