Minorities and Communication 2015 Abstracts
Faculty Research Competition
Predictors Of Faculty Diversification In Journalism And Mass Communication Education • Lee Becker, University of Georgia; Tudor Vlad, University of Georgia; Oana Stefanita, University of Georgia, Grady College • Based on data gathered between 1999 and 2013, this paper provides up-to-date information on faculty diversity in journalism and mass communication education. It examines the predictive power of four key institutional characteristics in producing diversification: accreditation status, type of control of the institution, type of mission, and region of the country. It shows diversification is increasing, but progress, particularly in terms of racial and ethnic diversity, is slow.
Stereotype, tradition, and Carmen Luna: The Puerto Rican woman in Lifetime TV’s Devious Maids • Melissa Camacho, San Francisco State University • This paper argues that Puerto Rican women are portrayed on US mainstream television according to traditional Hollywood stereotypes that group Latinas into a homogeneous category that reinforces the hegemonic values of a collective non-Latino/a community. These portrayals fail to accurately to represent Puerto Rican’s unique hybrid culture, which pulls together a national heritage and American cultural values resulting from the island’s colonial status. Yet, these representations also reflect values established by traditionally patriarchal island culture. The result is a distorted image of Puerto Rican political and cultural citizenship within the United States. Guided by social criticism, this qualitative deconstruction of the two first seasons of the Lifetime TV series, Devious Maids, demonstrates how the Puerto Rican character Carmen Luna negotiates this complicated position.
Complicating Colorism: Race, Gender and Space in Dark Girls • Nicola Corbin • This study examines the discursive production of colorism in the documentary Dark Girls, using articulation as a theoretical and methodological foundation. Locating colorism within the historically raced and gendered discourses of respectability politics, it concludes that colorism reveals a complex articulation of race with gender and the patriarchal politics of space. It is precisely because of this deep complexity that critical challenges to colorism have been inhibited, and its perpetuation persists.
Cross Cultural Political Persuasion: Assessing The Moderating Role Of Candidate Ethnicity And Strength of Ethnic Identification On Candidate Evaluation • Mian Asim, Zayed university; Troy Elias, University of Oregon; Alyssa Jaisle, University of Florida • Results reveal that neither Hispanics nor Anglos use the ethnicity of political candidates as a major determinant for attitude formation, voting intentions, or similarity perceptions. However, as Hispanic’s strength of ethnic identity increases they demonstrate more favorable attitudes, intentions to vote for, and perceptions of similarity towards a candidate that endorses same-sex marriage. Conversely, stronger ethnic identity of Anglos increases their likelihood of voting for, perceiving similarity to and holding more favorable attitudes toward advocates of anti same sex messages.
Roughing the passer: Audience-held and applied stereotypes of NFL quarterbacks • Patrick Ferrucci, University of Colorado-Boulder; Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University • This experiment tested stereotypes and message credibility associated with Black and White quarterbacks. Participants were asked to rate quarterbacks based on stereotypes identified in previous literature and then were asked to rate the credibility of stereotype- consistent or inconsistent messages. The study found that participants stereotyped both races, but Black participants actually stereotyped more strongly. Only messages concerning stereotype-consistent descriptors of White quarterbacks were rated as more credible. These results are interpreted utilizing social identity theory.
How Twitter User’s Framed Sebastien De La Cruz’s Anthem Singing at the 2013 NBA FInals • Melita Garza, Texas Christian University, Bob Schieffer College of Communication, School of Journalism • This study examines the way new and legacy media curated Twitter reaction to fifth grader Sebastien De La Cruz’s performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at the NBA Finals in 2013. Using framing theory, the author identified positive and negative frames, many embedded in stereotypes. The author argues that Twitter is a new medium conveying an old othering message: Mexican Americans are not truly Americans, making them illegitimate interpreters of the nation’s authentic tune.
Framing #Ferguson: A comparative analysis of media tweets in the U.S., U.K., Spain, and France • Summer Harlow, Florida State University; Lauren Antista, Florida State University • Events in #Ferguson, Missouri brought race relations under a global spotlight. This computerized content analysis of thousands of Twitter posts from the public, media outlets, and journalists in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, and France indicated the U.S. was more likely to negatively frame protestors. As protests continued, media outlets’ and journalists’ use of racism frames and positive protest frames increased, suggesting they might take cues from global Twitter discussions and public discourse.
