2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Mohammad Ali, Syracuse University; Dennis Kinsey, Syracuse University • Crisis Management in this Visual Era: How People Perceive a Crisis-hit Brand Through News Media Pictures • Visuals in a crisis phenomenon remain largely understudied. This paper analyzes the post-crisis pictures relating to the 2020 Mauritius oil-spill incident. Utilizing Q Methodology, designed to understand people’s subjective perceptions, we identify at least two groups of people who had variant perceptions of recognizing various pictures as (un)forgiving of this crisis-hit Japanese company. The Attribution Theory is used to explain what pictures are more likely to shift people’s perceived crisis responsibility attributions toward the company.

Research Paper • Student • Christopher T. Assaf, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN • Video [Dis]Convergence and Discernable Logocentrism: Visual Journalists’ Experience during Video Implementation • This project examines visual journalists’ experience with legacy print leaders’ logocentrism during video platform implementation. Recognizing video’s potential as a digital-disruption solution, with prospects for increasing revenue and reaching new audiences, organizational leaders chose individual photojournalists for still and video platform convergence. Adhering to a word-centric ideology, leadership underestimated guidance, communication, and knowledge factors, creating uncertainty and slowing adoption. Collected through 14 interviews with visual journalists and viewed through Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations theory.

Extended Abstract • Student • Alejandro Bruna, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile • Extended abstract – From “Betty, la fea” to “Betty in NY” – the impact of digital storytelling on telenovelas • This work investigates whether digital narrative (or “digital storytelling”) affects visual language and structure of Latin America’s most relevant television product: telenovelas. Using the most successful telenovela in television history (Ugly Betty) two versions were analyzed at a dramatic and narrative level: the original Colombian version (Yo soy Betty, la fea) and its most recent adaptation (Betty in NY). Findings show that digital narrative influences the melodramatic matrix of telenovelas, themes, motivations, plot and situations.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Sungwon Chung, Ball State University; Johnny Sparks, Ball State University • Extended Abstract: Cognitive and Attitudinal Processing of Visual Frames in 360-Degree Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Messages • This experiment examined the influence of visual content frames (gain vs. loss) and presentation modality (non-360 vs. 360-degree videos) on cognitive and attitudinal processing of environmental corporate social responsibility (eCSR) messages on viewers’ memory and attitudes. Frame and modality influenced storage (cued recall) of company names, but only modality influenced encoding (recognition) of company names. However, neither frame nor modality affected encoding of company logos. Content frame also impacted perceived message effectiveness.

Extended Abstract • Student • Umberto Famulari, Indiana University Bloomington; Lesa Hatley Major; Osman Mohamed Osman • Visualizing criminal jury trials: A quantitative content analysis of images in U.S. news outlets • “This study will contribute to the scholarship of visual framing and journalism by analyzing for the first time how U.S. news outlets visually represented criminal jury trials in the last eighty years. Drawing from visual framing theory (Coleman, 2010; Bock, 2020), the images that accompanied all the news stories about criminal jury trials from 1940 to 2020 were analyzed at the denotative and stylistic level (Rodriguez and Dimitrova, 2011).

Preliminary findings showed differences between different types of news outlets (national U.S. televisions, cable news, local news outlets and newspapers) in relation to how defendants, victims and jurors were portrayed in terms of gender, race, emotions and camera distance used. Implications of the study were discussed and analyzed.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Robin Hoecker, DePaul University • Paradise or propaganda? Jack Delano’s FSA images of public housing in Chicago • This study looks at Jack Delano’s 1942 photographs of the Ida B. Wells homes in Chicago, and how they shaped narratives of public housing and wartime propaganda. Delano’s photographs show well-dressed Black families in immaculate, furnished apartments, with structured community programs. These images are part of the U.S. government-sponsored photography project of the Farm Security Administration, later Office of War Information, that documented life among working class Americans between 1935-1944.

Research Paper • Student • Omneya Ibrahim, The University of Texas at Austin; Shahira Fahmy, The American University in Cairo • Revealing the Veil in Internet Memes and GIFs: A Comparative Framing and Stereotyping Analysis • This study bridges a gap in visual communication research based on an integrative framing analysis of internet memes and GIFs using the hashtag #Hijab following the 2019 attacks on Muslim mosques in New Zealand. We analyzed both the textual and visual elements used in these digital tools to unravel their framing and stereotyping of veil. While significant differences between memes and GIFs existed, both tools displayed support for the hijab, revealing clear patterns regarding a new progressive image of hijabi women in the contemporary digital environment. Findings show that memes and GIFs challenge the traditional stereotyping and submissive image of Muslim women that has long been portrayed in media. They also suggest that memes and GIFs are each unique and, although sometimes regarded as one by scholars, ought to be evaluated and examined separately and independently from each another in future research.

