2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Faculty • Debut Faculty Paper Competition • The ReDigi Case and the Digital Challenge to the First Sale Doctrine • J. Patrick McGrail, Jacksonville State University; Ewa McGrail, Georgia State University • 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 • Student • Open Competition • A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of Pretrial Publicity on Jury Perception • Morgan Band, University of Florida • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • [EXTENDED ABSTRACT] Feeling the Bern: Commercial Speech Protections for Memes • Courtney Barclay, Jacksonville University; Kearston Wesner • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • The Positive First Amendment in Constitutional History, Law, and Theory • Stephen Bates, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Extended Abstract: Too Many Cases, Too Little Time: What Instructors Choose to (Not) Teach in Media Law Courses • Genelle Belmas, University of Kansas; Tori Ekstrand; Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University; Kyla Wagner • “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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Nearly Extinct in the Wild: The Vulnerable Transparency of the Endangered Species List • Benjamin W. Cramer, Pennsylvania State University • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Perilous in Seattle: The Dangers of Covering Protests and Implications for the Journalist’s Privilege • Anthony Fargo, Indiana University-Bloomington • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Liable, Naaaht: The Mockumentary: Litigation, Liability and the First Amendment in the works of Sacha Baron Cohen • Roy Gutterman, Syracuse University • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Copyright Versus the Right to Copy: The Civic Danger of Allowing Copyright to Override State Freedom-of-Information Law • Frank LoMonte, University of Florida • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Thirty Years After Chandler v. Florida: Chauvin Trial Shows Flaws in ‘Cameras in the Courts’ • Michael Martinez, University of Tennessee • 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 • Student • Open Competition • Social Media and the Economy of Hate • Hayley Rousselle, Syracuse University College of Law • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • 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 • Amy Kristin Sanders, University of Texas at Austin; William Kosinski • 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 • Faculty • Open Competition • Rise of the Copyleft Trolls: When Photographers Sue After Creative Commons Licenses Go Awry • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University • 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 • Student • Open Competition • EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Is Defamation Law Outdated? How Justice Powell Predicted the Current Criticism • Kirk von Kreisler, Primarily virtual at home, but may involve going into office (Host Company Location) occasionally. • 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 • Professional • Open Competition • Beyond Positive & Negative: Developing a Complementary Framework for First Amendment Theory • Patrick Walters, Kutztown University • 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.

2022 Abstracts

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • The Concept of “New Media” among Jordanian News Producers • Shlash Alzyoud, Student • 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 • Responsibility Framing of Health Issues in Ghanaian Newspapers: A Comparative Study of Ebola and Cholera • Augustine Botwe, University of Colorado Boulder; Selorm Adogla • 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 • The Geopolitics Game: A Comparatively Frame Analysis between the US and Chinese Coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” in the Perspective of Media Diplomacy • Chen Chen • 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 • Conspiracy about COVID-19 Pandemic in Contemporary China: What is the Authority’s Role on Weibo • Calvin Cheng, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Wanjiang Zhang; Qiyue ZHANG • 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 • News use, partisanship and political attitudes in Africa: A cross-national analysis of four African societies using the communication mediation approach • Abdul Wahab Gibrilu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • 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 • How twitter becomes the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy? • Jing GUO, Chinese Univeristy of Hong Kong • 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 • Examining the media coverage of early COVID19 responses in the online version of Bangladeshi newspapers. • Sima Bhowmik • 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 • Print as Digital Gateway: Hong Kong’s Yellow Economy and Bimodal Communications • milan ismangil • 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 • What does the Korean Embassy’s Facebook page show us? • Solyee Kim, University of Georgia • 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 • Extended Abstract: [It’s a small world after all] • Wei-ping Li, College of Journalism • 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 • The Charm of Culture: An Empirical Research on Intangible Cultural Heritage Short Videos • Qiaozhi Liang; Yifei Li; Ke XUE • 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 • Extended Abstract: Framing Terrorism in a Global Media Conduit: Comparing Muslim-Majority and Muslim-Minority Countries • V Michelle Michael; Satrajit Ghosh Chowdhury • 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 • #desi: Self-Representation on TikTok among the South Asian Diasporic Youth in the U.S. • Nabila Mushtarin, University of South Alabama • 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 • Journalistic role perceptions and barriers to role fulfilment in post-communist Bulgaria: A preliminary assessment • Mladen Petkov • 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 • Media coverage of trade war between China and United States by Russian media outlets • Viktor Tuzov, City University of Hong Kong • 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 • In “Other” news: A media framing analysis of COVID-19 emergence in Croatia • Gea Ujčić • 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 • What’s in a name? Imagined Territories and Sea Names in the South China Sea Conflict • Lupita Wijaya, Monash University • 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 • Extended Abstract: [Imagining Behind the Wall: Representation of Israel on Chinese Online Video Platform Bilibili] • Xin XIN • 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 • Advocating International Cooperation and Confirming International Status: Metaphors Used by WHO in COVID-19 Briefing Speeches • Jiahui Dai, Communication University of China; Yangyue Xiong, Communication University of China • 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 • Key Players in International Opinions on the U.S.-China Trade War • Weiwen Yu, Arizona State University • “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.

Key words: The U.S.-China trade war, international opinion, key players”

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Perception and deception: Examining third- and first-person perceptual gaps about deepfakes in US and Singapore • Saifuddin Ahmed • 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 • The Influence of Personality on Motivations: Comparing Uses and Gratifications of Social Media Users in the US and Kuwait • 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 • “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 • What is ethical in entrepreneurial journalism? • Fitria Andayani, University of Missouri • 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 • American Stereotypes of Chinese: Traits, Values and Media Use • John Beatty, La Salle University • “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 • Tunisian and U.S. Journalism Students: A Comparison of Journalism Degree Motivations and Role Conceptions • 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 • 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 • The politics of contextualization in communication research: Examining the discursive strategies of non-US research in JCR journals from 2000 to 2020 • 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 • 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 • Indian Journalists’ Perceptions About Social Media’s Usefulness, Trustworthiness and Value As a Breaking News Platform • Dhiman Chattopadhyay, Shippensburg University • 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 • How Does Ethical Ideology Affect Behavioral Intention to Wear a Mask in Pandemic? • Surin Chung, Ohio University; Eunjin Kim, University of Southern California; Suman Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill; Euirang Lee, Ohio University • 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 • Riot on the Hill: International Coverage of a U.S. Insurrection Attempt • 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 • 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 • Extended Abstract: Fighting the Infodemic War on COVID-19 Vaccine: An international comparative analysis of factchecking organizations’ impact on Facebook and dialogic engagement • Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University • 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 • The Anti-Execution Movement of Iranians on Social Media • Shugofa Dastgeer; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas • “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.

