Newspaper Division

Problem or Promise? Coverage of Gambling in the New York Times 1964-1992 • Timothy Boudreau, Central Michigan University • This content analysis of 356 stories about gambling looked at whether and how coverage of the activity shifted while gambling was becoming less deviant and gaining social acceptance. This study, covering nearly three decades, found that the theme of coverage shifted from an emphasis on crime to one of economics. But no consistent shift in the tone of coverage was found, nor was gambling portrayed as more beneficial for the individual or for the community.

Variations on a Theme: The Professional Role Conceptions of Print and Online Newspaper Journalists • William P. Cassidy, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater • A national survey (N=655) examining the professional role conceptions of print and online newspaper journalists revealed the print group perceived the Interpretive/Investigative role conception as significantly more important than the online group. No significant differences were found between the groups in their perceptions of the Adversarial and Populist Mobilizer role conceptions. Results were mixed for the Disseminator role conception with the online group rating getting information to the public as significantly more important than the print group.

Will they read it if it’s free? College Students and Complimentary Daily Newspapers • Steve Collins, University of Central Florida • Two newspapers in a southwestern metropolitan area began supplying students at an area university with complimentary copies of their publications midway through the Fall 2002 semester. This study involved a survey the following semester that was designed to measure the early success of the program and its effect on readership of other print products. Although fewer than half of students had read a copy of either paper in the previous week, the program had clearly reached an important segment of the student population. Ten percent of students reported reading at least six issues of the papers in the previous week. What’s more, 62 percent of students reading the free papers said they intended to subscribe to a newspaper after graduation.

Risky Business: Youth and Internet Crime in the News • Lynne Edwards and Emily Callaghan, Ursinis University • Informed by Gamson and Modigliani’s (1989) theory of framing, the authors analyzed 160 articles in five major newspapers (1990 – 2002) to explore coverage of youths and Internet crime. Through the over-reliance on official sources and the under-utilization of youth sources, the news frames: 1) boys as Internet villains, 2) girls as Internet victims, 3) police as the only heroes who can save them, and 4) our civil liberties as the ultimate sacrifice.

College Newspaper Sports Agendas • Lee Farquhar, Kristin Rethman, Heather Calhoun and Oksana Boyko, Kansas State University • This agenda setting study in a collegiate setting shows strong similarities between the sports staffs’ sports agenda, readers’ sports agenda and actual coverage. Females and males showed a strong positive correlation regarding sports agendas, but differed slightly in sex-based sports. A strong positive correlation occurred between a two-week constructed sample and a one-week constructed sample in the content analysis. However, the two-week sample better accounted for all sports than the one-week sample.

Content and Framing of Children’s Health Reporting • Rebecca Gruhn and Katherine Hawkins, Clemson University • A review of a random sample of newspapers published during 2001 in a large mid-western state indicated that while a wide variety of children’s health topics received coverage, such coverage often inaccurately represented threats to children’s health in that state. In addition, stories were overwhelmingly framed from a non-public health perspective, promoting the false conclusion that threats to children’s health and safety are random and not preventable.

Newspaper diversity in Chicago: A study of competing editorial pages • Tom Hallock, Ohio University• In an era of diminishing daily newspaper competition and increasing group ownership, a content analysis of the editorials of the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times from two separate years during the administration of President George W. Bush found ideological and subject diversity, indicating that competing newspapers offer readers a choice of editorial opinions and editorial topics. The findings contradict the conclusions of previous research that found no or little effect of competition on newspaper editorials.

Ordinary People and the Weekly Newspaper • John Hatcher, Syracuse • It has been said that community journalism, small daily and weekly newspapers, report on the “everyday lives of ordinary people,” suggesting a uniformity of content based on routinized practices. However, research suggests community heterogeneity has a strong influence on the content of newspapers. This study asks whether community type can be used to predict the variability in source diversity in weekly newspapers. This study uses a content analysis of 659 sources from 40 issues of 10 different weekly newspapers to ascertain the reliance on official sources in reporting the news. The results find partial support for the prediction that community diversity influences source diversity in weekly newspapers.

