Maria_wagner

Celeste
Wagner

Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies

Faculty

Office:
191 College Ave Rm 203
EMAIL:
celeste.wagner@rutgers.edu
WEB LINKS:

Celeste Wagner studies media reception and influence around social and political issues, particularly intersecting gender inequalities in the Americas. Methodologically, she draws from qualitative interviewing methods, surveys, experiments and comparative approaches. Fieldwork for her research has been conducted in Argentina and the United States.


Education

University of Pennsylvania
Ph.D., Communication

University of Pennsylvania
M.A., Communication

Universidad de San Andrés
Licenciatura, Comunicación


Research

Celeste Wagner’s research analyzes the societal uptake or rejection of social change, with a focus on gender issues and their intersection with class and racial dynamics. She also analyzes media reception of news and entertainment more broadly. To assess this, she has recently conducted panel studies, phone and in-person individual interviews, focus group virtual interviews, nationally representative surveys, survey experiments, and panel studies. Some of her ongoing projects include:

  • Lay people’s responses to gender violence information and feminist activism in Argentina and the United States (dissertation; surveys, experiments, and phone qualitative interviews)
  • The reception of perceived misinformation in Argentina (book under contract; surveys, experiments, and qualitative in-person interviews)
  • The interpretations of sexual harassment allegations against politicians by liberal and conservative male and female American adults (qualitative phone interviews)
  • How Americans evaluate public officials accused of sexual harassment (panel study)
  • How liberal and conservative young American women respond to social media discussions about women’s issues (virtual focus groups)
  • How Americans assess the Supreme Court amid gender-related decisions (panel study)
  • Popular comments on Instagram posts about women’s issues in the most popular liberal, center, and conservative news media outlets (quantitative and qualitative content analysis)

Selected Publications

Wagner, M. C. (2024). Shared struggles, divergent paths: a comparison of grassroots and professional feminist advocates’ communication for social change in Argentina and the United States. Journal of Communication, jqae016.

Girginova, K., Han, W., Jaber, H., Kim, J., Madenga, F., Morales-Suárez, M., Wagner, M. C. & Wang, J. (2024). Global communication as a standpoint: A critical engagement with research, pedagogy, and the profession through a global communication lens. Media, Culture & Society. 

Wagner, M. C., & Kraidy, M. M. (2023). Watching Turkish television dramas in Argentina: Entangled proximities and resigned agency in global media flows. Journal of Communication73(4), 304-315.

Wagner, M. C., & Boczkowski, P. J. (2021). Angry, frustrated, and overwhelmed: The emotional experience of consuming news about President Trump. Journalism22(7), 1577-1593.

Wagner, M. C., & Boczkowski, P. J. (2019). The reception of fake news: The interpretations and practices that shape the consumption of perceived misinformation. Digital Journalism7(7), 870-885.


Awards & Recognitions

Best Dissertation Award, Global Communication & Social Change Division, International Communication Association, 2023

Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Dissertation Award, National Communication Association, 2023

Lynda Lee Kaid Outstanding Dissertation Award, Political Communication Division, National Communication Association, 2023

Best Dissertation Award, International & Intercultural Communication Division National Communication Association, 2023


Research Keywords