Mass Communication and Society 2011 Abstracts

Media of the People, by the People, for the People: Redefining Public Service Broadcasting in Emerging Democracies • Md. Abu Naser, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Debashis Aikat • Public service broadcasting has faced many challenges during a decline in the last 20 years. Although the crisis of public service broadcasting is global in nature, the problems the PSB institutions face in developing countries and in emerging democracies differ fundamentally from the challenges that the PSB outlets encounter in the Western world. Public service broadcasting in many developing countries remains a government monopoly where the public has no role in the process. In authoritarian political systems, public broadcasting becomes state propaganda that corrupts the whole broadcasting system. Because of the varied nature of the problems facing PSB institutions in developing countries, there is an emerging need for a variety of solutions. In this context, a plan to make public service television in Bangladesh more effective is proposed. This model may be applied to many other emerging democracies in Asia, Africa, East Europe, and Latin America since PSBs of those countries face similar problems.

Is Family Guy E/I Programming? An Analysis of Adult Primetime Animations for Educational Messages. • Mary Katherine Alsip, University of Alabama; Wyley Shreves • Many studies have found that E/I programming may be falling short of the FCC guidelines prompted by the Children’s Television Act of 1990.  Adult primetime animations have gained popularity in recent years, especially with adolescent and teen viewers.  An analysis of the availability and educational quality of adult animation is made and compared to previous data on E/I programming.  Recommendations for the adjustment of FCC guidelines based on this analysis are made.

Digital media, citizenship orientation, and youth political consumerism • German Alvarez, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Matthew Barnidge, University of Wisconsin – Madison; ByungGu Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study aims to explore how youth online usage patterns and notions of citizenship foster certain forms of political participation – namely political consumerism. Using cross-sectional survey data from a national representative sample of youth, this study offers a unique attempt to uncover the social-psychological predispositions that make up and define citizenship orientation. Specifically, this paper argues that a typology of trust in political institutions and political efficacy are important factors that contribute to citizenship orientation. Placing these social-psychological predispositions within the analytical framework of the communication mediation model, this paper also examines the mediating role of citizenship orientation between online communication and political participation. This study presents evidence that citizenship is evolving, and that new forms are emerging that place emphasis not on institutional politics, but rather on personally meaningful behaviors such as political consumerism. The results generally support the conclusion that citizenship orientation, as defined by the typology of trust and efficacy, is a significant factor mediating the effects of online media on political participation. The findings also highlight the role of online media in the development of citizenship orientation, indicating differential paths of communicative development that lead to different orientations toward citizenship.

Why your grandparents are on Facebook:  A survey of uses and gratifications of Facebook by older adults • monica ancu, Univ. of South Florida St. Petersburg • This is a uses and gratifications study looking at why older adults, people aged 45 and older, use Facebook. A survey of 225 respondents reveals that older adults are drawn to Facebook by two primary factors, Mood Management (entertainment and emotional connectivity) and Social Action (express opinions and news, and establish relationships). The most popular activity among our sample was playing games and using other entertainment Facebook apps, followed by browsing friends profiles and photos. Content creation and communication through status updates, wall comments, messages and other types of expression were less popular among this age group, with only a third (roughly 30% of respondents) engaged in such activities. The study discusses additional findings and their implications, and it is one of the very few studies looking at the social networking uses and gratifications of older adults.

The new communication environment and its influence on media credibility • Ashley Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Peter Ladwig; Dominique BROSSARD, LSC, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dietram Scheufele; Michael Xenos • How exposure to uncivil discussion in online comments alongside two controversial issues—nuclear energy and nanotechnology—influences media credibility is the focus of this study. Using an experimental design with a representative sample of the American population, we find exposure to uncivil discussion increases perceptions of blog post bias and trust in news media for information on science. Exposure to incivility in blog comments increases trust in online sources for the issue of nuclear energy.