What The Public Expects of Local News • Don Heider, Maxwell McCombs and Paula Poindexter, University of Texas at Austin • What does the public need to know? What role should news play in local community life? What are the central characteristics of good journalism? Debates and discussions about these fundamental questions primarily have been limited to journalists and those who study journalism. But what about consumers of journalism? This study set out to discover what everyday citizens think about journalism, and in particular, what role the public thinks journalists should play in reporting the local news.

Uncovering the Quality of Converged Journalism: A Content Analysis of The Tampa Tribune News Stories • Edgar Huang, Lisa Radamakers, Moshood A. Fayemiwo and Lillian Dunlap, USF at St. Petersburg • A content analysis, coupled with an in-depth interview, was done in this case study on The Tampa Tribune, a component of The News Center in Tampa, in an attempt to answer the question whether converged journalism has jeopardized journalistic quality. After comparing the quality factors shown in the Tribune stories before, at the beginning of, and three years into convergence, this study has found that media convergence has overall sustained the quality of news reporting.

Houston Harte: Setting The Standard for Community Journalism by Building a Better Community • Cathy Johnson, Angelo State University • This study seeks to tie the contemporary jargon of community journalism to a role model of the past. Houston Harte recognized that in order for his newspaper to thrive, the community would have to prosper. During a period when no one was calling it community journalism, the publisher literally built his adopted community of San Angelo, Texas. His exemplary model shows that a newspaper can focus on the community and still turn a profit.

The Long-Run Relationship Between Newsroom Investment and Change in Circulation for Medium and Large Dailies • Stephen Lacy, Charles St. Cyr; and Susanna Guzman, Michigan State University • This study examines the relationship between newsroom investment in 1984 and the change in weekday circulation over periods of five, ten, and fifteen years at forty-one daily newspapers with more than 25,000 circulation. A significant positive association was found between newsroom investment in 1984 and the percentage change in circulation five years later. The relationships ten and fifteen years after the index measurement were consistent with the hypothesis but not statistically significant.

Salience Transfer between Online and Offline Media in Korea: Content Analysis of Four Traditional Papers and Their Online Siblings • Gunho Lee, University of Texas at Austin • This study explores the intermedia agenda-setting effects among four Korean traditional newspapers and their online siblings. Rank order correlations revealed that there are clear, if not universal, intermedia agenda-setting effects among those papers. Two of the four traditional newspapers set the agenda of their own online siblings, while one online version of the four newspapers set its offline newspaper’s agenda. In general, the traditional papers wielded more power in setting the others’ agenda than their online siblings did, while the online siblings were more vulnerable to the agenda of other papers than the traditional papers were.

‘Everyone else has a TV Weatherman on the Weatherpage’ Institutional Isomorphism and Commitment to Newspaper-TV Partnering • Wilson Lowrey, University of Alabama • This study uses the institutional theory of organizations to explore the degree to which newspapers and TV stations pursue partnerships for concrete benefits, and the degree to which they pursue them to keep up with perceived trends. Findings from a national survey of newspaper editors and TV news directors revealed that pursuit of concrete benefits best predicted initiating partnerships while strength of commitment to partnering correlated more strongly with managers’ professional involvement and with the level of partnering of nearby “flagship” news institutions.

Accuracy Matters: A Benchmark Assessment of Newspaper Error and Credibility • Scott R. Maier, University of Oregon • A survey of 4,800 news sources cited in 14 newspapers provides a large-scale assessment of newspaper accuracy and credibility. Sources found errors in 61 percent of local news stories, an inaccuracy rate higher than reported in 65 years of accuracy research. Newspaper credibility significantly declined in relation to frequency and severity of errors. Inaccuracy negatively affected source willingness to cooperate with the press. The cross-market study, the first of its scope, sets a normative standard for media accuracy.

