Media Management and Economics 2011 Abstracts

The Newspaper Boom in India and China: Exploring Media Models in the World’s Largest Newspaper Markets • Nikhil Moro, University of North Texas; Debashis Aikat, University of North Texas • The newspaper markets in India and China have flourished in recent years. Together, the two countries daily sell more than 220 million copies of some 3,300 titles. This paper identifies 11 major media models as operationalized in India and China’s newspaper industry from 1990 through 2010, the two decades when a relatively free market economy emerged in both countries. This paper also delineates the success of India and China’s newspaper industry with a view to offering valuable lessons for the beleaguered newspaper industry in other nations, especially the United States. Grounded in freedom of expression theory, the ongoing research reported in this paper explores possible lessons for the beleaguered newspaper industry in other nations.

Blockbusted. A Resource Dependence Analysis • Gabe Otterson, University of North Texas; Alan Albarran, University of North Texas • This case study examines the rise and hard fall of one of America’s corporate giants, Blockbuster Inc. Resource dependency theory posits that a company is dependent on its external environment, and must adapt to changing market conditions in order to eliminate dependencies and ensure long-term survival. A historical analysis of Blockbuster reveals the company not only failed to recognize growing dependencies, but as those problems manifested, Blockbuster responded inadequately and not soon enough, eventually forcing the company into bankruptcy at the end of 2010. Regardless of how the bankruptcy proceedings eventually play out, the case of Blockbuster should serve as a warning to other media firms and companies in general facing a highly competitive environment.

Transforming the News: Examining the influence of transformational leadership behaviors of newspaper editors on newsroom innovation • Kris Boyle, Creighton University • This study examined the influence of transformational leadership behavior newsroom innovativeness, including the adoption and use of interactive elements on newspaper Web sites. An online survey of 99 U.S. online and managing editors revealed that certain transformational leadership behaviors influenced the editors’ perceptions of innovativeness, though the editors reported a low level of innovativeness within their newsrooms. Innovativeness is a moderator of transformational leadership and may explain the lack of transformational leadership in the newsroom.

Niche Theory and Online Music: The Changing Face of The Billboard Top 200 • Jason Cain, University of Florida • The sound recording industry has undergone serious upheaval since digital distribution became popular in the early 2000s. This paper examines the Billboard 200 album chart in an effort to demonstrate volatility and seeks to explain such volatility through ideas found in the theory of the niche. This study also discusses the larger subject of the future of mass appeal media in the Internet age and demonstrates niche theory’s utility in examining this issue.

Business Models of Most-Visited U.S. Social Networking Sites • Jiyoung Cha, University of North Texas • This study aims to examine and compare business models of major U.S. social major networking sites. The case studies of the four most-visited U.S. social networks revealed different values, target markets, sources of competencies, and revenue models. The findings also indicate that international expansion and small advertisers play critical roles in growth of the social networks. The revenues come from advertising, commerce, paid subscriptions, syndication, and other specialized services.

The Rise and Rise of Cable TV: Demand elasticity of cable television during the Great Recession • Matthew Danelo, University of Georgia • In 2008, the United States economy slid into what many termed the “Great Recession.” During the following 15-month, economic downturn the percentage of unemployed Americans rose consecutively, while the number of new subscriptions to cable and satellite television services also increased. This trend was especially present in media markets hardest hit by the recession – the worse off the local economy, the higher these new subscriptions numbers climbed.

Comic relief: Television choices in economic downturns • Terri Denard, University of Alabama • The purpose of this study is to compare prime time network television viewing preferences before and after three significant shocks to the American economy to determine whether viewers prefer a different type of programming in down economies than in stable times. The study revealed directional insights indicating that viewers tend to shift their preferences toward comedies following severe negative events. The results are of interest to media management, broadcasters, producers, and advertisers, who may wish to reconfigure the tonality of their programming to reference more humorous or lighthearted elements in stressful economic times.

Is High-Definition Video Streaming Delivery Economically Sustainable for Broadband Service Providers? • Michel Dupagne, University of Miami • While the advent of high-definition video streaming is no longer in doubt, its long-term viability is questionable in light of recently implemented bandwidth caps. To address these economic implications for providers and consumers, this paper analyzes trends in revenue, expenses, and prices for broadband Internet service. Available data and industry information indicated that revenue of broadband providers has risen significantly over time while expenses have declined or stabilized, revealing high profit margins for this business.

The Impact of Alternative Video Distribution Platforms on Traditional Television Viewing: How Motives, Affinity, Consumption Patterns, and Perceived Characteristics Affect Substitution • Miao Guo, University of Florida • This study examines the impact of alternative video distribution platforms such as online video streaming and portable video devices (i.e., mobile television) on traditional television viewing. By drawing upon the uses and gratifications theory, the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the innovation diffusion constructs, the study explored how motives, perceived media characteristics, affinity for alternative outlets, and viewing behavior shaped the substitution phenomena between the emerging alternative platforms and traditional television. Results show that the online and mobile platforms are associated with different motives, invoke different levels of affinity and viewing frequency, and represent different degrees of time displacement effects on regular television viewing. Online video streaming, driven by companionship and information motives, appears to exhibit the most time displacement effects on traditional television viewing.

Identity fallout: The draining effects of technological and economic change on newspaper journalists • Amber Hinsley, Saint Louis University • This study assessed newspaper journalists’ perceptions of their job roles and the impact of technological and economic changes on their work. Social identity theory explains how those beliefs affect journalists’ identification with their organizations. Journalists maintained high regard for their job roles but believe technological and economic changes have hindered their ability to perform those roles. Journalists with these negative feelings had lower identification with their organizations. Job type and circulation size influenced those relationships.

Media Sales Management and New Product Innovation: An Exploratory Study • Todd Holmes, University of Florida • The advent of a product innovation can provide a unique and potentially profitable opportunity for a media firm. The sales department primarily has responsibility for capitalizing on these opportunities and can increase the chance of success if the salespeople believe in the value of the innovation (Booz, Allen, & Hamilton 1982). Even though the sales team structure may not be altered by a new product rollout, the increased product-market scope resulting from the introduction can have major effects on the department’s ability to increase revenues. As such, this study explores how the sales team’s perceived value of the innovation, sales team structure, and product-market scope can impact firm outcomes. This is accomplished via nine semi-structured depth interviews with television executives overseeing sales teams amidst the introduction of the new product innovation of multicasting.

IPTV Redlining: Income-driven Competition • Sung Wook Ji, Indiana University, Bloomington • This study examines the current status of the entry behavior of IPTVs into the video programming service market, with a particular focus on income redlining and local competition. Analyzing previously unavailable data compiled by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, evidence is presented of the practice of income redlining associated with IPTVs’ entry into Indiana market, as well as of the presence of income-driven local competition”

An Empirical Analysis of Social Media Use: Examination of Determinants of Twitter and Facebook Use • Sangwon Lee, Central Michigan University; Moonhee Cho, University of Florida • This study examines the factors that influence the use of social media utilizing an integrated research framework that employs diverse theoretical frameworks like diffusion of innovations, the technology acceptance model, the theory of reasoned actions, and the uses and gratification theory. Through an online survey of social media users, we analyze the factors that influence the attitudes toward Twitter and Facebook use and the actual use of Twitter and Facebook. The results of multiple regression analysis suggest that perceived characteristics like relative advantage and observability, perceived user values like interactivity and mobility, and perceived ease of use are influential factors in explaining the formation of an attitude toward Twitter use. The significance of interactivity in explaining Twitter attitude and use may imply that interactive innovations (social media like Twitter) or those that offer two-way communication can speed-up the adoption process because they attain a critical mass of users more quickly. The results of data analysis also suggest that perceived characteristics like relative advantage, trialability, and observability, perceived user value like mobility, and perceived usefulness have formed an attitude toward Facebook use. In addition, multiple regression analysis suggests that, for Twitter use, attitude toward Twitter use, subjective norm, and mobile phone usage are the main factors. For Facebook use, subjective norm, account holding period, passing time, and perceived popularity are the main factors.

The Impact of Online Advertising on European Inter-Media Competition • Dan Shaver, Jönköping International Business School; Mary Alice Shaver, Jönköping International Business School • Within media ecologies, resource competition focuses on revenues from advertising and marketing for most traditional media industries. The introduction of the World Wide Web as a platform for delivery of digital content—including advertising—has shifted competition patterns. This study examines competitive patterns in 21 European national markets before and after the introduction of online advertising, identifies shifts in inter-media competition for revenues and changes in overall media market patterns between the two periods.

The Globalization of Magazines in India: A case study • Seema Shrikhande, Oglethorpe University • Media globalization has become an established business phenomenon that has seen new markets being developed. Many of these are in emerging markets like China and India that have the promise of high growth. The print media sector, in particular magazines are expanding into these countries. The magazine segment in India, has seen a huge transformation with a steady influx of foreign titles in a variety of sectors. Cosmopolitan and Elle, both early entrants to the market started operations in India in the mid 90s. But it was only in the first decade of the 21st century that international magazine publishers’ interest in India gained momentum leading to a number of new titles with the promise of more to come. This paper examines the internationalization of consumer magazines in India. Using a qualitative exploratory approach, I examine how Western publishing companies have entered the Indian market and provide an in depth analysis of their globalization strategies.

Factors Affecting Evaluation of Co-branding in Mobile Phone Manufactures and Luxury Fashion Brands • Hyunsang Son, University of Florida; Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • This study aims to create an effective branding strategy in mobile phone market based on the co-branding strategy of mobile phone manufacture and luxury fashion brand. Integrating the brand extension factors (e.g., original brand attitude, perceived fit, attitude toward ingredient brand) to co-branding extension evaluation, this study identifies factors affecting attitude toward co-branding extension and actual purchasing intention of mobile phone, and Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) of each brand. The findings show that the favorable attitude toward luxury fashion brand led to greater purchasing intention through positive evaluation of co-branding extension. Also perceived fit between partner brand, attitude toward ingredient brand also significant predictor of favorable attitude toward co-branding extension and purchasing intention of mobile phone.

Understanding sources of competitiveness in broadcasting industry in the era of convergence : A case study of Korea Educational Broadcasting System • Lee Sungjoon, Korea Educational Broadcasting System; Chihyung Park, Korea Educational Broadcasting System • This study examines how terrestrial broadcasting networks in South Korea have adapted to media industry changes by leveraging their internal resources and capabilities. For this purpose, the current study provides a case study of Korea Educational Broadcasting System (KEBS), which is one of representative broadcasting network in South Korea, based on the framework of resource-based views (RBV). In-depth interviews with senior officials in charge and experts at KEBS were conducted. The results shows there are still several unique resources that can sustain competitiveness of broadcasting networks in South Korea as compared to service providers based on the other platforms. The implications of the results are also discussed.

Willingness to pay for paid channels of digital TV: an Empirical Analysis • Fan-Bin Zeng, Jinan Universtity • Willingness to pay for paid channels of digital TV includes four aspects: response to paid channels about status and reason for payment by paid channels users; future payment liability and reason for payment by unpaid channels users; the highest price the users are willing to pay; the users’ attitude toward paid channels to switch to advertisement in order to reduce the price. Based on a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing the households in Guangzhou (N=308), this study finds that willingness to pay for paid channels by users is low. The key reason is that the paid channels of digital TV is nothing special and the free channels of digital TV are too many and diverse. This study also reveals that the highest price which the users are willing to pay is low, and the users wouldn’t support advertising in paid channel even if it could reduce the cost. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis also reveals that willingness to pay for paid channels is related with the TV use variable, but not related with income variable, which means that the media goods of paid channels are abnormal goods, in other words, the number of people willing to pay would not increase even if their income levels are higher. Based on these results, this study states briefly that if the willingness to pay for paid channels is raised, the key point is to improve the quality and reduce the price of paid channels.

Media Structure and Conduct: A Comparative Study of Cancer-related Ads in Black and General Readership Newspapers • Ye Wang,; You Li, University of Missouri; Shelly Rodgers, University of Missouri • The purpose of the present study is to compare cancer-related ads in Black versus general readership newspapers and identify market-structure factors that are attributable to cancer-related ads in Black versus general readership newspapers. Using Ramstad’ (1997) revised Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) model, this study examines the influence of newspaper type (Black versus general readership newspapers), newspaper circulation, average household income, city population, and the number of newspapers in the local market on newspapers’ conduct of running cancer-related advertisements. A content analysis on cancer-related advertisements in 24 Black and 12 general readership newspapers from 2004 to 2007 was conducted as measures of newspapers’ conduct. Market structural data of the 36 newspapers were collected from various professional and government databases. By conducting a series of stepwise regressions, this study found that newspaper type (Black versus general readership newspapers) and newspaper circulation are the two major market-structure factors that influence cancer-related advertisements. The implications of this study are government policies of reducing cancer disparity make Black newspapers more competitive to obtain cancer-related advertisements from government organizations and programs. The lower economic status of African Americans makes Black newspapers less competitive to obtain advertisements about cancer-treatment. Non-profits’ limited advertising budget makes them purchase from newspapers with smaller circulation.

Leisure Time Budget, Time Price and Consumption of Traditional News Media and New News Media • Xiaoqun Zhang; Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State University • This study attempted to explain the relationship between leisure time availability and media choice in this age of media abundance. A new concept of time price which is related to communication efficiency was proposed. Two effects—the substitution effect and time effect were recognized and defined. The contrast between “traditional” news media and “new” news media use of different group of people showed the influence of time budget on the media consumption.

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Media Ethics 2011 Abstracts

Open Competition

Role perceptions and ethical orientations: An analysis of individual-level influences on ethical aggressiveness of journalists • Sheetal Agarwal • Using the 2007 American Journalist panel survey this study examines how role perceptions influence journalists’ ethical aggressiveness. Factor analyses and scale reliability tests find that the long-standing “ethical aggressiveness” index and the “disseminator” role may need re-evaluation. Using regression analysis and a newly constructed ethical orientation scale I find that journalists with affinity to adversarial and interpreter functions have higher levels of ethical aggressiveness. However, populist mobilizers are less likely to justify ethically questionable practices.

“A Watchdog of Democracy”: State of Media Ethics in Bangladesh • Md. Abu Naser, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Debashis Aikat • By situating journalism ethics within a larger intellectual context of global communication and social change, this study explores and documents the state of media ethics and journalistic standards in Bangladesh, the theoretical and conceptual development of Bangladeshi media ethics in its many forms. Drawing upon recent studies, meta-analyses of ethical issues and reviews of ethical lapses in Bangladeshi journalism, this study covers three aspects. First, it explicates the media practices and journalism ethics theories as they relate to Bangladeshi media. Second, it provides a thorough assessment of journalism ethics through a comprehensive review of a Jatri (2009) survey of Bangladeshi journalists. Third, it identifies theoretically-grounded approaches to unethical practices in Bangladeshi journalism by exploring a seven-point categorized listing of various instances of ethical lapses in Bangladeshi journalism. In conclusion, this study also identifies the need for a comprehensive code of ethics for Bangladeshi media. In its mission to advance its watchdog role, the Bangladeshi code of ethics should draw upon the evolution of its media ethics as a 20th century phenomenon and seek a sustaining significance in the 21st century digital age that is transforming Bangladesh’s contribution to global communication and social change.

The Ethics of Pinkwashing: Applying Baker and Martinson’s TARES Test to Breast Cancer Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns • Kati Berg, Marquette University; Shannon Walsh • From cars and cosmetics to fast food and toasters, everything seems to be turning up pink lately. But not all pink products benefit breast cancer equally. Some companies take advantage of consumers’ concern about breast cancer and in reality profit from marketing pink products while donating little or nothing to the cause. It’s a process known as pinkwashing. As cause-related marketing (CRM) efforts for breast cancer have risen dramatically in the last decade so has media criticism and consumer backlash. Yet, the ethics of pinkwashing have not yet been examined from a theoretical perspective. Thus, this paper critically analyzes the ethics of such campaigns by applying Baker and Martinson’s (2001) TARES test for ethical persuasion to two CRM campaigns: Mike’s Hard Pink Lemonade and KitchenAid Cook for the Cure. Specifically, we argue that consumers are particularly vulnerable because the persuasive communication used in these CRM campaigns fail to meet the five principles of the TARES test: truthfulness, authenticity, respect, equity, and social responsibility.

Unnamed Sources: A utilitarian exploration of their justification and guidelines for limited use • Matt Duffy, Zayed University; Carrie Freeman, Georgia State University • This article critically examines the practice of unnamed sourcing in journalism. A literature review highlights arguments in favor of and against their use. Then, the authors examine some common examples of anonymous sourcing using the lens of utilitarianism, the ethical model commonly used to justify the practice. We find that few uses of unnamed sourcing can be justified when weighed against diminished credibility and threats to fair, transparent reporting. The authors then suggest specific guidelines for journalists that, if followed, would curb many of the pedestrian uses of unnamed sourcing but still allow for the practice in specific circumstances.

Media Responsibility in a Public Health Crisis: An Analysis of News Coverage of H1N1 “Swine Flu” in One Community • Elizabeth Hindman, Washington State University; Ryan Thomas, Washington State University • This qualitative analysis of news reports regarding the H1N1 virus’ impact on a particular community provides insight into the responsibilities of the media within the realm of health communication. Generally, news media did a poor job presenting accurate, timely and useful information, both to local residents who needed specific information, and to the broader public, which needed a context to interpret events on the forefront of what could have been a national health care disaster.

Journalism’s “Crazy Old Aunt”: Helen Thomas and Paradigm Repair • Elizabeth Hindman, Washington State University; Ryan Thomas, Washington State University • Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas abruptly retired in summer 2010 after she gave unscripted remarks widely perceived to be anti-Semitic.  This case study applies paradigm repair and attribution theories to explore how mainstream journalists repaired the damage to their profession’s reputation. It concludes, among other things, that they suggested her remarks were caused by senility and that she failed in her obligation to objectivity.

Ethical Pitfalls of Data Digging in Journalism • Jan Leach, Kent State University; Jeremy Gilbert, Medill, Northwestern University • Journalists have been mining publicly available data for decades, but significant changes in presentation means that data journalism is common and this increased use raises new ethical issues. This paper examines the potential for harm when journalists use data mining in reporting. Ethics questions surface about truthfulness, interpretation and potential privacy issues. Authors interview five journalists who frequently use data for journalistic purposes and discuss how they evaluate potential harm when working with data sets.

Agapeistic Ethics and News Coverage of Secular/Religious Conflict • Rick Moore, Boise State University • Agapeistic ethics has received a small amount of attention from scholars interested in how it might be applied to the journalistic profession. This investigation continues that discussion but specifically in regard to how journalists might cover stories that entail religious dimensions. In analyzing the particular case of reporting on legal disputes related to teaching of intelligent design in schools, the paper hopes to shed light on the unique contributions agape can make to media ethics.

Social Responsibility and Tomorrow’s Gatekeepers: How Student Journalists Prioritize News Topics • Sara Netzley, Bradley University • This study examines whether student journalists prioritize news topics that serve social concerns or economic concerns. A nationwide survey asked student journalists to identify which topics they personally preferred as well as which topics they believed were most important for the media to cover. The data suggest that tomorrow’s journalists may have embraced a new theory of the press: the dual responsibility model, in which social and fiscal responsibilities are equally weighed when making editorial decisions. These findings have key implications for the gatekeeping decisions the journalists will make on the job and the type of agenda they might set for the public.

Naming Names: Crime Coverage Rituals in North America, Sweden, and the Neterhlands • Maggie Jones Patterson, Duquesne University; Romayne Smith Fullerton, University of Western Ontario • When a Dutch man killed seven people and injured ten more in an attempt to assassinate the Queen Beatrix, the Dutch Press Agency ANP did not use his name in their stories. This paper examines the ethical practices of journalists in the Netherlands and Sweden, specifically in regard to withholding the names of those accused or convicted of crime, in order to tease out the cultural values these practices reflect. National news stories of great public interest were used as starting points in interviews with Swedish and Dutch journalists and academics. By analyzing these interviews, national codes of ethics, and specific news coverage, the paper examines the reasons behind this respect for criminals’ privacy. The paper argues that the European practices reflect a greater ethic of care than those found in North American journalism. However, these practices are under threat both from the internationalization of news on the Internet and a backlash against immigration in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Ethics and Wartime Self-Censorship: Precedents for a Utilitarian Model in the Digital Age • Michael Sweeney, Ohio University • This paper argues that official government and military censorship have become impossible in the digital age. It offers the World War II model of effective self-censorship by the press, including legal and ethical issues constraining publication decisions, as an example of how cooperation and trust can make the alternative of self-censorship possible. It also addresses the complications posed by the relatively new phenomenon of citizen journalists and the challenges they pose to would-be censors. Finally, it frames the discussion of self-censorship in wartime using a utilitarian model of journalism ethics.

Walter Lippmann’s ethical challenge to the individual • Steve Urbanski, West Virginia University • This paper analyzes in hermeneutic fashion random concepts of the individual from three of philosopher Walter Lippmann’s major works, Liberty and The News, Public Opinion and The Phantom Public. The paper addresses the following: By considering Lippmann’s multi-leveled representation of the individual, 21st century media professionals can become empowered to avoid emotivism and strive toward a more narrative-based form of ethics. The paper compares and contrasts Lippmann’s representation of the individual with John Dewey’s Great Community and Daniel Boorstin’s notion of the pseudo-event.

Teaching Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Through the Movie NETWORK • John Williams, Principia College • Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of six stages of moral development has been significant to thinking about moral education for half a century and is viewed by many as the definitive description of moral development. Moral development theories describe moral maturity and the steps or stages that one follows to reach this maturity. Contemporary films and literature have been used as mechanisms for stimulating moral development in students. It would make sense that contemporary film could be used to introduce and teaching Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. This paper is a description and assessment of the use of the feature film Network as a vehicle for engaging undergraduate mass communication students with Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The activity allows students to engage with the theory, attempt to apply it to a fictional situation, offer critiques to the theory, and suggest alternative perspectives.

Identifying Ethical Challenges and Solutions in the Online Coverage of Recruiting High School Athletes • Molly Yanity, Ohio University • The coverage of the recruitment of high school athletes has exploded into a multimillion-dollar industry. That demand has led to a wave of ethical challenges for the web-based publications providing the coverage. This study will reveal ethical challenges in the coverage and solutions for the publications. This multi-method study should help web-based publications draft of a code of ethics. Media covering high school recruiting can use those guidelines to gain and maintain credibility, uphold a high level of ethics, and protect themselves from rules instituted by outside interests.

Carol Burnett Award

Unprofessional, ineffective, and weak: A textual analysis of the portrayal of female journalists on Sports Night • Chad Painter, University of Missouri; Patrick Ferrucci, U of Missouri • This study investigates the portrayal of five female journalists on the Aaron Sorkin television show Sports Night. The women were depicted as acting unprofessionally, displaying motherly qualities, choosing their personal lives over work, being deferential to men for ethical decisions, and showing a lack of sports knowledge compared to the male characters. The researchers use social responsibility theory to suggest why these portrayals were ethically problematic.

Ethical Attitudes of Male and Female Students Concerning Academics and Journalism • Bill Hornaday, Indiana University • Survey data on plagiarism and fabrication – and perceptions about both among journalism students [n=6873] – indicate females harbor more concern about such activity than males. The findings are consistent for academic settings involving student journalists and scenarios involving professional journalists. Regardless of gender, students were more concerned about fabrication and believed professional breaches merit more concern than academic ones. This study draws from an ongoing, longitudinal project launched in 2004 at a large Midwestern university.

Correcting the record: The impact of the digital news age on press accountability • Nicole Joseph, Northwestern University • This study examines changing news practices to determine if, and how, they have been accompanied by changes in journalists’ abilities to enact traditional ethical standards in the newsroom. To illustrate these changes, I explore the use of news corrections as a means for maintaining journalistic accountability in the digital news age. The findings suggest that key attributes of the contemporary news environment can help journalists in their quests for accountability.

Conflicting Agendas: Economics and Social Responsibility in the Press • Jason Laenen, Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU • Many scholars have argued the economic responsibilities of the American (capitalist) press ultimately undermine its social responsibilities. Little attention has been paid, however, to how the press has successfully neglected these duties–while maintaining its special “inviolable” rights provided by the Constitution. This article argues the press has used the tenets of the dominant economic models (liberalism, Keynesianism, and neoliberalism) in three periods of American history to influence and justify its behavior. Implications are discussed.

Is Ideological Coverage On Cable Television an Ethical Journalistic Practice? Duty, Responsibility, and Consequence • Aimee Meader, University of Texas at Austin • Ideological coverage is a journalistic practice that abandons objective ideals in favor of opinionated analysis. Although editorialism has always been evident in American journalism, this practice is becoming more frequent among cable broadcasters as the industry responds to growing economic pressures. This essay examines ideological coverage to determine whether it meets journalistic duties, such as veracity, and if it can facilitate a deliberative democracy. Additionally, the essay outlines guidelines that allow for ethical, ideological reporting.

The real skinny on food in the media: Ethical shortfalls of covering and marketing food to an ever expanding nation • Temple Northup, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Meghan Sherrill, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill • Consumers deciding what food to purchase are faced with thousands of options at the typical grocery store. In order to help make decisions, the media can be used as a source of information: from advertisers, marketers, and journalists. Through a series of cases studies, this paper critically analyzes the role of the media in misinforming the public about the healthfulness of certain food, thereby playing a contributing role in the growing obesity epidemic.

“Can We Be Funny?”: The Social Responsibility of Political Humor • Jason Peifer, Saint Louis University • Probing the vague boundaries and constraints commonly placed on humor, this essay considers the responsibilities and duties that can guide political humor. Working within a deontological paradigm, this essay establishes the relevance of ethics within society’s political humor and considers the importance of ethical humor. Moreover, this study points to Christians and Nordenstreng’s model of global social responsibility theory as providing a promising framework for orienting ethical political humor.

The Ethics of the ESRB: Social Responsibility Theory and Video Games • Severin Poirot, University of Oklahoma • The video game industry is a multimillion-dollar industry, which reaches millions of customers a day. While there is a variety of research available on the subject, there is little dealing with the ethics of video game content. Using the social responsibility theory of the press, this paper conducts an ethical analysis of the video game industry. Specifically the history and purpose of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a self-imposed video game rating system, is discussed. Using the principles of the theory the ESRB appears to meet the requirements of social responsibility. Future research is suggested to further explore the ethical implications of video game content.

Neuroethics, Moral Development and Media: An Emotional War Over Reason • Rhema Zlaten • Neurobiology provides a unique perspective to the moral development process of media professionals and challenges current prevalent theories of ethical evolution. Neurological firings initiate an ethical response, which is then carried out and fostered by character development and experience. Several fields, namely psychology and sociology, have utilized this brain data to consider a full range of human behaviors from the inside out. There is a shortage of similar applications to the media and communication fields, and the viewpoint of neuroscience creates a theoretical challenge to the cognitive level theories that drive current media research, particularly to the areas of moral development and normative theory.

Special Call: Methods for Media Ethics Research

Press Apologias: A New Paradigm for the New Transparency? • Sandra Borden, Western Michigan University • This paper examines the requirements for ethical press apologias, defined as attempts to defend credibility when accused of ethical failure. Facing changing transparency expectations, apologists may fail to fully respond to injured stakeholders. Criticisms of CBS News’ flawed report on President Bush’s National Guard service illustrated this problem. Hearit and Borden’s (2005) paradigm for ethical apologia is applied to “RatherGate” to see if and where the paradigmatic criteria fell short. A revised paradigm is proposed.

The Psychology of Plagiarism • Norman Lewis, University of Florida; Bu Zhong, Penn State University • Journalists and writers have often wondered if plagiarism, an ethical taboo, has a psychological element. Two studies to test that informal hypothesis revealed that plagiarists are remarkably similar to their non-copying peers in Big Five personality traits. However, the two groups differ in a scale that measures integrity on a continuum between principles and expediency. The results show that journalistic plagiarism has more in common with a “normal” accident than with a troubled mind.

Dissecting Press Ethics: A Methodological Evaluation of the Discipline • Jenn Burleson Mackay, Virginia Tech • This paper explores trends in journalistic ethics research. The researcher shows areas where additional research is warranted. Most scholars have relied on essays or surveys to study journalistic ethics. While researchers frequently have analyzed newspaper ethics, scholars have failed to thoroughly study broadcast journalism or new media ethics. Researchers have placed little emphasis on studying audience perceptions of journalistic ethics. The author suggests that triangulation would improve the literature in this discipline.

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Mass Communication and Society 2011 Abstracts

Media of the People, by the People, for the People: Redefining Public Service Broadcasting in Emerging Democracies • Md. Abu Naser, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Debashis Aikat • Public service broadcasting has faced many challenges during a decline in the last 20 years. Although the crisis of public service broadcasting is global in nature, the problems the PSB institutions face in developing countries and in emerging democracies differ fundamentally from the challenges that the PSB outlets encounter in the Western world. Public service broadcasting in many developing countries remains a government monopoly where the public has no role in the process. In authoritarian political systems, public broadcasting becomes state propaganda that corrupts the whole broadcasting system. Because of the varied nature of the problems facing PSB institutions in developing countries, there is an emerging need for a variety of solutions. In this context, a plan to make public service television in Bangladesh more effective is proposed. This model may be applied to many other emerging democracies in Asia, Africa, East Europe, and Latin America since PSBs of those countries face similar problems.

Is Family Guy E/I Programming? An Analysis of Adult Primetime Animations for Educational Messages. • Mary Katherine Alsip, University of Alabama; Wyley Shreves • Many studies have found that E/I programming may be falling short of the FCC guidelines prompted by the Children’s Television Act of 1990.  Adult primetime animations have gained popularity in recent years, especially with adolescent and teen viewers.  An analysis of the availability and educational quality of adult animation is made and compared to previous data on E/I programming.  Recommendations for the adjustment of FCC guidelines based on this analysis are made.

Digital media, citizenship orientation, and youth political consumerism • German Alvarez, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Matthew Barnidge, University of Wisconsin – Madison; ByungGu Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study aims to explore how youth online usage patterns and notions of citizenship foster certain forms of political participation – namely political consumerism. Using cross-sectional survey data from a national representative sample of youth, this study offers a unique attempt to uncover the social-psychological predispositions that make up and define citizenship orientation. Specifically, this paper argues that a typology of trust in political institutions and political efficacy are important factors that contribute to citizenship orientation. Placing these social-psychological predispositions within the analytical framework of the communication mediation model, this paper also examines the mediating role of citizenship orientation between online communication and political participation. This study presents evidence that citizenship is evolving, and that new forms are emerging that place emphasis not on institutional politics, but rather on personally meaningful behaviors such as political consumerism. The results generally support the conclusion that citizenship orientation, as defined by the typology of trust and efficacy, is a significant factor mediating the effects of online media on political participation. The findings also highlight the role of online media in the development of citizenship orientation, indicating differential paths of communicative development that lead to different orientations toward citizenship.

Why your grandparents are on Facebook:  A survey of uses and gratifications of Facebook by older adults • monica ancu, Univ. of South Florida St. Petersburg • This is a uses and gratifications study looking at why older adults, people aged 45 and older, use Facebook. A survey of 225 respondents reveals that older adults are drawn to Facebook by two primary factors, Mood Management (entertainment and emotional connectivity) and Social Action (express opinions and news, and establish relationships). The most popular activity among our sample was playing games and using other entertainment Facebook apps, followed by browsing friends profiles and photos. Content creation and communication through status updates, wall comments, messages and other types of expression were less popular among this age group, with only a third (roughly 30% of respondents) engaged in such activities. The study discusses additional findings and their implications, and it is one of the very few studies looking at the social networking uses and gratifications of older adults.

The new communication environment and its influence on media credibility • Ashley Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Peter Ladwig; Dominique BROSSARD, LSC, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dietram Scheufele; Michael Xenos • How exposure to uncivil discussion in online comments alongside two controversial issues—nuclear energy and nanotechnology—influences media credibility is the focus of this study. Using an experimental design with a representative sample of the American population, we find exposure to uncivil discussion increases perceptions of blog post bias and trust in news media for information on science. Exposure to incivility in blog comments increases trust in online sources for the issue of nuclear energy.

Overweight and unworthy? The role of priming in attractiveness, gender, and credibility • Julie Andsager, University of Iowa; Erin O’Gara; Robert Gutsche Jr, The University of Iowa; James Carviou; Nicholas Yanes, University of Iowa • Obesity is a prevalent health concern in the U.S. Guided by attribution theory and priming, an experiment was conducted to assess attitudes toward attribution of responsibility, attractiveness, and credibility in thin versus overweight individuals. Subjects considered thin individuals more attractive than their overweight counterparts, and reader gender was significantly related to evaluations of attractiveness, particularly when weight was primed with an opinion column.  Weight and gender of columnists interacted in perceived credibility.  Implications are discussed.

The Effects of Gain and Loss Frames on Perceptions of Racial Inequality • Erin Ash, Penn State University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Previous content analytic research has examined the extent to which the media frame racial disadvantage in terms of black losses and gains and white losses and gains, finding that news reports are by far most likely to frame disadvantage in terms of what blacks are more likely (than whites) to lose. This study is an empirical test of the effects of racial gain and loss framing. Results reveal loss frames amplified perceptions that the issue was important and due to systematic, institutional causes. No main effects of race were found, but race did interact with the frame manipulation to influence perceived importance and symbolic racism. Further, regression models showed the influence of perceptions of importance, causal attributions, and symbolic racism in predicting support for two proposed remedies to alleviate the inequality.

Exploring News Media Literacy: Developing New Measures of Literacy and Knowledge • Seth Ashley, University of Missouri; Adam Maksl, University of Missouri; Stephanie Craft, University of Missouri • Using a framework previously applied to other areas of media literacy, we developed an attitudinal scale focused specifically on news media literacy and compared that to a knowledge-based index including items about the structure of the U.S. news media system. Among our college student sample, the knowledge-based index was a significant predictor of knowledge about topics in the news, while the attitudinal scale was not. Implications for future work in assessing news literacy are discussed.

Social Media Consumption, Interpersonal Relationship and Issue Awareness • Sungsoo Bang, University of Texas, Austin • This study examines the relationship between social media consumption and issue awareness using South Korea’s 2007 national survey dataset. This study finds that there is a significant and positive relationship between consuming social media, such as Internet community sites, and issue awareness. The findings indicate that frequency of using social media significantly and positively increases issue awareness such as public policy.  The finding also indicates using social media for socilability is positively related to issue awareness, which is essential for democracy in terms of political knowledge. Furthermore, the finding shows social media uses mediate the relationship between issue awareness and interpersonal relationship such as political discussion, which demonstrates consuming social media decrease the information gap caused by interpersonal relationship.

The Third-Person Effect Among Mormon College Students: An Examination of Social Distance and Behavioral Outcomes • Stephen Banning, Bradley University; Guy J. Golan, Syracuse University; Sherry Baker, Brigham Young University • This study examines perceived media influence amongst a highly religious sample of Mormon college students and investigates the potential behavioral consequences of these perceptions. While Golan (2002) tested the relationship between religiosity and the third-person effect, no study to date has examined third person perceptions and their behavioral consequences amongst religious adherents. Consistent with previous research, our study found robust support for the perceptual hypothesis of the third-person effect and support for third-person perceptions as key predictors of censorship and government regulation of the mainstream news media.

The Impact of the BP Oil Spill on Views about Nuclear Energy: A Natural Experiment • John Besley, University of South Carolina; Sang Hwa Oh, University of South Carolina • A natural experiment involving a survey about nuclear energy conducted just before the BP oil spill and followed-up after the oil spill showed that self-reported attention to the oil spill interacted with environmental attitudes to produce higher perceived risks and less overall support for nuclear risk management policies. An experimental manipulation that involved asking half of the respondents about the oil spill, prior to asking about nuclear energy, resulted in more negative views about nuclear energy. The research speaks to climate-change-related debate about the value of arguing in favor of one energy technology through the critique of another.

What Viewers Want:  Assessing the impact of host bias on perceptions of credibility in political talk shows • Leticia Bode; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Magda Konieczna; Michael Mirer; German Alvarez, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Courtney Johnson • The new media environment, and particularly cable news, has recently embraced a partisan style of journalism. It is unclear how subtle changes in the way this style is adopted affect how viewers perceive and evaluate the journalists and programs in question. To consider this question, we employ a 3×3 experimental design. Using professional actors and experienced producers and editors, we imitated a pundit-based political talk show, altering whether the host was neutral, conservative, or liberal, and whether he gave equal time to both sides of the argument, or unevenly distributed time either in favor of the liberal or the conservative guest. We expected that both overt bias and the more subtle bias of allowing one side more time would both factor into evaluations of the host and the program’s credibility, and this expectation is supported by the data. Moreover, their effects are contingent upon the partisan identity of the viewer, and there is an important interaction between the two types of bias. Our findings have significant implications for models of journalism in the cable news era.

