Communication Technology and Policy 1998 Abstracts
Communication Technology and Policy Division
Reassessing Public Support for Public Access Cablevision: A Faded Passion? • David Atkin, Kimberly Neuendorf and Leo W. Jeffres, Cleveland State University • This paper examines performance issues concerning local public, educational and government (PEG) access channels. The study is based on a survey of cable subscribers in a major metropolitan market. The findings suggest that community access channels compare favorably with many satellite-delivered channels, though viewership is not strongly related to use of other media. Open-ended responses suggest that meetings are the most commonly viewed access fare, followed by sports programming.
Old Scarcities, New Spaces, and the Public Interest in the New TV: Stakeholder Arguments in DBS • Patricia Aufderheide, American University • The U.S. Federal Communications Commission proceeding on public interest obligations of direct broadcast satellite service providers provides a sharply defined test case of the meaning of the public interest in rapidly changing environment for U.S. electronic media. It demonstrates remarkable continuity, despite new technologies and competitive environments, with past policy. It also demonstrates the frailty of social institutions and resources to propose and implement such policies.
The Digital Satellite System: Innovation Attributes and Adoption • Ted Carlin, Shippensburg University-Pennsylvania • The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the adoption of a new communication innovation (the Digital Satellite System) and the consumer’s perception of its attributes. A self-administered mail questionnaire was utilized to collect the data. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that adoption of the DSS was significantly influenced, positively and negatively, by a number of attributes. The objective attributes of receive dish size, monthly programming cost, DSS equipment cost, and DSS channel variety influenced the adoption of the DSS.
Toward Building Issue Awareness and Knowledge: Including the Internet in a Repertoire of Information Sources • Alice P. Chan, Cornell University • Adopting the perspective of a repertoire of information sources, this paper evaluates how the Internet can aid in issue awareness and knowledge building. In the analysis, motivations for information seeking and the respective strengths of mass media and interpersonal communication are reviewed. Then, user and medium characteristics of the Internet are discussed in comparison and contrast with those of existing mass and interpersonal information sources. Implications for future research and public policy are also recommended.
Computerization of Taiwanese Newspapers • Li-jing Arthur Chang, Texas-Austin • This study attempts to describe the adoption of computer technology by the Taiwanese newspapers and explain the adoption process with the diffusion of innovations theory. Findings showed that the adoption process can be explained using the three perceived attributes under the theory: (1) the perceived relative advantage of an innovation over the old idea, (2) it compatibility with existing values and needs of potential clients, and (3) it complexity in use and understanding.
On-Line or Off-Base?: A Pilot Study to Determine Undergraduate Student Perceptions About Offering A Journalism/Mass Communication Course on the Web • Barbara J. DeSanto and J. Steven Smethers, Oklahoma State University • Computer-based distance education is being touted as one of the futurist ways to offer a variety of students courses they otherwise would not be able to take because of distance and/or time. While studies have been done on the designing Internet courses, little has been done to assess student perceptions or preferences about participating in this type of course. This pilot study specifically targets undergraduate communication students to ascertain their reactions to on-line courses in a profession that demands a certain level of social interaction to be successful.
Newspaper Size as a Factor in Use of Computer-Assisted Reporting • Bruce Garrison, Miami • The paper investigates the role of newspaper circulation as a factor in use of computer-assisted reporting resources by U.S. daily newspapers. The study analyzes the relationships between newspaper size and general computer use in newsgathering, the number of staff people involved in computer-assisted reporting, availability of training programs, use of portable computing, use of online research services, online spending, and existence of World Wide Web sites. The study found support for six of seven hypotheses suggesting that larger newspapers have a distinct advantage in computer use in newsgathering.
Interactivity Reexamined: An Analysis of Business Web Sites • Louisa Ha, The Gallup Organization and E. Lincoln James, Washington State University • This study reexamined the concept of interactivity and proposed that interactivity be defined as the extent to which the communicator and the audience responded to each other’s communication need. Interactivity was constructed as comprising five dimensions: 1) playfulness, 2) choice, 3) connectedness, 4) information collection, and 5) reciprocal communication. Business web sites were analyzed in order to illustrate the application of interactivity dimensions on the Web.
Computer • Mediated Communication (CMC): A Response to the Social Information Processing Perspective • Vernon Harper, Howard University • This paper examines one of the fastest growing communication technologies. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has long been the source scholarly inquiry. One of the most substantial theories to explain CMC effects is the social information processing perspective. The social information processing perspective describes how the rate of message exchange creates high levels of impression formation in CMC participants. The present paper explores the social information processing perspective and charts a new course for CMC research.
