Graduate Student 2012 Abstracts
Refugee Status: Tracing the Global Flows of M.I.A. • Brian Creech, University of Georgia • This paper studies how Sri Lankan pop star M.I.A. forms an ideal site for the textual study of globalized identity, particularly amid discourses of state power, terrorism, and violence. Rooted in the literature of media and terrorism and grounded in post-colonial theories of hybridization, this study analyzes M.I.A. and her music as globalized media objects, looking at how they use hip-hop as a cultural form to constitute a dual identity of refugee and interest in order to launch a critique of state power.
Can the General Learning Model predict more than Antisocial and Prosocial Behaviors? The Links among Video Games, Mental Well-being, and Physical Fitness • J.J. DeSimone, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Given their nearly ubiquitous presence in the American and larger, global society, it is important to study how video game play may affect people on the physical and mental level. The General Learning Model predicts either prosocial or antisocial behaviors based on the content of video games. However, the model ought to be able to predict additional behaviors; limiting the predictions to just antisocial and prosocial behaviors, while important, is not reflective of the diverse content and ways in which players interact in game worlds.
Preparing PhDs: a survey of journalism and mass communications doctoral course faculty • Jack Karlis, University of South Carolina; Caroline Foster, University of South Carolina; Matthew Telleen, University of South Carolina • This research describes PhD level course and program outcomes, expectations and rigor by surveying journalism and Mass Communications faculty nationwide. Our findings also look at differences in those outcomes among academic ranks. We find that a commonly held view of the requirements and value of a journalism and mass communications phd exists across all levels of faculty.
U.S. Media Frames of Egyptian Revolution Participants • Andrea Guzman, University of Illinois at Chicago • In early 2011, the Egyptian people protested for 18 days to force out President Hosni Mubarak. The drama surrounding the Egyptian Revolution received record-breaking news coverage in the United States. This study aims to understand how two U.S. news organizations, CNN.com and FoxNews.com, portrayed key players in the revolution: the anti-government protesters and Mubarak and his government. Grounded in framing theory, this study employs critical discourse analysis to identify the media frames that characterize the revolution participants.
Rethinking and Reexamining Theories on Information Age • Chia-I Hou • This paper examines scholars’ discourses on the coming of the Information Age. It starts by discussing scholars who measured the emergence of the Information Age in the early 1960s. Machlup and Galbraith used economic indicators, followed by the exploration of network and knowledge sharing, which is a crucial process in the formation of the Information Age. Ellul (1964) paralleled humanity with technology as a “system,” and Mumford (1966) coined the term “megamachine.”
Determining the Ethical Duty of Public Relations Practitioners within the Online Space • Katie Ingold, Saint Louis University • As the role of the public relations professional adapts to the ever-evolving media landscape of today, it has become increasingly important to develop relevant codes for ethical decision making to ensure its role as a credible communicator. This exploratory study looks at the transitioning ethical role of the public relations practitioner in a digital age by uncovering practitioners’ motivations to act ethically, along with key online communication dilemmas.
Tracing African Mass Communication Research Trends From 1980 To 2009 • Kioko Ireri, School of Journalism Indiana University-Bloomington • This research traces African mass communication research trends in the last three decades – from 1980 to 2009. The study analyzes methodological approach, data collection methods, medium of focus, use of theories, use of hypotheses or research questions, and country of study focus in articles published in two journalism and mass communication journals. Findings show that qualitative research approach dominated during the period with historical research being the most popular data collection method.
Framing protest: A discourse analysis of US TV news coverage of the Iraq War protests on February 15th, 2003 • Anmol Kalsi, University of South Carolina; Matthew Ross, University of South Carolina • The authors analyzed transcripts of TV news broadcasts with a view to determine how the major networks framed the Iraq War protests. The findings reveal that the majority of coverage was episodic in nature and that the dominant frames depicted the protesters as anti-American, ill-informed and extremists. This study further suggests that a great deal of uniformity permeated the coverage, signaling a worrying symbiotic relationship of complicity between the state and media.
Media Coverage Regarding the International Conflict Stemming from NDM-1 • Jihye Kim, University of Florida • The observation of the three international newsprint media coverage presented noteworthy results concerning the controversy of the antibiotic resistant bacteria, NDM-1. The social representation theory was applied to examine the international relevance within the United States, United Kingdom, and India while establishing the media definition of NDM-1. An application of media framing was utilized to provide an analysis of headlines and content media coverage of NDM-1.
Younger generations’ use of social media for college athletics: A uses and gratifications approach • Daewook Kim, Texas Tech University • This study examined characteristics and trends in the ways college students utilize social media for college athletics. The results of this study suggested four motivations—entertainment, information seeking, social interaction, and surveillance—for using social media of college athletics. Thus, information seeking and social interaction motivations, both motivations for using social media for college athletics, were related positively to gratification of social media use for college athletics.
Effects of anonymity on online group opinion polarization • June Yung Kim, University of Florida • As the number of Internet users has rapidly increased in past few decades, effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) have been studied by many researchers. However, researches on impacts of an anonymous online setting has showed mixing results. This paper tries to provide a conceptual model about how anonymity of CMC settings leads to group opinion polarization rather than diverse opinions among individuals. Factors from societal and individual levels are taken into consideration in the model.