Factors Affecting Journalistic Adherence to the Protest Paradigm: The Influence of Protest Goals and Tactics • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Cory Armstrong, University of Florida; Doug McLeod • A recent spate of protest activity across the globe has reinforced the important role that news media play in covering protesters. Research under the protest paradigm has shown that not all protest groups are treated equally and has consistently found that more deviant protest groups receive more critical coverage. However, our understanding of what factors predict when the protest paradigm will be enacted and when it will not needs further exploration and clarification. This study considers this issue using a geographically diverse set of newspapers  to consider the distinct role of a protest group goals and their tactics as well as the location and issue being protested. The findings indicate that the tactics employed by protest groups have a significant bearing on how they are treated trumping the influence of goals. Further, it is clear that location and issue indirectly influence coverage by influencing group tactics.

Mirror, Mirror on the Screen…The Facebook-Narcissism Connection • Jennifer Braddock, University of Florida • Narcissism is an issue of increasing concern among current generations in the United States.  Young individuals are also more connected than ever, particularly via the social networking site Facebook.  This study uncovers several relationships between narcissism as determined by responses to the NPI-16 and Facebook use based on Uses and Gratifications Theory.  The data suggest that narcissistic individuals look to Facebook to support their self-promoting tendencies.

Everything is Not What It Seems: An Examination of Sitcom Sibling Interactions • Nancy Bressler • Real-life sibling interactions may not be as simplistic as the portrayals on television sitcoms.  Yet, real-life siblings may still identify with these characters.  This study examined popular family sitcoms during the 2009-2010 television season using a quantitative content analysis.  The valence of interactions, types of interactions, sources of conflict, and overall outcomes were all investigated.  These results were further correlated with each sitcom to determine if there was a pattern of sibling interactions.

The pregnancy of “”Skinny Moms”” for Sale!: Representations of Celebrity Moms’ Pregnancies in Korean Online Media”            Jiyoung Chae • This paper explores the representations of celebrity mothers’ pregnancies in Korean online media. An analysis of articles dealing with ten Korean female celebrities’ pregnancies revealed that the celebrities’ thinness during and just after pregnancy are highly emphasized by the media and those celebrities are called “”skinny moms.” In skinny mom discourses, celebrity moms are portrayed as a woman who has both ideal beauty and motherhood. These representations imply that women should be thin and beautiful even during their pregnancies. Also, what the celebrities consume to maintain the skinny body is the center of attention. As a result, the celebrities’ bodies are commodified and objectified by the media representations, which is for women who aspire to have a thin and beautiful pregnancy as they do.

Third-person perception and health beliefs • John Chapin, Penn State • Purpose: To study third-person perception (TPP) within the context of a public health issue (intimate partner violence) and to explore theoretical linkage between TPP and the health belief model.  Methods: Survey of 316 medical professionals  Results: Medical professionals exhibit TPP, believing they are less influenced than patients by media depictions of IPV. In terms of the Health Belief Model, one element, perceived susceptibility, emerged as a predictor of TPP.  Conclusions: There is a rich area of health-related messages yet to be explored in future research.

Adolescents’ Varying Responses to Pro-Health Messages After Media Literacy Training • Yi-Chun Chen • With an increasing attention to entertainment-education (EE) as an integral part of health campaigns, children cultivated in more than two decades of media literacy (ML) movements might view EE differently. This paper thus asks: Will different approaches to media literacy impede the effectiveness of entertainment-education?  A total of 105 adolescents participated in a 2 (sex: female and male) X 3 (ML approaches: negative mediation, positive mediation and control) posttest only with a control group quasi-experimental design. Results showed that a positive evaluative not only had positive influences on key decision-making process concerning alcohol use but also heightened the effectiveness of pro-health entertainment.  Significant sex effects also indicated that female adolescents may be more receptive to the educational aspect of health-focused entertainment-education than their counterparts. Findings suggest that media literacy could enhance pro-health entertainment and has the potential to be employed simultaneously in health campaigns to improve adolescents’ health.

Examining the Conjoint Influence of Parental Mediation and Media Literacy in Substance Use • Yi-Chun Chen; Erica Austin • Prior research has established significant factors that impact individuals’ substance use behavior, including parental communication strategies and their level of media literacy. This study bridges the gap between parental mediation and media literacy in relation to substance use.  Two separate cross-sectional Internet studies with each survey focusing on either alcohol (n=347) or tobacco use behavior (n=291) were conducted at a large mid-Atlantic university (N=638).  Mediation and coviewing had distinctive relationships with media literacy, such that coviewing predicted less advertising skepticism but more critical thinking, negative mediation consistently associated with higher levels of media literacy, rulemaking associated with lower levels of critical thinking, and positive mediation associated with lower levels of advertising skepticism but was unrelated to critical thinking. The results show that parental communication influences can be traced into early adulthood and that strategies which cultivate independent, analytical message processing have indirect protective effects but passive strategies can increase risk.

The Indirect Effect of Media on Political Participation: How Media Promote Political Participation • Doo-Hun Choi, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Analyzing data from the 2008 ANES, the study explored the role of media use in influencing political participation. Particularly, the research examined (a) the relationship between media use and interpersonal trust and (b) the connection between interpersonal trust and political participation. The findings support the thesis that interpersonal trust was positively related to political participation. Moreover, Internet use promoted interpersonal trust, whereas national television viewing was negatively associated with interpersonal trust. Taken together, the findings suggest that the Internet may enhance political participation at least indirectly, an effect mediated by interpersonal trust. Results and implications are discussed in greater detail.

The effect of geographical distance and intensity of online news on user emotion, personal relevance, and perceived intensity • EunRyung Chong, University of Maryland; Ronald Yaros, University of Maryland; John Newhagen • More than two decades of online news environment invited reconsideration of the traditional journalistic definition of “”proximity.” Emotional or virtual proximity of users was examined by 2 (geographical distance) X 2(news story intensity) within subject factorial design online survey experiment. Perceived news intensity and perceived personal relevance to the online news were measured.  Findings indicate that emotional proximity is independent from geographical proximity. Virtual proximity, however, illustrates strong association with the geographical proximity. In “”near”” story, users appeared more strongly to be involved in low intensive story than high intensive story, while in “”far”” story, high intensive story more affected users than low intensive story. The implication of findings for editorial direction of online news is suggested.

Packaging Inspiration: Al Qaeda’s Digital Magazine Strategy and Popular Culture Resonance • Susan Currie Sivek, Mass Communication, Linfield College • This study examines the function and content of Inspire magazine, an English-language digital publication created by Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula with the goal of recruiting Western Muslims to participate in jihad. The selection of the digital magazine medium, as well as the resonance of the content with Western popular culture narratives and tropes, are considered in light of existing research on magazines, social movements, and Islamic terrorism.

The effect of narrative messages on young adults’ response to a health message about Hepatitis C • Michelle Dangiuro-Baker, Penn State University; Fuyuan Shen, Ad Division • Designing health messages for young adults can be challenging, both in getting the attention of young adults and persuading them to adopt safe health behaviors. This study, guided by narrative transportation theory, explored the role that story formats play in immersing young adults into a health message and persuading them to adopt a specific health behavior. An experiment (N=125) was conducted featuring public service announcements (PSAs) regarding the dangers of the Hepatitis C Virus that utilized a 2 (message format: factual vs. narrative) X 2 (message valence: positive vs. negative) factorial design. Results indicated an interaction between valence and message format, with negatively valenced narratives leading to greater persuasion and transportation than positively valenced messages and factual messages when controlling for perceived susceptibility to Hepatitis C. Transportation was shown to fully mediate the relationship between the negative-narrative message and persuasion. However, neither message format nor valence significantly impacted behavior intention, a possible effect of participants’ low perceived susceptibility to contracting the Hepatitis C Virus.

Adding Depth to the Relationship Between Reading Skills and Television Viewing • Steven Dick, Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning; William Davie; Betsy Bryan Miguez • It has been long accepted that there is a negative correlation between excessive television and academic performance, however, with so many children watching at least some television each day, it is worth considering the effects of more limited viewing.  This project performs a secondary analysis on a nationally representative (NAEP) dataset of more than 26,000 students to evaluate the relationship between television viewing and academic achievement.  Findings include support for the positive effect of moderate viewing among certain young demographic groups (males, students in poverty, Hispanics, and English language learners), which in this study contrasts with the diminishing return of the viewing benefit as students matured.

Partisan Balance and Bias in TV Network Coverage of the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego; Frederick Fico; Geri Alumit Zeldes, Michigan State University • This study did a content analysis of television broadcast network news in the 2008 presidential election to examine the partisan balance and bias and compared it with the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The study replicated the partisan balance and bias measures used in similar studies in 2000 and 2004 elections. The study findings were comparable to the general conclusions of the earlier research. However, the 2008 data indicated that though the broadcast news networks were largely balanced in their coverage they showed a slight Republican tilt in their coverage.

Money Mothers and Mediators: A Thematic Analysis of Say Yes to the Dress • Katherine Eaves, University of Oklahoma • The explosive growth of the now multi-billion dollar a year wedding industry has been fueled in part by a dramatic increase in the number of wedding-focused television programs. These programs, much like other forms of bridal-focused media, present women with images, ideas and fantasies about what their weddings should be like, look like and feel like.  Using a thematic analysis method and social constructionist theoretical perspective, this study identifies three primary thematic elements in the wedding-focused program Say Yes to the Dress; the role of the mother, financial considerations (or lack thereof), and the positioning of the bridal consultant as a mediator.

Understanding News Preferences in a “Post-Broadcast Democracy”: A Content-by-Style Typology for the Contemporary News Environment • Stephanie Edgerly, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kjerstin Thorson, University of Southern California; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah • This study develops a 2×2 news typology accounting for an individual’s orientation toward content (news vs. entertainment) and style (factual reports vs. pundit opinions). Findings from cross-sectional and panel data reveal that our typology predicts distinct patterns of news consumption during the 2008 election. Specifically, we predict selection of cable news outlets, soft news programs, and late-night talk shows. Our results also shed light on knowledge change during the 2008 election season.

In Deepwater: A comparative analysis of The New York Times and The Guardian’s coverage of the BP oil spill • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Missouri • This paper offers a comparative analysis of news coverage by The New York Times and The Guardian during the ten days following the BP oil spill of April 20, 2010. Ethnographic content analysis examines the coverage, and institutional analysis examines the outlets in broader cultural and economic contexts. The paper concludes that despite what existing literature would suggest, The New York Times better embodied the spirit of journalism through a diversity of sources and ideas.

The green editorial debate: A comparison of the framing of environmental issues in the Columbia Daily Tribune and St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Maria Garcia, University of Missouri-Columbia; Guy J. Golan, Syracuse University; Jeffrey Joe Pe-Aguirre, University of Central Arkansas • The current study compares how environmental issues were framed in the editorial section of a small community newspaper, Columbia Daily Tribune, and metropolitan newspaper, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The results of a content analysis point to significant differences in the framing strategies, news values and overall valence in coverage between the two newspapers. The central function of community journalism in relationship to the formation of civic participation and public opinion are discussed.

Expressing opinions on GLBT tolerance using Facebook:  A modern application of the spiral of silence • Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • The present study examined the role of the spiral of silence, in the online environment of the social network site (SNS) Facebook as it is used to express opinions on tolerance for gays and lesbians. Using an experimental manipulation, respondents were presented with either a friendly or hostile hypothetical scenario concerning gay-bullying, a social issue has recently garnered increased media attention and impacts the lives of people across the country. Issue importance and willingness to self-censor indicated the presence of the spiral of silence, so did other individual level variables such as age, gender, media and level of social tolerance. However, perceived climates of opinion and attitude certainty were not found to have any significant impact.  Findings suggest that the spiral of silence does, in fact, exist in the online context of Facebook, an SNS based upon relationships anchored to offline others. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Prevalence and Context of Verbal Aggression  in Children’s Television Programming • jack glascock, Illinois State University • This study examines the prevalence and context of verbal aggression in children’s television programming. In all 256 episodes of children’s programming from cable and broadcast television were examined. About 18 acts of verbal aggression were found, most of which were insults (49.2%) and name calling (24%). A majority of the acts were depicted as externally motivated, justified and followed by either positive or neutral reinforcement. Proportionately, male and female characters were equally verbally aggressive however female characters were more likely than expected to be victims. Social learning implications are discussed.

Perceived H1N1 flu vaccine efficacy and likelihood of vaccine uptake: Assessing the influences of mass media and risk perception • Gang (Kevin) Han, Iowa State University; Kejun Chu; Guolin Shen • This study examines the influences on college students’ perceived efficacy of H1N1 flu vaccine that are exerted by mass media and risk perception, along with personal experience, interpersonal communication and self-efficacy. Respondents’ perceived likelihood of receiving flu shot is also assessed at personal, group, societal and global levels. An online survey was conducted and 1321 completed questionnaires were analyzed. Findings suggest that mass media and risk perception significantly affect respondents’ perceptions of H1N1 flu shot effectiveness, where exposure to both traditional and new media also moderates the influence of risk judgment. In addition, findings reveal an “”mounting pattern”” of perceived likelihood of flu vaccine reception across these levels, wherein respondents perceive that taking H1N1 flu vaccine is more likely for mass collectives than for themselves or family.

Knowledge Gaps, Belief Gaps, and Public Opinion about Health Care Reform • Doug Hindman, Washington State University • Partisanship and political polarization has become the norm in national, and increasingly, local politics. The passage of the health care overhaul legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, was no exception to the trend towards greater levels of partisanship; the legislation passed without a single Republican vote. This study raises an additional issue thought to be associated with polarization and partisanship: the distribution among the public of beliefs regarding heavily covered political controversies. Specifically, this study tests hypotheses regarding the distribution of beliefs and knowledge about health care reform. Hypotheses are formulated that seek to extend the knowledge gap to account for the partisan environment.  The belief gap hypothesis suggests that in an era of political polarization, self identification along ideological or political party dimensions would be the better predictor of knowledge and beliefs about politically contested issues than would one’s educational level.  Findings showed that gaps in beliefs and knowledge regarding health care reform between Republicans and Democrats grew, and traditional knowledge gaps, based on educational level, disappeared. Attention to cable TV news narrowed gaps in knowledge among party identifiers. Findings are discussed in terms of improving news coverage of partisan debates.

Clash of coverage: An analysis of the cultural framing components of U.S. newspaper reporting on the 2011 protests in Bahrain • Jennifer Hoewe, The Pennsylvania State University; Brian J. Bowe, Michigan State University • Samuel Huntington’s clash of civilizations paradigm was established after the Cold War to explain an emerging new world order and was utilized in the cultural framing hypothesis’ explanation of U.S. news coverage of conflicts. Through content analysis of three major U.S. newspapers’ coverage of the 2011 protests in Bahrain, this study uses the cultural framing hypothesis to determine if a clash of civilizations shaped news stories. The results largely support the hypothesis and Huntington’s paradigm.

Information Surplus, Information Overload, and Multiplatform News Consumption: Updating Considerations of Influential Factors • Avery Holton, University of Texas-Austin; H. Iris Chyi, University of Texas at Austin • Information surplus tends to trigger psychological effects on news and information consumers, causing information overload. This study explored novel areas of information overload, specifically with regards to news and information, and empirically examined factors associated with the degree of information overload as well as how people perceive the amount of time required to consume information across a broad spectrum of news and information platforms. The findings revealed that the majority of news and information consumers today feel overloaded with the amount of news they are confronted with. Gender, news interest, and the use of specific news platforms and outlets predict the degree of information overload. Additionally, consumers distinguish multiple news platforms by the perceived time required to consume news items on those platforms – older platforms are perceived as more time-consuming than newer platforms. Implications for media psychology, news consumption, and evolving production models are discussed.

Great Planes: National Media’s Understanding of America’s “”Flyover Country”” • Brian Hough, Ohio University • This content analysis investigates topical and spatial understandings of the American Great Plains by national media—specifically USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. The study finds (1) the Plains are sparsely mentioned in these media,; (2) stories involving economics and politics are the most common topics; (3) North Dakota and South Dakota are the most frequently mentioned states; (4) a high occurrence of depopulation articles in The New York Times.

The Rise of Specialists, the Fall of Generalists • S. Mo Jang • The present study revisits the question as to whether U.S. citizens are information specialists or information generalists.  Although the literature has presented mixed views, the study provides evidence that the changing information environment facilitates the growth of specialists.  Using a national survey (n=1208), the study found that individuals seek issue-specific knowledge driven by their perceived issue importance rather than by general education, and that this trend was saliently observed among those who relied on the Internet.

Framing National and International Disasters: An Analysis of Media and Actor Frames of Hurricane Katrina and Haiti Earthquake • Sun Ho Jeong, University of Texas at Austin • Using frames as organizing principles to construct meanings of an abstract concept of disaster, media and actor frames of Hurricane Katrina and Haiti Earthquake were examined in three stages upon development of the post-disaster relief: (a) Call for humanitarian assistance; (b) New Orleans under anarchy and hopelessness versus Haiti under scrutiny and hope; and (c) Katrina effects. Considering frames as cultural structures involving different social actors, newspapers, press releases and statements were analyzed.

Conflict Frames, Media Bias, and Power Distribution: Title IX as a Longitudinal Social-Movement Case • Kent Kaiser, Northwestern College • Through examination of Title IX as a social-movement case, this paper identified frames advocating for and against Title IX and used content analyses to discover the faithfulness with which conflict frames were transferred from the legal and legislative debate into newspapers.  The study finds that the newspapers were generally faithful to the legal and legislative debate but demonstrated some bias in favor of social reform, thereby challenging hegemonic ideas and empowering the women’s rights movement.

Does Online News Reading and Sharing Shape Perceptions of Online Deliberation?: Exploring the Structural Relationships among Motives and Behaviors of Online News Consumption and Online Deliberation Perceptions • Hyunjin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University; Jeong Kyu Lee, ClearWay Minnesota; Kyung Han You, The Pennsylvania State University; Seoyeon Lee • With the rapid development of interactive communication technology, the Internet is a major source of news and also plays an important role in connecting individual members of society. However, Internet users may have different perspectives on whether or not the Internet positively functions as a medium for civic deliberation. Because being exposed to information on public affairs is a crucial step for one’s civic engagement, this study focuses on the effects of online news consumption motives and behaviors on one’s perceptions of online deliberation. The study (N = 998) explores structural relationships between online news consumption motives, behaviors—elaborative reading and sharing—and perceptions of online deliberation. The study finds significant relationships between online news consumption motives and elaborative news reading and sharing behaviors, but only elaborative reading behavior had a significant effect on one’s perceptions of online deliberation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The Digital Age, Future of News and Implications for the MDM • Andrew Kennis • This paper is an attempt to make sense out of the many questions surrounding news media performance and its inadequacies. It does this by first synthesizing two critical models of news analysis and applying their respective strengths toward the other’s weaknesses. The synthesis is based on the propaganda (Herman and Chomsky 1988, 2002, 2008) and indexing models (Bennett 1990; Bennett, Livingston and Lawrence 2007). The new digital era of journalism, conventional wisdom on the topic asserts, has significantly usurped prior tendencies in terms of the domination of news themes and sources by government and corporate officials. Scholarly inquiries and findings into the matter, however, have showed that this is simply not the case (Livingston and Bennett 2003; Livingston and Van Belle 2005) and that an era of hyper-commercialism is mostly to blame for a lack of news media independence (McChesney 2000, 2004, 2008). While it cannot be denied that new media and online-based news outlets are increasingly producing exceptional content, the fact remains that the reach of this content is widely dispersed and its subsequent influence is also dispersed, disparate and lacking in comparison to the traditional outlets. Most importantly, it is widely acknowledged that the leading agenda-setting and U.S.-based print sources – the New York Times and Washington Post – are by-and-large responsible for an overwhelming amount of news content, which are in turn re-sourced by alternative news sources in broadcast and online-based media.

How Scholars Have Responded to Social Media Phenomena in Advertising, Communication, Marketing and Public Relations Research From 1997-2010 • Hyoungkoo Khang, University of Alabama; Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama; Lan Ye, The University of Alabama • Drawing upon the social media phenomena in both practical and academic arenas, this study explored patterns and trends of social media research over the past 14 years across the four disciplines of advertising, communication, marketing, and public relations. As a whole, these findings exhibit a definite increasing trend in terms of the number of social media-related studies published in the four disciplines. This indicates that social media has gained incremental attention among scholars, and in turn, they have been responding and keeping pace well with the increased usage and impact of this new medium. In addition, we suggest that future scholarly endeavors emphasize the prospective aspects of social media, foreseeing applications and technological progress, and elaborating theories.

Attention, Explicated: A Psychological Approach to Mass Communication”            Gyoung Kim • In academia, the term “”attention”” has been defined, explicated, and studied intensively in cognitive psychology and neuroscience.  However, this term is also an important factor to analyze and explain mass communication effects.  This study explains and explores the mass communication theories, mass media effects, and types of a media audience in terms of media audience’s psychological cognitive process of attention and suggests a new definition of attention for studying mass communication effects.

Does Disagreement Mitigate Polarization? How Partisan Media Use and Disagreement Affect Political Polarization • Yonghwan Kim; Hsuan-Ting Chen • This study examines how partisan selective exposure and interpersonal political disagreement influence political polarization. Using data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Study, this study first investigates the association between individuals’ selective partisan media use and attitude polarization. This study also examines whether disagreement in political discussion networks moderate the association between partisan selective exposure and polarization. As expected, individuals’ partisan selective media use leads to political polarization. Results further show that exposure to disagreement attenuates the association between partisan media use and polarization.

How Self-Other Perceptions and Media Affordances Are Related to News Use by College Students • Esther Thorson, University of Missouri; Eunjin (Anna) Kim, University of Missouri; Margaret Duffy, University of Missouri School of Journalism • This study examines how the Self-Other variables and preferences for certain kinds of Media Affordances affect college students’ news use and importance. Guided by the Media Choice Model (Thorson & Duffy, 2005) we suspected that three Self-Other variables fundamental to how people process information about themselves, others, and the relationship between the two would prove to be individual differences important to media choice.  We also expected that four Media Affordances that we found college students value would predict their news use and importance. Finally, we suspected that the media features would mediate the effects of the self-other variables on news use and importance. This study discovered that the sSelf-Other variables and Media Affordances significantly predicted news use and News Importance. Also, it is revealed that Media AffordanceS successfully mediated the effect of the Self-Other variables on news use and News Importance.

Local 2.0: New Media, Advertising and the Emerging Local Web • Kathleen Kuehn • This paper offers an exploration of the local 2.0 technologies which are leading to the popularity of a “”local web”” in which place-based communities are being harnessed by start-ups and advertisers alike in order to capitalize on the untapped markets of local communities. However, new media research needs to consider this shift, as well as the implications resulting from it in regards to how it will impact social, cultural and political economic relationships. While there is much potential for the local web, there is equally many potential problems. Future media research must account for both.

Investigative Reporting and Local Power • Gerry Lanosga • This analysis of Pulitzer Prize nominations reveals a complex and varied relationship between investigative reporters and contingent groups of elites in which both sides have substantive roles to play as catalysts for societal change.  Investigative journalism, though entangled with power in strikingly intimate ways, plays a role as referee among competing power groups, periodically challenging components of the social system, if only in the interest of keeping the system operating by its own rules.

Female Journalists Contribute to Greater Transparency and Accountability on Twitter • Dominic Lasorsa • Female and male journalists were found to differ little in their use of the microblog medium Twitter, including their general presence on Twitter and the topics about which they tweeted. Furthermore, female and male j-tweeters were no different in the extent to which they engaged in two characteristic microblogging activities that contest major journalistic norms, expressing opinions and admitting nonprofessionals to participate in the news production process. However, regarding a third journalistic norm—transparency—female journalists provided significantly more openness and accountability in their tweets than did male journalists. Supporting a socialization perspective, it was found that female journalists working for larger, national, prestigious news media were less likely than those working for other less “”elite”” news media to express opinions in their tweets, to allow nonprofessional participation in the news they produce on Twitter, and to provide evidence of transparency and accountability in their tweeting. The implications of these findings are considered.

Persuasive Appeals in Television Food Advertising for Children: A Comparative Analysis of Low-Nutrition vs. General-Nutrition Food Advertisements in the U.S • Hyuk Soo Kim, The University of Alabama; Doohwang Lee, University of Alabama; Yangsun Hong • Television food advertisements targeted to children were content analyzed. Using Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion, the study identified the various advertising appeals and conceptualized as central and peripheral cues. Further, it investigated how advertising appeals of central and peripheral cues were differently associated with low-nutrition food and general-nutrition food commercials. Overall, the findings suggest that general-nutrition food commercials employed persuasive appeals of central cues more frequently than low-nutrition food commercials. Theoretical, practical and regulatory implications are discussed in the discussion section.

The Impact of Contradicting Media Messages on Political Perceptions:  The Case of a Partisan Dispute in Korea over Lifting Ban on U.S. Beef Imports • ByungGu Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Since mass media is the primary channel through which average citizens are informed of political issues, the way a political affair is described by the media plays an important role in shaping people’s political attitudes. Although its impact has largely been supported by many experimental results, not many studies have tapped into real world issues and very few have tried to answer the question of whether a frame can survive in a competitive environment. By utilizing a natural experiment setting where news frames from different types of media outlets contradicted each other, this study examined whether the impact of countervailing frames can persist in competitive environments to affect citizens’ political evaluations. Along with the impact of news media frames, the influence of perceived responsibility on political judgments (Iyengar, 1989, 1990; Iyengar & Kinder, 1987) was taken into account as well. The results show that media messages with conflicting frames failed to influence citizens’ political evaluations, cancelling out each other’s effect. Instead, the evidence suggests that political perceptions were largely shaped by such factors as the locus of causal responsibility and policy evaluations, which, in turn, were affected by one’s political ideology. Implications for framing research and suggestions for future research were discussed.

Portrayals of Eating and Drinking in Popular American TV Programs: Comparison between Scripted and Non-scripted Shows • Moon Lee, University of Florida; Lauren Gispanski • The purpose of this study was to investigate the portrayals of eating behaviors in popular American TV programs as they pertain to popular scripted television programs as well as non-scripted or “”reality”” television shows. Through a content analysis of 95 episodes, we also measured the prevalence and nature of alcohol consumption that accompanied depictions of eating behaviors in 461 scenes. Regarding the type of food, various foods were portrayed in popular American TV programs of which only 6% of foods portrayed were healthy (e.g. low in calories and fat content such as fruits, vegetables, protein bars, etc.). In addition to food consumption, approximately half of eating scenes were either accompanied by alcohol or solely contained alcoholic beverages, suggesting that popular American TV programs portray alcohol and drinking as a predominant feature of society.  Implications as well as limitations of the study are also discussed in the paper.

The Effect of Editorials on Perceptions of Adolescent Marijuana Use as a Societal Problem • Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Ming Lei • News reports have influenced adolescents’ perceptions of the risks of marijuana use, so media advocacy could be a useful strategy to bring awareness to this public health issue. The current study informs our understanding of the media advocacy strategy by experimentally testing the effectiveness of editorials aimed at framing adolescent marijuana use as a societal problem.  The results indicate the effects of editorials with a societal frame differed based on participants’ decision to use marijuana.

The Influence of News Media on Optimism about Retrospective and Prospective Economic Issues as Sources of Social Capital: Tracing the Effects by A Path Model • Yung-I Liu • This study helps understand media’s conditional effects by investigating the role of mediating attitudinal factors in explaining the relationships between media, and civic attitudes and behaviors. This study attempts to understand the mechanism by which media could influence how much optimism people have in perceiving economic issues, which accordingly could influence people’s possession of social capital. Analyzing the 2004 ANES data by using the structural equation modeling approach, this study finds a path model that links news media to various dimensions of social capital through people’s optimism about economic issues. The findings suggest that news media could influence people’s possession of social capital indirectly through influencing people’s optimism about issues that are highly important and relevant to their lives.

What motivates online disagreement expression?: Examining the influence  of verbal persuasion, vicarious experience, mastery experience and self-efficacy • xudong liu, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Aaron Veenstra, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • A 2_2 experimental design explored factors influencing self-efficacy and the willingness to express disagreement online. The study found that self-efficacy is a salient factor in predicting whether people will choose to present different opinions on the online forum where the majority discussants opposes to their opinions. Mastery experience and verbal persuasion positively predict self-efficacy, while vicarious experience has no effects on self-efficacy concerning online disagreement expression. Overall, this study responded to the call to explore the reference group’s influence on online discussion and partially confirmed online peer discussants’ motivation role in discussion involvement.

When Undesirable Media Message Looms:  Possibility of Event Occurrence, General Self-efficacy, and Third Person Perception • xudong liu, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • This paper examines the influence of perceived possibility of event occurrence, self-efficacy, and general self-efficacy on third person perception concerning exposure to media coverage of H1N1 swine flu pandemic. Social cognitive theory and construal level theory guided the rationale. Results from a survey showed that people’s concern of disease spreading likelihood in the local community positively predicts perceived media effects on self and on others, but its impact on self-evaluation of media effect is more salient, and thus negatively influence third person perception. People confident in pretending oneself tend to be less affected by media coverage of the pandemic and demonstrate more third person perception. General self-efficacy also positively influences third person perception.

Who in the World? People, Content, and Systemic Bias on Wikipedia • Randall Livingstone, University of Oregon • This research investigates systemic bias on the English-language Wikipedia by focusing in on the representation of persons and people. The work of a particular group of editors devoted to combating bias, WikiProject:Countering System Bias, over a bounded number of edits (n = 2,204) is considered and compared to a sample (n = 2,588) drawn from the general population of editors. Statistical analysis and geographic mapping reveal successes and shortcomings of this group’s work.

So, Who’s an American Now? A Discourse Analysis of CNN.com’s Readers’ Comments on the Fort Hood Shooting and “”Jihad Jane”” Indictment • Jaime Loke, University of Oklahoma; Tania Cantrell Rosas-Moreno, Loyola University • This study discursively analyzes 2,782 readers’ comments from CNN.com’s stories of the Food Hood shooting and the indictment of “”Jihad Jane.”  The analysis illuminates society’s perceptions of what it means to be American. It also helps make sense of how criminals sharing similar religious background but different race and gender are discussed. Additional research on the complex relationship among religion, race and gender within the private-public space of online news readers’ comments is called for.

The ecology of news: Tracking emerging media forms • Wilson Lowrey • Low barriers to entry, failed business models, and a cultural decentering of mainstream journalism have sparked unprecedented variation in news forms and practices, and yet relatively little attention has been paid to the ongoing processes by which such innovations emerge, develop, persist, change and fade. These complex dynamics need more systematic study. This paper proposes a model that offers explanation for the evolution of news forms. The model is informed by sociological scholarship on organization ecology and by concepts from media sociology and media economics. The paper reports findings on an empirical test of aspects of the model, examining the case of “”health blogs”” – blogs that focus on health, medicine and fitness. Support for aspects of the model was found: overall, the health blog population is becoming more institutionalized and formalized, more specialized, and the growth rate more slow and stable.

Why Politics?: Young People’s Motivations for Facebook Political Engagement • Timothy Macafee; Karyn Riddle, University of Wisconsin – Madison • This study uses a convenience sample of undergraduate students to explore the motivations for engaging in three Facebook political activities and probes the extent to which political predispositions predict the motivations for engaging in these political activities. Results reveal that motivations for Facebook political activity vary by activity; the extent to which political predispositions influence motivations to participate politically reveal few patterns, suggesting young people’s political tendencies influence motivations for Facebook political engagement differently.

Less Objectivity Please: Teen preferences for news information • Regina Marchi, Rutgers University • This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about news consumption among young people, examining news behaviors and attitudes of teenagers. Based on one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions with 61 racially diverse high school students, this paper examines how adolescents become informed about current events and why they prefer certain news media formats to others. The results reveal not only changing ways that news information is being accessed and new attitudes regarding what it means to be informed, but also a preference among youth for opinionated rather than objective news.

Understanding the Internet’s Impact on International Knowledge and Engagement: News Attention, Social Media Use, and the 2010 Haitian Earthquake • Jason A. Martin, Indiana University School of Journalism • Relatively little is known about how Internet media use and other motivational factors are associated with outcomes such as knowledge of international news and involvement. Recent research suggests that attention and interaction with foreign affairs news is one path to closing the knowledge gap in this context. The acquisition of foreign affairs knowledge also has implications for individuals’ abilities to have a broader worldview, to hold accurate public opinions about foreign nations, to facilitate a greater since of global belonging, and to get involved with international events.  This paper examines the relationship of media use, foreign affairs political knowledge, and international involvement. A nationally representative survey conducted shortly after the 2010 Haitian earthquake produced measures of demographics, news media use, social media use, international engagement, general political knowledge, and foreign affairs knowledge.  Statistical analysis found that news exposure, news attention and various types of social media use produced significant independent positive associations with international news knowledge and international involvement after demographic controls. Hierarchical regression also found that domestic political knowledge, cable TV exposure, Internet news exposure, and radio exposure were the most important predictors of international knowledge. Another regression found that news attention, e-mail use, social media use, and texting about the Haitian earthquake were the three strongest predictors of international involvement.  These findings support related research that has found a positive association among Internet news use, international knowledge, and international engagement while also making new contributions regarding the importance of mediated interpersonal discussion for predicting international involvement.

Media Multitasking and Narrative Engagement: Multitasking as a Moderator of Transportation • Rachel Ross; Michael McCluskey, Ohio State University • This study investigates the role of multitasking as a moderator of narrative engagement. A sample of 201 undergraduates was exposed to either a film-only condition or a film coupled with a task to be completed on a computer, and responded to items measuring empathy, transportation, perceived realism and enjoyment. Media multitasking was found to moderate transportation, negatively impacting absorption. Evidence also showed that transportation led to perceived realism and enjoyment. Implications and potential avenues for future research are discussed.

Wikipedia vs. Encyclopedia Britannica: A Longitudinal Analysis to Identify the Impact of Social Media on the Standards of Knowledge • Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University; Marcia DiStaso, Pennsylvania State University • The collaboratively edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia is among the most popular Web sites in the world. Subsequently, it poses a great challenge to traditional encyclopedias, which for centuries have set the standards of society’s knowledge. It is, therefore, important to study the impact of social media on the standards of our knowledge. This longitudinal panel study analyzed the framing of content in entries of Fortune 500 companies in Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica between 2006 and 2010. Content analyses of the length, tonality and topics of 3,985 sentences showed that Wikipedia entries are significantly longer, more positively and negatively framed, and focus more on corporate social responsibilities and legal and ethical issues than in Britannica, which is predominantly neutral. The findings stress that the knowledge-generation processes in society appear to be shifting because of social media. These changes significantly impact which information becomes available to society and how it is framed.

Conceptualizing Beauty and Culture:  A Quantitative Analysis of U.S. and French Women’s Fashion Magazine Advertisements • Pamela Morris, Loyola University Chicago; Katharine Nichols • This study investigates differences in the concept of beauty between France and the United States based on magazine advertisements found in each country.  As beauty is implicated in culture, culture is also explored.  Beauty is not only a mammoth idea; but looking beautiful is a major industry.  The difficulty with researching beauty is that it is elusive and varies with society.  Over 570 ads from ten women’s fashion magazines are reviewed.  Among the major findings is that American publications consist of more ads as a percentage of total pages.  American magazines also include more ad copy.  French advertisements employ more English words as opposed to the number of French words found in American publications.  In addition, ads for hair care products and makeup are more prevalent in the U.S. than in France.  In contrast, French magazines include more ads for lotions and perfumes.  Differences illustrate cultural priorities. In terms of tone, people in American publications show more smiles, while people in France are more bizarre and sexy.  American advertisements present more women, non-working women, and women as decoration than their French counterparts.  This may indicate that the United States is more traditional.  French publications show more men with family, which may imply more contemporary gender roles.  People in French publications also demonstrate more endorsements. Even though Americans and French have many similarities, subtle differences in advertising reveal cultural variations in beauty between the two nations.  This paper provides a framework for further study on advertising, culture, and beauty.

Paging Dora: Examining the impact of recognition of children’s television characters through the capacity model • Cynthia Nichols, Oklahoma State University • The purpose of this study was to examine how liking and recognition influence the processing of educational and narrative content through the constructs of the capacity model. The quasi-experimental portion of this study used 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 135) in a 3 (pace) x 2 (distance) factorial, within-subject design to measure the acquisition of educational content and narrative content. Pace, distance, and children’s cognitive maturity played a significant role in the acquisition of information, as well as liking and recognition. However, the sensitivity of these variables varied. Additionally, the results revealed that the degree of semantic distance and children’s cognitive maturity played a significant role in their ability to acquire information from educational and narrative content.

The Influence of Knowledge Gap on Personal and Attributed HIV/AIDS Stigma in Korea • Byoungkwan Lee; Hyun Jung Oh; Seyeon Keum; Younjae Lee, Hanyang University • This study tests a comprehensive model that explicates the influence of AIDS knowledge gap on personal and attributed stigma. Fear of contagion serves as a mediator between AIDS knowledge gap and AIDS stigma. An analysis of the survey data collected to evaluate the impact of 2008 AIDS campaign in Korea reveals that AIDS knowledge was significantly associated with personal stigma both directly and indirectly but only indirectly associated with attributed stigma through fear of contagion.

