Minorities and Communication Division

Faculty
Anglo and African American Portrayals and Characterization in Primetime Food Commercials • Shu Chuan Chu, Sara Kamal and Wei-Na Lee, University of Texas at Austin • This study examined the differences found in frequency and race characterization of African Americans and Anglos in primetime food commercials during 2004 and 2006. A content analysis was conducted to examine how African American and Anglo characters in food commercials differ in terms frequency, types of food products, setting, and appeals during this two year period.

Effects of Race-Specific Testimonials and Vividly Presented Online Information on Consumer Attitudes • Troy Elias and Osei Appiah, Ohio State University • This study seeks to examine the effects of race-specific testimonials and vividly presented online information on Black and White consumers. In this study, Black and White product endorsers in high, moderate and low level vividly presented ads are evaluated as predictors of consumer product and web attitudes. Findings show that Black Internet surfers respond more favorably to testimonial ads that utilize Black character testimonials than they do to testimonials that use White characters.

Segregated Survivors: The “Charatestant” and Race-Based Content in Survivor: Cook Islands • Michele Foss, California State University-Sacramento • If one accepts that the CBS reality television program “Survivor” is a story, and the Survivors are the characters, one must ask how the story changes when the characters are allowed to discuss the narrative in which they belong.

Diversity On-Air: Racial/Ethnic Images in Local Television News • David Free, University of Texas-Austin • This study compares minority representation on the local television newscasts of two adjacent Southern cities with different demographic profiles. The results show the stations in the Latino/Hispanic majority city tend to exhibit more racial/ethnic diversity, while in the White dominated city, whites are seen most often. However, African-Americans tend to be overrepresented as alleged perpetrators of crime in comparison to the African-American populations in both cities.

The Role of Perceived Threats in Attitudes toward Immigrants: How Caucasian and African Americans Respond to Media Images of Latino Immigrants • Yuki Fujioka, Georgia State University • A survey of 326 Caucasian and African American respondents examined the relationship among media images of Latino immigrant, perceived threats, and attitudes toward Latino immigrants. Based on the literature on intergroup threats stemming from social identity processes, the study hypothesized and found that negative media portrayals of Latino immigrants predicted perceived threats, which were related to black and white respondents’ negative attitudes toward Latino immigrants. Theoretical and practical implications of these results were also discussed.

Hispanics and the Digital Divide: An Analysis of the Adoption Rates of Communication and Entertainment Devices • Robert Anthony Galvez and Norman E. Youngblood, Texas Tech University • Participants, in a recent survey, reported their adoption of technologies (Internet, computers, DVD players, and mobile phones). Analysis revealed that predictions about rate of adoption could be made based on a person’s income and race. Hispanics were slower to adopt communications technologies than Whites. The study also looked at use of self-checkout counters, ATMs, etc. where cost was not a factor. Results indicated Hispanics were more likely, or as likely, to adopt technologies as Whites.

Arthur Ashe: An Analysis of Newspaper Journalists’ Coverage of the USA Today’s Outing • Pamela Laucella, Indiana University • Arthur Ashe made history as the first black man to win a Grand Slam title in professional tennis. More important than his 33 singles titles, however, was his commitment to education and social justice. As only the second prominent professional athlete to publicly admit having HIV (after “Magic” Johnson), Ashe’s indefatigable strength of spirit endured despite the forced outing of his announcement.

Bridging Gaps in AIDS Communication: Complementing the Sense-making Approach with a Survery for Better Targeted Health Messages • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University and Renita Coleman, University of Texas-Austin • In 2004, the CDC named the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, metropolitan area, in a tie with Miami, the second highest for new cases of AIDS per capita in the nation. The report showed the majority of new cases were among African Americans. This study uses the Baton Rouge case to suggest improvements to sense-making theory.

Not Just a Pretty Picture: Multicultural celebration news stories as space for non-elite political perspectives • Regina Marchi, Rutgers University • News coverage of multicultural celebrations has been categorized as stereotypical – portraying minorities in non-threatening ways that appeal to Anglo audiences without challenging the political system that oppresses people of color.

Source Diversity within a Reporter’s In-Group: Metropolitan Daily Newspapers and sourcing within Asian Pacific American Communities • Paul Niwa, Emerson College • This study examines source diversity through a content analysis of newspaper bylines and sources. The paper studies how a newspaper journalist’s racial in-group affects sourcing when reporting within an ethnic neighborhood. The study found that reporters of the racial group Asian Pacific American (APA) were 139% more likely to quote APA sources in stories about APA neighborhoods than non-APA reporters, indicating that a journalist’s racial status can benefit them when reporting within an ethnic community.

Use and Trust of Media Choices for Health News and Information Among Rural Hispanics • Alex Ortiz, Todd Chambers and Kent Wilkinson, Texas Tech University • Obesity and Type 2 diabetes mellitus are interrelated health problems which affect the U.S. Hispanic population at twice the rate for non-Hispanic whites. This paper reports and discusses survey data from a funded study focused on health literacy, media practices, and language use among rural Hispanics. The long-term goal is to improve the effectiveness of diabetes-related media messages targeting rural Hispanic populations.

Pitching Products or Selling Stereotypes: Contextual Cues in Television Advertising Aimed at Children • James Rada, Howard University and K. Tim Wulfemeyer and Mueller Barbara, San Diego State University • This research examined the content of television advertising aimed at children in an effort to determine whether racial and ethnic stereotypes were contained in the ads. Results showed that while some of the stereotype ridden portrayals of the past have abated, others have appeared. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Risk Framing in News Coverage of the Environmental Justice Movement • Kristin Swain, University of Kansas • This content analysis examined 480 environmental justice stories that appeared in 88 U.S. newspapers during the Clinton-Gore administration. Victimization, conflict, and risk emerged as dominant themes. Nine specific frames were activism, disparity, harm, anger, dispute, problem, outrage, toxicity, and comparability. The typical story was short, local, issue-oriented, and highlighted the struggles of African Americans.

Stereotypes of African Americans in China and Media Use • Alexis Tan, Lingling Zhang Yungying Zhang and Francis Dalisay, Washington State University • A dearth of research has examined stereotypes of American racial minorities held by people living abroad. To fill this gap, this study analyzed the influences of mediated information sources on stereotypes of Africans Americans among Chinese high school students. Results showed mixed stereotypes of African Americans. Use of Chinese media sources lead to positive stereotypes, and use of American media sources lead to negative stereotypes. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

The discovery of Dolores del Rio • Raul Tovares, Trinity University • Dolores del Río achieved Hollywood stardom at a time when discrimination against Mexicans and Mexican Americans was intense. This paper examines del Río’s life before her Hollywood career in order to understand how a woman from the desert region of Northern Mexico was able to impress producers and secure a contract as a screen actor.

Student
Americans in Brown Bodies: An Analysis of Journalistic Performances of Whiteness • Sonya Aleman, University of Utah • Drawing from cultural studies and performance theory, this project contends that as cultural workers, journalists play a role in legitimating U. S. citizenry. The identity of a journalist has been normalized to a white ideal, enabling the question—Are you an American citizen? asked live on cable news networks—to represent a performance of whiteness and white privilege, which have both historically marked brown bodies as undesirable members of the greater politic.

Using Critical Race Theory to Investigate Major U.S. Newspaper Discourse on Affirmative Action • Terri Ann Bailey, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Critical race theory was used as the basis of this content analysis of discourse on affirmative action that occurred in major U.S. newspapers during a one year period (April 1, 2005 – March 30, 2006). One hundred and twelve articles were investigated for elements of discourse that could be considered as promoting, or countering/resisting, institutionalized racism from the lens of critical race theory. In addition, the article tone in regard to affirmative action was also analyzed.

I’m A Reality TV Junky:” West Indian Women, Television, and Diasporic Identity • Kamille Gentless, University of Michigan • Using in-depth interviews, I explore the role of dominant U.S. media in the development of first generation immigrant West Indian women’s diasporic identity. I found that these women engaged with programs that depicted people in situations that resonated with their own experiences, and that their selection criteria for television programs, as well as their post-viewing discussions of shows, reinforced West Indian cultural norms, countering the mainstreaming effect of television.

The Influence of Visual Exemplars in Poverty News Stories on College Students’ Judgment on Welfare and Perceptions of African Americans • Jae-Hong Kim, Pennsylvania State University • This study examines Caucasian college students’ attitudes toward the U.S. welfare policy and perceptions of African Americans as a function of different conditions of visual (Caucasian vs. African American vs. neutral) and news text (Caucasian vs. African American vs. neutral) in terms of poverty news story.

