Mass Communication and Society Division

Voter’s Election Involvement and Media Attention: Intention to Vote Commitment to a Candidate, and Partisanship • Soontae An, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Newspaper Consumption and Beliefs about Canada and Quebec • Michael Antecol and James W. Endersby, Missouri • This research examines the linkage between types of newspapers read by Canadians and individual feelings toward Quebec and Canada. A regression model, controlling for demographic characteristics and socioeconomic indicators, reveals that consumers of French language newspapers have significantly more positive feelings toward the province of Quebec and more negative assessments of the nation of Canada. Reader of (English-language) nationally-oriented papers, however, have more favorable views of Quebec that other Canadians.

Taking Liberties: Crystal Eastman, Media Ethics and the Exercise of a Free Press • Amy Beth Aronson, New York • Crystal Eastman (1881-1928) was a labor attorney, peace attorney, peace activist, radical organizer, and journalist whose work engaged virtually every major social movement of the twentieth century feminism, antimilitarism, socialism, and civil rights. Although less famous than her editor brother, the radical Max Eastman, Crystal Eastman drafted New York State’s first worker’s compensation law in 1910, was a founder of the American Union Against Militarism in 1914, was president of the Women’s Peace Party of New York in 1917, was co-owner and Managing Editor of the radical magazine, The Liberator (1918-24), and was instrumental in founder the Civil Liberties Bureau, which in 1920 became the ACLU.

Marketing A Movement: Media Relations Strategies of the Gay and Lesbian Movement • Jane R. Ballinger, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona • This study documents via content analysis changes in news media coverage of gay and lesbian marches on Washington, D.C. in 1987 and 1993. Interviews with movement leaders reveal that increased prioritization of and sophistication in the movement’s media relations strategies in the time period between the marches contributed to improved news media coverage of the movement. The study also considers additional factors that may have contributed to improvements in news coverage of the movement over time.

Talk Radio as Forum and Companion: Listener Attitudes and Uses and Gratifications in Austin, Texas • John Beatty, North Carolina-Pembroke • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Poor Vision of Intelligence: The Very White, Very Male, and Very Professional World of Jeopardy! • Joseph P. Bernt, Ohio University • When FCC chairman Newton Minow described television as “a vast wasteland” in the early 1960s, perhaps he did not foresee or understand the social and cultural impact television would have on our society. Indeed, many critics of television have used terms such as the “boob tube” or “plug-in drug” to describe what they believed was a detrimental addition to society. Too often such critics fail to deal with the simple reality • good or bad, welcomed or unwelcomed • that television has become as central to American life as the automobile or telephone.

Intermedia Agenda Setting in the 1996 Presidential Election • Thomas P. Boyle, Susquehanna University • This study on the network news coverage across two time periods during the 1996 presidential election. Results from a content analysis of 116 political advertisements, 818 newspaper stories, and 101 network news stories found support for the belief that advertising influences the prominence of an issue within network newscasts, but not in the overall time devoted to it. Also, findings suggest prestige newspapers play a role in determining what issues lead television newscasts.

Auto Elite and Agenda-Setting: How the Auto Elite Set the Trade Policy Agenda? • Kuang-Kuo Chang, Oregon • The automotive industry leaders were illustrated through a descriptive content analysis as the agenda-setters for U.S. newspapers on their news coverage of the auto trade conflict between American and Japan. The study reveals that Lee Iacocca, alongside other auto elite, set the agenda for the New York Times and the Detroit News, both of which rely heavily upon these auto elite, and through them, U.S. presidents, Congressmen and U.S. Trade Representatives as the Primary news sources.

Television Viewing and Aliens’ Perceptions of the United States • Xueyi Chen, Syracuse University • The effects of television viewing have been the subject of communication research for many decades. Does television viewing truly influence individuals’ perception of social reality? Is the medium or the system the message (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan & Signorielli, 1994)? Do relationships between television viewing and conceptions vary according to audience from different cultures? Are there any contributions of television to viewers’ conceptions of social reality relatively “global” (Morgan, 1990).

Print Mass Media Coverage of the Promise Keepers: The First Five Years • Dane Claussen, Georgia • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Thoughtful Self-Critique of Journalistic Cannibalism? International Press Coverage of Princess Diana’s Death • Martin Eichholz, Syracuse University • This study focused on the unexplored field of media self-critique and used the news coverage of Britain’s Princess Diana’s death to analyze differences between elite papers and tabloids as well as differences between German and US papers. Results show that elite papers’ coverage was more likely to focus on the media’s role and more likely to critique the media than the tabloids’ coverage. No significant differences were found between German and US papers regarding the amount of media critique they provided in their coverage.

Sex and Lies in the White House: How Journalists Wrote Themselves into the Story • Elizabeth Fakazis and Adrienne Russell, Indiana • Coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky story instigated a wave of media criticism by journalists, journalism professors, and journalists-turned critics. This study examines how those connected with the profession explained, defended or criticized their performance to the public and each other in news stories. These stories fall within the dominant discourse of journalistic professionalism, confirming the professional status of journalism and efficacy of the norms and standards already in place.

Premodernism: Aristotle and Diana • Bob Frank, Berry College • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Can Social Comparison Theory Explain Fascination with TV Talk Shows? • Cynthia M. Frisby, Missouri • Mass Media commentaries suggest that television talk shows are dramatically increasing and have become quite popular with American viewers. Despite the public’s interest in TV talk shows, mass media researchers have paid little attention to assessing the short-term and long-term effects of watching these programs. I is hypothesized that self-enhancement or feeling better about oneself and one’s life may be a reason people watch what some consider to be trashy, morbid TV programs.

Agenda-Setting and Spanish Cable News • Salma I. Ghanem, Texas-Pan American and Wayne Wanta, Oregon • A survey conducted in a highly Hispanic area examined whether exposure to Spanish-language cable news had an agenda-setting effect. Results show that level of exposure was associated with agenda-setting effects for Spanish cable news, but perceived media credibility and media reliance were not related to the strength of agenda-setting effects. Exposure, credibility and reliance were not associated with agenda-setting effects for English-language newscasts — perhaps because English-speakers had more news options in our survey area.

Reporters’ Politics and Their Use of Political Sources in State Government Reporting • Eileen Gilligan, Wisconsin-Madison • This study examines the relationship between statehouse newspaper reporters and their sources. A content analysis was conducted using a total sample of 864 articles written by 28 reporters in four states. The reporters also were surveyed. No significant relationships were found between reporters’ political orientations and their use of political sources. However, reporters were found to use more sources that supported the status quo, specifically the political party in power in each state.

Do Social Norms and Media Coverage Influence Illicit Drug Trial Among College Students? Implications for Media Practitioners and Drug Educators • Alyse R. Gotthoffer, Florida • Illicit drug use by college students is hardly a recent phenomenon. According to an annual survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 31.4% of full-time college students had tried an illicit drug in the past year (1994). The most prevalent of these drugs was marijuana, followed by hallucinogens, LSD, and stimulants, respectively. In addition, 16% of these students had used an illicit drug in the previous 30 days (1994).

Explicating Sensationalism in Television News: Content and the Bells and Whistles of Form • Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Shuhua Zhou and Brooke Barnett, Indiana • Sensationalism in journalism has been a popular topic of fiery discussions for centuries. Yet, it appears that this topic is more often debated than systematically investigated. Indeed, the word sensationalism has become an easy name-calling device for those who are in the mood for criticizing the mass media. Even in academic circles the term has been used with little precision. The notion of sensationalism is in desperate need of explication.

Journalistic and Humanist Approaches: Movie Reviews in The New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly • James Kendrick, Baylor University • This study compared reviews of 15 movies in Entertainment Weekly and The New Yorker to determine whether they used a journalistic or humanist approach, according to Bywater and Sobchack (1989). Using content analysis, the researcher coded for humanist mentions in eight major categories. The results showed that both magazines employed the journalistic approach in the majority of their reviews, which meant they concentrated more on describing facts about the movies rather than interpreting humanist traits.

Poll Wars in 1996 Presidential Election: Did the Pollsters Fail? • Hyun K. Kim, Wisconsin-Stevens Point • In the 1996 U.S. presidential election, most of the pre-election polls gave President Clinton a double-digit lead over the GOP candidate Bob Dole. The polls, with one exception, overestimated Clinton’s actual eight percentage point margin. Even though error margins were factored in, most of the pre-election polls were hardly accurate in the public’s eyes. This study compared polls with the actual results, examining the sampling errors and nonsampling errors that affected the election projections.

Willingness to Censor: Developing a Quantitative Measurement Across Speech Categories and Types of Media • Jennifer L. Lambe, Minnesota • Previous research about individual attitudes towards free expression focuses either on one category of speech (like pornography), or treats expression as a single concept. The “Willingness to Censor” scale measures across seven speech categories, and seven types of media. Subjects respond to 49 scenarios, each incorporating a unique combination of speech category and medium. From this scale, it is possible to generate an overall willingness to censor score, and subscores for each category and medium.

