Visual Communication Division

The Aldine Hypothesis Revisited • Kay Amert, University of Iowa • First formulated by Stanley Morison in the 1920s, the Aldine hypothesis proposed that the roman type of the Italian Renaissance publisher, Aldus Manutius, was the central influence in the design of later romans. The paper examines the development of the hypothesis and situates it in the cultural concerns of the period. It reevaluates the hypothesis based on fresh analysis of romans used In Paris, emphasizing the formation there of an international idiom for typographic communications.

The Visual Framing Of The Indian Ocean Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina: A Depiction In The American Press • Porismita Borah, University of Wisconsin-Madison ? Newspapers worldwide produced different images of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and of hurricane Katrina in 2005, two natural disasters that have recently stunned audiences all over the globe. This study examines how the American press; the NYT and the Post, framed the disasters and their aftermath by analyzing the content of all photographs they published during the first week after the calamities hit.

The lives of French women through the lens of Janine Niepce • Claude Cookman, Indiana University • This paper analyzes Janine Niepce’s photographic documentation of the lives of French women, situating it in historical, sociological, and biographical contexts. It argues that for over fifty years she was the only photojournalist to devote sustained attention to French women and the French women’s movement.

What Hurricane Katrina Revealed: A visual Analysis of the Hurricane Coverage by News Wires and U.S. Newspapers • Shahira Fahmy, James Kelly and Yung Soo Kim, Southern Illinois University • Results of a visual content analysis of American newspaper front-page photos and photographs distributed by the Associated Press and Reuters wire services revealed that newspapers were far more likely to run images depicting African-Americans from Louisiana as emotionally distraught victims of Hurricane Katrina than the wire content would have suggested. Gatekeeping decisions based on values of human interest, race stereotyping, and proximity seem to have been the principal factors driving editorial decisions.

Thirty Years Of Sarcasm And Biting Humor: Newspaper Use And Content Of Editorial Cartoons • Howard D. Fisher, Stan Alost, Tom Hrach and Yan Li, Ohio University • This study sought to discover whether editorial cartoons have been increasingly marginalized and restricted since the 1970s as cartoonists claim. The researchers conducted a content analysis of editorial cartoons appearing in four newspapers (two regional and two national). The results showed that even though there are fewer staff-drawn cartoons appearing in 2004, those cartoons are just as critical as those produced in the 1970s, the time that cartoonists often consider the height of their profession.

The Morality of Photojournalists: Reactions to Kevin Carter’s 1994 Pulitzer-winning photograph • Yung Soo Kim and James D. Kelly, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • A modified photo-elicitation method (Smith & Woodward, 1999) was used to gauge the assessment of six news media readers and two journalists of the morality surrounding Kevin Carter’s 1994 Pulitzer-winning photograph of a collapsed Sudanese girl as a vulture awaits her death. All respondents accepted the journalistic rationale for making the photo and agreed that journalists must adhere to a different ethic than others.

Get Me Up to Speed… Pronto! • Randy Livingston, Middle Tennessee State University • We have more sources of news available to us than ever before. Readers having less time to read news and more news sources available to them (via the Internet) is a growing problem. How are newspaper Web site designers addressing this problem? This pilot study analyzes interactive features offered by popular news Web sites. This analysis specifically addresses what methods are being employed and how these methods enhance a reader’s ability to learn more efficiently.

The Emotional Effect of Negative News Photographs • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida and Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • When faced with gruesome news images, picture editors must balance their duty of informing the public with the possibility of offending readers. Sometimes a compromise is made to publish the images but alter the size and color in the hopes of lessening the emotional effects. This study uses two within-subject experiments to determine if manipulating the structural features and the emotional content of photographs affected viewers’ responses.

Tell me a story about Arabs: An analysis of readers’ interpretations of visual and verbal narratives in a National Geographic story on Saudi Arabia • Andrew L. Mendelson and Fabienne Darling-Wolf, Temple University • The purpose of this paper is to examine how the pictures and texts in a photo story interact to produce meaning for readers. Using focus groups combined with elements of experiments, readers examined a recent National Geographic Magazine story on Saudi Arabia as a case study into the relationship between photography and writing in a photo story.

New Orleans in Pictures: Determining and Interpreting the Iconic Images of Hurricane Katrina • Andrea Miller and Shearon Roberts, Louisiana State University • This study seeks to determine and interpret the iconic media images of Hurricane Katrina as decided by survey respondents. The major events of the century have been framed by the media and Katrina was no different. However, technology and 24-hour cable news now offer more images for the audience to digest.

Comparing Verbal and Visually-Elicited Responses to Advertisements: A Test of Two Complementary Theories • Lawrence C. Soley and Angela Speed, Marquette University • This study compared responses to a print advertisement using verbal instruments (i.e., a semantic differential scale and a sentence completion test) and a visual (i.e., pictorial) instrument in the context of Paivio’s (1971) theory that humans employ two distinct modes of mental processing – visual and verbal. The results show that the two verbal response measures produced similar evaluations of the ad, but the responses to the pictorial test differed from these.

Shield law extended to cover unpublished photographs: A case study • Dustin Supa, University of Miami • This paper uses a case study approach to examine how unpublished newspaper photographs became the target of a subpoena in the state of Colorado. It examines how the newspaper was able to keep its unpublished photographs confidential, and also examines potential implications of shield laws for visual news, particularly photographs.

A snapshot of photojournalists’ attitudes toward the ethics of digital manipulation • Brad Thompson, Linfield College • This Web-based survey asked photojournalists to respond to 19 statements regarding the ethics of various digital manipulations for cover, spot news and feature photos. It found that photojournalists had a significant difference in attitudes toward the digital manipulations for the different kinds of pictures. It also found that National Press Photographers Association members’ attitudes were significantly different than nonmembers regarding cover and feature pictures.

<< 2006 Abstracts

Scholastic Journalism Division

Hostile to Hosty? What College Media Advisers Think • Genelle Belmas, California State University-Fullerton and Christopher Burnett, California State University-Long Beach and David L. Adams, Indiana University • The Supreme Court recently refused to hear the appeal of a Seventh Circuit case called Hosty v. Carter. In that case, the dean of an Illinois public university escaped personal liability for her censorial actions. This case might be interpreted as permitting administrative censorship of college student media. Our research will review the legal doctrine and conflicting holdings in other federal circuits and will examine college media advisers’ levels of knowledge and concern about Hosty.

Religion Inside the Schoolhouse Gate: Gatekeeping Forces and Religion Coverage in Public High School Newspapers • Peter S. Bobkowski, University of Houston • This study extends the examination of religion coverage in the press (Hoover, 1998), by investigating public high school newspapers. Adviser responses (N= 297) were used to identify possible individual and organizational gatekeeping forces (Shoemaker & Reese, 1991), affecting the quantity of religion coverage. Findings indicate that individual gatekeeping forces appear to reduce religion coverage in newspapers whose advisers are more religious and less experienced.

Today’s Teens and Tomorrow’s Newspapers : The Influence of a High School Newspaper on the Future of Newspapers • Dianne Bragg, The University of Memphis • This paper is an overview of how one high school newspaper, The Teen Appeal, is attempting to increase teen interest, especially among minorities, in newspapers. The Teen Appeal tries to identify and encourage teens who are interested in journalism as well as provide a newspaper by and for teens that will encourage other teens to become newspaper readers and future subscribers.