Keyword: Iran, execution, anti-execution, Twitter, social movements”

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Two side of the same coin: How violent incidents have opposing media coverages • Carlos Davalos, UW-Madison • 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 • Testing the protest paradigm on TV and newspapers’ social media coverage of Chilean and Colombian social unrest • 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 • 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 • Extended Abstract: Digital Public Diplomacy and Social Media: A Content Analysis of Foreign Embassy Tweets • Imran Hasnat, University of Oklahoma; Elanie Steyn, University of Oklahoma • 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 • Information Verification and Discussion Networks as Pandemic Coping Mechanisms: A Cross-Country Study • Tang Tang, Kent State University • 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 • Assessing the Role Performance of Solutions Journalism in a Global Pandemic • You Li, Eastern Michigan U • 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 • From Ritual to Strategy: Li Ziqi as a Cultural Icon and the Political Economic Appropriation of Micro-Celebrity Fame • Limin Liang • 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 • Networked Framing and the Role of Elite Gatekeeping During the #TaiwanCanHelp Hashtag Activism Campaign • Anita Kueichun Liu, University at Buffalo; Yotam Ophir; Dror Walter; Itai Himelboim, University of Georgia • 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 • Exploring the Mediating Role of Perceived Credibility of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media on Political Participation • Yuanyuan Liu; Liu Yining; Xiaojing Li • 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 • A “Regional Halo Effect”? Media Use and Evaluations of America’s Relationships with Middle East Countries • Justin Martin; Mariam Alkazemi; Krishna Sharma • 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 • Who is a Less Dangerous Foe? Comparing U.S. Media Portrayal of Taliban and ISIS • Abhijit Mazumdar, Park University; Zahra Mansoursharifloo, Park University • “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.

Keywords: ISIS, Taliban, international news, U.S., Indexing”

Research Paper • • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Trade War, or A War of Fake News?: An Exploration of Factors Influencing the Perceived Realism of Falsehood News on International Disputes • Mingxiao Sui, Ferrum College; Yunjuan Luo, South China University of Technology; Newly Paul, University of North Texas • 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 • Decolonizing Methodologies in Media Studies • Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, University of Georgia • 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 • Covering COVID-19 in the Global South: Digital news values in the Ugandan journalism field • Ruth Moon, Louisiana State University; Tryfon Boukouvidis, Louisiana State University; Fanny Ramirez, Louisiana State University • 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 • Boycotting Behavior in Journalism • Bahtiyar Kurambayev, KIMEP University; karlyga myssayeva, al-Farabi Kazakh National University • “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.

Keywords: boycott, conflicts, Central Asia, journalism, Kazakhstan.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Digital Natives, Nascent Democracy: Tunisian Pre-Professional Journalists’ Uses and Perceptions of Social Media • 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 • “Summary

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 • The Use of Sources in News Stories about 2020 American Elections on Croatian Television: Who Dominates the Narrative? • Ivanka Pjesivac, U of Georgia; Iveta Imre, U Mississippi; Ana Petrov, University of Toronto • 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 • To say or not to say: Examining online self-censorship of political opinions in India • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • 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 • Decade of Internet Censorship in India Examining Google Transparency Reports and Content Takedowns from 2010-2020 • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • 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 • International Migrants and COVID-19 Vaccinations: Social Media, Motivated Information Management & Vaccination Willingness • Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas; Yuchen Liu; Muhammad Ittefaq, University of Kansas; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas; Ursula Kamanga; Annalise Baines • 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 • A Dark Continent? Meta-analysis of communication scholarship focused on African nations • Meghan Sobel Cohen, Regis University • 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 • Media genre dissonance and ambivalent sexism: How American and Korean television consumption shapes Chinese audiences’ gender-role values • Xiao Zhang, Macau University of Science and Technology; Chris Chao Su, Boston University • 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 • Election Interference Strategies Among Foreign News Outlets on Social Media During the U.S. 2020 Election • Louisa Ha • 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 • Russian Bots’ Narrative During Donald J. Trump’s 2020 Senate Impeachment Trial: A Text Mining Analysis • Jo Lukito • 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 • Effects of Individualism and Race On Visual Processing: An Eye-Tracking Experiment • Tamara Welter; Jason Brunt • 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 • Normative Expectations for Social Media Platforms • Natalie Jomini Stroud; Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • 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 • Communicating Nation Branding: Pandas as Ambassadors for Wildlife Conservation and International Diplomacy • Dongdong Yang, The University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin • 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.

2022 Abstracts

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Evangelical Erasure?: Digital Communications Technology and the Memory of Rachel Held Evans • Karlin Andersen, The Pennsylvania State University • 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 • Acadian Airwaves: A History of Cajun Radio • Noah Arceneaux, San Diego State University • 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 • Deadline: A History of Journalists Murdered in America • Elizabeth Atwood, Hood College • 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 • The effect of early journalism codes and press criticism on the professionalization of public relations • Thomas Bivins, University of Oregon • 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 • • Civil War Generals for President: Press Coverage of Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield During the Elections of 1876 and 1880 • Jack Breslin • 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 • Extended Abstract: Targeting the trades, press associations, and J-schools: Tobacco industry mapping and shaping of metajournalistic discourses • Michael Buozis, Muhlenberg College • 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 • An Attempted Coup on King Coal: How The Tennessean helped reshape discourse of coal mining • Anthony Cepak, University of Tennessee – Chattanooga • 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 • Community Divisions and Fractures in Print: Institutional and Student Media Coverage of a 1927 High School Student Strike • Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen, University of Idaho • 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 • Where There Was a Will, AEJ Made a Way for Diversity • George Daniels, The University of Alabama • 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 • The 1980s and the War on Drugs: The Media’s Declaration Against Hollywood? • Andrew Daws, The University of Alabama • 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 • Extended Abstract: A Socially Responsible Trade: an Analysis of Ethical Discourse in Editor & Publisher, 1930-1934 • James Fuller, UW-Madison • 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 • The Making Of “The Young Budgeter”: The American Girl Magazine’s Role in a Girl Scout’s Life During the Great Depression • Tamar Gregorian • 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 • Perceptions of Progressive Era Newsgirls: Framing of Girl Newsies by Reformers, Newspapers, and the Public • Autumn Linford, University of North Carolina • 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 • Cementing Their Heroes: Historical Newspaper Coverage of Confederate Monuments • Alexia Little, University of Georgia • 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 • Extended Abstract: “By Far the Best of Our Foreign Representatives:” Vira B. Whitehouse and the Origins of Public Diplomacy • Ayla Oden, Louisiana State University; John M. Hamilton, Louisiana State University • 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 • Dorothy Barclay: Mediating Parenting Advice • Diane Prusank, Westfield State University • 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 • Race Films and the Black Press: Representation and Resistance • Carolina Velloso • 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 • Title: The Image of Heroines in Advertisements of Shanghai’s Martial Arts Films during1920s-1930’s • HUANG WENLU • 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.