Research Paper • Faculty • Jin Kim, The College of Saint Rose • Crisis of Cosmopolitan Citizenship in Hong Sang-soo’s Films • Drawing on complex narrative as a heuristic tool, this study aims to provide one reading about narrative structure of Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s films. While his movies seemingly lack logic and coherency, the Korean auteur creates a unique sense of meaningless, intuition, and fragile memory in his movies. Examining similarities and differences among his 2017 and 2018 movies (The Day After, Grass, Hotel By The River, and Claire’s Camera), one of the major arguments of this study is that Hong’s film narratives consist of repetition, fragmentation, looped causalities, lucid subjectivities and, multiple universes. While Hong might defy ideological-social analysis of his films, one of the major arguments in this study is that is resistance against spatial-temporal linearity and narrative consistency is symptomatic to understand crisis of citizenship within global pandemic and political turmoil.

Extended Abstract • Student • William Kohler, Southern Illinois University; Yuhosua Ryoo, Southern Illinois University • Truly Korean? A Quantitative Study of Film Style Under a Colonial System • Was Korean cinema identical to or distinct from Japanese cinema in its use of film techniques during the colonial period? Using a statistical style analysis, we demonstrated that the two are different in every stylistic category, including sound, cinematography, editing, and mise-en-scene. We concluded that Korean films retained their own film style and identity under colonization and should be considered just as truly Korean as films from any other period.

Extended Abstract • Student • Anat Leshnick, University of Colorado boulder; Rivka Ribak • A powerful, spiritual, win-win situation: Commercial authenticity in professional birth photography • Online repositories of professional birth photography present a radical alternative to the medicalized depiction of birth in commercial reality programs. Arguably, birth photographers allow women to see birth and learn about it, document it from their own perspective, and share this personally significant event in the public sphere. However, these images are produced and consumed within a market economy in which notions of resistance – and compliance – appear naïve (Banet-Weiser, 2012). From this perspective, rather than medicalized as opposed to natural, and rather than passive as opposed to resistant, we propose to see birth photography as a site of commercial authenticity, in which birth photographers and birthing women co-produce a neoliberal birth story that is at once liberating and cynical. Drawing on interviews with nine birth photographers and nine women who hired photographers to document their birth, we explore the ways in which these artisans develop professional and aesthetic practices that distinguish them from others in the delivery room, highlighting the complicated ways in which authenticity is created and sold in contemporary cultural production.

Research Paper • Student • Ajia Meux, University of Oklahoma • Constructing Love: Visual Representation of Blackness in the Obama Marriage • A content analysis of 346 images was employed to study differences in racial presentations of Barack and Michelle Obama between the White House and African American media. The literature on symbolic interactionism, presidential and first lady presentation, African marriage, minority media, framing and visual representation suggested that there would be differences by medium in portrayals of the president and first lady on racial variables (egalitarianism, marital affection, racialist, ethnic/cultural, kinship, political). Findings indicate that, across White House and African American media, the couple were often presented as egalitarian and affectionate. Statistical testing indicate that African American media were significantly more likely to depict Michelle Obama with racialist elements and the Obamas as a happy and affectionate married couple than the White House. A contradictory finding indicated that the White House was significantly more likely to focus on the extended family bonds of African Americans by depicting the Obamas in the presence of other black people. This study is important because the Obamas are the first ethnic minority to hold the offices of president and first lady of the United States, and this study is the first to explore the two as an African American married couple. Findings extends research on how minority media help construct reality for their audiences and have implications for new White House image management strategies of presidents and first ladies.

Research Paper • Faculty • Danielle Kilgo, University of Minnesota; Robert F. Potter; Ryan Comfort, Indiana University • A Winning Combination: Effects of Visual Frames in Solutions Journalism Stories • Solutions journalism approaches in recent years have tried to combat pessimistic and avoidant responses in audiences by producing stories about social issues that also focus on attempts to solve the problems. Although scholarship on visuals in solutions journalism has lagged behind research about text, some studies have shown that visual framing emphasizing solutions leads to higher levels of narrative engagement and behavioral intentions (Dahmen, Their & Walth, 2019) and lower levels of negative affect (McIntyre, Lough & Manzanares, 2018) than visual framing emphasizing problems. This study adds to theory about visual frames in solutions journalism with an online 2 (story topic: drug addiction, homelessness) x 4 (visual frame condition: no photo, solutions only, problems only, combination) mixed design experiment that investigated the question of what visual frame might arouse the ideal mix of affective responses to leave people concerned and interested in solutions journalism stories. The results have implications for visual communication theory and for photojournalism practice.

Research Paper • Faculty • Chunbo Ren, Central Michigan University; Viorela Dan • Frames and Journalistic Roles in Chinese Reporting on HIV: Insights from a Content Analysis and Qualitative Interviews Focused on the Verbal and Visual Modalities • Extant work largely neglects visuals’ contribution to news framing and how journalists perform their professional roles. We address this research gap in two studies, and use HIV reporting in China as a test case. Study 1, a content analysis in seven newspapers (2000-2015), shed light on how words and visuals suggest different frames and journalistic roles. Study 2 used in-depth interviews with journalists to contextualize the findings in Study 1, especially on the word-visuals rapport.

