Archives for June 2013

June 19, 2013 | The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), which comprises more than 3,700 JMC students, professors and administrators in the U.S. and abroad, is dismayed at the Wisconsin’s Legislative Joint Finance Committee’s misguided attempt to ban the nonpartisan and nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism(WCIJ) from maintaining its office on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Particularly egregious is the Wisconsin legislative committee’s further attempt to prohibit journalism faculty members at UW-Madison from working with the WCIJ, which illustrates an exemplary case of academic-professional collaboration, and which should be a model for other journalism programs nationally and internationally. Such an ill-considered attempt is a clear violation of academic freedom, which is required to safeguard open inquiry and the creation of knowledge. We need more investigative reporting than ever in an age of ever-shrinking independent journalism due to financial constraints facing the news media as a whole.

Democracy is harmed when the state interferes with the communication of knowledge that informs public opinions. As journalism educators, we are unwaveringly committed to instilling in our students a critical appreciation for a free and independent press and for the crucial role of the news media in monitoring, on behalf of the public, the conduct of government officials. To preserve self-government, we must ensure citizens’ access to knowledge. More access to information, not less.

The Wisconsin’s Legislative Joint Finance Committee’s politically motivated motion to undermine the educational and non-educational value of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is fundamentally antithetical to the role of journalism in our democracy as well as its professional education in the United States. We strongly urge the Wisconsin state legislators to reconsider the motion immediately.

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Agenda-setting in the beginning of the 1979 oil crisis: compelling arguments and public concern • Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu; Magdalena Saldaña, The University of Texas at Austin; Maxwell McCombs • Following the “compelling arguments” hypothesis, this study examines both first and second-level agenda-setting effects in the context of the 1979 oil crisis. Our results show the role of oil pricing, national oil market and nuclear energy as compelling arguments. Besides, our research suggests that arguments are not compelling per se: depending on who uses it, the same argument can be compelling or not. Members of Congress were the most credible sources.

It’s Who You Don’t Know: How Exposure to Online Social Influence on YouTube Affects Political Evaluations and Behavior • Matthew Barnidge, University of Wisconsin-Madison; ByungGu Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Stephanie Jean Tsang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; D. Jasun Carr, Susquehanna University • The Internet exposes us to new and different forms of social influence. While many claims have been made about the “effects” of the Internet on politics and society, one of the most intuitively sensible claims about the Internet is this: The Internet exposes people to more indicators of what other people think. This study presents an experimental investigation into the effects of relatively impersonal indicators of social opinion on YouTube. Drawing from SIDE (Social Identity Depersonalization Effects) theory, as well as theories of information processing and evaluation, we examine the balance of user comments on YouTube and their influence on the persuasive effects of an online news story about a political scandal. Results reveals that exposure to social indicators that are incongruent with the original message can abate the persuasive effects of that message on political evaluations and behavior.

Emotion-provoking personalization of news: Informing citizens and closing the knowledge gap? • Ozen Bas, Indiana University; Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Indiana University • News that personalizes issues and elicits emotion are often dismissed as serious information. This experiment investigated the merits of this view through the knowledge gap hypothesis. Two versions (with/without emotional testimony of ordinary people) of eight television stories were tested. Emotional versions produced smaller knowledge gaps and the size of gaps varied across three memory measures. Unlike the inimical role traditionally assigned to emotion, these findings suggest a facilitative role for emotion in informing citizens.

Thinking about Others Online: The Relationship between Third Person and Hostile Media Perceptions • Pamela Brubaker, Brigham Young University • This study explores the relationship between hostile media and third person perceptions. Partisans (N = 760) who strongly supported and opposed the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage participated in an online experiment, which was made available to blog readers. Third person perceptions, particularly the influence on others with contrasting attitudes, proved a significant predictor of hostile perceptions, validating claims that the media’s perceived influence on others does indeed contribute to hostile perceptions of media coverage.

How do individuals develop attitude extremity in the new media environment? The interplay between the Internet, schemas, and information seeking • Doo-Hun Choi, Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Michael Cacciatore; Michael Xenos; Dietram Scheufele, Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dominique Brossard; Elizabeth Corley • Analyzing data from a nationally-representative online survey, this study explored the role of the Internet and schemas in seeking out information and forming individuals’ attitude toward nanotechnology. More specifically, we examined the interplay between the Internet, schemas, information seeking and their impact on attitude formation toward the issue. The results in the study showed that individuals rely on their schemas in order to seek out information for nanotechnology, and the Internet played a large role in promoting information seeking. More importantly, individuals who select schema-congruent information are more likely than those who select schema-incongruent information to have more extreme in their attitudes toward nanotechnology. This study also found that greater attitude extremity produced attitude polarization toward nanotechnology. Implications of these findings as they pertain to public understanding of science in democratic society are discussed in greater detail.

Functional Forms of Symbolic Crises in the News: Implications for Quantitative Research • Bryan Denham • With communication scholars relying heavily on linear statistical models such as ordinary least squares regression, the present study examined the possibility that logistic, logarithmic and quadratic functions would capture symbolic crises in the news more effectively, potentially helping to enhance quantitative research. Analyzing cases involving drug abuse, pedophilia, violence, music lyrics, and religious freedom, the study found the strongest support for logarithmic and quadratic representations of cumulative data distributions, consistent with the notion of volatile news events triggering dramatic and widespread coverage for a limited time. The study concludes that while quantitative researchers should not abandon linear regression techniques, situations do arise in which nonlinear tests may be more effective in capturing statistical relationships.

Knowledge Gaps on Social Media: Exploring Knowledge Inequality in Contemporary News Environments • Trevor Diehl, University of Texas, Austin • This study explored how social media for news might affect knowledge gaps. A secondary analysis of the Pew Center for the People and the Press 2012 Media Consumption Survey found evidence for knowledge gaps between education groups on social media. A comparison of multiple news sources found a gap between those that pay attention to news on social media and those that don’t. News sharing was associated with an increase in knowledge in some groups.

Mapping the News Landscape • Stephanie Edgerly, Northwestern University • This study explores how media users make sense of the high-choice news media environment. Using a multi dimensional approach, ten news organizations are mapped by the implicit thoughts a sample of college students uses to differentiate them. Results indicate a specialized news environment where each news organization occupies their own space on the map. The two dimensions of an organization’s political ideology (conservative-to-liberal) and orientation (normative-to-market) are used to interpret the map.

An Exploration of the Roots of the Gatekeeper Concept: What Can Network Theory Tell Us About the Shifting Role of Journalism in a Networked Media Ecology? • Thomas Ernste • The concept of gatekeepers as it has long been understood within journalism studies remains deeply intertwined with its now antiquated metaphorical meaning that sees news organizations as in control of public access to news. This paper describes how a conceptual shift towards understanding the gatekeeper concept instead in a network theory context which sees gatekeepers as central, boundary spanning network actors is useful for conceptualizing news and information gatekeeping in a networked media ecology.

Disuse, Misuse, and Abuse of Intercoder Reliability Indices in Communication • Charles Feng, Jinan University • Although intercoder reliability has been considered crucial to the validity of a content study, the choice among them has been controversial. This study analyzed all the content studies published in the two major communication journals that reported intercoder reliability, aiming to find how communication scholars conduct intercoder reliability test. The results revealed that some intercoder reliability indices were misused persistently concerning the levels of measurement, the number of coders, and the means of reporting reliability over the past 30 years. Implications of misuse, disuse, and abuse were discussed, and suggestions regarding proper choice of indices in various situations were made at last.

Social network ties and discussion attributes as antecedents of political discussion elaboration • Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Texas at Austin • Scores of research highlight the key role of political discussion for society’s democratic wellbeing establishing a conduit to a more deliberative democracy. More recently, academics have turned their attention to explore the different roles peoples’ discussion network attributes may have in promoting politically valuable and fruitful discussions. For instance, the strength of discussion ties (weak or strong), heterogeneity of discussion networks, exposure to disagreement, and the level of reasoning in peoples’ discussion have all, to some degree, been associated to different forms of political outcomes such as participation. Other scholars have expanded the notion of citizens’ discussion attributes by integrating discussion elaboration. Thus, the connection between discussion network attributes and political participation, or between discussion elaboration and political participation is not new. Less explored however is the connection of all these discussion attributes as antecedents of political discussion elaboration. Based on U.S. national crossectional data, results indicate strong-ties discussion is the strongest predictor for discussion elaboration. On the other hand, discussing public affairs with weak ties was a stronger predictor for citizens to discussing with people who reasoned their arguments, and also for being exposed to discussion with higher levels of disagreement, and with more heterogeneous networks. Structural equation modeling tests indicate that strong ties is both directly and indirectly related to political discussion elaboration. Conversely, the influence of weak-ties on political discussion elaboration is fully mediated by discussion network heterogeneity and reasoned discussions. Finally, exposure to disagreement seems to preclude individuals’ from cognitively elaborating upon the issues they discuss.

