Archives for March 2011

Radio Television Journalism Division

Murrow v. McCarthy: A media-driven myth • W. Joseph Campbell, American University • This paper examines the emergence of the media-driven myth that Edward R. Murrow’s famous “See It Now” program about Senator Joseph McCarthy in March 1954 was a decisive and courageous blow that led to the senator’s downfall later than year. In deconstructing the myth, this paper notes that the legendary program benefited from fortuitous yet impeccable timing: It aired during the week that McCarthy’s fortunes entered a tailspin from which the senator never recovered.

Gatekeeping at the Portal: An Analysis of Local Television Websites’ User-Generated Content • Johanna Cleary, University of Florida; Terry Adams-Bloom, University of Miami • A content analysis of 100 local station web sites found that while 66% of stations are including user-generated content, much of it is designed to capture eyeballs, rather than to engage citizens in the journalistic process. The user-generated content includes still photos (78.8%), and blogs and video (34.8% each). The overwhelming majority (80.8%) focused on weather-related events.

Network and Cable News Framing of the Iraq Issue in the 2004 Presidential Campaign • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego • This study adds to the conceptual understanding of the framing process in news media by examining the influence of the nature of the medium (network vs. cable channels) on framing of the Iraq issue in the context of a presidential campaign. In all, 445 stories from three network and three cable television channels were content analyzed between Labor Day and election day during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Living with the Bomb: Fred Friendly’s “The Quick and the Dead” • Matthew Ehrlich, University of Illinois • Fred Friendly’s 1950 NBC radio documentary “The Quick and the Dead” examined the creation of the atomic bomb, the looming prospect of the hydrogen bomb, and the potential benefits of atomic energy. The documentary featured Bob Hope and New York Times science reporter William Laurence. It exemplified journalism’s ambivalence regarding the new atomic age and marked a transitional moment in network documentary’s development, pointing the way toward Friendly’s work with Edward R. Murrow at CBS.

Journalistic authority and news narratives: strategic storytelling in news coverage of a family tragedy • Choonghee Han, The University of Iowa • This paper will talk about narrative and rhetorical construction of reality in journalistic coverage of 2006 death of James Kim, a Korean American who died in the deep forest in Oregon. The primary argument this paper makes is that strategic narratives by which journalists construct reality help them sort out important themes from incidents and maintain their journalistic authority.

Network Coverage of High-profile breaking news • Hong Ji, Project for Excellence in Journalism • The network newscasts coverage of high-profile breaking news over its life span was content analyzed. Networks placed high-profile breaking news on their agenda, but the frame of coverage varied. While both morning and evening programs devoted more stories, employed more packages, and aired more leads and longer stories in first days of breaking news events than later, package reporting was more pronounced in evening programs over the life span of breaking news.

Packing a Punch: Audio-Visual Redundancy and News Recall • Lacy Johnson, Iowa State University; Joel Geske, Iowa State University • The Limited Capacity Model of Information-Processing proposes that three subprocesses occur simultaneously in the brain, resulting in memory formation. Poverty of resources allotted to any subprocess results in inability to recall information. Audio-visual redundancy aids the processes, thereby encouraging memory formation. The study results show that producing television news packages with audio-visual redundancy improves immediate and delayed recall of information, especially in hard news, and viewers prefer audio-visually redundant television news packages to dissonant packages.

Young Adults Matter: A survey of television journalists on content, news presentation and young adults • Kelly Kaufhold, University of Texas at Austin • A national survey of 322 television and newspaper journalists found that only one in 20 considered those over 60 their most important audience. Nearly three in four journalists said it is important to present news to it appeals to young adults and nine in ten said young adults prefer online news to print. Only 7% said young adults won’t follow the news. Significant differences emerged between broadcast and print journalists, and between reporters and others.

Agenda-setting and Rhetorical Framing by Semantic Proximity: A New Computerized Approach to the Analysis of Network TV News • Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University; Lei Xie, Southern Illinois Univeresity Carbondale; Oliver Witte, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • The present study combined agenda-setting and news framing analysis to examine a random sample of 631 presidential campaign stories from 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. It is the first study to combine the strengths of three specialized software programs (QDA Miner 1.3, WordStat 4.0, and Diction 5.0) to (a) discover the major topics in the campaign coverage, (b) identify patterns by which the topics were co-mentioned to frame each other, and (c) determine how the networks used different rhetorical styles to frame the news.

National Newsmaker: A Look Inside the Making of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” • Sara Magee, Ohio University • Radio news audiences are diminishing but National Public Radio’s All Things Considered continually draws in 11 million listeners each week. This study uses first hand observation and analysis of the news judgment and production processes that go into the program to examine why the ATC audience remains loyal. The conclusions can shed light on what radio news audiences want to hear and provide ideas that commercial radio news might capitalize on to retain its audience.

Anonymous sources in nightly news programs • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida; Esther Thorson • The use of anonymous sources has undergone scrutiny in the television newsmagazine, newspaper and newsmagazine industries after a series of embarrassing scandals. The nightly news programs and their sourcing policies have not sparked a similar public outcry. However, the nightly news programs draw millions of viewers, many who cite television news as their main source of information, making this an area worthy of study.

The CNN Effect on the Six Party Talks: A Conduit of Elite Consensus • Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jinah Seol, Korea National Open University • For nearly two decades there has been much debate about the so-called ‘CNN effect’ on foreign policy. It was believed that CNN had greatly influenced the perceptions of policymakers and international leaders, shaping reality of the international events. This study examined how CNN coverage of the Six Party Talks is conveyed in terms of elite discourses and policy uncertainty.

Talent 24/7: The Changing Nature of On-Air Newswork, Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon; Hillary Lake, University of Oregon; Joy Mapaye, University of Oregon • In 2007, former ABC World News anchor Bob Woodruff returned to the airwaves one year after surviving a life-threatening attack in Iraq. However, his first appearance was not on the nightly newscast World News, but rather on ABC’s morning news program Good Morning America. This example illustrates a new pattern in network newswork which changes how frequently talent appears on-air. As Kurtz argues, the traditional prominence of the evening newscasts has declined.

Tell it not in Harrisburg, Publish it not in the Streets of Tampa: Framing, Media Ownership, and the Public Interest • Amit Schejter, Penn State University; Jonathan Obar, Penn State University • Throughout 2006-2007 the FCC conducted six public hearings across the United States as part of its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking procedure, brought about by the court’s annulment of the media ownership rules enacted by the FCC in 2003. These hearings – the first of their kind in scope and quantity – drew the attention of the media, public interest groups and the public.

Edward R. Murrow: Portrayals in Docudramas and Documentary • Lawrence Strout, Mississippi State University • Three TV and film productions have been produced about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow since his 1965 death: Murrow (HBO, 1986); Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter (PBS, 1990); and Good Night and Good Luck (Warner Brothers, 2005). From 1986 to 2005, his portrayal becomes less humanized and more mythical in nature.

Dimensions of Emergency Messages between Journalists and Sources • Christopher Swindell, Marshall University • The paper posits a set of dimensions along which emergency message construction between journalists and official sources differs from other message interaction. The coorientation model is used to assess both groups’ views about three features of emergency news and to evaluate their expectations about each others’ views on the topic.

Should Certification of Meteorologists Serve as a Model for Broadcast Journalists? • Charlie Tuggle, UNC-Chapel Hill; Lynn Owens; Lynette Holman, UNC-Chapel Hill • As the face of the news media changes, the definition of the word “journalist” begins to blur. Those who are delivering news, information, and opinion via the growing expanse of new media such as blogs, podcasts and social networking sites might think of themselves as journalists.

Where Media Turn During Crises: A Look at Information Subsidies and the Virginia Tech Shootings • Shelley Wigley, Texas Tech University; Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • This study explored the use of official and non-official sources as information subsidies in coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings and introduced a new type of information subsidy – new technology sources. Results indicated that reporters used significantly more new technology sources as information subsidies during the first two days of the crisis, compared to the latter stage of the crisis, and that non-official sources were used to a greater extent than official sources.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Public Relations Division

How Do the News Media Frame Crises? A Content Analysis of Crisis News Coverage • Seon-Kyoung An and Karla Gower, University of Alabama • The present study is a content analysis of crisis news frames found in 2006 crisis news coverage. A total of 247 news stories were analyzed to examine which of five news frames (attribution of responsibility, human interest, conflict, morality, and economic frames) and level of responsibility (individual and organizational level) were used by the media according to crisis types.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Effective Organizational Crisis Response Strategy in the U.S. and South Korea • Seon-Kyoung An, University of Alabama; Dong-Jin Park, Hallym University; Seung Ho Cho, Mississippi State University; Bruce Berger, University of Alabama • This cultural comparative study investigated the public’s perception toward organizational crisis response strategies by using a 2 x 2 x 2 design with level of responsibility (individual vs. organizational level), organizational response (causal and treatment responsibility), and two countries (the U.S. vs. South Korea). Students (N = 410) responded to hypothetical news stories describing a recall accident.

Effect of Company Affiliation on Credibility in the Blogosphere • Elizabeth Bates and Coy Callison, Texas Tech University • Blogging is a form of corporate communication adopted as a means of addressing corporate criticism and providing a forum for corporate communicators to interject themselves into conversation. Little empirical research, however, has explored perceptions of credibility relative to the blogosphere. Through spokesperson and blog sponsorship manipulation, this study (N = 167) shows that company spokespersons are more credible than anonymous sources. Corporate or citizen group sponsorship of the blog did not affect perceptions of credibility.

JetBlue’s Valentine Day Crisis: Implementing Safe Side Strategies • Asya Besova, Louisiana State University • This research study tests the Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) while analyzing corporate messages disseminated by the JetBlue after the Valentine’s Day storm. Press releases, broadcast messages and Internet messages were content analyzed in an attempt to reveal underlying public relations strategies. JetBlue used strategies mainly from the deal response option, rather than from diminish and deny response option, as suggested by the SCCT model. Ingratiation and compassion were the most widely used strategies.

“Without a Sacrifice of Truth”: William Wirt Constructs the Image of Patrick Henry • Mary Blue, Tulane University • Patrick Henry’s historical prominence was largely the result of the efforts of William Wirt. The prosecutor in Aaron Burr’s treason trial, U.S. Attorney General 1817-1829, and Anti-Masonic candidate for President in 1832, Wirt was also Henry’s first biographer. This paper considers Wirt’s use of ideas and mechanisms that are considered today to be some of the basic principles of public relations to give his Patrick Henry an enduring place in American history.

Exploring Adolescent-Organization Relationships: A Study of Effective Maintenance Strategies with Adolescent Volunteers • Denise Bortree, Penn State University • This paper reports on a study of the adolescent volunteer-nonprofit organization relationship. The study identified three key relationship maintenance strategies that influence an adolescent public – guidance, assurances and shared tasks. In addition, it identified the relationship quality outcome of control mutuality as playing a key role in the adolescent volunteer-nonprofit relationship.

The Level of Glocalization of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities of Multinational Corporations: Content Analysis of Home and Host Countries’ Web Sites • Moonhee Cho, University of Florida • The purpose of this study is to investigate how similar and how different the CSR issues presented on the Web sites of U.S. MNCs and their subsidiaries in Korea are. Also, the study aims to examine the extent to which subsidiaries provide CSR programs target the local community. The study found that subsidiaries of MNCs in Korea provide limited CSR information on their Web sites and limited CSR programs for the local community.

Anger and Moral Judgment in Crisis Communication • Seung Ho Cho, Mississippi State University • This study attempts to examine the relationship between causal attributions and anger through a public’s moral judgment about an organization involved in a crisis, and to measure the effect of anger on blame and the resultant image of the organization during the crisis. This study manipulated causal attributions to create different types of crises—internal/external controllability and stability.

The Effects of Attribution of VNRs and Risk on News Viewers’ Assessments of Credibility • Colleen Connolly-Ahern, Penn State University; Susan Grantham, University of Hartford; Maria Baukus, Penn State University • The executive branch practice of issuing video news releases without attributing them to government agencies has been sharply criticized by the Government Accounting Office. However, the effects of attribution on VNR viewers are not understood. This paper reports the results of an experiment testing the relative credibility of two different government agencies by viewers of a VNR attributed to an agency, compared with viewers who saw the VNR without attribution.

Communication Activism as Mediator of Efficacy and Fatalism as Predictors of Fire Safety Behavior • David Dozier and John Kim, San Diego State University • Longitudinal data collected over a two-year period tracked desired changes in wildfire safety behavior. Activist communication behavior was positively correlated with efficacy and negatively correlated with fatalism. Individuals predisposed to activist communication were significantly more likely to enact positive outcomes regarding fire safety behavior over the period of study. Efficacy and fatalism exerted no direct, independent influence on desired wildfire safety behavior, once communication activism was controlled.

How National Security Reporters Make Meaning of Terrorism Information Disseminated by the U.S. Government • Heather Epkins, University of Maryland, College Park • Arguably one of the most important issues of our time, terrorism is a concept that continues to spawn debate regarding its meaning and scope. Scholars have examined numerous components of this crucial topic and several have explored the role of the American press in communicating terrorism information to the public, but none have been found to seek an understanding of the detailed process of disseminating terrorism news content from the viewpoint of the national security reporter.

Fulfilling Psychological vs. Financial Needs: The Effect of Extrinsic Rewards on Motivation and Attachment to Internships • Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Bob “Pritch” Pritchard, Ball State University • Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000) has posited that extrinsic rewards have the potential to undermine intrinsic motivation and thus diminish engagement, enjoyment and attachment to activities (Lepper, Green & Nisbett, 1973). A study of public relations students who have completed a recent internship (n=141) indicates that need satisfaction trumps extrinsic rewards in predicting both supervisor and overall internship experience approval. Implications for educators are discussed.

Team Teaching to Teach Teaming • Susan Gonders and Doug McDermott, Southeast Missouri State University • New public relations practitioners are expected to collaborate and work in teams, but faculty typically do not model teamwork in the classroom. This case study demonstrates how team teaching can effectively teach teaming by example in public relations skills courses. Team teaching is more work, not less, and it pulls grumbling students from their comfort zones. However, the greater effort of team teaching comes with significant payback for both teachers and students.

Impact of Hosting a Global Sporting Event on the Hosting Nation in Terms of Tourism • Jee-Hee Han, University of Dayton • This paper examined whether hosting a global sporting event such as the Olympics would have a positive impact on the hosting nation in a way that it would result in an increase in tourism. After analyzing the data, it was found that there were not much of differences in the change ratios before and after the event in terms of inbound tourism.

Mattel’s Toy Recall: The Influence of Government and Corporate Media Efforts on News Coverage. • Jooyun Hwang and Spiro Kiousis, University of Florida • This study explores the crisis response strategies and issues frames that emerged in government and corporate information subsides during the Mattel Toy Recall.

A Functional Analysis of the 2007 South Korean Presidential Campaign News Releases • Sungwook Hwang, University of Missouri • This functional analysis study examined the 2007 South Korean presidential news releases. Candidates acclaimed more than attacked. Policy was discussed more often than character. The Incumbent party candidate Jung Dong Young acclaimed more and attacked less than the challenger Lee Myung Bak. The challenger attacked more than acclaimed in terms of past deeds. Candidates acclaimed more than attacked in terms of general goals and ideals. Simple denial was the most frequent defense strategy.

What’s Ethics In Public Relations? : PR Practitioners’ Perceptions of Their Ethics in Global PR Firms in Korea • Jiyeon Jeong, University of Missouri • This qualitative study seeks to review the perceptions held by public relations practitioners who work specifically in global public relations firms, regarding their ethics, and to identify factors that support their ethics. In-depth interviews were conducted seeking the ethical views of 20 public relations practitioners, from five global public relations firms in Korea.

A South Korean “Telethon” and Charitable Donation: Examining Uses and Gratifications and Situational Variables • Bumsub Jin, University of Florida. • This study examined whether South Koreans’ charitable donation behaviors were related to the major factors of two theoretical frameworks. In the uses and gratifications perspective, the study argued that audience activity in a telethon can be linked to donation behaviors. In the situational theory of publics, problem recognition and level of involvement may also be related to donation behaviors. The study asked 300 South Koreans from 41 different cities to respond to a Web survey.

The Effects of Public’s Cognitive Appraisal of Emotions in Crises on Crisis Coping and Strategy Assessment • Yan Jin, Virginia Commonwealth University • Despite the importance of affect in persuasion and strategic decision making, there is a lack of a systematic and integrated approach to understanding how discrete emotions publics experienced in crisis influence their crisis information processing and behavioral tendency.

How Do Different Publics in Crises Feel? Insights from Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model in Crisis Communication • Yan Jin, Virginia Commonwealth University; Augustine Pang and Glen Cameron, University of Missouri • Extending current theories in crisis communication, the authors have developed a more systemic approach to understanding the role of emotions. The authors’ Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) model is based on a public-based, emotion-driven perspective where different crises are mapped on two continua, the organization’s engagement in the crisis and primary public’s coping strategy.

Comprising or Compromising Credibility?: Use of Spokesperson Quotations in News Releases Issued by Major Health Agencies • Elizabeth Johnson Avery and Sora Kim, University of Tennessee • As audiences increasingly question source credibility during crisis, the use of spokesperson quotations in press releases deserves greater scrutiny, particularly in the context of relaying health information. This study analyzes use of direct quotations in avian flu press releases issued by leading health agencies to reveal the nature of quotes and use of sources.

Difference or Commonality in PR Strategies between American and Korean Corporations: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Interactivity • HyunMee Kang, Lisa Ladwig, and Pengpeng Li, Louisiana State University • This study’s main concern is possible differences in themes of corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues and activities and in interactivity features on the websites between American and Korean corporations. Also, based on understanding the unique Korean corporate environment, the study examines differences in CSR themes and in interactivity features between Chaebol and non-Chaebol corporations.

Source Credibility and Public Information Campaigns: The Effects of Organizational Sponsors on Message Acceptance • Deena Kemp and Derina Holtzhausen, University of South Florida • This study establishes a link between research on organizational source credibility and the effects of public information campaigns. Research has established that source credibility is one factor audiences evaluate when responding to messages and that credible information sources enhance message acceptance, while untrustworthy sources can interfere with desired message effects.

Causal Linkages between Relationship Cultivation Strategies and Relationship Quality Outcomes • Eyun-Jung Ki, University of Alabama; Linda Hon, University of Florida • This study was designed to examine how relationship cultivation strategies used by a membership organization affected members’ perceptions of relationship quality outcomes with the organization. Links among six relationship cultivation strategies and four relationship quality outcomes provide new information concerning the function of cultivation effects. Overall, relationship cultivation strategies like access, positivity, sharing tasks, and assurances represent the proactive approaches that organizations may employ to cultivate or nurture quality relationships with their target publics.

The Importance of Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Content and Semantic Analysis of 2007 Fortune 500 Companies Websites • Daejoong Kim, Yoonjae Nam, Sinuk Kang, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York • This study investigated some corporate websites included in both the heavy and light industries among 2007 Fortune 500 companies’ websites, analyzing how the both industries utilizing their websites to present their commitment and performance to the environment and encourage dialog with the public on issues relating to the environment.

Embedding a Social Cause in the News: The Effects of Corporate Sponsorship and News Proximity on Consumer Attitudes and Participation Intentions • Hyo Kim and Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • This study compares response to two ways of promoting non-profit companies. One is a news feature story written only about the non-profit. The other is a news feature story written about the non-profit, but including the sponsorship of a commercial company. Both types of stories were also presented as either localized to the city in which the students lived or not.

Influence of Social Involvement on Corporate Local Philanthropy • Jangyul Kim, Colorado State University; Youjin Choi, University of Florida • This study attempted to test the effects of philanthropic activities on publics from the perspective of stakeholders (N = 6,056). It was shown that individuals’ personal involvement with social cause, perception (skepticism) of a corporation’s charitable activities, and expectations of a business organization’s charitable contribution to local communities were major variables that affected stakeholders’ intention to purchase products or use services of a corporation that engages in charitable giving.

Finding Primary Publics: A Test of the Third-Person Effect in Corporate Crisis • Jeesun Kim and Hyo Kim, University of Missouri • The present study applies the third-person perception to the corporate crisis setting. From a public relations perspective, a multiple publics approach was employed to better understand the underlying third-person process with comparison targets, moving beyond the past social distance approach. Results indicate that third-person effects were found only when the comparison targets were customers, stakeholders, and competitors in both food and laptop product category crises.

Nexus between Activism and Public Relations • Jeong-Nam Kim, Purdue University; Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Sri Guruduth Agencies • We introduced a conceptual linkage between socio-cultural environmental variables, activism, and public relations practice. Our paper has offered research questions that could be used by future studies to add empirical evidence and refine the conceptual model presented here. These studies could assess whether higher levels of activism do contribute to strategic public relations in all societies or whether the socio-cultural environments of different societies deal with activism differently.

Linking Official National Web Sites and the National Brands Index from a Public Relations Perspective • Sooyeon Kim and Spiro Kiousis, University of Florida • This study examined the public diplomacy role of operating official national Web sites. The contents of 86 official national Web sites of 38 countries showed a positive correlation between the richness of information of Web sites and the Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI). This study suggests that actively operating official national Web sites can be one important relationship building strategy of public relations towards national branding.

Searching for Effective Crisis Response Strategies: An Empirical Approach • Ruthann Lariscy and Youngju Sohn, University of Georgia • This is an experimental study designed to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of crisis response strategies (CRSs). Specifically, this study uses a crisis situation triggered by unethical mismanagement. A product category, the MP3 player, was intentionally selected as the product type and parent-corporation for its appropriateness with the college age demographic tested. This experiment also tests the effectiveness of Coombs’ clustering scheme of CRSs. Results support the effectiveness of the clustering categorization scheme.

Who vs. How: Exploring Factors that Impact Outrage During Risk Situation on the Internet • Hyunmin Lee and Minji Kim, University of Florida • This study examined the impacts of source credibility and modality on the level of initial outrage in a risk situation. A total of 197 students in a southeastern university participated in a 2 (Source credibility: high vs. low) X 3 (modality: text only vs. text plus visual vs. text plus video) factorial design.

Ethical Leadership in Public Relations: Roles, Dimensions and Knowledge Transfer • Seow Ting Lee and I-Huei Cheng, University of Alabama • Extended from the extant research literature that is limited to ethical business leadership, the current study explores the roles and characteristics of leadership in developing and managing ethics in public relations, based on in-depth interviews with 19 high-profile leaders and managers in the public relations field in the United States. Focusing on ethical leadership, the systematic analysis of the interview data identified multiple dimensions of ethical values and roles of public relations leaders and managers.

Influences on Corporate Reputation: Personal Experience, Advertising Recall, and Media Recall • Sunyoung Lee and Craig Carroll, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The results indicate that advertising recall has a positive influence on organizational reputation, and media recall has a negative influence on organizational reputation, and personal experience had no influence on organizational reputation. Moreover, these recollection effects vary across the dimensions of reputation. Both advertising recall and media recall influence the perception of companies’ emotional appeal, product and service, and social responsibility dimension.

A Rules Theory Approach to Understanding How Health Journalists Judge Public Relations Sources • Maria Len-Rios, Amanda Hinnant, and Sun-A Park, University of Missouri • The research presented here examines how health journalists (N=598) evaluate the appropriateness of public relations materials by public relations source (e.g., nonprofit, government). Also assessed are differences in journalist perceptions according to their news media (e.g., newspapers, magazines) and markets. Rules theory guides the analysis. Findings show that health journalists are least accepting of material from business and federal government agencies. Newspaper and freelance health journalists are sometimes more incredulous than are other journalists.

Is Apology a Cure-All Strategy? Testing the Effects of Apology and Compassion Response in Product-Harm Crises • Ying-Hsuan Lin, PRIME Research; Yoonhyeung Choi, Michigan State University • This study compares the effects of apology and compassion responses on crisis outcomes in product-harm crises in the context of Situational Crisis Communication Theory. A one-way between subject experiment (crisis response: correction (control), correction + compassion, correction + apology, and correction + compassion + apology) was conducted to examine whether compassion and apology result in significant differences.

Distinguishing Elite Newspaper and A-List Blog Crisis Coverage: A Primer for Public Relations Practitioners and Academics • Brooke Liu, DePaul University • Historically, the litmus test for measuring whether an organization effectively managed a crisis was the amount of negative media coverage the crisis received. Today, with the explosion of online media, crisis managers now face an additional litmus test: the amount of negative blog coverage a crisis receives. Despite this reality, public relations practitioners largely have been reticent to embrace blogging.

Conside (RED) Accountable? Consumer Insights for the Product (RED) and Global Fund Partnership Through Public Relations Theory • Amy Martin and Meghan Sanders, Louisiana State University • Product (RED), a cause-related marketing venture to be a catalyst for the private sector to be involved in social responsibility, app roached it’s first anniversary in late October 2007. The campaign’s design incorporates public relations and marketing elements for consumers to buy products and support an international non-profit organization: The Global Fund. The researcher used focus groups to investigate consumer awareness and understanding of the Product (RED) campaign and it’s partnership with The Global Fund.

Strategies for Engaging Ethnic Minorities: A Survey of the Public Relations and Mass Communication Literature • Belio Martinez and Stephanie Dowling, University of Florida • A content analysis of 242 articles from public relations, advertising, marketing, and social marketing published between 1995 and 2007 explored the most effective strategies for communicating with ethnic minorities. Public relations articles continue to be mostly introspective. Articles across fields tend to focus more on setting relevant goals and objectives, using news media tactics, and targeting African Americans. Journal of Advertising yielded most relevant articles. A comprehensive list of best practices is offered here.

Corporate Online Press Rooms as Predictors of Media Salience • Soo Jung Moon, University of Texas • This study examines the relationship between features of corporate online press rooms and media salience. It analyzed websites of Fortune 500 companies and compared the features of online press rooms and the number of news stories from five newspapers and newswires. A bivariate correlation demonstrated that the number of press releases, database indices and RSS/emails had significant relationships to the number of news stories.

Exploring Relationship Management as an Integral Part of Strategic Management of Public Relations • Lan Ni, University of Texas-San Antonio. • The present study aims to explore a preliminary theoretical framework of integrating relationship management into the strategic management process of public relations by examining how relationships are managed in different stages of strategic management and at different levels of organizational strategies. Through analysis of online documents from 13 organizations and documents from these organizations’ publics, the following patterns have been revealed.

Go Team!: A Look at Spokesperson and Message Strength in Encouraging School Spirit • Kristin M. Pace, Elizabeth Foste, and Tomasz A. Fediuk, Illinois State University • School spirit is an important component of college unity and may lead to increased student involvement, alumni donations, and higher enrollment. Not much research has been conducted examining school spirit, and how to develop it. To address this gap the current paper examines school spirit as a form of identification with the university and cohesion. A study was conducted to test the effects of matching a serious or non-serious spokesperson with a strong or weak message.

The Case of the “McDonald’s Grandma”: New Media, New Realities for Public Relations • Janis Page, University of Florida; William S. Page, MediaWerks (Florida); Kendall Sharp and Sasha Talenfeld, University of Florida. • This case study explores the implications of new media on the public image of an organization, observes the dynamics of message control, and makes recommendations for organizational management. The study follows a specific ten-day news “event” as it unfolded on the Internet.

Proactive Approach in a Crisis Communication • Sun-A Park and Glen Cameron, University of Missouri • By conducting a controlled experiment, this study examined the effectiveness of a conflict positioning strategy as a proactive approach in crisis communications. Using multiple sample structural equation modeling, this study tested noninvariance across groups between people exposed to news coverage with a conflict positioning strategy and those not exposed to this strategy. The study showed multi-group models representing differences of people’s evaluation process of a crisis across conditions of presence or absence of conflict positioning.

Much Ado About Something: Web 2.0 Acceptance and Use by Public Relations Practitioners • Kenneth Payne, Western Kentucky University • Evidence suggests communications professionals in public relations are reluctant to accept and use emerging Web 2.0 technologies – blogging, podcasting, web video, content syndication (RSS), wikis, virtual worlds, and social networking.

Persuasion and Public Relations: Rhetorical Perspectives in Giving Meaning to Public Relations • Lance Porter, Louisiana State University • To dismiss a statement as “nothing more than rhetoric” is nearly as severe a slight as to say that a statement is “merely public relations.” Sharing this mutual stigma, rhetoric and public relations attempt to define truth in society through dialogue. However, most of the current research in public relations continues to use Grunig and Hunt’s previous conceptualization of the symmetrical model of public relations, which condemns persuasion.

Understanding Ivy Lee’s Declaration of Principles: U.S. Newspaper and Magazine Coverage of Publicity and Press Agentry, 1865-1904 • Karen Russell and Carl Bishop, University of Georgia • In 1905, Ivy Lee issued a notice to a number of city editors an explanation of his new agency’s method of operation. Dubbed the “Declaration of Principles” by journalist Sherman Morse, Lee’s handout has been called the “starting point of modern public relations.” But what did Lee’s remarks mean in the context of his time? This study examines newspaper and magazine discussion of publicity and press agentry in relation to business and industry.

The Whole Picture: Coorientational Measurement of Direct and Meta-Perspectives in an Organization-Public Relationship • Trent Seltzer, Texas Tech University; Michael Mitrook, University of Florida • This study extends the relational perspective through the application of a new methodology for measuring organization-public relationships. The Hon-Grunig (1999) relationship scale was applied in a coorientational framework to include the direct perspectives of both an organization and a stakeholder public. This represents a departure from existing organization-public relationship measurement. Meta-perspectives of each party were also included to assess agreement, accuracy, and congruency. The effect of time on the coorientational relationship variables was also examined.

How New Media Influence Global Activism: A Study of Transnational NGOs’ Online Public Relations • Hyunjin Seo and Ji Young Kim, Syracuse University • This study examines how nongovernmental organizations make use of new media tools for their public relations activities and what factors influence their online public relations. To analyze related issues, we conducted a survey of communications representatives at transnational NGOs based in the United States. A total of 71 organizations participated in the survey, which included both closed- and open-ended questions.

Corporate Social Responsibility in China: The Role of Public Relations • Hongmei Shen, University of Maryland • The study explored the role of public relations in managing social responsibilities in multinationals operating in China. Results from 18 interviews of top communicators and other employees found that public relations was viewed as “publicity” or “media relations,” and communication at best. But participants suggested that the public relations function could contribute strategically to managing social responsibilities by acting as a coordinator or leader in the formulation, implementation and evaluation processes.

Extending Institutional Theory to Public Relations Analysis • Simon Sinaga, Texas Tech University • Public relations researchers and educators have long urged theory development in the field. Because public relations is practiced in organizations, theory development grounded in an organizational perspective is particularly important. This paper proposes the sociology-based institutional theory that organization studies have developed as one that is in a solid position to assess public relations’ role in advancing organizational interests because social processes define an organization’s legitimacy and ability to change.

A Need for Translation? Conceptualizing Public Relations in Spain • Brian Smith, University of Maryland • Research on global public relations is heavily focused on interpreting practice through the lenses of dominant U.S. ideology. This is particularly the case for analyses of public relations in Europe. This research explores the development and current practice of public relations in Spain, a country which has received little attention in global PR research, but which has followed a unique path of development.

Corporate Social Responsibility in U.S. Hispanic Businesses: A Qualitative Analysis of Levels of Participation and Support • Leticia Solaun and Juan-Carlos Molleda, University of Florida • The Hispanic-owned business demographic is a burgeoning component of the U.S. economic sector. This study explores the perceptions, attitudes, and participation of this demographic in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Factors evaluated include the extent to which these businesses incorporate a CSR framework, communication of core values with key publics using a U.S. model of giving, cultural perspectives of CSR, and, within the context of stakeholder theory, measures to build relationships with stakeholders through CSR initiatives.

A New Way of Looking at Public Relations • Jessalynn Strauss, University of Oregon • In this paper, James W. Carey’s “ritual view” of communication is examined and applied to the academic study of public relations, specifically the field of relationship management theory. The paper presents a brief biography of Carey and outlines his significant contributions to the field of communication studies, including the ritual view of communication.

The Role of Relationship and Reputation in the Management of Organizational Communication • Minjung Sung and Jang-Sun Hwang, Chung-Ang University (Korea) • This study focused on the role of two critical concepts in public relations literature: relationship and reputation. Three popular marketing constructs including corporate image, involvement, and consumer loyalty are investigated as the consequences of these two. Relationship, which is behavior-oriented measure, and reputation proved to be strong predictors of consumer loyalty by mediated with corporate image and involvement.

Credibility of Corporate Blogs and Impact on Attitude toward a Company • Jiun-Yi Tsai, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study provides an empirical approach to investigate the impacts of corporate blogging. It explores whether different sources of blog authors could influence people’s perceptions of credibility and attitude toward a company. Also, it tests whether level of involvement can moderate the effect of perceived source credibility on attitudes. By performing an experimental design (N =177), this inquiry sheds light on research of blog communication and persuasion literature.

An Exploratory Study of the Media Transparency in Ukraine • Katerina Tsetsura, University of Oklahoma; Anastasia Grynko, Kiev (Ukraine) Mohyla Academy • This study extends the media transparency project by analyzing the phenomenon of media transparency, or media bribery, in Ukraine. Surveying of journalists and public relations practitioners revealed that media bribery is present in Ukraine in different forms, most of which deal with indirect influences owners and governments have on the media. The results revealed multiple factors influence how communication leaders make sense of media transparency. Implications and recommendations for future studies are offered.”

The Implications of Social Circles for the “Anomaly” of Government Relations: An “Anomaly” No Longer? • Leah Tuite, Marist College • Government relations, a specialized form of public relations, has been found to be an anomalous form of public relations. Its successful practice deviates from the Excellence theory of public relations, tending not to correlate as strongly with some theoretical indicators of excellent public relations as do other specialized forms of public relations, such as media, employee, or member relations (Dozier, L.A. Grunig, & J.E. Grunig, 1995; J.E. Grunig, 1992; L.A. Grunig, J.E. Grunig, & Dozier, 2002).

Societal Culture a Determinant for Gender-Roles in Organizational Public Relations in Romania • Antoneta Vanc, University of Tennessee • This study aims to understand the Romanian societal accepted gender-roles, and its implications for public relations in organizational settings. This study expands on the body of research concerning gender-role attitudes in public relations organizations and argues that cultural determinants are important in understanding women’s and men’s attitudes and the historical context in which these attitudes are formed.

Student-coach Relations: A Case Study Examining Crisis Communication in Higher Education • Tulika Varma, Louisiana State University • This study examines how public relations officials managed the crisis arising from the news of the resignation of coach Chatman at Louisiana State University and the subsequent linkage of her resignation to inappropriate conduct with former student athletes within the framework of public relations in higher education and crisis communication. The findings from this study reveal how internal stakeholders view crisis and how their perception of the crisis determines their evaluation of the crisis management.

Public Relations, Marketing, and the Disintegration Paradox • Robert Wakefield, Brigham Young University • The public relations field seems to be in better condition than ever; yet, ominous trends portend a reduction in stature for public relations over time. As one researcher argued, while public relations scholars and practitioners debate integration with marketing and other fields, the field is actually disintegrating in critical ways—particularly at the levels that have traditionally been the highest in stature and remuneration. This paper explores these trends and proposes solutions.

Effects of Positive Versus Negative News Coverage of Blockbuster’s End of Late Fees Promotion on Perceived Trustworthiness and Message Strength and Attitude toward News Coverage • Alex Wang, University of Connecticut; Ron Anderson, University of Texas at Austin • This study compared the relative effects of positive and negative news coverage of Blockbuster’s End of Late Fees promotion on perceived trustworthiness and message strength and attitude toward the news coverage. Valence of news coverage has been shown to play a contingent role in message processing that is positively related to message effects. Positive and negative are two dimensions of news-coverage valence, whereas message effects are manifestations of audiences’ perceived trustworthiness and message strength.

Rethinking Relationship Maintenance Strategies: Comparing the Impact of Cultivation on Major Gift and Annual-giving Donors • Richard Waters, North Carolina State University • In recent years, the organization-public relationship has drawn the attention of many public relations scholars. Now, scholars are beginning to discuss the impact of relationship cultivation strategies on individual types of relationships. In this study, six strategies adapted from interpersonal communication theory and four stewardship strategies derived from the practice are subjected to path analysis to determine which strategies are most impactful on how donors evaluate their relationships with nonprofit hospitals.

Communicating Outside the Classroom with Millennials: Preparing for the Next Generation of Public Relations Students • Richard Waters, North Carolina State University and Denise Bortree, Penn State University • Recent research has shown that the current group of students enrolled in colleges and universities are vastly different from their previous generations. The Millennial generation is more collaborative and sociable than any before them, and they routinely multi-task while communicating. However, this generation is also quite protected by their parents, who frequently are involved in decision-making situations and their children’s academic problems.

The Emergence of the Communication Strategist: An Examination of Practitioner Roles, Department Leadership Style, and Message Strategy Use in Organizations • Kelly Werder and Derina Holtzhausen, University of South Florida • A survey of Public Relations Society of America members (N=885) indicates the emergence of the communication strategist role. Results indicate that public relations department leadership style influences practitioner role enactment. In addition, practitioner roles were found to influence public relations message strategy use in organizations.

Communicating Before a Crisis: An Exploration of Bolstering, CSR and Inoculation Practices • Shelley Wigley, Texas Tech University; Michael Pfau, University of Oklahoma • This study explored the effectiveness of communicating to publics before a crisis occurs by using both affective and cognitive inoculation messages, along with bolstering, corporate social responsibility, and control messages. Results indicate that inoculation, bolstering and CSR messages work similarly in protecting a corporation’s reputation following a crisis. The study also found no downside to providing inoculation messages to an organization’s publics even when a crisis does not occur.

PR Gets Personal: A Framing Analysis of Coverage Before and After a Source’s Criticism of the Media • Shelley Wigley and Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • Public relations practitioners emphasize the importance of positive source-reporter relationships, but what happens when sources are critical of the reporters who cover them? Using framing analysis, this study examined newspaper coverage both before and after a source’s personal attack on the media and found few differences in how the editors and reporters covered the source of the attack. Therefore, at least in this study, journalists were able to maintain their objectivity.

An Action Research Analysis of an Art Museum’s Relationships with Two Key Stakeholder Groups • Christopher Wilson, Brigham Young University • This action research study considers the major theoretical concepts from relationship management theory, stakeholder theory and donor relations theory to assess an art museum’s relationship with two key publics with the intent of developing strategic programs to enhance the museum’s relationships with them.

Mediation Effects of Organization-Public Relationship Outcomes • Sung-Un Yang and Minjeong Kang, Syracuse University • The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the value of organization-public relationship outcomes in the behavioral framework of awareness, attitude, intention, and behavior (e.g., Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen, 2006). More specifically, this study is to examine mediation effects of relationship outcomes on key factors of stakeholders’ support for a not-for-profit organization, which include awareness, attitude, and behavioral intention toward supportive relationship-building.

Message Strategies Used (or Unused) in Crisis by Contractors Operating in Iraq • Olga Zatepilina, Syracuse University • This study analyzed the corporate discourse by selected U.S. government contractors operating in Iraq in 2004-2007 in response to charges of factual or alleged wrongdoing. Corporate apologiae was the message strategy of choice. Contractors routinely refused to comment but rarely apologized. Condolence was found to be a frequently used message strategy, which doesn’t fit into the existing image-repair typologies. In crisis, contractors protected their bottom line and did little to effectively manage their long-term reputation.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Newspaper Division

1962-63 New York Newspaper Strike and Changing Journalists, Journalism and News Reading Patterns • Marilyn Greenwald, Ohio University and Joseph Bernt, Ohio University • The New York newspaper strike of 1962-63 did more than just stop the publication of nine newspapers in the New York City area for 114 days. The strike, which had dramatic ramifications for readers, businesses, and consumers, forced New Yorkers to alter the way they sought news and forced journalists to seek alternate ways to deliver the news.

A Comparison of Content Diversity in Online Citizen Diversity in Online Citizen Journalism and Online Newspaper Articles • Serena Carpenter, Arizona State University • A measure of content diversity was created to determine whether online citizen journalism and online newspaper publications featured a greater diversity of information. Based on the findings from the quantitative content analysis, online citizen journalism articles were more likely to feature a greater diversity of topics, information from outside sources and multimedia and interactive features. Thus, online citizen journalism content adds to the diversity of information available in the marketplace.

American Daily Newspapers’ Framing of the War in Iraq at the Times of Highest and Lowest Public Support for the War • Marc Seamon, Robert Morris University • This study involves a computerized analysis of the frames present in American daily newspaper coverage of the war in Iraq at the times of the highest and lowest public support for the war.

Audience Interactivity as Gratification-Seeking Process in the Online Newspaper • Chan Yoo, University of Kentucky • This study attempted to establish ‘audience interactivity’ as an intervening factor in the gratification-seeking process in an online newspaper. It examined the causal relationships between the motives for visiting an online newspaper, audience interactivity, gratifications obtained, attitude toward the online newspaper, and repeat visit intention using a structural equation model. Four primary motives were identified, and each gratification-seeking motive had different effect on human vs. medium interactivity.

Beyond the Hyperbole: A Textual Analysis of Four Newspapers’ Coverage of the SCHIP Debate • Karen M. Rowley, Louisiana State University and Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • A textual analysis of the coverage of the debate surrounding the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) uses Pan and Kosicki’s conceptual framework of news texts and finds five primary frames in the news stories that appear in the four newspapers that are the focus of this study. Those frames are emotional appeal, political rhetoric, political strategy, SCHIP as a symbol of a broader debate, and working together/bipartisanship.

Copy Editors and the Online Revolution: In the Trenches or Missing in Action? (Resubmitted) • John Russial, University of Oregon • What is the role of newspaper copy editors in the online era? This study, based on a national mail survey of U.S. newspaper copy chiefs and online editors, examines how copy editing is, or is not, being done for online publication. Results indicate that copy editing is not done as extensive for online-only stories as it typically is done for print. About half of the papers responding said online stories were “always” copy edited before publication.

Decade of Change: Newspaper Readership Choices Among College Students 1998-2008 • Carol Schlagheck, Eastern Michigan University • This investigation replicates a 1998 study of college students’ use of newspapers, using a subset of the original questions to survey students at the same mid-sized, Midwestern, public university a decade later. Comparisons reveal increases in use of the Internet, with three-quarters answering that it is easier to obtain news and information via the Internet than from newspapers. Eighty-three percent “never” buy a newspaper. The study supports a shift from paper to online newspapers.

Effects of Congruity, Sponsor Type, and News Story Valence on E-newspaper Outcomes • Kyle Heim, University of Missouri and Shelly Rodgers, University of Missouri • This study examined the effects of sponsorships on attitudes and behavioral intent toward electronic newspapers. The method was a 2 (sponsor congruity) x 2 (sponsor type) x 2 (news story valence) x 2 (news story topic) within-subjects experiment. Nonprofit sponsors and negative news stories yielded higher ratings of news story credibility, e-newspaper credibility, and attitude toward the e-newspaper than commercial sponsors and positive stories. No significant effects were found for sponsor congruity.

Fit To Print? An Analysis of Print and Online Newspaper Slogans • Salma Ghanem, University of Texas-Pan American and Kimberly Selber, The University of Texas-Pan American • This study explores the use of slogans in promoting both daily and weekly print and online newspapers. It not only provides benchmark data from which to track changes in the use of slogans, but also a snapshot of the current state of slogans in the news business. Newspapers scored low on brand identification, use of literary techniques, and in distinguishing themselves from competition.

Framing Blogs: How Did the U.S. Traditional and Online Media Report on the Blogging Phenomenon? • Eunseong Kim, Eastern Illinois University, Elizabeth K. Viall, Eastern Illinois University and Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky • This study examines both traditional and online media to determine how the U.S. media reported on the blogging phenomenon. The articles focusing on blogs, bloggers and/or blogging published in three major newspapers (the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the USA Today) and two online publications (Slate Magazine and Salon.com) were analyzed.

Framing the Right to Know: An Analysis of Statewide Records Audits • Emily Erickson, Louisiana State University • This study examines press coverage of statewide records audits to examine how journalists, ostensibly trained to at least pay lip service to the ideals of objectivity, handle coverage of an issue in which they — and arguably they alone — have an intrinsically vested interest? In this case, framing analysis demonstrates how the press invokes the rights of citizens to amplify the salience of an issue that is dear to its own institutional heart.

Gatekeepers in India: Factors influencing newspaper editors’ news selection • Bridgette Colaco, Troy University and Jyotika Ramaprasad, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale • This paper focused on understanding what factors influenced editors’ selection and rejection of news stories and how these factors are culturally relevant to the Indian print media industry. This was done by examining how newspaper editors in India prepared the daily news. A triangulation method was used for this study.

Generational divide: Young and old journalists grapple with newspaper online strategies and organizational transformation • Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • Interviews with 48 journalists from 23 different newspapers throughout the United States reveal that along with online initiatives, newsrooms are experiencing other transformations as well. Using organizational development theory, this study indicates that newsroom cultural change is not occurring in the Breed (1955) model of top-down managerial mandates, adopted by veteran journalists that created a culture of conformity among young journalists.

How Unnamed and Anonymous Sources Shaped the Debate Over Invading Iraq: A Content Analysis of News in 22 Newspapers From 11 Countries • John Hatcher, University of Minnesota, Duluth • A study of 528 news items from 11 countries explores how the use of anonymous and unnamed sources influences news content. One research question and four hypotheses are tested and find that a third of all sources were not identified by name and that the use of these sources meant fewer ideas opposing the war were found in content and that the tone of news items presented the war as being more positive and unavoidable.

Is every online newspaper credible? • Chung Joo Chung, State University of New York at Buffalo and Yoonjae Nam, State University of New York at Buffalo • This study investigated which factors contribute to the credibility of online newspapers and how credibility of news differs according to the type of online newspapers: mainstream, independent, and index type. The survey instrument revised by authors included a credibility scale and technological characteristics of online newspapers adapted from research on online news credibility and technology; trustworthiness, expertise, interactivity, hypertextuality, and multimediality.

It’s all in the audience: How the news media portrayed women and girls during two 2006 school shootings • Cory Armstrong, University of Florida • Using the backdrop of two school shootings in Colorado and Pennsylvania in the fall of 2006, this study examines the portrayal of women in news content immediately after those events occurred. Findings suggested that story location, audience and frame of news story affected proportion of women in the story. Similarly, the type of source employed in the story differed by geographic region. Implications were discussed.

Journalism’s counterinsurgency against “free space”: the ANPA Anti-Publicity Bulletins of 1921-1926 • Burton St. John, Old Dominion University • The years immediately after World War I revealed two associated dynamics concerning the professionalization of communication in the American public sphere. First, as an outgrowth of successful war propaganda practices pursued by the U.S. government’s Committee on Public Information (CPI), professional persuaders — gradually becoming known as public relations practitioners — began to integrate propaganda strategies and tactics into their publicity efforts.

My Prerogative: Perceptions and Attitudes of Black Journalists in the Tallahassee Democrat Newsroom, 2001-2005 • Meredith Clark, Tallahassee Democrat • In April 2005, the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported a net 34 black journalists had been added to the staff of more than 1,000 U.S. daily newspapers between 2001 and 2005. Using Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory and Samuelson and Bramlett-Solomon’s research on job satisfaction among journalists, this case study examined the perceptions and attitudes of black journalists in a single newsroom between 2001 and 2005 to determine factors that influenced their retention and recruitment.

Obesity in the News: How U.S. and British Elite Press Covers the Public Health Issue? • Kuang-Kuo Chang, Michigan State University, Fu-Jung Chen, Michigan State University, Eric Freedman, Michigan State University, and Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas • Guided by the principles of the general system theory, this research reviews first the health-related literature on obesity and then conducts a content analysis of how four U.S. and British elite newspapers have covered the obesity issue. Though unsatisfactory, three of the four newspapers have met the principles of presenting interactive forces, multiple and circular causations and a hierarchal subsystems at work.

On a Longer but Stronger Leash: Sourcing Over Time in Pulitzer-Prize Winning New York Times Foreign News • Raluca Cozma, Louisiana State University, John Maxwell Hamilton, Louisiana State University, and Regina G. Lawrence, Louisiana State University • A content analysis of New York Times Pulitzer-winning foreign news over eight decades reveals that modern correspondence employs more and a broader range of sources than in the past. The number of official sources has remained the same, the voice of average witnesses has increased, and citing of local media from foreign capitals has decreased. Foreign news in the past focused more on politics and included a stronger reporter’s voice.

Patterns of Visibility: Source Selection Habits of Newspaper and Wire Sports Journalists • Jason Martin, Indiana University • This content analysis revealed that historical rather than contemporary factors had greater influence on visibility rates of national newspaper and wire coverage of college football coaches. Regression analysis indicated that historical postseason appearances were the strongest predictor of coverage and not other measures of more immediate success. The results raise questions about whether national reporters, free from local coverage obligations or biases, use habit and familiarity rather than considering newsworthiness when selecting sources.

Peace or war journalism? How The New York Times and The Associated Press framed Iraq in 2006 • Amy Youngblood, Texas Christian University, and Beverly Horvit, Texas Christian University • A content analysis of a random 28-day sample of New York Times and Associated Press coverage of Iraq in 2006 (N=145) showed a majority of stories were framed as peace journalism, as defined by Galtung. The two news organizations did not vary significantly in their use of peace or war frames. The most prevalent war-journalism traits included an elite-oriented focus, and the most prevalent peace-journalism traits included avoiding victimizing language and using objective, moderate language.

Press coverage of outsourcing: sourcing pattern in US national and local newspapers • Di Zhang, Syracuse University • In 2004, the presidential election year, outsourcing became a popular topic in American households and media. This content analysis of two national newspapers and four local newspapers examines the press coverage of outsourcing by focusing on the story sourcing pattern.

Proximity and framing in news media: Effects on credibility, bias, recall, and reader intentions • Rachel DeLauder, Virginia Tech, Joshua DeLung, Virginia Tech, Roxana Maiorescu, Virginia Tech, and Robert Magee, Virginia Tech • A writer’s decision to localize a news article and the valence of the frame the writer employs can affect readers’ perceptions of credibility and bias as well as readers’ factual recall and the likelihood that readers would want to read the newspaper further. A 2 (proximity: local, nonlocal) x 3 (frame valence: positive, neutral, negative) factorial experiment (N = 136) tested the effects of proximity and frame valence on credibility, bias, recall, and reading intentions.

Quantitative Media Literacy: How Readers Deal With Numbers In News Reports • Coy Callison, Texas Tech University, Rhonda Gibson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dolf Zillmann • A test of arithmetic aptitude (AA) was developed and validated. The consequences of individual differences in this quantitative literacy were then determined for attention to, and recall of, numeric quantities embedded in printed news reports. Persons of high AA were found to recall frequencies and ratios more accurately, both in precise and approximate terms, than were persons of low AA. Also examined were the effects of various presentational formats of numerical values within the news reports.

School Board Campaigns and the Media Agenda: Information Subsidies and Local Election Coverage • Jeffrey Cannon, Indiana University • This study looks at an underexamined area of political life, the relationship between local campaigns and local news coverage, specifically media agenda setting effects. Using Newman’s five “cognitive domains driving voting behavior” as an analytical framework, candidate information subsidies were collected from more than 50 candidates in 23 nonpartisan school board races, from which “issues” and “attribute” agendas were established and subsequently compared against parallel data collected from coverage in six local/regional newspapers.

The 1980 Cleveland newspaper market revisited: Analysis finds vibrant agenda diversity, robust marketplace of ideas • Steve Hallock, Point Park University • A partial replication and reanalysis of the Cleveland newspaper market of 1980, prior to the closure of the Cleveland Press, differs with the conclusions of previous content analyses of two-daily communities that have become monopoly markets. A 1987 replication in Cleveland of a study of competitive newspaper markets in Canada found similar content in the surviving newspaper before and after the closure of its rival and similar content in the two competing newspapers before the closure.

The Convergence Continuum Redux: Does the Web Jeopardize Newspaper-Television Partnerships? • Larry Dailey, University of Nevada, Reno, Lori Demo, Ball State University, and Mary M. Spillman, Ball State University • Convergence partnerships between television and newspaper newsrooms made headlines at the turn of the millennium, but the move toward the Web as a primary news delivery system could put these partnerships in jeopardy. A new survey shows cooperation between partners has not increased significantly. This study suggests that as newspapers train reporters in multimedia acquisition, partnership behaviors first identified in the 2003 Convergence Continuum may soon be practiced internally instead of with a television partner.

The Evolution of ‘the Toy Department:’ A Content Analysis of Newspaper Sports Sections Since 1956 • John Carvalho, Auburn University • This paper presents an analysis of sports sections in eight metropolitan newspapers over six decades, from 1956 until 2006. Results demonstrated that newspapers devoted more space to sports and used more locally written articles on their section front. Spectator sports coverage increased over the period, at the expense of participant sports.

The Use of Design Technology in the Classroom: A Switch from QuarkXPress to InDesign? • Jennifer Wood Adams, Auburn University;, and Melissa L. Voynich • This nationwide study examines the use of newspaper design technology in undergraduate journalism courses. In a survey of journalism educators who teach newspaper design (52.7% response rate) almost two-thirds report using Adobe InDesign. The study reports the perceptions of journalism educators toward implementing the software into their classrooms and if they feel there a preference in the newspaper industry for their majors to know a particular application. Differences between ACEJMC-accredited.

Third-Party Gubernatorial Candidates and the Press • John Kirch, University of Maryland-College Park • This paper examines how third-party gubernatorial candidates are covered by the news media, focusing on the 2002 races in California, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Maine.

We Regret the Error: Changes in Correction of Error Practices of the New York Times and Washington Post • Neil Nemeth, Purdue University-Calumet and Craig Sanders, Cleveland State University • This article examines published corrections in the New York Times and Washington Post in 2007 and 1997. The Times corrected more than twice as many errors in 2007 than in 1997. Wrong descriptions and spelling/typographical errors constituted the bulk of these additional errors. The Post corrected slightly more errors in 2007 than in 1997. Objective errors, mostly notably wrong descriptions, wrong names, wrong numbers and wrong explanations, were the most corrected errors in both years.

What Statewide Audits Tell Us About Access, Privacy and Political Culture • Emily Erickson, Louisiana State University • Press coverage of statewide records audits has emphasized agency performance rather than the nature of the records being tested. Grouping compliance rates from these audits by record type shows that the tension between privacy and access is not just found in the policymaking arena, but also manifested in the behavior of records custodians. This study also considers state political culture, and finds a weak correlation between compliance rates and records that might raise privacy concerns.

Special Call: Industry Research
Are Young Adults’ Reasons for Not Reading a News Medium, Medium-Specific? • Amy Zerba, University of Texas at Austin • This study compared young adults’ reasons for not reading news across three media: print daily newspaper, college newspaper and news Web sites. The study also examined the type of reader/nonreader and reasons for not reading print dailies as well as the likelihood of reading them with certain changes. A major finding showed inconvenience, other media use and lack of time were cited more by nonreaders of print newspapers than nonreaders of other media.

Reexamining Predictors of Print and Online Newspaper Readership • Steven Collins, University of Central Florida • As the newspaper industry undergoes rapid change, it is worthwhile to reexamine old assumptions regarding predictors of traditional newspaper readership. At the same time, scholars must consider if old patterns will hold true when predicting readership of online newspapers. The current study sought to do just that by utilizing survey data collected in three different parts of the United States and considering measures of exposure to both traditional print newspapers and their online counterparts.

What ARE they reading? News selections by college students • Jack Rosenberry, St. John Fisher College • It has been well documented that college students and young adults are infrequent readers of newspapers. But when they do pick up a paper or surf to a news-oriented Web site, what draws their attention? An analysis of more than 1,500 article summaries prepared by college students over a two-month period shows a special interest in news items that the students feel closeness with or attachment toward, either geographically or psychographically.

Special Call:
Newspaper Multimedia Practices
Emerging Models of Newspaper Multimedia Journalism: A Content Analysis of Multimedia Packages Published on nytimes.com • Susan Jacobson, Temple University • Conventional wisdom dictates that the future of newspaper journalism is online. But what does this “new” form of journalism look like? What are some of the narrative and formal qualities of multimedia stories published on the Web?

Newspapers and Online Content: Platform Agnostic or Sectarian? • John Russial, University of Oregon • How much cross-platform content is being produced by U.S. daily newspapers? This study, based on a stratified random sample of U.S. newspapers over 30,000 circulation, finds that the amount of multimedia content such as staff-produced audio and video is not great. Most newspapers, for example, are doing only “a few” staff videos a week, and photographers are shooting video at more papers than reporters are.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Minorities and Communication Division

Faculty
Addressing health disparities of African Americans through direct-to-customer pharmaceutical advertising: A content analysis • Jennifer Ball, Angie Liang, and Wei-Na Lee, University of Texas at Austin • While direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical drug advertising has been the center of controversy, proponents argue that these advertisements offer educational value for consumers. This study explores the potential of these ads to impact racial health disparities, particularly for African Americans. A content analysis was conducted on DTC television commercials assessing the presence and portrayal of African Americans. Findings revealed that African Americans were well represented but may serve a token role.

Need for cognition and race or gender based judgments of political candidates from an online news excerpt • Carl Bishop, Ruthann Lariscy, Krinstin English, Kaye Sweetser, and Spencer Tinkham, University of Georgia • This experimental study of voting age young persons was initiated to examine the importance of race and gender cues in political communication using a lens that’s been scantly applied to these important issues: the individual receiver’s need for cognition.

Over-indexed and over valued: The Asian audience’s struggle for legitimacy in the U.S. media marketplace • Amy Jo Coffey, University of Florida • U.S. Asians continue to lack the advertiser recognition and investment levels enjoyed by other ethnic groups. Given U.S. Asians’ greater purchasing power and growth rate, this exploratory study seeks to understand how their income, language, and other audience traits are valued by U.S. television advertisers, and compares these perceptions to those for Hispanics.

Race and gender of journalists and framing of the Iraq issues in the 2004 election • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego • A content analysis of six major newspapers showed that newspapers published more segregated slice-of-life photographs than photographs with racial and ethnic diversity. Almost seven-tenths of the photographs included whites only; 10% showed blacks only; and 8% of the photographs had Latinos only. As more people were shown in the photographs, there was a greater chance that a person of color would be included.

“I’m a Black girl with a nose job!”: An analysis of race/ethnic values in “America’s next top model!” • Michele Foss-Snowden, and Amanda Hamilton, California State University, Sacramento • As reality television’s influence grows, the study of its communicated messages and values becomes increasingly important, especially if one wishes to understand global cultural communities and subcultures. This study examines an episode of reality-based television program “America’s Next Top Model” for these communicated values. What does the program say (through its participants and its creator, Tyra Banks) about the values of conformity/noncomformity and the statement and/or enactment of individual values about race and racial stereotypes?

Frame and blame: An analysis of national and local and national newspapers framed in the Jena Six controversy • Lanier Holt, Indiana University-Bloomington and Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • Research shows that media frames can promote a particular understanding of events and people. This has been particularly problematic for African-Americans who have traditionally been typecast by the media as criminals. This study looked at coverage of the Jena Six to see if the national or local press broke from stereotypical frames that plagued previous coverage. It found the local press most frequently broke from traditional frames by putting the issue in larger context.

Ethnicity, internet adoption and use of online services • Randy Jacobs and Terri Albert, University of Hartford • The goal of this study was to extend our understanding of ethnic audiences’ adoption of Internet access, range of online activities, consumption of online news and news sources, and the degree to which the Internet facilitates the pursuit of individual work and life goals. Data collected for the Pew Internet & American Life Project were analyzed. Ethnic differences were identified, many of which reflected culturally-based preferences and strategic gratification seeking.

Fair share or fair play? A content analysis of food advertisements in minority-targeted and mainstream magazines • Hobin Kyung, Sun-Young Park, Jung Lim, and Wei-Na Lee, University of Texas at Austin • A content analysis was conducted to examine food advertisements in minority-targeted and mainstream women’s magazines. To compare types of food products and advertising claims, we investigated 632 food ads of high circulation magazines which target different racial readerships: African-Americans, Hispanics, and Whites. Our result revealed that ads for high-calorie products and fast food were more likely to be shown in minority-targeted magazines, whereas weight loss claims were prevalent in mainstream magazine ads.

Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe: An examination or press Coverage on their pioneering grand slam victories • Pamela Laucella and Erin McNary, Indiana University • Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe made history as the first black woman and black man to win Grand Slam titles in tennis. Gibson won the French Championships (now the French Open) in 1956, and the ensuing year she won both the U.S. Nationals (now the U.S. Open) and Wimbledon. Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open in 1968 and then went on to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1970 and 1975, respectively.

Effects of African American breast cancer survivor testimonies on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes • Glen Leshner, Paul Bolls, Elizabeth Gardner, Jensen Moore, Sara Peters, Bailey Rachel, and Anastacia Kononova, University of Missouri • This paper reports on the impact of narrative and emotion on processing of breast cancer survivor messages, based on the self-report data of 46 African American women, 40 years of age and older, who have not been diagnosed with breast cancer. The study is part of a larger program of research, The Story Telling Project, which assumes that storytelling is deeply rooted in the culture of African American women.

An examination of religion and spirituality in information processing of breast cancer among African American women • Crystal Lumpkins, Educator/Reviewer • Religiosity and spirituality are two components that have often been overlooked in health communication research (Egbert, Mickley & Coeling, 2004). The growing interest of spirituality and religion among patients when coping with cancer and disease has prompted physicians, psychologists and public health personnel to consider these constructs when designing and communicating health messages to these audiences in not only coping but in communicating prevention and risk as well.

Roughing the passer: The framing of Black and White quarterbacks prior to the NFL draft • Eugenio Mercurio, Ball State & Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • An examination of 4,745 attributions used to describe black and white National Football League quarterback prospects over a ten-year period revealed data patterns that emphasized racial stereotypes. Black quarterbacks were primarily described with words and phrases that emphasized their physical gifts and their lack of mental prowess. Conversely, white quarterbacks were described as less physically gifted, but more mentally prepared for the game and less likely to make mental errors.

Race in National versus local news coverage of Hurricane Katrina: A study of sources, victims, and negative video • Andrea Miller and Shearon Roberts, Louisiana State University • Using a national and local television news sample, this content analysis compared the sourcing and visual experience of Hurricane Katrina based on race. Results showed even in a crisis situation in which the number of African-American victims exceeded by far the number of white victims, television coverage gave dominance to the white victims.

Touchy or taboo: News framing and interracial intimacy • Kimmerly Piper-Aiken, Wayne State University • This research examined coverage of a Monday Night Football promo featuring Terrell Owens and a Desperate Housewives star. Although scholars have examined interracial relationships in entertainment media, news hasn’t been studied. This study of 183 newspaper stories examined how journalists framed stories with an interracial component. Results showed that journalists were more likely to frame the story as an indecency issue rather than an interracial issue, were not likely to use race-relevant frames or racial stereotypes.

Race and ethnicity in newspaper photographs that communicate a slice of everyday reality • Paula Poindexter and Renita Coleman, University of Texas at Austin • A content analysis of six major newspapers showed that newspapers published more segregated slice-of-life photographs than photographs with racial and ethnic diversity. Almost seven-tenths of the photographs included whites only; 10% showed blacks only; and 8% of the photographs had Latinos only. As more people were shown in the photographs, there was a greater chance that a person of color would be included.

Assessing the diversity of news voices in the Latino-Oriented broadcast media in central Texas • Federico Subervi, Texas State University • The purpose of this study is to assess the level of diversity in the Latino-oriented broadcast media in Central Texas, a region highly populated by Latinos. Using the Diversity Metric (DM), an index developed by Lloyd and Napoli (2007) that accounts for common ownership and presence of local news content, the examination revealed that the concept of media diversity is highly problematic even in this specialized market.

Right before your eyes: Photo coverage of African Americans in major college newspapers • Max Utsler and Vincent Edwards, University of Kansas • This study examined four Midwestern university newspapers and their photo coverage of African Americans. Content analysis showed African Americans overrepresented in photos at each university newspaper. An under-representation of African Americans exists in feature and breaking news photographs while an overwhelming overrepresentation exists in sports photographs. This suggests editors and reporters do not consciously seek to include African Americans in their daily array of photographs. These findings are similar to those found in professional media.

Student Papers
A Fish Out of Water: New Articulations of U.S.-Latino Identity on Ugly Betty • Guillermo Avila-Saavedra • Through discourse analysis of the first season of the ABC primetime show Ugly Betty, this essay explores new articulations of U.S.-Latino identity in mainstream, English-language television. The essay makes two claims based on the analysis. First, American television is becoming hybridized through the influence of Latin American television genres. Second, new articulations of U.S.-Latino identity in mainstream television defy stereotypes and traditional conventions in terms on language and cultural norms.

Constructing Racial Groups’ Identities in the Diasporic Press: Internalization, Resonance, Transparency, and Offset • Sang Y Bai, University of Texas at Austin • Abstract not available.

Diasporic Media and the Identity of Immigrants • Sangmi Lee • This paper has explored the interaction between diasporic media and the national and global identity of immigrants. For immigrants, diasporic media are a tool that connects them to their country of origin. New media technologies have aided ethnic media in delivering more information regarding national issues to these immigrant populations.

Do You See What I See?: Portrayals of Diversity in Newbery Medal-Winning Children’s Literature • Anthony Nisse, Brigham Young University • Children’s literature plays a significant role in society because it reflects values and attitudes that will be passed to children as they read. One of the most prestigious awards for children’s literature is the John Newbery Medal, which is presented annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children. Newbery books have a large readership, and are consistently among the most requested books in bookstores and libraries.

From Asian Media to Asian Identity: An Analysis of Impetus and Determinants of Ethnic Media Use • Hai Tran, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This article is probably among the first to document the purposes for and antecedents of ethnic media use among Asian Americans. The author utilized the Pilot National Asian American Political Survey to examine usage of Asian ethnic media as vehicles for sustaining attachment to ethnic identity.

Hispanic immigrant backlash and welcome: “Official English” and the birth of a bilingual weekly in southwest Kansas • Michael Fuhlhage, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper uses historical research methods, including interviews with journalists, archive research, and textual analysis, to examine how the Garden City (Kan.) Telegram, a daily newspaper with a circulation of about 9,000, covered Kansas’ debate in the early 1990s over whether to make English the official language of the state.

Internet Use, Group Identity, and Political Participation among Taiwanese Americans • Taofang Huang, Wei-Ching Wang, Szu-Chi Huang, University of Texas at Austin • Though being surrounded by the immediate American society, many Asian Americans maintain ties with their countries of origin through the Internet. However, whether such ties prevent ethnic groups from fully integrating into the host society or provide better learning opportunities to hasten the assimilation process into the host society is still unclear. This article intends to explore the role of the Internet use in Taiwanese Americans’ socialization, identity construction, and political participation.

Malcolm X and the Media: A Comparative Analysis of how the Mainstream and Black Press Portrayed Malcolm X’s Transformation • Cristina Mislan, Louisiana State University • Media framing has been shown to have a large impact on how the public receives salient issues from the press. Therefore, media framing may have an impact on how the public views minority issues, specifically news about prominent minority figures such as Malcolm X. Generally, the mainstream press observed Malcolm X’s messages with specific themes in particular, using words such as “extremist” and “violent,” overlooking an important transformation in his life.

Unconventional Disaster, Conventional Coverage: Hurricane Katrina and News Coverage of Poverty, Race and Class • Shenid Bhayroo, Louisiana State University • The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans is described as the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in recent US history. But, the tragic loss of life, the extensive damage to property and the destruction of communities have causes deeply rooted in poverty and social inequities. Storm damage data show that flooding in New Orleans disproportionately affected the elderly, African Americans, people who rented homes, the unemployed and the poor.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Media Management and Economics Division

When Women Run the Newsroom: Management Change, Gender and the News • Randal Beam and Damon Di Cicco, University of Washington • This study examined content changes across time at 10 small daily newspapers during periods in which a woman replaced a man as editor or managing editor. It found that the mix of topics that the newspapers covered changed only minimally when the women succeeded the men in these senior news-management jobs. But the style of presenting the news changed, and the representation of women and non-elites in photos increased significantly.

An Exploration of Audience Preference of Theatrical and Non-Theatrical Channels • Jiyoung Cha, University of Florida • Even though movies use a sequential distribution, the competition between channels exists. Using an expanded theory of planned behavior, this study compares the factors affecting the intention to use four types of movie distribution channels. This study’s findings indicate that the Internet and video on demand compete in terms of the consumer values of price and convenience. Urgency and display resolution are important determinants of theater use.

Strategic Bundling of Telecommunications Services: A Comparative Study of Triple-Play Strategies in the Cable Television and Telephone Industries • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Miao Guo, University of Florida • This study surveys the practice of triple-play strategy and examines the roles of industry environment and firm resources in influencing the adoption of bundling strategies. It was found that firms in an industry with declining revenues for their core products would seek to incorporate high-growth new products into a bundle offering. There is also an interesting association between a more “focused” portfolio and success in venturing outside of the core product area in bundling practices.

Mobile Television Deployment Strategy: A Comparative Analysis of Mobile Operators and Television Broadcasters • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Sangwon Lee, and Heejung Kim, University of Florida • This paper examines the deployment and competition of mobile TV in South Korea between two leading contenders, TV broadcasters and mobile phone service providers. Specifically, the differences in adopted strategies between the two sets of competitors and factors affecting these strategic behaviors are scrutinized. The nature of rivalry between the two historically separated competitors offers insight on how firms with inherently different resources, industry conditions, and business models might compete in the era of convergence.

Factors Related to Journalist Job Satisfaction: Meta-Analysis and Path Model • Li-jing Arthur Chang and Brian L. Massey • Twenty correlates of journalists’ job satisfaction uncovered in past research were input into a meta-analysis to assess their relationships with the satisfaction variable. Next, a theoretical model including job satisfaction and its key correlates was tested through a path analysis. The confirmed model shows that journalists’ perceptions of their impact on their communities and their feelings about pay are strong predictors of job satisfaction. It shows satisfaction is a significant predictor of intentions to quit jobs.

Newsroom Preparedness: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina • Sonya Duhe, University of South Carolina • This case study examines the impediments that newspaper outlets and television stations in two of the states hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina to covering the story. Through management surveys in Louisiana and Mississippi, the researcher reveals lessons learned and how the media might better prepare for the next natural or man-made disaster. Interestingly, while both Louisiana and Mississippi are hurricane prone areas, almost half of the respondents did not have a disaster plan in place.

An Empirical Analysis on Financial Performance of Bundling Strategies in the U.S. Cable Industry • Miao Guo and Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • This study investigates the effect of bundling strategy on the cable system operators’ financial performance in the United States. Based on the analysis of operating and financial performance of leading four cable system operators, we can see that bundling boosts the overall take rates for cable advanced products, such as digital video, high-speed Internet, and voice services.

Understanding Media Diversity: Structural and Organizational Variables Influencing Personnel Diversity in the Television Industry • Ann Hollifield and Clay Kimbro, University of Georgia • Diversity is a key management issue for media companies facing increasingly diverse audiences. This study uses FCC employment reports, Census data, and industry data over 30 years to examine the structural and organizational factors related to personnel diversity in U.S. television stations. The study finds external variables explain most variance in station-workforce diversity and draws on organization-diversity theory to conclude industry leaders don’t yet view workforce diversity as a strategic management issue.

Closing the Knowledge Gap in Financial Media Management • H. Y. Sonya Hsu and Steven Dick, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Walter S. McDowell, University of Miami • Company financial statements, intended to monitor the ongoing health of a media enterprise, are dependent on the competent information sharing of non-financial managers. Although these managers may be experts in their own departments, they often lack a fundamental understanding of financial data gathering and reporting procedures. In cooperation with the Broadcast and Cable Financial Management Association (BCFM), the researchers examined the knowledge gap between media financial managers and other media managers.

Peer Consonance: Age Matters Among Teams Producing Two Late Local Newscasts for Two Stations • Kelly Kaufhold, University of Texas at Austin • This study surveyed and interviewed producing teams working on both traditional (11/10 p.m.) and shared (10/9 p.m.) late local newscasts alongside in a single newsroom, a growing business model. It measured the motivation of news producers to attract young viewers to local news. Not one producer cited viewers over 50 as their most important audience. There were clear correlations between the age and experience of producers and their motivation to attract young viewers.

Direct Broadcast Satellite: Does Consumer Switching Costs Matter? • Clay Kimbro, University of Georgia • This study examines and measures the effects of switching costs as a barrier to DBS entering the market to compete with cable. The study finds switching costs exist. The study also finds the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999 allows DBS and cable to become more substitutable products, which makes switching cost a more important factor in consumers’ decisions to switch products.

Newsroom Culture Changes Alter Our Understanding of How News Organizations Learn and React to Change • Damian Kostiuk, University of Missouri • An organization that cannot learn its successes or failures may have a very difficult time responding to change. Given that media companies have been and are continuing to endure a period of change, understanding how learning occurs within newsrooms may be critical to their success or failure.

Strategic Behaviors on Triple-play Offerings in Cable and Telephone Companies • Seonmi Lee, University of Florida • Technological convergence and the FCC’s competition-promoting policy have brought about triple-play offering services that combined video, voice, and data services in a single package in the telecommunication market. As cable and telephone industries offer similar bundles, the competition becomes severe. In this situation, the company commits “one minimum and one maximum” strategy to prevent its existing consumers from switching over to the competitors and to attract new consumers.

Reaching Readers Through Online News: A Pursuit of Profit or Legitimacy? • Wilson Lowrey and Chang Wan Woo, The University of Alabama; Jenn Burleson Mackay • This study pits traditional rational-choice economics against “new institutionalist” theory in an effort to explain managers’ adoption of new, reader-oriented online features, such as most popular story lists, reader video, blogs and sites that target subcommunities. According to new institutional theory, organizations pursue innovations in order to appear legitimate and to conform with other organizations in their environment. It is proposed here that news organizations are both institutional and financially strategic.

The Nonprofit Business Model: Empirical Evidence from the Magazine Industry • Miles Maguire, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • This paper seeks to shed light on the nonprofit business model by considering empirical data from one area of the media industry where nonprofits make up a sizable segment: periodical publishing. The primary context for this study is the body of economic research on the tax-exempt sector and the effects of organizational structure on firm behavior. This theory is used to propose hypotheses about nonprofit periodicals, which are then tested.

Tease Me: A Content Analysis of Self-Promotion in Television Network News • Joy Mapaye, Hillary Lake and Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon • This study investigates the self-promotion practices of ABC, CBS and NBC. Using content analysis, this study examines the management and marketing of the network band identity through teases and various self-promotion strategies. The research found the three major television networks used self-promotion frequently. In all, 1063 instances of self-promotion were recorded from the sample. Self-promotion made up 36% of the content in television network news.

Economic Viability and Moral Obligation in Promoting Media Diversity • Kim McCann, Bowling Green State University • The diversity offered by broadcast television has been heavily influenced by the economic viability of programming strategies, particularly the advertising-supported mechanism. Consequently, the broadcasters’ moral obligation to serve the public interest has been largely neglected in broadcast television. Drawing upon this central issue, the study explored the conceptual issue of media diversity, assessed it in U.S. broadcast television in terms of both supply and demand viewpoints, and reconceptualized it, including both social and economic considerations.

Cultural Fluidity: Weekly Newspaper Editors’ Strategies for Building Knowledge and Managing Change • Francois P. Nel, University of Central Lancashire and Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire/University of Iowa • This study examines how British weekly newspaper editors, an understudied group with long-standing ties to “hyperlocal” communities, regard the challenges of building, transforming, and managing knowledge in the midst of sweeping media change. Drawing on literature from media sociology and knowledge management, it suggests that these veteran editors are profoundly uncertain about how to translate what they believe about journalism, and know about creating it, into successful delivery of new products to new audience.

Local Radio Station Group Ownership Efficiencies • Heather Polinsky, Central Michigan University • After the passage of the Telecommunication Act of 1996 a considerable number of radio owners consolidated stations into local and national station groups. Using data from 2007, a local radio station group efficiency hypothesis is examined. This study finds that as local station groups increase in size, the stations tend to be more efficient at attracting listeners and generating revenue, all else equal. These findings suggest the existence of local station group efficiencies.

Casual Journalists: Strategies of Freelance Workers in American Television News • Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon • Currently, up to 60% of on- and off-camera workers at the major three U.S. television networks are freelancers. This major shift in traditional network news employment trends has been relatively ignored by researchers. Studies of European television news workers have found freelancers unhappy in their jobs and conclude that freelancing is bad for the worker (Ursell 1998/2003, Dex et all 2000, Thynne 2000, Ertel et al 2005).

Home Country Regulatory Effects on Transnational Advertising Agencies: Implications for Media Companies • Dan Shaver and Mary Alice Shaver, Jonkoping International Business School • This study draws on data from the performance of the largest global advertising agencies to examine issues related to the economic performance of transnational advertising firms. It examines the impact of regulation related to starting and closing businesses, trade restrictions, tax structure, government expenditures, price stability, restrictions on foreign investment, and regulation of the banking system on firm’s diversification and success in foreign markets. Suggestions are made for applications to other mass media industries.

Blogging from the Management Perspective: A Follow-up Study • Mary Lou Sheffer, Texas Tech University and Brad Schultz, University of Mississippi • This was a follow-up study to research on blogging implementation in the local media. Previous research (Schultz & Sheffer, 2007) suggested high levels of journalist resistance to blogging. This research focused on management attitudes, and found insufficient management strategies and communication related to blogging to overcome journalist resistance. Managers have asked journalists to blog, but not taken the necessary steps to support its success, which suggests difficulty in implementation and adoption.

Communication as a Managerial Competency – the “Glue” that Keeps South African Mainstream Media Newsrooms Together? • Elaine Steyn, University of Oklahoma and Theunis Steyn, Cameron University • This paper outlines dimensions of communication as a managerial competency in South Africa’s mainstream media newsrooms. It highlights differences on the importance and implementation of this competency, given media management transformation in a post-apartheid society. Moderately and practically significant effect sizes were calculated between reporters’ and first-line managers’ experiences on all dimensions of this competency. Results emphasized the need to improve first-line news managers’ communication skills to unify newsrooms and improve journalism output.

Exploring Broadcast Networks’ Strategy on Alternative Platforms—A Resource Based View (RBV) Approach • Yan Yang and Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • This case analysis uses the resource based view (RBV) model to study the broadcast networks’ strategy in implementing and promoting alternative platforms—webcasting on the network websites and video download on iTunes and NBC Direct. It examines the internal assets of the networks—content, distribution, financial, human and technological resources, and how they influence the strategy formation and implementation.

Repeat Viewing in China: An Expansion of Determinants of TV Program Choice • Lin Yao • Repeat viewing focuses on the extent to which an audience for one program watches subsequent episodes of the same program, and is an important concept in “models of choice” theories of audience behavior. Research has examined repeat viewing in the U.S. and Europe, but no known studies have examined this phenomena in China, which is the largest and fastest-growing television market in the world.

<< 2008 Abstracts