Research Paper • Student • Yimeng Sun, New York University; Hiu Yan Ping; Lei Guo; Boqi Chen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; David Assefa Tofu • Cross-Platform Visual Framing: Climate Visuals on News Websites and Twitter • To examine how the U.S. news media visually frame climate change, the study investigates how news media of different political orientations frame the issue differently across media platforms. We used content analysis to analyze 761 images covering climate change from news websites and Twitter. The results show that major U.S. news media of different political orientations used different visual elements to frame the issue, including various image types and image subjects.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Keith Greenwood; Ryan Thomas; Cory Macneil • What “Lens-Based Workers” Are Owed: An Exploration of the Photo Bill of Rights • This study will examine the Photo Bill of Rights, a recent initiative that centers the rights of “lens-based workers” and which presents an opportunity to evaluate the position of photojournalism within an evolving society. Through a textual analysis of the Bill’s contents, and a comparison with traditional ethical codes, the paper argues that the Bill represents a challenge to existing frameworks about what journalists owe the public by focusing on what journalists are themselves owed.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Darryl Frazier; Fred Vultee, Wayne State University • Extended Abstract: Ye Olde Europa Gin Mill: How war looked in isolationist cartoons of 1941 • This paper uses fantasy theme analysis to examine the rhetorical vision created by cartoonists for three major isolationist newspapers in the months leading up to US entry in the Second World War. These cartoons draw on both indexical and allusive properties to challenge or reinforce interpretations of current events, whether it is Uncle Sam stumbling toward a fight in someone else’s bar or a brave Charles Lindbergh landing at an unfriendly field.

Research Paper • Student • Yiting Wang, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa • Multimodal Analysis: Researching Short-form Videos and the Theatrical Practices • “Short-form video is one of the major approaches for people to present themselves on visual social media, such as TikTok. What is behind this type of visual communication? With the emerging field of social media and performance studies, can theatrical or performative discourse make sense of the video data? What would be a good method to study user-generated short-form videos (UGSVs)?

Digital living is performative, and theater is often integrated with social or political practices. This paper uses multimodal analysis for video analysis and draws concepts and practices from Chinese and western theater. Building on three theories (situation, suspense, and mimesis) in which the ontology of theater is often discussed, this paper demonstrates the modes and modalities of five videos originating from TikTok. The preliminary findings suggest three types of suspense and three types of mimesis practices that respectively answer how attention of audiences is retained, and how and why videos are reproduced and disseminated. We argue that imitation as a phenomenon and as a process can generate memes, and memes in turn invites more imitation. The crux at the back are the video practices that ridicule and critique, when different levels of resistance to politics, authority, or societal classes are shown.

Video analysis, under today’s ubiquitous visual data, requires robust updates. In addition to the contribution of a performative and theatrical perspective for the sense-making of short-form videos, this paper also contributes to the methods of video analysis in general and video analysis by using modes and multimodalities.”

Extended Abstract • Student • Frankie Ho Chun Wong • Extended abstract: [Multifaceted protest paradigm: the visual coverage of the 2019 Hong Kong protests in international news] • This study probed into the intersection between the protest paradigm and influence from national interests in news images, crucial in nonverbal news framing, in international news. International outlets’ visuals in reporting an iconic episode in the 2019 Hong Kong protests were comparatively investigated through framing and critical discourse analysis. Results suggest visual news frames consisted of spectacles but not explaining underlying causes, yet showing a between-outlet variance where frames reflected outlets’ political values at home.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Shannon Zenner, Elon University • That’s a Good Sign: The Typography and Design of Political Yard Signs • Most political communication researchers have focused on the textual content of political messaging, while ignoring how that same text is conveyed visually. This study is a content analysis of yard signs (n=151) posted in North Carolina during the November 2019 and March 2020 elections and the typography and colors used in those yard signs. Preliminary analysis indicates an overall preference for sans serif, all “caps” treatments but with some compelling differences by political party.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Kim Bissell, University of Alabama; Bummsoo Park, University of Alabama • Narratives and frames of firsts in women’s sports: A content analysis of newspaper coverage of Sarah Fuller and Power Five Football Introduction • Sarah Fuller became the first woman to ever play in a SEC or Power Five football game in November 2020, and news coverage of the event touted the historic nature of it all. Social media users, however, were critical of everything from her actual play to the words on the back of her helmet–Play Like a Girl. Using framing as the underlying theoretical framework, the present study represents a content analysis of news stories published about her play in two NCAA football games. Using a coding protocol developed by Billings and Eastman (2003) to identify descriptors used and the nature of those descriptors, 71 (of 107) news articles were included in the analysis. Of the 5,628 total descriptors coded, a majority were positively valenced and emphasized the historic nature of the event and that it represented a “first” for women in sport. These and other findings are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Colorado-Boulder • Covering sports, when there’s no sports: COVID, market orientation, paywalls and The Athletic • This study incorporates in-depth interviews with 43 journalists from the digitally native, venture-capital-backed sports journalism organization The Athletic. Through the lens of gatekeeping theory and utilizing the concept of market orientation, findings illustrate how having a somewhat strong market orientation could positively impact gatekeeping processes. Data illustrated that, during the pandemic, journalists at The Athletic collaborated more, and included more diversity in content. This positive result, which led to a subscription increase, is primarily due to market orientation, leadership, staff size and technological adoption, all organization-level influences on gatekeeping. This study concludes with analysis on how these findings can impact journalism in general and sports journalism specifically now and after Covid-19.

