Visual Communication 2008 Abstracts
Visual Communication Division
“That’s the one!” An examination of spot news photography choices • Chris Birks, Northern Illinois University • Picture editors play an important role in how we understand the world. This paper looks at the selection of photographs that U.S. newspapers ran after the Virginia Tech shooting to see if there is any evidence of a consensus on what constitutes a preferred type of spot news photography. This study found nearly 80% of newspapers ran the same type of spot news photo, one defined as tension/action. Suggestions for further research are also included.
The Eyes Don’t Have It All: A Corporeal Approach to News Photography • Mary Bock, University of Pennsylvania • This essay proposes that the study of news images would be enhanced by attention to the corporeal factors influencing their ontogenesis. The argument is based in constructivist theory with special attention to the role of the body in visual newsgathering. It is argued that this approach yields not only information about what we see, but often, just as importantly, what we do not see.
Do pictures matter? Effects of photographs on interest in information seeking and issue involvement • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Information-seeking behavior in audiences is vital to news users and producers. While it seems intuitive that the inclusion of news photos will contribute to audience interest and information-seeking about an issue, little research has explicitly tested the role of visual elements in generating information-seeking.
Twin Myth, the Film and the Regime: Images in the Documentary Film A State of Mind. • Suhi Choi, University of Utah • The paper critically analyzes A State of Mind (Daniel Gordon, England, 2003), a documentary film which depicts both the mass games and the lives of two schoolgirl gymnasts in North Korea.
“Moving” the Pyramids of Giza: Teaching Ethics within a Visual Communication Curriculum • Nicole Smith Dahmen, Louisiana State University • As mass communication educators, we should be greatly concerned about how we teach ethics to our students. The goal of this research is to assess the effects of integrating ethics within a visual communication course. A key finding of the study is that there was a significant difference in how participants viewed selected ethical issues in visual communication from T1 to T2.
Greenpeace Visual Framing of Genetic Engineering: Neither Green nor Peaceful? • Avril De Guzman, Iowa State University; Kojung Chen, Iowa State University • This paper applies the levels of visual framing proposed by Rodriguez and Dimitrova (2007) to investigate how Greenpeace visually framed genetic engineering (GE) in its online campaign against this innovation. Greenpeace imagery in two countries with divergent policies toward GE, Australia (precautionary) and China (permissive) were also compared. The results indicate that the images used mostly showcased the organization’s peaceful direct action activities.
Dark vs. Light: Environmental Illumination Influence on Startle Reflex Amplitude Measured During Manipulation of the Affective State Using Pleasant and Unpleasant Picture Presentations • Mugur Geana, University of Kansas • In recent years psychophysiology has been increasingly used in mass communication studies. Thirty-five subjects viewed pleasant and unpleasant pictures in a light or dark environment; eyeblink SR amplitude was measured at random intervals during picture presentation. Exposure to pleasant or unpleasant visual stimuli in a room with lights on creates distinct affective responses; in a dark room exposure to the same type of pictures eliminates all differences between observed affective responses.
The Fictional Japanese Photography of Mariko Mori and Julie • Timothy R. Gleason, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • Mariko Mori and Julie are Japanese photographers whose images have appeared in book form, a mass medium infrequently examined by communication scholars. This paper examines Mariko Mori and Samurai Girl by applying both photographic critiques and a cultural analysis. It is argued that Mori challenges Japanese social norms by creating visual criticism, while Mori adopts the norms to have control over them. The differences between analyzing a monograph style photobook and a traditional photobook are discussed.
“Whatever they want to do – do it”: The conflicted resignation of female college athletes • Marie Hardin, Penn State University; Susan Lynn, Florida State University; Erin Whiteside, Penn State University • This study incorporates the mediated (hetero) sexualization of female athletes into the identity formation and aspirations of young sportswomen. Twenty U.S. college athletes were interviewed about their media use and about the ways they contextualize passive, sexualized images of well-known sportswomen. Participants said they used popular, glamorized depictions to seek the feminine ideal, which they sought as part of their “dual identity” as woman and as athlete.
Visual Processing of Animation: An Experimental Testing of “Distinctiveness” and “Motion Effect” Theories • Nokon Heo • In order to test two competing theories explaining animation effects, a 2 (Animation) x 2 (Banner Type) x 4 (Number of Animated Distractors) within-subjects factorial visual search experiment. A hypothesis predicting different patterns in search time has been proposed based on two theories – “motion effect” and “distinctiveness” theories. All the experimental conditions were counterbalanced to avoid any order effects, and both the target and non-target items were randomly selected by a computer.
Making Yuyanapaq: Reconstructing Peru’s Armed Internal Conflict through Photographs • Robin Hoecker, University of Missouri • Sponsored by Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Yuyanapaq photography exhibit documents the country’s armed internal conflict from 1980 to 2000. This study examined the curators’ role as gatekeepers in creating the exhibit, currently at Peru’s National Museum. In-depth interviews revealed the curators’ criteria when selecting photographs, how they handled graphic violence and strived to maintain historical accuracy. It also addresses how the curators’ personal experiences affected their decisions.
Teaching Button-pushing vs. Teaching Thinking: The State of New Media Education in U.S. Universities • Edgar Huang, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis • Using content analysis and survey, this study examines how the teaching of thinking skills and that of technological skills have been balanced in U.S. new media programs to produce both employable graduates and life-long learners. Findings show that most programs have balanced the two skill sets but that more effort should be made to integrate the teaching of both skill sets in individual courses to give students an expedited, holistic learning experience.
The Sin in Sincere: Deception and Cheating in the Visual Media • Paul Lester, California State University, Fullerton • Few discussions about the ethical issue of picture manipulations have focused on the nature of deception and cheating. Using the work of the American contemporary philosopher Bernard Gert, this paper features the concept of manipulation in a variety of contexts—from magic acts to journalism spreads—to help aid researchers and others to determine whether an alteration is merely deceiving others, or crosses the line and reaches the level of cheating.
Visuals, Path Control, and Knowledge Gain: Variables that affect students’ approval and enjoyment of a multimedia text as a learning tool • Jennifer Palilonis, Ball State University; Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • Survey data collected from 143 undergraduate students revealed specific multimedia features, as well as interaction and outcome variables, predicted participants’ approval of a multimedia text as a learning tool. The sense of knowledge gain, the value placed on animated graphics and an ability to control one’s path through the material independently predicted both enjoyment of the module and an intent to take a course using a multimedia text.
Laura Mulvey’s Psychoanalytic Argument: Does It Fit Hindi Cinema? • Ananya Sensharma, San Jose State University; Diana Tillinghast, San Jose State University • The study’s primary objective was to determine whether Mulvey’s (1975, 1989) psychoanalytic theories of male gaze and female spectatorship that she applied to classical Hollywood cinema can also be applied cross-culturally to mainstream Indian cinema.
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