Cultural Influence in Differential Normative Mechanisms: A Cross-National Study of Antismoking PSA Effectiveness • Hye-Jin Paek, Michigan State University; Hyegyu Lee; Thomas Hove, Michigan State University • This study explores the detailed mechanisms of norm message effectiveness and cross-national differences in normative mechanisms. Online experiment data from 464 U.S. and Korean participants reveal three findings: (1) collectivism played a significant role in audience receptivity to norm messages, but the role varied by norm type and by country; (2) descriptive and injunctive norm perceptions affected behavioral intention through different mechanisms; (3) the normative mechanism was more rigorous and consistent among Koreans than Americans.

Does Prior Message Work to Promote Motivation for Serious Game Playing? • Eun Hae Park; An Soontae • This study aims to test effects of external aid that can enhance motivation and performance of serious game playing to maximize learning effects. Based on self-determination theory, two types of rationales were examined. Also, individual’s level of issue involvement was tested as a moderating variable. Overall, providing intrinsic goal was effective to increase both motivation and performance but there was no main effects and interaction effect in terms of issue involvement.

Reality TV Subgenres and Cultural Orientations: Individualistic vs. Collectivistic Values among a Multiethnic Sample of Viewers • David Park; Maria Elana Villar • This study tested uniformity of cultural orientations and reality TV subgenre preferences through gender and across a variety of ethnic groups. The results established correlations between collectivism and two reality TV subgenres, crime/police and informational reality programming, among an ethnically diverse group of participants. There were no significant correlations between individualism and any of the reality TV subgenres. Gender and ethnic differences existed in frequency of reality TV subgenre viewing, but not in orientations.

The rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated: What the data say about the future of television • Jack Powers, Ithaca College • There has been a great deal of controversy and speculation about the impact of the Internet and related digital media on traditional media, particularly television. Some have predicted—and sometimes purport to have discovered—a sharp decline in use of traditional media in general and television viewing in particular. Obviously, confirmation of the future awaits the passage of time. However, data of excellent quality and undeniable pertinence exist that identify the likely future pattern. Three representative national surveys of 8-18 year olds– each about five years apart– report on comprehensive media use in the United States. At the time of the first (1999), Internet use was well underway. By the time of the second (2004), Internet use had reached a high state of development, and by the time of the third (2009), wireless broadband was widely available for use in handheld devices, tablet computers, and portable laptops.  Between 1999 and 2009, time spent on the Internet more than tripled (3.6x) and new uses, not significant at the time of the first survey, appeared by the second and third surveys. However, traditional media—screen, audio, print—did not see the drastic decreases many had expected. Instead, total time devoted to television content increased considerably, but real differences in how that content is being accessed have emerged.

Breaking the News: Advertising Embedded in Local Television Broadcasts & Journalist Alienation • Andrea Prewitt, Portland State University • Advertisements have become an increasingly dominant part of daily life and television news is no exception. Market-driven journalism has impacted the way outlets choose stories as well as how they get covered. However, there is still work to be done on the overlooked issue of advertising embedded in news content and the effect it has on both viewer and newsroom values. This study aims to reveal how one station features promotional pieces about businesses and organizations that also pay to have commercials run on that channel. These stories are not clearly labeled as advertisements or sponsored spots and instead blend in with pieces on other topics and events. The practice is an abuse of the public airwaves and forces journalists to struggle with their own professional identity. However, these effects are part of a larger movement that will also be addressed: the implication of market-driven journalism. This study includes a textual analysis of stories the station aired during one program over four months in 2008 to understand the scope of embedded advertising. Additionally, the paper analyzes qualitative interviews with station employees through Karl Marx’s concept of alienation. Journalists come to realize that their work is slowly severed from its definition as a personal contribution to society and any sense of self that is tied to professional identity fails to coincide with roles assumed on the job.

Seeing what you get: A comparison of newspapers’ visual brand personalities and consumer perceptions • Adriane Jewett, University of Kansas; Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • A visual brand analysis identifies distinctive characteristics and current branding trends in the eight largest newspapers in the U.S., including USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post.  Additionally, A survey of college students (n = 608) utilizes J. Aaker’s (1997) Brand Personality Scale to examine the visual brand personality of top-circulating U.S. newspapers.  The theory of semiotics classifies newspaper brands as symbols, allowing the researcher to study their signified meanings and associations. Unaided versus aided personality rankings indicate that students with no visual brand aids rank newspapers as more personality filled than those face-to-face with the visual brand.  An analysis of current branding strategies concludes that most of the sample newspapers (7) portray an exciting or competent brand personality and suggests that newspapers are failing to realize the full potential of their visual brands.

Perceived Threat, Immigration Policy Support, and Media Coverage: Hostile Media and Presumed Effects in North Carolina • Brendan Watson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Journalism & Mass Communication; Daniel Riffe, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill • This study, using survey data (N=529), examined perceived “”threat,”” subjective knowledge about immigration, support for punitive and assimilative policies, and opinions about media coverage effects. Perceived threat was related to support for punitive policies, and “”hostile media perception”” was confirmed.  However, perceived threat was not related to presumed influence of coverage. Internet use, age, race, and education predicted threat perception; perceived threat, perceived favorableness of coverage, and daily newspaper reading predicted presumed influence of coverage.

Stereotypical Beauty Norms in Advertisements in Fashion Magazines • Sara Roedl, Southern Illinois University • This study examined models in advertisements in fashion magazines to determine whether portrayals conforming to the stereotypical beauty ideal decreased during a 5 year period. Fifteen codes were used to examine women in ads in Cosmopolitan and Glamour.  While some characteristics were shown with equal frequency, significant changes occurred in ethnicity, skin tone, hair length, and age, indicating an increase in the portrayal of multi-ethnic women and women over the age of 30.

What Makes Young Adults Care to Read Online Health Messages?  Efficacy and Exemplar Impacts on Message Perceptions and Selective Exposure • Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick; Melanie Sarge, The Ohio State University • Avoidance of health information presents a paramount challenge to health communication campaigns. Drawing on social-cognitive theory and exemplification theory, two studies examined how efficacy and exemplification as message characteristics influence young adults’ selective exposure and perceptions of health messages. Participants (n = 258) browsed an online magazine, with news leads varying by efficacy and exemplification, while selective exposure was unobtrusively logged. Participants generally preferred exemplar information. Men favored ‘low efficacy, exemplar’ messages; women avoided ‘high efficacy, base-rate’ messages. A second experiment (n = 111) examined how efficacy and exemplification affected message perceptions and found neither influenced relevance perceptions but both affected perceived message intent. Results suggest a trade-off of using persuasive elements in health campaigns, as they may reduce exposure.

The Ku Klux Klan’s right-wing appeal: An examination of today’s more mainstream KKK • Andrew Selepak, The University of Florida; john SUTHERLAND, uf dept of adv • The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among political orientation and fundamental Christian beliefs and agreement with Ku Klux Klan ideology. Results suggest political orientation and Christian fundamental beliefs are significantly related, but not as strong as expected, to agreement with Klan values. These findings support the notion the Klan is taking steps to rebrand its image into a more mainstream organization with an ideology similar to white, religious and political conservatives.

Examining Persuasion Appeals and Substance Featured in Antismoking and Antidrug Advertisements in Social Marketing Campaigns • Drew Shade, Penn State University; Robert Magee, Virginia Tech; Erin Cooper, The Johns Hopkins Institutions; Sarah Long, O’Keeffe & Company • Due to continuing debate regarding the best ways to use mass media to discourage youth marijuana and tobacco use, social marketing campaigns must examine which persuasion appeals will be most effective in changing young adults’ attitudes and behavior. Although the effects of fear appeals have been well documented, much less is known about the impact of humor and shock appeals. The effectiveness of these appeals was tested in a factorial experiment (N = 209) with persuasion appeal (fear vs. shock vs. humor) and substance featured (tobacco vs. marijuana) as factors. Findings revealed that the appeals had differing effects and that the success of any given appeal also depended on the substance with which the appeal was used.

The Use of Blogging as Online Grassroots Activism: Analysis of Blogs in the Scott Sisters Case • Thomas Broadus, University of Southern Mississippi; Melody Fisher, University of Southern Mississippi; Riva Teague, University of Southern Mississippi; Jae-Hwa Shin, University of Southern Mississippi • This study uses content analysis to examine the presence, involvement and mobilization of blogs in the case of Gladys and Jamie Scott, two sisters from Mississippi who received double life sentences for an armed robbery they say they did not commit. This study is significant because it examines how activists used blogs to publicize the Scott sisters&#8223; case to push for their early release from prison, which the governor granted after nearly 17 years. Blog posts and comments are analyzed and compared in terms of theme, frame, emotion, language and message. Results show that about half the blogs were administered by African Americans. Blog posts primarily provided case background and were predominantly oriented in the direction of personal and political content. The dominant theme was fact-based for blog posts and value-based for comments. The blog posts and comments both employed an episodic dominant frame, diagnostic language and neutral emotions. The findings support similar research that shows most bloggers tend to provide information rather than push their readers to take action.

Teaching Millennials to Engage THE Environment instead of THEIR Environment: A Pedagogical Analysis • Rick Stevens, University of Colorado Boulder; Deserai Crow, University of Colorado Boulder • This paper examines the difficulty in teaching contemporary students of journalism (those in the much-discussed Millennial Generation) to cover complex topics like science and environmental reporting. After examining contemporary literature, the authors subjected 120 undergraduate students to a strategy that combined visual representations of abstract concepts, media texts and experiential peer interactions with positive outcomes on comprehension and demonstrations of critical analysis.

Evolutionary Psychology, Social Emotions and Social Networking Sites — An Integrative Model • Sandra Suran; Gary Pettey; Cheryl Bracken; Robert Whitbred • This exploratory research employed an Evolutionary Psychology (EP) perspective whereby the human mind is viewed through the lens of the physiological and psychological mechanisms that created the developmental programs we use today (Cosmides & Tooby, 1992). This theoretical framework was used to study the relationship between human behavior, the state of alienation, and Social Networking Sites  (SNS). Based on survey data from college students, there seemed to be a relationship between alienation and SNS. Alienation dimensions were highest among those who had the lowest amount of contacts on SNS.  The findings from this study will add to the body of knowledge on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) as well as afford an opportunity for further research in understanding human behavior engaged in SNS through the viewpoint of Evolutionary Psychology.

The Concept Of Online Image Of A Brand And Its Application To Nation Brands • Giorgi Topouria, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism • Unlike traditional media, Internet, which is a dynamic global information system, is no longer just communication channel, but environment into which human communication and interactions are moving, and where these interactions leave tangible trace, forever changing the environment itself and parties involved.  Under these circumstances, the concept of brand acquires new momentum and special importance, especially for nations. With globalization and IT revolution, countries have become increasingly aware of their image internally and internationally. The concept of brand has strong connection to reputation and image of a country which is becoming increasingly important in world where everything is interconnected. Many countries adopted approach that looks at nations as brands and started managing their country’s image based on branding methods and practices developed within advertising, marketing and PR fields. This approach has become known as nation branding.  Based on Chaffee’s blueprint, the paper provides detailed explication of concept of online brand image conceptualized as dynamic sum of all available online information related to brand. Explication includes: justification, empirical description, primitive terms, underlying assumptions, variables, unit definition, operationalization and measurement. Further, the concept is applied to nation-brands, integrated into framework of conceptual model of nation image formation and is used as foundation for expansion of conceptual model of key perspectives in nation image.  Paper suggests an expanded model of image of nation-brand and defines directions of future study of how online brand image of nation affects countries’/nations’ reputation and global competitiveness.

Twitter As Public Salience: An Agenda-Setting Analysis • Christopher Vargo, Fall 2011: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Twitter provides an opportunity as a source of public opinion. Therefore, this paper argued Twitter as an indirect measurement of public salience. The issues of BP Oil and The Mortgage and Housing Crisis were given a time series analysis. First and second-level agenda setting variables were coded for television newscasts and newspapers and interpreted as measurements of media salience. Tweets were labeled public salience. A mild relationship between media salience and public salience was shown.

Are you for real? Communication Professionals, Virtual Identity Deception, and Consumer Backlash • Anastasia Pronin; Carson Wagner, Ohio University • Promoters have recognized electronic word-of-mouth can boost message effectiveness. Using anonymous identities, they’ve acted as “”everyday people”” to gain credibility but risk exposure, begging the question whether it causes more harm than good. A two- condition experiment (N= 59) examines source deception exposure effects on credibility and attitudes. In one condition, participants read eWOM by a professional who self- disclosed. In another, participants read the same message — by a product “”enthusiast.” Results show deception exposure backlash effects.

Re-Enlightenment: How Contemporary Dissenters in Pop Culture are Cultivating a New Age of Reason • Sheliea Walker • This essay seeks to explore the similarities between 18th century literature during The Enlightenment and 21st century discourse in the media. I propose that our society is entering a new age of enlightenment based on contemporary expression of dissent in popular culture. Just as in the age of The Enlightenment, dissenting opinions push our society toward increased progress, equality, and tolerance.

Are We Signing In or Logging Off?: The Effect of Information and Entertainment-seeking Internet use on Civic Engagement and the Role of Psychological Well Being and Political Talk • JungHwan Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nathan Hebert, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Chia-chen Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; MinWoo Kwon, University of Wisconsin at Madison; Stephanie Hartwig, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This article examines how two distinctive patterns of Internet use are associated with civic engagement, how four age cohorts might moderate these relationships, and how psychological well-being and political talk might mediate them. The data, drawn from the 2006 DDB Life Style Survey, indicate a positive effect for information-seeking use of the Internet on civic engagement, and a negative effect for entertainment-seeking use.  For both types of use, the effects of the Internet on engagement were largest for the youngest cohort and grew weaker, sometimes to insignificance, as age increased. A mediating role for political talk was not found. A mediating role for psychological well-being was found, but only for the youngest age cohort, “”Net Generation””.  For Net Generation, both types of Internet use were negatively associated with well-being, and lower well-being scores were associated with higher civic engagement. Though no mediation effect of well-being was found for the two oldest age cohorts, for them higher well-being was associated with higher civic engagement. Our findings suggest that Internet effects on civic engagement are changing and may be growing more influential on the young. The results underscore the need to continually track these relationships in rapidly changing democratic information societies.

Exploring Political Polarization: Polarized Attitudes or Polarized Perceptions? • JungHwan Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin – Madison • This study first examined multiple dimensions of political polarization by differentiating between the affective and cognitive components of attitude polarization and by introducing new concept of issue perception polarization. Then we identified factors that predict each aspect of polarization. In doing this, we constructed several measures that capture polarization at the group and individual level. Based on national survey data that conducted in Colombia in 2010, we found that the affective and cognitive attitude polarization and issue perception polarization showed different patterns: issue perception and cognitive attitude are highly polarized, whereas affective attitude polarization is not that severe. Also the predictors of each dimension of the polarization were different: the impact of media use was found only for affective attitude polarization; the extreme political ideology affects affective attitude polarization; and the extreme issue perception affects cognitive attitude polarization and issue perception polarization. The findings suggest that political polarization is consisted of multiple distinctive dimensions, which are differently influenced by diverse predictors. Further implications in polarization research were discussed.

Conflict Thesis or the Reverse?: Testing the Relationships among Religiosity, Attitude toward Science and Technology, Media Use, and Subjective Health Status among 56 Societies • Qingjiang (Q. J.) Yao, Fort Hays State University • Does religiosity harms supports to science and technology advancements? Does news media use mediate the relationship? With data drawn from the recent wave of world value survey that covers 56 societies, this study finds that religiosity neither increases nor decreases supports toward science and technology but enhances self-rated health status. Religiosity reduces news media use, but consuming news media does not improve health status and it lowers supports toward science and technology advancements.

<< 2011 Abstracts

Magazine 2011 Abstracts

The globalization of beauty:  An examination of messages about ideal beauty communicated to readers of fashion and beauty magazines published worldwide • Yan Yan; Kim Bissell, University of Alabama • Mass media have long been considered responsible for perpetuating norms about beauty and attractiveness cross-culturally. The current research examined how ideal beauty and its related constructs were represented by four top fashion magazines—Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Elle and Vogue in 12 countries via a content analysis of 71 magazines. Results indicate an assimilation of norms about beauty and attractiveness across four different magazines published worldwide. Results reveal that there was less evidence of cultural influence on “”ideal beauty””  as the models pictured in editorial content had very similar beauty constructs.  These and other findings are discussed.

Candid conversations: A content analysis of the subjects of the Playboy Interview • Ashley Carnifax, Ohio University • This paper explores the subjects of the Playboy Interview from its start in September 1962 until March 2011, looking specifically at genders, ages, races, and professions.  A content analysis of these 569 interviews showed that the majority were white, male, and part of the TV/film industry.  Data also indicate that the interview has moved from a more political and activist focus during the 1960s and 1970s to a more celebrity-driven focus in the 2000s.

Cosmonaut to Chimpanzee: The Framing of the First Woman in Space by American Magazines • Kathleen Endres, University of Akron • This paper examines how American magazines presented the story of the flight of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to orbit the earth, in 1963. Utilizing the framing analytical technique, the author found that most American magazines ignored the story. Twelve magazines covered it. Frames are discussed by category of magazine. Tuchman’s views of the “”symbolic annihilation of women”” are supported.

The Traveling Gourmet: Culinary Tourism in Gourmet Magazine 1941-1990 • Elizabeth Fakazis, Univ of Wisconsin Stevens Point • This paper uses qualitative content analysis to map culinary travel writing in Gourmet from 1941 to 1990 asking: what forms did travel articles take, how significant were they in relation to overall content, and how did they use “”authenticity”” and “”exoticism,”” two concepts researchers have identified as central to contemporary culinary journalism. My goal is to provide a historical context for scholarship that has focused attention on culinary journalism produced since the mid-1990s.

Establishing and adhering to sexual consent:  The association between reading magazines and college students’ sexual consent negotiation • Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Paula Adams, Washington State University; Emily Marett, Mississippi State University; Jessica Willoughby; Chunbo Ren, Washington State University; Ming Lei; Weina Ran, Washington State University; Cassie Norman; Marie Louise Radanielina-Hita • Magazines may influence the sexual scripts individuals establish as norms for sexual behavior (Ward & Walsh, 2009). The current study tests whether exposure to magazines is associated with sexual consent negotiation.  A survey of 313 college students indicate that exposure to men’s magazines was significantly negatively associated with sexual consent seeking and adherence to decisions about sexual consent. In contrast, exposure to women’s magazines was significantly negatively associated with refusal of unwanted sexual activity.

Characteristics of Online Editors at City and Regional Magazines • Joy Jenkins, Oklahoma State University • Continually updated websites have become necessary additions to traditionally print publications, such as newspapers and magazines. In recent years, a particular subset of magazines, city and regional magazines, has also followed this trend, creating online editions with much of the same content as found in their print editions. Many of these magazines have also hired web-focused editors to oversee their online editions, creating online-exclusive content and filling a number of other roles. This study profiles online editors at city and regional magazines that are members of the City and Regional Magazine Association. A survey of these online editors reveals that they share many similarities. Their online editions have many of the same types of content, including articles repurposed from the print edition, blogs and directories and databases, and these online editors have many of the same job duties, including managing social media, copy editing articles and writing blogs. They also see themselves as having similar roles and responsibilities in their workplaces, such as increasing traffic to their online editions and creating a sense of community with their readers. These online editors are similar in the pressures they face as well, with small staff sizes, limited resources and pressure to accommodate advertisers. Overall, these online editors aim to create online editions that are well-designed and functional and present exclusive, dynamic content that will attract readers and present information on a variety of topics.

‘This Shot Can Save Your Life!’ (Or Can It?): Framing of the HPV Vaccine in Teen, Parenting, and Women’s Magazines • Carolyn Lepre, Marist College • In 2006, a highly effective vaccine was approved that would protect against four strains of the HPV virus, which is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S. This study investigated how selected teen, parenting, and women’s magazines framed information concerning the HPV vaccine between 2006 and 2010, with a goal of discovering how the vaccine was presented as well as if the frames in the magazine types shifted over the time period studied.

Self-Schema-Persuasion Perspectives on Localization vs. Internationalization: A Case Study of ELLE China’s Editorial Strategies • Zhengjia Liu, The University of Iowa; Marcia R. Prior-Miller, Iowa State University; Jie Yan, Peking University, China • This study examined how international periodicals solve the tensions between internationalization and localization. Analysis of the editorial content of 20 years’ issues of Elle China showed increasing amounts of content directly produced by the local editing team. Findings indicate the magazine balances the tensions between sociological contexts and audiences’ psychological perceptions by using Eastern faces to present international brand items. Thus the publication in China caters to consumerist values of worshiping the Western lifestyle, while appealing to audience members’ self-schema.

Effects of media type, news topic and celebrity type on use of media frames • Jing Liu • Through content analysis of 331 cover news stories randomly sampled from two leading but competing news weeklies with top circulation in Hong Kong during the past 20 years, this paper investigated the effects of media type, news topic and celebrity type on the use of media frames in popular journalism.   The results yielded significant effects of news topic and celebrity type on the use of media frames, except for media type. Overall, human interest frame is most frequently used in Hong Kong popular journalism, followed by economic frame, conflict/violence frame, attribution of responsibility, sexuality, social injustice and morality frame.   It is observed that Hong Kong popular journalism focuses intensively on celebrity news, with achieved celebrity as the main concern. There is an increasing entrance of ordinary people into celebrity system, which are highly associated with sexuality frame, while economic and social injustice frames are most frequently used in ascribed celebrity, and morality frame are most used in coverage of ordinary people rather than celebrity. It is noteworthy that the human interest frame are used generally frequently across all news topics and celebrity types, with the peak in coverage of attributed celebrity and ordinary people.   News topic worked as an efficient mediator in the effect of celebrity type on the use of media frames. It is noteworthy that social injustice frame is most frequently used in political/military news but least in entertainment news; sexuality frame are most used in entertainment news while least in economic news.

Embedded in the Gulf: On the Ground with the Boys of Company C • J. Keith Saliba, Jacksonville University; Ted Geltner, Valdosta State University • Relatively few studies have systematically analyzed the ways literary journalists construct meaning within their narratives. This study employed rhetorical framing analysis to discover embedded meaning within the text of John Sack’s Gulf War Esquire articles. Textual analysis revealed several dominant frames and one master frame capable of shaping readers’ interpretation of events. The study concludes that Sack’s literary approach to war reportage is in many ways superior to that of conventional journalism.

Changing Attitudes, Changing Lives: How the Christian Press Framed the AIDS in Africa Crisis • Ken Waters, Pepperdine University; Elizabeth Smith, Pepperdine University • During the past three decades, no region has been more devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic than the continent of Africa, specifically the sub-Saharan countries. While active now, churches in both Africa and North America were slow to respond with compassion and educational resources as the crisis grew. Initially, high profile fundamentalist Christians claimed AIDS was God’s punishment on homosexuals, a further sign of the “”end times”” (Long, 2005; Palmer, 1996).  One important source that helped change perceptions of Christians in America were the specialized publications targeted to these believers. This research explores how Christian periodicals framed the AIDS in Africa crisis, and, in turn, set an agenda for how religious individuals and their organizations eventually responded to the growing pandemic.  Five frames dominated religious periodical coverage of the AIDS crisis in Africa:  moral responsibility, theological and doctrinal controversy, victimization, education and policy considerations, and medical and scientific care/concern. The variety of articles and frames used by the publications highlighted the plight of AIDS victims in such a way as to help readers understand the need to reach out and help others in the name of their religion.  As a result, by early in the 21st century, churches in North America became a major source of funding and advocacy on behalf of those suffering with the virus.

<< 2011 Abstracts

Law and Policy 2011 Abstracts

Opting-in to Privacy: A Comparison of Proposed Online Privacy Protections • Courtney Barclay, Syracuse University • In 2010, The Wall Street Journal launched an investigative series on “one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet — spying on consumers.” The use of online tracking methods, particularly for commercial purposes, has raised significant privacy concerns for consumers. Advertisers using behavioral targeting technologies are able to analyze a person’s web viewing habits “to predict user preferences or interests — based on the preferences or interests inferred from such Web viewing behaviors.” The industry has promoted self-regulatory principles and implementation tools to respond to these concerns. However, in December 2010, the Federal Trade Commission reported that these efforts “have been too slow and up to now have failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection.” The Obama administration has supported broader legislation that would offer more comprehensive protection of individuals’ private data. The leading model for data privacy protection is the 1980 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data, to which the United States is a signatory. This article examines two leading privacy law proposals — the Privacy Bill of Rights draft proposal and the BEST PRACTICES Act — in the context of the OECD principles. This examination concludes that the legislative proposals fill significant gaps in the protection offered by self-regulatory schemes and current privacy laws.

Libel Capital No More? Reforming British Defamation Law • Stephen Bates, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • London has repeatedly been called the libel capital of the world, but after years of criticism, it appears that change may finally be under way. In August 2010, President Obama signed into law the SPEECH Act, which addresses the problem of libel tourism as it affects Americans. Further, a January 2011 ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is likely to reduce the costs facing unsuccessful defendants in some British defamation cases. In addition, and most significantly, the British government released proposals for far-reaching reform of defamation law in March 2011.  This article analyzes the potential reforms of British defamation law. First, it summarizes provisions of the current law, the major criticisms and defenses of them, and the government’s proposals for change. Second, it examines issues related to the costs of litigating defamation cases in Britain, which are not addressed in the government’s proposed bill. Third, the article summarizes and evaluates the American SPEECH Act. Fourth, the article considers the extent to which the completed and the proposed reforms may ameliorate the perceived shortcomings of British defamation law, and discusses problems that are likely to endure. The conclusion notes that major reform of long-criticized defamation law in Britain may finally be at hand, though much remains to be done.

Revisiting the Right to Offend Forty Years After Cohen v. California • Clay Calvert, University of Florida • This paper examines the lasting legacy of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Cohen v. California upon its fortieth anniversary.  After providing a primer on the case that draws from briefs filed by both Melville Nimmer (for Robert Paul Cohen) and Michael T. Sauer (for California), as well as newspaper articles from the era about the case, the paper examines how subsequent rulings by the nation’s high court have been influenced by the logic and reasoning of Justice Harlan’s majority opinion in Cohen.  The legacy, the paper illustrates, is about far more than just protecting offensive expression.  The paper then illustrates how lower courts, at the state and federal levels, have used Cohen to articulate a laundry list of principles regarding First Amendment jurisprudence.  The paper concludes by considering how new technologies and the digital age may affect Cohen’s future influence, as well as how President Barack Obama’s call in January 2011 for a more civil public discourse about political issues stands counterposed to the First Amendment rights provided by Cohen.  Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court’s eight-justice majority opinion in March 2011 in Snyder v. Phelps demonstrates that, at least for today, the right-to-offend principle is alive and well.

The Texting and E-mailing of Fighting Words • Clay Calvert, University of Florida • This paper examines the viability of the aging fighting words doctrine in the digital era.  In particular, the paper explores whether the doctrine, which was designed to address face-to-face confrontations and responsive violence, can be narrowly modified and adapted to apply to new modes of real-time, electronic communication, including texts, instant messages and e-mails.  This issue is timely and ripe for review because the doctrine, if modified, might serve as one legal vehicle for censoring and/or punishing so-called cyber bullies who use these forms of digital communication to convey personally abusive expression in targeted, one-on-one fashion.  In the process of analyzing this issue, the paper addresses the U.S. Supreme Court’s apparent unwillingness in its 2010 opinion in United States v. Stevens for creating new categories of unprotected expression and queries whether this would translate to an equal unwillingness to modify extant categories of unprotected expression.  Significantly, the paper examines the transcript of the October 2010 oral argument in Snyder v. Phelps to search for indications of how current members of the high court interpret the meaning of the fighting words doctrine.

SLAPPing e-Publius: Protecting Anonymous Expression and Reputation in a Digital Age • Brian Carroll, Berry College • This paper examines the difficulty in balancing an individual’s right to reputation against another’s right to anonymous expression online, and in so doing it argues against a takedown notice for online defamation similar to that legislated as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and against any effort to criminalize online defamation as antithetical to the First Amendment. In fighting off these problematic responses to the admittedly growing problem of anonymous defamation online, this paper examines imbalances created by, among other things, ISP immunity granted by the Communications Decency Act, public figure-private citizen distinctions, and the lack of uniformity among state-level anti-SLAPP statutes.

Donaldson v. Beckett and the Common Law of Literary Property: A Century of American Scholarly Perceptions and Misperceptions • Edward Carter, Brigham Young University; Jessica Danowski; Jena Green, Brigham Young University; Karina Shamaileh-Marcella, Brigham Young University • This article attempts to address more than a century of American misperceptions about the 1774 House of Lords copyright case Donaldson v. Beckett by, first, undertaking a detailed examination of the case itself using not just the five reported versions of the House of Lords opinion but also contemporary newspaper accounts.  Although other scholars have referred to a small number of the news accounts, this article undertakes a lengthy and comprehensive review of the news reports, in conjunction with the official versions of the case.  The newspaper accounts reveal significant previously unrecognized, or at least underappreciated, facts about the case.  Next, the article documents the extent of American legal scholars’ misperceptions of and confusion about Donaldson.  Finally, the article discusses the import of these misperceptions.

New Technology, Old Obstacles: FOI Advocates Share Their Struggles for Access in the Digital Age • Sandra Chance, University of Florida; Christina Locke, University of Florida • While closed-door meetings, secret files and surreptitious telephone calls were once the primary means that government officials circumvented public scrutiny, new technology poses new challenges.  Modern technology provides government employees and elected officials with a whole new arsenal of ways to avoid transparency, if they choose to do so.  This paper explores the ways state freedom of information (FOI) advocates are coping with the challenges presented by technology.  A survey distributed to FOI advocates nationwide revealed that while technology is influencing the amount of access (for better or worse), most concerns still revolve around the government employees and elected officials upon whom the public depends upon to carry out the function of government and be the guardian of public resources and information.  Most respondents also felt new laws would help ensure access in the digital age.  Nationwide collaboration among FOI advocates may be the best way to achieve effective changes in the law.

“Blurring” and “Tarnishment”: How Federal Courts Have Applied the 2006 Trademark Dilution Revision Act Standards. • Roxane Coche, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • A trademark is a word or a symbol used by the owner to brand a product or service, and communicate to consumers the source of that product or service. The unauthorized use of a trademark, or something similar, to brand product or service can lead to consumer confusion and allow the trademark owner to sue the offending party for trademark infringement under federal law. However, federal law offers another cause of action for trademark owners when the circumstances of an unauthorized commercial use do not create consumer confusion but instead lessen the trademark’s uniqueness to brand a product or service — the dilution claim. To protect famous trademarks from dilution, Congress enacted, in 1995, the first comprehensive federal law, the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA). After a case — Moseley v. V. Secret Catalogue, Inc. — made its way to the Supreme Court, Congress amended the FTDA in the Trademark Dilution Revision Act (TDRA) in 2006. Included in the modifications brought by the TDRA, a new definition of dilution introduced the concepts of “blurring” and “tarnishment.” This study examines the extent to which federal courts have allowed dilution claims under the “blurring” and the “tarnishing” standards set out in the TDRA. It demonstrates that although both constitute dilution, the factors and evidence that come into play, in each of them, are far from being similar.

An Extinction of Transparency: The Opaque Endangered Species List • Benjamin W. Cramer, Pennsylvania State University • This paper reconstructs the Endangered Species Act as a government information statute. That Act makes use of an official list of threatened plants and animals, which is used for agency action and the enforcement of regulations. However, this paper argues that the official list of threatened species is not sufficiently accurate or transparent to citizens, making the list a violation of not just environmental law but also government transparency policy.

Unknown Knowns: Judicial Review and Mosaic Theory in the years of the George W. Bush Administration • Kelly Davis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The purpose of this paper is to look for trends in post-9/11 judicial deference to mosaic theory claims concerning national security, including both FOIA national security exemption claims, law enforcement exemption claims involving terrorism investigations, and the state secrets privilege.  Findings indicate that the level of deference given to executive claims of national security is moderate overall, but precedence of judicial review has been set to strong and weak standards by appellate courts composed of democratic and republican appointees, respectively.

Corporate Underwriting on PBS and the Funding of Children’s Educational Television • Joelle Gilmore, University of Pennsylvania • The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 prohibits PBS from airing advertisements, but changes to underwriting polices in 2008 allow child-friendly production techniques common to commercial networks. Using samples from 2006/2010, we analyze underwriting spots during children’s programming before and after the changes. Spots from 2006 included fewer child-friendly techniques and were more likely to represent adult-focused industries.  A new business model is needed if PBS is to remain a provider of high-quality, non-commercial children’s programming.

Snyder v. Phelps and the Death of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress as a Speech-based Tort • Wat Hopkins, Virginia Tech • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that the Westboro Baptist Church was not liable for damages in Albert Snyder’s lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress because the church’s protests at the funeral of Snyder’s son involved matters of public concern.  The Court’s focus on a subject-matter based protection for Westboro’s speech makes it virtually impossible for private persons who are brutalized by verbal attacks to achieve recourse through the courts.

Tweeting the Police Scanner: The Rediscovered Liabilities • Bill Hornaday, Indiana University • This article examines First Amendment issues that might arise when professional or citizen journalists use Twitter to spread information obtained from “police scanner” transmissions. It addresses confusion concerning the practice’s legality and illustrates potential risks. It concludes by arguing that “scanner tweeting” should be done sparingly and under guidelines that minimize the spread of flawed information, reduce the risk of a potential defamation lawsuit, and promote the safety of emergency personnel, the public, and media.

Poker and Prostitution: Craig v. Henry and the Dilemma of Hypothetical Online Prostitution • Jack Karlis, University of South Carolina • Craigslist is a free online forum for users to exchange goods, information and services. Under its “services” heading, content once listed an “erotic” heading, containing user generated ads for “legal escort services, massage workers, exotic dancers, erotic phone lines and other services for ads that often contain adult content” to deter the aforementioned adult-themed content out of other postings on the site. South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and the South Carolina law enforcement officials involved in craigslist, Inc. v. Henry D. McMaster, et al. aimed to stop the illegal activity of prostitution in their own state’s confines, but the actions taken by both parties in the cases have raised greater concerns in the realm of commercial speech in the United States. The U.S. District Court’s ruling and logic for dismissing craigslist’s appeal in its entirety raises more questions than it answers. Why was craigslist not considered a third-party provider in regards to its content? Why was craigslist singled out when various other online outlets offered the same type of content in some way, shape or form? Weren’t craiglist’s numerous restrictions and revisions to the content considered enough? Were McMaster and his party’s threats of criminal prosecution “credible” enough? Was prior restraint involved when craigslist decided to completely eliminate its adult/erotic section? Was the decision of this case incorrectly resolved using current commercial speech guidelines in place? This paper will aim to answer these questions and examine the possible restrictive effect this case may have on future online commercial speech.

What the Numbers Tell Us: FOIA Implementation under the Obama Administration • Minjeong Kim, Colorado State University • The Obama administration’s FOIA policy clearly contrasts with that of the Bush administration. To examine if the Obama administration’s policy change has resulted in differences in the actual processing of FOIA requests, this study compares FOIA implementation between the two administrations. The study analyzes quantitative data collected from twenty-five federal agencies’ annual FOIA reports. The study findings suggest that overall the twenty-five agencies have granted more access under the Obama administration than the Bush administration.

State Action, Public Forum and the NCAA: First Amendment Rights of the Credentialed Media • Michael Martinez, University of Tennessee Knoxville • In 2007, the NCAA revoked the press credentials of a newspaper reporter for blogging during a tournament baseball game. The association was concerned that it would infringe on broadcast rights granted to ESPN and violate their copyright. This paper will make the case that the revocation was an infringement on the newspaper’s First Amendment right of a free press to disseminate the news and will examine it through copyright law, state action and forum analysis.

A Textual Analysis of the Influence of McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission in Cases Involving Anonymous Online Commenters • Jasmine McNealy, Syracuse University • In McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an Ohio law that prohibited the distribution of anonymous campaign material.  According to the court, speakers may want to remain anonymous for fear of physical, social, and economic reprisal, “Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority.” But the McIntyre decision concerned offline communications.  A question remains as to whether the courts have or are willing to apply McIntyre to anonymous Internet communications, and if so, is that application limited only to political speech.  This study examines these questions in an attempt understand what impact McIntyre has had on the protection of online anonymity by presenting an textual analysis of cases in which subpoenas have been issued to identify anonymous online commenters.

Might This “Legal Attack Dog” Have Much Bite? Righthaven, Fair Use and the Unauthorized Reproduction of News Content Online • Scott Parrott, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • While the Internet allows newspapers and other news producers a chance to reach larger audiences than ever before and to generate revenue through online advertising and subscriptions, the World Wide Web also creates challenges regarding the unauthorized duplication of original news content. Computers and the Internet allow users an easy, quick, and inexpensive method for disseminating exact copies of articles, video footage, photographs and other news content to wide audiences without asking for the copyright owner’s permission. A host of recent copyright infringement lawsuits against bloggers and other Web site operators for republishing news content without permission highlights the growing prominence of a clash between original news content producers and secondary publishers online.  The present paper examines federal court decisions since 1985 to determine how courts have treated fair use in copyright infringement cases in which news content was the material in controversy. The analysis found that federal courts have more often than not denied the fair use defense in copyright infringement lawsuits involving news content. While its factual nature favors fair use, news content still enjoys copyright protection especially when a secondary use is for commercial purposes and hinders the market for the original work.

