Minorities and Communication Division

Faculty Papers
Wave of Hope: African American Youth Use Media and Engage More Civically, Politically than Whites • Dustin Harp, University of Texas, Austin; Ingrid Bachmann, University of Texas at Austin; Jaime Loke, University of Texas; Tania Cantrell, University of Texas at Austin • The study is the first of a multi-wave panel survey on media use, and political and social attitudes among 12- to 17-year-olds. The results show that African Americans were more likely to engage in civic activities, politically participate in online and offline settings, take part in political consumerism, talk about news, follow the news, and demonstrate overall interest in news. This suggests that race is a complex, influential characteristic affecting youth behavior.

A 2009 Assessment of the Status of Diversity Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs • Masudul Biswas, Forum on Media Diversity, Louisiana State University; Ralph Izard, Forum on Media Diversity, Louisiana State University • This paper assessed the status of diversity education in 2008-9 in both accredited and non-accredited journalism and mass communication programs in U.S. colleges and universities. Using survey responses from 105 academic programs, the survey findings support earlier studies that found the number of special courses on media diversity is steadily increasing. The findings also identify a preference for integrating diversity content across the curriculum.

Introducing the super-coon: A new Flavor for the new millennium • Steven Giannino, University of Miami; Shannon Campbell, University of Miami; Chrystal China, University of Miami • This article offers an examination of the latest stereotype of African Americans and situates it within our hegemonically stratified media landscape. This stereotype represents a hybrid of sorts in that it epitomizes the rebirth of one of the most disturbing meditated caricature portrayals of African Americans—the coon, while combining its characteristics with the voracious sexual appetite of the buck.

Discourses of Fame: The “Alma Awards” and the Construction of U.S.-Latino Celebrity • Avila-Saavedra Guillermo, Salem State College • An important, yet still unexplored, element of the Latino trend is the articulation of discourses of celebrity and fame associated with the television shows. An examination of the publicity surrounding the most popular of these shows and performers can advance our understanding of the Latino trend. Through discourse analysis of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions of the Alma Awards, this essay examines the construction of Latino television performers as simultaneously ethnic and mainstream media celebrities.

Coverage of Serious Health Risks: A Content Analysis of Popular Women’s Magazines Targeting Hispanics • Shanna Kurpe, Florida State University; Gary Heald, Florida State University; Juliann Cortese, Florida State University • Inequalities exist in the health statuses of Latinos/Hispanics in the United States compared with the general population. One factor potentially contributing to these inequalities is the coverage of serious health risks by the media targeting racial/ethnic minorities. This content analysis of health-related articles available in popular women’s magazines indicates the relative scarcity of information about serious health risks. This scarcity is particularly notable in a popular, Spanish language, magazine targeting Hispanic women.

Before (and after) Kerner: Paul Swensson and the Newspaper Fund • Rick Kenney, University of Central Florida • Paul Swensson began to build the Newspaper Fund’s relationship with Savannah State College for Negroes in particular and with minority students, teachers, and journalists in general, a good five years before a presidential commission, after race riots in America’s inner cities, condemned the media in part for the disfranchisement of Blacks and urge news organizations to overcome their failings.

Assessing Cross-Cultural Learning and the Effects of Personality and Negative Attitudes on Journalism Students’ Knowledge • María Len-Ríos, University of Missouri; Earnest L. Perry, University of Missouri • This study uses a pre-test/post-test design to assess student learning of cross-cultural journalism principles and to determine if students with intolerant personality characteristics (RWA and SDO) learn differently. Findings show that knowledge increased from Time 1 to Time 2. Personality characteristics were associated with beliefs about diversity’s importance to industry, but not to knowledge. As journalists set the tone for conversations about class, race and gender, it is of consequence how students enter these conversations.

HIV/AIDS prevention behaviors: Predictors of condom use among African American college students • DaKysha Moore, Johnson C. Smith University; Srinivas Melkote, Bowling Green State University • Not only is scholarly research limited on college students and their sexual behaviors, but there is also very limited research that strictly focuses on African American college students and their sexual practices. A frequently suggested strategy in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention cited in medical literature as well as by UNAIDS is the consistent use of condoms during sex.

The New York Times v. Sullivan Decision and Coverage of the Civil Rights Story of the 1960s • Ali Mohamed, United Arab Emirates University • A content analysis of stories about the civil rights movement in the New York Times and the Birmingham News before and after the Sullivan libel suit of 1960 shows that the New York Times was equally adversarial toward state officials after the lawsuit as before; and that the Birmingham News devoted more space to news about “change” than the New York Times.

Mi Patria, Mi Pais, Mi Periodico: Second-level agenda setting in The Los Angeles Times and La Opinion • Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University • This study asks the question, “What did immigration/inmigración” mean in spring 2006 coverage by La Opinión and The Los Angeles Times. Adding to the growing research on both ethnic media and second-level agenda setting, the study employs qualitative, quantitative and ethnographic content analysis to uncover the subtle differences in coverage and their potentially strong impacts on readers. Research findings are discussed in terms of the larger context of agenda-setting research and theory.

Sourcing within Ethnic Media • Paul Niwa, Emerson College • This study compares sourcing by Asian Pacific American newspapers and metropolitan daily newspaper coverage of ethnic neighborhoods. It finds that ethnic media quotes non-elite sources at the same rate of major newspapers, and that ethnic newspapers favor public officials of their own race. This is the first quantitative comparison of ethnic media and metropolitan daily newspapers.

Peril and promise: Time magazine’s construction of the promise and peril of Michelle Rhee • David Oh, Denison University • Time’s coverage of Michelle Rhee employs “strategic objectivity” to simultaneously support White capitalist values manifest in Rhee’s pro-market educational reform proposals and to contain the person of Rhee evident in the use of historical stereotypes of Asian Pacific Americans. This use of objectivity creates a sense of impartial coverage while hiding alternative, especially labor, critiques, maintaining racist hierarchies, and promoting White interests.

“Isn’t he a good guy?”: Constructions of Whiteness in the 2006 Olympic Hockey Tournament • Kelly Poniatowski, Duquesne University; Erin Whiteside, The Pennsylvania State University • Given sports’ valued cultural position, scholars argue that images of sports stars provide viewers with guidance about how “good” men should behave (Whannel, 2002). Drawing from cultural studies theories on race in sports, this study explores representations of hockey players in the 2006 Winter Olympics television commentary. We suggest that the commentary provides lessons to viewers by way of the construction of the (White) hockey players as having exceptional physical bodies, intellectual aptitude and moral righteousness.

Depictions of minority characters on popular children’s cable programs: A content analysis • Jack Powers, Ithaca College • Documenting the trend of ethnic/racial minority characters on television is important because the depictions may help to either perpetuate racial stereotypes or diminish them. How television presents minority characters may influence the majority’s beliefs and perceptions about minority groups, and may also influence how minorities respond to the majority.

Television Drama and Partially-Structured Measure of Racial Attitudes • Lingling Zhang, Towson University • This study investigates the utility of a thought-listing procedure for measuring automatic racial attitudes based on the logic of partially structured measures. Two episodes of Law and Order are used as the stimuli to replicate the findings. Both convergence and discriminant validity are tested. Results indicate that the Partially-Structured measure has a positive relationship with explicit measure of racial attitudes and no significant relation with implicit measure of racial attitudes.

Student Papers
From the Buckeyes to the Hitmen: New racism and neoliberalism in media coverage of Maurice Clarett • Erin Ash, Pennsylvania State University; Bonnie Sierlecki, Pennsylvania State University • Maurice Clarett, who led the Ohio State Buckeyes to a National Championship in 2002, became the most covered off-field athlete in the Big Ten conference in 2006 after being arrested twice that year. This textual analysis examines the coverage of Clarett in 2006 through a lens of neoliberalism and new racism. Our analysis finds support for the persistence of racial stereotyping and the continued dominance of White male voices in coverage of Black athletes.

Diversity, Discrimination, and Disappearing Acts: A Qualitative Study of African American Professionals in Mass Communication Industry • Tori Collier, University of Oklahoma • It would be expected that racial minorities who experience workplace racial discrimination would exhibit job dissatisfaction and departure. Yet, many studies in the literature report that minorities are experiencing job satisfaction in discriminatory workplaces. Of 14 African-American media professionals that were studied, half the participants perceived that racial discrimination had a negative impact on their job satisfaction and half admitted to staying in discriminatory work environments to bring about positive change in race relations.

African American Women & The 2008 Presidential Election • Tonia East, Georgia State University • The 2008 presidential election has revealed the salience of minority coverage with the potential of an African American or woman president. African American women identification with gender and/or race, was explored in interviews of both Clinton and Obama supporters.

Justice Delayed, Justice Denied: Racism in the Press and Congress during New Mexico’s Quest for Statehood • Michael Fuhlhage, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This historical study examines the negative portrayals of Latinos in the popular press and in deliberations over whether to admit New Mexico as a state. The antecedents of modern Latino stereotypes abounded in newspapers, magazines, and books as well as in records of the House and Senate Committees on the Territories in 1848-1912.

The Effects of Suspects of Different Gender and Ethnic Groups in a Crime News Article • Rachel Quick • This study examined how suspects of different genders (male and female) and ethnic backgrounds (African American and Caucasian) in a crime news story affect African American and Caucasian participants. Hypotheses were based on priming and cultivation theory. A total of 154 participants read one of four versions of a manipulated crime news article about a suspect committing a robbery.

Barack Obama: An Unlikely Challenge to Campus Speech Codes • Patricia Smith, Louisiana State University Manship School • President-elect Barack Obama’s “unlikely” candidacy thrust racial tension into the spotlight as incidents of cross-burning and effigies gained national media attention. The appropriate relocation of such incidents, from racially-driven to politically-driven, will help foster the free-flowing learning environment desired for universities. The possibility for new and open discussion, however, may be determined by the institution’s recognition of speech code jurisprudence and their response to unpopular expressions.

