Archives for January 2012

Media Management and Economics Division

Journalists and the Workplace: How Organizational Goals and Priorities Influence Job Satisfaction and Ratings of Journalistic Performance • Randal A. Beam, Indiana University • Data from a national survey of about 1,150 U.S. journalists suggest that perceptions about a news organization’s goals and priorities are associated with journalists’ job satisfaction and with their assessment of how well their organization is informing the public. The findings show that job satisfaction is higher at organizations where employees feel that they have autonomy, influence and frequent communication with supervisors. In addition, job satisfaction is positively correlated with perceptions that the organization values employee morale and that journalism quality is rising.

Tax Economics and Censorship of Foreign-licensed Publications Distributed in Egypt: The Case of the “Cyprus Press” • Ralph D. Berenger, The American University in Cairo • Foreign-licensed publications distributed in Egypt have florished tax-free in the past decade in exchange for government censorship of their news content. Meanwhile, Egypt- licensed publications exchange illusory press freedom for a hefty tax on advertising and circulation revenues. This paper compares two similar, competing publications amid comparative governmental regulations that allow for neophytic press competition in Egypt. However, recent political and tax decisions might end the tax advantages with a negative effect on readership and the general economy.

Toward a Theory of Innovation Adoption by Media Firms: Strategic Entrepreneurship and the Commercialization of the New Media Technologies •Sylvia M. Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • This paper proposes a theoretical framework for exploring the factors that shape the innovation adoption decision and process of media firms. The analytical framework addresses the adoption of new media technologies through the integration of various theoretical perspectives such as entrepreneurship, strategic networks, and innovation adoption. Eight sets of antecedent variables in firm characteristics (e.g., size and organizational traits), media technology characteristics (e.g., newness and compatibility), perceived strategic value, alternatives available, strategic networks, market conditions, competition, and regulation/policy are proposed to influence a media firm’s decision whether, how much, and/or when to invest in the commercialization of a new media technology.

The World Media Landscape: A Comprehensive Examination of Media Markets and Their Determinants in 98 Countries • Sylvia M. Chan-Olmstead and Goro Oba, University of Florida • This paper surveys the media markets in 98 nations around the world, comparatively examining the degree of media multiplicity, diffusion, openness, and new media potential in these countries. The study also investigates how various environmental factors, including economic, cultural, social, political, technological, and other supporting industrial characteristics, influence the media markets in these countries. Relationships were found to exist between countries and most suggested factors, especially those associated with the technological and political characteristics of a country.

Devising a Practical Model for Predicting Theatrical Movie Success: Focusing on the Experience Good Property • Byeng-Hee Chang and Eyun Jung Ki, University of Florida • This study attempts to devise a new theoretical framework to efficiently classify and develop predictors of box office performance for theatrical movies by examining the experience good property of movies. Moreover, this research selects and devises practical variables that field practitioners can apply for anticipating performance at the box office. Three dependent variables, such as (domestic) total box office, first week box office, and length of run were adopted. Based on the theoretical framework, independent variables were categorized into four groups; brand-related variables (sequel, director, actor), objective features (budget, genre, MPAA rating), information sources (critic rating, audience rating), and distribution-related variables (market power of distributor, release period, number of first week screens).

Relative Constancy of Advertising Spending: A Cross-National Examination of Advertising Expenditures and Their Determinants • Byeng-Hee Chang and Sylvia Chan-Olmstead, University of Florida • This study empirically examines the Principles of Relative Constancy (PRC) across more than 70 nations over time (1991-2001). Focusing on the relationship between advertising spending and national economy as reflected by GDP, the authors found that while there is a significant relationship between GDP and advertising spending, the relationship is neither proportionate nor exclusive. The degree of applicability of the PRC might be different depending on the types of media and the characteristics of the nations.

How Demographics, Income, Work Experience, Staff Size, Newsroom Policy, and Intent to Stay in Journalism Affect Newspaper Reporters’ Overall Job Satisfaction • Li-jing Arthur Chang, Jackson State University • This study explores the relationships between a group of factors and overall job satisfaction of newspaper reporters. Results showed age, marital status, college education, income level, work experience, staff size, newsroom policy emphasis, and intent to stay in journalism are significant predictors of overall job satisfaction. After the original sample is divided into three sub-samples according to circulation categories, the research also probes how the predictors of overall job satisfaction differ when sub-samples are tested.

Playing Favorites: Clear Channel Air Play and Touring Clear Channel Artists • Donna Dearmon and Mark D. Harmon, University of Tennessee at Knoxville • Trade press articles claim Clear Channel uses its dominance as both radio chain and concert promoter to give extra air play to the artists it represents. The authors use Contemporary Hits playlists and concert data to check the allegation. No preference was found if one looked only at artists represented by Clear Channel. However, if one includes secondary affiliations (artists in Clear Channel promoted concerts but not necessarily represented by the company) Clear Channel stations were giving more airplay to Clear Channel artists when compared to artists not represented by Clear Channel and stations not part of the chain.

Notes toward an economic theory of media diffusion based on the parameters (r and K) of the logistic growth equation • John Dimmick and Tao Wang, Ohio State University • The paper suggests that the logistic growth equation is the model underlying media diffusion. The logistic is shown to be a good fit to the diffusion of US communication media such as radio, TV, cable, VCR and the home computer. The paper proposes that the r and K parameters of the logistic can be interpreted, respectively, as gratification-utilities and economic conditions. Hypotheses are tested concerning the role of anticipated gratification-utilities in the diffusion of the home computer and cable as well as the role of disposable income in the diffusion of several US mediums.

Failure of Project Eyeball: A Case of Product Over-pricing or Market Over-crowding? • Marc Edge, Nanyang Technological University • The closure in mid-2001 by Singapore Press Holdings of its experimental tabloid newspaper, Project Eyeball, after less than one year of publication, was popularly attributed to overpricing and competition from a pair of free tabloids that entered the market hot on its heels. An examination of the newspaper’s brief history also looks to the Principle of Relative Constancy and the influence of stock prices on publicly-traded newspaper companies, into which category SPH falls.

Vertical Integration, Movie Foreclosure, and Exhibitors’ Screening Behavior in the Singapore Cinema Market • W. Wayne Fu, Nanyang Technological University • This article examines the impact of distributor-exhibitor integration on the screening pattern of films in theaters in Singapore. Based on the anticompetition model of vertical integration, the hypothesis is tested that integrated movie players discriminate against independent competitors both in the distribution and exhibition markets such that the extent to which a film is screened at theaters depends on the film-theater relationship. Using data on films exhibited during 2002-2003, econometric models demonstrate the influence of vertical operation. Tobit and survival analyses show that both the screening and the life of a film in a theater shift with the vertical relationship.

Economic Impact of the Internet on Electronic Media Industry • Sung-Hee Joo, University of Michigan; and Ki-Young Lee, Michigan State University • To address the mismatch between the fast growth of the Internet and the lack of studies on its impact at a macro level, this study explores the economic impact of the Internet on other electronic media. More specifically, this study analyzes the extent to which the growth of the Internet has affected other media in terms of audience and advertising revenue share. The results from a series of regression analyses suggest the growth of the Internet has a unique, separate contribution to the erosion of network TV advertising revenue share.

Bigger, Better and Happier? Roles of Newspaper Size, Quality and Supervisors in Copy Editors’ Job Satisfaction • Susan Keith, Rutgers University • Job satisfaction reported by 470 copy editors from 100 newspapers surveyed in 2002 was relatively low, and copy editors at smaller newspapers (those with circulations between 25,000 and 50,000) were particularly dissatisfied with their salaries and their prospects for advancement. As in studies of other journalists, there were correlations between job satisfaction, supervision, and perceived newspaper quality.

Programming Spin-offs as Brand Extensions: Capitalizing on the Brand Equity of Network Television Hit Series • Daphne E. Landers, University of Florida • This research applied principles of branding and brand extensions to the analysis of television programming spin-offs from the 1955 -1956 to the 2002 – 2003 primetime broadcast television season. Using multiple regression and binary logistic regression, this research examined the changing nature of television program spin-off deployment, uncovered underlying relationships, and assessed the collective prediction — and individual contributions — of specific attribute, association, and competitive positioning variables on three measures of spin-off performance: spin-off longevity, parent brand advancement, and network advancement.

Strategic Alliances as Brand Extensions in the Media Industries: Focusing on Naming Strategies • Seung-Eun Lee and Byeng-Hee Chang, University of Florida • Applying the concept of brand extensions into strategic alliances (“SAs”), this study analyzed naming strategies of SAs, including joint ventures, in the media industry. By examining a total number of 1372 media SAs, this study found that, when deciding the name of a newly formed entity, firms actively used co-branding strategy to leverage the established brand equity of participating firms. This study proposed factors affecting the naming decision of SAs: initiative, industry relatedness, and nation relatedness. The analysis indicated the effect of the initiative on naming decision, showing that the name of the firms with the initiative in a SA deal was found to be a header brand in most of the co-branded alliances.

