Entertainment Studies 2008 Abstracts

Entertainment Studies Interest Group

My Network TV: Rise and Fall of the English-Language Telenovela • Guillermo Avila-Saavedra • Through discourse analysis of the related press coverage, this essay analyzes the commercial failure of four English-language telenovela adaptations broadcast by a FOX-affiliated network between 2006 and 2007. The essay argues that press coverage was a contributing factor to the failure of these productions.

Not perfect enough? Exposure to sports and entertainment media and college women’s perceptions of ideal beauty • Kimberly Bissell, University of Alabama; Andrea Duke, University of Alabama • The objective of this project was to identify themes, patterns and predictors related to perceived attractiveness in other women among a sample of university women in the south. Literature in a variety of disciplines documents this culture’s obsession with appearance and image ideals, and further data indicate young women today are under more pressure than ever before to emulate an image of attractiveness and beauty that simply is not attainable for most.

The ‘Celebrification’ of Culture: A Content Analysis of Celebrity Gossip Blogs • Mackenzie Cato, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • According to research from Nielson Netratings, gossip sites showed a 40% increase in traffic from February of 2006 to February of 2007. The sheer prevalence of celebrity culture has never been so apparent, and with the popularity of 24/7 media coverage of celebrity’s lives it raises many cultural, epistemological, and theoretical questions. Celebrity culture is a complex arena useful in studying the relationship between fans, stars, entertainment texts, and the media industries.

Building a Better PIG: A Historical Survey of the PMRC & Its Tactics • Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University; Chad Harriss, Alfred University • During the 1980s, there seemed to be an increased sensitivity concerning rock music lyrics. These issues particularly concerned a group of Washington wives who decided to take action by forming the Parent’s Music Resource Center (PMRC). This historical survey focuses on the tactics used by the PMRC and its influence on the recording industry.

Myth and the Carnivalesque: A Critical Analysis of HBO’s Carnivale • Michael Glassco • On September 14, 2003, over 5 million viewers tuned in to Home Box Office’s premiere of Carnivàle. Under the guise of HBO’s commitment to quality and its mission to distinguish itself from commercial broadcasting, HBO introduced Carnivàle as counter hegemonic series whose story-telling narrative was free from the formulaic structure common to commercial broadcasting. However, despite its subscription based structure, after only two seasons HBO cancelled the projected six season run.

Reporting on celebrities’ causes: Coverage of Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian work • Yoori Hwang; Se-Hoon Jeong • Despite the dramatic increase in the proportion of media content devoted to celebrities over the last decade or so, little research focused on the role of celebrity journalism in society. This study examines the potential role that celebrity journalism may play in raising public consciousness about social problems by analyzing the content and discourse of coverage of Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian work.

Taboo or Not Taboo? That is the Question: Offensive Language on Prime Time Broadcast and Cable Programming • Barbara Kaye, University of Tennessee; Barry Sapolsky, Florida State University • This investigation of offensive language on prime time broadcast and cable programs found that nine out of ten programs contained at least one incident of profanity and viewers were exposed to 12.58 cuss words per hour in 2005. Viewers of broadcast programs were exposed to slightly less than 10 objectionable words per hour compared to 15 words per hour on cable programs.

Sports Commentators and Source Credibility: Do Those Who Can’t Play…Commentate? • Justin Robert Keene, Texas Tech University; R. Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University • Although previous research has looked at how commentators affect audience perceptions of a sporting event (e.g., Bryant, Comisky, & Zillmann, 1977), few studies have attempted to identify what characteristics of sports commentators make them believable. This study seeks to examine the effects of commentators’ previous athletic experience on the perceived credibility of sports broadcasters as well as viewers’ subjective evaluations of game play.

Constructing Reality in Documentary: Triumph of the Will • Jin Kim • With Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will serving as its primary focus, this paper will demonstrate how form and content merge to construct reality in documentary film. By directly applying Fiske’s technical codes to several scenes from Riefenstahl’s documentary, this paper will argue how cinematic techniques—such as editing, camera, lighting, sound and music—were used to represent the film’s main goals: 1) the unification of the Nazi party; 2) the praise of Adolf Hitler; and 3) the rebirth of German mythology.

User-generated content in video game Animal Crossing • Jin Kim • This paper is about how users generate content in video games with the case of a real-time simulation video game Animal Crossing: Wild World. Users do everyday life labor in this portable video game, and they develop pre-programmed narratives given by developers: user-generated narratives are co-constructive between game developers and users. I will explore the ways in which users are immersed in the game through emotional attachment, developing game narratives and collaborating with each other.

Propaganda Techniques in Early Documentary Films: An In-depth Analysis with Seven Devices • Ji Hoon Lee, University of Florida • In line with the shadow of World War II in 1937, Institute of Propaganda Analysis was formed to educate the American public about the nature of propaganda and how to recognize propaganda techniques. Based on its seven propagandistic devices and criteria, this study analyzes propaganda techniques employed by a number of early classic documentary films circa 1920s to 1930s, including “Triumph of the Will” (1935), “October” (1927), and “Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia” (1943).

Investigating the Roles of Personality and Demographic Variables in Predicting the Consumption of Fantasy Game • Wooyoung Lee, Indiana University; Dae Hee Kwak, University of Maryland; Choonghoon Lim, Indiana University; Kimberly Miloch, Indiana University • Despite its proliferation as a multibillion dollar business, fantasy games have received far less attention from scholars. Thus, little is known about fantasy game consumers beyond their demographic information. This study is the first known attempt to link consumers’ individual differences and gender to fantasy sport league attitude and intention.

An exploratory study: effects of gender and entertainment media messages on unplanned teen pregnancy prevention? • Ming Lei, Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University; Stacey Hust, Washington State University • Teen pregnancy remains a major concern in the United States. Even with declined youth pregnancy rate, the rate in the United States is still much higher than those in other developed countries. It is a troubling issue because it has negative financial, social, and psychological consequences for both young parents and their children.

Shifting frames of masculinity in Seventeen magazine: A comparative analysis of 1945-1955 and 1995-2005 • Jaime Loke, University of Texas • Among the many roles that the teen girl magazine plays, one of the most important roles is that of a boy bible for the millions of young female teenagers who read them. Teen girl magazines have consistently framed masculinity since the beginning of the publication history. This research examines Seventeen magazine (the longest and largest circulating teen girl magazine) and how frames of masculinity have transformed through a comparative discursive analysis of 1945-1955 and 1995-2005.

At “The Office”: Media Images of Gender in the Workplace • Jason Martin, Indiana University • Rarely has communication research studied entertainment media depictions of gender in the workplace. This paper analyzes the television satire The Office, which delves into important social problems that have previously not received popular media treatment in a comedy. Using the public’s understanding of workplace gender expectations as a basis for humor, the show at times questions the potential pitfalls of strict organizational policies. However, the main plot underpins conventional gender norms and sex stereotypes.

You have other friends?”: An analysis of racial representation in “Friends” • Lisa Marshall, Muskingum College • This study uses the television series Friends to analyze cultural messages regarding racial representations on screen. Race is defined as any ethnic depiction, including religion, that the series explores. The study compares and contrasts race characterizations in society, outlines racial representations from television’s history, and uses a textual analysis of Friends to locate racial representations throughout the series. The study found that Friends perpetuated dominant ideologies of race, frequently using humor to communicate these ideas.

Celebrity and Politics: Effects of Endorser Credibility and Gender on Voter Attitudes, Perceptions, and Behaviors • David Morin, Department of Communication, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Meghan P. Tubbs, Department of Communication, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; James D. Ivory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University • While much research has examined the effects of celebrity endorsements in commercial advertising, little attention has been paid to the effects of celebrity endorsements of politicians on voter perceptions and behavior.

“I wanna be Paris’ new best friend!”: Para-social relationships in celebrity culture • Patrice Oppliger, Boston University; Jenna Baran, Boston University • Constant access to celebrities in an already celebrity obsessed culture is cause for concern. The following study explored the association between celebrity-focused media and its consumers using Horton and Wohl’s (1957) para-social interaction model. We tested the relationship between consumers’ body image and sex attitudes with scores from the para-social interest and identification scales. Conservative sex attitudes were correlated with celebrity-focused media use and para-social interest, rather than the predicted liberal sex attitudes.

A Study of Typology in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction • Marilda Oviedo, University of Iowa — School of Journalism and Mass Communication • This study looks at a sample of fanfiction written by fans of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There has yet to be a more updated look at the types of fanfiction being written by more current fanfiction writers. In addition, most research on fanfiction focuses on how writers of fanfiction use their writing to accommodate a male lead and a non-existent female lead.

Superheroes & Gender Roles, 1961-2004 • Erik Palmer, University of Oregon • Superhero comic books are nearly unique among pop culture genres for their endurance across generations of readers and their ability to adapt fluidly to changing social, cultural and ideological norms. The comic book market has traditionally been dominated by male readership and masculine concerns, but female super characters such as Wonder Woman, Phoenix, and Elektra have been relied on as sites of feminist inspiration and interrogation.

The Digitalization of Consumption: A case study of Lily Allen • Mary Elizabeth Ray • As communication technology continues to evolve, the public is offered new and varying means to digest musical media. In other words, a process of digitalization is taking place. The purpose of this article is to explore that process by examining the role digitalization plays in music consumption.

Is Ugly the New Beautiful? Investigating Young Female Viewers’ Perceptions of Beauty and Ugly Betty • Lauren M. Reichart, The University of Alabama; Robert Andrew Dunn • One hundred twenty-eight middle school girls were surveyed to determine the relationship between viewing an “ugly” lead character and their perceptions of beauty. The survey found that the more the respondents’ watched Ugly Betty, the more likely they would have respect for the unattractive character of Betty. However, the survey found that watching the show had a negative relationship with tolerance of others’ appearance.

Entertainment Television Exposure and College Students’ Beliefs in Rape Myths • Chunbo “Richard” Ren, Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University; Stacey Hust, Washington State University • The current study expands on existing knowledge by exploring whether viewing of different entertainment television genres has different effects on college students’ beliefs and perceptions about sexual assault. Three entertainment television genres are examined – prime-time television, daytime soap opera, and music television.

Perception is Everything: Examining the Cognitive Processes of Character Impression Formation and the Relationship with Viewer Enjoyment • Meghan Sanders, Louisiana State University • Social psychologists and media researchers have examined the end result of impression formation but very little media research has examined the cognitive process that takes place when viewers are forming impressions of fictional media characters. The present study attempts to lay a foundation for character impression formation applying Fiske and Neuberg’s Continuum Model of Impression Formation (1987) as the theoretical framework to determine if cognitive processing differentially affects emotional responses and enjoyment.

Singing celebrities: American Idol winner narratives • Amanda Scheiner • American Idol is undeniably one of the most popular programs on American television. Each winner of American Idol begins the season as an average person and ends as a celebrity. Audiences are connected to these winners through familiarity built through a season long acquaintanceship and interactive voting.

Beyond Face(book) Value: Debunking the Myths and Claims about Social Networking Sites • Ashleigh Shelton, University of Minnesota • The present study reveals the results of a content analysis of the descriptive, textual communication, and photo content found in 208 college student Facebook profiles. An a priori coding scheme was developed for this investigation based on (1) news reports and stories on controversies surrounding online social network use, (2) research on social uses of the Internet, and (3) insights from the author, a longtime Facebook user.

“Truthiness” and Satire News: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Television News Credibility • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University; Jeremy Littau, University of Missouri • The Daily Show and The Colbert Report aim a constant stream of criticism at the news media, both by presenting themselves in a television news format and by mocking the competence of journalists. This study aimed to build theory about the potential impact of satire news programs on perceptions of media credibility. A survey (n=650) found that Daily Show/Colbert Report viewers had less positive views about credibility of television news programs.

Successful play, Surprise Value, and Enjoyment in College Football • Chang Wan Woo, The University of Alabama; Jung Kim, The University of Alabama • What do we know about how the audience receives enjoyment from watching a sports event? Or what sorts of plays in a game affect the audience’s feelings of bliss and/or dysphoria? Surprisingly, little is known about the entertainment effects of sports viewing. An experiment of 49 respondents in a live college football game revealed that successful plays of affiliated team and unsuccessful plays of contestant team influenced the level of audience enjoyment significantly.

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Civic and Citizen Journalism 2008 Abstracts

Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group

A Study of Journalistic and Source Transparency in U.S. Online Newspaper and Online Citizen Journalism Articles • Serena Carpenter, Arizona State University • The tenet of transparency has been heralded as a journalistic principle that can promote the relationship between journalists and news users. A quantitative content analysis of 480 online newspaper and 482 online citizen journalism articles was conducted to determine the extent to which online information providers are being transparent. Data indicate that significant differences exist between online newspaper and online citizen journalists.

Developing a Citizen Journalism Site at a Small College: Lessons Learned as We Launch We-town.com • Tamara Gillis, Heather Tillberg-Webb, Kirsten Johnson, Elizabethtown College • This paper describes the preliminary implementation and lessons learned during the creation and launch of a citizen journalism converged media project by the communication department of a small college. We-town.com – the interdisciplinary curriculum project within a Department of Communications is designed to create a sustainable model of citizen journalism media within a converged media environment.

Writer Information and Perceived Credibility of Stories on a Citizen Journalism Web Site • Kirsten Johnson, Elizabethtown College • This study examined whether the presence of information about the writer, in the form of a picture and a brief biography, affected the perceived credibility of stories on a popular citizen journalism web site. Participants read three stories from OhmyNews.com and rated those stories in terms of perceived credibility. Results show that including writer information significantly increased the perceived credibility of the story.

Is there an Elite Hold? Mass Media to Social Media Influence in Blog Networks • Sharon Meraz, University of Illinois at Chicago • This study examined the social influence among 18 political, citizen media blogs (6 left leaning, 6 right leaning, and 6 moderate blogs) with that of 11 political blogs culled from the elite mass media entities of the New York Times and the Washington Post across three separate issue periods in 2007.

Youth Make the News: A Case Study of Three Youth-Generated News Websites • Jeffrey Neely, University of Florida • This study showed two contrasting categories of frames emerged in examining online youth-generated news content. In some cases, youth were portrayed as participants in a cooperative process with adults to engage in community-building and social discourse. In other instances, youth are represented as stakeholders in the conflict between their generation and the adult-run establishment. Additionally, the three sites both conformed to and differed from the established norms of mainstream journalism to varying degrees.

Madison Commons in Wisconsin: Experimenting with a Citizen-Journalism Model • Sue Robinson, Cathy DeShano, Nakho Kim, Lewis Friedland, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Citizen use of the Internet is changing conceptions of community, shifting community structures, and redirecting communicative action for both public and private spheres of society. The University of Wisconsin-Madison citizen media project, Madison Commons, sought to explore how community might be rethought (and re-invigorated) under a consideration of the integrated worlds of people, their private, social, and political spheres. This paper examines the mission, implementation and plan for progression of Madison Commons.

Participatory Journalism and the Transformation of News • David Ryfe, Donica Mensing, University of Nevada, Reno • In an analysis of twenty-one web sites, we assess the transformational potential of participatory journalism. We define transformation in terms of the purposes to which journalism is put. Given this definition, we argue that participatory journalism represents a potentially significant break from the “journalism-as-transmission-of-information” model that currently informs the purpose of conventional news.

