2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Debut Faculty Paper Competition • J. Patrick McGrail, Jacksonville State University; Ewa McGrail, Georgia State University • The ReDigi Case and the Digital Challenge to the First Sale Doctrine • We describe the First Sale Doctrine, its decline in recent years, and the company ReDigi’s novel protocol for its preservation in the current Digital Age. We describe how and why the courts have frowned on ReDigi’s protocol, and why our culture of virtual digital transmission has led to a decline of the First Sale Doctrine. We recount the history of infringement of digital musical works and afterward, why an essential difference between digital and analog copyrightable works is the little-seen reason for this decline. We propose a rationale for why the two types of works cannot be equitably treated the same at law. To do this, we introduce a taxonomy for digital works – how all creative works today actually need to be thought of with respect to their analog, digital or mixed state, (states which can and do change with time due to medium decay), how these changing states are distinct yet interrelated, and why federal legislators need to consider a wholesale revision of copyright law to reflect these distinctions. We conclude with proposals for how the law might be changed to restore the First Sale Doctrine.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Morgan Band, University of Florida • A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of Pretrial Publicity on Jury Perception • This investigation analyzed the conflicting values between the impact pretrial publicity has on defendants’ rights to a fair trial and the importance of upholding the media’s freedom of the press. The meta-analytic review aimed to answer ‘how does pretrial publicity impact jury perception’ and ‘what solution would be effective at reducing this impact?’ Several studies were examined to explore psychological explanations about how pretrial publicity creates bias and why current remedies fail to diminish it.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Courtney Barclay, Jacksonville University; Kearston Wesner • [EXTENDED ABSTRACT] Feeling the Bern: Commercial Speech Protections for Memes • The Bernie meme raced around the internet on Inauguration Day. Bernie found his way into Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Last Supper, as well as retailers and restaurants. Brands’ use of the meme raised questions about the extent of protection for meme discourse in a commercial context. This article reviews commercial speech doctrine and right of publicity. Concluding that memes, even when used by corporate speakers, are inherently protected under the First Amendment.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Stephen Bates, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • The Positive First Amendment in Constitutional History, Law, and Theory • The positive interpretation of the First Amendment holds that the First Amendment permits or even requires the government to foster the system of public deliberation. In essence, “Congress shall make no law” can mean “Congress shall make law.” This paper evaluates the theory, first in the context of the Framers’ understanding of the First Amendment. It finds that Madison, Jefferson, and several others directly addressed the issue. They insisted that Congress has no power over speech and the press. Arguing the other side were backers of the Alien and Sedition Acts, who maintained that the First Amendment forbids abridgment of free expression but not enhancement of it—just as positive First Amendment theorists now contend. The paper next examines case law for support of the positive interpretation. It finds that Associated Press v. United States and Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC, the cases most frequently cited as supporting the positive interpretation, contain soaring rhetoric, but their holdings, in the light of subsequent cases, are narrow. A few other cases provide oblique support. The paper concludes that the positive interpretation of the First Amendment is a provocative, innovative constitutional theory, but it bears little resemblance to original intent or judicial doctrine.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Genelle Belmas, University of Kansas; Tori Ekstrand; Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University; Kyla Wagner • Extended Abstract: Too Many Cases, Too Little Time: What Instructors Choose to (Not) Teach in Media Law Courses • “What cases do you teach?” Few questions this simple lead to heated debate, but among media law instructors, little consensus exists as to which topics and cases they should teach. Further, the research that has explored this debate is either outdated or non-comprehensive. This research, then, offers an updated, empirical examination of media law instructors on the topics and cases they cover and do not to, ideally, move the topic from debate to (general) agreement.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Benjamin W. Cramer, Pennsylvania State University • Nearly Extinct in the Wild: The Vulnerable Transparency of the Endangered Species List • This article reconstructs the Endangered Species Act as a government information statute. That Act makes use of an official list of vulnerable creatures that is used for agency action to save them from extinction. This article argues that the official list of species is not sufficiently accurate or transparent to citizens, so the compilation of that list does not satisfy the public interest goals of American environmental law or government transparency policy.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Anthony Fargo, Indiana University-Bloomington • Perilous in Seattle: The Dangers of Covering Protests and Implications for the Journalist’s Privilege • Five Seattle news organizations fighting a police subpoena for unpublished images from a 2020 protest made the novel argument that complying could endanger journalists covering future protests, who might be seen as police agents. A similar argument has been raised successfully by war correspondents asked to appear before international criminal tribunals. Given widespread mistrust of the media, this paper argues that it could be a viable argument in U.S. courts despite strong counter-arguments.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Roy Gutterman, Syracuse University • Liable, Naaaht: The Mockumentary: Litigation, Liability and the First Amendment in the works of Sacha Baron Cohen • The mockumentary, the primary genre of actor and provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen has generated a number of high profile lawsuits. Because the mockumentary genre is a hybrid of both documentary, fiction and comedy, legal questions continue to percolate. With Baron Cohen’s cable series Who is America still in litigation and the release of the Borat sequel within the statute of limitations, future litigation is not unexpected. The mockumentary raises questions of tort and contract law as well as how far protections extend under the First Amendment.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Frank LoMonte, University of Florida • Copyright Versus the Right to Copy: The Civic Danger of Allowing Copyright to Override State Freedom-of-Information Law • Journalists, researchers and activists rely on freedom-of-information laws for access to the essential data and documents they need. But the ability to copy and republish public documents exists in the chilling shadow of copyright law. Because the bar for a document to qualify as copyright-protected is low, a hidebound government agency could manipulatively use copyright protection to conceal studies, reports and other documents of undeniable public interest, if copyright is understood to operate as a trump card overriding the public’s right of access. A reckoning in the not-distant future is likely, as government agencies become repositories for more and more data and documents of commercial value. Further complicating the question, a dispute that implicates both federal copyright law and state open-government law has no single judicial “home.” As long as copyright is understood as an impediment to fulfilling public records requests, multiple rounds of parallel litigation may be necessary to adjudicate the bundle of state and federal issues wrapped up in a request for copyright-eligible documents. Although courts occasionally have applied the “fair use” defense to allow requesters to inspect and copy records that qualify for copyright, fair use is too fact-specific and unpredictable to give publishers the assurance they need to pursue and distribute the news. This paper concludes that copyright should never be understood to impede inspecting and copying government documents, because narrower FOI exemptions exist to fully protect rightsholders’ legitimate interests.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Michael Martinez, University of Tennessee • Thirty Years After Chandler v. Florida: Chauvin Trial Shows Flaws in ‘Cameras in the Courts’ • Thirty years ago, the decision in Chandler v. Florida, found that states have the right to allow cameras in the courts, differing from a prior ruling, in Estes v. Texas, that banned electronic media. Through legal and historical analysis, this study found that even though cameras access is allowed in all 50 states, there is a mosaic of rules that make access to courts inconsistent and calls for parity of access with its print brethren.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Hayley Rousselle, Syracuse University College of Law • Social Media and the Economy of Hate • Section 230 grants social media companies immunity in making good faith efforts to regulate content on their platforms. However, this legal norm does nothing to encourage transparent, consistent, or effective regulation of harmful content like hate speech. Instead, section 230 has left social media companies in a position where they can go unchecked in profiting from the harmful content they often claim to prohibit. This article examines how Congress can amend section 230 to best incentivize social media companies to enforce their policies that prohibit hate speech.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Amy Kristin Sanders, University of Texas at Austin; William Kosinski • Extended Abstract: The Arab Winter: How Privacy Norms, Social Media and Dissent Spurred Increasing Government Repression of Free Expression in the Decade Following the Arab Spring • Ten years after the Arab Spring, few, if any, pro-democratic developments in freedom of expression have taken hold in the Middle East. In fact, the rise of social media, with its potential to fuel dissent, has spurred a significant crackdown on media freedom and critical online speech. Using legal research methodology, this study analyzes the connection between the region’s socio-religious norms around privacy, the rise of social media, and the governments’ attempts to crack down on media freedom. After analyzing news coverage, white papers, constitutions, statutes, and other formal and informal sources of law, the researchers discuss authoritarian leaders’ increasing use of cybercrime laws, billed as a means of protecting privacy. These draconian laws, mostly promulgated after 2010, are vaguely worded, designed to discourage “offensive” speech and carry harsh penalties.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University • Rise of the Copyleft Trolls: When Photographers Sue After Creative Commons Licenses Go Awry • Creative Commons licenses typically signal that a photograph uploaded to the web may be used for limited purposes, such as noncommercial uses or with attribution. Some photographers are monetizing this, uploading photos with little commercial value, searching the web for uses with improper attribution, then demanding payment and engaging in high-volume litigation. This study examines more than 30 cases involving photographers suing after a Creative Commons license terminated, finding that courts are showing a willingness to accept users’ arguments of fair use based on transformative purposes and lack of economic harm, as well as general distaste for the arguments of photographers engaging in this kind of litigation.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Kirk von Kreisler, Primarily virtual at home, but may involve going into office (Host Company Location) occasionally. • EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Is Defamation Law Outdated? How Justice Powell Predicted the Current Criticism • Defamation law has seen no shortage of high-dollar verdicts in recent years, but attacks from influential public officials on foundational speech protections are much more concerning. Justice Lewis Powell’s personal papers show that this desire to shift the balance of protection away from free speech toward individual reputations is nothing new. Instead, today’s arguments in favor of abandoning New York Times actual malice likely draw their inspiration from Justice Powell’s desire to fundamentally alter defamation law by re-elevating the state’s interest in protecting individuals’ reputations.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Patrick Walters, Kutztown University • Beyond Positive & Negative: Developing a Complementary Framework for First Amendment Theory • Tracing back to the work of Isaiah Berlin and the debates of the Hutchins Commission, discussions of First Amendment theory have long been divided into opposing interpretations of “negative” rights protecting speakers from interference and “positive” rights ensuring that the public has the right to a quality information system. This paper explores whether these two contrasting approaches can be rectified, especially in an era where the lines between communicator and audience are no longer firm. The analysis explores these questions amid ongoing debates about regulating platforms, restricting hate speech and increased public intervention in the floundering news industry. The analysis, which builds on previous scholarship that has deemed First Amendment theory “inadequate,” finds that the two perspectives are indeed unique and cannot be rectified. But the paper argues that these perspectives need not be oppositional to each other. It issues a call for scholars and practitioners to support a complementary First Amendment approach that embraces both perspectives in the name of reaching a more complete understanding of our information ecosystem and all the factors involved in it.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Cristina Azocar; Lourdes Cárdenas, San Franciso State University • Bilingual Spanish Journalism: Preparing Students for the Future • “Bilingual reporting and writing skills are opening multiple opportunities for journalists in print, broadcast, online and emerging media. But few opportunities exist to prepare students for these jobs, particularly for the bilingual writing expertise required, and the current journalism job market lacks applicants with the bilingual proficiency necessary to fill the openings. We used mixed-methods to assess whether a minor, a certificate, a concentration or a major would address the bilingual expertise needed for the current job market. We concluded that a bachelor’s degree in Bilingual Spanish Journalism is the best academic option to fill this expertise gap. Based on the expertise needed, we designed an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree that will provide students with the necessary tools and skills to report, produce and write news stories in Spanish and English for print, online and electronic media, and to work in Latinx mainstream media as well as English language publications covering issues affecting Latinx communities.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Robin Blom, Ball State University; Elena Lazoff • Internship Practices in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs: A review of ACEJMC-accredited programs • The use of professional internships has long been a defining feature of journalism and mass communication programs, but the practice is also increasingly controversial for the financial burdens it places on marginalized students. This study examines accreditation reports for 120 institutions to gain a better understanding of current practices. Preliminary findings show that almost all universities offer internships for credit, about 20% of programs require them, and most use them to assess student learning outcomes.