The Tiger Woods Scandal in the Media: Measuring Attribute Effects on the Public • Claudia Kozman, Indiana University • This study examines the Tiger Woods sex scandal using second-level agenda-setting, compelling arguments hypothesis, and attribute priming as its theoretical structures. A content analysis of print and broadcast media is employed to determine the dominance of scandal stories in general, and the “sex/adultery” attribute in particular. This study also uses attribute priming to measure the presence and direction of opinion in the public. The data come from a nationally representative survey of the American public.
Spectacularizing queers: How young females are embraced by the media industry in South Korea • Jungmin Kwon, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign • This paper concerns itself with the role of media and their institutional actions in the commodification process. In particular, it aims to investigate what kinds of roles the media industry plays in the commodifying process, the process by which the popular culture of South Korean female adolescents became marketable, and how its consumers, young South Korean women, responded to the commodification of their culture.
The Changing Nature of Information Exchange for Online and Social Network Site Political Participation: A 2008 to 2010 Comparison • Timothy Macafee • Examining what types of people participate politically online as well as distinguishing between online and social network site participation may illuminate their impact on political processes. Using representative sample survey data, the current study compares the relationship between individual orientations and information seeking and sharing behaviors across both online and social network site participation in 2008 and 2010. The results indicate differences between both time and type of participation.
Describing the Shared Experiences of Being a High School Journalist: A Phenomenological Study • Adam Maksl, University of Missouri • Using the qualitative method of phenomenology, this paper describes, in detail, the essence of the shared experience of being a high school journalist. The study found four themes to be present in the experience of the high school newspaper editors: high school journalism is real journalism; being a high school journalist conflicts with being a regular student; high school journalism is about its didactic purposes; being a high school editor is about leadership.
Have We Moved? A Content Analysis of Food Advertising Aired during Popular Children’s Programming • Charles Meadows; Cui Zhang • Given the fact that childhood obesity rates in the U.S have tripled over the past 30 years, health communication practitioners are paying great attention to media content in terms of food and beverage commercials targeting children. This study analyzed food and beverage commercials aired on programming most likely to be viewed by U.S. children on five networks during three months (May to July).
Presidential Crisis Communication in Environmental Disasters: A Content Analysis Comparing White House Responses to Hurricane Katrina and the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster • Cayce Myers, University of Georgia; Nicola Corbin • This study is a content analysis of the White House communications concerning Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill using Coombs’s crisis communication matrix and crisis frames. Findings show both administrations employed similar crisis communication strategies as prescribed in Coombs’s (1995) flowchart as well as the similar frames to characterize these disasters. Particular strategies were employed by various officials suggesting political crisis communication is affected by the speaker and the timing of the communication.
Journalists Back to School: Korean Journalists’ Perception on Further (Continuing) Education • Sangwon Park • This study investigates Korean journalists’ perception on further education issues. In order to explore further, this study adopted two forms of analysis: a secondary analysis of surveys carried out by the Korea Press Foundation (KPF) regarding “Journalists’ Perception on Further Education/Continuing Education,” and an analysis of interviews conducted with former Korean journalists currently studying at American institutions.
A Case Study of Grantmakers’ Use of Technology as a Public Relations Strategy • Geah Pressgrove, University of South Carolina • This pilot study explores what the leadership of South Carolina-based foundations feel is the value of their experience with participatory online strategies, also known as Web 2.0. Through in-depth interviews with relevant dominant coalition staff, the author investigates how, when and why technology-driven communications are utilized by foundations, and grantmaking organizations as part of public relations initiatives.
Attention Please! Why Facebook Use is not Enough To Make People Buy From Facebook Ads • Heather Shoenberger, University of Missouri; Edson Tandoc, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study sought to explore the relationship between frequency of social media use and levels of advertsing trust on social media. Practitioners of advertising may use our findings to note the vital importance that trust plays in advertising in the social media environment. It should also be noted that the social media environment may be significantly different than more traditional media such as news websites, magazines or television.
How News Media Use Affects Political Discussion in a Transitional Society: Evidence from the China Survey • Jia-Wei Tu, Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong • This study is an investigation of the relationship between use of news media and political discussion in a transitional society with fast-changing media landscape. With the analysis of rare national-scale survey data in China, the author argues that embedded in the socialist political system, the traditional mainstream media, particularly the newspapers and TV news, play the major role in generating and sustaining discussion concerning political issues in Chinese society today.
A Lame Law: A History of Criminal Libel • A.Jay Wagner, Indiana University • The paper traces the history of criminal libel, from its origin in England’s infamous Star Chambers to its odd current status. A particular focus is given to the original intention of the law as a protector of society’s best men and as a method for sustaining public order. As our society has matured and law developed, criminal libel has become unnecessary and redundant, used only intermittently and inconsistently.
In Media We Distrust: The Interplay of Message, Context and Media Trust on Political Evaluations • David Wise, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Bryan McLaughlin, University of Wisconsin, Madison • This experiment tests the effects of the interplay of media trust, media context and message content on attitudes and support for a candidate. A national adult sample viewed a candidate profile on either the candidate’s website or CNN.com, and the profile contained either subtle or explicit religious cues. Those high in media trust who saw the CNN profile rated the candidate highest, but only when it contained subtle religious cues.
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