High School Advisers’ Perception Of Scholastic Press Freedom In A State Without A Protective Law Versus One Without A Protective Law: A Comparison of Iowa and Indiana • David W. Bulla, Iowa State University and Calvin L. Hall, Appalachian State University and Adam Maksl, Ball State University and Joe Owens, Iowa State University • The 1988 Hazelwood decision by the U.S. Supreme Court led to an expansion of constraints on the student press. This study attempts to isolate the factors that actually mitigate constraints on student press freedom. Using information from surveys of journalism advisers in two similar Midwestern states—Iowa, which has a law protecting student press freedom, and Indiana, which does not—the paper examines whether protective laws enhance freedom of the press for scholastic journalists.

Media Influences Explored: What High School Students Say About The Power Of Newspapers, Television And Magazines • Tamara M. Cooke Henry, National Center for Education Information • A 2004-2005 survey of 355 Florida and Pennsylvania high school students found that they deny media’s influence in their choice of clothing, snacks and beverages, but acknowledge some media impact with intangible things, like issues. The study also found unequal effects of media on different racial and ethnic groups. Buttressed by focus groups, study results suggest that students need a sophisticated knowledge of media and the skills to navigate their terrain, i.e. “media literacy.”

Transparency for the Student Press: When Practice Makes Perfect…Sense • Thomas E. Eveslage, Temple University • High school journalists continue to search for legal arguments and strategies to enhance their ability to publish content of their choice. One seldom-used legal argument helped a Michigan high-school publication win a censorship battle in 2004. This argument—that practicing quality journalism, modeled on the standards of professional journalists, deserves First Amendment protection—was the impetus for this exploratory study. The focus here is two-fold: What evidence exists that specific professional standards could warrant protection?

Teaching News Writing To Mass Communications Students: How Peer Editing Influences Learning And Perceptions Of Instruction • Howard D. Fisher, Ohio University and Coy Callison, Texas Tech University • One method proposed for improving the quality of student writing is the implementation of peer-editing groups. The researchers conducted a field study with news writing students to quantitatively determine the impact of peer-editing groups on graded, student writing. Data analysis revealed that peer-editing did not produce significantly better scores. The results suggest that peer-editing groups be implemented when the instructor wishes to enhance students’ self-esteem, but instructors should not expect gains in final scores.

The English and Journalism Secondary Education Curriculum Connection: A Preliminary Historical Perspective • Bruce E. Konkle, University of South Carolina • Between 1913 and 1995, more than 100 articles concerning scholastic journalism appeared in the English Journal, indicating a possible direct connection between the two curricular areas. And during the 20th century, dozens of articles in other journalism and education periodicals, as well as textbooks, theses and dissertations, also discussed the importance of linking English and journalism in the secondary school curriculum.

<< 2006 Abstracts

Radio-TV Journalism Divisions

“Making” News: Historical and Theoretical Research in Journalism The stakeholder influence on the news: Exploring the rule that decides who wins the framing contest • Jianchuan “Henry” Zhou, University of Georgia • This study proposes a theory of stakeholder influence on news frames to explain what decides who wins the framing contest. NBC’s coverage of Athens Olympic preparations is compared with ABC’s and CBS’s coverage. This case reveals that the Olympic host city had a stakeholder influence on the Olympic TV right holder, and the influence is reflected in that Greek sources were more salient in NBC’s coverage and that the coverage is more favorable.

Uses and Gratifications of International Television News: A Two-Way Discourse Analysis • Yusuf Kalyango, Jr., University of Missouri-Columbia • The study examines whether the U&G sought and obtained from CNN International news coverage of crises mirror the gatekeepers’ global newsgathering agenda. Conclusions are drawn from a two-way discourse analysis between CNNI news gatekeepers’ agenda and the Ugandan viewers’ U&G of the network’s telecast. CNNI is the most watched news channel in Uganda but viewers consider its coverage biased and ill-motivated towards Africa. Analyses of this love-hate relationship are detailed and their implications discussed.

A Pathfinding Radio Documentary Series: Norman Corwin’s One World Flight • Matthew C. Ehrlich, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • Norman Corwin was the most celebrated writer of American radio’s golden age. This paper examines his 1947 CBS series “One World Flight” based upon his global trip assessing the prospects for postwar peace. The series helped pioneer the actuality-based news documentary and end a ban on network broadcast recordings. It also signaled network radio’s decline and television’s ascendancy, as well as the transition from the “good” war against fascism to the Cold War and McCarthyism.

Shovelcasting, talk radio and the weather: A content analysis of news podcasts • Vincent F. Filak, Ball State University • A two-tier content analysis of a collection of news podcasts revealed that these casts can be primarily divided into several radio news subgenres: talk, all news/headlines, sports and weather. Furthermore, the majority of these casts contain repurposed material that has been placed in this new medium without considering the medium’s benefits or limitations. While both newspapers and television stations rely heavily on repurposing, television news is significantly more likely to shovelcast than is print.

A Centralcasting Postmortem and a News-Share Projection: Using Market Theory to Assess Alternative Local Television News Strategies • George L. Daniels, The University of Alabama • In the wake of decisions by two television station groups to end centralcasting experiments, this paper employed market theory to compare both the centralcasting and contracted newscast products with the traditional newscast products. A total of 22 newscasts were recorded and analyzed between 2004 and 2005 in three Southern markets. Results showed in the 2,583 stories analyzed more similarities than differences between the traditionally-staffed local news operations and the operations produced with alternative staffing.

Media Convergence: A Case Study of A Cable News Station • J. Sonia Huang and Don Heider, University of Texas at Austin • Media convergence is happening around the world. This study looks at the current operation of a cable news station which produces two media products in one newsroom. It also explores the theoretical foundations of value creation in online news by examining how online news is selected, packaged, processed, and distributed. Observational results showed that online news still has a long way to go in terms of content provision.

The Relationships among Audience Loyalty, Perceived Quality, and Media Credibility of Cable News Networks • Tayo Oyedeji and Felicity Duncan, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study explores the applicability of Meyer’s (2004) newspaper influence model to cable television news by investigating the relationships among the audience-based concepts (media credibility, news quality, and audience loyalty) in the model. We found significant correlations among the three concepts and also found significant effects of media credibility and perceived quality on audience loyalty. Audiences’ attitudes towards the three major cable news networks (CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News) were also explored.

Coverage of youth issues in 2004 election: Television v. online • Karon Reinboth Speckman, Truman State University • Evidence shows that youths are tuning out to news and to voting. This content analysis examined whether television and online news covered issues of importance to youth, covered youth as a voting unit, and used youths as sources in 2004 election coverage. Outlets examined were NBC evening news, ABC.com, CNN.com and Yahoo.com. The results showed all sources did not do a good job of covering youths and their issues and rarely used youths as sources.

Network and Cable News Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election: So Just Who’s Biased • Frederick Fico, Geri Alumit Zeldes, Arvind Diddi and Serena Carpenter Michigan State University • Network and cable evening news stations gave more prominence, time and attention to Democrat John Kerry than to President George Bush in their 2004 election coverage. Network stations were more balanced in their aggregate attention to the candidates than were the cable stations. Individual network stories and segments were also more balanced than were individual cable stories and segments, regardless of the candidate more favored in stories and segments.

The effect of screen size and audio delivery system on memory for television news • Mark Kelley, The University of Maine • This experiment randomly assigned 63 undergraduate students to one of three conditions: large screen television with cabinet mounted speakers, conventional size television screen with cabinet mounted speakers, and small screen (2 inch diagonal) television with audio delivered via earbud headphones, to test the efficacy of screen size and audio delivery system in learning the facts from television news.

