Visual Communication Division

Defining Visual Communication in the New Media Environment • Linus Abraham, Iowa State University • New media technology provides the journalism academy the opportunity to fashion a transformative change in our understanding of communication • from one that emphasizes language to recognizing the visual modality as a primary mode of communication. The paper canvases for a movement from the balkanized and skills connotation associated with visual communication towards an integrated study of visual communication, both as an intellectual and skill activity. The paper argues that the concept of visual journalism (geared towards training visual generalist and inculcating visual fluency) provides an opportunity to reinvigorate visual communication and locate it at the center of journalism education.

A Visual Experiment in Acceptance: Does Quantity and Location of Blood Affect Readers’ Reaction to a Photograph? • Abhinav Aima and Patricia Ferrier, Ohio University; Les Roka, University of Utah; Lynn Silverstein and James Staebler, Ohio University• This experiment tested the reactions of 265 subjects to manipulated accident photographs, which were empirically constructed across increasing levels of “Gore” and given different geographic “Locations” in the cutline. Nine 7-point measures were designed to test the students’ responses. A three-way Analysis of Variance revealed that the factors of “Gore” and “Location”, or their interaction, did not cause significant variance but the factor of “Sex” did – Males varied significantly in their responses from females.

Affect and Emotion: Eliciting Compassionate Response Via Facial Affect in Visual Images • Courney Bennett, Stanford University • This study aims to extend research on the effects of visual message elements by examining the relationship between facial affect and emotional response. A study was conducted to explore two questions: 1) whether facial affect in visual images influences how compassionately people feel toward the person portrayed visually, and 2) what the relative influence of a message’s verbal and visual elements would be on compassionate response. The findings and their implications were discussed.

Selling the Revolution: Appropriating Black Radical Images for Advertising • Coletter Gaiter and Mohan Dutta-Bergman, University of Minnesota • Media images of 1960s and 70s African American militants introduced a new visual signifier we call “the defiant gesture.” The radicals themselves and the media both skillfully used photographs featuring black men in defiant poses to serve their specific agendas. A new archetypal black male image emerged that is now featured in advertising to urban hip-hop followers. Decontextualized in their current iterations, these powerful images serve divergent cultural and social needs of different audiences.

Establishing a Photojournalism Historiography: An Historiographical Analysis of the Developmental Approach • Timothy Roy Gleason, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • This paper examines the nature and application of the Developmental historical approach for photojournalism. It examines the approach by describing it, identifying assumptions held by Developmental historians, and lists questions these historians might ask. Then, it uses a communication history model to reveal how this approach can address particular aspects of the model. This is followed by a discussion of the approach’s strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, a conclusion offers some final comments.

Digitally Altered News Photographs: How much manipulation will the public tolerate before credibility is Lost? • Joseph Gosen, Reno Gazette-Journal and Jennifer Greer, University of Nevada-Reno • A quasi-experimental design was used to examine what factors influence public attitudes toward a digitally manipulated news photo, photography in general, and news media. Subjects were shown one of five versions of a photograph. Increasing levels of digital alteration caused lower credibility scores for the published photograph. Credibility of photography and the news media was influenced more by age, income, and education than treatment. Familiarity with imaging software was linked to tolerance of the alterations.

Seeking Gender Equity on the Sports Pages: An Analysis of Newspaper Photos from the 2000 Olympics • Marie Harden, University of West Georgia, Jean Chance and Julie Dodd, University of Florida, and Brent Hardin, University of West Georgia • Researchers conducted a content analysis of five daily newspapers’ publication of photographs during the 2000 Olympic Games to assess the reality of photo portrayals in relationship to gendered participation in the Games, and to assess the existence of sexual difference in the use of photos. The study concluded that the portrayal of women athletes in Olympics competition appears to show continuing change. The researchers conclude that there is good reason to predict a continuing trend of improved gender equity in Olympic sports coverage for women athletes and diminishing portrayals of sexual difference as the number of women athletes competing in the Games continues to increase.

Ideal-Body Media and Ideal Body Proportions 2 Ideal-Body Media and Ideal Body Proportions • Kristen Harrison, University of Michigan • Dozens of studies have linked ideal-body media exposure to the idealization of a slim female figure, but none have examined the proportions of this figure. This study correlates exposure to ideal-body media (television, fitness and fashion magazines) with college women’s and men’s perceptions of the ideal female bust, waist, and hips. For women, ideal-body media exposure predicted the choice of a smaller waist and hips, but not a smaller bust. For both women and men, ideal-body media exposure predicted approval of women’s use of surgical body-change methods.

Southern Mentalities, Photographic Reflections In Black and White: The 1915-1960 Mississippi Pictures of O.N. Pruitt • Berkley Hudson, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • To explain race relations in the South during the last 170 years, historian Joel Williamson posits a template of three, Southern white mentalities: conservative, radical and liberal. These are reflected in photographs of O.N. Pruitt, who between 1915 and 1960 worked in Columbus, Mississippi. Regardless of which mentality is reflected, Pruitt, a white man, moved authoritatively in the worlds of black and white, rich and poor, documenting a complexity at once brutal and genteel.

Normative Conflict in the Newsroom: The Case of Digital Photo Manipulation • Wilson Lowrey, Mississippi State University • It is the contention of this study that journalism is divided into occupational subgroups, each representing a different area of expertise and a different sets of norms and values. Subgroups compete with one another for legitimacy. It is proposed that ethical problems in journalism – the case here is digital photo manipulation – may be viewed as evidence of normative conflict rather than as simply a crack in the ethical wall. Through in-depth interviews and a national survey, it is found that photo manipulation relates mostly closely with organizational complexity and multiplicity of subgroups, while there is some evidence that the newsroom’s normative environment as reflected in the existence of rules, also is related.