Political Consumption as Civic, Cooperative, and Contrived: Implications for Social Marketing • Melissa R. Gotlieb, Texas Tech University • A series of three studies demonstrate the factor structure and reliability (Study 1), convergent and discriminant validity (Study 2), and predictive validity (Study 3) of a scale measuring value-expressive, social-identification, and social-adjustive attitudes toward political consumption. The third study demonstrates the importance of fit between a strategic message appeal and individuals’ underlying attitude functions in the context of a fictitious student campaign to reduce bottled water consumption on campus. Theoretical and marketing implications are discussed.

Examining Mood, Anxiety, and Knowledge in the Process of Resisting Influence • Michel Haigh, Penn State University; Shelley Wigley, University of Texas at Arlington • This study examines the role mood and anxiety play in inoculation research, and employs a new method of coding concept maps and counterarguments. Results indicate mood impacts how inoculation messages are processed. Those in the inoculation condition feel more anxiety compared to controls. Those who receive inoculation messages use the content from the messages to counterargue as well as form new nodes in their associative networks.

Using the Theory of Reasoned Action to Study the Influence of News Media • Jennifer Hoewe, The Pennsylvania State University • This study attempts to situate the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as a viable method for studying the impact of news media on attitudes and behaviors. Using news stories about the building of an Islamic community center, results show the TRA provides a well-fitting model for examining news stories’ influences in an experimental context. The moderating variable of prior attitudes toward the news story’s subject may prove useful in future use of the TRA.

Consequences of Disagreement in Political Conversation: Iterative vs. Episodic Forms of Political Participatory Behaviors • Yangsun Hong, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin – Madison • In everyday life, people talk about political issues with others who may share or may not share their views. However, empirical studies in this area have produced a conundrum in terms of the relationship between disagreeable discussion and participation. Some recent studies suggest that distinguishing the types of participation considered would be helpful to shed light on this controversy. These studies argue that the relationship between discussion disagreement and participation is likely contingent on the type of participation in which people are involved. This study aims to contribute to the literature on the relationships between heterogeneous discussion and different types of participation. The focus of this article is to (a) analyze whether disagreeable political talk has different influences on varying types of participation (b) explore these relations in less stable democracy than have typically been considered by previous research.

Risk Communication Factors to Inform Theory: Risk Perception, Special Needs Populations, and Media Usage • Melissa Janoske, University of Maryland, College Park; Benjamin Sheppard, University of Maryland • There is no single conceptual framework that provides “the answer” to effectively communicating risk. There are, however, critical factors that all communicators and managers need to be aware of: publics’ perceptions, message content, unique risk characteristics, an understanding of special needs publics, and communication channels. This paper discusses those factors in detail through a deep discussion of the current literature, and offers best practices for communicators to utilize during each risk phase (preparedness, response, recovery).

Steer Clear or Get Ready: How Coping Styles Moderate the Effect of Informational Utility • Benjamin Johnson, The Ohio State University; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, The Ohio State University • An experiment (N = 414) with a 2x3x2 between-subjects design analyzed the effect of informational utility on selective exposure to online news stories. Individual differences in avoidant coping and problem-focused coping were tested as moderators of impacts of informational utility message characteristics on selective exposure. A positive main effect of informational utility intensity was found to result from the dimensions of magnitude, likelihood, and immediacy. The proposed fourth dimension, efficacy, did not yield a main effect or moderate the other message factors. However, coping styles demonstrated the proposed interactions. Individuals low on avoidant coping browsed messages with high informational utility longer, whereas avoidants did not. Those low on problem-focused coping spent more time with high-efficacy messages, and those high on problem-focus spent more time with low-efficacy messages.

Examining Warranting Theory toward use in non-interpersonal Computer-Medicated Communication (CMC) contexts • Eunsin Joo, Michigan State University • The concept of warrant has been used for many years in CMC settings. The principal objective of this paper is to evaluate and expand the scope of the warranting theory. The study examines the theoretical constructs of the warranting theory by using the criteria of theory such as explanatory power, predictive power, testability, parsimony, internal consistency, and heuristic provocativeness as well as its empirical applications in a variety of research realms (Chaffee & Berger, 1987; Heath & Bryan, 1992). The current applied research status and limitations of the theory are also discussed further to contribute future directions of the warranting theory in non-interpersonal CMC contexts.

Three-Stage Spiral of Silence in a Networked Society • Sang Chon Kim, University of Oklahoma • This paper reconsiders spiral of silence theory in the networked society by focusing on (1) changes in the media environment and (2) changes in audience psychology. First, This paper predicts that new media (e.g. the Internet) reduce the power of traditional mass media over audiences’ perceptions about public opinion, based on Jackob’s (2010) relational model between perceived use of alternative sources, media dependency, and trust in mass media. Interactivity theory supports that networked groups would not only reduce the power of mass media, but might also play a role as new opinion leaders. Second, this paper predicts that new media environment would change audiences’ psychology in responding to public opinions. Audiences would feel less fear of isolation when expressing their minority opinions, thanks to inherent natures of computer-mediated communication. In accordance with these potential changes affecting spirals of silence, this paper suggests a revised conceptual model, three-stage spiral of silence.

Linguistic Framing Versus Numeric Framing in Campaign Messages: Revisiting An Application of Prospect Theory in Communication Research • Sunny J. Kim, Cornell University • Prospect theory provides a framework to systematically construct gain- versus loss-framed messages. Communication researchers have utilized the framing postulate of prospect theory to encourage various kinds of behavioral and attitudinal responses. However, empirical findings on gain- versus loss-framing which predict distinct outcomes in accordance with theory have been mixed or undifferentiated. This paper traces the origins of prospect theory and examines how the theory has extended to message framing in a health communication context. We review the successes and limitations of prospect theory application, and propose a new way of incorporating prospect theory into message framing within the communication research field.

Predicting TV Channel Choice and Duration Using an Integrated Model of Media Choice • Su Jung Kim, Northwestern University; Vijay Viswanathan • This study examines how individual and structural factors of media choice impact TV channel choice and viewing time. Using Nielsen Korea’s TV-Internet Convergence data that electronically recorded television and Internet use behavior, we find that television channel choice is influenced by individual factors such as gratifications, age, and gender as well as structural factors like access, and cost. However, duration is largely affected by structural factors such as lead-in, and other media use.

Framing Healthcare: Frame Building and News Coverage of Who Is Responsible for Rising Healthcare Costs in the United States • Sei-Hill Kim; Andrea Tanner; Soo Yun Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Caroline Foster; Oh Sang-Hwa • Analyzing newspaper articles and television news transcripts, this study attempts to understand how the American news media have framed the question of who is responsible for rising healthcare costs in the United States. In particular, we explore the notion of frame building, looking at internal and external factors of news organizations that may influence the way the media frame the question of who is responsible. Findings indicate that frame building factors, such as organizational constraints (e.g., self-censorship), typical professional routines (e.g., episodic presentation of the issues), and political orientations of news organizations (e.g., conservative vs. liberal ideology), can affect the media’s selective use of frames.

Elaborative Processing that Matters: A Study of Factors Influencing Perceived Risks Related to Food and Medicine in South Korea • Hwalbin Kim, University of South Carolina; Sei-Hill Kim; Jeong-Heon JC Chang, Korea University; Jea Chul Shim, Korea University; Sang Hwa Oh, University of South Carolina • This study explores the effects of the media, interpersonal communication, and elaborative processing on perceived risks related to food and medicine safety in South Korea. The findings of the study show that media use such as TV and Internet news, interpersonal discussion, and elaborative processing are positively associated with perceived risks related to food and medicine. More importantly, the effects of newspaper, SNS, and interpersonal discussion on perceived risks were moderated by elaborative processing.

Examining the Intertextuality of Fictional Political Comedy and Real-World Political News • Kristen Landreville; Heather LaMarre • This study examines effects of viewing a fictional, comedic political film on political discussion intent about a related news article. In an experiment, participants watched the political comedy Man of the Year or a control film, and then read a politically-relevant news article on electronic voting. Beyond direct effects, the mediating influence of elaboration about the politically-relevant news article on discussion intent was analyzed. Results revealed no main effect of political comedy viewing on discussion intent, and no mediating effect of elaboration either. However, viewing the comedic political film was associated with higher levels of elaboration about the related news article, which shows evidence of intertextuality among media texts. Moreover, perceived external realism of the fictional, comedic political film was a significant positive predictor of discussion intent about the news article. Results also showed perceived external realism about the fictional, comedic political film to be a nearly significant moderator of the elaboration and discussion intent relationship. A broader discussion regarding the theoretical and practical implications of the findings is included.

