Visual Communication Division

TV Literacy and Academic/Artistic Giftedness: Understanding Time Leaps and Time Lags • Robert Abelman, Cleveland State • This investigation reinforces the conceptualization of television viewing as a learned activity by highlighting the interrelatedness of children’s linguistic, cognitive, and perceptual skills for accurate comprehension of television’s most basic narrative device-temporal sequencing. It also explores the impact of highly divergent skills and abilities by sampling children school-labeled as academically gifted and artistically gifted.

Eye for Beauty: Male College Students’ Exposure to Still Images and Evaluations of Thinness and Beauty in Women • Kimberly L. Bissell and Peiqin Zhou, Alabama• Although researchers have much to learn about the factors that increase the risk of disordered eating in women, what researchers have suggested is that many women internalize what they perceive to be others’ view of their own bodies. More specifically, it is suggested that part of the sexual objectification of women in this culture comes from men.

Screen Size, Source Credibility, and Presence: Audience Reactions to Televised Presidential Debates • Cheryl Campanella Bracken, Kimberly A. Neuendorf, and Leo W. Jeffres, Cleveland State • An experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of both television screen size and presence on audiences’ perceived source credibility of presidential candidates. Fifty-five participants rated source credibility of both 2000 Presidential candidates, Gore and Bush, after viewing segments from the presidential debates prior to the election. The results demonstrate that screen size has some effect on perceptions of source credibility. The findings are consistent with previous presence research demonstrating larger images increase viewer sensations of presence.

More Than Words Alone: Broadcasters’ Nonverbal Communication In the First 24 Hours of the September 11th Terrorist Attacks • Renita Coleman and Denis Wu, Louisiana State • A content analysis the first 24 hours of 9-11 shows that TV new journalists were not objective in their nonverbal behavior. They showed significantly more positive and negative expressions than neutral expressions despite a journalistic commitment to objectivity. The time of day mattered, with broadcasters showing more negative expressions during the second 8-hours of coverage, as did length of shot with broadcasters who were on camera for longer consecutive periods showing more positive and negative expressions through nonverbal channels.

Female Newspaper Photographers’ Perception of Women Photojournalists • Ken Heinen and Mark Popovich, Ball State • Sixteen female newspaper photojournalists completed Q sorts containing 57 statements about the current role of women photojournalists at their own newspaper. The women sorted themselves into two factors that were labeled: Egalitarians and Feminists. The Egalitarians believed that women were equal to men in all facets of photojournalism, but they had some doubts about the commitment of women to the profession.

Analyzing Sequential Art: Visual Narrative Techniques in Calvin and Hobbes • Sharon M. Hope, Purdue • Comics and comic strips are two examples of a unique art form best described as “sequential art,” a rarely studied but important cultural phenomenon whose usefulness as a communication tool is underestimated. As a means to better appreciate and apply this art form, this paper examines the history of newspaper comics, then uses several Sunday Calvin and Hobbes comic strips to identify four visual elements that contribute to an effective sequential art narrative.

News Images of the Terrorist Attacks: Framing September 11th and its Aftermath Thru the Pictures of the Year International Competition • Yung-Soo Kim and C. Zoe Smith, Missouri • This study examines the visual coverage of the 2001 terrorist attacks by analyzing the 382 images submitted to the special September 11th news category of the 2002 POYi competition, allowing us not only to examine how photojournalists covered this unprecedented story, but to explore what they thought was their best work from this very stressful news event. Submissions fell into three main themes: events, aftermath, and firefighters and accounted for 93% of the entries.

An Ideological Critique of the American Frontier Myth in the Photography of Arthur Rothstein and Alan Berner • Brian W. Kratzer, Missouri • This research project compares photographs of the American frontier by Arthur Rothstem during the Depression and Alan Berner during the 1990s using the method of ideological critique The photographs, or cultural products, are framed by the frontier myth This framing. allows comparison of the myth in these photographs that are connected by subject matter. The goal is to interpret how the photographers perceived the West during their era in relation to the goals of their individual photography projects.

Blind or Annoyed? Research Implications of Banner Blindness • Sang Yeal Lee, Pennsylvania State • It has been widely observed that the advertising effectiveness on the World Wide Web has been continually declining since its launch in 1994. One contributing factor to this decline is users’ inattention to banner ads, which some researchers call “banner blindness.” Drawing on visual cognition and information processing perspectives, this paper explores how Web users may develop skills to ignore or avoid banners.

Engaging the News: Visual Journalism and Innovation • Paul Martin Lester, California State, Fullerton • New media journalism presentations are largely extensions of a familiar model from newspaper traditions. Social constructivism theory helps establishes the need while diffusion of innovations research helps establish the categories for identifying types of news consumers. The paper identifies technological innovations that each type of user might respond to and shows how producers and users can work together to formulate ways of story telling as taught by visual journalism instructors that help promote excellence and engagement.

Personal Impact Assessment of Advertising Culture of “Whiteness”: Facial Skin Color Preferences Among Urban Chinese Women • Angela K.Y. Mak, Oregon • This paper examines a key determinant of female beauty among urban Chinese women: the preferred whiter facial skin tone color. By using Williams’ (2000a) Personal Impact Assessment, it investigates how the use of vivid images on recent whitening skin care product television advertising helps shape both the individual and social values among urban Chinese women in relation to the Chinese proverb, “One whiteness can substitute for three physical unattractivenesses.”

Visual Symbols on the Web and Their Meaning: Comparing Social Movement Groups in the United States and South Korea • Michael McCluskey and Seungahn Nah, Wisconsin-Madison • Many social movement organizations use Web sites to communicate with members and the public. Visual images that communicate a cultural meaning – collective identity, emotional appeals or moral appeals – may be an important element of these sites and further movement goals. Visual images from four types of movement-group Web sites, in the U.S. and Korea, were analyzed. Collective identity was more common on Korean sites, while moral and emotional appeals were most common among white power groups.

Slice-of-Life Moments as Visual “Truth”: Normal Rockwell, Feature Photography, and American Values in Pictorial Journalism • Andrew Mendelson and Carolyn Kitch, Temple • To photojournalists, the purpose of feature photographs is to reveal something enduring or timeless in the human spirit. Such images require their creators to find deeper meaning in the everyday. Before (and alongside) the emergence of feature photography, such work was also the province of the artists whose illustrations filled the pages of popular magazines.

A Critical Vision of Gender in 2002 Campaign Ads • Janis Teruggi Page, Missouri • This qualitative study explores how repetitive visual images in political candidates’ ads reflect gender traits and issues, and analyzes how visuals reinforce stereotypes, break through them, or convey gender balance. Using 2002 Illinois campaign spots as texts, the author employs film theorists’ mise-en-scene framework and rhetorical depiction theory to construct a coding framework for visual rhetorical analysis. Results reveal gender cross-over and balance, and suggest how visuals establish authenticity or deceit.

The Big Story: September 12, 2001 Front Page Design, News and Picture Selection A Study of Reader Preferences • Thomas Ansel Price, II and Jenny Lesselbaum, Ball State • We watched in horror as the World Trade Center towers crashed to the ground again and again on television screens across the country. What responsibility did newspapers have to their readers in providing a second day look at the attacks? This study of readers’ feelings found that readers are attracted to design, but expect more of the human aspect of the story, the causes and the results than they get from television and most newspapers.