2022 Abstracts

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Longitudinal Study of Social Media Policies In U.S. Television Newsrooms • Faculty • Anthony Adornato, Ithaca College; Allison Frisch, Ithaca College • This longitudinal study analyzes survey data, gathered in 2014 and 2020, regarding local television newsrooms’ social media policies. The purpose of the study is to track changes over time to these policies. The researchers investigate if and in which ways newsroom social media policies are evolving over time in four specific areas: journalists’ professional and personal social media activities; social media sources and content; audience complaints; and ownership of on-air talents’ accounts. The researchers found a significant increase of guidelines regarding what is and is not appropriate on the professional and personal social media of journalists, with little distinction made between these two types of accounts. Although newsrooms have implemented policies to articulate what is appropriate social media conduct and a majority have recently revised policies, those guidelines do not always address the fast-evolving contemporary issues journalists face on a daily basis, specifically online threats against journalists and verification of user-generated content. The researchers found a trend towards news outlets retaining ownership of on-air talents’ professional accounts.

Research Paper • Production and Improvisation: Digital Native News Video as an Emerging Narrative Style • Faculty • Mary Bock, The University of Texas at Austin; Robert Richardson, University of Texas at Austin; Christopher T. Assaf, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN; Dariya Tsyrenzhapova, University of Texas at Austin • This project uses content analysis to examine the nature of video narrative form on the internet, comparing the news videos posted by legacy print, TV and digital native organizations. Using the lens of narrative theory, this research examines the way organizations use scripting and editing conventions to establish their standing as authoritative storytellers. The results found the three types of organizations use significantly different storytelling styles, with long-term implications for news organizations and their viewers.

Research Paper • Factors That Affect Social Media Credibility as a News Channel: the Impact of Network Relationships, Source Perceptions, and Media Use • Faculty • Jiyoung Cha, San Francisco State University • Recognizing the prevalent use of social media to get news, this study investigates the factors that affect the credibility of social media as a news channel. A survey of 488 U.S. adults who use social media reveals that individuals’ homophily with their social media contacts, source credibility, trust in alternative news sources, reliance on social media to get news, and frequent social media use to get news positively relate to the credibility of social media.

Extended Abstract • Pressure to Perform: Gendered Expectations of Journalists’ Social Media Use • Faculty • Stefanie Davis Kempton, Penn State Altoona; Carlina DiRusso, Hope College • Social media expertise is essential for journalists to compete in today’s digital world. However, not all journalists experience social media the same way. This study is particularly interested in how gender influences these experiences. A survey of broadcast news professionals was conducted to explore social media trends in the news industry. Findings suggest that female journalists experience more online harassment than male journalists and face additional pressures to perform on social media in certain ways.

Extended Abstract • Egyptian Female Podcasters: Creating Social Change Through Public Pedagogy • Faculty • Kim Fox, The American University in Cairo; Yasmeen Ebada • This research will examine the work of eight Egyptian female college podcasters. The researchers concluded that the podcasts were used as a platform to strengthen feminist epistemologies. The researchers posited that all podcasters adopted or would adopt either a Westernized or Black feminist epistemology. Public pedagogy theory helped determine that the podcasters utilized their podcasts as digital feminism to raise awareness to larger societal problems in a country entrenched in patriarchy.

Research Paper • “Keep Your Politics Off of My Face(book)!” Online News & Hostile Media Bias in the COVID-19 Social Media Environment • Faculty • Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University; Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University; Alexander Moe, SUNY Brockport; Sydney Brammer, Texas Tech University • Facebook offers a free platform for news organizations to foster audience engagement and expand reach. However, comments seen before reading news articles shape the visible opinion climate and negatively influence readers. Guided by hostile media bias, the influence of comments and a knowledge-based assessment on perceptions of bias and credibility are tested using a nationwide sample of Facebook users (N = 450). Findings show user comments and knowledge-based assessments enhance negative perceptions among audiences.

Research Paper • Antecedents of News Avoidance: Competing Effects of Political Interest, News Overload, Trust in News Media, and ‘News Finds Me’ Perception • Faculty • Manuel Goyanes, Carlos III University; Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Salamanca/Penn State University • Recent changes in the media environment make it easier than ever for people to actively shape their news repertoires according to their habits, needs, and preferences. As convenient as these practices may seem, they also afford the possibility of disconnecting from news and current affairs more efficiently, with potentially deleterious effects on democracy. Building on the conceptualization of news avoidance as a general disposition and its consequential behavior, this study jointly examines key individual-level predispositions that may motivate individual news exposure avoidance. Based on a two-wave panel survey data collected in the United States, results show evidence that political interest and trust in professional news are negatively related with news avoidance, while news overload and—especially—the ‘news finds me’ perception are positively associated with news-avoidance behaviors. Our analyses suggest that the linkages between these cognitive antecedents and news avoidance are contingent upon the robustness of the empirical tests, with the ‘news find me perception’ yielding the most consistent association across models.

Research Paper • Local News on Facebook: How Television Broadcasters Use Facebook to Enhance Social Media News Engagement • Faculty • Miao Guo, Ball State University; Fu-Shing Sun, Ball State University • This study examines how local television broadcasters use Facebook to enhance social media news engagement. By scraping 1,063 news posts from nine local television stations’ Facebook pages, this investigation performs a content analysis on different features of news posts, including news topics, message vividness and interactivity, post time, and length of post. This study further explores how different news post features affect three dimensions of news engagement indicated by reactions, comments, and shares.

Research Paper • The Impact of Media Algorithms on The Habermassian Public Sphere and Discourse • Student • Kendal Heavner, The University of Arkansas • Media algorithms are increasing in use among popular social networking sites (Geiger, 2009). Widely influential in the media sector, algorithms create a highly personalized experience for the individual viewer. However, some scholars argue the specified curation of media based on a user’s personal preferences leads to a “filter bubble,” an online-based self-fulfilling prophecy in which users’ pre-existing opinions are continually reaffirmed. A survey will examine the impacts that media algorithms have on traditional media theories.

Research Paper • What Influences the Influences?: Examining National Culture, Human Development and Journalism Influences • Faculty • Steven Collins, University of Central Florida; William Kinnally, University of Central Florida; Jennifer Sandoval, University of Central Florida • This study examines how social systems level variables may help shape electronic journalists’ perceptions of the forces influencing their work. We combined Worlds of Journalism Study data with Hofstede’s cultural orientations to consider how the levels of the Hierarchical Influences Model may coalesce. In six analyses across four levels, culture was significantly correlated with perceived influences. Our findings support the belief the social systems level is the hegemonic level on which the others levels rest.