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Visual Communication 2008 Abstracts

Visual Communication Division

“That’s the one!” An examination of spot news photography choices • Chris Birks, Northern Illinois University • Picture editors play an important role in how we understand the world. This paper looks at the selection of photographs that U.S. newspapers ran after the Virginia Tech shooting to see if there is any evidence of a consensus on what constitutes a preferred type of spot news photography. This study found nearly 80% of newspapers ran the same type of spot news photo, one defined as tension/action. Suggestions for further research are also included.

The Eyes Don’t Have It All: A Corporeal Approach to News Photography • Mary Bock, University of Pennsylvania • This essay proposes that the study of news images would be enhanced by attention to the corporeal factors influencing their ontogenesis. The argument is based in constructivist theory with special attention to the role of the body in visual newsgathering. It is argued that this approach yields not only information about what we see, but often, just as importantly, what we do not see.

Do pictures matter? Effects of photographs on interest in information seeking and issue involvement • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Information-seeking behavior in audiences is vital to news users and producers. While it seems intuitive that the inclusion of news photos will contribute to audience interest and information-seeking about an issue, little research has explicitly tested the role of visual elements in generating information-seeking.

Twin Myth, the Film and the Regime: Images in the Documentary Film A State of Mind. • Suhi Choi, University of Utah • The paper critically analyzes A State of Mind (Daniel Gordon, England, 2003), a documentary film which depicts both the mass games and the lives of two schoolgirl gymnasts in North Korea.

“Moving” the Pyramids of Giza: Teaching Ethics within a Visual Communication Curriculum • Nicole Smith Dahmen, Louisiana State University • As mass communication educators, we should be greatly concerned about how we teach ethics to our students. The goal of this research is to assess the effects of integrating ethics within a visual communication course. A key finding of the study is that there was a significant difference in how participants viewed selected ethical issues in visual communication from T1 to T2.

Greenpeace Visual Framing of Genetic Engineering: Neither Green nor Peaceful? • Avril De Guzman, Iowa State University; Kojung Chen, Iowa State University • This paper applies the levels of visual framing proposed by Rodriguez and Dimitrova (2007) to investigate how Greenpeace visually framed genetic engineering (GE) in its online campaign against this innovation. Greenpeace imagery in two countries with divergent policies toward GE, Australia (precautionary) and China (permissive) were also compared. The results indicate that the images used mostly showcased the organization’s peaceful direct action activities.

Dark vs. Light: Environmental Illumination Influence on Startle Reflex Amplitude Measured During Manipulation of the Affective State Using Pleasant and Unpleasant Picture Presentations • Mugur Geana, University of Kansas • In recent years psychophysiology has been increasingly used in mass communication studies. Thirty-five subjects viewed pleasant and unpleasant pictures in a light or dark environment; eyeblink SR amplitude was measured at random intervals during picture presentation. Exposure to pleasant or unpleasant visual stimuli in a room with lights on creates distinct affective responses; in a dark room exposure to the same type of pictures eliminates all differences between observed affective responses.

The Fictional Japanese Photography of Mariko Mori and Julie • Timothy R. Gleason, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • Mariko Mori and Julie are Japanese photographers whose images have appeared in book form, a mass medium infrequently examined by communication scholars. This paper examines Mariko Mori and Samurai Girl by applying both photographic critiques and a cultural analysis. It is argued that Mori challenges Japanese social norms by creating visual criticism, while Mori adopts the norms to have control over them. The differences between analyzing a monograph style photobook and a traditional photobook are discussed.

“Whatever they want to do – do it”: The conflicted resignation of female college athletes • Marie Hardin, Penn State University; Susan Lynn, Florida State University; Erin Whiteside, Penn State University • This study incorporates the mediated (hetero) sexualization of female athletes into the identity formation and aspirations of young sportswomen. Twenty U.S. college athletes were interviewed about their media use and about the ways they contextualize passive, sexualized images of well-known sportswomen. Participants said they used popular, glamorized depictions to seek the feminine ideal, which they sought as part of their “dual identity” as woman and as athlete.

Visual Processing of Animation: An Experimental Testing of “Distinctiveness” and “Motion Effect” Theories • Nokon Heo • In order to test two competing theories explaining animation effects, a 2 (Animation) x 2 (Banner Type) x 4 (Number of Animated Distractors) within-subjects factorial visual search experiment. A hypothesis predicting different patterns in search time has been proposed based on two theories – “motion effect” and “distinctiveness” theories. All the experimental conditions were counterbalanced to avoid any order effects, and both the target and non-target items were randomly selected by a computer.

Making Yuyanapaq: Reconstructing Peru’s Armed Internal Conflict through Photographs • Robin Hoecker, University of Missouri • Sponsored by Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Yuyanapaq photography exhibit documents the country’s armed internal conflict from 1980 to 2000. This study examined the curators’ role as gatekeepers in creating the exhibit, currently at Peru’s National Museum. In-depth interviews revealed the curators’ criteria when selecting photographs, how they handled graphic violence and strived to maintain historical accuracy. It also addresses how the curators’ personal experiences affected their decisions.

Teaching Button-pushing vs. Teaching Thinking: The State of New Media Education in U.S. Universities • Edgar Huang, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis • Using content analysis and survey, this study examines how the teaching of thinking skills and that of technological skills have been balanced in U.S. new media programs to produce both employable graduates and life-long learners. Findings show that most programs have balanced the two skill sets but that more effort should be made to integrate the teaching of both skill sets in individual courses to give students an expedited, holistic learning experience.

The Sin in Sincere: Deception and Cheating in the Visual Media • Paul Lester, California State University, Fullerton • Few discussions about the ethical issue of picture manipulations have focused on the nature of deception and cheating. Using the work of the American contemporary philosopher Bernard Gert, this paper features the concept of manipulation in a variety of contexts—from magic acts to journalism spreads—to help aid researchers and others to determine whether an alteration is merely deceiving others, or crosses the line and reaches the level of cheating.

Visuals, Path Control, and Knowledge Gain: Variables that affect students’ approval and enjoyment of a multimedia text as a learning tool • Jennifer Palilonis, Ball State University; Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • Survey data collected from 143 undergraduate students revealed specific multimedia features, as well as interaction and outcome variables, predicted participants’ approval of a multimedia text as a learning tool. The sense of knowledge gain, the value placed on animated graphics and an ability to control one’s path through the material independently predicted both enjoyment of the module and an intent to take a course using a multimedia text.

Laura Mulvey’s Psychoanalytic Argument: Does It Fit Hindi Cinema? • Ananya Sensharma, San Jose State University; Diana Tillinghast, San Jose State University • The study’s primary objective was to determine whether Mulvey’s (1975, 1989) psychoanalytic theories of male gaze and female spectatorship that she applied to classical Hollywood cinema can also be applied cross-culturally to mainstream Indian cinema.

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Scholastic Journalism 2008 Abstracts

Scholastic Journalism Division

A major decision: Students’ perceptions of their print journalism education and career preparation • Jennifer Wood Wood Adams, Auburn University, Brigitta R. Brunner, Auburn University, and Margaret Fitch-Hauser, Auburn University • This study examines examine print journalism majors’ perceptions of their journalism education and career preparation. This paper investigates why the undergraduates who participated in the study selected print journalism as their college major, what career they plan to pursue after graduation and how prepared they feel they are to employ various skills utilized by print journalists.

GSP testing as a student screener: Investigating its predictors and its ability to predict • Glenda Alvarado, Texas Tech University, and Coy Callison, Texas Tech University • A review of more than 1250 college graduates’ transcripts revealed that scores on a Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation test can best be predicted by the score received on the English portion of the ACT. Additionally, the journalism students for whom the test was implemented are not the communication major for which the test best serves as an indicator of success.

Twenty years of censorship? The impact of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier in the state courts • Genelle Belmas, California State University at Fullerton • Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier was decided by the Supreme Court in 1988. This paper is a review of the state cases that have relied on Hazelwood to determine the extent of free speech and press protections in the public schools. An analysis of the state cases reveals a mixture of restriction and expansion of free speech and press rights in a number of different categories, from dress codes and disciplinary issues to censorship and curricular concerns.

Trust me! Wikipedia’s credibility among college students • Naeemah Clark, University of Tennessee, Daniel Haygood, University of Tennessee, and Kenneth Levine, University of Tennessee • Although it has been shown to be useful to students, teachers, librarians, and reporters, it is acknowledged that the user-generated entries found on Wikipedia raise issues of credibility for those who rely on it for information. The present study used surveys to address how college students use Wikipedia as an academic tool and how credible they deem the Web 2.0 encyclopedia to be.

A curriculum evolution: How journalism programs are dealing with convergence • Meredith Cochie, University of Florida • This study, a survey of college journalism programs, found the most important reason for a curriculum revision is to keep up with the now-converged industry standard. Through the examination of the data about teaching methods, coursework, facilities and faculty, it was suggested that the majority of administrators and faculty were altering their approach to teaching journalism to include multi-platform training. This study found that the curriculum alteration depended on industry changes, cost and faculty support.

Prior review in the high school newspaper: Perceptions, practices and effects • Joseph Dennis, University of Georgia • The 1988 Hazelwood Supreme Court ruling legalized the practice of prior review, giving high school administrators the right to censor student-produced publications. Newspaper advisers around the nation were invited to complete an online survey regarding their perceptions and the practices of their high school newspaper. The results show correlations between certain adviser perceptions of the newspaper and prior review, as well as prior review and adviser censorship.

Knight’s Hazelwood paradigm reconsidered: A conundrum, a paradox and an enigma • Thomas Dickson, Missouri State University • The author analyzes Knight’s Paradigm, which suggests that Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier presents a paradox, a conundrum and an enigma. The paradox is that even though it seemed to limit the student press, it also allowed for more freedom. The conundrum is: Who is the publisher if not the state? The enigma is an incomplete public forum analysis suggesting that the school could censor based upon viewpoint of the author, something not allowed previously.

Academic comparisons between students with and those without high school newspaper or yearbook experience • Jack Dvorak, Indiana University, and Changhee Choi, Indiana University • In order to better understand the worth of high school publications experiences, this study to some extent replicates studies done more than 20 years ago. By using data gathered in ACT pre-college standardized tests as well as results of collegiate performance, the authors were able to study various academic-related outcomes comparing those students who had newspaper or yearbook staff experiences with those students who did not. The ACT data set included 31,175 students nationally.

The Urban News Project: Examining the impact of community-based reporting on student perceptions of journalism and community • John Hatcher, University of Minnesota Duluth • This study analyzes a community-based reporting project at a Midwestern university in a city of 90,000. Qualitative pre- and post-test analysis of students’ perceptions of the community and of the journalism they were practicing found the project challenged their preconceived notions about the community they visited and of the best way to practice journalism. Students said the project took them out of their comfort zones and challenged their preconceived notions about the community they visited.

Morse v. Frederick in the lower courts: Narrow ruling or another nail in the coffin for free student expression? • Dan Kozlowski, Saint Louis University, Melissa Bullard, St. Louis University, and Kristen Deets, Saint Louis University • In Morse v. Frederick, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools can prohibit speech “that can reasonably be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use.” This paper studies more than a dozen lower federal court opinions that have already interpreted the Supreme Court’s ruling.

‘Periodical’ pursuits: A bibliographical listing of scholastic journalism articles published in noteworthy national education journals • Bruce Konkle, University of South Carolina • More than 700 articles addressing scholastic journalism topics appeared in 33 national education and curriculum publications, including High School Journal, Nation’s Schools, School Review, and School and Society, during the 20th century.

Understanding a four-year college newspaper’s newsroom culture and change • Sarah Ling Wei Lee, Western Michigan University • The purpose of this study is to explore organizational culture and change in a college newspaper’s newsroom. Student journalists often use college newspapers as a means to get editorial experience and also to get published. Even so, the college newspaper newsroom is unlike a typical metropolitan or local community newspaper’s newsroom in the way that it experiences change.

An examination high-school media advisers’ reactions to controversial news topics: A developmental and confirmatory analysis • Adam Maksl, Ball State University, Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • A survey of 563 high school media advisers revealed that oral sex, sex, administrative issues, homosexuality, and birth control are the topics high school media advisers feel the least comfortable seeing run in their media. Consistent with an earlier examination, oral sex was the topic with which media advisers showed the lowest levels of comfort and remained the only topic with mean scores below the neutral point.

First Amendment knowledge of leading high school journalism students in southeast Louisiana: A 10-Year Perspective • Joe Mirando, Southeastern Louisiana University • Research over the past five decades has consistently shown a pattern of ignorance of the First Amendment on the part of high school journalists in America. This study provides evidence that this trend may be continuing based on the results of an academic quiz bowl-style competition limited to publication editors and top journalism class students in Southeast Louisiana high schools last year. The study replicates a similar study the author conducted in the late 1990s.

Prior review and restraint of the digital college press: How media advisers view their circumstances • Marie Ory, University of Louisiana at Lafayette • American students often gain their initial impression of First Amendment freedoms while working on a college newspaper. The legal question in the United States is how much free expression is to be afforded to young adults in college newsrooms and how much authority belongs to their academic administrators and media advisers.

“Playboy for the College Set”: The rise and impact of campus sex magazines • Daniel Reimold, Ohio University • Campus sex magazines have received worldwide media attention and achieved levels of controversy and popularity unmatched by anything else in collegiate journalism over the past decade. This paper explores the magazines’ inceptions and their much-debated messages related to sex, romantic relationships, and gender roles. Related information was culled from interviews with student editors, an analysis of magazine content, an historical review, and an examination of relevant news reports.

Satisfied: The Maslach Burnout Inventory measures job satisfaction and lack of burnout among high school journalism advisers • Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas, Adam Maksl, Ball State University, and *Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • The three-component Maslach Burnout Inventory (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment) was used to examine burnout among high school journalism advisers (n = 563). The study also examined the correlation between burnout and job satisfaction. The results indicate that journalism advisers are not experiencing burnout on any level. At most, they indicated average levels of emotional exhaustion, but that is clearly countered by high levels of personal accomplishment.

Public high school newspaper advisers and free speech: The law in inaction • Erica Salkin, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Public school newspaper advisers must know student press law to protect their students, and public employee speech law to protect themselves. This study examined the relationship between advisers’ legal knowledge and restrictiveness. Though the data revealed no correlation, restrictiveness was affected by such variables as professional memberships or district size. Open-ended answers showed respondents rarely used the law as a guide, suggesting the law is not in action–but rather in inaction in student pressrooms.

Framing the divide: How professional newspapers frame journalism education • Marc Seamon, Robert Morris University • The literature suggests there is a disconnect between the professional practice of journalism and journalism education, with the former seeing the latter as the “ivory tower.” This study involves a computerized analysis of the frames present in American daily newspaper coverage of journalism education. Results indicate that important frames about journalism curriculum, new media/convergence, and scholarly research in journalism are ignored.