Extended Abstract • Student • Adrianne Grubic, The University of Texas at Austin • Proud: A Case Study of the Social Media Representation of Ibtihaj Muhammad • Media portrayals of sportswomen along with Black and Muslim women in general tend to be monolithic, focusing only on oppression of the body and the barriers they face for entry into sport. Using fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad as a case study wiht an eye towards transnational feminism, this multimodal discourse analysis study found her social media representation provides complex insight into what it means to Black, Muslim, and a woman in a traditionally white and elitist sport.

Research Paper • Faculty • Virginia Harrison, Clemson University; Brandon Boatwright; Joseph Bober • “A manifestation of their city as a god”: Gritty memes, the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and online representations of home • During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty starred in political election-related memes. Using systematic discourse analysis, this paper analyzes 14 Gritty memes to understand the interplay of sport mascots, fandom and home, and meme co-creation. Evidence was found for meme intertextuality and polyvocality as well as four personas of Gritty that propelled the mascot to transcend sport and become a historic symbol of Philadelphia’s role in determining the election outcome.

Research Paper • Faculty • Guy Harrison, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Charli Kerns, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Jason Stamm, The University of Tennessee • Covering the Rooney Rule: A Content Analysis of Print Coverage of NFL Head Coach • While scholars and football insiders have given much attention to the NFL’s ongoing head coaching diversity crisis, the (mostly White) sports media’s coverage of the issue — and of systemic racism in general — has been uneven. 2020’s racial upheaval — and the ensuing commitments made by individuals and corporations to fight systemic racism — offered sports journalists an opportunity to reflect on and recalibrate their coverage of these issues, however. Employing agenda building as a theoretical framework (Lang & Lang, 1991; Rogers et al., 1993), and taking into account the United States’ racial upheaval in 2020, this study uses the content analysis method to compare the rate at which print sports journalists assigned to cover specific NFL teams broadly discussed race in their written coverage of the 2020 and 2021 NFL head coaching hiring cycles. Previous agenda building research has found that the media’s story selection has been influenced at times by external actors and events. In statistically comparing the written coverage of both hiring cycles, which took place before and after the events of 2020, this study explores the possibility that NFL beat writers may have been influenced by those events. The study found statistically significant increases in the amount of web articles that mentioned race during the 2021 hiring cycle, including stories that were written after a head coach was hired. These findings suggest that social movements may influence otherwise routine sports reporting.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • MILES ROMNEY, Brigham Young University; Kevin Hull, University of South Carolina; Kirstin Pellizzaro, University of South Carolina; Denetra Walker • “Where do I even begin?”: The Harassment of Female Local Sports Broadcasters • This study examines the harassment faced by female local sports broadcasters throughout the United States. The women in this study overwhelming report they experience sexism, gender discrimination, and harassment based on their gender. This poor treatment comes from the audience, station management, and the athletes on whom they are reporting. The participants share their stories and reveal some of the many difficulties they face while simply trying to do their job.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Kevin Hull, University of South Carolina; John Carvalho, Auburn University; Blake Waddell, Auburn University • Who’s Got Game? A Survey of College-Level Sports Media Programs and Classes • As more higher education programs throughout the United States begin sports media programs, this research answers the call to take a closer look at what types of classes are being offered. An examination of the programs at 90 different journalism schools found that the majority offered some type of sports media class. These classes involved both theoretical, lecture-style classes and hands-on skills classes. Further breakdowns of the classes within type of school will be discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Muhammad Fahad Humayun, U of Colorado-Boulder • Construction of Mediated National Identity Through Sports Journalists Twitter Feed • The purpose of this study is to analyze how Pakistani and Indian national identity was portrayed in selected Pakistani and Indian journalists tweets about the 2017 International Cricket Council (ICC) champions trophy final. This study draws on the conceptual framework of mediated national identity, which has been extensively covered in previous sociological literature (e.g., Bale, 1986; Li, Stokowski, Dittmore, & Scott, 2016; Nossek, 2004). This study employed textual analysis to analyze Tweets from 10 sports journalists during the Champions Trophy final 2017. Results indicate that Pakistani and Indian sports journalists attempted to construct narratives of national identity while tweeting during the live match. They did so by employing metaphors, symbols, and semiotic anecdotes unique to their own countries. As one of the first attempts to evaluate how Pakistani and Indian sports journalists construct narratives around national identity and national belonging through their live tweets during a global sporting contest, this study helps push forward an understanding of sporting national identity in South Asia through a study of social media.