A Semiotic Exegesis of World Wide Web Advertising: The Search For a Contextual Understanding of Digital Design • William Pritchard, Shippensburg • Via a semiotic reading of 100 Web advertisements, this study composes a culturally astute understanding of on-line advertising. Web advertisements are analyzed within, and against, the larger cultures of digital and traditional representation. Findings point to the inherent limitations of on-line design in compari-son to traditional print design, arid present the workings of a new culture of advertising defined by a universal equity among large and small advertisers and a palatable straying from traditional professional advertising codes.

Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video Environments: Research on “User-Directed News” Applications • Larry Pryor, Susanna Gardner, Albert A. Rizzo, and Kambiz Ghahremani, Southern California • Advanced Panoramic Video (PV) camera systems serve as useful tools for creating virtual news scenarios. The development of PV content for journalism will require an understanding of how users observe, interact with, enjoy and benefit from this technology. The paper, based on our research using a 360-degree camera, includes a discussion of virtual environments in journalism, problems of “realism” and accuracy, the role of the journalist in virtual spaces and user-control of the video perspective.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Scholastic Journalism Division

I’m a Good Writer…Aren’t I?: Predictors of Student Self-Efficacy and Writing Performance in a Mass Communication Writing Course • Kimberly L. Bissell, Alabama, and Steve J. Collins, Central Florida • This study sought to identify variables that predicted writing performance and/or self-efficacy (confidence in one’s ability) near the end of the semester in a basic media writing course at a public university in the South. Surprisingly, just one variable predicted success on the writing test: high school grade point average. Students appear not to be very good judges of their own ability, as both a general self-efficacy scale and a more specific task confidence scale were both unrelated to writing performance.

Convergence and Writing Instruction • David W. Bulla and Julie B. Dodd, Florida • College media writing instructors are dealing with a recent phenomenon in the media world: convergence. The researchers interviewed instructors from universities and colleges from across the United States to determine how they are dealing with convergence in their media writing classes. The researchers discovered two camps: (1) innovators and (2) resisters. The former work in programs that tend to embrace writing in a converged media environment; the latter work in programs that have adopted a go-slow policy.

Characteristics of Journalism Educators and Journalism Educators in Inner-City High Schools • Jack Dvorak, Indiana and Candace Perkins Bowen, Kent State • This national study of 2,089 U.S. high schools compares journalistic activities in nearly 300 inner-city schools with suburban and rural/small-town schools. Specifically, it examines the prevalence of newspapers, news magazines, radio, television, online publications and yearbooks in the three major classifications of schools. Also, it compares various demographic and psychographic characteristics of the journalism educators within inner-city schools and compares those traits with teachers in schools generally.

The Theft (and Censorship) of Student Newspapers • Mark Paxton, Southwest Missouri State • More than 30 years of court decisions have barred administrators at publicly funded college and university campuses from directly censoring the student press. But over the past 10 year, students have begun censoring the campus press by stealing part or all of a day’s edition. This paper argues that administrators who refuse to take disciplinary action against the paper thieves are engaging in a new form of censorship.

September 11, 2001: How Yearbook Journalists Covered a National Tragedy • Melanie Wilderman and Laura Schaub, Oklahoma • This paper presents a review of the methods used by twenty-two junior high, middle school and high school yearbook staffs in their yearbook coverage of the terrorists’ attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. It also contains a content analysis of the types of stories, secondary packages and photos included and the total percent of coverage in 107 junior high, middle school and high school yearbooks.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Radio-TV Journalism Division

The Canadian News Directors Study: Demographics, Values and Attitudes of Television Decision Makers • Marsha Barber and Ann Rauhala, Ryerson • This is the first study to attempt to understand more about the men and women who make key newsroom decisions in Canada. The authors surveyed all television news directors across the country. Survey highlights suggest that, unlike American journalists, Canadian news directors’ politics and attitudes are generally in line with those of the general population. The survey also reveals that white males are disproportionately represented in senior positions.

Fox News and its Links to Hawkish Support for the War in Iraq • Christopher Beaudoin, Indiana; Michael Antecol, Magid and Esther Thorson, Missouri • With telephone survey data from March 2003, this paper examines cable TV news dependency and links to attitudes and behaviors related to the war in Iraq. Fox News dependents are more supportive of the war effort than are other cable news dependents. Fox News dependents who watch the broadcasts more often are more supportive of the war effort than are other Fox News dependents. Findings are discussed in terms of news content and the concepts of media dependency and “television diplomacy.”

The Effects of Natural Sound Breaks in News Stories on Orienting and Arousal • Mary Beth Bradford, Alabama • No abstract available.

Taking the Show on the Road: Local TV News Anchors and Their Public Appearances • Katherine Bradshaw and James C. Foust, Bowling Green State and Joseph P. Bernt, Ohio • Based on a web survey conducted from September 2002 through February 2003, this study examined the behaviors and opinions of 451 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local television news anchors on ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates about community appearances. Nearly all television news anchors make community appearances. There is no charge or guidelines for the appearances that management expects of anchors. Anchors believe appearances are beneficent and connected to improved ratings, career success and community betterment.

Sex, Drugs and TV News: When a Reporter is arrested • Nancy Dupont and Mary Blue, Loyola • On January 21, 2000, television newsrooms in New Orleans faced a major journalistic and ethical crisis. The highest-paid and one of the most respected television news reporters was arrested in a sex and drug scandal that shocked his fellow reporters and the officers in the New Orleans Police Department. Since Mike Longman had worked in four different broadcast newsrooms in the city, many of the television news managers and his fellow reporters knew him well.

Increasing Candidate-Centered TV Discourse: Evaluating Local News Coverage of Campaign 2000 • Stephen Farnsworth, Mary Washington and S. Robert Lichter, Center for Media and Public Affairs • No abstract available.

Gays in the Military: A Second-Level Agenda-Setting Analysis of TV News Coverage • Rhoda Gibson and Joe Bob Hester, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Network news stories (N=209) about the gays-in-the-military issue from 1992-93 were examined for amount and tone, and this coverage was compared to public opinion. The study provides evidence of limited second-level agenda-setting effects. Results indicate that news coverage was primarily positive or neutral in tone. However, there was a significant second-level agenda-setting relationship between news stories that were anti-gay in tone and public opinion, with negative tone significantly associated with a later decrease in overall support for allowing homosexuals to serve in the military.

America’s Narrow Window to the World • Guy Golan, Louisiana State • The current study analyzes how evening news programs from the CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC television networks covered the world in 1999. Through a content analysis of every evening news program from the year 1999, the study measures and analyzes the nature of international news coverage on the four networks. The results reveal substantial differences in the nature of coverage between the networks.

Measuring Newscast Accuracy: A Survey Of Television News Managers’ Attitudes • Gary Hanson, Kent State • Measuring accuracy has been apart of academic literature since the mid-1930s. Most of the studies surveyed the opinion of news sources. Little of research has focused on the attitudes of journalists. This study, based on a national sample of television news managers, looks at the managers’ perceptions of various reporting errors and at the different levels of punishment for those employees who commit them.

An Examination of a Channel Change Phenomenon in a Multichannel • Jongbae Hong, SIU • Based on an active audience perspective, this study examined the relationships between motives for channel change and 5-step channel search patterns, depending on heavy and light TV viewing. The findings of this study show that there are considerable differences in the relationships between seven motives for channel change and each 5-step channel search pattern and those relationships are heavily influenced by heavy and light TV viewing styles.