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Radio Television Journalism 2008 Abstracts

Radio Television Journalism Division

Murrow v. McCarthy: A media-driven myth • W. Joseph Campbell, American University • This paper examines the emergence of the media-driven myth that Edward R. Murrow’s famous “See It Now” program about Senator Joseph McCarthy in March 1954 was a decisive and courageous blow that led to the senator’s downfall later than year. In deconstructing the myth, this paper notes that the legendary program benefited from fortuitous yet impeccable timing: It aired during the week that McCarthy’s fortunes entered a tailspin from which the senator never recovered.

Gatekeeping at the Portal: An Analysis of Local Television Websites’ User-Generated Content • Johanna Cleary, University of Florida; Terry Adams-Bloom, University of Miami • A content analysis of 100 local station web sites found that while 66% of stations are including user-generated content, much of it is designed to capture eyeballs, rather than to engage citizens in the journalistic process. The user-generated content includes still photos (78.8%), and blogs and video (34.8% each). The overwhelming majority (80.8%) focused on weather-related events.

Network and Cable News Framing of the Iraq Issue in the 2004 Presidential Campaign • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego • This study adds to the conceptual understanding of the framing process in news media by examining the influence of the nature of the medium (network vs. cable channels) on framing of the Iraq issue in the context of a presidential campaign. In all, 445 stories from three network and three cable television channels were content analyzed between Labor Day and election day during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Living with the Bomb: Fred Friendly’s “The Quick and the Dead” • Matthew Ehrlich, University of Illinois • Fred Friendly’s 1950 NBC radio documentary “The Quick and the Dead” examined the creation of the atomic bomb, the looming prospect of the hydrogen bomb, and the potential benefits of atomic energy. The documentary featured Bob Hope and New York Times science reporter William Laurence. It exemplified journalism’s ambivalence regarding the new atomic age and marked a transitional moment in network documentary’s development, pointing the way toward Friendly’s work with Edward R. Murrow at CBS.

Journalistic authority and news narratives: strategic storytelling in news coverage of a family tragedy • Choonghee Han, The University of Iowa • This paper will talk about narrative and rhetorical construction of reality in journalistic coverage of 2006 death of James Kim, a Korean American who died in the deep forest in Oregon. The primary argument this paper makes is that strategic narratives by which journalists construct reality help them sort out important themes from incidents and maintain their journalistic authority.

Network Coverage of High-profile breaking news • Hong Ji, Project for Excellence in Journalism • The network newscasts coverage of high-profile breaking news over its life span was content analyzed. Networks placed high-profile breaking news on their agenda, but the frame of coverage varied. While both morning and evening programs devoted more stories, employed more packages, and aired more leads and longer stories in first days of breaking news events than later, package reporting was more pronounced in evening programs over the life span of breaking news.

Packing a Punch: Audio-Visual Redundancy and News Recall • Lacy Johnson, Iowa State University; Joel Geske, Iowa State University • The Limited Capacity Model of Information-Processing proposes that three subprocesses occur simultaneously in the brain, resulting in memory formation. Poverty of resources allotted to any subprocess results in inability to recall information. Audio-visual redundancy aids the processes, thereby encouraging memory formation. The study results show that producing television news packages with audio-visual redundancy improves immediate and delayed recall of information, especially in hard news, and viewers prefer audio-visually redundant television news packages to dissonant packages.

Young Adults Matter: A survey of television journalists on content, news presentation and young adults • Kelly Kaufhold, University of Texas at Austin • A national survey of 322 television and newspaper journalists found that only one in 20 considered those over 60 their most important audience. Nearly three in four journalists said it is important to present news to it appeals to young adults and nine in ten said young adults prefer online news to print. Only 7% said young adults won’t follow the news. Significant differences emerged between broadcast and print journalists, and between reporters and others.

Agenda-setting and Rhetorical Framing by Semantic Proximity: A New Computerized Approach to the Analysis of Network TV News • Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University; Lei Xie, Southern Illinois Univeresity Carbondale; Oliver Witte, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • The present study combined agenda-setting and news framing analysis to examine a random sample of 631 presidential campaign stories from 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. It is the first study to combine the strengths of three specialized software programs (QDA Miner 1.3, WordStat 4.0, and Diction 5.0) to (a) discover the major topics in the campaign coverage, (b) identify patterns by which the topics were co-mentioned to frame each other, and (c) determine how the networks used different rhetorical styles to frame the news.

National Newsmaker: A Look Inside the Making of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” • Sara Magee, Ohio University • Radio news audiences are diminishing but National Public Radio’s All Things Considered continually draws in 11 million listeners each week. This study uses first hand observation and analysis of the news judgment and production processes that go into the program to examine why the ATC audience remains loyal. The conclusions can shed light on what radio news audiences want to hear and provide ideas that commercial radio news might capitalize on to retain its audience.

Anonymous sources in nightly news programs • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida; Esther Thorson • The use of anonymous sources has undergone scrutiny in the television newsmagazine, newspaper and newsmagazine industries after a series of embarrassing scandals. The nightly news programs and their sourcing policies have not sparked a similar public outcry. However, the nightly news programs draw millions of viewers, many who cite television news as their main source of information, making this an area worthy of study.

The CNN Effect on the Six Party Talks: A Conduit of Elite Consensus • Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jinah Seol, Korea National Open University • For nearly two decades there has been much debate about the so-called ‘CNN effect’ on foreign policy. It was believed that CNN had greatly influenced the perceptions of policymakers and international leaders, shaping reality of the international events. This study examined how CNN coverage of the Six Party Talks is conveyed in terms of elite discourses and policy uncertainty.

Talent 24/7: The Changing Nature of On-Air Newswork, Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon; Hillary Lake, University of Oregon; Joy Mapaye, University of Oregon • In 2007, former ABC World News anchor Bob Woodruff returned to the airwaves one year after surviving a life-threatening attack in Iraq. However, his first appearance was not on the nightly newscast World News, but rather on ABC’s morning news program Good Morning America. This example illustrates a new pattern in network newswork which changes how frequently talent appears on-air. As Kurtz argues, the traditional prominence of the evening newscasts has declined.

Tell it not in Harrisburg, Publish it not in the Streets of Tampa: Framing, Media Ownership, and the Public Interest • Amit Schejter, Penn State University; Jonathan Obar, Penn State University • Throughout 2006-2007 the FCC conducted six public hearings across the United States as part of its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking procedure, brought about by the court’s annulment of the media ownership rules enacted by the FCC in 2003. These hearings – the first of their kind in scope and quantity – drew the attention of the media, public interest groups and the public.

Edward R. Murrow: Portrayals in Docudramas and Documentary • Lawrence Strout, Mississippi State University • Three TV and film productions have been produced about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow since his 1965 death: Murrow (HBO, 1986); Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter (PBS, 1990); and Good Night and Good Luck (Warner Brothers, 2005). From 1986 to 2005, his portrayal becomes less humanized and more mythical in nature.

Dimensions of Emergency Messages between Journalists and Sources • Christopher Swindell, Marshall University • The paper posits a set of dimensions along which emergency message construction between journalists and official sources differs from other message interaction. The coorientation model is used to assess both groups’ views about three features of emergency news and to evaluate their expectations about each others’ views on the topic.

Should Certification of Meteorologists Serve as a Model for Broadcast Journalists? • Charlie Tuggle, UNC-Chapel Hill; Lynn Owens; Lynette Holman, UNC-Chapel Hill • As the face of the news media changes, the definition of the word “journalist” begins to blur. Those who are delivering news, information, and opinion via the growing expanse of new media such as blogs, podcasts and social networking sites might think of themselves as journalists.

Where Media Turn During Crises: A Look at Information Subsidies and the Virginia Tech Shootings • Shelley Wigley, Texas Tech University; Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • This study explored the use of official and non-official sources as information subsidies in coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings and introduced a new type of information subsidy – new technology sources. Results indicated that reporters used significantly more new technology sources as information subsidies during the first two days of the crisis, compared to the latter stage of the crisis, and that non-official sources were used to a greater extent than official sources.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Public Relations 2008 Abstracts

Public Relations Division

How Do the News Media Frame Crises? A Content Analysis of Crisis News Coverage • Seon-Kyoung An and Karla Gower, University of Alabama • The present study is a content analysis of crisis news frames found in 2006 crisis news coverage. A total of 247 news stories were analyzed to examine which of five news frames (attribution of responsibility, human interest, conflict, morality, and economic frames) and level of responsibility (individual and organizational level) were used by the media according to crisis types.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Effective Organizational Crisis Response Strategy in the U.S. and South Korea • Seon-Kyoung An, University of Alabama; Dong-Jin Park, Hallym University; Seung Ho Cho, Mississippi State University; Bruce Berger, University of Alabama • This cultural comparative study investigated the public’s perception toward organizational crisis response strategies by using a 2 x 2 x 2 design with level of responsibility (individual vs. organizational level), organizational response (causal and treatment responsibility), and two countries (the U.S. vs. South Korea). Students (N = 410) responded to hypothetical news stories describing a recall accident.

Effect of Company Affiliation on Credibility in the Blogosphere • Elizabeth Bates and Coy Callison, Texas Tech University • Blogging is a form of corporate communication adopted as a means of addressing corporate criticism and providing a forum for corporate communicators to interject themselves into conversation. Little empirical research, however, has explored perceptions of credibility relative to the blogosphere. Through spokesperson and blog sponsorship manipulation, this study (N = 167) shows that company spokespersons are more credible than anonymous sources. Corporate or citizen group sponsorship of the blog did not affect perceptions of credibility.

JetBlue’s Valentine Day Crisis: Implementing Safe Side Strategies • Asya Besova, Louisiana State University • This research study tests the Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) while analyzing corporate messages disseminated by the JetBlue after the Valentine’s Day storm. Press releases, broadcast messages and Internet messages were content analyzed in an attempt to reveal underlying public relations strategies. JetBlue used strategies mainly from the deal response option, rather than from diminish and deny response option, as suggested by the SCCT model. Ingratiation and compassion were the most widely used strategies.

“Without a Sacrifice of Truth”: William Wirt Constructs the Image of Patrick Henry • Mary Blue, Tulane University • Patrick Henry’s historical prominence was largely the result of the efforts of William Wirt. The prosecutor in Aaron Burr’s treason trial, U.S. Attorney General 1817-1829, and Anti-Masonic candidate for President in 1832, Wirt was also Henry’s first biographer. This paper considers Wirt’s use of ideas and mechanisms that are considered today to be some of the basic principles of public relations to give his Patrick Henry an enduring place in American history.

Exploring Adolescent-Organization Relationships: A Study of Effective Maintenance Strategies with Adolescent Volunteers • Denise Bortree, Penn State University • This paper reports on a study of the adolescent volunteer-nonprofit organization relationship. The study identified three key relationship maintenance strategies that influence an adolescent public – guidance, assurances and shared tasks. In addition, it identified the relationship quality outcome of control mutuality as playing a key role in the adolescent volunteer-nonprofit relationship.

The Level of Glocalization of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities of Multinational Corporations: Content Analysis of Home and Host Countries’ Web Sites • Moonhee Cho, University of Florida • The purpose of this study is to investigate how similar and how different the CSR issues presented on the Web sites of U.S. MNCs and their subsidiaries in Korea are. Also, the study aims to examine the extent to which subsidiaries provide CSR programs target the local community. The study found that subsidiaries of MNCs in Korea provide limited CSR information on their Web sites and limited CSR programs for the local community.

Anger and Moral Judgment in Crisis Communication • Seung Ho Cho, Mississippi State University • This study attempts to examine the relationship between causal attributions and anger through a public’s moral judgment about an organization involved in a crisis, and to measure the effect of anger on blame and the resultant image of the organization during the crisis. This study manipulated causal attributions to create different types of crises—internal/external controllability and stability.

The Effects of Attribution of VNRs and Risk on News Viewers’ Assessments of Credibility • Colleen Connolly-Ahern, Penn State University; Susan Grantham, University of Hartford; Maria Baukus, Penn State University • The executive branch practice of issuing video news releases without attributing them to government agencies has been sharply criticized by the Government Accounting Office. However, the effects of attribution on VNR viewers are not understood. This paper reports the results of an experiment testing the relative credibility of two different government agencies by viewers of a VNR attributed to an agency, compared with viewers who saw the VNR without attribution.

Communication Activism as Mediator of Efficacy and Fatalism as Predictors of Fire Safety Behavior • David Dozier and John Kim, San Diego State University • Longitudinal data collected over a two-year period tracked desired changes in wildfire safety behavior. Activist communication behavior was positively correlated with efficacy and negatively correlated with fatalism. Individuals predisposed to activist communication were significantly more likely to enact positive outcomes regarding fire safety behavior over the period of study. Efficacy and fatalism exerted no direct, independent influence on desired wildfire safety behavior, once communication activism was controlled.

How National Security Reporters Make Meaning of Terrorism Information Disseminated by the U.S. Government • Heather Epkins, University of Maryland, College Park • Arguably one of the most important issues of our time, terrorism is a concept that continues to spawn debate regarding its meaning and scope. Scholars have examined numerous components of this crucial topic and several have explored the role of the American press in communicating terrorism information to the public, but none have been found to seek an understanding of the detailed process of disseminating terrorism news content from the viewpoint of the national security reporter.

Fulfilling Psychological vs. Financial Needs: The Effect of Extrinsic Rewards on Motivation and Attachment to Internships • Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Bob “Pritch” Pritchard, Ball State University • Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000) has posited that extrinsic rewards have the potential to undermine intrinsic motivation and thus diminish engagement, enjoyment and attachment to activities (Lepper, Green & Nisbett, 1973). A study of public relations students who have completed a recent internship (n=141) indicates that need satisfaction trumps extrinsic rewards in predicting both supervisor and overall internship experience approval. Implications for educators are discussed.

Team Teaching to Teach Teaming • Susan Gonders and Doug McDermott, Southeast Missouri State University • New public relations practitioners are expected to collaborate and work in teams, but faculty typically do not model teamwork in the classroom. This case study demonstrates how team teaching can effectively teach teaming by example in public relations skills courses. Team teaching is more work, not less, and it pulls grumbling students from their comfort zones. However, the greater effort of team teaching comes with significant payback for both teachers and students.

Impact of Hosting a Global Sporting Event on the Hosting Nation in Terms of Tourism • Jee-Hee Han, University of Dayton • This paper examined whether hosting a global sporting event such as the Olympics would have a positive impact on the hosting nation in a way that it would result in an increase in tourism. After analyzing the data, it was found that there were not much of differences in the change ratios before and after the event in terms of inbound tourism.

Mattel’s Toy Recall: The Influence of Government and Corporate Media Efforts on News Coverage. • Jooyun Hwang and Spiro Kiousis, University of Florida • This study explores the crisis response strategies and issues frames that emerged in government and corporate information subsides during the Mattel Toy Recall.

A Functional Analysis of the 2007 South Korean Presidential Campaign News Releases • Sungwook Hwang, University of Missouri • This functional analysis study examined the 2007 South Korean presidential news releases. Candidates acclaimed more than attacked. Policy was discussed more often than character. The Incumbent party candidate Jung Dong Young acclaimed more and attacked less than the challenger Lee Myung Bak. The challenger attacked more than acclaimed in terms of past deeds. Candidates acclaimed more than attacked in terms of general goals and ideals. Simple denial was the most frequent defense strategy.