Answering the Critics: Are News Councils Out to Get the Media? • Jennifer L. Lambe, Genelle I. Belmas and William A. Babcock, Minnesota • Nearly 15 years after the demise of the National News Council, there is a renewed debate about the need to establish some similar mechanism for handling public complaints against the media. Recent discussions reveal that there are still strong reservations on the part of many members of the news media. This paper addresses the question of whether news councils are a forum for media-bashing, using the records of the Minnesota News Council as a case study.

The Framing of Title IX: A Textual Analysis of The New York Times and The Washington Post, 1971-1975 • Julie B. Lane, Alexandria, VA • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Distinction and Integration: Socio-Demographic Determinants of Newspaper Reading in the U.S.A. and Germany, 1974-96 • Edmund Lauf and Klaus Schoenback, Germany; Jack M. McLeod and Dietram A. Scheufele, Wisconsin-Madison • Who reads daily newspapers in the U.S.A. and in Germany? Inspite of a steady decline of newspaper reading, its socio-demographic determinants have been surprisingly stable in each of the countries since the mid-1970s. A long-term comparative analysis of audience data suggests that newspapers serve different cultural functions: In the U.S.A., they seem to be an instrument of social distinction, in (West) Germany additionally one of social integration.

Constructing ‘Public Personage’: A Strategy of the Korean Press for a Safeguard Against Libel Suits • Jae-Jin Lee and Jongbae Hong, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale • There is no doubt that the Korea press has been enjoying its “golden age” due to the sweeping democratization that began at the end of 1987. For the last decade, Korean press had expanded to a great extent, at least before Korean society was strongly struck by economic crisis in 1997. By the end of 1996, the number of daily newspapers increased to 282, which is nearly ten times as many as that in 1987.

The Use and Abuse of Media-Sponsored Opinion Polls in Two Presidential Campaigns: A Critical Analysis of Network TV News and Six Prestige Print Media • Dennis T. Lowry and Josephine Nio, Southern Illinois University • This study is the first longitudinal critical analysis of media-sponsored opinion polls by three different categories of prestige new media network TV, newspapers and news magazines. Poll stories from Campaign ‘92 and Campaign ‘96 were analyzed for conformity to AAPOR disclosure standards, and also for eight additional types of reporting/interpretation errors. Both the number of poll stories and the quality of poll stories was down in Campaign ‘96. Newspapers were the clear winner in conforming to AAPOR disclosure standards, and TV networks were the clear loser.

What’s in a Name Foreign Names and Their Influence on Perceived Reporter Credibility • Charles M. Mayo, Louisiana State University • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Adolescence, Advertising, and the Menstrual Taboo • Debra Merskin, Oregon • Beliefs surrounding menstruation contribute to adolescent girls’ self-image in modern society. A content analysis shows that advertising in Seventeen and Teen continues to depict menstruation as a “hygienic crisis.” The findings suggest that not only do the ads carry messages from the past about cleanliness based on taboos, but also contribute to girls’ feelings about their bodies. This is important to researchers and consumers given that advertising is an important agent of socialization for adolescent girls.

Television Use and Social Capital: Testing Putnam’s Time Displacement Hypothesis • Patricia Moy, Dietram A. Scheufele and R. Lance Holberts, Wisconsin-Madison • Robert Putnam (1995a, 1995b) has charged that telecision is the driving force behind America’s decline in social capital. He argues that television viewing has privatized our leisure time, thus inhibiting participation outside the homes. However, Putna’s time displacement hypothesis has never been tested. We empirically examine the extent to which television reduces social capital through time displacement. Analyses of data from a Midwestern city (n=416) did not support the time displacement hypothesis; time spent with television did not affect civic engagement through perceptions of time pressure.

The Value of the Journalistic Identity on the World Wide Web • Ekaterina Ognianova, Southwest Texas State University • An experiment found that content providers on the Web associated with journalism, e.g., an online newspaper or television network online, were perceived as most credible, compared to a content provider that had nothing to do with journalism but was delivering news and an unidentified content provider. In content providers that had a journalistic identity, stories and ads were perceived as most credible. Stories were liked the most and likelihood of subscribing was the highest in the newspaper as perceived source.

Audience Responses to Mediated Terror: TV Coverage of the Ottawa Incident • Allen W. Palmer, Brigham Young University • Broadcast news reports of a hostage incident in Ottawa, Canada, are used in this experimental study to explore the question of how a media audience makes sense of mediated terrorism. The deliberate engagement of the news media by a terrorist nominally suggests control (top-down) of the construction of social meaning. Yet, meaning is sometimes seen as audience-centered as individuals draw upon idiosyncratic knowledge to make sense of news reports. Subjects (N=175) watched video reports of a hostage incident and then recorded responses.

Perceptions of Traditional American Journalists Toward the Internet as a News Source: A Critical Approach • Thomas E. Ruggiero, Bowling Green State University • This study examines, from a critical perspective, the perception of traditional American journalists toward the Internet as a news source. Specifically, it argues that because traditional American journalists are socialized both ideologically and professionally into the dominant ideology, many are refusing to share their elite positions as disseminators of news with the Internet. Analyzed data from the Lexis-Nexis database and American journalism review magazines indicates that a concerted effort by traditional American journalists to Repair the elite new paradigm against incursion by the Internet is occurring.

Social Reality Effects of the Mass Media: The Case of the Aum Shinrikyo Affair in Japan • Shinichi Saito, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and Miki Kawabata, Fukushima College for Women • The Aum Shinrikyo cult affair got massive mass media coverage in 1995. However, the media was severely criticized for its exaggerated and biased reports. This study examined the impact of the media coverage of the Aum issues on audiences. The results showed that the more respondents were exposed to the media coverage, the more they felt social anxiety or the worse their images of new religions becomes. Their implications for the cultivation perspective were discussed.

A Case Study: Daily Newspaper Editors’ Audience Construction Routines • Randall S. Sumpter, Texas A&M University • Media ethnographers have documented a variety of work routines used by reporters to establish the newsworthiness of events of persons in their negotiations with editors and sources. Less work has been devoted to the work routines of editors. In this case study of editors at a large daily newspaper, the observer identified several routines used by editors to socially construct substitute audiences and to reach marketing decisions about what stories should be offered to them.

Participation in Community Organizations and Consumption of TV and Newspaper News • Esther Thorson and Glenn Leshner, Missouri-Columbia • This study examined how habitual and “special” news consumption was related to three measures important for indexing how people are integrated with their own communities: participation in community organizations, voting, and knowledge about issues and occurrences important to their community. The hypothesis that news consumption is an important variable in how people relate to their communities was tested in five U.S. cities, each of which had experienced some kind of news media intervention (i.e., the “special news”).

Actual and Perceived Media Bias in Presidential Campaigns: Explaining Public Perceptions of a Liberal Press • Mark D. Watts, David Domke, Dhavan V. Shah and David P. Fan, Minnesota • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

In The Olympic Tradition: Sportscasters’ Language and Female Athleticism • Lisa M. Weidman, Syracuse University • Citing hegemony theory, the author argues that sports media reinforce patriarchal ideologies and dominant definitions of “femininity” and “masculinity.” Through a quantitative content analysis, comparing the way announcers on U.S. broadcasts of the 1996 summer Olympics spoke of female and male athletes, the author tests the hypothesis that sports announcers try to make female athletes seem more feminine and therefore more appealing. The hypotheses are not supported, indicating that media coverage of female athletes may be changing.

The Agenda-Setting Process of a Daily Newspaper: A Case Study • Elizabeth Evenson Williams, South Dakota • In this case study, the agenda-setting process of a Midwestern daily newspaper was examined through interviews with staff members along with a content analysis and other indicators. Five theoretical perspectives socialization, shared news values, definition of the situation, exchange theory and dominant ideology framed this study, and all were found to interact to shape the agenda-setting process. In addition, this study found that economic constraints, intermediate competition and role taking by staff members also played key parts in agenda setting.

CMPC (Computer Mediated Political Communication) and its Impact on the Political Process in Korea • Sook-Yeong Won, Bum-Soo Lee, Dong-Ah University and Eun-Ho Yeo, Cornell University • This study examines public participation in political process through CMPC (computer mediated political communication) in Korea. The authors examine political discussions from March to April, 1997, on two major on-line computer networks that are the most popular in Korea. The results show that CMPC in Korea is in its developing stage. Also, it is found that the public access to the political forum established by political forum established by political society tends to be difficult and private information is often not secured.

An Alternative to the Impasse: The Grassroots Approach to Cope with Media Violence Issues • Haoming Denis Wu and Lois A. Boynton, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • There has long been concern that television content that is violent in nature can have adverse effects on viewers, particularly children (see, for example, Comstock and Strasburger, 1993). Although television has been regulated by federal laws since its inception, these statutes do little to address content (Hughes and Hasbrouck, 1996). Most content regulation attempts have been met with stiff Constitutional resistance.