Seeing, Listening, Reading: Comparing Campaign Communication Channels • Lynda Kaid, Andrew Williams and Kaye Trammell, Florida • This experiment investigated debate affect based on exposure channels (TV, radio, Internet video, or Internet text) among respondents (n=136) through a pretest/posttest design. Debate exposure across channels resulted in significant positive change for one candidate and negative change for the opponent, significant decline in feelings of political cynicism, limited support for change in the levels of voter information seeking and participation across channels, and no influence on viewer agenda of issues across channels.

Remembering the News: The Effect of Chronological Presentation of Information on Memory for Broadcast News • Mark Kelley, Syracuse • This experiment tested the hypothesis that presenting a television news story in chronological style will produce greater cued recall than presenting the same story in broadcast style. Subjects viewed a newsbrief containing two target stories. Those who saw the stories in chronological style scored slightly higher on a cued recall test than those who saw the same stories in traditional broadcast style. The difference in recall was statistically significant for one of the target stories.

Total Coverage?: A Case Study of Convergence Between Two Private Media Companies In Oklahoma City • Stan Ketterer, Tom Weir and James Black, Oklahoma State and J. Steven Smethers, Kansas State • This article examines the convergence between two independent media companies in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and compares their actual performance to their stated objectives. The study finds this arrangement is not fulfilling its promise to “to provide more in-depth news and information to their readers and viewers to better serve them.” Coordination appeared sporadic, and few in-depth stories appeared. Also, the partners are not setting the agenda for other media. Implications for media convergence are discussed.

Television News Coverage of Welfare and Welfare Recipients During a Period of Legislative Change • Catherine A. Luther, Tennessee • This research examines how network television news covered welfare and welfare recipients during a period when the United States was undergoing a major change in its welfare program. One finding was that the news stories tended to provide a positive frame for the new welfare program, while providing a negative frame to the old. Another finding was that race appeared to play a role in how welfare recipients were portrayed in the news stories.

Concern about Future Terrorist Attacks: The Impact of Age and News Media Use on Level of Concern • Smeeta Mishara, J. Zhou, T. Sullivan and Paula Poindexter, Texas-Austin • This paper examines how socio-economic status and news media use affect people’s concern for another terrorist attack in a three-variable relationship. The results are based on a survey of 417 randomly selected adults in a metropolitan city in the Southwest. The results show that older adults are heavy users of news media, and are more concerned than younger adults about another attack on U.S. soil. Greater concern among older adults is not because they are fearful but because they watch more cable news.

The First Amendment Implications of Internet Only Radio on Campus • Mark Paxton, Southwest Missouri State • Over-the-air broadcasters at public college and university campus are subject to content regulation both by administrators and the FCC, while print media on those campuses are free from regulation. The development of Internet-only radio presents a constitutional question. This paper finds that court rulings have determined that university officials can engage in view-point neutral content regulation of campus computer systems because those systems are not traditional public forums.

It’s in the Visuals! Journalists and Gender Issues in Television Network News Coverage of the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election • Kimmerly Piper-Aiken, Michigan State • Content analysis of 157 election stories from ABC, CBS, and NBC found striking differences between news stories created by women and men. Women reporters were more likely to report on women’s issues than men reporters. They were also more more likely to use gender-relevant verbal frames, refer to the “women’s vote” and include more female sources in soundbites than men. An exploratory video content analysis method was also tested with promising results for future studies.

It Looks Like a Fun Job!: An Examination of Media Exposure and the Cultivation of Perceptions about a Broadcast Journalism Career • Laura Polus, Illinois State • This cultivation theory-based project examined the relationship between specific types of media exposure and career-related perceptions/expectations of aspiring broadcast journalists. A quantitative survey was completed by 191 students enrolled in journalism or mass communication programs at four universities. Exposure to television news produced significant correlations with expectations that a broadcast journalism career is prestigious, useful to society, and provides interesting work. Exposure to fictional characters in films and television sitcoms did not produce significant correlations.

Job Satisfaction of Newsmagazine Correspondents • Cindy Price, Wyoming • Ratings for television news shows have gone down in the last few years, but ratings for the newsmagazine shows seem to be holding steady. The question is, how does this affect the job satisfaction of regular news and newsmagazine correspondents? This paper examines any differences in job satisfaction levels between these groups. It found that newsmagazine correspondents are satisfied with their jobs and are significantly more satisfied than the regular news correspondents. Regular news correspondents report significantly more instances of budgetary constraints affecting their job satisfaction than do newsmagazine correspondents.

Al- Jazeera: A Broadcaster Creating Ripples in a Stagnant Pool • Stephen Quinn and Tim Walters, Zayed • Al-Jazeera is unique in the Arab world. In an environment of state-controlled or compliant media, this Arab-language news channel thinks of itself as a breath of fresh air or a source of fresh water. It broadcasts controversial subjects and, in doing so, it has attracted an audience of 35 million households glued to its programming – and criticism.

Newspaper Images of Ice Hockey: A Historical Look at Detroit Red Wings Photography in the Detroit Free Press, 1935-1995 • Quint Randle and Barbara Crownover, Brigham Young • This mixed methods case study examined if and how hockey photographs appearing in a daily newspaper have changed over a 60-year period. Sixty-five photographs were sampled from the pages of The Detroit Free Press and coded into several qualitative and quantitative categories. The content of hockey photographs in this newspaper has changed substantially during these years due to advancing camera technology, competition from television, the use of visual cues and the presence of hockey violence.

The Changing Role of Sports in Local Television News • Brad Schultz, Mississippi and Mary Lou Scheffer, Louisiana State • A study was conducted to assess how the sports segment within the local television newscast is changing. Literature suggests that many stations are eliminating or otherwise revising the sports segment in response to industry conditions. Results indicated changes, but more in terms of style and presentation than in time allotment. The sports segment is emphasizing more localism and appealing to casual fans. Major factors for change were audience ratings and competition from all-sports networks.

The Effects of Preferred Radio Format on Listeners’ Attention, Retention, and Loyalty • Thomas W. Smee, Jessica Matthews, Amanda Rotondo, Craig Stark, Pennsylvania State • Recall measures of attention given to radio were added to the traditional self report measures. Station format’s effect on the attention scores was then examined. Format preference effects on station loyalty were also studied. The results leaned toward more attention given to talk radio, and talk radio listeners were significantly more station loyal. Implications include the difference between self report and recall attention scores and practical implications for the advertising and radio industries.

In Whose Best Interest? FCC Deregulation and Local News: How Cross-Ownership, National Caps, and Duopolies Are Addressed in Three Commissioned Studies • Laura Smith, Texas-Austin • Within months, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to revise all six of the nation’s broadcast rules and regulations. To help guide its decisions, the FCC commissioned 12 empirical studies analyzing media ownership, market conditions, and content diversity/quality. This paper examines the studies pertaining to local television news, specifically: (1) cross-ownership; (2) the national cap; and (3) duopolies. The researcher identifies multiple theoretical and methodological shortfalls and suggests revised research strategies before the FCC changes policy.

Connecting TV and Newspapers in Political Gain • W. Joann Wong, North Carolina • Over the past 30 years, political science and communication researchers have constantly studied the impact of media sources on individuals being informed. Some studies contend the newspapers achieve political knowledge acquisition more efficiently than television; whereas, some have found a superiority of television in information transmission. Most research, however, has not examined the relationship among using various media, which has an indirect effect on knowledge gain, this study analyzes the relationship between television viewing and newspaper reading along with their impact on information learning.