What’s Ethics In Public Relations? : PR Practitioners’ Perceptions of Their Ethics in Global PR Firms in Korea • Jiyeon Jeong, University of Missouri • This qualitative study seeks to review the perceptions held by public relations practitioners who work specifically in global public relations firms, regarding their ethics, and to identify factors that support their ethics. In-depth interviews were conducted seeking the ethical views of 20 public relations practitioners, from five global public relations firms in Korea.

A South Korean “Telethon” and Charitable Donation: Examining Uses and Gratifications and Situational Variables • Bumsub Jin, University of Florida. • This study examined whether South Koreans’ charitable donation behaviors were related to the major factors of two theoretical frameworks. In the uses and gratifications perspective, the study argued that audience activity in a telethon can be linked to donation behaviors. In the situational theory of publics, problem recognition and level of involvement may also be related to donation behaviors. The study asked 300 South Koreans from 41 different cities to respond to a Web survey.

The Effects of Public’s Cognitive Appraisal of Emotions in Crises on Crisis Coping and Strategy Assessment • Yan Jin, Virginia Commonwealth University • Despite the importance of affect in persuasion and strategic decision making, there is a lack of a systematic and integrated approach to understanding how discrete emotions publics experienced in crisis influence their crisis information processing and behavioral tendency.

How Do Different Publics in Crises Feel? Insights from Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model in Crisis Communication • Yan Jin, Virginia Commonwealth University; Augustine Pang and Glen Cameron, University of Missouri • Extending current theories in crisis communication, the authors have developed a more systemic approach to understanding the role of emotions. The authors’ Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) model is based on a public-based, emotion-driven perspective where different crises are mapped on two continua, the organization’s engagement in the crisis and primary public’s coping strategy.

Comprising or Compromising Credibility?: Use of Spokesperson Quotations in News Releases Issued by Major Health Agencies • Elizabeth Johnson Avery and Sora Kim, University of Tennessee • As audiences increasingly question source credibility during crisis, the use of spokesperson quotations in press releases deserves greater scrutiny, particularly in the context of relaying health information. This study analyzes use of direct quotations in avian flu press releases issued by leading health agencies to reveal the nature of quotes and use of sources.

Difference or Commonality in PR Strategies between American and Korean Corporations: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Interactivity • HyunMee Kang, Lisa Ladwig, and Pengpeng Li, Louisiana State University • This study’s main concern is possible differences in themes of corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues and activities and in interactivity features on the websites between American and Korean corporations. Also, based on understanding the unique Korean corporate environment, the study examines differences in CSR themes and in interactivity features between Chaebol and non-Chaebol corporations.

Source Credibility and Public Information Campaigns: The Effects of Organizational Sponsors on Message Acceptance • Deena Kemp and Derina Holtzhausen, University of South Florida • This study establishes a link between research on organizational source credibility and the effects of public information campaigns. Research has established that source credibility is one factor audiences evaluate when responding to messages and that credible information sources enhance message acceptance, while untrustworthy sources can interfere with desired message effects.

Causal Linkages between Relationship Cultivation Strategies and Relationship Quality Outcomes • Eyun-Jung Ki, University of Alabama; Linda Hon, University of Florida • This study was designed to examine how relationship cultivation strategies used by a membership organization affected members’ perceptions of relationship quality outcomes with the organization. Links among six relationship cultivation strategies and four relationship quality outcomes provide new information concerning the function of cultivation effects. Overall, relationship cultivation strategies like access, positivity, sharing tasks, and assurances represent the proactive approaches that organizations may employ to cultivate or nurture quality relationships with their target publics.

The Importance of Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Content and Semantic Analysis of 2007 Fortune 500 Companies Websites • Daejoong Kim, Yoonjae Nam, Sinuk Kang, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York • This study investigated some corporate websites included in both the heavy and light industries among 2007 Fortune 500 companies’ websites, analyzing how the both industries utilizing their websites to present their commitment and performance to the environment and encourage dialog with the public on issues relating to the environment.

Embedding a Social Cause in the News: The Effects of Corporate Sponsorship and News Proximity on Consumer Attitudes and Participation Intentions • Hyo Kim and Esther Thorson, University of Missouri • This study compares response to two ways of promoting non-profit companies. One is a news feature story written only about the non-profit. The other is a news feature story written about the non-profit, but including the sponsorship of a commercial company. Both types of stories were also presented as either localized to the city in which the students lived or not.

Influence of Social Involvement on Corporate Local Philanthropy • Jangyul Kim, Colorado State University; Youjin Choi, University of Florida • This study attempted to test the effects of philanthropic activities on publics from the perspective of stakeholders (N = 6,056). It was shown that individuals’ personal involvement with social cause, perception (skepticism) of a corporation’s charitable activities, and expectations of a business organization’s charitable contribution to local communities were major variables that affected stakeholders’ intention to purchase products or use services of a corporation that engages in charitable giving.

Finding Primary Publics: A Test of the Third-Person Effect in Corporate Crisis • Jeesun Kim and Hyo Kim, University of Missouri • The present study applies the third-person perception to the corporate crisis setting. From a public relations perspective, a multiple publics approach was employed to better understand the underlying third-person process with comparison targets, moving beyond the past social distance approach. Results indicate that third-person effects were found only when the comparison targets were customers, stakeholders, and competitors in both food and laptop product category crises.

Nexus between Activism and Public Relations • Jeong-Nam Kim, Purdue University; Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Sri Guruduth Agencies • We introduced a conceptual linkage between socio-cultural environmental variables, activism, and public relations practice. Our paper has offered research questions that could be used by future studies to add empirical evidence and refine the conceptual model presented here. These studies could assess whether higher levels of activism do contribute to strategic public relations in all societies or whether the socio-cultural environments of different societies deal with activism differently.

Linking Official National Web Sites and the National Brands Index from a Public Relations Perspective • Sooyeon Kim and Spiro Kiousis, University of Florida • This study examined the public diplomacy role of operating official national Web sites. The contents of 86 official national Web sites of 38 countries showed a positive correlation between the richness of information of Web sites and the Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI). This study suggests that actively operating official national Web sites can be one important relationship building strategy of public relations towards national branding.

Searching for Effective Crisis Response Strategies: An Empirical Approach • Ruthann Lariscy and Youngju Sohn, University of Georgia • This is an experimental study designed to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of crisis response strategies (CRSs). Specifically, this study uses a crisis situation triggered by unethical mismanagement. A product category, the MP3 player, was intentionally selected as the product type and parent-corporation for its appropriateness with the college age demographic tested. This experiment also tests the effectiveness of Coombs’ clustering scheme of CRSs. Results support the effectiveness of the clustering categorization scheme.

Who vs. How: Exploring Factors that Impact Outrage During Risk Situation on the Internet • Hyunmin Lee and Minji Kim, University of Florida • This study examined the impacts of source credibility and modality on the level of initial outrage in a risk situation. A total of 197 students in a southeastern university participated in a 2 (Source credibility: high vs. low) X 3 (modality: text only vs. text plus visual vs. text plus video) factorial design.

Ethical Leadership in Public Relations: Roles, Dimensions and Knowledge Transfer • Seow Ting Lee and I-Huei Cheng, University of Alabama • Extended from the extant research literature that is limited to ethical business leadership, the current study explores the roles and characteristics of leadership in developing and managing ethics in public relations, based on in-depth interviews with 19 high-profile leaders and managers in the public relations field in the United States. Focusing on ethical leadership, the systematic analysis of the interview data identified multiple dimensions of ethical values and roles of public relations leaders and managers.

Influences on Corporate Reputation: Personal Experience, Advertising Recall, and Media Recall • Sunyoung Lee and Craig Carroll, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The results indicate that advertising recall has a positive influence on organizational reputation, and media recall has a negative influence on organizational reputation, and personal experience had no influence on organizational reputation. Moreover, these recollection effects vary across the dimensions of reputation. Both advertising recall and media recall influence the perception of companies’ emotional appeal, product and service, and social responsibility dimension.

A Rules Theory Approach to Understanding How Health Journalists Judge Public Relations Sources • Maria Len-Rios, Amanda Hinnant, and Sun-A Park, University of Missouri • The research presented here examines how health journalists (N=598) evaluate the appropriateness of public relations materials by public relations source (e.g., nonprofit, government). Also assessed are differences in journalist perceptions according to their news media (e.g., newspapers, magazines) and markets. Rules theory guides the analysis. Findings show that health journalists are least accepting of material from business and federal government agencies. Newspaper and freelance health journalists are sometimes more incredulous than are other journalists.

Is Apology a Cure-All Strategy? Testing the Effects of Apology and Compassion Response in Product-Harm Crises • Ying-Hsuan Lin, PRIME Research; Yoonhyeung Choi, Michigan State University • This study compares the effects of apology and compassion responses on crisis outcomes in product-harm crises in the context of Situational Crisis Communication Theory. A one-way between subject experiment (crisis response: correction (control), correction + compassion, correction + apology, and correction + compassion + apology) was conducted to examine whether compassion and apology result in significant differences.

Distinguishing Elite Newspaper and A-List Blog Crisis Coverage: A Primer for Public Relations Practitioners and Academics • Brooke Liu, DePaul University • Historically, the litmus test for measuring whether an organization effectively managed a crisis was the amount of negative media coverage the crisis received. Today, with the explosion of online media, crisis managers now face an additional litmus test: the amount of negative blog coverage a crisis receives. Despite this reality, public relations practitioners largely have been reticent to embrace blogging.

Conside (RED) Accountable? Consumer Insights for the Product (RED) and Global Fund Partnership Through Public Relations Theory • Amy Martin and Meghan Sanders, Louisiana State University • Product (RED), a cause-related marketing venture to be a catalyst for the private sector to be involved in social responsibility, app roached it’s first anniversary in late October 2007. The campaign’s design incorporates public relations and marketing elements for consumers to buy products and support an international non-profit organization: The Global Fund. The researcher used focus groups to investigate consumer awareness and understanding of the Product (RED) campaign and it’s partnership with The Global Fund.

Strategies for Engaging Ethnic Minorities: A Survey of the Public Relations and Mass Communication Literature • Belio Martinez and Stephanie Dowling, University of Florida • A content analysis of 242 articles from public relations, advertising, marketing, and social marketing published between 1995 and 2007 explored the most effective strategies for communicating with ethnic minorities. Public relations articles continue to be mostly introspective. Articles across fields tend to focus more on setting relevant goals and objectives, using news media tactics, and targeting African Americans. Journal of Advertising yielded most relevant articles. A comprehensive list of best practices is offered here.

Corporate Online Press Rooms as Predictors of Media Salience • Soo Jung Moon, University of Texas • This study examines the relationship between features of corporate online press rooms and media salience. It analyzed websites of Fortune 500 companies and compared the features of online press rooms and the number of news stories from five newspapers and newswires. A bivariate correlation demonstrated that the number of press releases, database indices and RSS/emails had significant relationships to the number of news stories.

Exploring Relationship Management as an Integral Part of Strategic Management of Public Relations • Lan Ni, University of Texas-San Antonio. • The present study aims to explore a preliminary theoretical framework of integrating relationship management into the strategic management process of public relations by examining how relationships are managed in different stages of strategic management and at different levels of organizational strategies. Through analysis of online documents from 13 organizations and documents from these organizations’ publics, the following patterns have been revealed.

Go Team!: A Look at Spokesperson and Message Strength in Encouraging School Spirit • Kristin M. Pace, Elizabeth Foste, and Tomasz A. Fediuk, Illinois State University • School spirit is an important component of college unity and may lead to increased student involvement, alumni donations, and higher enrollment. Not much research has been conducted examining school spirit, and how to develop it. To address this gap the current paper examines school spirit as a form of identification with the university and cohesion. A study was conducted to test the effects of matching a serious or non-serious spokesperson with a strong or weak message.

The Case of the “McDonald’s Grandma”: New Media, New Realities for Public Relations • Janis Page, University of Florida; William S. Page, MediaWerks (Florida); Kendall Sharp and Sasha Talenfeld, University of Florida. • This case study explores the implications of new media on the public image of an organization, observes the dynamics of message control, and makes recommendations for organizational management. The study follows a specific ten-day news “event” as it unfolded on the Internet.

Proactive Approach in a Crisis Communication • Sun-A Park and Glen Cameron, University of Missouri • By conducting a controlled experiment, this study examined the effectiveness of a conflict positioning strategy as a proactive approach in crisis communications. Using multiple sample structural equation modeling, this study tested noninvariance across groups between people exposed to news coverage with a conflict positioning strategy and those not exposed to this strategy. The study showed multi-group models representing differences of people’s evaluation process of a crisis across conditions of presence or absence of conflict positioning.

Much Ado About Something: Web 2.0 Acceptance and Use by Public Relations Practitioners • Kenneth Payne, Western Kentucky University • Evidence suggests communications professionals in public relations are reluctant to accept and use emerging Web 2.0 technologies – blogging, podcasting, web video, content syndication (RSS), wikis, virtual worlds, and social networking.

Persuasion and Public Relations: Rhetorical Perspectives in Giving Meaning to Public Relations • Lance Porter, Louisiana State University • To dismiss a statement as “nothing more than rhetoric” is nearly as severe a slight as to say that a statement is “merely public relations.” Sharing this mutual stigma, rhetoric and public relations attempt to define truth in society through dialogue. However, most of the current research in public relations continues to use Grunig and Hunt’s previous conceptualization of the symmetrical model of public relations, which condemns persuasion.

Understanding Ivy Lee’s Declaration of Principles: U.S. Newspaper and Magazine Coverage of Publicity and Press Agentry, 1865-1904 • Karen Russell and Carl Bishop, University of Georgia • In 1905, Ivy Lee issued a notice to a number of city editors an explanation of his new agency’s method of operation. Dubbed the “Declaration of Principles” by journalist Sherman Morse, Lee’s handout has been called the “starting point of modern public relations.” But what did Lee’s remarks mean in the context of his time? This study examines newspaper and magazine discussion of publicity and press agentry in relation to business and industry.

The Whole Picture: Coorientational Measurement of Direct and Meta-Perspectives in an Organization-Public Relationship • Trent Seltzer, Texas Tech University; Michael Mitrook, University of Florida • This study extends the relational perspective through the application of a new methodology for measuring organization-public relationships. The Hon-Grunig (1999) relationship scale was applied in a coorientational framework to include the direct perspectives of both an organization and a stakeholder public. This represents a departure from existing organization-public relationship measurement. Meta-perspectives of each party were also included to assess agreement, accuracy, and congruency. The effect of time on the coorientational relationship variables was also examined.

How New Media Influence Global Activism: A Study of Transnational NGOs’ Online Public Relations • Hyunjin Seo and Ji Young Kim, Syracuse University • This study examines how nongovernmental organizations make use of new media tools for their public relations activities and what factors influence their online public relations. To analyze related issues, we conducted a survey of communications representatives at transnational NGOs based in the United States. A total of 71 organizations participated in the survey, which included both closed- and open-ended questions.