The New Suzie Wong: Normative Assumptions of White Male and Asian Female Relationships in Advertising • Murali Balaji, Pennsylvania State University; Worapron Worawongs, Pennsylvania State University • This study examines the explicit and implied relationships between Asian females and white males in television advertisement, using several examples to illustrate the historical and contextual impact of these images. A critical textual analysis of five televisions advertisements was conducted to examine the implicit meaning embedded in the content. The textual analysis revealed three dominant themes, which include assimilation/dependency, exoticism, and character positioning to convey social status.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

Special Call
Teaching journalists how to navigate ethical dilemmas: A case study of ethics in the newsroom • Beth Concepcion, University of South Carolina • The purpose of the media is to cover the issues the public needs and wants to know. However, journalists face competitive and organizational pressures that sometimes conflict with personal morals and principles — and that larger altruistic goal of informing and protecting the public. Often these pressures result in personal and professional ethical struggles.

Standards of Excellence in Breaking News Online: A MacIntyrean Analysis • David Craig, University of Oklahoma • This paper examines the pursuit of excellence in breaking news online and the pressures that stand in the way of it, drawing on interviews with journalists at four large online news organizations. The analysis is guided by MacIntyre’s theoretical framework. Discussion centers on standards of excellence in online journalism, challenges to their attainment, and how journalism as a practice is advancing, declining, or both with developments in online journalism.

Interactive Ethics: Overlapping Norms of Practitioners and the Public in a Shared Media Space • Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire / University of Iowa • Journalists and users share the interactive digital environment in unprecedented ways, suggesting a need to reconsider both professional and audience ethics in this context. This essay considers several ethical principles that take on new configurations for journalists as they move into closer relationships with audiences, then turns to normative concepts that gain relevance for audiences as their online role expands. It concludes by suggesting that digital journalism ethics is an inherently collective enterprise.

The Paradox of Public Interest: Why Serving Private Interests Provides a Stronger Moral Foundation for Public Relations Performed in Behalf of the Public Interest • Megan Stoker, Brigham Young University; Kevin Stoker, Texas Tech University • The paper examines the concept of the public interest as defined in political science literature and public relations research. This paper applies various philosophical approaches from Ayn Rand to Immanuel Kant, along with recent literature on game theory and public and private interests in public relations, to show that the most ethical approach to serving the public interest is focusing on adhering to personal values and private interests.

Student Competition (Carol Burnett Award)
Building credibility: Developing transparency in public relations • Giselle A. Auger, University of Florida • As an industry, public relations struggles with poor public perception. Such perception is strengthened by highly publicized situations involving questionable ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to explicate transparency as it relates to public relations, and to discuss the potential for development of trust within organizations and credibility in public relations, through the practice of transparent communication.

Multi-contextual, Visual Ethical Analysis of Privacy and Ritual in Corpse Images from Sichuan Earthquake • Yang Liu, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism • This paper provides a visual-ethical interpretation and analysis of corpse images from the photo coverage of 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China. Corpse images are interpreted in multiple contexts and analyzed around two concepts of privacy and ritual, both of which feature cultural specificity. Through content analysis and interviews, the paper points out the inconsistency of standards and the impact of media benefits in the ethical self-regulation of Chinese photo journalism.

Yes We Can or No Can Do?: The Distortion of News Coverage in Political Ads • Anthony Palmer, University of South Carolina • Barack Obama’s presidential campaign’s use of the Internet in regards to a video advertisement called Bad News created an ethical controversy due to its use of distorted NBC material without consent. This paper addresses the ethicality of Bad News in terms of the ethical perspectives of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill and proposes a solution that would allow future politicians and political organizations to convey the same message without prompting legal or ethical concerns.

Media Morality and Compassion for “Faraway Others” • Ryan Thomas, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University • In January 2009, the BBC refused to broadcast an appeal by the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) for humanitarian relief for refugees in the Gaza region on the grounds that it would compromise BBC impartiality. This paper explores three issues highlighted by this incident of concern to media ethics scholars: the blurring of news and non-news discourses, the consequences of impartiality, and the responsibility media institutions have to “faraway others.”

Open Competition Papers
Negotiating Privacy in the 21st Century: The Millennial View • Seth Ashley, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Lee Wilkins, School of Journalism/University of Missouri; Amanda Wysocki, University of Missouri School of Journalism • Traditional philosophical and legal understandings of privacy are not sufficient for appreciating how people think about privacy today. Radin’s “contested commodities” and Westin’s “circles of intimacy” offer a bridge between positive and negative constructions of liberty and privacy.

Journalistic Constraints: Weighing the pressures that surround the modern media • Jenn Burleson Mackay, Virginia Tech • This paper outlines existing models of constraints on journalistic decisions and applies those concepts to journalistic ethics. The researcher considers how journalistic ethics may be influenced by society, the news organization, the profession, technology, and audiences. Survey responses from weekly newspaper, daily newspaper, and television station journalists illustrate how these constraints affect journalists. The researcher suggests that journalists and journalism students should to be aware of these influences in order to make sound ethical choices.

The Ethical Dimensions of Duke’s Communication Response to its Lacrosse Team Scandal • Rod Carveth, University of Hartford; Claire Ferraris, Western Oregon University • Duke University is one of the most elite private universities in the nation, having tied for fifth in the 2005 U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings, behind only Ivy League schools. In addition to superior academics, the school boasts several major sport powers, especially its basketball team.

Persistence of Narrative Persuasion in the Face of Deception • John Donahue, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Melanie Green, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Individuals are persuaded by fiction, but left unanswered is whether individuals maintain attitude change when a story presented as factual is later shown to be inaccurate. In this experiment, the alleged truth status of a narrative was manipulated. Participants in two conditions were informed after reading the story it was inaccurate due to (1) unintentional inaccuracy or (2) intentional deception. Although readers derogated a deceptive author, they did not correct their attitudes due to inaccuracies.

Offering the Cloak of Confidentiality to News Sources: Journalist’s Ethical Decision-making Behaviors • Michele Kimball, University of South Alabama • The use of confidential sources in news coverage can provide information integral to understanding significant issues for news consumers, but it comes at a price to journalists’ credibility and ethical standards. This study uses qualitative methods to evaluate journalists’ ethical decision-making behaviors when determining whether to grant sources confidentiality. Results show that journalists engage in a four-part process in determining whether to make a promise to protect a source’s identity.

Facing the Future: Media Ethics, Bioethics, and the World’s First Face Transplant • Marjorie Kruvand, Loyola University Chicago; Bastiaan Vanacker, Loyola University Chicago • When the world’s first face transplant was performed in France in 2005, the complex medical procedure and accompanying worldwide media attention sparked many ethical issues, including how the media covered the story. This study used framing theory to examine what happens when media ethics intersect with bioethics by analyzing French, American, and British media coverage on the transplant and its aftermath.

Television News Coverage and Disaster Management – The Ethical Difficulties of Disaster Journalism • Chao Chen Lin, National Chiao Tung University • The study explores ratings-driven television disaster journalism and other related issues on one side and discusses the relationship between disaster reporting and disaster management on the other. This study uses qualitative research methods such as “case study” and “in depth interview, focuses on the four typhoon disasters occurring between July and September of 2008 and conducts related analysis affecting the news production system of television in Taiwan.

Social Constructivism Meets Social Media: The Case for Collaborative Learning in the Ethics Classroom • Patricia Parsons, Mount Saint Vincent University • Teaching ethics as a collaborative process to cultivate moral imagination is an important adjunct to student development of the knowledge, attitudes and skills required of professional practice. The collaborative nature of the new social media provides a platform for the development of pedagogical approaches that are grounded in social constructivism. This paper presents a case illustration of the application of an online wiki to enhance student engagement in learning about professional ethics.

Short and to the Point: How More Ethical Online Headlines Might Help Restore Journalism’s Reputation • David Remund, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Writing headlines for online media can pose an ethical challenge. The limited real estate and dense saturation on most news organizations’ landing pages means trouble for copy editors and reporters. They must be extremely succinct in their wording yet clever enough to somehow breakthrough the clutter. This paper examines the ethics of news headlines online, drawing upon a blend of primary and secondary research.

Public Relations and Rawls: A Harsh Veil to Wear • Chris Roberts, University of Alabama • John Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” approach to ethical behavior is a seeming staple in mass media ethics textbooks, but the veil is less likely to be given serious consideration as an approach to ethical decision-making than other approaches. This paper looks at the uses, misuses and applications of the veil in contemporary discussions of public relations ethics, and it posits six reasons why the veil may be hard for public relations practitioners to wear.

Beyond Case Studies: An Analysis of Teaching Effectiveness in Award-Winning Media Ethics Exercises • Carol Schwalbe, Arizona State University; David Cuillier, University of Arizona • A content analysis of 228 Great Ideas for Teachers (GIFTs) found that the 16 activities suitable for ethics courses relied on traditional methods of teaching, mainly discussions, teamwork, and case studies. Few used technology, games, or simulations. The authors created an index to measure teaching effectiveness. While most ethics ideas stimulated higher order learning, they did not incorporate other elements that might improve student engagement. The authors make suggestions for dynamic, interactive ethics activities.

Guanxi, Gift-Giving, or Bribery? Ethical Considerations of Paid News in China • Katerina Tsetsura, University of Oklahoma; Zuo Lin, U of Oklahoma • This study of the phenomenon of paid news in China reviews the English-language and Chinese-language literature on the subject of media opacity and cultural traditions of gift-giving and guanxi in Chinese media practices to answer a question whether discussions of media bribery are appropriate in the context of the Chinese media environment.