Research Paper • Faculty • Joey Senat, Oklahoma State University/School of Media; John McGuire, Oklahoma State University/School of Media • Benefiting or Exploiting: Judicial Interpretations of What Constitutes a Legal Unpaid Journalism and Mass Communication Internship Under the Primary Beneficiary Test • This study analyzed federal court applications of the primary beneficiary test used to determine when college students working at for-profit companies should be considered unpaid interns or paid employees. Courts have put few guardrails in place to protect students from being exploited as free labor. Instead, the test is so vague and easily met by employers that students are more likely to be exploited now than they were under the U.S. Department of Labor’s previous criteria. Consequently, universities must take responsibility for ensuring their students benefit from unpaid internships.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Shlash Alzyoud, Student • The Concept of “New Media” among Jordanian News Producers • Journalists and directors of major media have documented doubts about blogging and social media. Difficult questions must be asked to know how new technologies are affecting journalism, along with what is actually achieved for the news organization in the presence of these technologies. The purpose of the this study is to understand and explain how Jordanian news-story producers perceive social media networks as related to making news and the extent to which they rely on these networks in producing news, in addition to knowing their opinions of the pros and cons of these networks. The study uses the qualitative approach by conducting personal interviews with the study sample.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Augustine Botwe, University of Colorado Boulder; Selorm Adogla • Responsibility Framing of Health Issues in Ghanaian Newspapers: A Comparative Study of Ebola and Cholera • The media in Ghana can play a significant role in shaping narratives associated with public health problems, especially endemic health challenges. The results of a bivariate analysis of the contents of two most widely circulated Ghanaian newspapers show that experts, who dominate media conversations about public health issues, discriminate in their apportioning of responsibility. While they called on the government to tackle Ebola, they shamed individuals for the outbreak of cholera. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Chen Chen • The Geopolitics Game: A Comparatively Frame Analysis between the US and Chinese Coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” in the Perspective of Media Diplomacy • TikTok was considered to be banned by American government after July 2020, this commercial dispute was “politicized”. This study compared the news coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” by two comparable mainstream media groups in China and the US. By employing multi-layer frame analysis of two News Frames, this study aimed at uncovering how and why the dispute was constructed in the Media Diplomacy of the two states under the geopolitics game vision.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Calvin Cheng, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Wanjiang Zhang; Qiyue ZHANG • Conspiracy about COVID-19 Pandemic in Contemporary China: What is the Authority’s Role on Weibo • By illustrating how Chinese authorities narrate and spread conspiracy theories (CTs) on Weibo, this study argues that authority-led CTs are strategic rhetoric in political discourse in authoritarian systems. We found authority-led CTs are significantly different from individual-led CTs in terms of topics, narratives, and diffusion patterns. Particularly Chinese authorities applied denial, rivalrous and connotative rhetoric on controversial topics to signify conspiratorial claims, contributing to the widespread of misleading CTs from vast individuals on social media.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Abdul Wahab Gibrilu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • News use, partisanship and political attitudes in Africa: A cross-national analysis of four African societies using the communication mediation approach • Drawing from Afrobarometer survey respondents in four African democracies (N=5997), we explored news uses effects on citizens’ political attitudes and how such relationships are affected by partisanship. Findings showed that only online news uses predicted all levels of citizens’ political attitudes across the samples whilst mediation results further affirmed different pathways to political attitudes through political discussion. Partisan differences exhibited consistent indirect effects for ruling and no party support across large portion of the sample.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Jing GUO, Chinese Univeristy of Hong Kong • How twitter becomes the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy? • I applied grounded theory in social media research to explore how twitter became the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy campaign. By manual coding and simultaneous analysis on Chinese current foreign spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s Twitter postings and comments he received in three stages, I conceptualized China’s recent diplomatic move on twitter as ‘war of words’ model with features like ‘leadership’, ‘polarization’ and ‘aggressiveness’, while the effects in global community including ‘resistance’, ‘hatred’, and ‘sarcasm’.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Sima Bhowmik • Examining the media coverage of early COVID19 responses in the online version of Bangladeshi newspapers. • This study analyzes Bangladeshi news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine attention cycle patterns, cited sources, and news frames. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 729 articles from three newspapers (The Daily Star, The Daily Sun, and The Daily Prothom-Alo) published from March 1 to May 30, 2020. It was found that attention cycle patterns, news frames, and sources varied across the three newspapers. The study shows that these three newspapers gave more attention after the pandemic announcement. This study revealed that these three-newspapers emphasized mostly on attribution on government responsibility and reassurance frame. Regarding the news sources, these three newspapers equally used more sources from government. Apart from govt. sources The Daily Star and The Daily Sun also used international experts’ comments, while The Daily Prothom-Alo frequently used Bangladeshi health experts’ comments. This study will be helpful for researchers to understand third world country’s pandemic coverage.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • milan ismangil • Print as Digital Gateway: Hong Kong’s Yellow Economy and Bimodal Communications • Print is not dead. Machine readable communications and smartphones as the means to read them has given print new wings. Print is rearticulated as bimodal communication, standing between the physical and the digital realm. By analysing the yellow economic circle in Hong Kong, a pro democracy protest, this article argues that the new possibilities of paper as digital gateway to the digital has made it a vital part of the protest movement.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Solyee Kim, University of Georgia • What does the Korean Embassy’s Facebook page show us? • This study explores the discourse on the Facebook page of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States and how the Embassy constructs its roles and the US-ROK relationship. The study analyzes the posts that were published on the Embassy’s Facebook page between October 25, 2019 and October 25, 2020 and discusses how its findings help constructing the ideologies of the Embassy and dynamics of the US-ROK relations.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Wei-ping Li, College of Journalism • Extended Abstract: [It’s a small world after all] • During the Covid-19 pandemic, people in different countries have shared not only the fear of the virus but also false information. Based on international information flow theory and by examing Covid-19 false information in the Chinese language, this research studies the characters of the similar or identical false information that circulates in various countries. The research finds that cultural and geographical proximity are important factors in deciding where the information traverses.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Qiaozhi Liang; Yifei Li; Ke XUE • The Charm of Culture: An Empirical Research on Intangible Cultural Heritage Short Videos • With the prosperity of Internet techniques in digital age, culture-related short videos have sprung up to attract overseas audience to adopt information of exotic culture. The study is an empirical research to investigate the factors affecting the viewers’ adoption towards the intangible cultural heritage short video and thus influencing their cultural identity. The Information Adoption Model (IAM) was extended and verified to adapt to the context of culture dissemination by adding the moderating variables of visual aesthetics and personal involvement. Questionnaire was conducted online comprised of the short videos’ clips and psychological scales. In conclusion, 471 people took part in the survey and 433 were validated. With the regression results, we found the establishment of the positive effects of source credibility and information quality on information adoption, the dual-moderating effect of involvement, and the negative moderating effect of visual aesthetics to the relationship between source credibility and information adoption. The study provides insights into guidance for making attractive short videos and innovative strategies to spread culture efficiently.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • V Michelle Michael; Satrajit Ghosh Chowdhury • Extended Abstract: Framing Terrorism in a Global Media Conduit: Comparing Muslim-Majority and Muslim-Minority Countries • This study compared the news coverage of three terrorist attacks in Britain in the summer of 2017. As terrorism and Islam are often erroneously correlated in news coverage, 510 articles from three Muslim-majority and three Muslim-minority countries were analyzed for any differences based on national religious identity. Our study showed that the three Muslim-minority countries used more terrorism frames for Muslim perpetrators than a White perpetrator compared to the three Muslim-majority countries.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Nabila Mushtarin, University of South Alabama • #desi: Self-Representation on TikTok among the South Asian Diasporic Youth in the U.S. • With 2 billion downloads and 69% users under the age of 24 across 150 countries, TikTok has become a popular social media platform preferred by the youth for sharing unique interactive contents. The virtual space offered by TikTok motivates its users to participate in short performative videos reflecting socio-cultural practices. This paper explores the use of TikTok by the South Asian Diasporic youth and analyzes its role in offering a virtual space for self-representation of the group.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Mladen Petkov • Journalistic role perceptions and barriers to role fulfilment in post-communist Bulgaria: A preliminary assessment • This preliminary study explores role perception among journalists in Bulgaria, who work in a media landscape where political pressure and dissemination of false information create barriers to role fulfillment. The findings reported in this paper summarize semi-structured interviews with established Bulgarian journalists who discuss their work and reflect on professional values in an era of incomplete political transition and abundant disinformation. The findings make a contribution to scholarly studies about post-communist media systems.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Viktor Tuzov, City University of Hong Kong • Media coverage of trade war between China and United States by Russian media outlets • During the recent years the trade war between China and United States became one of the most important crisis not only in the global economic relations, but also in the international political agenda. The current research is focused on Russian media coverage of trade war between China and United States based on the content analysis and implication of structural differences existing in the current Russian media system into war and peace journalism paradigm.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Gea Ujčić • In “Other” news: A media framing analysis of COVID-19 emergence in Croatia • By qualitatively analyzing Croatian coverage of COVID-19 outbreaks in China and Croatia, this paper explored framing and the construction of “Otherness” in three Croatian digital news outlets. Findings indicate stereotyping, dehumanization and Orientalism were present in framing China as a threat, while with the domestic outbreak, empathy, resilience, and personalization prevailed. This paper contributes to the existing literature by exploring Croatian coverage of the pandemic and adding to the research of portrayals of pestilences worldwide.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Lupita Wijaya, Monash University • What’s in a name? Imagined Territories and Sea Names in the South China Sea Conflict • This study compares three disputants in the South China Sea conflict, namely Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia (2013-2018). This study marks the preferred names as a turning point of maritime territorial imagination, transitioning names from merely geographical references to names bearing territorial and geopolitical implications, exemplified by Philippines’ West Philippine Sea, Vietnam’s East Sea, and Indonesia’s (North) Natuna Sea. Geographic name is not simply a geographic reference of passages anymore but invokes an imagination of boundary and identity. The process of turning the SCS into a conflict has been signified by the practice of name change and this process is imbued with collective memories from past conflict experiences. Content analysis and exploratory topic model show three disputants revolve around contested names in their associated topics and frames.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Xin XIN • Extended Abstract: [Imagining Behind the Wall: Representation of Israel on Chinese Online Video Platform Bilibili] • Taking Israel on Chinese online video platform Bilibili as a case, this research adopts qualitative content analysis to investigate how people shape the imagination of distant others through digital media representations. Drawing Orgad’s (2012) global imagination, the researcher discusses three findings including parochial stranger-relationality, otherness in censored digital platform, and self-representation as alternative. Revisiting the work of representation help reveal new challenges and potentials for change in the symbolic production of others.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Jiahui Dai, Communication University of China; Yangyue Xiong, Communication University of China • Advocating International Cooperation and Confirming International Status: Metaphors Used by WHO in COVID-19 Briefing Speeches • In COVID-19 epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducts international communication through three forms: regular media briefings, delegation briefings and attendance of the Director General at other meetings. In this study, a total of 50 speeches from 22 January 2020 to 9 April 2020 of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO were selected for critical metaphor analysis. It is found that team metaphor, war metaphor, moral metaphor, journey metaphor and fire metaphor run through the metaphor use of WHO. WHO constructs the response to the COVID-19 epidemic as team work, war, moral responsibility or journey, and the COVID-19 epidemic as fire. In the in-depth analysis of its metaphorical interpretation and explanation, it can be found that WHO has expanded the connotation of these five types of metaphors through different metaphorical carriers, but its metaphorical intention is consistent in two aspects, namely, advocating international cooperation and confirming international status.