A Study Of The Persuasiveness Of Animation When Used As Forensic Demonstrative Evidence • Benjamin Allyn Meyer, Iowa State University • This study assessed that motion is the variable which makes forensic animation persuasive. Three groups of participants read a trial transcript. Each group saw a pro-prosecution or a pro-defense animation, images taken from the animations, or no visual imagery. Pro-prosecution imagery coincided with the physical evidence. Pro-defense imagery contradicted it. Results suggest that when computer-animated displays support the physical evidence, it is the dynamic nature of the animation which makes it persuasive to jury members.

If Looks Could Kill: The Ethics of Digital Manipulation of Fashion Models and Attitudes of Readers • Shiela Reaves, Jacqueline Hitchcon-Bush, Sung-Yeon Park, Gi Woong Yun, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Magazine editors and visual educators need to expand the ethical connections between digital manipulation of fashion models and the increased health crisis of eating disorders. This study examines reader response to the digital manipulation of fashion models and explores readers’ attitudes toward this use of new technology. This study challenges the implicit assumption of magazine editors and advertisers who defend digitally altered fashion photos by saying “our readers understand.” This study identified magazine images that promoted “the thin ideal” and then recovered the body image in a second photo that was digitally altered and restored to a healthy slimness. In an experiment 104 subjects viewed a total of six photographs, three “thin ideal” originals and three restored versions that transformed the models to slender as opposed to extremely thin. Findings indicated that prior exposure to very thin models, as opposed to versions restored to slenderness, reduced subjects sensitivity to the difference between extremely thin and slender versions, increased their self consciousness, and eroded their healthy eating attitudes. Furthermore, prior exposure to the thin ideal disempowered the subjects even after viewing both versions of each photograph: they were less likely to take action protesting the manipulation to editors and advertisers.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Network News Editing Strategies from 1969 through 1997 • Richard Schaefer, University of New Mexico • Four editing variables were tracked through a content analysis that spanned two 14-year periods. The analysis revealed that synthetic-montage increased and continuity-realism decreased across both periods, as network news editors embraced shorter sound bites, more special effects, and an increasing use of montage-edited footage. Quicker overall cutting rates and the use of more asynchronous sound increased from 1969 through 1983, but appeared to level off over the next 14-year period. When taken together, the results suggest that television journalism has evolved from more “camera of record” news techniques in favor of more thematically complex editing strategies.

Representing Class: John Vachon’s Portrait of 1940s Dubuque • James Tracy, University of Iowa • This project is an interpretive analysis of photographs of Dubuque, Iowa taken by FSA photographer John Vachon in 1940. This essay argues that the photographs constitute substantive historical evidence augmenting the existing history of a working class environment and culture. The paper considers the labor-management antagonism in Dubuque and the meaning and importance of images to interpretive historical inquiry.

<< 2001 Abstracts

Scholastic Journalism Division

Confidence and Competence in Grammar: College Media Writing Students’ Self-Efficacy and Performance in Grammar • Kimberly L. Bissell, University of Alabama and Steve Collins, University of Texas-Arlington • Proper grammar is crucial for effective communication. Two surveys of students in an introductory writing course sought to identify variables that predicted grammar ability. Students demonstrated a limited grasp of the language, struggling with such issues as the distinction between it’s and its. Women performed better than men at the beginning of the semester, but the gap later narrowed. Self-efficacy and high school grade point average predicted grammar ability at the end of the semester. However, there were no significant differences between students with and without high school journalism experience.

JOB SATISFACTION OF HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM EDUCATORS • Jack Dvorak, Indiana University and Kay Phillips, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill • Four research questions are posed to the job satisfaction of high school journalism educators. A national random sample of 669 respondents shows that journalism educators are generally satisfied with their jobs • more so than teachers in other disciplines. Multiple regression analysis using Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory as a foundation reveals that a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic satisfiers are best predictors of teacher job satisfaction. The leading predictor is morale of the faculty.

QUEST FOR FREEDOM: STUDENT PRESS RIGHTS UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT • Laurie Ann Lattimore, University of Alabama • no abstract

ARE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS REALLY DIFFERENT? A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS IN THE WAKE OF KINCAID V. GIBSON (6th CIR. 2001) • Gregory C. Lisby, Georgia State University • no abstract

Journalism and Mass Communication Educators’ Career Choices: When and Why They Entered College Teaching • Lyle Olsen, South Dakota State University • This study found that 55 percent of journalism and mass communication educators first considered college teaching while in college or within five years afterwards, while 40 percent did not until more than five years after college. Two important factors in their career decisions included a personal influence (i.e., a mentor) and media experience, particularly student publications. The findings fit Holland’s theory of career development and other literature. Open-ended responses resulted in rich and heartfelt comments about JMC teaching careers.

Don Sneed, Florida International University • This paper shows how journalism educators use their research findings to teach high school journalism students about the way newspapers use and misuse racial stereotypes, thus introducing the high school journalists to an important concept and to Walter Lippmann and his book on Public Opinion. The “Oreo” stereotype is examined after it appeared in several Florida newspaper stories. The term was used by a former University of Florida president in remarks he made about his boss, the former black chancellor of the state university system.

PROTECTING STUDENT PRESS FREEDOMS: AN ANALYSIS OF STATUTORY PROTECTION FOR STUDENT PUBLICATIONS IN THE POST-HAZELWOOD YEARS • Cyndi Verell Soter, The University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill • no abstract

Reaching All Students: Journalism Education and Gender Bias • Kimberly Wilmot-Weidman, University of Wisconsin-Stout • no abstract

THE EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION AND ANXIETY ON STUDENTS’ USE OF INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS • Eric M. Wiltse, University of Wyoming • no abstract.

