Entertainment Studies Interest Group

My Network TV: Rise and Fall of the English-Language Telenovela • Guillermo Avila-Saavedra • Through discourse analysis of the related press coverage, this essay analyzes the commercial failure of four English-language telenovela adaptations broadcast by a FOX-affiliated network between 2006 and 2007. The essay argues that press coverage was a contributing factor to the failure of these productions.

Not perfect enough? Exposure to sports and entertainment media and college women’s perceptions of ideal beauty • Kimberly Bissell, University of Alabama; Andrea Duke, University of Alabama • The objective of this project was to identify themes, patterns and predictors related to perceived attractiveness in other women among a sample of university women in the south. Literature in a variety of disciplines documents this culture’s obsession with appearance and image ideals, and further data indicate young women today are under more pressure than ever before to emulate an image of attractiveness and beauty that simply is not attainable for most.

The ‘Celebrification’ of Culture: A Content Analysis of Celebrity Gossip Blogs • Mackenzie Cato, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • According to research from Nielson Netratings, gossip sites showed a 40% increase in traffic from February of 2006 to February of 2007. The sheer prevalence of celebrity culture has never been so apparent, and with the popularity of 24/7 media coverage of celebrity’s lives it raises many cultural, epistemological, and theoretical questions. Celebrity culture is a complex arena useful in studying the relationship between fans, stars, entertainment texts, and the media industries.

Building a Better PIG: A Historical Survey of the PMRC & Its Tactics • Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University; Chad Harriss, Alfred University • During the 1980s, there seemed to be an increased sensitivity concerning rock music lyrics. These issues particularly concerned a group of Washington wives who decided to take action by forming the Parent’s Music Resource Center (PMRC). This historical survey focuses on the tactics used by the PMRC and its influence on the recording industry.

Myth and the Carnivalesque: A Critical Analysis of HBO’s Carnivale • Michael Glassco • On September 14, 2003, over 5 million viewers tuned in to Home Box Office’s premiere of Carnivàle. Under the guise of HBO’s commitment to quality and its mission to distinguish itself from commercial broadcasting, HBO introduced Carnivàle as counter hegemonic series whose story-telling narrative was free from the formulaic structure common to commercial broadcasting. However, despite its subscription based structure, after only two seasons HBO cancelled the projected six season run.

Reporting on celebrities’ causes: Coverage of Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian work • Yoori Hwang; Se-Hoon Jeong • Despite the dramatic increase in the proportion of media content devoted to celebrities over the last decade or so, little research focused on the role of celebrity journalism in society. This study examines the potential role that celebrity journalism may play in raising public consciousness about social problems by analyzing the content and discourse of coverage of Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian work.

Taboo or Not Taboo? That is the Question: Offensive Language on Prime Time Broadcast and Cable Programming • Barbara Kaye, University of Tennessee; Barry Sapolsky, Florida State University • This investigation of offensive language on prime time broadcast and cable programs found that nine out of ten programs contained at least one incident of profanity and viewers were exposed to 12.58 cuss words per hour in 2005. Viewers of broadcast programs were exposed to slightly less than 10 objectionable words per hour compared to 15 words per hour on cable programs.

Sports Commentators and Source Credibility: Do Those Who Can’t Play…Commentate? • Justin Robert Keene, Texas Tech University; R. Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University • Although previous research has looked at how commentators affect audience perceptions of a sporting event (e.g., Bryant, Comisky, & Zillmann, 1977), few studies have attempted to identify what characteristics of sports commentators make them believable. This study seeks to examine the effects of commentators’ previous athletic experience on the perceived credibility of sports broadcasters as well as viewers’ subjective evaluations of game play.

Constructing Reality in Documentary: Triumph of the Will • Jin Kim • With Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will serving as its primary focus, this paper will demonstrate how form and content merge to construct reality in documentary film. By directly applying Fiske’s technical codes to several scenes from Riefenstahl’s documentary, this paper will argue how cinematic techniques—such as editing, camera, lighting, sound and music—were used to represent the film’s main goals: 1) the unification of the Nazi party; 2) the praise of Adolf Hitler; and 3) the rebirth of German mythology.

User-generated content in video game Animal Crossing • Jin Kim • This paper is about how users generate content in video games with the case of a real-time simulation video game Animal Crossing: Wild World. Users do everyday life labor in this portable video game, and they develop pre-programmed narratives given by developers: user-generated narratives are co-constructive between game developers and users. I will explore the ways in which users are immersed in the game through emotional attachment, developing game narratives and collaborating with each other.

Propaganda Techniques in Early Documentary Films: An In-depth Analysis with Seven Devices • Ji Hoon Lee, University of Florida • In line with the shadow of World War II in 1937, Institute of Propaganda Analysis was formed to educate the American public about the nature of propaganda and how to recognize propaganda techniques. Based on its seven propagandistic devices and criteria, this study analyzes propaganda techniques employed by a number of early classic documentary films circa 1920s to 1930s, including “Triumph of the Will” (1935), “October” (1927), and “Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia” (1943).