Credibility as a strategic ritual: The Times, the interrogator, and the duty of naming • Fred Vultee, Wayne State University • This study examines the use of names in the construction of “credibility” as a journalistic duty. Using the framework set forth by Tuchman (1972) of objectivity as a “strategic ritual,” the study discusses the ethical justifications put forth by the New York Times for the process through which it decided to identify a CIA interrogator who had been involved in questioning 9/11 captives.

A Content Analysis of the Public Service Announcements Dealing with Children’s Nutrition and Obesity -Investigating Advertising Appeals, Health Claims, and Health Intervention Techniques- • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University; Hoyoung Ahn, U of Tennessee • Public Service Announcements (PSAs) against childhood obesity have been widely used to help children understand the importance of healthy eating habits and smart weight management in their lives. As the rate of childhood obesity in the country has increased enormously in recent years, researchers have emphasized the significant role of the PSAs more than ever, but few have comprehensively investigated the content of the current PSAs dealing with the issues.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Mass Communication and Society Division

Perceived realism, anxiety, and health orientation in viewers’ responses to health news and entertainment • Julie Andsager, University of Iowa; Elizabeth Stoycheff, Ohio State University • This study examines the relationships among health orientation, anxiety, and perceived realism among individuals exposed to relevant or less relevant information on TV medical dramas and similar health news. An experiment (N = 191) found that health orientation was not a reason for viewing medical dramas on TV. Perceived realism was greater for news stories than for fictional portrayals, but the pattern differed for relevant and non-relevant health conditions. Implications for health communication are discussed.

Perceived Media Influence of the Virginia Tech News Coverage on Self and Other’s Attitudes toward Gun Control Policy • Anita Atwell Seate, University of Arizona; Elizabeth Cohen, Georgia State University; Yuki Fujioka, Georgia State University; Cynthia Hoffner, Georgia State University • The current study examines the perceived effects of the Virginia Tech shooting news coverage on self and other’s attitudes toward gun control policy, behavioral outcomes and the moderating role of group membership. A total of 207 respondents completed an online survey. Larger third-person perceptions were reported for those who owned guns due to the reduction of the perceived effect on self.

Young Women’s Perceptions of Indoor Tanning and Media’s Influence: Interviews with College Students and a Content Analysis of Pro-Tanning Messages • Lucinda Austin, University of Maryland, College Park; Monique Turner, University of Maryland, College Park • This two-part study addresses problems of indoor tanning behaviors by seeking to inform our larger understanding about young women’s tanning behaviors and attitudes and how various media influence these attitudes and behaviors. The first study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior as a basis for understanding, and explores individuals’ attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control regarding tanning behaviors through focus groups with college student females.

Mass media and dissent control: Hegemonic discourses about the 2006 student protests in Chile • Ingrid Bachmann, University of Texas at Austin • When almost 800,000 high school students in Chile carried out a series of protest in demand of a better education, they challenged both the new administration and the dominant view of society. This case study argues that the main Chilean newspaper acted in such a way that this dissent was accommodated in order to minimize and ultimately nullify the threat it represented, via three major strategies: labeling, recontextualization and change of focus.

Journalism and Public Service in Troubled Times • Randal Beam, University of Washington; Bonnie Brownlee, Indiana University School of Journalism; David Weaver, Indiana University School of Journalism; Damon DiCicco, University of Washington • This paper examines journalists’ views about public service within their profession and news organizations at a time of significant economic and technological turmoil in the news business. The findings show that journalists remain strongly committed to informing the public and to serving the public interest. But an examination of factors that influence their views on public service suggests that the hard times facing news organizations today may undermine their ability to uphold this professional value.

New voters, new outlooks? Same-sex marriage, social networks, and generational politics • Amy Becker, University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication • This study examines the factors that shape public acceptance of homosexuality and support for same-sex marriage across age cohorts. Using data from two national surveys, our analysis suggests that personal contact makes younger respondents more accepting of homosexuality and gay marriage, while value predispositions have a greater impact on attitudes among older individuals.

Qualitative Interviews with Local Newspaper Journalists about Public Meetings: Changing Circumstances and Unchanged Expectations • John Besley, University of South Carolina; Chris Roberts, University of Alabama • This manuscript draws on theory and research related to both journalism and citizen engagement to explore what newspaper journalists think about current coverage of public meetings. It focuses on public meetings because of their role in American political thought as well as their place as a focal point for local civic news coverage.

Back to Class: Understanding J-School Grad Students’ Motivations for Continuing Education • Jessica Birthisel, Indiana University; Emily Metzgar, Indiana University • Despite the media industry’s economic struggles, many students still choose to pursue graduate education in journalism and mass communication. This paper, using data collected in a March 2009 online survey of more than 400 graduate students in journalism and mass communication presents a snapshot of feelings about earning an advanced degree in a rapidly changing field. We consider the implications of our findings for both program design and student job prospects in this shifting media climate.

U.S. versus Them: An Analysis of the Verbal and Visual Coverage of Women’s Beach Volleyball During the 2008 Summer Olympic Games • Kim Bissell, University of Alabama; Lauren Reichart, University of Alabama • This study represents a content analysis of 15 beach volleyball games for the U.S. and non-U.S. women’s teams during the 2008 Summer Games. Play-by-play commentary and between-play commentary was analyzed for all televised portions of the 15 games, and all court shots and camera angles were coded.

Pre-existing factors or media effect? Understanding the third-person perception • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University; Douglas McLeod, University of Wisconsin • Recent research on third-person perceptions has suggested the importance of ego defensiveness and normative fit as factors affecting perceived effects. In this study we consider the extent to which news stories that manipulate normative fit and potentially threaten ego defensiveness drive perceptions about effects of video games.

You’re not alone! – The Influence of Reality Television Consumption on the Use of Facebook for Stalking • Christopher Brott, University of Kansas • Reality television shows have been hugely popular long before the inception of social network sites. Nonetheless, both offer a similar experience: the possibility of peeking into other people’s private lives. Here, social cognitive theory suggests a relationship between both types of media. Surveying a sample of college students, this study seeks to offer some new insights into the interplay between reality television and social networking.

Insights into Freshmen Weight Issues: An Ethnographic Study of How First-year Students Make Decisions about Eating • Courtney Carpenter Childers, University of Tennessee; Eric Haley, University of Tenness; Cheryl Ann Lambert, Boston University; Lisa Jahns, University of Tennessee • The transition from high school to college represents a turning point during which health behavior trajectories may be influenced. This study addresses the internal and external factors that guide students’ eating decisions as they are understood and relayed by students through ethnographic, qualitative methods. A sample of 102 second semester college freshmen participated in a two week data collection period.

Logging on and letting out: Using online social networks to grieve and to mourn • Brian Carroll, Berry College; Katie Landry, USA Track & Field • The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why younger Internet users maintain connections using social networking platforms such as MySpace and Facebook with those who have died or been killed. This paper, therefore, examines the blurring or blending of interpersonal communication and mass communication via the Web even as what once was very private communication—messages to the deceased—becomes very public.

Talking Past Each Other: Online Debate about Decriminalization of Gay Sex in Singapore • Benjamin H. Detenber, Nanyang Technological University; Mark Cenite, Nanyang Technological University; Shuhua Zhou, University of Alabama; Shelly Malik, Nanyang Technological University • A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 10,473 comments from two opposing online petitions related to the legal status of a section of the penal code in Singapore used to ban sex between men. Results indicate numerous significant differences in how the two sides discussed the law and its significance.

Established Journalism and Blogging as Citizen Journalism: A National Survey of American Journalists • Tsan-Kuo Chang, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Kathy Forde, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota; Hyung Min Lee, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Yejin Hong, University of Minnesota • Through a national survey of newspaper editors and TV news directors, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a critical examination of the interplay between professionalism and journalism in the United States, with a focus on how the authority and legitimacy of professional journalism might be challenged or threatened by the emerging citizen journalism.

News Representation of Foreign Brides: A Comparative Study of News Coverage in Taiwan and Korea • Hsuan-Ting Chen, University of Texas at Austin; Kanghui Baek, The University of Texas at Austin • The purpose of this study was to understand the differences in news coverage of foreign brides in Taiwan and Korea and to further examine news representation of foreign brides in the two countries. Results from a content analysis of two Taiwanese newspapers and two Korean newspapers revealed that news coverage of foreign brides has significant differences in story topic, story tone, and news source between the two countries.

The circuit of image capital and place-making: a case study of Hengdian World Studios • Pui Ha Chow, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • This paper proposes the concept of the circuit of image capital to investigate how the image economy of a greenfield studio called Hengdian World Studios in China has interacted with the place-making process. The concept emphasizes not only complex intersection of the local and the global but the force of symbolic and material interplay and the deployment of aesthetic reflexivity in the shaping of landscape.

Free your mind and your soul will follow: Advocating reform from the Louisiana State Penitentiary • Kalen Churcher, Niagara University • At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, inmate-produced media, particularly The Angolite magazine, are used as advocacy tools to educate both inmate and free-world communities. Exhibiting characteristics of both mainstream and alternative journalism, inmate-produced media are worthy of study not merely from a classification standpoint, but because this dying cultural entity, in addition to its information-bearing role, serves a ritualistic function that unites the captive and the free in a common goal of reform.

The moral judgment of minority journalists: Evidence from Asian American, Black, and Hispanic professional journalists • Renita Coleman, University of Texas-Austin • This study used three controlled experiments to investigate the effects of a story subject’s race on the moral judgment of Asian American, Hispanic and Black professional journalists by changing only the race of the news subjects in photographs.

Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users’ personality and social media use • Teresa Correa, University of Texas at Austin; Amber Willard Hinsley, University of Texas-Austin; Homero Gil de Zuniga, University of Texas – Austin • In the increasingly user-generated Web, users’ psychological characteristics, such as their personality, may be crucial factors that lead them to engage in this participatory media. This study investigated the relationship between personality and social media use and the effect of gender and age on that dynamic in a national sample of U.S. adults.