A SLAPP in the Facebook: Assessing the Impact of Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation on Social Networks • Robert Richards, Pennsylvania State University • In fall 2010, Sony Pictures released The Social Network, a movie about the birth and rapid growth of Facebook.  In the first five weeks of its release, the film grossed $79.7 million as well as critical acclaim.  The film also explores the legal wrangling among the site’s innovators in the technology’s early stages.  Today, larger legal concerns are looming from outside the social networks’ inner circle — specifically, third parties who are suing users directly in an effort to shut them up, close them down or teach them a costly lesson.   The weapon — Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) — has been a tactic for decades, but the proliferation of online targets, such as Facebook pages, blogs and consumer gripe sites have breathed new life into this nefarious litigation practice.  Additionally, SLAPPs aimed at online discussion pose a particularized threat not only to the technology-driven marketplace of ideas but also the centuries-old notion of anonymous speech.  For various motives, online users often post anonymously or under pseudonyms.  SLAPP filers in search of targets are issuing subpoenas designed to unmask the identities of these posters.  Anti-SLAPP statutes provide some protection to online speakers, but they are of varying availability and utility.  This paper explores the legal issues and challenges faced by social network users, bloggers and consumers who gripe online.  It argues that a national, rather than state-by-state, solution to the problem of online SLAPPs is needed and explores whether legislation pending in Congress addresses the pressing issues.

Tobacco Advertising Regulations, Counter-marketing Campaigns and the Compelling Interest in Protecting Children’s Health • Derigan Silver, University of Denver; Kelly Fenson-Hood, University of Denver • The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly that even a compelling interest in protecting children’s health would not allow the government to overly burden the flow of communication to adults about tobacco products has left public health officials with little room to craft tobacco advertising restrictions that are both demonstrably effective and constitutional. Focusing on social scientific research in the field of health communication and the legal doctrines of counterspeech and government speech, this paper posits that a national counter-marketing tobacco prevention campaign targeting youth and paid for with compulsory fees or a tax paid by tobacco companies would advance the government’s interest in preventing youth smoking, better uphold First Amendment ideals and allow adults to continue to receive information about legal products. However, the paper also concludes that not all counter-marketing campaigns are created equal and campaigns should focus on using techniques proven to be effective.

Two Dominant Industries, One Regulatory Agency: Lobbying Strategies to Attain Regulatory Capture • Amy Sindik, University of Georgia • What happens when two dominant industries are regulated by the same agency?  The majority of strategic regulatory research operates under the assumption that the agency is captured by a single, dominant industry.  Having two dominant industries regulated by the same agency impacts the lobbying strategies of organizations in both industries. This article uses lobbying contributions from the broadcast and telecommunications industries, two dominant industries competing for regulatory capture by the FCC, to examine if competing for capture alters isomorphic lobbying strategies.  The findings suggests that isomorphic lobbying strategies still occur frequently between the telecommunications and broadcast industries, but some efforts are made to begin distinguishing lobbying efforts in the areas of policy focus and the amount of internal versus external lobbying conducted by the organizations.

Journalist Privilege in 1929: The Quest for a Federal Shield Law Begins • Dean Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • “The difficulty with much constitutional scholarship, “ Professor Michael Gerhardt has said, “is that it fails to account for, much less examine, the interplay between judicial and non-judicial precedents.” Gerhardt’s theory of “non-judicial precedents” asserts that rules made outside courts — norms, regulations, statutes — shape constitutional issues long before courts intervene. The question of whether the First Amendment should provide a testimonial privilege to journalists is a case in point: No federal court addressed that issue until 1958, but journalists had framed it as a constitutional issue for decades — even as they lobbied for statutory shield laws. The primary goal of this paper is to apply Gerhardt’s theory to an early turning point in journalist-privilege history: the first attempts, in 1929, to persuade Congress to adopt a federal shield law. On Gerhardt’s view, it represented a valuable opportunity for non-judicial actors to lead a national dialogue about constitutional meaning and help define freedom of the press, largely undefined by courts at the time.  A second goal is to use original historical research to correct the record about these events and illuminate their significance. This history will emphasize the role non-judicial actors — including William Randolph Hearst and Fiorello La Guardia — played in leading a national debate about journalism, and, as Gerhardt’s theory would predict, the meaning of the First Amendment. It also will tie these events to a raft of shield laws adopted in the 1930s and 1940s, a link that never has been shown.

Vox Hawkeye: A Study in the Intellectual Call for Open Government (and How One State Heeded It) • Steve Stepanek, Georgia Southern University • Open government is the linchpin of a representative republic, for it powerfully promotes citizens’  claims for access to the seats of institutional power whereby they are able to both keep themselves informed and make their collective voices heard.  This paper provides a background of the historical/scholarly lineage of the open government movement and offers insight (based upon the legislative and journalistic records extant during the period in question) into the political and philosophical forces that developed as one state sought to implement its regime of “sunshine” laws.

Can I Use This Photo I Found on Facebook? Fair Use and Social Media Images • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University • When news breaks about unknown people, news media turn to social networking sites such as Facebook to find photographs of the subject.  However, these uses may be infringing on copyrights of photographers.  Applying the fair use analysis to photographs found online and republished for news reporting purposes, the authors conclude that courts are unlikely to approve of this defense except in situations when photographs are independently newsworthy and news publishers act in good faith.

Flying Dragon Seeking Freedom of Information: A Critique of Chinese OGI Regulations • Yong Tang, Pennsylvania State University; Halstuk Martin, Pennsylvania State University • In 2008, four decades after U.S. Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act, People’s Republic of China embraced its own concept of freedom of information. This paper examined Chinese freedom of information law known as the Open Government Information Regulations (OGI Regulations) and found that the Chinese law is embracing international standards in many areas but also have something unique. The paper examined the major flaws of the law and also examined many court cases to see how the law has been implemented.

Space to Breathe Falsely: Reexamining the Balance between Commercial Speech and Defamation 20 Years after U.S. Healthcare v. Blue Cross • Matthew Telleen, University of South Carolina • This paper examines the case of U.S. Healthcare, Inc. v. Blue Cross of Greater Philadelphia 20 years after it was decided. The case involved a choice between applying the commercial speech doctrine or traditional defamation analysis. The court focused on the commercial nature of the speech and denied the heightened protection of actual malice. A better approach would have been to engage in a tradition defamation analysis, as explained in this paper.

Good Intentions, Bad Results: Learning from Failed Media Policies to Avoid Future Mistakes • Tom Vizcarrondo, Louisiana State University • Policymakers often approach potential new regulations with good intentions that the rules will positively address a particular problem, only to observe bad results once the new policy has been implemented.  This paper studies two different media policies that produced bad results, ultimately leading to their repeal.  The paper identifies factors contributing to the failure of these policies, and paper presents recommendations for future policymaking efforts that could alleviate the problem of “good intentions, bad results.”

Retransmission Consent: An Exploration of its Past, Present and Future • Gillian Wheat, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • High-profile disputes over retransmission consent, an ongoing issue in the telecommunications industry, have resulted in several television blackouts.  Thus, the Federal Communications Commission recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comments on potential changes to the guidelines governing retransmission consent negotiations.  This paper examines the legislative and administrative history of retransmission consent, the current regulatory framework under which it is negotiated and the manner in which the Federal Communications Commission has responded to complaints.

Transparency as Talisman: The Shifting Rationales for Campaign Finance Regulation • Justin Wolfgang, University of Missouri-Columbia • This article will argue that recent developments in the Supreme Court’s view of the First Amendment as applied to corporations and the possible threat of corruption have led to an expedited dismantling of decades of precedent since the seminal campaign finance reform case of Buckley v. Valeo in 1976, which said preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption was a valid interest for regulating campaign financing.  This article will further argue that the Court has ignored legislative intent and ultimately stripped campaign finance reform down to a simplified system of using mere disclosure as a method of detecting and preventing possible corruption. The Court’s recent decision in Doe v. Reed upholds the Buckley Court’s approval of disclosure requirements as a valid method of protecting against corruption or the appearance of corruption, because the government interest in informing the public was substantially related to the means of compelled disclosure.  Finally, this article will argue that the Court’s dichotomous treatment of compelled disclosure in Reed as compared to their treatment of corporate contributions in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, contradicts its earlier decisions upholding the protection against corruption or the appearance of corruption in campaign finance reform.  Whether transparency alone can serve to eliminate potential corruption is an untested assumption, and one that represents a signal change in campaign finance philosophy.

The Ellsberg Act of 2011: Proposing a Better Policy on the Free Flow of Information in the Era of WikiLeaks, Whistleblowers and War • Jason Zenor, SUNY Oswego • In response to the WikiLeaks issue, this article proposes a new policy on the free flow of information — the Ellsberg Act. This new policy will advance transparency by promoting whistleblowing, while also promoting government efficiency by encouraging proper channels of dissemination. It will also enhance the privileges that the traditional media has already earned. Finally, this policy seeks to distinguish between beneficial “journalism” and harmful “sabotage.”

<< 2011 Abstracts

International Communication 2011 Abstracts

Bob Stevenson Open Paper Competition

The Victim/Hero Legacy of Bulgarian Crime Writer Bobby Tsankov • Edward Alwood, Quinnipiac University • Western news outlets portrayed 30-year old Bulgarian crime writer Bobby Tsankov as a “”prominent”” victim/hero in the struggle for a free press following his brutal murder in 2010.  In contrast, Bulgarian newspapers showed him as an unscrupulous trickster.  This study examines 72 articles from the most widely read Bulgarian daily newspapers to understand factors that account for the contradictory framing of Tsankov’s murder.  The findings provide an understanding of the role of framing in media mythmaking.

Global Digital Divide: Language Gap and Post-communism in Mongolia • Undrahbuyan Baasanjav, Temple University • This paper explores several factors of the global digital divide in the former socialist country of Mongolia. By analyzing manifest media content on the Internet, as well as by interviewing people involved in Internet development, this research goes beyond the question of access to the Internet and asks how language factors exacerbate the digital divide in an impoverished country. Furthermore, this research explores how post-communist political settings, aid dependency, and international organizations influence Internet development.

The Whole Online World Is Watching: Networking Sites and Activism in China, Latin America and the United States • Dustin Harp, University of Texas School of Journalism; Ingrid Bachmann, University of Texas at Austin; Lei Guo, University of Texas at Austin • Using a cross-cultural framework, this study relies on survey data to examine how activists in China, Latin America and the United States use social networking sites for their mobilizing efforts. Activists in China assigned greater importance to the importance of social media to promote debate. Those in Latin America expressed more apprehensions about the ease of using social networking sites. Respondents from the United States had greater confidence in their ability to solve community problems.

Journalism Advocacy: How Three Organizations Responded to Attacks Against Journalists in Egypt • Butler Cain, West Texas A&M University • When journalists who were covering the recent political protests in Egypt became targets of assaults and intimidation, three journalism advocacy groups – Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation of Journalists, and the Committee to Protect Journalists – responded quickly and forcefully. The press releases they issued during a two-week campaign of violence against the news media condemned Egypt’s actions, advocated for the humane treatment of all journalists, and documented dozens of incidents of press attacks and intimidation.

Reporting Global Obesity: A Longitudinal, International Comparative Study of News Coverage of the Public Health Issue as a Social Problem • Kuang-Kuo Chang, Shih Hsin University • Guided by social epidemiology concept, this research studies how 10 major newspapers in seven selected countries have covered the obesity issue. Findings broaden the theoretical scope of health communication in studying other public health or social problems and offer pragmatic implications for journalists, audiences, policymakers, and interested parties in dealing with this staggering issue, i.e. for governmental institutions to regulate food industry in advertising, confronting the seven nations, and the rest of the world.

Beauty Without Borders: Representation and role of female models in global women’s magazines published in China, India, and USA • BRIDGETTE COLACO, TROY UNIVERSITY • In China and India, a booming economy, rising salaries, disposable incomes, and a growing interest in beauty fashion, and relationships have encouraged a profitable print media industry that has led several foreign women’s magazines to launch Chinese and Indian editions. Women’s magazines not only shape how a woman views herself but also how society views her. This study is a content analysis that compared how Asian and Western models are portrayed in advertisements in Chinese, Indian, and U.S. editions of five women’s magazines. June 2010 issues of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, and Vogue, from each country were examined. Altogether 870 advertisements were analyzed across 15 magazines. In the light of how globalization integrates different cultures, beside numerical representation of models, analysis revealed meanings that advertisers attached to Chinese, Indian and Western women with regard to specific social and beauty variables. This is because advertisers synchronize models, clothes, products, and values, to needs of the target audience. Variables included type of product models advertised, relative importance of models’ role and percentage of skin-lightening creams in beauty advertisements. The study found that 30 percent of Chinese beauty advertisements promoted skin-lightening products. The ‘Snow White syndrome’ exists in Indian advertising too. Drawing on feminist, social comparison and expectancy theories, further analysis revealed meanings that advertisers attached to Chinese and Western women with regard to specific social and beauty variables. This study contributes to the research that exists on how advertisers portray women in non-American media markets.

Framing of Election News in the Bulgarian Press • Daniela Dimitrova; Petia Kostadinova • Although election news framing is a burgeoning area of research, framing studies in Eastern Europe remain extremely rare. This study analyzes the media coverage of campaign news in six elite Bulgarian newspapers during the 1990-2009 period. It investigates the use of the game and issue frames and the relationship between these frames and a number of system-level and organizational-level factors. Empirical tests show that the number of parties in government and party ownership are significant predictors of game frame use. The results are discussed in the context of framing research in Western Europe and the United States.

Still Stuck in First Gear: The Case of the German Blogosphere • Stine Eckert • An implicit assumption that informs studies of new media is that similar trends and practices are emerging across the world, with blogging being one such widely perceived trend. Analyzing the case of Germany, where blogging has been slow to develop, this paper argues that such assumptions are questionable and identifies a complex combination of social, political, economic and legal factors play a critical role in inhibiting the expansion of blogging in Germany.

Development Communication to Internet Connectivity: Milestones in United Nations Formulation and Transfer of Communication Policy to Africa (1958-2010). • Lyombe Eko, University of Iowa • This paper analyzed United Nations formulation and transfer of communication policy to Africa since 1958. It was found that the United Nations and its specialized agencies- UNESCO and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)-started formulating and transferring communication policies to Africa at the dawn of independence.  UN communication policies emphasized the role of the mass media as catalysts for development. At the turn of the 21st century, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) emphasized reduction of the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world, and encouraged Internet connectivity as the panacea for the continent’s development problems. However, there was no long-term strategy to localize and use information and communication technologies to produce content in African contexts or languages. Policies aimed at reinventing and localizing Information and Communication Technologies in Africa would facilitate the production of African content and make the Internet relevant in different African contexts.

Before They Were Revolutionaries: Assessing Journalistic Professionalism in Mubarak’s Egypt • mohamad elmasry • Egypt’s historic 2011 revolution, which ousted President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power, is expected to transform various aspects of Egyptian society. Arguably, one area in need of significant reforms is journalism. Although Egypt has been seen historically as having one of the more developed media industries in the Arab world (Amin & Napoli, 1997; Ayalon, 1995; Rugh, 2004), Egyptian journalism has historically been fraught with problems, including a lack of freedom from government control (Cooper, 2008; Fark, 2004; Mellor, 2005; Najjar, 2004; Pintak, 2008; Sakr, 2001) and poor standards of education and training (Amin, 2002; Waterbury and Richards, 2007). The ousting of Mubarak and the installation of a democratic form of government may address – if it has not already done so – the problem of press freedom. It will likely take a sustained program of reform, however, to address the education and training issues. Education and training are key because they aid the development of a journalistic ideology (Weaver et al., 2003), and are important components of journalistic professionalism in general (Harless, 1990; Weaver et al., 2003; Windahl et al., 1978). The present study — a professionalism survey of Egyptian print journalists — grew out of nearly six-months of fieldwork in Cairo conducted over the last half of 2008. The purpose of the survey was to assess various aspects of Egyptian print journalism practice and professionalism during the (late) Hosni Mubarak era. Specifically, the survey addresses journalism education and training quality, work routines, press freedom, and journalistic ideology.

Exploring the potential of wireless technologies to accelerate universal Internet access in Ghana • Ignatius Fosu, University of Arkansas • A qualitative study including in-depth interviews with ISPs explored Internet diffusion in Ghana. Findings suggest that due to Ghana’s inefficient and outdated fixed-line infrastructure, Ghana’s universal Internet access goals might not be achievable through fixed-line technologies. Rather, wireless technologies present great potential and may be more efficient. Policy suggestions to encourage widespread deployment of wireless broadband, expand bandwidth, and encourage infrastructure sharing are offered as potential directions for future research.

A Not-So-Modest Proposal: Advancing a Research Agenda for Studying Central Asia Mass Media • Eric Freedman, Michigan State University School of Journalism • In former Soviet Central Asia, independence produced five distinctive press systems with authoritarian commonalities. Scholars have barely scratched the surface in studying those systems in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This paper identifies unexplored and under-explored topics, including questions related to journalistic practices, governmental constraints, training and education, coverage of public affairs, access to information, public attitudes toward the press, social media, and the Internet. It also identifies obstacles to research in the region.

Country Reputation, Place Branding and ethnocentricity:  South Africa and the 2010 FIFA World Cup • Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University; Derina Holtzhausen, Oklahoma State University • Using the 2010 FIFA World Cup event as a stimulus, this study investigated the effect of international sporting events on country reputation. Given the extensive media coverage and viewership of the World Cup in the United States, a pre/post quasi-experimental test was conducted to assess the effect of the sporting event on the country reputation of South Africa.  A nationally representative sample of more than 800 US adults participated in the study. Sample statistics matched US adult population parameters in terms of age, level of income and geographic distribution. Scales measuring Country Reputation (Yang, Shin, Lee & Wrigley, 2008) and Ethnocentrism (Smith & Kim, 2006; Shimp & Sharma, 1987) were administered.  Factor analyses of country reputation and the ethnocentrism were conducted and findings are discussed in the context of the extracted factors.  The study found that on the Affection factor of country reputation, attitudes toward South Africa significantly improved after the World Cup event.Results also showed that levels of ethnocentrism moderated the effect.

The Impact of Technology on the Arab Communication Style and Culture:  A Comparison to the U.S. • Salma Ghanem, Central Michigan University; Morris Kalliny, Department of Marketing John Cook School of Business Saint Louis University • The paper focuses on the effects of technology on communication in the Middle East. A content analysis of online respondents to articles published in Al Arabiya online indicates a change is taking place. A comparison of those comments to online respondents’ comments to USA Today revealed that differences between Arab communication style and that of the United States still exist.

International Advertising Education: A Research Agenda • Frauke Hachtmann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • The dominance of the American advertising industry in the global marketplace is reflected by the many advertising curricula in higher education in the United States that are preparing students to compete in a globalized world. However, research about what and how to teach international advertising has been scarce in recent years. The purpose of this paper was to review the relevant literature about international advertising curriculum and pedagogy and to provide a research agenda.

Determining international news coverage in nonelite newspapers: How important are gatekeepers? • Beverly Horvit, University of Missouri; Peter Gade, University of Oklahoma; Elizabeth Lance, University of Missouri School of Journalism • This study examines international news flow in four nonelite U.S. newspapers. Regression models using data from a content analysis of 2,401 stories, paired with variables such as wire coverage, U.S. troop presence and cultural proximity, explain between 55 percent to 88 percent of the variance in international news coverage. Wire coverage is the strongest predictor, and cultural proximity only affects the coverage of the two larger newspapers, the Houston Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News.

A Different Kind of Massive Attack: How the Bulgarian Ultranationalist Party Ataka Engineered Its Political Success Using Digital Media • Elza Ibroscheva, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville • The purpose of this paper is to trace the role of media in securing the success of Ataka, Bulgaria’s most prominent far-right political party, which has found a particularly powerful manifestation in new digital platforms of the Internet and the proliferation of other far-right political formations, such as the Bulgarian National Union (BNU). To accomplish this, the study sets two goals: first, to explore the political and socio-cultural environment which has allowed for the growth of ultra-nationalist rhetoric in Bulgaria, and second, to examine how the media publicity machine, with specific focus on their new media tactics, have contributed to securing popular support for the virtually unfettered expression of ultra-nationalistic ideas. By conducting an in-depth analysis of Ataka’s and BNU’s use of digital media, including websites, online forums, and other social networking tools, the study analyzes the importance of digital media in assisting right wing political platforms in gaining traction with the electorate.

The Girls of Parliament: A Historical Analysis of the Press Coverage of Female Politicians in Bulgaria • Elza Ibroscheva, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; Maria Raicheva-Stover, Washburn University • Using the theoretical thesis of gender mediation, which argues that portrayals of female politicians in the media reflect an ideology that treats male politicians as norm and female politicians as novelty, this study explores to what extent gender mediation is at play in the coverage of female politicians in the Bulgarian press. Given Bulgaria’s unique position as a former communist state, this study aims to discover through a historical qualitative analysis of the press coverage of female politicians during communism, through the post-communist transition and to present date, whether the images and language used to cover women in politics has changed, and if so, in what way. The study found that despite some qualitative differences in the way in which media treated women in politics during the different historical periods, their portrayals remained essentially refracted through the ideological prism of patriarchy, reinforcing the idea that women’s participation in politics is defined and judged by male-dominated norms of behavior and performance.

The Pattern and Determinant Factors of International Television News Flows • Youichi Ito, Akita International University • This is a part of a large-scale international collaborative research on television news in which 17 countries participated.  Political, military, and economic power are all important determinants but multiple regression analyses has shown that geographical distance is the most important determinant.  It was also found  that U.S., U.K., and France enjoy monopolistic privileges in international news flows based on their international mass media including news agencies.

Ego, altruism, and irrelevance:  A survey of Bulgaria’s news blog scene • Christopher Karadjov, California State University, Long Beach • The paper provides for the first time an overview of Bulgaria’s news blogs as an alternative to traditional media and proponents of free speech. In addition to examining the existing literature, the study uses in-depth interviews with bloggers to highlight pertinent characteristics of Bulgarian blogosphere. Bloggers’ motivation and perceived influence are scrutinized, and examples are added to illustrate recently featured topics from their blogs. Contrary to expectations, Bulgarian news blogs did not seem to have developed as a mere extension of online discussions on current events but as an independent platform with new participants who defend fiercely their right to free speech. This study also reviews the unexpectedly low popularity of microblogging (such as Tweeter) as a means to deliver news or mobilize audiences.

Documenting Africa: The Life and Death of Kevin Carter and his 1994 Pulitzer-winning photograph • Yung Soo Kim, University of Kentucky; James Kelly, Indiana University • An online survey was conducted to investigate the public and photojournalists’ perceptions of appropriate reactions to the circumstances surrounding Kevin Carter’s photograph of a collapsed Sudanese girl as a vulture awaits her death. Respondents agreed that the picture was newsworthy and accepted the journalistic rationale for making the photograph. The majority indicated that they would have made the photo themselves under similar circumstances, but would have done more to help the girl than did Carter.

Journalists’ Role, Expertise, and Authority in a Transformation of Media and Citizenship in South Korea: An Audience Perspective • Kyun Soo Kim, Grambling State Univ. • The premise of this study is that answering what news users think the journalists are for will offer crucial clues for understanding the meaning of changes in a contemporary news environment and discussing the future of journalism. With this premise in mind, this study first examined how public’s view of the journalists bears on their consumption of news media and citizenships. Then the influence of perceived journalists’ roles on perceived journalism expertise and authority was explored as it can indicate an aspect of external legitimacy of journalism. The study found interesting variances in journalists’ roles perceived by audience depending on their news media use. The study found relationships between both monitorial and informed citizenships and perceived journalists’ roles and at the same time different roles of news media uses in predicting citizenships. Finally this study successfully tested a new journalists’ role of guide and further found its strong influence on perceived journalistic expertise and authority.

Independent, New, or “”Ours””?: Transformation of Russian NTV Channel • Svetlana Kulikova, Georgia State University • In the modern world, neo-authoritarian governments often use the rhetoric of free market economics to justify backward movements from pluralist and diverse media systems to government-controlled systems. This study looks at how the Russian government carefully orchestrated such transformation of NTV, the first truly independent television in the country and the third largest national television network. Using a case study approach and qualitative analysis of newspaper coverage of 2003 NTV managerial crisis, it shows how after the 2001 takeover by a state-controlled oil and gas company GazProm, the editorial policy and content of NTV programs was gradually changed to conform with the government priorities. Given that television reaches 85-90 percent of the Russian population, the majority of which does not have access to Moscow-based independent newspapers, this transformation of the only independent network has irreparable consequences for democracy in Russia.

Influences of Norms and Guilt by Culture: Anti-Secondhand Smoking Context • Hyegyu Lee; Hye-Jin Paek, Michigan State University • This study examined how norm appeals and guilt influence smokers’ behavioral intention and whether and how the influence varies by culture. An online experiment among 310 smoking students in individualist (US) and collectivist (Korea) countries indicated that (1) guilt arousal has a strong and direct impact on behavioral intention, and (2) the impact of guilt on behavioral intention appears stronger among Korean smokers than among US smokers so that the power of guilt overshadows that of norms.

When Consumption Becomes All-Consuming:   Comparing “”Stickiness”” from the Business and Social Health Perspectives in China • Constance Milbourne, United International College; Jeffrey Wilkinson • Global internet use continues to rise as do efforts to reach and hold onto online consumers. ‘Stickiness’ is a positive indicator of web site effectiveness reflecting time spent on the site. But published reports suggest that there are increasing numbers of people with various types and forms of so-called ‘internet addiction.’ Public health experts warn that excessive web use and time spent online can have negative repercussions, but the relationship between consumer marketing stickiness and online addiction is not clear. A convenience sample in China is surveyed on web behaviors, time spent online, and possible internet addiction. Results indicate a link between relative frequency engaging in online behaviors and so-called internet addiction. The more “”sticky”” the web becomes, the higher the self-report of behaviors associated with internet addiction.  Implications and recommendations for marketers and health experts are presented.

Self Presentation in Online Environments: A study of Indian Muslim Matrimonial Profiles • Smeeta Mishra, Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia University; Matthew Monippally, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Krishna Jayakar, College of Communications, Penn State University • This study examines the self presentation practices of Indian Muslim men and women in online matrimonial advertisements.  Findings indicate that while Indian Muslims are using the new medium to adhere to traditional cultural and religious values, they are also making critical adjustments to adapt to the medium itself. While men and women claimed to possess different attributes in their profiles drawing upon gender role expectations in Indian society, they were identical in their preference for light skin or what is termed as “”fair complexion”” in Indian English. An overwhelming majority of advertisers claimed to possess desirable skin tones and body types. Few Indian Muslim profiles highlighted external manifestations of religiosity, such as praying five times a day, wearing a hijab or burqa, and observing Ramadan. Further, results of this study also illuminate the influence of South Asian culture on Islamic practice, which is evident in the mention of caste identifications in the online matrimonial profiles.

Elaboration, content preference and framing: Effects of “”Incompetent Authority”” frame in China-made product recall coverage” • Ji Pan • Building on a replication of the test that media frames influence attitude by activating frame-related thoughts in audience, this study examines the role people’s cognitive elaboration and content preferences play in framing effects. Manipulating a New York Times story about Chinese toothpaste recall with reasoning and framing devices from the “”Incompetent Authority”” frame, our experiment found that while readers’ in-depth elaboration on the product safety issue did not moderate framing effects on attitude and causal attribution, those closely following consumer news were able to think more comprehensively after reading the stimulus. Implications for framing theory and U.S. media’s presentations of Chinese products are discussed.

News Accuracy in Switzerland and Italy: A Transatlantic Comparison with the U.S. Press • Colin Porlezza, University of Lugano; Scott Maier, University of Oregon; Stephan Russ-Mohl • Nearly 80 years of accuracy research in the United States has documented that the press frequently errs, but absent is empirical study about news accuracy elsewhere in the world. This study presents an accuracy audit of Swiss and Italian daily regional newspapers. Replicating U.S. research, the study offers a trans-Atlantic perspective of news accuracy. The results show that newspaper inaccuracy – and its corrosive effect on media credibility – transcends national borders and journalism cultures.

Framing Corruption: India’s Three Largest English-Language Newspapers and the Right to Information Act • Jeannine Relly, University of Arizona, School of Journalism; Carol Schwalbe, School of Journalism, University of Arizona • This exploratory study used a content analysis of articles published in India’s three largest English-language newspapers to examine how the press framed corruption in association with the 2005 Right to Information Act. The findings indicate that less than 2 percent of the 281 frames focused on watchdog journalism, suggesting that the English-language dailies in India have not used the freedom of information legislation extensively as an investigative tool to root out corruption.

Exploring Cross-Cultural Value Structure with Smartphone • Dong-Hee Shin, Sungkyunkwan University • This study cross-surveyed smartphone users in the U.S. and Korea to determine the differences of perceived values between the countries. Factors of usability and aesthetic values are combined with theory of reasoned action. Several propositions about the strength of the model’s relationships are made. The motivations of smartphone services were analyzed cross-nationally focusing on the differences in the composition of motives in the two countries. While the results illustrate the importance of both usability and aesthetic values, the two countries show different pattern and set of values. Based on the results of this study, practical implications for cross-cultural strategies in smartphone global markets and theoretical implications for cross-country studies are recommended accordingly.

Community Service: Editor pride and user preference on local newspaper websites • Jane Singer, University of Iowa • As diverse user contributions become prevalent on local newspaper websites, editors are assessing the effect on their own decisions. Through a survey of British editors, this paper examines the overlap between online user preferences, as suggested by assessments of website traffic, and content that the editors identify as their best. The study finds plenty of overlap between the types of stories included on the agendas of editors and users, but a considerable disconnect on specifics.

Edward Jordon’s newspaper, The Watchman, and the Emancipation of Slavery in Jamaica • Roxanne Watson, School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida • In 1832 Jamaica freedmen were still denied the right to vote and hold office and 300,000 slaves remained on the sugar estates. The Watchman and Jamaica Free Press, a newspaper edited by free colored Edward Jordon, played a role in obtaining equal rights for freedmen and emancipation for the slaves. Because of this, the newspaper’s free colored editor, Edward Jordon was indicted and tried for sedition under a statute that carried the death sentence.

American perceptions of China and the Chinese: Do the media matter? • Lars Willnat • This study of perceptions of China and the Chinese people is based on a national online survey conducted in early 2011 with a representative sample of 1,012 adult Americans. The findings suggest Americans have more sophisticated views of China than conventional wisdom might predict. Specifically, the data indicate that American respondents are able to distinguish their views of the Chinese government from those of the Chinese people. The survey also found that Americans have more interest in international news, particularly with respect to China, than is typically assumed. News media exposure was found to be associated with perceptions of China, but not perceptions of Chinese.

Cultural Assumptions about Domestic and Diaspora Publics in Global Public Diplomacy • Rhonda Zaharna, american university • This paper explores the cultural underbelly of public diplomacy by looking at the varying assumptions about the domestic public in global public diplomacy. The US public diplomacy model, currently the dominant perspective, focuses on foreign publics in developing initiatives. The public diplomacy of other countries tends to focus on their domestic publics and even diaspora as key components. The paper surveys different intellectual heritages to develop multi-cultural lenses for viewing public diplomacy around the world.

Covering Terrorism: An Analysis of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya Web Sites • Lily Zeng, Arkansas State Univ. • This study examines the coverage of terrorism in two leading Arab news Web sites, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya from September 11, 2009 to September 10, 2010. It finds that the stereotype that “”the terrorist is a Muslim”” continues in terrorism coverage, despite the fact that some terrorists are non-Muslims. However, the two sites manage to send out the message that “”the majority of terrorism victims are Muslims.” In addition, it reveals that too much media focus is placed on disseminating and supporting official positions and decisions, and humanitarian sufferings from terrorism are seldom brought to the attention of the public.

36. From Development Communication to Internet Connectivity: Milestones in United Nations Formulation and Transfer of Communication Policy to Africa (1958-2010) • Lyombe Eko, University of Iowa • This paper analyzed United Nations formulation and transfer of communication policy to Africa since 1958. It was found that the United Nations and its specialized agencies– UNESCO and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)–started formulating and transferring communication policies to Africa at the dawn of independence. UN communication policies emphasized the role of the mass media as catalysts for development. At the turn of the 21st century, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) emphasized reduction of the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world, and encouraged Internet connectivity as the panacea for the continent’s development problems. However, there was no long-term strategy to localize and use information and communication technologies to produce content in African contexts or languages. Policies aimed at reinventing and localizing Information and Communication Technologies in Africa would facilitate the production of African content and make the Internet relevant in different African contexts.

37. Exploring the potential of wireless technologies to accelerate universal Internet access in Ghana • Ignatius Fosu, University of Arkansas • A qualitative study including in-depth interviews with ISPs explored Internet diffusion in Ghana.Findings suggest that due to Ghana’s inefficient and outdated fixed-line infrastructure, Ghana’s universal Internet access goals might not be achievable through fixed-line technologies. Rather,wireless technologies present great potential and may be more efficient. Policy suggestions to encourage widespread deployment of wireless broadband, expand bandwidth, and encourage infrastructure sharing are offered as potential directions for future research.

Markham Student Paper Competition

The Emergence of Social Media & the Political Crisis in Pakistan • Rauf Arif, The University of Iowa • The following paper is about the emergence of social media in Pakistan. Using a case study of YouTube videos uploaded both by the journalists and non-journalists during the 2007 political crisis in Pakistan, the paper finds that social media are contributing to the promotion of political dialogue in the country. The study finds that the social media have the ability to serve as an alternate media in the absence of traditional sources of news and information. Future researchers interested in new media may find this study helpful to understand how the Internet communication is challenging and transforming political hierarchies in developing countries by empowering individuals to engage in online political dialogue.

The discursive reproduction of Chinese and Japanese national identities: Editorials and opinions of the East China Sea dispute in the China Daily and Daily Yomiuri • Michael Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong • Using a critical discourse analysis approach this study analyzed how national identities and ideologies were discursively constructed and reproduced through editorial and opinion commentaries in two English-language newspapers from China and Japan on an international incident involving the two countries. The first four editorials/opinions on the incident from the China Daily and Daily Yomiuri were analyzed. Findings showed that a variety of discursive strategies and linguistic devices were adopted by the newspapers to present the ‘home’ nation positively and ‘other’ nation negatively. Even though both newspapers are products of globalization and purport to target international and cosmopolitan audiences, the reporting of the East China Sea incident closely adhered to official narratives and discourses of the respective countries.

Media Framing and Terrorism: Analysis of frames in news reports of London bombings and Mumbai attacks • Nivedita Chatterjee, Pennsylvania State University • This study explores the manner in which terrorist activities are framed differently in different media systems to deduce what influences the media to frame these attacks in a particular manner. The study further investigates the differences between the frames – geographical, regional, and religious – that are used by countries such as the United States and United Kingdom, with their similar experiences with and policies for terrorism, and India, a country that has been dealing with sporadic terrorist attacks since its independence. The qualitative textual analysis of articles filed in three news portals, timesofindia.com, nytimes.com and bbc.co.uk regarding two terrorist attacks – July 7, 2005 London bombings and November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks – revealed that frames used by the media for portraying terrorist activities are subject to influences from the manner in which terrorism is perceived and the terrorism policies employed by the host country.

Globalization in Guyana: An Exploratory Study on Pirated Television • Sally Ann Cruikshank, Ohio University • Guyana is a country greatly influenced by globalization, particularly when it comes to television programming.  Approximately 90% of programming shown on Guyanese television is pirated from North America and other regions of the world.  Guyana, a former British colony, is the only English-speaking country in South American and is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.  Guyana is a racially diverse nation, with a population split between people of African and East Indian descent.  This study examined the television programming of four Guyanese channels.  The programming was analyzed, within the theoretical framework of dependency theory, to determine what socioeconomic status was portrayed in the shows.  It further examined the racial make-up of characters in the shows.  Results revealed that most of the programming aired on Guyanese television depicted a lifestyle completely out of reach for the average Guyanese.  Further, many of the programs featured mainly white characters.

Between politics and market: Chinese media’s framing of Taiwan’s presidential elections in 2004 and 2008 • Ming Dai, University of Missouri, Columbia • The study investigated the variability of media framing of political election to test the conceptual reliability of the generic/issue-specific frames (Han, 2007; Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Through a content analysis of major Chinese media’s framing of the presidential elections in 2004 and 2008 in Taiwan, the study tested the validity of four generic and issue-specific frames: game, conflict, military consequences and ideology. Factor analysis and independent t-test were conducted to examine how media’s frames varied according to the changes in political policy and international relations. The results confirmed the conceptual consistency of generic and issue-specific frames over time. The variability of the frames, however, also depended on the interaction of political need and media’s audience orientation.