A Time Series Analysis of Network News Editing Strategies from 1969 through 2005 • Richard J. Schaefer, University of New Mexico • Four editing variables were tracked through a content analysis that spanned a 36-year period. The analysis revealed that synthetic-montage increased and continuity-realism decreased across both periods, as network news editors embraced shorter sound bites, more special effects, and an increasing use of montage-edited footage. Quicker overall cutting rates and the use of more asynchronous sound increased from 1969 through 1983, but appeared to level in recent years.

Selling News: Behind the Content of Cable and Broadcast News Morning Shows • Johanna Cleary and Terry Adams, University of Miami • Through content analysis of the three broadcast networks and two leading cable news channels, this study: (1) examines how entertainment fits into the overall content of the morning news shows, (2) evaluates ownership patterns as it relates to this content, and (3) examines the policy implications of these news decisions for the long-standing social responsibility theory of the press.

Breaking in your in-box: An exploratory content analysis of online network breaking news e-mails • Tim Bajkiewicz, University of South Florida and Jessica Smith, Christian University • Electronic mail is still considered the Internet’s “killer app,” and online network news organizations take advantage of this by regularly sending out breaking news e-mails. However, to date there has been no scholarly research into this phenomenon affecting more than 11 million people with e-mailed news alerts. Within a media gatekeeping perspective, this study analyzed 875 such e-mails gathered over 26 continuous weeks from five online network news organizations: ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, CNN.com, FoxNews.com, and MSNBC.com.

Preparing for the Worst: Making a Case for Trauma Training in the Journalism Classroom • Gretchen Dworznik and Max Grubb, Kent State University • This study is an exploratory look into the merits of including trauma training in the journalism classroom. Qualitative interviews with students who covered a death-penalty murder trial and results from a quantitative survey of journalism students are combined to show that preparing students for the emotional reactions they may experience while covering the news is not only needed by wanted by the students themselves. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

Network News Coverage of Lung Cancer, 1968-2005 • Sooyoung Cho, University of South Carolina • This study content analyzed the 298 news story abstracts on lung cancer from the three major TV networks over the past four decades (1968-2005). This study examined types of issues, story formats and frames, and source use pattern. TV news has focused on issues like celebrity, smoking as a cause of lung cancer, and women and lung cancer.

Health, Homeland Security and Self Efficacy: Does contextual story placement in a television newscast affect perceptions of helplessness? • Andrea Miller, and Lesa Hatley-Major, Louisiana State University • This experimental study expands self-efficacy theory by exploring how positive or negative context of a television news story may make a difference in self-efficacy and risk perceptions of that story. Homeland security and health stories, which often advocate behavior change and placed in a positive context, resulted in higher self-efficacy ratings by viewers. These results also suggest that the content of the target story plays a role in perceptions of risk.

<< 2006 Abstracts

Public Relations Division

College students and Creatine: Are Fear Appeals Effective in Communicating Health Risks? • Hyang Sook Kim, Donna Sheffield and Talal Almutairi, Kansas State University • This study looks at the effect of fear appeals on self-protective behavior. A total of 121 college students viewed advertisements depicting side effects of creatine consumption. Comparing three groups with different levels of knowledge, we found that messages were most effective on those who were familiar with creatine, but had never used it. Primary results suggest that previous knowledge is a factor to be considered when presenting threatening health information.

Examining the Social Context of the College Learning Environment for the Growing Population of Older Adult Students • Terri Ann Bailey, University of North Carolina • Age-based nontraditional students, defined as students 25 years old or greater, represent the fastest growing postsecondary educational group in the United States. The size and growth of the population of older adult students suggests that information about their unique experiences has implications for public relations faculty in developing more open pedagogies and mentoring strategies.

A Sense of Agency: Utilizing Firms in the Public Relations Campaigns Course • Vince Benigni, College of Charleston and J. Christopher Wood, University of Georgia and Glen T. Cameron, University of Missouri • Extending Benigni and Cameron (1999) and subsequent works, this essay espouses the notion of agency partnership in the public relations campaigns course. Because 90 percent of campaigns professors utilize an “agency structure” in this capstone course, it stands to reason that area firms are a natural bridge to fully embracing the concept. The authors examine pedagogical, role definition, and careerist literature, and offer a 10-part list of best practices for agency partnership.

An Investigation of Public Relations’ Role in Supporting Corporate Culture: A Case Study of a Regional Healthcare Facility • Pamela G. Bourland-Davis and Beverly L. Graham, Georgia Southern University • Tapping into the stories of an organization provides an opportunity to capture an organization’s culture. This study examined an organization’s culture to assess the public relations role in regard to the culture. Focused interviews of employees and a content analysis of newsletters identified recurring cultural themes. The results provide support for public relations playing an integral role in advocating for or supporting the culture of the organization as identified in the key themes generated.

The Power of Public Relations in Media Relations: A National Survey of Health PR Practitioners • Sooyoung Choo, University of South Carolina • Based on the typology of power suggested by French and Raven, this study identified five types of power PR practitioners have in media relations. The survey results suggest that PR practitioners working for health organizations have “expert power” in the media relations. Especially, those who work for non-profit organizations, who have frequent contacts with reporters, and who develop close relationships with reporters have “expert power.”

The Role of Public Relations Practitioners’ Communication Networks: A Social Network Perspective on Public Relations Management • Joungwha Choi, Michigan State University • This study examines the relationship between public relations practitioners’ and departments’ communication networks and organizations’ public relations performance. Based on the social network approach and the Excellence theory of public relations, theoretical propositions are provided on the relationships between the network structure that PR practitioners have and public relations excellence.

Effects of Entertainment Television Program Viewing on Student’s Perceptions of Public Relations Functions • Youjin Choi, University of Florida • This study conducted a survey with students in an introductory public relations course to examine the effects of television viewing of entertainment programs with public relations characters on the perceptions about public relations functions. A factor analysis classified students’ perceptions into five categories: two-way communications, political communication, spokesperson, writing, and informal media relations.

Excuse us, please: Examining the Effect of Excuses on Corporate Credibility after an Adverse Incident • Colleen Connolly-Ahern, Penn State University • Crisis communication is an important area of public relations research. This paper details the results of an experiment that examined the effectiveness of different types of excuses and different delivery formats for those excuses on the credibility of a fictitious company after an adverse incident. Results indicate that excuses help corporations regain some their credibility after an adverse incident.

Persuasion and Ethics: Towards a Taxonomy of Means and Ends • Brenton Danner and Spiro Kiousis, University of Florida • The literature on persuasion ethics either largely ignores the distinction between the means and ends of ethical persuasion or at least does not recognize the finer distinctions at work. This paper provides a review of the current literature on persuasion ethics with particular attention to the distinction between when it is ethical to engage in persuasion and the ethical boundaries when performing persuasive acts in a public relations context.

Relationship Types and Outcomes: A Case Study of Internal Military Relationships • Tiffany Derville and Teresa Heisler, University of Maryland University College • Internal military base relationships were examined through 18 interviews and a focus group. The researchers found that the order of importance for relationship outcomes is either situational or in need of adjustment; publics with long relationships with organizations evaluate them against their histories with them; and the need to carry concerns up a chain of management results in dissatisfaction, even when needs are ultimately met. A three-tiered method for classifying relationship types is proposed.