Characteristics of Entry and Exit in Weekly Newspaper Markets: An Exploratory Study • Hugh J. Martin, The University of Georgia • A study of Georgia weekly newspapers found 86 papers entered the industry from 1990 to 2000; 56 papers exited. Entry was concentrated in suburban and metropolitan markets. Increasing ownership concentration did not affect entry rates. Annual patterns of entry and exit were erratic, which is expected in a mature industry. Entering and exiting weeklies had larger than average circulation. Barriers to entry in weekly markets appear to be lower than barriers in daily markets.

Revealing a Double Jeopardy Effect in Radio Station Audience Behavior • Walter S. McDowell, University of Miami; and Steven Dick, University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale • Scores of consumer behavior studies have found a so-called double Jeopardy effect, whereby brands earning small market shares attract not only fewer buyers than their more successful competitors, but also disproportionately fewer loyalists in terms of repeat purchasing. This study hypothesized that a similar effect can be found in radio listening. Using turnover ratio and exclusive cume as operationalizations for listener loyalty, a ratings analysis of over 1600 stations revealed a significant double jeopardy effect along with program format as an intervening variable.

Local Decision Making in a Consolidated Radio Industry: Program Directors and Airchecking • Tad Odell, University of Oregon • The radio industry has changed dramatically since 1996’s ownership deregulation. Large corporations control more stations, and market structures are more concentrated. This paper analyzes how radio program directors influence the way stations manage their announcers in this new environment through a method called airchecking. The study found that program directors’ attitudes strongly influence the amount they aircheck, indicating that local managers have independence to set their own priorities.

A Preliminary Examination of the Predictors of Radio Station Advertising Price and Revenue before the Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Heather Polinsky, Central Michigan University • This study conducts a simplified investigation which factors are indicative of radio station advertising price and revenue from 1995 radio industry data, just before the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This investigation finds that station audience and ownership variables predict advertising price and station revenue in both AM and FM stations, but that signal strength, market variables and format variables are significant predictors in only FM stations.

Ukrainian Television Media Management In Transition • Ardyth Sohn, University of Colorado and Alyona Bondar, Kyiv, Ukraine • This case study of a television station in Kyiv, Ukraine, provides descriptive analysis of how media are developing in a country undergoing economic, social, political and cultural changes. The study, which provides preliminary baseline data, outlines the opportunities and challenges for one television station’s media managers presently and in the future. Results indicate that while political turmoil creates considerable constraint in some areas (i.e. domestic news) other arenas such as advertising and film production are being exploited with some success. Early results also show modest strength for multi-country distribution of media products.

Striking It Niche — Extending The Newspaper Brand By Capitalizing In New Media Niche Markets: A Baseline Study Of Daily Newspaper Niche Web Sites • Jennifer Wood, Hampton University • This is the first nationwide study to examine newspaper niche Web sites. It will serve as a baseline for studying long-term changes in this area. Online directors at U.S. daily newspapers were surveyed to determine if they were creating niche Web sites, what types of niche sites were produced, how they were selecting and targeting specific audiences for the sites and what marketing or advertising plans were in place to achieve consumer brand loyalty.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

Sensationalism in America’s Television Newsrooms and the Ethics of Media Supervisors: A Secondary Analysis • Aimee Barros, Northern Illinois University • Television news is often accused of being sensational and using tabloid-style reporting techniques, many of which are ethically questionable. If these accusations have some truth, where does the practice on unethical reporting begin; with the reporters themselves, or with their newsroom supervisors? This study, which is a reanalysis of the data set compiled by Weaver and Wilhoit for their 1996 book The American Journalist in the 1990s, compares the ethical perceptions often different reporting practices between TV newsroom managers and their staff members, between TV newsroom managers and other news managers, and lastly, between TV newsroom supervisors in three different organization sizes.

How Moral and Cognitive Psychology Can Enhance The Teaching and Practice of Public Relations Ethics • Mathew A. Cabot, California State University, Long Beach • Public relations ethics has traditionally been viewed through one lens: moral philosophy. The goal has been, and continues to be, to find a principle or theory to serve as the foundation upon which an ethics code or curriculum could be built. Using the Defining Issues Test, the most commonly used measurement of moral development and moral psychology, this paper explores how moral and cognitive psychology can enhance the teaching and practice of public relations ethics.

Communitarianism and Dr. Phil: The Individualistic Ethos of “Self-Help” Television • Eric Jones, Claflin University • A communitarian critique of Dr. Phil’s self-help talk-show was developed by drawing on the communitarian/liberalism debate. It was expected that Dr. Phil’s counseling sessions would encourage individual responsibility over community responsibility. A textual analysis was used to examine how individualism appeared through his rhetorical devices. The author found seven cases of individualistic rhetoric and two cases of communitarian rhetoric. The author concluded that a communitarian balance was needed between self-help advice and community-help advice.

The Last Line of Defense in Matters of Ethics? Copy editors’ ethics role conceptions • Susan Keith, Rutgers University • Can newspaper copy editors, long known as the last line of defense against errors, be final guardians of journalistic ethics? Data from 470 copy desk workers at 100 newspapers indicate that most think their jobs should have an ethics-watchdog component but often do not — apparently because of constraints in their newsrooms on who can raise what question. This conflict between ideal and real ethics roles was associated with lower job satisfaction.

Do’s And Don’ts For Moonlighting Journalists — An International Comparison • Yehiel Limor, Tel-Aviv University; and Itai Himelboim, University of Minnesota • According to the journalistic norms prevailing in most countries and often stipulated explicitly in codes of ethics, journalists must avoid situations that engender a conflict of interests, whether actual or merely perceived. How, then, do codes of ethics relate to the idea of additional jobs and/or occupations, both paid and volunteer, for journalists? The present study is an international comparative study examining 242 codes of ethics applied by the media in 94 countries. Codes of ethics are perceived as the “conscience” of journalism (Allison, 1986) and therefore constitute a useful means of assessing the dos and don’ts applying to media personnel.

The Media Ethics Necessity • Jean Burleson Mackay, University of Alabama • This study used moral development research to study how journalism students would react to ethical situations in their profession. The overriding question was whether students who had taken a media ethics course would use a higher level of ethical reasoning than students who had not. Students who have studied media ethics did perform better on this study. This paper discusses the need for media ethics courses and how they can teach students reasoning skills.

Plato’s Worst Nightmare: Impact of the ‘New Orality’ on Media Literacy and Ethos • Charles Marsh, University of Kansas • Deduced from the Socratic dialogues, Plato’s worst nightmare would be an uninterruptible, multisensory medium, which, by definition, would entrance audiences. Aristotle believed that such a medium could allow a powerfully persuasive ethos freed from the speaker’s preexisting character. Citing the research of McLuhan and orality/literacy scholars, this paper contends that modem converged mass media could become Plato’s worst nightmare, leading to a redefinition of media literacy and a reemergence of ethos as a media construct.

Reaching Beyond the Academy: Introducing Elementary School Students to Media Literacy and Critical Thinking • Angela Paradise and Andrea Bergstrom, University of Massachusetts • This paper explores the impact of a five-week media literacy curriculum offered to three classes of second grade students (n=51) during March-April 2003. The curriculum included lesson plans pertaining to news, media violence, advertising, gender stereotypes in fairytales, and media production. Analyses of students’ weekly journal entries and videotaped verbal responses to the curriculum are discussed. The findings suggest that individuals as young as seven-years-old, when exposed to media literacy, can take a more critical stance toward media.

What Jayson Blair and Janet Cooke say about the Press and the Erosion of Public Trust • Maggie Jones Patterson, Duquesne University and Steve Urbanski, Duquesne University• The authors of this paper examine key decision-making points in both the 1980-81 Janet Cooke fabrication case at the Washington Post and the deceptions of Jayson Blair at the New York Times that stretch from 1999 to 2003. These decisions are weighed against the commonly understood mission of journalism in general and the specifically stated missions at the Washington Post and New York Times. The paper’s working thesis is that if newspapers do not consistently measure their decisions and actions against their mission as a public trust, their commitment to truth can become shrouded by the less noble motives of ambition and the thrill of a scoop.

Misplaced confidence? The validity of a media ethics course • Lee Anne Peck, University of Northern Colorado • Findings show students in a respected journalism program are beginning the mandatory media ethics course with misplaced confidence about their abilities to identify professional ethical dilemmas. The findings also show that students often have misplaced confidence in their abilities to take a stand when an ethical dilemma involves their own work; however, students who indicated they were receiving or had received professional training outside of the classroom were better able to correctly answer case-study questions.

The exception or the rule? How journalists view the prevalence and acceptability of problematic practices • Scott Reinardy and Stephanie Craft, University of Missouri • A survey (N = 876) of newspaper journalists examined the perceived prevalence of questionable practices among journalists and how acceptable journalists consider those practices to be in news work. The relationships among years of experience in journalism, the use of ethics codes, discussion of ethics, and concern for accuracy also were examined. Findings indicate that journalists perceive their newsroom colleagues to be performing well. There is no general consensus on the acceptability of problematic practices.

Dance With the Devil: Did CNN Trade Truth For Access? • Laura Resnick, Ohio University • CNN’s chief news executive, Eason Jordan, revealed in April 2003 that while maintaining a bureau in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein’s regime, CNN had not reported on a number of atrocities there. Many journalists subsequently accused CNN of having abandoned both its credibility and its integrity, while others said the choices were not that simple. Was CNN ethically protecting its employees and sources, or did it sacrifice ethics in pursuit of prestige and ratings?