<< 2001 Abstracts

Radio-TV Journalism Division

Hype Versus Substance in the Final Weeks of the Broadcast Television Networks’ 2000 Presidential Election Campaign Coverage • Julia Fox and James Angelini, Indiana University • An analysis of the broadcast television networks’ coverage of the final two weeks of the 2000 presidential election campaign found significantly more hype than substance in both the audio and video messages of presidential election campaign stories. Furthermore, even when audio messages contained substantive coverage, accompanying visuals often emphasized hype rather than substance. The importance of these results is discussed in the context of recent research findings about how viewers process audio and video messages.

Identifying Juvenile Crime Suspects: A Survey of Ohio Television Stations and Newspapers • Gary Hanson, Kent State University • Journalists traditionally have not reported the names of juveniles who are accused of committing crimes. Since the mid-1980s, this paternalistic approach has been challenged by the changes in the frequency and seriousness of juvenile crimes. As a result, news directors and editors in Ohio have begun to rethink their policies regarding the identification of juvenile suspects. This survey compares the way in which television stations and newspapers approach the issue.

Gatekeeping International News: An Attitudinal Profile of U.S. Television Journalists • Hun Shik Kim, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study explores the attitudes of U.S. television journalists toward international news and examines their selection criteria. Q factor analysis of 31 journalists from major national networks and local TV stations yielded three factors: Pragmatic Idealists, Global Diplomats, and Bottom-line Realists. The network journalists support a global view, selecting international news with diverse themes while the local journalists take a more pragmatic stance due to business pressures and audience demands, choosing international news with a local angle. All the journalists give priority to international news with U.S. involvement and are strongly opposed to governmental and advertiser influences.

Change Frames on CSPAN Call-in Shows: The framing of citizen comments • David D. Kurpius, Louisiana State University and Andrew Mendelson, Temple University • A content analysis of C-SPAN call-in shows was conducted to examine how citizen-callers frame the political ideas they present The main issue of concern was do people rely on the same frames the mainstream news media rely on, focusing on image, strategies and conflict or do they rely on an issue frame? A secondary issue was how the guests and hosts of these calI4n shows react to the different frames. Results show that callers were more likely to rely on issue frames in discussing political issues, though there was no difference in length of time spent by the callers on the different frames. The hosts/guests responded for a much longer time when callers used a conflict frame. However, when we examined the format of the response by the host and guest, we saw that they were much more likely to ask a question or elaborating on something said when a caller used an issue frame.

The Credibility of Women Sportscasters • Michael A. Mitrook and Noelle Haner Dorr, University of Central Florida • This work used an experimental design to explore the impact of a radio sports broadcaster’s gender on their perceived credibility by listeners. Results indicate that female sportscasters are not perceived to be as credible as their male counterparts. Furthermore, the results also exhibited a tendency for both male and female respondents to rate the male broadcaster higher than the female, but the male respondents provided much lower ratings for the female broadcaster than the female respondents.

Network Television Coverage of the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Boycotts: A Content Analysis of the Evening News on ABC, CBS and NBC • Anthony Moretti, Ohio University • The United States and the Soviet Union led boycotts tarnishing the 1980 and 1984 summer Olympics. This study examined how the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs covered the boycotts. The press nationalism model holds that media follow the “official” government line in reporting international affairs. Based on abstracts from the Vanderbilt University television archives, this content analysis found evidence to support the hypothesis that press nationalism influenced coverage of the boycotts.

Commercial Quality Influence on Perceptions of Television News • Stephen Perry, Dana Trunnell, Chris Morse, and Cori Ellis, Illinois State University • The impact of high and low-quality commercials upon high and low quality television newscasts were examined using Elaboration Likelihood Model and contrast effects research. This study showed some support for contrast effects. Results also suggest an interaction between news quality and the presence of commercials within newscasts in producing an emotional response. Additionally, we found that when commercials were present within the news program, participants were able to recall fewer of the news stories.

Non-Users of Internet News: Who are They and Why Do They Avoid TV News and Newspaper Web Sites? • Paula Poindexter and Don Heider, University of Texas-Austin • Who are non-users of Internet news and why do they avoid online news that is produced by TV, cable, newspapers, newsmagazines, and radio? To answer this question, randomly selected adults with Internet access in a southwestern metropolitan area were asked why they did not read news on the Internet. Survey respondents who ignored news online represented 42 percent of all Internet users. Both an age gap and a gender gap distinguished non-users and users of news on the Internet. Non-users of Internet news were significantly more likely to be younger and older. Non-Internet news users were also significantly more likely to be female than male. The primary reason for avoiding news on the Internet is lack of interest. Slightly more than one-quarter of non-users of Internet news said they ignored online news because they weren’t interested. Almost one-fifth indicated that they didn’t read news online because they had already read newspapers and 18 percent said they avoided online news because they didn’t have time. Seven percent said online news was too time consuming and four percent indicated that they avoided online news because they preferred TV news. The age distinction and reasons for avoiding news on the Internet are similar to what is known about nonviewers of network and local TV news and nonreaders of newspapers.

To Be On TV or To Be a TV Journalist: Students’ and Professionals’ Perceptions of the Role of Journalism in Society • Ron F. Smith and George Bagley, University of Central Florida • The Jane Pauley Task Force found that news professionals were dissatisfied with the ethical and journalistic attitudes of new graduates. This study compares news directors’ perceptions with those of broadcast majors and finds several significant differences between them. The higher percentage of students placed great importance in providing entertainment. Professionals are more likely to see their role as investigating government claims. Also, students and professionals differed on half the ethical issues presented to them.

A Content Analysis of TV News Magazines: Commodification, Conglomeration, and Public Interest • Kuo-Feng Tseng, Michigan State University • This study conducts a content analysis of television news magazines to find out the impacts of media commodification and conglomeration on public interest. It finds that news story topics and presentation styles become more tabloidism than prior researches did, especially for 48 Hours, 20/20 and Dateline. Crime stories and sexy images were the popular strategies to attract audiences. News story topics have associated relationship with advertising and news sources. News magazines prefer to stories and sources from their conglomerate or partnership.