A Virtual Fetish: Themes of a Virtual Community as Presented in Time and Wired • Marjorie Lynne Yambor, Michigan State • A somewhat novel mania is sweeping society: the virtual community. The online virtual world of the internet represents the current state of virtual reality, providing an immersive environment in which individuals may interact with other; this alternative-playpen-existence has reached fetish status. People everywhere are discovering the lure of chat rooms, e-mail systems, internet games, and usenet news groups.

<< 1998 Abstracts

Magazine Division

Miracle in South Africa: A Historical Review of U.S. Magazines’ Coverage of the First Heart Transplant • Raymond N. Ankney, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Magazine coverage of the first human heart transplant, which was performed in south Africa in December 1967 by Christiaan Barnard, was reviewed. Magazines showed a pro-American slant in their coverage by asserting that luck played a large part in Barnard performing the operation. They also downplayed Barnard’s accomplishment by saying he received surgical training in the United States. However, few stories mentioned that Barnard’s patients were living much longer that those of American surgeons.

Consumption of Teen Magazines by Adolescent Italian Girls: Reading Patterns and Motives • Britto M. Berchmans, University Pontificia Salesiana • Research on teens’ use of teen magazines is meager even though magazine reading is a widespread phenomenon among adolescents. Basing itself on a theory of media use uniquely suited to the specific development exigencies of teenagers, a survey of 903 adolescent Italian girls inquired into their reading habits and motivations for reading teen magazines. This paper proposes that teenzines are an agent of broad socialization that assists teens in their identity formation, identification with other teens, and entertainment.

What’s Wrong With These Pictures?: Images of the Elderly in Life and Ebony Magazine Ads, 1990-1997 • Sharon Bramlett-Solomon and Ganga Subramanian, Arizona State University • This content analysis of Life and Ebony, which replicated and updates an earlier study, reveals a gloomier picture of elderly portrayal in the 1990s than in the previous decade. The findings show decreased elderly representations in ads and show more elderly figures featuring aging-associated products and services. One of the most interesting and surprising study findings was observed on the race variable. Black elderly figures were three times more likely to appear in Life as white elderly figures were likely to appear in Ebony, a finding opposite what was noted in the earlier study.

The Astounding Women of Analog: A Content Analysis of Cover Art • Lisa Daigle, Georgia State University • This study is a content analysis of science fiction magazines cover art. It is designed to find out if specific types of cover art, namely those with images of women, exist and if certain images are reoccurring. It also seeks to find out if certain female images have changed over time. Its focus is on Analog Magazine and its history of cover art from 1930 to 1990.

Zine But Not Heard? Editors Talk About Publishing On-line • Kathleen Endres, Akron • This study was based on responses from 123 editors of on-line publications. Among the results: most on-line publications had a print counterpart, although on-line content was often different; specialized business publications lag behind consumer magazines in on-line publishing; the editorial department was key in determining if a publication went on-line.

“When I Grow Up…” How Popular Magazines Portrayed Journalism as a Career for Women, 1872-1926 • Agnes Hooper Gottlieb, Seton Hall University • This paper asks a fundamental question: “How did popular magazines portray journalism as a career for women?” This is asked as a first step toward understanding what it was like for women a century ago as they tried to break into a male-dominated profession. This paper describes cases of sexual harassment, job discrimination and prejudice against the women who pioneered journalism as a feasible career path for women.

Women’s Magazines Used Agenda-Setting, Priming In Effort to Influence ‘96 Election • Ernest C. Hynds, Georgia • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Family Pictures: Constructing the Typical American in 1920s Magazines • Carolyn Kitch, Northwestern University • Beginning in the 1920s, American magazines described a modern but wholesome lifestyle based on a shared national identity. Their audience was an ambitious, suburban middle class — the group key to the success of mass culture in twentieth-century America. This rhetorical analysis considers how two top-circulation magazines, The Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping, used verbal and visual imagery, especially cover art, to create a blueprint for the “typical” American family in a commercial world.

Cultural Standard of Attractiveness: A 30-Year Look at Changes in Male Images in Magazines • Cheryl Lynn Law, Florida • This research examined mass media images being portrayed in three popular men’s magazines • GQ, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated • from 1967 to 1997. Some researchers indicate that men are entering the world of objectified bodies where unattainable ideals are the norm and that these mass media images contribute to psychological distress and related disorders. The researcher concluded that over the 30-year time period studied, male images have become thinner and more muscularly defined.

McLuhan’s Dew-Line Multi-Media Newsletter: A Retrospective Study • William M. Lawbaugh • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Images of the Poor in Newsmagazines, 1958-1967 and 1988-1997 • Michael R. Newberg, Ohio University • Poverty and related public assistance programs have been prominent news topics throughout the past forty years. This content analysis of articles in Time, Newsweek and US News & World Report compares the representations of the poor from the 1960s with the 1990s. Examination of photos, text and source citations indicate that coverage of the poor and programs aimed to combat poverty has grown increasingly unsympathetic and male politicians continue to dominate the discussion.

The Ebola Virus: Tracking Master Narratives in Magazine Journalism Discourse • Donnalyn Pompper, Cabrini College • This empirical project scrutinized the content of Ebola virus reportage in widely circulated consumer magazines from 1976 through 1996. The study was launched to gain insight into magazines’ role as influential molders of discourse designed to promote social order. A close textual reading, with attention to linguistic dimensions, uncovered more than the medial reality of an incurable virus, or real geography. The ideologically loaded master narratives underscored hegemonic power relations through frames, sourcing practices, metaphors, and symbolic word groupings.

Bypassing the Mainstream: Finding Gratification Through Zine Publishing • Neil A. Swanson, Georgia • Zine publishers use their work to satisfy specific needs that the mainstream media fail to satisfy. Through the creation of their own texts, they explore dimensions of their lives that consuming other media simply cannot reach. Generally exploring alternative subject matter, zines offer their publishers a form of “textual productivity” that they can circulate within their own cultural community (Fiske, 1992). Zinesters share their they work with other zine publishers, developing common bonds and tightening connections within their community.

Beauty and Fashion Magazine Reading and Anorectic Cognitions As Predictors of Dieting Behavior in College-Age Women • Steven R. Thomsen, J. Kelly McCoy, Marleen Williams, Brigham Young and Robert L. Gustafson, Ball State University • The study was conducted to explore the relationship between the reading of women’s beauty and fashion magazines, dieting behavior, and the existence of anorectic cognitions in college-age women. Unlike past studies, which have examined the relationship between the quantity of beauty and fashion magazines read and eating disorders, this study assesses the impact of reading frequency, preferences for articles, photos, of ads, and motivation for reading on dieting behavior, which is considered to be precursor to the development of eating disorders.

Reviewing The Record: What Magazine Letters to the Editor Said About Journalism in 1962, 1972, 1982 and 1992 • Brian Thornton, Midwestern State University • This research examines what ordinary consumers of news have written about journalism over the past 30 years in letters to the editor. To obtain a national view of public sentiment about journalism, letters to the editor from 1962m 1972, 1982 and 1992 published in 10 national news magazines • as opposed to newspapers – were examined. This research found that within the span of 30 years, the number of letters to the editor discussing journalism published in the 10 mainstream new magazines declined from 66 percent to 3 percent.

Uncovering the “Hidden Epidemic:” Consumer Magazine Reporting on HIV/AIDS and Other STDs • Kim Walsh-Childers, Debbie Treise, Alyse Gotthoffer and Lyn Ringer, Florida • The paper describes the STD- and AIDS/HIV -related results of a content analysis of 44 consumer magazines. There was significant variation in the extent of coverage across the four magazine types analyzed. About 9 percent of al sex-related items made some mention of STDs; about 14 percent mentioned HIV. The women’s and teen magazines were most likely to cover non-HIV STDs without reference to specific diseases. In covering HIV/AIDS, the most common topic was the sexual transmission of HIV.

<< 1998 Abstracts

Law Division

Merging Law and Ethics: Discourse Legal Theory and Freedom of Expression • David S. Allen, Illinois State University • Building on the work of Jurgen Habermas, this paper argues that discourse legal theory put forward a blatantly political idea of law that is guided by the ethical goal of improving discourse in society. In an attempt to take the discussion from the abstract to the practical, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hurley decision is examined. It is suggested that discourse legal theory puts forward a more protective standard for disempowered groups than current interpretations.

The Viability of the Libel-proof Plaintiff Doctrine Following the Masson Decision • Raymond N. Ankney, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Defamation laws allow a person to sue for statements that damage his or her reputation. However, a few courts have ruled that some defendants have such poor reputations that they should not be allowed to sue for libel. this paper reviews how courts have ruled on the libel-proof plaintiff doctrine following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, which repudiated part of the doctrine. The analysis showed that it remains a viable defense for media defendants.

