Mass Communication and Society 2006 Abstracts
Mass Communication and Society Division
Being Early on the Curve: Online Practices, Associational Membership and Expressive Political Participation • Eulalia Puig Abril and Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study examines online surveillance media use and social interactions effects on early Internet adopters in Colombia. Data analysis from a 2004 survey provide evidence that these variables matter for political engagement, and, most importantly, that in the context of societies in crisis these online practices result in increased expressive political participation and associational membership.
Meth in the Midwest: Space, Time, and Content Frames in Rural and Urban Newspapers • Julie Andsager, MaryAnn Martin, Yeon Kyeong Kim, Lee Farquhar and Mohamad Elmasry, University of Iowa • This study compared news coverage of an ongoing social problem to that of a discrete event. Space and time frames on methamphetamine, an illegal, highly addictive drug problematic in rural areas of the Midwest, were compared in eight rural and urban newspapers from four high-meth states. Findings indicate the newspaper types framed the drug problem differently, though both tended to frame it largely as an individual, present-time crime problem. Implications for future research are discussed.
“Media and Social Divides” Facebook Me!: The Social Divide Between Student and Mainline Newspapers • Fernando Anton, Rut Rey, Eric Abbott and Michael Bugeja, Iowa State University • This study explores the social divide between main line and university newspapers coverage of Facebook, the popular online networking site, using computerized content analysis. A hierarchical cluster and concept mapping procedures identified eight major frames used by student and main line press. Results showed frames dealing with “Sex and Games” and “Relationships” were associated more closely with student newspapers coverage, while “History of Facebook” and “Business of Facebook” were associated with the main line press.
Believing Blogs? Examining the Influence of Gender Cues on Credibility • Cory Armstrong and Melinda McAdams, University of Florida • This study examines how gender and occupational cues influence Weblog credibility. Using an experimental design method, this study manipulated the source descriptors of a Weblog author and had participants rate the overall credibility of the entry. While male authors were deemed more credible than female authors in a main effect, that difference disappeared among blog users. The relationship between gender cues and credibility was moderated by blog usage. Implications are discussed.
The Double-Edged Nature of Satisfaction with Media in Political Decision Making • Erica Weintraub Austin, Washington State University and Ruth Patterson Funabiki, University of Idaho and Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University • The purpose of this study was to investigate whether survey instrument measures of satisfaction with political media coverage might reflect complacency rather than a reflective assessment of goal-oriented media use. A survey (N=421) of college students performed in the week before the 2000 November election, when citizens would be presumed to be maximally engaged in the campaign, assessed measures of general media satisfaction, cynicism, apathy and political efficacy.
Celebrity Endorsements: Can They Motivate Disaffected Youth Voters? • Erica Weintraub Austin, Rebecca Van de Vord, Evan Epstein and Bruce Pinkleton, Washington State University • Coinciding with record turn-out among young voters in the 2004 Presidential election was a significant increase the number of celebrity endorsed Get Out the Vote promotions. As scholars have long indicated concern regarding the disaffect youth voters, this study explored the extent to which these promotions might influence decision making variables which predict voting behavior. Findings indicated that celebrity involvement predicted lower levels of apathy and complacency and higher levels of involvement and self-efficacy.
Anchoring the Third-Person Effect Hypothesis with the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA): Self and the Desire to Meet the Social Expectations of Others • Stephen Banning, Bradley University and Guy Golan, Florida International University • We tested the limitations of Paternalism as an explanation for the Third-Person Effect’s behavioral aspect, suggesting the theory of reasoned action better explains why people are sometimes motivated to act on the third-person effect. This study (n=600) revealed the third-person effect can motivate people toward socially desirable action that is not corrective in nature, supporting the TRA as a theoretical basis for the behavioral aspect of the third-person effect.
Revisiting the Lessons of “Mr. Gates”: The Demographic Characteristics of Journalists and Their Content Preferences • Randal Beam, University of Washington • Research on the sociology of news has tended to de-emphasize the role that the social characteristics of journalists may play in shaping media content. This study suggests that that thesis may be worth revisiting. It examined short narratives from 327 reporters who were asked to given a recent example of their “best work.” The differences in the kinds of stories that these reporters cited varied systematically according to those journalists’ demographic and social characteristics.
So Many Cell Phones, So Little Talk of Cellular Health Risks • Joseph Bernt and Phyllis Bernt, Ohio University • Using content analysis, this study examines newspaper coverage of potential health risks associated with cell phones and towers. A total of 282 stories appearing in 15 metropolitan newspapers from 1993 to 2005 were analyzed. Stories reported partisan debate rather than in-depth discussion of issues. Coverage of health risks declined, even as cell phone use proliferated, suggesting a “democratization” of risk. These findings are supported by other research regarding media coverage of health risks.