Imaging a Worldwide Church: Character Depictions and Artifacts in LDS Missionary Videos 1980-2001 • Anthony Nisse and Jonice Hubbard, Brigham Young University • This study is intended to aid the reader in understanding the development of visual depictions of race, gender, and age groups within a specific religious group. An analysis looking at religious artifacts displayed in connection with framing of a specific religious culture is included. This study will examine character depictions of race, gender, and age along with specific religious artifacts displayed in missionary-based video films of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Central Ohio Latino Immigrants Concerning Health and Media Use: Persuasion, Opinion Leaders and Uses and Gratification • Gary Snyder, Ohio University • This study of 71 Ohio Latino immigrants’ health practices and media use revealed demographics similar to other U.S. regions. A heavy preference for Spanish-language media was found, and language, costs and time were all barriers to staying healthy and receiving care. Findings reinforced the Latino value of collectivismo (collectivism) which supported the Hofstadter model for Latino cultural values, and the importance of opinion leaders and trusted sources to delivering health messages and promoting healthy behaviors.

Protecting the southern border: Framing Mexicans in a post-9/11 media • Audrey Wagstaff • This study is a qualitative frame analysis of how Mexican immigrants were portrayed in 2006 in three United States newspapers: The Columbus Dispatch, The Houston Chronicle, and The San Diego Union-Tribune, in a census of N=462 articles. Frames of Mexican immigrants discovered include: [threat to the] status quo, criminal, desperate, alien, pathetic and cash cow. The author also discovered that a small number of articles related Mexican immigrants to potential terror threats.

<< 2007 Abstracts

Media Management and Economics Division

Innovation Management and U.S. Weekly Newspaper Web Sites: An Examination of Newspaper Managers and Emerging Technology • Jennifer Wood Adams, Auburn University • Using Everett Rogers’ (2003) theory of innovation in organizations, this nationwide study examines U.S. weekly newspapers and their adoption and management of innovation, specifically the online newspaper. Most newspaper managers report they did not develop a business plan for the new product or set specific, measurable goals to aid in assessing the success of the online newspaper. In addition, almost three-fourths of the newspapers did not gather target-market or audience research before launching the online newspaper.

Content Differences Between Publicly Held and Privately Held Newspapers • Randal Beam, University of Washington • Recent changes involving publicly held newspaper companies have heightened concerns about the relationship between ownership structure and journalistic content and quality. A content analysis of four newspapers owned by publicly held companies and four owned by privately held companies found few differences in the mix of subjects provided. As a group, however, the publicly owned papers published slightly more content about civic life than did the private papers and offered readers more staff-produced content.

When English Will Not Do: Non-Substitutability of Advertising for Foreign Language Television Advertisers in the U.S. • Amy Jo Coffey, University of Florida • Substitutability is often the focus of media competition debates. This study tested the substitutability of English and non-English television advertising inventory among U.S. foreign language advertisers (N=216). Advertisers overwhelmingly (90%) indicated that they did not consider English-language television as an acceptable substitute for foreign language television. While scholars have examined media substitutability from many angles, this is the first known academic study to examine substitutability on the basis of language, a topic of recent debate.

Coverage and Editorial Framing of the FCC’s 2003 Relaxation of Media Ownership Rules: A Comparison of the Cross-Owners and the Print Purists • Rita Colistra, University of North Carolina • This paper examines editorial coverage and framing of the FCC’s 2003 review of media ownership rules by ownership situation. Findings suggest that companies that did not stand to benefit provided significantly more and more negative editorial coverage, while those that stood to benefit provided significantly more positive editorial coverage of the proposed relaxation of rules. Thus, financial interests of media owners may affect editorial coverage of issues that could potentially affect their company’s bottom line.

Media Entrepreneurship: Missionaries And Merchants • Anne Hoag and Ben Compaine, Penn State University • Despite concerns over media concentration, recent scholarship suggests most media sectors enjoy a high degree of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship research assumes actors, no matter the industry, seek the same rewards. A grounded theory approach was used to discover attributes of the “individual-opportunity nexus” that may be unique to media entrepreneurs. Categories emerged from interview data suggesting uniqueness. Media entrepreneurs can be classified as either “missionaries” or “merchants.” Encouraging prospects for a healthy media sector are discussed.

Real Business And Real Competition In the Unreal World • J. Sonia Huang, University of Texas at Austin • Online gaming in North America is a $1.1+ billion industry. In this study, I adopted a real-world market structure analysis to one of the most popular online games – Second Life – to examine the concentration level of the largest businesses in-world. CR4/CR8 ratios indicated the Second Life market is nearly perfect competition, rarely encountered in the real world.

Multitasking And Audience Economics: Quality Of Exposure For Audio Media, Television, And The Internet Audiences • Se-Hoon Jeong, University of Pennsylvania • Multitasking with media is defined as an audience behavior that combines media use with another non-media activity. Identifying the extent to which audiences engage in multitasking while using various media can be important to assess the quality of exposure when using the media. This research found that although audiences spend less time with the Internet than with television or audio media, they multitask less when they use the Internet or television than when they use audio media.

What New York Times Co. v. Tasini Teaches Newspaper Managers And Freelancers About Cooperation: An Economic Analysis Of How To Resolve The “Prisoner’s Dilemma” In Copyright Transactions for U.S. Newspapers • Kevin Kemper, University of Arizona • Freelance journalists and managers of U.S. newspapers transact contracts about copyright and publication. Even after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York Times Co. v. Tasini, the transactions often are not as mutually profitable as they could be. Newspapers, with superior bargaining power, have been known to win at the expense of freelancers. This paper discusses three basic strategies for the parties to break out of the “prisoner’s dilemma” and to cooperate for profit.

The Deployment of Third-Generation Mobile Services: A Multinational Analysis of Contributing Factors • Sangwon Lee, Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Heejung Kim, University of Florida • The provision of advanced video services via the mobile platform will be impossible without the successful diffusion of 3G mobile systems. The current deployment of such services is significantly more advanced in some countries than others. Through an analysis of 55 countries, this study explores the factors affecting such differences. It was found that multiple standardization policy, lower pricing, and a higher level of information/communication technology infrastructure contribute to the diffusion of 3G mobile.

The Emergence of Mobile Virtual Network Operators: An Examination of the Strategy and Success Factors in the Global MVNO Market • Sangwon Lee, Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Hsiao-Hui Ho, University of Florida • To assess the strategy adopted by MVNOs and the issues that have affected the development of the mobile market, this study analyzes the MNVO sector from two perspectives: exogenous factors including the consumer, industry, regulation, and technology characteristics and generic strategies adopted by successful MVNOs. While cost leadership was found to be most prevalent initially, MVNOs are applying multiple generic strategies as the industry becomes more complex.

Framing Newsroom Culture: A Metaphor Analysis Of The Media Reporting On The Jack Kelley Scandal at USA Today • Sarah Ling Wei Lee, Western Michigan University • The purpose of this paper is to explore how the media reports on itself, more specifically the sensemaking and framing of newsroom culture through news stories. Sixteen popular press articles on the 2004 Jack Kelley media scandal was selected to study how journalists made sense of the fiasco and also frame it into their news stories, specifically in terms of using the metaphor of culture and fear.

Determinants of Cable System Diversification into Pay-per-view, High-speed Internet Access, and Telephony • Fang Liu, University of North Texas • Systems owned by multiple system operators are more likely to diversify into PPV, systems with larger basic subscriber bases are more likely to diversify into PPV and high-speed internet access service, systems operating in franchise areas with more broadcast television stations are more likely to diversify into PPV and high-speed internet access service, and systems operating in franchise areas with more high-speed internet service providers are less likely to diversify into high-speed internet access service.

Predictors Of The Video Window And Financial Performance Of Motion Pictures In The Home Video Market • Fang Liu, University of North Texas • This study examines predictors of the video window and financial performance of motion pictures in the home video market. Two-stage least squares analysis shows that box-office gross, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating (G and R), and year of theatrical release were significant predictors of the video window, and box office gross, MPAA rating (G, PG, and R), and the video window were significant predictors of financial performance of motion pictures in the home video market.

News Need Marketing Management Model: An Explorative Study • Tayo Oyedeji and Esther Thorson, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study presents a marketing management model for news media outlets. The model highlights the importance of meeting news audiences’ needs and proffers a way for media managers to decide on the formats of their news and the specific news areas to focus on. Data from the 2004 Media Consumption Survey were analyzed to (a) identify and classify audiences by their news needs, (b) explain the demographic characteristics of each audience type, and (c) predict audiences’ news delivery preference.

Capital and Control: Consequences of Different Forms of Newspaper Ownership • Robert Picard and Aldo van Weezel, Jönköping International Business School, Sweden • Debates over the effects and efficacy of different forms of newspaper ownership are rising. This paper elucidates the debates by exploring private, public, not-for-profit, and employee ownership using economic and managerial theory about ownership and control of enterprises. It shows the managerial and economic conditions that emerge under the different forms of ownership, their implications, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. The paper concludes that there is no perfect form of newspaper ownership.