Videodialtone Reconsidered: Prospects for Competition in the Wake of the Telecommunication Act of 1996 • David J. Atkin, Cleveland State University • The purpose of this study is three fold: (1) to revisit the rationales behind the 1996 Telecommunication Act, (2) evaluate its short term and likely long term impacts on cable industry structure and conduct, and (3) update the state of cross-media competition between cable, local telephone and long-distance industries, in order to provide a context to explore implications of greater merger activity facilitated by the Act. Implications for industry conduct are discussed, particularly in light of cable-telco competition facilitated by the 1996 Act.

Building Bridges: Metaphors and Analogies Used by Courts in Cases Involving the Internet • Stephanie Lyn Beck, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Increased Internet use in recent years has resulted in increased litigation and legislation surrounding speech via this new medium. In order to adjudicate these cases, courts have looked to a variety of regulatory models for guidance. This paper examines the models courts have used in their attempts to adjudicate questions of defamation, indecency and interstate commerce. Specifically, this paper will examine the application of the publisher, distributor, commerce clause, and broadcasting models.

Behind the Veil: The Rights of Private Individuals in the Wake of Hustler v. Falwell • Diane L. Borden, George Mason • The primary theories of speech liability • libel, invasion of privacy, and infliction of emotional distress • have been so broadly applied and with such conflicting brushstrokes that even private plaintiffs have little recourse when the mass media sully their reputations or harm their peace of mind. judicial tests have tended to turn on the idea of “publickness” • whether the speech is of public concern and whether the plaintiff is a public person.

“Exclusive” Reputation Injury: Harm by Hypocritization and the Emerging Reputational Dyad in Free Speech Jurisprudence • Clay Calvert, Pennsylvania State University • This paper analyzes the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 1997 decision in Eastwood v. National Enquirer, Inc. The paper argues that Eastwood: 1) is a defamation action masquerading as a misappropriation case, and, as such, is part of a trend in First Amendment jurisprudence in which plaintiffs attempts to plead around the high hurdles of libel law when suing the media; 2) rekindles the need for finding better measures of reputational harm.

Mass Communications Research in First Amendment and Other Media-Related Federal Court Opinions • Dane Claussen, Georgia • Lexis-Nexis searches determined levels of social science evidence from academic journal articles in mass communication, economics, psychology, and political science cited by all federal courts in all published opinions. Mass communication research is cited only a small fraction as often as that from other fields. Possible explanations are offered. This paper also reviews the history and status social science research’s use in American federal courts, highlighting Monahan and Walker’s research and proposals.

Setting New Boundaries: How Iowa Newspaper Editors Are Applying A New Law Granting Them Expanded Access to Juvenile Names • Constance K. Davis, Iowa • On July 1, 1997, a new Iowa law allowed the release of names of juveniles as young as ten when they are taken into custody or when they commit any public offense. This paper examines whether Iowa newspapers have expanded their use of juvenile names and finds editors have only nudged at their previous boundaries.

Craft or Profession: Court Rulings Leave Room for Journalists to Decide the Question • Lori Demo, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • In the early 1990s, the courts issued conflicting rulings on three cases that asked whether newspaper journalists are professionals exempt from overtime pay under federal laws. The conflicting rulings can prove puzzling for newspaper managers who want to follow the law while also controlling newsroom payroll costs. This paper examines the professional orientation of journalists from sociological and legal perspectives and offers editors guidelines for how they can increase the professional orientation of the journalists from sociological and legal perspectives and offers editors guidelines for how they can increase the professional orientation of their staffs.

Mirrored in Parody, Mired in Paradox: Trademark Dilution and An Ancient Art • Stephen J. Earley, Denver • The passage of the federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) in early 1996 opened up the latest battleground in the long tradition of litigation between those who practice the ancient art of parody and those who feel its sting. This paper explores recent legal frameworks along with historical factors, changing technologies, and aspects of politics and culture which make parody as a form of commentary more controversial, and arguably more vital, than ever.

The Supreme Court Press Corps • Dru Riley Evarts, Ohio University • The author, who was at the U.S. Supreme Court for the 1996-1997 term, surveyed the Court’s press corps, replicating in part a survey of that group that Everette Dennis had done in 1974. The 1997 group was much larger and 100 per cent of the “regulars” in the press corps participated. Among the findings are comparisons of the male/female ratio, age, media, political and social leanings, and these reporters’ opinions on a number of suggestions that have been made by which the Supreme Court could make coverage of that institution more readily available to the public.

The Journalist’s Privilege for Nonconfidential Information in States with Shield Laws • Anthony L. Fargo, Florida • A 1997 report by the Society of Professional Journalists warning of an erosion in the journalist’s privilege, plus recent case law and empirical studies, have focused attention on protections for nonconfidential information. This study found that sixteen states and the District of Columbia appear to protect nonconfidential information is statutes, but little consensus about the nature of the privilege exists.

Free Speech v. Fair Trial A 50-State Analysis of Trial Publicity Rules • Kathy R. Fitzpatrick, Southern Methodist • This paper addresses the question of what rules — if any — should regulate attorney speech in the trial context. A 50-state analysis of professional disciplinary (ethics) rules was conducted in an effort to better understand the various state approaches to restricting attorneys’ extrajudicial comments. The results indicate a need to reconsider the broad range of existing state practices and to develop a universal rule consistent with Constitutional principles.

A Methodological Framework for Comparative Media Law • Karla Gower, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This paper examines the secondary literature on comparative methodology in the disciplines of law, sociology, and political science for a methodological framework to be used when comparing media law in different countries. After deriving the methodological framework, the paper critiques comparative media law articles in light of that framework. The paper concludes that a consistent method is absent in mass communication comparative legal research and that a workable comparative methodology would strengthen the field of mass communication law.

Bits, Bytes and the Right to Know: How the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Holds the Key to Public Access to a Wealth of Useful Government Databases at Nominal Costs • Martin Halstuk, Florida • The Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA) became law on October 2, 1996. The purpose of this paper is to focus on one of the EFOIA’s key provisions, Section 3, which says all records compiled by federal agencies — even those recorded and stored in electronic formats — are subject to the Act’s policy of full disclosure. This paper concludes the EFOIA Section 3 has the potential of providing public access to a wealth of useful government databases at nominal costs.

Divergence of Duty: Differences in the Legal and Ethical Responsibilities of the Media in the Branch Davidian-ATF Shootout • Elizabeth Blanks Hindman, North Dakota State • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Revisiting Free Speech on Private Property in the New Information Environment: A First Amendment Response to the Private Ownership Model • JoAnne Holman, Purdue • The utility of government as regulator of telecommunications industries in the post-Telecommunications Act era has been questioned by proponents of deregulation and competition. This paper argues that government has an important role in formulating the structural policy necessary to ensure system access to the new communications technologies. It examines how the doctrine of free speech on private property provides grounding for policy to ensure users can access a diversity of information sources and disseminate their own information to others.

When News Artists Take Without Asking: Digital Photo Collage As Transformative Commentary • Wilson Lowrey, Georgia • This article explores the copyright implications for news publications when news artists sample and distort protected news photos in digitally created photo collages. To date, no case on digital sampling of visual media has been tried. The author weighs the rights of the photographer and the rights of the news publication in a hypothetical case involving a photo collage created by the author. Several samplings are examined, each progressively more significant, to determine the threshold of infringement.

The Supreme Court and its “Public”: The Maturation of Theory and Interpretation • Susan Dente Ross, Washington State University • This study explores the complex and transient nature of publics and the evolution of legal policy by applying public opinion theory and the policy cycle concept to the multi-branch adoption and interpretation of the public interest concept. This research suggest that shifting Supreme Court interpretations of the public interest reflect the maturation of policy, and reflect and contribute to the continuing cycle of theory development.

On Denying the Obvious: A Critical Examination of Competing Ethical and Legal Claims Regarding Holocaust Denial • Kevin R. Stoner, Russell Sage • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

The Firebrand of My Youth: Oliver Wendell Holmes and the Influence of Emerson • Joseph A. Russomanno, Arizona State University • There is probably no figure in American jurisprudence who has been studies and whose record has been more studied and whose record has been more analyzed than Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Among the aspects of Holmes’ career that have commonly piqued the interest of scholars is the apparent transformation of Holmes’ view of the First Amendment and freedom of expression rights. In 1919, Holmes led a re-direction of the U.S. Supreme Court and its interpretation of these rights with a dissenting opinion in which he set forth a broader approach than what had previously been used, and what Holmes himself had previously held.

Link Law: The Evolving Law of Internet Hyperlinks • Mark Sableman, J.D., St. Louis, MO • Contrary to the “freedom to hyperlink” ethos, case law refutes any absolute right to link on the Internet. Rather, business and intellectual property law imposes limits on linking. This article reviews the basics of the legal theories applicable to hyperlinks; describes key hyperlink cases that have arisen involving direct links, “framing” and “inlining,” hidden metalinks, and contributory infringement through links and mirror sites; and concludes that linkages will often be subject to legal controls.