Building an Understanding of the Main Elements of Management in the Communication/ Public Relations Context: A Study of U.S. Practitioner Practices • Barbara DeSanto, University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Danny Moss, Manchester Metropolitan University and Andrew J. Newman, Manchester Business School • This study is the U.S. stage of an international research program identifying the managerial elements of public relations work. Building on previous research studies, this study had two aims: (1) examining the efficacy of the five-factor model emerging from the previous U.K. study, and (2) identifying and exploring the U.S. practitioners’ managerial elements. The results include the validation of the five-factor model among U.S. practitioners, along with identification of managerial role characteristics in U.S. organizations.

Transparency in Government Communication • Jenille Fairbanks, Kenneth Plowman and Brad Rawlins, Brigham Young University • Basic to a successful democracy is the existence of a public informed about government actions. This requires government information to be open and accessible to the public. This study sought to understand how communicators in government value and practice transparency. Constant comparative thematic analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews of government communicators revealed a transparency model for government communication. This paper outlines that model and identifies practices and structures that promote transparent communication practices.

Man or Mouse – Which is Better: Proctored or Online Exams? A Comparison of Test Score Among a Graduate Public Relations Management Course • Lisa T. Fall, University of Tennessee • The purpose of this study is to determine if online exam administration is inferior to traditional face-to-face proctored (pen and paper) administration. The population for this sample consists of 186 graduate students enrolled in an online Master’s degree in Science Administration program at a mid-sized Midwestern state university. In particular, these students have all taken JRN 670 (Public Relations Management) as an elective course toward their degree.

The Intersection of Administration Support for the Faculty Advisor and Student Need Satisfaction • Vincent F. Filak and Robert S. Pritchard, Ball State University • This paper investigates a “motivation transference” wherein instructors receiving administration support are likely to perceive greater student motivation and need satisfaction. A survey of PRSSA faculty advisors (n=104) found that higher levels of administrative support and self-determined motivation predicted the advisor’s own rating of how positive they thought their students would be in rating their performance as the advisor.

Extending Models of International Public Relations Practice: An Analysis of the Arla Foods Crisis • T. Kenn Gaither, Elon University and Patricia A. Curtin, University of Oregon • This study examines communications materials from the Arla Foods case to test models of international public relations practice, extend theory in the discipline, and provide suggestions for international practice. It begins by classifying the models according to their underlying macro-level philosophical assumptions and outlining the ramifications of those assumptions.

Communicating During Times of Crises: An Analysis of Press Releases from the Federal Government Before, During, and After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita • Amanda Hall Gallagher, Maria Fontenot and Kris Boyle, Texas Tech University • This paper examines crisis communication strategies before, during, and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Press releases from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security, and U.S. Senators and Governors from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas were analyzed using Coomb’s (1995; 1996; 1998; 1999) symbolic approach to crisis communication. Findings from the study demonstrate that the tactic used most commonly by state officials were suffering and attacking the accuser.

Predicting Media Coverage of Corporate Performance • Soo Yeon Hong, Kiuli Wang, Syracuse University • This study collected and analyzed 838 news stories to identify predictors of corporate performance coverage in the media. A context of company’s quarterly earnings reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission was used. The hierarchical regression analyses found that economic power and earnings per share surprise are significant predictors.

Contemporary Attitudes Toward Integrated Marketing Communication • Jeffrey D. Hutson, Ball State University • This research explored whether attitudes regarding integrated marketing communication (IMC) among both educators and practitioners can place IMC in an inductive or pre-theory stage of theory development. The analysis indicates an acceptance of IMC methods. However the data does not place attitudes regarding IMC in an inductive or pre-theory stage of development. This then permits the conclusion that IMC at present is a communications management approach, not a nascent communication theory.

What you Don’t Know will Hurt You: Information Literacy, Service Learning, and Future Public Relations Practitioners • Ann D. Jabro, Robert Morris University • Students’ information literacy skills of “know” and “access” were determined to be inadequate during a 15-week course titled “Writing for Advertising and Public Relations,” a writing and research-intensive course featuring a service learning component. Pre- and Post- course assessment surveys, weekly student journals, and research portfolio analyses support that students’ information literacy skills can be enhanced by altering pedagogic practices, consulting with experts and empowering students to seek assistance.

Building Online Dialogic Relationship: The U.S. Fortune 500 versus China 500 Corporate Web Sites • Jing Jiang, California Lutheran University • This study explored the similarities and differences of corporate Web sites in the use of dialogic principles to build online dialogic relationship by the U.S. Fortune 500 and China 500 companies. Consistent with previous studies, the results show that both the U.S. Fortune 500 and China 500 companies corporate Web sites do meet the prerequisites of dialogue, namely, they are easily navigated, contain useful information for customer, investor, and media publics, and provide features to maintain visitors on the site.

An Analysis of the Literature on Third-Person Effect for Implications in Public Relations Strategic Message Design • Deena G. Kemp, University of South Florida • Third-person effect (TPE) theory states that people respond to messages based on the expectation that others will be more influenced than themselves. For public relations, TPE can result in unintended outcomes or may be used strategically to achieve communication goals. This paper reviews seven studies that examine TPE for strategic communication in order to formulate a TPE research agenda for public relations in the areas of audience analysis, message design, and program evaluation.

Exploring the Effects of Negative Publicity: News Coverage and Public Perceptions of a University • Sei-Hill Kim, John P. Carvalho and Christy E. Cooksey, Auburn University • Using content analysis of a local newspaper and data from a survey of local residents, this study examines the effects of negative publicity on public perceptions of and support for a university. Our data indicated that greater exposure to unfavorable news articles was associated with lower levels of perceived reputation and trust in the university. Unfavorable perceptions were also related to decreased support for the university.

Differences in Gender Roles in Public Relations and South Korea • Sora Kim and Roxanne Hovland, University of Tennessee • This study examined gender differences in the roles of public relations practitioners, inclusion in influential networks, and relationships with mentors in South Korea. Altogether 102 South Korean public relations practitioners participated in the survey from January to February 2006. The results of the study confirm some of the findings of Western research as well as suggest new insights about important cultural differences in the roles of practitioners as managers and technicians.

The Portrayal of Public Relations Practitioners in The West Wing • Emily Kinsky, Texas Tech University • An investigation of the portrayal of public relations practitioners was performed using content analysis of the 22 episodes in the debut season of The West Wing. The practitioners were coded based on demonstrated traits and work performed or discussed. Significant differences were found between male and female practitioners being included or disciplined, appearing as major characters, dealing with government officials and the media, discussing speech writing, and appearing silly.

Understanding Influence on Corporate Reputation: An Examination of Public Relations Efforts, Media Coverage, Public Opinion, and Financial Performance from an Agenda-Building and Agenda-Setting Perspective • Spiro Kiousis, Christina Popescu and Michael Mitrook, University of Florida • This study investigates public relations efforts and media coverage beyond message outputs and media placement, by tracing the impact of public relations efforts and media coverage on corporate reputation through the theoretical grounding of first- and second-level agenda-building and agenda-setting. A triangulation of research methods compared public relations content, news coverage, public opinion, and corporate financial performance for 28 companies from the annual Harris Interactive (2005) Reputation Quotient.

Going Public to Restore a Tarnished Image: A Content Analysis of President Bush’s Major Post-Katrina Speeches • Brooke Fisher Liu, University of North Carolina • When Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf Coast, President Bush’s newly formed Department of Homeland Security received its first test and failed. In this paper, I apply image repair discourse theory to analyze the major speeches Bush gave after Katrina. I examine: (1) how Bush presented his response to Katrina in his speeches; (2) how Bush responded to the public’s criticism in his speeches; and (3) how effective the speeches were in repairing Bush’s tarnished image.