<< 2001 Abstracts

Public Relations Division

Gender Discrepancies in a Gendered Profession: A Developing Theory for Public Relations • Linda Aldoory, University of Maryland and Elizabeth Toth, Syracuse University • This paper illustrates through literature and original research a beginning theory that explains the enduring gender discrepancies in what has become a gendered field, that of public relations. A survey of public relations practitioners reveals statistically significant gender differences in hiring perceptions, salary and salary perceptions, and promotions. These data support several previous studies that have shown over time gender discrepancies in hiring, salaries and promotions. Using theory drawn from other fields as well as original data from a series of focus groups, authors construct concepts and theoretical propositions to help explain why there are still gender differences in a field that is predominantly women.

Student Preferences for University Recruiting Brochure Designs • Ann Befort, and Roger C. Saathoff, Texas Tech University • Researchers tested five aspects of college viewbook design- percentage of text per page, number of pictures per page, color versus black and white photographs, campus scenes versus pictures of people, and page orientation. Respondents were high school students. Results showed students’ interest in a college was significantly greater in regard to two of the elements analyzed- multiple pictures on the viewbook page rather than just one, and pictures of people rather than photos of buildings.

CO-ACCULTURATION IN A KOREAN MANUFACTURING PLANT IN MEXICO • Glen M. Broom and Suman Lee, San Diego State University, and Woo-Hyun Won, Korea University • This paper addresses intercultural manager-worker communication relationships in a large Korean manufacturing plant in Mexico. The research questions include: 1. How do managers and workers with different cultural backgrounds perceive each other’s cultural attitudes, values and behaviors? 2. To what extent do managers and workers recognize each other’s cultural values? 3. How do manager-worker relationships adjust over time to cultural differences? The researchers explicate a theoretical process of “co-acculturation” and employ a coorientational measurement model.

Company Affiliation and Communicative Ability: How Perceived Organizational Ties Influence Source Persuasiveness in a Company-Negative News Environment • Coy Callison, Texas Tech University and Dolf Zillmann, University of Alabama • The influence of attributing corrective information to different spokespersons in the wake of company-negative accusations was investigated experimentally. In particular, the research pitted a company’s own public relations sources against sources working for a firm hired by the maligned organization and sources employed by agencies investigating negative claims independently. Results suggest that PR sources are less credible than outside sources. Over time, however, PR sources are judged as equally credible as hired and independent sources.

How Prepared Are Companies in Singapore and Hong Kong for Crises? – A Comparative Study • Shiyan Dai and Wei Wu, National University of Singapore • Based on personal interviews with over 400 business executives in Singapore and Hong Kong in two surveys, this paper aims to compare and contrast the two regions in terms of crisis management (CM) planning among the companies. We intend to find out: What is the current situation of CM planning? Are there any common and consistent “Asian” attitudes toward crises and CM there? And what are the major factors influencing the CM planning there?

The Effect of the World Wide Web on Relationship Building • Samsup Jo, University of Florida, Yungwook Kim, Ewha Womans University and Jaemin Jung, University of Florida • The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Web characteristics and perceptions toward relational components. A 2 (low interactivity and high interactivity) x 2 (text-oriented and multimedia-oriented) experiment was designed with 197 participants to test this purpose. The outcomes showed that interactivity has significant effects on relationship building. However, the interaction effects between interactivity and medium composition suggest that nonessential arrangement of interactivity and multimedia did not enhance positive perceptions of relationships with the organizations. Interactivity showed the main effect, however multimedia orientation did not. The application of interactivity on the Web was discussed for better relationship building.

If We Build It, Will They Come?: Testing the Theory of Planned Behavior as a Predictive Model For Use in Determining How Career Counseling Centers Can Better Promote Their Facilities and Services • Carolyn Ringer Lepre, California State University-Chico • Many students resist planning for the futures, and university career counseling centers sit underutilized across the country. It is proposed that it is in part up to educators, career counselors and the public relations practitioners who work for university career counseling centers to convince and encourage students to seek career counseling help when they need it. The question is, however, how can this most effectively be done? This study tested the usefulness of the Theory of Planned Behavior as a predictive model clarifying what factors impact a student’s decision to seek career counseling.

Intangible Outcomes of Corporate Strategic Philanthropy: A Public Relations Perspective • Joon-Soo Lim, University of Florida • Corporate philanthropy contributes to the long-term bottom4ine by building an intangible but valuable asset – reputation. This study tested the linkage between Fortune reputation index and the firms’ philanthropy. Results showed that a firm’s contributions were positively associated with CSR attribute. Findings here imply that the relationship between corporate philanthropy and its outcomes may be better understood by considering the firms’ social investment as obtaining good reputation by building desirable relationships with key publics.

Classifications of Corporate Web Pages by Relationship Contents and Functions • Joon-Soo Lim, University of Florida and Jae-Hwa Shin, University of Missouri-Columbia • Building better relationships with key publics could help firms develop intangible and valuable assets. This study examined the Fortune 100 companies’ web pages according to the different contents and functions that are devised to build public relationships. Results show that how each relationship function is associated with diverse relationship contents. This study will give a managerial implication on how the corporate Web pages can be devised to build a relationship with various publics.

Media Coverage of Risk Events: A Framing Comparison of Two Fatal Manufacturing Accidents • Michael J. Palenchar, University of Florida • This study extends analysis of the meaning contained in risk discourse as part of a community infrastructural approach to risk communication studies. The author deconstructed media narratives through a systematic, longitudinal content analysis of a major metropolitan newspaper’s coverage (n=92) of two manufacturing crises. Some findings include: increased use of risk bearers and a decreased use in risk generators as sources, increased focus on risk generators, and increased use of medical and legal sources. The implication of such analysis is that wise public relations personnel should understand how journalists use sources and narrative elements to frame risk coverage.