Overweight and unworthy? The role of priming in attractiveness, gender, and credibility • Julie Andsager, University of Iowa; Erin O’Gara; Robert Gutsche Jr, The University of Iowa; James Carviou; Nicholas Yanes, University of Iowa • Obesity is a prevalent health concern in the U.S. Guided by attribution theory and priming, an experiment was conducted to assess attitudes toward attribution of responsibility, attractiveness, and credibility in thin versus overweight individuals. Subjects considered thin individuals more attractive than their overweight counterparts, and reader gender was significantly related to evaluations of attractiveness, particularly when weight was primed with an opinion column.  Weight and gender of columnists interacted in perceived credibility.  Implications are discussed.

The Effects of Gain and Loss Frames on Perceptions of Racial Inequality • Erin Ash, Penn State University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Previous content analytic research has examined the extent to which the media frame racial disadvantage in terms of black losses and gains and white losses and gains, finding that news reports are by far most likely to frame disadvantage in terms of what blacks are more likely (than whites) to lose. This study is an empirical test of the effects of racial gain and loss framing. Results reveal loss frames amplified perceptions that the issue was important and due to systematic, institutional causes. No main effects of race were found, but race did interact with the frame manipulation to influence perceived importance and symbolic racism. Further, regression models showed the influence of perceptions of importance, causal attributions, and symbolic racism in predicting support for two proposed remedies to alleviate the inequality.

Exploring News Media Literacy: Developing New Measures of Literacy and Knowledge • Seth Ashley, University of Missouri; Adam Maksl, University of Missouri; Stephanie Craft, University of Missouri • Using a framework previously applied to other areas of media literacy, we developed an attitudinal scale focused specifically on news media literacy and compared that to a knowledge-based index including items about the structure of the U.S. news media system. Among our college student sample, the knowledge-based index was a significant predictor of knowledge about topics in the news, while the attitudinal scale was not. Implications for future work in assessing news literacy are discussed.

Social Media Consumption, Interpersonal Relationship and Issue Awareness • Sungsoo Bang, University of Texas, Austin • This study examines the relationship between social media consumption and issue awareness using South Korea’s 2007 national survey dataset. This study finds that there is a significant and positive relationship between consuming social media, such as Internet community sites, and issue awareness. The findings indicate that frequency of using social media significantly and positively increases issue awareness such as public policy.  The finding also indicates using social media for socilability is positively related to issue awareness, which is essential for democracy in terms of political knowledge. Furthermore, the finding shows social media uses mediate the relationship between issue awareness and interpersonal relationship such as political discussion, which demonstrates consuming social media decrease the information gap caused by interpersonal relationship.

The Third-Person Effect Among Mormon College Students: An Examination of Social Distance and Behavioral Outcomes • Stephen Banning, Bradley University; Guy J. Golan, Syracuse University; Sherry Baker, Brigham Young University • This study examines perceived media influence amongst a highly religious sample of Mormon college students and investigates the potential behavioral consequences of these perceptions. While Golan (2002) tested the relationship between religiosity and the third-person effect, no study to date has examined third person perceptions and their behavioral consequences amongst religious adherents. Consistent with previous research, our study found robust support for the perceptual hypothesis of the third-person effect and support for third-person perceptions as key predictors of censorship and government regulation of the mainstream news media.

The Impact of the BP Oil Spill on Views about Nuclear Energy: A Natural Experiment • John Besley, University of South Carolina; Sang Hwa Oh, University of South Carolina • A natural experiment involving a survey about nuclear energy conducted just before the BP oil spill and followed-up after the oil spill showed that self-reported attention to the oil spill interacted with environmental attitudes to produce higher perceived risks and less overall support for nuclear risk management policies. An experimental manipulation that involved asking half of the respondents about the oil spill, prior to asking about nuclear energy, resulted in more negative views about nuclear energy. The research speaks to climate-change-related debate about the value of arguing in favor of one energy technology through the critique of another.