Acculturation and Media Preference: Exploring the Popularity of English-Language Television Programs among Latino Audiences in the U.S Paola • Prado and Walter McDowell, University of Miami • Although the dramatic increase in the Latino consumer market in the U.S is no secret, a false impression fostered by Latino media is that these audiences can be reached only through Spanish-language programming. Results from this four-market exploratory ratings study contradict this misconception. A substantial portion of Latino audiences watch English-language prime-time television programming.

Beyond Satisfaction: Journalists Doubt Career Intentions As Organizational Support Diminishes And Job Satisfaction Declines • Scott Reinardy, Ball State University • A survey (N = 715) examined organizational and life issues that affect overall job satisfaction of daily newspaper journalists. Perceived organizational support and social support create satisfaction, and work-family conflict, role overload and job demands influence dissatisfaction. Additionally, 25.7 percent of journalists in this study said they intend to leave newspaper journalism. Primarily, journalists intending to leave the profession are frustrated with fundamental issues that comprise an enjoyable work environment – support and encouragement.

Determinants of Motion Picture Piracy: A Cross-Country Examination • Cunfang Ren, University of Georgia • Most cross country piracy studies have focused on software piracy. This study expands current literature in exploring the best predictors of the motion picture piracy rate across nations. It found that income, education, market size, IP protection and culture all influence a country’s piracy rate. Among them, national income and culture as measured by power distance play the most significant roles in predicting the piracy rate of a country.

Blogging from the Labor Perspective: Lessons for Media Managers • Brad Schultz and Mary Lou Sheffer, University of Mississippi • This study focused on the implementation of new media technology from a journalist perspective by applying a theoretical model of organizational response to blogging. Data indicated a pessimistic attitude about blogging on the part of journalists, and a gulf between management and labor in terms of communication, shared vision and feedback related to blogging implementation. Implications in terms of the effectiveness of implementation and proactive managerial strategies were discussed.

Cable Consolidation and Deployment of Advanced Broadband Service • Sangho Seo, Konkuk University, Korea • The study examines consolidation in the U.S. cable industry in terms of deployment of advanced broadband services in local markets. This study examines whether horizontal integration in the cable industry leads to investments in new technologies, and results in deployment of advanced broadband services in local markets. Larger and more powerful MSOs limitedly transfer efficiency to deployment of advanced broadband services in local markets; therefore, the implications of the efficiency of horizontal integration do not have significant meaning.

Microeconomic Factors Influencing The Online Distribution Of News: A Theoretical Approach • Stephen Siff, Ohio University • Several theoretical qualities of news affect the operation of the market for online news and news pricing strategies. This essay views news as a special category of intellectual property and explores the impact of copyright law, competition and substitutability on the online news market. Theoretical aspects of the news product are used to explain apparently contradictory strategies pursued by leading newspapers online.

A Competency Framework To Improve Management In South Africa’s Mainstream Media Newsrooms • Elanie Steyn and Derik Steyn, North-West University, South Africa • Changed landscapes in South Africa post-1994 challenge the media to manage newsroom staff differently. Media managers must thus be knowledgeable in six managerial competencies (communication, planning and administration, strategic action, teamwork, global awareness, and self-management) implemented through the proposed newsroom management framework. The need for this framework is motivated by quantitative and qualitative findings that South African first-line news managers lack skills related to all six competencies.

Self-Management As A Managerial Competency: Differences Between Media And Ownership Types In South African Mainstream Media • Elanie Steyn and Derik Steyn, North-West University, South Africa • This paper outlines the dimensions of self-management as a managerial competency in transitional mainstream media newsrooms in South Africa. It highlights differences on the importance and implementation of this competency, given media management transformation in a post-apartheid society. Moderately and practically significant effect sizes were calculated between reporter and first-line manager respondents across media types and media ownership types, emphasizing the need to improve first-line news managers’ self-management skills in efforts to improve professional newsroom output.

<< 2007 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

The Trouble With Transparency: The Challenge of Doing Journalism Ethics in a Surveillance Society • David Allen, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee • This paper argues for a more complex understanding of how the ethic of transparency is used within American journalism. Following the ethical theories of Jürgen Habermas and Michel Foucault, it suggests that transparency has become central to debates about identity formation, disputes over professional jurisdiction, and how journalists have come to cover political events. It calls for the articulation of an ethical framework to justify when transparency is needed.

When is the Truth Not the Truth? Truth Telling and Libel by Implication • Elizabeth Blanks Hindman, Washington State University • Implied libel cases involve defamatory news stories composed entirely of factual, truthful material, which challenges ordinary libel law and ethical norms. This research applies philosophical theories of truth to determine how judges articulate expectations of truth from news media.

Revising journalism ethics through cultural humanism: Lessons from the press coverage in Iraq • Peggy Bowers, Clemson • Previous philosophical viewpoints guiding journalism ethics have become an impediment. Journalism ethics cannot respond to the exigencies of contemporary media practices or the demands of a global community. This paper argues that a framework that more closely reflects the lived human experience can move journalism ethics forward. It offers a preliminary sketch of cultural humanism and then illustrates these features through two case studies from coverage of the Muslim world.

Ethical Guidelines for the Media’s Coverage of Crime Victims • Jack Breslin, Iona College • This study suggests ethical guidelines for the media’s coverage of crime victims utilizing practical and theoretical approaches drawn from several ethical major philosophies. These guidelines should aid journalists in reaching an ethical balance between the needs of the crime victim and the demands of the news media

Universal Principles in Autonomous Systems • Michael Bugeja; Iowa State University • This analysis investigates the existence of universal principles in technological systems. Principles are grounded in space, culture and time, which Internet may obliterate and/or obfuscate. What is the effect of that in a multimedia environment without physical and linear dimensions? Do principles metamorphose in tact in cyberspace (which is no space at all) or do they falter? Discussion focuses on unexplored nuances of theory in virtual environments with recommendations for applications and future study.

The Suffocating Ethicist: A Model of Journalistic Ethical Constraints • Jenn Burleson Mackay, University of Alabama • Journalists are encapsulated by constraining forces that shape their ethical decisions. Individual traits play a significant role in journalistic ethical choices, but additional influences come from the type of media that employ the journalist in addition to organizational, professional, and cultural factors. This paper builds on previous models of structural constraints and proposes a new model of journalistic ethics, which suggests that media that employ journalists act as filters that exert control over ethical decisions.

Forgive Me Now, Fire Me Later: Journalism Students’ Perceptions on Academic and Journalistic Ethics • Mike Conway and Jacob Groshek, Indiana University • Survey data on journalism students’ perceptions of plagiarism and fabulism indicate that students are more concerned about ethical breaches in journalism than in academics. Further analyses found that students near graduation had higher levels of concern and suggested harsher penalties for unethical journalistic behavior, as did students with experience in student media or internships, specifically journalistic ones. Results here demonstrate that applied media experiences and coursework are crucial in developing future journalists’ perceptions of ethical behavior.

Communitarian Theory and Health Journalism: The Feeling is Mutuality • Megan Cox, University of Oklahoma • Health information has become increasingly popular has a news topic. Journalists must decipher complicated information for audiences who may have difficulty understanding the complex news. In this paper, a normative theory such as Communitarianism shows that it may offer some direction in formulating a health story; however, freedom of expression under the First Amendment must be protected over any obligation placed on a journalist.

The Third Person Effect and Reporting Sexual Assault Victims’ Private Information: Applying Mass Communication Theory to an Ethical Dilemma • Erin Coyle, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill • In the wake of high profile sexual assaults, some journalists claim it is time to reconsider policies that perpetuate the stigma of sexual assault. For decades, most American newspapers have withheld victims’ names, recognizing that naming victims could deepen their devastation and prevent others from reporting the crime. Little empirical research uses mass communication theory to inform the debate. This paper provides a roadmap for research to apply mass communication theory to the ethical dilemma.

The Ethics of Outing in the 21st Century: Two Case Studies • Gary Hicks, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas • The past few years have brought media and scholarly attention to a topic once thought passé – the outing of homosexual public figures in the United States. Using framing analysis, this study analyzes the nature of news coverage of both cases. A theory of media ethics is then used to examine the similarities and differences in how the two politicians were outed.

Global Journalism Ethics at the Turn of the 20th Century? Walter Williams in the ‘World Chaotic’ • Hans Ibold, University of Missouri • This paper identifies principles for global journalism ethics in speeches and essays by the early 20th century journalist and founder of the first journalism school, Walter Williams. Williams is not known as a media ethicist, nor is he a major figure in ongoing scholarly work on global journalism ethics. However, his nascent ethical principles offer an important foreshadowing of current discussions on how journalism ethics might work in a global context.