Research Paper • Faculty • Mark Mederson, Loras College; Michael Mirer, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee • Flipping the Frame: Rudy Gobert’s journey from episodic bad actor to thematic hero • Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis started the process that led to American sports shutting down in the early days of the pandemic. After the diagnosis, video of him touching reporters’ voice recorders at a press availability went viral. This framing analysis in five mainstream newspapers finds that over the course of 72 hours, Gobert went from a bad actor to a hero in news copy as an episodic frame focusing on his actions gave way to a thematic frame about the virus and its effects on the country.

Research Paper • Student Member • Dinfin Mulupi, University of Maryland, College Park • “Stick to tennis”? Media and public narratives in reaction to Naomi Osaka’s #BLM activism • This study examined social media commentary and news media framing of a Black woman athlete’s racial justice activism. Comments (N = 1,400) published to Naomi Osaka’s official Facebook page and online articles published by seven U.S. news organizations (N = 63) were analyzed qualitatively guided by framing and critical race theories. Facebook comments revealed frames of support, infantilization, and silencing of Osaka. News media framed Osaka’s activism as compatible with sports but sidestepped discussing racism.

Research Paper • Student • Vincent Peña, University of Texas at Austin • (Un)fair Pay to Play: Alienation, Exploitation, Labor Power and the NCAA • The argument about paying college athletes is not a new one and has long been a thorn in the side of the NCAA. However, there is a resurgence in the push for compensating college athletes amid a rash of legislation at the state level and court cases headed before the Supreme Court. This paper conducts a critical discourse analysis of this debate surrounding the compensation of college athletes that appears in both the popular and academic press. It examines news and sports media, as well as academic literature, major academic blog sites, and college newspapers. Using a Marxist lens, this paper examines the alienation, exploitation and labor power of major college athletes, especially those in the so-called moneymaking sports of basketball and football. It attempts to explicate the concepts in the context of college athletics and then look at the way various media outlets discursively perpetuate, challenge, or reify the alienation and exploitation of college athletes. Findings suggest that although there is a growing sentiment toward paying the players in some form, whether through granting them the rights to their name, image and likeness or providing them direct compensation, the arguments made by the media contribute to the alienation of college athletes from their athletic labor, and ultimately set the stage for the exploitation of these athletes.

Research Paper • Faculty • Gregory Perreault; Mildred Perreault • eSports as a news specialty gold rush: Communication ecology in the domination of traditional journalism over lifestyle journalism • Esports are becoming more popular with adults as they often result in prize money for those who play, and now even academic scholarships for Division 1 athletes. Therefore, online news might expand these opportunities to understand the impact of business news even further on investors and markets centering around eSports. This study included an analysis of news coverage in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and Business Insider from January 2018 to December 2020 has yielded 406 articles. Researchers coded these articles for specific marketing and public relations messages, and identified how various entertainment businesses have worked their support of these teams into the news coverage of eSports. We will argue that eSports represents a topic that would typically be covered through lifestyle journalism–after all, both gaming and sports are predominantly lifestyle specialties–that traditional journalism has dominated in order to reaffirm its privileged placement in the communication ecology.

Extended Abstract • Student • Brian Petrotta, University of Oklahoma • From Prohibition to Promotion: Discursive Power in the Legalization of Sports Betting • The discursive power perspective has increasingly been employed in the study of political communication, but only recently made its way into sports scholarship. This study will explore which speakers wielded discursive power by introducing, amplifying, and maintaining topics and frames at critical points in time in the evolution of sports betting legalization in the United States. Results will contribute to the emerging study of discursive power within the context of public policy.

Research Paper • Student • Shannon Scovel, University of Maryland • #TriathlonSoWhite: A critical assessment of the representation, underrepresentation and branding of intersectional bodies on the @USATriathlon official Instagram account • This paper critically evaluates the representation of intersectional bodies on @USATriathlon’s Instagram account in 2020 to understand how the organization viewed the sport during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also reveal efforts to diversify representation in triathlon after a June 1 statement that committed the governing body to creating a more inclusive sporting space. @USATriathlon’s Instagram feed reproduces hierarchies of the white, able-bodied sporting male, though the 429 posts do also feature white women prominently.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Matthew Taylor, Middle Tennessee State University • Crowd Pleasers: Exploring Motivations and Measuring Success Among Independent Sports Podcasters • This study uses in-depth interviews with independent sports podcasters to explore their motivations for podcasting and to determine how they measure their success. The findings will contribute to a growing body of podcasting research that has given limited attention to sports thus far despite the rising popularity of the format, which currently ranks among the Top 10 most popular genres for podcast listeners over the age of 18.