“I noticed more violence:” The effects of a media literacy program on knowledge and attitudes about media violence • Erica Scharrer, University of Massachusetts • This study outlines the effects of participation in a media literacy program on the topic of media violence for 93 sixth-grade students. Statistical comparisons between pre- and post-program responses and between those participating and those in a control group show some increases in the comprehension of key concepts used in the study of media violence and critical thinking about the topic. Open-ended responses also demonstrate enhanced sophistication in analyzing media violence after participating in program.

Newsroom Ethics: Peeling the Onion • Dan Shaver, University of Central Florida • This study involves testing a survey methodology to measure (1) congruence between personal values of newsroom employees and their perceptions of the newsroom’s ethical norms and (2) the applicability of an organizational culture model to newsroom ethical value structures. The limited scope of the study means findings must be viewed as tentative, but they support the effectiveness of the methodology and model and raise questions regarding the forces affecting ethical cultures in newsrooms.

Ethics of Newspapers in Prison Communities: Imprisoned by Their Economic Role? • Michael L. Thurwanger, Bradley University; and Walter B. Jaehnig, University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale • The study examines the prison construction boom in a large Midwestern state and the ethical performance of the press in 24 communities selected as new prison sites since 1977. It asks whether the community press provided an independent channel of communication, fostering open discussion. Quantitative and qualitative evidence shows the community press siding with the local growth coalition while marginalizing opposition. Rather than facilitating public examination of penal policies, the press responds to its own economic interests.

Finding Global Values in Journalism Ethics: A Comparative Analysis of Five News Councils’ Rulings • Bastiaan Vanacker, University of Minnesota • This paper tries to find common journalism ethical values across cultures by analyzing the decisions of five news councils in five different countries. News council decisions on conflict of interest, use of anonymous sources, accuracy, distinguishing editorial from hard news, and reporting on the basis of rumors were discussed. The findings were that despite a superficial agreement on the principles governing these issues, there are some considerable differences in the way they are interpreted.

Journalists’ moral development: Thinking through both rights and care in a professional setting • Lee Wilkins, University of Missouri • This paper examines journalists’ reasoning about moral questions through analysis of qualitative responses to the Defining Issues Test, a paper-and-pencil instrument used to measure moral development which focuses on rights and responsibilities. Participant responses indicate an ability to move between the ethics of rights, the psychological /philosophical basis of stage theory, and an ethics of care as outlined by Carol Gillian and feminist philosophy. Emotion and empathy appear to provide some impetus to moral thought.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Mass Communication and Society Division

Duck and cover vs. duct tape: Comparing U.S. government’s domestic propaganda tactics • Whitney Anspach and Patricia Moy, University of Washington •Researchers suggest that propaganda tactics used since WWII have evolved in response to growing levels of propaganda awareness among individuals. This study seeks to test this assumption through a comparative analysis of two U.S. Government domestic propaganda campaigns, the 1950s Duck and Cover campaign and the 2003 Ready.gov/Duct Tape campaign. Using a typology of propaganda tactics (Johnson-Cartee & Copeland, 2004), this study confirms that commonalities do exist between the tactics used in each campaign. However, the results are inconclusive regarding whether these commonalities refute prior assumptions about the evolution of propaganda tactics.

“Another person’s perspective”: A qualitative case study of adolescent media producers and their conceptions of audience • Timothy Bajkiewicz, University of South Florida • Adolescents are tomorrow’s media consumers and producers. Media and science literacy are recent educational and philosophical movements interested in creating a critical thinking public. Audience is an ill-understood concept that is vital to both these movements. This qualitative case study of focus groups with 35 adolescent science students discusses their perceptions of audience. Relevant literature and implications are discussed.

Gender difference in the media use of middle school students • Joseph Bernt, Phyllis Bernt, and Sandra Turner, Ohio University • A survey, conducted at three diverse middle schools during 2002 and 2003, was completed by 588 students (52% female, 48% male). Girls and boys reported similar frequency of television, movie, video, and Web use and reported and similar preferences for online over print media. Girls reported using print media more and accessing different content from all media. Boys focused on sports and games; girls on people and relationships. Respondents reported similar access to computers and Internet.

Public meetings in the news: A baseline content analysis • John Besley and Katherine McComas, Cornell University • This manuscript examines the content newspaper stories about public meetings. Quantitative content analysis is used to show that frames consistent with a “rational choice” approach to political participation appeared more often in stories about meetings on environmental or health risks than for meetings about other topics. Little content was found containing content related to the idea of “procedural justice.” The discussion suggests how these results can inform comparative analyses of public participation across communities.

Skinny like you: Visual literacy, digital manipulation and young women’s drive to be thin • Kimberly Bissell, University of Alabama • Numerous studies have established a relationship between thin ideal media content and disordered eating patterns in women. Many of the images viewed in the media that endorse the “thin ideal” are digitally manipulated or computer-created. This experiment compared college women’s knowledge of digital manipulation in fashion and entertainment images to their desire to be thin, their desire to look like the model shown and four disordered eating subscales. Knowledge of digital manipulation did not reduce participants’ desire to look like the model seen. Entertainment media was a significant predictor of greater body image distortion, but sports media exposure was a negative predictor of the same four subscales.

Parental guidance of children’s internet use in Hong Kong • Kara Chan, Fei Shen and Jeffrey S. Wilkinson, Hong Kong Baptist University • This study examined the relationship between parental attitudes toward the Internet, use of restrictive or non-restrictive guidance approaches, and family communication patterns. A total of 354 Chinese parents in Hong Kong were surveyed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) determined that parents’ demographic factors and family communication patterns exert the greatest influence on attitudes and guiding behaviors. Parental computer and Internet literacy also held a pivotal mediating role.

What sexual messages do teenagers see in movies? A content analysis of top-grossing teen movies • Amy H. Chu, University of Alabama • Movies have never lost their appeal to various groups of audiences, especially teenage audiences, even though there are constant competitions from other popular media forms. The Motion Picture Association reported in 2002 that the 12-24 and 30-39 age groups have continuously shared approximately 50%, the largest percentage, of the movie theater attendance (MPAA Research Development, 2002). Thus, the fact that movies is one of adolescents’ favorite media choices inevitably raises a series of questions: which subject matter attracts young adolescents to go to movie theaters or video rental stores; what types of movie content and messages are presented to young audiences, and what influences may be imposed by the content.

How network TV news affectivity framed the 2000 election: A second-level agenda-setting conceptualization of TV’s visual elements and the candidates’ nonverbal communication • Renita Coleman and Stephen Banning, Louisiana State University • This study suggests an expanded concept of second-level agenda setting to include the affective attributes of candidates conveyed through the nonverbal channels. It examines the affective attributes that the 2000 presidential candidates are responsible for, i.e.: their appearance and nonverbal behavior, and the affective information conveyed by TV in structural features such as camera placement. Results show TV news accentuates the positive attributes of the candidates and shows little bias. There is more evidence of differential affective framing in the nonverbal communication of the candidates themselves.

Conversational conventions and public opinion survey interviews • Richard Craig, San Jose State University •Though producing poll results centers on eliciting responses, little research exists on the effects of social interaction and conversational aspects of polltaking. This paper examines the connections between public opinion research and Paul Grice’s theories of conversational logic and conventions. The paper compares and contrasts existing communication research on survey administration and gathering of poll data with Grice’s points about people’s inherent need to understand the “ground rules” for social situations in which they converse.

Antiwar framing devices and US media coverage of Iraq war protesters: A content analysis of the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today • Frank Dardis, Pennsylvania State University •This content analysis analyzes media framing and coverage of protesters of the Iraq War in the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today over the period from 9/11/02-9/11/03. By utilizing an original, eclectic schema to analyze protest coverage – a typology of antiwar framing devices – the researcher demonstrated that elements of the “protest paradigm” were invoked frequently over this span. More importantly, however, the current study elucidates that not all devices were implemented in a biased manner, and that not all devices were associated with negative overall coverage of the protesters.

Exploring cognitive mechanisms behind agenda setting, priming, and framing • Janie Diels and James E. Shanahan, Cornell University • The study tests a model of construct activation over time that predicts that cognitive accessibility is the mechanism behind agenda setting effects while applicability is the mechanism behind framing effects. Accessibility models, such as agenda setting, assume that more prominent coverage of an issue increases the perception of the importance of that issue. Applicability models, such as framing, assume that interpretation of issues depends on how applicable this issue is to various pre-existing interpretive schema in people’s minds.

A salience scale to enhance interpretation of public opinion • Dixie Shipp Evatt, Syracuse University; and Salma Ghanem, University of Texas at Pan American •The M.I.P., or “most important problem” question, has been widely applied by scholars for decades to operationalize the salience of the public agenda. Yet, for all of the power of the M.I.P. as a stand-alone measure it leaves researchers with the difficult task of subjective interpretation. Scholars have yet to devise a consistent and reliable tool to identify the motivations and influences that prompt subjects to name one problem over another when they answer the question. This article suggests an approach to fill this void by proposing a scale that is thought to best capture the three dimensions of salience: social salience, personal salience and situational salience or arousal.