Same old, same old? A content analysis of the framing of Haiti in the news after the 2010 earthquake in the Jamaica Gleaner & the New York Times • Kay-Anne Darlington, Ohio University • This content analysis outlines the framing of Haiti in the Gleaner and New York Times coverage after the 2010 earthquake. The results confirm continued negative framing of Haiti using frames such as poverty, violence and political instability, thereby facilitating the ‘othering’ of Haiti. While these frames may help readers understand the disaster, they also exacerbate Haiti’s problems by ensuring that readers remain unaware of/unresponsive to the real issues facing Haiti.

Whose Global Publics? Al-Jazeera English’s Network Expansion and North American Media Barriers • Ian Davis, University of Illinois College of Media • The 2011 wave of political change in the Middle-East caught U.S. officials unprepared. Why was boiling regional turmoil so invisible to those in the West? These upheavals revealed blindspots in U.S. public discourse. So, why has Al Jazeera English (AJE) faltered when expanding into North America? This paper tracks the network expansion of AJE from 2006-2010 using newspaper and industry publications to document its organizational globalization as well as the institutional hostility to this growth.

The Politics of Cross-Cultural Discourses: “”Translating”” the AIDS  Epidemic to a Western Audience • Estee Fresco, University of Western Ontario • This work undertakes a discourse analysis of excerpts from Stephen Lewis’ book Race Against Time and Stephanie Nolen’s book 28: Stories about AIDS in Africa. It concludes that Lewis’ work maintains and perpetuates the epistemological framework upon which an unequal power relationship between Western and African countries rests while, on the other hand, Nolen’s work challenges this framework. This work contributes to considerations of the Developing World’s role in addressing the AIDS epidemic in Africa by suggesting that we cannot think about the material impact of strategies to fight the AIDS crisis or efforts to educate individuals about this crisis without first considering the impact that the very act of writing and speaking about the crisis can have on the individuals impacted by AIDS.

From Marching to Clicking: How NGOs are Leveraging Digital Tools for Activism in Mexico • Summer Harlow, University of Texas-Austin • This study examines how four activist organizations in Mexico have employed digital communication technologies, exploring how digital tactics are being diffused among these organizations, which dimensions of activism are supported by technologies, what obstacles they face in using technologies, and how they see these tactics as impacting the future of activism in Mexico. Interviews suggest that while the digital divide limits use of these tools, digital tactics still are being diffused, aiding and improving activism.

Transnational Comparative Framing: Suggesting a Model of Approach • Lei Guo, University of Texas at Austin; Avery Holton, University of Texas-Austin; Sun Ho Jeong, University of Texas at Austin • The recent rise in academic attention to transnational comparative media studies highlights the need for a more unified research approach to the field. By analyzing recent cross-national framing studies, this paper exposes gaps in the literature that a Transnational Comparative Framing Model suggested by this paper could help fill. An empirical study is applied to the model to illustrate its ability to provide a cohesive approach to this emerging area of media research.

Framing the Liberation War of Bangladesh in the U.S. and U.K. Media: A Content Analysis of the New York Times and the Times (London) • Mohammad Hossain, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) • This study examined the framing of the liberation war of Bangladesh in the New York Times and the Times (London). The results suggest that both newspapers used three frames most frequently: military-conflict frame, prognostic frame and human interest frame. Both newspapers published news stories with more neutral tone than positive and negative tones. The New York Times and the Times (London) relied mostly on official sources as the primary sources in publishing news.

Newspaper Visibility of Members of Parliament in Kenya • Kioko Ireri, School of Journalism Indiana University • This research investigates variables that predicted news coverage of 219 Members of Parliament in Kenya by four national newspapers in 2009. The 10 variables examined are: ordinary Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, powerful ministry, parliamentary committee chairmanship, seniority, big tribe identity, major party affiliation, presidential ambition, commenting on contentious issues, and criticizing government. Findings indicate that commenting on contentious issues, criticizing government, being a cabinet minister, being an ordinary MP, holding a powerful cabinet portfolio, and seniority significantly predicted visibility of the parliamentarians. Commenting on controversial issues and major party identification were the strongest and weakest predictors, respectively. Additionally, of the top 10-most visible MPs, eight were cabinet ministers, with seven of them holding powerful ministerial positions.

Cultural Motivations for Imported Television Programs: The Korean Audience Watching U.S. Television Programs • Jennifer Kang, University of Texas at Austin • This study examines the motivations and viewing patterns of the Korean audience watching U.S. programs. It also argues that cultural aspects should be included in the viewing process of imported programs as a motivation. Four out of the five motivation factors were cultural motivations, and the viewing pattern factors tended to be active rather than passive. Results also showed that people who were motivated by the program quality tended to have more active watching habits.

Two-Level Games and the Issue of Ratification in the Global Public Sphere: A Case of Russia-Ukraine Gas Dispute 2008-09 • Anna Klyueva, University of Oklahoma • This study examined the role of international and domestic public opinion in ratification phase of international negotiations. Building on the two-level game theory (Putnam, 1988), the study examined how international and domestic public discourses are interdependent and may influence the issue salience in the media. To illustrate the argument, the study used the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute 2008-09. The results of the study indicated that foreign governments influence both the issue salience and the tone of media coverage.

Globalization in Africa:  A 10-Year Critical Literature Review of Communication Scholars’ Research Agenda • Ammina Kothari, School of Journalism – Indiana University • Based on a critical literature review of peer-reviewed scholarship published during the period from 1999 through 2009, I discuss three broad frameworks used by scholars: globalization as an agent of change; globalization as a global force; and globalization as a theoretical construct. My analysis finds that scholars defining globalization as an agent of change generally focus their research on media texts and cultural analyses, in order to highlight how globalization creates hybrid identities and melding of cultures. Scholars who view globalization as a global force, akin to imperialism, take on a more critical stance in their analysis, interrogating the idea of technology as an agent of change and the spread of English language as a conduit for fostering global communities. The third set of scholars who take a theoretical approach towards understanding theories of globalization focus on the disjuncture which currently exists in academia about the lack of a single definition for globalization. I also find that most of the research on globalization is conducted by scholars based in the United States and South Africa.  Additionally the geographical scope of scholarship is largely limited to South Africa. I argue that the absence of African scholars and the lack of diversity in the location of research, limits our understanding of the effects of globalization in Africa within the context of communication scholarship.

A Comparative Analysis of Coverage of the 2008 Mumbai Attacks in The New York Times and The Times of India • Elizabeth Lance, University of Missouri School of Journalism • Employing both ethnographic content analysis and institutional analysis of media systems, this paper examines coverage of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in two elite newspapers, The New York Times and The Times of India. By examining both the specific coverage in each newspaper as well as the broader structure in which that content was produced, this paper offers a comprehensive analysis to better understand the state of rational critical debate in the public sphere and how that informs democratic practices in each country. This paper concludes that The New York Times is better equipped to contribute to rational critical debate, but that even so, it is along a carefully scripted frame.

Globalization as Professionalization:  On the Production Side of China’s Journalism • Shi Li, Indiana • Guided by Appadurai’s five “”suffix scapes,”” this paper presents a participant-observation study on China’s journalism production side: a newsroom in Shanghai and a photojournalism workshop in Rizhao. Findings suggest that globalization has an implication on China’s journalism, especially photojournalism production, and that for many working journalists and editors such implication means “professionalization.” The resistance toward professionalization, intriguingly, has both local and global roots, and is revealed through censorship, self-censorship, and over-commercialization, among others things.

Mass Communication Research on China from 2000 to 2010: A Meta-Analysis • Shi Li, Indiana; Shuo Tang, Indiana University Bloomington • This study presents a meta-analysis of mass communication research on China from 2000 to 2010. It reveals patterns in authorship, methodological and theoretical approaches, medium and area of focus, through a content analysis of 159 articles published in 20 major communication journals. Eight frameworks frequently used by communication scholars to study China are identified in a follow-up analytical review. The paper concludes with a discussion on implications of the findings and suggestions for future work.

The story of Qi Shi Ma: Online discussion and community engagement in urban China • Zhengjia Liu, The University of Iowa • This case study discussed the local online forum’s potential of being a public sphere in China, using textual analysis of online discussions about a local affair in the City of Hangzhou. The analysis included 16 news stories from a local newspaper archive and 300 threads with 100 subsequent posts from the online forum hosted by the newspaper. The results showed that the online forum provided the residents with a platform to express their opinions, compared with the newspaper that worked as an organ for the government. On the other hand, the online discussions showed low levels of complexity and rationality. The social media only started to be a public space for expression rather than a public sphere for negotiations.

The Waning Elitism of U.S. Correspondents in Paris Between 1998 and 2010 • Patrick Merle, Texas Tech University • A qualitative study divulged findings from in-depth interviews conducted with U.S. foreign correspondents based in France in 1998 and in 2010. This longitudinal research investigated differences in the socio-demographic profiles as well as journalistic experiences and practices between journalists who covered France at two distinct time periods. Results suggested an overall wading elitism, an erosion of Paris’s news value, as well as the deontological threat posed by the Internet.

Countering Cultural Metanarratives: Anna Politkovskaya’s Chechen War Reporting • Susan Novak, University of Kansas • Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who reported about the Second Chechen War and the innocent Chechen civilians who suffered as a result, was assassinated in 2006. Her journalistic narratives told factual stories, but the Russian people disregarded them while the rest of the world lauded the work. Close textual narrative analysis of Politkovskaya’s stories, looking specifically at the Russian metanarratives her work countered, may help explain why her reporting did not resonate with Russian readers.

Veiled Politics: Legitimating the Burqa Ban in the French Press • Anne Roberts • This paper argues that mediated discourse in the French press contributed significantly to the passage of a law excluding the veil from being worn in public.  The discourse in the press made the legislation appear reasonable and necessary because of its association with gender inequality and religious fundamentalism. This media narrative was couched in a defensive employment of laïcité and legitimated the political position by presenting the veil as intolerable and against public social order.

The effect of ICTs on democratic attitudes and behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa • Elizabeth Stoycheff, Ohio State University • Recent political uprisings in the Middle East have communication scholars, journalists and politicians speculating: How do new media technologies influence citizens’ democratic attitudes and behaviors?  This paper empirically examines the relationship between two ICTs (Internet and cell phone use) and citizens’ demand for democracy and likelihood to engage in political protest in developing countries.  Implications for current political movements are discussed.

Framing Colombia: Problem Definition and Remedy in the New York Times, 1997-2008 • Matt Tedrow, University of Texas at Austin • This study uses framing theory and a content analysis of 794 news items to examine how the New York Times framed Colombia’s internal conflict as well as U.S. military involvement in the country for the years 1997-2008. Research questions asked which groups were depicted as responsible for violence and narcotrafficking, and what rationales were given for U.S. involvement in Colombia. Analysis focused on problem definition and remedy, two important framing functions defined by Entman (2004).

Soap operas as a matchmaker: A cultivation analysis of the effects of South Korean TV dramas’ on Vietnamese women’s marital intentions • Hong Vu, The University of Kansas • This cultivation study examined the effects of South Korean soap operas on Vietnamese female audiences. It also assessed cultivation effects in combination with the Theory of Reasoned Actions. Based on a survey of 439 female viewers, it explicated the link between South Korean soap opera consumption and the emergent phenomenon of transnational marriages involving Vietnamese women and South Korean men. Cultivation effects were confirmed in an international setting. Results also have important real world implications.

The Power of Social Network in China: How Does Microblog Influence the Way of Expression • Linjia Xu, Renmin University of China • Microblogs have provided a means for citizens to express their opinions and hardships to the public and to the Chinese government. When these hardships are dire, the power of online voices can force the government to act quickly and to respond effectively.  This study focuses on the influence of microblogs on the relationship between citizens and government. A survey of 495 microbloggers shows that the medium is predominantly used to main using for acquiring information and for following celebrities as opinion leaders. The analysis explored the characteristic way of continuous exposure to public by microblog. The tree-structure of information flow as I modeled made a topic to a hot issue. Netizens are mastering this medium, harnessing the power of the microblog in order to solve their societal problems, choosing this form of action over previous actions such as letters, phone calls, or visits to the high authorities.  This paper will show that the relationship between citizens and the Chinese government is fundamentally changing with the rise of new media and the increasing power of microblog.

A Qualitative Analysis of How and Why People Use Social Network Sites: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Korea and the U.S. • Jinnie Yoo, University of Texas-Austin • While participation in social network sites (SNSs) has grown rapidly in recent years and is a highly popular, global phenomenon, only few research examined how the different cultural values and attitudes impact the way people adopt and use this new media platform. Employing qualitative approach, this study attempts to uncover the cross-cultural differences in motivations and behavioral patterns for using SNSs among the Korean and American users. The findings of this study show the explicit differences in the motivations and strategies for using SNSs between Korean and American users, which are supported by the independent and interdependent self-construals theory proposed by Markus and Kitayama (1991). The motivational themes and usage patterns emerged from Korean participants are more other- or relationship-focused, pursuing social/emotional support, while those of Americans are more ego- or self-focused, pertaining to entertainment or information seeking.

International Coverage, Foreign Policy, and National Image: Exploring the Complexities of Media Coverage, Public Opinion, and Presidential Agenda • Cui Zhang, University of Alabama • This study examines the linkage of media coverage of foreign countries, public opinion, and the policy agenda through the lens of both first- and second-level agenda-settings. A triangulation of research methods compared media coverage, public opinion and presidential public papers for 15 foreign countries. Results indicated that agenda-setting effects exist in media agenda, public agenda, and policy agenda regarding foreign countries. Implications of these findings on agenda-setting theory and national image were discussed.

<< 2011 Abstracts

History 2011 Abstracts

The Conflict over Jim Crow Censorship of Movie Scenes  in Greensboro, North Carolina, 1937-38 • Lorraine Ahearn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • In the Jim Crow South on December 7, 1937, an association of white North and South Carolina movie theater exhibitors met for  a silver jubilee convention in Pinehurst, N.C. and made an announcement: They resolved  that they would henceforth censor Hollywood movie scenes that violated racial taboos because they showed black performers on an equal footing with whites. The resolution, reported as front-page news in the white-owned Greensboro Daily News, prompted female students from a historically black private campus, Bennett College, to call for a community boycott of white downtown theaters in Greensboro to protest racial stereotypes in movies. This little-known incident may speak to the emerging power of media in the 1930s, particularly in the social construction of race, and may shed light on the history of student activism in a city that was a civil rights flashpoint.

Press Coverage of Indira Gandhi • Adrienne Atterberry • This paper examines how press coverage of Indira Gandhi changed during the 1977 election, as compared to the 1971 and 1980 election cycles.  The 1977 election occurred during the Emergency—a time of increased press censorship.  Thus, this paper hopes to explore what effect government censorship has on press coverage of Indira Gandhi during an election.  Newspaper articles from the Times of India, New York Times, and the Washington Post were selected for analysis.  The evidence indicates that press coverage of Indira Gandhi during the 1977 election focused primarily on topics of importance to her political agenda.  Meanwhile, coverage of Gandhi during the 1971 and 1980 elections focused on her competence as the leader of India and her significance in foreign relations.

A ‘Pestilent, Factional Quarrel’: Letters Reveal Lincoln’s Obsession with Censorship • Stephen Banning, Bradley University • Contrary to some beliefs, it appears Lincoln did not soften his approach to press suppression during the latter part of the Civil War. This research contrasts two times United State’s President Abraham Lincoln suppressed the American Civil War opposition press. Original letters from Lincoln and those involved in the suppressions are used to shed light on Lincoln’s involvement in tacitly supporting censorship, particularly in the Border States. The findings suggest Lincoln himself allowed press suppression to continue even when it would influence a local election.

Partisan Journalist: William D. Workman and the Rise of the Republican Party in South Carolina • Sid Bedingfield, University of South Carolina • William D. Workman was South Carolina’s best-known journalist when he decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 1962.  A segregationist, Workman said he entered the race reluctantly because he feared liberal forces were destroying the nation. He called newspaper work his “life’s calling,” and as both a news reporter and opinion columnist he had claimed allegiance to the norms of modern professional journalism – detachment, independence, and objectivity. But a review of the Workman personal papers tells a different story. Workman had been engaged in partisan political work behind the scenes since early 1960 to help build a conservative Republican Party in the South. Workman’s papers provide a richly detailed example of how press and politics often remained closely entwined in the post-war years, despite the rise of an ethical code that proudly claimed otherwise.

“If I’ve Lost Cronkite …”: Myth and Memory of Walter Cronkite, Lyndon Johnson, and the Vietnam War • Lisa Burns, Quinnipiac University • On February 27, 1968, CBS television broadcast a half-hour news documentary called Report from Vietnam featuring CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite. He ended the program with a clearly labeled editorial where he declared the war “a stalemate.” After watching the special, President Lyndon Johnson reportedly said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” The so-called “Cronkite moment” has become part of the collective memory of President Johnson, Walter Cronkite, and the Vietnam War. But in his recent book Getting It Wrong, journalism historian W. Joseph Campbell claims that the “Cronkite moment” is a media-driven myth – a dubious or false story that promotes journalism’s significance. But, if the “Cronkite moment” is just a myth, why does it have such staying power?  This essay looks at the “Cronkite moment” from a different angle, that of collective memory. By examining the “Cronkite moment” from a collective memory perspective, a different picture develops that helps to why explain why Cronkite’s Tet editorial has become an important part of the collective memories of Johnson, Cronkite, and the Vietnam War. After reviewing references to the “Cronkite moment” in books by journalists, presidential biographers, and media historians, the analysis focuses on two key types of memory-shaping products: memoirs and museum exhibits related to Johnson and Cronkite. This essay will look at how the “story” is remembered in these various iterations, addressing some of Campbell’s concerns along the way.

From Outsider to Martyr: The Advocate’s Coverage of Harvey Milk from 1977 to 1979 • Robert Byrd, University of South Alabama • Harvey Milk’s short-lived political career in San Francisco is a milestone in the gay movement. Milk made waves among the established gay political hierarchy of San Francisco. One member of that hierarchy happened to own the nation’s most-widely circulated LGBT magazine. This paper explores the evolution of The Advocate’s depiction of Milk from a self-centered political outsider with potential to do serious damage to the gay movement to a martyr whose memory will inspire those that follow to continue to work toward the goals he gave his life to achieve.

Community Journalism in a Secret City: The Oak Ridge Journal, 1943-1948 • Michael Clay Carey, Ohio University • In 1943 the federal government approved publication of the Oak Ridge Journal, a weekly flyer sent to residents at one of three secret towns created to develop the Manhattan Project. This in-depth review of the Journal’s content reveals that early issues focused mainly on government propaganda aimed at workers, but over time the publication grew to look and read more like a traditional community newspaper. Even as it evolved, government censorship was still evident.

“Our TV show”: Legitimacy, Public Relations and J. Edgar Hoover’s “The F.B.I.” on ABC-TV • Matthew Cecil, South Dakota State University • “The F.B.I.,” television series allowed J. Edgar Hoover’s public relations team to reach millions of viewers with stories emphasizing the organization’s legitimacy by focusing on themes demonstrating utility and responsibility. A review of FBI control over the series provides a snapshot of state-of-the-art Bureau public relations and brand management at the end of Hoover’s 48-year tenure.

Made by TV: The American Football League and Broadcast Networks • Thomas Corrigan, Penn State; Melanie Formentin, Penn State • In the 1960s, the American Football League’s (AFL) creation ushered in direct competition for professional football’s incumbent circuit, the National Football League (NFL). Network television’s revenue and promotion proved crucial for the AFL’s stability and ascendancy. This paper examines the AFL’s relationship with network broadcasters. A crucial piece of sports broadcasting legislation, paired with NBC’s role as AFL financier, put upward pressure on player salaries, ultimately hastening the AFL and NFL merger of 1966.

A Pulitzer up North, a Libel Suit down South: Southern Editors’ Civil Rights Writings, 1954-1968 • Aimee Edmondson • This study focuses on libel suits filed against four Pulitzer Prize winners in the South. Just as the New York Times faced the wrath of police commissioner L.B. Sullivan in the most famous of libel cases, here are four southern editors who fought suits against public officials and public figures in the South in the 1950s and 1960s. In any study of reporters’ attempts to cover the civil rights movement and southern efforts to stop them, southern journalists should be included.

“Mexicans, Indians and the Worst Kind of White Men”: Bayard Taylor’s Construction of Mexican Identity • Michael Fuhlhage, Auburn University • This paper analyzes 39 first-person reports New York Tribune correspondent Bayard Taylor wrote in California and Mexico in 1849-50. His letters are packed with observations about Mexican people and relations with the Americans who flooded into the territory. His lectures on ethnicity and race and personal papers are also analyzed. Taylor provided a counterpoint to demonizing portrayals of Mexicans in the press but perpetuated stratification of Californio elites and Mexican farmers and laborers.

They Came to Toil:  U.S. News Coverage of Mexicans on the Eve of the Great Depression • Melita M. Garza, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • In the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash as many as one million Mexican Americans and Mexicans were deported in what has been characterized as a racial exclusion program second only to the Native American removals along the Trail of Tears during the nineteenth century. This study assesses whether Depression era English and Spanish-language newspaper coverage at the incipient stage of this great Mexican diaspora reflected a U.S. economy divided by culture.

“Woman at the Wheel” Column Challenges Detroit’s Notion of the Female Car Buyer, 1965-1982 • Ellen Gerl, Ohio University; Craig Davis, Ohio University • This paper examines the representation of the woman car driver and themes present in the “Woman at the Wheel” column in Woman’s Day from 1965 to 1982. The automotive advice column was created to attract automobile advertising but never did. Textual analysis, interviews, and archival research show that Detroit automakers’ gendered notion of the female car buyer kept them from advertising in women’s periodicals such as Woman’s Day.

Trouble on the Right, Trouble on the Left: The Early History of the American Newspaper Guild • Philip Glende, North Central College • The early years of the American Newspaper Guild were filled with internal conflict as intense as the struggle with employers. Many reporters and editors resisted embracing a trade union model for their organization. For some, journalism was a profession made up of reporters who thrived on individual talent and hard work. For many who opposed the Guild, no issue appears to have been more alienating than leftist leadership in local and national offices.

Sic Juvat Transcendere Liberi: How Newspapers Built the Case for West Virginia Statehood • Matthew Haught, University of South Carolina • Long before their political separation, the people of West Virginia regarded themselves as unique, sharing few ties with the Virginians east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined communities helps explain the process by which the people of western Virginia united to create a state apart from the east. This paper examines western Virginia newspaper discussions about separation and statehood between 1860-1863 and employs Anderson’s framework as a guide.

“Race Conference Meets In Atlanta”: Public Relations for the NAACP’s First Conference in the South, 1920 • Denise Hill, UNC-Chapel Hill • Since its founding in 1909, the NAACP employed a number of public relations strategies and tactics to communicate its primary objective, which was: “to uplift the Negro men and women of this country by securing for them the complete enjoyment of their rights as citizens, justice in the courts, and equal opportunities in every economic, social, and political endeavor in the United States”  More specifically, the NAACP wanted to “”stamp out the evils of race prejudice practiced against the Negro in America in the form of lynching, disfranchisement, Jim-Crowism, unequal industrial and educational opportunities, and other such disabilities.”  In 1920, the NAACP decided to hold its first conference in the south. The NAACP believed its first conference in the South, to be held in Atlanta, would be a watershed moment, and its leaders wanted to ensure that it was effectively employing public relations for the conference to further its cause. This study explores how the NAACP used public relations for its eleventh annual conference, and how those public relations activities fit within previously linear models of public relations history.

Insults for Sale: The 1957 Memphis Newspaper Boycott • Thomas J. Hrach, University of Memphis • In the 1950s as African Americans around the country began using their economic clout to affect change in public policy, black citizens of Memphis effectively used a boycott to alter policies at that city’s largest circulation newspaper. The Citizens Improvement Committee, a group of black citizens organized a successful boycott of The Commercial Appeal in 1957. The citizens were seeking changes in the newspaper’s editorial policies including the use of courtesy titles for black women and more coverage of the black community. The 49-day boycott attracted national attention and gained the black community new respect from the white establishment. The boycott set the state for many other successful boycotts in Memphis. The Commercial Appeal had a history of supporting black citizens as evidenced by its receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1923 for its campaign opposing the Ku Klux Klan. But the newspaper also reflected many of the prejudices of white America as evidenced by its insensitivity to the black citizens of Memphis in the 1950s. The criticisms of the newspaper would continue through the 1960s, and the tensions were heightened in 1968. That was when the newspaper sided with the Memphis mayor in the sanitation strike that brought Martin Luther King to the city. On the 40th anniversary of King’s death, the newspaper examined its role in heightening tensions within the black community that were first brought to light in the 1957 newspaper boycott and then in the 1968 sanitation workers strike.

“The gathering mists of time:” American magazines and revolutionary memory, 1787-1860 • Janice Hume, University of Georgia • This study examines 231 American magazine articles published prior to the Civil War to see how they recalled the American Revolution and how that memory evolved during important nation-building years. Much like other histories published during the era, these articles homogenized the story of America’s origins into a “”cult of consensus,”” featuring heroic narratives told in many different formats. The study adds to our understanding of the relationship between the press and American public memory.

Framing White Hopes:  The Press, Social Drama, and the Era of Jack Johnson, 1908-1915 • Phillip Hutchison, University of Kentucky • The social presence of African-American boxing champion Jack Johnson reflects one of the most controversial social and media issues of the early 20th Century. Although many scholars have implicated America’s press in the Johnson controversy, the situation has yet to be examined through the lens of journalism history.  To provide some of this missing perspective, this critical-historical analysis illustrates how the white press constructed the entire Johnson situation as an overarching narrative, one that unfolded in real time for nearly seven years.  The study employs Victor Turner’s theory of Processual Social Drama to explain how the white press, with little variance, framed the open-ended events involving Jack Johnson in terms of a breach-to-redress narrative trajectory that comprised three palpable dramatic acts.  This finding contrasts with most Johnson histories, which portray the Johnson controversy as a two-act narrative.  The additional insights not only better inform the relationship between the press and the Johnson situation, it also provides insights into how the press of that era used temporal and affective narrative frames to construct news.  This orientation helps better explain how the press shaped the Johnson controversy and how it marginalized divergent views of the situation.  Additionally, by better understanding the dramatic structure of press coverage, historians gain both a more complex understanding of attitudes toward Johnson over time and a more nuanced etymology of the now-ubiquitous term “white hope.”

A Path Made of Words: The Journalistic Construction of the Appalachian Trail • James Kates, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater • The Appalachian Trail runs for more than two thousand miles from Maine to Georgia. The trail celebrates nature, but its making was a major achievement in the very human art of recreational politics. Conceived in 1921 and completed in 1937, the trail was, for many, simply a venue for hiking and camping. But journalists in many media — including newspapers, popular magazines, and journals of opinion — also cast multiple meanings on the project. The trail’s purposes would come to encompass regional planning, preservation of rural folkways, and the perpetuation of wilderness areas. This paper examines the work of two influential writers — forester and author Benton MacKaye, and New York newspaperman Raymond Torrey — in defining the trail’s place in American life.

Google Books Ngram Viewer and Text-Mining for Culture:  Corpora and Digital Data-Mining’s Place in Journalism History • Robert Krueger, George Mason University • The recently launched Google Books Ngram Viewer has been marketed as a user-friendly and accurate corpus for scholars who want to text-mind publications for cultural trends and patterns.  But how can corpora like this be of use to journalism and mass communication historians?   This paper includes a case study that tests the thesis of historian Sarah Igo’s The Averaged American in order to illustrate how corpora, text-mining, and digital visualization can benefit the historical field.

New Views of Investigative Reporting in the Twentieth Century • Gerry Lanosga • This paper examines a little-studied period in the history of investigative reporting.  An analysis of Pulitzer Prize nominations reveals the exposé as an enduring practice between the Muckrakers and the 1960s, not isolated to a few newspapers or iconoclastic journalists but published in newspapers of every size from nearly every state.  This examination provides new context for the development of journalism as a profession and of the complex relationship between journalists and official power.

The Tale of Two Legends and Philanthropy in Rock and Roll • Ji Hoon Lee • This phenomenology coupled with historical overview is the examination of the two key charity projects in rock and roll history—The Concert for Bangladesh (1971) and “We Are the World” (1985)—with an emphasis on George Harrison and Michael Jackson’s humanitarian idealism. The study is also a critical reminisce piece, comparing and contrasting their legacies, influences, and criticism. The study uses the context of the two charity projects as an attempt to analyze how they capitalized on the eras’ social and cultural factors.

Intellectual Heft: A.J. Liebling as an Opponent of Anti-Intellectualism in American Journalism • Kevin Lerner, Rutgers University/Marist College • A.J. Liebling essentially invented the role of the press critic in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but his impact on the profession of journalism, and on subsequent press critics has barely been studied. This essay assesses Liebling’s 82 Wayward Press columns for The New Yorker through the lens of anti-intellectualism as defined by the historian Richard Hofstadter and sociologist Daniel Rigney, giving Liebling a prime place in the intellectual history of journalism.

Marshall “Major” Taylor and the Summer of 1910: Salt Lake City Newspapers Cover the Bicycle Racer’s Final Season • Kim Mangun, The University of Utah • This qualitative study examines articles, cartoons, and advertisements published in six white newspapers in Salt Lake City to see how Marshall “Major” Taylor and his final season of bicycle racing there were covered. The artifacts were examined using critical discourse analysis and narrative analysis. The study uses the interrelated concepts of myth and hero-crafting to critically analyze coverage of Taylor and his races.

Assessing the Dream: The March on Washington and American Collective Memory • Meagan Manning, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • Building off the large body of work on collective memory, this research examines the “warehouse” created by the Milwaukee Journal and the Chicago Tribune with respect to the March on Washington of 1963. By presenting a history of the march and assessing media representations of different eras in light of that history, this study aims to isolate potential sites of collective memory formation and trace the ways those memories may have changed over time.

Writer by Trade: Journalistic Identity in the Early Eighteenth Century • William Mari • This paper proposes that journalism’s ethos began developing a century before commonly assumed, with the journalists of eighteenth-century Great Britain. This ethos, and its accompanying proto-professional identity (formed in a process of legitimatization, commercialization, and politicization) was championed by its first practitioners, including James Ralph, an American expatriate and political writer, in his Case of Authors by Profession or Trade -writers were, indeed, among the first professional groups to debate their identity publicly.

What Journalism Textbooks Teach Us About Newsroom Ethos • Raymond McCaffrey, University of Maryland • Journalists avoiding treatment for work-related stress have blamed a newsroom ethos that discourages emotional expression. The ethos that guides organizations is often tied to professional codes, according to institutional theory. This study involved a review of textbooks from 1913-1978 to determine their role in mapping out journalism codes. The analysis revealed that textbooks not only taught principles like impartiality, but also that journalists were to remain emotionally detached, avoid introspection, display courage and take risks.

“A Keg of Dynamite and You’re Sitting On It”: An Analysis of the Ad Council’s Atomic Energy Campaign • Wendy Melillo, American University • Following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American scientists ran a public service advertising campaign from 1946 to 1947 through the Ad Council to establish an international authority to control atomic weapons. This historical analysis of why the Ad Council’s atomic energy campaign failed provides important insights about how scientists should conduct communication campaigns when dealing with more contemporary issues like climate change and intelligent design.

Kicking off the hype: Newspaper Coverage of Super Bowl I • Brian Moritz • On Jan. 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in the first AFL-NFL World Championship game – also known as the first Super Bowl. Super Bowl I was the first meeting between teams from the National Football League and the American Football League, and the popular mythology is that the game was not a big story at the time. This paper studies how newspapers at the time covered the game examines the coverage in eight newspapers from across the country. The study shows that the game received wide-ranging and prominent coverage in newspapers at the time, contrary to the myth. The dominant storyline was the merger between the two leagues and the fact that the teams acted as stand-ins for their respective leagues.

The Precious Ingredient of War:  The WPB Used Cooking Fat Advertising Campaign of 1943 • Geah Pressgrove, University of South Carolina • In 1943, the U.S. War Production Board (WPB) initiated an advertising campaign instructing American women to collect their used cooking fat for reuse in the making of gunpowder to “exterminate the slant eyes” and sulfa to “ease the pain of a wounded American.”  This study examines the WPB cooking fat recycling propaganda using Benedict Anderson’s concept of “imagined communities.”  In Anderson’s conception of nationalism, cultural products expressing patriotic feeling are a means by which a common people—an “imagined community” or nation—create their community and imagine its future. The patriotic appeals in the cooking fat ads encouraged American women to imagine themselves as part of a heroic, just nation defeating evil in the world. Anderson’s metaphor is particularly helpful in understanding the social and political meanings, uses, and effects of war time propaganda, as well as the complex relationships among the U.S. government, industry, media, and citizens in constructing national identity in a time of crisis. In building bridges between propaganda studies and Anderson’s concept of imagined communities, this study not only breaks new scholarly ground but also adopts and revises Anderson’s thesis on nationalism in the context of World War II American propaganda activities.

Partisan Rhetoric and the Rise of the Nullification Party in 1831 South Carolina • Erika Pribanic-Smith, University of Texas at Arlington • Rhetoric in South Carolina’s partisan press had immense ramifications as the state’s voters decided whether to elect politicians who aimed to nullify offensive federal economic policy.  The year 1831 encompassed events crucial to determining the state’s political actions. This paper examines six South Carolina newspapers during those twelve months and concludes that Nullification partisans used their presses more effectively than the Unionists over the course of the year, tipping public opinion in their favor.

“The Problem Cuts a Dozen Different Ways”: Marquis W. Childs and Civil Rights, 1950s-60s • Robert Rabe, Marshall University School of Journalism • This paper is an analysis of columnist Mark Childs’ thinking and writing on one of the most significant domestic issues of his day, the postwar civil rights movement.  It briefly discusses the emergence of the civil rights issue during the 1940s and 1950s, and focuses more fully on the topic as it became more prominent through the early 1960s and the era of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The study concludes with a focus on the lingering complex politics of civil rights as they became even more volatile in the latter part of the decade.  It argues that Childs contributed a great deal of support for African-American civil rights programs and policies, but that in the end many of his most important objectives remained unfulfilled.

Gathering The “Inside Dope”: The Practice of Sports Journalism, 1900-1930 • Amber Roessner, University of Tennessee • Heeding Hanno Hardt and Bonnie Brennen’s call for studies that provide insight into the historical role of newsworkers, this study explores the practice of herocrafting in early twentieth century sports journalism. Using a historical case study approach, it examines the rapport-building and newsgathering strategies of Grantland Rice, F.C. Lane, and John N. Wheeler.  In doing so, it sheds light on the prevalence of ballyhoo and the emergence of detachment in sports journalism.

The Conflict and Balance of History and Drama in 20th Century-Fox’s The Longest Day • Peter Shooner • The film The Longest Day (1962) was largely the product of two men, Cornelius Ryan and Darryl Zanuck. Ryan, who researched and wrote the book that the movie was based on also wrote the screenplay for the film. Zanuck acted as producer/director on the project and saw the film as a chance to resurrect his failing career. The two men had very different ideas of how accurately the film should represent history, and as a result, they feuded during the entire movie-making process, with Zanuck usually winning. The Longest Day blends history and drama in its retelling of D-Day, at times misrepresenting and disregarding historical fact. This paper analyses Ryan’s and Zanuck’s relationship, how it affected the final product and in what ways the film strays from fact for the sake of drama.

The National Association of Manufacturers’ Short Film “Your Town”: Parable, Propaganda, and Big Individualism • Burton St. John, Old Dominion University; Robert Arnett, Old Dominion University • In the aftermath of the Great Depression, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) faced growing anti-business sentiment.  As part of a widespread propaganda campaign to assuage public concerns about industry, in 1940 NAM created and distributed the short film Your Town. The movie, pursuing an integration propaganda strategy, appealed to Americans’ individualistic values by portraying industry as a beneficent fellow traveler who was a Big Individual — a heroic, larger-than-life figure that brought blessings to all. Applying critical insights (Altman, Campbell, Gunning, Propp) concerning the parabolic narrative form, this work finds that, while NAM’s original concept of Big Individualism has faded, modern American commercial films inadvertently carry forward one conceptual aim of NAM’s Your Town: encourage individuals to continue to think of independent action – and not systemic reform – as a foundational worldview for life’s challenges.

Embed vs.Unilateral, 1904: Risks and Rewards in Coverage of the Russo-Japanese War • Michael Sweeney, Ohio University • This study examines the strengths and weaknesses of war reporting from the perspectives of embedded, accredited correspondents and “unilaterals,” who report without military assistance or protection. It uses a variety of primary sources to examine and analyze the work of three reporters from the Russo-Japanese War: Lionel James of The Times of London and New York Times, Stanley Washburn of the Chicago Daily News and Minneapolis Times, and Hector Fuller of the Indianapolis News. All three used boats on the Yellow Sea to gather news, including James, the first to report from a war zone via radio. James chose to report with the approval of the Japanese navy, in return for accepting a Japanese spy and censor aboard his boat. Washburn and Fuller reported independently, with the former gathering news from a dispatch boat and then filing reports from land-based telegraph lines, and the latter sailing into and out of the besieged garrison of Port Arthur to gather the only outsider’s view of conditions in the sealed city. The paper determines that each reporter obtained stories that the others could not, and concludes that both embeds and unilaterals have advantages that recommend the use of both in wartime.