Research Paper • doctoral candidate • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Weiwen Yu, Arizona State University • Key Players in International Opinions on the U.S.-China Trade War • “Based on relevant theories and using the methods of thematic analysis and social network analysis, this study analyzes the roles of relevant countries and classes in international opinions on the U.S.-China trade war through measuring and comparing the sources and attitudes of related opinions in the mainstream press of some countries. The findings show that the United States and China are the main sources of relevant international opinion in other countries, while the traditional powers Britain and Russia had more opinions mentioned than Vietnam and Iran—even though the latter ones were more affected by the trade war. Meanwhile, elites and decision makers are the main sources of relevant opinions in the United States and China respectively, but there are also some substantial differences between these two countries. The national interests clearly dominated the attitudes of other countries toward the United States and China. At the domestic level, the U.S. government seems to unusually gain the agreement of various classes, while Chinese government is questioned by certain classes in China. All of these could strengthen the U.S. claims and weakened China’s voice in the international opinion. Furthermore, the opinions of relevant international organizations did not gain the attention they deserve from various countries, American and Chinese public opinions also were not expressed adequately in the press dominated by their elites and decision-makers. Their real roles in the international opinion still need to be further investigated.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Saifuddin Ahmed • Perception and deception: Examining third- and first-person perceptual gaps about deepfakes in US and Singapore • This study is one of the first attempts in understanding public perceptions of deepfakes. Findings from three studies across US and Singapore support third-person perception (TPP about influence) and first-person perception (FPP about recognizing) about deepfakes. A detection test suggests that the TPP and FPP are not predictive of real ability to distinguish deepfakes. Moreover, the perceptual gaps are more intensified among those with higher cognitive ability. The findings contribute to the growing disinformation literature.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Deb Aikat, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Mariam Alkazemi; Faten Alamri,, Princess, Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia; Cathy Zimmer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The Influence of Personality on Motivations: Comparing Uses and Gratifications of Social Media Users in the US and Kuwait • “Social media platforms dominate popular communication. However, few studies have examined how the media ecosystem impacts Kuwaiti students’ use of social media, and even fewer have matched it with students in the United States in a comparative context. Based on the uses and gratification approach, this study to compares students from the United States and Kuwait to understand social media use across cultures. This study offers insight to use of social media by students in these two cultural contexts. This study examines how personality may impact their motivations. This study offers insight to use of social media by students in US and Kuwait contexts, and examines how personality may impact their motivations.”

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Fitria Andayani, University of Missouri • What is ethical in entrepreneurial journalism? • In-depth and semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with Indonesian entrepreneurial journalists to understand their perception of the ethical dilemma due to their double role as journalists and entrepreneurs and how they implement journalism boundaries. The findings informed by the boundary work theory suggested the ethical dilemma is inevitable in varying degrees and contexts. Simultaneously, how entrepreneurial journalists deal with normative issues and implement journalism boundaries depends on their business objectives, journalistic experience, and perceived identity.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • John Beatty, La Salle University • American Stereotypes of Chinese: Traits, Values and Media Use • “This national study examines Americans’ perceptions of Chinese character traits and related cultural values, in addition to media use, communication and demographic items. Recent coverage of China in The New York Times was examined. Respondents perceived Chinese as “career types,” as overly religious and prudish, and generally as “good people.” Correlations with media use, communication patterns and demographics were weak, although there is a relationship between media use and a perception that Chinese are antisocial.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Robin Blom, Ball State University; Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University; Arwa Kooli, l’Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l’Information • Tunisian and U.S. Journalism Students: A Comparison of Journalism Degree Motivations and Role Conceptions • This study assesses journalism student motivations and role conceptions among Tunisian and U.S. students to compare aspiring journalists in a country with well-established free-press norms to those in a transitional democracy with a recent history of authoritarianism. Preliminary results suggest that Tunisian journalism students are more interested than U.S. journalism students in covering public affairs and using their work to fight social injustice. A Tunisian drive toward public-service journalism is consistent with these activist inclinations.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Michael Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Jingjing Yi, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Panfeng Hu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dmitry Kuznetsov, Chinese University of Hong Kong • The politics of contextualization in communication research: Examining the discursive strategies of non-US research in JCR journals from 2000 to 2020 • Non-US authors are often held to a different standard to US authors when contextualizing the findings and contributions of their research. We examined the discursive strategies they used in 605 articles across eight JCR-listed communication journals from 2000 to 2020. The findings showed a substantive amount of contextualization in relation to US concerns and literature; and demonstrated the ideological hegemony and omnipresence of the US-dominated academic culture that permeates the academic writing of non-US authors.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Dhiman Chattopadhyay, Shippensburg University • Indian Journalists’ Perceptions About Social Media’s Usefulness, Trustworthiness and Value As a Breaking News Platform • This study examines Indian journalists’ perceptions about (a) social media’s usefulness and (b) trustworthiness, as well as (c) why they believe their colleagues choose social media as a breaking news platform. Results from an online survey of 274 multi-platform journalists across 14 cities, indicated a dichotomy – journalists rated social media as extremely useful, yet not-so-trustworthy professional tool. Further, breaking from hierarchies of influences that have traditionally shaped mainstream media’s gatekeeping decisions, journalists reported that more than professional routines, or organizational diktats, ‘usefulness’ of the platform was the primary reason journalists shared breaking news on social media. Other perceived influences on gatekeeping decisions, included a need for higher page views, and inter-media competition to showcase trending news first. Results indicate emerging challenges for journalism practice in one of the largest non-Western media markets, and offer insights into newer ‘hierarchy of influences’ affecting gatekeeping decisions.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Surin Chung, Ohio University; Eunjin Kim, University of Southern California; Suman Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill; Euirang Lee, Ohio University • How Does Ethical Ideology Affect Behavioral Intention to Wear a Mask in Pandemic? • The present study examined how ethical ideologies (i.e., relativism, and idealism) moderated the relationship between two variables (i.e., attitude, and subjective norm) and behavioral intention to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-national survey was conducted in the U.S. and South Korea. The study found that relativism weakens the relationship between the two variables and behavioral intention in the U.S. whereas idealism weakens the relationship between the two variables and behavioral intention in South Korea.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Dinfin Mulupi, University of Maryland, College Park; Keegan Clements-Housser, University of Maryland, College Park; Jodi Friedman, University of Maryland, Philip Merrill School of Journalism; Nataliya Rostova; Gea Ujčić; Matt Wilson, University of Maryland; Frankie Ho Chun Wong; Linda Steiner, University of Maryland • Riot on the Hill: International Coverage of a U.S. Insurrection Attempt • A thematic analysis of strategic narratives was employed on media texts from 20 different locales on five continents to determine how the January 6 insurrection was covered in places accustomed to being reprimanded by the United States about governance and human rights. Four overarching themes emerged: reputation of the U.S., depictions of the event, underlying causes of the event, and the political implications of the event marked the worldwide coverage.

