Minorities and Communication Division 2010 Abstracts
Faculty
The Stranger in Our Midst: Foreign versus American identity in newspaper coverage of the Binghamton shooting • Angie Chuang, American University School of Communication • News coverage of the April 3, 2009, mass shooting at an immigrant-services center in Binghamton, New York, focused on Jiverly Wong, who was most commonly identified as a Vietnamese immigrant, though he was a naturalized U.S. citizen. This study found that the coverage resembled that of Seung-Hui Cho and the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, which was criticized for an overemphasis on Cho’s immigration status as a South Korean national with U.S. residency. A textual analysis of newspaper coverage of Wong reveals that, despite the fact that he was legally an American, the patterns of identification of his foreign characteristics remained similar to those that marked coverage of Cho. Furthermore, in constructing a posthumous profile of Wong, characteristics that highlighted his foreignness were emphasized, and those that did not, such as the loss of his job, were often cast in a way that underscored immigrant identity, such as the lost American Dream.
When Science and Politics Collide in the Framing over Indigeneity • cynthia coleman, aejmc • The concept of identity has captured the interest of humanists and social scientists alike for centuries. Constructionists, for example, have examined identity from the perspective of an ideographic self formulation as well as a socially created self. Scientific and pseudo-scientific methods have been deployed to measure identity from such vantage points, resulting in a post-modern view of identity as a sort of mash-up of intrapersonal and extrapersonal confluences exerting authority over biological determinism. The current paper examines how discourse reveals identity politics arising from the discovery of the Kennewick Man skeleton
The Essence of ‘What Matters’: An Ownership Convergence Case of Black News Going Mainstream • George Daniels, University of Alabama • This study looks at one manifestation of ownership convergence as 40-year-old Essence Magazine teamed up with CNN to co-produce a cross-platform segment of African American news stories entitled What Matters. Of the 56 reports airing between May 2009 and February 2010, most spotlighted health disparities and attitudes about race or racial inequality. This thematic analysis revealed what the author(s) call the Essence Effect when one combines two strong brands and cross-promotes them across platforms.
eFluence: The Impact of Source Race, Racial Relevance of a Service, and WOM Valence • Troy Elias, University of Florida • This study examines the impact of a source’s race, the racial relevance of a service, and the valence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on Black and White consumer attitudes. The results of the study indicate that Blacks will generally display attitudes that mirror the evaluations of their racial ingroup members on online discussion forums given that their race is clearly visible. The results also suggest that the racial relevance of a service can moderate the impact of ingroup consumer feedback for Blacks. Blacks still demonstrated favorable consumer attitudes toward a Black-relevant service even in the presence of negative Black consumer feedback. For Whites, the valence of eWOM is significantly more powerful in terms of their consumer attitudes, as opposed to the race of a source on a discussion forum or the racial relevance of a service. The results demonstrate that for Whites, the eWOM effect is larger for negative WOM than for positive WOM or for the race of a source on a discussion forum or the racial relevance of a service. Implications for Social Identity Theory are discussed.
Oversexualized Jezebels?: A Content Analysis Comparing Race and Genre in the Sexualization and Objectification of Female Artists in Music Videos • Cynthia Frisby, University of Missouri; Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, University of Missouri • The present study examines the use of sexual objectification and sexualization by popular female music artists in their music videos. Our primary purposes were to examine (1) differences by race (in particular, differences between white and African American artists) and (2) by genre (i.e., pop, R&B/hip hop, and country). Results suggested that surprisingly, there were no differences in the use of sexualization or skin exposure between black and white artists. However, the results yielded consistent genre differences in which country artists were much less likely to engage in sexualization and objectification, probably due to the socially conservative nature of the genre. However, in the main, there were few differences in sexualization and objectification between pop and R&B/hip artists. Findings are discussed in relation to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1998) and the general framework of post-feminism (e.g., Gill, 2007; McRobbie, 2004).