Defamation by Racial Misidentification: A Study of Exposure to Public Hatred and Contempt In the South • John C. Watson, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This a cross-disciplinary study of journalism law, history, and sociology. Specifically, it is an examination of the periods in Southern history when courts ruled that it was defamatory and libelous per se to identify a white person as black. By studying defamation lawsuits filed in Southern courts from 1791 through this century this paper traces the evolution and regression of the racial misidentification. Here, court ruling are treated as historical artifacts that reflect the Southern social structure.

<< 1998 Abstracts

International Communication Divisioon

The Role of Culture in International Advertising • Niaz Ahmed, Saint Cloud State University • The purpose of this study was to contribute to the debate on standardized versus specialized approaches to international advertising. This cross-cultural content analysis compared print advertising from the United States and India and examined how cultural values are manifest in advertising. The results found that there were significant differences in the way these two countries produced advertising messages and that different cultural values were reflected in their advertising expressions. This cross-cultural study suggests that caution should be exercised when considering standardization in advertising between divergent cultures.

Saudi Arabia’s International Media Strategy: Influence Through Multinational Ownership • Douglas A. Boyd, Kentucky • This study reviews and analyzes Saudi information policy that has attempted to keep some Western-oriented entertainment and information programming from reaching that country’s citizens. The focus of the research is the kingdom’s special concern about Direct Satellite Broadcasting (DBS) and how members of the royal family have become involved in the most important commercial Arabic-language satellite service in the Arab world.

Television News in a Transitional Media System: The Case of Taiwan • Yu-li Chang and Daniel Riffe, Ohio University This paper examines TV journalists’ views of the burgeoning cable news industry in Taiwan, which has been undergoing transition from authoritarianism to democracy. The survey results showed that private cable news operations still are partisan. Journalists’ experiences of autonomy and job satisfaction are all affected by the partisan nature of cable news media. Those who work in organizations with neutral editorial policies enjoy a higher degree of autonomy. Those whose personal politics matches with the company’s editorial policy tend to be more satisfied with their work.

Press Finance and Economic Reform in China • Huailin Chen and Chin-Chuan Lee, Chinese University of Hong Kong • The study provides a detailed account of the changing structure of press finance in China and its impact on various aspects of press operation. It closely scrutinizes the role of marketization in the process of partisan press’ decline and the transformation of newspapers’ financial management, practitioners’ income system, ownership structure, production process, and content. The emerging patterns suggest that the Chinese press in undergoing a liberalizing experience in some areas, which serve to dilute its mouthpiece function.

American Imperialist Zeal in the Periphery: The Rural Press Covers the Spanish-American War and Annexation of the Philippines • Dane Claussen, Georgia and Richard Shafer, North Dakota • 1890s farmers were politicized by economic/legal issues represented by Nebraskan Bryan’s popularity. In the 1898 Spanish-American War, most early volunteers were from western states, and farmers could closely follow war news in general newspapers. But agricultural publications varied in coverage levels, were conflicted by simultaneous anti-imperialism and patriotism, and•despite understanding that the War’s true goals were capitalistic•failed to inform farmers about new market or new competition posed by overseas possessions.

Considering Alternative Models of Influence: Conceptualizing the Impact of Foreign TV in Malaysia • Michael G. Elasmar, Boston University and Kathleen Sim, Marketing & Planning System • A review of the different perspectives on the impact of foreign TV reveals that the current dominant paradigm concerning this relationship is known as “media-based cultural imperialism” or “media imperialism.” After reviewing the assumptions made by proponents of media imperialism, we asked whether this theoretical perspective adequately explains the relationship between consuming imported TV programs and being influenced by these programs. For proponents of media imperialism, finding a link between these two variables is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a conspiracy against indigenous cultures.

Reporting Under Civilian and Military Rulers in Africa: Journalists’ perceptions of Press Freedom and Media Exposure in Cameroon and Nigeria • Festus Eribo, East Carolina University and Enoh Tanjong, Buea • This study is a comparative analysis of journalists’ perceptions of press freedom in Cameroon and Nigeria. The former has a democratically elected government while the latter has a military oligarchy. The conventional wisdom or hypothesis that a democratically elected government may tolerate press freedom while a military regime will censor the press was not fully supported by the empirical evidence in this study. Cameroonian journalists in this study do not believe that the press is free.

Western Press Coverage of the United Nations Operation in Somalia: A Comparison of Extra- and Intra-media Data Sources • Anita Fleming-Rife, Pennsylvania State University • Extra-media data (UNOSOM II press briefing notes) were compared to intra-media data (newspaper content). Newspapers were: the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Guardian. Findings show that little news was reported and most was “bad.” While the focus was on conflict, correspondents did cover non-violent government activities. Finally, the data show that correspondents in the field are more likely to report that which they witness rather than rely on sources, official or unofficial.

Factors Influencing Repatriation Intention, an Aspect of the Brain Drain Phenomenon • Kingsley O. Harbor, Mississippi Valley State University • Based on Grunig’s situational theory, this study proposed and tested a systemic relationship represented by a casual model composed of attitudinal, communicative, and motivational variables. The systemic relationship so formed explained the intention of Third World students to or not to return home after their assignment in USA. Study used stratified random sample of 400 Third World students attending university. Phone interview refusal rate was 23%. Data analysis involved regression and path analytical models.

Korean Students’ Use of Television: An Expectancy-Value Approach • No-Kon Heo and Russell B. Williams, Pennsylvania State University • A questionnaire was administered to extend previous research on the expectancy-value judgments of media use in a study of Korean students’ television viewing experiences. Consistent with the previous findings, the data showed that students’ expectancy-value judgments were important in their viewing decisions. Above all, information seeking was the most expected outcome of television viewing among Korean students.

Putting Okinawa on the Agenda: Applying Three Complementary Theories • Beverly Horvit, Missouri-Columbia • This paper examines why U.S. and Japanese policy-makers decided to make changes in the base structure on Okinawa after a schoolgirl was raped in 1995. Applying three different but complimentary theories • agenda setting, rational decision-making and bureaucratic politics • provides a fuller understanding of how U.S. foreign policy was made on Okinawa. This interdisciplinary approach can also serve as a heuristic device to improve knowledge about the interplay media, foreign policy and international relations.

Beyond Asian Values in Journalism: Towards Cultural Politics in the Asian Media Globalization • Min Soo Kim, Pyonghwa Broadcasting Corp. • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.

Factors Influencing Gender Role Attitudes Among Lebanese Youth • Rana Knio and Michael Elasmar, Boston University • This study is an attempt to understand the various factors that influence Lebanese youth attitudes toward gender roles. In looking into possible associations, mere exposure was used as a guiding theory. Findings about gender role attitudes were varied. A weak, positive and statistically significant correlation was found between viewing US television programs and having more egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles. This particular finding supported mere exposure theory. However, traveling to the US and having friends and/or relatives living in the US had no influence on students’ gender role attitudes.

State Control on Television News in Post-War Lebanon • Marwan M. Kraidy, North Dakota • Whereas pre-war news media in Lebanon enjoyed a relatively high level of editorial independence, post-war Lebanon witnessed numerous conflicts between the Lebanese state and private broadcast media, caused by state attempts to control or ban television news and political programs. This paper traces attempts by the Lebanese state to control television news and analyzes internal and external factors influencing these attempts. Direct and indirect forms of control are discussed and conclusions are drawn.

Defining the Press Arbitration System: Its Impact on Press Freedom during the Sociopolitical Transition in South Korea • Jae-Jin Lee, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale • This study examines how press arbitration system has developed during the sociopolitical transition period in South Korea. The study analyzes how the press arbitration system has affected the relationships among the government, the press and the public. Considering that Korea’s press arbitration system reflects relative weight that the Korean society assigns to certain values, this study argues that the press arbitration system has served as main factor that brought major changes in the recent media environment.

Popular Literature and Gender Identities: An Analysis of Young Indian Women’s Anxieties About Reading Western Romances • Radhika E. Parameswaran, Indiana University • This paper takes an ethnographic approach to analyze young Indian middle-class women’s interpretations of imported Western romance fiction, particularly their responses to representations of sexually in these romances. My analysis is based on participant observation and interviews with forty-two women, teachers, parents, book publishers, and library-owners, which were conducted in Hyderabad, India during May-August 1996. I demonstrate that Indian women’s engagement with Western romances in postcolonial India is an experience that is mediated by their socialization within Hindu patriarchal and nationalist discourses.

Guiding Lights of International News-Flow Research: A Temporal Comparison of Influential Authors and Published Works • Yorgo Pasadeos, Emily Erickson-Hoff, Yvette Stuart and Laura Ralstin, Alabama • The international news-flow research literature has progressed from descriptive “foreign press” and “foreign news” accounts to modeling and fitting international news flow within broader theoretical frameworks. Critical studies of international news flow have had a similar progression. Although the international news flow have had a similar progression. Although the quantitative expansion in this research area in the 1980s was not matched in the current decade, qualitative progress may have offset the relative stagnation in the quantity of recent international news-flow research.