Media Content and Procedural Justice in the Context of Local Cancer Cluster Investigations • John Besley, Katherine McComas, Cornell University and Craig Trumbo, University of Vermont • This study integrates theory from the relational approach to procedural justice and mass communication to investigate media content about seven cancer cluster investigations in communities across the United States. Focus is put on the degree to which news content from each community highlight the relational treatment of citizens by authorities, as well the degree to content suggests that citizens can have a voice in the cancer investigation of their community.
Through the Hoop: How Sports Participation Displaces Media Use and Influences Positive Body Self- Esteem in Competitive Female Athletes • Kimberly Bissell and Katharine Birchall, University of Alabama • This exploratory study analyzed competitive adolescent female athletes’ use of entertainment media and sports participation and looked for possible predictors of more positive body self-esteem, an affective trait that could be present in women who have eating disorder tendencies.
Toward a More Critical Thinking Journalist: A Content Analysis of Media Literacy in Introductory News Reporting and Writing Textbooks • Linda Bowen, California State University, Northridge • This study examined the extent to which media literacy concepts, as adapted to apply to a journalistic perspective, were present in the content of introductory textbooks widely used to teach news reporting and writing skills to journalism undergraduates across the United States.
Media Usage and Multitasking Among Young Adults • Karen Boyajy, University of Missouri • This study looks at media usage patterns among young adults, with a particular focus on multitasking and the factors that contribute to the time spent with two or more media. Respondents indicated more time spent multitasking as the time with media increased, showing support for the combined use of the Internet and traditional media. The theory of uses and gratification is considered as multitasking presents challenges to one of its basic components.
What Makes a Protester? The Role of Mainstream and Alternative Media Use in Predicting Traditional and Protest Forms of Participation • Michael Boyle, Wichita State University and Mike Schmierbach, College of Charleston • Much research has explored the role that media use plays in facilitating political participation. However, a limitation of this work is that alternative forms of both media and participation have largely been ignored. Research under the protest paradigm indicates that media treat protests critically, suggesting mainstream media might stifle alternative participation.
Have You Seen Deep Throat Yet? The Proliferation of Pornography in American Society in the 1970s • Carolyn Bronstein, Depaul University • This paper investigates a series of legal, governmental, industrial, cultural and technological developments that encouraged the spread of pornography throughout American society in the 1970s.
Family Portrayals in the Media • Mark Callister and Tom Robinson, Brigham Young University • With television viewing occupying significant portions of young children’s lives, and given the cumulative effect television messages have in the construction of young people’s social reality, this study examines the how children’s programming presents family to children.
Stereotypes in Advertising: An Analysis of Sex Role Portrayals of Women and Men over Thirty Years • Courtney Carpenter, University of Alabama and Tom Reichert, University of Georgia • This study assessed representations of women and men and addressed inadequacies of recent gender role research. Using content analysis methodology, advertisements in six popular magazines over the past 30 years (N = 1,855) were investigated. A comparison of sexism in advertising for both genders resulted in profoundly more decorative portrayals, especially in women’s interest and men’s interest magazines. In 2003, approximately three out of four women in advertisements were featured in a decorative manner (73%).
Lung Cancer in Media’s Spotlight: Did Journalists Use Sources to Fulfill a Media Advocacy Role? • Yi-Chun “Yvonnes” Chen, Stacey Hust and Rebecca Van de Vord, Washington State University • This study explored the framing of articles related to lung cancer through journalists’ choice of source as a means of making sense of lung cancer during the time in which it was thrust into the spotlight. Content analysis was conducted on 118 newspaper articles over nine months encompassing Peter Jennings’ illness and death. Findings suggest journalists missed an opportunity to include sources who would fill a media advocacy role by discussing policy and prevention.
“Everyone Is A Racist”: Crash, Hegemony, and the Critical Reinforcement of the Social Discourse on Race • Phillip Chidester, Illinois State University and Shannon Campbell, University of Southern California • This essay contends that the film Crash – despite its popular and critical acclaim – actually functions as a broad expiation of white guilt that contributes nothing to the ongoing American race debate.
What I Watch and Who I Am: National Pride and the Viewing of Local and Foreign Television in Israel • Jonathan Cohen, University of Haifa • This study examines the relationship between various measures of exposure and preference to Israeli television (as opposed to imported foreign television) and the degree of national pride. Results (n = 408) show that over and above strict demographic, ideological, and general TV viewing measures viewing of Israeli channels or news programs was not related to pride. However, the proportion of Israeli favorite shows and favorite characters were predictors of national pride.
Mass Media Consumption and the Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors of Young Adults • Steve Collins and Heather Hackbarth, University of Central Florida • Research suggests sexual content is prevalent in mass media content and this content can have an effect on viewers’ attitudes about sex. The researchers used a survey to examine these relationships in young students at a large southeastern university within the theoretical framework of cultivation. The survey targeted first-semester college freshmen.