Cultural Determinants of Political Participation: Predicting Chinese American Constituents’ Voting Attitudes and Decisions in Response to Online Electoral Public Service Announcements • Gennadi Gevorgyan, Xavier University • This paper investigates the attitudinal effects of cultural appeals in online public service announcements (PSAs). With our general question Does Culture Matter? we examine the cultural variables behind electoral decisions and political attitudes of Chinese American constituents. In doing so, we identify the mechanisms of making online political information engaging and appealing to ethnically diverse citizens and, therefore, bridging the existing cultural gap in political participation. A between-subjects experiment and a survey revealed that culture plays a significant role in forming political attitudes and decisions. In particular, culturally oriented or congruent electoral PSAs triggered more favorable attitudes and a greater willingness to vote than culturally incongruent PSAs. This finding was particularly salient among constituents with strong ethnic identities.
Through the Lens of Race: Constructing Narratives About Jayson Blair and Janet Cooke by Professional Journalists • Mary Hillwagner, AEJMC • This paper looks at the cautionary tales of Jayson Blair and Janet Cooke and how these narratives are perceived by a dozen newspaper journalists. Blair and Cooke, of the New York Times and the Washington Post, respectively, left the news business in disgrace after it was revealed that the reporters had fabricated information in their news copy. Blair and Cooke are African Americans. This paper undertakes in-depth interviews with a dozen reporters, five White and seven Black to discern how the Cooke and Blair matters have been internalized. To this end, this study employs narrative analysis and argues that there were nuances that race mattered to black journalists. Meanwhile, Whites in the study do not mention the race of Cooke or Blair when discussing the incidents.
Smoking Isn’t Kool: Exploring the Impact of Black Ethnic Identity and Cultural Cues in Pro-Smoking and Anti-Smoking Promotional Messages • Osei Appiah, The Ohio State University; Catherine Goodall, Kent State University; Gregory Hoplamazian, Ohio State • Innovative tobacco marketing strategies have raised significant concerns about the ease with which such messages may appeal to certain disproportionately targeted audiences like Blacks. Study 1 examined whether Kool’s cigarette packaging featuring hip-hop cultural images are as effective as more traditional cigarette packages in influencing smoking-related attitudes. Blacks were exposed to either a traditional Kool cigarette package or a non-traditional hip-hop cigarette package featuring a Black or a White character. Blacks with strong ethnic identity had more negative attitudes toward smoking, were less likely to intend to smoke, and were less likely to have smoked in the past vis-a-vis Blacks with weak ethnic identities. Study 2 examined the effectiveness of hip-hop imagery and text in changing smoking-related attitudes among Black participants. Findings indicate that after exposure to an anti-smoking PSA, strong ethnic identity Blacks reported more negative feelings towards smoking, a lower intention to smoke, and more negative attitudes toward the cigarette industry relative to Blacks with weak ethnic identity. Implications for health communication researchers regarding the use of cultural cues in PSAs, and ethnic identity as a protective factor against pro-smoking messages are discussed.
Viability of Online Outlets for Ethnic Newspapers • Ralph Izard, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University; Masudul Biswas, Louisiana State University • This study identifies the strategies, challenges, and opportunities of adopting online outlets for ethnic newspapers representing African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos/Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans by conducting a web survey among ethnic newspaper editors and publishers. Survey results showed different strategies for newspapers that have both print and online editions and online-only newspapers. Overall, survey respondents identified finance, nature of operation, traditional audience, technological complexity, and limited access to the Internet as areas of challenges. Likewise, areas of opportunity for ethnic newspapers that adopt online outlets are reaching more audience, attracting online advertisers, and newer avenues of revenue generation.
You Talkin’ to Me?: Analysis of Weight Watchers and the 50 Million Pound Challenge Websites Christal Johnson, University of Oklahoma; Meta Carstarphen, University of Oklahoma Guided by situational theory of publics, this study analyzed messages on Weight Watchers and 50 Million Pound Challenge weight-loss Web sites to determine how the sites are enabling Black women to remove constraints and promote information seeking in their weight-loss efforts. A content and rhetorical analysis revealed that Jenny Craig lacks culturally-sensitive factors that motivate Black Women to attune to its messages. Implications, limitations, and future research possibilities are discussed.