Investigating the Roles of Personality and Demographic Variables in Predicting the Consumption of Fantasy Game • Wooyoung Lee, Indiana University; Dae Hee Kwak, University of Maryland; Choonghoon Lim, Indiana University; Kimberly Miloch, Indiana University • Despite its proliferation as a multibillion dollar business, fantasy games have received far less attention from scholars. Thus, little is known about fantasy game consumers beyond their demographic information. This study is the first known attempt to link consumers’ individual differences and gender to fantasy sport league attitude and intention.

An exploratory study: effects of gender and entertainment media messages on unplanned teen pregnancy prevention? • Ming Lei, Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University; Stacey Hust, Washington State University • Teen pregnancy remains a major concern in the United States. Even with declined youth pregnancy rate, the rate in the United States is still much higher than those in other developed countries. It is a troubling issue because it has negative financial, social, and psychological consequences for both young parents and their children.

Shifting frames of masculinity in Seventeen magazine: A comparative analysis of 1945-1955 and 1995-2005 • Jaime Loke, University of Texas • Among the many roles that the teen girl magazine plays, one of the most important roles is that of a boy bible for the millions of young female teenagers who read them. Teen girl magazines have consistently framed masculinity since the beginning of the publication history. This research examines Seventeen magazine (the longest and largest circulating teen girl magazine) and how frames of masculinity have transformed through a comparative discursive analysis of 1945-1955 and 1995-2005.

At “The Office”: Media Images of Gender in the Workplace • Jason Martin, Indiana University • Rarely has communication research studied entertainment media depictions of gender in the workplace. This paper analyzes the television satire The Office, which delves into important social problems that have previously not received popular media treatment in a comedy. Using the public’s understanding of workplace gender expectations as a basis for humor, the show at times questions the potential pitfalls of strict organizational policies. However, the main plot underpins conventional gender norms and sex stereotypes.

You have other friends?”: An analysis of racial representation in “Friends” • Lisa Marshall, Muskingum College • This study uses the television series Friends to analyze cultural messages regarding racial representations on screen. Race is defined as any ethnic depiction, including religion, that the series explores. The study compares and contrasts race characterizations in society, outlines racial representations from television’s history, and uses a textual analysis of Friends to locate racial representations throughout the series. The study found that Friends perpetuated dominant ideologies of race, frequently using humor to communicate these ideas.

Celebrity and Politics: Effects of Endorser Credibility and Gender on Voter Attitudes, Perceptions, and Behaviors • David Morin, Department of Communication, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Meghan P. Tubbs, Department of Communication, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; James D. Ivory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University • While much research has examined the effects of celebrity endorsements in commercial advertising, little attention has been paid to the effects of celebrity endorsements of politicians on voter perceptions and behavior.

“I wanna be Paris’ new best friend!”: Para-social relationships in celebrity culture • Patrice Oppliger, Boston University; Jenna Baran, Boston University • Constant access to celebrities in an already celebrity obsessed culture is cause for concern. The following study explored the association between celebrity-focused media and its consumers using Horton and Wohl’s (1957) para-social interaction model. We tested the relationship between consumers’ body image and sex attitudes with scores from the para-social interest and identification scales. Conservative sex attitudes were correlated with celebrity-focused media use and para-social interest, rather than the predicted liberal sex attitudes.

A Study of Typology in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction • Marilda Oviedo, University of Iowa — School of Journalism and Mass Communication • This study looks at a sample of fanfiction written by fans of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There has yet to be a more updated look at the types of fanfiction being written by more current fanfiction writers. In addition, most research on fanfiction focuses on how writers of fanfiction use their writing to accommodate a male lead and a non-existent female lead.

Superheroes & Gender Roles, 1961-2004 • Erik Palmer, University of Oregon • Superhero comic books are nearly unique among pop culture genres for their endurance across generations of readers and their ability to adapt fluidly to changing social, cultural and ideological norms. The comic book market has traditionally been dominated by male readership and masculine concerns, but female super characters such as Wonder Woman, Phoenix, and Elektra have been relied on as sites of feminist inspiration and interrogation.

The Digitalization of Consumption: A case study of Lily Allen • Mary Elizabeth Ray • As communication technology continues to evolve, the public is offered new and varying means to digest musical media. In other words, a process of digitalization is taking place. The purpose of this article is to explore that process by examining the role digitalization plays in music consumption.

Is Ugly the New Beautiful? Investigating Young Female Viewers’ Perceptions of Beauty and Ugly Betty • Lauren M. Reichart, The University of Alabama; Robert Andrew Dunn • One hundred twenty-eight middle school girls were surveyed to determine the relationship between viewing an “ugly” lead character and their perceptions of beauty. The survey found that the more the respondents’ watched Ugly Betty, the more likely they would have respect for the unattractive character of Betty. However, the survey found that watching the show had a negative relationship with tolerance of others’ appearance.