Salience of Stakeholders and Their Attributes in PR and Business News • Soo Jung Moon and Kideuk Hyun, University of Texas at Austin • This study examined which stakeholder groups are salient and whether there has been a change of salience after the Enron collapse. It also investigated which attributes — legitimacy, power and urgency — render certain stakeholders salient based on stakeholder and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) theory. Content analyses of press releases from fifty Fortune 500 companies and news stories of The New York Times and The Washington Post found the most frequently mentioned stakeholder was stockholders.

The ethics of the gory details • Kimberly Lauffer, Towson University • Using the framework of care-based social responsibility, this paper examines two news stories that had the potential for the inclusion of graphic details. The two journalists who wrote these stories gathered graphic details in the course of their reporting but differed in their choices to include those details. This paper argues that although multiple factors may have affected these journalists’ decisions, a care-based social responsibility framework evaluates one story as more ethical than the other.

Postconventional Reasoning in Public Relations: A Defining Issues Test of Australian and New Zealand Practitioners • Paul Lieber, University of South Carolina and Colin Higgins, Massey University • This study employed an online version of the Defining Issues Test (DIT) (Rest, 1979) to gather data on the ethical decision-making process patterns of 78, Australian and New Zealand public relations practitioners. Results displayed no statistically significant differences in levels of moral development based on country of origin. Political persuasion, however, proved salient to ethical prediction. Practitioners who self-identified as more liberal reasoned differently about their ethics than right-wing peers.

Serving Two Masters: Reconciling Journalistic Exceptionalism and a Codified Ethical Imperative • Gwyneth Mellinger; Baker University • The founders of the American Society of Newspaper Editors saw themselves as pioneers of newspaper ethics, but during the organization’s early decades, some members struggled to abide by the code the ASNE board had adopted in 1922. This paper examines three case studies in which journalistic exceptionalism, a manifestation of self-interest and blindness to double standards, prevented the ASNE from fulfilling its self-appointed role as standard bearer for journalism ethics.

Stalking the Paparazzi: A View from a Different View • Ray Murray, Oklahoma State University • Because of their pursuit of celebrities, paparazzi have a reputation for doing almost anything to get a photograph. This study examines what ethical standards Los Angeles paparazzi use while searching for a lucrative photograph and what boundaries they draw. The study found longtime paparazzi routinely establish ethical guidelines and are upset with newer paparazzi who do not and have much lower standards; as a result, the newer paparazzi are changing the business.

Dimensions of Journalistic Message Transparency • Chris Roberts, University of South Carolina • The past few years have seen new calls for news organizations to be “more transparent” with the public, but there has been little effort to explicate the construct of transparency. This paper uses the “source-message-channel-receiver” communication model to suggest 11 dimensions of messenger transparency, along an opaque-translucent-transparent continuum for each dimension. The ethical considerations of transparency are discussed.

An Ethical Exploration of Free Expression and the Problem of Hate Speech • Mark Slagle, University of North Carolina • The traditional Western notion of freedom of expression has been criticized in recent years by critical race theorists who argue that this ethos ignores the gross power imbalance between the users of hate speech and their victims. This paper examines the arguments put forth by both the proponents of the classical libertarian model and the critical race theorists and the competing ethical models behind these arguments in an effort to mediate between the two.

Karen Ryan is on the air – the VNR and hegemonic expediency in the newsroom • Burton St. John, Old Dominion University • In 2004, the New York Times broke the story that the Bush Administration had developed and disseminated a video news release (VNR) about the 2003 White House-backed Medicare law. This VNR appeared on more than 40 stations. Subsequent press stories and editorials framed the airing of the Ryan VNR as an unethical communication that violated journalism’s professional standards. This piece explores, from a deontological perspective, how journalists and scholars have articulated those standards.

Recovery in New Orleans and the Times-Picayune: Reviewing the Limits of Objectivity, the Possibilities of Advocacy and the Reform of Public Journalism • N.B. Usher, University of Southern California • Along with the challenges of daily life in post-Katrina New Orleans, journalists at the Times-Picayune face a philosophical dilemma: how can they construct fair and balanced news content in the aftermath of Katrina when virtually everyone has had their lives dramatically changed by the storm? This paper relies on interviews with journalists at the Times-Picayune to explore the ethical dilemmas facing this newsroom—including the limits of objectivity and the need for advocacy journalism.

<< 2007 Abstracts

Mass Communication and Society Division

Media Bias in the Eye of the Beholder: Issue Importance, Issue Support and Political Identity • Lee Ahern and Mark S. Pfaff, Penn State University and Paul Rutter, Curtis Johnson • Perceptions and accusations of media bias abound. Democrats decry the conservative slant of FOX news; Republicans bemoan the liberal bent of CNN. Implied within the bias claims on each side is a communications question worthy of study: How can those on the other side of the political aisle be persuaded by those messages? This study examines the degree to which evaluations of issue importance and issue support are related to political identity.

Rexamining the Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Internet Advertising • Jaime Marshall Baird and Steven Collins, University of Central Florida • This experiment sought to validate the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion for online advertising. The quality of banner advertisement contents –product endorser and arguments –were manipulated testing the variables’ effect on attitude toward the advertisement for groups with high and low levels of product category involvement. For the low involvement condition, source liking predicted participants’ attitude toward the banner advertisements.

News Editorials and the Patriot Act • Sean Baker and Dominique Helou-Brown, Towson University • A frame analysis was conducted on newspaper editorials about the Patriot Act. Editors initially positioned the Act as a violation of civil rights. This “civil liberty” frame emphasized potential social problems that may arise from the Act by connecting it excessive law enforcement power. The discourse changed in 2004 where the Act was primarily used to support election commentary thereby diminishing the cultural importance of it. Implications for society are discussed.

Two for the Price of the Adversarial Press Corps • Stephen Banning, Bradley University and Susan Billingsley, Google Inc. • Increasingly, presidential press conferences are being held with a foreign dignitary present. This study used content analysis of solo and joint press conferences to test the likelihood of journalists to act in an adversarial manner when in either situation. It was found that journalists were much more likely to act in an adversarial manner in solo press conferences.

The body in question?: Thin-ideal media exposure, social physique anxiety and third-person perception about body image in self and others • Kimberly Bissell, University of Alabama • Research examining the social effects of mass media as it relates to body image distortion often considers some behavioral components, specifically excessive dieting, bingeing, and exercising, but many factors related to predictors of these behavioral outcomes are still largely unknown.

Examining a status quo shift: The impact of Roe v. Wade on coverage of abortion protest • Michael Boyle, West Chester University and Cory Armstrong, University of Florida • Research has demonstrated a consistent pattern wherein the more a protest group threatens the status quo the more critically it is treated. Assessments of threat to the status quo are typically based on considering the group’s goals and tactics. However, the distinct influence of a group’s goals and tactics has not been explored. This study examines news coverage of abortion protests prior to and after Roe v. Wade.

Conceptualizations of Female Empowerment and Enjoyment of Sexualized Characters on Reality Television • Mackenzie Cato and Francesca Dillman Carpentier, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Now more than ever, media images have become increasingly focused on women and sex-as-power imagery. Specifically, reality-based television commonly portrays a type of female empowerment that seems to equal sexual power. This study examines audience reaction to the images seen on the popular reality show The Girls Next Door, which documents the life and fun-times of Hugh Hefner’s three sexy live-in girlfriends.

Electronic mass marketing communications: An evolving story regarding perceptions of unsolicited e-mails versus direct mail • Susan Chang, University of Miami and Mariko Morimoto, University of Georgia • The Internet is still a relatively new mass communication tool for advertisers and marketers. When weighing the potential benefits of electronic techniques against the financial investment, spam seems particularly attractive to marketers for either for-profit or non-profit objectives.

Food for Thought: The Role of Nutritional Information on Children’s Purchase Influence of Food Products • Courtney Childers, University of Tennessee • Research shows that advertising increasingly influences the majority of family purchase decisions, especially for food products and dining options. The present study contributes to the growing body of literature on advertising to children. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to determine whether the inclusion of nutritional content in advertisements targeting children impacts purchase influence/intention with this younger population. Stimuli were created featuring an original spokescharacter marketing a fictional breakfast cereal via 30-second commercial.

The Effects of Fear-Arousing Antismoking Ads on College Students: A Cross-Cultural Study • Hwiman Chung, New Mexico State University and Euijin Ahn, Yeung Nam University • Antismoking advertisements are increasingly used these days, but the effects of these fear-arousing messages have not been consistent throughout the studies. This study is two-fold: First, it explores the moderating role that culture plays on the effects of fear-appeal advertisements on subjects’ message acceptance. Second, this study also investigates the role of message type in two different cultures (Korea and the United States) using adolescents subjects.

Likelihood of Teachers to Discuss Cover-the-Cough Techniques with Students • Prabu David, Ohio State University • Influenza is a common communicable disease in the United States and the threat of Avian Influenza (H5N1) has received much public attention recently. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend three practices to minimize the spread of germs; (1) frequent hand-washing, (2) respiratory hygiene (covering coughs and sneezes), and (3) social distancing.