Althea Gibson and Wilma Rudolph: An Analysis of Mainstream and Black Press Coverage on Their Pioneering Victories • Pamela Laucella, IU School of Journalism • Althea Gibson and Wilma Rudolph made history as pioneering women athletes during one of the most important times in America’s history. Gibson won the French Championships (now the French Open) in 1956, and the ensuing two years she won both the U.S. Nationals (now the U.S. Open) and Wimbledon. Rudolph won three gold medals in track and field at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games and became the first American female athlete to win three gold medals at one Olympics. The purpose of this research is to elucidate journalists’ perceptions of Gibson, Rudolph, their athletic accomplishments, the transcending significance of their victories, and the articles’ potential significance on information and perspectives regarding race, gender, and culture. The research provides a comparative look at race and gender and how journalists at the mainstream and Black press covered two prominent, pioneering athletes, whose efforts broke barriers for athletes and individuals alike.
Whose Second Life is This?: How Avatar-Based Racial Cues Shape Ethno-Racial Minorities’ Perception of Virtual Environments • Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee, Hope College; Sung Gwan Park, Seoul National University • Popular virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are often criticized for their White-dominance or White-avatar-favoritism. In two experiments, the present research investigated how avatar-based racial cues shape ethno-racial minorities’ sense of belonging to the world and perceived usability of the interface for avatar customization. White and non-White student participants were recruited for the experiments. In Experiment 1 (N= 59), participants were randomly exposed either to White-dominant avatar profiles of Second Life residents or to racially-diverse avatar profiles. After the exposure to the Second Life residents, participants were given an opportunity to customize their own avatars on the Second Life interface. The findings of Experiment 1 revealed that the non-White participants exposed to the White-dominant avatar profiles, when compared to those exposed to the racially-diverse profiles, reported significantly lower sense of belonging to Second Life and lower levels of intention to participate in Second Life. The findings of Experiment 2 (N = 64), which used the same experimental procedure as used in Experiment 1, demonstrated that the non-White participants exposed to the White-dominant avatar profiles gave significantly higher estimation of White user population within Second Life. In addition, these participants were more likely to report that they felt limited when customizing the skin feature of their avatars. Theoretical and practical implications regarding diversity in virtual worlds are discussed.
The Cultural Consternation of Brand O(prah): Oprah and Gayle’s Big Adventure • Felicia McGhee-Hilt, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Dwight Brooks, Middle Tennessee State University; Cheryl Ann Lambert, Boston University; Megan Fields, University of Tennessee-Knoxville • This analysis examines the Oprah brand of Live Your Best Life as constructed in Oprah & Gayle’s Big Adventure, a five-episode series of Oprah featuring the host and her best friend driving across America. The textual analysis uncovers tensions between Oprah as personification of Live Your Best Life and its principles of diet, exercise, personal relationships, philanthropy, and spirituality. These tensions suggest limitations of the Oprah brand as a mediated self-improvement philosophy.
Crisis knowledge and preparedness four years after Hurricane Katrina: Comparing Gulf Coast populations according to race • Andrea Miller, Louisiana State University; David Brown, Louisiana State University; Stephanie Grey, LSU; Renee Edwards, LSU • The study’s purpose was to gauge the hurricane knowledge and preparedness of Gulf Coast resident four years after Hurricane Katrina, with particular interest in racial differences. 519 residents were surveyed in fall 2009. Findings showed African-Americans have less hurricane knowledge, and that mistrust of government and the media may be obstacles to information. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between residents’ awareness of a state-wide preparedness campaign and having a storm plan in place.
Refracting media characters through the prism of ethnic identity formation • David Oh, Denison University • Ethnic identity formation plays a role in second-generation Korean Americans’ identification practices towards media characters and celebrities in transnational media from Korea. Specifically, the findings of this study are that there are intragroup differences in identification practices that cluster around stages of ethnic identity formation and that identification practices are not independent of social power as Korean American fans of Korean celebrities and media characters construct taste hierarchies that also define ethnic authenticity.
How Ya Durrin’?–Love, Drag, Racism and Shirley Q. Liquor • Peter Parisi, Hunter College This paper assesses Shirley Q. Liquor, a controversial blackface, drag character performed by Charles Knipp, a gay, white male. A welfare recipient with 19 children of unknown paternity, the character certainly displays racial stereotyping, yet Knipp insists that he intends a loving, complex portrayal. A rhetorical-cultural analysis suggests that his claim has substance. At a time of increasing cultural self-consciousness surrounding racial representation, the Shirley Q. controversy clarifies the relationship of negative stereotyping, counter-stereotyping and positive portrayal.
