Mass Communication and Society 2009 Abstracts
Mass Communication and Society Division
Perceived realism, anxiety, and health orientation in viewers’ responses to health news and entertainment • Julie Andsager, University of Iowa; Elizabeth Stoycheff, Ohio State University • This study examines the relationships among health orientation, anxiety, and perceived realism among individuals exposed to relevant or less relevant information on TV medical dramas and similar health news. An experiment (N = 191) found that health orientation was not a reason for viewing medical dramas on TV. Perceived realism was greater for news stories than for fictional portrayals, but the pattern differed for relevant and non-relevant health conditions. Implications for health communication are discussed.
Perceived Media Influence of the Virginia Tech News Coverage on Self and Other’s Attitudes toward Gun Control Policy • Anita Atwell Seate, University of Arizona; Elizabeth Cohen, Georgia State University; Yuki Fujioka, Georgia State University; Cynthia Hoffner, Georgia State University • The current study examines the perceived effects of the Virginia Tech shooting news coverage on self and other’s attitudes toward gun control policy, behavioral outcomes and the moderating role of group membership. A total of 207 respondents completed an online survey. Larger third-person perceptions were reported for those who owned guns due to the reduction of the perceived effect on self.
Young Women’s Perceptions of Indoor Tanning and Media’s Influence: Interviews with College Students and a Content Analysis of Pro-Tanning Messages • Lucinda Austin, University of Maryland, College Park; Monique Turner, University of Maryland, College Park • This two-part study addresses problems of indoor tanning behaviors by seeking to inform our larger understanding about young women’s tanning behaviors and attitudes and how various media influence these attitudes and behaviors. The first study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior as a basis for understanding, and explores individuals’ attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control regarding tanning behaviors through focus groups with college student females.
Mass media and dissent control: Hegemonic discourses about the 2006 student protests in Chile • Ingrid Bachmann, University of Texas at Austin • When almost 800,000 high school students in Chile carried out a series of protest in demand of a better education, they challenged both the new administration and the dominant view of society. This case study argues that the main Chilean newspaper acted in such a way that this dissent was accommodated in order to minimize and ultimately nullify the threat it represented, via three major strategies: labeling, recontextualization and change of focus.
Journalism and Public Service in Troubled Times • Randal Beam, University of Washington; Bonnie Brownlee, Indiana University School of Journalism; David Weaver, Indiana University School of Journalism; Damon DiCicco, University of Washington • This paper examines journalists’ views about public service within their profession and news organizations at a time of significant economic and technological turmoil in the news business. The findings show that journalists remain strongly committed to informing the public and to serving the public interest. But an examination of factors that influence their views on public service suggests that the hard times facing news organizations today may undermine their ability to uphold this professional value.
New voters, new outlooks? Same-sex marriage, social networks, and generational politics • Amy Becker, University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication • This study examines the factors that shape public acceptance of homosexuality and support for same-sex marriage across age cohorts. Using data from two national surveys, our analysis suggests that personal contact makes younger respondents more accepting of homosexuality and gay marriage, while value predispositions have a greater impact on attitudes among older individuals.
Qualitative Interviews with Local Newspaper Journalists about Public Meetings: Changing Circumstances and Unchanged Expectations • John Besley, University of South Carolina; Chris Roberts, University of Alabama • This manuscript draws on theory and research related to both journalism and citizen engagement to explore what newspaper journalists think about current coverage of public meetings. It focuses on public meetings because of their role in American political thought as well as their place as a focal point for local civic news coverage.
Back to Class: Understanding J-School Grad Students’ Motivations for Continuing Education • Jessica Birthisel, Indiana University; Emily Metzgar, Indiana University • Despite the media industry’s economic struggles, many students still choose to pursue graduate education in journalism and mass communication. This paper, using data collected in a March 2009 online survey of more than 400 graduate students in journalism and mass communication presents a snapshot of feelings about earning an advanced degree in a rapidly changing field. We consider the implications of our findings for both program design and student job prospects in this shifting media climate.
U.S. versus Them: An Analysis of the Verbal and Visual Coverage of Women’s Beach Volleyball During the 2008 Summer Olympic Games • Kim Bissell, University of Alabama; Lauren Reichart, University of Alabama • This study represents a content analysis of 15 beach volleyball games for the U.S. and non-U.S. women’s teams during the 2008 Summer Games. Play-by-play commentary and between-play commentary was analyzed for all televised portions of the 15 games, and all court shots and camera angles were coded.
Pre-existing factors or media effect? Understanding the third-person perception • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University; Douglas McLeod, University of Wisconsin • Recent research on third-person perceptions has suggested the importance of ego defensiveness and normative fit as factors affecting perceived effects. In this study we consider the extent to which news stories that manipulate normative fit and potentially threaten ego defensiveness drive perceptions about effects of video games.