From Clanking Chains to Clashing Arms: A Black Newspaper and its Coverage of  the Black Soldier in the Civil War • Thomas Terry, Idaho State University • This paper examines the coverage of the black soldier through the pages of a black newspaper, the Pacific Appeal, published in San Francisco, California during two years of the Civil War. Editor Philip Bell admonished the union for neglecting to make emancipation the principal war aim and embracing black recruits.

<< 2011 Abstracts

Cultural and Critical Studies 2011 Abstracts

Reflections of culture in Nigerian video films • Emmanuel Alozie, Governors State University • For more than 25 years, Nigeria has emerged as one of the world’s leading video film producers. Since its inception, the cultural messages and values contained in these films have been a subject of interest. Several studies have been conducted to examine the contents. This study relies on a collection of these studies to extract the most common themes that have emerged. It uses the information and communication technologies as its conceptual framework.

An American in Paris, Rio & Morocco: A Transnational Analysis of The Price of Beauty • Emilia Bak, UGA • The Price of Beauty follows Jessica Simpson and two friends as they travel the world and talk to women about ideas of beauty. The show appears to be a benign exploration of women’s ideas about beauty, but complicated issues about diversity, the dominance of the West, and the genre of the travel show itself arise. Using a transnational feminist lens, this paper explores how diversity, in ideas about beauty, constructed the cultures explored as “”other.””

The Political Economy of Hip-Hop Culture in USA Today • Sean Baker, Central Michigan University; Johnny Mann, Towson University • A content analysis was conducted on hip hop articles in the USA Today to observe ways hip-hop culture has been portrayed. Several factors were analyzed including the amount of articles, story location, story type, and story length. The context in which hip-hop culture was presented was measured by the number of references to violence, race, crime, affiliations, success and observing the changes over time. Articles in the early years were more likely to discuss hip hop in short news briefs as violent and criminal. As references to sales and success increased, hip hop received positive and more prominent feature coverage.

When Ritual Media Events Fail to Unite: A Case Study on Holodomor Commemoration in Ukraine • Olga Baysha, University of Colorado at Boulder • During recent years, the problematic of social disenchantment, cynicism, and divide as manifestations of media effects has become one of the central areas of inquiry in social research. It has been acknowledges that, instead of enhancing social solidarity, late modern media events sharpen the forces of social disruption. This paper presents the case study of the commemoration of Ukrainian Holodomor (Great Famine) – a media event that has widened the split within the Ukrainian society.

Drawing Lines in the Journalistic Sand: Jon Stewart, Edward R. Murrow and Memory of News Gone Bye • Dan Berkowitz; Robert Gutsche Jr, The University of Iowa • In mid-December 2010, Daily Show host Jon Stewart asked Congress to address the healthcare needs of 9/11 rescue workers – which it did. Shortly after, The New York Times published an analysis piece comparing Stewart to the legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. This paper explores how collective memory of Murrow was used by both mainstream media and the blogosphere to negotiate membership boundaries of journalism itself, with analysis conducted through textual analysis of online news texts.

“”To See Life as a Poem””: Toward a Mythology of Music • Phil Chidester, Illinois State University • Taking aim at the scholarly consensus that verbal language is the sole symbol system capable of conveying the complexities and nuances of myth, this paper seeks to establish music’s own ability to invoke a sense of mythic transcendence. Turning to Bob Dylan’s Biograph (1985) as a case study, I argue that Dylan’s performance as a mythic storyteller invites listeners to perceive and reconsider their relationships to society and their connections to the cosmos.

Haunted asylums? Stigma and mental illness in paranormal reality TV • Michelle Dangiuro-Baker, Penn State University • Stigma is a phenomenon that teaches individuals to discredit those who pose a threat to society. Persons with mental illness have long been stigmatized as abnormal, dangerous, and criminal. Paranormal reality TV, which features former mental institutions, provides the seedbed for such stigma communication. Through textual analysis, episodes of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures featuring mental institutions were analyzed within Smith’s (2007) framework for stigma communication. Results suggest that both series perpetuate mental illness stigma.

The effects of normalizing forces on the development of an online radicalized public sphere • Rachel Davis, West Virginia University; Bob Britten • This study examines to what degree homosexual blogs are effective in forming online counter-publics as a form of ‘other’ discussion against mainstream and oppositional discourses. This work draws from Dahlberg’s conceptualization of a radicalized public sphere as well as other theories relating to public sphere and homosexual communication. The findings in this study illustrate the ability of blogs to facilitate radicalized public sphere formations through online discourse by enabling users to form discourses of contestation.

Power Evasive Diversity: How Journalism’s Focus on the Personal and Individual Leaves Racial Power Imbalances Intact • Kevin Dolan • This paper explores how white and journalistic identifications and journalistic conventions and practices perpetuate the racial status quo. If find mainstream U.S. journalism consistently serves white racial interests and the racial status quo despite its push for diversity and stated aims to improve coverage of nonwhite communities. This is based on an in-depth ethnographic study of two daily newspapers and extensive one-on-one interviews with more than 60 journalists.

Silence and Agony: A Comparison of Chronic Pain Depictions in Blogs and Newspapers • Robin Donovan • This critical discourse analysis compared blog and newspaper coverage of chronic pain. Framing, definition/self-definition of people with chronic pain, and otherization were examined in a study of 1,223 articles. Bloggers described pain specifically, focusing on its social impact and self-redefinition. In contrast, newspaper coverage highlighted debilitation, victimization, and addiction.  Newspapers medicalized and otherized ill people by portraying chronic pain as less impactful, less agonizing, and less real than bloggers’ descriptions.

“”Below The Yellow Line””: Competitor Discourse on NBC’s “”The Biggest Loser”” • Eric Dunning; Mary Katherine Alsip, University of Alabama; Kim Bissell, University of Alabama • This paper is unique in the sense that it will be an investigation into what has so far been ignored in both body image and reality TV scholarship: participant’s ideas about body image/weight loss in the media constructed, competitive “”reality”” of TV. In doing so, this paper utilizes the most robust method of evaluation, especially when looking at contestant attitudes, conceptualizations and responses to body image/weight issues, is a critical discourse analysis of their rhetoric.

Framing in the ‘New Media Environment’: Fox News Channel (FNC) Covers the Bristol Palin Pregnancy • Frank Durham • On 1 September 2008, the opening day of the Republican National Convention, Bristol Palin’s teen pregnancy was publicly announced. Fox News Channel (FNC) framed Bristol Palin’s pregnancy as a positive story, foreclosing critical debate on the issue of teen pregnancy. Based on Couldry’s critique of the use of media rituals to construct and consolidate ‘centered’ media power, this critical textual analysis examines framing as a media ritual operaating to make the media’s symbolic power legitimate.

Thinking about Journalism with Superman • Matthew Ehrlich, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • Superman is an icon of American popular culture. However, although Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent is a reporter who works for a daily newspaper, few have analyzed in any depth the role that journalism plays in the Superman mythology. This paper uses Superman in its various incarnations in comics, radio, movies, and television as a way of thinking critically about real-world journalism’s complex and contradictory relationship to truth, justice, and the American way.

Questioning the Kibera Discourse: Articulating Representations and Lived Experience in a Nairobi Slum • Brian Ekdale, University of Wisconsin – Madison • I argue the discourse surrounding the Nairobi slum Kibera exaggerates the community’s deplorable conditions and ignores features residents value. As a result, a disconnect exists between this discourse and the lived experiences of Kibera residents. I examine this disconnect by asking Kibera residents to articulate their life experiences and what they understand to be the Kibera discourse. In interviews, residents demonstrate an awareness of and dissatisfaction with the dominant discourse about their community.

Theorizing Cultural Development vis-à-vis Cultural Imperialism Theory: Lessons from Nigeria • Nnamdi Ekeanyanwu, Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria • Cultural Imperialism Theory is one of the loose theories that discuss media, society and cultural relations between nations. Scholars of media/cultural orientation have questioned the fundamental pillars of this theory while a few others have continued to support it. This paper re-evaluates the possible positions and concludes that the very foundation upon which this theory is built is no longer solid considering 21st century questions that the proponents have failed to answer satisfactorily.

The Copyright Wars, the Free Culture Movement, and Second Wave Critical Legal Studies • Victoria Ekstrand, Bowling Green State University; Cynthia Nicole Shipman; Andrew Famiglietti • This paper maintains that the free culture movement in intellectual property (IP) law, inspired by Critical Legal Studies (CLS), has generated a second wave of CLS critique and activism, in somewhat indirect and unintentional fashion. The practical effect is a new kind of dialogue about IP law that is inclusionary, participatory, and capable of effecting change.

The Next Cable Star: Critical industrial practice in HGTV’s reality competition format • Madeleine Esch, Salve Regina University • Unlike other better-known reality talent competition shows, HGTV’s Design Star offers as grand prize the chance for winning contestant to host his/her own series on the network. I argue that such a “”farm league”” format is not only a hyper-efficient commercialization of necessary processes but also a revealing self-reflexive act (what J. T. Caldwell calls “”critical industrial practice””) that affirms the value of on-camera television labor in an increasingly rationalized production environment.

Peace is War: Epistemological and Ethical Concerns in Peace Journalism’s Theory, Praxis, and Practice • Nicholas Gilewicz, Temple University • Peace journalism—journalistic practice attempting to critique and correct war journalism—arises from structuralist analysis, has culturalist aims, and emerges as an ethical media frame. 42 recent articles and books about peace journalism’s theory, praxis, and practice indicate both its failure to fully consider its own discursive structure and epistemological and professional problems paralleling those of war journalism. To support peace journalism’s admirable ethical aims, proponents should attend to refining and strengthening its theoretical bases.

A Watchdog to Reckon With: Delivering WikiLeaks in the Israeli and Australian Press • Robert Handley, University of Denver; Amani Ismail, American University in Cairo • By examining how Israeli and Australian news media treated the WikiLeaks phenomenon in the last few months, this study interrogates how news discourses on this so-called “”whistleblower”” inform us about how journalists handle professional versus national narratives, especially when the newsbreaker (WikiLeaks) is a non-national news entity. Analysis indicates that the WikiLeaks factor may well complicate the traditional “”their news”” and “”our news”” dichotomy, particularly because nation-states’ secrets are revealed on the global landscape.

Spaces for Feminist (Re)articulations: The Blogosphere and the Sexual Attack of Journalist Lara Logan • Dustin Harp, University of Texas School of Journalism; Jaime Loke, University of Oklahoma; Ingrid Bachmann, University of Texas at Austin • This discourse analysis explores traditional and feminist articulations of rape in online mediated discourse of the sexual attack of journalist Lara Logan in Egypt. Examination of 175 stories and links in the top ten news blogs showed that the blogosphere contested traditional rape narratives that blamed Logan for the attack. In doing so, bloggers engaged in a struggle for meaning and mainstreamed feminist understandings on sexual violence within the online public space.

I Tweet, You Tweet: Journalists’ Use of Twitter and the Individualization of Participation • Kristen Heflin, University of Alabama • This study analyzes journalistic use and evaluation of Twitter and the implications for addressing journalism’s present crisis in credibility.  It argues that Twitter serves as a conduit for individualized empiricism, which journalists comfortably accommodate as a supplement to traditional reporting, a move that preserves their professional status without critically reflecting on the practices that perpetuate the crisis of credibility. This study also discusses journalism’s crisis of credibility as a crisis of epistemology.

Television’s spectacle of autism: Metaphors of a popular network program • Avery Holton, University of Texas-Austin • This study explored the metaphor of autism as fear, oddity, and disease in the discourse of a popular American television program, arguing that the public was exposed to multiple metaphorical presentations of autism that are not necessarily representative of the culture of autism. While autism as a diagnosis is characterized largely by cognitive and behavioral characteristics, the discourse presented through the program may have inflated such characteristics for the viewing public.

Mediating identities: Taiwanese migrants’ readings of Chinese news • Shuling Huang • Using the case of Taiwanese migrants in China, this paper demonstrates that news reception involves three levels of readings: information evaluations, meaning construction and identity negotiation. These readings are cross-referred to each other and associated with migrants’ lived experiences. Three news events of China in 2008 invite various readings. Mostly, migrants distrust China’s official discourse and struggle over their Chineseness. Through the reception of Chinese news, paradoxically, a kind of Taiwanese consciousness is reinforced.

Selling the Post-Communist Female Body:  Portrayals of Women and Gender in Bulgarian Advertising • Elza Ibroscheva, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville • The study examines hypersexualization of the female body in Bulgarian advertising to explore how the trend of what media scholars call “”porno chic”” might normalize and glorify the process of turning the female body into a commodity. This paper examines images of women in the Vodka Flirt campaign to trace the construction of female sexuality and the role of ideology in controlling these images and their expressions in advertising as one form of cultural production.

Girlfriends & Sex and the City: an intersectional analysis of race, gender, & commodity feminism in two TV shows • Camille Kraeplin • In intersectional theory, gender and race have been referred to as super-ordinate groups.  People think about themselves in terms of membership in these groups and are likely to be categorized and stereotyped by others based on these affiliations. Discourse analysis was used to examine these group identifications in Sex and the City and Girlfriends.  Three discursive themes were found to connect the two shows: the Desperation Theme, the Networks of Care theme, and the Consumption and Class theme.

Double Burdens of Sexuality and Gender on Women: How Queer Texts Marginalize Female Queers • Jungmin Kwon, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • This paper explores how gender translates into sexuality, or specifically, how lesbians are situated within queerness. To illuminate this blind spot, in which queer discourses contribute to the double-marginalization of lesbians, I examine prominent scholarly queer texts and the acclaimed queer media content, Queer as Folk. Through a critical approach to academic and queer cultural products, this study points out that women are constructed as minorities not only in gender, but in sexuality as well.

An Historical Overview of Philanthropy in Rock:1950s-2000s • Ji Hoon Lee • This study presents a brief historical overview of rock music’s philanthropic efforts in the latter half of the 20th century. A key contention in this study is that rock music has worked to educate and enlighten the public to raise awareness over the course of its history and to present similar possibilities in the new millennium.

Better at Life Stuff: Consumption, Identity, and Class in Apple’s “”Get a Mac”” Campaign • Randall Livingstone, University of Oregon • Apple’s “”Get a Mac”” advertising campaign highlights the differences between the casual, confident, creative Mac user and the formal, frustrated, fun-deprived PC user through a series of comical television spots. Utilizing close reading and ideological criticism, this study considers the campaign as a popular culture text with embedded implications about consumption, identity, and class, revealing thematic dichotomies that obscure these issues while promoting the spectacle of consumption and the myth of self-actualization through commodities.

The Wild West of 1911 (or 2010?): Red Dead Redemption’s Past/Present Conflation• Ryan Lizardi • With video games’ growing cultural legitimacy and the increasing reliance on visual histories as primary sources of collective knowledge, it is important to examine what information and ideologies are learned through experiencing video games’ histories. Analyzing Red Dead Redemption (2010), the default contemporary video game historical representation is shown to conflate the past/present and reduce “”history”” to individualistic, simple interpretations. Red Dead Redemption indexes present concerns and ideologies more than its setting, the Wild West.

Money as Speech: An Ideological Analysis of how Corporate Speech Rights Influence the Political Process • Nneka Logan, Georgia State University • This article explores the implications of corporate speech rights on the democratic political process. It draws upon critical, ideological and rhetorical approaches to analyze the key Supreme Court cases on corporate speech rights – Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and Citizens United (2010). I argue that corporate speech rights create conditions where corporate influence can overtake citizen participation.

A Critical Analysis of Facebook Hate Groups Targeting President Barack Obama • Mia Moody, Baylor University • This exploratory analysis of hate groups on Facebook looks at historical representations of black men, in general, and hate groups targeting President Barack Obama, specifically. Findings indicate most groups fall into one of four categories: race-based, political, humor and love-hate. Such analyses are important because media influence the construction of the racialized condition in which we live, and it is often through media images that people negotiate identities, ideas, and relationships.

Media Construction of Global Natural (or Not-so-natural) Disasters: A Critical Discourse Analysis • Siho Nam, University of North Florida • Through critical discourse analysis, this article uncovers the forces underlying the homogenous, sensational, and formulaic media coverage of global natural disasters. Focusing on the intersection between the political economy of global media institutions and the discursive formation of disaster discourses, the article unearths the recurring logics, themes, and patterns of the media discourses of global natural disasters, and it then analyzes the roles these hegemonic discourses play in reinforcing unequal, exploitative world system.

Remembering the Korean Past: Sandglass, the Kwangju Democratization Movement, and the 386 Generation • Sang Hwa Oh, University of South Carolina • A Korean television drama, Sandglass represented and explored tumultuous political and social events in Korea from the 1960s to 1980s. Using Benedict Anderson’s concept of “”imagined communities,”” this study of the role of the televised drama Sandglass in Korean social life provides valuable insight into how a media text can help a common people construct a usable history out of a hidden, traumatic past. This study also introduces the concept of “”generational imagined community.””

Media conduction: Festivals, networks, and boundaried spaces • Robert Peaslee, Texas Tech University • This paper is a report on extended qualitative fieldwork regarding the phenomenon of media festivals, including those related to both film and comic book culture. It is also an initial attempt at forming the trends and patterns suggested by this fieldwork into something like a theory of media conduction.  Media conduction brings with its semantic play a subtle exploration of power relationships often assumed to be transcended in the more emancipatory notions of consumer power.

Disrespecting the Doxa: The Daily Show Critique of CNN’s Struggle to Balance Detachment and Connectedness • Burton St. John, Old Dominion University • CNN operates with a deep connection to traditional journalistic values and their associated “”rules of the game,”” or doxa.  Not surprisingly, CNN attempts to balance established doxa against pressures brought about by changing news-media technologies, consumer patterns and operation business models.  This study examines how TDS’s points to major dysfunctions within such a journalistic doxa and what the show’s critiques reveal about the need for a more reflexive journalism.

“”It’s better than blaming a dead young man:”” Creating mythical archetypes in local coverage of the Mississippi River drownings • Erica Salkin, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Robert Gutsche Jr, The University of Iowa • This study provides a glimpse at myth within newswork (Lule, 2001) in smaller communities dealing with unexpected trauma. An analysis of news coverage of the drownings of 10 young men in Wisconsin over 15 years provides evidence that the values and needs of a given community drive both the creation and use of mythical news archetypes. The archetypes’ value appears to reflect the community’s assessment of the magnitude of its own loss.

Katrina’s power: A critical political economic communication analysis of the intersection of government and media institutions • Loren Saxton, University of Georgia; Elli Lester-Roushanzamir • Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, and news media flooded the Gulf Coast immediately after to report the disaster.  This analysis, through critical political economy, examines how structures of interconnection between news media and government institutions reorganized public discourse immediately after Katrina. Ultimately, this research suggests that economic structures mask the structural variables of race and class and therefore serve the interests of industrial and corporate blocs.

The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea shall reside in the people • Wooyeol Shin, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Ji Yun Ryu, Yonsei University • This study explores strategic use of newspaper advertising by the 2008 Korean Candlelight Vigil. In the ads, the protestors’ collective identities functioned as vehicles to link the vigil’s issues to shared values, including the protection of democracy and the Korean way of life. The movement was also symbolically connected with the Constitution of South Korea. The underlying message was that the constitutional rights resided with the vigil, not with the opponents, including the Korean government.

What is free? Cooperation, collaboration, and the essential dilemma of the Fourth Estate • Edgar Simpson, Ohio University • This study examined the most recent federal Shield Law debate, state Shield Laws, and the statutes of all fifty states and the District of Columbia through a prism of press independence. Thirty-nine states provide a variety of exemptions, exclusions, and privileges for comment and news gathering by established media, in contradiction to longheld notions of independence embodied in First Amendment theory and industry ethical codes. Government has tightened its embrace with journalism and this presents the essential dilemma: Does journalism serve its sources or its audience?”

Then and Now, Free Speech v. Free Elections • Shea Smock, Florida State University • This study provides a qualitative content analysis from the political economic perspective of Network and Public Broadcasting Discourse Surrounding McConnell v. Federal Election Commission and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission . This paper is part of a larger study that serves as my Master’s thesis at Florida State University.  The thesis also includes a historical analysis of Supreme Court cases and legislation leading up to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Heroines under control: Unexpected news portrayals of women in the organ of the Bulgarian Communist Party • Miglena Sternadori, University of South Dakota • This is a rhetorical analysis of the news coverage of women’s issues in Rabotnichesko Delo, the organ of the Bulgarian Communist Party, over three non-consecutive years. The analysis illustrates an ideologically constructed reality, in which women’s  limited career fulfillment co-existed with oppressive expectations, such as the importance of having sons over daughters, maintaining physical attractiveness, and shouldering household chores.

The World Cares: What Fantasy Themes Appear on Facebook Status Updates? • Edson Jr. Tandoc, University of Missouri-Columbia; Heather Shoenberger • Studies on self-presentations on social networking sites have focused on biographical data, contact details and multi-media contents and comments that people share. But self-presentation, particularly on Facebook, transcends these pieces of information: Users can tell the online world their thoughts, feelings and opinions through their status updates. Guided by the symbolic convergence theory and the uses and gratifications approach, this study focused on the disclosure of these intimate details through a public and real-time feature.

Is it the Audience? A Comparison of Framing of Turkey’s EU Membership in the International Herald Tribune and in the New York Times • Nur Uysal, University of Oklahoma • This study examined news framing of Turkey’s accession to the European Union in the coverage of the International Herald Tribune and in the New York Times following the 2005 Luxembourg summit. As the first Muslim country seeking membership in the EU, Turkey represented a challenging test. A content analysis of news stories revealed that the IHT framed the issue as a conflict between Muslim Turkey and Christian Europe, a culturally congruent theme for European publics.

The Politics of Authenticity: A Dilemma for Campaign Consultants • James Wittebols, University of Windsor • Promotional culture techniques have permeated political campaigns for some time, bringing the techniques of advertising, marketing and PR into politics.  Recently, the promotional culture industry has begun to appropriate the human value of authenticity as a means to promote, sell or persuade.  This paper reports the results of interviews with political campaign consultants on the importance of having the public regard a candidate as authentic and how that authenticity is conveyed in an election campaign.

Discourses about Distant Suffering and Benefactors on the Fox-Affiliated Teen Kids News Show • Anne Golden Worsham, BYU • This critical discourse analysis examines stories about distant suffering and benefactor representations on the Fox-affiliated Teen Kids News show. This paper demonstrates how Chouliaraki’s (2006) theory on the mediation of distant suffering can be used when analyzing features about benefactors and distant suffering on a teen-oriented news program. Four discourses are identified concerning benefactor representations: militaristic, corporatized, technological, and development discourse. This paper explores the negative societal implications of these discourses.

<< 2011 Abstracts

Communication Theory and Methodology 2011 Abstracts

Loss Aversion and Regulatory Focus Effects in the Absence of Numbers: Qualitatively Framing Equivalent Messages on Food Labels • Katie Abrams, University of Illinois • To frame messages as equivalent gains or nonlosses, studies have used quantitative descriptors, but are cognitive biases explained by loss aversion or regulatory focus still powerful using qualitative descriptors? The purpose of this study was to compare effects of qualitatively framed gain and nonloss messages on people’s attitude. Each subject was randomly assigned to view either gain- or nonloss-framed messages about environmental impact and animal welfare on chicken packaging. Results showed no difference between frames.

The Salience-Setting Function • Mohammed Al-Azdee, Indiana University School of Journalism • Agenda Setting Effect and Political Predisposition Effect are two latent constructs in a structural model. While Affect Salience conceptualizes their covariance, saliences in both of them compete to predict a third latent variable, Voting for President Obama. The analysis shows that in voting behavior, an individual significantly relies on Salience-Setting Function that primarily composes of political predisposition salience and affect salience. Need for Orientation explains condition when the function becomes consequences of media agenda setting.

Eye to (Un)Biased Eye? Effects of Visual and Source Attributes  on the Perceived Credibility of Identical Information • Andrew Binder, North Carolina State University; Michael Dahlstrom, Iowa State University; Dominique Brossard, LSC, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study reports an empirical test of the effects of both visual aspects of messages and the labels of a source on judgments of credibility of the exact same information. In addition, we revisit the notion of credibility—and the distinct dimensions that were introduced initially by Meyer and have become standard use in empirical communication research since that introduction—and if they remain equally relevant in the current media environment. We address these questions by systematically varying the type of source and the modality of an informative, visual stimulus about the dangers of global warming in an experimental setting. Our findings suggest that the dimensions of credibility may not always tap the same underlying construct. In addition, we found evidence for a causal influence of apparent reach of a media message—as opposed to perceived reach—in determining higher versus lower evaluations of the biasedness of the experimental stimulus. Implications for communication theory and methodology are discussed.

The Relationship Between Motivation Activation and Social Media • Paul Bolls, Missouri School of Journalism; Heather Shoenberger; Dawn Schillenger, Missouri School of Journalism; Anthony Almond, Missouri School of Jounralism; Jaime Williams, Missouri School of Journalism • This study explores relationships between biologically based motivational drives, perceived functions of social media use, and potentially problematic orientations towards social media among college students. A convenience sample of 90 college students was obtained. Respondents completed the motivation activation measure and scales perceived functions of social media use potentially problematic orientations towards social media adapted from previous research. Results indicated that biologically-based motivation predicted two important perceived functions of social media use and that these functions were significantly related to problematic orientations towards social media use among college students. Theoretical and practical implications of this pattern of results is discussed.

Beyond Uses and Gratifications: Towards A “Multiple Influences” Model of Media Use • Bryan Carr, The University of Oklahoma • This paper proposes a new user-focused theoretical model of media use motivation under the rationale that current theories are inadequate for researching contemporary digital media and communication. The model uses the theories of uses and gratifications, media systems dependency, and play theory as a starting point. The core assumptions and concepts of each of these theories, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, are explored. From the elements of these theories, concepts and structure for a “”multiple influences”” model of media use and motivation are developed.  The end result of the paper is a theoretical model that proposes three spheres of influence – internal needs, external demands, and medium/source characteristics – which act upon the individual and could predict their likelihood of media or source usage. The paper concludes with a hypothetical application of the model to explore how it could be used to study a media selection situation.

With Me or Against Me:  Hostile Media and Third Person Effect in Partisan Media • David Carr, UW-Madison; Matthew Barnidge, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Alexandra Rogers, University of Wisconsin-Madison; David Wise, University of Wisconsin Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Scholars have noted that as the menu of available programming choices on cable television increases, so does selectivity of content along partisan or ideological lines. This study begins to explore the interaction between partisanship, program bias, and the distribution of opposing viewpoints in a political talk show. Our results indicate that host partisanship and guest argument distribution both influence ratings of media hostility and perceived impact, and that individuals distinguish the source of said bias.

Support for Emerging Technologies: Disentangling the Predispositional, Affective and Cognitive Pathways • Michael Cacciatore, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Doo-Hun Choi, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Elizabeth Corley, Arizona St. University • Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of value predispositions in influencing public attitudes toward science topics ranging from stem cell research to agricultural biotechnology. While this research has been helpful in explaining the relationships between particular values and overall evaluations of science topics, the exact process by which these predispositions work to impact larger attitudes remains less well understood. In this study we employ a structural equation modeling approach to garner a better understanding of how religiosity and deference to scientific authority operate to influence evaluations of nanotechnology. The results suggest that while religiosity and deference to scientific authority each influence support directly, these values also operate through risk perceptions and trust, respectively, in their impacts on support. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Connecting Interpersonal Discussion and the Internet: How Interpersonal Discussion Moderates the Effect of the Internet on Being Informed about Nanotechnology • Doo-Hun Choi, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Michael Cacciatore, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Elizabeth Corley, Arizona St. University • The idea that interpersonal discussion moderates the effect of media use on one’s knowledge of political and/or social issues has been gaining considerable momentum in recent years. For example, the “”differential gains model”” suggests that interpersonal discussion among citizens facilitates an individual’s ability or willingness to acquire information from mass media. With the differential gains model in mind, this study examines the relationship between science media use and science-related interpersonal talk on public understanding of nanotechnology, using a nationally representative telephone survey. Our findings show that the relationships between Internet use and informed learning about nanotechnology are enhanced among those who talk about science with other people more frequently. Moreover, our findings suggest that Internet use enables people to search and process science information more carefully for subsequent interpersonal science discussions with others. Implications of these findings as they pertain to opinion formation and public understanding of science are discussed.

The Effects of Questionnaire Frames on Indicators of Data Quality • Jihyang Choi, Indiana University (Bloomington) • This study aims to empirically test how different kinds of frames of survey questions -“”informative”” and “”accepting consequences”” frames- affect the quality of the collected data. The study reveals “”informative”” frames did not increase the data quality significantly. “”Accepting consequences”” frames yielded contradictory results. When the questions contain frames that facilitate respondents to evaluate about personal-level consequences, the data quality significantly improved. However, the quality did not increase in the frames of national-level consequences.

Support for Message Control: A Multi-level Meta-Analysis of the Third-Person Effect • Charles Feng • However robust the perceptual component of the third-person effect is, the behavioral component of the third-person effect hypothesis, i.e., TPP will lead to support for restrictions on undesirable messages, got mixed support in empirical studies. Are there any methodological artifacts, which caused the variations of results? This paper found that TPE effect size was weak, and the locations where the studies were conducted as well as message types play the important role in moderating the TPE through a meta-analytical review. The implication for theory development was discussed.

Stages of Mobilization: An Influence and Rational Choice Model for Consensus, Action and Sustainability • Laleah Fernandez, Michigan State University • This paper proposes a series of network analysis terms to illustrate the stages of mobilization model. The stages of mobilization examined here are (1) consensus (2) action and (3) sustainability. The proposed model merges rational choice theory with a network model of influence recognizing mobilization as a process. As such, terms used in the stages of mobilization model are modified based on conceptual differences at the three stages of mobilization. First, this paper introduces a set of terms for the three stages of mobilization. Second, this paper offers a framework for model building to be used for empirical testing of the stages of mobilization.

Political Consumption and Needs of the Self: A Functional Attitudes Approach to Citizen Engagement • Melissa R. Gotlieb, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This paper applies functional attitudes theory to explore motivations for citizen engagement. Using data from the 2007-2008 Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project, this paper examines the factors (predispositions, news use, political information sharing) that predict outcome expectancies for political consumption that relate to needs of the private and collective self, as well as how these outcome expectancies, in turn, predict frequency of engagement in political consumption. Implications for civic and political modes of engagement are discussed.

Toward the Third Level of Agenda Setting Theory: A Network Agenda Setting Model • Lei Guo, University of Texas at Austin; Maxwell McCombs, University of Texas at Austin • This paper presents a Network Agenda Setting Model, which proposes that the network relationships among objects and/or attributes can be transferred from the news media to the public’s mind. The empirically grounded model is based on a network analysis that compared the media and public network agendas regarding the political candidate attributes in the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election. In support of the Model, this analysis found a significant correlation between the two networks.

The Effect of Psychological Reactance and Framing on Attribution of Solution Responsibility for Health Problems • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • This study applies the theory of psychological reactance to news stories presented in health coverage of obesity, depression, and lung cancer. It seems reasonable that individuals who demonstrate high levels of reactance and respond negatively to persuasive communication about health issues might have the same response to frames used in health new stories. It also combines news frames to determine the effects of those frames on how attribute responsibility for solving health problems. The findings suggest that high levels of trait reactance lead to decreased support of societal solutions to health problems. Findings also indicate that thematic and loss-framed stories increase support for health policies.

Examining How Social Norms Mediate Presumed Media Influence on Thai Adolescents’ Drinking Behavior • Shirley S. Ho, Nanyang Technological University; Thanomwong Poorisat, Nanyang Technological University; Rachel Neo, Nanyang Technological University; Benjamin H. Detenber, Nanyang Technological University • This study uses the influence of presumed media influence (IPMI) model as the theoretical framework to examine how perceived social norms (i.e., descriptive, subjective, and injunctive norms) will mediate the influence of pro- and anti-drinking media messages on adolescents’ intention to consume alcohol in Thailand. Using census data collected from 1,029 high school students in Thailand, our results suggest that the three types of perceived social norms could be integrated into the IPMI model.

Peer Influence in Adolescent Political Socialization: Deliberative Democracy Inside and Outside the Classroom • Mi Jahng, University of Missouri-Columbia; Mitchell McKinney, University of Missouri; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • This study explores the role of peer interaction in adolescent political socialization by examining political conversation behaviors. The investigation incorporated different conceptual definitions of deliberative discourse, including more structured political talk as part of in-class political discussions and also informal political conversations found in one’s peer group interactions. Results showed that adolescents’ informal peer political conversations influenced their level of political tolerance, and likelihood to try out opinions in different settings, whereas political talk in school activity had a positive influence on various types of political participation. Political knowledge was not predicted by either peer group conversation or structured civic learning, but was mostly explained by political conversations with family members and parental political participation.

Modeling the Use of Medical Journals as News Sources in The New York Times • Vincent Kiernan, Georgetown University • This paper conceptualizes journalists’ reliance on scientific and medical journals as news sources as an example of diffusion of innovation. The paper applies a quantitative model of the diffusion process to the New York Times’ citations of five medical journals from 1851 through 2010. Data  for references to the journals as a whole and to the New England Journal of Medicine fit the model well.

Who Are Others in The Third-Person Effect? : A Selective Downward Comparison of Non-smokers and Smokers Toward Smoking Issues • Keun Yeong Kim, Pennsylvania State University; Hyun Seung Jin, University of Missouri-Kansas City • Concerning the third-person effect, the purpose of this paper is to answer the fundamental question ‘who are others?’ when assessing the perceived effects of cigarette and anti-tobacco advertising. The particular interest of this study is to investigate the underlying mechanism of the third-person effect between non-smokers and smokers by applying the social comparison theory and downward comparison theory. Findings indicated that, when downward comparison is not available, people are inclined to compare themselves with similar others in order to defend their self-esteem when assessing the effects of cigarette messages and anti-tobacco messages on themselves as well as on others. Conversely, once downward comparison is applicable, people prefer to compare themselves with dissimilar others for self-enhancement. Consequently, the different choices in reference group between non-smokers and smokers result in the changes in the sign or magnitude of the perceived effects toward both cigarette and anti-tobacco advertising.

Partisan Selective Exposure and Its Political Implications • Su Jung Kim, Northwestern University • The proliferation of information sources made a significant impact on the ways in which people consume news and information. One of the daunting pictures about a high-choice media environment is the deepening division of news media users into liberal and conservative news media outlets.  The current media landscape enables people to selectively choose news media outlet that voice opinions consistent with their political beliefs and prevents them from sharing a common social and political agenda, which could be a serious obstacle to the welfare of the democratic system.  This study examines whether selective exposure to partisan news media outlets takes place and whether partisan selective exposure promotes or dampens political participation in a South Korean media context.  By using a single-source data set which combines peoplemeter data and a telephone survey from the same respondents, this study attempted to see whether selective exposure mechanisms found in previous research in Western contexts are also found in a non-Western national context.  The results suggest that partisan selective exposure occurs especially when the political spectrum of the media outlets are pronounced.  The relationship between partisan selective exposure and political participation is not found.

Selective Exposure and Reinforcement of Attitudes and of the Political Self Before a Presidential Election • Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, The Ohio State University; Steven Kleinman, The Ohio State University • A preference for attitude-consistent media messages has long been suggested, yet how such exposure actually reinforces political leanings has only rarely been studied.  Right before the 2008 presidential election, this two-session online quasi-experiment examined consequences of selective exposure to political messages on accessibility of attitudes and political self. In the first session, participants (n = 205) responded to a computerized questionnaire about 12 political issues attitudes and their partisanship, which allowed to measure accessibility of attitudes and political self. In the second session, participants browsed online articles. Four policy issues (target issues) chosen from the 12 issues were covered by eight articles, with two articles featuring opposing topic perspectives. Selective exposure to specific news reports was unobtrusively logged. After the browsing, participants completed measures for attitudes and political self again. Results show that attitude-consistent exposure increased accessibility of attitudes and subsequently accessibility of political self while counter-attitudinal exposure decreased them.

Read, Watch, Learn: The Effects of Media Multitasking on the Processing of Cognitively Demanding Information • Anastasia Kononova, American University of Kuwait • This study explored outcomes of media multitasking as cognitive process and media use habit. Two experiments indicated that when individuals processed online messages combining a textual element and an ad, the ad form (static banner/video) affected memory for textual information. Cognitive resources required to process text also affected memory for new information. The habit of media multitasking, which was linked to individuals’ cognitive control abilities, influenced the process of learning new, cognitively demanding information.