Better Off Dead: Media Framing of Individual Journalists, News Organizations and “The Media” • Stephanie Craft, Tayo Oyedeji and Wayne Wanta, University of Missouri • A content analysis examined how different news sources were framed in the news media from January 2004 to October 2005 – before the broadcast of the falsified memo castigating George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard by the Dan Rather-anchored CBS News (September 8, 2004) to after the death of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings (August 7, 2005). Peter Jennings received positive coverage and was especially noted for his professionalism.
Learning about Politics from the Internet • Kajsa Dalrymple and Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Recent research has suggested that traditional and online news sources may differ with respect to their ability to inform audiences. In particular, there is tentative evidence that the hyperlink structure of online newspapers, for example, can promote a more in-depth understanding of political issues than traditional news media. We analyzed data from the 2004 American National Election Study (ANES) to test some of these relationships empirically.
Negative Political Advertising, Cynicism, and Self-Efficacy: The Impact of Ad Type and Message Expos • Frank Dardis, Fuyuan Shen and Heidi Edwards, Pennsylvania State University • Research has indicated that exposure to negative political advertising can foster among individuals feelings of alienation, distrust, and apathy towards government or the political process. However, investigation regarding the amount of exposure to such advertising and the form in which the advertising is presented remains scant. This experimental study examined the impact of ad type (character-based versus issue-based) and amount of advertising exposures on individuals’ cynicism and perceived self-efficacy relating to the government.
Raising the Dead: Recovery of Decayed Online Citations • Daniela Dimitrova and Michael Bugeja, Iowa State University • Recent studies show that online footnotes decay over time. This study investigates how researchers can resurrect lapsed citations, comparing two retrieval methods—online archives and search engines. The Wayback Machine and Google were used to retrieve missing online citations from six leading mass communication journals. Analysis shows that the Wayback Machine was more efficient, suggesting archives are a better method for citation retrieval than search engines. Implications of these findings for future scholars are discussed.
U.S. Newspaper Coverage of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Regulation: A Community Structure Approach • Dana Eisenberg, Tom Hipper, John Pollock, Ashley Magazzu and Tracey Severino, The College of New Jersey • In a representative national cross-section sample of 27 newspapers, this study explored newspaper coverage of a ban on smoking in public places throughout the United States, examining coverage from January 1st, 1998, the date when the first legislation for a ban on public smoking was enacted in California, to May 31, 2004, when Vermont became the most recent state to enact a public ban on smoking.
Controversial Contexts, Elite Bias Claims, and Perceptions of Media Credibility Across Issue Domains • Goidel Robert, David Kurpius and Connor Best, Louisiana State University • While the literature on media credibility is relatively well developed, we have a limited understanding of how perceptions of credibility vary across issue domains. Utilizing a national RDD survey, we articulate a model of media credibility emphasizing the importance of controversy and elite claims of media bias.
Motivations to Respond without Prejudice and Their Relationships with Local News Orientations • Bradley Gorham, Syracuse University • This study examines the relationship between motivations to respond without prejudice and people’s use of and orientation toward local television news. Using survey data from 228 university staff, the study found that although frequency of viewing was not related to motivations to respond without prejudice, motives for watching local television news were. The study discusses the implications in relation to efforts to reduce prejudice.
The Impact of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Current Events Knowledge of Young Adults • Augie Grant, University of South Carolina • This study explores the impact of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on current events knowledge of young adults using multiple methods. A survey of college students demonstrates that viewing of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is positively related to current events knowledge. The causality of that relationship is then tested in an experiment that compares the impact of reports from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart with those from NBC Nightly News.
Partisan vs. Non-partisan Voters: The Moderating Effects of Media Use on Voter Turnout in 2004 • Gang (Kevin) Han, Syracuse University • This study aims to evaluate the extent to which general media use, whether traditional or new, can moderate the effects of partisanship on voter turnout in the 2004 presidential election. Logit models are employed to assess the newly-released NES data, and particular concern is paid to the inconclusive relationship between media variables and partisanship, a conventionally consistent non-communication predictor of voting behavior. Their independent effects on voter turnout are also discussed respectively.
Avian Flu Framing and Agenda Setting in Press Releases and Newspapers During 2005 • Elliott Hillback III and Adam Hinterthuer, University of Wisconsin-Madison • We survey avian flu topics and frames in White House and health organization press releases and in four major U.S. newspapers during 2005 to examine both the flow of information from experts to the public and the change in information as the issue develops. Results suggest dramatization of the issue by the media for the sake of “newsworthiness” and an agenda building – agenda setting relationship between media and government.