What Viewers Want:  Assessing the impact of host bias on perceptions of credibility in political talk shows • Leticia Bode; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Magda Konieczna; Michael Mirer; German Alvarez, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Courtney Johnson • The new media environment, and particularly cable news, has recently embraced a partisan style of journalism. It is unclear how subtle changes in the way this style is adopted affect how viewers perceive and evaluate the journalists and programs in question. To consider this question, we employ a 3×3 experimental design. Using professional actors and experienced producers and editors, we imitated a pundit-based political talk show, altering whether the host was neutral, conservative, or liberal, and whether he gave equal time to both sides of the argument, or unevenly distributed time either in favor of the liberal or the conservative guest. We expected that both overt bias and the more subtle bias of allowing one side more time would both factor into evaluations of the host and the program’s credibility, and this expectation is supported by the data. Moreover, their effects are contingent upon the partisan identity of the viewer, and there is an important interaction between the two types of bias. Our findings have significant implications for models of journalism in the cable news era.

Factors Affecting Journalistic Adherence to the Protest Paradigm: The Influence of Protest Goals and Tactics • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Cory Armstrong, University of Florida; Doug McLeod • A recent spate of protest activity across the globe has reinforced the important role that news media play in covering protesters. Research under the protest paradigm has shown that not all protest groups are treated equally and has consistently found that more deviant protest groups receive more critical coverage. However, our understanding of what factors predict when the protest paradigm will be enacted and when it will not needs further exploration and clarification. This study considers this issue using a geographically diverse set of newspapers  to consider the distinct role of a protest group goals and their tactics as well as the location and issue being protested. The findings indicate that the tactics employed by protest groups have a significant bearing on how they are treated trumping the influence of goals. Further, it is clear that location and issue indirectly influence coverage by influencing group tactics.

Mirror, Mirror on the Screen…The Facebook-Narcissism Connection • Jennifer Braddock, University of Florida • Narcissism is an issue of increasing concern among current generations in the United States.  Young individuals are also more connected than ever, particularly via the social networking site Facebook.  This study uncovers several relationships between narcissism as determined by responses to the NPI-16 and Facebook use based on Uses and Gratifications Theory.  The data suggest that narcissistic individuals look to Facebook to support their self-promoting tendencies.

Everything is Not What It Seems: An Examination of Sitcom Sibling Interactions • Nancy Bressler • Real-life sibling interactions may not be as simplistic as the portrayals on television sitcoms.  Yet, real-life siblings may still identify with these characters.  This study examined popular family sitcoms during the 2009-2010 television season using a quantitative content analysis.  The valence of interactions, types of interactions, sources of conflict, and overall outcomes were all investigated.  These results were further correlated with each sitcom to determine if there was a pattern of sibling interactions.

The pregnancy of “”Skinny Moms”” for Sale!: Representations of Celebrity Moms’ Pregnancies in Korean Online Media”            Jiyoung Chae • This paper explores the representations of celebrity mothers’ pregnancies in Korean online media. An analysis of articles dealing with ten Korean female celebrities’ pregnancies revealed that the celebrities’ thinness during and just after pregnancy are highly emphasized by the media and those celebrities are called “”skinny moms.” In skinny mom discourses, celebrity moms are portrayed as a woman who has both ideal beauty and motherhood. These representations imply that women should be thin and beautiful even during their pregnancies. Also, what the celebrities consume to maintain the skinny body is the center of attention. As a result, the celebrities’ bodies are commodified and objectified by the media representations, which is for women who aspire to have a thin and beautiful pregnancy as they do.

Third-person perception and health beliefs • John Chapin, Penn State • Purpose: To study third-person perception (TPP) within the context of a public health issue (intimate partner violence) and to explore theoretical linkage between TPP and the health belief model.  Methods: Survey of 316 medical professionals  Results: Medical professionals exhibit TPP, believing they are less influenced than patients by media depictions of IPV. In terms of the Health Belief Model, one element, perceived susceptibility, emerged as a predictor of TPP.  Conclusions: There is a rich area of health-related messages yet to be explored in future research.