The Rural-Urban Gap in Community Newspaper Editors’ Use of Information Technologies • Douglas Blanks Hindman, Stan Ernst and Mavis Richardson, North Dakota State University • This paper is an exploration of community newspaper editors’ use of two types of information technologies that are a) compatible with, and b) incompatible with the routine production of the newspaper. Findings were that indicators of social status were closely associated with editor’s use of incompatible technologies. Nationally, gaps between rural and urban communities with on-line newspapers appear to be widening.
Kids on the Net: User Characteristics and Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication on Mass Media and Interpersonal Interaction • Nojin Kwak and So-Hyang Yoon, Wisconsin-Madison • This paper investigated what factors contribute to adolescents’ use of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and how adolescents’ CMC use influences their traditional media use and interpersonal interaction. Four distinct measures of CMC use were employed: exposure, frequency, intensity, and duration. Findings demonstrate that respondents’ social/demographic characteristics, gratifications sought, and psychological attachment to CMC are important correlates of CMC use. Also, family background was found to moderate the association between psychological attachment to CMC and CMC use.
The Effects of Hypertext on Readers’ Recall Based on Gender • Moon Jeong Lee, Florida • This study was interested in the effects of hypertext verses traditional text on readers’ recall with added consideration for gender and gender constancy differences. The effect of different text formats was found significant in on article • traditional text had higher scores. The gender effect was significant in the other article. Males scored higher than females. Gender constancy was not significant.
The Convergence of the Web and Television: Current Technological Situation and its Future • Seungwhan Lee, Indiana University • This paper attempts to conceptualize the convergence of the World Wide Web and television broadcasting. For this purpose, the paper explains the possibilities for convergence using McQuail’s four patterns of information traffic and Hoffman and Novak’s media topology. Then the study compares three current forms of convergence such as “WebTV,” “Intercast,” and “Webcasting,” focusing on comparing the technological advantages and disadvantages of each technology. Using Cherry’s “liberties of action” concept, the last part of the paper discusses the future of Web broadcasting.
Searching for Violence on the Internet: An Exploratory Analysis of MTV Online Music Video Clips • Greg Makris, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This study explored violence in the content of MTV Online music video clips. A sample of 150 MTV Online video clips were content analyzed using a normative definition of violence and several qualitative dimensions of violence, including the nature of the violent acts, the consequences of the acts, and the characteristics of the perpetrators and victims of the acts. A wide variety of acts were observed within the sample, however few video clips contained violence, and much of the violence was less-severe in nature.
Interactivity: A Qualitative Exploration of Definitions and Models • Sally J. McMillan and Edward J. Downes, Boston University • The literature on interactivity includes many assumptions and some definitions but few tools for operationalizing the concept of “interactivity” in computer-mediated environments. This paper takes a first step in filling that gap. In-depth interviews with 10 individuals who work and teach in the field of interactive communication led us to a six-dimension conceptual definition of interactivity. Based on these dimensions, we propose a Model of Cyber-Interactivity which we plan to test empirically in future research.
The Unique Nature of Communications Regulation: Evidence and Implications for Communications Policy Analysis • Philip M. Napoli, Rutgers University • This paper argues that communications regulation posses three fundamental differences from the regulation of other industries. These differences are: (a) the fact the FCC regulatory decisions often have a potential for social, cultural, and political impact that extends well beyond the individual institutions or organizations directly involved in these decisions; (b) the difficulty with categorizing FCC regulatory responsibilities and decisions as purely economic or purely social regulation; and (c) the consequent ambiguity and multiple interpretations surrounding the FCC’s mandate to serve the “public interest, convenience or necessity.”
Motivation, Design and Personal Web Presence • Ghee-Young Noh, Michigan State University • This study identified six motives for authoring a personal homepage: escape, promotion, pleasure, contribution, communication, and family. It also identified some connections between those motivation pattern and design/content outcomes using content analysis and e-mail survey data. While the goal-oriented motivation such as promotion and contribution positively affected functional design and media richness, the entertainment motivation such as escape had a negative effect on media richness. The results support that motivation patterns are connected to specific media behavior.