Corporate Social Responsibility in China: The Role of Public Relations • Hongmei Shen, University of Maryland • The study explored the role of public relations in managing social responsibilities in multinationals operating in China. Results from 18 interviews of top communicators and other employees found that public relations was viewed as “publicity” or “media relations,” and communication at best. But participants suggested that the public relations function could contribute strategically to managing social responsibilities by acting as a coordinator or leader in the formulation, implementation and evaluation processes.

Extending Institutional Theory to Public Relations Analysis • Simon Sinaga, Texas Tech University • Public relations researchers and educators have long urged theory development in the field. Because public relations is practiced in organizations, theory development grounded in an organizational perspective is particularly important. This paper proposes the sociology-based institutional theory that organization studies have developed as one that is in a solid position to assess public relations’ role in advancing organizational interests because social processes define an organization’s legitimacy and ability to change.

A Need for Translation? Conceptualizing Public Relations in Spain • Brian Smith, University of Maryland • Research on global public relations is heavily focused on interpreting practice through the lenses of dominant U.S. ideology. This is particularly the case for analyses of public relations in Europe. This research explores the development and current practice of public relations in Spain, a country which has received little attention in global PR research, but which has followed a unique path of development.

Corporate Social Responsibility in U.S. Hispanic Businesses: A Qualitative Analysis of Levels of Participation and Support • Leticia Solaun and Juan-Carlos Molleda, University of Florida • The Hispanic-owned business demographic is a burgeoning component of the U.S. economic sector. This study explores the perceptions, attitudes, and participation of this demographic in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Factors evaluated include the extent to which these businesses incorporate a CSR framework, communication of core values with key publics using a U.S. model of giving, cultural perspectives of CSR, and, within the context of stakeholder theory, measures to build relationships with stakeholders through CSR initiatives.

A New Way of Looking at Public Relations • Jessalynn Strauss, University of Oregon • In this paper, James W. Carey’s “ritual view” of communication is examined and applied to the academic study of public relations, specifically the field of relationship management theory. The paper presents a brief biography of Carey and outlines his significant contributions to the field of communication studies, including the ritual view of communication.

The Role of Relationship and Reputation in the Management of Organizational Communication • Minjung Sung and Jang-Sun Hwang, Chung-Ang University (Korea) • This study focused on the role of two critical concepts in public relations literature: relationship and reputation. Three popular marketing constructs including corporate image, involvement, and consumer loyalty are investigated as the consequences of these two. Relationship, which is behavior-oriented measure, and reputation proved to be strong predictors of consumer loyalty by mediated with corporate image and involvement.

Credibility of Corporate Blogs and Impact on Attitude toward a Company • Jiun-Yi Tsai, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study provides an empirical approach to investigate the impacts of corporate blogging. It explores whether different sources of blog authors could influence people’s perceptions of credibility and attitude toward a company. Also, it tests whether level of involvement can moderate the effect of perceived source credibility on attitudes. By performing an experimental design (N =177), this inquiry sheds light on research of blog communication and persuasion literature.

An Exploratory Study of the Media Transparency in Ukraine • Katerina Tsetsura, University of Oklahoma; Anastasia Grynko, Kiev (Ukraine) Mohyla Academy • This study extends the media transparency project by analyzing the phenomenon of media transparency, or media bribery, in Ukraine. Surveying of journalists and public relations practitioners revealed that media bribery is present in Ukraine in different forms, most of which deal with indirect influences owners and governments have on the media. The results revealed multiple factors influence how communication leaders make sense of media transparency. Implications and recommendations for future studies are offered.”

The Implications of Social Circles for the “Anomaly” of Government Relations: An “Anomaly” No Longer? • Leah Tuite, Marist College • Government relations, a specialized form of public relations, has been found to be an anomalous form of public relations. Its successful practice deviates from the Excellence theory of public relations, tending not to correlate as strongly with some theoretical indicators of excellent public relations as do other specialized forms of public relations, such as media, employee, or member relations (Dozier, L.A. Grunig, & J.E. Grunig, 1995; J.E. Grunig, 1992; L.A. Grunig, J.E. Grunig, & Dozier, 2002).

Societal Culture a Determinant for Gender-Roles in Organizational Public Relations in Romania • Antoneta Vanc, University of Tennessee • This study aims to understand the Romanian societal accepted gender-roles, and its implications for public relations in organizational settings. This study expands on the body of research concerning gender-role attitudes in public relations organizations and argues that cultural determinants are important in understanding women’s and men’s attitudes and the historical context in which these attitudes are formed.

Student-coach Relations: A Case Study Examining Crisis Communication in Higher Education • Tulika Varma, Louisiana State University • This study examines how public relations officials managed the crisis arising from the news of the resignation of coach Chatman at Louisiana State University and the subsequent linkage of her resignation to inappropriate conduct with former student athletes within the framework of public relations in higher education and crisis communication. The findings from this study reveal how internal stakeholders view crisis and how their perception of the crisis determines their evaluation of the crisis management.

Public Relations, Marketing, and the Disintegration Paradox • Robert Wakefield, Brigham Young University • The public relations field seems to be in better condition than ever; yet, ominous trends portend a reduction in stature for public relations over time. As one researcher argued, while public relations scholars and practitioners debate integration with marketing and other fields, the field is actually disintegrating in critical ways—particularly at the levels that have traditionally been the highest in stature and remuneration. This paper explores these trends and proposes solutions.

Effects of Positive Versus Negative News Coverage of Blockbuster’s End of Late Fees Promotion on Perceived Trustworthiness and Message Strength and Attitude toward News Coverage • Alex Wang, University of Connecticut; Ron Anderson, University of Texas at Austin • This study compared the relative effects of positive and negative news coverage of Blockbuster’s End of Late Fees promotion on perceived trustworthiness and message strength and attitude toward the news coverage. Valence of news coverage has been shown to play a contingent role in message processing that is positively related to message effects. Positive and negative are two dimensions of news-coverage valence, whereas message effects are manifestations of audiences’ perceived trustworthiness and message strength.

Rethinking Relationship Maintenance Strategies: Comparing the Impact of Cultivation on Major Gift and Annual-giving Donors • Richard Waters, North Carolina State University • In recent years, the organization-public relationship has drawn the attention of many public relations scholars. Now, scholars are beginning to discuss the impact of relationship cultivation strategies on individual types of relationships. In this study, six strategies adapted from interpersonal communication theory and four stewardship strategies derived from the practice are subjected to path analysis to determine which strategies are most impactful on how donors evaluate their relationships with nonprofit hospitals.

Communicating Outside the Classroom with Millennials: Preparing for the Next Generation of Public Relations Students • Richard Waters, North Carolina State University and Denise Bortree, Penn State University • Recent research has shown that the current group of students enrolled in colleges and universities are vastly different from their previous generations. The Millennial generation is more collaborative and sociable than any before them, and they routinely multi-task while communicating. However, this generation is also quite protected by their parents, who frequently are involved in decision-making situations and their children’s academic problems.

The Emergence of the Communication Strategist: An Examination of Practitioner Roles, Department Leadership Style, and Message Strategy Use in Organizations • Kelly Werder and Derina Holtzhausen, University of South Florida • A survey of Public Relations Society of America members (N=885) indicates the emergence of the communication strategist role. Results indicate that public relations department leadership style influences practitioner role enactment. In addition, practitioner roles were found to influence public relations message strategy use in organizations.

Communicating Before a Crisis: An Exploration of Bolstering, CSR and Inoculation Practices • Shelley Wigley, Texas Tech University; Michael Pfau, University of Oklahoma • This study explored the effectiveness of communicating to publics before a crisis occurs by using both affective and cognitive inoculation messages, along with bolstering, corporate social responsibility, and control messages. Results indicate that inoculation, bolstering and CSR messages work similarly in protecting a corporation’s reputation following a crisis. The study also found no downside to providing inoculation messages to an organization’s publics even when a crisis does not occur.

PR Gets Personal: A Framing Analysis of Coverage Before and After a Source’s Criticism of the Media • Shelley Wigley and Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • Public relations practitioners emphasize the importance of positive source-reporter relationships, but what happens when sources are critical of the reporters who cover them? Using framing analysis, this study examined newspaper coverage both before and after a source’s personal attack on the media and found few differences in how the editors and reporters covered the source of the attack. Therefore, at least in this study, journalists were able to maintain their objectivity.

An Action Research Analysis of an Art Museum’s Relationships with Two Key Stakeholder Groups • Christopher Wilson, Brigham Young University • This action research study considers the major theoretical concepts from relationship management theory, stakeholder theory and donor relations theory to assess an art museum’s relationship with two key publics with the intent of developing strategic programs to enhance the museum’s relationships with them.

Mediation Effects of Organization-Public Relationship Outcomes • Sung-Un Yang and Minjeong Kang, Syracuse University • The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the value of organization-public relationship outcomes in the behavioral framework of awareness, attitude, intention, and behavior (e.g., Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen, 2006). More specifically, this study is to examine mediation effects of relationship outcomes on key factors of stakeholders’ support for a not-for-profit organization, which include awareness, attitude, and behavioral intention toward supportive relationship-building.

Message Strategies Used (or Unused) in Crisis by Contractors Operating in Iraq • Olga Zatepilina, Syracuse University • This study analyzed the corporate discourse by selected U.S. government contractors operating in Iraq in 2004-2007 in response to charges of factual or alleged wrongdoing. Corporate apologiae was the message strategy of choice. Contractors routinely refused to comment but rarely apologized. Condolence was found to be a frequently used message strategy, which doesn’t fit into the existing image-repair typologies. In crisis, contractors protected their bottom line and did little to effectively manage their long-term reputation.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Newspaper 2008 Abstracts

Newspaper Division

1962-63 New York Newspaper Strike and Changing Journalists, Journalism and News Reading Patterns • Marilyn Greenwald, Ohio University and Joseph Bernt, Ohio University • The New York newspaper strike of 1962-63 did more than just stop the publication of nine newspapers in the New York City area for 114 days. The strike, which had dramatic ramifications for readers, businesses, and consumers, forced New Yorkers to alter the way they sought news and forced journalists to seek alternate ways to deliver the news.

A Comparison of Content Diversity in Online Citizen Diversity in Online Citizen Journalism and Online Newspaper Articles • Serena Carpenter, Arizona State University • A measure of content diversity was created to determine whether online citizen journalism and online newspaper publications featured a greater diversity of information. Based on the findings from the quantitative content analysis, online citizen journalism articles were more likely to feature a greater diversity of topics, information from outside sources and multimedia and interactive features. Thus, online citizen journalism content adds to the diversity of information available in the marketplace.

American Daily Newspapers’ Framing of the War in Iraq at the Times of Highest and Lowest Public Support for the War • Marc Seamon, Robert Morris University • This study involves a computerized analysis of the frames present in American daily newspaper coverage of the war in Iraq at the times of the highest and lowest public support for the war.

Audience Interactivity as Gratification-Seeking Process in the Online Newspaper • Chan Yoo, University of Kentucky • This study attempted to establish ‘audience interactivity’ as an intervening factor in the gratification-seeking process in an online newspaper. It examined the causal relationships between the motives for visiting an online newspaper, audience interactivity, gratifications obtained, attitude toward the online newspaper, and repeat visit intention using a structural equation model. Four primary motives were identified, and each gratification-seeking motive had different effect on human vs. medium interactivity.

Beyond the Hyperbole: A Textual Analysis of Four Newspapers’ Coverage of the SCHIP Debate • Karen M. Rowley, Louisiana State University and Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • A textual analysis of the coverage of the debate surrounding the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) uses Pan and Kosicki’s conceptual framework of news texts and finds five primary frames in the news stories that appear in the four newspapers that are the focus of this study. Those frames are emotional appeal, political rhetoric, political strategy, SCHIP as a symbol of a broader debate, and working together/bipartisanship.

Copy Editors and the Online Revolution: In the Trenches or Missing in Action? (Resubmitted) • John Russial, University of Oregon • What is the role of newspaper copy editors in the online era? This study, based on a national mail survey of U.S. newspaper copy chiefs and online editors, examines how copy editing is, or is not, being done for online publication. Results indicate that copy editing is not done as extensive for online-only stories as it typically is done for print. About half of the papers responding said online stories were “always” copy edited before publication.

Decade of Change: Newspaper Readership Choices Among College Students 1998-2008 • Carol Schlagheck, Eastern Michigan University • This investigation replicates a 1998 study of college students’ use of newspapers, using a subset of the original questions to survey students at the same mid-sized, Midwestern, public university a decade later. Comparisons reveal increases in use of the Internet, with three-quarters answering that it is easier to obtain news and information via the Internet than from newspapers. Eighty-three percent “never” buy a newspaper. The study supports a shift from paper to online newspapers.

Effects of Congruity, Sponsor Type, and News Story Valence on E-newspaper Outcomes • Kyle Heim, University of Missouri and Shelly Rodgers, University of Missouri • This study examined the effects of sponsorships on attitudes and behavioral intent toward electronic newspapers. The method was a 2 (sponsor congruity) x 2 (sponsor type) x 2 (news story valence) x 2 (news story topic) within-subjects experiment. Nonprofit sponsors and negative news stories yielded higher ratings of news story credibility, e-newspaper credibility, and attitude toward the e-newspaper than commercial sponsors and positive stories. No significant effects were found for sponsor congruity.

Fit To Print? An Analysis of Print and Online Newspaper Slogans • Salma Ghanem, University of Texas-Pan American and Kimberly Selber, The University of Texas-Pan American • This study explores the use of slogans in promoting both daily and weekly print and online newspapers. It not only provides benchmark data from which to track changes in the use of slogans, but also a snapshot of the current state of slogans in the news business. Newspapers scored low on brand identification, use of literary techniques, and in distinguishing themselves from competition.

Framing Blogs: How Did the U.S. Traditional and Online Media Report on the Blogging Phenomenon? • Eunseong Kim, Eastern Illinois University, Elizabeth K. Viall, Eastern Illinois University and Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky • This study examines both traditional and online media to determine how the U.S. media reported on the blogging phenomenon. The articles focusing on blogs, bloggers and/or blogging published in three major newspapers (the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the USA Today) and two online publications (Slate Magazine and Salon.com) were analyzed.

Framing the Right to Know: An Analysis of Statewide Records Audits • Emily Erickson, Louisiana State University • This study examines press coverage of statewide records audits to examine how journalists, ostensibly trained to at least pay lip service to the ideals of objectivity, handle coverage of an issue in which they — and arguably they alone — have an intrinsically vested interest? In this case, framing analysis demonstrates how the press invokes the rights of citizens to amplify the salience of an issue that is dear to its own institutional heart.

Gatekeepers in India: Factors influencing newspaper editors’ news selection • Bridgette Colaco, Troy University and Jyotika Ramaprasad, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale • This paper focused on understanding what factors influenced editors’ selection and rejection of news stories and how these factors are culturally relevant to the Indian print media industry. This was done by examining how newspaper editors in India prepared the daily news. A triangulation method was used for this study.