Race and Gender: An Analysis of the Sources and Reporters in the Networks’ Coverage of the Year 2000 Presidential Campaign • Geri Zeldes and Fredrick Fico, Michigan State • More than 50 years after Hutchins’ Commission on Freedom of the Press and more than 30 years after the Kerner Commission, American discourse still focuses on racial disparities and the lack of minority representation in the media. Decades later, our content analysis of 333 campaign stories broadcasted by ABC, CBS and NBC during the 2000 presidential election found minimal representation of minorities and women as reporters and sources.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Public Relations Division

A (Re)Conceived Feminist Paradigm for Public Relations and its Application to the Theory or Organization-Public Relations • Linda Aldoory, Maryland and Elizabeth Toth, Syracuse • This review essay sought to advance the use of a feminist paradigm in the research and understanding of the practice of public relations. Work by feminist scholars is substantial, but must move beyond androcentric principles and alienation from public relations scholars who do not conduct feminist research or do not consider themselves feminist. This essay posits that five concepts from the feminist paradigm should enrich and advance knowledge about public relations: analysis of gender, power, diversity, ethics/values, and reflexivity.

A “Dynamic” Public Relations Case Class: I Don’t Know Anything About Science and You Want Me to Say What? • b j Altschul, American • A dynamic approach to part of the public relations case studies class facilitates student mastery of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Using a combination of asynchronous learning for research and discussion, role-playing and in-class Socratic Dialogue for negotiation and conflict management, and culminating in a mini-campaign, student teams represent stakeholder clients with widely divergent perspectives on a controversial topic in the news, a scientific issue that affects daily life and communication of strategic policy decisions.

The Relationship between Corporate Philanthropic Activity and Corporate Financial Impact: Getting Beyond the Inconsistent Results of Previous Studies • Jiyang Bae and Margarete Rooney Hall, Florida • The main purpose of this paper is to re-examine the relationship between corporate philanthropic activity and its impact on corporate financial performance. Several scholars have tried to measure the relationship. But they have not produced consistent results because of methodological inconsistencies. After modifying three methodological factors as potentially creating the inconsistent results, this study suggests that corporate philanthropic activity does partially affect the corporate bottom line.

The Role of Clients in Public Relations Campaign Courses • Vince Benigni, College of Charleston, I-Huei Cheng and Glen Cameron, Missouri • Extending Benigni and Cameron(1999), this study provides a current review of teaching methods for the public relations campaigns course based on a national survey. In addition to offering up-to-date descriptions of how the campaigns course is constructed and valued in public relations programs, this study analyzed what may be important factors that influence the course outcomes.

The Gray Areas of Ethical Decision-making The Emergence of an Ethical Action Continuum Among Public Relations Practitioners • Lois A. Boyton, North Carolina • This paper explores the action taken by public relations practitioners when confronted with ethical situations. In-depth interviews were conducted to ascertain actions taken by public relations practitioners within a decision-making process. Findings indicate that each practitioner made decisions within the context of a decision-making role. Additionally, the analysis reveals an ethical action continuum that addresses not only the extremes of acting ethically or unethically, but also intermediary stages of consensus, compromise, and opting out.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of How the General Public Views PR Practitioners: The Results of a Hybrid Survey/Experiment Employing a Nationwide Sample • Coy Callison, Texas Tech • Public perception of PR practitioners was measured using a telephone survey with a source manipulation experiment interwoven into a standard opinion poll. The nationwide sample (N=593) revealed that sources affiliated with the organization on whose behalf they speak are viewed more negatively than unaffiliated sources. Additionally, PR practitioners were judged no more critically than other affiliated sources. Finally, a multi-item measure of public relations in general demonstrated that perceptions of practitioners are stable across demographics.

The Use of Persuasive Appeals and PR in Travel/Tourism Post-9/11 • Ann R. Carden, SUNY-Fredonia • This paper examines the effect of 9/11 on the types of persuasive appeals travel destinations are using to adjust to changing travel patterns and on the amount of public relations used in promotion. An exploratory study of 46 public relations practitioners in the travel and tourism industry found that entertainment and humor, rather than factual appeals, were being used by more destinations, and that public relations efforts had increased, while marketing and advertising efforts decreased.

When [Professional] Worlds Collide: The Implications of Kasky V. Nike for Public Relations Practice • Erik L. Collins, Christopher S. MacDonald and Michael Witkoski, South Carolina • This paper examines the past and present status of commercial speech protection in the United States, the nature of Nike Corporation’s campaign defending its overseas labor practices, the legal controversy these efforts created culminating in Kasky v. Nike, and what the landscape of protection for public relations speech may resemble after a decision is rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Public Relations Internship Experience: A Comparison of Student and Site Supervisor Perspectives • Emma Daugherty, California State-Long Beach • Internships are seen as valuable learning experiences for students by the public relations academy, including the Commission on Public Relations Education, the Public Relations Student Society of America, and The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Still, with all the importance placed on experiential-learning experiences for public relations, journalism, and mass communication students, scant literature exists on the subject. Much of the literature is anecdotal or descriptive in nature.

Describing Volunteerism: The Theory of Unified Responsibility • Mohan J Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • In recent years, non-profit organizations have faced an increasing challenge in recruiting volunteers. Proposing the theory of unified responsibility, the paper argues that a sense of responsibility emanates across the personal and social domains of individuals that volunteer. Drawing a psychographic profile of the volunteer, this paper explores the role of dieting, exercising, consumerism, and environmental consciousness. Strategic applications for recruiting volunteers are suggested based on the formative research.

A Public Relations View of Employee Benefits Communication • Alan R. Freitag and Gaelle Picherit-Duthler, North Carolina-Charlotte • Management and administration of employee benefits rightfully fall under the purview of the organization’s human resource department. So, too, has responsibility for benefits communication, though human resource managers are not necessarily the best qualified to administer a communication effort. The researchers use data from two surveys to show the criticality of benefits to recruiting, retention and motivation of quality employees, the prevalence of particular communication approaches and channels, the perceived effectiveness of those channels, and employees’ media preferences in regard to benefits communication.

Nation Building, Branding, and Boosterisim in Cyberspace: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa Presidential Websites • T. Kenn Gaither, North Carolina • This study is a quantitative content analysis of the 8 official English-language, Sub-Saharan Africa presidential websites to determine how these sites relate to public relations practices and traditional propaganda theory. Most propaganda theory research has dichotomized propaganda through the use of nominal labels such as “good” propaganda and “bad” propaganda. This study obviates this notion by considering propaganda as related to, and distantly part of, public relations practices and international government relations.

Integrating Editorial Presentation and Public Relations Publications: New Frontiers for Convergence and Collaborative Learning • Jennifer George-Palilonis, Robert S. Pritchard and Betsey Hatch, Ball State • Graphic journalists and public relations specialists are often compelled to work with a broad array of specialists and experts in writing, reporting, advertising, graphic design, public relations, photography. However, in the controlled environment of the classroom, it’s often difficult to emulate the cross-disciplinary collaboration necessary to effectively teach these communication skills. This paper provides a case study and analysis of one such project that served as an experiment in collaborative teaching and learning.

Prepared for Practice? Student Perceptions about Requirements and Preparation for Public Relations Practice • Karla K. Gower and Bryan H. Reber, Alabama • An online survey was administered to 117 junior and senior public relations majors at seven American universities. Students strongly affirmed skills and understandings identified in previous studies as important to the practice of public relations. When asked about their preparedness in the same areas, their responses differed significantly suggesting at least some feelings of lack of preparation for professional practice in some areas. Respondents also suggested an understanding of the organizational role of public relations practitioners.