Answering the Challenge: How Media Writing Instructors Compared at Accredited and Non-Accredited Journalism Programs • Mark Masse and Mark Popovich, Ball State University • Research findings from a national study of media writing instructors reveal modest differences between accredited and non-accredited institutions in teaching attitudes among media writing instructors, provide evidence of significant professional experience among faculty at both categories of journalism programs, and demonstrate the need for continued innovation in the teaching of writing among all journalism educators. This study finds that media writing instructors are currently in transition from traditional to more progressive (e.g., convergence) teaching practices.

Missouri Newspaper Reporters: Perceptions of Prestige, Peers and Job Satisfaction Based on City Size and Personal Characteristics • Jarrett Medlin and Clyde Bentley, University of Missouri • A survey of newspaper reporters in the state of Missouri sought information on how they perceived both their prestige in the community and what people in their communities they identified as peers. Education had a negative correlation with job satisfaction, and reporters portrayed themselves as peers to school teachers in their communities.

Effects of Domestic Violence Coverage Training on Student Reporters • Ginger L. Park, Terri Clark and Joye Gordon, Kent State University • This study’s purpose was to determine if training student journalists would influence how they write domestic violence stories. A treatment group received sensitivity training. The treatment and control groups were assigned to write a story base based on a fictitious account of domestic violence. Quantitative content analysis showed that training had a slight to moderate observed effect with the most pronounced difference being that trained students used fewer statements that excused the perpetrator.

Victim Identification and Low Reporting • R. Riski, Peninsula • No abstract available.

Technology Outruns the Law: Newspapers and the E-Mail Public Records Quagmire • Ron Rodgers, Ohio University • Governmental e-mail as the fillip for violations of the public’s right to know stems from confusion about when an electronic message becomes part of the public record and when privacy – and the right of nondisclosure – adheres to an e-mail sent to or from a public official. This paper looks as where policy is heading as reflected in recent court rulings and in the discourse of commentary by legal and non-legal officials in the trade, periodical, and daily press.

Using House Ads to Promote E-newspapers: A Longitudinal Content Analysis • Shelly Rodgers, Yan Jin, Yoonhyeung Choi, Wanda Sui and Ann Brill, University of Missouri • The authors propose a framework that draws on distinctiveness theory to examine how print newspapers are cross-promoting their Web sites using in-house ads. A content analysis of 15 newspapers was undertaken in 2000 and 2003. Three distinctiveness factors were examined including persuasion, integration and targeting. Findings revealed that while newspapers are doing a fairly good job integrating house ads into the newspaper, there is still room for improvement. The authors conclude that newspaper URLs need to be more prominent, more strategically positioned, and more carefully targeted to males and females for proper marketing of the e-newspaper.

Newspaper Coverage of U.S. Courts of Appeals: Notes on a Model of News Coverage of the Judiciary • Thomas Schwartz, Ohio State University • A line of research analyzing news media coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court has found the coverage to be poor in quantity and quality. Using method and theory similar to those studies, this study finds that coverage of the U.S. courts of appeals also is weak.

A Survey of Photo Editors‘ Attitude Toward Technology • Michelle Seelig, University of Miami • A national survey of photo editors at the top 100 U.S. daily newspapers was conducted to uncover the architectural changes that influence the way photo editors do their job. This research has three goals: to assess the role of technology in the photo-editorial decision process; to assess photo editors’ attitudes toward technology; and determine photo editors’ overall satisfaction with technology. The findings presented show photo editors to have a positive attitude toward the technology.

Revisiting The Police Blotter: Public Service Stories or Assembly Line Journalism at Its Worst? • James Simon and Sean Hayes, Fairfield University • It is one of the most basic rules of journalism: get the other side of the story. Yet when it comes to reporting crime news, newspapers have long been criticized for over reliance on police blotter items which fail to include comment from the accused. This study examined all juvenile justice stories carried by the three largest newspapers in a state over a three-month period. While 81 percent of the stories used police as a source for information, only 7 percent of the stories included comment from juvenile defendants, their attorneys and their relatives.