How we performed: Embedded journalists’ attitudes & perceptions towards covering the Iraqi war • Shahira Fahmy, and Thomas J Johnson, Southern Illinois University • Results of a web-based survey of embedded journalists suggest an overall positive perception of embedded reporting. While most embeds agreed their reports provided a narrow slice of the conflict, they still had a positive view of their work. Respondents also noted their stories differed from the stories of non-embedded journalists and perceived both types of reporting as invaluable. Further, embeds’ attitudes towards the war, age, professional experience and online reporting predicted statements on perceived performance.

Going beyond exposure to local news media: An information-processing examination of public perceptions of food safety • Kenneth Fleming, Esther Thorson and Yuyan Zhang, University of Missouri at Columbia •The relationship between local news media and public perceptions of food safety was examined in a statewide telephone survey (n = 524). The results show information-processing strategies substantially mediated the relationship, with elaborative processing being more influential than active reflection in people’s learning from the media regarding food safety. Attention to local television had an independent effect, after demographic and control variables including perceived safety of food supply were controlled. Also reviewed were social and psychological factors that affect perceptions of food safety.

Surf onto this Web site and tune in tomorrow! • Cynthia Flores, Georgetown University • Interactive features built into a website for television programs are becoming more widespread. The simplistic design and point-and-click technology allows even Internet neophytes to learn everything they want to know about a certain program; the challenge lies in luring the non-traditional Internet user. Though network executives are eager to integrate interactive technologies on a website, access to the features is not enough to attract viewers to participate in or make use of the online technologies.

Testing self-knowledge in third-person perception: Media violence and the case of Kobe Bryant • Juliet Gill, Jesus Arroyave, Michael Salwen, Bruce Garrison, Tina Carroll, Lynn Gregory, Matt Grindy and Li-Wen Shih, University of Miami • This study examines relationships between people’s reported self-knowledge of a general topic and a specific current event, and the extent to which third-person effects are demonstrated. Results indicated knowledge was a predictor for the third-person effect regarding media violence effects, but not for coverage of the Kobe Bryant court case. Third-person perception of media violence effects was correlated to support for restrictions of media violence, providing support for the behavioral component of the third-person effect.

The impact of viewer’s perceptions of the behavior of reality program cast members: the gratifications of foolishness, failure, and fakery • Alice Hall, University of Missouri at St. Louis • This study investigated whether the gratifications that viewers’ receive from reality programs are affected by their perceptions of the cast members’ behavior. The results of a survey of reality program fans found that receiving information gratifications from the program was associated with ratings of the prevalence of both cast members achieving their goals and of the revelation of cast members’ pretenses. Among men, enjoyment was associated with seeing cast members both fail and succeed at achieving their goals. These findings are discussed by reference to social comparison theory and compared to the results of a parallel analysis of fiction programs.

Sourcing, social structure, & counter-hegemony in news articles about pesticide use: A case study of California newspapers • Joseph Harry and Elizabeth Burch, Slippery Rock University • Articles from four California newspapers writing about pesticide use were content analyzed to track news sources, and to determine quotation frequencies for pro, anti, and neutral-source views. As a case study, findings were analyzed within structural-pluralism and hegemony theories, and via historical, socioeconomic and demographic data. Results indicate that in all four newspapers, counter-hegemonic (anti-pesticide) sources were most-often quoted. In line with structural-pluralism theory, the larger, metropolitan papers provided somewhat more critical coverage of pesticide-related issues than did smaller, urban-rural papers, where agriculture is more common.

The intersection of race and gender in election coverage: What happens when the candidates don’t fit the stereotypes • Lesa Hatley-Major and Renita Coleman, Louisiana State University • The findings of this study indicate that journalists have made some progress in reducing stereotypes in their coverage; however the media are still covering candidates in significant stereotypical ways. While the media are focusing less on appearance of candidates, the female candidate in this study received more coverage about her gender, and the minority candidate received more coverage of his race. Despite previous experience, the woman candidate was still aligned with traditional female issues and the man with traditional male issues.

Exploring news dissemination on the internet • Abhiyan Humane, University of Wisconsin at Madison • The study investigates the type of articles presented on the front-page and articles disseminated by online users on a popular news website. The research shows that the interactive and structural attributes of the Internet have important implications on the kind of news stories online users disseminate. Results indicate that online users disseminate news articles that are different in revealing ways from the news articles presented on the front-page of the website by editors/journalist.

The television as nanny or nuisance: The relationship between attitudes toward television’s effects on children and parental efficacy • Stacey Hust, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill •Increasingly, children are more submersed in television. This trend has sparked scholarly investigation concerned with how television fits into the world of the family. This study extends previous research through an examination of the media’s relationship with parental efficacy. Results indicate the more positive people believe television is for children, the more positive they feel about parental efficacy. Also, perceptions of media’s effect on children are positively influenced by respondents’ confidence in television personnel.

Always in touch: A preliminary study of instant messaging • Ha Sung Hwang, Temple University • The purpose of the study was to examine the Instant Messaging (IM) phenomenon within the college sector in terms of what gratifications they seek, how they experience a sense of social presence (the feeling of being together), and how IM use affects their other media uses. Open-ended survey questionnaires were administrated to 78 college students. The preliminary data indicated that social interaction was the most salient gratification sought from IM, followed by medium appeal, entertainment, interpersonal utility, and information-seeking. The data also indicated that IM evokes social presence: a majority of college students agreed that they felt “as if they were together” or “in the same room” with another when they use IM.

Media salience, media use, and attitude strength: Agenda-setting effects on attitudes toward political figures during the 2000 presidential election • Kideuk Hyun and Nakwon Jung, University of Texas at Austin • This study examines the relationships between media salience, media use and attitude strength toward political figures, through a comparison of NES poll and news coverage. The amount of media coverage significantly related to one dimension of attitude strength: attitude dispersion. The relationship between media use and attitude strength varied with the type of news media (newspaper or network TV news) and political figures (obtrusive or unobtrusive). Our study shows that attitude strength toward unobtrusive figures had no or weak relationships with media use, as we expected.

Moving from theorizing to application: Predicting audience use of new TV formats • Leo Jeffres and Kimberly Neuendorf, Cleveland State University • Mass communication scholars have been slow to translate theories and research into practical applications. One area fruitful for such application is audience analysis, in particular, predicting audience media behaviors. Viewing media behaviors as largely optional uses of free time that fulfill particular uses and gratifications, we explore model building predicting audience enjoyment of the relatively new television format, “reality TV.” Results showed that enjoyment of the reality TV format was positively related to more uses and gratifications dimensions than any of the more established formats, but it is the addition of the more focused, parasocial uses and gratifications that allows us to more accurately gauge our target, enjoyment of reality TV programming.

The blogs of war: Reliance on weblogs for information about the Iraqi war • Thomas Johnson, Southern Illinois University; and Barbara K. Kaye, University of Tennessee •This study employed an online survey of Weblog users to find out how much they relied on Blogs for information about the Iraqi War and how demographic and political variables predicted Weblog reliance. Findings suggests that more than three-quarters of Weblog users relied heavily on Blogs as a source of war information, significantly more than any other source. Political variables, particularly knowledge and interest in the Iraqi War and trust in government, predicted Blog reliance.

Structural pluralism, ethnic diversity, and crime news in local newspapers: A community structure approach • Jae-Hong Kim and Douglas M. McLeod, University of Wisconsin at Madison • This study examines the relationship between newspaper crime reports and social reality (as depicted in FBI Uniform Crime Reports) in terms of the community structure model, which is derived from the research of Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien. A total of 32 metropolitan statistical areas and primary metropolitan statistical areas, which were classified into four different categories of community according to the structural characteristics of structural pluralism and ethnic diversity, were randomly selected. Crime news reports from the major newspaper of each selected community were analyzed based on the types of crimes (violent crime vs. property crime). These data were compared to the FBI crime statistics (UCR). In terms, ethnic diversity was found to be a more important factor than structural pluralism in explaining the high proportion of violent crime coverage and the lesser amount of reportage of property crimes, as well as the discrepancies between the newspaper crime reports and the FBI crime statistics.

An application of the newsworthiness model to online international news coverage • Jong Hyuk Lee, Syracuse University • This study examined if the newsworthiness model can apply to online news media as well as traditional news media. The basic hypothesis of the newsworthiness media is that the more deviant and the more socially significant an event is, the more prominently the event is covered by news media. The correlation and multiple hierarchical regression analyses found that the deviance had significant influence on prominence whereas the social significance did not have any impact on prominence. For online users’ evaluation, the deviance and social significance were not significant indicators, either. The natures of online news media such as secondary news sources and soft news oriented media may account for these results.

Reality TV and third-person perception • Ron Leone, Stonehill College and Kimberly L. Bissell, University of Alabama • Students from two universities estimated the effects of three reality TV programs on themselves and others. Respondents estimated others were more affected than themselves, a relationship influenced by their view of the programs as realistic, but not by actual exposure, enjoyment of, and identification with the programs had no effect on perceptual gaps. Social distance and perceived exposure level were examined as explanations for perceived effects on others, with social distance outweighing exposure level.