Research Paper • Exploring audience criteria for perceptions of online news videos • Faculty • Michael Koliska, Georgetown University; Neil Thurman, LMU; Sally Stares, City University of London; Jessica Kunert, University of Hamburg • “Journalism professionals and media experts have traditionally used normatively framed criteria

to define news quality. But the digital news media environment has disrupted the status quo by

putting a greater emphasis on audience reactions as markers of news quality. Little research has

addressed the criteria audiences themselves use to evaluate news and particularly audio-visual

news. We conducted in-depth group interviews with 22 online news video consumers in the UK

to explore the criteria that they use in their perceptions and evaluations of online news videos.

Thematic analyses suggest many intersecting criteria, which we group under four headings:

antecedents of perceptions, emotional impacts, news and editorial values and production

characteristics.”

Research Paper • Distant Suffering of Coronavirus Outbreak: Comparing BBC World and Al Jazeera English Epidemic Reporting in China • Student • Wendy L.Y. Leung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • This research aims to compare how BBC World and Al Jazeera English (AJE) report the “distant suffering” of the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in China through critical discourse analysis. While BBC World highlighted the situation of “western victims” in Wuhan to domesticate the event with audiences, AJE tried to relate audiences through illustrating the outbreak in both China and surrounding infected countries, previewing its possible impact in the globe.

Research Paper • I Wouldn’t React to it Because of the Algorithm: How Can Self-Presentation Moderate News Consumption. • Student • Heidi Makady, University of Florida • While algorithms govern the display of our newsfeed on SNS, studies sought to explore conditions to encourage audience interaction with news content. However, few aimed to understand how audiences may refrain from interaction. This study explores how audience awareness of algorithmic recommendations may drive their news interaction. Through self- presentation framework, results indicate that the higher the level of self-monitoring and algorithmic awareness, the more likely passive news consumption is. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Ten Days of Twitter’s “Who to Follow” Algorithm as the Architect of an Election Season Social Network • Faculty • Dylan McLemore, University of Central Arkansas • This study attempts to learn how Twitter curates election information for new users by letting the “Who to Follow” algorithm select accounts for followers of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The results suggest the algorithm creates a partisan echo chamber by prioritizing ideological agreement. However, it varied significantly in the types of accounts it used to create this bubble, including the number of news personalities and verified accounts suggested to followers of each candidate. A summary of the study is presented in the format of a 1,500-word extended abstract.

Research Paper • Hostility toward the press: a synthesis of terms, research, and future directions in examining harassment of journalists • Faculty • Kaitlin Miller, University of Alabama • While there is an upsurge of research examining hostility toward the press, there continues to be a lack of critical and robust theoretical foundation and agenda for such inquiry. Therefore, the objective of this article is to synthesize literature in the study of abuse and harassment of journalists, set forth clear definitions of terms, situate that literature within a larger theoretical context, and ultimately establish future lines of inquiry for research examining harassment of journalists. The principal objective is to unify work in this growing field to help not only answer important questions about a topic gaining more and more attention, but to also do so with a critical foundation in how hostility toward the press is theorized.

Research Paper • Touch in disaster reporting: Television coverage before hurricane maria • Faculty • Bruno Takahashi, Michigan State University; Qucheng Zhang, Michigan State University; Manuel Chavez, Michigan State University; Yadira Nieves • This study examines the use of touch by television reporters in their interactions with sources — mainly residents and government officials — before Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. We used a qualitative approach that allowed four themes to emerge inductively. The themes — engagement and participation, empathy and caring, easing tension, and collective empowerment are described in relation to the literature on touch across cultures. Implications for the emotional turn in journalism are discussed.

Research Paper • The View of the Blue is Bigger than Black and White • Student • Melissa Williams, The University of Southern Mississippi; Lindsey Maxwell, Southern Mississippi • Using the social identity theory, this study explored how mass media, race, age, gender, and politic affiliation contribute to Americans’ attitude towards the police. Findings indicate one’s social identity and identification with police play a substantial role in how people choose to view police. Additionally, increased media trust and resulted in more positive perceptions of police, and people who listened to radio news more frequently were more likely to consider police part of their in-group.

Research Paper • An Agenda-setting Test of Google News World Reporting on Foreign Nations • Student • Anna Young, University of Connecticut; David Atkin • The current study examines the international news section of Google News by investigating the frequency and valence of international coverage. The content of news headlines and snippets about other countries are compared to the public perception of those countries, based on a dedicated survey. Although study findings fail to detect a second-level agenda-setting effect, they demonstrate the impact of other variables–such as political philosophy and perceived cultural proximity of the nation–on media agenda-setting.

2022 Abstracts

2022 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Student • Cultural Sensitivity in Health Crisis Communication: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa • Elinam Amevor • This qualitative study examines the discourses surrounding Melinda Gates’ prediction about dead bodies littering the streets of Africa, if the world did not act fast to rescue the continent. The study thematically analyzed reactions from 12 social media influencers from Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. Drawing on the Cultural Dimensions Theory, preliminary findings describe Gates’ remarks as racist and demeaning to Africans. This reinforces the critical need for cultural sensitivity in global health crisis communication

Research Paper • Faculty • The Power of a Good Story: Domestic Violence Survivors in True Crime Podcast Audiences • Kelli Boling, University of Nebraska – Lincoln • This audience reception study qualitatively examines women who identify as domestic violence survivors and fans of true crime podcasts. Using a feminist, critical cultural lens, this study explores why these women are drawn to these podcasts and how they make meaning of the content. Sixteen interviews revealed five themes: the power of a good story, the appeal of audio media, the educational value of the content, their need for understanding, and creating camaraderie through community.

Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract- Reading Lumpérica from a cinematographic perspective – A fragmented script about marginality • Alejandro Bruna, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile • Lumpérica, by Diamela Eltit, presents an interesting narrative mix: stream of consciousness, realism, dialogue and cinematic elements. This work analyzes the enunciated work, discovering that if read from a audiovisual perspective, it is a true script, fragmented and disjointed, but a script nonetheless, framed within a Chile that suffers the pain of dictatorship and, therefore, presents wounds coupled to a marginality that is dependent of the cinematographic eye to be seen.

Research Paper • Faculty • Black Lives Matter to Media (Finally): A Content Analysis of News Coverage During Summer 2020 • Jennifer Cox, Salisbury University • This study examined 286 stories posted about the Black Lives Matter movement and protests following George Floyd’s death by the six most-viewed U.S. news outlets on their Facebook feeds during summer 2020. These organizations published a significant amount of content, though the frequency declined throughout the summer. Stories mostly framed protesters positively and police negatively. Organizations regularly used law/crime spot news to frame protests. The findings suggest a shift away from the media’s protest paradigm.

Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: Talking Through the Algorithm: Techno-Institutional Bias and Women’s Voices • Katherine Dawson • This work proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how technologies of vocal recording and manipulation, from ‘good speech’ phonetics to A.I. voice renderings, have operated as ideologically charged algorithms that ‘solve’ women’s voices. The research builds upon existing communication literature surrounding the nature and functionality of algorithms, as well as feminist posthumanist theory, which provides a richer conceptualization of how algorithms of voice enact both a political and material discipline upon women’s speech.