Message Control on the Campaign Trail: The Influence of Access on Political News • Elizabeth Skewes, University of Colorado • This study looks at the struggle for message control in campaign coverage, using interviews with reporters who covered the 2000 election and participant observation. The study finds that reporters battle with the candidates and their staffs for control over the news, and they are wary of being manipulated. Campaign staffs try to control the message by limiting press access to the candidate. This leads to an undercurrent of tension between the press and the campaign.

Political Power And The Press: Vice President Charles Fairbanks. • Robert Spellman, Southern Illinois University • Charles Warren Fairbanks, vice president under President Theodore Roosevelt, dominated Indiana politics for two decades at the turn of the 20th century. Crucial to his rise to national prominence was the support of Indiana’s most influential newspapers. Unknown to the public was Fairbanks’ controlling or significant financial interests in those newspapers. His majority ownership of the Indianapolis News, the state’s leading newspaper, did not become public knowledge until after his death.

The Impact of Investment in Newsrooms on Newspaper Revenues and Profits: Small and Medium Newspapers 1998-2002 • Esther Thorson and Qun Chen, University of Missouri; and Steve Lacy, Michigan State University • This paper presents a study of five consecutive years (1998 – 2002) of Inland Daily Newspaper data to test the theory that financial investment in the newsroom will influence circulation, which, in turn, will influence revenue and profits. The regression findings show that the model is supported by the data. Using regression generated by the data for each of the five years, the authors calculated how a 4 percent increase in newsroom investment would influence revenue and profits if circulation increased 0, 2 and 4 percent as a result. The results indicate that although investment in newsroom reduces profit in the short term, in the long term it will increase revenue and profit.

Community Newspapers As Instruments of Social Control: Updating Community Conflict and the Press • Michael L. Thurwanger, Bradley University • This study updates research into the social control function exercised by local newspapers in covering community conflict. Newspapers serving Illinois communities selected as the site of corrections facilities constructed or approved for construction between 1977 and 2001 were used in this content analysis. The study provided additional evidence of community newspapers acting in the distributive information control function. A moderate correlation between various aspects of coverage and community structural pluralism was also found.

What the milkman saw: The regional press and frame adjustment in the shadow of war • Fred Vultee, University of Missouri • As President Bush sought to make his case for a war against Iraq, he and his administration consistently framed such a conflict as part of a broader war against terrorism. A content analysis of a major regional daily newspaper suggests that while this alignment was broadly accepted at the outset, press accounts became increasingly less receptive to it as the conflict drew nearer and even less as fighting began.

Objectivity and Conglomeration: A Test of Media Ownership Theory • Xinkun Wang and Renita Coleman, Louisiana State University • This study tests the theory of media ownership by comparing the publicly owned Boston Globe with the privately owned Boston Herald on bias in coverage of the 2000 presidential election. As the theory predicts, the publicly owned newspaper was more objective than the privately owned paper, showing more favoritism toward the candidate it endorsed. Corporate ownership, which has generally been criticized, may not be all bad since the corporate-owned newspaper did a better job of fair and balanced coverage.

The Now What Factor: The Level of Innovativeness Among Online Newspapers • Amy Schmitz Weiss, University of Texas at Austin • This study examines levels of innovativeness by a content analysis of 20 online newspaper homepages. Results showed that the most innovative online newspapers were using a combination of innovative practices and techniques. The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Baltimore Sun were the most innovative among the 20 online newspapers in this study.

Correct This! A Content Analysis of 2003 Errors Posted by The New York Times • Terry Wimmer, West Virginia University • Credibility research for more than 60 years has examined the corrections published in the nation’s newspapers. This project used content-analysis to examine corrections in The New York Times in 2003, the year of the Jason Blair scandal. Objective errors still dominate the newspaper’s corrections, and getting basic information correct: names, identifiers, and spelling, remains a problem. Subjective errors might be the greater threat to credibility, and this project suggests new methodologies for scholars and journalists to improve credibility with readers.