Extended Abstract • Member • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University • Extended Abstract: Fighting the Infodemic War on COVID-19 Vaccine: An international comparative analysis of factchecking organizations’ impact on Facebook and dialogic engagement • The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the world. An effective vaccine is deemed as the best solution to overcome this pandemic, but while vaccines have been approved and currently distributed, mis/dis-information contributing to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Fact-checker organizations are trying to combat the infodemic through posting their fact-checks on social media, especially Facebook. This paper explores the way fact-checkers in four countries are acting on Facebook, their impact, and how their audiences are responding/reacting.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Shugofa Dastgeer; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas • The Anti-Execution Movement of Iranians on Social Media • “This study explores the structure and content of the anti-execution movement of Iranians on Twitter. The findings indicate that the networks’ activity depends on cases of executions in Iran and that the networks shrink as an execution case becomes older. While the participants largely used the anti-execution hashtags to discuss their personal (irrelevant topics), most of the relevant tweets were had passive tones and relied on self-sourcing.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Carlos Davalos, UW-Madison • Two side of the same coin: How violent incidents have opposing media coverages • Summary: Using bilingual content analysis and comparative strategies, the purpose of this study is to observe how American and Mexican mainstream newspapers cover a violent attack on an American Mormon working family on Mexican territory. Results show that the American coverage lacked social and historical context, while the Mexican newspaper coverage used a holistic frame to explain the family’s attack in a national context.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Victor Garcia-Perdomo, Universidad de La Sabana; Jose Augusto Ventin, Universidad de La Sabana; Juan Camilo Hernández Rodríguez, La Sabana University; Maria Isabel Magaña, Universidad de La Sabana • Testing the protest paradigm on TV and newspapers’ social media coverage of Chilean and Colombian social unrest • This research utilizes the protest paradigm as theory to analyze how TV channels and newspapers in Chile and Colombia covered —on their social media— the historical 2019 protests. According to the paradigm, mainstream media frame stories in a way that focuses on the violence and spectacle, delegitimizing protesters. This paper mixed automatic/manual content analyses to fully explore the adherence to the paradigm in digital environments. Results show key difference among countries, media type and organizations.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Imran Hasnat, University of Oklahoma; Elanie Steyn, University of Oklahoma • Extended Abstract: Digital Public Diplomacy and Social Media: A Content Analysis of Foreign Embassy Tweets • Digitalization has changed public diplomacy (PD). Literature suggests that the new PD is dialogic and collaborative. Additionally, the presence of embassies online indicates the adoption of new communication platforms. Using Cull’s (2008) taxonomy of PD, this study analyzes tweets from 27 embassies, finding that they still use a broadcast model of communication rather than audience dialogue. It shows that images are the most commonly used media and mentions are more frequently used than hashtags.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Tang Tang, Kent State University • Information Verification and Discussion Networks as Pandemic Coping Mechanisms: A Cross-Country Study • Emerging infectious disease threats such as COVID-19 have caused profound impact on the human societies worldwide. In coping with the threat, individuals engage in a series of psychological, affective, communicative, and behavioral coping processes. But there is a lack of systematic examination of the roles of information verification and discussion networks in the coping processes. To address these gaps, this study tests and expands the existing IDT appraisal model by including these two factors. A cross-county online survey was conducted in the U.S. and Taiwan, which represent different levels of COVID-19 disease control. The results showed that different types of threat appraisals predicted both negative and positive emotions associated with the pandemic, which in turn predicted information behaviors, including information seeking, sharing, and sharing without verification. Information seeking was positively associated with engagement in protective action taking, whereas information sharing without verification was negatively related to protective responses. Information sharing was associated with protective responses only indirectly through discussion with strong and latent ties. Moreover, discussion with social contacts also mediated the relationships between threat appraisals/emotions and protective responses, but the patterns were different in the U.S. and Taiwan.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • You Li, Eastern Michigan U • Assessing the Role Performance of Solutions Journalism in a Global Pandemic • This research compares and contrasts the role performance of journalism in reporting prominent solutions to cope with the COVID-19 global pandemic in 25 countries. It found that solutions journalism performed more civic and loyal facilitator roles overall. The coverage in the U.S. demonstrated less tendency to be an interventionist or loyal facilitator than the coverage in East Asia, Europe, and the Pacific, and the COVID-19 infection number negatively predicted those two roles.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Limin Liang • From Ritual to Strategy: Li Ziqi as a Cultural Icon and the Political Economic Appropriation of Micro-Celebrity Fame • This paper uses Jeffrey Alexander’s (2004) cultural pragmatics theory in studying the media phenomenon of Li Ziqi, a Chinese vlogger who achieved stardom in major social media platforms with her cinematic videos celebrating the bucolic life of rural China, from preparing local delicacies to making traditional handicraft. The paper zeroes in on the narrative strategies of Li in crafting the image of an authentic pastoral life in China via short videos, which resonates well with an international audience. It moves on to examine how a cultural icon of the social media era maybe coopted by the Chinese state for its strategic soft power initiatives. The success of Li triggered a media debate whether she constitutes a successful form of “Chinese cultural export”, which remains an elusive goal for official media despite the resources channeled into the endeavor each year. As key opinion leaders debate China’s “cultural essence” and how it may create greater influence overseas, the commercialized videos with a cultural theme eventually get caught up in the more grandiose narrative about China’s soft power. The article dwells on the interaction between the authoritarian logic of the state, the proprietary logic of the media market, as well as the logic of network technology in its ever-shifting alliance with the other more established institutions, all within and through the making of a micro-celebrity.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Anita Kueichun Liu, University at Buffalo; Yotam Ophir; Dror Walter; Itai Himelboim, University of Georgia • Networked Framing and the Role of Elite Gatekeeping During the #TaiwanCanHelp Hashtag Activism Campaign • We examine a Twitter hashtag campaign criticizing the political exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO’s efforts to combat COVID-19. We employed the Analysis of Topic Model Network (ANTMN) to analyze frames used in the #TaiwanCanHelp / #TWforWHO campaign in 2020 (N = 25,992 tweets) and network analysis to study the diffusion of messages and interactions between users. We identify three frames, and demonstrate message diffusion was dominated by Taiwanese and Western politicians and officials.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Yuanyuan Liu; Liu Yining; Xiaojing Li • Exploring the Mediating Role of Perceived Credibility of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media on Political Participation • Inspired by priming theory, steeping stepping stone effect and spillover effect, this study fully examined the mediating role of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media (CCPM), a new social media platform of China’s party media, in the relationship of media use and political participation among young people in Chinese political contexts. A cross-sectional national survey was conducted in China, including the whole 31 provincial regions in Chinese Mainland, by a random cluster sampling among Chinese college students (N = 3,011). Results proved the whole research model of Chinese youth’s media use, general trust, perceived credibility of CCPM, and their online / offline political participation. It provided theoretical and practical significance for present politics alienation among youngsters, as well as for future studies on political participation, media practice, and political propaganda.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Justin Martin; Mariam Alkazemi; Krishna Sharma • A “Regional Halo Effect”? Media Use and Evaluations of America’s Relationships with Middle East Countries • This study examined news use and social media use as predictors of diplomacy evaluations of five Middle East countries among a representative survey of U.S. adults (N=2,059) conducted in September 2020. Respondents were asked if they deem each Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, and the UAE an ally, neutral, or enemy of the United States. The study utilized media and political socialization and public diplomacy scholarship as the theoretical framework. News use and social media use were mostly uncorrelated with diplomacy ratings of the countries, with the exception of Palestine, regarding which newspaper use and hard news consumption were associated with positive ratings and use of Fox News was associated with negative evaluations. The strongest and most consistent, positive predictors of diplomacy ratings were positive ratings of other countries. For example, rating each Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE as allies of the U.S. was strongly associated with similar evaluations of Israel. We may be observing a kind of “regional halo effect,” whereby people in the U.S. who view one country in a foreign region favorably, or negatively, tend to hold most, or all, other countries in that region in similar regard. The authors recommend that the current survey be replicated in the U.S. for ratings of groups of South Asian and sub-Saharan African countries, to test whether this halo effect applies elsewhere. Implications for research on media use and political socialization and on public diplomacy are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Abhijit Mazumdar, Park University; Zahra Mansoursharifloo, Park University • Who is a Less Dangerous Foe? Comparing U.S. Media Portrayal of Taliban and ISIS • “This quantitative research used Indexing theory to study U.S. press portrayal of Taliban and ISIS between 2014 and 2019. There was significant difference on eight frames. The U.S. press portrayed Taliban as a less dangerous foe with which the U.S. could broker a peace deal. However, ISIS was portrayed as a terrorist outfit that had to be crushed. Indexing theory found support from findings of the research.