Research Paper • Student • Maria Tsyruleva, University of South Florida; Travis Bell, University of South Florida • “Golden Spike”: Examining Atlanta United’s Communication Strategies and Brand Attributes from Launch to Kickoff • This research explores Atlanta United FC, a soccer club that achieved record-breaking average attendance, from the communication perspective. Utilizing thematic analysis of the press releases published between the launch of the club through the team’s first official game, the study examines communication strategies the new organization used and core brand attributes it communicated. The results extend the current knowledge on strategic communication in the sports industry and provide insights for public relations practitioners.

Research Paper • Student • Carolina Velloso • Making Soufflé with Metal: Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Sports Journalism Routines • This paper investigates the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on sports journalism routines. Through open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 12 journalists, this study examines the challenges reporters faced, their adaptation strategies, and reflections on their professional capabilities. This paper argues that while the pandemic destabilized traditional sports journalism routines, respondents relied on previous experience and knowledge about their job requirements to find creative ways to combat the challenges imposed by the unusual sports seasons.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Dawn Francis, Cabrini University • Methods for Teaching Social Justice Journalism • The roots of social justice journalism are over a century old. However, today, there are very few studies defining this genre and preparing journalism and mass communication educators to teach it to their students. This paper provides the results of an exploratory qualitative study into the pedagogical methods for teaching storytelling for social justice. It also takes the insights gained from this analysis and presents an initial model for teaching social justice journalism.

Research Paper • Faculty • Chris McCollough, Jacksonville State University • Building Sustainable Client Partnerships: a Non-Profit Outreach Center’s Value to Developing a Service-Learning Pedagogy • Pedagogical literature documents service-learning’s impact on students, the community, and educators alike. Benefits aside, concerns remain about the time- and resource-intensive nature of building, cultivating, and sustaining client-partnerships (Fall & Bourland-Davis, 2004). The paper is a case study of the development of a non-profit outreach center, its operating practices, its cultivation and maintenance of client partnerships, as well as a consideration of some of the challenges it faces.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • The Future of the Field: Journalism Degree Motivations, Roles and Relevancy of the Field • Faculty Papers • “Journalism students represent the future of the industry. Learning how they conceptualize journalism may build understanding of the field’s evolution. This survey research examines the motivations and perceptions of journalism students about the profession. Preliminary results show that students’ top motivations for pursuing journalism were related to creative reporting skills, continual learning, and travel in their job. They were also interested in current affairs and displayed a modest drive for addressing social injustices.” • Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Lucinda Davenport, Michigan State University; Robin Blom, Ball State University

Research Paper • Student Activism vs. Student Journalism: Racial Justice, Free Speech, and Journalism Ethics in College Newspapers • Faculty Papers • Using two recent controversies involving campus social justice protests and student news organizations, this study uses an interdisciplinary lens to examine free expression and normative journalism ethics discourse. It explores themes related to First Amendment rights and values, journalism ethics, and racial justice, asking which are evident and absent in opinion journalism focused on the cases. It examines universities’ dual missions of supporting free expression and advancing the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. • Jason Shepard

Extended Abstract • Extended Abstract: “We’re Playing a Telephone Game”: Understanding How Teenagers Engage with News Through a Simulation • Faculty Papers • With misinformation at an all-time high, this study explores how high school students cope with inaccurate information and perceive journalists through observation of their skills in a breaking news simulation and post-study interviews. Results reveal that young people desire accurate information but lack the tools to correct it and that immersive learning experiences, like the one used in this study, can teach about the role of quality journalism in stopping the spread of false information. • Theresa de los Santos, Pepperdine University; Elizabeth Smith, Pepperdine University; Jillian Johnson, Pepperdine University

Research Paper • The long-term value of networking and diverse professional experience in online communication master’s program cohorts • Faculty Papers • A survey of alumni from a 10-year-old cohort-based online master’s program in digital communication showed that respondents felt high levels of sense of community both during the program and after graduation. Respondents reported regular interteraction with cohort members and valued the ability to network with peers from a wide range of communication subfields. Results suggest a cohort structure has strong networking benefits for online master’s students, although more identity-based diversity among cohort members is needed. Universities that currently utilize a cohort structure should more robustly promote this aspect of their programs in marketing and recruitment efforts. They should also take steps to maximize interactions between and among cohorts after graduation to enhance connections with a professionally accomplished base of alumni. • Shanetta Pendleton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Rhonda Gibson