Practicing Public Relations in China: An Examination of Multinational Public Relations Firms • Yi Luo, University of Maryland • This study of five multinational public relations firms in China seeks to (a) examine the multinational public relations firms’ sensitivity to societal culture and (b) explore three core concerns in public relations management: function, gender diversity and communication models. Results with 16 practitioners in the firms supported global public relations theory. Suggestions for specific application of global public relations theory are recommended.

Challenging the Monolithic View of Ethnic Minorities in Public Relations Strategies: Hispanic Culture-frames of the Healthcare Issue • Belio A. Martinez, Jr., University of Florida • Framing, and etic/emic concepts are combined to formulate a culture-framing model to discern between minority subgroup issue-frames. An analysis of 21 in-depth interviews with Colombian, Cuban and Puerto Rican Americans in the state of Florida resulted in five unique healthcare frames for these Latino subgroups. Findings in this study challenge the myth of a monolithic Hispanic community and call for more nuanced public relations research and campaign efforts targeting multicultural publics.

The Secret Key to Beautiful Skin is not a Secret Anymore: A Case Study of SK-II’s Image Restoration Strategies • Juan Meng, University of Alabama • SK-II, a high profile beauty line of Proctor & Gamble, was sued by a Chinese consumer in 2005, which raised serious questions about SK-II’s product safety and the credibility of its advertisements. The theory of image restoration discourse was applied in this case to analyze SK-II’s attempts to restore its tarnished reputation in the Asian market. More rigorous image restoration strategies for multinational corporations (MNCs) in the Asian market were also recommended.

Digging Deeper: Crisis Management in the Coal Industry • Barbara Miller and J. Suzanne Horsley, University of North Carolina • Through an analysis of the coal industry, this study provides insight into the unique considerations associated with responding to crises among risk-related industries. Given the often-negative image associated with risk industries, crises may be a context for improving existing public perceptions by demonstrating a commitment to responding to crises effectively.

The Academy versus the Profession: A Comparative Analysis of Ethical Discussion in Public Relations Publications • Michael A. Mitrook and Benton Danner, University of Florida • Content analysis concerning the nature of ethical discussion in both peer reviewed public relations journals and public relations industry publications. Of the 35,944 articles from four scholarly journals and four industry publications covering the period 1998-2005, 1057 mentioned ethics in some substantive way and were further analyzed in four categories: appeal to a normative ethical theory; mention of a code of ethics; mention of metaethical issues; and relating ethics to a particular public relations theory.

Cultivation of Relationships as Resource Management: Employee-organization Relationships (EOR) in the Context of Globalization • Lan Ni, University of Texas at San Antonio • Applying the framework of resource management to the cultivation of relationships for achieving organizational goals, this study examined how the cultivation of employee-organization relationships (EOR) was influenced by globalization strategies. Findings from 60 interviews in 14 organizations suggested that the process of cultivating EOR indeed reflected the demands of globalization strategies. Organizations focused on different dimensions of EOR cultivation, demonstrating a visible effort of public relations to build resources that could contribute to organizational effectiveness.

The Link Between Strong Public Relationships and Donor Support • Julie O’Neil, Texas Christian University • Based upon a mail survey completed by 275 donors of a non-profit organization, this study measured the association between perceptions of public relationships and donor support. A modified version of Hon and J.E. Grunig’s (1999) relationship scale was used. Results of one-way analyses of variance indicate that strong public relationships are not related to amount donated, but they are associated with years of support, happiness to continue donating, and happiness to recommend others to donate.

A New Typology of Risk Communication Process Variables • Michael J. Palenchar and Elizabeth A. Crisp, University of Tennessee • Risk communication process variables are a potentially useful typology for examining the strategic creation of risk communication messages and audience responses. Based on a literature review across disciplines, this meta-analysis identifies a new typology of psychometric and other risk communication process variables categorized by control, trust, context, uncertainty and knowledge. The authors also advocate for more reflection and review of risk communication research literature to systematically address present and future research needs in the field.

Roles and Blogs in Public Relations • Lance V. Porter, Kaye D. Trammell, Louisiana State University and Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky • A national email survey of public relations practitioners investigated the use and perceptions of weblogs or blogs and how that use is related to roles and status. Cluster analysis challenged Porter and Sallot’s 2003 roles typology, reverting to the previous manager-technician dichotomy. While blog use was on par with national audiences, practitioners were maintaining mostly personal blogs and using blogs professionally at low levels. Furthermore, women lagged behind men in the strategic use of blogs.

Public Participation: An Experimental Test of Stage of Involvement and Power Sharing on Satisfaction • Kristina M. Ray, David M. Dozier, Glen M. Broom and C. Richard Hofstetter, San Diego State University • The normative literature on public participation suggests that stakeholder satisfaction increases (a) when decision-making power is shared and (b) the public participates early in the decision-making process. In an experiment, 804 subjects were randomly assigned to groups and exposed to four treatments where power sharing and stage of public involvement were systematically manipulated.

The Dialogic Characteristic of NGO Web sites and The Concept of Interactivity • Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria and Foad Izadi, Louisiana State University • This study examined the interactive potential of the Web sites of 50 non-governmental organizations to understand how they are building dialogic relationships online. The data suggest that while most NGO organizations meet the technical and design aspects of dialogic communication – here referred to as user-to-system interactivity – they are not taking full advantage of the two-way communication potential of the Internet.

Claimsmaking and Mountaintop Removal Mining: A Frame Mapping Analysis of PR Material from the Coal Industry and Environmental Activists • Marc C. Seamon, Marshall University • This study is a computer-assisted analysis of how claimsmakers frame mountaintop removal mining in PR materials designed to influence public opinion and policy. The frames used by competing claimsmakers and the words that comprise those frames are identified. Abstract patterns of usage and association among the frames are documented and made visual through 3-D interactive graphs. Interpretation is provided of the frames and their associative patterns. Implications for PR practitioners and researchers are discussed.

A Qualitative Analysis of Fund Raiser Roles and Experiences at Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) • Natalie T. J. Tindall, University of Maryland • According to fund raising theory, the chief fund raiser should be a member of the dominant coalition for any advancement of fund raising effort to succeed (L. A. Grunig, J. E. Grunig, & Dozier, 2002; J. E. Grunig, 1992; Kelly, 1998). This paper examines the experiences of 27 institutional advancement officers at public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).1 The fund raisers enacted the expert prescriber, problem-solving facilitator, and technician roles described by Kelly (1998).

Perception of Public Relations: An Experiment Testing the Impact of Entertainment Portrayals of the Profession on Students and Practitioners • Kaye D. Trammell, University of Georgia and Lisa K. Lundy, Louisiana State University • In this pre/posttest experimental design involving practitioners (n =28), public relations majors (n=39), communication majors (n=33), and non-majors (n=40), researchers investigated the impact of entertainment portrayals of the public relations profession. Findings indicate that while all groups believe the portrayal of the profession in the stimulus was inaccurate, participants allowed the entertainment program to cloud their perception of public relations. Respondents experienced third-person effects but the phenomenon dissipated as one’s connection to the profession decreased.