Press coverage of anti-war and pro-war demonstrations before and during the 2003 U.S.-Iraq War • Catherine Luther and M. Mark Miller, University of Tennessee •This study examines press coverage of pro- and anti-war demonstrations before and during the U.S.-led Iraq war. Computer analysis revealed the existence of partisan frames in texts by pro- and anti-war organizations, and legitimizing or delegitimizing words in news articles. Anti-war frames predominated in both pro- and anti-war press coverage. Articles about each group reflected its frame more, and words of delegitimization were used more in anti-war articles.

Unwillingness-to-communicate, perceptions of the internet and self-disclosure in ICQ • Miranda Lai-Yee Ma and Louis Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong •This research examined the ICQ usage pattern among a group of 591 Internet users, as well as their self-disclosing behaviors in ICQ conversations. Results show that people who are more willing to participate in real life communication tend to disclose more intimately, positively, and in great amount about themselves in ICQ; whereas, people who find real life communication un-rewarding would tend to be more dishonest, negative, less desirable, and less open in disclosing their opinions.

The public’s need to know: Public service advertising and the effects of using the actor portrayal label • Jensen Moore, University of Missouri at Columbia • This study examines a new facet of advertising credibility: identification or lack of identification of an actor in a public service advertisement. The question under examination is: Do individuals feel that public service announcements are less credible and/or effective if they use actors instead of everyday people? Using a between-subjects experiment, this research examines audience responses regarding credibility, emotionality, organization credibility, and attitude toward a public service advertisement which used an actor instead of an everyday person. Results suggest that use of the “actor portrayal” label reduces the effectiveness of the advertisement.

Rethinking capital punishment: Changes in news media framing of the death penalty debate • Leigh Moscowitz, Indiana University • The last decade has seen a dramatic decline in public support for the death penalty in the U.S., as well as efforts by the Supreme Court and some states to limit the practice. The content analysis reported here investigates possible changes in how the issue was framed from 1990-2000 in Time and Newsweek. Findings suggest the magazines engaged in more negative anti-death penalty framing toward the later years of the study, coinciding with the decline in public support.

Citizen competence and public opinion about science controversy: Exploring the functions and effects of the mass media • Matthew Nisbet, Ohio State University; and Robert K. Goidel, Louisiana State University •This paper presents a framework for understanding the origins of public opinion on matters of complex policy controversy, using the contemporary debate over embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning as a case study. Analyzing national survey data collected in the Fall of 2003, we find that different forms of informational and diversionary media—including attention to newspaper coverage, Christian television use, science fiction television use, and science documentary television use — guide opinion formation directly but also indirectly by shaping the schema by which citizens interpret stem cell research and cloning as political issues.

Framing SARS in Toronto: A comparative analysis of the World Journal and the Toronto Star • David Oh and Wanfeng Zhou, Syracuse University • Our framing analysis compared the frames used in the World Journal and the Toronto Star. We used four of the five frames identified by Semetko and Valkenburg (2000): conflict, responsibility, economic consequences, and human-interest. We also studied the use of risk frames. The Toronto Star used the conflict, responsibility, economic consequences, and human-interest frames more than the World Journal; whereas, the World Journal used the risk frame more than the Toronto Star.

Intervention of eating disorder symptomatology using educational mass communication messages • Sung-Yeon Park, Bowling Green State University; Jacqueline Bush Hitchon, University of Wisconsin at Madison; and Gi woong Yun, Bowling Green State University •This research has demonstrated that information campaigns using mass media can improve young women’s perceptions about their bodies. Exposure to a PSA or an alignment ad increased body satisfaction among subjects with a relatively positive predisposition toward their body. In addition, the alignment ad had positive effects on self-consciousness and norm of ideal thinness among the same population. The differences between a PSA and an alignment ad in terms of their educational effects were discussed in the context of general mass media campaigns and their evaluations.

The psychological impact of “Foxified” news on news processing and public mood • Zengjun Peng and Esther Thorson, Missouri School of Journalism • This study examines the psychological impact of foxified news on news processing and public mood. A 3 (public mood: negatively induced, positively induced and control)x2 (foxified and regular news story)x2( positive or negative stories) design was employed to test main effects and interactions. Results show that foxified news did show significant difference in psychological impact compared to regular news, particularly in the condition of negative news. Also, public mood did influence people’s evaluation of news stories, with people in the negatively induced mood rated foxified news as more convincing and balanced.

Developing a model of adolescent friendship formation on the Internet • Jochen Peter, Patti M. Valkenburg, and Alexander P. Schouten, University of Amsterdam • Drawing on a sample of 493 adolescents, this study tested a path model of adolescent friendship formation including as predictors introversion/extraversion, online self-disclosure, motive for social compensation, and frequency of online communication. Extraverted adolescents self-disclosed and communicated online more frequently, which, in turn, facilitated the formation of online friendships. Introverted adolescents, by contrast, were more strongly motivated to communicate online to compensate for lacking social skills. This increased their chances of making friends online.

Citizens’ perceptions of media performance and political disaffection • Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University • Political observers, scholars and other commonly blame the media for contributing to increased voter cynicism and apathy. A telephone survey of randomly selected registered voters in Washington state tested relationships among political involvement, efficacy, perceived media performance, and political disaffection. Survey results indicate that cynicism was associated to participants’ perceptions of both newspaper and television news performance, while efficacy was positively associated to evaluations of these media. Neither cynicism nor efficacy associated to perceptions of radio news performance. In addition, negativism toward political campaigns associated only to perceptions of radio news performance, while apathy associated only to perceptions of newspaper performance.

Campus binge drinking: Is the “0-to-4” social norm believable? • Lindsey D. Polonec, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; and Ann Marie Major, Pennsylvania State University • This paper reports the findings of a survey evaluating a social norms campaign to reduce binge drinking on a university campus. From a social comparisons perspective, the study explores correlates of accuracy and bias of the respondents’ perceptions of the binge-drinking problem on campus and their beliefs in the social norms campaign message that the majority of students on campus drink “0-to-4 drinks when they party.” Accuracy and bias were related to perceived risk and communication.

Changes in the professional values of Canadian journalists: A panel study, 1996-2003 • David Prichard, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee; Paul R. Brewer, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee; and Florian Sauvageau, Laval University in Quebec City • This paper presents findings of a panel study of Canadian journalists, focusing on changes in their professional values between 1996 and 2003. The results of the project reveal major changes in the values of Canadian journalists over the seven-year period. In particular, support for core values of Canadian journalism such as accuracy eroded significantly. This effect was more pronounced among English-language journalists than among French-language journalists.

All the students that are fit to teach: A survey of enrollment management in communication programs • Brad Rawlins, Brigham Young University • Undergraduate interest in journalism and mass communications programs continues to grow. But resources to accommodate growing enrollments often lags behind. This has forced some programs to incorporate limited enrollment strategies. A survey of communication programs indicates that programs are limiting enrollment to match resources to student demand and to enhance the quality of students in the program. Overall, accredited JMC programs with large enrollments are the most likely to have an admissions policy.

Framing health care reform: Elite sources, pluralism and conflict • Jennifer Schwartz, University of Oregon • A textual and content analysis of six daily newspapers shows that differences in the elite source structure of a pluralistic social environment influences news frames of controversial issues, inclusion of viewpoints, and source selection. Negative frames of a political issue, the inclusion of negative viewpoints, and reliance on elite sources are more common in communities where a subsystem of the power structure is both dominant and directly threatened by an issue than in communities where the power structure is insulated from the issue.

Queer guys for straight eyes?: Gay men respond to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy • Joseph Schwartz, Syracuse University • Minority groups have long faced obstacles to accurate representation in the media. This paper examines the breakout hit of summer, 2003, Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and its potential for social and political implications beyond the small screen. The study used 16 in-depth interviews with gay men to understand their unique perspective on the program’s gay leading men and the validity of the program’s portrayals.

The framing of Iraq war reporting by embedded and unilateral newspaper journalists • Susan C. Sivek, University of Texas at Austin • This study analyzes the framing of stories by embedded and unilateral newspaper reporters during the 2003 Iraq war. The frames used by embedded journalists differed from the frames chosen by independent unilateral reporters, regardless of other characteristics of their newspapers. Embedded reporters tended to adopt a military-promoted “Liberation” frame in their stories, while unilateral reporters were more likely to select an “Invasion” or “Mixed” story frame. The normative value of the embedding program is discussed.

Does a news anchor’s gender influence audience evaluations of the anchor • Thomas Smee, Pennsylvania State University • This study investigated the relationship between a news anchor’s gender and audience evaluations of the anchor and news. The experiment allowed for an evaluation of the relationship between news anchor gender and the audience’s perceptions of the anchor and the news while examining the roles of several additional variables such as gender bias and story type. Addressed in the conclusion to this paper are the outcomes and implications of the study.