Framing Effects of Genetically Engineered Food Labels On the Public’s Attitudes toward enetically Engineered Foods: Implications to Public Relations Campaigns • Hyun Soon Park and Sunyoung Lee, Michigan State University • Since 1999, the debate over genetically engineered foods has exploded and become a worldwide public relations disaster for the biotechnology industry. One of the hot issues surrounding genetically engineered foods is a concern about mandatory food labeling. Either mandatory or voluntary labeling, whichever is to be required in the near future, has raised imminent and critical questions to public relations practitioners, risk communicators, policy makers, and marketing planners. This study aims to investigate framing effects of genetically engineered food labeling on the public’s perceptions of and attitudes toward genetically engineered food products. According to the results of this study, participants perceived differently four types of food labels (e.g., bioengineering, genetic engineering, biotechnology, and genetic modification). The framing effects of four types of labels indicated that participants exposed to “bioengineering” or “genetic engineering” labels showed higher perceived benefits, lower perceived risks, more positive attitudes, and higher purchase intentions than those who are exposed to “biotechnology” and “genetic modification” labels. As we can see in these results, framing of food labels plays a crucial role in shaping consumers’ perceptions of and attitudes toward genetically engineered food products. This gives an important practical implication to public relations practitioners, risk communicators, public policy makers, and marketing planners as well.

Hong Bo and PR in the Korean Newspapers • Jongmin Park, Pusan National University • This study analyzed the meaning of Hong Bo and PR as the terms appeared in three main Korean newspapers, on the basis of Spicer’s seven themes. A total of 1548 mentions of the term Hong Bo and PR were analyzed as follows: First, Korean newspapers, like newspapers in the United States, tend to view Hong Bo and PR as publicity or merely PR. Thus, overall Korean newspaper reporters have a negative attitude toward the meanings of Hong Bo and PR and the reporters’ viewpoint was supported by this study. Second, the uses of PR and Hong Bo were categorized as challenge, distraction, disaster, hype and merely PR. While Hong Bo was categorized more of terms as challenge, distraction and disaster than PR was, PR was categorized more of terms as hype and merely PR than Hong Bo was. This also indicates that while the meanings of Hong Bo were more negative or positive than those of PR, the meanings of PR have been used as more neutral than those of Hong Bo. The study suggests that Korean public relations practitioners and relatives have to try to lead the public to a positive attitude toward the term Hong Bo, which has been used more frequently than the term PR.

Investigating Corporate Social Responsibility: A Content Analysis of Top Chinese Corporate Web Pages • Shu Peng, University of Louisiana-Lafayette • The study investigated the current status of Web usage by large Chinese firms, especially the way they use their Web pages to support corporate social responsibility. The most frequently addressed social responsibility’ areas were environment protection, education, quality of work life, and community involvement. Market value was related to corporate social responsibility areas for non-manufacturing firms. Manufacturing firms had more corporate social responsibility areas on their Web pages.

From Aardvark to Zebra: A New Millennium Analysis of Theory Development in Public Relations Academic Journals • Lynne M. Sallot, University of Georgia, Lisa J. Lyon, Kennesaw State University, Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, University of Georgia and Karyn Ogata Jones, University of Georgia • In a replication and extension of a 1984 study by Ferguson to investigate the status of theory building by public relations scholars, 747 abstracts and/or articles published in Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research and its predecessor Public Relations Research Annual, since their inceptions through the year 2000, were subjected to content analysis. Nearly 20 percent of articles analyzed were found to have contributed to theory development in public relations compared to only 4 percent in Ferguson’s study. Theory was most prevalent in articles about excellence/symmetry, public relationships, ethics and social responsibility, crisis response, critical-cultural, Feminism/diversity and international topics. These and interdisciplinary influences are expected to continue to contribute to ever more theory building in public relations.

INSTITUTIONAL ADVERTISING AS CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC RELATIONS: PHILIP MORRIS, A CASE STUDY IN RHETORICAL FRAMING • Valerie Terry, Oklahoma State University • This paper explores how institutional advertising functions as a public relations tool. More specifically, the analysis explores how rhetorical framing of mass mediated messages can counter the indirect informational subsidy typically open to PR pros when that approach has been closed to practitioners because of a particularly hostile media environment and negative public opinion. Philip Morris’s institutional ads, aired in the wake of the 1998 tobacco settlement agreement, form the basis for this case analysis.

Public Relations Excellence in Alliances and Coalitions: An International Perspective • Mark A. Van Dyke, University of Maryland • This exploratory paper examines how excellence theory applies to public relations practices in international alliances and coalitions. Data from interviews with 6 alliance and coalition public relations practitioners were categorized and compared to 17 characteristics of excellence theory. Results revealed a close association with excellence theory. The study also suggested that a mixed-motive, mixed-worldview approach to public relations employed by these organizations might have important implications for a theory of global public relations.

Public Relations Worldview and Conflict Levels in the Client-Agency Relationship • Youngmin Yoon, Syracuse University • This study examines to what extent different worldviews of public relations are related to the agency-client relationship. A survey was conducted of eight public relations agencies and their clients in Korea, obtaining worldview measures and tension levels of 15 agency-client pairs. The findings show that overall, as the gap between the agency and client’s public relations worldviews widens, more conflict occurs between them. The findings also demonstrate that a considerable gap exists between the agencies and clients in Korea in terms of their worldviews of public relations and that agencies have more symmetrical worldviews than do clients.

<< 2001 Abstracts

Newspaper Division

Who Brought US These Grapes of Wrath? New York Times and Washington Post Coverage of the 1996 Israeli-Hezbollah Conflict • Abhinav Aima, Ohio University • This study examined the coverage of the 1996 Israeli attack on the Hezbollah in Lebanon. A content analysis of 92 news stories collected from the Lexis-Nexis databank for the month of April 1996 yielded 1090 sources. An examination of the sources and their comments lent support to the propaganda model theory: Both newspapers over-represented the sources that were favorable to the foreign policy of the U.S., or largely kept their opinions within the confines of the foreign policy debate.