Impact of Blogs on Relationship Management during a Crisis • Kaye D. Trammell, University of Georgia and Emily Metzgar, Louisiana State University • Using a post-test only experimental design with control group, this study investigated the impact of blogs on relationship management during a crisis. Participants (N = 109) were exposed to a personal blog (n = 45), organizational blog (n = 46), or control (n = 18). Results indicate blogs impact the perception of the level of crisis an organization experiences. Additionally, relationships created through blogs impact the perception of crisis. Use and credibility were also investigated.

Toward a Social Construction of the Field of Global Public Relations: A Case of Female Practitioners in Russia • Katerina Tsetura, University of Oklahoma • Social construction was used to develop a theoretical framework for studying multiple identities of public relations practitioners, based on professional, cultural, and gender characteristics, as a foundation for reconceptualization of the public relations field. Results of interviews and focus groups with female practitioners from Russia reported. This project provided baseline to systematically explore multiple identities of professionals and showed how the proposed framework can be used to understand public relations as a socially constructed field.

Women’s Meaning-making of Cervical Cancer Campaigns: Using a Cultural Approach to Reframe Women’s Involvement with their Health • Jennifer Vardeman, University of Maryland • This study extended the situational theory of publics to understand how women from different racial and ethnic backgrounds seek information about cervical cancer. Qualitative focus groups and in-depth interviews were employed with African American, Hispanic, Indian, and White women. Findings suggest that women represent both aware and latent publics because of differences in problem recognition and level of involvement. Furthermore, women tend to group reproductive health issues together rather than separating them.

“My Grandmother Ate Fish Her Whole Life and There Isn’t Anything Wrong With Her”: An Exploratory Study of How Women Perceive Contradictory Messages in Media about Fish Consumption • Jennifer Vardeman and Linda Aldoory, University of Maryland • This study employed focus groups with women to examine their perceptions of contradictory information portrayed in media about fish consumption. The situational theory of publics provided a theoretical framework in that women’s perceptions were understood in terms of how much they recognized eating fish to be a problem, how personally relevant the problem of eating fish was for them, and whether they perceived barriers to eating fish safely.

Priming, Framing and Position on Corporate Social Responsibility • Alex Wang, University of Connecticut-Stamford • This study tested the effects of priming, framing, and position on how participants judged a target corporation: effects produced by statements that focused on issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a context without mentioning a target corporation (priming) and effects produced by stories that linked the target corporation to CSR issues through negatively framed news (framing).

Telling the American Story to the World: The Purpose of U.S. Public Diplomacy in Historical Perspective • Jian Wang, Purdue University • This paper seeks to provide a critical reflection on the mission and function of U.S. public diplomacy through an examination of the manifest mandate of the three major institutional settings for such international outreach programs, i.e., Committee on Public Information, Office of War Information, and the United States Information Agency. Through historical synthesis, this discussion aims to enrich our understanding of current and long-standing issues regarding the concept of public diplomacy.

Blogging 101: Issues and Approaches to Teaching Blog Management in Public Relations Courses • Richard D. Waters and Jennifer A. Robinson, University of Florida • As the social impact of blogging continues to grow, public relations practitioners must be prepared to develop and manage constituency relationships by managing and responding to blogs. This paper highlights how blog writing/management can be purposefully incorporated in public relations curricula, including a sample assignment. Results of informal interviews (n = 28) with students enrolled in a public relations writing course are reported and a variety of issues raised by students are discussed.

Measuring the Donor-Nonprofit Organization Relationship: The Impact of Relationship Cultivation on Donor Renewal • Richard D. Waters, University of Florida • Through the use of organization-public relationship measures developed by Grunig and Hon (1999), this project examined the value of the donor-nonprofit organization relationship. A survey of donors (n = 120) for a California-based healthcare organization revealed that major gift donors and repeat donors were more likely to have stronger feelings of trust, satisfaction, commitment, and balanced power than normal donors and one-time donors, respectively.

Beyond Counting: The Use of Press Clippings as a Measurement Tool • Brinn Wellise and Jennifer Greer, University of Nevada, Reno • A survey of a randomly selected sample of PRSA members found that practitioners deem press clippings, despite their simplicity, as an important and frequently used measurement tool. Practitioners counted press clippings and used more complex levels of clip analysis; those techniques combined ranked near the top of a list of what some have seen as “more sophisticated” PR measurement tools. Long-time and more upper-level practitioners placed less value on clippings than other professionals surveyed.

Constructing a Cultural Definition of Public Relations: A Textual Analysis of The New York Times • Candace White and Cheryl Ann Lambert, University of Tennessee • This study examined how public relations is contextually defined, using newspaper articles as cultural texts, to determine how readers would derive meaning of the term. Public relations was frequently used as an adjective to ascribe negative meaning to the noun it modified, and the media definitions, and therefore the cultural perceptions of public relations, do not often match textbook definitions. Newspaper readers would make negative inferences about public relations.

The Moral Development of Public Relations Practitioners: A Comparison with Other Professions • Lee Wilkins, University of Missouri and Renita Coleman, University of Texas-Austin • This study gathered baseline data on the moral development of 84 public relations professionals. The PR practitioners in this study scored sixth highest among professionals tested, ranking behind seminarians/philosophers, medical students, physicians, journalists, and dental students, but above nurses, graduate students, undergraduate college students, veterinary students, and adults in general. They performed significantly better when the ethical dilemmas were about public relations issues than when they were not.

<< 2006 Abstracts

Newspaper Division

Reaching Out: Newspaper Credibility Among Younger Readers • Cory Armstrong, University of Florida and Steve Collins, Central Florida • The researchers examined student perceptions of campus and community newspaper credibility at a large Southeastern university using a web survey (n = 1,906) of those enrolled in a general education class. A moderate correlation (r = .28) existed between college newspaper credibility and community newspaper credibility. Using hierarchical linear regression, the researchers found interest in news content to be a statistically significant predictor of credibility for both local newspapers and college newspapers.

Taking Action on Credibility: Does APME’s Credibility Roundtable Program Have Measurable Effects? • Carrie Brown, Esther Thorson and Ken Fleming, Missouri-Columbia • This study evaluated the impact of the Associated Press Managing Editors’ National Credibility Roundtable program on the reported frequency of credibility-building activities at daily newspapers. Data from a survey of managing editors at Roundtable newspapers as compared to other newspapers shows that the Roundtable program appears to be having an impact on promoting credibility actions in two areas: increasing transparency and allowing readers to participate in the decision-making process.

Rating the Completeness of Newspaper Corrections in 2005 as Compiled by ‘Regret the Error’ • Michael Bugeja, Jane Peterson, Rut Rey and Fernando Anton, Iowa State • This study codifies components of corrections and uses them to rate the scope of newspaper corrections as compiled in 2005 by Regret the Error (http://www.regrettheerror.com). Some 631 entries were analyzed according to publication date of error, identification and/or explanation of error, apologies and other factors. Findings illustrate the degree of completeness of correction, noting how well or poorly the newspapers upheld standards. Final recommendations enhance trust and credibility.

Following the Setting Sun • Steve Collins, Central Florida and Cory Armstrong, University of Florida • Utilizing a Web survey of students enrolled in a general education class at the University of Florida (n = 1,906), the researchers examined the response to a unique newspaper marketing program. Although a number of newspapers over the years have attempted to attract new readers by offering students free or discounted papers, the Gainesville Sun became among the first to attempt to compete directly with the student newspaper by creating its own campus-focused edition.