The relationship between television viewing, expectancies, and intentions to drink alcohol among a group of Norwegian adolescents • Steven R. Thomsen, Brigham Young University; and Dag Rekve, Norwegian Ministry of Social Affairs • The aim of this study was to examine the influence of television viewing, having friends who drink, and family rules about alcohol use on the development of normative beliefs, expectancies, and intentions to drink alcohol in the next 12 months among a group of Norwegian adolescents who reported that they had not previously consumed alcohol. Because Norway prohibits alcohol advertising, we were able to limit our focus to the potential effects of incidental portrayals of alcohol consumption in entertainment programming. Our findings indicate that television viewing for this group has a weak predictive association with normative beliefs (directly) and expectancies and intentions (indirectly). Having friends who drink was the strongest predictor of normative beliefs and was associated with expectancies and intentions both directly and indirectly (via normative beliefs).

Patriotic images, the Super Bowl, and advertising content in post 9-11 America • Bob Trumpbour, Pennsylvania State Altoona; and Nicholas Darr, Southern Illinois University • The Super Bowl advertising is examined after the 9-11 tragedy to determine how advertisers use patriotic images. Use of patriotic symbolism was generally downplayed, but in the 2002 Super Bowl, three advertisements tapped into the 9-11 tragedy without heavy use of symbols. More commercials contained patriotic imagery in the Super Bowl (2002) immediately following 9-11, but the duration of patriotic symbol display was less profound than in the 2003 and 2004 Super Bowls. Cultural implications are explored.

Exploring possible correlates of journalists’ perceptions of audience trust • Yariv Tsfati, University of Haifa • A sample of Israeli journalists (n=209) were asked whether they feel Israeli audiences trust the Israeli media in general, and whether their audience trusts the work of their news media outlet in particular. The correlates of these survey items are examined. Results show that perceived audience trust was correlated with journalists’ own trust in the Israeli media and with journalist’s evaluation of the audience. Perceived trust was also positively correlated with journalists’ identification with professional standards such as neutrality, verification and factualness. In contrast, perceived audience trust was not correlated with most demographic and professional status variables. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

Internet use as a contingent condition in the agenda-setting process • Wayne Wanta and Sooyoung Cho, University of Missouri • A phone survey (N=345) compared Internet users and non-users. Frequency and duration of Internet use were negatively related to agenda-setting effects: The more individuals used the Internet, the less likely they were to be concerned with general issues or sub-issues of terrorism that were covered in the media. Use of the Internet for news and political information were positively related to agenda-setting effects. Regression analyses show that exposure to traditional media was the most powerful predictor of agenda-setting effects and Internet use motivations were weakly related.

Scene of the crime: The study and practice of local television crime coverage from the mid-1990s to the present • Debra Wenger and Jeff South, Virginia Commonwealth University • This study examines the quantity and quality of crime coverage on television and its perceived impact on public policy. It discusses various stations’ attempts to address the concern that there is “too much crime on local TV newscasts.” The paper explores three techniques that can make such coverage more relevant to viewers: adoption of crime coverage guidelines, use of interactive crime Web sites and, most notably, the coverage of crime from a public health perspective.

Media conglomeration and soap opera storytelling: The evolution of network television news • James Wittebols, Niagara University • This paper presents longitudinal data (1970-2000) examining changes in the way stories are told in nightly network news. After a brief historical overview of network news, data from ABC and CBS nightly news programs are analyzed for how they use soap opera storytelling techniques. The data show the move from a public service orientation to an entertainment orientation has resulted in a soap opera storytelling orientation to presenting the news.

President’s agenda-selling effect in direct communications—A time-series Quasi-experiment on President Bush’s 2003 state of the union speech • Xu Wu, University of Florida • Previous agenda-setting research has examined the relationship between the president’s policy agenda and the mass media’s issue coverage agenda. However, few studies paid attention to the president’s power of selling his policy agenda to the public through direct communications. In this study, the researcher conducted a time-series quasi-experiment to test the influence of President Bush’s State of the Union speech on audience’s issue importance judgment. Strong “agenda-selling” effects were supported by the research results.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Magazine

Ag Mag Readers Speak Out: Is Advertiser Influence A Concern? • Stephen A Banning, Louisiana State University; and James F Evans, University of Illinois Urbana at Champaign • This study continues an examination of power relationships within the agricultural magazine publishing triad: advertisers, periodicals and producer readers. It particularly focuses on the views of producers in regard to the agricultural periodicals they read and the agricultural marketers that advertise in those periodicals. A mail survey was used to learn the opinions and observations of producers in a nationwide sample. Results indicate that producers are quite discerning and insightful in what they read. With regard to this study, a majority expressed concern about advertiser-editorial relationships. Results of a credibility index revealed much room for improvement. Authors suggest that farm publishers and advertisers should reconsider their relationships if they wish to address readers’ concerns and improve their credibility.

It’s “real” but not “simple”: Developing a Focus Group Method to Measure “The New Simplicity”• Michael Bugeja, Iowa State University • Meredith Corporation, publisher of More and Better Homes and Gardens, requested development of a focus group instrument and method to measure “the new simplicity,” a trend behind the success of Real Simple. Magazines rely on face-to-face focus groups as a qualitative method to ascertain reader tastes; however, the process is not always cost-effective. This study documents the development of a survey tool as preliminary indicator of cost-effectiveness before a company invests in consultation and facilitation.

Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Magazines • Juanita J Covert, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Travis L Dixon, University of Illinois Urbana at Champaign • This research examined the depiction of women of color in mainstream women’s magazines and the effect of counter-stereotypical portrayals on readers. A content analysis revealed White women were overrepresented while Latina and Black women were underrepresented compared to U.S. Census data in magazine articles, particularly in managerial and professional occupations. An experiment found that an increase in the frequency of counter-stereotypical depictions in magazine articles increased readers’ occupational expectations for women of color. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Teaching Magazine and Feature Writing by Example: Using Pulitzer Prize-Winning Stories in the Classroom • Edward Jay Friedlander, University of South Florida • This paper compares and contrasts all of the Pulitzer Prize-winning feature story authors by age, education and experience, and the winning stories by type of story, story structure, story lead and story ending. Between 1979 and 2003 the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing recognized 25 journalists who produced packages containing 45 separate stories. Most stories were magazinestyle multi-part profiles, using chronological structure and summary endings. The typical journalist was 40 with 17 years of experience. Nineteen of the 22 winners with degrees had degrees in journalism. Although the Prize-winning journalists were unlike university undergraduates, most winning stories were equivalent to a university-level classroom magazine assignment.

Bridging The Gap: Agenda-Setting and ethnic disparities in coverage of health care • Cynthia M Frisby, University of Missouri at Columbia • To better understand how health behaviors are covered, a traditional agenda-setting methodology was employed to determine if stories published in four women’s magazines might explain disparities in health behaviors exhibited by African Americans. Data show that out of 275 stories on health behavior topics published in African American magazines, few focused on health-behaviors that put that population at risk; HIV/AIDS (.07 %), diabetes (.01%), cancer (.08%), and heart disease/stroke (.02%). Implications for magazine editors, writers, and other influential media personnel are provided to ensure more and better coverage of health behavior-related stories, especially in magazines aimed at African American women.

Henry Luce, Head Cheerleader for American Hegemony? Time Magazine’s Coverage of Indonesia, 1965-1966 • Daniel Marshall Haygood, University of Tennessee • Critics have accused Henry Luce of using his Time, Incorporated media to promote his vision of America and its duty to spread democracy and capitalism around the world, particularly to China. This paper looks at Time’s coverage of Indonesia during the mid 1960s and asks whether the coverage reflects the fierce anti-communist views of Luce, even after he retired as managing editor of Time’s Incorporated’s publications. Did Luce leave an anti-communist legacy at Time magazine?

The Framing of Microcomputers in Magazine Features, 1973-1997 • Jean P Kelly, Otterbein College • This study investigates the “frame building” process by which the microcomputer became a trusted appliance. Using content analysis of 83 feature stories from select consumer magazines, the frequencies of dominant frames revealed that the technology was predominantly defined as a tool used by men to improve efficiency and organization. Three potentially influential historical landmarks were selected as independent variables to show how changes in sponsor agendas, consumer actions and technological advances influenced these frames.

Nostalgia Magazines as Gendered Communities of Memory • Carolyn Kitch, Temple University • This paper examines two nostalgia magazines, Reminisce and The Good Old Days, both with content contributed primarily by readers. Using narrative and discourse analysis and drawing theoretically on social-science research about memory, this paper contends that women—who dominate not only the older population, but also the stories in these publications—re-envision the past in ways that celebrate harder times as “better,” while highlighting stories of women’s strength and celebrating a female world of treasured belongings.

What the Stories Told Them: Implications for Readers of Women’s Magazines in Britain and the United States, 1920-1928 • Amy Mattson Lauters, University of Minnesota ;and Jensen Moore, University of Missouri at Columbia • This study explores the changing roles of women during the 1920s through the depictions of women in romantic serial fiction stories published in an American women’s magazine and a comparable British magazine from 1920 to 1928, in a time when suffrage and contraception were key women’s issues in the socio-political arena. This paper is based on the presumption that the media — in this case, women’s magazines —play an important role in maintaining the status quo in regard to gender.