Convenient Excuses? Jobs, Classes, And Misconceptions Limit JMC Students’ Involvement In Major • Betsy Alderman, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Fred Fedler, University of Central Florida • College students say they have literally run out of time. Ninety-two percent are enrolled full-time, and 79.3 percent work at least part-time. Although their intentions are good, 81.5 percent have not completed an internship and 78.4 percent have not worked for any campus media. Moreover, many students are mistaken about employers’ priorities. When given a list of 13 possible priorities, students ranked good writing skills fourth, internships seventh, and work for campus media twelfth.

Creating new value for copy editing instruction in the curriculum and the university • Ann E. Auman, University of Hawaii, Frank E. Fee Jr, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and John T. Russial, University of Oregon • Traditionally, copy editors have taken a back seat to reporters in newsrooms, and journalism schools have reflected this. This study, a survey of 69 editing instructors on the value of copy editing in journalism curricula, shows that copy editing does not have equal status with reporting/news writing classes but that it is valued. Instructors should emphasize that editing is the “glue”; it teaches the big picture view and critical thinking skills, which are valued throughout the university.

Exploring the Market Relationship Between Online and Print Newspapers • Hsiang Iris Chyi, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Dominic L. Lasorsa, University of Texas at Austin • A random-sample telephone survey was conducted in a typical one-newspaper city to investigate the public’s response to local, regional, and national newspapers’ print and online editions. Results identified a substantial overlap of online and print readerships for the local daily —suggesting the potential of a complementary product relationship. Cannibalization — the negative impact of launching a free Web edition on print circulation—was insignificant because print readership was strongest among readers of that same newspaper’s online edition. The print format was preferred—even among Web users—when compared with the online edition on an “other things being equal” basis.

Social Construction of Depression in Newspaper Frames • Cindy Coleman-Sillars, Portland State University and Jessica A. Corbitt • The authors examine factors that are brought to bear on the social construction of depression in newspaper coverage. In a 14-month period, the authors explore news frames that reveal stigma, and examine how solution, disease and war frames shape coverage. They conclude that, while coverage is not overtly biased, the structure of coverage, news routines and influences of exogenous variables, combined with use of specific metaphors, help shape depression in an unfavorable light.

Mapping the Public Journalism Continuum: Do Newspaper Educators and Editors Agree on the Outcomes and Goals of Public Journalism? • Tom Dickson, Wanda Brandon and Elizabeth Topping, Southwest Missouri State University • Following suggestions of previous research that there was not one public journalism but several, the authors surveyed editors of daily newspapers and members of the AEJMC Newspaper Division to determine whether they agreed on the outcomes and goals of public journalism. The authors concluded that the two groups did not differ in their opinions about the outcomes or the goals of public journalism; however, editors rated the importance of each of the six goals significantly higher than did educators. The authors also found that institutional variables studied were more important to both editors’ and educators’ responses concerning outcomes of public journalism and the less-activist goals of public journalism but that individual variables were more important concerning the more-activist goals of public journalism.

Back to the Future? Teaching Copy Editing Skills in Changing Times • Frank E. Fee, Jr., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; John Russial, University of Oregon and Ann Auman, University of Hawaii • A survey of editing professors at ACEJMC-accredited programs indicates that traditional skills of text editing, headline-writing and design remain fundamental but that new skills involving technological and organizational competencies have become quite important too. The study also compares the responses of professors with those of copy editing professionals in a previous national survey. It shows that professors and professionals are largely in agreement about which skills are crucial for copy editors to have but that professors feel their students need a wider variety of skills. Neither group currently places much emphasis on multimedia skill. The views of professors were closer to those of professionals at small to mid-size papers, papers that are more likely to hire students out of college.

Connecting With the News Culture: Trade-Press Readership Among Copy Editors and Their Supervisors • Frank E. Fee Jr., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This research examines external factors in the training and professionalization of journalists, asking whether a key group of news workers, copy editors, attend professional trade press and journals and benefit from potential training and professionalism they offer. It finds that copy editors and the people who hire, supervise and evaluate them report low levels of professional journal and trade press readership. Implications for journalism education and practice are discussed and newsroom training opportunities are identified.

“Still Shocking, But No Longer Surprising”: The Anomaly Paradox in Newspaper Coverage of the 1997-1998 School Shootings • Russell Frank, Pennsylvania State University • This paper brings together Tuchman’s “what-a-story,” Fishman’s “crime wave dynamic” and Gans’ identification of small-town pastoralism and social order as “enduring values in the news” in accounting for similarities among newspaper stories about five school shootings that occurred in 1997-98. The juxtaposition of Tuchman and Fishman sheds further light on one of the fundamental paradoxes of journalism: A series of similarly anomalous events is considered more anomalous than a single anomalous event.

Turbulent Times: Organizational Change and Development in the Newspaper Industry • Peter Gade, University of Oklahoma • In the late 1990s, the newspaper industry embarked on broad-based change initiatives in an attempt to ensure the long-term viability of the industry in a dynamic media marketplace. Newsrooms were restructured, news values revised, job descriptions and necessary skills redefined. This mail survey of 457 rank-and-file journalists (56.6 percent response rate) from a purposive sample of 17 newspapers leading industry change draws on the commonality of the journalists’ experiences with change, attempting to provide benchmarks for understanding industry change that are (a) practical to newsroom managers and (b) theoretical. Respondents perceive themselves as open-minded toward change, but think change initiatives have not been planned, implemented or monitored in accordance with organizational theory. Journalists report they do not think team-based newsrooms provide more autonomy or improve the content of newspapers. They perceive change as primarily market- and profit-driven. Organizational development initiatives, newsroom structure and news values are significant predictors of morale, which is low.