Adolescents’ Varying Responses to Pro-Health Messages After Media Literacy Training • Yi-Chun Chen • With an increasing attention to entertainment-education (EE) as an integral part of health campaigns, children cultivated in more than two decades of media literacy (ML) movements might view EE differently. This paper thus asks: Will different approaches to media literacy impede the effectiveness of entertainment-education?  A total of 105 adolescents participated in a 2 (sex: female and male) X 3 (ML approaches: negative mediation, positive mediation and control) posttest only with a control group quasi-experimental design. Results showed that a positive evaluative not only had positive influences on key decision-making process concerning alcohol use but also heightened the effectiveness of pro-health entertainment.  Significant sex effects also indicated that female adolescents may be more receptive to the educational aspect of health-focused entertainment-education than their counterparts. Findings suggest that media literacy could enhance pro-health entertainment and has the potential to be employed simultaneously in health campaigns to improve adolescents’ health.

Examining the Conjoint Influence of Parental Mediation and Media Literacy in Substance Use • Yi-Chun Chen; Erica Austin • Prior research has established significant factors that impact individuals’ substance use behavior, including parental communication strategies and their level of media literacy. This study bridges the gap between parental mediation and media literacy in relation to substance use.  Two separate cross-sectional Internet studies with each survey focusing on either alcohol (n=347) or tobacco use behavior (n=291) were conducted at a large mid-Atlantic university (N=638).  Mediation and coviewing had distinctive relationships with media literacy, such that coviewing predicted less advertising skepticism but more critical thinking, negative mediation consistently associated with higher levels of media literacy, rulemaking associated with lower levels of critical thinking, and positive mediation associated with lower levels of advertising skepticism but was unrelated to critical thinking. The results show that parental communication influences can be traced into early adulthood and that strategies which cultivate independent, analytical message processing have indirect protective effects but passive strategies can increase risk.

The Indirect Effect of Media on Political Participation: How Media Promote Political Participation • Doo-Hun Choi, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Analyzing data from the 2008 ANES, the study explored the role of media use in influencing political participation. Particularly, the research examined (a) the relationship between media use and interpersonal trust and (b) the connection between interpersonal trust and political participation. The findings support the thesis that interpersonal trust was positively related to political participation. Moreover, Internet use promoted interpersonal trust, whereas national television viewing was negatively associated with interpersonal trust. Taken together, the findings suggest that the Internet may enhance political participation at least indirectly, an effect mediated by interpersonal trust. Results and implications are discussed in greater detail.

The effect of geographical distance and intensity of online news on user emotion, personal relevance, and perceived intensity • EunRyung Chong, University of Maryland; Ronald Yaros, University of Maryland; John Newhagen • More than two decades of online news environment invited reconsideration of the traditional journalistic definition of “”proximity.” Emotional or virtual proximity of users was examined by 2 (geographical distance) X 2(news story intensity) within subject factorial design online survey experiment. Perceived news intensity and perceived personal relevance to the online news were measured.  Findings indicate that emotional proximity is independent from geographical proximity. Virtual proximity, however, illustrates strong association with the geographical proximity. In “”near”” story, users appeared more strongly to be involved in low intensive story than high intensive story, while in “”far”” story, high intensive story more affected users than low intensive story. The implication of findings for editorial direction of online news is suggested.

Packaging Inspiration: Al Qaeda’s Digital Magazine Strategy and Popular Culture Resonance • Susan Currie Sivek, Mass Communication, Linfield College • This study examines the function and content of Inspire magazine, an English-language digital publication created by Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula with the goal of recruiting Western Muslims to participate in jihad. The selection of the digital magazine medium, as well as the resonance of the content with Western popular culture narratives and tropes, are considered in light of existing research on magazines, social movements, and Islamic terrorism.