Visual Context of Message Content: A Re-evaluation of Component Separation in the Elaboration Likelihood Model • Allison Lazard, The University of Texas at Austin; Lucy Atkinson, The University of Texas at Austin; Michael Mackert, The University of Texas at Austin • Visually rich persuasive messages have a pervasive presence in our society, creating an impetus for increased theoretical research to understand the role of visuals in information processing. The Elaboration Likelihood Model, which highlights critical stages for the decision to elaborate via two different processing routes, provides a theoretical framework that should be adapted to include the prevalent and influential role of visual context, visual deign, and visual processing in the evaluation of persuasive messages.

Does Motivation Make a Difference in Agenda-Setting Effects? • Na Yeon Lee, University of Texas at Austin • By employing laboratory experiment, this study examined the role of the two different motivations on agenda-setting effects: one is the need for orientation (NFO), which is traditionally regarded as the most important factor to explain individual differences in agenda-setting research, and the other is accuracy or directional goals introduced by the theory of motivated reasoning. Confirming previous findings, NFO was found to be the single most positive predictor for agenda-setting effects. Interestingly, the influence of NFO on agenda-setting effects was moderated by the types of motivational goals (accuracy vs. directional) that individuals employ when seeking information. Individuals with accuracy goals plus high levels of NFO demonstrated agenda-setting effects that were higher than for individuals with directional goals. Contrary to predictions of this study, individuals’ types of motivational goals (accuracy vs. directional) alone were not found to be a significant predictor. This study contributes to agenda-setting research by elaborating the role of NFO on agenda- setting effects and by proposing that while the media’s role of consensus building may be constrained, especially in a digital media era, those constraints may not likely apply broadly to entire audiences but, instead, may be limited mostly to individuals who tend to exercise selective exposure relative to their own particular issues: namely, those who generally employ directional goals.

Investigating the relationship between social media use and opinion polarization • Jae Kook Lee, Indiana University School of Journalism; Jihyang Choi, Indiana University School of Journalism; Cheonsoo Kim, Indiana University School of Journalism; Yonghwan Kim, University of Alabama • Conflicting arguments and findings have been reported about whether or not the use of new media would result in an increase in people’s exposure to diverse views and, if so, what the political consequences of encounters with dissimilar people and perspectives would be. This study tackles these issues by investigating the relationship between the social media use, the heterogeneity of social networks and the level of opinion polarization in the context of social network services (SNSs). Employing a national probability survey, this study shows that the use of SNSs is a positive predictor of network heterogeneity on SNSs. The study also found that the frequency of SNSs use does not directly affect the level of network heterogeneity, but that the relationship is mediated by several news-related activities, such as getting news, news posting, and talking about politics on SNSs. To explore the influence of the level of SNSs network heterogeneity on polarization, the study considered three different dimensions of opinion polarization: partisan, ideological, and issue polarization. The findings indicate that political discussion moderates the relationship between SNS network heterogeneity and the level of polarization; a higher level of SNS network heterogeneity results in a higher level of partisanship and ideological polarization for individuals who talk about politics more frequently. The implications of the study are discussed.

Revisiting Opinion Leadership in the Online World: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach • Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas; Peter Bobkowski, University of Kansas • Opinion leadership is an important topic in marketing and communication research. Based on a survey of 7,025 U.S. consumers, this study examines the characteristics of online opinion leaders, and investigates the association between online and offline opinion leadership and activism. Online opinion leadership is predicted by the use of interactive online media, offline opening leadership, and offline activism. Use of online informational media is not directly linked to online opinion leadership.

Motivated Processing of Anger and Disgust In Anti-Tobacco Video Advertisements • Glenn Leshner, University of Missouri; Russell Clayton, University of Missouri; Manu Bhandari, University of Missouri; Paul Bolls • The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of two message attributes of anti-tobacco video ads on cognitive processing. The two message attributes were tobacco industry attacks (anger) and disgusting images. Industry attack ads were adapted from the American Legacy Foundation anti-tobacco campaign, which showed tobacco company executives as deceitful, dishonest, and manipulative. A 2 (anger: high/low) x 2 (disgust: present/absent) x 3 (message replication) x 4 (message order) mixed model repeated measures experiment was conducted. Participants (N=49), viewed 12, 30-s messages. Self-reports of emotional valence and arousal were collected. Heart rate, a physiological indicator of cognitive resources allocated to encoding, was collected for a five second baseline prior to each message and was time-locked during exposure to the messages. Participants also completed an audio recognition test. Results strongly indicate that HR deceleration occurred most for messages featuring anger or disgust related content, but decelerated least for messages that contained both anger and disgust content. Audio recognition data, including signal detection analyses, showed that recognition worsened for messages that contained both anger and disgust on both accuracy and sensitivity. In addition, participants were least confident in their responses to messages that contained both. Self-reports showed that both anger and disgust content showed strong aversive system activation, while anger showed small appetitive activation. These findings indicate that messages high in both anger and disgust showed signs of cognitive withdrawal and descent into a defensive cascade reflective of defensive processing and message responses.

The Mediating Role of Prior Knowledge in Framing Effects: An Experimental Study of Responses to Valenced Frames • Chen Lou, Michigan State University; Carson Wagner, EW Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University; Eunsin Joo, Michigan State University • An experiment was run to detect whether prior knowledge about a subject mediates framing effects. A considerable number of framing studies have claimed media effects on audiences without examining audience responses and/or disentangling different confounding variables from media frames. Prior knowledge among other factors has been suggested as an entry point for testing if various frames indeed affect audiences, as assumed when effects are claimed but no audience data are taken. This study examines how media frames affect audience attitudes by manipulating prior knowledge in a laboratory experiment.

Toward a Cognitive-affective Process Model of Hostile Media Perceptions: A Multi-Country Structural Equation Modeling Approach • Jorg Matthes, U of Vienna; Audun Beyer, University of Oslo, Norway • This paper develops and tests a theoretical cognitive-affective process model of the hostile media effect (HME). To explain the HME, scholars have mainly focused on cognitive involvement, i.e., the extent to which an issue is of personal importance. By contrast, we introduce the notion of affective involvement and hypothesize three distinct routes responsible for an HMP: a cognitive, an affective, and a cognitive-affective route. Simultaneously collected representative survey data from the U.S., Norway, and France employing country-invariant measures provide clear evidence that the three routes each and independently drive the HMP. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.

Combining the Situational Theory of Publics and Theory of Reasoned Action to Explore Nonprofit Support: A Replication • Brooke W. McKeever, University of South Carolina; Geah Pressgrove, University of South Carolina; Yue Zheng, University of South Carolina • Through replication with a nationally-based respondent pool (N=1,539) and extension of programmatic research aimed at understanding the intersection of the situational theory of publics and theory of reasoned action, this study provides early empirical support for a possible Theory of Situational Support with a new criterion variable. By combining variables from both theories, predictive power of the model is improved when measured in the context of nonprofit fundraising events. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

In the mood to search: A conceptual examination of how emotions influence health information seeking • Jessica Myrick, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper argues that theory development in health information seeking is currently stunted because the field has not fully explored concepts from the literature on emotions. The basics of emotion theory and connections with health information seeking are presented. This paper also encourages scholars to examine emotions in addition to anxiety/fear as search motivators. The argument is made that theory is lacking on the topics of how people search for health information and what happens after those searches.

Fearing a threat but hoping for the best: Revising the Extended Parallel Process Model based on emotion theory • Jessica Myrick, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • For more than two decades, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) has guided research on fear appeals. However, theories of emotions and empirical evidence point to important conceptual modifications that would improve the EPPM’s explanatory power. This paper proposes six revisions to the EPPM and presents initial experimental data to test the propositions. The data largely support the propositions and point to future work to further develop theories of fear appeals.

Modeling a Participatory Campaign Communication: Communication Mediation and Anti-smoking Behavioral Intention • Kang Namkoong, University of Kentucky; Seungahn Nah, University of Kentucky; Rachael Record, University of Kentucky; Stephanie Van Stee, University of Kentucky • Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB; e.g., Ajzen, 1985, 1988, 1991) with a communication mediation model (McLeod et al., 1996; McLeod, Scheufele, & Moy, 1999; Shah, Cho et al., 2007; Shah, McLeod et al., 2007), this study examines direct and indirect effects of a community-based participatory campaign on anti-smoking behavioral intention and how communications mediate the participatory campaign process. Through an experimental design with randomization, the study affirms that the TPB is an effective model to predict anti-smoking behavioral intention. Furthermore, it finds that communication does mediate the effects of the participatory campaign intervention on anti-smoking outcomes, which is well suited to the theory of planned behavior.