Entertainment Television Exposure and College Students’ Beliefs in Rape Myths • Chunbo “Richard” Ren, Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University; Stacey Hust, Washington State University • The current study expands on existing knowledge by exploring whether viewing of different entertainment television genres has different effects on college students’ beliefs and perceptions about sexual assault. Three entertainment television genres are examined – prime-time television, daytime soap opera, and music television.

Perception is Everything: Examining the Cognitive Processes of Character Impression Formation and the Relationship with Viewer Enjoyment • Meghan Sanders, Louisiana State University • Social psychologists and media researchers have examined the end result of impression formation but very little media research has examined the cognitive process that takes place when viewers are forming impressions of fictional media characters. The present study attempts to lay a foundation for character impression formation applying Fiske and Neuberg’s Continuum Model of Impression Formation (1987) as the theoretical framework to determine if cognitive processing differentially affects emotional responses and enjoyment.

Singing celebrities: American Idol winner narratives • Amanda Scheiner • American Idol is undeniably one of the most popular programs on American television. Each winner of American Idol begins the season as an average person and ends as a celebrity. Audiences are connected to these winners through familiarity built through a season long acquaintanceship and interactive voting.

Beyond Face(book) Value: Debunking the Myths and Claims about Social Networking Sites • Ashleigh Shelton, University of Minnesota • The present study reveals the results of a content analysis of the descriptive, textual communication, and photo content found in 208 college student Facebook profiles. An a priori coding scheme was developed for this investigation based on (1) news reports and stories on controversies surrounding online social network use, (2) research on social uses of the Internet, and (3) insights from the author, a longtime Facebook user.

“Truthiness” and Satire News: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Television News Credibility • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University; Jeremy Littau, University of Missouri • The Daily Show and The Colbert Report aim a constant stream of criticism at the news media, both by presenting themselves in a television news format and by mocking the competence of journalists. This study aimed to build theory about the potential impact of satire news programs on perceptions of media credibility. A survey (n=650) found that Daily Show/Colbert Report viewers had less positive views about credibility of television news programs.

Successful play, Surprise Value, and Enjoyment in College Football • Chang Wan Woo, The University of Alabama; Jung Kim, The University of Alabama • What do we know about how the audience receives enjoyment from watching a sports event? Or what sorts of plays in a game affect the audience’s feelings of bliss and/or dysphoria? Surprisingly, little is known about the entertainment effects of sports viewing. An experiment of 49 respondents in a live college football game revealed that successful plays of affiliated team and unsuccessful plays of contestant team influenced the level of audience enjoyment significantly.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group

A Study of Journalistic and Source Transparency in U.S. Online Newspaper and Online Citizen Journalism Articles • Serena Carpenter, Arizona State University • The tenet of transparency has been heralded as a journalistic principle that can promote the relationship between journalists and news users. A quantitative content analysis of 480 online newspaper and 482 online citizen journalism articles was conducted to determine the extent to which online information providers are being transparent. Data indicate that significant differences exist between online newspaper and online citizen journalists.

Developing a Citizen Journalism Site at a Small College: Lessons Learned as We Launch We-town.com • Tamara Gillis, Heather Tillberg-Webb, Kirsten Johnson, Elizabethtown College • This paper describes the preliminary implementation and lessons learned during the creation and launch of a citizen journalism converged media project by the communication department of a small college. We-town.com – the interdisciplinary curriculum project within a Department of Communications is designed to create a sustainable model of citizen journalism media within a converged media environment.

Writer Information and Perceived Credibility of Stories on a Citizen Journalism Web Site • Kirsten Johnson, Elizabethtown College • This study examined whether the presence of information about the writer, in the form of a picture and a brief biography, affected the perceived credibility of stories on a popular citizen journalism web site. Participants read three stories from OhmyNews.com and rated those stories in terms of perceived credibility. Results show that including writer information significantly increased the perceived credibility of the story.

Is there an Elite Hold? Mass Media to Social Media Influence in Blog Networks • Sharon Meraz, University of Illinois at Chicago • This study examined the social influence among 18 political, citizen media blogs (6 left leaning, 6 right leaning, and 6 moderate blogs) with that of 11 political blogs culled from the elite mass media entities of the New York Times and the Washington Post across three separate issue periods in 2007.

Youth Make the News: A Case Study of Three Youth-Generated News Websites • Jeffrey Neely, University of Florida • This study showed two contrasting categories of frames emerged in examining online youth-generated news content. In some cases, youth were portrayed as participants in a cooperative process with adults to engage in community-building and social discourse. In other instances, youth are represented as stakeholders in the conflict between their generation and the adult-run establishment. Additionally, the three sites both conformed to and differed from the established norms of mainstream journalism to varying degrees.