Internet Newspapers Public Forum and User Involvement • Sandy Ye, Louisiana State; and Xigen Li, Arkansas State • This study looked at public forums of the Internet newspapers and user involvement in public forums. A content analysis of 120 U.S. Internet newspapers found 39.2% of the Internet newspapers offered public forums. A majority of newspapers (70.2%) with public forums had less than 15 discussion forums. Newspaper size had a significant effect on diversity of public forums. The findings suggest that the forums of the Internet newspapers have yet to be developed as an effective tool to advance public discourse and democracy deliberation. There was a relatively low user involvement in the public forums regardless of newspaper size.

Local Newspaper Goes Easy on National Story Reporting the Tulia Drug Bust Story: A Case Study • Teresa Young, Wayland Baptist; and Roger C. Saathoff, Texas Tech University • This case study describes how a local weekly newspaper fared compared to its counterparts in larger, more pluralistic towns and cities when 39 of 46 people arrested in a regional drug sting operation in a small West Texas town are African American and the government’s lead witness is completely discredited with charges of racism? The results of this study confirm previous work criticizing small local newspapers for a failure to meet socially responsible journalistic standards.

Growing Up With Parents Who Read and Watch the News: What is the Effect on College Students? • Amy Zerba, University of Texas at Austin • In using social learning theory and the uses and gratifications approach as a theoretical framework, this study shows that parents’ regular use of newspaper and television news does influence college students’ news exposure. Results also showed students’ attachment to print and television does influence news exposure. Findings show attachment to reading print is a consequence of parents reading newspapers and a determinant of students reading newspapers. The results suggest parents’ modeling behavior of media use has an effect.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Minorities and Communication Division

FACULTY RESEARCH
International Diplomacy and the Prelude To 2003 Invasion of Iraq: African News Coverage and Assessment • Emmanuel C. Alozie, Governors State University • This study analyzed how the sub-Saharan African press interpreted events leading to the 2003 American-led military invasion of Iraq. It found that the press opposed the policies and efforts to initiate a military action. The opposition was based on the contention that a Western-led attack on Iraq, without international consensus, would produce political, economic and social upheaval in the Middle East, which might spread to Africa.

The Effectiveness of “Typical-User” Testimonial Ads on Black Browsers’ Evaluation of Products On Commercial Web Sites: Do They Really Work? • Osei Appiah, Ohio State University • This study tested the effectiveness of black and white character testimonial ads on black browsers’ evaluation of a high-end technical product on a commercial Web site. The results demonstrate that testimonial ads that feature black characters positively influence black browsers, but testimonial ads that feature white characters are no more effective than a site without testimonial ads. Specifically, the findings indicate that black browsers identified more strongly with black character testimonials, were more likely to believe a site was targeting them when the site contained black testimonials, and recalled more product information from a site that featured black character testimonials vis-á-vis a site with either white character testimonials or no testimonials.

Idaho Unido: Providing Print Media That Meet the Needs of Hispanic Populations in Distributed Rural Areas • Martine R. Beachboard, Idaho State University • Hispanics account for approximately 13.3 percent of Americans. Often overlooked are the media needs of the growing numbers of Hispanics in non-metropolitan areas. One Idaho couple met the needs of a rural Hispanic population by publishing the bilingual biweekly Idaho Unido. This study addresses the motivation for publication, readers’ use for cultural maintenance, and the publisher’s business model. This success story may serve as an example for other small newspapers serving minority publics.

Audience Loyalty and Spanish-Language Radio • Todd Chambers, Texas Tech University • This study focused on time spent listening and station switching as measures of loyalty to Spanish-language radio stations. Data were collected from industry resources and measured a variety of variables including the amount of time a person listens to a particular radio station and the degree a station has audience turnover as a measure for station switching for Spanish-language and mainstream stations in selected Hispanic radio markets. Overall, the results suggest that some Spanish-language radio stations had higher levels of time spent listening and lower levels of audience turnover. The findings have implications for Spanish-language radio stations that may under-perform in traditional ratings analysis but over-perform when other measures of radio listening habits are considered.