The Black Press Tweets: How the Social Media Platform Mediates Race Discourse • Ben LaPoe; Katie Lever • This study analyzed 46,216 Black press tweets and 46,226 mainstream press tweets. The Black press tweeted more about race and history. The mainstream press tweeted about race less than 1% of the time; instead, the mainstream press focused on issues such as education and crime. These findings suggest that news organizations like the Black press are still very much needed and are using social media to interact on a more personal level with their audience.
More Sources, Greater Harm: Source Magnification of Racist Hate Messages on Social Media • Roselyn J. Lee-Won, The Ohio State University; Hyunjin (Jin) Song, The Ohio State University; Ji Young Lee, The Ohio State University; Sung Gwan Park, Seoul National University • This research examined source magnification of racist messages in social media contexts. An online experiment was conducted with a non-college sample of Black participants (N = 115). Relative to those who viewed single-source anti-Black tweets, those who viewed multiple-source anti-Black tweets experienced greater emotional distress, which in turn increased attribution of negative social outcomes to prejudice. Overall, the findings suggest that multiple sources magnify the psychological harm inflicted by racist messages upon target minority members.
Latino youth, digital media and political news • Regina Marchi, Rutgers University • This paper discusses how low-income Latino youth use digital technologies to network with communities of interest, in the process learning about current events and political issues. Contrary to previous assumptions about the digital divide, this study found that these youth were very plugged in to the Internet, getting most of their news information online. Yet, a different digital divide was evident, in which Internet-savvy youth had access to a timelier variety of news than their parents, many of whom had low levels of formal education and worked in jobs that did not cultivate digital skills. In a reversal of typical parent-child roles, youth in this study were found to be news translators for their parents, explaining US news stories and their implications. In seeking information and creating or posting diverse types of content online, they gained participatory and deliberative skills useful for civic engagement in a democracy.
Celebrity capital of actresses of color: A mixed methods study • Yulia Medvedeva, University of Missouri; Cynthia Frisby, University of Missouri; Joseph Moore, University of Missouri • This mixed-methods study explored the coverage of two Oscar-winning actresses of color, Lupita Nyong’o and Halle Berry, to identify how their celebrity capital was conveyed by entertainment news. Contrary to expectations set by understanding of the concept of colorism, darker-skinned Nyong’o’ racial capital was stated in the news less prominently than was racial capital of lighter-skinned Berry. Actresses’ celebrity capital and ways of conversion of capital is visualized in Venn diagrams.
Blogging Ferguson in Black and White • Doug Mendenhall, Abilene Christian University • Blog posts and appended comments about the shooting of a black teen in Ferguson, Missouri, are analyzed for differences based on the race of the authors. Using Diction 7.0, a common word-counting program, seven differences are seen, with black-authored posts higher in commonality, cognition, hardship, human-interest, satisfaction, and self-reference, while white-authored posts are higher in use of collectives. From a social identity perspective, tonal differences do not appear to constitute differing levels of incivility.
Who’s in Charge Here? Leadership Attributions Between African American Coaches and White Quarterbacks • James Rada, Ithaca College; K. Tim Wulfemeyer, San Diego State University • Previous research has demonstrated that mass-mediated coverage of professional and intercollegiate sports often presents biased coverage of African American athletes vis-à-vis white athletes. This research sought to determine whether Super Bowl media coverage was more likely to ascribe leadership qualities to African American head coaches or white quarterbacks. The content analysis of the coverage of four Super Bowls found that ten news organizations did a satisfactory job of providing equal coverage of both groups.
Immigration News in the U.S. African American Press and the Legacy of the Black Atlantic • Ilia Rodriguez, University of New Mexico • This research focused on coverage of immigration in the U.S. Black press between 2006 and 2014 to examine how news discourse activates positions of identification for members of the African diaspora by invoking the thematic cluster of the Black Atlantic as a cultural formation–as conceptualized by Paul Gilroy (1993). The research questions guiding the analysis were: How does news coverage of immigration in African-American newspapers construct geospatial mappings, identity boundaries, and cultural referents for members of the African Diaspora? How does coverage maintain the legacy of the Black Atlantic? The analysis draws on models of critical discourse analysis of news media (Fairclough, 1995; Richardson, 2000; Reisigl & Wodak, 2001) to discuss thematic clusters in coverage and, within these, rhetorical constructions and referential strategies used to avow and ascribe positions of identification. The discussion is based on a thematic analysis of 2,161 items and close linguistic analysis of 98 articles in English-language newspapers serving U.S. African-Americans as well as Haitian, Jamaican, greater Caribbean, and African immigrant communities in the United States.