Evaluating Public Discourse in Newspaper Opinion Articles: Values-Framing on Health Policy Issues • Lindsay Hoffman and Michael Slater, Ohio State University • The exchange of opinions is an important component of participatory democracies, and newspaper forum pages have been hailed as a conduit for such discussion. Little research has tackled the complexity of this content, but framing research demonstrates that values are an easily accessible heuristic for framing arguments. We examined newspaper forum articles on health policy issues for the presence and complexity of values. Significant differences were found by article type and topic. Implications are discussed.
Children and Sports: Just Do It… or Not? An Investigation of the Relationship Among Children’s Media Use, Sports Participation, Physical Activity, and Obesity • Andrea Holt and Courtney Carpenter, University of Alabama • Current media coverage indicates no more widely examined topic of public health concern than the issue of obesity, which faces an estimated 9 million American children and teens. With the introduction of technologies such as television, children seemingly spend increasingly more leisure time with new media than in physical activity. Therefore, the goal of this study will examine the relationship between television viewing, sports and exercise participation, and Body Mass Index (BMI).
‘We Can’t Keep Losing Our Kids’: Fear, Blame and Mourning in Press Coverage of Teen Deaths • Janice Hume, University of Georgia • This study examines how the deaths of teenagers were covered in three mainstream dailies, 2003-2005, to determine how these stories were “framed,” how the teens were remembered, and what these portrayals reveal about the relationship between the press, teenagers, and American cultural notions about death. Newspapers focused on “sudden deaths,” and represented teens as chronic risk-takers, incapable of rational judgment. Newspapers also participated in a type of public mourning, publishing remembrances and coverage of rituals/memorials.
Hitting the Tween Scene: Body Image Stereotypes on Children’s Television Situation Comedies • Tahlea Jankoski, Brigham Young University • Television programs often portray idealized body images which have become a common source of comparison for young audience viewers. This study examines body types and behaviors on two popular children’s television networks. Specifically, research is centered on children’s situation comedies being marketed to tweens, children between the ages of 9 and 14. Results indicate children’s situation comedies predominately show average or underweight characters.
Framing People in Crises. An Analysis of The New York Times Coverage of 9/11 • Youngkee Ju, University of Missouri • The study examined The New York Times’ different framing of Americans, Arab-Americans, and Arabs in its 9/11 coverage. Drawing on the social psychological perspectives on group membership (Tajfel and Turner, 2001), the study expected that emotional experiences, relational attitudes, and non-emotional, non-relational characters of people should be the aspects focused on by news framing.
For Democracy and the Bottom Line: Goals United States Newspapers Hold for their Letters to the Editor Section • Mark Kelley, University of Maine • This survey measured the degree to which editors at 99 randomly selected American newspapers (large, small, daily, and non-daily) agree with three types of letters to the editor goals (ideological, practical, and business-related). Overall, respondents favored ideological goals (providing a forum for public debate) over practical and business-related goals. The difference was statistically significant. Smaller papers embraced business-related goals significantly more than larger papers. Publication schedule (daily versus non-daily) was not a significant factor.
Something Ventured, Something Gained: Moderating Impact of Blogs on Political Activity • Daekyung Kim and Thomas Johnson, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and Barbara K. Kaye, University of Tennessee-Knoxville • Based on an online survey that attracted 1,366 blog users during the 2004 presidential election, this study examines not only the effects of traditional interpersonal discussion but also the potential of blogs in facilitating political activity. Results of this study show different roles of online media in connection to political discussion. While blog reliance has little influence on political activity and political knowledge, it increases feeling of political involvement.
Partisanship and News Credibility: Exploring the Role of Hostile Media Perception in News Judgments • Kyun Soo Kim and Yorgo Pasadeos, University of Alabama • This study replicated the influence of partisanship on hostile media perception with regard to the morning-after pill issue and explicated a subsequent effect that the hostile perception may have on news credibility judgments. In so doing, the study integrated the audience-centered and source-centered streams of research on news credibility. The study found that partisans perceived a “balanced” news story as hostile to their position.
The Ideal American: Sex, Class and Race in The Saturday Evening Post, 1910-1960 • Amy Lauters, Wichita State University • This paper examines discourse surrounding issues of sex, race and class in editorials and letters to the editor of The Saturday Evening Post from 1910 to 1960, focusing primarily on the evolution of American middle-class ideology during this period. It found that shared beliefs in free enterprise, freedom from government interference, individualism, self-responsibility, and class mobility characterized both discourse and ideology, and subverted notions of difference along class, race and gender lines.
Health Information and Hurricane Katrina: A Mental Models Approach to Health-Related Articles • Katherine LaVail, University of Iowa • Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast, leaving a large portion of New Orleans under water. Due to the severity of the conditions, many questions were raised regarding health concerns. The exploratory study examines the content of health-related articles available on the web sites for print and television news outlets. A mental-model of these concerns clearly delineates the somewhat illogical fears and interests over the six-week period that occurred during this natural disaster of unprecedented size.