Madison Commons in Wisconsin: Experimenting with a Citizen-Journalism Model • Sue Robinson, Cathy DeShano, Nakho Kim, Lewis Friedland, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Citizen use of the Internet is changing conceptions of community, shifting community structures, and redirecting communicative action for both public and private spheres of society. The University of Wisconsin-Madison citizen media project, Madison Commons, sought to explore how community might be rethought (and re-invigorated) under a consideration of the integrated worlds of people, their private, social, and political spheres. This paper examines the mission, implementation and plan for progression of Madison Commons.

Participatory Journalism and the Transformation of News • David Ryfe, Donica Mensing, University of Nevada, Reno • In an analysis of twenty-one web sites, we assess the transformational potential of participatory journalism. We define transformation in terms of the purposes to which journalism is put. Given this definition, we argue that participatory journalism represents a potentially significant break from the “journalism-as-transmission-of-information” model that currently informs the purpose of conventional news.

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Visual Communication Division

“That’s the one!” An examination of spot news photography choices • Chris Birks, Northern Illinois University • Picture editors play an important role in how we understand the world. This paper looks at the selection of photographs that U.S. newspapers ran after the Virginia Tech shooting to see if there is any evidence of a consensus on what constitutes a preferred type of spot news photography. This study found nearly 80% of newspapers ran the same type of spot news photo, one defined as tension/action. Suggestions for further research are also included.

The Eyes Don’t Have It All: A Corporeal Approach to News Photography • Mary Bock, University of Pennsylvania • This essay proposes that the study of news images would be enhanced by attention to the corporeal factors influencing their ontogenesis. The argument is based in constructivist theory with special attention to the role of the body in visual newsgathering. It is argued that this approach yields not only information about what we see, but often, just as importantly, what we do not see.

Do pictures matter? Effects of photographs on interest in information seeking and issue involvement • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Information-seeking behavior in audiences is vital to news users and producers. While it seems intuitive that the inclusion of news photos will contribute to audience interest and information-seeking about an issue, little research has explicitly tested the role of visual elements in generating information-seeking.

Twin Myth, the Film and the Regime: Images in the Documentary Film A State of Mind. • Suhi Choi, University of Utah • The paper critically analyzes A State of Mind (Daniel Gordon, England, 2003), a documentary film which depicts both the mass games and the lives of two schoolgirl gymnasts in North Korea.

“Moving” the Pyramids of Giza: Teaching Ethics within a Visual Communication Curriculum • Nicole Smith Dahmen, Louisiana State University • As mass communication educators, we should be greatly concerned about how we teach ethics to our students. The goal of this research is to assess the effects of integrating ethics within a visual communication course. A key finding of the study is that there was a significant difference in how participants viewed selected ethical issues in visual communication from T1 to T2.

Greenpeace Visual Framing of Genetic Engineering: Neither Green nor Peaceful? • Avril De Guzman, Iowa State University; Kojung Chen, Iowa State University • This paper applies the levels of visual framing proposed by Rodriguez and Dimitrova (2007) to investigate how Greenpeace visually framed genetic engineering (GE) in its online campaign against this innovation. Greenpeace imagery in two countries with divergent policies toward GE, Australia (precautionary) and China (permissive) were also compared. The results indicate that the images used mostly showcased the organization’s peaceful direct action activities.

Dark vs. Light: Environmental Illumination Influence on Startle Reflex Amplitude Measured During Manipulation of the Affective State Using Pleasant and Unpleasant Picture Presentations • Mugur Geana, University of Kansas • In recent years psychophysiology has been increasingly used in mass communication studies. Thirty-five subjects viewed pleasant and unpleasant pictures in a light or dark environment; eyeblink SR amplitude was measured at random intervals during picture presentation. Exposure to pleasant or unpleasant visual stimuli in a room with lights on creates distinct affective responses; in a dark room exposure to the same type of pictures eliminates all differences between observed affective responses.

The Fictional Japanese Photography of Mariko Mori and Julie • Timothy R. Gleason, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • Mariko Mori and Julie are Japanese photographers whose images have appeared in book form, a mass medium infrequently examined by communication scholars. This paper examines Mariko Mori and Samurai Girl by applying both photographic critiques and a cultural analysis. It is argued that Mori challenges Japanese social norms by creating visual criticism, while Mori adopts the norms to have control over them. The differences between analyzing a monograph style photobook and a traditional photobook are discussed.

“Whatever they want to do – do it”: The conflicted resignation of female college athletes • Marie Hardin, Penn State University; Susan Lynn, Florida State University; Erin Whiteside, Penn State University • This study incorporates the mediated (hetero) sexualization of female athletes into the identity formation and aspirations of young sportswomen. Twenty U.S. college athletes were interviewed about their media use and about the ways they contextualize passive, sexualized images of well-known sportswomen. Participants said they used popular, glamorized depictions to seek the feminine ideal, which they sought as part of their “dual identity” as woman and as athlete.