The effect of narrative messages on young adults’ response to a health message about Hepatitis C • Michelle Dangiuro-Baker, Penn State University; Fuyuan Shen, Ad Division • Designing health messages for young adults can be challenging, both in getting the attention of young adults and persuading them to adopt safe health behaviors. This study, guided by narrative transportation theory, explored the role that story formats play in immersing young adults into a health message and persuading them to adopt a specific health behavior. An experiment (N=125) was conducted featuring public service announcements (PSAs) regarding the dangers of the Hepatitis C Virus that utilized a 2 (message format: factual vs. narrative) X 2 (message valence: positive vs. negative) factorial design. Results indicated an interaction between valence and message format, with negatively valenced narratives leading to greater persuasion and transportation than positively valenced messages and factual messages when controlling for perceived susceptibility to Hepatitis C. Transportation was shown to fully mediate the relationship between the negative-narrative message and persuasion. However, neither message format nor valence significantly impacted behavior intention, a possible effect of participants’ low perceived susceptibility to contracting the Hepatitis C Virus.

Adding Depth to the Relationship Between Reading Skills and Television Viewing • Steven Dick, Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning; William Davie; Betsy Bryan Miguez • It has been long accepted that there is a negative correlation between excessive television and academic performance, however, with so many children watching at least some television each day, it is worth considering the effects of more limited viewing.  This project performs a secondary analysis on a nationally representative (NAEP) dataset of more than 26,000 students to evaluate the relationship between television viewing and academic achievement.  Findings include support for the positive effect of moderate viewing among certain young demographic groups (males, students in poverty, Hispanics, and English language learners), which in this study contrasts with the diminishing return of the viewing benefit as students matured.

Partisan Balance and Bias in TV Network Coverage of the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego; Frederick Fico; Geri Alumit Zeldes, Michigan State University • This study did a content analysis of television broadcast network news in the 2008 presidential election to examine the partisan balance and bias and compared it with the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The study replicated the partisan balance and bias measures used in similar studies in 2000 and 2004 elections. The study findings were comparable to the general conclusions of the earlier research. However, the 2008 data indicated that though the broadcast news networks were largely balanced in their coverage they showed a slight Republican tilt in their coverage.

Money Mothers and Mediators: A Thematic Analysis of Say Yes to the Dress • Katherine Eaves, University of Oklahoma • The explosive growth of the now multi-billion dollar a year wedding industry has been fueled in part by a dramatic increase in the number of wedding-focused television programs. These programs, much like other forms of bridal-focused media, present women with images, ideas and fantasies about what their weddings should be like, look like and feel like.  Using a thematic analysis method and social constructionist theoretical perspective, this study identifies three primary thematic elements in the wedding-focused program Say Yes to the Dress; the role of the mother, financial considerations (or lack thereof), and the positioning of the bridal consultant as a mediator.

Understanding News Preferences in a “Post-Broadcast Democracy”: A Content-by-Style Typology for the Contemporary News Environment • Stephanie Edgerly, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kjerstin Thorson, University of Southern California; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah • This study develops a 2×2 news typology accounting for an individual’s orientation toward content (news vs. entertainment) and style (factual reports vs. pundit opinions). Findings from cross-sectional and panel data reveal that our typology predicts distinct patterns of news consumption during the 2008 election. Specifically, we predict selection of cable news outlets, soft news programs, and late-night talk shows. Our results also shed light on knowledge change during the 2008 election season.

In Deepwater: A comparative analysis of The New York Times and The Guardian’s coverage of the BP oil spill • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Missouri • This paper offers a comparative analysis of news coverage by The New York Times and The Guardian during the ten days following the BP oil spill of April 20, 2010. Ethnographic content analysis examines the coverage, and institutional analysis examines the outlets in broader cultural and economic contexts. The paper concludes that despite what existing literature would suggest, The New York Times better embodied the spirit of journalism through a diversity of sources and ideas.