Research Paper • Student • Video Game Community Content Creators: A Cultural Intermediary Perspective • Jeffrey Duncan • Video game content creators act as a ‘cultural intermediary’ between game producers and players. Through an interpretive textual analysis of YouTube videos by content creators of two popular games, this study explicates this mediating role the creators play in negotiating the encoding and decoding of gaming messages and their ability to influence audience opinion and producer decisions, highlighting an underrepresented group of creative workers that mediate messages in the gaming industry.

Research Paper • Faculty • Theorizing the mediasphere: NRA media and multimodal dependency • Dawn Gilpin, Arizona State University • This paper uses NRA media operations to illustrate the phenomenon of the mediasphere, defined as a strategically established subsystem of cultural production entrenched in promotional culture and characterized by hybridity, commodification, epistemic authority, embeddedness, identification, centralized control, and oppositionality to mainstream media. A mediasphere represents an attempt to establish audience dependency through multimodal centrality and thereby exercise social and cultural influence; it thus has implications for evolving understandings of information systems, propaganda and promotional culture.

Research Paper • Faculty • The Space Between Home and Away: Sixteen Fragments across Communication as Culture • Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Coker University • “This paper uses sixteen fragments, linked narratives, to make sense of and bring meaning to the space between home and away. Written in an accessible style and broadly inspired by the feminism of Laura Mulvey and the philosophical poetics of Jacques Derrida, the paper

challenges communication as culture to work toward a more narrative, more poststructuralist conceptualization of health communication in particular and communication as culture in

general.”

Extended Abstract • Student • Emotionally charged and politically polarized: An interpretive approach to social media analysis • Efrat Gold; megan boler, University of Toronto • Meaning is never inherent, nor is it neutral. The social act of interpretation, which gets mapped onto people and events, is deeply embedded within pre-existing cultural traditions. Using data from Twitter, Facebook, and Gab as cultural artefacts, we excavate the ways that meanings are made and conveyed through social media. Entering social media to undertake research can feel like entering a new world with its own history, rules, language, and norms. To the less embedded outsider, this world can feel dis-orienting – it is not immediately obvious where to turn, and even less obvious how to make meaning out of what one finds. The ways that people use social media are not neutral, nor are they static – in recent years, it is increasingly clear that social media is doing something, and that something is very influential. But what exactly is this doing and how is it being done? How do social media expressions and interactions speak to deeper beliefs and understandings that people hold about themselves and the world they inhabit? This paper invites a critical reflection on how the work of making meaning out of people, politics, and events is done. As an artefact that says something about the culture from which it stems, social media can inform understandings of the contemporary reality they reflect. Using case studies of comments and interactions among social media users as an occasion to explore cultural practices and disruptions, we dig deep to reveal the social and interpretive aspects already at play.

Research Paper • Student • The spectacle of flags • Julie Grandjean, Texas Tech University • While news editors tend to still consider images as mere illustrations for what is verbally explained (Geise and Baden, 2015), it is important to consider that the analogical properties of images (Abraham and Messaris, 2001) makes them appear more truthful and representative of reality. However, reality tends to be fluid depending on whose story we listen to. This paper narrates the stories of two realist rivals planting their respective national flags on two yet unexplored territories. While the American flag on the Moon was meant as a way to prove the American technological superiority over the USSR to end the Cold War, the Russian flag in the Arctic can be seen as a political move by President Putin to recreate the lost grandeur of the Soviet Union and reenact the Cold War in order to revive his political support at home. By doing so and recording their exploits, the two actors created national narratives that go beyond the simple performance of erecting a flag; I argue that these images construct an affectual nationalist identity through elites’ performance of flag planting, and mass media’s role in staging these political events as a “spectacle.”

Research Paper • Faculty • A reckoning in journalism education: Examining the approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion in journalism syllabi • Azeta Hatef; Sara Shaban • The 2020 protests in the U.S. prompted a reckoning in newsrooms across the country, presenting a critical moment to reflect upon journalism education and preparing students to report on a diverse world. Through Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine syllabi from American universities, focusing on core principles and values in journalism education, specifically their approach to discussions of race, gender, and marginality. While few engage in critical discussion, most universities continue to utilize a traditional framework.

Research Paper • Faculty • Thatcherism, Trumpism, and the Potential of Organic Ideology • Kristen Heflin, Kennesaw State University • In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Stuart Hall struggled to make sense of Thatcherism, an ideology that was incoherent, brought together seemingly opposed viewpoints, and embraced contradiction. Ultimately, Hall developed the concepts of organic ideology and organic intellectual to help make sense of this ideology full of contradictions. This paper examines the theoretical roots of organic ideology and the role of organic intellectuals. It also discusses the concepts in relation to Trumpism and the MAGA movement.

Research Paper • Student • Disinformation and Weaponized Communication: The Spread of Ideological Hate about the Macedonian Name in Greece • Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis, School of Communication HKBU • The current research examined 38 of the most influential disinformation-fueled news (or “fake news”) stories regarding the Macedonian Name Dispute (MND) and the “Prespes Agreement” in the years of 2018 and 2019 by employing the critical discourse analytical (CDA) method of ideological discourse analysis proposed by Van Dijk. The study’s main objective was to expand the relevant literature regarding disinformation, power relations, and hate campaigns by examining the ideological narratives and constructions disseminated through the disinformation-fueled news stories during that two-years-period. The findings showed that those news stories were successfully weaponized and resulted in empowering identity characteristics and ideological narratives through the distancing method (us versus them), the alienation with elements of dramatization (e.g., territorial loss of the Greek Macedonia due to the “Prespes Agreement”), and the sense of victimization and dehumanization that demanded emergency actions to protect the ingroup (Greece) from the outgroup (North Macedonia and its Greek assistants).

Research Paper • Student • Interrogating Perceptions of Risk and Responsibility in Sports During the Coronavirus Pandemic • Charli Kerns, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • This autoethnography examines whitewater kayakers’ decision to paddle the Big South Fork River in Tennessee to reveal the emerging tensions between individual risks inherent in the sport and the much broader constellations of risks into which its participants are interposing themselves during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic rationalities form the context within which individuals engage in neoliberal approaches toward risk-taking in action sports. In turn, these practices articulate with broader frameworks of responsibility in postmodern society.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Dead and Back to Life: “The Eight Hundred” in the Field of Power • Zhaoxi Liu • In 2019, the Chinese movie “The Eight Hundred” abruptly cancelled its release while China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic, due to political sensitivity. A year later, as China tried to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie became a market-reviving hero. This case study explains the dramatic experience of the movie by exploring the interrelations among the field of cultural production, the field of power, and the field of broader social context.