We Finally Got a Piece of the Pie (Maybe): Hegemony and Multi-raciality in “The Jeffersons” • Michele S. Foss, Pacific University • Through a methodology consisting of textual analysis (narrative and rhetorical), this paper attempts to answer the following questions: How does television construct the concept of mixed race, especially within genres not traditionally considered to be “racialized,” or frequent sources of racial discussion? Does television in general, and “The Jeffersons” specifically, use that construction and polysemy to strengthen the bonds of hegemony and push society forward to the bliss of the status quo? If so, how?

“By the Color of Her Skin”: Effects of Endorser Ethnicity on African American Women’s Attitudes To Seek Early Detection of Breast Cancer • Cynthia M. Frisby, University of Missouri • While they are less likely to develop breast cancer, African American women diagnosed with breast cancer have significantly shorter life expectancy rates than Caucasian women diagnosed with similar disease, research shows. The research in this paper seeks to determine how ethnicity of the endorser might be used to influence and/or change health-related attitudes and behaviors of African American women. Data reveal that ads containing African American endorsers are and can be most effective in changing attitudes toward early prevention of breast cancer.

Black Images In the Media and Black Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action • Yuki Fujioka, Georgia State University • The self-administered survey of 203 African American respondents examined the relationship among black images in the media, perceived public perception of the in-group and endorsement of affirmative action. The study found that negative evaluation of black media images predicted perceived lower level of public attitudes toward blacks, which in turn, resulted in a greater endorsement of affirmative action.

A New Path For Native American Tribal Media: Perceptions of Development Communication • Teresa T. Lamsam, Nebraska at Omaha; and Keith P. Sanders, University of Missouri • This analysis uses the theories of development communication to examine perceptions of Native American tribal media among key staff members of tribal development programs in health, housing and education. Q Methodology was used to determine perceptions of development communication in relation to tribal media and to interpret the strength and characteristics of those views. Three attitudinal types – symbolically named Fortress Builders, Abode Builders and Bridge Builders – were analyzed for characteristics.

Bridging the East and West: Roles, Reporters and Chinese-Language Newspapers • Carol M. Liebler and Wanfeng Zhou, Syracuse University• This paper investigates the roles journalists at three Chinese language daily newspapers assign both to themselves and to their organizations. We examine these roles in the context of crisis-driven news (SARS), as well as in more routine contexts. Data obtained through in-depth interviews reveal journalists go beyond traditional roles identified in the literature. Not only does advocacy play an important role, but journalists stress the need for news to be reported through “Chinese eyes,” particularly during crises. It further appears some reporters question dominant ideology, and this is reflected in their approach to their news work.

Spanish-language Radio Use In Rural America • Alex Ortiz, Texas Tech University • This research examines the role of Spanish-language radio in the ethnic identity formation in a group of mostly recently arrived Mexican residents in Central Florida. The data indicate that ethnic radio primarily fulfils a native-culture linking function among listeners, providing information that helps them maintain a distinct Mexican- or Latino-based identity. However, respondents also reported that ethnic radio performs a limited assimilative purpose for its ability to connect listeners to the dominant society.

Racial Profiling in the Newsroom: A Case Study • David Pritchard and Sarah Brzenzinski, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee • This study examines the kinds of stories covered by white and minority reporters at a daily newspaper in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The results showed that minority journalists were assigned mostly to beats and stories that dealt principally with minority issues. Whites, on the other hand, tended to cover issues of general interest and power. Explanations for this discrepancy focused on the invaluable contribution of experience and knowledge to a reporter’s work.

Latino and African-American Press Reactions – to Mainstream Coverage of Census Statistics on Race and Ethnicity: The Politics of Appropriation and Contestation • Ilia Rodriguez, University of New Mexico • The purpose of this paper is to compare coverage of the 2003 U.S. Census Bureau release of statistics on Latino population growth to elucidate how news narratives in Latino, African-American and mainstream papers produced competing discourses on inter-ethnic relations in the United States, with emphasis on the construction of perceptions of black-latino relation.