Research Paper • Pandemic grading strategies: A natural experiment with audio feedback in an introductory mass communications course • Faculty Papers • The COVID-19 pandemic realities of the Fall 2020 semester provided an opportunity to try integrated technology grading strategies. The natural experiment deployed personalized and generalized feedback to two sections of an introductory mass communications class for their first written assignment. A survey captured students’ perspectives about ‘helpfulness’ and ‘purpose’ of the grading implements. The results indicated that personalized feedback is preferred, and the combination of grading efforts, in general, is helpful. • Carolyn Hedges, Syracuse University

Extended Abstract • The Inconsistency of Journalism Education and Trauma-related Instruction • Faculty Papers • Although journalism educators believe trauma topics are important, curricular coverage is inconsistent. This survey examined the extent educators covered specific trauma topics. Participants rated the importance and extent of coverage across four domains in required classes: self-care, trauma-informed interviewing, trauma impact on community, and best community reporting practices. The commonly deemed highly valued topics include ethics of accuracy, sensitivity, respect for survivors, and privacy rights. Self-care was deemed important but often not covered in courses. • Joe Hight, University of Central Oklahoma; Elana Newman, University of Tulsa; Ilissa Madrigal; Bret Arnold

Research Paper • Teaching Data Science through Storytelling: Improving Undergraduate Data Literacy • Faculty Papers • This study notices a significant gap of data literacy between communication students and science students across four U.S. universities. This project develops an experiential teaching and learning platform (OCEL.AI) and proposes a story-centric approach to teach data gathering, analysis, modeling, application, and ethics to students. The results showed that the storytelling approach had significant impacts on students’ knowledge, appreciation, motivation, confidence, and competence in data science, even after controlling the effects of major and gender. • You Li, Eastern Michigan U; Ye Wang; Yugyung Lee; Huan Chen, University of Florida; Alexis Nicolle Petri; Teryn Cha

Research Paper • Student Journalists Exhibit Different Mindsets, Agree on the Need for Truthful Reporting • Faculty Papers • “This study investigates journalism students’ beliefs about the profession they seek to enter. Using Q methodology to explore the participants’ subjective conceptions of journalism, we map their attitudes and beliefs along four dimensions: impartial, neutral, point-of-view, and involved. Participants (n = 54) sorted 28 statements about journalism from “most like” their journalistic mindset to “most unlike.” Factor analysis identified two distinct mindsets among the participants, one expressing a traditional journalistic mindset, the other embracing a more involved, vocal journalism. Yet both factors expressed strong support for many facets of traditional journalism.

Extended Abstract • A Systematic Review of Media Literacy Interventions and the Case for Teaching a Logic-Based Debunking Approach • Faculty Papers • This study uses a systematic review to examine pedagogical approaches used to teach media consumers to debunk falsehoods and evaluate claims. We find that the fact-based “checklist approach” is dominant. This approach, while useful in some contexts, is limited. We make the case for teaching media literacy lessons through a less commonly used logic-based debunking approach in which students ask the question: In what world could this information or claim possibly be true? • Alexander Sussman; Elia Powers, Towson University

Research Paper • A mission-based argument for private K-12 student press • Faculty Papers • While the First Amendment does not guarantee student press within public schools, it does help affirm the value of such opportunities to student communities. Private schools do not enjoy such constitutional support, but may have a more powerful tool closer to home: their own school mission statements. This study analyzes nearly 500 private K-12 school mission statements to determine if the priorities identified by these programs align with the documented benefits of student journalism. • Erica Salkin, Whitworth University Department of Communication Studies

Research Paper • An Exploration of and Intervention to Increase Children’s Critical Analysis of News • Faculty Papers • To take the first steps in increasing children’s critical analysis of fake news, this study (N = 298, 10–12 y/o) looks into children’s fake news knowledge (qualitative) and a theory-based fake news e-learning intervention for children (quantitative). Results show that children do have knowledge on fake news, but that there a large individual differences. The fake news intervention (e-learning) did not increase children’s fake news knowledge and awareness, but it did increase their self-efficacy. • Sanne Tamboer, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University; Anne Vlaanderen; Kirsten Bevelander, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University; Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University and Medical Centre.; Mariska Kleemans

Extended Abstract • How to Increase News Literacy via Interventions: Insights from Early Adolescents • Faculty Papers • As a first step in the development of news literacy interventions for early adolescents, we discussed with the target group what a successful intervention targeting their own age group’s news literacy should look like. In the focus groups, participants mentioned that it is a challenge to motivate their news literacy, but also discussed intervention elements that they believe can be effective. These are: competition and rewards, tailored content, the accessibility of the intervention, and interactivity. • Sanne Tamboer, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University; Mariska Kleemans; Serena Daalmans, Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute; Inge Molenaar, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University; Tibor Bosse, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University

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2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Ibrahim Abusharif • Competing Binaries: “Sufism” vs “Salafism” in The New York Times • In recent years, there have been a string of violent acts committed by extremist Salafists and Taliban against Sufi Muslim worshipers, mosques, and shrines. In covering these acts, The New York Times reporters employ terminologies that seek to explain to readers what Sufism is. In doing so, the newspaper often uses words that unintentionally create a news frame that indicates a binary between Sufism and Islam itself. This study examines through qualitative textual analysis the usage of framing terminologies (such as “sect” or “strain” of Islam) in articles describing Sufism.