You’re not alone! – The Influence of Reality Television Consumption on the Use of Facebook for Stalking • Christopher Brott, University of Kansas • Reality television shows have been hugely popular long before the inception of social network sites. Nonetheless, both offer a similar experience: the possibility of peeking into other people’s private lives. Here, social cognitive theory suggests a relationship between both types of media. Surveying a sample of college students, this study seeks to offer some new insights into the interplay between reality television and social networking.
Insights into Freshmen Weight Issues: An Ethnographic Study of How First-year Students Make Decisions about Eating • Courtney Carpenter Childers, University of Tennessee; Eric Haley, University of Tenness; Cheryl Ann Lambert, Boston University; Lisa Jahns, University of Tennessee • The transition from high school to college represents a turning point during which health behavior trajectories may be influenced. This study addresses the internal and external factors that guide students’ eating decisions as they are understood and relayed by students through ethnographic, qualitative methods. A sample of 102 second semester college freshmen participated in a two week data collection period.
Logging on and letting out: Using online social networks to grieve and to mourn • Brian Carroll, Berry College; Katie Landry, USA Track & Field • The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why younger Internet users maintain connections using social networking platforms such as MySpace and Facebook with those who have died or been killed. This paper, therefore, examines the blurring or blending of interpersonal communication and mass communication via the Web even as what once was very private communication—messages to the deceased—becomes very public.
Talking Past Each Other: Online Debate about Decriminalization of Gay Sex in Singapore • Benjamin H. Detenber, Nanyang Technological University; Mark Cenite, Nanyang Technological University; Shuhua Zhou, University of Alabama; Shelly Malik, Nanyang Technological University • A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 10,473 comments from two opposing online petitions related to the legal status of a section of the penal code in Singapore used to ban sex between men. Results indicate numerous significant differences in how the two sides discussed the law and its significance.
Established Journalism and Blogging as Citizen Journalism: A National Survey of American Journalists • Tsan-Kuo Chang, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Kathy Forde, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota; Hyung Min Lee, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Yejin Hong, University of Minnesota • Through a national survey of newspaper editors and TV news directors, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a critical examination of the interplay between professionalism and journalism in the United States, with a focus on how the authority and legitimacy of professional journalism might be challenged or threatened by the emerging citizen journalism.
News Representation of Foreign Brides: A Comparative Study of News Coverage in Taiwan and Korea • Hsuan-Ting Chen, University of Texas at Austin; Kanghui Baek, The University of Texas at Austin • The purpose of this study was to understand the differences in news coverage of foreign brides in Taiwan and Korea and to further examine news representation of foreign brides in the two countries. Results from a content analysis of two Taiwanese newspapers and two Korean newspapers revealed that news coverage of foreign brides has significant differences in story topic, story tone, and news source between the two countries.
The circuit of image capital and place-making: a case study of Hengdian World Studios • Pui Ha Chow, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • This paper proposes the concept of the circuit of image capital to investigate how the image economy of a greenfield studio called Hengdian World Studios in China has interacted with the place-making process. The concept emphasizes not only complex intersection of the local and the global but the force of symbolic and material interplay and the deployment of aesthetic reflexivity in the shaping of landscape.
Free your mind and your soul will follow: Advocating reform from the Louisiana State Penitentiary • Kalen Churcher, Niagara University • At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, inmate-produced media, particularly The Angolite magazine, are used as advocacy tools to educate both inmate and free-world communities. Exhibiting characteristics of both mainstream and alternative journalism, inmate-produced media are worthy of study not merely from a classification standpoint, but because this dying cultural entity, in addition to its information-bearing role, serves a ritualistic function that unites the captive and the free in a common goal of reform.
The moral judgment of minority journalists: Evidence from Asian American, Black, and Hispanic professional journalists • Renita Coleman, University of Texas-Austin • This study used three controlled experiments to investigate the effects of a story subject’s race on the moral judgment of Asian American, Hispanic and Black professional journalists by changing only the race of the news subjects in photographs.
Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users’ personality and social media use • Teresa Correa, University of Texas at Austin; Amber Willard Hinsley, University of Texas-Austin; Homero Gil de Zuniga, University of Texas – Austin • In the increasingly user-generated Web, users’ psychological characteristics, such as their personality, may be crucial factors that lead them to engage in this participatory media. This study investigated the relationship between personality and social media use and the effect of gender and age on that dynamic in a national sample of U.S. adults.
Is There Anybody Out There?: How Radio Program Directors Target Today’s Audience • David Crider, Syracuse University • In-depth interviews were conducted with program directors at radio stations throughout the Northeast to determine how they reach their stations’ target audiences and how they know whether or not these efforts are effective. The various common themes that emerged from these interviews show that the program directors use a combination of branding their stations, new technology such as the Internet, public appearances, and the on-air content of their stations to attract listeners.
Suspicion and Secrecy: The Relationship between Skepticism, Cynicism, and Support for Freedom of Information • David Cuillier, University of Arizona; Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University • This study, based on social cognition theory, examines potential political psychographic factors, such as skepticism, cynicism, apathy, complacency, and efficacy, that might predict support for government transparency, an essential element of democracy and journalism. Results from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 416 Washington state residents indicate that skepticism, cynicism, and political liberal values predict support for principled transparency. Implications discussed include the importance of critical thinking in a society based on self-governance and democratic principles.