College Students’ Body Image Dissatisfaction in Relation to Media Consumption • Moon Lee and Jessi Wells, Washington State University and Shannon Bichard, Texas Tech University • This study investigated how U.S. college students’ media consumption influence their body image dissatisfaction. Television and magazine exposure within different genres was measured in relation to their perceptions of ideal body images as well as body image dissatisfaction. Significant differences in body image dissatisfaction were identified based on the amount of TV reality show viewing as well as beauty and celebrity magazine reading. Also, there was a significant gender differences in their perceived body dissatisfaction.
The Effects of Anti-Tobacco Messages Based on Source Credibility: Government Agencies versus Tobacco Companies • Moon Lee and Yunying Zhang, Washington State University • In this study, how college students respond to the same anti-tobacco messages varied by different sponsorships (a government agency versus a tobacco company) was investigated. It was found that the messages with the governmental agency were rated to be more interesting, credible, effective, realistic, and persuasive than the same messages presented by the tobacco company, specifically among college risk-takers.
Discursive Opportunity Structure: Linking Environmental Group Resources and Communication Strategies • Michael McCluskey, California State University, Fresno • Communication options available to activist groups form a discursive opportunity structure. Study examined variance in discursive opportunity structure by group resources, communication strategies and amount of news coverage. Surveys of 37 environmental groups and analysis of news coverage conducted. Analysis showed group resources weren’t related to communication strategies but were related to amount of news coverage. Also, communication strategies were strongly related to extent of news coverage. Implications for theory discussed.
Deviant in Our Midst • Michael McDevitt, Theresa Crapanzano, Maura P. O’Neal, Colin Lingle, Kerri Rebresh and Bobby Kia, University of Colorado at Boulder • This study explores how the parochial press functions in social control through anti-intellectual depictions of political dissent. We examined news coverage on Ward Churchill, a scholar of ethnic studies who appeared in hundreds of news accounts in early 2005 as sympathetic to the 9/11 terrorists. Findings from a content analysis of Colorado newspapers and non-Colorado media showed that articles from the local press more strongly reflected de-contextualization and absolutism as dimensions of anti-intellectualism.
Two Faces of Eva: Perpetuation of the Hot-Latina Stereotype in Desperate Housewives • Debra Merskin, University of Oregon • Desperate Housewives enjoys an audience of more than 21 million women and men (“Housewives,” 2006). Yet, the character Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) is a typical portrayal of the hot Latina stereotype. Keller’s (1994) tripartite typology of Latina stereotypes frames this textual analysis of dialogue from the first season (23 episodes) of ABC’s prime time hit. This research examined both the character and the role of the actor’s off screen personae in reinforcing this stereotype.
Health Communication and Social Ecology: Two Case Studies • Emily Metzgar, Louisiana State University and Lesa Hatley-Major, Indiana University • Using framing, issue development and social ecology literature, we examine two Louisiana-based public health communication campaigns — one intended to reduce infant mortality rates, another to reduce rates of HIV infection. Considering problem identification, planning, implementation and evaluation, we confirm that arousing a public is separate from sustaining interest over time. We conclude that the social ecology approach incorporating target populations and broader communities is the best way to ensure public health communication campaign success.
Counter-Hegemony or A-Hegemony • Rick Moore, Boise State University • Examines source use in stories about environmental issues in one Northwest daily. Specifically, the researcher analyzes news coverage of four recent environmental controversies to see how source use patterns varied. Similar to recent findings in an analysis of newspaper coverage of pesticide use in California, the results here suggest that activists were used as sources more than industry representatives were, and that pro-environment positions were presented more than anti-environment positions were.
An Experimental Investigation of Reality Construction • Gregg Payne and David Dozier, San Diego State University • This research examines the relationship between newspaper coverage of police malfeasance and the public construction of reality related to the administration of justice. Subjects were randomly assigned in a posttest only experiment. The test group was exposed to four newspaper accounts of evidence contamination involving police. Three hypotheses postulated that exposure to such articles would result in a more negative view of justice administration, when compared to the control group. All hypotheses were confirmed.
Party Identification as a Predictor of Perceived News Media Bias: A Test on Hostile Media Effect • Zengjun Peng, St. Cloud State University and Kenneth Fleming, University of Missouri • This study used hostile media effect theory to test the predictive power of party identification on public perception of general news media bias. Results supported a relative symmetrical hostile media effect whereas Republicans tended to be more likely to perceive a liberal bias, Democrats tended to be more likely to perceive a conservative bias, with Independents lying in between. Media exposure and media involvement appeared to have no significant effect.