Congressional Press Secretaries: A Survey of Their Relationships with Reporters and Views of Media Coverage • Ethnie Groves and Jennifer Greer, Nevada-Reno • This survey investigated who congressional press secretaries are, what they think of reporters, and how they view congressional news coverage. The 173 responses indicated that press secretary demographics have barely changed since the 1980s, their relationships with reporters are positive, and they don’t give high marks to coverage of Congress. Relationships and views of media coverage were partially related, and significant demographic differences emerged on how press secretaries relate to the press.

PRSA: Scale Development for Exploring the Cross-Cultural Impetus of Public Relations Strategies • Yi-Hui, National Cheng- Chi University-Taiwan • The purpose of this paper is to develop a cross-cultural, multiple-item scale for measuring public relations strategies, i.e., the Public Relations Strategy Assessment (referred to as PRSA). The scale was developed not only to fulfill the standards of reliability and validity in measurement, but also to acquire cross-cultural comparability. After a discussion of the conceptualization and operationalization of the dimensions of public relations strategies, the procedures used in constructing and refining a multiple-item scale to measure the construct are described.

How to Measure Organization-public Relationships: Measurement Validation in a Company-retailer Relationship • Samsup Jo, Florida • In spite of attempts to develop operational measurements of organization-public relationships, the development of global public relations has been limited in other cultural contexts. The basic premise of this study supposes that global relational elements can be found when an organization engages in organization-public relationships. For this study, a setting for an organization-public relationship is Samsung Electronics located in South Korea and its retailers. Two hundred fourteen retailers and two hundred forty seven Samsung managers in Korea participated in this study.

Nonprofit Organizations’ Use of the World Wide Web: Are they Sufficiently Fulfilling Organizational Goals? • Seok Kang and Hanna E. Norton, Arkansas Tech • This study explores nonprofit organizations’ Web sites to determine the extent to which the organizations utilize benefits of the Web to accomplish their organizational goals. A sample of the 100 largest NPOs in the United States was used for the study. Results found that the selected NPOs were effectively using the Web to present traditional public relations materials and connect with publics. However, the organizations were largely unsuccessful in making interactive, relational communications with publics.

Relationship Maintenance Strategies on Websites • Eyun- Jung Ki, Florida • This study conducted a content analysis of 2002 Fortune 500 company Web sites to explore how corporations strategically and effectively manage relationships with their publics by utilizing their Websites. Adopting relationship maintenance strategies such as positivity, openness, sharing of task, networking and access, this study revealed that openness was most commonly evident at the highest level of the Web sites, while networking was measured least frequently and the lowest level.

Examining the PRSA Code of Ethics: Toward Ethical Advocacy • Hyo-Sook Kim, Maryland • This paper aimed to examine the PRSA Code of Ethics and to suggest necessary change that would help public relations achieve one of its goals: ethical profession. In particular, the primary interest is in specifying more clearly public relations as ethical advocacy. For this purpose, the grounds for discussion were set by exploring the following questions: What is a profession? Is public relations recognized as a profession?

Exploring the Effects of Organization-Public Relationships (OPRs) on Attitude toward the Organization, Brand, and Purchase Intention • Jeesun Kim, Soobum Lee and ByengHee Chang, Florida • This study investigated the effects of organization-public relationships (OPRs) on attitude toward the organization (Ao), brand (Ab), and purchase intention (P1). For this purpose, this study devised an integrated model which holds that the effects of OPRs on PT are mediated by Ao and Ab and that the effect of Ao is mediated by Ab. Estimated coefficients and model fit indices by SEM showed this model is appropriate. Comparisons with competing models confirmed these results.

Exploring Public Relations Agency Roles in Korea: An Application of Grunig’ Excellence Theory • Cheolhan Lee, Missouri • The purpose of this study is to explore the expectations public relations practitioners and clients have of the role of public relations in Korea. This paper examines Grunig’s Excellence Theory of Public Relations whether it can be applied to the practices of public relations agencies in Korea. The theory suggests effective public relations should follow these characteristics such as (1) public relations practitioners should be managers, (2) practitioners should be practiced according to the two-way symmetrical model, and (3) organizations’ woridviews should be symmetrical.

Media Relations in Korea: Cheong between Journalist and PR Practitioner • Jonghyuk Lee and Dan Berkowitz, Iowa • This study applied the concept of Cheong – the fundamental foundation for Korean relationships – to analyze the relationship between journalists and PR practitioners in Korea. Research drew on in-depth interviews with ten pairs of journalists and practitioners. Respondents said they felt Cheong through common experiences and that Cheong provided a positive force for their interaction. Further, journalists and practitioners said that Cheong did not bring negative effects to the role of journalism in a democratic society.

Practicing Public Relations in China: A Case Study of a Multinational Public Relations Firm • Yi Luo, Maryland • This study of a multinational public relations firm in China seeks to examine (a) how public relations is currently practiced in China, (b) the application of the two generic principles of public relations: two-way symmetrical communication and support for diversity, and (c) a multinational public relations firm’s sensitivity to societal culture. The results supported the global public relations theory, specifically two-way symmetrical communication and support for diversity for one multinational public relations firm in China.

Utilizing John Bawls’ “A Theory of Justice” To Examine the Social Utility of Contemporary Public Relations • David Martinson, Florida International • This paper asserts that efforts to examine the social utility of contemporary public relations must go beyond talk of a injecting views in a “marketplace of ideas.” It examines the social utility of public relations from a distributive/ social justice perspective based on the work of the widely respected American philosopher John Rawis.

Third Party Endorsement Influence on Perceptions of Social Marketing Campaign Attitudes, Credibility, Effectiveness, and Involvement • Jenson Moore and Terry Kinney, Minnesota • This study examines the public relations concept of third party endorsement in regards to a social marketing campaign. It was hypothesized that third party endorsements would not influence the perceived legitimacy of the campaign. In order to test this, a 2X3 (advertisement appeal type: fear, humor by third party endorsement type: no endorsement, supporting, opposing) experimental design was used. The findings supported the assumption that third party endorsements do not significantly influence perceptions.

Treading Through aCrisis: Exploring How Bridgestone/Firestone and the Media Framed an Issue and an Image • Bestey Neibergall, Minnesota • Bridgestone/Firestone faced a nationally newsworthy crisis when vehicles equipped with its tires were connected to at least 30 deaths. How media frame such crises potentially impacts public opinion and future viability of corporations. Therefore, stakes are high for public relations strategists to effectively manage crisis messages. The purpose of this study is to explore what roles Bridgestone/Firestone and the media played in communicating complicated events, and to what extent Bridgestone/Firestone’s corporate image changed.

The Influence of Gender on Publicity and Media Relations: Differences in Discourse • Kim Newman, Syracuse • This study examined to what extent media relations is influenced by gender, hypothesizing that women focus more than men on interpersonal relationships. A national email survey of PR practitioners included the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (B SRI) and “Perceived Masculinity” Scale (PMQ). Findings showed practitioners perceived certain traits as gendered yet there was no significant difference in how they rated themselves. Results indicated practitioners tended to exhibit what is defined as feminine behavior.

Protracted Strategic Risk Communication: A Longitudinal Analysis of Community’s Zones of Meaning • Michael J. Palenchar, Florida and Robert L. Heath, Houston • This study replicates and extends elements of Heath and Abel’s (1996) and Heath and Palenchar’s (2000) analysis of the impact of sustained strategic risk communication. Through random telephone surveys (n=400), the authors confirmed and strengthened some of the conclusions of the two previous studies in relation to identifying and better understanding community zones of meaning. Identifiable community zones of meaning related to risk perception are becoming apparent.