Generational divide: Young and old journalists grapple with newspaper online strategies and organizational transformation • Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • Interviews with 48 journalists from 23 different newspapers throughout the United States reveal that along with online initiatives, newsrooms are experiencing other transformations as well. Using organizational development theory, this study indicates that newsroom cultural change is not occurring in the Breed (1955) model of top-down managerial mandates, adopted by veteran journalists that created a culture of conformity among young journalists.

How Unnamed and Anonymous Sources Shaped the Debate Over Invading Iraq: A Content Analysis of News in 22 Newspapers From 11 Countries • John Hatcher, University of Minnesota, Duluth • A study of 528 news items from 11 countries explores how the use of anonymous and unnamed sources influences news content. One research question and four hypotheses are tested and find that a third of all sources were not identified by name and that the use of these sources meant fewer ideas opposing the war were found in content and that the tone of news items presented the war as being more positive and unavoidable.

Is every online newspaper credible? • Chung Joo Chung, State University of New York at Buffalo and Yoonjae Nam, State University of New York at Buffalo • This study investigated which factors contribute to the credibility of online newspapers and how credibility of news differs according to the type of online newspapers: mainstream, independent, and index type. The survey instrument revised by authors included a credibility scale and technological characteristics of online newspapers adapted from research on online news credibility and technology; trustworthiness, expertise, interactivity, hypertextuality, and multimediality.

It’s all in the audience: How the news media portrayed women and girls during two 2006 school shootings • Cory Armstrong, University of Florida • Using the backdrop of two school shootings in Colorado and Pennsylvania in the fall of 2006, this study examines the portrayal of women in news content immediately after those events occurred. Findings suggested that story location, audience and frame of news story affected proportion of women in the story. Similarly, the type of source employed in the story differed by geographic region. Implications were discussed.

Journalism’s counterinsurgency against “free space”: the ANPA Anti-Publicity Bulletins of 1921-1926 • Burton St. John, Old Dominion University • The years immediately after World War I revealed two associated dynamics concerning the professionalization of communication in the American public sphere. First, as an outgrowth of successful war propaganda practices pursued by the U.S. government’s Committee on Public Information (CPI), professional persuaders — gradually becoming known as public relations practitioners — began to integrate propaganda strategies and tactics into their publicity efforts.

My Prerogative: Perceptions and Attitudes of Black Journalists in the Tallahassee Democrat Newsroom, 2001-2005 • Meredith Clark, Tallahassee Democrat • In April 2005, the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported a net 34 black journalists had been added to the staff of more than 1,000 U.S. daily newspapers between 2001 and 2005. Using Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory and Samuelson and Bramlett-Solomon’s research on job satisfaction among journalists, this case study examined the perceptions and attitudes of black journalists in a single newsroom between 2001 and 2005 to determine factors that influenced their retention and recruitment.

Obesity in the News: How U.S. and British Elite Press Covers the Public Health Issue? • Kuang-Kuo Chang, Michigan State University, Fu-Jung Chen, Michigan State University, Eric Freedman, Michigan State University, and Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas • Guided by the principles of the general system theory, this research reviews first the health-related literature on obesity and then conducts a content analysis of how four U.S. and British elite newspapers have covered the obesity issue. Though unsatisfactory, three of the four newspapers have met the principles of presenting interactive forces, multiple and circular causations and a hierarchal subsystems at work.

On a Longer but Stronger Leash: Sourcing Over Time in Pulitzer-Prize Winning New York Times Foreign News • Raluca Cozma, Louisiana State University, John Maxwell Hamilton, Louisiana State University, and Regina G. Lawrence, Louisiana State University • A content analysis of New York Times Pulitzer-winning foreign news over eight decades reveals that modern correspondence employs more and a broader range of sources than in the past. The number of official sources has remained the same, the voice of average witnesses has increased, and citing of local media from foreign capitals has decreased. Foreign news in the past focused more on politics and included a stronger reporter’s voice.

Patterns of Visibility: Source Selection Habits of Newspaper and Wire Sports Journalists • Jason Martin, Indiana University • This content analysis revealed that historical rather than contemporary factors had greater influence on visibility rates of national newspaper and wire coverage of college football coaches. Regression analysis indicated that historical postseason appearances were the strongest predictor of coverage and not other measures of more immediate success. The results raise questions about whether national reporters, free from local coverage obligations or biases, use habit and familiarity rather than considering newsworthiness when selecting sources.

Peace or war journalism? How The New York Times and The Associated Press framed Iraq in 2006 • Amy Youngblood, Texas Christian University, and Beverly Horvit, Texas Christian University • A content analysis of a random 28-day sample of New York Times and Associated Press coverage of Iraq in 2006 (N=145) showed a majority of stories were framed as peace journalism, as defined by Galtung. The two news organizations did not vary significantly in their use of peace or war frames. The most prevalent war-journalism traits included an elite-oriented focus, and the most prevalent peace-journalism traits included avoiding victimizing language and using objective, moderate language.

Press coverage of outsourcing: sourcing pattern in US national and local newspapers • Di Zhang, Syracuse University • In 2004, the presidential election year, outsourcing became a popular topic in American households and media. This content analysis of two national newspapers and four local newspapers examines the press coverage of outsourcing by focusing on the story sourcing pattern.

Proximity and framing in news media: Effects on credibility, bias, recall, and reader intentions • Rachel DeLauder, Virginia Tech, Joshua DeLung, Virginia Tech, Roxana Maiorescu, Virginia Tech, and Robert Magee, Virginia Tech • A writer’s decision to localize a news article and the valence of the frame the writer employs can affect readers’ perceptions of credibility and bias as well as readers’ factual recall and the likelihood that readers would want to read the newspaper further. A 2 (proximity: local, nonlocal) x 3 (frame valence: positive, neutral, negative) factorial experiment (N = 136) tested the effects of proximity and frame valence on credibility, bias, recall, and reading intentions.

Quantitative Media Literacy: How Readers Deal With Numbers In News Reports • Coy Callison, Texas Tech University, Rhonda Gibson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dolf Zillmann • A test of arithmetic aptitude (AA) was developed and validated. The consequences of individual differences in this quantitative literacy were then determined for attention to, and recall of, numeric quantities embedded in printed news reports. Persons of high AA were found to recall frequencies and ratios more accurately, both in precise and approximate terms, than were persons of low AA. Also examined were the effects of various presentational formats of numerical values within the news reports.

School Board Campaigns and the Media Agenda: Information Subsidies and Local Election Coverage • Jeffrey Cannon, Indiana University • This study looks at an underexamined area of political life, the relationship between local campaigns and local news coverage, specifically media agenda setting effects. Using Newman’s five “cognitive domains driving voting behavior” as an analytical framework, candidate information subsidies were collected from more than 50 candidates in 23 nonpartisan school board races, from which “issues” and “attribute” agendas were established and subsequently compared against parallel data collected from coverage in six local/regional newspapers.

The 1980 Cleveland newspaper market revisited: Analysis finds vibrant agenda diversity, robust marketplace of ideas • Steve Hallock, Point Park University • A partial replication and reanalysis of the Cleveland newspaper market of 1980, prior to the closure of the Cleveland Press, differs with the conclusions of previous content analyses of two-daily communities that have become monopoly markets. A 1987 replication in Cleveland of a study of competitive newspaper markets in Canada found similar content in the surviving newspaper before and after the closure of its rival and similar content in the two competing newspapers before the closure.

The Convergence Continuum Redux: Does the Web Jeopardize Newspaper-Television Partnerships? • Larry Dailey, University of Nevada, Reno, Lori Demo, Ball State University, and Mary M. Spillman, Ball State University • Convergence partnerships between television and newspaper newsrooms made headlines at the turn of the millennium, but the move toward the Web as a primary news delivery system could put these partnerships in jeopardy. A new survey shows cooperation between partners has not increased significantly. This study suggests that as newspapers train reporters in multimedia acquisition, partnership behaviors first identified in the 2003 Convergence Continuum may soon be practiced internally instead of with a television partner.

The Evolution of ‘the Toy Department:’ A Content Analysis of Newspaper Sports Sections Since 1956 • John Carvalho, Auburn University • This paper presents an analysis of sports sections in eight metropolitan newspapers over six decades, from 1956 until 2006. Results demonstrated that newspapers devoted more space to sports and used more locally written articles on their section front. Spectator sports coverage increased over the period, at the expense of participant sports.

The Use of Design Technology in the Classroom: A Switch from QuarkXPress to InDesign? • Jennifer Wood Adams, Auburn University;, and Melissa L. Voynich • This nationwide study examines the use of newspaper design technology in undergraduate journalism courses. In a survey of journalism educators who teach newspaper design (52.7% response rate) almost two-thirds report using Adobe InDesign. The study reports the perceptions of journalism educators toward implementing the software into their classrooms and if they feel there a preference in the newspaper industry for their majors to know a particular application. Differences between ACEJMC-accredited.

Third-Party Gubernatorial Candidates and the Press • John Kirch, University of Maryland-College Park • This paper examines how third-party gubernatorial candidates are covered by the news media, focusing on the 2002 races in California, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Maine.

We Regret the Error: Changes in Correction of Error Practices of the New York Times and Washington Post • Neil Nemeth, Purdue University-Calumet and Craig Sanders, Cleveland State University • This article examines published corrections in the New York Times and Washington Post in 2007 and 1997. The Times corrected more than twice as many errors in 2007 than in 1997. Wrong descriptions and spelling/typographical errors constituted the bulk of these additional errors. The Post corrected slightly more errors in 2007 than in 1997. Objective errors, mostly notably wrong descriptions, wrong names, wrong numbers and wrong explanations, were the most corrected errors in both years.

What Statewide Audits Tell Us About Access, Privacy and Political Culture • Emily Erickson, Louisiana State University • Press coverage of statewide records audits has emphasized agency performance rather than the nature of the records being tested. Grouping compliance rates from these audits by record type shows that the tension between privacy and access is not just found in the policymaking arena, but also manifested in the behavior of records custodians. This study also considers state political culture, and finds a weak correlation between compliance rates and records that might raise privacy concerns.

Special Call: Industry Research
Are Young Adults’ Reasons for Not Reading a News Medium, Medium-Specific? • Amy Zerba, University of Texas at Austin • This study compared young adults’ reasons for not reading news across three media: print daily newspaper, college newspaper and news Web sites. The study also examined the type of reader/nonreader and reasons for not reading print dailies as well as the likelihood of reading them with certain changes. A major finding showed inconvenience, other media use and lack of time were cited more by nonreaders of print newspapers than nonreaders of other media.

Reexamining Predictors of Print and Online Newspaper Readership • Steven Collins, University of Central Florida • As the newspaper industry undergoes rapid change, it is worthwhile to reexamine old assumptions regarding predictors of traditional newspaper readership. At the same time, scholars must consider if old patterns will hold true when predicting readership of online newspapers. The current study sought to do just that by utilizing survey data collected in three different parts of the United States and considering measures of exposure to both traditional print newspapers and their online counterparts.

What ARE they reading? News selections by college students • Jack Rosenberry, St. John Fisher College • It has been well documented that college students and young adults are infrequent readers of newspapers. But when they do pick up a paper or surf to a news-oriented Web site, what draws their attention? An analysis of more than 1,500 article summaries prepared by college students over a two-month period shows a special interest in news items that the students feel closeness with or attachment toward, either geographically or psychographically.

Special Call:
Newspaper Multimedia Practices
Emerging Models of Newspaper Multimedia Journalism: A Content Analysis of Multimedia Packages Published on nytimes.com • Susan Jacobson, Temple University • Conventional wisdom dictates that the future of newspaper journalism is online. But what does this “new” form of journalism look like? What are some of the narrative and formal qualities of multimedia stories published on the Web?

Newspapers and Online Content: Platform Agnostic or Sectarian? • John Russial, University of Oregon • How much cross-platform content is being produced by U.S. daily newspapers? This study, based on a stratified random sample of U.S. newspapers over 30,000 circulation, finds that the amount of multimedia content such as staff-produced audio and video is not great. Most newspapers, for example, are doing only “a few” staff videos a week, and photographers are shooting video at more papers than reporters are.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Minorities and Communication 2008 Abstracts

Minorities and Communication Division

Faculty
Addressing health disparities of African Americans through direct-to-customer pharmaceutical advertising: A content analysis • Jennifer Ball, Angie Liang, and Wei-Na Lee, University of Texas at Austin • While direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical drug advertising has been the center of controversy, proponents argue that these advertisements offer educational value for consumers. This study explores the potential of these ads to impact racial health disparities, particularly for African Americans. A content analysis was conducted on DTC television commercials assessing the presence and portrayal of African Americans. Findings revealed that African Americans were well represented but may serve a token role.

Need for cognition and race or gender based judgments of political candidates from an online news excerpt • Carl Bishop, Ruthann Lariscy, Krinstin English, Kaye Sweetser, and Spencer Tinkham, University of Georgia • This experimental study of voting age young persons was initiated to examine the importance of race and gender cues in political communication using a lens that’s been scantly applied to these important issues: the individual receiver’s need for cognition.

Over-indexed and over valued: The Asian audience’s struggle for legitimacy in the U.S. media marketplace • Amy Jo Coffey, University of Florida • U.S. Asians continue to lack the advertiser recognition and investment levels enjoyed by other ethnic groups. Given U.S. Asians’ greater purchasing power and growth rate, this exploratory study seeks to understand how their income, language, and other audience traits are valued by U.S. television advertisers, and compares these perceptions to those for Hispanics.

Race and gender of journalists and framing of the Iraq issues in the 2004 election • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego • A content analysis of six major newspapers showed that newspapers published more segregated slice-of-life photographs than photographs with racial and ethnic diversity. Almost seven-tenths of the photographs included whites only; 10% showed blacks only; and 8% of the photographs had Latinos only. As more people were shown in the photographs, there was a greater chance that a person of color would be included.

“I’m a Black girl with a nose job!”: An analysis of race/ethnic values in “America’s next top model!” • Michele Foss-Snowden, and Amanda Hamilton, California State University, Sacramento • As reality television’s influence grows, the study of its communicated messages and values becomes increasingly important, especially if one wishes to understand global cultural communities and subcultures. This study examines an episode of reality-based television program “America’s Next Top Model” for these communicated values. What does the program say (through its participants and its creator, Tyra Banks) about the values of conformity/noncomformity and the statement and/or enactment of individual values about race and racial stereotypes?

Frame and blame: An analysis of national and local and national newspapers framed in the Jena Six controversy • Lanier Holt, Indiana University-Bloomington and Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • Research shows that media frames can promote a particular understanding of events and people. This has been particularly problematic for African-Americans who have traditionally been typecast by the media as criminals. This study looked at coverage of the Jena Six to see if the national or local press broke from stereotypical frames that plagued previous coverage. It found the local press most frequently broke from traditional frames by putting the issue in larger context.

Ethnicity, internet adoption and use of online services • Randy Jacobs and Terri Albert, University of Hartford • The goal of this study was to extend our understanding of ethnic audiences’ adoption of Internet access, range of online activities, consumption of online news and news sources, and the degree to which the Internet facilitates the pursuit of individual work and life goals. Data collected for the Pew Internet & American Life Project were analyzed. Ethnic differences were identified, many of which reflected culturally-based preferences and strategic gratification seeking.