Adolescents’ Exposure to a Sexualized Media Environment and their Notions of Women as Sexual Objects • Jochen Peter and Patti M. Valkenburg, University of Amsterdam • We tested the hypothesis that adolescents’ cumulative exposure to sexual media content of varying explicitness would be associated with stronger beliefs that women are sexual objects. Hierarchical regression analyses of an online survey of Dutch adolescents showed that exposure to content of varying explicitness adds up in its relationship with beliefs that women are sexual objects. Exposure to sexually explicit content eventually dominates over exposure to sexually non-explicit and sexually semi-explicit content.
Talking Sh*t: Profanity on Basic Cable • Gary Pettey and Cheryl Campanella Bracken, Cleveland State University and Amy Dalessandro, Sharon Snyder-Suhy • A content analysis of prime-time programming of six basic cable channels was conducted to examine the frequency and context of offensive language. The study is a partial replication of Kaye and Sapolsky’s (2004a) analysis of broadcast television content in primetime. The current study included programming from May 2005 for a total of 252 hours across 120 different programs.
Talking to Young Voters. A Content Analysis of Political Messages on Get-Out-the-Vote Web Sites • Monica Postelnicu and Spiro Kiousis, University of Florida • Surveys of young voters have revealed that political apathy is caused in part by feelings of low information efficacy and low knowledge about candidates and policy issues during elections. Mainstream media, television as well as print, are not sufficient sources of campaign information for young voters, who tend to rely more on online and alternative media formats.
Ideal Self-Concept, Television Consumption, and the Perpetuation of a Brand Conscious Society • Mark Rademacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison • American society is a mediated and consumer society, which has direct implications for the construction of identity. This study seeks to examine the influence of individuals’ ideal self-concept, defined as how an individual would like to perceive herself, and television viewing patterns on levels of brand consciousness. Findings suggest specific ideal self-concepts and television viewing patterns have differential effects on brand consciousness. Implications for the perpetuation of a brand consciousness society are discussed.
Exploring Student Use of Media During the Week of September 11, 2001: Media Dependency or News Fatigue • Brad Rawlins, Brigham Young University and Tyrone Glade, Pennsylvania State University • A quantitative content analysis of media journals kept by students during the week of 9/11/2001 confirmed an individual media dependency relationship for the day of the attacks and the following day, but revealed a quick shift to normal media use patterns. A qualitative thematic analysis of student reflection papers found weariness with the reports of the attacks, lack of new information, and obligations of being a student were among the reasons given for the shift.
Who Do You Know? A Recognition Study of Faces in the News • Sam Riley, Virginia Tech and Gary Selnow, San Francisco State University • This study examines what individual news figures and types of news figures are most and least recognizable to university students. Student respondents were asked to identify 60 news figures whose head shots were taken from the three top-circulation news weeklies. Half the news figures were political; the other half were entertainment figures. Results were examined by gender, media use and political interest level. Also reported are misidentifications of the 60 news figures.
Look Who’s Watching: The Audience for Statewide Public Affairs Television Just Might Surprise You • Karen Rowley and David Kurpius, Louisiana State University • One of the recurring questions that arises in research about statewide public affairs television networks is who exactly is watching? Critics argue that it is difficult to gauge whether these state versions of C-SPAN have any value since no one really knows. This study is an attempt to begin to answer that criticism. Data gleaned from a national telephone survey show the viewing audience for these networks is both larger and more diverse than expected.
Perception of Media Bias and Its Effect on Media Choice • Kimberly Rubenstein, University of Kansas • This study investigated the hostile media effect and its potential to drive partisans to sources they see as friendly to their point of view. Both strong supporters and strong opponents of the war in Iraq found a news story on the war to contain bias. Both groups showed a propensity for visiting news sources that present information on the war in a light they agree with, showing the potential for audience fragmentation along political lines.
Moral Issues, Framing, and Media: The 2004 Presidential Election Campaign and the “Moral Divide” • Denise St. Clair, Carly Yuenger and Xiao Yu Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Yphtach Lelkes, Temple University and Patrick Roman Peczerski, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jerilyn April Teo, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and Susanne B. Ress, University of Koblenz-Landau and Seung-Hyun Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Following the 2004 Presidential Election, many voters noted moral issues as most important in their voting decision. Therefore, this paper asks: How prominent were moral issues – specifically, same-sex marriage and abortion – in U.S. news coverage of the 2004 campaign, and did the media perpetuate these issues as “moral” when they were covered? Ultimately, this study is a preliminary investigation of the role of media in the growing social divide in the U.S. along “moral” lines.
Women as the marginalized majority: Cultural hegemony and gender representation in Japanese television news• Shinichi Saito, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and Reiko Ishiyama, Seijyo University • A content analysis of TV news programs indicated that, while only a slight gender imbalance was present among anchors, women were under-represented as reporters, voice-overs, and commentators. This study also found that male news sources significantly outnumbered female sources, and that working women were much less likely than men to be depicted as news sources. The data suggest that the news programs analyzed in this study reflect the masculine cultural hegemony that prevails in Japan.