Applying Health Behavior Theories to the Promotion of Breast Tissue Donation Among Asian Americans • Kelly Kaufhold, Texas State University; Autumn Shafer, Texas Tech University; Yunjuan Luo, Texas Tech University • Asian-American women are underrepresented in the donor pool of healthy breast tissue samples used by breast cancer researchers, despite communication efforts that have resulted in an increase in Caucasian donors. Based on the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior, a survey of adult women in the U.S. (n = 1,317), oversampling for Asian women, found key differences in beliefs related to breast cancer and breast tissue donation between Asian and Caucasian women.
Citizen Framing of Ferguson in 2015- Visual Representations on Twitter and Facebook • Gabriel Tait, Arkansas State University; Mia Moody-Ramirez, Baylor University; LIllie Fears; Ceeon Smith, Arizona State University; Brenda Randle, Arkansas State University • Using a critical race lens and both framing and medium theories, this study explores the cultural narratives citizens used in their framing of the Ferguson riots in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death in 2014. Findings indicate citizens posted their photographs, texts, and videos after Michael Brown’s death in 2014, and how the messages differed across platforms. Furthermore, the research grappled with the fact pictures do not lie, but they can be misinterpreted. At least that is what researchers argue, particularly when it comes to interpreting depictions of African Americans.
Active Video Game Play in African American Children: The Effect of Gender and BMI on Exertion and Enjoyment • Xueying Zhang; Bijie Bie; Dylan McLemore, Univ of Alabama; Lindsey Conlin, The University of Southern Mississippi; Kim Bissell, University of Alabama; Scott Parrott; Perrin Lowrey • Applying the Health Promotion Model (HPM), this study tested the influence of gender, BMI type and past exercise experience on African American children’s Wii game-playing experience and heart rate. A field experiment was conducted with a convenience sample of 51 African American children. Overall, the findings supported the proposition of using Wii games as alternative means of physical activity in African American children and suggested choosing games based on children’s background information to maximize the effectiveness.
Student Paper
With Liberty and Justice for Some: The Cultural Forum of Black Lives Matter • Laurena Bernabo, University of Iowa • This paper interrogates the dramatization of themes central to the Black Lives Matter movement. Ideological analysis and textual analysis are applied to recent scripted programming, according to the cultural forum model, in order to examine verbal and visual cues. A number of dominant themes are made apparent through this research: programming dealing with current race-related concerns take up issues of (1) the innocence or guilt of Black men; (2) the justifications made by White participants; (3) the nature of incidents as isolated or systemic; (4) prior indication of White participants’ bigotry; (5) aftermath of events, and (6) prognoses for the future. This study conclude that these programs work ideologically and visually to circulate competing and even contradictory discourses, and to disturb racial binaries that prohibit post-race discourses.
Picture a Protest: Analyzing Images Tweeted from Ferguson • Holly Cowart, University of Florida • The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri created a media storm that coalesced around a series of events. This research examines nine major media outlets’ depiction of those events on Twitter using visual framing analysis. Findings suggest that the images of Ferguson were of divided forces working against each other. On one side stood white police. On the other, black protestors were in motion. The two sides rarely existed in the same image.
Unaccompanied Immigrant Children: An Exploration of the Presidential Influence on Media Agenda-Building and Framing • Lourdes Cueva Chacon, University of Texas at Austin • An examination of the media coverage of the influx of unaccompanied immigrant children through the US Southern border between 2012 and 2014, by national and border-state newspapers, suggests that the president of the United States may strongly influence the media agenda-building, moderately influence the process of media framing, and confirms that border-state newspapers are more likely to portray immigrants negatively.
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, are you treating minorities fair at all? An analysis of channel and genre differences in minority representation on television. • Serena Daalmans, Radboud University; Ceciel ter Horst, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands • This study focused on the representation of minority groups on television, following the idea(l) that television as a mirror of society should convey a well-balanced representation of society. Previous research has shown that television can have an impact on how the public at large perceives the world and influences individuals’ self-image and image of others. Results reveal an underrepresentation of women, seniors and sexual minorities and stereotyping in the representation of women and ethnic minorities.
Defend More, Exploit Less: African Americans on Media Trust and News Use After Ferguson • Shane Graber, The University of Texas-Austin • In August 2014, an unarmed African American teenager was fatally gunned down by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Considering the poor history of race reporting in the past, this study seeks to explore the impact that the mainstream news media’s Ferguson coverage had on African Americans. Based on in-depth interviews, respondents’ perceptions suggest that news trust might not impact consumption habits as acutely as previously thought.