The Construction of Readership in Ebony, Essence and O, The Oprah magazine • Lee Miller, Bonnie Brennen and Brenda Edgerton-Webster, University of Missouri at Columbia • Grounded in cultural materialism, this research uses a critical literary analysis to examine the construction of readership in three prominent African American owned and/or operated lifestyle magazines: Ebony, Essence, and O, the Oprah magazine. The authors suggest that these magazines profess to set a political and social agenda for target audience members to privilege them and their ways of experiencing patriarchal power by invoking self-definition, spirituality, and a heightened awareness of “sombodiness.”

Cross-Cultural-Generational Perceptions of Ideal Body Image: Hispanic Women & Magazine Standards • Donnalyn Pompper and Jesica Koenig, Florida State University • This study expands social comparison theory by examining magazine use along dimensions of gender, age, and ethnicity. Perceptions of magazines’ idealized body image standards among two generations of Hispanic women were gathered using the focus group and telephone interview methods. Findings suggest that respondent groups aged 18-35 and those 36 and older both compare their body image to magazine standards, but behavioral effects vary. Two significant patterns are discussed: 1) assimilated magazine standards, and 2) dissonance in homogenization. This is the first study to explore cross-cultural-generational perceptions of mediated body image among Hispanic women using the stated research methods.

Tainting of the Stream of Pure News: Collier’s Criticism of the Newspaper Press During the Norman Hapgood Years, 1902 to 1913 • Ronald R Rodgers, Ohio University • This research examines the criticism of newspapers by one of America’s major popular magazines Collier’s Weekly – from 1902 to 1913. This period constitutes the majority of the magazine’s daily press criticism of sensationalism and the influence of financial interests. Unlike earlier studies of Collier’s, this paper looks primarily at the magazine’s criticism before and after Will Irwin’s now classic 15-part dissection of the newspapers in America that ran in Collier’s over 15 weeks in 1911.

Relationship Portrayals in Advertising: Differences in Men and Women Magazines • Enas Salmeen and Zengjun Peng, University of Missouri • This study examines the sexual continuum in advertisements featuring both a male and a female model. A content analysis of two male orientated magazines, Esquire and GQ, and two women oriented magazines, Glamour and Mademoiselle, from 1990 to 1999 was conducted. A total of 1,470 advertisements were analyzed. Using the theoretical framework of gender and sexual appeals, the advertisements were placed into four main categories on whether they portray a relationship that is of a sexual nature, friendship, family, or neutral. Results show that men magazines use more sexual appeals in their advertisements, while women magazines tend to use sexual and friendship appeals.

Inventing Modern Family and Gender Norms Through Advertising in the 1920s China • Huaiting Wu, University of Minnesota at Minneapolis • No abstract available.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Law Division

The Durban Principles, Jurisdictional Issues, and International Libel In the Digital Age: A Marriage of Convenience? • Adedayo Abah, Washington and Lee University • This study makes the argument that the Durban Principles in conjunction with ‘focal point’ standard established in Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Z4po Dot Corn, Inc., and enlarged upon in Young v. New Haven Advocate, as well as Revell v. Lidov are worthy of consideration as international standards for evaluating jurisdictional issues in international libel cases based on Internet publication. This standard of analysis will also enable U.S. courts to enforce foreign libel judgments in the U.S.

Balancing the Right to Privacy and the Right of Access: Access to Child-Abuse Records in the 50 States • Courtney Anne Barclay, University of Florida • With recent tragedies in child-welfare systems, critics have called for more public access to child-abuse records to increase accountability. The purpose of this study is to assess the current level of confidentiality for those records. This study compared the statutes of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the federal laws regarding the child abuse record confidentiality. Florida and New Jersey, two states known for child-welfare tragedies, were the two most open states.

Challenging The Wisdom Of Solomon: The First Amendment And Military Recruitment On Campus • Clay Calvert and Robert D Richards, Pennsylvania State University • This paper analyzes the ongoing legal battle in the federal courts over the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment. This statute allows the federal government to withhold all funds from colleges and universities that refuse to allow military recruiters on-campus access. It is being challenged by a number of law schools and law professors who claim that it violates their First Amendment rights of free expression, academic freedom and freedom of expressive association.

Medium-Based Regulation and Criminal Libel on the Internet • Edward L Carter, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit • Courts reviewing the constitutionality of content-based speech regulations examine the government’s interest in relationship to the unique characteristics of the content in question and the fit between means and ends. The recent phenomenon of states selectively prosecuting alleged criminal libels on the Internet necessitates application of a similar test. Under this test for “medium-based regulation,” the unique characteristics of the Internet must closely relate to the state’s asserted interest in treating online speech differently than other mediated speech.

In Search of a New Radio Market Definition: The Modified Metro • Amy Jo Coffey, University of Georgia • Regulatory complications tend to accompany media industry growth. Radio is no exception. The signal contour overlap method of radio market definition has produced anomalies that, by the FCC’s own admission, were never intended by Congress. In 2003, the FCC redefined the radio market, opting for a geographically-based definition. However, the new definition produces new anomalies. This paper analyzes the contour overlap method and alternatives. Finally, a radio market definition remedy is offered: “The Modified Metro.”

Sunshine Laws: How Are States Making Lawbreakers Pay? • Lynn Corney, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper examined the open records and open meetings laws of all 50 states, specifically scrutinizing portions that address awarding attorney fees. While some states statutes require legal fees be paid to a party who successfully brings an open meetings or records lawsuit, other state statutes regard attorney fees as merely a possibility. Some make no mention of attorney fees whatsoever. This paper also analyzed court cases in which media outlets have sued for access. The results will help journalists better understand sunshine laws in each state, and the examination of recent cases will serve as a guide to how state courts are deciding to use the fee-awarding provisions of the statutes.

A Real Home-Field Advantage: The Status of University Foundations Under State Public Records and Open Meetings Laws • Charles Davis and Scott Reinardy, University of Missouri • Private, non-profit university foundations have grown into multi-million-dollar entities with very little public scrutiny. The foundations’ private status in many states allows them to conduct university business without accountability to the tax-paying public that supports the institutions. In recent years, however, several state courts have opened the records of university foundations. This paper analyzes the public records status of university foundations, concluding that courts in most states would find such foundations public agencies for purposes of freedom of information laws.

Reforming Alone: An Examination Of State FOI Advocacy Groups • Emily Erickson, Louisiana State University • Journalists have long fought to improve the public’s ‘right to know’ without the public knowing anything about this battle – problematic when reform is best served by broad coalitions. But in the 1990s, a number of ostensibly citizen-based state FOI groups began emerging as state-level access reform efforts gained momentum. This paper presents a typology of FOI advocacy groups, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, and the difficulty journalists face in making any of them truly citizen-based.

Disfavored Advertising: Telemarketing, Junk Faxes and the Commercial Speech Doctrine • Emily Erickson and Anita G Day, Louisiana State University • In February 2004, the Tenth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of a national do-not-call registry, reversing a district court decision that found it unconstitutional for privileging non-commercial telemarketing over commercial telemarketing. This paper will examine how telemarketing and “junk” fax rules – and the constitutional challenges to those rules – have provided yet another opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to rethink its commercial speech doctrine, or at least give better guidance to courts applying the Central Hudson test.

Privilege and Pragmatism: How the Seventh Circuit Put Journalists and Their Sources on Thin Ice • Anthony L Fargo, University of Nevada at Las Vegas • Journalists have long claimed that the First Amendment press clause protects them from subpoenas for their work product, but there is much disagreement in the law. A recent ruling from a federal appellate court, in McKevitt v. Pallasch, continues a recent trend of erosion of the privilege in federal courts. The paper examines the meaning of McKevitt and also examines how the legal philosophy of the opinion’s author, Judge Richard A Posner, affected the outcome.

“Don’t Pooh-Pooh Our Poo Poo”: Penalty, Subsidy, and Refusal to Fund in the Aftermath of National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley • James R Gaddy, Louisiana State University • Legal scholars said the Finley decision would create a “chilling effect” in government subsidy programs and unlawfully expanded the government speech doctrine. By analyzing cases that subsequently use Finley for a substantive part of their rationale, this article argues the opposite: the courts have rejected the government’s attempts to interpret the decision as allowing viewpoint discrimination. It argues further that, under the government speech doctrine, Finley provides the controlling precedent for truly “hybrid speech” cases.

Holding the Spymasters Accountable: A Proposed Model for CIA Disclosure Requirements Under the Freedom of Information Act • Martin Halstuk, Pennsylvania State University • For the last two decades, CIA secrecy has gone largely unchecked, principally because of a sweeping 1985 United States Supreme Court decision that exempted the Agency from virtually any disclosure requirements under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This paper argues that the Court’s rationale for blanket CIA secrecy has been outmoded by modern events, and it proposes a legislative model that would establish guidelines for CIA information disclosure under the FOIA.

The Aftermath of Bartnicki v. Vopper: Judicial Determinations on Telephone Conversations of Public Concern • Laura J Hendrickson, Georgetown University • This paper examines the brief aftermath of the 2001 Supreme Court decision Bartnicki v. Vopper to explore its significance for journalism. In Bartnicki, the Court excused a radio broadcaster from liability for broadcasting a cell phone conversation illegally recorded by an anonymous person. They relied on the Daily Mail principle that issues of public concern are constitutionally protected. Therefore, the paper concludes by discussing issues of public concern in the context of intercepted telephone conversations.