Online Advertisements and Conceptual Implicit Memory: Advances in Theory and Methodology • Temple Northup, University of Houston • Three experiments were conducted to further our understanding, both theoretically and methodologically, of conceptual implicit memory within the advertising context. Results suggest that not only is providing specific encoding instructions not necessary to induce conceptual or semantic processing, but also that there were no differences based on whether the experimental procedure was conducted in a laboratory or online. Together, these results have implications for increasing the ecological validity of this type of research.

How does Interactivity persuade? An Experimental Test of Interactivity on Cognitive Absorption, Elaboration, and Attitudes • Jeeyun Oh, Penn State University; S. Shyam Sundar, The Pennsylvania State University • It is generally assumed that interactivity can create higher involvement in interacting with media. However, it is debatable whether this heightened degree of user activity can translate into engagement with content, and further, whether it can influence persuasion outcomes. This paper examines whether two different types of website interactivity can motivate users to cognitively engage with anti-smoking messages. A 3 (Message interactivity: High vs. Medium vs. Low) X 2 (Modality Interactivity: Slider vs. Control) factorial-design lab experiment was performed to test the persuasive effects of interactivity on the stimulus website (N = 167). Results showed that Modality interactivity led to more positive interface assessment and greater cognitive absorption. These two factors, in turn, contributed to more favorable attitudes toward the website and even toward the anti-smoking messages. The presence of slider interaction technique significantly reduced the amount of message-related thoughts after browsing. In contrast, message interactivity enhanced message elaboration for participants, especially those with low involvement in the message topic. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Aljazeera and The Hostile Media Effect: Credibility and Interactivity • Eisa Al Nashmi, Kuwait University; David Painter, Full Sail University; Jessica Mahone, University of Florida • Based on the hostile media effect theory, this experimental investigation manipulated source attribution to determine how receiver characteristics affected credibility and interactivity. Although the reports’ content was identical, the results indicate Aljazeera was perceived as less credible than CNN, especially among those with unfavorable Arab attitudes and high Arab interest. The results also suggest partisanship, involvement, and source, key elements of the hostile media effect, may trigger increased use of the Internet’s interactive features.

Seeking the Sweet Spot: Optimal combinations of gain-loss and motivational frames to promote vaccination during an epidemic • Eun Park • To investigate ways to maximize the effects of message frames in health campaigns for promoting vaccination in an epidemic, this study tested effects of message combinations of gain- and loss-frames and motivational frames, which include intrinsic and extrinsic goal frames in self-determination theory. The study also attempted to examine the moderating role of level of issue involvement. An experiment using a 2 (frame: gain and loss) x 2 (motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic) x 2 (issue involvement: high and low) x 4 (multiple messages) x 2 (order) mixed subject design was conducted. The results showed that motivation plays more of a leading role in igniting positive attitude and intention toward vaccination than gain-loss frames. To be specific, a message combination of gain frame and intrinsic motivation was superior to other kinds of combinations in terms of promoting vaccination.

Effect of Vocal Similarity on Automatic Attention to Voice Changes: Experimental Results and Industry Implications • Robert F. Potter, Indiana University; Edgar Jamison-Koenig, Indiana University; Teresa Lynch, Indiana University; Matthew Falk, Indiana University; Sharon Mayell, Indiana University; Katherine Krizan, Indiana University • Past research has shown that when one speaker is replaced by another in an auditory message listeners exhibit an orienting response identified by a specific pattern of cardiac deceleration. The orienting response is thought to provide an automatic allocation of processing resources to the encoding of the new voice in the auditory environment. To date, no one has investigated how the tonal similarities of the voices making up the formal feature of the voice change impacts orienting or information processing of the message. A 3 (Vocal Difference) x 2 (Location of Voice Change) x 2 (Repetitions) within subjects experiment was designed to explore this issue. Four non-professional speakers were selected based on their levels of vocal difference and produced twelve radio announcements. These announcements were then edited so that there were Low-, Medium-, and High-Vocal Difference voice changes occurring either in in the first or last 20-seconds of the message. Seventy-four subjects listened to the stimuli individually and had their heart rate data recorded time-locked to the media presentation. After a distraction task, recognition memory measures were taken. Results show that the tonal difference between voices does have an impact on both cardiac orienting and recognition memory for message audio. Furthermore, results suggest a change in processing strategy among listeners over the course of the sixty-second messages. Implications for message producers are provided.

A Historical Test of Media System Dependency: Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane’s Experiment in Press Freedom • Andrew Pritchard • The relatively isolated circumstances of colonial Australia provide a natural laboratory for applying media system dependency theory following the end of government restrictions on the press. Quantitative content analysis of newspapers suggests publishers were more concerned with exploiting the end of their dependence on the government as censor than with minimizing their remaining dependence on the government as advertiser. Additionally, the analysis demonstrates the importance of accounting for unique historical circumstances in MSD theorizing.

Studying Facebook: The ethics of drawing a sample in the networked age • Sue Robinson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Manisha Shelat, University of Wisconsin-Madison; David Wilcox • This article documents the benefits, limitations and ethics of using Facebook as a sampling frame for research. Drawing a sample from 102 journals and 13 disciplines, this research found the social networking site (SNS) comprises a site of inquiry, sample and methodological technique all in one. Although student surveys dominated as the primary tool for half our sample, this evidence showed nine other approaches, some very innovative. However few (4%) considered the public-versus-private and other ethical conundrums regarding data mining on Facebook sites. None fully capitalized on the networked opportunities innate in the SNS. Creating a working typology from a sampling of projects, this study discusses the ethics around visibility, replicability, traceability, sampling, contiguity of research space and the notion of informed consent in drawing a sample from Facebook and provides recommendations for scholars.

Introducing a Software-Based Method to Assess and Manipulate Visual Attention: Feasibility and Initial Validation • Lelia Samson, Indiana University; Erick Janssen • This article introduces a newly developed, software-based method to assess and manipulate visual attention. The method uses circular, transparent outlines (or ‘bubbles’) that move over the content of visual stimuli (e.g., images, video). To evaluate the feasibility and validity of this new method, a sample of 50 men was presented with same- and opposite-sex erotic stimuli in self-directed and manipulated visual attention conditions while their psychophysiological responses were recorded. Participants were instructed to select a bubble of their choice by using a computer mouse which kept selected content visible while the rest of the screen was dimmed. Only one bubble was made available during conditions in which visual attention was manipulated. Findings revealed that participants could successfully perform the experimental task and that their spontaneous, or self-directed, visual focus was consistent with their sexual orientation, as has been found in previous research. Furthermore, the new method successfully manipulated visual attention, which was reflected in the participants’ psychophysiological response patterns. The benefits of the newly developed application include the ability to measure and direct visual focus in multiple participants at a time. The advantages of using this method in communication, marketing, and other social science research are discussed.

Heuristic-systematic processing and the third-person perception of persuasive messages • Lelia Samson, Indiana University; Robert F. Potter, Indiana University • This study focuses on the cognitive processes underlying third-person perception (TPP), providing a more comprehensive understanding of how this robust media effect occurs. It provides empirical evidence suggesting that individual perception of the likely influence of media messages on self and on others adheres to the conceptualizations suggested by Chaiken’s Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM; Chaiken, 1980; 1987; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). The HSM claims that mental shortcuts activated during heuristic processing have the economic advantage of requiring comparatively little cognitive effort and time. We use this claim to guide hypotheses about response latency to questions about perceived influence of the persuasive messages. Participants (N = 151) were randomly assigned to a condition priming systematic processing or to a condition with no such prime. They then watched a series of 10 television ads, providing appraisals of their effect on self and on others after each. Response latency data were also collected for each appraisal. Results support an HSM-like process underlying the third-person perceptions, with subjects in the no-priming condition providing quicker responses overall, and shorter response latency in all participants when estimating the impact of persuasive messages on others than on themselves, indicative of greater heuristic processing.

The Peripheral Elaboration Model: How Incidental News Exposure Predicts Political Participation • Syed Saif Shahin, School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin; Magdalena Saldaña, The University of Texas at Austin; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Texas at Austin • Using U.S. two-wave-panel-data, this paper proposes a model to explain the mechanism through which incidental news exposure leads to political participation. It shows that heuristic cues in news items can trigger cognitive elaboration among media users, leading them to reflect on the news they stumble upon, even when they were not motivated to use the media for news and learning. Such “peripheral” elaboration mediates the positive link between incidental news exposure and political participation.