Visual Processing of Animation: An Experimental Testing of “Distinctiveness” and “Motion Effect” Theories • Nokon Heo • In order to test two competing theories explaining animation effects, a 2 (Animation) x 2 (Banner Type) x 4 (Number of Animated Distractors) within-subjects factorial visual search experiment. A hypothesis predicting different patterns in search time has been proposed based on two theories – “motion effect” and “distinctiveness” theories. All the experimental conditions were counterbalanced to avoid any order effects, and both the target and non-target items were randomly selected by a computer.

Making Yuyanapaq: Reconstructing Peru’s Armed Internal Conflict through Photographs • Robin Hoecker, University of Missouri • Sponsored by Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Yuyanapaq photography exhibit documents the country’s armed internal conflict from 1980 to 2000. This study examined the curators’ role as gatekeepers in creating the exhibit, currently at Peru’s National Museum. In-depth interviews revealed the curators’ criteria when selecting photographs, how they handled graphic violence and strived to maintain historical accuracy. It also addresses how the curators’ personal experiences affected their decisions.

Teaching Button-pushing vs. Teaching Thinking: The State of New Media Education in U.S. Universities • Edgar Huang, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis • Using content analysis and survey, this study examines how the teaching of thinking skills and that of technological skills have been balanced in U.S. new media programs to produce both employable graduates and life-long learners. Findings show that most programs have balanced the two skill sets but that more effort should be made to integrate the teaching of both skill sets in individual courses to give students an expedited, holistic learning experience.

The Sin in Sincere: Deception and Cheating in the Visual Media • Paul Lester, California State University, Fullerton • Few discussions about the ethical issue of picture manipulations have focused on the nature of deception and cheating. Using the work of the American contemporary philosopher Bernard Gert, this paper features the concept of manipulation in a variety of contexts—from magic acts to journalism spreads—to help aid researchers and others to determine whether an alteration is merely deceiving others, or crosses the line and reaches the level of cheating.

Visuals, Path Control, and Knowledge Gain: Variables that affect students’ approval and enjoyment of a multimedia text as a learning tool • Jennifer Palilonis, Ball State University; Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • Survey data collected from 143 undergraduate students revealed specific multimedia features, as well as interaction and outcome variables, predicted participants’ approval of a multimedia text as a learning tool. The sense of knowledge gain, the value placed on animated graphics and an ability to control one’s path through the material independently predicted both enjoyment of the module and an intent to take a course using a multimedia text.

Laura Mulvey’s Psychoanalytic Argument: Does It Fit Hindi Cinema? • Ananya Sensharma, San Jose State University; Diana Tillinghast, San Jose State University • The study’s primary objective was to determine whether Mulvey’s (1975, 1989) psychoanalytic theories of male gaze and female spectatorship that she applied to classical Hollywood cinema can also be applied cross-culturally to mainstream Indian cinema.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Scholastic Journalism Division

A major decision: Students’ perceptions of their print journalism education and career preparation • Jennifer Wood Wood Adams, Auburn University, Brigitta R. Brunner, Auburn University, and Margaret Fitch-Hauser, Auburn University • This study examines examine print journalism majors’ perceptions of their journalism education and career preparation. This paper investigates why the undergraduates who participated in the study selected print journalism as their college major, what career they plan to pursue after graduation and how prepared they feel they are to employ various skills utilized by print journalists.

GSP testing as a student screener: Investigating its predictors and its ability to predict • Glenda Alvarado, Texas Tech University, and Coy Callison, Texas Tech University • A review of more than 1250 college graduates’ transcripts revealed that scores on a Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation test can best be predicted by the score received on the English portion of the ACT. Additionally, the journalism students for whom the test was implemented are not the communication major for which the test best serves as an indicator of success.

Twenty years of censorship? The impact of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier in the state courts • Genelle Belmas, California State University at Fullerton • Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier was decided by the Supreme Court in 1988. This paper is a review of the state cases that have relied on Hazelwood to determine the extent of free speech and press protections in the public schools. An analysis of the state cases reveals a mixture of restriction and expansion of free speech and press rights in a number of different categories, from dress codes and disciplinary issues to censorship and curricular concerns.

Trust me! Wikipedia’s credibility among college students • Naeemah Clark, University of Tennessee, Daniel Haygood, University of Tennessee, and Kenneth Levine, University of Tennessee • Although it has been shown to be useful to students, teachers, librarians, and reporters, it is acknowledged that the user-generated entries found on Wikipedia raise issues of credibility for those who rely on it for information. The present study used surveys to address how college students use Wikipedia as an academic tool and how credible they deem the Web 2.0 encyclopedia to be.