Can the Leopard Change its Spots: Parliamentarians’ Attitudes About Press Freedom in Zambia • Greg Pitts, Southern Methodist • Democracies have a free press. In Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda’s humanism defined the role of the individual and the press. Zambians experience greater freedom since muliparty elections in 1991 but humanism has shaped the values of current leaders. This paper quantitatively investigates support for the press among the Zambian Parliament. Regression models show that perceptions of media accuracy and fairness are not indicators of press support. Zambia must experience intergenerational value changes to overcome Kaunda’s humanism.

South Asian Student Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Advertising: Measuring Across Cultures • Jyotika Ramaprasad and Michael L. Thurwanger, Southern Illinois University • Using a survey, this study applied to South Asia constructs developed in the United States • beliefs about advertising and attitude toward advertising in general (AG) • and their operationalizations with two goals in mind. First, to determine whether the factor structure of these beliefs is similar in the United States and South Asia. Second, to measure whether South Asian consumers’ beliefs about advertising predict their AG. The five South Asian countries in the study were Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

American News Coverage of International Crisis Negotiations: Elite Sources of Media Framing and Effects on Public Opinion • Dhavan V. Shah, Wisconsin; Kent D. Kedl and David P. Fan, Minnesota • The manner in which media present elites’ interpretations of international crises has important implications for strategic public diplomacy. This study considers two recent international crises: the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (1990 – 1991) and the military coup d’ tat of Haiti (1993 – 1994). Framing provides a basis for an analysis which examines (a) the problem definitions and treatment recommendations attributed to U.S. elites in key newspapers, and (b) the effects of these negotiations frames on public opinion.

Broadcasting in South Africa: The Politics of Educational Radio • Paul R. van der Veur, Montana Tech of the University of Montana • This paper explores efforts by successive British and Afrikaner led governments to use the educational potentials of broadcasting in molding the development of the African population. The study traces the transition of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) into a vehicle for the extension of Afrikaner nationalism and subsequently into an institution in the vanguard of the movement toward a multicultural democracy.

An Economic Imperative: Privatization as Reflected in Business Reporting in the Middle East • Leonard Ray Teel, Georgia State University; Hussein Amin, American University in Cairo; Shirley Biagi, California State University-Sacramento; Carolyn Crimmins, Georgia State University • Egypt, a socialist nation from the mid- 1950s until the 1990s, is an excellent case study of a national economy experiencing dramatic reforms in privatization and deregulation. Although similar economic initiatives are being undertaken in other Arab countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tunisia and Morocco, reforms have been pushed ahead faster in Egypt, especially since 1994, and despite significant obstacles in the form of loyalty to socialist ideas, public cynicism toward capitalism, and general distrust engendered by recent economic fraud in the banking industry.

Why Beijingers Read Newspapers? • Tao Sun and Xinshu Zhao, Minnesota, Guoming Yu, People’s University • Unlike the previous studies that focus on why and how the Chinese government and Communist Party used the mass media, this study asks what Chinese audience look for while reading newspapers. From the perspective of uses-and-gratification theories, two dimentions were proposed: the societal-level information, and the individual-level information. Those two dimentions differ from the dimentions found in uses-and-gratifications studies conducted in the United States. Using an audience survey of 749 Beijing residents in November 1996, we conducted three independent round of factor analyses based on three different groups of variables.

Markham Competition

Telecommunications Policy Reform and the Legacy of the Indian Post-Colonial State • Paula Chakravartty, Wisconsin-Madison • The core concern of this paper is to understand the social context which frames the politics of the state’s changing role in economic development in India. In this paper, I argue that central to understanding the policy process of telecommunications is the issue of state legitimacy in a democratic regime. I argue that seemingly clear-cut telecommunications policy issues such as access to services, information disparity, regulation and public accountability, are actually fought over in the larger politics of nationalism and corruption.

Worldview Differences of Natural Resources Between Spain and Costa Rica: A Content Analysis of On-line Newspapers • Lorena Corbin, Iowa State University • The study analyzed the environmental content of two large circulation on-line newspapers, one from a developing country (Coasta Rica) and one from a developed country (Spain). Olsen, Lodwick and Dunlap (1992) developed a paradigmatic model which presents the differences between the dominant worldview and the post-industrial worldview. Based on this, it was expected that the Costa Rican paper would emphasize the exploitation of natural resources (dominant), while the Spanish paper would emphasize environmental protection (post-industrial).

A Content Analysis of The Jerusalem Post-Bias in Syria-Related and Har Homa Articles • Hala Habal, Baylor University • This content analysis was conducted with two separate samples. The first was a constructed two-week period, representing 1997. The second was a six-day period, beginning July 30 and ending August 6, representing a period of conflict. The highest category of main article theme fell under the “conflict” grouping. Most stories had Israel as their main focus, with the highest number of proper mentions. A greater number of sentences in the lead of each article fell in the “report/attributed” category, with very few in the inference and judgment categories.

The Price of Ignorance: How Correspondents’ Language Skills Limit Their Work in Japan • Beverly Horvit, Missouri-Columbia • Many of the American correspondents working in Japan do not understand the Japanese language. Their language skills limit their access to a wide range of sources, which may help distort their reporting, and pose other practical constraints. At another level, not knowing the language, both verbal and nonverbal, limits their ability to understand the Japanese culture, which is reflected in the language.

The Structure of International News Flow in Cyberspace: A Network Analysis of News Articles in Clarinet • Naewon Kang, Wisconsin-Madison and Junho Choi, Purdue University • This paper examines the pattern of international news flow in cyberspace, using network analysis. It suggests that the world system perspective no longer effectively clarifies the global structure of the international news flow in cyberspace. For the better understanding of the dynamics of international news flow in cyberspace, this paper suggests that (a) single or comprehensive interpretation(s) like political significance, global commercialism, and sociocultural proximity would provide a more plausible explanatory framework.

Journalism Under Fire: Reporting the El Mozote Massacre • Kris Kodrich, Ohio State University • In January, 1982, New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner came across a gruesome scene in El Salvador • the charred skulls and bones of dozens of men, women and children. His January 27 article, headlined, “Massacre of hundreds reported in Salvador village,” brought shock and outrage, but was soon discredited and criticized by U.S. government officials and media conservatives, included a vicious editorial in the Wall Street Journal. El Mozote has come to represent years of brutal repression in El Salvador.

Human Rights in China: A Pawn of A Political Agenda? A Content Analysis of The New York Times (1987-1996) •Xigen Li and Charles St. Cyr, Michigan State University • A content analysis of 10 years of New York Times coverage of human rights in China has found that The Times set its own agenda in covering human rights in China apart from president agenda. While U.S. president concerned more on U.S.-China trade than human rights in China, The Times continued its coverage of human rights in China as presidential concern subsided. The evidence over 10 years of news coverage also suggests that despite a relatively independent rate of production of human rights news stories by The Times, neither incumbent presidents nor their opponents treated human rights as a high-visibility, independent issue or as a separate issue in foreign policy.

Michael Fay in ‘Lash Land’: A Case Study of Social Identity Construction in Foreign News Coverage • Meredith Li-Vollmer, Washington • Foreign affairs reporters may routinely come across opportunities to enhance or protect the social identity of their national group; thus, their identities as U.S. citizens may influence the construction of international events. A framing analysis of articles covering the caning of American Michael Fay in Singapore reveals that journalists not only actively defended and enhanced the social identity of the United States, but also attempted to mobile a social identity dynamic in the American public.

Media and Democracy in Argentina • Dave Park, Wisconsin-Madison • This paper looks at how the constraints of Argentina’s mass media limit conditions for a healthy democracy. Media politics, corporate concentration, foreign ownership and market restraints are viewed as new censors of information in Argentina. In addition, vestiges of authoritarian control such as government regulation and threats against the press continue to plague the mass media. The conditions limit discussion of human rights issues while undermining basic rights to pursue, gather and disperse information.

News About Korea and Japan in American Network Television Evening News: A Content Analysis of Coverage in 1996 • Jowon Park, Tennessee-Knoxville • Television news abstracts about Korea and Japan in three networks’ evening news programs were analyzed. Importance, thematic content, and orientation of news were examined. The findings showed that the news about Korea was treated less importantly than the news about Japan. While Japanese stories showed diversity in thematic contents. Korean stories showed lack of diversity. The news about Korea had a strong orientation toward crisis, while Japanese stories were balanced between crisis and noncrisis orientation.

Pleasure, Imperialism, and Marxist Political Economy: Exploring A Biological Base • William Thomas Pritchard, Bowling Green State University • Marxist imperialism theses have problematized the consumption of Western media by non-Western cultures. This is an exploratory investigation into possible reasoning behind this consumption. An overview of cultural imperialism theory is presented, along with a problematic issue of Marxist imperialistic theory: the treatment of the concept of pleasure. Studies concerning the intrinsically pleasurable characteristics of color, sight, and other “building blocks” of media fare are presented as in-roads toward the possibility of Western media being intrinsically pleasurable.