The Op-Ed Page: Limiting the Debate of Salient Issues • Anita Day and Guy J. Golan, Florida International University • Socialization of the newsroom research has examined how media routines influence news content. This study applies that line of research by examining how the socialization process may influence the content of the opinion section of the newspaper. The results of a content analysis of both editorials and Op-Ed articles from both the New York Times and Washington Post suggest that organizational ideologies in the newspapers’ editorial sections were reinforced in those papers’ opinion pages.

Online news: Uses, perceptions and displacement effects over time • Ester De Waal and Klaus Schoenbach, University of Amsterdam • This study examines changes in the profile of online news users, their uses and perceptions of online news and eventually how this affects the use of traditional media between 2002 and 2005 in the Netherlands by means of a two-wave panel survey. Findings indicate that the online news audience has become more mainstream in some ways, but also more distinct in others.

Partisan, Non-partisan Sources and News Media Framing of the Iraq Issue in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Campaign • Arvind Diddi, SUNY Oswego • This study adds to the conceptual understanding of the framing process in news media by examining the influence of partisan and non-partisan sources on framing of the Iraq issue in the context of a presidential campaign. In all, 445 stories from three network and three cable television channels were content analyzed between Labor Day and election day during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Don’t Tread on My Blog: A Study of Military Web Logs • Michel Haigh, Pennsylvania State University and Michael Pfau, University of Oklahoma • As the popularity of Web logs increases, so, too, have the number of military Web logs. Service members, veterans, and family members are blogging from home, from the base, and from the battlefield. These milbloggers are able to write daily reports that anyone in the world – friend or foe – can read. Little is known about milblogs. This paper analyzes the content of milblogs and how they depict military personnel.

Framing Memories and Constructing National Identity A Newspaper’s Role in an International Controversy • Choonghee Han, University of Iowa • This paper explores the roles of national media in the framing of memories and national identity construction. What frames were used and what kinds of roles a newspaper played towards its audiences are examined. Specifically, this paper examines news coverage of the shrine controversy as it appeared in Japanese largest circulation newspaper. The shrine controversy means the international dispute surrounding Japanese former Prime Minister Koizumi’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Does Gender Still Matter? Issue Emphasis in 2006 U.S. House and Senate Campaign Ads • Kyle Heim, University of Missouri-Columbia • Political communication researchers examining gender stereotypes have typically found that female candidates benefit by focusing on “female” issues and men benefit by emphasizing “male” issues. In today’s political climate, however, this strategy may no longer make sense. This study content-analyzes 176 ads from the 2006 U.S. House and Senate campaigns and finds little difference between men and women in issue emphasis. Moreover, neither men nor women hurt their chances of winning by violating gender stereotypes.

Free Press, Front Lines: A Phenomenological Study of Embedded Journalists and Their Military Host Officers During the Iraq War • Ana-Klara Hering, University of Florida • During the Iraq War, hundreds of journalists enrolled in the Department of Defense Embedded Media Program, which offered the media frontline access to U.S. and Coalition troops. The unlikely partnership between the military and the media revolutionized modern-day war coverage. This study captured the personal experiences of 14 Marine Corps officers with whom journalists embedded.

Parental Mediation of News Content: Predicting Parental Viewing, Discussing, and Rulemaking about News with Adolescents • Lindsay Hoffman, Ohio State University • Little research has examined parental mediation of news content. This study examines the factors that make parents more or less likely to mediate news on television, in newspapers, and online. Attention is devoted to mediation with adolescents, who are more likely to consume news content than younger children. Family communication patterns, perceived effects of news on children’s attitudes and behaviors, news media use, and parents’ own parental mediation as children were significant predictors of mediation.

The Marijuana Debate: A Social Structural Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Marijuana • Stacey J.T. Hust, Masahiro Yamamoto, Yi-Chun Yvonnes Chen and Rebecca Van de Vord, Washington State University • A social structural analysis of newspaper coverage of marijuana indicated state newspapers are more likely to discuss aspects of the debate that are congruent with their state’s policy. Although research suggests higher circulation newspapers in structurally plural communities have the capacity to discuss complex issues, neither factors influenced media coverage of marijuana. Overall, these findings indicate news coverage in medicinal marijuana states validates the drug’s use.

Terrorism in Film Trailers: Demographics, Portrayals, Violence, and Changes in Content after September 11, 2001 • James (Jimmy) Ivory and Andrew Paul Williams, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Jennifer Hatch, The College of William & Mary and David Covucci, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University • Terrorism has long been a popular theme in theatrical films. Movie trailers, which have grown increasingly ubiquitous due to technologies such as the World Wide Web and portable digital media players, reach a far greater audience (some viewing intentionally, some unintentionally) than do the films themselves. This paper reports a content analysis examining the demographics and portrayal of terrorists in major-release film trailers, as well as the trailers’ prevalence of violence.

When ‘Good’ Conflicts Go Bad: Testing a Hierarchy-of-Influences Model on Embeds’ Attitudes Toward Censorship in the Iraq War • Tom Johnson, Texas Tech University and Shahira Fahmy, Southern Illinois University • This study, based on surveys of embedded journalists, examines whether embeds’ opinions towards press freedom have changed over time and whether they believe censorship has increased as criticism of the Iraq War have increased and public support has declined.

American Newspaper Coverage of Islam Post – September 11, 2001: A Community Structure Approach • Jason Katz, Victoria Cullen, Connor Buttner and John Pollock, The College of New Jersey • Using a community structure approach linking city characteristics and nationwide reporting on Islam for two years (9/11/2004 – 9/11/2006), a sample of 25 major cities yielded 357 articles. Article prominence and direction measures were combined into Pollock’s Media Vector scores for each newspaper, ranging from +.529 to -.388 (sixteen cities revealing negative coverage).

Verbal Styles of Presidential Candidates in Political Spots and Debates in the U.S. and South Korea • Hyoungkoo Khang, Sungkyunkwan University • This study examined similarities and differences in uses of verbal styles between candidates in both televised political spots and candidate debate statements, and contrasted between the U.S. and Korea. Throughout the computerized content analysis of the presidential spots and debates, to the extent that clear differences exist between American and Korean cultural patterns, political spots and debates, which are a conspicuous indicator of cultural values, appear to manifest these differences quite strongly.

“Your Weight Is Whose Problem?” A Content Analysis of News Frames on Obesity-Related Coverage • Hyo Jung Kim and Sungwook Hwang, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study compared the print news and television news coverage of obesity based on framing theory. Results showed an association between media type and news framing of obesity-related issues. Television news used individualizing frames and human-interest frames more frequently than did print news, while print news used systematic frames, responsibility frames and conflict frames more frequently than did television news.

The News Media Function of Government Websites and Communicative Engagement in Electronic Governance • Ji-Young Kim, Sungkyunkwan University • While the traditional media such as newspaper and television were the unique resources for people to obtain the information on government policies, the Internet has made it possible that they directly access that information with government websites functioning as a news media delivering policy news and political information.

Interplay between Media Use and Social Participation in the Context of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Interpersonal Health Communication • Chul-joo Lee, University of Pennsylvania • This study firstly aimed to explore how media use for health information acquisition and social participation interact in the context of healthy lifestyle behaviors. Then, based on the traditional two-step flow model of communication, I examined whether the interactive effects between media use and social participation on healthy lifestyle behaviors are mediated through interpersonal health communication.

Effects of TV Sexual vs. Physical Violence against Women on Viewers’ Gender and Sexual Attitudes • Moon Lee, J.T. Hust, Lingling Zhang, Yungying and Zhang, Mija Shin, Washington State University • We investigated the effects of sexual vs. physical violence against women portrayed in TV drama on viewers’ gender stereotypes, acceptance of the objectification of women, sexual permissiveness, and rape myth acceptance. Using a posttest-only group experimental design, one hundred and seventy six college undergraduates viewed a set of five clips of either sexual or physical violence on TV.

She May Have That Done: The Third-Person Effect in Plastic Surgery TV Programs • Shu-Yueh Lee, University of Tennessee • This study examines audiences’ perceived effects about plastic surgery television programs. First, the third-person effect is supported in this study. Second, the factor of social distance between self and others does not influence people’s perceived effects all by itself. The gender of the assumed targets is a stronger factor than social distance in affecting people’s perceived effects on others.

Why They Don’t Trust the Media – An Examination of Factors Predicting Trust • Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas • Political communication literature reveals an on-going scholarly interest in issues surrounding the credibility of news media. Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, many consumers continue to believe U.S. news media have a political bias and, therefore, are not to be trusted. This study seeks to explain media trust using a new theoretical model.