In the Interest of Security: The Impact of 9-11 on State Access-to-Information Laws • Suzanne Horsley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper examines the legislation regarding access-to-information laws that has been passed by the states since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It categorizes the changes that have been made to determine the implications of these legislative moves for the media and the public. Forty of the states and the District of Columbia succeeded in passing new laws in attempts to thwart terrorist access to critical information. The resulting sixty-two new laws in this study were categorized as follows: records exemptions to ensure safety and security, closed meetings to ensure safety and security, provisions for allowing media access, and calls for further study on ways to protect government information. While there are many concerns about the speed and breadth of the new legislation, there was a mixed response to what the changes mean for American citizens and reporters.

Making Kalle Lasn’s Case: CBS v. Democratic National Committee Revisited • Gordon Jackson, University of Wisconsin at Madison • This paper undertakes a First Amendment analysis of the discretion of federal broadcast licensees to exclude advertisers that they deem unsuitable for other than the standard reasons of indecency. The issues are crystallized by the case of Kalle Lasn and Adbusters Media Corp., who have tried unsuccessfully to get the networks to run their anti-ads, which attempt to de-glamorize consumption. The main business of the paper is to revisit the principal impediment to an action by Lasn – a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court holding, CBS v. Democratic National Committee. This case seems to stand for the proposition that decisions by licensees on who will use the public airwaves to advertise can never be characterized as state action, and therefore are beyond constitutional reach.

Where Is The First Amendment?: A Case Study Examining Internet Service Provider Safe Harbor Under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act Of 1998 • Shawn D Katz, Trinity University • A case currently pending in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, Online Policy Group, Pavlosky and Smith v. Diebold, could have a profound influence on the future interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States. In this case, Diebold Election Systems sent cease-and-desist letters to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who were carrying sites which were allegedly posting infringing internal corporate documents. Consequently, the ISPs, who are provided a safe harbor from copyright infringement liability under the DMCA, had the sites shut down. After unwanted publicity about the action, Diebold withdrew its allegations. The Online Policy group and two Swarthmore students, however, did not drop the issue, and instead brought action against Diebold. The paper examines how the DMCA laws that allowed the sites to be shut down constitutes an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech.

Freedom of the press for the Cherokee Phoenix during the early nineteenth century: An elegant dream, an elusive myth • Kevin R Kemper, University of Missouri at Columbia • Media scholars long have known that the Cherokee Phoenix, the official paper for the Cherokee Nation, has been suppressed at times. By comparing literature and historical sources, this study details how the federal, state, and tribal governments controlled the Cherokee press during the early nineteenth century. Also, this paper looks at seditious libel during this time, giving support to Leonard Levy’s theory that seditious libel extended past.

Nike v. Kasky: Reconsideration of noncommercial v. commercial speech • Eyun-Jung Ki, University of Florida • This study examines the case of Nike v. Kasky. The primary discussion in this paper is about a public relations campaign by Nike that responded to allegations of poor working conditions for employees in their foreign factories. Whether false or misleading statements should be categorized as commercial or noncommercial speech, and therefore unprotected or protected, is the most important issue in the case. The main discussion is about the distinction between commercial and noncommercial speech, in terms of judicial scrutiny and the degree of protection afforded each type of speech. The author suggests that speech such as that used by Nike should be protected under the First Amendment and proposes ways to prevent corporations from making false or misleading speech.

“More Likely to Withhold Information?”: Comparison of Implementation of FOIA Policies under the Clinton and Bush Administrations • Minjeong Kim, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • A month after the September 11, 2001, the U.S. Attorney General released a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy instructing federal officers to withhold information whenever it is necessary and possible. This policy contrasts with that of the Clinton administration. To explore whether two different FOIA policies have resulted in real differences in the effectiveness of FOIA as an instrument of access, this study analyzed data from annual FOIA reports issued by all fourteen federal departments and sixty-one independent federal agencies for fiscal years 1998 through 2002. Some evidence was found indicating the Bush Administration FOIA policy might have impaired the effectiveness of FOIA as an instrument of access, although dramatic differences were not found.

Secrecy Or Security: Identifying Trends In State Access Law Legislation • Nissa Laughner, University of Florida • Since September 11, 2001, states have aggressively pursued and passed legislation that would limit or prohibit access to information related to national and state security. Since the current “war on terror” may be indefinitely extended, states are likely to continue to limit access in favor of national security. State legislation, however, may be limiting public access to a great deal of information that poses little direct security risk. Ultimately, states may be frustrating the public policy motives between public access. This paper analyzes state legislation relating to safety and security and public access in order to evaluate trends in state access policies.

‘To Protect The Interests’: How The Unique Constitutional Status Of American Indians Affects The Trademark Case Against The Washington Redskins® • Dan Lewerenz, Pennsylvania State University • This paper employs American Indian law as an entree for First Amendment analysis of the trademark lawsuit against Pro-Football, Inc., owners of the Washington Redskins. The Trademark Trial and Appeals Board vacated the “scandalous” and “disparaging” Redskins trademark, but in September 2003 a federal judge overturned that ruling. No previous analysis of this case has considered how the unique constitutional status of American Indians, and concomitant federal responsibilities toward American Indians, might influence the First Amendment questions.

Jurisdiction over Internet Libels • Bill Loving, Idaho State University • The use of traditional minimum contacts analysis to decide jurisdiction is not appropriate in the age of the Internet. Courts continue to apply jurisdictional principles based on traditional models of commerce to cases involving libels created in distant forums and felt in the home states of defendants. Courts have denied plaintiffs access to forums where they suffered the greatest harm, where evidence can be most easily accessed and where issues can be most efficiently resolved.

Fighting for the Online Anonymous Speech of John and Jane Doe: Where Do We Go From Here? • Lesa Hatley Major, Louisiana State University • The debate over anonymous online speech has reached a boiling point in the last year, with numerous individuals and companies taking legal action to compel ISPs and Web publishers to identify anonymous online users. This paper argues for the amendment of existing anti-SLAPP statues to include online defamation and the provisions set forth in California Assembly Bill 1143 including the following criteria: adequate notice, SLAPP determinant, and financial equity.

An Analysis of the BCRA ◊ 201’s Disclosure Provisions for Electioneering Communications • Barbara M Miller, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The paper examines the constitutionality of the compelled disclosure requirements the BCRA ◊ 201. Through an analysis of briefs and affirming and dissenting Court opinions, this paper clarifies the reasoning behind the Court’s decision in McConnell v. FEC regarding the BCRA ◊ 201. Additionally, this paper comments on the Court’s ruling and whether the BCRA will adequately address the Buckley loophole without crossing the line between preventing political corruption and circumventing the First Amendment.

Viewer Discretion Advised: Graphic Violence On Television News & The Television Rating System • Sarah E Real, Pennsylvania State University • This paper analyzes the dichotomy in the television rating system between rated images of fictional violence on entertainment programming and unrated images of real-life violence on newscasts. The paper, which argues that the dichotomy is increasingly illogical, critiques it through three different lenses: First Amendment theory and jurisprudence, the practices of broadcast journalism that blur the line between news and entertainment, and social-science evidence of the effects on children of fictional violence versus real-life violence.

Libel Law and Words: Innocent Construction in Illinois • Robert L Spellman, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale • The innocent construction rule in libel law is unique to Illinois. As it has evolved, it requires a judge at the start of a libel per se suit to dismiss the action if the alleged defamatory words can be reasonably construed as not of and concerning the plaintiff or to not be defamatory. The rule has given the news media in Illinois a better record of prevailing in libel suits than their counterparts in other large states. Recently the protection to the media has been eroded by restrictive interpretations by courts. One of the practical advantages of the rule has been savings in legal costs due to dismissals at the start of cases. That advantage suffered a setback in 2003 when a federal appeals court held that dismissal upon the pleadings violated federal procedural law. Nevertheless, the rule remains a useful protection for the news media.

Protecting the High and Mighty: Libel Law in Canada. • Robert L Spellman, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale • Canada’s judiciary does not share the liberal free press values of the United States as enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan. In Hill v. Church of Scientology the Supreme Court of Canada in 1995 severely criticized Sullivan while upholding the largest libel verdict ever awarded by a Canadian court. The court reaffirmed Canada’s adherence to the strict liability regime of common law of libel. Hill involved criticism of the official conduct of a crown attorney. A government agency financed the libel suit. Hill was decided prior to the decision of the House of Lords in Reynolds v. Times Newspapers. Some softening of the pro-plaintiff bias of Canadian law may be indicated by Jones v. Campbell, a decision of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal which applied Reynolds qualified privilege to overturn a libel verdict against two attorneys for their criticism of police conduct as unconstitutional and symptomatic of systemic racism.

Nike v. Kasky and the Running-But-Going-Nowhere Commercial Speech Debate • Samuel A Terilli, University of Miami • The lawsuit filed by Marc Kasky against Nike illustrates the dangers to free expression posed by Supreme Court decisions defining “commercial speech” as a category deserving of some, but not full, first amendment protection. The commercial speech doctrine should be replaced with the approach used by the Court to permit prosecutions of acts with the requisite intent to commit the underlying offense, even if the act was accomplished, in whole or in part, through expression.

<< 2004 Abstracts