The Palin Factor: Effects of Ideology, Race and Media Consumption in the 2008 Presidential Election • J.J. De Simone, University of Kansas; Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas • This study examines media consumers’ perceptions of Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election. Using data from the 2008 American National Election Study, the researchers concluded that heavy television viewers had the strongest positive opinions of the vice presidential candidate; no other media had a statistically significant impact on consumers’ opinions during the election.
Voter Learning, Campaign Interest and Intention to Vote in the 2008 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter? • Jacob Groshek, Iowa State; Daniela Dimitrova, Iowa State University • In this study the impact of both traditional and new media formats on three variables in the 2008 election—issue knowledge, campaign interest and intention to vote—was investigated. The results demonstrated that general online news use was a significant predictor of voter learning but more frequent use of Weblogs was associated with lower levels of campaign issue knowledge.
When bloggers attack: Examining the effect of negative citizen-initiated campaigning in 2008 presidential election • Timothy Fung, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kjerstin Thorson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, SJMC; Hans Meyer, University of Missouri • Building on the social emotion model (Smith, 1999), we examined the effect of social identification on emotional reactions and behavioral tendencies of individuals exposed to citizen-initiated attack in the blogosphere during the 2008 presidential election. The findings revealed that emotional responses and associated action tendencies are conditioned based on which candidate support groups individuals belong to when they were exposed to partisan, attacking blog commentaries.
Biological Literacy and Health Concern: A Model to Predict Health Information Acquisiton • KARINA GARCIA-RUANO, PhD Student – Michigan State University; Charles Salmon, Professor; Jon Miller, Professor; Laleah Fernandez, Ph.D. student • This study seeks to broaden the understanding of biological literacy among U.S. adults and health information acquisition. This study uses Structural Equation Model (SEM) to predict health-specific information behaviors and explores the impact of chronic or life threatening concerns and the intervening effect of biological literacy. This research finds strong evidence about the role of biological literacy for health information seeking behaviors.
Propagandizing the Status Quo: The Differential Impact of Cultivated Worldviews on Minorities • Laurel Gleason, The Ohio State University • Several disparate, but complementary bodies of literature discuss the media’s role in reinforcing dominant values and norms. I endeavor to join these bodies in a coherent whole and to consider the media effects, and social implications, of the resultant chain of ideological dissemination. Using data from the 2000 American National Election Studies and OLS regression, I focus on the impact of cultivation on the political self-efficacy of those outside socially dominant groups.
The uses and gratifications of social networking sites (SNS): Investigating the roles of gender, media uses, and religiosity in predicting different motivations • Guy J. Golan, Seton Hall University; Joon Soo Lim, Middle Tennessee State University; Michael Sedita, Seton Hall University • Social networking websites (SNS) such as Facebook and Myspace offer user a multitude of applications in a highly dynamic and interactive online platform. The current study aimed to identify diverse motivational factors in using SNS amongst Facebook and Myspace users.
Newspaper Framing of Medical Marijuana in Editorials and Op-Ed Columns • Guy J. Golan, Seton Hall University; Kirsten M Griffiths, Seton Hall University • The current study examines how newspaper editorials and Op-Ed columns framed the highly controversial California Proposition 215 and the issue of medical marijuana. A content analysis of opinion articles points to an unbalanced allocation of issue framing between editorial and Op-Ed articles and points to organizational influence over opinion section content.
Political Consumerism and Youth Citizenship: The Development of Identity Politics Among Tweens and Teens • Melissa R. Gotlieb, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kyurim Kyoung, UW-Madison, Dept. of Communication Arts; Itay Gabay, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study uses national survey data collected from parents and children to explore differences across models predicting self-actualizing citizenship among tweens and teens. Our results support an overall similar model for predicting political consumerism among youth, in particular the important role of news use and information sharing in the online environment. However, some important differences in the relative influence of parental encouragement of civic engagement, news use, and outcome orientations did emerge across age cohorts.
Television News and Framing Mental Illness: A Look at Twenty Years of Coverage • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • Television news and newspapers are prominent as the most common sources of information about mental illness. Despite this relatively few studies have examined the content of news stories about mental illness. Research that has been conducted has only examined newspaper coverage. To date, no studies have analyzed the frames used to cover mental illness in television news stories creating a sizeable gap in what we know about how mental illness is framed by the news media.
The Long-Term Impact of High School Civics Curricula on Political Knowledge, Democratic Attitudes and Civic Behaviors • Myiah Hively, The Ohio State University; William Eveland, The Ohio State University • This manuscript examines the effects of exposure to various elements of a civics curriculum on civic participation, two forms of political knowledge, internal political efficacy, political cynicism, news elaboration, discussion elaboration and various forms of interpersonal and mediated political communication behaviors. The data are based on a longitudinal study of high school students in a challenged large urban school district in a Midwestern state.