Selective News Exposure, Rally Effects and the Iraq War • Carolyn A. Lin, University of Connecticut • News media coverage of the Iraq war plays a significant role in informing the public about the war event itself. This study examined whether exposure to different news sources had an impact on the public’s opinion on the war. It also explored how the public’s patriotic values, political orientation and religious conviction influenced relationships between their news source exposure and support for the war.

Framing of Public Health Issues: A Content Analysis of Smoking Ban Coverage in Ohio’s Six Major Newspapers • Jennette Lovejoy, Ohio University • A content analysis of major newspaper coverage of Ohio’s smoking ban issues was conducted to ascertain possible media effects on voter preference. In general, news articles presented both sides of the arguments for and against the smoking ban, while opinions pieces favored smoking ban legislation. In addition, most articles focused on issues of human individual rights and tobacco companies’ deceptive tactics of persuasion. Implications for future health media campaigns are discussed.

Blog Functions as Risk and Crisis Communication During Hurricane Katrina • Wendy Macias, University of Georgia, Karen Hilyard and Vicki Freimuth • Blogs were examined during the two weeks following Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans to better understand what functions they served. The major functions included both filtering and linking about rescue needs and efforts, missing persons, ways to offer and find assistance, fostering community, and providing information on damage and government response. A thinker function was fulfilled where bloggers expressed opinions, especially on government response.

What Are We Saying About Sex? A Content Analysis of Sexual Health Issues in the Print News Media • Lesa Hatley Major and Kimberly Walker, Indiana University • This study provides a baseline assessment of how the news media present information about sexual health issues in the United States. We content analyzed 330 articles from 49 newspapers around the country. The framing of the coverage was examined using the five levels of the ecological model – intrapersonal, individual, organizational, community, and societal/policy.

All the children are above average: Parents’ perceptions of education and materialism as media effects on their own and other children • Patrick Meirick, Jeanetta Sims and Eileen Gilchrist, University of Oklahoma, Stephen Croucher, Bowling Green State University • Recent research shows parents manifest vicarious third-person perceptions on behalf of their children; that is, they believe their children are less affected by media sex and violence than other children. This study (N = 171) found vicarious third-person perceptions for materialism effects of television and vicarious first-person perceptions for advanced educational effects of public television.

What do we know about cosmeceutical product advertising? Factors influencing college women’s beauty care decision-making • Juan Meng, University of Alabama • By using a 2 X 2 factorial design, this experiment investigated the influence of cosmeceutical product advertising and product-related news on college women’s perceptions of self body-esteem and their beauty care decision-making. The results indicated that although cosmeceutical product ads/news did not exert a great influence on college women’s perceptions of self body-esteem, respondents with different levels of self body-esteem showed significant differences in terms of beauty care decision-making.

Television and social capital in Egypt: A third world examination of Putnam’s theory • Hesham Mesbah, Kuwait University • This study examines Putnam’s theory of social capital from an indigenous third world perspective. A random sample of 400 adults was interviewed in Cairo, Egypt. The results did not support Putnam’s hypothesis of time displacement. People do not get diverted from civic participation because of the amount of time they spend watching TV. Attention to particular programming is more powerful in predicting social capital.

Media Coverage of the Supreme Court • Emily Metzgar, Stella Rouse and Kaitlyn Sill, Louisiana State University • Although the Supreme Court’s influence as a political institution is largely dependent on the media’s dissemination of information about its decisions, little is known about variables leading to media coverage of the Court. In this paper, we examine whether journalists rely on case characteristics for cues about the newsworthiness and political salience of Court decisions. We find that reporters rely on a variety of case factors are indicators of both case importance and political salience.

Framing Islam and Democracy: A Content Analysis of Representations in the U.S. Prestige Press from 1985-2005 • Smeeta Mishra, Bowling Green State University • A content analysis study of the framing of Islam and democracy in the U.S. prestige press between 1985 and 2005 showed that coverage increased substantially after the 9/11 attacks, reaching its peak when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. The top two primary topics associated with the coverage of Islam and democracy were the threat of extremist Islam and political conflict.

Continuous Media Consumption: Evidence from the Middletown II Studies • Jay Newell, Iowa State University, Robert A. Papper, Michael Holmes and Mark Popovich, Ball State University and Mike Bloxham • The post-modern conception of media saturation assumes that individuals are inundated with mass media, and that media exposure is non-stop. This research tested the assumption of non-stop media consumption through an analysis of 4,500 hours of observations from the Middletown II multiple media studies (N = 350). A substantial number of participants were exposed to one or more forms of media for 100% of the observed day.

Patterns of failure: A functional analysis of television spots of unsuccessful U.S. presidential candidates (1952-2004) • Uche Onyebadi, University of Missouri • This paper examines the minimally researched area of television spots of failed presidential candidates. It applies the functional theory of political campaign discourse. An interesting finding: contrary to conventional wisdom, some failed Democratic Party presidential candidates acclaimed more than they attacked in their political spots.

Antecedents of College Student’s Future Intentions to Undergo Cosmetic Surgery: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach • Jin Seong Park and Chang-Hoan Cho, University of Florida • Cosmetic surgery is increasingly used in the U.S. as a method to improve physical appearance. Using a structural equation modeling approach, the authors developed and tested a theoretical model specifying the multiple pathways through which a number of psychological and socio-cultural factors potentially influence the intention to receive cosmetic surgery in the future.

Spiral Of Silence Experiment On An Online Forum: Willingness To Post A Message And Fear Of Isolation • Sung-Yeon Park and Gi Woong Yun, Bowling Green State University and Anca Birzescu • Presence of online forums changed the ways people communicate. Current Weblog culture reflects this cultural phenomenon. Authors of this study realized that the communication environment in CMC is particularly relevant to the discourses of the traditional communication theory, spiral of silence.

TV sex exposure and college students’ sexual expectations attitudes: An experiment • Jack Powers, Ithaca College • Using the Solomon four-group experimental method, 99 subjects were randomly placed into four groups to test the hypothesis that students exposed to 12-minute clips featuring sex content from TV would score higher on a sexual attitudes index than those subjects not so exposed. While there was no statistical significance between the control groups and the experimental groups, the reported attitudes about sexual expectations were quite interesting.

Consumer Culture and Lifestyle Politics: The Case of Socially Conscious, Green, and Anti-Consumption Consumption • Mark A. Rademacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Consumer culture has become entrenched in American society over the past century. The goal of the current paper is to trace to trace the emergence of consumer culture, its affect on civic engagement, and the rise of lifestyle politics. Specifically, three forms of lifestyle politics will be examined– socially conscious consumption, environmental consumption, and anti-consumption movements. Conclusions are discussed regarding the state of civic engagement and lifestyle politics in contemporary consumer culture.

Cancer Research Funding and the Press: Identifying a Relationship and Raising the Question of Causality • Jason Reineke and Michael Slater, Ohio State University, Marilee Long, Colorado State University and Erwin Bettinghaus, Klein Buendel, Inc. • This research was designed to determine if there is a relationship between the amount of news media coverage different types of cancer receive and the amount of money the National Cancer Institute grants for research on those cancers. Analysis of content, epidemiological, and NCI research funding data indicates that newspaper coverage is related to later NCI research funding, and that NCI research funding is related to later newspaper, magazine and television coverage. Implications are discussed.

Excitation Transfer: Arousal States Due to Exercise and Perceptions of Mass Media Images, Media Exposure, and Interpersonal Communication • Claudia Rojo, University of Texas-Austin • In 1959, Bernard Berelson argued that mass communications research appeared to be approaching its end. In response to this claim, Elihu Katz proposed a theory of his own—the uses and gratifications approach—which moved away from asking what media do to people, but rather focused on what people bring to media.

Statewide Political Journalism: Public Perceptions of Media Accuracy, Bias, and Problem-Solving Ability • Karen Rowley, David Kurpius, Robert Kirby Goidel and Christopher McCollough, Louisiana State University • This study explores how perceived media biases affect views of media as being helpful to citizens in their coverage of state politics and public affairs. This builds on a body of literature on cynicism, media bias, and public journalism. The study uses multiple regression analyses of a national survey of 605 respondents. The findings indicate perceived media bias works against the people viewing media as helpful in public problem-solving.

Television and the cultivation of gender stereotypes about sports • Shinichi Saito, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University • This study examines whether viewing televised sports news cultivates gender stereotypes about sports. Data from a sampling survey revealed that viewing televised sports news is related to traditional beliefs about the gender appropriateness of the sports categorized as masculine.

News Media Framing of American Indians: A Study of 10 Years of American Indian News Reports from the ABC, CBS, and NBC Broadcast Evening Network News Programs • John Sanchez, Pennsylvania State University • This study identifies and examines for the first time American Indian News reports broadcast by the CBS, ABC, and NBC evening news programs from 1990-1999. The close examination of these American Indian news reports determines the number of occurrences and examines the construction of news report frames of American Indians to which American Indian news reports can be classified.