Is There Anybody Out There?: How Radio Program Directors Target Today’s Audience • David Crider, Syracuse University • In-depth interviews were conducted with program directors at radio stations throughout the Northeast to determine how they reach their stations’ target audiences and how they know whether or not these efforts are effective. The various common themes that emerged from these interviews show that the program directors use a combination of branding their stations, new technology such as the Internet, public appearances, and the on-air content of their stations to attract listeners.

Suspicion and Secrecy: The Relationship between Skepticism, Cynicism, and Support for Freedom of Information • David Cuillier, University of Arizona; Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University • This study, based on social cognition theory, examines potential political psychographic factors, such as skepticism, cynicism, apathy, complacency, and efficacy, that might predict support for government transparency, an essential element of democracy and journalism. Results from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 416 Washington state residents indicate that skepticism, cynicism, and political liberal values predict support for principled transparency. Implications discussed include the importance of critical thinking in a society based on self-governance and democratic principles.

The Palin Factor: Effects of Ideology, Race and Media Consumption in the 2008 Presidential Election • J.J. De Simone, University of Kansas; Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas • This study examines media consumers’ perceptions of Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election. Using data from the 2008 American National Election Study, the researchers concluded that heavy television viewers had the strongest positive opinions of the vice presidential candidate; no other media had a statistically significant impact on consumers’ opinions during the election.

Voter Learning, Campaign Interest and Intention to Vote in the 2008 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter? • Jacob Groshek, Iowa State; Daniela Dimitrova, Iowa State University • In this study the impact of both traditional and new media formats on three variables in the 2008 election—issue knowledge, campaign interest and intention to vote—was investigated. The results demonstrated that general online news use was a significant predictor of voter learning but more frequent use of Weblogs was associated with lower levels of campaign issue knowledge.

When bloggers attack: Examining the effect of negative citizen-initiated campaigning in 2008 presidential election • Timothy Fung, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kjerstin Thorson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, SJMC; Hans Meyer, University of Missouri • Building on the social emotion model (Smith, 1999), we examined the effect of social identification on emotional reactions and behavioral tendencies of individuals exposed to citizen-initiated attack in the blogosphere during the 2008 presidential election. The findings revealed that emotional responses and associated action tendencies are conditioned based on which candidate support groups individuals belong to when they were exposed to partisan, attacking blog commentaries.

Biological Literacy and Health Concern: A Model to Predict Health Information Acquisiton • KARINA GARCIA-RUANO, PhD Student – Michigan State University; Charles Salmon, Professor; Jon Miller, Professor; Laleah Fernandez, Ph.D. student • This study seeks to broaden the understanding of biological literacy among U.S. adults and health information acquisition. This study uses Structural Equation Model (SEM) to predict health-specific information behaviors and explores the impact of chronic or life threatening concerns and the intervening effect of biological literacy. This research finds strong evidence about the role of biological literacy for health information seeking behaviors.

Propagandizing the Status Quo: The Differential Impact of Cultivated Worldviews on Minorities • Laurel Gleason, The Ohio State University • Several disparate, but complementary bodies of literature discuss the media’s role in reinforcing dominant values and norms. I endeavor to join these bodies in a coherent whole and to consider the media effects, and social implications, of the resultant chain of ideological dissemination. Using data from the 2000 American National Election Studies and OLS regression, I focus on the impact of cultivation on the political self-efficacy of those outside socially dominant groups.

The uses and gratifications of social networking sites (SNS): Investigating the roles of gender, media uses, and religiosity in predicting different motivations • Guy J. Golan, Seton Hall University; Joon Soo Lim, Middle Tennessee State University; Michael Sedita, Seton Hall University • Social networking websites (SNS) such as Facebook and Myspace offer user a multitude of applications in a highly dynamic and interactive online platform. The current study aimed to identify diverse motivational factors in using SNS amongst Facebook and Myspace users.

Newspaper Framing of Medical Marijuana in Editorials and Op-Ed Columns • Guy J. Golan, Seton Hall University; Kirsten M Griffiths, Seton Hall University • The current study examines how newspaper editorials and Op-Ed columns framed the highly controversial California Proposition 215 and the issue of medical marijuana. A content analysis of opinion articles points to an unbalanced allocation of issue framing between editorial and Op-Ed articles and points to organizational influence over opinion section content.

Political Consumerism and Youth Citizenship: The Development of Identity Politics Among Tweens and Teens • Melissa R. Gotlieb, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kyurim Kyoung, UW-Madison, Dept. of Communication Arts; Itay Gabay, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study uses national survey data collected from parents and children to explore differences across models predicting self-actualizing citizenship among tweens and teens. Our results support an overall similar model for predicting political consumerism among youth, in particular the important role of news use and information sharing in the online environment. However, some important differences in the relative influence of parental encouragement of civic engagement, news use, and outcome orientations did emerge across age cohorts.

Television News and Framing Mental Illness: A Look at Twenty Years of Coverage • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • Television news and newspapers are prominent as the most common sources of information about mental illness. Despite this relatively few studies have examined the content of news stories about mental illness. Research that has been conducted has only examined newspaper coverage. To date, no studies have analyzed the frames used to cover mental illness in television news stories creating a sizeable gap in what we know about how mental illness is framed by the news media.

The Long-Term Impact of High School Civics Curricula on Political Knowledge, Democratic Attitudes and Civic Behaviors • Myiah Hively, The Ohio State University; William Eveland, The Ohio State University • This manuscript examines the effects of exposure to various elements of a civics curriculum on civic participation, two forms of political knowledge, internal political efficacy, political cynicism, news elaboration, discussion elaboration and various forms of interpersonal and mediated political communication behaviors. The data are based on a longitudinal study of high school students in a challenged large urban school district in a Midwestern state.

Creating a Measure of News Mediation: How do Parents Talk about the News? • Myiah Hively, The Ohio State University • Parental mediation of television has primarily been examined as a tool that has the potential to ameliorate negative effects of television or increase the positive effects of television associated with exposure to various types of content. However, news content is generally not considered when examining parental mediation despite the importance placed on news media use in political socialization literature.

Sports Programming, Gender Roles and Sexual Assault: A Test of the Media Practice Model • Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Ming Lei, Washington State University; Chunbo “Richard” Ren, Murrow College of Communication; Emily Marett, Washington State University; Anna McNab, Washington State University; Hua Chang, Washington State University; Jessica Fitts, Washington State University • The study was a survey of 426 college students that utilized SEM to investigate the structure of relationships among viewing sports programming, gender roles, rape myth, and obtaining consent in sexual intercourse, and intention to intervene in sexual assault situations. The results suggested that viewing sports programming and femininity had direct and indirect impact on intentions to intervene in sexual assaults.

Problems, solutions, and obesity: Inter-media agenda setting in a heavy-weight world • Stacie Meihaus Jankowski, Indiana University • This study examines obesity coverage from 1985-2007 in The New York Times, NBC, and The New England Journal of Medicine. An inter-media agenda setting study, this study looks at the relationships between the medium and the type of obesity coverage—stories about problems, solutions, or both problems and solutions—as well as relationships between the media. Real-world indicators of incidence rates and celebrity issues are also examined.

The Effects of Health Message Vividness on Attitudes Toward Students with ADHD • Michael Barthel, Syracuse University; Philip Johnson, Syracuse University; Jinghui Hou, Syracuse University; Yujing Ma, Syracuse University; David Crider, Syracuse University • This study uses a between-subjects experimental design to test the effect of low- and high-vividness messages about ADHD. The messages seek to change attitudes toward accommodations and stigma, with recognition memory also being tested as a guide to message effectiveness. Ambivalence is also assessed in order to measure interactions with vividness.

Hot Diggity Blog: A Cluster Analysis Examining Motivations and other Factors for Why People Judge Different Types of Blogs as Credible • Barbara Kaye, University of Tennessee; Tom Johnson, Texas Tech • Using two-step cluster analysis this study identifies four groups of users who deem seven types of blogs (general information, media/journalism, war, military, political, corporate and personal blogs) as highly credible. The four groups are each motivated to turn to blogs for many of the same reasons, however some differences emerged among the groups. Additionally, the four user clusters differ on demographic and political characteristics.

The Effect of Positive versus Negative Frame of CSR Messages: Exploring the Moderating Role of Gender in the Context of Organ Donation Sponsorship • Hyo Kim, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study investigates how the emotional valence of social messages influences individuals’ responses to an associated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) message. A 2 (positive vs. negative) x 2 (men vs. women) between-subject experiment was conducted. A significant interaction effect between gender and emotional valence was revealed, suggesting that practitioners need to strategically employ the emotional valence factor in accordance with the gender of target public when developing CSR communications.

Dual Influence of Mass Media and Interpersonal Relationships on Female College Students’ Weight Status • Hyang Sook Kim, Pennsylvania State University; Donna Sheffield, Kansas State University • This study assesses possible predictors of college females’ weight problems. Employing social learning theory (SLT) and social cognitive theory (SCT), this study examined personal and environmental determinants that influence individuals’ behaviors. Results from surveys conducted with 141 female college students showed that the more pressure they felt from mass media depiction of thin body images, the more negatively they judged their own bodies.

Looking at the Production and Representation of Disability in Maya & Miguel • Emily S. Kinsky, Pepperdine University • This qualitative case study examines the production and representation of characters with disabilities within the children’s television program, Maya & Miguel, using the circuit of culture (du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay, & Negus, 1997). This program was created with a goal of social change – to help children get along better with others around them. Representation was examined through textual analysis of 12 episodes, while production decisions were examined via in-depth interviews with Scholastic Media personnel.