Fair share or fair play? A content analysis of food advertisements in minority-targeted and mainstream magazines • Hobin Kyung, Sun-Young Park, Jung Lim, and Wei-Na Lee, University of Texas at Austin • A content analysis was conducted to examine food advertisements in minority-targeted and mainstream women’s magazines. To compare types of food products and advertising claims, we investigated 632 food ads of high circulation magazines which target different racial readerships: African-Americans, Hispanics, and Whites. Our result revealed that ads for high-calorie products and fast food were more likely to be shown in minority-targeted magazines, whereas weight loss claims were prevalent in mainstream magazine ads.

Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe: An examination or press Coverage on their pioneering grand slam victories • Pamela Laucella and Erin McNary, Indiana University • Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe made history as the first black woman and black man to win Grand Slam titles in tennis. Gibson won the French Championships (now the French Open) in 1956, and the ensuing year she won both the U.S. Nationals (now the U.S. Open) and Wimbledon. Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open in 1968 and then went on to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1970 and 1975, respectively.

Effects of African American breast cancer survivor testimonies on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes • Glen Leshner, Paul Bolls, Elizabeth Gardner, Jensen Moore, Sara Peters, Bailey Rachel, and Anastacia Kononova, University of Missouri • This paper reports on the impact of narrative and emotion on processing of breast cancer survivor messages, based on the self-report data of 46 African American women, 40 years of age and older, who have not been diagnosed with breast cancer. The study is part of a larger program of research, The Story Telling Project, which assumes that storytelling is deeply rooted in the culture of African American women.

An examination of religion and spirituality in information processing of breast cancer among African American women • Crystal Lumpkins, Educator/Reviewer • Religiosity and spirituality are two components that have often been overlooked in health communication research (Egbert, Mickley & Coeling, 2004). The growing interest of spirituality and religion among patients when coping with cancer and disease has prompted physicians, psychologists and public health personnel to consider these constructs when designing and communicating health messages to these audiences in not only coping but in communicating prevention and risk as well.

Roughing the passer: The framing of Black and White quarterbacks prior to the NFL draft • Eugenio Mercurio, Ball State & Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • An examination of 4,745 attributions used to describe black and white National Football League quarterback prospects over a ten-year period revealed data patterns that emphasized racial stereotypes. Black quarterbacks were primarily described with words and phrases that emphasized their physical gifts and their lack of mental prowess. Conversely, white quarterbacks were described as less physically gifted, but more mentally prepared for the game and less likely to make mental errors.

Race in National versus local news coverage of Hurricane Katrina: A study of sources, victims, and negative video • Andrea Miller and Shearon Roberts, Louisiana State University • Using a national and local television news sample, this content analysis compared the sourcing and visual experience of Hurricane Katrina based on race. Results showed even in a crisis situation in which the number of African-American victims exceeded by far the number of white victims, television coverage gave dominance to the white victims.

Touchy or taboo: News framing and interracial intimacy • Kimmerly Piper-Aiken, Wayne State University • This research examined coverage of a Monday Night Football promo featuring Terrell Owens and a Desperate Housewives star. Although scholars have examined interracial relationships in entertainment media, news hasn’t been studied. This study of 183 newspaper stories examined how journalists framed stories with an interracial component. Results showed that journalists were more likely to frame the story as an indecency issue rather than an interracial issue, were not likely to use race-relevant frames or racial stereotypes.

Race and ethnicity in newspaper photographs that communicate a slice of everyday reality • Paula Poindexter and Renita Coleman, University of Texas at Austin • A content analysis of six major newspapers showed that newspapers published more segregated slice-of-life photographs than photographs with racial and ethnic diversity. Almost seven-tenths of the photographs included whites only; 10% showed blacks only; and 8% of the photographs had Latinos only. As more people were shown in the photographs, there was a greater chance that a person of color would be included.

Assessing the diversity of news voices in the Latino-Oriented broadcast media in central Texas • Federico Subervi, Texas State University • The purpose of this study is to assess the level of diversity in the Latino-oriented broadcast media in Central Texas, a region highly populated by Latinos. Using the Diversity Metric (DM), an index developed by Lloyd and Napoli (2007) that accounts for common ownership and presence of local news content, the examination revealed that the concept of media diversity is highly problematic even in this specialized market.

Right before your eyes: Photo coverage of African Americans in major college newspapers • Max Utsler and Vincent Edwards, University of Kansas • This study examined four Midwestern university newspapers and their photo coverage of African Americans. Content analysis showed African Americans overrepresented in photos at each university newspaper. An under-representation of African Americans exists in feature and breaking news photographs while an overwhelming overrepresentation exists in sports photographs. This suggests editors and reporters do not consciously seek to include African Americans in their daily array of photographs. These findings are similar to those found in professional media.

Student Papers
A Fish Out of Water: New Articulations of U.S.-Latino Identity on Ugly Betty • Guillermo Avila-Saavedra • Through discourse analysis of the first season of the ABC primetime show Ugly Betty, this essay explores new articulations of U.S.-Latino identity in mainstream, English-language television. The essay makes two claims based on the analysis. First, American television is becoming hybridized through the influence of Latin American television genres. Second, new articulations of U.S.-Latino identity in mainstream television defy stereotypes and traditional conventions in terms on language and cultural norms.

Constructing Racial Groups’ Identities in the Diasporic Press: Internalization, Resonance, Transparency, and Offset • Sang Y Bai, University of Texas at Austin • Abstract not available.

Diasporic Media and the Identity of Immigrants • Sangmi Lee • This paper has explored the interaction between diasporic media and the national and global identity of immigrants. For immigrants, diasporic media are a tool that connects them to their country of origin. New media technologies have aided ethnic media in delivering more information regarding national issues to these immigrant populations.

Do You See What I See?: Portrayals of Diversity in Newbery Medal-Winning Children’s Literature • Anthony Nisse, Brigham Young University • Children’s literature plays a significant role in society because it reflects values and attitudes that will be passed to children as they read. One of the most prestigious awards for children’s literature is the John Newbery Medal, which is presented annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children. Newbery books have a large readership, and are consistently among the most requested books in bookstores and libraries.

From Asian Media to Asian Identity: An Analysis of Impetus and Determinants of Ethnic Media Use • Hai Tran, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This article is probably among the first to document the purposes for and antecedents of ethnic media use among Asian Americans. The author utilized the Pilot National Asian American Political Survey to examine usage of Asian ethnic media as vehicles for sustaining attachment to ethnic identity.

Hispanic immigrant backlash and welcome: “Official English” and the birth of a bilingual weekly in southwest Kansas • Michael Fuhlhage, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper uses historical research methods, including interviews with journalists, archive research, and textual analysis, to examine how the Garden City (Kan.) Telegram, a daily newspaper with a circulation of about 9,000, covered Kansas’ debate in the early 1990s over whether to make English the official language of the state.

Internet Use, Group Identity, and Political Participation among Taiwanese Americans • Taofang Huang, Wei-Ching Wang, Szu-Chi Huang, University of Texas at Austin • Though being surrounded by the immediate American society, many Asian Americans maintain ties with their countries of origin through the Internet. However, whether such ties prevent ethnic groups from fully integrating into the host society or provide better learning opportunities to hasten the assimilation process into the host society is still unclear. This article intends to explore the role of the Internet use in Taiwanese Americans’ socialization, identity construction, and political participation.

Malcolm X and the Media: A Comparative Analysis of how the Mainstream and Black Press Portrayed Malcolm X’s Transformation • Cristina Mislan, Louisiana State University • Media framing has been shown to have a large impact on how the public receives salient issues from the press. Therefore, media framing may have an impact on how the public views minority issues, specifically news about prominent minority figures such as Malcolm X. Generally, the mainstream press observed Malcolm X’s messages with specific themes in particular, using words such as “extremist” and “violent,” overlooking an important transformation in his life.

Unconventional Disaster, Conventional Coverage: Hurricane Katrina and News Coverage of Poverty, Race and Class • Shenid Bhayroo, Louisiana State University • The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans is described as the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in recent US history. But, the tragic loss of life, the extensive damage to property and the destruction of communities have causes deeply rooted in poverty and social inequities. Storm damage data show that flooding in New Orleans disproportionately affected the elderly, African Americans, people who rented homes, the unemployed and the poor.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Media Management and Economics 2008 Abstracts

Media Management and Economics Division

When Women Run the Newsroom: Management Change, Gender and the News • Randal Beam and Damon Di Cicco, University of Washington • This study examined content changes across time at 10 small daily newspapers during periods in which a woman replaced a man as editor or managing editor. It found that the mix of topics that the newspapers covered changed only minimally when the women succeeded the men in these senior news-management jobs. But the style of presenting the news changed, and the representation of women and non-elites in photos increased significantly.

An Exploration of Audience Preference of Theatrical and Non-Theatrical Channels • Jiyoung Cha, University of Florida • Even though movies use a sequential distribution, the competition between channels exists. Using an expanded theory of planned behavior, this study compares the factors affecting the intention to use four types of movie distribution channels. This study’s findings indicate that the Internet and video on demand compete in terms of the consumer values of price and convenience. Urgency and display resolution are important determinants of theater use.

Strategic Bundling of Telecommunications Services: A Comparative Study of Triple-Play Strategies in the Cable Television and Telephone Industries • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Miao Guo, University of Florida • This study surveys the practice of triple-play strategy and examines the roles of industry environment and firm resources in influencing the adoption of bundling strategies. It was found that firms in an industry with declining revenues for their core products would seek to incorporate high-growth new products into a bundle offering. There is also an interesting association between a more “focused” portfolio and success in venturing outside of the core product area in bundling practices.

Mobile Television Deployment Strategy: A Comparative Analysis of Mobile Operators and Television Broadcasters • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Sangwon Lee, and Heejung Kim, University of Florida • This paper examines the deployment and competition of mobile TV in South Korea between two leading contenders, TV broadcasters and mobile phone service providers. Specifically, the differences in adopted strategies between the two sets of competitors and factors affecting these strategic behaviors are scrutinized. The nature of rivalry between the two historically separated competitors offers insight on how firms with inherently different resources, industry conditions, and business models might compete in the era of convergence.

Factors Related to Journalist Job Satisfaction: Meta-Analysis and Path Model • Li-jing Arthur Chang and Brian L. Massey • Twenty correlates of journalists’ job satisfaction uncovered in past research were input into a meta-analysis to assess their relationships with the satisfaction variable. Next, a theoretical model including job satisfaction and its key correlates was tested through a path analysis. The confirmed model shows that journalists’ perceptions of their impact on their communities and their feelings about pay are strong predictors of job satisfaction. It shows satisfaction is a significant predictor of intentions to quit jobs.

Newsroom Preparedness: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina • Sonya Duhe, University of South Carolina • This case study examines the impediments that newspaper outlets and television stations in two of the states hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina to covering the story. Through management surveys in Louisiana and Mississippi, the researcher reveals lessons learned and how the media might better prepare for the next natural or man-made disaster. Interestingly, while both Louisiana and Mississippi are hurricane prone areas, almost half of the respondents did not have a disaster plan in place.

An Empirical Analysis on Financial Performance of Bundling Strategies in the U.S. Cable Industry • Miao Guo and Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • This study investigates the effect of bundling strategy on the cable system operators’ financial performance in the United States. Based on the analysis of operating and financial performance of leading four cable system operators, we can see that bundling boosts the overall take rates for cable advanced products, such as digital video, high-speed Internet, and voice services.

Understanding Media Diversity: Structural and Organizational Variables Influencing Personnel Diversity in the Television Industry • Ann Hollifield and Clay Kimbro, University of Georgia • Diversity is a key management issue for media companies facing increasingly diverse audiences. This study uses FCC employment reports, Census data, and industry data over 30 years to examine the structural and organizational factors related to personnel diversity in U.S. television stations. The study finds external variables explain most variance in station-workforce diversity and draws on organization-diversity theory to conclude industry leaders don’t yet view workforce diversity as a strategic management issue.

Closing the Knowledge Gap in Financial Media Management • H. Y. Sonya Hsu and Steven Dick, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Walter S. McDowell, University of Miami • Company financial statements, intended to monitor the ongoing health of a media enterprise, are dependent on the competent information sharing of non-financial managers. Although these managers may be experts in their own departments, they often lack a fundamental understanding of financial data gathering and reporting procedures. In cooperation with the Broadcast and Cable Financial Management Association (BCFM), the researchers examined the knowledge gap between media financial managers and other media managers.

Peer Consonance: Age Matters Among Teams Producing Two Late Local Newscasts for Two Stations • Kelly Kaufhold, University of Texas at Austin • This study surveyed and interviewed producing teams working on both traditional (11/10 p.m.) and shared (10/9 p.m.) late local newscasts alongside in a single newsroom, a growing business model. It measured the motivation of news producers to attract young viewers to local news. Not one producer cited viewers over 50 as their most important audience. There were clear correlations between the age and experience of producers and their motivation to attract young viewers.

Direct Broadcast Satellite: Does Consumer Switching Costs Matter? • Clay Kimbro, University of Georgia • This study examines and measures the effects of switching costs as a barrier to DBS entering the market to compete with cable. The study finds switching costs exist. The study also finds the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999 allows DBS and cable to become more substitutable products, which makes switching cost a more important factor in consumers’ decisions to switch products.

Newsroom Culture Changes Alter Our Understanding of How News Organizations Learn and React to Change • Damian Kostiuk, University of Missouri • An organization that cannot learn its successes or failures may have a very difficult time responding to change. Given that media companies have been and are continuing to endure a period of change, understanding how learning occurs within newsrooms may be critical to their success or failure.

Strategic Behaviors on Triple-play Offerings in Cable and Telephone Companies • Seonmi Lee, University of Florida • Technological convergence and the FCC’s competition-promoting policy have brought about triple-play offering services that combined video, voice, and data services in a single package in the telecommunication market. As cable and telephone industries offer similar bundles, the competition becomes severe. In this situation, the company commits “one minimum and one maximum” strategy to prevent its existing consumers from switching over to the competitors and to attract new consumers.

Reaching Readers Through Online News: A Pursuit of Profit or Legitimacy? • Wilson Lowrey and Chang Wan Woo, The University of Alabama; Jenn Burleson Mackay • This study pits traditional rational-choice economics against “new institutionalist” theory in an effort to explain managers’ adoption of new, reader-oriented online features, such as most popular story lists, reader video, blogs and sites that target subcommunities. According to new institutional theory, organizations pursue innovations in order to appear legitimate and to conform with other organizations in their environment. It is proposed here that news organizations are both institutional and financially strategic.

The Nonprofit Business Model: Empirical Evidence from the Magazine Industry • Miles Maguire, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • This paper seeks to shed light on the nonprofit business model by considering empirical data from one area of the media industry where nonprofits make up a sizable segment: periodical publishing. The primary context for this study is the body of economic research on the tax-exempt sector and the effects of organizational structure on firm behavior. This theory is used to propose hypotheses about nonprofit periodicals, which are then tested.