Trivializing the News? Affective Context Effects of Commercials on the Perception of Television News • Christian Schemer, Joerg Matthes and Werner Wirth, University of Zurich • This study examined whether affect induced by television commercials influences the perception of news programming. An experiment showed that viewers in positive moods generated by television commercials (affective priming) perceive news stories viewed both after and before watching the commercials as more entertaining, relaxing, realistic and as more credible than viewers exposed to neutral commercials do. Positive mood, as compared to neutral mood, also had a positively biasing effect on the perceived importance of news.

The Smokers Inside Kids’ Heads: Re-examining Normative Influences on Youth of Tobacco Use • Maureen Schriner, University of Minnesota • The approach of this study in examining normative influences on youth was to compare 4th and 6th graders’ perceptions about tobacco use. Both grades had strikingly similar overestimates of adult smoking prevalence, at nearly three times the actual adult smoking rate. The 4th and 6th graders did differ significantly in mass media tobacco exposure and cigarette brand recognition, but not in other social influence measures.

Social Learning of Aggressive, Argumentative and Disrespectful Attitudes through Stand-up Comedy • Marc Seamon, Robert Morris University • The communication literature on social learning of attitudes through consumption of mediated entertainment has focused primarily on the effects of television violence. Humor researchers have not pursued the same line of media effects study but instead have examined the mood-enhancing effect of comedy.

Intra-media Interaction: The Multiplicative Effects of News Media Use on Political Knowledge • Fei Shen, Ohio State University • A secondary analysis of three data sets revealed that media use not only has independent impact on political knowledge, but also creates joint effects across different programs within a certain type of medium and across different types of media outlets.

The Political World in Storage: How Communication Influences Political Knowledge Structure • Fei Shen, Ohio State University • This study expands traditional studies on media’s influences on political knowledge by examining the relationship between political knowledge structure density (KSD) and various communication behaviors. Three major findings are suggested by data collected from a RDD telephone survey during November 2004 in Ohio. First, newspaper consumption and political discussion contribute to KSD. Second, elaboration, the tendency to make conceptual connections when processing news, is positively related with KSD.

Media Coverage of West Nile Virus and Avian Flu: News Source, News Values, and Issue • Tsung-Jen Shih, Rosalyna Wijaya and Dominique Brossard, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study examined the use of news sources in New York Times’ coverage of West Nile virus and avian flu through a content analysis. Our findings indicate that government and scientists were the most prominent sources in the coverage of West Nile virus, with the World Health Organization taking over as the second most prominent source in avian flu coverage.

Perceived Influence of Women’s Magazine Portrayals on Body Image • Melissa Shrader and Denise DeLorme, University of Central Florida • A series of in-depth interviews was conducted with frequent readers of beauty and fashion magazines to examine the perceived influence of women’s magazine portrayals on self and others. Findings provide additional evidence to support the third-person effect as it relates to female body image. Results reveal that the portrayals were perceived to have greater and more negative effects on others than on self.

Prime Time Characters and Violence in the 21st Century: Involvement, Race, Sex and Age • Nancy Signorielli, University of Delaware • An analysis of leading/supporting characters in week-long samples of prime time network programming broadcast between the fall of 2000 and the fall of 2006 found that 30% of the characters were involved in violence, with more men than women so involved. Compared to earlier studies, involvement now tilts toward committing violence rather than being a victim of violence, even for the women.

The dual role of ethnic media with its dual content: The effect of local news and home country news connectedness of ethnic media on the sense of belonging to the residential area • Hayeon Song, University of Southern California • Research on ethnic media has had a long dispute about whether ethnic media helps or hampers acculturation. This paper argues the contents of the ethnic media has been overlooked when explaining the two seemingly opposite roles of ethnic media, and it empirically test the effect of local news and home country news featured in ethnic newspapers in Latino, Chinese and Korean ethnic communities in Los Angeles on a sense of belonging to the residential areas.

Harry Potter and the Exploitative Jackals: Media credibility attribute salience in young audiences • Daxton Stewart, University of Missouri • J.K. Rowling’s wildly successful series of children’s books about Harry Potter, the boy wizard, depicts journalists in a decidedly unflattering light. The scandalous, unethical reporter Rita Skeeter antagonizes Harry in the fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, while The Daily Prophet, the wizarding world’s daily newspaper, portrays him as a mentally disturbed teenager crying wolf in the following book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Blood Diamonds: Coverage and Framing in US and Canadian Newspapers • Avril Adrianne De Guzman, Kyung Sun Lee and Sainan Wang, Iowa State • This study assessed US and Canadian newspaper framing of blood diamonds from 2000 to 2007. By applying the theoretical framework of framing cycle and triggering effect, the research explored shifts in frames used by newspapers marked by two triggering events. Results showed that ‘UN call for diamond certification scheme’ and the “launch of the movie Blood Diamond” were the most frequently cited. The stakeholder frame was the dominant frame for both US and Canada.

Local Media, Public Opinion, and State Government Policy: Second-Level Agenda Setting and Political Bias • Yue Tan and David Weaver, Indiana University • This study aims to explore second-level agenda setting at the state level. In particular, it examines the relationships among media bias of local newspapers, state-level public opinion and state policies, in order to better understand mass media’s role in state policymaking. It is found that local media’s tendency to cite liberal think tanks correlates to policy priorities, while its endorsement of Democratic candidates correlates to liberal public opinion and liberal policies.

Watching Network News and Supporting a Woman Presidential Candidate: Implications from a Non-Election Year Poll • Hai Tran, University of North Carolina • This paper explores the relationships between news use and willingness to support a female candidate for president. Cross-sectional survey data in a non-election year were analyzed to examine the differential effects of media channels on political learning and voting behavior. Findings suggest that exposure to network TV news contributes to opinions about the likelihood of voting for a woman seeking presidency.

Media Effects on Domestic Migration: The Influence of Money Magazine’s “Best Places to Live” Rankings • Sebastian Valenzuela, University of Texas-Austin • City rankings abound, but few studies have measured if they have an impact on real-world conditions. The present study is the first empirical attempt to asses if city ratings have an effect on the public by documenting the influence of Money magazine’s “Best Places to Live” ranking across a 7-year period on domestic migration flows of 66 U.S. cities.

Antecedents to Agenda Setting and Framing in Health and Medical Science News • Sherrie Wallington, Kelly Blake, Kalahn Taylor-Clark and Vish Viswanath, Harvard University and the Dana – Farber Cancer Institute • Few studies have determined the sources and resources that health journalists say they use in developing health and medical science news stories, as well as the priorities and angles they use in selecting and writing stories. We used a national survey of health reporters and editors to show that differential individual and organizational characteristics may influence health reporters’ and editors’ agenda setting and framing of medical and public health news.

The Impact of Political Discussion on Political Decision-making • Ming Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University • A local telephone survey (n=237) was conducted in 2005 to examine how political discussions among voters would affect political decision-making. Factor analysis of the survey data first separates two distinct, yet related, constructs: political cynicism and political skepticism. Multiple regression analysis further shows that political discussion frequency is positively associated with involvement, political efficacy and political skepticism whereas perceived importance of political discussion is only associated with involvement and political efficacy.

What Shapes Americans’ Opinions about Other Countries? News, Entertainment, and Personal Contact • Xiuli Wang, Di Zhang and Temple Northup, Syracuse University • In today’s global environment, public perceptions of foreign countries can play an important role in foreign policy decisions. Accordingly, it is becoming increasingly important to understand what factors contribute to the opinions individuals hold about foreign countries. In this cross-sectional survey, the influences of news, entertainment, and personal contact are examined, with results suggesting that news exposure influences public opinion the most, although entertainment and personal contact may also play an important role.

An Experiment in Female Viewers’ Attentiveness to Pro-Esteem Media Messages • Pierre Wilhelm, Athabasca University and Lucian Dinu, University of Louisiana-Lafayette • The present investigation examined the extent to which commercial TV ads that promote a “pro-esteem” attitude regarding women’s appearance can improve female viewers’ appreciation of their personal beauty. It also questioned whether a professionally produced movie depicting hefty “real women” celebrating their personal beauty could improve female viewers’ body-esteem. Researchers raised two related research questions guiding the present experiment. The first question investigated the effect that test clips exerted on female viewers’ body-esteem.

Does newspaper coverage of breast cancer produce frame-setting effects on teachers’ perceptions? • Zheng Yang, Cornell University and Philip Hart • Results from a content analysis of 140 articles on the breast cancer issue from 1996 to 2005 are compared with data from a self-administered survey conducted in 2005. News articles are selected from the New York Times and four other regional newspapers in the New York State, where the survey was conducted among school teachers. Reports on new findings from scientific research emerge as the dominant theme in breast cancer coverage.