Communicating for Technical Change: Business to Business communication with Small Manufacturing Firms • Danielle C. Pontiff, Louisiana-Lafayette • In business-to-business public relations, practitioners are often asked to encourage change in the adoption of new technologies. This study focuses on the challenge faced by business-to-business public relations practitioners who work to encourage the adoption of e-business applications among small manufacturing firms. While the adoption and use of e-business applications have been increasingly encouraged in the manufacturing industry, research indicates that smaller firms are less likely to adopt and use technology unless they perceive beneficial characteristics.

Legitimate Strategy versus Smoke Screen: Framing Philip Morris’ Name Change to Altria • Cristina Popescu, Florida • Using the theory of framing in constructing and maintaining corporate reputations, this paper addresses the case of Philip Morris Companies, which changed its name to Altria Group in January 2003. The research compares the frames used by the company to justify the name change with the framing used by the mainstream media to reflect the event, and the reaction of various publics published online. Different frames are exemplified and implications are provided.

Web Power: Examining Practitioners’ World Wide Web Use and Its Effects on Their Decision-Making Power in Public Relations • Lance V. Porter, Buena Vista Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and Lynne M. Sallot, Georgia • Using a national email survey, this study examines how public relations practitioners are using the World Wide Web to gain power in their organizations. To measure power, the study uses Finkelstein’s (1992) conceptualizations and operationalizations of power, derived from “Upper Echelons” theory from the strategic management literature. Results suggest that practitioners are effectively using the World Wide Web to some degree, and that the Web will play an increasingly prominent part in the strategic practice of public relations in the future.

Symmetric Stance versus Asymmetric Public Relations Strategy: A Case Study of Corporate Social Responsibility Programs • Qi Qiu and Glen T. Cameron, Missouri • Applying the excellence theory and taxonomy of message function to Avon and Ford’s two breast cancer programs, the discourse analysis of corporate discourse and media coverage finds that the programmatic context proposes a special case for the theory. In both real-life cases, the stance that balances public and organization interests is symmetric, following from the original philanthropic impetus.

Building Public Relations Definitions Typologies Among Practictioners and Educators • Bryan H. Reber and Chandler Harris, Alabama • Twenty-six public relations leaders – practitioners and educators – sorted 30 words to build definitions of public relations and identify typologies by definition. Four definitional factors emerged – the Dialogic, Deliberative, Evaluative and Ethical. The Deliberative and Evaluative factors were dominated by practitioners and educators respectively. Three factors defined public relations as strategic. At least two factors defined public relations two-way, responsive, tactical, practical, managerial or honest.

Maybe We Should Just Agree to Disagree? Journalism and Public Relations Educators’ Attitudes Toward Public Relations and the Degree of Coorientational Accuracy that Exists Between Them • Thomasena Shaw and Bonnie Riechert, Tennessee • The literature indicates that a complex relationship exists between journalists and public relations practitioners; can the same be said for their relationship in the academy? To what extent is behavior based on respondents’ personal constructions of the world and perceptions of orientations of those around them, however (in)accurate? A web-based survey was sent to 768 journalism and public relations educators. Surprisingly, the former provided greater evidence of coorientational accuracy than their public relations counterparts.

Is Media Relations All There is to Public Relations? Differences in Perceptions Between Public Relations and Journalism Educators • Thomasena Shaw and Candace White, Tennessee-Knoxville • This study explores whether journalism and public relations programs belong in the same academic department, and if academic programs may be in part responsible for perpetuating myths and stereotypes and contributing to negative perceptions of the public relations profession. A web-based survey was sent to 768 journalism and public relations educators. The study found that journalism educators do not differ as substantially and negatively in their opinions of public relations as the literature may suggest.

The Effects of Consumer Knowledge on Information Processing Toward the PR Editorials • Alex Wang, Emerson College • This study investigates how consumers first used different processing strategies, corresponded to their knowledge structure, to process and evaluate information and then formed their attitudes toward the PR editorials (APR) and purchase intent. The results first reveal that consumers’ knowledge structure do not seem to change the way they perceive how credible the PR editorials are. The findings also suggest that both category-based and piecemeal processing enhance consumers’ recalls of selling points from the PR editorials.

An Empirical Analysis of the Influence of Perceived Attributes of Publics on Public Relations Strategy Use and Effectiveness • Kelly Page Werder, South Florida • This study replicated and extended previous research by examining the influence of problem recognition, constraint recognition, involvement, and goal compatibility on use of informative, facilitative, persuasive, and cooperative problem solving strategies. Members of PRSA (n=403) were surveyed using direct mail and online modes of administration. Results indicate that perceived attributes of publics significantly influence public relations strategy use in organizations. In addition, attributes of publics were significant predictors of strategy effectiveness.

Organization-Public Relationships, Organizational Representations, and the Overall Evaluation of Organizational Performance: A Causal Model • Sung-Un Yang and James E. Grunig, Maryland • The purpose of this paper is to explain causal relationships among organization-public relationships, organizational representations, and evaluation of organizational performances. Authors posited that active communication behavior and familiarity are correlated causes of organization-public relationships, while the quality of organization-public relationships affects the overall evaluation of organizational performance directly as well as through organizational representations. To test this causal model, five Korean organizations were studied with 317 residents in a metropolitan city of Korea.

Press Release and World System: How the U.S. Major Newspapers Use Press Releases from Different Countries? • Juyan Zhang, Missouri • Using the agenda building theory and the three-tiered world system theory, this research examined how the U.S. major newspapers used the press releases from different countries. The research found that press releases from the semi-periphery nations were more used than those from the core nations and the periphery nations. Press releases from the core nations were more used than those from the periphery nations. A majority of the quoted press releases appeared at least in the New York Times.

Using Celebrity Endorsers to Increase Publicity Effects of Marketing Communications • Xinshu Zhao, North Carolina; Hyun Seung Jin and Soontae An, Kansas State • This paper investigates the effects of celebrity endorsement on the effectiveness of a televised commercial in terms of 1) the publicity that the commercial receives from the media, 2) TV viewers’ attitude toward the commercial and 3) TV viewers’ memory of the commercial. The researchers recorded the commercials aired during five Super Bowl broadcasts; 1992-1996, interviewed randomly selected viewers for their reactions toward the commercials, and analyzed the news coverage of the commercials.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Newspaper Division

War with Iraq: how The New York Times and the Guardian of London covered the story after the first Anniversary of the Sept. 11 Attacks • James H. Baden, Missouri • This study examines the news pertaining to the war with Iraq in The New York Times and the Guardian of London between Sept. 11, 2002, the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, and Sept. 30, 2002. This examination found significant differences in how these two newspapers framed the invasion of Iraq story. The study suggests that The New York Times tended to frame its coverage with a more tone, and the Guardian of London framed its coverage with a more foreign official-negative tone.

Framing Freedom: Hoosier Republican and Democratic Newspaper Editors Frame Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation• David W. Bulla, Florida • In the fall of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln declared to his fragmented nation that slaves in the seceding states would be considered free on Jan. 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the reason for fighting the war. No longer was the North only fighting to reunite with the South; now it was also fighting for the freedom of black men. What follows is an examination of how newspaper editors in Indiana chose to frame emancipation.