A Conceptualization and Operationalization of Receiver-Based Uncertainty Generated from Mass Media • Kristen Landreville, University of Wyoming • The goal of this study is to propose a framework for analyzing uncertainty that is aroused by mass-mediated messages. Uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1975), an interpersonal communication theory, is applied as a theoretical foundation from which to develop a conceptualization of uncertainty generated from mass media. After current research on receiver-based uncertainty is reviewed, a conceptualization of receiver-based uncertainty is offered. Moreover, an operationalization of receiver-based uncertainty is proposed after a critical examination of interpersonal-based uncertainty and prior operationalizations of receiver-based uncertainty. Finally, a future research agenda using receiver-based uncertainty generated from mass media is outlined.

Communication Mediation Model of Late-Night Comedy • Hoon Lee, University of Michigan • This study advances a communication mediation model of late-night comedy in an effort to understand the process through which consuming satirical humor works in concert with interpersonal discussion to stimulate political engagement.  The theoretical model was tested across two different research designs and findings from both survey and experiment provide a considerable support for the indirect effects of late-night comedy viewing on political participation via a conduit of interpersonal discussion.  In particular, results demonstrate that various structural features of interpersonal communication (e.g., casual conversation, formal discussion, online interaction, and network size) positively mediate the participatory influence of late-night comedy.  On the other hand, the investigation of the mediating role of heterogeneous discussion illustrates that late-night comedy programs can disproportionately mobilize a certain subset of the electorate in that consuming satirical humor tends to invite more liberals into the deliberation of discrepant views and that well-educated individuals are more likely to benefit from debates of heterogeneous opinions.  The present study urges to extend the scope of the communication mediation model to incorporate a wider range of media sources and diverse structural dimensions of interpersonal communication in the theoretical and empirical framework.

Nearly a Decade After September 11: Navigating Current and Future Counterterrorism Communication Research • Brooke Liu, University of Maryland; Abbey Levenshus, University of Maryland • Nearly a decade after September 11, 2001, much remains to be learned about the role of communication in countering violent extremism. Through an analysis of the extant research this paper maps the post-9/11 counterterrorism communication research landscape. The study identifies four groupings of paradigmatic research, which sometimes blurred and overlapped: constructivism, postpositivist, critical, and postmodern. The study concludes with proposing the Counterterrorism Communication Research Compass to understand the current landscape and the uncharted research needs.

The Affective Underpinning of Hostile Media Perceptions: Exploring the Distinct Effects of Affective and Cognitive Involvement • Joerg Matthes, University of Zurich • The hostile media effect (HME) refers to a process by which highly involved audiences tend to perceive media coverage as biased against their own views. In this process, issue involvement is usually treated as a cognitive construct, that is, the extent to which the attitudinal issue under consideration is of personal importance. Although Vallone, Ross, and Lepper (1985) raised the issue of affective involvement in their seminal study, hardly any research has tried to disentangle the effects of cognitive and affective involvement. Thus, the aim of this paper is to clarify whether the HME is triggered by cognitive and/or affective involvement. Data from three independent survey studies demonstrate that affective involvement—measured as emotional arousal or as the experience of concrete emotions—can explain the HME over and beyond cognitive involvement. Implications of these findings for future HME research are discussed.

News Exposure, Political Knowledge, Partisanship, and (Mis)Perceptions of Change in Conditions Under George W. Bush • Patrick Meirick, University of Oklahoma • This research uses 2008 ANES panel data to examine how partisanship, political knowledge, and news exposure contributed to citizens’ perceptions of how the economy, the federal deficit, poverty, and crime rates changed between 2001 and 2008 — and to how those judgments changed as economic conditions worsened throughout the year.  Partisanship was a robust predictor of perceptions: Democrats tended to see trends more negatively than did Republicans, regardless of the direction of the actual trends. Political knowledge and education tended to promote perceptions that were in the same direction as actual trends, but political knowledge interacted with party identification to promote partisan polarization in perceptions. Television news exposure unexpectedly emerged as the most important media variable, although its relationships with trend perceptions were not always in line with the facts.  This was especially the case with crime, as cultivation research has suggested.  As the year went on, partisans’ perceptions of economic trends appeared to be converging on a consensus that reflected reality. But this convergence may have been more the result of a floor effect among Democrats than anything else.

An Analytic Method for Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC): Distinguishing the Message Expression and Reception Effects in Online Social Networks • Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Dhavan Shah; Bryan McLaughlin, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Jeong Yeob Han, University of Georgia; Ming-Yuan Chih, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Rich Cleland; Shawnika Hull, University of Wisconsin; Eunkyung Kim; Sojung (Claire) Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This paper describes how computer-mediated communication (CMC) data collected from an eHealth system can be used for online social network analysis, which allows for complex understanding of the relationships between message expression and reception effects. The proposed methodology allows us to examine the multi-layered effects of online expression and reception, combining the following three data sets: 1) a more flexible and precise computer-aided content analysis; 2) action log data; and 3) longitudinal survey data.

Hostile Media or Hostile Source?: Bias Perception of Weblog-embedded News • Sung-Yeon Park, Bowling Green State University; Gi Woong Yun, Bowling Green State University; Sooyoung Lee, Sogang University; Mark Flynn, Bowling Green State University • The effects of source and user comments on perceptions of Weblog-embedded news reports were examined in the framework of hostile media effect.  Source, one perceived by participants as agreeable and  the other perceived as disagreeable, affected perceived biasedness of the news story and its perceived influence on others, but not perceived reach of the news.  User comments attached to the embedded news story, one set agreeable and the other disagreeable to the issue position of participants, generated no effect on perceived biasedness, perceived influence on others, and perceived reach of the news.  There was no interaction between source and user comments.  A regression analysis revealed that source and perceived influence on others, but not perceived reach, were predictors of the bias perception.  Social and theoretical implications of these findings were discussed and suggestions were made for future research.

I Just Bought this Thing!  The Diffusion of Iterations – A Modification of DOI to Explain Incremental Changes in Existing Technology. • Severin Poirot, University of Oklahoma • Devices such as Apple’s iPad and the recently released iPad 2, while new to the marketplace, may not exhibit enough new qualities to be considered an innovation.  The existing model of diffusion of innovations (DOI) may not be adequate to explain devices that exhibit incremental and undetectable upgrades over existing versions.  This paper will use Apple’s line of products as an example of concepts that may not be considered innovative, yet differ from existing concepts.  It will explore existing research concerning DOI and its application toward technology such as the iPad or its predecessors such as the iPod.  This paper will also introduce the concept of iterations as a way of explaining the diffusion of these upgraded products.

Cultural Pluralism, Ethnic Identity and Media Language Choice • Thomas E Ruggiero, University of Texas El Paso; Kenneth C. C. Yang, University of Texas • This study argues that cultural pluralism theory is more robust than ethnic identity theory, specifically in predicting media language choice. Study results indicate that despite strong Mexican-American identity, respondents showed strikingly inconsistent patterns of media language choice, which fail to be fully accounted for in ethnic identity theory. While those who identified as Mexican overwhelmingly preferred Spanish language media content, respondents who strongly identified as Mexican Americans often chose English language content over Spanish language media content.

Exploring the Effects of Mood and Culture on Cognitive Thinking Styles • Sela Sar, Iowa State University; Brittany Duff, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign • Two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of mood and culture on analytic and holistic thinking style on memory, product evaluation and purchase intention. Results of both experiments indicated that people in a negative mood predominantly utilize analytic thinking style, whereas people in a positive mood predominantly utilize holistic thinking style. The findings also showed that Westerners were more likely to use the analytic thinking style whereas Easterners were more likely to use the holistic thinking style. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Media Effects on Group-Related Stereotypes. Evidence from a Three-Wave Panel Survey in a Political Campaign • Christian Schemer, University of Zurich • The present study investigates media effects on the activation of group-related stereotypes in a political campaign. By combining a content analysis of the coverage of the asylum law restriction with a three-wave panel survey the study found that negative portrayals of asylum seekers in the news increase stereotypical beliefs in the public while positive portrayals decreased them. The findings also indicate that the effects are partially time-variant. Specifically, the impact of negative portrayals of asylum seekers on stereotypes was stronger at the beginning than at the end of campaign. A similar effect was obtained for positive portrayals of asylum seekers in the campaign news. However, at the end of the campaign the impact of positive portrayals of asylum seekers on stereotypical beliefs about that social group was indistinguishable from zero.

Appropriate Uses of Single-Item Measures • Vivian Sheer, Hong Kong Baptist University • Multi-item scales, due to their ability to produce robust reliability, often are preferred over single-item measures in empirical research. The reality of research practices, particularly in applied research, demands valid, efficient short measures that are more feasible, cost-effective, and adaptable for various populations. This article reviews advantages and disadvantages associated with multi-item and single item measures. Situations in which single items can be used appropriately are identified. Methods for constructing valid single-item measures are illustrated. The importance of measurement efficiency is underscored.

Five Antecedents of Media Effects: A Model for Comprehensive Conceptualization of Individual-level Media Effects • Mark Shevy, Northern Michigan University • This paper presents a model that organizes the antecedents of individual-level media effects into five categories based on the variables implicitly or explicitly considered in effects research: 1) Context and time, 2) audience attributes and processes, 3) interactivity, 4) content, and 5) form. The model facilitates scholars’ and students’ overall conceptualization of an effect by explicitly representing all of these variables and their relationships in a single place (rather than scattered across various studies).

Media Capabilities as a Comprehensive Construct for Research on Media Choice: Assessment of a Measurement Model • Kristy Shi, Bowling Green State University; Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State University; Gi Woong Yun, Bowling Green State University • This study proposed a new comprehensive construct for understanding media choices in terms of news consumption in a multiplatform context for leisure use. Media capabilities is the new construct with three dimensions: 1) technology capabilities, 2) gratification capabilities, and 3) source capabilities. The proposed new model was tested and confirmed with a survey of general population and college students through structural equation modeling. Limitations and suggestions for further study were discussed.

Explication of Selective Credibility: Is Credibility Perceived or Manipulated? • KyuJin Shim, Syracuse University • Selective credibility is the persuasive communication framework that exhaustively includes the message selection and source selection process under the opinion-reinforcement motivation. With this framework the term de facto credibility is coined, which refers to specific attributes consisting of source credibility by which people, either intentionally or unintentionally, accredit a favorable message. This study also attempts the concrete and systematic modeling of source credibility to build an applicable theory that conceptualizes source credibility as an appendant to reinforcing-opinion selectivity.  Situational factors affecting perceived propagandistic motivation were explored under the cognitive dissonance framework that affects selective credibility.

Social Network Analysis: A Mixed-Methodological Approach • Cindy Vincent, University of Oklahoma • This paper proposes a mixed-methodological approach to social network analysis.  Based on Wasserman and Faust’s (1999) network analysis concept, Castells’ (2009) network society concept, and Wellman’s (2001) communities as networks concept, this paper outlines the theoretical foundations for the basis of a mixed-methodological social network analysis.  The paper contributes an alternative network analysis approach by combining new quantitative methods with traditional qualitative methods.  This paper provides implications for mixed-methodological social network analysis in future research.

A Case for Survey Based Case Studies: Considerations of Generalizability and Theory • Justin Walden, Penn State University • As a methodological approach, the case study remains a divisive topic. While some scholars tout the ability for cases to provide depth and richness to examinations of particular phenomena and populations, questions persist in the literature about the approach’s ability to provide highly generalizable findings and to test theory. This paper responds to both of these criticisms by highlighting examples of well-conducted cases and arguing for more use of survey-based case studies in communications research.

How Much is Enough?: Sample Size Guidelines for Content Analysis of Political Blogs • Brendan Watson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Journalism & Mass Communication; Xiaopeng Wang, University of South Florida, St Petersburg • This study based on comparing random samples to known population means derived from a year of posts on 12 “”A-List”” political blogs is the first to produce empirically-derived guidelines for sampling blogs for content analysis. The results suggest one draw”

Examining the Relationship between the Third-person Effect and the Hostile Media Effect of Polls in the 2010 U.S. Midterm Elections • Ran Wei, University of South Carolina; Ven-hwei Lo, Chinese University of Hong Kong • The third-person effect and the hostile media effect are two robust phenomena that interest scholars researching media perceptions. To ascertain the relationship between the two theories, this study focused on polls in the 2010 midterm elections. Using survey data of 562 respondents, a path model was built to test how the third-person effect was related to hostile media perception. Results show strong evidence of the hostile media effect in viewing the slant of the polls and the third-person effect in assessing the impact of the polls on others and oneself. Both Republican and Democratic supporters believed the polls favor candidates of the other party. They also perceived the polls to have a greater impact on others than on themselves. More importantly, results indicate that the relationship between the third-person effect and the hostile media effect was mediated by exposure. Perception of hostile polls was found to be negatively related to exposure to polls, which affects perceived effects of polls on oneself and others, which in turn influence support for restrictions of election polls.

Experimental Methodology in Journalism and Mass Communication Research • Rob Wicks, University of Arkansas; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri; Glenn Leshner, University of Missouri • Experiments are a powerful method for understanding causal relationships in journalism and mass communication research. In this essay, we examine seven indicators of experimental quality that reviewers should include as criteria in their evaluations. We note that there are complex interrelationships among these indicators. Because some of the standards are controversial, we attempt to summarize the conflicting arguments. Where different conclusions can be rationalized as appropriate, our bottom line suggestion is that the researcher make clear what standards were followed and why, so that readers can evaluate those decisions.

Crystallization Theory: Construction of Reality in the Age of Social Media • Donghee Yvette Wohn, Michigan State University; Brian J. Bowe, Michigan State University • Distribution of media has drastically shifted with the introduction of the Internet. Although personal relations, or networks, have always been influential in shaping what people perceive as being important, social media such as Facebook and Twitter are making these networks more accessible.  In this media environment, we suggest crystallization theory as a new framework for understanding the social construction of reality in the age of social media. Crystallization theory builds on social influence theory, which purports that people have a fundamental desire to tune their attitudes towards groups that they want to affiliate themselves with.   Amidst the sea of information, social media facilitates information produced by the members of our social networks, who become neo agenda setters. These neo agenda setters filter information from major media outlets and introduce information that one would otherwise not be familiar with. Since people are influenced by members of their social network, we will see patterns arise where people’s perception of reality will crystallize through their social networks and everyone will perceive that the information their social network produces reflects mainstream news, but there will be no true mainstream.

News and Multi-tasking Audiences:  Reading Text While Listening to an Audio Newscast • Ronald Yaros, University of Maryland; Jing Guo, University of Maryland • A within-subjects experiment (n = 56) tested participants’ ability to simultaneously comprehend news text on a screen while listening to an audio newscast.  Fifteen news stories were used in three conditions including: (1) audio unrelated to text, (2) audio related to text, and (3) audio narrating the text.  Post exposure tests, including thought listing from both audio and text suggest significant differences. Comprehension of both audio and text was best when the audio was identical to the news on screen. Surprisingly, however, comprehension was higher when news on screen was unrelated to the audio compared to related content.

When to Use Scott’s Pi; or Krippendorff’s Alpha;, If Ever? • XinShu Zhao, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University • Scott’s Pi; (1955) and Krippendorff’s alpha; (1980) have been among the most-often used or recommended general indicators of reliability. This article presents paradoxes showing that neither can be a general indicator. We show that Pi; or Alpha; should be used only when (a) coders enforce a predetermined quota as the first priority and (b) coders maximize chance coding as the second priority. Because the two conditions rarely hold, Pi; or Alpha; should rarely be used.

Does c’ Test Help, Anytime? — On Communication Fallacy of “”Effect to Mediate”” • XinShu Zhao, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University; Qimei Chen, Department of Marketing, Shidler College of Business, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Bing Tong, Journalism School, Fudan University • Baron and Kenny’s (1986) classic procedure for establishing mediation requires a “”c’ test,”” namely the simple correlation between independent variable and dependent must be significant. Many authors, including Kenny, later recommended suspending c’ test under some conditions. A couple recent articles recommended to completely repeal the test.  Most of the advocates and critics of the test focused on suppression, also known as competitive mediation. This article takes a more comprehensive view. Expanding a typology recently developed by others, we laid out all possible scenarios of three-variable non-recursive models. We grouped the 51 scenarios into three types of mediations and two types of non-mediations.  We then examined each type to see if c’ test helps or hinders.  We found that c’ test hinders for establishing two types of mediations; it does not help for establishing the third type; it also does not help for rejecting the two types of non-medications.  Further, we show that the goal of c’ test, namely “”to establish an effect to be mediated,”” is a communication fallacy resulted from an equivocation and a pseudo concept. We concluded by supporting the emerging view led by Hayes (2009) that c’ test should be completely repealed for establishing any type of mediations.

<< 2011 Abstracts

Communication Technology 2011 Abstracts

Open Competition

Exploring the Motivations of Online Social Network Use in Taiwan • Saleem Alhabash; Hyojung Park, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Anastasia Kononova, American University of Kuwait; Yihsuan Chiang; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • The current study explores the motivations of online social network use among a sample of the general population in Taiwan (N = 4,105). The study investigated how seven different motivations to use Facebook predicted the intensity of Facebook use, specific content generation behaviors on Facebook, and other indicators of Facebook use. Results showed the motivation to use Facebook for updating one’s own status and viewing other peoples’ status updates was the strongest predictor of the intensity to use Facebook, followed by four other motivations as significant predictors. The motivation to view, share, tag and be tagged in photographs was the strongest predictor of content generation behavior on Facebook, followed by five other motivations as significant predictors. Results are discussed in terms of expanding motivations to use Facebook to the study of social networking sites and other new and social media.

Body by Xbox: The Effects of Video Game Character Body Type on Young Women’s Body Satisfaction and Video Game Enjoyment • Vincent Cicchirillo, University of Texas at Austin; Osei Appiah, The Ohio State University; Whitney Walther, The Ohio State University; Christopher Brown, The Ohio State University; Kristen Carter, The Ohio State University • Numerous studies have examined the relationship between women’s body satisfaction and their exposure to thin women in the media. However, few if any studies have examined women’s body satisfaction after exposure to female video game characters.  This study looks at the influence of different female body shapes (i.e., thin, average, and overweight) within a video game on outcomes related to identification, enjoyment, and body satisfaction among women video game players. Two-hundred twenty-two young women played a third-person shooter game on Xbox featuring female characters that consisted of one of three different body sizes (skinny, average, or overweight). The findings indicate female participants who played as either a skinny or average sized female character reported greater body dissatisfaction than participants who played as an overweight female character. Additionally, results show participants were more likely to identify with and perceive similarity to skinny and average female characters than they were the overweight female characters. These results support upward comparison of social comparison theory.

Motivational Influences of Linking: Factors guiding behaviors on Facebook • Kanghui Baek, University of Texas at Austin; Avery Holton, University of Texas-Austin; Dustin Harp, University of Texas School of Journalism; Carolyn Yaschur, University of Texas at Austin • More than 600 million people currently use the social network site Facebook, which allows for multiple forms of interaction. Noting the importance of sharing links to news and information &#8722; a key function of Facebook – this study determined user motivations for linking, the influence of those motivations on linking frequency, and the content of those links. Building upon uses and gratifications theory, this study found the need for sharing information, convenience and entertainment, to pass time, interpersonal utility, control, and promoting work contributed to the propensity to share links. Information sharing also predicted the frequency of linking. Further, this study found that motivations for linking influenced the types of links posted. Higher educated individuals who desire to share information were more likely to post news links. Those who did not seek to control others posted more entertainment links. Users interested in promoting their work posted job-related content. The findings of this study and their implications are discussed.

Does Negative News Have Positive Effects? The Influence of Blog Posts and Comments on Credibility • Elizabeth Bates, Baylor University • The blog poster, level of company guilt in blog post, and ratio of company-supportive to company-critical blog comments were varied to determine how each affected perceptions of company and source credibility. Data suggests public relations practitioners are less trustworthy than journalists. However, the company and its public relations practitioner are more credible when the dominant opinion in the blog, particularly in the blog comments, suggests the company is not guilty.

Examining the relationships of smartphone ownership to use of both legacy and new media outlets for news • Clyde Bentley, University of Missouri; Kenneth Fleming, University of Missouri-Columbia • The overriding research question of the study is to see if ownership of mobile phone would affect use of both traditional and new media outlets for news. Analyses of a national survey (n = 496) in early 2010 show that ownership of mobile phone was a significant factor in explaining use of mobile phone, online media, and newspaper’s website for news; it had no impact on readership of print daily or weekly newspaper and watching news on television, after age, gender, education, and income were statistically controlled. In addition, age was significantly and positively associated with use of traditional news media, and negatively associated with use of online media and mobile phone for news. On average, smartphone owners were significantly younger than those who had either simple cellphone or no cellphone at all.

The hyperlinked world: A look at how the interactions of news frames and hyperlinks influence news credibility and willingness to seek information • porismita borah, Maryville University • Prior research has already identified the influence of using hyperlinks in online information gathering. The present study attempts to understand first, how hyperlinks can influence individual’s perceptions of news credibility and willingness to seek information. Second, the paper extends previous research by examining the interaction of hyperlinks with the content of the story. And in doing so, the paper examines the influence of hyperlinks on communication concepts such as news frames. The data for the study were collected using an experiment embedded in a web-based survey of participants. Findings show that hyperlinks in news stories can increase perceptions of credibility as well as willingness to seek information. Results also reveal the interaction of news frames in the process, for example participants’ perception of news credibility increases in the value framed condition. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Great Expectations: Predicted iPad adoption by college students • Steven Collins; Tim Brown • While the iPad has been popular, newspaper and magazine publishers have not had the same fortune in drawing people to their applications for the device. A longitudinal study of college students, future news consumers, shows that interest in adopting the iPad has grown over two points in time. However, among potential adopters, interest in paying for digital newspaper and magazine iPad content has not grown. However, data do show that those with smartphones are much more likely to adopt the iPad and other tablets. In addition, the influence of change agents on adoption intent is confirmed and seems to indicate that the iPad has moved beyond the critical mass phase.

Mobile News Adoption among Young Adults: Examining the Roles of Perceptions, News Consumption, and Media Usage • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted; Hyejoon Rim, University of Florida; Amy Zerba • Using the frameworks of innovation diffusion and technology acceptance model, this study examines the predictors of mobile news consumption among young adults. Survey findings showed the perceived relative advantage of mobile news is positively related to its adoption and willingness to pay for mobile news services. Perceived utility and ease of use play significant roles in mobile news adoption. This study validates the importance of examining the adoption process from multiple perspectives.

Deciphering Blog Users: Personalities, Motivations, and Perceived Importance of Blog Features • Szu-Wei Chen, University of Missouri-Columbia; Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz • Different from many past studies that mainly focused on bloggers, this research aimed to explore how general blog users browse, read or comment on others’ blogs. More specifically, we employed the uses and gratifications framework to link blog users’ personality traits (the Big Five inventory), motivations to use blogs (entertainment, information seeking, social interaction, and personal identity) and perceived importance of various blog features (e.g., content and source credibility, hyperlinks, ease to use, interactivity, author anonymity, popularity and reputation). A pilot study was first conducted to clarify whether participants have a consistent understanding of what a blog is. Then, 341 participants were recruited to fill out a self-administered online survey. A two-step structural equation modeling approach was used to test the proposed model. The results not only helped clarify several inconsistent findings in the past, but also provided insightful directions for future research.

Determinants of Intention to Use Smartphones: Testing the Moderating Role of Need for Cognition                  • Hichang Cho; Byungho Park • By integrating the technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989) with the need for cognition (NFC; Cacioppo & Petty, 1982), we aimed to specify the conditions under which different internal beliefs (e.g., perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) and social influence factors (e.g., subjective and descriptive norms) are important in determining behavioral intention to use smartphones. The results based on survey data (N =172) provided support for our hypotheses that NFC is an important motivational construct that moderates the linkages between cognitive instrumental beliefs, social influence factors, and behavioral intentions (BI). Specifically, perceived usefulness had a stronger effect on BI for high NFC people, whereas perceived ease of use and subjective norms had stronger effects on BI for low NFC people. The findings reveal possible important variations in technology acceptance and the role of NFC in governing these alternative processes.

Social Networking in Higher Education: A Collaboration Tool for Project-Based Learning • Amy DeVault, Wichita State University; Lisa Parcell, Wichita State University • This case study explores the use of social networking to enhance project-based service-learning. The researchers found that the student group used social networking, specifically Twitter and Facebook, for collaboration among group members to complete this project-based objective, to build a community of practice with local communication professionals, and ultimately to successfully promote their event.

Hiding or Priding? A Study of Gender, Race, and Gamer Status and Context on Avatar Selection • Robert Dunn, East Tennessee State University; Rosanna Guadagno, University of Alabama • We conducted an experiment to determine the effects of gender, race, online gamer status and game context had on avatar selection, based on eight metrics. As predicted, online gamers selected avatars that were taller, thinner, and more attractive than participants who did not play online games. Non-white participants selected avatars with lighter skin-tones, whereas white participants selected avatars with darker skin-tones. Contrary to predictions and previous research, male participants selected shorter avatars than female counterparts.

My Students will Facebook me but Won’t Keep up with my Online Course • Francine Edwards, Delaware State University • An examination of the current body of literature has found that despite the interest in transforming education to fit a growing body of technologically astute students, few studies have investigated the characteristics or competency of that population and their ability to meet with academic success in this digital era or an informational age.  However, what has been revealed in the research is that assumptions about digital natives (students from grade K through college who represent the first generation to grow up with this new technology) may not be correct and that a focus on digital immigrants (individuals that did not grow up in this generation) face a similar set of challenges.  While today’s college students are immersed and fluent in social media, consumer electronics and video games, they are not nearly as proficient when it comes to using digital tools in a classroom setting – thus countering the myth that academicians are dealing with a whole generation of digital natives.  Other studies that have investigated the extent and nature of college students’ use of digital technologies for learning have found that students use a limited range of mainly established technologies and that use of collaborative knowledge creation tools, virtual worlds, and social networking sites was low.  This study investigates the ability of digital natives to incorporate new technologies in the academic process and the challenge that digital immigrants as instructors face.

Live Tweeting At Work: The Use of Social Media in Public Diplomacy • Juyan Zhang, University of Texas at San Antonio; Shahira Fahmy, University of Arizona • This study used a survey to examine factors that affect adoption of social media in public diplomacy practice by foreign diplomatic practitioners in the United States. Results showed the key factors identified in the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework: Effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence and attitudes, facilitating conditions, in addition to perceived credibility had positive influences on the adoption process. Findings also showed respondents most often used social networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) followed by video sharing sites, intranet, blogs, video conferencing, text messaging and Wiki. Further more women reported the use of social media than men, but on average, men used more different types of social media than their female counterparts. Finally gender, age and level of gross national income (GNI) appeared to have significant moderating effects on the adoption of social media in the context of public diplomacy.

Who are the heavy users of Social Network Sites among College Students? A Study of Social Network Sites and College Students • Ling Fang, Bowling Green State University; Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State University • The indulgence in social networking sites (SNS) among college students has drawn scholars’ attention and research interest.  But who the heavy users of SNS among college students are and how SNS use in relation to cellular phone text messaging use, another popular medium, has not been studied.  Based on a survey on 476 college students from 24 classes in a public university, this study focused on sociability gratifications and information searching gratifications with behavioral indicators as predictors of SNS use and examined their relationship between SNS usage and with text messaging use. Specifically, this study examined (1) the demographic predictors of college students’ SNS usage, (2) how sociability gratifications and information seeking gratification contribute to college students’ SNS usage, and (3) the relationship between college students’ cell phone usage and SNS usage. Results show a complementary relationship between SNS use and text-messaging use.  Heavy users of SNS are most likely to be females and minority students and those who relied on SNS as a news medium.

Measuring, Classifying and Predicting Prosumption Behavior in Social Media • Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State University; Gi Woong Yun, Bowling Green State University • This paper compares college students’ and general population’s prosumption behavior in social media and proposes a set of measures of prosumption in online media settings with special emphasis on social media including a prosumption index which can be used in future studies on prosumption. We classify prosumption behavior in a quadrant of four main types along the two dimensions of production and consumption. A polarized trend of prosumption was observed.

How the Smartphone Is Changing College Student Mobile Usage and Advertising Acceptance: A Seven-Year Analysis • Michael Hanley, Ball State University • This study employs online surveys conducted between 2005-2011 to investigate college student smartphone versus feature phone content usage, and acceptance of mobile advertising. Ad acceptance is measured using six mobile advertising acceptance factors from the Wireless Advertising Acceptance Scale (Saran, Cruthirds & Minor, 2004). Results show that incentives are a key motivating factor for advertising acceptance, but the perceived risk associated with receiving mobile ads could become a significant barrier to ad acceptance.

Play global, cover local: News media, political actors and other Twitter users in the 2010 US Elections • Itai Himelboim, University of Georgia, Telecommunications; Hansen Derek, College of Information Studies/University of Maryland; Anne Bowser • In times these challenging times for traditional media, news organizations join social media platforms such as Twitter to attract new and existing audiences.  On this field, they compete for attention against millions of users.  This study examines the use of Twitter in four gubernatorial races by news media, political candidates and the general public of Twitter users.  Examining patterns of follow relationships indicate two types of clusters.  The local clusters include a subgroup of more densely interconnected users, in which local news media on Twitter and political candidates became hubs. The national clusters include a subgroup of more sparsely interconnected users, in which national media and online-only news sources play as hubs.  Theoretical and practical implications for news media and political candidates are discussed.

The Real You?: Visual Cues and Comment Congruence on Facebook Profiles • Seoyeon Hong, University of Missouri; Edson Jr. Tandoc, University of Missouri-Columbia; Eunjin (Anna) Kim, University of Missouri; Bo Kyung Kim, University of Missouri, Missouri Journalism School; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • Despite current extensive interdisciplinary research, the impact of Facebook profiles has been the subject of little systematic study, though investigators have explored with other forms of social networking sites. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social cues in self-presentations and the congruence of other-generated comments with the self-presentation in people’s evaluations of a profile owner. A 2 (level of social cues; high vs. Low) X 2 (congruent vs. incongruent) X 2 (order) X 2 (messages) mixed-subject design was conducted with 106 college students as participants. The results showed that a profile owner was perceived less socially attractive when other-generated comments were incongruent with the profile owner’s self-presentation. Also, the profile owner was perceived to be more popular when there were more social cues available than when there were fewer social cues. Interestingly, an interaction effect between congruence and level of social cues suggested that perceived popularity was low in the incongruent condition regardless of level of social cue. This is consistent with the warranting theory that emphasized the significant role of information from the others in people’s judgment of self-presentations online. That is, no matter how people package themselves with extravagant self-presentations, it cannot be very successful without validation from others. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.

Red-Hot and Ice-Cold Web Ads: The Influence of Warm and Cool Colors in Web Advertising on Click-Through Rates • Kimberly Sokolik, Virginia Tech; James D. Ivory, Virginia Tech • Previous research has examined responses to advertisements featuring warm and cool colors, but such research with web advertisements is limited and consists of laboratory experiments rather than studies using natural data and actual consumer activity.  This study compared the click-through rates of “”box”” and “”banner”” web ads with red and blue color schemes using data from more than 1.5 million ad impressions from 12 months of traffic on a popular news web site.  Ads with red color schemes generated substantially higher click-through rates, particulary for box ads, though the effect of color was reduced in the case of banner ads.

Having a Blog in this Fight:  Testing Competing Models of Selective Exposure to Political Blogs • Tom Johnson, University of Texas; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • This study tested two competing theories of selective exposure, the “”anticipated agreement hypothesis”” that suggests people will seek information about candidates they agree with and avoid contact with ones they disagree with and the “”issue publics hypothesis”” that asserts that voters consume information on issues they consider personally important. The study found indirect support for the anticipated agreement hypothesis as partisans relied heavily on candidate/party sites for information and reliance was linked to selective exposure.

A Winner Takes All? Examining Relative Importance of Motives and Network Effects in Social Networking Site Use • Mijung Kim; Jiyoung Cha, University of North Texas • Over the past several years, social networking sites (SNSs) have increasingly become an essential part of life for many U.S. Internet users. The present study explores the motives for using the three most-visited SNSs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and whether differences exist between the SNSs with respect to the motives for using each SNS. Furthermore, this study examines how motives and network size relevant variables affect SNS usage. Although the motives sought for the three SNSs were similar across the SNSs, the result demonstrated that the primary motives for using SNSs differed. The result also demonstrated that the motives behind the use of an SNS have a much stronger association with SNS usage than the perceived network externality and perceived personal network size of the SNS.

When Ordinary Citizens Produce Media Content: A Comparative Analysis of Most Popular and Random YouTube Videos • Eunseong Kim, Eastern Illinois University; Liz Viall, Eastern Illinois University • As the online video-sharing site, YouTube’s motto, “”Broadcast Yourself”” indicates, YouTube has taken a leading role as the platform that invites everyone to create and share video content with others. YouTube has also enjoyed unprecedented popularity among Internet users and become a representative example of user-generated content in the Web 2.0 era. When everyone is invited to participate in content creation, what do ordinary citizens create? The current body of research provides little information about what typical videos on YouTube look like and how they may be similar to or different from those videos that garner an extraordinary level of popularity (i.e., viral videos). To fill this void, 195 top favorited and most viewed videos on YouTube were analyzed and compared to 203 randomly selected YouTube videos. Findings indicate that typical (random) videos on YouTube exhibit different characteristics from most popular (top favorited and most viewed) videos on YouTube. The paper discusses differences and similarities between typical videos and most popular videos on YouTube.

The Effects of LCD Panel Type on Psychology of Video Game Players and Movie Viewers                  Ki Joon Kim; S. Shyam Sundar • As computer-based devices become the primary media via which users view movies and play interactive games, display technologies (e.g., LCD monitors) have focused increasingly on quality of video fidelity, with much debate surrounding the relative efficacy of different panel types of LCD monitors. A 3 (TN panel vs. S-IPS panel vs. S-PVA panel) x 2 (game vs. movie) between-subjects experiment was conducted to examine the effects of LCD panel type in facilitating regular viewing as well as enhanced interactive TV experiences. Preliminary data from the experiment showed that LCD panel and stimulus type as well as computer literacy were important factors affecting monitor users’ viewing and interaction experience. Limitations and implications for theory and ongoing research are discussed.

Multitasking across borders: Media multitasking behaviors in the U.S., Russia, and Kuwait • Anastasia Kononova, American University of Kuwait; Saleem Alhabash; Zasorina Tatyana; Diveeva Natalia; Kokoeva Anastasia; Anastasia Chelokyan • A cross-national study has been conducted to explore media multitasking behaviors among the young people in three countries: the U.S., Russia, and Kuwait (N=532). A theoretical model that was proposed in this research included factors predicting media multitasking (media ownership, socio-economic status, sensation seeking, and media use), two media multitasking variables (multitasking with media and multitasking with media and non-media activities), and media multitasking outcomes (perceived attention to media contents and perceived ease of media technology use). While some of the paths among the different variables were not statistically significant, the fact that model fit indices were in line with the acceptable rules of thumb qualified the data for analyzing the parameter estimates. The model was run with three samples, American, Russian, and Kuwaiti. Among others, the findings suggest to consider cultural and structural context to be taken into consideration in the analysis of media multitasking behaviors in foreign countries.

Hostile Media Perceptions: Coloring the (New) Media Red or Blue • Ammina Kothari, School of Journalism – Indiana University; Seong Choul Hong, Indiana University; Shuo Tang; Lars Willnat • Past research on the hostile media effect mainly focused on how people perceive media bias of traditional media, while in the current dynamic media environment mobile technology is changing how people consume media. This study expands the scope of current research and tests the interplay of bi-partisan media consumption, selective media exposure and the hostile media effect within the realm of both traditional and online mediascape. An analysis based on a national survey of 3,000 American adults detects a variance in the hostile media effect depending on demographic factors, media selection and media platform. Age, gender, and political affiliation contribute to the perception of media bias. Selective exposure to traditional bi-partisan media like newspapers, television and especially political talk shows also generate the hostile media effect. Online media consumption is a weak predictor of the hostile media effect: On the one hand, consumers of news websites, news aggregators or email news perceive a low level of media bias; on the other, news sources like blogs, social network sites or mobile phones are not indicators of the hostile media effect.

When Do Online Shoppers Appreciate Security Enhancement Efforts? Effects of Financial Risk and Security Level on Evaluations of Customer Authentication • Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee, Hope College; Shailandra Rao, CafeBots; Clifford Nass • As the popularity of online shopping grows, concerns about identity theft and fraud are increasing. While stronger customer authentication procedures may provide greater protection and hence benefit customers and retailers, security tends to be traded off against convenience. To provide insight into this security-convenience trade-off in customer authentication, we experimentally investigated how levels of authentication security and financial risk factors affect perception and evaluation of authentication systems. In two experiments, participants performed simulated purchasing tasks in the context of online shopping. The findings show that financial risk factors moderate the effects of security levels on consumers’ evaluation of authentication systems. In Experiment 1, participants rated the high-level security system as less convenient and more frustrating when the amount involved in the transactions was higher. On the other hand, Experiment 2, which introduced a more explicit risk for consumers (liability for fraudulent activities), showed that participants gave more positive ratings of the high-level security system under full liability than under zero liability. Taken together, the present research suggests that consumers’ perception and appreciation of authentication technologies may vary depending on the characteristics of the financial risk involved in the transaction process.