Creating a Measure of News Mediation: How do Parents Talk about the News? • Myiah Hively, The Ohio State University • Parental mediation of television has primarily been examined as a tool that has the potential to ameliorate negative effects of television or increase the positive effects of television associated with exposure to various types of content. However, news content is generally not considered when examining parental mediation despite the importance placed on news media use in political socialization literature.
Sports Programming, Gender Roles and Sexual Assault: A Test of the Media Practice Model • Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Ming Lei, Washington State University; Chunbo “Richard” Ren, Murrow College of Communication; Emily Marett, Washington State University; Anna McNab, Washington State University; Hua Chang, Washington State University; Jessica Fitts, Washington State University • The study was a survey of 426 college students that utilized SEM to investigate the structure of relationships among viewing sports programming, gender roles, rape myth, and obtaining consent in sexual intercourse, and intention to intervene in sexual assault situations. The results suggested that viewing sports programming and femininity had direct and indirect impact on intentions to intervene in sexual assaults.
Problems, solutions, and obesity: Inter-media agenda setting in a heavy-weight world • Stacie Meihaus Jankowski, Indiana University • This study examines obesity coverage from 1985-2007 in The New York Times, NBC, and The New England Journal of Medicine. An inter-media agenda setting study, this study looks at the relationships between the medium and the type of obesity coverage—stories about problems, solutions, or both problems and solutions—as well as relationships between the media. Real-world indicators of incidence rates and celebrity issues are also examined.
The Effects of Health Message Vividness on Attitudes Toward Students with ADHD • Michael Barthel, Syracuse University; Philip Johnson, Syracuse University; Jinghui Hou, Syracuse University; Yujing Ma, Syracuse University; David Crider, Syracuse University • This study uses a between-subjects experimental design to test the effect of low- and high-vividness messages about ADHD. The messages seek to change attitudes toward accommodations and stigma, with recognition memory also being tested as a guide to message effectiveness. Ambivalence is also assessed in order to measure interactions with vividness.
Hot Diggity Blog: A Cluster Analysis Examining Motivations and other Factors for Why People Judge Different Types of Blogs as Credible • Barbara Kaye, University of Tennessee; Tom Johnson, Texas Tech • Using two-step cluster analysis this study identifies four groups of users who deem seven types of blogs (general information, media/journalism, war, military, political, corporate and personal blogs) as highly credible. The four groups are each motivated to turn to blogs for many of the same reasons, however some differences emerged among the groups. Additionally, the four user clusters differ on demographic and political characteristics.
The Effect of Positive versus Negative Frame of CSR Messages: Exploring the Moderating Role of Gender in the Context of Organ Donation Sponsorship • Hyo Kim, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study investigates how the emotional valence of social messages influences individuals’ responses to an associated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) message. A 2 (positive vs. negative) x 2 (men vs. women) between-subject experiment was conducted. A significant interaction effect between gender and emotional valence was revealed, suggesting that practitioners need to strategically employ the emotional valence factor in accordance with the gender of target public when developing CSR communications.
Dual Influence of Mass Media and Interpersonal Relationships on Female College Students’ Weight Status • Hyang Sook Kim, Pennsylvania State University; Donna Sheffield, Kansas State University • This study assesses possible predictors of college females’ weight problems. Employing social learning theory (SLT) and social cognitive theory (SCT), this study examined personal and environmental determinants that influence individuals’ behaviors. Results from surveys conducted with 141 female college students showed that the more pressure they felt from mass media depiction of thin body images, the more negatively they judged their own bodies.
Looking at the Production and Representation of Disability in Maya & Miguel • Emily S. Kinsky, Pepperdine University • This qualitative case study examines the production and representation of characters with disabilities within the children’s television program, Maya & Miguel, using the circuit of culture (du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay, & Negus, 1997). This program was created with a goal of social change – to help children get along better with others around them. Representation was examined through textual analysis of 12 episodes, while production decisions were examined via in-depth interviews with Scholastic Media personnel.
Entertainment Media and Political Discourse: An Assessment of Relations between Late-Night TV Comedy, Face-to-Face Political Talk, and Debate Viewing • Kristen Landreville, The Ohio State University; R. Lance Holbert, The Ohio State University • Associations between late-night TV comedy viewing and two forms of political discourse, political discussion and debate viewing, are explored. Arguments are offered linking late-night TV comedy exposure and political discussion, and the role of debate viewing within this relationship is also assessed. A secondary analysis of 2004 Annenberg panel data shows that late-night comedy and political discussion have positive direct effects on debate viewing and late-night TV comedy exposure has an indirect effect on discussion.
Does Violent Video Game Play Influence Players’ Aggressive Thoughts? An Investigation based on Sensation Seeking Tendency • Steven Bisch, Washington State University; Moon Lee, Washington State University • This study investigated effects of video game play on users’ aggressive thoughts as reflected in attitudes toward guns and violence and differences among high and low sensation seekers. Sixty participants played either a violent or nonviolent video game and reported their thoughts immediately afterward game play. Violent video game players exhibited more favorable attitudes toward guns and violence than nonviolent game players and high sensation seekers exhibited higher scores than low sensation seekers.