Research Paper • • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Mingxiao Sui, Ferrum College; Yunjuan Luo, South China University of Technology; Newly Paul, University of North Texas • Trade War, or A War of Fake News?: An Exploration of Factors Influencing the Perceived Realism of Falsehood News on International Disputes • The rise of misinformation in recent years has re-boosted scholarly effort in investigating the origins, consequences, and remedies for the circulation of falsehood news, which primarily scrutinizes this phenomenon in one single nation. This scholarship has not yet considered how this phenomenon evolves in the context of international disputes where dissents, debates and rhetorical attacks often exist. Through a survey experiment, this study examines how Chinese readers’ perceptions about falsehood news is affected by a set of factors including news source, the presence of visual elements, general trust in mainstream Chinese media and trust in mainstream U.S. media, as well as general media literacy. Results suggest that falsehood stories reported by homeland media are perceived to better represent the reality of covered issue than those by foreign counterpart. This relationship is also moderated by readers’ general trust in U.S. media and general media literacy, which thus suggests media literacy training as a possible resolution to counter-effect news source.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, University of Georgia • Decolonizing Methodologies in Media Studies • Drawing on an African feminist autoethnography framework grounded in a decolonial philosophy of Bilchiinsi, I present critical reflections on my experiences as an African scholar conducting research on media studies in Ghana. I argue that although canonical theories can be useful in theorizing African media systems, it is imperative to decolonize research by first looking to Indigenous African epistemologies and knowledge systems to support knowledge production in media studies and communication(s).

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Ruth Moon, Louisiana State University; Tryfon Boukouvidis, Louisiana State University; Fanny Ramirez, Louisiana State University • Covering COVID-19 in the Global South: Digital news values in the Ugandan journalism field • This study examines the differences between online homepage content and print front page content in a Ugandan newspaper (the Daily Monitor) to assess the extent to which current knowledge about homepage news selection applies to the Ugandan and by extension East African and sub-Saharan African contexts. The data comes from spring and summer 2020, in the height of the COVID-19 crisis, allowing the study to also draw conclusions about how the crisis was covered across platforms.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Bahtiyar Kurambayev, KIMEP University; karlyga myssayeva, al-Farabi Kazakh National University • Boycotting Behavior in Journalism • “A plethora of studies about boycotting exist in political sciences, marketing, business and other areas of scholarship, but this theme has been largely overlooked in journalism. This study contributes to scholarship on this unexplored aspect of journalism by examining boycotting behavior in an Asian context of Kazakhstan.

Although this study may have somewhat limited generalizability, this article interviewed journalists and editors from October 2020-February 2021 to examine their professional motivations in boycotting. The study identified that some journalists and news outlets in this politically constrained environment employ somewhat hidden, non-confrontational or undeclared tactics to boycott some selected news sources and certain policies in response to what they view as injustices in society, even when they see boycotting as ineffective. Accumulated professional tensions in an economically and politically constrained context lead to various forms of resistance and protests.

The findings also suggest that financially independent journalists are more likely to boycott certain sources of information, challenge authorities and protest or show resistance, while less financially secure journalists tend to be reluctant to challenge external forces affecting their own journalistic practice. This study discusses the findings in relation to Bourdieu’s field theory.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University; Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Arwa Kooli, l’Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l’Information • Digital Natives, Nascent Democracy: Tunisian Pre-Professional Journalists’ Uses and Perceptions of Social Media • This study assesses Tunisian journalism students’ uses and perceptions of social media in their work. This survey, conducted almost a decade after the country’s Jasmine Revolution saw an authoritarian regime and its state-run news media replaced with democratic elections and laws protecting a free press, shows Tunisian journalism students are using social media largely to connect with the audience, to monitor competitors, and to conduct research. Respondents were divided about impacts on the field.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Ivanka Pjesivac, U of Georgia; Iveta Imre, U Mississippi; Ana Petrov, University of Toronto • The Use of Sources in News Stories about 2020 American Elections on Croatian Television: Who Dominates the Narrative? • This study examined the coverage of 2020 American elections on Croatian Public Service Television’s website. The results of the content analysis showed that Croatian television used significantly more international than domestic sources, more official than unofficial sources, more male than female sources, more named than unnamed sources, and more real people accounts than documents. The results are interpreted in the context of primary definer theories of news sources use applied to South/East European media model.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • To say or not to say: Examining online self-censorship of political opinions in India • This study examines how self-censorship by social media users in India may be contributing to the limitations of media freedom. While right to free speech to all Indian citizens is assured by the Indian Constitution, a climate of repressive media freedom can have an impact on individual expressions. It can lead to a chilling effect in the public discourse of controversial issues. This study examines self-censorship on Facebook and Twitter with regards to government criticism. Survey (N=141) results suggest respondents with liberal attitudes were unwilling criticize the government on social media. However, respondents with pro-censorship attitudes, even if they deemed the opinion climate as hostile, were willing to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. Findings from this study expand understandings of online opinion expression and self-censorship in India.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • Decade of Internet Censorship in India Examining Google Transparency Reports and Content Takedowns from 2010-2020 • Drawing on the literature on internet censorship this study investigates the practice of content takedowns carried out by the Indian governments. To that end this research employs two studies. Study 1 examines the transparency reports of Google from 2010- 2020 to find out what content is removed from Google platforms. Study 2 through in-depth interviews with technology lawyers and authors of transparency reports finds out about the content removal process and its complexities. The findings show “defamation,” “privacy and security,” “religious offense” and “national security” as the most frequently cited reasons for content removal initiated by the Indian government. Findings reveal a disturbing trend where defamation notices were misused to request takedown of content that was critical of the governments, politicians, public figures, law enforcement officials, and police. The findings of this study are important, they demonstrate several ways in which the internet is being censored even in democratic countries without the knowledge of the users. Such censorship maybe eroding the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitutions of India.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas; Yuchen Liu; Muhammad Ittefaq, University of Kansas; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas; Ursula Kamanga; Annalise Baines • International Migrants and COVID-19 Vaccinations: Social Media, Motivated Information Management & Vaccination Willingness • Using a mixed-methods approach combining an online survey with in-depth interviews, this study examines how international migrants in the United States used online resources in dealing with uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations and how it is related to their vaccine willingness. Our results show that international migrants’ perceived uncertainty, positive and negative emotions, efficacy, and outcome expectancy affect their information seeking related to the vaccination and that issue salience moderates the effect between information seeking and vaccine willingness.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Meghan Sobel Cohen, Regis University • A Dark Continent? Meta-analysis of communication scholarship focused on African nations • Using meta-analytic work, this study examines communication research methods, geographic focus, and lead author affiliation in research articles published in four leading communication journals over the course of a decade (2010 – 2019). Results point to scholarship by authors from North American and European institutions being dominant throughout the decade of analysis alongside an overwhelming research focus on North American and European populations and content, and a continued reliance on a small number of research methods.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Xiao Zhang, Macau University of Science and Technology; Chris Chao Su, Boston University • Media genre dissonance and ambivalent sexism: How American and Korean television consumption shapes Chinese audiences’ gender-role values • Driven by globalization, modernity and the development of media technology, transnational media consumption is increasingly prevalent. Together with indigenous media genres, exotic media genres constitute the fragmentation and diversification of individuals’ media consumption. Yet research concerning the hybrid media effects generated by indigenous and exotic media genres is still underdeveloped. Using a sample of 556 Chinese Internet users, this exploratory study proposes a concept of media genre dissonance to compare the effects of hybrid media consumption on sexism and gender-role norms in marriage (GRIM) in China. The findings suggest that individuals’ perceptions of gender-role norms are not only affected by indigenous media usage but also altered through exotic media usage. We illustrate how genre dissonance can affect Chinese audiences’ perception of GRIM through the mediating roles of culturally specific sexism and general sexism found in American and Korean television dramas.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Louisa Ha • Election Interference Strategies Among Foreign News Outlets on Social Media During the U.S. 2020 Election • This study investigates foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election news coverage of BBC World News, RT America and CGTN America across social media platforms from August 28, 2020, to November 2, 2020. We employed a content analysis of 420 randomly selected posts from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts of these three state-controlled international news outlets. We found content and political relationship factors affected engagement differently in each social media platform. Adversaries of the U.S. were more likely to employ election interference strategies than were allies, although the occurrences were low overall.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Jo Lukito • Russian Bots’ Narrative During Donald J. Trump’s 2020 Senate Impeachment Trial: A Text Mining Analysis • An analysis of Russian-language tweets (n1 = 465,329) collected during the 2020 U.S. Senate impeachment trial reveals that bots accounted for nearly 58% of users (n2 = 39,580) that generated 55% of overall content in a data set. LDA topic modeling method was employed to identify and quantify the differences in topic engagement between bots and nonbots. These findings offer empirical support for the theory of reflexive control, providing insights into Russia’s domestic information operations.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Tamara Welter; Jason Brunt • Effects of Individualism and Race On Visual Processing: An Eye-Tracking Experiment • Previous research suggests that East Asians tend to look at the context of an image while Westerners look more at the area of interest. Other research suggests that people might examine photos of same-race and other-race faces differently. Here, we tested for a same v. other race effect for looking at pictures of people in front of naturalistic backgrounds. Across two studies, for measures of number of fixations and for mean length of fixation to AOI and background, we found different effects for race of participant, same race and for number of people in the photograph.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Natalie Jomini Stroud; Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • Normative Expectations for Social Media Platforms • Critiques of social media hint at normative expectations, such as the ideas that information should be reliable and people should feel safe. It is unclear how these expectations vary, however, and whether they are better predicted by where one lives or one’s most-used platform. Our survey of over 20,000 people across 20 countries finds that expectations vary more based on respondents’ country of residence than most-used platform, revealing a challenge for social media’s homogenized products.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Dongdong Yang, The University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin • Communicating Nation Branding: Pandas as Ambassadors for Wildlife Conservation and International Diplomacy • The current study investigated whether watching panda videos could influence attitudes toward the “brand” of China. Results showed that nature relatedness and wildlife-conservation attitude positively predicted emotional response to the video and attitude toward Chinese culture. Wildlife-conservation attitude positively influenced attitude toward the Chinese government. Political conservativism negatively impacted attitude toward Chinese culture; the latter was positively linked to attitude toward Chinese people. Attitude toward Chinese people were positively connected to attitude toward their government.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Karlin Andersen, The Pennsylvania State University • Evangelical Erasure?: Digital Communications Technology and the Memory of Rachel Held Evans • Rachel Held Evans was a blogger, author, and speaker who chronicled her “evolution” from a devout evangelical Christian to critic in four books, a popular blog, and multiple social media profiles before her death in 2019. Evans’ work is contextualized within the relationship between evangelicals and online technology and ends with a review of Evans’ community as of 2020. Evans’ story offers valuable insights for historians studying digital media, online communities, or public memory.