Reframing Gatekeeping: Proposing a Theoretical Link between Gatekeeping and Framing • Edson Tandoc, University of Missouri-Columbia • Framing and gatekeeping are common keywords in journalism research, yet their theoretical intersection has not been sufficiently explored. From qualitative interviews with newspaper and online journalists, this study explores influences on framing in the news and locates framing within the gatekeeping process. Frames influence whether or not a message passes a gate as much as they are also outputs of the gatekeeping process themselves.

The Facebook Experience: A phenomenology of Facebook use • Edson Tandoc, University of Missouri-Columbia; Patrick Ferrucci, U of Missouri • Based on the diaries and interviews of five Facebook users, we found that the phenomenology of Facebook use can be divided into three phases: managing intentions, experiencing the consequences of actions, and feeling a range of emotions. We propose that the theoretical framework we found in this study—of understanding the experience of Facebook as an experience of varying degrees of personal control—can be applied to understanding other social experiences as well.

Mapping an Audience Centric World Wide Web: A Departure from Hyperlink Analysis • Harsh Taneja • Studies of the hyperlink structure of the World Wide Web reveal a highly centralized core-periphery structure, with sites from developed nations at the center and those from the developing world at the periphery. This paper argues that hyperlinks merely reflect how the Web is structured by webmasters, and may play little role in structuring navigation pattern of web users, which may be driven by other cultural factors. To test this thesis, two networks of 1000 globally most popular Web Domains are constructed, one where ties are based on hyperlinks and the other using an “audience centric” approach with ties based on duplicated audience traffic between these domains. Analyses of the two networks reveal that unlike the centralized core-periphery structure suggested by hyperlink analysis, cultural factors such as language and geography drive actual audience flows resulting in a highly decentralized clustered network.

Finding Political Opinion Leaders in Both Online and Offline Environments • Stephanie Jean Tsang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Most studies on opinion leaders in our field applied the personality strength scale developed by Noelle-Neumann (1983). However, such general scale might not be as helpful in predicting opinion leaders with regard to politics and current issues. Moreover, with the rise of online information seeking and giving, it is essential to examine whether our existing scales are capable of spotting the digital opinion leaders with regard to politics. Utilizing survey data collected in Colombia in 2012 (N = 1031), our findings suggest that the personality strength scale informs us little about political opinion leaders both offline and online, when compared to the issue-specific scale developed by Childer (1986). The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Testing a model of sexual health information seeking via text messaging • Jessica Fitts Willoughby, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill • Text message services are becoming an increasingly popular way to disseminate health information. A theory of information seeking through text messaging is posited based on previous theory and tested with adolescents (n=870). Intentions to use a text message service for sexual health information were influenced by an adolescents’ uncertainty discrepancy, affect, and evaluations related to the service (e.g., attitudes, credibility), although efficacy evaluations did not have a direct effect on intent. Implications are discussed.

Giving and Receiving Emotional Support Online: Communication Competence as a Moderator of Psychosocial Benefits for Women with Breast Cancer • Woohyun Yoo, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Kang Namkoong, University of Kentucky; Mina Choi, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Dhavan Shah; Stephanie Jean Tsang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Yangsun Hong, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Michael Aguilar; David Gustafson • This study examines the moderating role of emotional communication competence in the relationship between computer-mediated social support (CMSS) group participation, specifically giving and receiving emotional support, and psychological health outcomes. Data were collected as part of randomized clinical trials for women diagnosed with breast cancer within the last 2 months. Expression and reception of emotional support was assessed by tracking and coding the 18,064 messages that 236 patients posted and read in CMSS groups. The final data used in the analysis was created by merging (a) computer-aided content analysis of discussion posts, (b) action log data analysis of system usage, and (c) baseline and six-month surveys collected to assess change. Results of this study demonstrate that emotional communication competence moderates the effects of expression and reception of emotional support on psychological quality of life and breast cancer-related concerns in both desired and undesired ways. Giving and receiving emotional support in CMSS groups has positive effects on emotional well-being for breast cancer patients with higher emotional communication, while the same exchanges have detrimental impacts on emotional well-being for those with lower emotional communication competence. The theoretical and practical implications for future research are discussed.

<<2013 Abstracts

Picturing the Jos Crisis in Three Leading Newspapers in Nigeria: A Visual Framing Perspective • Ngozi Agwaziam, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Lily Zeng, Arkansas State University • This study examines the visual framing of the Jos crisis in the online version of three leading Nigerian newspapers, Punch, Guardian, and Thisday. Findings suggest that they were not heavy users of news photographs. Majority of the photographs were those of politicians repeatedly used in different news stories and were not-graphic close-up shots. The three newspapers failed to emotionally connect the readers with the ongoing crisis and reinforced established narrative themes within the official discourse.

Methodological Critique of Screen Sense: A Case for Phenomenology • Russell Cook, Loyola University Maryland • This methodological critique compares Husserlian phenomenology to two other research paradigms—positivism and psychologism—and concludes that phenomenology is the best research method for investigating visual perception of screen media, or screen sense. The phenomenological reduction serves to neutralize presuppositions of the natural standpoint. The variational method of eidetic reduction reveals essential structures of spectating experience. The paper concludes with an extended analysis of the perception of pictorial depth.

Visual Stereotypes of Appalachia in Life Magazine: A Semiotic Study • Michael DiBari, Hampton University • For much of the 20th century and still today, many scholars believe the media has contributed to a stereotyping of Appalachia that has defined the region as backwards, uneducated, incestuous, and violent. Life magazine was one of the most popular, pictorial news magazines, and played an important part in that coverage. This study takes a textural analysis approach in identifying the articles in Life, and discusses the results in terms of social semiotics.

Historical Timelines: Rethinking Our Visualization of the Past • Bettina Fabos, University of Northern Iowa • The growing body of digital archives gives visual communicators the opportunity to construct alternative historical narratives that go beyond traditional, hegemonic “great men” discourse. Interactive timelines are one way in which to utilize such archival material to create more democratic, bottom-up histories, and make them widely available through the web.

The Gaze and The Spielberg Face: Spielberg’s Application of Lacan’s Mirror Stage and Audience Response • Joseph Fortunato, Arizona State University • Through the theoretical framework of Jacques Lacan’s “Mirror Stage,” this study employs statistical analysis to code the frequency with which Spielberg utilizes the “gaze” in his work to emotionally influence the viewer by providing them with desirable images of the human face. This study examines if these psychologically desirable images are used with more frequency in Spielberg’s successful films, thus providing quantitative support for the assertion that Spielberg “manipulates” his audience through his signature style.

Finding your own answers: Political ideology and ambiguous data visualizations • Nicholas Geidner, The University of Tennessee; Iveta Imre, The University of Tennessee; Ivanka Pjesivac, University of Tennessee • This study examines how partisans process information from ambiguous data visualizations. A diverse national sample (N = 338) was asked to interact with an ambiguous political data visualization, The New York Times’ “Budget Puzzle.” In short, our findings demonstrate that partisans saw what they wanted within the visualization. Individual-level political conservatism predicted perceptions of “The Budget Puzzle” as supporting the Republican Party’s fiscal agenda and of its creators being aligned with the Republican Party. These findings were accentuated in individuals with high interest in economic news. The implications of these findings for journalism practice are discussed.

Visual framing of the Syrian conflict in news and public affairs magazines • Keith Greenwood; Joy Jenkins, University of Missouri • Research indicates international news is most often visually framed in terms of violence and disaster. Conflicts are visually framed in terms of the active participants and aftermath of battle instead of the affected bystanders or efforts at negotiating peace. An alternative frame proposed by Galtung (1986) promotes an emphasis on peaceful demonstration and negotiation instead of the usual aspects of conflict. Building on research that observed evidence of this peace framing in photographs related to conflict published international media, this research examines visual framing of the 2011-2012 Syrian conflict that arose from the Arab Spring movement in northern Africa and the Middle East. The study examines 193 photographs published in two news magazines and nine public affairs magazines to determine if visual framing differs between magazines with differing purposes and differing political/editorial orientations. The analysis affirms the dominant visual frame of conflict through images of active fighting and its victims but also notes that public affairs magazines published a higher proportion of photographs depicting peace framing. As the magazine environment becomes increasingly oriented to niche publications, the results present implications for the likelihood that a broad audience will experience similar visual framing of international news.

The Influence of Personality Factors and Motives on Photographic Communication • Daniel Hunt, Newbury College; Eric Langstedt, Mount Saint Mary College • This study examined photographic communication within the uses and gratifications framework. Gender and personality traits of respondents were used as predictors of and motives for sending mobile photographs and online sharing. Memory, relationship maintenance, self expression and relationship formation positively predicted photographic communication. Females both sent more photo messages and shared more photos online. Extraversion positively predicted most photo messaging use motives, while Neuroticism was a negative predictor of photo messaging use.