Cyberstalking: Victims Use Online Resources to Fight Back • Ashley Packard and Susanne Gaddis, Houston • CyberAngels, a group that “patrols” the Internet to discourage online stalking, estimates that if ratios of real-world stalkers were superimposed upon the Internet, there would be 40,000 Internet stalkers harassing as many as 3000,000 victims. This article examines the phenomenon of cyberstalking and resources victims have used to defend themselves. It also assesses the effectiveness of state and federal criminal legislation intended to address the problem, as well as civil remedies available to victims.
From the Ether to Cyberspace: Development Patterns in Emerging Media • Randall Patnode, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This paper outlines a systems model of how emerging media develop based on the historical patterns of radio and the Internet. It identifies three phases of new media development and links these phases to Rogers’ diffusion of innovation s-curve. The three phases are: innovation, driven by individuals experimenting with the new medium; opportunity, driven by system-owners, information producers, and financial speculators; and maintenance,. driven by system-owners and regulatory bodies.
Online Journalism and Media Convergence: Empty Promises for Small Markets? • Ann E. Preston, Quincy University • This case study of a small market television network affiliate, daily newspaper and radio station explores the degree to which online journalism’s promised expansion of archival sources, cross-media collaboration of journalists and convergence of media are being realized. The three media share the same owner and philosophy of communitarian journalism. Findings suggest that while major markets may be reaping the benefits of online journalism, small market journalists rely on traditional skills and conventions.
A Political Economic Review of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Julian Rush, Brigham Young University and Jos Blanco, Saint Mary’s College of California • This paper analyzes the political-economic underpinnings and impacts of the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TA), on February 8, 1996. The paper explores the intended market initiatives, the legislative history and political economy of the new law. As with any new legislation, the stated benefits and goals for the American consumer have been obscured due to competitive position undertaken by telecommunication firms. The authors have reviewed the plethora of mergers, lawsuits and administrative agency decision-making and posit whether the competitive end of the law have been justified or fulfilled positive changes in telecommunications markets and improved social welfare.
Digital Imaging and the Photojournalist: Work and Workload Issues • John Russial, Oregon • This paper examines the impact of digital imaging on the nature of newspaper photojournalism work. The shift from chemical to digital processing has brought an increase in staffing. The study, which is based on a national sample of photo editors, offers some support for the view that news production technologies are greeted with some ambivalence in newsrooms because they both enrich the job and enlarge it at the same time. Photo editors are largely positive about digital imaging, saying that it increases photographers’ flexibility in working with images and autonomy but that it also makes photo work more routine and leads to a grater priority on production.
Mass Media and the Concept of Interactivity: An Exploratory Study of Online Forums and Reader E-Mail • Tanjev Schultz, Indiana University • Mass media are well represented on the World Wide Web now. But it is not clear yet how interactive they will be in the online environment. The paper first goes over theoretical implications, discussing lack of interactivity in traditional mass media. Then it identifies concrete settings and levels of interactivity in online journalism. Finally, and exploratory study of New York Times journalists and forum participants helps to illustrate chances and problems of mass media online.
The Tease Effect of Slow Downloading: Arousal and Excitation Transfer in Online Communication • S. Shyam Sundar and Carson B Wagner, Pennsylvania State University • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.
Online Newspapers: Living Up to Their Potential? • James W. Tankard, Jr. and Hyun Ban, Texas-Austin • McLuhan postulated that new media emulate the forms of old media. This study examined the extent to which online newspapers are taking advantage of the special features offered by the Internet, including hypertext, interactivity and multimedia. While some online newspapers have adopted such innovations as frequent updating, hypertext links embedded in stories, multimedia features other than photographs, and interactivity features other than e-mail addresses and search engines for archives, most have not.
The Role of Local Government in Information Age After the Passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Kuo-Feng Tseng, Michigan State University • Convergence of communications technology, such as cable television, telephone, and computer network, has made those primary separate industrial players enter each other’s service. The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 removed barriers to entry and affects cities in management of rights-of-way, local zoning authority and municipalities’ ownership in the integrated telecommunication services. This paper examines related policies of cable television, telecommunications, and wireless services from nineteen Michigan communities, to provide basic principles of regulatory instruments for other municipalities.
Controlling the Uncontrollable: Export controls on Encryption Technology • Rita Zajacz, Indiana University • This paper uses the statist paradigm to examine the state-industry controversy over export controls of encryption technologies from the inception of the debate in 1991 through November 1996. By examining the fate of bills proposed for the liberalization of encryption technologies and the administration’s Clipper chip initiatives, we can conclude that the American state clearly preferred security over wealth maximization in policy making, and it proved to be very successful in fielding Congressional challenge.
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