Voiced Values: Communicating a Local Organizational Identity for Disability • Julie Lellis, Emerson College • This paper explores organizational identity as a concept defined by an organization’s values. Ten different local, disability-related nonprofit organizations were used to examine how – as measured through their communicated values – organizational identity is expressed. Results of a quantitative content analysis of marketing and public relations materials used by the organizations indicated the presence of a collective identity among all ten organizations.
Black Newspaper Media Dependency for Self Understanding and for Health and Cancer Information • María Len-Ríos, University of Missouri; Elisia Cohen, University of Kentucky; Charlene Caburnay, Washington University in St. Louis • Media system dependency theory (Loges & Ball-Rokeach, 1993) is used to understand Black newspaper media dependency for cancer information among a national survey of Black newspaper readers (N= 783). Findings show that Black newspaper media dependency intensity for cancer and health information is predicted by Black newspaper use after controlling for demographics, Black self-identity, and general audience media dependency. Implications for the Black press and health disparities communication researchers are discussed.
Reports, Inferences and Judgments in Deceptive and Authentic News Stories • Dominic Lasorsa, University of Texas at Austin; Seth Lewis, University of Texas at Austin • U.S. journalism has been tarnished by recent incidents of high-profile deception. This calls for a closer examination of underlying patterns in deceptive news. A content analysis of recent deceptive news articles found that they contain a lower proportion of report statements and a higher proportion of both inferential statements and judgment statements than a random sample of ostensibly authentic articles produced by the same major news organizations during the same time frame.
Perceptions of Media Functions and Processing of News: Analysis of Audience in a Chinese Metropolitan • Xiaoqin Li, University of Macau; Zhongshi Guo, Hong Kong Baptist University • Based on the assumption that audience members carry mental images and expectations about functions of media prior to using them, this study specifies a theoretical model to investigate whether and how perceptions of media shape the way individuals process news information. Data for analysis come from telephone interviews of a probability sample of 1,000 Guangzhou residents. Results show the Chinese audience process news in a critical ways, partially due to skepticism toward the established media.
The Persuasion Effects of Watching the Documentary “Behind the Labels: Garment workers on U.S. Saipan” • Xuan Liang, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee; Jing Zhang, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee • This project examines how the documentary film Behind the Labels: Garment workers on U.S. Saipan influences consumers’ evaluations of the brands exposed in the film. Seventy-two students participated in a pretest and posttest. The results showed that after watching the film, participants expressed more negative attitudes towards and less likelihood to purchase the brands. Learning also occurred as measured by brand recall. These findings help explain how media content may promote positive social changes.
The Impact of News “Voice” on Adolescent Political Efficacy • Jeremy Littau, University of Missouri; Liz Gardner, University of Missouri; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • In a national survey of teens and their parents fielded in months immediately following the 2008 Presidential election, we examined the role of a new news concept, “voice,” which we operationalized in terms of three categories: authoritative, opinionated, and direct to the consumer (DTC).
Empathy, narrative involvement, and identification with fictional characters: Examining the path from trait to state reactions • Chad Mahood, The Ohio State University; Emily Moyer-Gusé, The Ohio State University • The role of empathy in relation to media content has been under-examined. This study hypothesizes that both the ability to identify emotions (empathy) and a tendency to get ‘caught-up’ in a story (narrative involvement) are needed to help an individual take on the perspective of a fictional character (identification). In other words, the connection between empathy and identification is mediated by narrative involvement. This meditation was found for both trait and state narrative involvement.
All the News Fit to Post? Comparing News Content on the Web to Newspapers, Television and Radio • Scott Maier, University of Oregon • The study examines how online news coverage differs in content from news provided by newspapers, network television, cable television and radio. Analyzing data collected by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the study finds that 59 percent of the top stories on news web sites covered the same topics as covered by legacy media. But only 15 percent of news stories linked to by blogs and social media sites corresponded with mainstream media’s top stories.
Communication patterns in the age of new media: An examination of the relationship between family communication patterns, political tolerance, and Internet use • Jessi McCabe, Wayne State University • This paper explores the relationship between Family Communication Patterns, Political Tolerance, and Internet use. Socio-oriented homes are restrictive in media content and are less political, whereas Concept-oriented homes are the opposite. Diversity of ideas and political knowledge is necessary for tolerance development. Results indicate that socio-oriented homes are less tolerant. Internet use confounded the nature of expected relationships. Implications and future research of Internet use is discussed, particularly as it applies to FCP and tolerance.
Youngsters’ Political Talk with Those Outside School and Family:The Hierarchy of Political Socialization • Mi Jahng, Universty of Missouri-Columbia; Hans Meyer, University of Missouri; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • This study explores the assumption that political socialization can be considered as a hierarchy of stages of attention, learning, interpersonal communication behaviors, and political participatory behaviors. In this hierarchy political discussion outside of family and school is an important stage. Political elaboration and efficacy gained from the news media were hypothesized to encourage adolescents to reach this stage. The results are discussed in terms of the hierarchy model of political socialization.