A curriculum evolution: How journalism programs are dealing with convergence • Meredith Cochie, University of Florida • This study, a survey of college journalism programs, found the most important reason for a curriculum revision is to keep up with the now-converged industry standard. Through the examination of the data about teaching methods, coursework, facilities and faculty, it was suggested that the majority of administrators and faculty were altering their approach to teaching journalism to include multi-platform training. This study found that the curriculum alteration depended on industry changes, cost and faculty support.

Prior review in the high school newspaper: Perceptions, practices and effects • Joseph Dennis, University of Georgia • The 1988 Hazelwood Supreme Court ruling legalized the practice of prior review, giving high school administrators the right to censor student-produced publications. Newspaper advisers around the nation were invited to complete an online survey regarding their perceptions and the practices of their high school newspaper. The results show correlations between certain adviser perceptions of the newspaper and prior review, as well as prior review and adviser censorship.

Knight’s Hazelwood paradigm reconsidered: A conundrum, a paradox and an enigma • Thomas Dickson, Missouri State University • The author analyzes Knight’s Paradigm, which suggests that Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier presents a paradox, a conundrum and an enigma. The paradox is that even though it seemed to limit the student press, it also allowed for more freedom. The conundrum is: Who is the publisher if not the state? The enigma is an incomplete public forum analysis suggesting that the school could censor based upon viewpoint of the author, something not allowed previously.

Academic comparisons between students with and those without high school newspaper or yearbook experience • Jack Dvorak, Indiana University, and Changhee Choi, Indiana University • In order to better understand the worth of high school publications experiences, this study to some extent replicates studies done more than 20 years ago. By using data gathered in ACT pre-college standardized tests as well as results of collegiate performance, the authors were able to study various academic-related outcomes comparing those students who had newspaper or yearbook staff experiences with those students who did not. The ACT data set included 31,175 students nationally.

The Urban News Project: Examining the impact of community-based reporting on student perceptions of journalism and community • John Hatcher, University of Minnesota Duluth • This study analyzes a community-based reporting project at a Midwestern university in a city of 90,000. Qualitative pre- and post-test analysis of students’ perceptions of the community and of the journalism they were practicing found the project challenged their preconceived notions about the community they visited and of the best way to practice journalism. Students said the project took them out of their comfort zones and challenged their preconceived notions about the community they visited.

Morse v. Frederick in the lower courts: Narrow ruling or another nail in the coffin for free student expression? • Dan Kozlowski, Saint Louis University, Melissa Bullard, St. Louis University, and Kristen Deets, Saint Louis University • In Morse v. Frederick, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools can prohibit speech “that can reasonably be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use.” This paper studies more than a dozen lower federal court opinions that have already interpreted the Supreme Court’s ruling.

‘Periodical’ pursuits: A bibliographical listing of scholastic journalism articles published in noteworthy national education journals • Bruce Konkle, University of South Carolina • More than 700 articles addressing scholastic journalism topics appeared in 33 national education and curriculum publications, including High School Journal, Nation’s Schools, School Review, and School and Society, during the 20th century.

Understanding a four-year college newspaper’s newsroom culture and change • Sarah Ling Wei Lee, Western Michigan University • The purpose of this study is to explore organizational culture and change in a college newspaper’s newsroom. Student journalists often use college newspapers as a means to get editorial experience and also to get published. Even so, the college newspaper newsroom is unlike a typical metropolitan or local community newspaper’s newsroom in the way that it experiences change.

An examination high-school media advisers’ reactions to controversial news topics: A developmental and confirmatory analysis • Adam Maksl, Ball State University, Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • A survey of 563 high school media advisers revealed that oral sex, sex, administrative issues, homosexuality, and birth control are the topics high school media advisers feel the least comfortable seeing run in their media. Consistent with an earlier examination, oral sex was the topic with which media advisers showed the lowest levels of comfort and remained the only topic with mean scores below the neutral point.

First Amendment knowledge of leading high school journalism students in southeast Louisiana: A 10-Year Perspective • Joe Mirando, Southeastern Louisiana University • Research over the past five decades has consistently shown a pattern of ignorance of the First Amendment on the part of high school journalists in America. This study provides evidence that this trend may be continuing based on the results of an academic quiz bowl-style competition limited to publication editors and top journalism class students in Southeast Louisiana high schools last year. The study replicates a similar study the author conducted in the late 1990s.

Prior review and restraint of the digital college press: How media advisers view their circumstances • Marie Ory, University of Louisiana at Lafayette • American students often gain their initial impression of First Amendment freedoms while working on a college newspaper. The legal question in the United States is how much free expression is to be afforded to young adults in college newsrooms and how much authority belongs to their academic administrators and media advisers.