A Comparative Analysis of Source and Reporter Gender in Newsrooms Managed by Men Vs. Women • Stephanie Craft, Wayne Wanta and Cheolhan Lee, Missouri • The types of sources used by male and female reporters at newspapers with high and low percentages of women in managerial positions were compared through a content analysis. Male experts dominated as sources across all 30 newspapers in the study. Female reporters did use more female sources than their male counterparts. Similar sourcing patterns were found at newspapers with high percentages of female managers, but female reporters used more female non-experts and male reporters used more male non-experts at male-dominated newspapers.

The Convergence Continuum: A Model for Studying Collaboration between Media Newsrooms • Larry Dailey, Lori Demo and Mary Spillman, Ball State • This paper offers a conceptual framework for filling a void in the research on convergence and for extending research into gatekeeping and diffusion of innovation. It offers the Convergence Continuum as a dynamic model that defines news convergence as a series of behavior-based activities illustrating the interaction and cooperation levels of staff members at newspapers, television stations, and Web organizations with news partnerships. The continuum’s components provide media professionals with a touchstone as they develop cross-media alliances.

Partisan and Structural Balance in News Stories Covering Incumbent and Open Governor’s Races in Michigan • Fredrick Fico and Eric Freedman, Michigan State • A comparison of news stories about Michigan gubernatorial races 1998 and 2002 shows that the open race in 2002 was covered in a more even-handed way than the 1998 election, in which an incumbent sought reelection. The proportion of stories favoring the challenger was much higher in 1998 than was the proportion favoring either major candidate in 2002. An equal proportion of stories on the 2002 election favored each candidate.

Cultural Convergence: An Examination of Intergroup Bias and Journalism • Vincent F. Filak, Ball State • A survey of 189 print and broadcast journalists (n=189) assessed whether journalists possess characteristics of groups in an intergroup-bias dynamic. The participants rated a convergence plan more positively when they perceived it to have been created by members of their ingroup as opposed to their outgroup. Additionally, journalists were more positive toward the group that created the plan if they perceived the group not to be comprised solely of outgroup members.

The Perceived Credibility of Electronic Mail in Newspaper Newsgathering • Bruce Garrison, Miami • Journalists from U.S. daily newspapers responded to a national survey of the credibility of electronic mail use in newsgathering. Factor analysis produced a six-dimension solution. The dominant factor was appropriateness, but other factors focused upon completeness, sociability, clarity, timeliness, and techno-complexity. Journalists expressed concern for the perceived lack of accuracy and completeness, but were ambiguous about its sociability. Clarity and understandability were viewed as significant components, as were speed and timeliness. The high technology characteristic was seen as a complication.

Policing the Political Spinners: Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Political Adwatches from 1988-2000 • Chris Glowaki, Thomas J. Johnson, Kristine E. Kranenburg, Southern Illinois-Carbondale • This study examined adwatch coverage in three national newspapers to explore if adwatches have increased over the last four presidential elections. This study also compared adwatches and general advertising stories to determine if they focused on accuracy or strategic elements. The number of adwatches fluctuated between campaigns, paralleling the fervor with which journalists covered the campaign in general. While general advertising stories focused on strategy over accuracy, most adwatch stories examined both strategy and accuracy.

The Evolution of Online Newspapers: A Longitudinal Content Analysis, 1997-2003 • Jennifer Greer and Donica Mensing, Nevada-Reno • This study tracked a panel of 83 Web sites produced by U.S. newspapers each year from 1997 to 2003, analyzing news, multimedia, interactivity, and potential revenue generating features present on the sites. Overall, the sites became increasing more sophisticated in each area, but small newspapers still lagged significantly behind their larger counterparts. The findings suggest that online newspapers are anything but stagnant as they approach the end of their first decade of existence.

The Paradox of Editorial Diversity: A Content Analysis of the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post • Steve Hallock, Ron Rodgers, Mike Gennaria and Fei Wei, Ohio • A content analysis of editorials over a one-month period of two newspapers operating under a joint operating agreement in Cincinnati found that while the two papers did not differ ideologically, they did offer a high degree of diversity in editorial topics. The study also found that with the few editorials in which the two papers wrote on common topics, disagreement involved areas of focus within the editorials rather than opinions or conclusions.

Under Construction: Measures of Community-Building at Newspaper Web Sites • Cassandra Imfeld and Glenn Ward Scott, North Carolina • Working from the conceptualizations of Rheingold, Preece, Kim, Outing, and others, this paper examines the structure of interactive discussion forums embedded in U.S. newspapers’ online news sites. Researchers carried out a content analysis of 47 news sites, coding for 19 variables. Online sites of newspapers in four circulation strata were sampled. The study found no difference in structure based on newspaper circulation size but found suggestions that production choices can have implications for local discourse associated with the news.

The Summer of Fear: examining Newspaper Coverage of Child Abductions from a Public Health Perspective • Renee Martin Kratzer, Missouri • Child abductions across the nation captured the media’s attention in 2002. This study examines major newspapers’ coverage of these abductions to discover if the reporting placed the incidents into proper context or used a public health perspective. A content analysis of 196 newspaper stories reveals that less than a third cited statistics showing that the actual rate of child abductions by strangers is on the decline.

Agenda Building and the Media: A Content Analysis of the Relationship Between Candidates and the Media in the 2002 Michigan Governor’s Race • Karen M. Lancendorfer and Byoungkwan Lee, Michigan State • This study used content analysis to examine how the 2002 Michigan candidates for Governor presented election issues in press releases, and the subsequent media coverage of issues in Michigan newspapers. Analysis revealed positive cross-lagged correlations between candidate and media issue agendas, along with a reciprocal effect, indicating that candidates also run the risk of being influenced by the same media they are attempting to influence.

A Multistage Approach to Obtaining a Nationally Representative Sample of Local News Coverage • Marilee Long, Michael Slater and Linda Stapel, Colorado State • To accurately represent local media coverage of a news event or issue, content analysts must devise a systematic method for sampling local news coverage in markets nationwide. This paper presents one approach to constructing a valid national sample of local news coverage. Using dominant market areas (DMAs), which represent the dominant geographic area of influence for television stations, researchers can create a nationally representative sample of local media, including both television and newspaper coverage.

Searching for a New Paradigm: Results of the National Media Writing Faculty Survey • Mark Masse and Mark Popovich, Ball State • The initial objective of this national media writing faculty survey was to compile a contemporary profile of the typical U.S. journalism educator. This profile includes demographic data and information on pedagogical attitudes, practices and resources. The second, related objective was to search for a new, more integrated paradigm in the teaching of media writing — where instruction blends both product and process techniques, enabling students to gain confidence and proficiency in their craft.

Civil Liberties and Mobilization Information in Press Coverage of the USA PATRIOT Act • Jessica Matthews, Penn State • This paper provides a baseline for the amount of newspaper coverage of the USA PATRIOT Act and proposes a new method for content analysis that measures salience by considering every story that refers to the Act and the number of references per story. It expands the idea of mobilization information to issue awareness during the legislative process and finds that civil liberties concerns represent a complex issue for the press.

Quantifying Newspaper Quality “I Know It When I See It” • Philip Meyer and Koang-Hyub Kim, North Carolina • The bottom-line benefits of reducing newspaper quality are immediate and visible. The long-term costs in reduced reader loyalty are slower to materialize. We are taking the first small steps toward making those costs more visible. We survey current editors to get their collective judgment on valid indicators of newspaper quality. Then we use factor analysis to reduce their fine-grained rankings to five operable indicators: ease of use, localism, editorial vigor, news quantity, and interpretation.