Context and Sources in Broadcast Television Coverage of the 2004 Democratic Primary • Geri Alumit Zeldes, Frederick Fico and Steve Lacy, Michigan State University • This study examined context variables (reporter speculation, multiple viewpoints, and story emphasis) and source variables (anonymous sources and source transparency) in broadcast television coverage of the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries. Primary coverage was compared with coverage of other major stories. Primary coverage was no more focused on conflict than were other major stories. Primary coverage was, however, more focused on winners and losers, and primary reporting was more likely to include reporter speculation.

Electoral commitment as an intervening variable: Explaining why age, income and education affect newspaper readership • Jianchuan Zhou, University of Georgia • The theory of civic duty suggests that a sense of civic duty drives citizens to participate in politics and keep informed. Results from a telephone survey preceding a gubernatorial election support this theory. This paper confirms that a relationship between electoral commitment and newspaper use frequency is not spurious, and demonstrates that electoral commitment is an intervening variable between demographic determinants and newspaper use. The intervening role is particularly strong between education and newspaper use.

<< 2007 Abstracts

Magazine Division

From Orient to Occident: Progress and Traditionalism in National Geographic Coverage of Israelis and Palestinians • Mary Abowd, Ohio University • This study examined National Geographic’s coverage of Israelis and Palestinians from 1948 to the present. Using frame analysis, it found that Israelis were depicted as technologically advanced, while Palestinians appeared as underdeveloped. This perspective began to shift during the 1990s, likely as a result of movement toward Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Thus, National Geographic’s editorial content changed over time, with increased and more nuanced coverage of Palestinians during the 1990s and into the 21st century.

Likelihood to Buy a Product from a Magazine Advertisement and the Third-Person Effect: Magazine Consumer Perceptions of the “Other” • Stephen Banning, Bradley University • Using magazine advertisements, this study examined consumer behavior in regard to likelihood to buy and the third-person effect. The third-person effect, the tendency for people to believe others are more affected by media messages then they themselves are, was tested in regard to several advertising related variables including susceptibility to influence, attitude to advertising, likelihood to buy the advertised product, and perception that the advertising was aimed at the participant.

Images of Subordination, Independence, and Sexual Overtones: A Comparison of Advertisements in Seventeen and Girl’s Life Magazines • Anya Britzius and Carol Schwalbe, Arizona State University • This study compares how advertisements in two teen magazines–Seventeen and Girl’s Life—in 2006 conveyed messages of subordination, independence, and sexual overtones. Frame analysis is used to examine the gestures, expressions, and postures of female models. Unlike previous studies of teen magazine ads, which found females depicted as subordinate rather than independent, this research reveals more balance, with at least one subordination cue or independence cue in half of all 266 full-page ads analyzed.

The Changing Landscape of Women’s Magazines in Asia: A Singapore Case Study • Katherine Frith and Hyun Sook, Nanyang Technological University • Since the Singapore government first opened the door to Elle in 1994 there has been a substantial increase in women’s magazines. Today, there are between 35-40 women’s magazines available. This preliminary study examines the growth and content of international and local women’s magazines in Singapore and through a case study of one country aims to shed light on some of the trends in publishing to women in the Asian region.

Sexual Health and Female Teen Magazines: Dangerous Gendered Codes • Katherine LaVail, University of Iowa • This paper examines sexual health coverage of Teen People and Cosmo Girl from 2000 to 2006 from a third wave feminist perspective. With close attention to sexually transmitted diseases and infections, three dominant trends emerge. First, sexual health information is restricted to advising readers to deny their sexuality, recommending abstinence and using strong anecdotal consequences for those who do not take this advice.

Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and John Lennon: Rolling Stone’s Creation of a Mythic Pop Culture Icon • Bryan McGeary, Ohio University • John Lennon became a revolutionary force in popular music beginning in the 1960s. Despite his murder in 1980, his larger-than-life status continued to grow. Magazines have contributed to the increasing culture of celebrity worship. Rolling Stone was one of the magazines highly responsible for the transformation of popular musicians like Lennon into mythic figures. This qualitative, grounded framing study examined 243 articles and found six major recurring content frames in Rolling Stone’s presentation of Lennon.

Male Body Image & Magazine Standards: Considering Dimensions of Age and Ethnicity • Donnalyn Pompper, Jorge Soto, and Lauren Piel, Florida State University • This study contributes to two theory streams by examining magazine use among males, along dimensions of age and ethnicity. First, we use social comparison theory to examine how males use magazine images to shape their own perceptions of the “ideal” male. Second, a developing theory of magazines as standard bearers for “the ideal woman” is modified to suggest that magazines now also set standards for “the ideal man.”

The Changing Shape of Beauty: An Analysis of Non-Stereotypical Body Types in Women’s Magazine Advertising • Kate Reil, Greg Mason Advertising Arts and Jennifer Greer, University of Alabama • This content analysis of 941 models female-targeted magazine ads found that the buzz generated by the “real beauties” in Dove’s 2005 firming cream ads didn’t lead to changes in female model body shape and size. This finding suggests that even a high-profile campaign from a well-respected agency had only a limited agenda-setting effect. Models with “non-model” bodies are rarely depicted, and when they are, they are stereotyped in ads as non-sexual, unglamorous moms and professionals.

Examining Media Coverage of Organized Labor: U.S. News Magazines’ Portrayal of Unions • Dave Sennerud, Ohio University • This paper examines the extent to which coverage of labor unions in United States news magazines changed from 1970 to 2000. While previous studies of newspaper coverage discovered a focus on worker action against employers, news magazines concentrated more on institutional stories about union policy and organization, which were usually negative in nature. While the number of stories about labor unions did drop significantly over this span, these organizations already were receiving scant coverage.

Selling LSD: Clare Boothe and Henry Luce and Coverage of LSD in Time, 1954 – 1968 • Stephen Siff, Ohio University • For more than a decade before it was uniformly criminalized in the United States, LSD was the subject of numerous stories in Time and Life magazines. Archival evidence suggests that the extensive and largely positive coverage of LSD in these magazines reflected the beliefs of publisher Henry Luce and his wife, Clare Booth, who were recreational users. Documentary evidence also suggests that the publisher exerted his influence in favor of positive coverage of the drug.

Top American Consumer Magazines • David E. Sumner, Ball State University • This studied surveyed magazine journalism professors to ask, “”What are the top 25 American consumer magazines of the past 25 years?”” The top five vote-getters were: National Geographic, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek and Time. The study used statistical correlation to determine independent variables that may affect professors’ perceptions. Their ranking correlated significantly with the number of National Magazine Awards won in the past 25 years by the top magazines.

A Comparison of Bust and Bitch: The Paradox of Alternative Magazines • Tracey Thomas, Ohio University • Bust and Bitch are the leading magazines for third wave feminists. Despite their similar beginnings as ‘zines, they have developed distinct identities as two very different kinds of alternative magazines. Both are trying to create a dialogue in a space that was nonexistent prior to their publications, which is an overarching goal of both ‘zines and alternative magazines. However, they have chosen to have their messages heard by different audiences. Ultimately, they are complementary publications.

How The Advocate Covered AIDS: A Content Analysis of the Gay Magazine’s AIDS Coverage, 1981-2006 • Yi Tian, Ohio University • While studies of mainstream media’s AIDS coverage are adequate, an extensive literature review revealed few studies that empirically examined the AIDS coverage in the gay press. There are several historical studies that look at the gay press’ responses to AIDS from the early 1980s to early 1990s, but no quantitative study has ever been done to track the AIDS coverage in the American gay press.

Selling an issue: The Presence of Issue Stories on Covers of City and Regional Magazines • Teresa Weaver, University of Missouri • City and regional magazines showcase both strong service and community issue reporting, but which is more important? This study examines sell lines at seven city and regional magazines to determine at what level these topics surface on the cover. Results show that while cover stories remain mostly lifestyle topics, community issues are overrepresented through secondary sell lines as compared to the table of contents, suggesting these magazines remain committed to reporting a variety of topics.

Prowess Unlimited: The Valorization of Science and Technology in Life Magazine • Sheila Webb, Marquette University • This paper looks at the promulgation of science and technology in Life magazine in a critical period in American history, the 1930s and 1940s. This is when the United States became an international power, a power critically enhanced by scientific and technological prowess. Media coverage was one element in the surrounding culture that advocated increased attention to science and technology.

What Do Couples Do? – A Content Analysis of “Couple Images” in Magazine Advertising • Fei Xue and Marilyn Ellzey, University of Southern Mississippi • Based on a content analysis of couple images in advertisements in six different consumer magazines (Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Glamour, Men’s Health, Esquire and GQ) published in 2005 and 2006, the current paper suggested that a typical couple image portrayed in mainstream magazine advertising was a young, male-female Caucasian couple with thin body and trendy style in either a posing or a relaxing setting. Differences were found between men’s magazines and women’s magazines.

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