Finnish Women and Political Knowledge: What Do They Know and How Do They Learn It? • Helena K. SSrkis, Iowa State University • According to a 1988-89 study, approximately half of American men score higher in political knowledge than three-fourths of American women. Various social and economic differences between American women and men are cited as the reasons for this finding. This study hypothesizes that because of the lack of these social and economic differences in Finland, a gap in political knowledge between women and men would not be found there. The most important predictors of political knowledge in Finland are also identified, which support the limited media effects model.

Hollywood Attracts South Korean Capital • Doobo Shim, Wisconsin-Madison • This study investigates the reasons for the Korean chaebols’ sudden participation in culture industry and capital investment in Hollywood in the 1990s. To do this, the Kim Young Sam government policy that made the change in the culture industry will be examined in view of the traditional economic system in Korea, especially with regard to chaebol policy. Finally, the implications of the globalization and the culture industry development on the whole Korean economy will be examined.

Telling the Truth or Framing a Crisis?: Comparative Analysis of the 1994 North Korean Nuclear Threat as Portrayed in Two American and Two South Korean Newspapers • Young Soo Shim, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale • This study investigated how two elite American newspapers and leading South Korean newspapers used different news frames in covering the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis. The study unsupported a key hypothesis that the two American papers would focus more on the confrontational aspect of the crisis than the two South Korean dailies. But another main hypothesis that the two American newspapers would fervently advocate sanctions against North Korea than the two South Korean newspapers was supported.

Bahamian TV Programming, 1977-1997: A Case Study of Cultural Proximity • Juliette Storr, Ohio University •This paper revisits the debate on the international flow of television within the context of Straubhaar, et al., 1992, theory of cultural proximity and asymmetrical interdependence. The main focus of the paper is to examine how Straubhaar, et al.’s 1992 study applies to a small developing country like the Bahamas. 1,628 television programs on the national television station, ZNS TV-13, were analyzed for a period of twenty-one years, beginning with the start of local television in 1977 and ending in 1997.

Media, Markets and Messages: Ghana’s Radio Forced to Make Choices • Janice Windborne, Ohio University • Until Structural Adjustment, Ghana had an extensive, state-run broadcast system oriented toward education and development. Now, forced to privatize its media, the country is faced with the competition between fostering consumer culture among the growing urban elite class and fostering development of the rural majority of the country. Development messages are particularly relevant to women who generally have less education and fewer resources than men. Conflicting interests and consequent problems are examined.

<< 1998 Abstracts

History Division

Pioneers in the State Freedom of Information Movement • Jeanni Atkins and James A. Lumpp, Mississippi • This paper examines the genesis of the Freedom of Information movement to enact open meetings laws from 1946-1966. It explores how the nationwide mobilization effort, discusses the problem of convincing journalists and legislators of the need for access laws, examines the difficulties encountered in getting legislation and also explains how the movement changed in the 1970s with the founding of media groups focusing on access problems and the entry of Common Cause into the access battle.

Standing for the Rights of the Black Worker-But Not at Home: The Labor Policies of the Chicago Defender • Jon Bekken, Suffolk University • Founded in 1905, the Chicago Defender quickly established its position as the most influential of the cities and indeed the country’s black newspapers. But while the Chicago Defender consistently portrayed itself as a vigorous defender of the race, the paper’s approach itself as a vigorous defender of the race, the paper’s approach to labor issues was often ambivalent. While the newspaper vacillated between encouraging black workers to accommodate themselves to their employers, or to join together to fight for better conditions, the publishers never reconciled themselves to union conditions in their own operations.

A Few Words Between Friends: A Comparison of How Two Elites, Lyndon Johnson and the Washington Post, Framed the Issue of Civil Rights Legislation in December 1963 • Laura Elizabeth Bond, Texas-Austin • A taped conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham in December 1963 offers a unique opportunity to glimpse power in action and to learn how frames are transmitted from a news sources to the news media. Agenda-setting theory, framing and content and textual analysis provide a framework and tools for examining how the conversation influenced the Post editorial page, thus making a strong statement for civil rights legislation in the process.

The Feminist Mystique and Mass Media: Implications for the Second Wave • Patricia Bradley, Temple University • The author posits that the success of The Feminist Mystique as a product designed and marketed to a mass media audience influenced movement by placing emphasis on the distribution of the feminist message by way of mass media avenues. This served to shape the feminist message according to the needs of mass media to the detriment of the movement at a time when it was trying to establish itself as a political force.

Pioneering for Women Journalists: Sallie Joy White, 1870-1909 • Elizabeth V. Burt, Hartford • Sallie Joy White was the first women staff reporter on a Boston newspaper, a founding member of the New England Woman’s Press Association, an officer in several national press groups, a member of the woman’s movement, and acted as mentor to women seeking career opportunities during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This study of White’s life and work provides a key to understanding the professional experience and development of women journalists during this period.

Surviving the FCC: The Legacy of UHFs • Kathryn B. Campbell, Wisconsin-Madison • WKOW-TV in Madison, Wisconsin, was born, prospered and then faltered during television’s so-called “Golden Age.” Nationally, few of the UHFs of its generation survived that decade of sweeping technological changes and unpredictable FCC regulation. WKOW-TV was broadcast on an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band at a time when Very High Frequency (VHF) stations were thought to be much superior in terms of potential audiences, broadcast quality and profitability. This paper provides a brief historical review of the development of television, emphasizing the FCC actions in assigning television frequencies and its public service requirements.

The Remarkable Timothy Women • Virginia H. Carroll and Patricia G. McNeely, South Carolina • Elizabeth Timothy is widely acknowledge as America’s first woman publisher, but her skill as a printer/journalist has largely been underplayed. This paper re-examines her contributions along with those of her daughter-in-law, Ann Donavan Timothy, who has been overlooked entirely. If this paper were written in the traditional journalism style • five W’s, and H and an upside-down pyramid • Ann Timothy would be the lead. But from the cultural perspective, we have chosen to present her in the context of her family.

The Icons of Despair: A Comparison of World Series Coverage in Newspapers Before and During the Depression • John Carvalho, North Carolina • Within sports media history, extensive research has focused on sports journalism during the 1920s, the “Jazz Age” decade of Babe Ruth, Red Grange, and Jack Dempsey. By comparison, however, the 1930s have been studies less frequently. Newspapers during the decade were trapped between the realities of economic depression, which caused severe cutbacks in the number of pages, and the continued popularity of sports. This paper examines coverage in ten metropolitan newspapers from a variety of geographical locations.

“Those Who Toil and Spin”: Female Textile Operatives’ Publications and the Response to Industrialization • Mary M. Cronin, Washington State University • New England’s female textile operatives established and edited the nation’s first factory journals to lobby for changes in working and living conditions. These periodicals also served as forums for operatives to respond to the growing tension that were emerging between classes as members of the middle class sought to impose their visions of culture, propriety, respectability, and even religion as the correct ones. These weekly and biweekly newspapers and magazines existed for only a decade from 1840 to 1850, yet they were significant both to media and the labor movement.

The Roots of Press-Government Antagonisms: Newspapers and the Early Cold War, 1945-1953 • David R. Davies, Southern Mississippi • Newspapers’ relationship with government and government officials seemed to crack in the early 1950s, challenging press practices on several fronts. National security concerns rooted in the Cold War accelerated a trend toward greater secrecy in government, igniting a “freedom of information” (FOI) movement in professional associations to fight the growing secrecy at both federal and local levels. Journalists’ relationships with government officials began to suffer as the result of this anti-secrecy fight.

Wrestling with Corporate Identity: Television and the National Broadcasting Company • Chad Dell, Monmouth University • Why did professional wrestling disappear from the National Broadcasting Company’s program schedule, at a time when it may have helped the corporation weather a fiscal crisis? This paper examines the formative stages of NBC’s television operations (1945 to 1950) including a little-known financial crisis in 1949, to explain why this crisis led to a solidification of the company’s programming strategy toward expensive entertainment programming and away from popular, inexpensive genres such as professional wrestling.

Pens and Swords and “Splendid Wars”: The Case of Jose Marti, La Patria, and the Second Cuban War for Independence • Mercedes R. Diaz, Temple University • A small, little known newspaper called La Patria, not the Hearst-Pulitzer circulation wars of the late 19th century, was responsible for igniting the conflict the eventually would be known as the Spanish-American War. With it, publisher and poet-journalists Jose Marti managed to unify the formerly divided Cuban Revolutionary Clubs throughout the Americans, harness their economic might, and lay the groundwork for the second Cuban War of Independence.

The Battle of the Chicago Colonels: A Study of Newspaper Bias in the Debate Over Lend Lease • Wallace B. Eberhard, Georgia • Among the more colorful figures in an era of personal journalism in Chicago on the eve of World War II were two “colonel” publishers • Robert R. McCormick of the Tribune and Franklin Knox of the Daily News. Beneath the rivalry that existed between the two are larger question related to news content. Did those publishers shape the news content to fit their opinions, with all the attendant questions and criticisms raised by such journalistic behavior?