Research Paper • Faculty • Leaning In, Pushed Out: Postfeminist Precarity, Pandemic Labor, and Journalistic Discourse • Jessica Maddox; Brian Creech, Temple University • During the COVID-19 pandemic, the postfeminist ideal of “having it all” became more contradictory, as women struggled to juggle work and childcare. This research, using critical discourse analysis, examines how lifestyle and explanatory journalism made sense of this problematic ideal as it became evidently untenable during the pandemic. Here, journalism operates as a discursive structure, obscuring its own complicity in sustaining postfeminist and neoliberal relations around the expectations that surround working mothers.

Research Paper • Student • Genre, the meaning of style?: Categorizing Japanese visual kei • Lucy March • This paper explores the Japanese musical movement visual kei, and how to make ontological sense of it given its sonic and visual inconsistencies. Scholars describe visual kei as a socially-driven act of resistance, and as a commercial product with consistent generic characteristics. Examination of a case study demonstrates how visual kei occupies these contradictory spaces simultaneously, and how terms like genre and subculture capture the visual kei’s hybrid nature when used in the appropriate context.

Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: Race-conscious public health: A critical discourse analysis of the Release the Pressure Campaign • Hayley Markovich, University of Florida • This study focuses on the Release the Pressure campaign aimed at addressing high blood pressure and heart disease rates among Black women in America. Through a critical discourse analysis guided by critical race theory and intersectionality, the study explores how the campaign centers race and responds to structural racism to address heart health. Analysis of the Release the Pressure campaign and its discourses provides an avenue for scholars and practitioners to create race-conscious campaigns.

Research Paper • Student • “The Day Joy Was Over:” Representation of Pregnancy Loss in the News • Zelly Martin, University of Texas at Austin • Recently, news coverage of miscarriage has exploded, fueled primarily by celebrities discussing their personal experiences. To assess discursive constructions of the miscarriage experience in legacy news and women’s magazines, a corpus of 212 articles about pregnancy loss from the New York Times, the Washington Post, People Magazine, and Us Weekly are analyzed using critical discourse analysis. Findings reveal that pregnancy loss coverage perpetuates heteropatriarchal and postracial ideology in service of the narrative of U.S. exceptionalism.

Research Paper • Faculty • India’s #MeToo Movement in Bollywood: Exposing Cultural & Societal Mores • Umana Anjalin, University of Tennessee; Abhijit Mazumdar, Park University • Against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, aspiring actresses of the Indian film industry have revealed facing sexual harassment at the hands of male colleagues. Using feminist standpoint theory and theoretical thematic analysis of Bollywood actors’ online interviews about facing sexual harassment, this study uncovered common themes about India’s societal, cultural, and administrative mores. It also suggested a few recommendations to overcome the problem.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Extended Abstract The One with the Anniversary, the Friends 25th Anniversary Extravaganza: A political economy approach to a postmodern pseudo-event • Gigi McNamara, University of Toledo • American broadcast television continues to redefine and reassess its business model as competition for content from steaming services intensifies. In addition, television executives and producers are awash in what I have identified as a “hyper-nostalgic” era of television with reboots and relaunches dotting the primetime landscape. Paying homage to this hyper-nostalgic moment is the publicity juggernaut surrounding the 25th anniversary of the long-running NBC show, Friends. While there are no current plans to relaunch this program with new scripted content, the anniversary event, I contend is indicative of Boorstin’s theory of the pseudo-event. Moreover, I purport the on-going celebrity status of its cast members has furthered strengthened Friends inclusion in the television canon of timeless classics. In my full paper, I will overview the evolution of this hyper-nostalgic pseudo-event and will also draw on the theories from political economy of communication scholars including Riordan, Douglas and Andrejevic. This event also proves to be the “perfect storm” in terms of integrated marketing. The hyper-nostalgic virtue signaling includes both original viewers of the show and a newer younger audience, too young to have watched in the 1990s. Marking this specific historical intersection of celebrity and commerce, Friends continues to identify a new audience, and new consumer base, in this enduring nod to the past.

Research Paper • Faculty • Investigative journalism and effects of capitalist “pathologies” on societal integration: Challenging Habermas’s “colonization” thesis • Ali Mohamed, United Arab Emirates University • “Abstract

Habermas suggests that his “colonization” thesis applies not only to individuals within organizations, but also to institutions like media. Examples Habermas offers point to the vulnerability of journalism, especially, to “market imperatives” in capitalist societies. We challenge this notion by considering the work of investigative journalists who have adapted to advanced digital information technologies in order to reveal “concealed strategic actions” by capitalist interests that operate largely beyond the democratic will-formation of the lifeworld.”

Extended Abstract • Student • Feigning Indignance, Reinstating Power: Paradigm Repair, Femicide, and the Publishing of Ingrid Escamilla’s Murdered Body • Dominique Montiel Valle; Zelly Martin, University of Texas at Austin • In this study, we shed light on the media controversy surrounding the publishing of photos of Ingrid Escamilla’s murdered body in Mexico. Using a theoretical lens that integrates paradigm repair and decolonial feminism, we interrogate how four of Mexico’s most read news publications attempted to reify their media authority in the midst of high threat. We then probe how this positioning reifies media values and institutional alliances that further and perpetuate the devaluation of women.

Research Paper • Student • That’s Why I Smoke Weed: An Analysis of #StonerMom Discourse on TikTok • Madison Mullis, University of Memphis • This research utilized Manning’s symbolic framework to gain a deeper understanding of the #StonerMom phenomenon. A textual analysis was used to examine 55 videos extracted from the “Discover” page on TikTok. The results found that the symbolic framing of drug use on TikTok draws on discourses of social inequality, subsequently reinforcing historical associations between marijuana and POC. #StonerMoms construct marijuana use as a parent-friendly activity through their social media discourse by utilizing the race-neutral term “cannabis” and by framing marijuana as a stress suppressant that helps them be more patient and attentive towards their children. As a result of privileged normalization, #StonerMoms have become complicit in the gentrification of marijuana.

Research Paper • Student • Beyond the Lens: Black Professional Athletes on Racism & the Realities of Breathing While Black • Christina Myers • “This study investigates how Black professional athletes articulate their lived experiences concerning race and racism in the United States through the online digital platform The Players’ Tribune. To explore these dynamics through Critical Race Theory, a qualitative content analysis of narratives (N=29) were analyzed. Results reveal themes of violence perpetuated by law enforcement, fear for the life of self and loved ones, identity, history of systemic racism, call for allyship, Black empowerment and unity. The researcher suggests the counter-narratives that prevail indicate a response against the predominant images and frames in mainstream mass media.