Entertainment Media and Political Discourse: An Assessment of Relations between Late-Night TV Comedy, Face-to-Face Political Talk, and Debate Viewing • Kristen Landreville, The Ohio State University; R. Lance Holbert, The Ohio State University • Associations between late-night TV comedy viewing and two forms of political discourse, political discussion and debate viewing, are explored. Arguments are offered linking late-night TV comedy exposure and political discussion, and the role of debate viewing within this relationship is also assessed. A secondary analysis of 2004 Annenberg panel data shows that late-night comedy and political discussion have positive direct effects on debate viewing and late-night TV comedy exposure has an indirect effect on discussion.

Does Violent Video Game Play Influence Players’ Aggressive Thoughts? An Investigation based on Sensation Seeking Tendency • Steven Bisch, Washington State University; Moon Lee, Washington State University • This study investigated effects of video game play on users’ aggressive thoughts as reflected in attitudes toward guns and violence and differences among high and low sensation seekers. Sixty participants played either a violent or nonviolent video game and reported their thoughts immediately afterward game play. Violent video game players exhibited more favorable attitudes toward guns and violence than nonviolent game players and high sensation seekers exhibited higher scores than low sensation seekers.

Voiced Values: Communicating a Local Organizational Identity for Disability • Julie Lellis, Emerson College • This paper explores organizational identity as a concept defined by an organization’s values. Ten different local, disability-related nonprofit organizations were used to examine how – as measured through their communicated values – organizational identity is expressed. Results of a quantitative content analysis of marketing and public relations materials used by the organizations indicated the presence of a collective identity among all ten organizations.

Black Newspaper Media Dependency for Self Understanding and for Health and Cancer Information • María Len-Ríos, University of Missouri; Elisia Cohen, University of Kentucky; Charlene Caburnay, Washington University in St. Louis • Media system dependency theory (Loges & Ball-Rokeach, 1993) is used to understand Black newspaper media dependency for cancer information among a national survey of Black newspaper readers (N= 783). Findings show that Black newspaper media dependency intensity for cancer and health information is predicted by Black newspaper use after controlling for demographics, Black self-identity, and general audience media dependency. Implications for the Black press and health disparities communication researchers are discussed.

Reports, Inferences and Judgments in Deceptive and Authentic News Stories • Dominic Lasorsa, University of Texas at Austin; Seth Lewis, University of Texas at Austin • U.S. journalism has been tarnished by recent incidents of high-profile deception. This calls for a closer examination of underlying patterns in deceptive news. A content analysis of recent deceptive news articles found that they contain a lower proportion of report statements and a higher proportion of both inferential statements and judgment statements than a random sample of ostensibly authentic articles produced by the same major news organizations during the same time frame.

Perceptions of Media Functions and Processing of News: Analysis of Audience in a Chinese Metropolitan • Xiaoqin Li, University of Macau; Zhongshi Guo, Hong Kong Baptist University • Based on the assumption that audience members carry mental images and expectations about functions of media prior to using them, this study specifies a theoretical model to investigate whether and how perceptions of media shape the way individuals process news information. Data for analysis come from telephone interviews of a probability sample of 1,000 Guangzhou residents. Results show the Chinese audience process news in a critical ways, partially due to skepticism toward the established media.

The Persuasion Effects of Watching the Documentary “Behind the Labels: Garment workers on U.S. Saipan” • Xuan Liang, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee; Jing Zhang, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee • This project examines how the documentary film Behind the Labels: Garment workers on U.S. Saipan influences consumers’ evaluations of the brands exposed in the film. Seventy-two students participated in a pretest and posttest. The results showed that after watching the film, participants expressed more negative attitudes towards and less likelihood to purchase the brands. Learning also occurred as measured by brand recall. These findings help explain how media content may promote positive social changes.

The Impact of News “Voice” on Adolescent Political Efficacy • Jeremy Littau, University of Missouri; Liz Gardner, University of Missouri; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • In a national survey of teens and their parents fielded in months immediately following the 2008 Presidential election, we examined the role of a new news concept, “voice,” which we operationalized in terms of three categories: authoritative, opinionated, and direct to the consumer (DTC).

Empathy, narrative involvement, and identification with fictional characters: Examining the path from trait to state reactions • Chad Mahood, The Ohio State University; Emily Moyer-Gusé, The Ohio State University • The role of empathy in relation to media content has been under-examined. This study hypothesizes that both the ability to identify emotions (empathy) and a tendency to get ‘caught-up’ in a story (narrative involvement) are needed to help an individual take on the perspective of a fictional character (identification). In other words, the connection between empathy and identification is mediated by narrative involvement. This meditation was found for both trait and state narrative involvement.

All the News Fit to Post? Comparing News Content on the Web to Newspapers, Television and Radio • Scott Maier, University of Oregon • The study examines how online news coverage differs in content from news provided by newspapers, network television, cable television and radio. Analyzing data collected by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the study finds that 59 percent of the top stories on news web sites covered the same topics as covered by legacy media. But only 15 percent of news stories linked to by blogs and social media sites corresponded with mainstream media’s top stories.

Communication patterns in the age of new media: An examination of the relationship between family communication patterns, political tolerance, and Internet use • Jessi McCabe, Wayne State University • This paper explores the relationship between Family Communication Patterns, Political Tolerance, and Internet use. Socio-oriented homes are restrictive in media content and are less political, whereas Concept-oriented homes are the opposite. Diversity of ideas and political knowledge is necessary for tolerance development. Results indicate that socio-oriented homes are less tolerant. Internet use confounded the nature of expected relationships. Implications and future research of Internet use is discussed, particularly as it applies to FCP and tolerance.

Youngsters’ Political Talk with Those Outside School and Family:The Hierarchy of Political Socialization • Mi Jahng, Universty of Missouri-Columbia; Hans Meyer, University of Missouri; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • This study explores the assumption that political socialization can be considered as a hierarchy of stages of attention, learning, interpersonal communication behaviors, and political participatory behaviors. In this hierarchy political discussion outside of family and school is an important stage. Political elaboration and efficacy gained from the news media were hypothesized to encourage adolescents to reach this stage. The results are discussed in terms of the hierarchy model of political socialization.

Are People Who Use Tobacco More Likely to be Persuaded by Anti-tobacco Ads that Make Them the Victim? • Jensen Moore, West Virginia University • This study used a 3 (Tobacco Use – Low/Moderate/High) X 2 (Message Type – Attack/Blame) X 2 (MSV – Low/High) repeated measures experimental design to examine what type of anti-tobacco message (i.e., Blame vs. Attack) and sensation levels would influence attitudes, behaviors, and emotional responses of individuals with differing levels of tobacco use (TU).

Building Social Capital through Nonprofit Organizations’ Websites: Organizational Features and e-Social Capital • Seungahn Nah, University of Kentucky • Relying on such theories as resource dependency (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978), resource mobilization (McCarthy & Zald, 1977), and social capital (Putnam, 2000), this study examines the effect of organizational features on the extent to which nonprofit organizations generate social capital through Websites. Data were collected using multiple research methods, such as public archive analysis, Website content analysis, and email and telephone surveys.

The Delicate Balance of Remembering and Forgetting: An Analysis of NASA Memorials • Nicole Pankiewicz, University of Minnesota • The legacy of the U.S. space shuttle program is examined though an analysis of memorials to Challenger and Columbia at Arlington National Cemetery. The story NASA tells through these memorials, compared with the official accounts of each accident, is a revealing instance of political communication. The messages memorialize the dead astronauts while urging the public and Congress to move forward with the space program. NASA asks us to remember what happened – and to forget why.

Satisfaction with Media Performance and Perceptions of Media Usefulness in Political Decision Making and Disaffection    • Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University; Erica Austin, Washington State University; Jessica Fitts, Washington State University; Megan Reiser, Washington State University; Yushu Zhou, Washington State University • Researchers conducted a telephone survey of 416 randomly selected, registered voters in Washington state in the weeks preceding the 2008 elections. The purpose of the survey was to examine citizens’ attitudes toward news media and their political decision making and disaffection.

e-Patients with Chronic Illnesses: Analyzing the Commonalities and Differences among Three Online Groups • Andrea Meier, University of North Carolina, School of Social Work; Bret Shaw, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Judith Feder, Brodeur Partners; Eulalia Puig Abril, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Researchers have studied online health information and support seeking strategies for cancer and common chronic illnesses, but there have been fewer studies of e-patients with other chronic conditions or comparisons across illness communities. This study seeks to inform the development of Health 2.0 resources for Internet users living with chronic health problems by better understanding their current e-health information, support seeking behaviors and future needs.

Intermedia Agenda-Setting and Political Activism: MoveOn.org and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election    • Matthew Ragas, U of Florida; Spiro Kiousis, U of Florida • This study tested for intermedia agenda-setting effects among explicitly partisan media coverage and political activist group, citizen activist and official campaign advertising – all in support of the same candidate. The setting for this investigation was MoveOn.org’s ‘Obama in 30 Seconds’ contest, which was held during the 2008 U.S. presidential election primaries. The data provided significant evidence of first- and second-level agenda-setting relationships. These results extend the intermedia agenda-setting framework to political activist communication efforts.

Usefulness of Environmental News Coverage, Risk, Personal Efficacy and Information Sufficiency • Brooke Weberling, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jennette Lovejoy, Ohio University; Daniel Riffe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This study uses telephone survey data (N=511) to examine relationships among exposure/attention to and usefulness of newspaper, television, and Web environmental news coverage; information sufficiency (IS); personal efficacy (PE); and environmental risk. Attention to news was positively related to IS and PE, but perceived usefulness of news coverage did not correlate with IS or PE. Attention to and usefulness of Web coverage significantly predicted perceived local environmental risk.