The BIA Occupation: The Media Frames A Native American Struggle to Gain Control • Mavis Richardson, Minnesota State University, Mankato This paper discusses framing used by mainstream and Native American newspapers of the BIA building takeover in Washington, D.C., in 1972. It was assumed that the native press might contain, at least to some extent, constructions seen in white mainstream newspapers. However, coverage in the native newspapers clearly reflected Indian culture while the mainstream newspapers reflected white culture. These differences may be attributable to cultural differences between native and white cultures.
Minorities on Internet Web Pages: A Content Analysis of Their Portrayal • Aymara Jimenez, BYU; Tom Robinson, Brigham Young University • The Internet has become a communication source that shapes and cultivates peoples’ perceptions of consumer products, companies, ideas, issues, and people. To make a website attractive, character images are used to ensure the recall and recognition of the site. Since images stay in individuals’ minds longer, the portrayal of those images becomes is important when dealing with minorities. A content analysis of the top 200 websites looked at how minority characters are represented and portrayed. Overall the portrayal of minorities was good but minorities are under-represented and Hispanic characters appear the least and are almost nonexistent.
How Mexican-American women define health: Cultural beliefs and practices in a non-native environment • Emma Wertz, Kennesaw State University • Culture impacts the ways people evaluate and respond to health and illness. Mexican-American culture plays a part in how women take care of their heath and react toward the threat of breast cancer. Using previously identified dominant cultural factors that may influence the health of Mexican-American women as a foundation, this qualitative study describes how the women define and maintain health, particularly breast health. As a result, health communicators can more carefully and appropriately tailor messages for this group. This study is important because it adds to the current body of knowledge by investigating the cultural beliefs of Mexican-American women. While several researchers have studied the cultural beliefs of Hispanics, it is imperative that scholars begin to further investigate the cultural beliefs of the sub-groups within the larger Hispanic ethnic category. In addition, previous studies have primarily been conducted in states that border Mexico, thus providing an opportunity for this study to contribute to the current body of literature by giving a voice to Mexican-American women in the southeast. In-depth interviews were conducted with Mexican-American women in the southeast. The main theme that emerged from the data was: The Maintenance of Health through Traditional Practices in a Non-native Environment. Two thematic constructs that participants engage in helped to describe how the women in the study maintain health in a traditional manner when they live in a non-native environment: (1) the belief that health is a combination of the body and mind and (2) the belief that health care is a Mexican woman’s responsibility.
Student Paper Competition
Erin Ash, Penn State, Growing and Selling (Stereotypes): Depictions of Race and the Drug Business in Showtime’s Weeds • The television program Weeds follows the life of Nancy Botwin, a White upper middle-class drug dealer. Although this depiction is seemingly counter-hegemonic, much of the humor of the show is derived through the use of distinct constructions of Whiteness and Blackness and representations of criminality as a naturally Black activity, and not a good fit for Nancy. This textual analysis of the show finds support for the continued use of enduring stereotypes about African Americans.
Bryan McLaughlin, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Reaffirming Racism: Racial Discourse During Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign • The 2008 Presidential election will always be remembered as a historical moment, primarily because Barack Obama became the first black president in the United States. In many ways this is a testament to the strides America has made in racial relations over the last century. In reality, however, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign may have hurt racial progress by reaffirming a post-racial discourse that presents race as nothing more than a distraction. This study rests on a vast array of research that has shown racism continues to be pervasive in American society, but exists most powerfully below the surface. A frame analysis of The New York Times, Newsweek, NBC Evening news, Barack Obama campaign speeches and Rush Limbaugh radio segments during the Democratic primary revealed a consistent use of a post-racial discourse that undermines attempts to have a forthright public discussion of race. The results show that there is little discussion of why race is still such an important topic and what this election says about the state of race in the United States; it is discussed primarily because it is an important political and newsworthy topic. While these various sources frequently discuss race, it is mostly a result of race being an unavoidable topic in the presidential election. The findings show that people are willing to talk about race, but not as a topic that warrants serious evaluation, but as a distraction that has political effects.