Research Paper • Faculty • Noah Arceneaux, San Diego State University • Acadian Airwaves: A History of Cajun Radio • This study explores French-language radio in southern Louisiana, particularly in the region known as “Acadiana.” This region is so named for the Acadian French who settled there in the late 1700s, a group commonly known today as “Cajuns.” Drawing from a variety of sources, this study outlines the history of this form of broadcasting, which has persisted since the beginning of radio in the region.

Research Paper • Faculty • Elizabeth Atwood, Hood College • Deadline: A History of Journalists Murdered in America • Although non-profit organizations issue periodic reports on violence directed against the media, little scholarship exists to explain why these attacks occur. Previous studies have focused primarily on volatile regions of the world, but this work looks at attacks on the news media in the United States. It identified seventy journalists who were murdered from 1829 to 2018 and offers a typology with which to categorize the violence.

Research Paper • Faculty • Thomas Bivins, University of Oregon • The effect of early journalism codes and press criticism on the professionalization of public relations • Following the end of WWI, both journalism and the nascent practice of public relations sought to establish a more professional image. The challenge to professionalize from Walter Lippmann on the one hand and Edward Bernays on the other exacerbated an already tense relationship between the two practices. While journalism reinforced its historical role, public relations attempted to elevate its occupation to a higher plane. The result was a sometimes literal battle of codes of ethics.

Research Paper • • Jack Breslin • Civil War Generals for President: Press Coverage of Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield During the Elections of 1876 and 1880 • During the 19th Century, four American “military chieftains” – Jackson, Harrison, Taylor and Grant – won the presidency. Besides their political careers, Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield also served as Union generals. By analyzing news stories and editorials during the Elections of 1876 and 1880 in selected New York City newspapers, this study examines campaign press coverage and electoral impact of the military heroism and political experience of Hayes and Garfield, who defeated General Winfield Scott Hancock.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Michael Buozis, Muhlenberg College • Extended Abstract: Targeting the trades, press associations, and J-schools: Tobacco industry mapping and shaping of metajournalistic discourses • Drawing on archival sources, this study explores how the tobacco industry targeted journalism trade publications, professional and press associations, and journalism schools in a decades-long effort to map and shape metajournalistic discourses to their advantage. By contributing to media-to-media publications, funding and participating in conferences, and engaging in journalism “education” initiatives the industry sought to influence journalistic practices. These journalism-adjacent actors and sites are particularly vulnerable to infiltration from corporate actors and deserve more scrutiny.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Anthony Cepak, University of Tennessee – Chattanooga • An Attempted Coup on King Coal: How The Tennessean helped reshape discourse of coal mining • Through extensive archival research, oral history and ethnography, “An Attempted Coup on King Coal” examines the reportage of journalists at The Tennessean at the beginning of the environmental movement. The activism of The Tennessean’s journalists is illustrated through the lens of photojournalist Jack Corn, as the newspaper covered issues related to the waning coal industry in Tennessee’s Clear Fork Valley, and the social, economic and environmental devastation left in the wake of its abandonment.

Research Paper • Faculty • Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen, University of Idaho • Community Divisions and Fractures in Print: Institutional and Student Media Coverage of a 1927 High School Student Strike • Throughout the 1920s, high school students went on strike across the United States. Yet, despite the number of strikes, their size, and their geographic diversity, they’ve largely been lost in scholarship. This paper examines the longest and largest strike of the decade, and details how it unfolded in institutional media, represented by the community’s daily newspaper, and student media. It argues the strike represented a clash of narratives and revealed a series of community tensions.

Research Paper • Faculty • George Daniels, The University of Alabama • Where There Was a Will, AEJ Made a Way for Diversity • The words “Still Here” were a banner to promote Lee Barrow’s work to recruit and retain students of color in the journalism and mass communication. This paper spotlights Barrow’s work and the others in the leadership of Association for Education in Journalism (AEJ) as they operated the AEJ/New York University Summer Internship Program, created The Journalism Council to raise funds for these efforts and supported a Job/Scholarship Referral Service and career-oriented newsletter Still Here.

Research Paper • Student • Andrew Daws, The University of Alabama • The 1980s and the War on Drugs: The Media’s Declaration Against Hollywood? • What began as a crusade against countries in Latin America turned into a war on the home front – a war against drugs. The federal government was fighting to curb drug use while Hollywood was brandishing images of it. Oftentimes the media sided with the government. Critics from The New York Times were quick to point out these distinctions in films such as Scarface, Drugstore Cowboy, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Clean and Sober.

Extended Abstract • Student • James Fuller, UW-Madison • Extended Abstract: A Socially Responsible Trade: an Analysis of Ethical Discourse in Editor & Publisher, 1930-1934 • This paper shows the trade journal Editor & Publisher regularly discussed ethics of journalistic practice. Through an analysis of 265 Editor & Publisher journals published from 1930 to 1934, I show that newsmen were concerned about ethics in the normative practice of journalism. Further, I argue ethical conversations found within Editor & Publisher illustrate elements of the Social Responsibility Theory of the Press over a decade before its adoption by the Hutchins Commission in 1947.

Research Paper • Faculty • Tamar Gregorian • The Making Of “The Young Budgeter”: The American Girl Magazine’s Role in a Girl Scout’s Life During the Great Depression • Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low founded the Girl Scouts and almost immediately began publishing The American Girl, arguably the most significant publication for adolescent girls at the time. Its content was reflective of societal norms for girls’ behavior. However, were economic effects of the Great Depression reflected in the content? The author, through a close reading of the magazine during that decade found the magazine avoided such content, leaving questions of the publications true influence.

Research Paper • Student • Autumn Linford, University of North Carolina • Perceptions of Progressive Era Newsgirls: Framing of Girl Newsies by Reformers, Newspapers, and the Public • As part of a larger project about news work and gender, this study focuses on the gendered experiences of Progressive era newsgirls. Newsgirls took up a disproportionate amount of public conversation during this time period, but have been mostly ignored by historians. This research suggests the image of the newsgirls was strategically framed and exploited to further reformer’s causes, bolster newspapers’ business, or excuse the public’s apathy.

Research Paper • Student • Alexia Little, University of Georgia • Cementing Their Heroes: Historical Newspaper Coverage of Confederate Monuments • Following continued conflicts about Confederate monuments in American society, this study explores Civil War memory encapsulated in newspaper coverage of four Confederate monument unveilings. Discourse and narrative analyses of 258 articles published in seven U.S. newspapers in the 1890s and 1920s examine how the American public negotiated terms of heroes, victims, and villains, largely in a hegemonic Lost Cause myth that took primacy over fact, thus distorting collective memory of the war.

Extended Abstract • Student • Ayla Oden, Louisiana State University; John M. Hamilton, Louisiana State University • Extended Abstract: “By Far the Best of Our Foreign Representatives:” Vira B. Whitehouse and the Origins of Public Diplomacy • The Committee of Public Information’s efforts during the first World War mark the beginning of American public diplomacy, but its influence has since been overlooked by scholars. The CPI owes a large portion of its overseas success to suffragist Vira Boarman Whitehouse. This paper examines the role Whitehouse played in the CPI’s efforts in Bern, Switzerland. So far, scant research has looked at Whitehouse’s role in shaping public diplomacy, and even then, diminishes the challenges she faced due to her position in a male-dominated field and how her initial efforts were marred by poor mismanagement. This paper analyzes how her role as a leader in the New York suffrage movement gave Whitehouse the skillset to serve as one of the most-accomplished CPI commissioners and trailblazers for modern public diplomacy.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Diane Prusank, Westfield State University • Dorothy Barclay: Mediating Parenting Advice • Research on the history of the women’s pages has neglected a staple of the women’s pages, namely the information provided regarding family and parenting advice. This study begins to fill this gap by analyzing the work of Dorothy Barclay, editor of the parent and child section of The New York Times between 1949 and 1965.