The Aesthetics of Work: How Faculty Editors and Student Reporters Negotiate Good Work in the Newsroom • Beverly Horvit, Winthrop University • This qualitative study examines the aesthetics work in a university newsroom. The analysis, based on observation and interviews, shows how student reporters and faculty editors negotiate what will be considered good journalism, good academic performance and good teaching. Both parties are shown to juggle different responsibilities and make compromises in the production of the newspaper. Both have to manage time and space in deciding how to do good work and determining what good work is.

A Comparative Analysis of On-line versus Print Media: Readability and Content Differentiation of Business News • Jaemin Jung and Samsup Jo, University of Florida • The purpose of this study was to examine the readability and content differentiation of business news. Specifically, three newspapers and three Internet sites were content analyzed to see differences based on the media type. The findings suggest that the Internet business news showed more difficult readability with longer sentences, lower reading ease scores and more complex business terminology. The other results showed differences in the topics and visual usages between newspapers and Internet sites.

Diffusion in the Heartland: Internet Use at Small Dailies and Weeklies in Oklahoma • Stan Ketterer, Oklahoma State University • This paper looks at how reporters in Oklahoma use the Internet. All dailies and most weeklies in the study bad Internet access. It was too costly and unavailable for some weeklies. Further, all dailies and most weeklies used the Internet for reporting. Journalists at some weeklies thought it was not useful for local news. Overall, these journalists sought similar information, although dailies had higher usage. All newspapers relied mostly on primary and secondary sources, and most included Internet information in their stories.

THE FEDS. THE FAMILY, THE FATHER: THE FRAMING OF ELIAN • Kimberly Lauffer, Towson University, Alyse Gotthoffer Lancaster, and Sandra Florentin, University of Miami • Six-year-old Elian Gonzalez made these and other headlines nationwide when he was returned to his father by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on April 23, 2000. This study examines newspaper coverage from the day after the federal agents removed the boy from Miami and reunited him with his father, who was waiting in the Washington, D.C. area. Seventy articles in three South Florida newspapers were analyzed qualitatively to elicit the framing techniques used by the newspapers. Frames included insider/outsider, proactive/reactive, freedom/repression, civilized/uncivilized, and religious/sacrilegious, advanced by the assignation of blame, personalization, use of loaded language, use of figurative language, use of comparisons and contrasts, and use of sources.

Impact of Web Design Approach on News Retrieval Efficiency • Xigen Li, Louisiana State University • A computer lab experiment of news retrieval process of three U.S Internet newspapers found that Web design approach has a significant impact on news retrieval efficiency. This study identified several factors that affect obtained gratification of users when they retrieved news information from Internet newspapers. The site balanced with graphics and text achieved the highest retrieval efficiency among the three Internet newspapers. Besides media content, this study demonstrated that the means that facilitates users to get information is also important in predicting value associated with the medium. The Internet newspapers with different designs are functional alternatives available to audience in all markets and are likely to compete for audience in their selection of communication channels within the medium.

Official sources, embedded perspective and news frameworks: How two Korean newspapers covered a public health crisis • Robert A. Logan, Jaeyung Park and Jae-Hwa Shin, University of Missouri-Columbia • A content analysis of the coverage of a public health crisis in Korea from September 1999 to December 2000 explored 13 hypothesis about news reporting and selection that were derived from qualitatively based international literature. The findings suggest a tendency to: overemphasize official sources, underemphasize other news sources and avoid extensive in-depth reporting. However, the newspapers surveyed diversified their reportorial and news selection range as events occurred.

Framing Youth Violence • John McManus and Lori Dorfrnan, Berkeley Media Studies Group • Have quality newspapers incorporated what we’ve learned over the last quarter century about making news more useful as a resource for civic participation? A yearlong analysis of reporting about youth violence provides a schizophrenic conclusion: After the Columbine massacre, newspapers provided rich context, a wide range of sources and many frames offering causes and solutions. But coverage of the more common violence that most threatens society was typically frameless , minimally contextualized, and police-sourced.

Numbers in the News: A Mathematics Audit of a Daily Newspaper • Scott R. Maier, University of Oregon • To establish baseline information about journalistic use and misuse of numbers, 1,500 local news stories were examined in a mathematics audit of a daily metropolitan newspaper. Nearly half of local stores were found to involve mathematical calculation. Eleven categories of numerical inaccuracy were identified. Most errors were self-evident and involved elementary mathematics. Results suggest that journalists fail to apply the attention and skepticism to numbers that they routinely apply to other aspects of their work.

Newsroom Numeracy: A Case Study of Mathematical Competence and Confidence • Scott R. Maier, University of Oregon • By testing the ability of reporters and editors to perform math tasks commonly encountered in their work, this case study of a metropolitan daily newspaper provides a baseline assessment of numeracy in the newsroom. The study also examines mathematical confidence of journalists, with strong performers in math outnumbering weak performers, the results challenge the view that most journalists cannot handle even elementary mathematics. However, testing revealed high math anxiety even among strong math performers.

The Scope and Nature of Newspaper in Education programs: A National Survey • Patrick C. Meirick and Daniel J. Sullivan, University of Minnesota • Even though there are fewer Participating newspapers than in 1992, ME programs now reach an estimated 14.4 million students, up 33 percent. More than twice as many newspapers provide school copies free of charge, thanks to the growing role of sponsors. An increasing emphasis on circulation is apparent: Circulation departments are now primarily responsible for 69 percent of ME programs, and newspapers were much more likely to rate “immediate circulation gains” as an extremely important reason for the program.

At Play in the Field of the Word: A content analysis of the coverage of women’s sports in selected San Francisco Bay Area newspapers • Greg Mellen and Patricia Coleman, University of Missouri • This study extends previous research on inequities in media coverage of women’s sports in newspapers. A content analysis was conducted on sports sections from large, medium and small newspapers from the San Francisco Bay Area. 4,152 stories and 66,000 inches of text were coded. The study hypothesized that men’s stories receive the majority of coverage and that smaller papers provide more equitable coverage of women’s sports. Chi squares and descriptive data supported both hypotheses.