One Product, Two Markets: How Geography Differentiates Online Newspaper Audiences • H. Iris Chyi, Arizona and George Sylvie, Texas-Austin • A secondary data analysis of 136 U.S. online newspapers’ usage reports investigates how geography differentiates online newspaper audiences in terms of market size and usage patterns. Results showed that the local market accounts for 38% of visitors, 55% of page views, and 54% of minutes of the overall U.S. market. Local Internet users tend to read more pages and spend more time on the news site.

The Internet and the Future of Journalism: Comparing News Producers’ and Users’ Preferences on the Y • Patricia Curtin, Oregon and Elizabeth Dougall and Rachel Davis Mersey, North Carolina • This paper presents preliminary data from the first phase of a multi-method study designed to determine if an online news platform can be both commercially viable and socially responsible, providing the news coverage necessary to support a flourishing democracy while garnering user numbers and demographics attractive to advertisers. Applying content analysis to the most frequented online news site, Yahoo!

Newsroom’s Normal Accident? An Exploratory Study of 10 Cases of News Fabrications • Jia Dai and Dominic Lasorsa, Texas-Austin • This study examines 10 high-profile recent cases of fabrication at major American news organizations. Applying disaster incubation theory and normal accident theory to newsrooms, it supports the argument that organizational characteristics of newsrooms contribute to fabrication scandals. The study also identifies certain patterns in fabricated news stories that distinguish them from authentic news stories. It is suggested that editors might use these distinguishing patterns to help recognize and prevent news story fabrication.

The Convergence Conundrum: Choosing Between The Strength of Weak Ties and Jacks of All Trades • Larry Dailey and Donica Mensing, Nevada-Reno • When journalism schools and news organizations use cross-training to implement convergence, they are operating under the assumption that sharing certain technical skills will enable journalists to understand and produce media on a variety of platforms. These efforts reward those who are able to think more like their counterparts in print or broadcast.

Washington Bureau Chiefs Assess Changing Policies, Attitudes On Using Anonymous Sources • Peggie Evans, Texas-Austin • Damaging blows have struck journalists’ use of anonymous sources since 2003. Reporters have fabricated sources and prosecutors have pressed top national reporters to name confidential sources or face jail. This study uses in-depth interviews with Washington bureau chiefs, including at The New York Times, to discuss policy changes on anonymous sources. The study found bureau chiefs believe anonymous sources essential to reporting, policies have tightened and not all anonymous sources are identified to editors.

Reporters’ Conflicting Attitudes And Struggle To Unionize • Fred Fedler, Central Florida • Little seems to have changed since the 1880s and ‘90s, not reporters’ reasons for organizing — or opposing — unions. Reporters’ culture emphasized independence, service, and sacrifice, not organization. Reporters were loyal to paternalistic owners and feared that, rather than helping them, unions would protect the incompetent. Unions’ advocates complained about their longs hours, low salaries, insecurity, and difficult editors. Increasingly during the 1930s, reporters also became disillusioned with the newspaper industry.

Concern, Frustration and Guarded Optimism: Newspaper Editors Assess Their Changing Organizational Roles • Peter Gade and Jacqueline Eckstein, Oklahoma • This study asked a probably sample of top newspaper editors three open-ended questions about how changes in the industry are impacting their organizational roles, the skills needed to perform their jobs and to assess the changes in the industry and their jobs.

New Media, Familiar Standards: How Online News People Rate 38 Criteria of Quality for News Web Sites • George Gladney, Wyoming and Ivor Shapiro, Ryerson and Joseph Castaldo • The researchers abstracted from the literature 38 criteria of quality of online news Web sites, then conducted an online survey in which 143 online news people rated the importance of each criterion. The study’s purpose was to (1) identify criteria deemed most important in judging the quality of online news sites, and (2) determine how standards unique to the Web compare in importance with traditional print standards.

Editorials and Public Policy: Illinois legislators read and heed newspaper editorials • Steven Hallock, Southern Illinois-Carbondale • A survey of Illinois legislators found high levels of readership for editorials of their hometown newspapers and also suggested that legislators seriously consider the recommendations of these editorials, including sometimes following their advice when it comes to voting on legislation. Legislators paid less attention to editorials of the state capital newspaper, but the levels of respect for and consideration of these editorials suggests general overall legislative attention to newspaper editorials by elected policy-makers.

Non-Presidential Newspaper Endorsements, 2002 and 2004 • Mark Harmon, Tennessee • The author sampled twenty newspapers from the top-100 in circulation, tallying all candidate endorsements in the month preceding the 2002 and 2004 general elections. The newspapers in 2002 endorsed more Republicans than Democrats, but the reverse was true in 2004. The same “flip” occurred in conservative and liberal scores of endorsed incumbents.

A nation at war versus a culture of restraint • Lori Herber and Vince Filak, Ball State • This study explores examines differences in source usage, tone and amount of coverage employed by a United States newspaper (The Washington Post) and a German Newspaper (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) regarding the conflict in Iraq. A content analysis of these papers reveals that both papers relied primarily on official sources for their information, but that FaZ gave far less coverage to the conflict than did the Washington Post.

Happy Journalists: Good for Business? A Survey of Business Journalists’ Job Satisfaction and Plans • Qingmiao Hu and Jennifer Greer, Nevada-Reno • This survey of 665 U.S. business journalists about job satisfaction found business journalists moderately satisfied with their jobs. While they are most satisfied with their beats, stories they cover, their autonomy, and their schedules, they are unhappy with advancement opportunities and training. Inadequate on-the-job training was highly related to job dissatisfaction, a novel finding.

How the New York Times covered the 2004 Presidential Campaign: A Case of New York Times Coverage • Abhiyan Humane, Carly Yuenger, Xiao Yu Wang, Daniel Gartenberg and Porismita Borah, Wisconsin-Madison • The purpose of the study is to analyze the composition and variation in various characteristics of media coverage of the 2004 presidential election by the New York Times within the campaign period of July 26, 2004 (DNC) and November 5, 2004 (day after election). Most studies analyzing media coverage generalize their results to the period of the entire campaign, thus assuming the invariance of a campaign and the static nature of media coverage.

Framing a Terrorist Event on Neutral Soil: A Comparative Analysis of US and Chinese Newspaper Coverage • Liwen Jiang, Jeff Sheets and Javier Camaño, Brigham Young • This study examined the prevalence of five news frames identified in earlier studies on international news report: responsibility, conflict, human interest, morality, and national interest. As the first empirical study on testing the five news frames in international news coverage over terrorism, we content analyzed 2 U.S. newspapers and 2 Chinese newspapers on the coverage over the terrorism train bombing in Madrid, Spain, 2004, with a 2-month lifecycle of news stories.

The Reality of Graphics Editing in the Newsroom: A Study of Practices at 6 Newspapers in the Carolinas • Staci Jordan and Douglas Fisher, South Carolina • While textbooks call for thorough editing of newspaper graphics by both copy editors and graphics staff, a close examination of six newspapers in the Carolinas shows clear differences by size. Even within some newsrooms, perceptions differ on how well graphics are edited at a time when graphics have become central to American newspapers. The presumed accuracy of wire-service graphics means they often are edited less.

An Examination of Portrayals of Race in Hurricane Katrina Coverage • Shannon Kahle, Nan Yu and Erin Whiteside, Penn State • This study uses a content analysis to explore portrayals of race in newspaper photographs from four national newspapers covering Hurricane Katrina. The study found that the photographic coverage of Katrina, while ostensibly sympathetic, reinforced negative stereotypes about African-Americans, while conversely depicting Caucasians in powerful roles. The findings support previous findings in literature on stereotyping and modern racism in news coverage.