Research Paper • Student • LaRisa Anderson, University of Texas at Austin • “You can’t fight what’s already happening, right?”: A Case Study of Christian Live-Streaming • Amongst the myriad expressions of church, live-streaming services are a growing format of evangelism. This case study investigates two churches of varying sizes, demographics, and resources in Austin, Texas who use live-stream services in unique ways. Current literature on the interplay of religiosity and media are discussed including the influence of televangelism. I specifically focus on the nature of communal engagement in the context of live-stream as a definitive characteristic of church. As explicated by John Wright (1987)’s framing of community within the Church, this project explores: How do churches who use live-stream technology facilitate communal engagement? Or rather, how do church leaders intentionally replicate community online? To what extent are the producers of content for churches cognizant of the necessity for community formation? A total of six church officials and other religious personnel were interviewed for approximately 60 minutes. Each were asked to operationalize the community of their church in the physical space and the community they suspect is developing online. Interview data as well as observational field notes were used as source material for content analysis. The hypothesis that churches might neglect the online audience or minimize its use was supported. Findings indicate three suppositions for live-stream approaches: healthy discourse, points-of-entry, and innovation and expansion. These are aided by one constructive finding regarding the reactionary nature of technology adoption in the church. Limitations and future research suggestions are also discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Ruta Kaskeleviciute; Helena Knupfer; Joerg Matthes, University of Vienna • Who Says “Muslims are not Terrorists”? News Differentiation, Muslim vs. Non-Muslim Sources, and Attitudes Toward Muslims • In a quota-based experiment (N = 291), participants were confronted with news about terrorism. We manipulated source (non-Muslim, Muslim) and degree of differentiation between Muslims and terrorists to analyze effects on explicit and implicit attitudes toward Muslims. Undifferentiation predicted negative explicit attitudes but did not affect implicit attitudes. Participants perceived non-Muslim sources as more similar. The effects of undifferentiation on hostile attitudes were more pronounced when sources were perceived as similar compared to less similar.

Research Paper • Faculty • Suman Mishra, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville • Branded Spirituality: Gurus, Globalization, and Neo-Spiritual Nationalism in Indian Marketplace • Scholars have examined the role of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in marketing practices and in shaping consumption, but similar research related to Hindu religion and associated spirituality in the Eastern marketplace has been scant. This study informs about the new trend of commodification of spirituality in India by examining the advertising of brands associated with prominent spiritual gurus in India. The study highlights how Indian gurus are harnessing the power of Hindu religion and spirituality and combining it with political ideology to add value to their brands and structure consumer choice. The process has worked to direct Indian consumers toward local brands and away from multinational brands by fostering spiritual nationalism, a movement expressed through messages such as sudhta (purity), Ayurveda (nature and naturopathy), rejuvenation, divinity, and swadeshi (local) in brand advertising.

Research Paper • Faculty • Gregory Perreault; Kathryn Montalbano • From Lifestyle Journalism to General News: Field Theory in the hard news turn of religion reporting • In the spirit of Ranly (1979) and Buddenbaum (1988), the present study analyzes the role of religion reporting with the journalistic field. Personnel cuts within newsrooms and the development of “religion reporters” operating from religious institutions necessitate a re-exploration of the field. At stake is the coverage of religion, a topic that continues to be near-and-dear to the vast majority of people in the United States, nearly 79 percent of which identify as religious (Putnam & Campbell, 2010). Simultaneously, the majority of the United States tends to think journalists cover religion poorly. Through the lens of field theory, this study analyzes 20 interviews with U.S.-based religion reporters who work for both mainstream and religious publications. This study finds that as a result of weak economic capital, religion reporting shifted to the general news beats of courts, crime and education. This shift yielded two results: a loss of specialization in reporting of religion, and a loss of much of the lifestyle journalism, or audience-oriented, guidance-oriented news, within the specialty. New entrants, in the form of reporting from religious organizations, offer a means with which to reintroduce lifestyle journalism into the field, thereby facilitating their entry into the field.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Brian Smith, Brigham Young University; Danielle Hallows; Maggie Vail; Caleb Porter; Alycia Burnett; Camilla Owens; Kateryna Kravchenko • Rise of the Religious Influencer? Examining Faith-Based Influence on Social Media • With their increasing impact, social media influencers are an emerging focus in communication research. Their influence on religious activity is of particular relevance, given the growing use of social media for religious and faith-based purposes. This study examined religious advocacy on social media through in-depth interviews with 20 faith-based influencers. Results showed a duality of social media use among influencers—evangelism and self-transcendence were primary motivations. Additionally, dialogic rather than monologic communication was dominant.

<2021 Abstracts