“Playboy for the College Set”: The rise and impact of campus sex magazines • Daniel Reimold, Ohio University • Campus sex magazines have received worldwide media attention and achieved levels of controversy and popularity unmatched by anything else in collegiate journalism over the past decade. This paper explores the magazines’ inceptions and their much-debated messages related to sex, romantic relationships, and gender roles. Related information was culled from interviews with student editors, an analysis of magazine content, an historical review, and an examination of relevant news reports.

Satisfied: The Maslach Burnout Inventory measures job satisfaction and lack of burnout among high school journalism advisers • Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas, Adam Maksl, Ball State University, and *Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • The three-component Maslach Burnout Inventory (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment) was used to examine burnout among high school journalism advisers (n = 563). The study also examined the correlation between burnout and job satisfaction. The results indicate that journalism advisers are not experiencing burnout on any level. At most, they indicated average levels of emotional exhaustion, but that is clearly countered by high levels of personal accomplishment.

Public high school newspaper advisers and free speech: The law in inaction • Erica Salkin, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Public school newspaper advisers must know student press law to protect their students, and public employee speech law to protect themselves. This study examined the relationship between advisers’ legal knowledge and restrictiveness. Though the data revealed no correlation, restrictiveness was affected by such variables as professional memberships or district size. Open-ended answers showed respondents rarely used the law as a guide, suggesting the law is not in action–but rather in inaction in student pressrooms.

Framing the divide: How professional newspapers frame journalism education • Marc Seamon, Robert Morris University • The literature suggests there is a disconnect between the professional practice of journalism and journalism education, with the former seeing the latter as the “ivory tower.” This study involves a computerized analysis of the frames present in American daily newspaper coverage of journalism education. Results indicate that important frames about journalism curriculum, new media/convergence, and scholarly research in journalism are ignored.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Radio Television Journalism Division

Murrow v. McCarthy: A media-driven myth • W. Joseph Campbell, American University • This paper examines the emergence of the media-driven myth that Edward R. Murrow’s famous “See It Now” program about Senator Joseph McCarthy in March 1954 was a decisive and courageous blow that led to the senator’s downfall later than year. In deconstructing the myth, this paper notes that the legendary program benefited from fortuitous yet impeccable timing: It aired during the week that McCarthy’s fortunes entered a tailspin from which the senator never recovered.

Gatekeeping at the Portal: An Analysis of Local Television Websites’ User-Generated Content • Johanna Cleary, University of Florida; Terry Adams-Bloom, University of Miami • A content analysis of 100 local station web sites found that while 66% of stations are including user-generated content, much of it is designed to capture eyeballs, rather than to engage citizens in the journalistic process. The user-generated content includes still photos (78.8%), and blogs and video (34.8% each). The overwhelming majority (80.8%) focused on weather-related events.

Network and Cable News Framing of the Iraq Issue in the 2004 Presidential Campaign • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego • This study adds to the conceptual understanding of the framing process in news media by examining the influence of the nature of the medium (network vs. cable channels) 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.

Living with the Bomb: Fred Friendly’s “The Quick and the Dead” • Matthew Ehrlich, University of Illinois • Fred Friendly’s 1950 NBC radio documentary “The Quick and the Dead” examined the creation of the atomic bomb, the looming prospect of the hydrogen bomb, and the potential benefits of atomic energy. The documentary featured Bob Hope and New York Times science reporter William Laurence. It exemplified journalism’s ambivalence regarding the new atomic age and marked a transitional moment in network documentary’s development, pointing the way toward Friendly’s work with Edward R. Murrow at CBS.

Journalistic authority and news narratives: strategic storytelling in news coverage of a family tragedy • Choonghee Han, The University of Iowa • This paper will talk about narrative and rhetorical construction of reality in journalistic coverage of 2006 death of James Kim, a Korean American who died in the deep forest in Oregon. The primary argument this paper makes is that strategic narratives by which journalists construct reality help them sort out important themes from incidents and maintain their journalistic authority.

Network Coverage of High-profile breaking news • Hong Ji, Project for Excellence in Journalism • The network newscasts coverage of high-profile breaking news over its life span was content analyzed. Networks placed high-profile breaking news on their agenda, but the frame of coverage varied. While both morning and evening programs devoted more stories, employed more packages, and aired more leads and longer stories in first days of breaking news events than later, package reporting was more pronounced in evening programs over the life span of breaking news.

Packing a Punch: Audio-Visual Redundancy and News Recall • Lacy Johnson, Iowa State University; Joel Geske, Iowa State University • The Limited Capacity Model of Information-Processing proposes that three subprocesses occur simultaneously in the brain, resulting in memory formation. Poverty of resources allotted to any subprocess results in inability to recall information. Audio-visual redundancy aids the processes, thereby encouraging memory formation. The study results show that producing television news packages with audio-visual redundancy improves immediate and delayed recall of information, especially in hard news, and viewers prefer audio-visually redundant television news packages to dissonant packages.