Cristina Mislan, Penn State, The Chicago Defender: Is it a political institution?
ABSTRACT: This paper examines how the Chicago Defender framed Reverend Jesse Jackson’s 1988 and President Barack Obama’s 2008 Democratic presidential campaigns. The study utilized framing theory and employed textual analysis to reveal how the Defender provided meaning for about two black presidential candidates and attempted to support Reverend Jackson but showed skepticism about his ability to win the nomination. On the contrary, the newspaper overwhelmingly supported President Obama, using his candidacy to elevate the black community.
Husain Murad, Arkansas State University, Creative directing: In the eyes of Arab American Hollywood directors • The purpose of this study is find out about the characteristics which makes a director creative in the movie making field and the challenges along the way to reaching this goal. This study asks four research questions what are the challenges that face minority directors in Hollywood? And why they faced those challenges? Do they see creativity different than Hollywood directors? How does the film industry rate a creative director in general? How does the industry specifically rate a minority director?
The researcher conducted semi-structured in depth interviews instrumentation with three Arab/ Arab American directors. The findings show that Arab/ Arab American directors in Hollywood are rare within Hollywood tough business industry. Like any minority Arab faces a lot of misrepresentation, stereotypes, language barrier and prejudice. The way to overcome these obstacles is to try work hard and make a noise so the big studios would recognize that minority director. Other findings show that the key to get through Hollywood is to be creative on Hollywood standards and to have group connections inside Hollywood mainstream society.
Sharon Santus, Caryn Winters, Christopher Toula, George Christo-Baker, and Dorian Randall, Penn State, The ‘Obama is a Muslim’ Myth: Analyzing the implications of right wing abuse of religion and culture during the 2008 presidential race • The Obama is a Muslim myth speaks to the broader relationship between Islam and West in the 21st century. The signifier Muslim being used in a smear campaign against the President during his campaign seems to indicate that in our post 9/11 socio-political climate, many Americans view Islam and Muslims in totalizing terms which others them and their identity. This article will attempt to unravel the complex relationship between Muslim-Americans and the Obama is a Muslim myth with the intention of understanding both the candidate and the dominant discourses surrounding perceptions of Muslim-American and Arab-American populations. This analysis is necessarily multifaceted. Accusations of Obama being a Muslim not only reflect the politicization of religion and culture, but also the racialization of religion, the salience of Islamophobia, and the covert use of new racist ideology.
Jennifer Schwartz, University of Oregon, Framing Power: A comparison of Latino and White Candidate Photographs and Headlines at Fourteen U.S. Newspapers • Despite political representation remaining far below Latinos’ share of the population, little research has compared news coverage between Latino candidates and white candidates. This is the first study to content analyze 815 newspaper photographs and 608 photograph-associated headlines of Latino candidates and white candidates in 14 newspapers during the last two months of four statewide elections that occurred between 2003 and 2008 in the U.S. Southwest. Results show overall by state newspapers provided slightly more positive newspaper treatment of Latino candidates compared to white candidates.
Nangyal Tsering, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Welcome to America: The Star Tribune’s coverage of Tibetan Americans in Minnesota • The paper looks at the coverage of the Tibetan Community in Minnesota by the Star Tribune from Jan 1991 to Oct 2009. While most previous research shows that the press largely portrays the immigrant communities in a negative light, the results of this study finds that Tibetan case is an exception. This positive portrayal of the Tibetan community can be attributed to a complex mix of factors, including the mainstream media’s perpetuation of the Western stereotype of Tibet as a peaceful Shangrila.
Larissa Williams, University of Texas at Austin, The Case for Race: Factors affecting the credibility perceptions in the blogosphere • This study uses an experimental method to test the effect of the race of a blogger on audience perceptions of credibility. No significant differences in perceived credibility were found between Black and White bloggers, though including information on the blogger (picture and biography) increased perceived credibility. Issue salience (how entertaining, important, relevant, etc.) was also associated with higher perceived credibility.
Print friendly