Tease Me: A Content Analysis of Self-Promotion in Television Network News • Joy Mapaye, Hillary Lake and Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon • This study investigates the self-promotion practices of ABC, CBS and NBC. Using content analysis, this study examines the management and marketing of the network band identity through teases and various self-promotion strategies. The research found the three major television networks used self-promotion frequently. In all, 1063 instances of self-promotion were recorded from the sample. Self-promotion made up 36% of the content in television network news.

Economic Viability and Moral Obligation in Promoting Media Diversity • Kim McCann, Bowling Green State University • The diversity offered by broadcast television has been heavily influenced by the economic viability of programming strategies, particularly the advertising-supported mechanism. Consequently, the broadcasters’ moral obligation to serve the public interest has been largely neglected in broadcast television. Drawing upon this central issue, the study explored the conceptual issue of media diversity, assessed it in U.S. broadcast television in terms of both supply and demand viewpoints, and reconceptualized it, including both social and economic considerations.

Cultural Fluidity: Weekly Newspaper Editors’ Strategies for Building Knowledge and Managing Change • Francois P. Nel, University of Central Lancashire and Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire/University of Iowa • This study examines how British weekly newspaper editors, an understudied group with long-standing ties to “hyperlocal” communities, regard the challenges of building, transforming, and managing knowledge in the midst of sweeping media change. Drawing on literature from media sociology and knowledge management, it suggests that these veteran editors are profoundly uncertain about how to translate what they believe about journalism, and know about creating it, into successful delivery of new products to new audience.

Local Radio Station Group Ownership Efficiencies • Heather Polinsky, Central Michigan University • After the passage of the Telecommunication Act of 1996 a considerable number of radio owners consolidated stations into local and national station groups. Using data from 2007, a local radio station group efficiency hypothesis is examined. This study finds that as local station groups increase in size, the stations tend to be more efficient at attracting listeners and generating revenue, all else equal. These findings suggest the existence of local station group efficiencies.

Casual Journalists: Strategies of Freelance Workers in American Television News • Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon • Currently, up to 60% of on- and off-camera workers at the major three U.S. television networks are freelancers. This major shift in traditional network news employment trends has been relatively ignored by researchers. Studies of European television news workers have found freelancers unhappy in their jobs and conclude that freelancing is bad for the worker (Ursell 1998/2003, Dex et all 2000, Thynne 2000, Ertel et al 2005).

Home Country Regulatory Effects on Transnational Advertising Agencies: Implications for Media Companies • Dan Shaver and Mary Alice Shaver, Jonkoping International Business School • This study draws on data from the performance of the largest global advertising agencies to examine issues related to the economic performance of transnational advertising firms. It examines the impact of regulation related to starting and closing businesses, trade restrictions, tax structure, government expenditures, price stability, restrictions on foreign investment, and regulation of the banking system on firm’s diversification and success in foreign markets. Suggestions are made for applications to other mass media industries.

Blogging from the Management Perspective: A Follow-up Study • Mary Lou Sheffer, Texas Tech University and Brad Schultz, University of Mississippi • This was a follow-up study to research on blogging implementation in the local media. Previous research (Schultz & Sheffer, 2007) suggested high levels of journalist resistance to blogging. This research focused on management attitudes, and found insufficient management strategies and communication related to blogging to overcome journalist resistance. Managers have asked journalists to blog, but not taken the necessary steps to support its success, which suggests difficulty in implementation and adoption.

Communication as a Managerial Competency – the “Glue” that Keeps South African Mainstream Media Newsrooms Together? • Elaine Steyn, University of Oklahoma and Theunis Steyn, Cameron University • This paper outlines dimensions of communication as a managerial competency in South Africa’s mainstream media newsrooms. It highlights differences on the importance and implementation of this competency, given media management transformation in a post-apartheid society. Moderately and practically significant effect sizes were calculated between reporters’ and first-line managers’ experiences on all dimensions of this competency. Results emphasized the need to improve first-line news managers’ communication skills to unify newsrooms and improve journalism output.

Exploring Broadcast Networks’ Strategy on Alternative Platforms—A Resource Based View (RBV) Approach • Yan Yang and Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • This case analysis uses the resource based view (RBV) model to study the broadcast networks’ strategy in implementing and promoting alternative platforms—webcasting on the network websites and video download on iTunes and NBC Direct. It examines the internal assets of the networks—content, distribution, financial, human and technological resources, and how they influence the strategy formation and implementation.

Repeat Viewing in China: An Expansion of Determinants of TV Program Choice • Lin Yao • Repeat viewing focuses on the extent to which an audience for one program watches subsequent episodes of the same program, and is an important concept in “models of choice” theories of audience behavior. Research has examined repeat viewing in the U.S. and Europe, but no known studies have examined this phenomena in China, which is the largest and fastest-growing television market in the world.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Media Ethics 2008 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

The Ethics of Lobbying: Testing an Ethical Framework for Advocacy in Public Relations • Kati Berg, Marquette University • This study evaluates the ethical criteria lobbyists consider in their professional activities using Ruth Edgett’s (2002) model for ethically-desirable public relations advocacy. Data were collected from self-administered surveys of 222 registered lobbyists in Oregon. A factor analysis reduced 18 ethical criteria to seven underlying factors describing lobbyists’ ethical approaches to their work. Results indicate that lobbyists consider the following factors in their day-to-day professional activities: situation, strategy, argument, procedure, nature of lobbying, priority, and accuracy.

Cultivating Critical Thinking in a Media Ethics Classroom • Piotr Bobkowski, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Media ethics instructors and researchers seem to agree that proper ethics education entails the development of critical thinking. But evidence that would support this notion is absent from journalism and mass communication literature. Addressing this deficiency, the present paper identifies the components of critical thinking instruction, evaluates the extent to which decision-making models presented in media ethics textbooks promote critical thinking, and identifies teaching strategies that further critical thinking in a media ethics course.

Documentary Tradition and the Ethics of Michael Moore’s Sicko • Sandra Borden, Western Michigan University • Michael Moore’s documentary, Sicko, is evaluated using virtue theory, which calls our attention to the way traditions inspire us to perform our various roles with moral integrity. Focusing on his use of voice, truth, argument, humor and irony, I will argue that Moore’s performance as a documentary filmmaker generally exhibits coherence, continuity and creativity within the documentary tradition. On the other hand, his performance is not entirely consistent with the moral commitments of documentary filmmakers.

The Moral Sensitivity and Character of Public Relations Students: A Preliminary Study • Mathew Cabot, San José State University • Public relations practitioners and academics have been exploring ethics models, revising ethics codes, holding ethics workshops, and building ethics curricula – all in an attempt to address the ethical lapses that continue to occur in the profession. Little of this activity, however, has included research dealing with the moral development of public relations practitioners and its connection to ethics theories, codes, and instruction.

Ethics of Antismoking PSAs • I-Huei Cheng, University of Alabama; Seow Ting Lee; Jinae Kang, University of Alabama • This study examines the ethical dimensions of public health communication, with a focus on antismoking public service announcements (PSAs). The content analysis of 826 television antismoking ads from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Media Campaign Resource Center is an empirical testing of Baker and Martinson’s (2001) TARES Test by directly examining the content of tobacco control ads for elements of Truthfulness, Authenticity, Respect, Equity, and Social Responsibility.

Mortality Morality: Effect of Death Thoughts on Journalism Students’ Attitudes Toward Relativism, Idealism, and Ethics • David Cuillier, University of Arizona • This study, based on terror management theory, examines how the thought of death affects views toward relativism, idealism, and unethical behavior. College journalism students (N = 101) participated in an experiment where half were primed to think about death and the other half, the control group, thought about dental pain, and then all of them completed a questionnaire.

Constructing a “Moral Minefield”: News Media Framing of the Ethical Debate in Stem Cell Research • Nicole Smith Dahmen, Manship School of Mass Communication, LSU • The ethical considerations surrounding stem cell research are fueling increasing debate in science, politics, and religion. And this debate has largely been played out in the news media (Nisbet, 2005). This research provides in-depth understanding of how the media have framed the ethical aspects of the stem cell debate. In the analysis of the ethical frames, the theme of the consequences of impeding scientific progress received considerably less coverage than did the religious theme.

There is No Right Answer: What Does Media Ethics Mean to Journalism Students? • Allyson DeVito, University of Tennessee • This study examines the meanings of ethics to journalism students. Although many scholars have argued the importance of teaching media ethics and how best to teach it, there have been few research attempts to examine how journalism students actually understand ethics. After analyzing twelve qualitative interviews, the findings show that students with more professional experience have different meanings of ethics than those with limited experiences outside the classroom, which has implications for teaching media ethics.

Fair Comment? The Ethics of Anonymous Postings on News Web Sites • Kyle Heim, University of Missouri • Many news Web sites now permit readers to post comments on blogs and news stories or to share their thoughts in message forums. Often, readers may do so without having to give their names. Defenders of anonymity say it fosters more candid discussion, but critics charge that it damages trust and encourages incivility. This paper examines the debate and draws on ethical theories to advocate a middle ground of pseudonymity coupled with full-name registration.

The Effectiveness of Newspaper Codes of Ethics • Emily Housley, Texas Christian University • In an industry where public perception appears at an all-time low, it is vital to evaluate the effectiveness of newspaper codes of ethics. Studies have evaluated the role of codes of ethics in the ethical decision-making process, but none have looked at the overall effectiveness of having a code. This study is a quantitative evaluation of one newspaper’s code of ethics, in relation to individuals’ ethical differences, code applicability and code agreement.

The Ethics of Punishing Unethical Expression: Journalism, Imus, and First Amendment Values • Robert L. Kerr, University of Oklahoma • This paper considers the ethics of punishing unethical words — words that not only offend but are argued to cause more harm than simple offense. In this case, the particular words were uttered by radio and television talkshow host Don Imus in 2007. Even though there were no issues implicating First Amendment law in the Imus controversy, strictly speaking, a closer analysis indicates that the relationship between ethical principles and freedom of expression is more symbiotic.

Ethics Research in the New Millennium: A Survey of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics from 2000-2007 • Carol Madere, Southeastern Louisiana University • This article summarizes research published in the Journal of Mass Media Ethics and seeks to determine the most common topic, method of research and theories used. It also evaluates the direction of ethics research against Starck’s prescription for future ethics research after his survey of the journal from 1990-1999. Finally, it proposes future directions for ethics research in the new millennium.

Tragedies of the Broadcast Commons: Consumer Perspectives on the Ethics of Product Placement and Video News Releases • Jay Newell, Iowa State University; Jeffrey Blevins, Iowa State University • Adapting Hardin’s (1968) metaphorical use of “commons” to the domain of broadcasting, we surveyed the attitudes of individuals towards two phenomena (product placement and video news releases), and three constructs (cynicism directed towards government, cynicism directed towards marketers, and the individual’s assessment of their marketing literacy). Respondents were highly cynical about government regulation of advertising and nearly as cynical of the ability of marketer’s to self-regulate.

A Dangerous Deficiency: Why Journalists Have An Ethical Responsibility to Understand the Essentials of Ecology • Bryan H. Nichols, USF • The world is becoming more populated and urbanized, disconnecting people from the natural support systems that maintain their quality of life. This disconnect results in unsustainable policy decisions and lifestyle choices, a situation which journalists are in an ideal position to address. Unfortunately, most journalists are as ecologically illiterate as the public. This paper uses an ethical analysis to argue that all journalists have a responsibility to learn basic ecological principals.

That’s a Wrap (-around!): Blurring the Boundaries of Entertainment and Ads • Kathleen O’Toole, Penn State University • The Children’s Television Act of 1990 restricted the amount of advertising carried on children’s programming and required program separators to distinguish between commercial and non-commercial programming. The law took a “golden mean” approach that balanced the economic imperatives of the television industry with the best interests of young viewers. This paper examines a relatively new genre of programming that may represent an attempt to subvert the spirit and the letter of the law.

“Good Story”—But How Good? Notes Toward a Rhetoric of Journalism • Ivor Shapiro, Ryerson University • Attempts to define how journalists assess their work have consisted of survey research on quality “criteria” and qualitative proposals of “elements” or “principles.” This paper proposes an assessment framework based on the study of rhetoric and organized within five “faculties” (discovery, examination, interpretation, style and presentation). Five standards arise (quality journalism is independent, accurate, open to appraisal, edited and uncensored) plus five criteria of excellence (the best journalism is ambitious, undaunted, contextual, engaging and original).

Academic and Professional Dishonesty: Student View of Cheating in the Classroom and On the Job • Linda Shipley, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Early studies of academic dishonesty discovered that a large percentage of students admitted they cheated. Since then, additional studies have found even higher numbers of students who report that they cheat, and those students indicate that stress related to getting good grades is a driving factor. Recently, there have been several incidents of journalists who were caught cheating. Could academic and professional dishonesty be connected? This study looks at several factors that might contribute to both.

“Comment Is Free, But Facts Are Sacred”: User-generated content and ethical constructs at the Guardian • Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire/University of Iowa; Ian Ashman, University of Central Lancashire • This case study examines how journalists at Britain’s Guardian newspaper and affiliated website are assessing and incorporating user-generated content in their perceptions and practices. It uses a framework of existentialism to highlight issues of particular interest here, including authenticity and the potentially conflicting ethical constructs of autonomy and responsibility. This study represents one of the first empirical approaches to understanding how journalists are negotiating both personal and social ethics within a digital network.

Video News Release Policies and Usage at Television Stations: Deontological Implications for the Newsroom • Burton St. John, Old Dominion University; Ed Lordan, West Chester University of Pennsylvania • In the last decade, television news stations have received an increasing number of video news releases (VNRs) from PR practitioners who are representing a variety of clients, including government agencies, non-profit organizations and for-profit companies. Despite the increased public profile of the VNR, no research has been conducted on newsroom selection procedures regarding VNRs — specifically, how newsroom VNR policies relate to broadcast journalists’ deontological obligations to multiple audiences.

Twice Victimized: Lessons from the Media Mob at Virginia Tech • Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida; Norman Lewis, University of Florida; Jeff Neely, University of Florida • In-depth interviews with survivors, family members and others associated with the April 2007 Virginia Tech shootings revealed that some journalists worsened the trauma through intrusive, insensitive behavior. While some displayed compassion, other journalists knocked on doors at 6 a.m., attempted to sneak hidden cameras into hospital rooms, interrupted grieving students and grabbed a student’s wounded arm.

A Comparison of the Moral Development of Advertising and Journalism Students • Stephanie Yamkovenko, Louisiana State University • This study employed the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to complete the analysis and comparison of the moral development of mass communication students, specifically those who major in advertising and journalism. The DIT is an instrument based on Kohlberg’s moral development theory and is a device for assessing the extent to which a person has developed his or her moral schemas.

How Much Do They Care about Advertising Ethics? -A Content Analysis of Plastic Surgeons’ Websites • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, Louisiana State University; Tae Hyun Baek, University of Georgia; Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University; Ilwoo Ju, University of Georgia • The present study focuses on the websites of plastic surgeons who are practicing in the ten major cities of the U.S. Websites are, along with magazine ads, the most popular advertising tool for American plastic surgeons who are now in serious competition among themselves. Under this extremely competitive situation, it is possible that the advertising content could be exaggerating or deceptive to get patients’ attention, as several researchers have indicated.

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