Young Adults Matter: A survey of television journalists on content, news presentation and young adults • Kelly Kaufhold, University of Texas at Austin • A national survey of 322 television and newspaper journalists found that only one in 20 considered those over 60 their most important audience. Nearly three in four journalists said it is important to present news to it appeals to young adults and nine in ten said young adults prefer online news to print. Only 7% said young adults won’t follow the news. Significant differences emerged between broadcast and print journalists, and between reporters and others.

Agenda-setting and Rhetorical Framing by Semantic Proximity: A New Computerized Approach to the Analysis of Network TV News • Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University; Lei Xie, Southern Illinois Univeresity Carbondale; Oliver Witte, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • The present study combined agenda-setting and news framing analysis to examine a random sample of 631 presidential campaign stories from 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. It is the first study to combine the strengths of three specialized software programs (QDA Miner 1.3, WordStat 4.0, and Diction 5.0) to (a) discover the major topics in the campaign coverage, (b) identify patterns by which the topics were co-mentioned to frame each other, and (c) determine how the networks used different rhetorical styles to frame the news.

National Newsmaker: A Look Inside the Making of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” • Sara Magee, Ohio University • Radio news audiences are diminishing but National Public Radio’s All Things Considered continually draws in 11 million listeners each week. This study uses first hand observation and analysis of the news judgment and production processes that go into the program to examine why the ATC audience remains loyal. The conclusions can shed light on what radio news audiences want to hear and provide ideas that commercial radio news might capitalize on to retain its audience.

Anonymous sources in nightly news programs • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida; Esther Thorson • The use of anonymous sources has undergone scrutiny in the television newsmagazine, newspaper and newsmagazine industries after a series of embarrassing scandals. The nightly news programs and their sourcing policies have not sparked a similar public outcry. However, the nightly news programs draw millions of viewers, many who cite television news as their main source of information, making this an area worthy of study.

The CNN Effect on the Six Party Talks: A Conduit of Elite Consensus • Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jinah Seol, Korea National Open University • For nearly two decades there has been much debate about the so-called ‘CNN effect’ on foreign policy. It was believed that CNN had greatly influenced the perceptions of policymakers and international leaders, shaping reality of the international events. This study examined how CNN coverage of the Six Party Talks is conveyed in terms of elite discourses and policy uncertainty.

Talent 24/7: The Changing Nature of On-Air Newswork, Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon; Hillary Lake, University of Oregon; Joy Mapaye, University of Oregon • In 2007, former ABC World News anchor Bob Woodruff returned to the airwaves one year after surviving a life-threatening attack in Iraq. However, his first appearance was not on the nightly newscast World News, but rather on ABC’s morning news program Good Morning America. This example illustrates a new pattern in network newswork which changes how frequently talent appears on-air. As Kurtz argues, the traditional prominence of the evening newscasts has declined.

Tell it not in Harrisburg, Publish it not in the Streets of Tampa: Framing, Media Ownership, and the Public Interest • Amit Schejter, Penn State University; Jonathan Obar, Penn State University • Throughout 2006-2007 the FCC conducted six public hearings across the United States as part of its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking procedure, brought about by the court’s annulment of the media ownership rules enacted by the FCC in 2003. These hearings – the first of their kind in scope and quantity – drew the attention of the media, public interest groups and the public.

Edward R. Murrow: Portrayals in Docudramas and Documentary • Lawrence Strout, Mississippi State University • Three TV and film productions have been produced about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow since his 1965 death: Murrow (HBO, 1986); Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter (PBS, 1990); and Good Night and Good Luck (Warner Brothers, 2005). From 1986 to 2005, his portrayal becomes less humanized and more mythical in nature.

Dimensions of Emergency Messages between Journalists and Sources • Christopher Swindell, Marshall University • The paper posits a set of dimensions along which emergency message construction between journalists and official sources differs from other message interaction. The coorientation model is used to assess both groups’ views about three features of emergency news and to evaluate their expectations about each others’ views on the topic.

Should Certification of Meteorologists Serve as a Model for Broadcast Journalists? • Charlie Tuggle, UNC-Chapel Hill; Lynn Owens; Lynette Holman, UNC-Chapel Hill • As the face of the news media changes, the definition of the word “journalist” begins to blur. Those who are delivering news, information, and opinion via the growing expanse of new media such as blogs, podcasts and social networking sites might think of themselves as journalists.

Where Media Turn During Crises: A Look at Information Subsidies and the Virginia Tech Shootings • Shelley Wigley, Texas Tech University; Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • This study explored the use of official and non-official sources as information subsidies in coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings and introduced a new type of information subsidy – new technology sources. Results indicated that reporters used significantly more new technology sources as information subsidies during the first two days of the crisis, compared to the latter stage of the crisis, and that non-official sources were used to a greater extent than official sources.

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