Print Vs. Computer Screen Effects Of Medium On Proofreading Accuracy • Patty Wharton Michael, Penn State • This study was designed to examine whether the medium by which information is presented would influence participants’ proofreading accuracy. A general linear model ANCOVA was conducted to examine participants’ ability to detect proofreading errors in printed text compared to those on computer screens. The results suggest that the medium by which information is presented could influence participants’ proofreading accuracy, and that the participants’ familiarity with the topic of the text may hinder their ability to concentrate on the proofreading task.

Perceptions of the Audience by the Alternative Press Producers: A Case Study of The Texas Observer • Incheol Min, Chosun University • The study tests ideas about how the alternative press relates to its audience, comparing this with previously published literature about how mainstream media relate to their audiences. This study interviewed nine former and current producers in the Texas Observer to ask about their perceptions of the audience. Through interviews with staff members, the study concludes that the staff’s connection with its readers is closer than is usual for mainstream media and that the readership is politically active.

Angels and Demons: A 20-Year Analysis of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Feature Stories • Jeanie McAdams Moore, American and Chris Lamb, College of Charleston • This paper represents a critical analysis of Pulitzer Prize-winning features over the category’s first two decades, in an effort to contribute to the understanding of journalistic excellence in general, and Pulitzer quality in particular. The results indicated that there were, in fact, several common denominators shared by the winners. These themes included the expected stories of hardship and a marked preference for metropolitan newspapers based in the East, while other discoveries included a surprising recurrence of Christian metaphor to delineate “right” from “wrong.”

USA Today’s Handling of Sampling Error in its Election 2000 Polling • Matthew M. Reavy, Scranton • This paper examines how USA Today reported its own daily tracking poll during the 2000 U.S. presidential election, specifically the accuracy with which it reports who was leading the polls and changes in voter preference. The results indicate that USA Today had a tendency to discuss change and difference in its Election 2000 daily tracking poll even when that change or difference could be accounted for by sampling error. Implications of the findings for future election coverage are discussed.

No Substitute For Being There: How Statewide Public Affairs Television Tries To Fill The Gap For Journalists • Karen M. Rowley and David D. Kurpius, Louisiana State • Research has documented the diminishing resources traditional media devote to coverage of state government, while, at the same time, state government has grown increasingly complex. That places statehouse reporters across the country in the position of having to do more with less. Now a potential new tool has emerged for reporters in the form of statewide public affairs television. This comparative case study examines what use reporters are making of statewide public affairs television and what affect that has had on state government coverage.

Framing the Internet: Before and After the Tech Bust • Cindy Royal, Texas-Austin• This study analyzes the framing of the Internet in newspapers before and after March 2000, to test if market conditions change the way coverage of an issue is framed, this coloring the publics view, particularly those of non-users. Three years of Austin American-Statesman coverage were analyzed to determine relevant frames around the Internet and any patterns that were affected by the declining market.

The Sociology of Convergence: Challenges and Change in Newspaper News Work • Jane Singer, Iowa • A growing number of newsrooms around the country are experimenting with convergence, a sharing of news staffs, technologies, products and geography among the previously distinct provinces of print, television and online media. The demands of electronic media challenge many long-standing norms and routines of newspaper news work. This paper, based on case studies of four converged newsrooms, draws on qualitative and quantitative data to examine those sociological shifts and journalists’ reactions to the changes.

Homogeneity and Diversity in Op-Ed Pages: A Comparative Analysis of Op-ed Pages of the Washington Post and the Washington Times • Yonghoi Song, Missouri • Op-ed pages of the two ideologically distinct Washington dailies – the Washington Post and the Washington Times – were content analyzed to compare the differences in topics, organizational affiliations of authors, and perspectives of articles. Results show that both newspapers favored most the articles touching on foreign affairs. But they showed clearly different patterns in their preferences for organizational affiliation of op-ed authors and the perspectives of their articles.

U.S. Newspaper Coverage of The Spanish-American War Centennial • Christopher A. Vaughan, Rutgers • Coverage of the Spanish-American war’s centennial largely failed to elicit professional expertise, examine the past critically, or make connections between past and present, but analysis of more than 600 newspaper, wire service, and magazine articles about the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars from 1997 to 1999 does reveal some of the common building blocks of American popular memory, as well as the lacunae of understanding they reveal about the conflicts and the globalization they propelled.

Experience and Internet News: The Real Reason for the Online News Reading Gender Gap • Amy Schmitz Weiss, Sharon Meraz, Nilo Figur and Paula M. Poindexter, Texas-Austin • This study highlights that gender disparities with reading Internet news is not directly related to gender, as has been previously asserted, but due to years reading Internet news online. When years of reading Internet news online is held constant and placed as an intervening variable between gender and frequency of reading Internet news, the significant relationship between gender and frequency of reading Internet news disappears at every level.

America Strikes Back – A Comparative Content Analysis of The New York Times Coverage of U.S. Policy after Pearl Harbor and 9/11 • Olaf Werder, New Mexico • The recent months have put the spotlight squarely on U.S. foreign policy’s influence on world affairs. For that reason, the U.S. news media play an important role in describing the administration’s actions to the public. Given that U.S. news media outlets have been accused of being more patriotic and hawkish in covering U.S. foreign policy since 9/11, this comparative study explores whether this biased coverage is a recent phenomenon or whether crisis situations always influence the style of media coverage.

Keep up with the Time: A Study of Top Story Updates in Online Newspapers • Jin Xu, Bowling Green • By examining the number, frequency, type and time of updates, the research intends to answer if and how new media has changed the news cycle of online newspapers. Data consist of updates recorded in twenty real time observations, 24 hours each, where top stones were continuously monitored at 12-minute intervals. The findings are: most update top stories more than once a day; updates are made frequently; there are four types of updates; updates are made round-the-clock.

Dual and Single Newspaper Readers: Media Use Patterns, Relations to Community, and Demographic Profiles • Doyle Yoon, Esther Thorson, Missouri and Maria Len-Rios, Kansas • The present study will look specifically at features of those who read a single newspaper and those who read two newspapers. These readers live in twin cities where there is a metropolitan paper available in both cities. Telephone survey with 985 respondents showed some differences in demographics and media use between single and dual newspaper readers. More implications are discussed.

Presidential Endorsement Patterns by Chain and Non-chain Newspapers • Youngmin Yoon, Syracuse • This study examines how the ownership structure of newspapers (chain vs. non-chain) is related to their endorsement of presidential candidates. Through a content analysis based on Lexis-Nexis search, it investigates the endorsement homogeneity across two elections-1996 and 2000. There was a significant difference in the endorsement homogeneity among chains. Some chains were more likely to endorse the candidates from the same party across elections than others.

Online versions of US Daily Newspapers: Does Size Matter? • Thimios Zaharopoulos, Washburn • This content analysis of online versions of U.S. daily newspapers attempts to ascertain the type of content and related techniques that newspapers use on-line. It also examines the relationship between newspaper circulation and types and amount of content on their online version. Most online newspaper home pages are still traditional in their approaches, presenting primarily news in a textual manner, and advertising. Larger newspapers tend to have a greater online presence, with more and more diverse content.

Characterizations of the “9/11” Attack and Perpetrators in Three U.S. Elite Newspapers • Li Zeng, Southern Illinois • This study examines the characterizations of the “9/11” attack and its perpetrators in three elite newspapers. In addition to identifying the most frequently employed characterizations of the attack and its perpetrators, the study reveals that the type of characterizations differs by sources. Specifically, the official source tends to use more descriptive terms than the media source when referring to both the attack and perpetrators and than the witness source when referring to the attack.

<< 2003 Abstracts