Digital Desis: New Media and the Transnational Identity of Asian Indians in the U.S. • Daniel Schackman and Nirali Bhagdev, Syracuse University • This qualitative research study of Asian Indians in the U.S. explores the nexus of their new media use and transnational identity. Nineteen in-depth interviews were conducted with participants ranging from the long-settled to the recently arrived, and included U.S. citizens, guest workers and university students. The study describes the circular relationship of new media and transnational identity in the selection of media and content that both develops and reinforces cultural hybridism.
“Killing Spree”: The Effects of Game Mode and Gender on Violent Cognitions • Mike Schmierbach and Chris Scharlau, College of Charleston • Although scholars have repeatedly linked video games to aggression, little research has investigated how specific game characteristics might generate such effects. In this study, we consider how game mode — cooperative, competitive, or solo — shapes aggressive thoughts. Using experimental data (N = 102), we find partial support for the idea that cooperative play modes prompt less violence, although this effect holds primarily for men.
Beyond the Games: A Study of the Effects of Life Issues and Burnout on Newspaper Sports Editors • Scott Reinardy, Ball State University • A survey (N = 184) and depth interviews are used to examine what issues influence burnout of newspaper sports editors. Using the three-component Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism and Professional Efficacy), issues such as overall job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, work-family conflict and role overload were examined. The results indicate that while job satisfaction and perceived organizational support diminish burnout among sports editors, work-family conflict and role overload create higher levels of burnout.
Uses and Gratifications in the Blogosphere: Identifying Motives, Antecedents, and Outcomes of Weblog • Trent Seltzer and Michael Mitrook, University of Florida • Initial studies on weblogs have considered their influence on social, business, and political institutions; however, the motives and antecedents that lead individuals to blog, as well as the outcomes associated with weblog use, should also be investigated. This study surveyed 228 college students to identify the uses and gratifications associated with weblog use. Comparisons were also made between bloggers and non-bloggers to identify differences in their patterns of Internet use.
Women’s Sexuality on Men’s Sites and Men’s Sexuality on Women’s Sites: A Content Analysis • Jae Woong Shim, Indiana University and Chang Hee Choi, Indiana State University • This study investigates how men’s and women’s sexuality are represented on sexual websites targeted for women and sexual websites targeted for men. Using Web-content analysis method, 200 pornographic images randomly selected from four sexual websites (two women’s sexual sites and two men’s sexual websites) are analyzed. The criteria of comparison are based on such concepts as sexual inequality, sexual objectification, and violence/aggressiveness that have been commonly used in the literature on content analyses of pornography.
“Super Size Me[dia]”: Behavioral Attitudes and Information Source of Fast Food among College Students • Jae-Hwa Shin, University of Southern Mississippi • The purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral attitudes of college students and their information sources about fast food. While they perceived fast food as economical, accessible or convenient, college students for the most part acknowledged the negative impact of fast food on health. They predicted that their references including friends, roommates and parents would evaluate fast food as bad just as they perceived but do not absolutely comply with the presumed opinion.
Diversity in the Newsroom and Photographic Coverage of Hurricane Katrina • Stephen Siff, John Wing, Wei Kang and Mohamed Sati, Ohio University • This study analyzed a full week’s photographic coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 15 randomly selected Ohio newspapers to determine if newspapers of different size and diversity characteristics portrayed the disaster differently in photographs. A positive correlation was found between the proportion of black (as opposed to non-black) victims depicted in newspaper’s photo coverage and that newspaper’s size, the racial diversity of its newsroom, and the racial diversity in its readership area.
Children and Adolescents on Prime Time Television: Continuing Devaluation and Victimization • Nancy Signorielli, University of Delaware • Prime time network television programs broadcast between the fall of 2000 and the fall of 2005 present an overall image that devalues children, teenagers, and childhood. Children and young adults are under represented and symbolically annihilated. Young boys, in particular, are very likely to be victimized. These programs also isolate and segregate both minority and white children and adolescents.
Editing Conservatism: How National Review Magazine Framed and Mobilized a Political Movement • Susan Sivek, University of Texas at Austin • This paper examines how National Review magazine helped spark the 1960s American conservative movement through its particular framing of conservatism, and how it has sustained that influence to today. Using research on frame alignment in social movements, the first issue of National Review is analyzed and placed in context with contemporaneous events and publications. The implications of National Review’s success for today’s political movements and for creators of political media messages are also discussed.