Keywords: Critical Race Theory, Black identity, Black athletes, race”

Extended Abstract • Student • Can Journalists be Activists? A Metajournalistic Discourse analysis of the relationship between Journalism and Activism • Sohana Nasrin, University of Maryland • The relationship between journalism and activism has been a complicated one (Di Salvo, 2020; Russell, 2018; Beaudoin, 2019; Camaj, 2018). Journalism scholars and practitioners have struggled to understand the purviews of the two concepts—journalism and activism. On the one hand, professional journalists have been too concerned with maintaining professional norms such as objectivity, fairness, balance, and the like and tried not to drift into activism while reporting on different issues (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2007). On the other hand, Journalism scholars have engaged in philosophical debates on whether objectivity is a precept of journalism anymore and suggested new values such as transparency (Ingram, 2020) to take its place. This often-contested relationship between journalism and activism got renewed attention, with journalists adequately and accurately covering social justice issues such as racism and scientifically complicated topics such as climate change. The rise of alternative and citizen journalism challenged traditional news media and the norms they abide by. The renewed interests in the relationship between journalism and activism necessitate scholarly attention to understand how and whether journalism and activism can co-exist as professional journalists seek to inform the public. This study attempts to understand professional journalists’ attitudes toward the relationship between journalism and activism by analyzing the metajouranlistic discourse around the topic in the United States. The metajouranlistic discourse indicated that there emerged a shifting attitude toward how professional journalists define journalism.

Extended Abstract • Student • Melodramatic Platforms: the emotional theatre of collective political storytelling on social media • Míchílín Ní Threasaigh, University of Toronto; Ali Azhar, University of Toronto; megan boler, University of Toronto • “If social media is the new digital town hall, Canadian and American democracies are in trouble. Once a site of promise for democratizing mass communication, the internet has also become a site of problematic information and polarized affect. As meta-narratives about national identity clash across social media platforms, it is urgent that we understand how new media is shaping political polarization. In this paper we seek to understand the roles of social media platforms, emotion, and narrative in shaping online civic discourse. More specifically, we ask,

1) How might we analyse social media expressions as a form of collective storytelling?

2) What is the role of emotion in the production and circulation of these polarized political meta-narratives? and,

3) What roles do social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Gab play in catalyzing, organizing & circulating these emotionally-charged political meta-narratives?

To answer these questions, we draw upon findings from our three-year, mixed-methods, funded study of affect and narratives of race and national belonging on social media during the 2019 Canadian and 2020 U.S. federal elections; using the January 6th Capitol Riots as a case-study in the melodramatic genre of collective political storytelling on social media.”

Research Paper • Student • Themes, ideology, and social media: A critical analysis of a US Vice President • Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour, University of New Mexico • Considering the paucity of literature in Vice-presidential research, this study analyzes the social media (Facebook) discourse of Vice President Mike Pence, the 48th Vice President of the United States (US). Employing Norman Fairclough’s (2010) three-tier Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) model, I conduct a textual analysis of the Vice President’s social media discourse to analyze the salient themes and ideologies in his Facebook posts. I observed that Vice President Mike Pence portrayed himself like a President in waiting in the wake of President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings. In addition, findings of this current study indicated that from the ideological standpoint a mediated version of “Trumpism” was performed in the Vice President’s Facebook posts and he indicated his strong Republican values of Conservatism.

Research Paper • Faculty • Witnessing the Power of Digital Activism BTS’ Involvement Brought into the Social Movement: A Case of the Black Lives Matter • Jiwoo Park • “The Black Lives Matter movement erupted after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody during the first six months of the pandemic in the U.S. During the same timeframe, BTS was the most tweeted-about celebrity in the U.S. Through exploring a role BTS’ Twitter activity played for the social movement, this paper reflects on the nature of activism in the social media age and argues for the importance and value of digital activism.

Keywords: ARMY, BLM, BTS, Digital Activism, Slacktivism”

Extended Abstract • Student • “Extended Abstract: Narrative Formation: Black Women, Writing, and Vogue Magazine” • Rachel Parker, The University of Alabama • “Since their circulation beginning in the 18th century, women’s magazines spoke to an audience as varied as their content, including educated women to the housewife (Cramer, 1998). Focusing on subject matter that was important to their readers such as: housekeeping, careers, and marriage, women’s magazines were able to carve out their own niche for this specific market of reader whose interests was being overlooked.

This focus led to an audience showcasing a homogenous group of women in terms of values, education, and race. Focusing on one group as your audience led to the exclusion of others, particularly Black women.

This article will analyze this lack of Black women to be included in these publications as audience members as well as writers through the application of Muted Group Theory (Ardener, 1975).”

Research Paper • Faculty • Toward a Framework for Intersectional Listening In Strategic Communication • Katie Place, Quinnipiac University • This qualitative study explored the intersection of listening theory and intersectional theory to develop a framework for intersectional listening in strategic communication contexts. Interviews with 30 strategic communication professionals and executives were conducted to understand how they embody listening.

Research Paper • Student • Membership negotiation’ flow in CCO model may explain institutional bias at a nonprofit media site • Elizabeth Potter, University of Colorado Boulder • “Scholars can use the “membership negotiation” flow of McPhee & Zaug’s four-flows model of how communication constitutes organization to show how volunteer members of a nonprofit media and news production organization may be included or excluded as members of a local government institution. Aspects of the “membership negotiation” flow also can be used to illustrate how potential members are included or excluded from a volunteer news organization. Finally, the “membership negotiation” flow of the four-flows model of how communication constitutes organization can be used to theorize about how institutional bias may pervade the governmental institution of which this organization is a part.

This case study offers insights into just one way that scholars might think about how to study institutional bias. Because the four-flows model is ontological and because it draws from Giddens’s structuration theory, it has strong explanatory power that can be used to study similar organizations and organizational communication precepts in the future.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Living For—And Maybe Off—Journalism: French and American Journalists’ Career Expectations • Matthew Powers, University of Washington, Seattle; Sandra Vera-Zambrano, Universidad Iberoamericana • Drawing on Bourdieu, this paper explores journalists’ career expectations in France and the United States. Through interviews, we show that highly-resourced journalists in both countries expect to make a living doing work they love. By contrast, lesser-resourced journalists emphasize the sacrifices they make pursuing their careers. While sacrifices vary according to nationally-distinctive labor regulations, journalists in both samples find “virtues in their necessities” (Bourdieu, 1984) by highlighting the possibilities that a journalism career affords.

Research Paper • Faculty • The “major mea culpa:” Journalistic discourse when professional norms are broken • Erica Salkin, Whitworth University Department of Communication Studies; Kevin Grieves, Whitworth University • The “corrections statement” is sufficient for media organizations to address small mistakes. When larger missteps occur, however, more substantive work is needed not only to correct the record, but to protect the organization’s claim to an authentic journalistic identity. This study analyzes a sample of such “major mea culpa” statements to explore how media organizations talk about their significant professional errors and the tools they use to maintain their journalistic identities when such errors occur.