Is Your Baby a Brainy Baby? Learning from “Educational” Infant DVD Program Content by 12- to 24-Month-Olds • Erin Ryan, The University of Alabama • Though the AAP recommends no screen time for children under two, toddlers are routinely exposed to “educational” baby videos. Thus, a one-group pretest-posttest repeated-measures quasi-experiment with 12- to 24-month-olds was performed to test learning of picture-letter pairings after several viewings of a Brainy Baby video. Results revealed no significant statistical findings; in this short term study, there was no detectable learning. Trial-by-trial analyses revealed children did not perform any better than chance on repeated posttests.

The effects of pre-existing mood and message relevance on the effectiveness of health PSAs: differential effects by message type • Sela Sar, Iowa State University; George Anghelcev, Penn State University • An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mood, self-relevance and types of health messages on behavioral intentions in response to prevention and detection health messages. Detection messages emphasize the presence or absence of a potential health problem, whereas prevention messages focus on averting the onset or development of a health problem (Rothman and Salovey, 1997).

Measuring the Effects of a Media Literacy Program on Conflict and Violence • Erica Scharrer, UMass Amherst; Leda Cooks, UMass Amherst; Shara Dunn, UMass Amherst • A 5-session media literacy unit on conflict and media violence was administered to 85 sixth graders. Repeated measures analyses were employed to study the 57 for whom matched data were available. Results show students became more likely to choose a non-aggressive approach to two of three conflict scenarios presented and boys, but not girls, became more likely to acknowledge effects of media violence. Other measures employed suggest a mixed response to the curriculum.

Transnational Campaign Styles in Cyberspace: Comparing Virtual Attacks in Germany and the United States • Eva Johanna Schweitzer, University of Mainz, Germany • This paper compares the use of attacks on German party Web sites in two state elections, one national election, and one European parliamentary election with recent American evidence. The results show that virtual mudslinging has affected German e-campaigns on all levels of the political system, with patterns similar to those found in the US. This supports the notion of a global standardization effect in Web campaign practices brought about by the professionalization process in politics.

Asking Mom: Mothers’ Reactions to Theory-Based Messages to Vaccinate Daughters Against • Autumn Shafer, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Joan R. Cates, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Significant disparities in cervical cancer exist in the United States based on race, socioeconomic status and geographic region. This study reports findings of message testing in the rural Southeast, in which ethnically diverse mothers and female caregivers were asked to provide their opinions about two potential theory-based message campaigns targeted to mothers of 11 and 12 year old girls who have not been vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.

A Grounded Theory Analysis of how College Students Search for Health Information on the Internet: A Case of HIV/AIDS • Kim Smith, North Carolina A&T State University • Fifteen white students from a predominately white university in the Southeast, and 15 black students from a historically black university in the Southeast were presented with the following hypothetical. “Pretend that your close friend or relative had acquired HIV/AIDS.

Roles of Traditional Media in Internet Manhunt • Jing Su, University of Missouri-Columbia • This article explores the roles of traditional media especially newspapers in China in the new online phenomenon-internet manhunt. By using content analysis to examine newspapers coverage of a specific case, the study finds that traditional model of agenda-setting is reversed. Online public opinion can set the agenda for mass media. And the study also finds that traditional media play paradoxical dual roles in the internet manhunt course.

Media Ownership and the Diversity of Voices: A Media Effects Perspective • Dan Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Rachel Davis Mersey, Northwestern University • The debate regarding media cross-ownership has been framed as an economic one and dominated by economic methods and measures. This paper makes the case that what is needed are measures of the power associated with a given level of diversity in the public sphere (aka marketplace of ideas) and that these measure needs to be grounded in media effects theory. The paper then offers a framework for developing such measures.

Media Concentration and the Dynamics of Misinformation: Implications for Media Ownership • Dan Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Brian Weeks, University of Minnesota • There has been considerable discussion of how the public was “misinformed” by the media leading up to the war in Iraq – and that many continue to perceive that misinformation as true. This paper makes the case that the more concentrated the media, the more likely this is to occur and to do so in ways that impact public opinion and ultimately public policy. The paper then discusses the implications for FCC media ownership policy.

News Media Framing of Rural and Education Issues in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign • Brooks Smith, University of Mississippi; Kristen Swain, University of Mississippi • This content analysis examined how international news media portrayed rural issues and education in coverage of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. The study evaluated patterns in sourcing, time context, political framing, coverage across media platforms, and enterprise vs. episodic reporting. Obama was quoted more frequently than McCain in rural and education stories. While Obama received more attention in this coverage, McCain received no negative coverage.

The Trend and Impact of Media Agenda Diversity from 1946 to 2004 • Yue Tan, N.A. • First, this study examines the long-term trend in the agenda diversity of the New York Times from 1946 to 2004. Second, this study tests weather the agenda-setting effect between the media agenda and the public agenda has become weaker over that time.

Personality’s effect on news content • Tim Vos, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Mark Poepsel, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri School of Journalism • This study surveyed newspaper journalists (N=65) to ascertain their personality types, the amount of time they spend doing different types of journalism, and the amount of time they would like to spend on these same types of journalism. The study hypothesized that the strength of a journalist’s personality type would predict the amount of time he or she spent on a corresponding type of journalism. The hypotheses were partially supported.

Building the Habit: Growth in News Use Among Teens During the 2008 Campaign • Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; porismita borah, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ming Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study uses panel data to examine growth in newspaper, television, and online news use among adolescents during the 2008 presidential election. The study suggests that while socializing agents like parents and school are effective in encouraging growth in traditional (newspaper and television) news use, individual engagement with society and politics primarily predicts growth in online news use. The results suggest that different socializing agents are effective spur different forms of news use.

The Symbiosis of News Coverage and Aggregate On-line Search Behavior: Obama, Rumors, and Presidential Politics • Brian Weeks, University of Minnesota; Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota • The relationship between on-line information seeking behavior and mass media news presentation likely is symbiotic. We can expect on-line behavior, such as search, to be at least a partial function of exposure to conventional news coverage rather than vice versa. Using Google search trends as a search behavior indicator, we examine the agenda-setting effect of the rumor that Barack Obama was secretly Muslim. As predicted, volume of news coverage positively predicts spikes in aggregate search.

Telepresence and exemplification effects: A sleeper effect? • David Westerman, West Virginia University; patric spence, Western Michigan University; Kenneth Lachlan, Boston College • Exemplification theory (Zillmann, 1999, 2002; Zillmann & Brosius, 2000) suggests exemplar representations in media content may cause people to make overestimated judgments about phenomena included in this content. Other exemplification research also notes the presence of a sleeper effect (Gibson & Zillmann, 1994). The current study sought to examine the role telepresence plays in increasing the potential for sleeper exemplification effects.

Analysis of the Role of News Sources in the Media Frame-Building Process of Epidemic Hazards • Rosalyna Wijaya, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Tsung-Jen Shih, University of Wisconsin-Madison; dominique brossard, University of Wisconsin Madison • Using media frame-building (Scheufele, 1999) as a theoretical framework, this study analyzed media coverage of West Nile virus (N=260) and avian flu (N=241) from their first appearance in The New York Times to November 2006.

Living in a Material…Web? Gender and Materialism on Children’s Toy Web Sites • Christina Malik, UNC-Chapel Hill; Bartosz Wojdynski, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Research has shown that exposure to affluence and materialistic behavior in media over time is correlated with materialistic values in consumers. Growth in Web use by children has given marketers a new avenue to reach these consumers. This study undertook a content analysis of children’s toy-affiliated Web sites to document the frequency and types of materialistic behaviors present on children’s Web sites, and analyze differences between how consumer values are imparted to boys and girls.

The Digital Divide in the New Media Environment: Gaps in Motivation and Usage Pattern • Jung-hwan Yang, Seoul National University • The digital divide has been discussed mostly from a perspective of the diffusion rate of information technologies, the user’s accessibility to the media, and the amount of media usage time. However, those approaches do not sufficiently clarify what users actually do with diverse media. Therefore, this study tries to examine media users’ motivations and the specific usage patterns of the news media to discover if there is a gap between motivations and usage patterns.

New Media and the Young Generation: Exploring predictors in young people’s adoption of webcasting • Yan Yang, University of Florida • Based on the Diffusion of Innovation theory and the Uses & Gratification theory, this paper investigates predictors in young people’s adoption of webcasting—innovativeness, media consumption level, technology ownership, perceived needs (of webcasting), and perceived popularity. Results from a survey of college students found that young people’s need for companionship and their perceived popularity of webcasting are important indicators of their adoption usage.

Information Seeking Related to Clinical Trial Enrollment • Z. Janet Yang, Cornell University; Katherine McComas, Cornell University; Geri Gay, Cornell University; John Leonard, Weill Cornell Medical College; Andrew Dannenberg, Weill Cornell Medical College; Hildy Dillon, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society • In an effort to understand what motivates people to attend to information about clinical trial enrollment, this study applies the Augmented Risk Information Seeking Model to explore potential differences in information seeking behaviors among healthy respondents and members of a patient support group. Emotions associated with clinical trial enrollment, risk judgment, attitudes, awareness, the tendency to rely on independent decisions, normative beliefs, and information seeking intentions influenced routine and non-routine information seeking behaviors differently.

Why and How Facebook Satisfies You: Collective Self-Esteem, Emotional Openness, Communication Apprehension as Predictors of Facebook Uses and Gratifications • Zhang Yin, School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK; Tang Shing Tung, School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK • This study presents a comprehensive set of gratifications-obtained from Facebook by a sample survey of Facebook users in Hong Kong, a region with a sharply high user rate. It also investigates the interrelationships between three psychological traits (collective self-esteem, online emotional openness, and communication apprehension) and the identified gratifications, and the interrelationship between them and Facebook uses. Six aspects of gratifications are identified and grouped into two categories.