The Role of Gender in the Enjoyment of Video Games • Barry Smith, University of Alabama • This paper examines the role of gender may play in the experience of enjoyment derived from playing video games. Cognitive skills and gender were assessed in relation to flow and enjoyment. Significant gender differences were found. However, previously theorized cognitive differences between genders did not explain gender differences in video game enjoyment. Findings are discussed in the context of the impact that use of video games may have on other skills.
Hurricane Katrina and Media Criticism: Interpretive Communities and Perceptions of Media Performance • Laura Smith, Kenneth Campbell and Yang Hwan Lee, University of South Carolina • Shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck America’s gulf coast, critics began voicing concerns about media coverage – condemning racially charged portrayals and the reporting of rumor. In-depth interviews with 81 evacuees in four states show they do not share those concerns. Instead, most evacuees were largely pleased with the media’s efforts. Findings are discussed in terms of interpretive communities and illustrate how shared experience impacts perceptions of media messages in times of crisis.
How Many Times Can You Say “I Am Not Here to Make Friends?” • Tuo-Yu Su and Mary Cassata, State University of New York at Buffalo • Using the cultivation theory as a basis, this study examined the potential connection between people’s reality television consumption and their perceptions about the necessity to be competitive in real life. The results showed that heavy viewers of reality television are more likely to regard being competitive as a necessary trait to succeed in real life than light viewers.
The Trends of Agenda-setting Effects among the Media, the Public and Congress • Yue Tan, Indiana University • This paper aims to examine the longitudinal evolution of the entire issue-agenda of mass media, Congress and the public, and the relationship between the three from 1980 to 1998. Dataset are derived from New York Times stories, Gallup’s Most Important Problem series and congressional hearings. It is found that the Congress-public relationship was stronger than the media-Congress relationship and the media-public relationship.
Predictors of News Trust and News Medium Choice in 18-34 Year Olds • Esther Thorson and Brian Hamman, University of Missouri • A Communication Need States model generates expectations about how much young adults will trust and use newspapers, television, and the Internet for news. Need for information, entertainment and connectivity, valuing new media features like immediacy and customizability, and social presence as indicated by being able to see news professionals and knowing the person that reports the news are all predictive of trust, and trust, strongly impacts media use, even after controls are applied.
Choice of News Media Sources in the New Media Landscape: The Crucial 18-34 Demographic • Esther Thorson and Kjerstin Thorson, University of Missouri • This study proposes a modified uses and gratifications model that is applied to the question of how young adults (18-34) choose and use news channels including television, newspapers, and the Internet. The model is then tested with a secondary analysis of a nationwide survey of young adults. The results provide strong support for the model, particularly in terms of the impact of communication needs on the use of newspapers, television and Internet for news.
Agenda for Trouble: News Frames of Mitigation and Responsibility after Hurricane Katrina • Fred Vultee, University of Missouri • A content analysis of national news coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s impact and aftermath examines how blame is apportioned between local and national actors, when stories are told from personal or institutional perspectives, which areas of impact are highlighted, and – perhaps most significantly – whether a media agenda of long-term hazard mitigation emerges.
The Obesity Epidemic and Relationships among Adolescent Media Use, Activity and BMI: A Path Analysis • Kimberly Walker, Indiana University • Childhood obesity has become a societal epidemic. Due to the rapidity in which youth obesity rates have arisen, academic and lay reporting trends suggest behavioral variables—especially television and computer use—are culprits to blame. Referred to as the energy imbalance or “couch potato” hypothesis, media use is assumed to displace vigorous activity, which leads to obesity.
Pushing Continue: Combining Violence with Other Variables in Video Game Research • Kevin Williams, Mississippi State University • A factorial design was conducted with 150 male college undergraduates playing different video games to investigate the impact of violent content, frustration with gameplay, and the interaction of those factors with aggressive personality. Results indicate that combining violent content and frustration increase scores on an anger measurement scale. The combination of high trait aggression, violent content, and frustration led to the highest scores on one anger instrument. Findings support the General Aggression Model.
Does It Matter Who Is Quoted? Examining the Influence of Source Types on Perceived Credibility of Online News Sources • Li Zeng, Arkansas State University • This study examined whether different types of sources quoted within online news stories affect individuals’ perception of story credibility. The data from an experimental setting suggested that the Elaboration Likelihood Model is applicable to online news perception. When exposed to stories arousing high motivation, participants considered stories moderately credible regardless of source types. When exposed to stories arousing low motivation, they considered stories quoting officials more credible than those quoting involved parties or affiliated individuals.
American Foreign Policy Belief Systems and Public Opinion Toward China • Wei Zha and Goidel Robert, Louisiana State University • Different political and economic environments worldwide might influence the ebb and flow of dimensions concerning the average Americans’ foreign policy preference, but the underneath broad belief systems maintain constant. In the context of economic globalization and terrorism, two reliable and interpretable core values: Americanism and Internationalism pop up and help explain how they rate China.
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