Campaign Advertising Coverage in the 1990s Elections: A Content Analysis • Young Min, University of Texas-Austin • This paper explores the discursive patterns and styles of campaign advertising coverage. Specifically, it examines how the news sets contextual frames for political ads, attending to how two prestigious newspapers—the New York Times and the Washington Post—covered the 1992, 1996, and 2000 general-election advertising campaigns. An analysis of 118 ad stories indicates that ad coverage in the 1 990s has paid more attention to challengers than incumbents, to presidential than state or local races, and to negative than positive ads. While employing an investigative and research driven style of reporting, the press has applied a “double-standard” to the assessment of political ads; it has tended to deflate the authenticity of campaign ads, but more often than not it has reinforced the causes of the campaigners concerning the political effectiveness of those ads. Most importantly, the press has exhibited a Republican bias in coverage and a Democratic bias in tone in reporting on advertising campaigns. Overall, the campaign ad coverage in the 1990s has shifted its attention from the effectiveness of the charges and countercharges to their accuracy, focusing more on the substance of candidates’ issue positions. This shift may encourage candidates to engage each other with the matters that are more essential and relevant to governance.

Newspapers in the Age of the Internet : Adding Interactivity to Objectivity • John L. Morris, Adams State College • Four recent books on public journalism make clear this ideological movement has drawn attention to the interactive processes of journalism over its static products. This emphasis on process has led many critics to connect public journalism with activism and, consequently, a loss of objectivity. Scholars of the writing process and social psychology maintain that all human communication is interactive, however, and some theorists argue the more interactive the communication, the more effective it is.

Gatekeeping and the Editorial Cartoon: A Case Study of the 2000 Presidential Campaign Cartoons • Jennifer M. Proffitt, University of Wyoming • This study explores gatekeeping studies and the political editorial cartoon, comparing the experiences of editorial cartoonists with gatekeeping research findings and examining how standardization and conservative news policies appear to apply to editorial cartoons pertaining to the 2000 presidential campaign published in The Denver Post. Sixty-nine cartoons were analyzed and compared to the 155 select articles concerning the 2000 presidential campaign. The study also discusses The Post’s endorsement of Vice President Gore and its possible effect on choice and content of cartoons.

COPY FLOW AT SMALL NEWSPAPERS: LESSONS FOR METROS SEEKING CHANGE? • Judy Gibbs Robinson, University of Oklahoma • Some newspapers are eliminating their copy desks in a move to flatten hierarchies and return to more generalist workers. There is much less role specialization and hierarchy at small newspapers because of staff sizes, therefore they might be models for this large-newspaper trend. A mail survey confirmed that small newspapers (<25,000 circulation) have flattened hierarchies and generalist workers. It also identified three general patterns of copy flow at small newspapers that have no copy desk.

Local Advertisers and Online Newspapers: Will Print Revenue Streams Reproduce on the Web? • Dan Shaver, Michigan State University • Many newspaper publishers launched online newspapers as companions or supplements to their print publications for strategic reasons, without a well-developed plan for achieving profitability. Once online, however, economic imperatives have quickly emerged. A great deal of attention has been focused on the impact of online publications on content and readers, and a good deal of research about web-based advertising has been conducted, but little notice has been given to local advertisers and online newspapers. This study addresses the question of whether local advertisers, the backbone of support for print newspapers, are likely to become dependable supporters of electronic news products. It finds that local advertisers have a commitment to a future online presence despite generally negative past experiences, that whether online newspapers or other web-based vehicles capture this business is an open question, and that newspapers are likely to suffer less than broadcast and cable television as advertising budgets are adjusted to pay for online services.

Journalistic voice in public affairs & public confidence in the press • Hoon Shim, University of Texas-Austin • The primary purpose of this study was to explore if biased reportage in public news accounts is linked to the public distrust toward the media. It was predicted that three chief factors are contributing to the decline in press performance ratings: (1) an increase in the number of descriptively biased reports (2) an increase in the number of points of view (3) an increase in the number of thematic frames. Data support the first and third propositions.

All The Surveys That Are Fit to Print: The Romanian Case • Razvan Sibii and Brad Thompson, American University in Bulgaria • Against the background of a theoretical discussion of the legitimacy of public opinion polling, this paper looks at the way three Romanian newspapers treated survey stories in the five months before the Romanian parliamentary and presidential elections in fall 2000. The survey stories examined were found to violate numerous standards of poll reporting as established by the Associated Press. This raises questions about media practices and professionalism in Romania and throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS: Online Newspapers Go Beyond Shovelware in Covering Election 2000 • Jane Singer, University of Iowa • As newspapers move online, they encounter opportunities to contribute to campaign coverage, a staple of American journalism, in new ways. This study, based on a survey of online editors at sites affiliated with leading U.S. papers, indicates that editors gave primary emphasis to the medium’s ability to provide Election 2000 information faster and in more detail. Though options for enhancing political discourse were appreciated by some, both interactivity and multimedia presentations were less widely cited among editors’ key goals and perceived successes.

Gender Politics: News Framing of the Candidates’ Wives in Campaign 2000 • Betty Houchin Winfield and Barbara Friedman, University of Missouri • News coverage of the first lady has historically covered her during the White House years in four frames: as an escort to her husband; as a style setter; in a noblesse oblige role; and as a policy advisor. This qualitative study examines coverage in three newspapers of the presidential and vice presidential candidates’ wives during the 2000 election. What frames are present as these women are introduced to the American public? How journalists, after the sweeping changes in American women’s lives and in the wake of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s unprecedented tenure, cover these figures, may tell us something about how the first lady’s and second lady’s roles are still evolving.

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