Newspaper Plagiarism Trends Since Jayson Blair • Norman Lewis, Maryland • Analysis of all thirty-seven known cases of daily newspaper plagiarism in the nearly three years since Jayson Blair rocked the New York Times revealed 89 percent of offenders were men. Although two-thirds of the journalists lost their jobs, larger newspapers were much less likely than smaller ones to dismiss offenders. Some newspapers avoided using the word “plagiarism” and instead employed euphemisms such as “borrowing.” Historical reluctance to define plagiarism affected cases of visual and self-plagiarism.

Activist Group Attributes and Their Influences on News Portrayal • Michael McCluskey, California State-Fresno • Scholars have identified numerous influences on news coverage, but paid little attention to the influence of attributes of news seekers on the tone of news coverage. Study examined surveys from 37 environmental groups and 831 newspaper articles mentioning groups. Multivariate analysis showed that several group resources (external revenue, broad membership) and group goals (recreational improvements) predicted positive news portrayals, and communicating with government predicted negative portrayals. Analysis suggests expanding theory detailing influences on news content.

Somebody’s Got to Do It: How Three Editors Explain to the Public • Neil Nemeth, Purdue – Calumet • This paper explores how editors of three metropolitan daily newspapers explain their publications’ activities to the public. The paper features an examination of the public columns written by the editors of the Rocky Mountain News, the Seattle Times and the San Antonio Express-News from 2003-2005 and one editor’s blogs. The findings suggest that editors may have to assume an additional role of aggressively promoting their newspapers in the turbulent media landscape of the 21st century.

Walkin’ the Walk; Talkin’ the Talk: Reporters’ Online Interaction with Readers • Randle Quint, Brigham Young and Lucinda Davenport, Michigan State and Scott Lunt, Brigham Young • In the spirit of transparent journalism and increasing competition from non-traditional online media and communities, are online newspapers offering readers more and different types of interactivity and feedback features than they have in the past? And, if so, are reporters interacting with readers? This study sought to update and improve earlier research through a content analysis of a proportional sample of 308 online newspapers and a survey to reporters.

Newspaper Coverage of Trans Fats: An Agenda for Policy Change? • Paula Rausch, Florida • This analysis sought to determine how two “conservative” and two “liberal” national newspapers framed the issue of heart-harmful trans fat in the years leading up to the FDA’s policy decision requiring its disclosure on food nutrition labels. Overall, these newspapers largely did not function in their usual agenda-setting and surveillance roles, and they provided relatively little information to their readers about these policy discussions, and nutritional information regarding the ill health effects of trans fat.

Whose View Is It? Gatekeeping Theory and the Selection and Publication of Letters to the Editor • Steve Scauzillo and Tony Rimmer, California State-Fullerton • This study reports on a 2005 online survey of editors (N=206) of letters to the editor sections from small, medium and larger newspapers across the U.S. Research questions considered the influences of personal opinions, political viewpoints, newsroom resources and routines, newspaper circulation, staff size, and technology on publishing behaviors by these editors. Respondents answered questions about influences on their selection and editing of letters to the editor.

Frame-mapping Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Mountaintop Removal Mining in Appalachia: 1985-2004 • Marc Seamon, Marshall • This study is a computer-assisted analysis of how newspapers frame mountaintop removal mining and how their framing has changed over time in reaction to developments related to the issue. The frames employed by journalists and the words that comprise those frames are identified. Abstract patterns of usage and association among the frames are documented and made visual through 3-D interactive graphs. Interpretation is provided of the frames and their associative patterns.

Unnamed Sources in the Washington Post, 1970-2000 • Michael Sheehy, Cincinnati • This study focuses on unnamed sources in Washington Post news stories from 1970 to 2000. A content analysis of 1,730 front-page stories identified unnamed sources with some functional and no functional identification in five story categories. The study found that unnamed sources were most common in foreign news stories; foreign and U.S. government stories had different ratios of unnamed/no identification and unnamed/some identification sources; and unnamed sources were most common during the Reagan era.

Content Differences Between Print and Online Newspapers • Jessica Smith, Abilene Christian • This study applies gatekeeping theory and uses content analysis to compare the content of 635 stories in five newspapers with their Web counterparts. It examines whether reporter affiliation or a story’s geographic emphasis has a relationship with the story’s contextual elements. Nearly all stories in the sample appeared on the newspapers’ Web sites, and story content was the same 96% of the time likely to publish additional contextual elements with local stories than more global ones.

Are Readers Really Suspicious of Unnamed Sources? • Ron Smith, Central Florida • Many editors contend that anonymous sourcing damages credibility. Research suggests otherwise. This study concludes neither view is completely correct. Respondents gave similar credibility ratings to named and unnamed versions of a whistle-blowing story, regardless of attitudes toward anonymous sourcing or the trustworthiness of reporters. However, they found personal attacks less credible with anonymous sourcing. Banning unnamed sources may be an overreaction. Readers may recognize unnamed sources are useful in some stories but reject them in others.

30 Years after, Friend or Foe? A Narrative Analysis of U.S. Newspaper Coverage of Vietnam in 2005 • Hai Tran, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This narrative analysis examines U.S. newspaper coverage of Vietnam in 2005. Articles from the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times were analyzed to identify dominant themes, and then contrasted to Vietnam’s newspaper content to reveal frames employed to depict those themes. Findings indicate the U.S. coverage reinforced Vietnam’s “otherness” and exoticism by perpetuating images of Vietnam as “former enemy,” one of the last “Communist” states struggling to survive in the “capitalist” world.

Newspapers as Launching Pads for Literary Careers • Douglas Underwood and Dana Bagwell, Washington • Many journalist-turned-literary figures of the past have complained about the constraints in commercial journalism against honest and creative expression. Today’s journalists with literary ambitions are more positive about daily newspapers as a place to develop literary talent. But a national study shows that they respect novelists more than they do journalists; they feel novelists better reflect the human condition than daily journalists; and those who have published their literary work often plan to exit journalism.

Giving a Voice to the Silenced: A Journalism Project in Benin, West Africa • Steve Urbanski, Duquesne, and Andre Quenum • Benin, West Africa, has been a democracy since 1990 and is still learning the parameters of a free press. The authors utilize ethnographic fieldwork to ascertain how the print media in Cotonou – Benin’s largest city – simultaneously informs and silences key segments of the population. Educated elites often use the print media as a hegemonic tool for political purposes, leaving the many uneducated, as well those living in rural areas, as a silenced majority.

Representing the Total Community: Relationships between Asian-American Staff and Asian-American Coverage • Denis Wu and Ralph Izard, Louisiana State • This research paper sought to verify conventional wisdom that the presence of ethnic journalists – Asian Americans – results in more and better coverage of ethnic groups to a given community. Eight newspapers were analyzed, including representatives of communities with varying numbers of Asian-American populations and geographic regions across the nation. The study found that newspapers with larger numbers of Asian-American staff members provide more stories – thus broader community coverage – about Asian Americans.

Physical News: Why Some Young Adults Don’t Read Newspapers • Amy Zerba, Texas – Austin • This exploratory study examines the reasons why some young adults do not read newspapers. Using previous literature and open-ended responses from a 2006 Web-based survey, a list is compiled of non-use reasons. An alternative reason, called Physical News, is introduced and explored as a prominent reason for not reading newspapers. Young adults’ suggestions on how newspapers can improve, including a list of news topics that interest them, are also examined.

<< 2006 Abstracts