‘Wilding’ Revisited: How African American and Hispanic Newspapers Covered the Central Park Jogger Story • Robin Hoecker, Northwestern University • Using Critical Race Theory as a lens, this paper examines the Central Park Jogger case, where five black and Latino teenagers were convicted of raping a white woman and later acquitted. I argue that not only did the original media coverage rely on deeply-rooted racial stereotypes, but much of the scholarship about race, crime and news has also privileged white perspectives. This project looks specifically at how black and Spanish-language newspapers covered the case.
Integrating Disability: Increasing and Improving the Portrayal of People with Disabilities with Positive Media Images • Davi Kallman, Washington State University • Disabled individuals comprise the largest minority group in the world, yet they are the most underrepresented minority group. Despite their large numbers, disabled individuals not only encounter individual prejudice, this prejudice is institutionalized in society. In an effort to reduce negative attitudes toward disabled individuals, this study used a video clip showing positive disability exemplars. Implicit and explicit measures of prejudice were compared to find that ablebodied student implicit bias was more entrenched than expected.
The Influence of individuals’ racial identification with media characters in crime dramas on moral judgment: the moderating role of emotional reactions • Jisu Kim; Yiran Zhang • This study explored the effects of racial identification among White people with media characters in crime dramas on moral judgment toward criminals from different racial groups. Additionally, two distinct emotions are employed as moderators in the relationship. The result of racial identification was opposed to our expectation, but subsequent analysis showed White people with activated racial identity had more feelings of anger toward the Black criminal, but judged the crime itself less morally wrong.
Self-referencing and ethnic advertising effectiveness: The influence of ad model ethnicity, cultural cues and acculturation level • Xiaoyan Liu • Asian minorities’ market attracts more and more attentions from scholars and advertisers today. This study investigated the effect of the race of ad characters, cultural cues in advertising and acculturation level on advertising and brand evaluation among Asian ethnic minorities. Additionally, this study explored the self-referencing as a mediating role of the effectiveness of the model ethnicity and cultural cues portrayed in advertising. A 2 (Asian characters vs. White characters) by 2 (Asian cultural cues vs. American cultural cues) by 2 (low acculturated minorities vs. high acculturated minorities) between-subjects factorial design was employed to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that the congruent advertising activated more self-referencing than the incongruent advertising among Asian minorities. In addition, acculturation level only increases self-referencing under majority cultural cues. Moreover, self-referencing mediates the effect of model ethnicity and cultural cues on the attitude toward the advertising and brand.
How Long, Not Long: The Disappearance of the Selma to Montgomery Marches in Anniversary Coverage • Meagan Manning, University of Minnesota • In spite of its weeks long grip on the nation’s conscious, the rare support of rights leaders, the American populace, and federal government officials, as well as its instrumental role in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Selma anniversaries are not moments when we collectively reflect on the state of American race relations. We do not revisit the text of speeches by Hosea Williams and Rosa Parks given in March 1965 like we revisit the Dream. Nor do we mourn the deaths of Jimmie Lee Jackson, James Earl Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo collectively as a nation in the way we recollect Malcolm X or Martin Luther King. As scholars, it is important not only to document the recent past, but also to examine which facets of that past fall out of memory as time progresses. The Selma to Montgomery march represents a nationally recognized, yet marginally commemorated lieux de memoire of the civil rights era. As such, it represents an important component for analyzing what facets of the movement we as a society neglect to commemorate. To that end, this research traces how six dominant press outlets cover Selma’s anniversary. Analyzing coverage of a prominent, yet infrequently commemorated civil rights event sheds light on why some historical events are not significant forces in the cannons of public memory and provides insight into what types of contemporary social, political, and cultural circumstances influence that compromised position.
#STEMdiversity: Utilizing Twitter to Increase Awareness about Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics • Leticia Williams, Howard University • The purpose of this study is to explore whether communication technologies such as Twitter, can increase knowledge and awareness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) diversity. A textual analysis of 1,520 tweets that contained the hashtags #STEMDiversity and #BlackandSTEM was used to explore the type of content shared on Twitter about STEM diversity, and the standpoint of the individual posting the tweet. This analysis was supported by the theoretical framework of standpoint theory. Findings are consistent with previous research that found information sharing is a primary function of Twitter. Tweets about information and role models were the most discussed topics. Additionally, minorities, specifically African Americans and women, did tweet information about STEM diversity in ways that were influenced by their multiple standpoints of race, gender, and STEM.
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