Are People Who Use Tobacco More Likely to be Persuaded by Anti-tobacco Ads that Make Them the Victim? • Jensen Moore, West Virginia University • This study used a 3 (Tobacco Use – Low/Moderate/High) X 2 (Message Type – Attack/Blame) X 2 (MSV – Low/High) repeated measures experimental design to examine what type of anti-tobacco message (i.e., Blame vs. Attack) and sensation levels would influence attitudes, behaviors, and emotional responses of individuals with differing levels of tobacco use (TU).
Building Social Capital through Nonprofit Organizations’ Websites: Organizational Features and e-Social Capital • Seungahn Nah, University of Kentucky • Relying on such theories as resource dependency (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978), resource mobilization (McCarthy & Zald, 1977), and social capital (Putnam, 2000), this study examines the effect of organizational features on the extent to which nonprofit organizations generate social capital through Websites. Data were collected using multiple research methods, such as public archive analysis, Website content analysis, and email and telephone surveys.
The Delicate Balance of Remembering and Forgetting: An Analysis of NASA Memorials • Nicole Pankiewicz, University of Minnesota • The legacy of the U.S. space shuttle program is examined though an analysis of memorials to Challenger and Columbia at Arlington National Cemetery. The story NASA tells through these memorials, compared with the official accounts of each accident, is a revealing instance of political communication. The messages memorialize the dead astronauts while urging the public and Congress to move forward with the space program. NASA asks us to remember what happened – and to forget why.
Satisfaction with Media Performance and Perceptions of Media Usefulness in Political Decision Making and Disaffection • Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University; Erica Austin, Washington State University; Jessica Fitts, Washington State University; Megan Reiser, Washington State University; Yushu Zhou, Washington State University • Researchers conducted a telephone survey of 416 randomly selected, registered voters in Washington state in the weeks preceding the 2008 elections. The purpose of the survey was to examine citizens’ attitudes toward news media and their political decision making and disaffection.
e-Patients with Chronic Illnesses: Analyzing the Commonalities and Differences among Three Online Groups • Andrea Meier, University of North Carolina, School of Social Work; Bret Shaw, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Judith Feder, Brodeur Partners; Eulalia Puig Abril, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Researchers have studied online health information and support seeking strategies for cancer and common chronic illnesses, but there have been fewer studies of e-patients with other chronic conditions or comparisons across illness communities. This study seeks to inform the development of Health 2.0 resources for Internet users living with chronic health problems by better understanding their current e-health information, support seeking behaviors and future needs.
Intermedia Agenda-Setting and Political Activism: MoveOn.org and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election • Matthew Ragas, U of Florida; Spiro Kiousis, U of Florida • This study tested for intermedia agenda-setting effects among explicitly partisan media coverage and political activist group, citizen activist and official campaign advertising – all in support of the same candidate. The setting for this investigation was MoveOn.org’s ‘Obama in 30 Seconds’ contest, which was held during the 2008 U.S. presidential election primaries. The data provided significant evidence of first- and second-level agenda-setting relationships. These results extend the intermedia agenda-setting framework to political activist communication efforts.
Usefulness of Environmental News Coverage, Risk, Personal Efficacy and Information Sufficiency • Brooke Weberling, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jennette Lovejoy, Ohio University; Daniel Riffe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This study uses telephone survey data (N=511) to examine relationships among exposure/attention to and usefulness of newspaper, television, and Web environmental news coverage; information sufficiency (IS); personal efficacy (PE); and environmental risk. Attention to news was positively related to IS and PE, but perceived usefulness of news coverage did not correlate with IS or PE. Attention to and usefulness of Web coverage significantly predicted perceived local environmental risk.
Is Your Baby a Brainy Baby? Learning from “Educational” Infant DVD Program Content by 12- to 24-Month-Olds • Erin Ryan, The University of Alabama • Though the AAP recommends no screen time for children under two, toddlers are routinely exposed to “educational” baby videos. Thus, a one-group pretest-posttest repeated-measures quasi-experiment with 12- to 24-month-olds was performed to test learning of picture-letter pairings after several viewings of a Brainy Baby video. Results revealed no significant statistical findings; in this short term study, there was no detectable learning. Trial-by-trial analyses revealed children did not perform any better than chance on repeated posttests.
The effects of pre-existing mood and message relevance on the effectiveness of health PSAs: differential effects by message type • Sela Sar, Iowa State University; George Anghelcev, Penn State University • An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mood, self-relevance and types of health messages on behavioral intentions in response to prevention and detection health messages. Detection messages emphasize the presence or absence of a potential health problem, whereas prevention messages focus on averting the onset or development of a health problem (Rothman and Salovey, 1997).
Measuring the Effects of a Media Literacy Program on Conflict and Violence • Erica Scharrer, UMass Amherst; Leda Cooks, UMass Amherst; Shara Dunn, UMass Amherst • A 5-session media literacy unit on conflict and media violence was administered to 85 sixth graders. Repeated measures analyses were employed to study the 57 for whom matched data were available. Results show students became more likely to choose a non-aggressive approach to two of three conflict scenarios presented and boys, but not girls, became more likely to acknowledge effects of media violence. Other measures employed suggest a mixed response to the curriculum.