Research Paper • Faculty • Quenching the Pan-Asian Desire – Thai’s Boys’ Love, Tranculturalism, and Geolinguistic Fusion • Hong-Chi Shiau, Shih-Hsin University • “This

study attempt s to unpack the pan Asian Boys’ Love gen re phenomen on by

reading into a Thai BL hit I told Sunset about you , a coming of age story revolving

around two male protagonists in Thai Chinese diaspora. As a result of the real coming

of age drama, this BL has successfully merged two sub genres geikomi (also known as

bara) and Boys Love (BL) manga in the Japanese manga context. T h e use of shared

linguistic repertoire in Asian community is further examined. Its counter flows from

Thailand to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea offer media scholars

an fertile ground to understand East Asian fans’ practices. While this drama is by no

means the first counter flow case, it affords media scholar s to unpack how boys love

(BL) drama can inter penetrate Asian countries rapidly that has paved the way for a

decentering of the Western dominated global mediascape, as guest editor called for

attention in this issue. Thai s producers use of new practice to engage global audiences

has also destabilized the problematic theoretical dichotomy of East/West global/local

cultural imaginary.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Courage and Conviction: Christopher Columbus and the Rhetorics of Cancel Culture • Brian Snee, University of Scranton • Courage and Conviction:  The True Story of Christopher Columbus follows the classic formula for apologia: vehement denial, strategic bolstering, differentiation, and a call for transcendence. The short film engages in its act of dissuasion while simultaneously performing complex commemorative work.  It evokes the past not merely to lead its audience in the act of collective remembering, but also to encourage them to forget much of that past. The film urges its audience to move on, and to allow Columbus—his holiday and his effigies—to stand. Textual analysis reveals it as example of amnestic rhetoric.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Social Media as an essential tactical resource for police whistleblowers • Rhon Teruelle, Purdue University Northwest • This article examines social media and The Lamplighter Project on Twitter as an example of a tactical resource for police whistleblowers. While whistleblowing, the act of exposing and reporting police wrongdoing is still viewed in a negative light by the majority of law enforcement, recent incidents such as the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor display the need to hold police accountable for their actions. Moreover, reports that some police officers were involved in the attack against America’s capitol clearly exhibits that members of law enforcement are not above committing unlawful acts. The Lamplighter Project plays a key role in providing police whistleblowers a safe space on Twitter, allowing them to report on and expose police misconduct, brutality, and malfeasance.

Extended Abstract • Student • The Framing of Other: How Framing Can Be A Postcolonial Tool For Institutional Power • Kris Vera-Phillips, Arizona State University • Framing is a function of power. This conceptual theory paper investigates how leaders and institutions use the media strategy of framing as a postcolonial tool for obtaining, maintaining, and reinforcing power. Entman (1993) identified four functions of framing: defining problems, diagnosing causes, making moral judgments, and coming up with remedies. I will take each function of framing defined by Entman, apply lessons from postcolonial studies, and show how both are reflected in demonstrations of power.

Research Paper • Faculty • The Caucasities of Portland: Theorizing White Protests for Black Lives • John Vilanova • “This article uses “Caucasity” — a portmanteau of “Caucasian” and “audacity” — to retheorize the 2020 Portland, Oregon #BlackLivesMatter uprisings.

Promoted by the comedians Desus and Mero and proliferated through Black Twitter, Caucasity is best understood as a set of privileged performance practices deployed by white people, even while protesting white supremacy.

I historicize the term and analyze viral figures from the protests, arguing for productive nuance in theorizing white action for racial justice.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • “I Know It’s Sensitive”: Internet Filtering, Recoding, and “Sensitive-word Culture” in China • WeiMing YE; Luming Zhao • In this article, we develop “sensitive-word culture” as a new lens for understanding Internet filtering and censorship, and online cultural production in China. Using in-depth interviews with 20 Chinese Weibo users, four types of word recoding are summarized and the motivations of users for recoding practices and the power relations are demonstrated. A notable finding suggests that “sensitive-word culture” is becoming a source and hub of slang and Memes production on the Chinese network society.

Extended Abstract • Student • Hybrid Media or Mediasport? Exploring Media Portrayal of Esports Culture • Steven Young, Ph.D. Candidate • Esports are growing in popularity at a rapid pace worldwide. In contemporary society, individuals watch esports broadcasts as part of their normal media consuming practices. Esports media significantly impact audience understandings, and play an integral role in shaping public discourse about esports culture. This study focuses on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), which is currently the most recognized first-person shooter esport worldwide and the third most popular game across all esports genres (Irwin & Naweed, 2020). Interested in how the cultural knowledge and experience of esports are represented in media, I explored professional CS:GO esports broadcasts from two prominent professional leagues, ESL Pro League (EPL) and ELEAGUE. EPL is significant because it is longest standing professional Counter-Strike league worldwide. ELEAGUE represents the first regularly aired professional Counter-Strike league in the United States. Together, these leagues serve as active participants in creating, shaping, and molding esports culture worldwide. A thematic analysis of textual and audio-visual data from professional CS:GO broadcasts revealed that esports culture is a novel phenomenon, similar to sport, but situated within video games, and interspersed with a variety of digital media. Using traditional sports metaphors and comparisons, as well as sportscast style match coverage and gameplay reporting, EPL and ELEAGUE illustrate CS:GO as a global media-sport. At the same time, both leagues emphasize technicity and rely on gamer jargon to frame professional CS:GO as a form of hybrid media intrinsically tied to game culture. Together these representations suggest that esports culture is a “hybrid media-sport.”

Extended Abstract • Student • Celebrity Capitol and Social Movements: A Textual Analysis of Bollywood Celebrities’ Tweets on 2020-21 Indian Farmers’ Protest • Ali Zain, University of South Carolina • Building on global trend of celebrity activism and concept of celebrity capital, this study qualitatively examines Twitter posts of Bollywood celebrities about 2020-21 Indian farmers’ protest to to discover the dominant themes of favoring and opposing discourses. It was found pro-farmers celebrities used rhetorical and explanatory support while others employed celebrity capital as political support to government to oppose protesters and their supporters. Some celebrities even engaged in celebrity-shaming and name-calling in their communications.

Research Paper • postdoc • “The Virus May Have Come From…”: COVID-19 Infodemic in China and the Politics of (Mis-)Translation • Sheng Zou, University of Michigan • This article delves into the COVID-19 infodemic on China’s Internet, particularly fake news stories attributing the virus’s roots to the United States. It approaches the false origin stories as transnational and intertextual constructs, which involve practices of (mis)translating and referencing foreign source texts to paradoxically delegitimate the foreign, especially Western, Other. Through a close reading of emblematic cases, this article identifies three mistranslation maneuvers and gestures towards ways to combat fake news in the post-COVID era.

2022 Abstracts