Covering Contraception: Discourses of Gender, Motherhood, and Sexuality in Women’s Magazines, 1938-1969 • Dolores L. Flamiano, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • An analysis of thirty years of birth control coverage in the Ladies’ Home Journal and Good Housekeeping shows shifting and sometimes contradictory discourses of motherhood and sexuality. Early coverage celebrated motherhood and women’s responsibility to their “biological natures.” Coverage in the sixties appealed to two pill-related fears:: endangered femininity and threatened masculinity. Both fears suggested that the pill breaking down the old double standard, and with dominant notions of appropriate gender roles and sexuality.

Public Relations in the Kennedy White House • Cathy Rogers Franklin, Loyola University • This study of President John F. Kennedy’s administration examines whether White House communication strategies were part of a formal plan or program consistent with the textbook definition of public relations. This based on historical evidence from presidential papers and oral history interviews with White House staff members and reporters. Examination of the role of Press Secretary Pierre Salinger and advisers will show whether James E. Grunig’s evolutionary models of public relations is applicable to White House.

Journalism Behind Barbed Wire: Two Arkansas Relocation Center Newspapers • Edward Jay Friedlander, South Florida • Previous researchers have discovered great variation in the editorial quality and editorial freedom of newspapers operated by Japanese Americans at World War II-era War Relocation Authority (WRA) relocation centers. Editorial quality at the two WRA centers in Arkansas also varied, but contrary to previously published research the Denson Tribune at Jerome Relocation Center and the Rohwer Outpost at Rohwer Relocation Center apparently operated with little if any WRA interference.

Spanish-Language Newspapers in New Mexico (1834-1912): Retaining and Recreating Ethnic Identity • Victoria Goff, Wisconsin-Green Bay • This paper’s main focus is the role New Mexican Spanish and bilingual newspapers played in preserving ethnic identity from 1834 when the first newspaper was published until 1912 when New Mexico became a state. The paper also studies how the hispano press helped create a unique multiethnic identity, looks at how the press provided a forum for grievances against Anglo culture, summarizes historical scholarship on Hispanic journalism, and provides an extensive listing of newspapers in the appendix.

The Who, What, Where, and Why of Journalists’ Archives • Joyce Hoffmann, Old Dominion • This paper explores the reasons journalists amass their personal archives. These collections, the object of genteel but spirited competition among research libraries, are the raw materials of scholarship for future generations. In folders filled with long-forgotten letters, yellowed manuscripts, and private diaries, researchers will find insights into the journalists and journalism of the late twentieth century. Decades ago, only death and the patina of time gave an archive value. But the vision of a few librarians changed that in the early 1960s.

Two Tales of One City: How Cultural Perspective Influenced the Reporting of Pre-Civil Rights Story in Dallas • Camille R. Kraeplin, Texas-Austin • Newspaper coverage of a series of racially motivated bombings that took place in Dallas, Texas, in 1950 tells two different stories. A weekly black newspaper, the Dallas Express, perceived the fight to end the bombing of black-owned homes in white neighborhoods as a battle over civil rights. The Dallas Morning News, on the other hand, wanted the violence stopped, but could not conceive of a solution outside of the segregationist status quo.

Hitting from the Left: The Daily Worker’s Assault on Baseball’s Color Line • Chris Lamb, College of Charleston and Kelly Rusinack, Clemson University • On August 16, 1936, the Daily Worker, a Communist newspaper published in New York City, published a banner headline that called on readers to demand the end of segregated baseball. Between 1936 and 1947, the Daily Worker, openly and brashly challenged baseball’s establishment to permit black players; condemned white owners and managers for perpetuating the color ban; criticized the mainstream press for ignoring the issue; distributed anti-discrimination pamphlets at ballparks; and let their readers know of the successes in the campaign to integrate the national pastime.

Paving the Road to Hell: National Public Radio in the Lee Frischknecht Years • Michael P. McCauley, Maine • Millions of Americans are familiar with the news and information programming now available on National Public Radio; indeed, it would be hard to imagine that many members of the educated upper-middle-class could do without their daily dose of Bob Edwards and Robert Siegel. But vast popularity and the smooth delivery of quality programs were not always operative concepts at NPR; such notions belie the major tensions that characterized the network’s day-to-day operations during its formative years.

The Journalistic Function of Book Reviews: How Faludi’s Backlash Made News • Priscilla Coit Murphy, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Book reviews have traditionally been studied primarily for their role in literary criticism rather than as part of journalistic activity. This paper considers the multiple journalistic roles potentially played by book reviews, from strictly informative to the agenda-setting creation of and participation in public debated. Using Faludi’s 1991 newsmaking feminist book, Backlash, the study traces the controversy’s chronology and the interaction of reviews with general news and commentary surrounding its issues.

Women’s Historical Contribution to Journalism Education As Seen in Emery’s The Press and America • Kristine L. Nowak, Michigan State University • This article examined the treatment of women in the history of journalism education over time. The design is a longitudinal case study of Edwin Emery’s history textbook, Press and America, a volume that has been and continues to be widely used in journalism classes and programs across the country. This examination looks at how women’s contributions to the field are treated in each of the seven editions published between 1954 and 1992.

The Chicago Television “Holy War” of 1956-1957 • Bob Pondillo, Wisconsin-Madison • Martin Luther, a film about the 16th century priest who priest who sparked the Reformation, was to be shown on WGN-TV, Chicago, in December, 1956. Management canceled the movie at the last moment, Lutherans claimed because of Catholic pressure. The Catholics denied it, the Lutherans persisted, and WGN-TV was caught in a legal and public relations nightmare. This bizarre moment in early television tells us much about the emerging medium and the times in which it grew.

Trivia or Relevance? An Analysis of Conference and Published Papers of the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA) 1982-1996 • J.R. Rush and Alf Pratte, Brigham Young University • Since its founding at Southern Methodist University in September 1982, the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA) has been successful in attaining at least two of its goals: (1) to provide an additional forum for media scholars to present scholarly refereed papers and (2) to publish research on the history of American journalism. The purpose of this study is an exploratory attempt to identify and quantify to some extent the vast research that has been conducted by hundreds of media historians under the umbrella of the AJHA over the last 15 years.

At Our House: A Case Study of Grace B. Freeman, Syndicated Columnist, 1954-1964 • Marilyn S. Sarow, Winthrop University • This paper focuses on how the attitudes and values of the 50s shaped the writing of Grace B. Freeman, a highly successful southern freelance writer and syndicated columnist. Her column, At Our House, was distributed by King Features Syndicate for 10 years. This case study provides insight on the role of the freelancer in the 50s and the relationship the writer had with her editors.

“Censorship Liberally Administered”: Press, U.S. Military Relations in the Spanish-American War • Randall S. Sumpter, Texas A&M • This research examines issues of the New York World and New York Journal & Advertiser and a collection of official papers to see how the press and the military modified their relationship and their practices to fit the circumstances of the Spanish-American War. Correspondents and Publishers incorporated tales of censorship attempts into their “New Journalism” formula; censors learned that civilian policy makers valued favorable public opinion over requirements for military secrecy.

Casting Radicals Upon the Waters: Press Support of the Deportation Campaign of 1919-1920 • Sue D. Taylor, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • In general sense, the American press has kept a wary eye on government throughout the history of this nation. It has been called the “watchdog” of the public interest against corrupt of illegal practices of politicians and lawmakers at least since the late nineteenth century. This, as they affect the public interest, officials who initiate and implement foreign and domestic policies have long been subject to criticism from the press.

Bridge to the Modern Era: Free Press on the Wage Workers’ Frontier • David J. Vergobbi, Utah • This pilot case study delineates how the editors of an 1887-1889 Western newspaper began their journalistic evolution from a partisan frontier booster press to an emerging independent commercial style. It does so by considering the editor’s engagement with the socio-economic catalysts that rapidly transformed North Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene mining district society from a pioneer self-sufficiency to the corporate dependency of a wageworkers’ frontier. The study clarifies the need and potential of analyzing such journalism on a broader scale of time and geographic location.

“News of the Weird” in 1830? Humorous Ridicule and “Paragraphing” as Journalistic Innovation • Samuel P. Winch, Nanyang of Technological University • Two unique types of 19th-century journalistic humor are now quite uncommon: ridicule of crime victims, and “paragraphing.” Ridiculing crime victims in journalism began in London in the 1820s, and was quickly adopted by George Prentice, a Louisville editor in the 1830s. These two extinct and innovative forms of journalistic humor help us understand the state of the journalistic art in the mid-1800s.

Remembrances Past: Nineteenth-Century Press and the Uses of American History • Betty Winfield, Missouri and Janice Hume, Kansas State University • This study analyzes journalistic historical references during the nineteenth century. It seeks to show how the American press used history or historical referents as part of news accounts by examining as primary sources article titles taken from indices to look for nostalgic references, historical context, historical analogies, value and assumptions about the past. The purpose is to seek to understand the complex relationships between the press story telling and the collective American historical culture.

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