Transnational Campaign Styles in Cyberspace: Comparing Virtual Attacks in Germany and the United States • Eva Johanna Schweitzer, University of Mainz, Germany • This paper compares the use of attacks on German party Web sites in two state elections, one national election, and one European parliamentary election with recent American evidence. The results show that virtual mudslinging has affected German e-campaigns on all levels of the political system, with patterns similar to those found in the US. This supports the notion of a global standardization effect in Web campaign practices brought about by the professionalization process in politics.
Asking Mom: Mothers’ Reactions to Theory-Based Messages to Vaccinate Daughters Against • Autumn Shafer, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Joan R. Cates, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Significant disparities in cervical cancer exist in the United States based on race, socioeconomic status and geographic region. This study reports findings of message testing in the rural Southeast, in which ethnically diverse mothers and female caregivers were asked to provide their opinions about two potential theory-based message campaigns targeted to mothers of 11 and 12 year old girls who have not been vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.
A Grounded Theory Analysis of how College Students Search for Health Information on the Internet: A Case of HIV/AIDS • Kim Smith, North Carolina A&T State University • Fifteen white students from a predominately white university in the Southeast, and 15 black students from a historically black university in the Southeast were presented with the following hypothetical. “Pretend that your close friend or relative had acquired HIV/AIDS.
Roles of Traditional Media in Internet Manhunt • Jing Su, University of Missouri-Columbia • This article explores the roles of traditional media especially newspapers in China in the new online phenomenon-internet manhunt. By using content analysis to examine newspapers coverage of a specific case, the study finds that traditional model of agenda-setting is reversed. Online public opinion can set the agenda for mass media. And the study also finds that traditional media play paradoxical dual roles in the internet manhunt course.
Media Ownership and the Diversity of Voices: A Media Effects Perspective • Dan Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Rachel Davis Mersey, Northwestern University • The debate regarding media cross-ownership has been framed as an economic one and dominated by economic methods and measures. This paper makes the case that what is needed are measures of the power associated with a given level of diversity in the public sphere (aka marketplace of ideas) and that these measure needs to be grounded in media effects theory. The paper then offers a framework for developing such measures.
Media Concentration and the Dynamics of Misinformation: Implications for Media Ownership • Dan Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Brian Weeks, University of Minnesota • There has been considerable discussion of how the public was “misinformed” by the media leading up to the war in Iraq – and that many continue to perceive that misinformation as true. This paper makes the case that the more concentrated the media, the more likely this is to occur and to do so in ways that impact public opinion and ultimately public policy. The paper then discusses the implications for FCC media ownership policy.
News Media Framing of Rural and Education Issues in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign • Brooks Smith, University of Mississippi; Kristen Swain, University of Mississippi • This content analysis examined how international news media portrayed rural issues and education in coverage of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. The study evaluated patterns in sourcing, time context, political framing, coverage across media platforms, and enterprise vs. episodic reporting. Obama was quoted more frequently than McCain in rural and education stories. While Obama received more attention in this coverage, McCain received no negative coverage.
The Trend and Impact of Media Agenda Diversity from 1946 to 2004 • Yue Tan, N.A. • First, this study examines the long-term trend in the agenda diversity of the New York Times from 1946 to 2004. Second, this study tests weather the agenda-setting effect between the media agenda and the public agenda has become weaker over that time.
Personality’s effect on news content • Tim Vos, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Mark Poepsel, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri School of Journalism • This study surveyed newspaper journalists (N=65) to ascertain their personality types, the amount of time they spend doing different types of journalism, and the amount of time they would like to spend on these same types of journalism. The study hypothesized that the strength of a journalist’s personality type would predict the amount of time he or she spent on a corresponding type of journalism. The hypotheses were partially supported.
Building the Habit: Growth in News Use Among Teens During the 2008 Campaign • Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; porismita borah, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ming Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study uses panel data to examine growth in newspaper, television, and online news use among adolescents during the 2008 presidential election. The study suggests that while socializing agents like parents and school are effective in encouraging growth in traditional (newspaper and television) news use, individual engagement with society and politics primarily predicts growth in online news use. The results suggest that different socializing agents are effective spur different forms of news use.
The Symbiosis of News Coverage and Aggregate On-line Search Behavior: Obama, Rumors, and Presidential Politics • Brian Weeks, University of Minnesota; Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota • The relationship between on-line information seeking behavior and mass media news presentation likely is symbiotic. We can expect on-line behavior, such as search, to be at least a partial function of exposure to conventional news coverage rather than vice versa. Using Google search trends as a search behavior indicator, we examine the agenda-setting effect of the rumor that Barack Obama was secretly Muslim. As predicted, volume of news coverage positively predicts spikes in aggregate search.