Differences in Emotional and Cognitive Responses between Non-Humorous and Humorous Public Service Advertisements • Hye Jin Yoon, University of Georgia • With the inconsistent results as to the effectiveness of threat appeals in public service announcements (PSAs), the use of humor in communicating threatening information has been suggested as an alternative strategy. But our understanding of humor processes in risk messages is limited due to the scarcity of research on this topic.

Gatekeeping, “gatewatching,” and the political process: Measuring the impact of new media on political activism and knowledge during the 2008 U.S. general election • Chance York, Kansas State University; Sookyong Kim, Kansas State University; Keunyeong Kim, Kansas State University • The purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of new media on political activism and knowledge during the 2008 U.S. election season. Specifically, the current study examines the usage patterns of new media among the coveted 18 to 24-year-old voting demographic. Using Bruns’ (2008, 2008b) “gatewatching” hypothesis, this study finds that new media is related to an increase in overall political activism, but not general political knowledge.

Without a watchdog, who can be trusted? An inquiry of the watchdog role and media trust among Chinese journalists and journalism students • Bu Zhong, Penn State University; Yong Zhou, Renmin University of China • By employing media system dependency theory, this study investigates how Chinese journalists (n = 125) and journalism students (n = 165) perceived the watchdog role and media trust in news reports and the BBS content. The results show that they rated a stronger sense of watchdog role in political information than in sports information.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Magazine Division

Still Reading Women’s Magazines: Reconsidering the Tradition Nearly a Half-Century After The Feminine Mystique • Amy Aronson, Fordham University, Lincoln Center • Among America’s most popular media, women’s magazines have long received widespread critique – both inside and outside academia, not least from women themselves. Since the 1960s, critical discussion has fallen into three basic camps. This article maps those perspectives, and elucidates a fourth position that theorizes the American women’s magazine as a distinct form.

Parenting Magazines and Obesity: How Well Do The Trim The Fat? • Cory Armstrong, University of Florida • This study compares stories about obesity in parenting and women’s interest magazines between 2002 and 2008. In particular, the portrayals of female and male mentions were examined to determine the types of messages being conveyed within the news stories. Magazines have been found to serve as an important source for health-related news, and, with the increasing number of obese children and adults in the U.S., determining the type of coverage is a key area of research.

Unrealistic Expectations: Representations of Celebrity Motherhood in People Magazine • Katherine Eaves, University of Oklahoma • The ideology of intensive mothering argued by Hays (1996) requires mothers pour all of their time, energy and financial resources into their children. This ideology is widely accepted as the appropriate way to rear children, and is espoused by popular, mainstream parenting magazines and parenting manuals, as well as in other media forums. This research examines discourse about celebrity mothers in People magazine to determine whether this media genre also perpetuates the ideology of intensive mothering.

Women’s Roles Portrayed in Women’s Magazines in China: An Analysis of Global and Local Influences • Yang Feng, Nanyang Technological University; Kavita Karan, Nanyang Technological University • This paper analyses the impact of the global (Western and Asian) and local forces in the roles of women in women’s magazine in China through examining the content of women’s magazines in China. Particular reference is given to media portrayal of women in both local and international magazine content as magazines in China are influenced by the process of globalization and the influence has been traced in the changing depiction of women’s roles in the magazines.

Japanese Fashion Magazines as Reflections of Gender-Related Societal Changes in Japan • Catherine Luther, University of Tennessee • The primary purpose of this study was to analyze gender representations in Japanese fashion magazines. Using a textual analysis to examine the representations, it sought to explore if the images were reflecting the recent changes that have occurred in Japan with regard to the social status of men and women. The study found gender representations that stray from the media representations that have traditionally existed in Japan.

Baby boomers and health: Eleven years of heart disease content in mass circulation • Paula Rausch, University of Florida; Debbie Treise, University of Florida; Ronald Shorr, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System • Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, we explored heart disease-related content in mass circulation magazines most heavily read by the previously unexamined group of people 50+. Content targeting these readers was lacking, and few articles provided information referrals. Topics most commonly discussed did not always coincide with the top US government-cited heart conditions. Discussion of medications, testing, hospitalization, and death was common. Dominant latent frames included menopause, increased risk with age, reducing risks, blame, and confusion.

Turn-on or Turn-off: A Content Analysis of Magazine Coverage of LSD, 1954-1968 • Stephen Siff, Miami University • In the 1960s, scholars and critics blamed magazine coverage of LSD for a range of effects, including assisting in the spread of the drug, whipping up hysteria against its use and causing bad trips. This study examines these claims through a content analysis of articles about LSD published in popular magazines in the years before federal law prohibited possession of the drug.

Reading Travel Magazines: Frames of the Colonial “Other” and Post-Modern Authenticity in Feature-Stories Featuring Non-Westerners • Aimee Wachtel, University of Missouri, Columbia; Amanda Hinnant, University of Missouri • This research provides an original look at themes of colonialism and authenticity as manifested in travel magazines’ depictions of the non-westerner. This study compares contemporary travel magazine coverage to Lutz and Collins’ (1993) research on National Geographic. A content analysis of imagery and a textual analysis of display type showed that display text was highly indicative of both themes, and that images were largely indicative of the theme of authenticity while less so of colonialism.

Fighting – or Fueling – the Fear? Breast Cancer Coverage in Consumer Magazines • Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida; Heather Edwards, University of Florida • Women identify consumer magazines as a key source of information on many health topics, including breast cancer, which continues to rank as women’s greatest personal health fear. This study examined the comprehensiveness and accuracy of breast cancer information provided in 537 articles published in 17 consumer magazines from 2002 through 2007. Accuracy of information was determined for 33 key breast cancer facts identified by an expert panel as important information for women to know.

The Creation of Community in Reiman Magazines-A Reader Reception Study • Sheila Webb, Western Washington University • This study is a continuation of a narrative and rhetorical analysis of the Reiman magazines which placed them within the broader American cultural landscape, showing how the role of suburban middle-class white women is tied to traditional values, religion, and a valorization of country taste as “authentic” expression. This previous work exemplified one strand of reception studies – the textual interpretation of media content.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Law and Policy Division

Garland v. Torre and the Birth of Reporter’s Privilege • Stephen Bates, Nevada, Las Vegas • In 1957, Marie Torre, TV columnist for the New York Herald Tribune, wrote that Judy Garland was balking over a planned CBS special, apparently because, according to Torre’s network source, she “thinks she’s terribly fat.” Garland sued CBS for defamation and subpoenaed Torre to learn the name of her source. Torre herself then became something of a celebrity by refusing to identify him.

Information-Privacy Rights in International Human Rights Law • Cheryl Ann Bishop, Quinnipiac • The right of access to personal information held by governments is an evolving right in international human rights law. This study examines the right to personal information guaranteed by the various human rights regimes – the European, Inter-American, African, and United Nations – and identifies commonalities regarding how the right is conceptualized. This study finds that the right to personal information is broadly recognized and that it is conceptualized fairly consistently across the various human rights regimes.

The Greatest First Amendment Victory Harry A. Blackmun Ever Lost: How the U.S. Supreme Court Decided Gannett Co. Inc. v. DePasquale • John Bender, Nebraska-Lincoln • In Gannett v. DePasquale, the Supreme Court rejected enforceable right for the public to attend judicial proceedings under the Sixth Amendment. In dissent, Justice Harry A. Blackmun argued for recognizing such a right. Blackmun’s dissent began as the majority opinion and became a dissent only after Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. switched his vote. Notes and memoranda among the papers of Justices Blackmun and Powell provide insights into why Powell switched his vote.

Tinker’s Midlife Crisis at 40: Tattered and Transgressed But Still Standing • Clay Calvert, Florida • This paper examines the erosion of the strength of the Supreme Court’s 1969 opinion in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. Indicators of decline range from Justice Thomas’ stunning call in Morse v. Frederick for overruling Tinker to recent lower-court opinions using Tinker to censor off-campus expression posted on the Internet. The paper explores possible reasons for the decline and abuse of Tinker and it makes suggestions for its reinvigoration.

Bailing Out the Print Newspaper Industry: A Not-So-Joking Public Policy & First Amendment Analysis • Clay Calvert, Florida • Daily print newspapers face a financial crisis. This paper examines what initially was a satirical proposal for a government bailout of the print-newspaper industry, modifying the initial idea and then both defending and critiquing it. In the process, the paper: uses the work of constitutional scholar Cass Sunstein and veteran journalists; employs the marketplace of ideas metaphor; and examines the press’s watchdog role, the Supreme Court’s Tornillo decision and the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970.

Contrasting Concurrences of Clarence Thomas: Deploying Originalism and Paternalism in Commercial and Student Speech Cases • Clay Calvert, Florida, and Matthew Bunker, Alabama • This paper compares and contrasts, through the lenses of both originalism and paternalism, Justice Thomas’ radically different views of free expression in two relatively new areas of First Amendment jurisprudence: commercial speech and student speech. The paper pivots on the question of how Thomas reached diametrically opposed conclusions about the scope of – indeed, very existence of, in the case of students -speech rights in 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island and Morse v. Frederick.

Gate keeping the gatekeepers: International Community and Freedom of Information in Kosovo • Lindita Camaj, Indiana • This study suggests that the effects of international community are greater during the adopting process of FOI laws in transitional countries, but less effective on behavioral changes that accommodate the implementation of these laws.

Truth be Told: An Analysis of FDA Interpretation of “True Statement” Regulations for DTC Advertising • Sheetal Chhotu-Patel, North Carolina • Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements are legally required to provide a “true statement,” of drug information. This study analyzes how the FDA interprets the true statement requirement by examining 68 regulatory letters. With a few exceptions, the FDA interpreted literally the complaint categories of omission of material information, unsubstantiated comparative claims, overstatement of efficacy, and broadening of indications. Inclusion of risk information and how risk information is presented were more broadly interpreted. Implications are also discussed.