Research Paper • Student • Carolina Velloso • Race Films and the Black Press: Representation and Resistance • This paper investigates Black press coverage of race films in the early twentieth century. Using archival methods and textual analysis to examine coverage in three Black newspapers, this study argues that through advertisements, film reviews, actor profiles, and production updates, Black newspapers played a crucial role in the advancement of positive screen representations of African Americans. The Black press challenged dominant media representations of African Americans and provided readers with positive examples of Black accomplishment.

Extended Abstract • Student • HUANG WENLU • Title: The Image of Heroines in Advertisements of Shanghai’s Martial Arts Films during1920s-1930’s • This paper argues that Nüxia pian such as Red Heroine displays the females’ bodies in a de-gendered way, challenging the visual culture in which females’ bodies was often seen as objects of desire by male viewers. However, in newspaper advertisements, the image of Nuxia Pian has become sexualized, implying the resurrection of the male’s desire. By discussing the disparity of image representations, the present study attempts to offer an analysis related to issues of women’s liberation in Nüxia pian.

<2021 Abstracts

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Julie Aromi, Rutgers University School of Communication and Information • Race on the debate stage: Senators Booker and Harris’s discussions of Blackness in Democratic primary debates • Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker both frequently discussed their experiences as Black Americans during the Democratic primary debates throughout 2019. Both Senators acknowledge the ways Black voters are often used as a tool to elect white Democrats, and use their personal experience to establish solidarity with Black audiences. This textual analysis of the Senators’ remarks about race throughout the debates, focuses on how each talks about their own racialized experiences, and the narratives they construct about who they are as Black politicians, advocates, and Americans.

Research Paper • Student Member • Diane Ezeh Aruah, University of Florida • Struggling to fit in: Understanding difficulties faced by African international graduate students in a Predominant White Institution (PWI) in the United States • Every year, thousands of African students apply to graduate programs in the United States with the hope of experiencing quality and standard education unobtainable in their home countries. However, difficulties encountered by African students while settling into the educational system in the United States can impact their pursuit of the “American dream”. This article examines these difficulties using a qualitative phenomenological study of African graduate students in a predominantly white institution in the U.S. In-depth interview was used to collect data from 16 Ph.D. and master’s students. The students encountered inter-personal-based, community-based, and institutional-based difficulties, which often led to feelings of isolation, depression, and low self-esteem. The students managed their difficulties through online and offline support, as well as self-developed skills. Predominantly white institutions in the United States must include the needs of African international students in their recruitment, orientation, and mental health support programs.

Research Paper • Student • Laura Canuelas-Torres • Young Activists or Misguided Children? American Adults’ Perceptions on The March for Our Lives Teen Activists • The efforts of young people to advance gun control measures media coverage from all across the political spectrum. The current project used Q Methodology to further understand American adults’ perception of these activists. Results indicate that three camps emerged: those who recognized the teens as activist, those who see them as mislead and confused and those who see their efforts as the result of adolescent naivety. Relationships with media consumption are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Sera Choi • The Use of Non-Verbal Cues to Express Apology and User Perception on Influencers’ Apology • This qualitative study examines how YouTube influencers use non-verbal cues in their apology videos and how users perceived these non-verbal cues displayed in the videos. This study utilized facial expressions via different arrangements of upper and lower facial structures, body and hand gestures, and speech rate to analyze how influencers used non-verbal cues. The study observed four different themes of users’ perceptions of non-verbal cues used in apology videos (i.e., sincere, fake, aggressive, and disappointed).

Extended Abstract • Student • Carl Ciccarelli, The University of South Carolina • A critical qualitative analysis of response framing of the COVID-19 pandemic across higher education. • The present study is timely and aims to employ a mixed method research design to extract meaningful insights to inform future practices in higher education through studying responses from a sample of five large public universities located in the southeast United States. This analysis will include in-depth interviews, content analysis of statistical COVID-19 dashboard data for each university, and a textual analysis of the framing and tone of response statements disseminated by each university.

Research Paper • Student • Nina Gayleard • Audience Member Twitter Discussion About Netflix’s Unbelievable (2019) • This research focused on themes amongst audience member discussions of crime entertainment media by examining tweets about Netflix’s Unbelievable (2019). The research aimed to identify major themes amongst audience discussions and see how those themes compared to current themes in crime entertainment media texts. The themes that appeared in the tweets reflected those in Unbelievable (2019) and those currently found within crime entertainment media texts, indicating that audience members actively discerned and discussed relevant themes.

Research Paper • Student • Lingshu Hu • Boosting Texts: Improving Text Classification Performance on Small-Sized, Imbalanced Datasets • Communication scholars, who traditionally focus on text messages, can benefit from adopting recently developed machine learning algorithms on text classification. This study introduced three methods—boosting, SMOTE, and Bert embedding—and tested their performance on small-sized, imbalanced datasets. Results show that SMOTE effectively increases the accuracy of classifying the minority class; Bert embedding can enhance the overall testing accuracy but may not improve minority class recognition; Boosting did not work well with text classification tasks.

Research Paper • Student • Shudan Huang, University of South Carolina; Max Bretscher, University of South Carolina • Motivation to Purchase Organic Foods, Message Clarity, and Information Processing from a Heuristic-Systematic Perspective • This study utilized a construal frame manipulation of an organic product and applied a heuristic-systematic model (HSM) as the theoretical foundation for testing people’s attitude, the brand, and purchase intention of the organic product with different levels of involvement and skepticism. The finding revealed that skepticism will have negative effects on participants’ cognition and acceptance of organic food. And frames were found to be a significant predictor of ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention.

Research Paper • Student • Jeff Hunter, Texas Tech University; Koji Yoshimura • Are there Partisan Differences in the Moral Framing of News? • This study investigated the relationship between moral framing of news media headlines and the political ideology of the source using moral foundations theory and the model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME). A content analysis assessed the moral framing of 1,100 news headlines sampled from major news sources. Results indicated that moral foundation framing did not differ according to the political ideology of the news source, but framing was associated with the issues examined.

Research Paper • Student • Yanru Jiang, University of California, Los Angeles • Understanding Triggers of Problematic Internet Uses in Casual Mobile Game Designs • There is evidence that players can become addicted to casual mobile games. This study identified seven elements that are frequently adopted in casual mobile game designs and could trigger game addictions. The study used a seven-item game addiction scale (GAS) to access the addiction level of casual mobile gamers. Adverse effects on addicted players, such as being isolated from social contacts, neglecting important activities, and undermining psychological conditions, were identified through the GAS.

Research Paper • Student • Sarah Johnson • Credibility from the Source: Comparing traditional celebrity endorsers with YouTube endorsers • This study examines the relationship between an endorser’s expertise, trustworthiness, and brand attitude using Source Credibility Theory, by looking at traditional celebrity and YouTube endorsers. A representational survey of the U.S. adult population was used. The research model was analyzed using mediation analysis; the results were determined to have significant direct and indirect effects. Based on the results, there was a slight increase in the strength of the mediator on brand attitude for YouTube endorsers.

Research Paper • Student • URSULA KAMANGA • Assessing the Implications of Cervical Cancer Information Sources and its Barriers Among Latinas • Cervical cancer is preventable, yet screening levels remain low among Latinas, contributing to a 40% mortality rate in the U.S. Health information-seeking behavior among this population remains low. Few studies have assessed channels used while investigating perceived uncertainty for health information-seeking among Latinas. This case study will test the Theory of Planned Behavior through semi-structured interviews to understand the health information-seeking behavior among Latinas and where new channels could be made to assist them.

Research Paper • Student • hakan karaaytu • Independent Journalists Reporting on Political Issues in Turkey, using Traditional and New Media • In this study, while the role and journalistic ideal imputed to the media in contemporary democracies are considered, the changes in the Turkish media sector, which have been structurally transformed since 1980, and the reflections of this change on the identity of the journalists are revealed. As the historical process of the media structure that has been transformed is described, the effects of the experiences in relationship between media and politics on the journalistic profession are illustrated with concrete examples. The research paper consists of interviews with 10 people who are selected from journalism academics and press-journalists in the profession.

Extended Abstract • Student • Yihan Li, School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Health code for datafied mobilities in China: Framing of datafication, algorithmic governance and dataism ideology • This research adopts critical discourse analysis to analyze the construction of health code discourse by Chinese governments and its social consequences. This research finds the frame of the health code as an objective tool for orderly mobilities, which is produced by the hierarchical relation between the state and local governments. And this discourse contributes to the emerging of a new mode of algorithmic governance and a dataism ideology with some doubtful assumptions.

Research Paper • Student • Paige Nankey; Rhea Maze • Social Media and Marine Plastic Pollution: A Study of Social Media Messaging on Engagement • This 2 (emotional appeal: hope vs. guilt) x 2 (call-to-action (CTA): presence vs. absence) between-subjects experiment randomly exposed 76 college students to one of four Instagram-type messages about marine plastic pollution: Guilt with no CTA (N = 18), guilt with CTA (N = 20), hope with no CTA (N = 19), or hope with CTA (N = 19). The results were not significant but revealed an interesting interaction pattern when combining hope appeals with CTA’s.