Telepresence and exemplification effects: A sleeper effect? • David Westerman, West Virginia University; patric spence, Western Michigan University; Kenneth Lachlan, Boston College • Exemplification theory (Zillmann, 1999, 2002; Zillmann & Brosius, 2000) suggests exemplar representations in media content may cause people to make overestimated judgments about phenomena included in this content. Other exemplification research also notes the presence of a sleeper effect (Gibson & Zillmann, 1994). The current study sought to examine the role telepresence plays in increasing the potential for sleeper exemplification effects.
Analysis of the Role of News Sources in the Media Frame-Building Process of Epidemic Hazards • Rosalyna Wijaya, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Tsung-Jen Shih, University of Wisconsin-Madison; dominique brossard, University of Wisconsin Madison • Using media frame-building (Scheufele, 1999) as a theoretical framework, this study analyzed media coverage of West Nile virus (N=260) and avian flu (N=241) from their first appearance in The New York Times to November 2006.
Living in a Material…Web? Gender and Materialism on Children’s Toy Web Sites • Christina Malik, UNC-Chapel Hill; Bartosz Wojdynski, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Research has shown that exposure to affluence and materialistic behavior in media over time is correlated with materialistic values in consumers. Growth in Web use by children has given marketers a new avenue to reach these consumers. This study undertook a content analysis of children’s toy-affiliated Web sites to document the frequency and types of materialistic behaviors present on children’s Web sites, and analyze differences between how consumer values are imparted to boys and girls.
The Digital Divide in the New Media Environment: Gaps in Motivation and Usage Pattern • Jung-hwan Yang, Seoul National University • The digital divide has been discussed mostly from a perspective of the diffusion rate of information technologies, the user’s accessibility to the media, and the amount of media usage time. However, those approaches do not sufficiently clarify what users actually do with diverse media. Therefore, this study tries to examine media users’ motivations and the specific usage patterns of the news media to discover if there is a gap between motivations and usage patterns.
New Media and the Young Generation: Exploring predictors in young people’s adoption of webcasting • Yan Yang, University of Florida • Based on the Diffusion of Innovation theory and the Uses & Gratification theory, this paper investigates predictors in young people’s adoption of webcasting—innovativeness, media consumption level, technology ownership, perceived needs (of webcasting), and perceived popularity. Results from a survey of college students found that young people’s need for companionship and their perceived popularity of webcasting are important indicators of their adoption usage.
Information Seeking Related to Clinical Trial Enrollment • Z. Janet Yang, Cornell University; Katherine McComas, Cornell University; Geri Gay, Cornell University; John Leonard, Weill Cornell Medical College; Andrew Dannenberg, Weill Cornell Medical College; Hildy Dillon, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society • In an effort to understand what motivates people to attend to information about clinical trial enrollment, this study applies the Augmented Risk Information Seeking Model to explore potential differences in information seeking behaviors among healthy respondents and members of a patient support group. Emotions associated with clinical trial enrollment, risk judgment, attitudes, awareness, the tendency to rely on independent decisions, normative beliefs, and information seeking intentions influenced routine and non-routine information seeking behaviors differently.
Why and How Facebook Satisfies You: Collective Self-Esteem, Emotional Openness, Communication Apprehension as Predictors of Facebook Uses and Gratifications • Zhang Yin, School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK; Tang Shing Tung, School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK • This study presents a comprehensive set of gratifications-obtained from Facebook by a sample survey of Facebook users in Hong Kong, a region with a sharply high user rate. It also investigates the interrelationships between three psychological traits (collective self-esteem, online emotional openness, and communication apprehension) and the identified gratifications, and the interrelationship between them and Facebook uses. Six aspects of gratifications are identified and grouped into two categories.
Differences in Emotional and Cognitive Responses between Non-Humorous and Humorous Public Service Advertisements • Hye Jin Yoon, University of Georgia • With the inconsistent results as to the effectiveness of threat appeals in public service announcements (PSAs), the use of humor in communicating threatening information has been suggested as an alternative strategy. But our understanding of humor processes in risk messages is limited due to the scarcity of research on this topic.
Gatekeeping, “gatewatching,” and the political process: Measuring the impact of new media on political activism and knowledge during the 2008 U.S. general election • Chance York, Kansas State University; Sookyong Kim, Kansas State University; Keunyeong Kim, Kansas State University • The purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of new media on political activism and knowledge during the 2008 U.S. election season. Specifically, the current study examines the usage patterns of new media among the coveted 18 to 24-year-old voting demographic. Using Bruns’ (2008, 2008b) “gatewatching” hypothesis, this study finds that new media is related to an increase in overall political activism, but not general political knowledge.
Without a watchdog, who can be trusted? An inquiry of the watchdog role and media trust among Chinese journalists and journalism students • Bu Zhong, Penn State University; Yong Zhou, Renmin University of China • By employing media system dependency theory, this study investigates how Chinese journalists (n = 125) and journalism students (n = 165) perceived the watchdog role and media trust in news reports and the BBS content. The results show that they rated a stronger sense of watchdog role in political information than in sports information.
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