Clearing Up the FOIA Transparency Question: How Congress Can Break the Coming Deadlock • Benjamin Cramer, Michael D. Todd, and Martin E. Halstuk, Penn State • The purpose of this paper is to shed light on what is shaping up to be a clash between the newly inaugurated President Barack H. Obama’s stated goals for transparency and the Supreme Court’s restrictive view of agency-disclosure obligations under the FOIA. This research project concludes that a resolution to this conflict ultimately rests with the third branch of government—the Congress, which possesses the legal authority to decide this question.

The Declining First Amendment Rights of Government News Sources • Robert Drechsel, Wisconsin • In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the Supreme Court in 2006 held that public employees have no First Amendment protection against retaliation for speech they engage in pursuant to their job duties. The decision inherently strengthens government’s ability to control employees’ interaction with the press. Judges are struggling to determine what constitutes speech pursuant to job duties. Courts seem to be trying to interpret Garcetti to protect employee-to-journalist speech, but Garcetti limits their discretion to do so.

Bursting the Bubble: Complaints about Soap Operas to the Federal Communications Commission, 2004-2008 • Marsha Ducey, College at Brockport (SUNY) • This paper explores the content of complaints about daytime serials to the Federal Communications Commission during the years 2004 through 2008. A quantitative content analysis on a total of 198 complaints was done. The complaints show that the complainants do not have a clear understanding of what the Federal Communications Commission can regulate. The most common complaints were related to language that complainants considered profane and/or obscene and to the depiction of homosexual relationships.

American Exceptionalism, The French Exception, and Harmonization of International Intellectual Property Law • Leo Eko, Iowa • The aim of this paper was to study the differential postures of the United States and France with regard to international intellectual property law, using as a case study both country’s adhesion to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, and transposition of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) of 1996.

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics: Developing a Clearer Assessment of Market Penetration and Broadband Competition in the United States • Rob Frieden, Penn State • The paper concludes that the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration have overstated broadband penetration and affordability by using an overly generous and unrealistic definition of what qualifies as broadband service, by using zip codes as the primary geographic unit of measure and by misinterpreting available statistics. Additionally the FCC includes as competition services lacking any true cross-elasticity with other services based on substantial price differences.

Using social frameworks: Incorporating word-picture juxtaposition research into libel law • Tom Grimes, Texas State, Robert Drechsel, Wisconsin, and Amy Reynolds, Indiana • This paper uses Monahan and Walker’s (1987) social framework approach to incorporate word-picture juxtaposition research into the adjudication of libel law. Specifically, it argues for a new category of defamation, Type 3, which occurs when a message receiver incorrectly “remembers” something as defamatory because of racial, ethnic or gender stereotypes.

False Sense of Security: The impact of FERPA’s campus crime provision on the release of student records related to campus safety • Jennifer Harlow, North Carolina • Despite recent tragic events on college campuses, the federal student privacy law continues to impede information-sharing critical to campus safety. FERPA was amended in 1992 to allow access to campus law enforcement records following the Student Press Law Center v. Alexander decision. This paper reviews court cases and legislative action to address how FERPA has been applied in questions involving access to campus security since that amendment.

We All Need Somebody To Lean On(Line): Can Promises of Confidentiality Protect Digital Self-Disclosure? • Woodrow Hartzog, North Carolina • Conventional wisdom dictates individuals can have no expectation of privacy when disclosing information online. This paper examines how promises of confidentiality might legally affect the self-disclosure of information on online social networks. It concludes that the doctrine of promissory estoppel could serve to protect self-disclosure if, as a function of the online social network, explicit promises of confidentiality are required before disclosure occurs. However, a limited recovery for damages reduces the significance this remedy.

Defining Journalists: The Application of the Definition of “Journalist” to Bloggers • Shin Haeng Lee, Indiana • As the Internet has emerged as a powerful medium, a heated controversy has developed over whether bloggers can be regarded as journalists and protected by shield laws as much as traditional journalists.

Still Have a Ticket to Ride (Along): An Examination of Media Joint Activities with Law Enforcement • Jasmine McNealy, Florida • Recently the family of a man, who committed suicide when police attempted to arrest him, sued NBC claiming that its hit show “To Catch a Predator” caused the man’s death and violated his civil rights. This case demonstrates the continued possible liability for news organizations that participate in joint activities with law enforcement. This paper discusses both U.S. Supreme and lower court cases involving ride-alongs and the issues that surround this newsgathering activity.

Audience Measurement, the Diversity Principle, and the First Amendment Right to Construct the Audience • Philip Napoli, Fordham • This paper uses the lawsuits filed in 2008 by the Attorneys General of New York and New Jersey against radio audience measurement firm Arbitron, in response to Arbitron’s launch of the Portable People Meter, as the basis for an inquiry into the appropriate speech classification of audience ratings data.

We’re All Publishers Now: A New Look at Publishing in the Digital Age • Rich Powell, Indiana • The concept of publishing as a matter of law is becoming increasingly complex. Current U.S. law defines publishing in three areas – one statutory (copyright) and the others equity (libel and privacy). The standards in all three definitions are fairly distinct, but well-suited to their specific intentions. It is now questionable, however, if these definitions are suitable in the digital age.

Sex, Lies and the Internet • Robert Richards, Penn State • As blogs and social networking sites proliferate, the level of discourse continues to ramp up to a point where defamatory and other damaging content is becoming more commonplace. This paper examines whether an Internet Service Provider should ever face liability for such actionable content, particularly when the third-party remains anonymous, or should the protections of Section 230 remain intact. It proposes changes to the current immunity that has existed for more than a dozen years.

Punishment for Shade: An Analysis of Penalties and Remedies for Violations of Open Meetings Laws Across the Country • Adrianna C. Rodriguez and Laurence B. Alexander, Florida • All 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted open meetings laws. States’ open meetings laws contain penalty provisions to remedy violations that may include civil and criminal penalties, injunctive relief, invalidation of action and removal from office. However, while state laws may provide for penalties to be levied against public officials who disregard open meetings laws, violations persist and there is little evidence that penalties are enforced.

Bloggers as Limited-Purpose Public Figures: New Standards for a New Media Platform • Amy Kristin Sanders and Sarah Arendt, Minnesota • The traditional public-figure doctrine needs to be adapted to the new faces of online media and the ever-changing conversation outlets available to news consumers on the Internet. After reviewing the traditional tests for plaintiff status determinations in defamation cases, this paper establishes a legal standard that American courts can use to determine plaintiff status in cases involving bloggers who sue for defamation.

Defining Matters of Public Concern Through State Court Decisions on Statutory Anti-SLAPP Motions • Autumn Shafer, North Carolina • This research analyzes how courts have defined the key legal concept of matters of public concern through state court decisions involving anti-SLAPP laws with threshold requirements of public concern. Factors such as whether the case involved media, government, the topic, online expression or the original SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) are evaluated for their role in how courts have determined if a matter is of public concern. Implications to First Amendment jurisprudence are discussed.

The Right to Know, “Special Privileges” and Institutional Constraints: A Comparison of Access Cases • Derigan Silver, Denver • Based on an examination of multiple cases dealing with access to national security locations and information, the paper concludes that although many courts are unwilling to totally embrace the notion that a right of access exists outside of the judiciary, most have used the judicial access precedents to support arguments that there is at least a qualified right of access guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Power, National Security and Transparency: Judicial Decision Making and Social Architecture Theory in the Federal Courts • Derigan Silver, Denver • Examining federal cases dealing with national security and transparency, this paper determines how federal courts identify the main legal issues present in a case, or “frame” the cases, and the legal factors—such as precedent, framers’ intent/originalism, or textualism—they use to reach or justify their conclusions. The paper contends that aggregated together these decisions have created an “architecture of power” that determines how our society controls national security information.

Statutory Shield Laws in Constitutional Orbits: Rise of the ‘Covered Person’ Issue • Dean Smith, North Carolina • With the election of President Barack Obama, passage of a federal shield law protecting journalists from compelled disclosure seems certain. It also seems certain that the scope of the law’s protection – its “covered person” definition – will continue to be a source of rancor. A curious feature of debate has been the prominence of constitutional rhetoric in a discussion about statutory law.

Challenging Civil Contempt: An alternate approach to keep journalists out of jail • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian • Despite their continued assertion of a First Amendment or common law reporter’s privilege in federal courts, journalists continue to be sent to jail, and recent consideration of a federal reporter’s shield law, if passed, would still not provide an absolute shield. In three high-profile cases since 2004, journalists were found in civil contempt of court and ordered to be confined in jail, despite their arguments that imprisonment would not coerce them to testify.

Do We Still Need Dignity: Hate and Dignity in the United States and Germany • Michael D. Todd, Penn State • This study is a comparison of landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning the treatment of hate speech and landmark German Constitutional Court decisions concerning the preservation of human dignity. The study concludes that the current limits on free speech protections under German federal law were a necessity when the law was written, but may now be an outdated and overly limited approach to free speech protections.

Sexual Speech on Internet Blogs and the Privacy Tort of Disclosure of Private Information • Kearston Wesner, Florida • Blogs (online diaries) can threaten privacy because the blogger can divulge personally-identifiable, embarrassing information to a wide audience. In 2004, a Senate staffer raised a novel issue by sharing her partners’ sexual information: what happens when someone’s First Amendment right to disclose her history conflicts with another’s desire for privacy? This paper analyzes constitutional law and the tort of public disclosure of private information to determine how courts have attempted to balance these competing interests.

Access to Information as a Right: South Korea’s 20-Year Experience • Kyu Youm, Oregon • Given that South Korea is often touted as a model case for the United States in exporting democracy abroad, Korea’s evolving experience with freedom of information deserves a systematic analysis. This is all the more compelling, considering that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Korean Constitutional Court’s landmark case on access to information as a constitutional right.

<< 2009 Abstracts