Ken Burns: Historian, Patriot, or Hollywood Revisionist? An Analysis of His Style from “Brooklyn Bridge” to “The War” • Paul Jacoway, Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University • This paper evaluates the style of Ken Burns as a visual historian, by analyzing his documentaries: “Brooklyn Bridge” and “The War.” Media reviews, program details, personal interviews with Burns associates, and media interviews with Burns are used to evaluate his style of narrative histories to determine if he fits as a historian, journalist, or television producer. It seeks to answer the proposed question and the criticism that he is not truly a historian.”

What’s black and blue and read online: An analysis of newspaper website aesthetics and the influence of circulation size • Adriane Jewett, University of Florida; Dennis DiPasquale • With consumers flocking online, newspapers must consider website aesthetics. The Ideal Brand Pyramid posits that ideal brands equally value function, behavior and aesthetics. This study extends the IBP’s application, examining current newspaper websites aesthetics. Findings reiterate the monotony of newspaper websites with blue/black color palette, three-column design and top-page navigation. Some differences were exposed among circulation groups, particularly nameplate design and typeface. However, newspapers websites may not reach ideal brand status without increasing aesthetic emphasis.

No ham, no ladies and no sex: Examining the cross cultural differences in Gangnam Style parodies on YouTube • Julie Jones, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication; Amanda Kehrberg, The University of Oklahoma; Sang Chon Kim, University of Oklahoma; Joonil Kim, Gaylord college of the University of Oklahoma; Khalaf Tahat, University of Oklahoma • Castells (2009) conceptualizes the shift in media production as a change from mass media communication model to a mass self-communication model. Although sites like YouTube afford individuals a global platform, producers are still situated within certain geographical and social-psychological cultures. This study centered on visual artifacts within Gangnam Style parody videos to investigate the influence of the producers’ culture on representations of women and sex. Given that Arabic videos, in particular, were often completely void of sex and women, re-conceptualizing the “global village” nature of social media production is needed.

Susanne Langer: Expresses Knowledge of Feelings • Keith Kenney; Katherine LaPrad, University of South Carolina • This paper answers the question: How can we use Langer’s philosophical writings to build theories of multimedia communication? It explains her idea that knowledge is based upon multimodal images rather than words, numbers, or the results of scientific research. It also explains the difference between words and pictures. It explains how we use presentational symbols, or artworks, to express feeling. Finally, the paper explains how different art genres create different sensory illusions.

Captured in the grid: Raising more attention with the rule of thirds? • Michael Koliska; Soo-Kwang Oh • The rule of thirds is a widely used composition principle in photography. But despite the growing importance of photos and videos in the news media there is little to no known research that has tested the rule’s effectiveness to raise attention and limit cognitive load of information processing. This exploratory study suggests that the rule of thirds can serve as visual guideline that will enhance the ease of information processing and thus make images more salient to the observer.

Promoting places: Schema complexity and valence elicited by country logos for tourism • Suman Lee; Lulu Rodriguez; Sela Sar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • This study examined the influence of tourism logo design on people’s cognitive responses. In an online survey, undergraduate students were exposed to the tourism logos of Australia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Kenya, Latvia, and Malawi. The results showed that the logos of Australia and Indonesia elicited high schema complexity and positive valence among college students. The logos of Kenya and Mongolia rated high in schema complexity, but produced a negative valence. Malawi and Latvia elicited low schema complexity, but a positive valence. The findings suggest that effective meaning creation can overcome deficiencies in logo design.

How photo editors perceive and evaluate photographs submitted by citizen journalists: A national survey • Eun Jeong Lee • This study examined how U.S. photo editors at daily newspapers perceive and evaluate photographs submitted by citizen journalists. A national survey’s findings suggest that more than half of all photo editors publish the photographs 1 or 2 days a week while the most common reason was citizens covered the news. Newsworthiness played the most important roles in news selection. Breaking or spot news was the predominant type of photographs selected by photo editors.

Photo Sharing Not Photojournalism: the Problem of Visual Journalism as User-Generated Content • Mary Lou Nemanic, Pennsylvania State University • While digital technology and the Internet have popularized photo sharing, online citizen-generated news images have been relatively rare. This paper argues that photo sharing is ritual communication functioning as a visual diary or a way of connecting with friends and relatives, and that its popularity lies in its intent to socialize; while photojournalism’s intent to inform large, virtually unknown audiences is more difficult and less appealing.

Big Bird, Binders, and Bayonets: The Persuasive Power of Social Media Visual Narratives in the 2012 Presidential Campaign • Janis Teruggi Page, Florida Institute of Technology; Margaret Duffy, U of Missouri • In 2012, a Web-empowered community interrogated U.S. presidential campaign messaging and articulated responses through visual imagery that spread throughout the Internet and into major media outlets. This study analyzes how Internet memes appropriated candidates’ brand narratives, first using Fantasy Theme Analysis to examine the Obama and Romney Twitter and Facebook images during the most heated period of campaigning, and then applying Durand’s rhetorical matrix to the most popular candidate images and citizen-generated memes.

Visual Propaganda in the Age of Social Media: Twitter Images During 2012 Israeli-Hamas Conflict • Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas • This study analyzed images posted to Twitter by the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas’ Alqassam Brigades during the November 2012 Gaza conflict to understand aspects of visual propaganda in the age of social media. Visual content analysis was conducted to identify themes and frames prominently appearing in 243 Twitter images posted by the two parties during a two-month period. Results showed statistically significant differences between Israel and Hamas in terms of themes and frames.

The advertised images of women in the early to middle 20th century Macau • Zhen Sun • This paper applies the visual social semiotic approach to analyze the women’s images represented in the advertisements for the mooncake and the firecracker in the early to middle 20th century Macau. The study finds that the image producers manipulate the semiotic resources into different representational and interactive structures and create two types of women images: the role model targeted to the women consumers of mooncakes and the desire elicitor targeted to the men consumers of firecrackers.

Music Videos: The Evolved Look of the Sound • Marilyn Terzic, Université du Québec à Montréal • This research examines the aesthetic consequences of digitally distributed music video content. To that end, the ways in which the affective and conative dimensions of music videos are used to generate increased album sales are described, and the means by which diverse perceptual tactics are employed to promote the vested interests of the artist and record label are discussed.

Dichotomous Nature of Preference for Visual Complexity • Zongyuan Wang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Brittany Duff, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign; Jen Moss, University of Illinois • This study re-examined as well as extended previous work on people’s preference for visual complexity through a generalizable sample (N=504). Findings suggest maximal threshold for complexity preference as well as stability of preference within groups that prefer distinct levels of complexity. Item-specific and relational variety indicate the dichotomous nature of of complexity preference.Implications for visual communication are discussed.

The Impact of Navigability on Flow-like Experiences and User Enjoyment of Online Art Exhibitions • Bo Zhang, Penn State University; Michael Marcinkowski, Penn State University; Youngjoon Choi • With the development of new modes of web interface and 3D virtual environment, the concept of navigability is considered an important element to understand users’ experience with the interface. Particularly in the context of virtual art galleries, navigability can influence users’ level of immersive and enjoyable experience of artworks. Responding to the conflicting evidence showing both positive and negative effects of higher navigability on the evaluation of online art exhibitions, this study examines the impact of navigability on flow-like experiences (i.e., skill-challenge match, immersion) and user enjoyment and behavioral intention. Thirty-five undergraduate students participated in a between-subjects experimental study with two conditions (2D interface for low navigability vs. 3D interface for high navigability). Participants in the low navigability condition reported lower levels of skill-challenge match and higher levels of immersion and enjoyment than those in the high navigability condition. Also, we found that immersion, not a skill-challenge match, mediated the effect of navigability on enjoyment which led to behavioral intention. Based on the findings, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

<<2013 Abstracts

The Legend that fell from his Bicycle: The Effects of Fanship on Athlete Support and Non-Profit Giving • Greg Armfield, New Mexico State University; Kristina Drumheller; R. Nicholas Gerlich; Enyonam Osei-Hwere, West Texas A & M University; Emily Kinsky • Once the most famous cyclist in America Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong Foundation, which he founded have suffered a fall from grace in recent months. Lance Armstrong after years of denial has admitted to using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) and was asked by his Livestrong Foundation to resign from Chairman of the Board, and later resign from the Board. Now with out their iconic leader this study explored the current perceptions of Lance Armstrong and the Armstrong foundation as well as contemplating the foundations future.

