Diana Mutz, the Samuel A. Stouffer professor of political science and communication at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Mutz also serves as director of innovation of the National Annenberg Election Survey.

Mutz was among 212 scholars, scientists, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders from 20 states and 15 countries elected to this year’s class.  Also newly elected to AAAS membership were U.S. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, computer company founder Michael Dell, former cabinet secretary and White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, Academy Award-winning filmmakers Ethan and Joel Cohen and blues guitarist B.B. King.

Television has the capacity to encourage greater awareness of opposing political views.  But the increasingly popular format of “in-your-face” TV, with its uncivil tone and intense camera close-ups, causes audiences to react more emotionally and regard those opposing views as less legitimate than they would otherwise. 

Those are the findings of a new study by Diana C. Mutz, the Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, and director of the Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Mutz also serves as director of innovation for the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey.