Archives for January 2012

Commission on the Status of Women

A Picture of Health: How Women’s Magazines Frame Medical News and Femininity • Barbara Barnett, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Women’s magazines have long been an important source of information for women about health concerns, including birth control, nutrition, and child care. While these publications have offered important messages about health, women’s magazines have simultaneously offered information about femininity. This qualitative analysis employed framing to explore the themes found in forty-four non-fiction health articles in ten women’s magazines published from December 2000 through February 2001. The analysis found that illness was often presented as an event that rendered women incomplete — and therefore unable to find happiness through men, marriage, and children.

Women in the Newsroom: Influences of Female Editors and Reporters on the News Agenda • Stephanie Craft and Wayne Wanta, Missouri • This study compared issue agendas and story focus at newspapers with relatively high percentages of women in editorial positions with those at newspapers with lower percentages of female editors. Results of the content analysis of 30 newspapers showed little difference in issues covered. Papers with predominately male editors contained news with a more negative focus. Newspapers with a high percentage of female editors also tend to treat their female reporters on a par with male reporters.

On Equal Footing: The Framing of Sexual Difference In Runner’s World • Marie Harden, State University of West Georgia, Julie Dodd and Jean Chance, Florida and Vicki Wuertz, Florida Southern College • Although sports media has been criticized for marginalizing and excluding female athletes, running has been touted as a “uniquely egalitarian” sport by enthusiasts and by the leading U.S. running magazine, Runner’s World. This research examines all editorial photo images in the magazine during 1992, 1996 and 2001. The magazine was found to provide adequate overall percentages of women in its photos, but to also perpetuate sexual difference in the way that it presented female runners.

Video Games are from Mars, 1.25 not Venus: Gender, Electronic Game Play and Attitudes Toward the Medium • James D. Ivory and Hillary Wilkerson, Wyoming • Despite the widespread popularity of video games, studies have consistently reported that males play more than females. This paper analyzed original survey research of college students and found a similar gender gap, though a sizable female video game-playing minority was observed. Game content and publicity was also investigated, with representations of women indicating considerable justification for the medium’s comparatively limited popularity among females, and general suggestions were made concerning changes in game content.

The Making of Dr. Laura Schlessinger • Phylis Johnson and Max V. Grubb, Southern Illinois University • Since the 1980’s Fairness Doctrine’s repeal, the American broadcasting system has shifted from a model of objectivity to advocacy, with broadcasters asserting their rights to put forth their agenda. The distinction between news, information, and entertainment has blurred – all in the name of constitutionality, but more likely in the name of ratings. This paper analyzes the events that led to the acceptance – and rejection – of the moral platitudes of Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

From The Cradle to the Grave: The Unfulfilled Bill Of Rights Reflected In the Hidden Dialogue of “Everywoman” • Beverly G. Merrick, New Mexico State University • This is a White Paper, an award-winning essay that points to the need to present viewpoints in the mass media suppressed due to gender. The essay is written in the form of Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyon. The research won second place in the nation, faculty, of the Bill of Rights “Significant Silences” competition, through the AEJMC. The arguments herein should help media professionals overcome the denial of gender dominance.

Women’s Status in Reproductive Health Decision-Making: A Communication’s Perspective • Nancy Muturi, Iowa • Reproductive health information is a basic human right. Most women are however denied this right due social-cultural and economic factors that impede their reproductive health decisions causing them to face unwanted pregnancies, and sexual and domestic violence, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. This paper examines those factors from a communications perspective, drawing its theoretical framework from Grunig’s Excellence in Communication theory. Data were gathered among rural women in Kenya.

Did Women Get Stiffed?: Reviews of Susan Faludi’s Backlash and Stiffed • Julie O’Reilly, Bowling Green State University • This semiotic analysis examined book reviews of Susan Faludi’s Backlash (1991) and Stiffed (1999) to determine if the overt or underlying content of the reviews suggested any gender bias toward the subject matter of each book or Faludi as their author. Results indicated that reviewers’ treatment of the “gendered” subject matter of the books through use of metaphorical, attitudinal, and other language types produced dominant readings that marginalized feminists and reinforced traditional conceptions of masculinity.

Magazine Coverage of Katharine Meyer Graham, 1963-1975 • Mary Rinkoski, Ohio University • From her husband’s death in 1963 through Watergate, the Pentagon Papers and a pressmen strike in 1975, Katharine Graham rose to success as the head of the Washington Post Company. The blossoming feminist movement coincided with Graham’s rise to power and American magazines molded her into a figurehead for the women’s liberation movement. Initially receiving coverage based on her gender, Graham eventually earned magazine attention for her successful management.

Mind the Gender Gap: Gender Differences in Motivation to Contribute Online Content • Cindy Royal, Texas-Austin • Recent studies indicate that women are using the Internet in the same numbers as men. But, is this statistic misleading in that it fails to highlight gender issues in terms of the quality of usage at higher levels of participation? The Internet provides inherent agency that puts the creation of Internet content into its users’ hands. This study will analyze gender differences in motivation and willingness to participate in the Internet as contributor of content.

Gender Switching-Repositioning the Distaff: A History of Women in Bahamian Media • Juliette Storr, North Carolina State University • Colonization inspired beliefs about superiority and inferiority. These beliefs are still among us. This study focuses on the transitions from colonization to independence in mass media (print, radio and television) in The Bahamas and women’s experience in mass media under both systems. It covers the period 1784 to 2001. It examines gender relationships within the context of the relationship between culture and empire and culture and nation-state.

Peering through the Glass Ceiling of the Boys’ Club: Examining How Masculinity Affects the Journalism and Mass Communication Infrastructure • Billy Wooten, Kentucky • A 1992 census of AEJMC membership found females in 28 percent of mass communication faculties. With obvious gender bias in the field, the question must be asked: Why are women denied access to journalism and mass communication education? The answer lies not only in how females are oppressed within the field but also in how men systematize the infrastructure of the field. This study explores how masculinity affects the systemic structure of journalism and mass communication education.

Relationship Content In Four Men’s And Women’s Magazines • Alexis Zachary and Bryan Denham, Clemson University • This paper discusses the portrayal of intimate relationships in men’s and women’s magazines. The authors performed content analysis on relationship articles in two women’s magazines, Cosmopolitan and Glamour, and two men’s magazines, Maxim and Playboy, from September, October and November 2001. The articles were examined for their communication content, relationship aspects, sexual content, the author’s gender and pro-man or pro-woman slant. The results indicated that the portrayal of relationships does indeed differ in men’s and women’s magazines.

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Science Communication Interest Group

Media Production In The Science Classroom: A Literature Review Of Media Literacy, Science Literacy, And Student-Authored Hypermedia • Timothy Bajkiewicz, Southern Florida • Media literacy and science literacy have, individually, been recognized as crucial educational components in furthering a citizenry properly prepared for the hypermediated and technologically complex 21st century. This paper examines the relevant literature in media and science literacy efforts and applies them together to a relatively new area of research, student-authored science hypermedia (e.g., student-created science Internet sites). The potential of student-authored hypermedia could bridge the similar and complimentary efforts of media and science literacy.

Book Reviewers’ Recognition of Environmental Ethics In Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” • James Carstens, North Carolina, Chapel Hill • Aldo Leopold, who wrote his seminal work, “A Sand County Almanac” in 1949, is now credited with formulating and articulating some of the basic ethical and philosophical tenets that lead to the development of biology conservation, land ethics, biocentrism, deep ecology, and biodiversity. Analysis of the initial treatment and reception of the book by reviewers shows that only one reviewer, Hal Borland, recognized and emphasized the important ethical questions and concerns that Leopold raised regarding man’s relationship to nature.

The Web and E-Mail in Science Communication: Results of In-Depth Interviews • Rebecca Dumlao, Eastern Carolina and Shearlean Duke, Western Washington • Using open-ended interviews, researchers identified 12 themes concerning web and e-mail use by science writers. The web and e-mail “speeds information” between sources, reporters, editors, and audiences. “Skepticism” about information quality leads science writers to urge practices of “good judgment” by web users. A diagram illustrates ways “speeds information” is changing journalistic work. Suggestions concerning future research on diffusion of information are offered.

Idiocentrism, Issue Involvement, & Health Communication: A Social Psychological Framework • Mohan Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • Existing research demonstrates that audience members demonstrate systematic differences in the messages they respond to. The social psychological model of human behavior suggests that a person’s disposition interacts with his/her situation to produce a communicative response. Idiocentrism/allocentrism is one of the few personality factors that has received a great deal of attention in the realm of audience response to health messages. Issue involvement is a situational dimension that has been extensively researched in the information processing literature.

Source Credibility And Global Warming: A Content Analysis Of Environmental Groups • Terry Flynn, Syracuse • The purpose of this study was to determine how environmental journalists rate the credibility of environmental groups as sources of information on the global warming debate. A self-administered survey questionnaire, based on the Meyer’s Credibility Index, and a quantitative content analysis was used to test the credibility and coverage of environmental groups involved in the global warming debate over the last two years.

Use of Quasi-Scientific Explanations in U.S. Media Coverage of the Stem Cell Debate • Jennifer Hutt, Kristie Swain, Jennifer Richter, Li Jin, and Ping Wang, Texas A&M • Science writing curricula often stress the importance of using explanations to make a story understandable to readers. This study examines the use of explanation in U.S. stem cell media coverage, through a content analysis of news stories appearing in three newspapers, three newsweekly magazines, and three network television news websites from 1994 to 2001. Two-thirds of explanations were definitions. Consistent with previous research, the use of explanation in these stories was highest in specialized science sections and did not vary according to story length.

The Effect of Labeling Genetically Modified Food on Perception of Accountability • Tracy Irani, and Janas Sinclair, Florida International • This experiment examined the impact of various types of genetically modified GMO food labels. Labeling was expected to affect perceptions of government and industry accountability, which in turn was expected to impact attitude toward purchase and global attitudes toward plant biotechnology. The findings provided evidence for this two-step model. Further, global attitude was more favorable than attitude toward purchasing the GM product, and attitude toward purchase was lower when the product contained GM ingredients.

Framing the Environmental Agenda: A Qualitative Comparison of 1970 Nixon Speeches and Time Magazine • Diana Knott, Ohio University • This study compares the rhetorical frames employed by President Richard Nixon and Time magazine’s reporting in 1970 to gain a better understanding of early mainstream environmental references. The frame Nixon used most often was that of the need for a collective, unified effort to address the nation’s environmental problems. By contrast, the frame used most often by Time was that of the economy and quality of life versus the environment.

Media Coverage of Conflicts of Interest in Science • Katherine McComas, Leah Simone, Maryland • There is a growing concern among scientists that media attention to conflicts of interest in science threaten the public’s belief in the integrity of the field. To examine media coverage of conflicts of interest in science, we conducted a 10-year content analysis of stories from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. The results suggest a steady stream of stories highlighting the negative aspects of conflicts of interest in science.

The ‘Trust Gap’ Hypothesis: Predicting Support for Biotechnology Across National Cultures as a Function of Trust in Actors • Susanna Hornig Priest, Texas A&M, Heinz Bonfadelli, University of Zurich, Switzerland and Maria Rusanen, University of Kuopio, Finland • Using results from the 1999 Eurobarometer survey and a parallel telephone survey done in the United States in 2000, this study explored the relationship between levels of knowledge, educational levels, and degrees of encouragement for biotechnology. We found only weak relationships among these variables, calling into question the common assumption that science literacy produces acceptance. Differences between European and U.S. reactions to biotechnology appear to stem from different patterns of trust in institutions.

Context In Print And Online Environmental Articles • Ryan Randazzo, Jennifer Greer, Nevada-Reno • A content analysis of environmental articles in leading U.S. dailies revealed that few of nine types of context examined were included in the printed version of the articles. None of the newspapers were using the potential of the Internet consistently to add more context to their environmental articles online. In fact, fewer contextual elements appeared online than in the print versions.

Environmental Threats, Information Sources and Optimistic Bias: Environmental Risk in Appalachia • Daniel Riffe, Jan Knight, Ohio University • Telephone survey of 405 adults in Appalachian Ohio counties examined general and detailed environmental risk perception; evaluation of environmental information sources (government, companies and businesses, and local media); and “optimistic bias” (belief that others are more likely to suffer negative events than you) about environment-related health risks. General optimistic bias confirmed, but varied with number of specific threats where one lives. Local media best source, but source evaluations vary with perceived seriousness of environmental threats.

Motives To Seek Threatened And Endangered Species Information For Land-Use Decisions • Janas Sinclair, Florida International, Frank Mazzotti and Jocie Graham, Florida • The theory of planned behavior was used to survey land-use planners and regulators in South Florida. Past behavior, attitude toward act, and social norms predicted 42% of the variance in intention to seek information about threatened and endangered species, such as the Multi-Species Recovery Plan (MSRP), in land-use decisions. Communications for this audience should also address relatively low levels of past behavior, knowledge of the MSRP, information exposure, and external perceived behavioral control.

Relationships Among Important Outcomes Of Science Campaigns Aimed At The General Public • Debbie Treise, Michael F. Weigold, Kim Walsh-Childers and Meredith Friedman, Florida • In recent years many science organizations have found it increasingly important to target message campaigns at the general public, or at least that portion of the general public that is interested in science. This study was intended to increase our understanding of the relationships among key aspects of the public’s attitudes and beliefs about science. For this study, 301 undergraduate students answered questions about their attitudes toward, support for, and knowledge of science and read a science website story and answered questions about it.

Forecasting the Future: How Television Weathercasters’ Attitudes and Beliefs about Climate Change Affect Their Cognitive Knowledge on the Science • Kris Wilson, Texas-Austin • The topic of climate change has recently resurfaced on many news agendas, but increasingly the scientific and political issues mix. Previous research has noted that even though the public relies primarily on television news as a source of climate change information, broadcasting has few environment and/or science reporters to cover the topic. This study considers another potential source — television weathercasters.

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Religion and Media Interest Group

The President and the Marketing of American Civil Religion • Andrea Allen, Texas at Austin • Since 911, President Bush, like other presidents before him, has used religious rhetoric when publicly addressing the American people. This paper examines Bush’s use of civil religion, as described by Robert Bellah, through the frame of the seven devices of propaganda outlined in the 1939 book, The Fine Art of Propaganda. Content analysis of major newspapers two months before and after September 11 supports the increasing prominence of the presidential religious rhetoric.

“Molympics”? Journalistic Discourse of Mormons in Relation to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games • Chinng Hwang Chen, Brigham Young University • During the 2002 Winter Olympics, many made the argument that attention on Salt Lake City provided an opportunity to reshape the Mormon image. Using discourse analysis of newsmagazine and newspaper articles, this paper assesses whether media portrayals of Mormons shifted during the Olympics. It argues that a model mority discourse used by journalists in past decades to describe Mormons persisted in most fundamental respects. Some details changed, but larger stereotypical images were not challenged.

Inventing a Nation: Political Consequences of Quaker Missionary Education, Literacy and Publishing in Colonial Kenya • David N. Dixon, Azusa Pacific University • Among almost every group in Africa, missionaries wrote down the language, then taught people to read and write. To accomplish this they created school and churches in which self-governance was taught, practiced and eventually demanded. These became key sites where national identity was forged. Using the Friends Africa Mission in colonial Kenya as a case study, this paper examines how institutions play a part in Benedict Anderson’s model of creating nations by imagining communities.

Portrayal of Religion in Reality TV Programming: Hegemony and the Contemporary American Wedding • Erika Engstrom and Beth Semic, Nevada-Las Vegas • The authors examined the treatment of religion in reality TV programming, namely, The Learning Channel’s “A Wedding Story,” by conducting a content analysis of 85 recently aired episodes. Results support a hegemonic portrayal regarding religion: most weddings were somewhat religious, Christian, held in a church, involved traditionally worded vows and few religious rituals, and included mention of the word “God.” The authors discuss the program’s potential to provide viewers with more diverse religious portrayals.

Ramadan Advertising in Egypt: A Content Analysis With Elaboration on Select Items • Kevin L. Keenan and Sultana Yeni, The American University in Cairo • Factors related to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan are discussed. A content analysis of 508 Egyptian television commercials is described. Comparisons of ads run during Ramadan and those run during a non-Ramadan period are made. Findings show fewer ads during Ramadan, more emphasis on charity messages during Ramadan, and more conservatively dressed characters in ads during Ramadan. Results concerning family orientation are mixed. The content analysis is supplemented with details elaborating on individual advertisements.

A Slow Death of the Self: A Trend Reflected by the National Advertising Campaign for “Religion in American Life” During 1949-1970 • Annisa Lee, North Carolina at Chapel Hill • By analyzing 80 ads launched in a national advertising campaign, Religion in American Life, during 1949-1970, this paper explores the effect of the changing landscape in aspects of religion, family, and authorities on the identity or self for individuals and society as a whole. Results show marked disintegrations in all three aspects of life and a threat posed to redefine the self amidst chaos.

Framing Reality: Shaping the News Coverage of the 1996 Tennessee Debate on Teaching Evolution • Cynthia A. McCune, San Jose State University • This study triangulated research methods to analyze how the public debate on a controversial issue was framed, and by whom, as a means of understanding the process and outcome of that debate. Its findings support the idea that public debates are framed by all involved parties, not just the news media. It also considered how the relative power position held by each side in this debate may have affected their interactions with the news media.

Children’s Media Coverage Of Critical Events: The Case Of The Aftermath Of The Assassination Of Yitzhak Rabin • Edith Manosevitch, Washington • This study explores the role of children’s news media in establishing meanings of critical situations and promoting notions of active citizenship. A content analysis of three Israeli children’s magazines coverage of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin is conducted. Findings suggest differences between religious media and secular media in terms of coverage of values related to democracy. Findings also reveal a variety of ways by which democratic practices of giving voice and notions of empowerment can manifest themselves within children’s media.

Uncivil Religion and Uncivil Science: A Case Study in News Framing and the Sociology of Knowledge • Rick Clifton Moore, Boise State University • As part of his overall argument in the book Unsecular Media, Mark Silk claims that acts of “uncivil” religion — when one religious body openly disparages another — are consistently condemned by the media, but in a way that affirms religion. Herein, I investigate whether Silk’s perspective is able to theoretically distinguish religious incivility from other forms. I propose that Peter Berger’s work in the sociology of knowledge can offer insights that Silk’s more narrow approach cannot. To investigate this possibility, I engage in a case study of two news stories that occurred in at approximately the same time and place.

Using My Religion: An Analysis of Religiosity Manifest in the Profiles of Mormon Singles Seeking Relationships Online • David W. Scott, South Carolina • This study represent a seminal analysis of the convergence of religious culture and technology (Internet culture) from the perspective of religious individuals, adding to Zaleski’s (1977) findings by demonstrating how one particular religious community is fostered and sustained on the Internet — not by doctrinal tenets, but rather by a common search for relationships with others.

The Modern Media As Surrogate Shaman • Gregory M. Selber, and Salma I. Ghanem, Texas-Pan American • In times of severe crisis, when societal foundations are shaken along with the confidence of the people, the collective society searches for its bearings, seeking to regain its composure and strength. Traditional socialization devices such as family, school and church were once the institutions which individuals and segmented collectives turned to for explanations, reassurance and hope. In today’s secular, fragmented, diverse American society, these formerly vital institutions have become outmoded.

Removing Epistemological Blind Spots: Interdisciplinary Foundations for the Study of Media and Religion • Daniel A. Stout, Brigham Young University and Judith Buddenbaum, Colorado State University • While religion is an established focus of research in the social sciences and the humanities, it is only beginning to emerge in the field of mass communication. The study of media and religion has been hindered by the misconception that there is little or no foundational literature to build upon. This paper removes such epistemological ÔÔblind spots” by identifying fields where religion is conceptually developed as a credible means of studying society. The paper ends with a discussion of opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary studies.

Newspaper Coverage of Religion in the 2000 Presidential Election • Mike Trice, Louisiana College and Charles Mayo, Southern Mississippi • According to many observers of the 2000 presidential election, religion was prominent during the campaign, from George W. Bush’s faith-based “compassionate conservatism” to the outspoken morality of Al Gore’s running mate, Joseph Lieberman. This content analysis seeks to examine whether religion, both corporate and personal, found its way onto the pages of four of America’s most prominent newspapers; We find that, despite such general impressions, inclusion of religion and religiosity in actual news coverage of the campaign and its candidates was minimal.

Media Framing of Islam and Terrorism: A Method of Analyzing Perceptions of Religious Portrayals in News Reporting • Robert H. Wicks, Jan L. Wicks, Ron Warren and Todd Shields, Arkansas • Religion, like politics and economics, has an enormous impact on the evolution of peoples, societies and nations. News reports, however, often fail to adequately or accurately frame the religious dimensions of information that involves conflict. This report urges mass communication scholars to consider religion as an important explanatory sociological variable that is often neglected or misrepresented in the course of reporting on geo-political conflict.

The Detroit Newspapers’ Coverage of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Before and During the Newspaper Strike • Geri Alumit Zeldes, Michigan State University • A content analysis of the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press showed that coverage of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit during the Detroit Newspaper Strike (July 13, 1995 to February 20, 1997) increased, and the tone of the coverage was more favorable during the strike than before the strike. The findings contrast with claims by members of the Catholic Church in Detroit that the newspapers had an institutional bias against the church.

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Media and Disability Interest Group

An Analysis of the Dissimilar Coverage of the 2002 Olympics and Paralympics: Frenzied Pack Journalism versus the Empty Press Room • Ann Golden, Brigham Young University • This article analyzes the differing amounts of coverage reporters gave to the 2002 Olympics versus the 2002 Paralympics (the Olympics for the disabled). A content analysis of ten newspapers, a month-long field study at the Olympic/Paralympic media centers and twenty qualitative interviews were utilized as tools to analyze the differing paradigms of selected Olympic and Paralympic reporters concerning the following disability-related issues: audience appeal and interest, pack journalism versus independent reporting, and the newsworthiness of Paralympic events.

Are Disability Images in Advertising Becoming Bold and Daring? An Analysis of Prominent Themes in U.S. and UK Campaigns • Beth A. Haller, Towson and Sue Ralph, Manchester, UK • Advertisements featuring people with disabilities have become more prevalent in America and Great Britain in the last decade. The goal of this paper is to investigate if images are remaining static (focusing solely on integration) or are expanding to show a variety of themes. This qualitative analysis revealed that several leaps forward have occurred, such as the themes of empowerment in a Cingular ad and the themes of disability pride/inclusion in Doritos, Kohler, B&Q, Marks & Spencer, and HSBC ads.

The Invisible Victims: Newspaper Coverage of Physician-Assisted Suicide and People with Disabilities • Kimberly A. Lauffer, Towson • One group of people affected by Jack Kervorkian’s crusade for legalized assisted suicide has largely been ignored by the mainstream press: people with disabilities. This paper will examine how disability and people with disabilities were portrayed in Michigan newspaper coverage of physician-assisted suicide from 1996-1999. Overall, people with disabilities were portrayed in ways that perpetuated negative stereotypes about disability.

Not Limitation, but Variation: Exploring the Effects of Media Framing on Reduction of Prejudice against Disability • Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee, Pennsylvania • This study aims at examining the effects of media framing of disability on perspective-taking and reduction of prejudice against disabled people. The findings suggest that Human Variation Frame, which defines disability as one of the various human conditions, evokes higher level of perspective-taking, which, in turn, plays a mediating role in reducing prejudice in both cognitive and affective dimensions. This study concludes that the mass media should contribute to redefining disability as human variation, and motivating the non-disabled to accept the disabled people not as “them” but as “us.”

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Internship and Careers Interest Group

The Use of Internship Supervisors for External Program Assessment • Lauren A. Vicker, St. John Fisher College •This paper describes how one communications program implemented a systematic process for the collection of feedback on its students’ performance from internship supervisors. The results demonstrated that the supervisors were a good external source for identifying strengths and weaknesses in the program as part of an overall assessment plan.

Journalism Students’ Perceptions of the Value of Internships • John E. Getz, South Dakota State University • This phenomenological study of first-person narratives written by journalism interns finds that most students view their internship experiences in a positive light, feeling most positive about meaningful duties and least positive about tedious chores. They consider both internships and coursework to be important components of the journalism education process. They perceive that experiential education has an overall value. Internship experiences validate many students’ choice of journalism as the direction of their life work.

Portfolios for Television News Careers: Recommendations from Pennsylvania News Directors • B. Gail Wilson, Indiana University of Pennsylvania • This research investigates the importance of and content of portfolios for individuals seeking entry-level jobs in television newsrooms. Twenty-two news directors in Pennsylvania were surveyed for this research. This number represents all stations in the state that currently produce a regular, nightly newscast. The results include the opinions of these news directors on the importance, the content, and the length of portfolios and audition tapes as they consider applicants for positions at their stations.

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