Extended Abstract • Student • Victoria McDermott; Drew T. Ashby-King, University of Maryland • Extended Abstract: Examining Institutional and Instructional Support of Communication Graduate Students Academic and Social Needs During COVID-19 • Rhetorical and relational goal theory posits that students have academic and relational needs in the classroom that need to be met to facilitate student success. By conducting focus groups with communication graduate students, this study explored how institutional/departmental and instructor communication met students’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We suggest that rhetorical and relational goals are intertwined concepts that contribute to supporting students’ academic and relational needs and success.

Research Paper • Student • Adriana Mucedola, Syracuse University • Royal baby boom: How British tabloids covered Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s pregnancies • This study used an intersectional approach to understand how media coverage during Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s first pregnancies differed from one another. A content analysis that coded 240 British tabloid articles revealed that Markle received a greater amount of press negativity and negative weight-related attitudes, while Middleton’s body was objectified to a greater extent. Findings suggest that media continue to objectify women in different ways depending on their identities, and reinforce the thin ideal.

Research Paper • Student • Christina Myers • Toward a Conceptual Model of Implicit Racial Bias and Representation of African Americans in Media • “The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model to explain how societal, cultural and historical circumstances contribute to the creation of meaning assigned by content creators and its subsequent understanding, particularly as it relates to the media’s portrayal of African Americans. The author suggests implicit racial bias, stereotypes and ideology, which are shaped by the historical, cultural and societal influences of content creators, allow for inherently prejudiced belief systems to be disseminated and reinforced by mass media. To the author’s knowledge, there is a paucity in mass communication literature that seeks to explain the cognitive processes involved in content creation by members of mass media.

Extended Abstract • Student • Nhung Nguyen, University of Kansas • Strangers helping strangers in a strange land: Vietnamese immigrant mothers and expecting mothers in the USA use social media to navigate health acculturation • Drawing from acculturation, this study analyzes 18 in-depth interviews with immigrant Vietnamese mothers and pregnant women in the United States on the role of online social support through Facebook on their pregnancy and motherhood in a strange land. Findings show that immigrant mothers seek out both informational and emotional supports. “Bonding” levels are low and unlikely to transcend into real-life friendships. Social media, however, allows community members to develop and thrive during enculturation.

Extended Abstract • Student • Jeffry Oktavianus, City University of Hong Kong; Yanqing Sun; Fangcao Lu • Extended abstract: The episodes of health crisis information response process among migrant domestic workers during COVID-19 pandemic • Guided by Crisis Response Communication Model (CRCM), this study examined how Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong digested and responded to health crisis information amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through in-depth interviews involving 32 workers, this study discovered that the participants went through four stages of crisis response process, including observation (i.e., information gathering), interpretation (i.e., filtering information and verification), choice (i.e., adopting adaptive and maladaptive preventive measures), and dissemination (i.e., information sharing).

Research Paper • Student • Runlei Ren; Xinyu Dai; Mengyuan Wei • The Impact of Internet on Public Trust in Government: Assessing the Mediating Effect of Subjective Social Justice • Over the past decade, public trust in the government (PTG) in developed countries has continued to decline. At the same time, the rapid development of the Internet has changed people’s perceptions. The decline of PTG will pose a challenge to government governance. Given the coexistence of the decline in PTG and the gradual popularization of the Internet, can the Internet explain or partially explain the fluctuations in PTG among citizens? Previous research pointed out that the negative effects may play a leading role. However, existing literature ignores that the relationship between Internet use and public trust in government (PTG) can be mediated by contextual variables such as perceived social justice. Thus, this study uses the 2018 Chinese Social Survey (CSS 2018) and household survey datasets in 2015 (CGSS 2015) to explore the influence of internet usage on PTG and its mechanism. Multivariate regressions and instrumental variable estimates support that: Besides playing a negative role directly (β=-0.0467, t=-3.0304, p<0.001), the internet can also affect PTG by polluting subjective social justice. Diverse applications of the internet have different effects on PTG. From the perspective of different government levels, it conforms to the characteristics of differential trust in government. This conclusion provides a reference for the governance of Internet public opinion. The department of management could treat the Internet as a platform to carry out effective communication between the government and the public to improve political trust.

Extended Abstract • Student • Zoey Rosen, Colorado State University; Channing Bice, Colorado State University; Stephanie Scott, Colorado State University • Extended Abstract: [Visualizing the Invisible: Visual-Based Design and Efficacy in Air Quality Messaging] • This study examines the effect of efficacy and visual design for messaging for air quality. The following study is a 2 (efficacy: high vs. low) × 2 (message design: visual vs. text) between-subjects experimental design, assessing the effects of these variables on students’ visual comprehension, source credibility, self-efficacy, and protective behavioral intention. Hypotheses were partially supported, finding that there were some statistically significant effects for efficacy and message design on the variables of interest.

Extended Abstract • Student • Andrea Smith, Syracuse University; Adriana Mucedola, Syracuse University; Jian Shi, Syracuse University • Partisan Pride: How Cross-Exposure to Partisan News and Emotions Toward Trump Leads to Civic Engagement • The purpose of this study was to examine the link between consuming either liberal or conservative media, partisans’ emotional reactions to news about Donald Trump, and their level of participation in civic engagement. A sample of U.S. adults (n=813) completed the relevant measures in an online survey. Results indicated that when participants consumed counter-attitudinal media, they experienced negative emotional reactions to news about Donald Trump, which in turn, led them to become more civically engaged.

Research Paper • Student • Courtney Tabor, University of Oregon • “What a 13-year old girl looks like”: A feminist analysis of To Catch a Predator • This paper examines three key episodes of early-2000s sensation To Catch a Predator and situates them within crime media and journalism literature. Based on the analysis, To Catch a Predator represents the apex of crime media as demonstrated by the treatment of women and girls as bait, claims of ownership over women and girls’ bodies, lack of nuance in reporting, and the liberties taken in their journalistic practices.

Research Paper • Student • Jingyue Tao • The Influence of Message and Audio Modalities in Augmented Reality Mobile Advertisements on Consumers’ Purchase Intention • Evidence shows that AR technology is an effective advertising approach to raise a brand’s awareness, so many big brands implement AR into their marketing strategy. However, the effectiveness of AR mobile advertisements on consumers’ purchase intentions remains unclear. To fill this dearth in the literature, this study examined how message and audio modalities of AR mobile advertisements influenced consumers’ purchase intentions through an experiment. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective, this online experiment manipulated the message type (emotional/factual) and audio-verbal appeal (present/absent) of AR advertisements to investigate their impact on consumers’ attitudes towards buying a watch. The results showed that audio-verbal appeal played a salient role in the emotional message to positively influence consumers’ perceived entertaining gratification and intention to buy the watch. However, the audio-verbal emotional message negatively influenced consumers’ purchase intention and did not influence their perceived information gratification. Future research should test other multimedia such as images, video, or animations to better understand the interaction effect between AR mobile advertisements and consumers’ purchase intentions.

Research Paper • Student • Taylor Thompson • Trust in media in the era of fake news • This study explores how political ideologies, media bias, and media credibility affect trust in the media. This research uses an ATP survey from Pew Research Center. The analysis found that people who identify as Democrats have a significantly higher trust in the media, and think the media is doing their job well and effectively. Republicans were less trustful of the media, which suggests a problematic relationship between the media and people who identify as Republicans.

Research Paper • Student • Yue Wang, University of Leuven • Why are smartphones a thief who steals time? An Empirical Study of Smartphone Dependence in China • With the rapid spread of smartphones worldwide, the negative effects of overuse and dependence on smartphones have attracted more and more public attention. To explore how people’s psychological motivations affect smartphone dependence, this research expands the motivation of media-system dependence and adds two psychological characteristics of loneliness and FoMO. The results showed that “recreation”, “orientation”, “loneliness” and “FoMO” had significant impacts on smartphone use, while “understanding” did not have a direct effect on smartphone dependency.This survey provides important information for academicians concerning smartphone dependency, which is still rarely explored in China.

Research Paper • Student • Tian Xinhe • Research on Online Social Support Related to Gender Issues from the Perspective of Communication-An empirical analysis based on Zhihu, an online question-and-answer community in China.docx • Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 has highlighted the importance of social caring, and the related gender issues have attracted more attention online. This paper studies the posts related to the “sanitary napkins in loose packing” in Zhihu Community, and examines the impact of online social support on gender issues, from the perspective of communication and through social network analysis, content analysis and text analysis. Findings: Users have not developed a tight social network, but the Matthew effect is significant; online social support strengthens connections between users on gender issues; “otherization” for female is found users in agenda setting; intensified online gender contradiction reflects the polarization effect of network. Misogyny is found in China’s male-oriented online society. On this basis, the paper argues that gender inequality is an objective, deep-rooted existence in Chinese society, and that gender antagonism is becoming increasingly prominent in China’s online society. In the long run, however, we should avoid grafting gender contradictions into class contradictions, with efforts made to coordinate gender relations and seek equal rights for men and women.

Research Paper • Student • Wanjiang Zhang; Jiayu Qu; Jingjing Yi, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong • Stripped from society abruptly: Effects of physical social isolation on people’s emotional expression and well-being • The study employed a quasi-experiment with 1,398 users’ 1,376,718 posts on Weibo. Three computational methods (SA, ITS, STM) were used to investigate the influences of physical social isolation on people’s emotional well-being during the quarantine. Results showed that quarantine brought a sharp fall in people’s emotions immediately without sustained effects. STM-generated topics implied social media’s role in fulfilling three psychological needs. Heavy Weibo users expressed more positively, whereas light users expressed negatively.

<2021 Abstracts