Understanding the “”Friend-Rich””:  The Effects of Self-Esteem and Self-Consciousness on Number of Facebook Friends • Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee, Hope College; Eun-A (Mickey) Park, University of New Haven; Sung Gwan Park • The present research examined whether and how self-esteem and self-consciousness (private vs. public) predict number of social network friends, particularly in the context of Facebook use. It was predicted that self-esteem and private self-consciousness would have a negative association with number of Facebook friends while public self-consciousness and number of Facebook friends would show a positive association. In addition, it was hypothesized that self-esteem and public self-consciousness would have an interaction effect on number of Facebook friends. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey data conducted with a college student sample in the U.S. (N=234). While private self-consciousness did not yield a significant association with number of Facebook friends, self-esteem had a negative association and public self-consciousness had a positive association with number of Facebook friends, which suggested that lower self-esteem and higher public self-consciousness would likely lead to more active friending, thereby resulting in a greater number of friends listed on their Facebook profile. Furthermore, the data supported the hypothesized interaction between self-esteem and public self-consciousness. Implications for number of Facebook friends as a social “”commodity”” are discussed.

Are You Following Me? A Content Analysis of TV Networks’ Corporate Messages on Twitter • Jhih-Syuan Lin, The University of Texas at Austin; Jorge Peña • This study analyzed the content of TV corporations’ messages in social networking sites by employing Bales’s IPA method. This study also explored the diffusion of information in social networking sites by examining users’ “”retweeting”” behavior. The findings showed that TV networks tended to employ more task than socioemotional communication across program genres. Also, giving suggestions was the most frequently used message strategy in the current sample. Additionally, socioemotional messages got retweeted more often than task-oriented messages. The findings suggest managerial implications for corporate message management and relationship-building efforts in social networking sites.

With a Little Help from My Friends: Motivations and Patterns in Social Media Use and Their Influence on Perceptions of Teaching Possibilities • Miglena Sternadori, University of South Dakota; Jeremy Littau, Lehigh University • This study explores what journalism and mass communication educators believe to be appropriate uses of social media as teaching and communication tools with students and alumni, including the motivations that drive these beliefs and the decisions that follow them. There was a negative relationship between age and gratifications from using Twitter and Facebook, and a positive relationship between educators’ use of these tools in the classroom and their perceptions of usefulness. The hypothesis that use of social media would lead to higher evaluation scores was only partially supported. A qualitative analysis of answers to open-ended questions identified five themes: (1) recognition of the importance of Twitter and Facebook to the study of mass communication; (2) ethical concerns about boundaries; (3) perceived negative judgment or praise from administrators or students for using social media; (4) digital divide concerns; (5) perceived disutility of Twitter and Facebook in comparison to platforms such as Blackboard as well as blogs and wikis. The results are discussed in the context of their theoretical implications for the Media Choice Model (MCM: Thorson & Duffy, 2006) as well as practical implications for educators considering ways to implement social networking in their teaching.

A Little World in My Hand —The Use of Smartphones Among Low Income Minority Women • xun Liu, california State University, Stanislaus; Ying Zhang • Under the guide of social cognitive theory, the current study investigated the use of smartphones among low-income minority women. Twenty-eight low income minority women were interviewed about their smartphone use patterns and their beliefs pertaining to self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. As the first study that explores smartphone use among this demographic group, the current research makes a unique and original contribution.

New TV Resistance: Barriers to Implementation of IPTV in the Living Room • Duen Ruey Liu, Shih Hsin University; Yihsuan Chiang, Shih Hsin University; Niann Chung Tsai, Shih Hsin University • Families relax in living rooms and watching TV should be carefree. Researchers care about interaction between human and machines of IPTV, the study are interpreted with theory of affordance by James Jerome Gibson (1979) and technology acceptance model (TAM) by Davis (1989). We add marketing strategies, program contents, interface operation, use experience and fear of technology of five external variables in attempt to propose IPTV TAM of future promotion and development of digital TV.

Color and cognition: The influence of Web page colors on cognitive inputs • Robert Magee, Virginia Tech • A Web page’s red color scheme seemed to lead participants to engage in rule-based processing, while a blue color scheme lead them to engage in associative processing. In an experiment (N = 211) with physical temperature and Web page color as between-subjects manipulated factors and Attitudes Toward Charities and Need For Cognition as a measured independent variables, participants were asked to view a Web page for a trade-based development organization. When participants experienced the sensation of physical cold, those who were cognitive misers tended to report less favorable attitudes toward the Web page. This interaction disappeared, however, when participants viewed a Web page that featured a red color scheme, as red seemed to have stimulated arousal and an increase in analytic rule-based cognitive processing. In addition, an accessible knowledge structure, participants’ general attitude toward charitable organizations, was a predictor of their impressions of that organization only when they viewed a red Web page. The implications of color and cognition for communication technology are discussed.

A Lesson Before Dying: Embracing Innovations for Community Engagement as a Survival Strategy for Media in Crisis. • Samuel Mwangi, Kansas State University • As media organizations confront an uncertain future unleashed by disruptive technologies, they are searching for ways to successfully navigate the changing information landscape. This paper argues that one way out of the present crises is for media to embrace a culture of innovation and use engaging communication technologies that are mutually beneficial to the media and to the communities they serve. The paper maps trends in media innovations and then reports on a unique innovation project that designed a new digital tool to help media re- engage their communities in new ways. The success of the project suggests that innovative tools and services that are specifically geared towards community engagement can provide a lifeline for media in crises as well as transform community news, information distribution and visualization, and impact community conversations, making new media technology a valued ally to media organizations and communities rather than a disruptive threat.

Coproduction or Cohabitation?  Gatekeeping, Workplace, and Mutual Shaping Effects of Anonymous Online Comment Technology in the Newsroom • Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University • This study explored whether the technology that enables readers to post anonymous comments on the same platforms with newspaper journalists’ articles has transformed journalists’ workplaces or work practices. Data from a nationwide survey examined through the lens of mutual shaping found that journalists are mostly ignoring the technology, continuing to assert their territoriality, and seeing little impact of comments as artifacts mediating between editors and reporters. Mutual shaping is constrained by journalistic norms and practices.

Affect, Cognition and Reward: Predictors of Privacy Protection Online • Yong Jin Park, Howard University; scott campbell; Nojin Kwak, University of Michigan Ann Arbor • In recent years emotion and cognition have emerged as new dimensions for understanding media uses. This article examined the interplay between cognition and affect in Internet uses for privacy control as this is conditioned by reward-seeking rationale. A survey of a national sample was conducted to empirically test the relationship between affective concern and cognitive knowledge. We also tested for three-way interactions that consider reward-seeking as a third moderator. Findings revealed that concern did not directly play a meaningful role in guiding users’ protective behavior, whereas knowledge was found significant in moderating the role of concern. The interactive role of reward-seeking seems particularly salient in shaping the structure of the relationships. These findings suggest that the intersections between knowledge, reward, and concern can play out differently, depending on the levels of each. Policy implication in relation to users’ cognitive, affective, and reward-seeking rationalities are offered, and future research considerations are discussed.

Factors Influencing Intention to Upload Content on Wikipedia in South Korea: The Effects of Social Norms and Individual Differences • Naewon Kang, Dankook University, Korea; Namkee Park, University of Oklahoma; Hyun Sook Oh, Pyeongtaek University • This study examined the roles of social norms and individual differences in influencing Internet users’ intention to upload content on Wikipedia in South Korea. Using data from a survey of college students with users and non-users of Wikipedia (N = 185 and 158), the study found that the effect of social norms was minimal, while that of individual differences—self-efficacy, issue involvement, and ego involvement—was more important to account for the uploading intention.

Seeking Environmental Risk Information Online: Examining North Carolina’s Urban-Rural Divide • Laurie Phillips; Robert McKeever, UNC Chapel Hill; Daniel Riffe, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Kelly Davis, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication • Using statewide telephone survey data (N=406), this “”digital divide”” study oversampled rural households to explore urban-rural differences in Internet access, time online, and information-seeking about environmental risk. Although the access divide has closed, parallel regression analyses revealed urban-rural differences in demographic predictors of time online and information seeking. No urban-rural differences emerged in preference for Internet as an environmental risk source, though Internet use was a strong predictor of rural respondents’ sense of “”environmental confidence.””

News Feed Indeed:  Social media, Journalism and the Mass Self-Communicator • Sue Robinson, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This research takes up the Castells’ (2009) notion of the mass self-communicator, referring to the ability of citizens to employ digital technology to produce and disseminate information via vast networks. A hundred Madison, WI, residents were interviewed about their attitudes as potential mass self-communicators on blogs and social networking sites. Some reported posting content on their Facebook pages and other SNS material that helped them converse, understand new perspectives, prove their knowledge, document their presence on an issue, and mobilize others. Their acts of “”information witnessing”” – particularly during the Winter 2011 Madison protests – transformed them into news networkers in a way that altered the established information flows in this Midwestern city. Others rejected the opportunity as too public.

Country Reputation in the Age of Networks: An Empirical Analysis of Online Social Relations and Information Use • Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas • This study identifies and examines effects of individuals’ online social relations and information use regarding other countries on their ratings of the reputation of those countries. Theoretical and operational definitions of the two variables are developed and used to establish and test a theoretical model accounting for how people form perceptions of other countries in the age of information technology and online social networking. A survey of South Korean Internet users provides the empirical data for this paper.     The survey shows that negative information South Koreans get about the United States through their online social networks can have significant influence on their perceptions of the United States. In comparison, information they get through U.S.-based websites did not significantly influence their views of the United States. This study also shows that first-hand experience of visiting the United States remains the most significant positive predictor of South Koreans’ favorability toward the United States in this networked age. These results reinforce the importance of relationship-based networked public diplomacy. It is important that countries lay out digital media-based strategies that help build relationships with their foreign constituents rather than simply delivering information to them.

Explicating Use of ICTs in Health Contexts: Entry, Exposure, and Engagement • Dhavan Shah; Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Tae Joon Moon; Ming-Yuan Chih, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Jeong Yeob Han, University of Georgia • We explicate ‘use’ of eHealth systems, or more generally ‘use’ of a wide variety of information and communication systems (ITCs).  A review of the literature makes clear that ‘use’ has been applied to a number of different operational measurements, each implying differences in meaning.  To address this multiplicity of meanings, we propose and discuss three central meanings of eHealth ‘use,’ introduce likely applications of each, and consider potential submeanings and operationalizations: Entry into the system, Exposure to its content, and Engagement with the system.  We argue that this three part distinction is critical to both conceptualizing and operationalizing ‘Use’ in meaningful and analytically useful way. Measurement and analysis strategies are discussed in relation to this concept explication.

Why Do People Play Social Network Games? • Dong-Hee Shin, Sungkyunkwan University; Tae-Yang Kim • Recently, Social Network Games (SNGs) over social network services have become popular and have spawned a whole new subculture. This study examines the perceived factors which contribute to an SNG user’s behaviors. It proposes an SNG acceptance model based on integrating cognitive as well as affective attitudes as primary influencing factors. Results from a survey of SNG players validate that the proposed theoretical model explains and predicts user acceptance of SNG very well. The model shows fine measurement properties and establishes the perceived playfulness and security of SNGs as distinct constructs. The findings also reveal that flow plays a moderation role that affects various paths in the model. Based on the results of this study, both the appropriate practical implications for SNG marketing strategies and the theoretical implications are provided.

Exploring the Immersion Effect of 3DTV in a Learning Context • Dong-Hee Shin, Sungkyunkwan University; Tae-Yang Kim • With the conceptual model of flow and immersion, this study investigates immersion/flow effects in an educational context. This study focuses on users’ experiences with 3DTV in order to investigate the areas of development as a learning application. For the investigation, the modified technology acceptance model (TAM) is used with constructs from expectation-confirmation theory (ECT). Users’ responses to questions about cognitive perceptions and continuous use were collected and analyzed with factors that were modified from TAM and ECT. While the findings confirm the significant roles by users’ cognitive perceptions, the findings also shed light on the possibility of 3DTV serving as an enabler of learning tools. In the extended model, the moderating effects of confirmation/satisfaction and demographics of the relationships among the variables were found to be significant.

The Factors Affecting the Adoption of Smart TV • Dong-Hee Shin, Sungkyunkwan University; Tae-Yang Kim • Smart TV, a new digital television service, has been rapidly developing. With the conceptual model of interactivity, this study empirically investigates the effects of perceived interactivity on the motivations and attitudes toward Smart TV. A model is created to validate the relationship of perceived interactivity to performance, attitude, and intention. Further, the model examines the mediating roles of perceived interactivity in the effect of performance on attitude toward Smart TV. Empirical evidence supports the mediating role of perceived interactivity. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of building a theory of interactivity and providing practical insights into developing a user-centered Smart TV interface.

The Anonymous Chatter: Testing the Effects of Social Anonymity and the Spiral of Silence • Madeleine Sim; Jamie Lee; Kristle Kwok; Ee Ling Cha; Shirley S. Ho • Using the spiral of silence as the theoretical framework, this study examines the relationship between social anonymity in computer-mediated communication settings and opinion expression in Singapore; we conducted an experiment to assess participants’ use of avoidance and engagement strategies. Results indicate that social anonymity and future opinion congruency were significantly associated with opinion expression. Findings suggest that the lack of visual and status cues, rather than perceived anonymity, were more likely to elicit opinion expression.

The Differing Effects of Communication Mediation on Social-Network Site and Online Political Participation • Timothy Macafee; Matthew Barnidge, Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin – Madison • This study uses a national survey of 10 cities in Colombia to explore how communication mediation influences social-network site and other online political participation. We argue these two type of participation should be distinct and illustrate how attention to information and information dissemination affects them differently. Specifically, both offline and online information sharing lead to social-network site participation, while online information seeking and sharing predict other online political participation.

Social Media Policies for Professional Communicators • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University • As social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become increasingly prevalent ways for people to share and connect, professional communicators have increasingly incorporated these tools into their daily practice.  However, journalism, advertising and public relations practitioners have little formal guidance to help them navigate the benefits and risks of using these tools professionally.  The codes of ethics of their professional fields have not been updated, and to date, social media policies have not been examined from an academic perspective.  This study reviews 26 social media policies of journalism and strategic communication companies to find common themes and concerns and to suggest best practices for professional communicators using social media tools.  These themes include transparency, balancing the personal and the professional, maintaining confidentiality, rules for “”friending,”” and other matters central to developing an effective social media policy.

An Exploration of Motives in Mobile Gaming: A Uses and Gratifications Approach. • Lakshmi N Tirumala, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University; Anthony Galvez • Global sales of video games have increased to $54.9 billion in 2009 and are expected to earn $68.3 billion by 2012. Although video games are mostly being played on devices like PlayStation, recent advances in mobile phone technologies has created a new platform for video game play. Given the unique nature of the gaming experience this study proposes to examine motivational dimensions of mobile gaming from a uses and gratifications approach.

The role of third-person effects in the context of Facebook: Examining differences in perceived consumption and impact between self and others • Mina Tsay, Boston University • The immense popularity and adoption of Facebook in the lives of more than 500 million users has sparked the attention of new media scholars. While much is known about Facebook members’ motivations, use, and gratifications of this social networking site, minimal attention has been given to examining the perceived consumption and impact of Facebook on users themselves versus others. Applying the third-person effect (TPE) hypothesis to the context of social media, this study (N = 375) investigates: 1) differences between estimated Facebook effects on self versus others, 2) relationship between perceptions of Facebook use and estimated impact of Facebook on self versus others, and 3) association between perceived desirability of Facebook as a social medium and estimated Facebook influence on self versus others. The aforementioned relationships are also moderated by gender and age. Implications for the relevance of TPE on users of social networking sites are discussed.

Will Communication Journals Go Online? An Analysis of Journal Publishing Formats and Impact Factors • Nur Uysal, University of Oklahoma; Joe Foote, University of Oklahoma; Jody Bales Foote • Academic journals are regarded as a platform on which scholarly communication takes place to validate and disseminate academic knowledge.  They provide a means to examine the question whether online/electronic publishing improves the dissemination of quality information.  The primary focus of this study is the migration of academic journals from print to hybrid (print and electronic) to electronic format.  It focuses on journals in six disciplines, including communication/journalism.  The study addresses three research questions:  a) To what extent have communication journals embraced electronic publishing? b) How do online journals in communication compare to those in business, psychology, geology, meteorology, and physiology? c) What is the relationship between journal publishing format and impact factor in the journal sample and in communication journals? Content analysis of all journals listed in the ISI database (n=716) was conducted regarding publishing format, publihsing start date, publisher etc. In order to understand the relationship between impact factor and publishing format a multiple regression analysis was deployed. The results showed that on the contrary to forecasts journals experience a slow migration to e-only publihsing format. They stick to hybrid publishing on whihc this study showed that there is a positive relationship.

Use of Social Networking Sites: An Exploratory Study of Indian Teenagers • Peddiboyina vijaya lakshmi, Sri  Padmavati Women’s University • Social Networking Sites have   become popular and have become a vital part of social life in India, especially among teenagers.  .   There is no in-depth study as to how and why Indian teenagers engage with social networking sites.  This study, using focus groups, explored the experiences of teenagers with social networking sites. Information from the groups was analyzed in terms of their usage of social networking sites, profile construction, online vs offline friendships, and extending friendships beyond cyberspace.  The gender variations and social norms in how teens are using these sites are other possible areas that require attention.

Technological Constructions of Reality: An Ontological Perspective • Cindy Vincent, University of Oklahoma • This paper seeks to address how ontological constructions are shaped through technological dependency.  Depending on the exposure and usage of hypermediated technology, individuals will have different constructs of reality to coincide with the styles of technology they use.  Currently, there is a gap in research in addressing the impact of technological dependency on individual constructs of reality.  This paper seeks to make progress in identifying a hypermediated technological ontological perspective and recommendations for future research.

Followers, Friends, and Fame: Political Structural Influence on Candidate Twitter Networks • Ming Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Alexander Hanna; Ben Sayre; JungHwan Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Michael Mirer; Young Mie Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah • To understand the antecedents and consequences of political candidates’ online social networks, we captured egocentric Twitter networks of candidates who ran for the 2010 midterm elections. To be more specific, our data include information on a sample of political candidates running for the 2010 congressional and gubernatorial elections as well as their connections to their followers and friends on Twitter. Adopting a social network analysis approach and focusing on political structural determinants, we find that Senate and gubernatorial candidates had both larger follower networks and friend networks. Furthermore, Republican candidates had larger follower networks and incumbent candidates had smaller friend networks on Twitter. But neither network size measures affected whether the candidates were likely to win the elections or not. Our results showed strong political structural influence on how candidates managed their online social networks.

Social Network Sites Use, Mobile Personal Talk and Social Capital • wenjing xie, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • Using data collected from a nationally representative survey, this study explores social network site use and mobile communication among teenagers as well as their influences on social capital. We found that, older teenagers tend to be more likely to use social network site. Among social network site users, older teenagers and teen girls use SNS more intensively. Hierarchical regression analysis shows that adoption of social network site and mobile personal talks not only have main effects on teenagers’ network capital, but also interact with each other. Intensity of SNS use also significantly predicts teenager’s civic and political participation among SNS users. Moreover, join groups on SNS or not interacts with mobile personal talks to predict civic participation.

Incidental Exposure to Online News: An Insight from the Pew Internet Project Introduction • Borchuluun Yadamsuren; Sanda Erdelez; Joonghwa Lee, University of Missouri; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • Incidental exposure to online news (IEON) is becoming more prominent as people spend more time on the Internet. However, little research on this behavior has been done in the field of mass communication. Through a secondary data analysis of the Pew Internet & American Life Project study (2010), this study aimed to explore association of the IEON in two contexts (news reading and non-news reading) using various demographic, technology usage, and news exposure variables. Findings of the present study suggest that both types of IEON are positively associated with higher education, home access to the Internet, strong interest in news, and online news use. However, there is no correlation between either types of IEON and legacy media use. This study extends the research on online news consumption and incidental exposure to online news. The findings have important implications for online media business.

Walled Gardens?: Social Media and Political Disaffection among College Students in the 2008 Election • Masahiro Yamamoto, Washington State University; Matthew Kushin, Utah Valley University • This study evaluates the ways in which social media influenced political disaffection among young adults during the 2008 presidential election campaign. The effects of social media, online expression, and traditional Internet sources on political cynicism, skepticism, and apathy were examined using data from an online survey of college students. Results show that attention to social media for campaign information is positively related to cynicism and apathy. Online expression has a positive effect on skepticism. Implications are discussed for the role of social media in bringing a historically disengaged demographic group into the political process.

Motivations for and Consequences of Participating in Online Research Communities • Juyoung Bang, Samsung Electronics; Seounmi Youn, Emerson College; James Rowean, Emerson College; Michael Jennings, Communispace Corporation; Manila Austin, Communispace Corporation • Utilizing the functional approach of attitudes, this study identified the motivations that consumers have for attitudes toward participation in online research communities: knowledge, utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive, social, and helping the company. Further, this study explored the influences of respective motivations on consumers’ sense of identification with communities, which subsequently affects consumers’ feeling heard by companies, community loyalty, and brand trust. Online survey data (n=1,461) supported the hypothesized relationships and offered theoretical and managerial implications.

Student Papers

Opting Into Information Flows: Partial Information Control on Facebook • Leticia Bode • While we know a great deal about purposive information seeking online, and we have some understanding of incidental exposure to information online, Web 2.0 challenges this dichotomy. Social media represent a new type of information environment, in which users have partial control over the information to which they are exposed. While users opt into information flows, they are then exposed to information they might not have sought out themselves. This study is a first step in understanding the dissemination of information in this environment, as well as the effects of exposure to such information. Utilizing survey data relating to the specific case of the popular online social network, Facebook, the study tests for likelihood of exposure to information in this environment, as well as the relationship between exposure and opinion change. Results indicate that users do recognize exposure to information in this new environment, and exposure to information in that medium significantly increases the likelihood of opinion change as a result.

Building Frames Link by Link: The Linking Practices of Blogs and News Sites • Mark Coddington, University of Texas-Austin • This study uses content analysis and depth interviews to examine the use and conceptions of hyperlinks among news web sites, independent bloggers, and blogging journalists, particularly the way that they contributed to episodic, thematic, and conflict news frames. News sites’ links functioned thematically to provide context through background information produced by a limited body of traditional, non-opinionated sources. Bloggers’ links, however, served as a more social connection while pointing toward immediate, episodic news issues.

For Love or Money?: The Role of Non-Profits in Preserving Serious Journalism • Emily Donahue Brown, University of Texas • This study employed elite, in-depth interviews with executives of online non-profit journalism organizations to ascertain their sense of mission, audience and the model’s potential for long-term relevance. They see their organizations assuming investigative, in-depth reporting roles vacated by mass media. The online non-profit model enables deeper interactive engagement with local audiences.  Securing stable funding and broader audiences are critical concerns. Cross-platform collaboration is crucial to establishing brand; engaging younger audiences is not a major priority.

Linked World: Applying Network Theory to Micro-Blogging in China • Fangfang Gao • Micro-blogging is one of the latest Web 2.0 technologies with great impact in the world. Drawing on network theory, this study focused on the recent micro-blogging phenomenon in China, analyzing the characteristics of micro-blogs. Content analyzing the secondary data from Sina micro-blogs, this study found that lifestyle and entertainment/celebrity were the most popular and the most reposted topics in Chinese micro-blogs. Features of micro-blogs such as topic, authorship, and multimedia usage can predict their emergence as hubs in the Chinese micro-blogging network. Implications of results were discussed.

Will the Revolution be Tweeted or Facebooked? Using Digital Communication Tools in Immigrant Activism • Summer Harlow, University of Texas-Austin; Lei Guo, University of Texas at Austin • Considering the debate over U.S. immigration reform and the way digital communication technologies increasingly are being used to spark protests, this study examines focus group discourse of immigration activists to explore how digital media are transforming the definitions of “”activism”” and “”activist.” Analysis suggests technologies are perhaps pacifying would-be activists, convincing them they are contributing more than they actually are. Thus, “”armchair activism”” that takes just a mouse click is potentially diluting “”real”” activism.

Go to the People: A Historical Case Study & Policy Analysis Of Massachusetts and Open Standard Document Formats • Andrew Kennis • In 2004, Massachusetts announced it would switch the format of its electronic documents for its public records from a proprietary, to an ostensibly open standard.  My case study examines the struggles, controversies, and successes of the monumental Massachusetts policy.  It is an epic tale and one that is casually known to most internet policy scholars, if not the general public.  This case study not only closely details the development of what was a monumental policy initiative, but also undertakes a critical analysis of the history observed in Massachusetts. A policy argument is posited which calls for the organization of democratic, grassroots-based support for the furtherance of an open standard document format not developed or maintained by a corporation which currently monopolizes the office suite market. An “”open coalition”” is called upon to undertake a public awareness and grassroots lobbying campaign, which would connect the open source community to the cause of adopting a genuinely open standard document format by tying open source and standard initiatives together.

The effect of emotional attachment to mobile phone on usage behavior:  Meditation effect of deficient self-regulation and habit • Mijung Kim • Considering pervasiveness of mobile phones, the literature of media use has focused on a wide range of predictors of mobile phone usage behaviors such as motivations, gratifications, self-efficacy, personality traits, media dependency, and demographic characteristics. Nonetheless, the existing theoretical models focusing on rational or utilitarian media usage cannot reflect the emotional and relational aspect of usage behaviors. In other words, what past studies of media use has not paid attention is the possibility that users develop relationship with media and emotional attachment to media including both cognitive and affective based media-self connections. Thus, focusing on psychological connections between users and media, this study demonstrates users’ emotional attachment to mobile phones, influence their mobile phone usage behavior. Specifically, this study focuses on the mediation effects of deficient self-regulation and habits.

Crude comments and concern: Online incivility’s effect on risk perceptions of emerging technologies • Peter Ladwig; Ashley Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Uncivil rhetoric has become a growing aspect of American political discussion and deliberation.  This trend is not only confined to traditional media representations of deliberation, but also online media such as blog comments.  This study examines online incivility’s effect on risk perception of an emerging technology, nanotechnology.  We found that reading can polarize audiences’ attitudes of risk perception of nanotechnology along the lines of religiosity, efficacy, and support for the technology.

Motivations and Usage Patterns of Online News: Use of Digital Media Technologies and Its Political Implications • Shin Haeng Lee, University of Washington – Seattle; ChangHee Choi, School of Journalism, Indiana University at Bloomington • With an interest in contextualized use of new communication technologies and its implications, this study examines the relationship of individuals’ motivations for news consumption to their frequencies and patterns of online news use and attempts to explain the role of online features in the news consumption by dividing online activities into active and passive usage patterns. Based on a secondary analysis of data collected by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project that conducted a national survey on the media and technology consumption of individuals in 2010, this study aims to identify online users’ motivations for using online news and to examine relationships between user motivations for news consumption and usage patterns of online news services. The findings of this study demonstrate associations of individuals’ different motivations with not only their usage frequencies but also patterns of online news services. The results also suggest that the examination of various activities engaged with different functions the Internet provides should be considered in studies of what motivates people to experience new practices in using web-based media. Given different modes of Internet usage in getting news, this study shed light on the important role of new tools or functions web-based media provide in online practices its users perform as well as the examination of what contents or services they consume or engage with. Finally, the study suggests that scholars should consider for future research the investigation of individuals’ different practices online in using news, contingent on their motivations for media use.

Online users’ news consumption practices and technological tools • Shin Haeng Lee, University of Washington – Seattle • Online users’ different motivations with respect to news consumption lead to different practices in using news media and related ICTs. However, media institutional actors endeavor to hold their power as a traditional gatekeeper even on the Web. In this sense, online users’ activities can be explained with not only traditional mass communication models but also individual motivations for social networking. This paper allows for an explanation in which the application of new ICTs to web-based media reflects institutional actors’ attempts to get access to arenas that draw larger audiences online. Likewise, individual actors who use shared digital network technologies with a motivation for human interactivity play a much more dynamic role in reconfiguring a distinctive flow and patterns of news and information on the Web from traditional communication models. Thus, digital network technological tools can be considered to not only provide online users with more opportunities to access alternative sources of news and information but also allow news media institutions to appropriate technologies for new opportunities to maintain control over users and their participations through technologies in order to reinforce their communicative power. In an effort to examine the consequences of the use of new technologies in news consumption, future research should therefore take into account institutional as well as individual actors’ practices in a process of interaction between their motives and tools for satisfying their needs in the historical and cultural context.

Issue Information and Technological Choice in a Senate Election Campaign: News, Social Media, Candidate Communications, and Voter Learning • Jason A. Martin, Indiana University School of Journalism • As candidates, the news media, and much of the public increasingly focus on digital and mobile media, it is important to understand the impact of these communication technologies in a variety of election contexts. This paper addressed that research problem by asking citizens about their use of various election information resources and their knowledge about key issues in a U.S. Senate campaign. A representative survey of randomly selected voters (n = 220, 50.9% response rate) in one of the nation’s 20 most populous cities was conducted immediately following the November 2010 Senate midterm election. Respondents were asked how frequently they used traditional and digital news media, social media, and campaign communications, including both advertising and candidate websites.  A hierarchical regression model including media use, alternate information sources, motivation measures, and demographics revealed that newspaper use and online news use were the most important independent predictors of issue knowledge, followed by voting status and general civics knowledge. Also, newspaper use and news website use were not correlated, indicating that they were similarly but separately effective in influencing voter issue learning. On the other hand, blog use, social media use, and campaign website use did not have significant effects on issue learning after controls. These findings indicate that although citizens had a greater range of information available to them than ever before, they preferred traditional campaign content and learned the most from the news media’s printed word even as they diversified the platforms on which they received that election news.

Perceived Credibility of Mainstream Newspapers and Facebook • Andrew Nynka, University of Maryland; Raymond McCaffrey, University of Maryland • This study examines whether consumers perceived differences in the credibility of news from a mainstream newspaper compared to a social media web site where a friend provides a link to a story. Measures indicated significant differences across four indices, with a New York Times story rated higher in terms of professionalism, authority, and information, while participants indicated they were more likely to provide a link to the friend’s Facebook story on their own Facebook page.

The Roles of Descriptive Norms and Communication Frequency in Forming Information Communication Technology Adoption Intention • Yi Mou, University of Connecticut; Hanlong Fu • Previous studies have not examined the roles of descriptive norms and communication frequency in the process of information communication technology adoption.  This study aims to fill the gap using podcast as an example.  Results show that descriptive norm is an additional significant predictor of adoption intention.  Injunctive norms play a moderating role in the relationship between communication frequency and descriptive norms.  However, frequent communication in one’s social networks does not necessarily reduce the discrepancy between an individual’s beliefs and perceived others’ beliefs related to podcast using.  Implications for future studies are also discussed.

Look At Me Now: The Need To Belong And Facebook Use • Stephen Prince, Brigham Young University; Adam Anderson; Sarah Connors • The objective of this study was to examine if an individual’s need to belong was associated with specific types of participatory Facebook activities, particularly those that might provide functional substitutes for more traditional interpersonal interaction and involvement with others. A secondary objective was to determine if gender mediated the relationship between need and activity frequency. Data were collected via an online survey (N = 398) administered to Facebook users ranging in age from 14 to 73 (M = 25.93). Our results indicate that those individuals with the greatest need to belong were more likely than those with the lowest need to update their Facebook status on a regular basis, tag photographs, and to use Facebook Chat with a larger number of their friends. Our findings also suggest gender impacts usage patterns based on need to belong. Men with high need are more likely to use Facebook for more interactively immediate forms of communication, such as chatting, than women.  Women with high need were more likely than those with low need to engage in activities that were more designed to draw attention to the individual rather than to create an immediate means of two-way interaction.

Consumer Motivations and the Use of QR Codes • Jennifer Seefeld, University of Nebraska – Lincoln; Meghan Collins, University of Nebraska – Lincoln • The development of QR codes and the increase of mobile phones among college students has developed a new media outlet. Many companies are investing in mobile marketing campaigns but there is little academic research on QR codes. This pilot study attempts to bridge this gap in literature. It analyzes the view of advertising agencies as well as the motivations and knowledge of QR codes in the target market of college students.

New Media in Social Relations: The Cell Phone Use among College Students in Building and Maintaining Friendships • Ivy Shen, University of Oklahoma • This study explores the role of cell phone in maintaining and establishing friendships among college students. A comparison between the cell phone use and face-to-face communication was drawn to see which communication approach is preferred by those young people in terms of supporting friendships. Gender’s affect on college students’ attitudes toward the cell phone use in friendship maintenance and establishment was also examined. The results demonstrate that the cell phone does help in maintaining friendships. College students prefer using the cell phone to having face-to-face conversations to maintain the relationships. Yet, face-to-face interaction turns out to be more preferable in initiating friendships. The findings also suggest that gender is not an influential factor in college students’ cell phone use in the connections with friends.

From Stereoscopy to 3D HD Image:A Review of 3D HDTV Diffusion from the Perspective of Technology Adoption • Xu Song • 3D HDTV is in its early days. 3D technology still needs to be improved to be ready for mass promotion in the market. This study reviews the 3D HDTV technology development and its diffusion in society. Based on the review of the current 3D HDTV adoption situation, individual and social factors which may influence the adoption of 3D HDTV are identified. Some factors such as media technology use and attitude are oriented from the individual difference; some factors such as cost and health risks focus on social aspects. This study analyzes the challenges faced by 3D HDTV diffusion and provides some recommendations for the success of 3D HDTV diffusion.

The Bottom Line: The Negative Influences of Technology on the Good Work and Ethics of Journalism • Ian Storey, Colorado State University • New communication technologies have some positive influences on journalism, but overall have added to the decline of “”good work”” by journalists who are pressured to publish sooner in a culture of immediacy. This immediacy has serious consequences on the profession of journalism and the practitioners of it. In the pursuit to be first, news agencies are creating ethical problems that include providing the public with unverified information and failing to adequately deliberate about their actions.

Gift Economy: Contributors of Functional Online Collaborations • Yoshikazu Suzuki, University of Minnesota Twin Cities • As the Internet transformed into a social platform following Web 2.0, active audience participation and commons-based peer production has been argued as an alternative arena of production for socially and culturally meaningful artifacts. Past literatures have mainly focused on the societal and cultural implications of such change in the landscape of contemporary Internet. However, despite the significant economic implications of peer production, existing literatures remain silent to investigating the phenomenon through the theoretical scope of economic systems. The present study is a qualitative investigation of user contributions and collaborations aimed provide an alternative understanding of the phenomenon of online collaboration through the scope of gift economy.

Reciprocity in social network games and generation of social capital • Donghee Yvette Wohn, Michigan State University • Social network games—games that incorporate network data from social network sites—use exchange between players as a main mechanism of play. However, the type of exchange facilitated by the game is both social and economical. Players get an immediate reward by the system by initiating an exchange with another player, but they can also anticipate an unspecified return from that player. In this dual-exchange environment where reciprocity is triggered by two different stimuli, does reciprocity generate social capital?  This paper describes a longitudinal experiment using a Facebook game (N=89) to examine the effect of behavior and affect on social capital development among zero-sum acquaintances. Reciprocity indicated a significant but small main effect. Affective measures—trust and copresence, but not intimacy—were positive indicators of social capital.

Consumer’s purchase power and ICT diffusion: Theoretical framework and cross-national empirical study • Xiaoqun Zhang • Combining the theories of Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Consumer Theory, this paper constructs a three dimensional framework for the diffusion process of ICTs. This framework shows how the s-shape curve changes when the average purchase power of a nation increases. Hence, it explains the digital divide between different nations due to the economic gaps. The hypotheses based on this framework are proposed and justified by the cross-national empirical studies.

Narcissism, Communication Anxiety, Gratifications-sought on SNS Use and Social Capital among College Students in China • pei zheng; Hongzhe wang • This study investigates whether and how gratifications, narcissism and communication anxiety impact people’s social network sites (SNS) use and perceived social capital. Firstly, a factor analysis of a survey data of SNS users (N=581) outlined a set of specific gratifications obtained from Renren, the most popular Chinese social network site. Four aspects of gratifications-sought (self-expression and presentation, peer pressure, social networking maintenance, and information seeking) have been identified. Then Pearson correlation showed narcissism significantly related to identified gratifications and SNS use, while communication anxiety was partially related to them; Intensity of SNS use was positively related to social capital. After that, hierarchical regression revealed that gratifications were the most powerful predictors for SNS use, while narcissism and intensity predicted social capital powerfully. Moreover, the initial significant relationship of narcissism to intensity of SNS use became insignificant when gratifications were entered in subsequent step into the regression, suggesting a mediation effect occurred.

The emerging network paradigm in computer-mediated communication: A structure analysis of scholarly collaboration network • Aimei Yang • As the important influence of social networks on communication increasingly being recognized by scholars, a growing number of studies have applied the network perspective to study online communication. This article extensively reviewed the major research topics, patterns of publications, and the structure of scholarly collaboration of an emerging sub-field of online communication research: research into online networks. Findings of this study provide not only an overview of a growing new sub-field but also a baseline that will enable future scholars to see where the sub-field began and trace its shift over time.

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