From Pride to Smugness and the Nationalism Between: Olympic Media Consumption Effects on Nationalism Across the Globe • Andrew Billings, University of Alabama; Natalie Brown, University of Alabama; Kenon Brown, University of Alabama; Qing Guo, Chengdu Sport University; Mark Leeman, Northern Kentucky University; Simon Licen, Washington State University; David Novak, Erasmus University; David Rowe, University of Western Sydney • To measure the effects of Olympic media viewing, six nations (Australia, Bulgaria, China, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United States) were surveyed in the five days immediately after the 2012 London Olympics. A total of 1,025 respondents answered questions pertaining to four measures of nationalism: patriotism, nationalism, internationalism, and smugness. Amount of Olympic viewing resulted in significantly higher scores for patriotism, nationalism, and smugness, but not internationalism. Additionally, differences by nation are reported, revealing considerable differences in nationalism measures among the six nations studied; for instance, the United States was the lowest of the six nations regarding internationalism, yet highest of the six nations regarding smugness. Conclusions related to cultivation theory and the role of Olympic media content are offered.

When Crises Change the Game: Establishing a Theory of Sports Crisis Communication • Natalie Brown, University of Alabama; Kenon Brown, University of Alabama • In order to conduct a proper evaluation of sports-related crises, scholars have called for a sports-specific crisis communication theory that moves beyond the corporate focus of Coombs’ (2012) Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the individual focus of Benoit’s (1995) Image Repair Theory. Coombs’ (2012) SCCT includes three vital parts that are used to systematically evaluate crisis response: (1) a list of crisis types that are grouped by the level of responsibility attributed to each; (2) a list of possible crisis response strategies, (3) a theoretical link between the two lists. Thus, this study used two questionnaires to formulate three different clusters of sports crises that encompassed twelve different crisis types: Environmental/Individual Crises (low crisis responsibility), Rules and Norms Violations (moderate crisis responsibility), and Organizational Mismanagement (strong crisis responsibility). These clusters provide the necessary foundation for a sports-specific crisis communication theory by evaluating the level of organizational blame that exists when a crisis occurs.

Does Culture Matter in Sport? The Moderating Role of Cultural Identity in Self-Expressive Identification and Sport Engagement • Kuan-Ju Chen, University of Georgia; Joe Phua, University of Georgia • This research examines and extends the literature of sport fandom and self-expressive identification with cultural identity among Asian sports fans. Study 1 tested the moderating role of cultural identity between player identification and team identification. Study 2 examined sports fans’ perception of sponsor-player fit and positive brand outcomes. The synthesis of both studies contributes to establishing the “fan psychology” of Asian sports consumers who identify with Asian athletes and its impact on their buying behavior.

Intermedia Attribute Agenda-Setting in the Newspaper of Record: Horse-Racing Coverage in 2012 • Bryan Denham • In 2012 the New York Times published a series of investigative reports addressing doping and fatal breakdowns in U.S. horse racing. This study examined the extent to which the Times transferred the salience of certain story attributes to regional and national news outlets. In addition to the Times itself, national news organizations included the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, as well as CNN, NBC and NPR, with regional coverage coming from the Albuquerque Journal. Among national news outlets, reports appearing after the Times began its investigation were significantly more likely to mention (a) an injured or deceased horse, (b) equine drug use, and (c) a suspension or disciplinary action taken against one or more individuals associated with horse racing. The study concludes that, in addition to its capacity to transfer object salience, the New York Times also stands to affect how other news organizations characterize issues and events.

Practicing promotion: A case study of a professional athlete’s Twitter use • Jason Genovese, Bloomsburg University of PA • This case study focuses on NFL star Darrelle Revis’ use of Twitter. Revis mainly devoted tweets to interacting with fans, friends and other athletes and to promoting his brand and that of his main sponsor, Nike. While this study extends the definition of what constitutes a promotional tweet, it also suggests that professional athletes may be overlooking Twitter’s value as a way to bypass traditional sports media for the purposes of sharing information.

The Essence of Social Media Strategy in Big 10 Athletic Departments: A Phenomenological Approach • Makayla Hipke; Frauke Hachtmann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • This phenomenological study used a qualitative approach to develop an understanding of the essence of social media strategy developed and deployed in Big 10 athletic departments. In particular, this study attempted to understand what the participants experienced with the phenomenon and how they experienced it. The sample included four Big 10 athletic department officials that held social media leadership positions in their respective programs. The data consisted of in-depth interviews, which were analyzed using a phenomenological approach, consisting of horizontalization, clusters of meaning, textural and structural descriptions, and a narrative of the essence of the phenomenon. Six themes emerged, including (1) connecting with target audiences, (2) varied approaches in coordination of postings, (3) athletic communication as content gatekeepers, (4) desire to incorporate sponsors and generate revenue, (5) focusing on building loyalty through engagement, and (6) challenges of negativity and metrics.

More of a Numbers Game than Ever? A Longitudinal Examination of the Change in Frequency, Type, and Presentation Form of Statistics Used in NFL Broadcasts • Dustin Hahn; Matthew VanDyke, Texas Tech University • Though there remains great interest in the structure of sports media, no study has examined the use of statistics within these broadcasts. This study examines NFL broadcasts across its 50 year history in order to identify changes in frequency, type, and presentation form. The study revealed an emphasis on individual player statistics and recognized an increase in on-screen graphics while noticing a decrease in aural references among other results. Implications are discussed.

Diversifying the sports department and covering women’s sports: A survey of sports editors • Marie Hardin, Penn State University; Pamela Laucella, Indiana University; Steve Bien-Aime, Penn State University; Dunja Antunovic, Pennsylvania State University • This study involves a survey of sports editors about gender-related issues in hiring and coverage. The results suggest that the values and beliefs of sports editors have shifted over the past decade in ways that could lead to more opportunity for women as journalists and to eventual improvements in coverage of female athletes and women’s sports. They also suggest when sports editors commit to hiring women, they find women who can move up and become leaders.

Sports and Gangs: The Color-Blind Construction of Deviant Blackness in Sports Illustrated and CBS News • Justin Hudson, University of Maryland, College Park • This project critically analyzes a joint report by CBS News and Sports Illustrated on the issue of gangs and sports. Far from informing the public on the dangers of street gangs and their perverse influence on high school and college sports, the report serves as an example of how African American male athletes are stereotyped as deviant without the use of overt racial language.

How the Cleveland Call & Post Framed LeBron James Before and After The Decision • Paul Husselbee, Southern Utah University; Ray Jones, Southern Utah University • Using framing as a theoretical framework, this study focuses on how the Cleveland Call & Post portrayed LeBron James both before and after he announced his decision to leave Cleveland for the Miami Heat in 2010. The study aims is to determine whether the black press framed James with a valence that was favorable, neutral, or unfavorable, and to determine to what extent, if any, the black press maintained its traditional role as black advocate.

From bad buck to White hope: Mediating Sonny Liston, 1958-1965 • Phillip Hutchison, University of Kentucky • This study illustrates how mainstream journalists employed racial stereotypes to depict controversial African American boxer Sonny Liston in the early 1960s. The historical-critical analysis employs Raymond Williams’ theory of hegemony to account for the vacillating media portrayals of the boxer over time, particularly before and after Muhammad Ali emerged as a social problem for White America. This perspective highlights both the practices and the social fissures that defined sports and media promotions during that era.

Sports Spectatorship and Mood – Analyzing the Impact of Televised Sports on Viewers’ Mood and Judgments • Johannes Knoll, Würzburg University; Christiana Schallhorn, Würzburg University; Holger Schramm • Feelings evoked by watching sport television influence viewers’ judgments, following feeling-as-information theory. The present study investigates mood effects of viewing televised football FIFA World Cup games on personal as well as economic estimations of viewers. A quasi-experimental design was employed, assessing moods and estimations of viewers before and after a win and a defeat of the German national team. The results support feeling-as-information theory, as viewers reported enhanced mood and estimations after watching the victory.

Was Jackie Robinson Signed to Right a 40-Year Wrong? • Chris Lamb, Indiana University-Indianapolis • On October 23, 1945, the Montreal Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ AAA team, announced it had signed Jackie Robinson, ending professional baseball’s color line. Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn president, said that he had given a lot of thought to racial discrimination since his days coaching baseball at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1903. Rickey recalled that during one road trip to South Bend, Indiana, a hotel clerk denied the team’s black ballplayer, Charles “Tommie” Thomas, a room. Rickey asked if the ballplayer would be allowed to sleep on a cot in his room. Later that evening, Rickey saw Thomas rubbing his skin, tearfully saying, “Black skin. Black skin. If only I could make them white. Rickey said the scene haunted him and he vowed he would sign blacks if given the opportunity. Did the South Bend incident really happen? How was Thomas treated as a black player at Ohio Wesleyan? More importantly, why did Rickey wait 40 years to right a wrong? This paper looks at Rickey’s claim by determining that his interest in confronting racism was indeed long standing. In addition, Rickey may have rarely, if ever, mentioned Thomas to reporters in the decades preceding the signing of Robinson, the ballplayer was more than a passing acquaintance in Rickey’s long and significant life. The research for this paper comes from newspaper and magazine articles, biographies, and, from Ohio Wesleyan University archives, including newspaper coverage of Thomas between 1903-1906 in the college’s newspaper, the Transcript.