Racial Representation and Role Depiction in Magazine Advertising: A Content Analysis • Govinda Tidball and Frauke Hatchtmann, University of Nebraska at Lincoln • In the past, arguments arose that mass media advertising campaigns were reluctant to use non-white models for mass media advertising efforts. This research study investigates the controversial issue of racial representation, as well as apparent role depiction, across different media in order to derive conclusions concerning the following: Are Whites portrayed more frequently and more prominently than non-Whites as the models of choice in mass media advertising? How are members of the racial groups classified as White, African-American, Asian, and Hispanic portrayed in advertising in relationship to each other? The primary value of this research study is that it provides a frame of reference for past racial representation and role portrayals in mass media advertising.

Looking Back to Look Forward: Standard 12 Two Decades Later • Evonne Whitmore, Kent State University • This paper seeks to provide a historical perspective on the impact of ACEJMC’ s Standard 12 on the Council and on the curriculum. The adoption of Standard 12 in 1984 by the accrediting council signaled the beginning of the diversity movement in journalism higher education. Standard 12 required journalism schools to document the hiring of women and people of color to faculties and to show the contributions of minorities in the curriculum. For 20 years the Standard has dominated much of the discussion at Council meetings and has frequently led in non-compliance levels. To gain an understanding of the tussle between schools and the Council over the standard, a historical analysis was conducted on more than 300 ACEJMC documents from 1986 to 2003.

STUDENT RESEARCH
The 51st State Debate: An Analysis of How Four American Newspapers Covered the 1998 Vote to Determine the Future Status of Puerto Rico • Mariel Betancourt-Beil, Ohio University • This study analyzed the sources and opinions presented in stories regarding the 1998 vote to determine Puerto Rico’s future status as a nation. Through a content analysis of the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post, the study discovered that diversity of sources was much greater than diversity of opinions expressed by these sources. Roughly 62.7% of all sources failed to express whether they supported Puerto Rico’s statehood or not.

Gambling with Identity: Self-Representation of Native Americans on Web sites by Tribes that have Casinos • David Cuillier, Washington State University • This textual analysis of 205 official Native American Web sites evaluates how tribes in different economic power positions represent their identities on the Internet. The findings show that half of the tribes with casinos construct identities of the exotic Other, such as tepees and stoic chiefs in headdresses. In contrast, fewer than 1 in 10 of the tribes without casinos communicate the same identity, instead displaying modem images and assertions of resistance. Implications are discussed.

Influences Affecting Newspaper Coverage of American Indians from Journalistic Perspective • Andrew Morozov, Jay Love, Helga Wernicke and Steve Barrus, Washington State University • This study examines working newspaper journalists’ concept of their professional role with respect to their coverage of news about American Indians. The study utilizes a content analysis of transcripts taken from in-depth interviews with journalists and editors at a small town newspaper in the Northwest. The analysis reveals a number of factors hindering the reporters’ ability to cover news involving American Indians in a manner consistent with their professional roles and goals.

Asian Representations in Film • David C. Oh, Syracuse University • A content analysis was performed of mass market U.S. films with prominent Asian portrayals over seven decades to test whether perceived social distance of Asian ethnic groups affects portrayals of Asian characters. Asian characters were found to be portrayed as negatively valenced and unaccultured with portrayals becoming more positive over time. This study supports the hypothesis that perceived social distance affects the portrayal of Asian characters in film.

Fitting the pieces together: The puzzle of newspaper coverage of Hispanics in emerging immigrant communities • Lisa M. Paulin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This study examines newspaper coverage of Hispanics in nine emerging immigrant communities using content analysis. The results indicate that newspapers are generally attempting to portray Hispanics positively and to promote social understanding, but at the same time, Hispanics are still being portrayed as victims who are not in control of their circumstances. This study shows that newspapers, just as communities, are grappling with the issue of how to effectively cover a complex group.

<< 2004 Abstracts

 

Media Management and Economics Division

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<< 2004 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<< 2004 Abstracts

Mass Communication and Society Division

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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