“Talent Wins Games, But Teamwork Wins Championships”: The Effects of Cross-Border Strategic Brand Alliance on Sports Brand Evaluation • Jin Kyun Lee, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Taesoo Ahn, Merrimack College; Wei-Na Lee, The University of Texas at Austin • This experimental study examines the effects of country-of-origin (COO) fit on consumers’ attitudes toward sports brands in cross-border strategic brand alliance (SBA). Cross-border SBA positively influenced attitudes toward the partner in low COO fit condition. In high COO fit condition, support for the effect of cross-border SBA was found for the partner brand, not the host brand. This study finds that cross-border SBA is helpful for the partner brand in enhancing brand attitudes.

God’s (White) Quarterback: Tim Tebow, Religion and Enduring News Values • Michael Mirer, University of Wisconsin • Quarterback Tim Tebow “led the league in controversy” during 2011, a distinction often credited to controversy about his very public faith. This paper argues that Tebow’s faith was less a factor in the coverage than his status as a symbolic representation of conservative white racial identity. Using Gans’ enduring values in news coverage, it argues that Tebow tapped into a version of “small-town pastoralism” that accompanied political shifts in the U.S. since the 1970s.

What Sports Journalism Scholars Need to Know: Four Areas of Student-Athlete Privacy Invasion • Sada Reed, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper explains the laws that have been applied to four common types of student-athlete privacy invasions: Education records, names or likenesses, surveillance, and forced disclosures of information. By understanding how the law has been applied to these cases, sports journalism scholars can better understand how student-athlete privacy invasion cases will be interpreted in future cases. This is of particular interest, as technological advances may result in new legal and ethical challenges. Covering these events may be problematic for journalists if they do not understand how the law has been applied in the past.

Running With Social Media: Social Media Use, Athletic Identity, and Perceived Competence • Joanne Romero; Thomas Kelleher • Applying theory from communication and sport psychology, this study identified relationships between social media use and other factors related to marathon running. Dual samples of marathoners were surveyed. Results indicated social media use and athletic identity were correlated, and both factors were associated with observability of peers’ marathon activity via social media. Observability correlated with perceived competence, but perceived competence did not correlate significantly with actual competence. A model for future research is proposed.

From Yellow to Blue: Exploring Lance Armstrong’s Self-Presentation on Twitter • Marion Hambrick, University of Louisville; Evan Frederick, University of Southern Indiana; Jimmy Sanderson, Clemson Universityh • This research explored how cyclist Lance Armstrong used Twitter to self-present during 2012, a turbulent year in his career, as he was subjected to investigations from cycling governing bodies. Armstrong’s tweets during 2012 were subjected to a thematic analysis. Results indicated that Armstrong’s self-presentation allowed his followers to see his athletic commitment, personality, and advocacy efforts. The results suggest that athletes and celebrities who display a multi-faceted self-presentation embolden identification and attachment with followers and introduce competing media narratives surrounding their identity.

Welcome to the Big Leagues: An Examination of the Sports Homepage Content Architecture of Large-Market News Organizations • Tim Wulfemeyer, Amy Schmitz Weiss • This study examines the content architecture of the sports homepages of large-market news media organizations to determine what online features (multimedia, interactivity, social media) are being used to attract and inform audiences. Results show that newspapers and television stations are using multimedia, interactivity, and social media more than radio stations; however, the majority of the news media organizations are not maximizing the use and potential of such features.

Brand New Game: An Exploratory Study of How Sports Reporters are Using Social Media to Create a Personal Brand • Brad Schultz, University of Mississippi; Mary Lou Sheffer, University of Southern Mississippi • A theory of branding was applied to see if conditions exist for sports reporters to brand themselves separate from their media outlets. A questionnaire was sent to sports reporters (and non-sports reporters) to measure their attitudes related to branding. Results indicated that sports reporters place a high value on branding. Relevant findings include an emphasis on uniqueness to create a personal brand, and the need for media outlets to become more proactive with social media.

Post, Post, Post for the Home Team: Incentives for Beginning and Continuing Discussion in Baseball Blogs • Aaron Veenstra • Sports fan blogs provide key new outlets for fan engagement with live games and with each other. This study examines how and how much fans became engaged with discussion of live baseball games in 2012, across 16 SBNation.com blogs. Three areas of influence are examined – team-related and schedule-related pre-game factors, and in-game factors. Results show team success and weekday game attract new discussion participants, while high scoring and weekend games prompt the most extensive participation.

The tweet life of Erin and Kirk: A gendered analysis of professional sports broadcasters’ self-presentation on Twitter • Melinda Weathers, Clemson University; Jimmy Sanderson, Clemson Universityh; Pauline Matthey; Alexia Grevious; Maggie Tehan; Samantha Warren • Social media has been embraced by the sports world at an extraordinary pace, and as such, has become a way for sports broadcasters to redefine their roles as celebrities. However, given the gender bias inherent in sports, it is plausible that differences exist between female and male sports broadcasters’ self-presentation on Twitter. This study employed content analyses, guided by Goffman’s (1959) seminal theory of self-presentation to compare Erin Andrews and Kirk Herbstreit’s tweets during the 2012-2013 college football season. Findings indicate that both broadcasters self-presentation fell along traditional gender lines as Andrews primarily discussed personal aspects, whereas Herbstreit largely provided sports-related commentary and analysis. The results suggest that although Twitter provides an avenue for female sports broadcasters to break down gender barriers, it currently serves to reify their roles in sports broadcasts.

Shut out by coaches • Scott Winter, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Sports editors, columnists and beat reporters from newspapers who cover football teams from major Bowl Championship Series conferences find their access to players and coaches diminishing or diminishing dramatically since they began their careers. Though they attribute limited access to many factors – from the exclusive access of television contracts and in-house university media to the influx of nontraditional media and general media-relations interference – the journalists primarily blame their inability to do their jobs effectively on coaches. Some of them believe in fighting back, particularly at public institutions, but others argue that newspaper journalists must simply get more creative. In an exploratory study, this paper seeks to find the causes of access problems for newspaper sports journalists and start a conversation about possible solutions.

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Coping with smart phones ‘distractions’ in a college classroom • Kehbuma Langmia, Bowie State University; Amy Glass, John Hopkins • The influx of smart phones in most college classroom is impacting instruction in a way that was never anticipated. Thus, a survey of full-time faculty members at a local university in the United States was conducted to test three hypotheses, followed by a one-on-one interview with a random sample of the same respondents to ascertain the overall effect of smart phones in the classroom. Results showed conflicting approaches by faculty on how to handle the situation. While some faculty members use smart phones for pedagogic reasons and experience positive results, most of them apply strict classroom phone policy with little success. Thus, a university social media tolerant policy for everyone to abide by in the 21st century seems to be the solution.

Teach thyself: The surest path to digital literacy • Yunjuan Luo; Randy Reddick, Texas Tech University; Sha Li • This pilot study examines digital literacy models suggested by recent scholarship and offers a refined theoretical model for understanding three dimensions of digital literacy. Involving 207 college students, the study found that students were digitally savvy but did not apply their expertise toward social or political participation. Students whose digital learning was self-taught scored significantly higher on digital literacy measures than those who relied more on school, friends, or family to gain digital literacy.

Multimedia Journalism Professors on an Island: Resources, Support Lacking at Small Programs • Elia Powers, University of Maryland-College Park; Jacqueline Incollingo, University of Maryland • This study examines how multimedia journalism professors at small and large programs assess the resources and support they receive, as well as their pedagogical challenges. In-depth interviews revealed that multimedia professors often operate in isolation from their colleagues. Professors from small programs were far likelier to report being hampered by lack of institutional resources and teaching a subject matter that is separate from the interests and knowledge of colleagues rooted in traditional journalism production.

Preparing Students for New Challenges: A Learner-Centered Approach for the 21st Century Journalism Education • Mohammad Yousuf, University of Oklahoma • This theoretical paper summarizes the scholarly and professional discussions on how journalism should be taught in the 21st century. It compares and contrasts theories and models of journalism education with Weimer’ (2002) perspective on teaching. Learner-centered teaching is proposed as a helpful approach to make journalism education more dynamic and meet the demands of the new environment. Finally, it discussed applications of five learner-centered teaching techniques to journalism education.

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