The green editorial debate: A comparison of the framing of environmental issues in the Columbia Daily Tribune and St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Maria Garcia, University of Missouri-Columbia; Guy J. Golan, Syracuse University; Jeffrey Joe Pe-Aguirre, University of Central Arkansas • The current study compares how environmental issues were framed in the editorial section of a small community newspaper, Columbia Daily Tribune, and metropolitan newspaper, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The results of a content analysis point to significant differences in the framing strategies, news values and overall valence in coverage between the two newspapers. The central function of community journalism in relationship to the formation of civic participation and public opinion are discussed.

Expressing opinions on GLBT tolerance using Facebook:  A modern application of the spiral of silence • Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • The present study examined the role of the spiral of silence, in the online environment of the social network site (SNS) Facebook as it is used to express opinions on tolerance for gays and lesbians. Using an experimental manipulation, respondents were presented with either a friendly or hostile hypothetical scenario concerning gay-bullying, a social issue has recently garnered increased media attention and impacts the lives of people across the country. Issue importance and willingness to self-censor indicated the presence of the spiral of silence, so did other individual level variables such as age, gender, media and level of social tolerance. However, perceived climates of opinion and attitude certainty were not found to have any significant impact.  Findings suggest that the spiral of silence does, in fact, exist in the online context of Facebook, an SNS based upon relationships anchored to offline others. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Prevalence and Context of Verbal Aggression  in Children’s Television Programming • jack glascock, Illinois State University • This study examines the prevalence and context of verbal aggression in children’s television programming. In all 256 episodes of children’s programming from cable and broadcast television were examined. About 18 acts of verbal aggression were found, most of which were insults (49.2%) and name calling (24%). A majority of the acts were depicted as externally motivated, justified and followed by either positive or neutral reinforcement. Proportionately, male and female characters were equally verbally aggressive however female characters were more likely than expected to be victims. Social learning implications are discussed.

Perceived H1N1 flu vaccine efficacy and likelihood of vaccine uptake: Assessing the influences of mass media and risk perception • Gang (Kevin) Han, Iowa State University; Kejun Chu; Guolin Shen • This study examines the influences on college students’ perceived efficacy of H1N1 flu vaccine that are exerted by mass media and risk perception, along with personal experience, interpersonal communication and self-efficacy. Respondents’ perceived likelihood of receiving flu shot is also assessed at personal, group, societal and global levels. An online survey was conducted and 1321 completed questionnaires were analyzed. Findings suggest that mass media and risk perception significantly affect respondents’ perceptions of H1N1 flu shot effectiveness, where exposure to both traditional and new media also moderates the influence of risk judgment. In addition, findings reveal an “”mounting pattern”” of perceived likelihood of flu vaccine reception across these levels, wherein respondents perceive that taking H1N1 flu vaccine is more likely for mass collectives than for themselves or family.

Knowledge Gaps, Belief Gaps, and Public Opinion about Health Care Reform • Doug Hindman, Washington State University • Partisanship and political polarization has become the norm in national, and increasingly, local politics. The passage of the health care overhaul legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, was no exception to the trend towards greater levels of partisanship; the legislation passed without a single Republican vote. This study raises an additional issue thought to be associated with polarization and partisanship: the distribution among the public of beliefs regarding heavily covered political controversies. Specifically, this study tests hypotheses regarding the distribution of beliefs and knowledge about health care reform. Hypotheses are formulated that seek to extend the knowledge gap to account for the partisan environment.  The belief gap hypothesis suggests that in an era of political polarization, self identification along ideological or political party dimensions would be the better predictor of knowledge and beliefs about politically contested issues than would one’s educational level.  Findings showed that gaps in beliefs and knowledge regarding health care reform between Republicans and Democrats grew, and traditional knowledge gaps, based on educational level, disappeared. Attention to cable TV news narrowed gaps in knowledge among party identifiers. Findings are discussed in terms of improving news coverage of partisan debates.

Clash of coverage: An analysis of the cultural framing components of U.S. newspaper reporting on the 2011 protests in Bahrain • Jennifer Hoewe, The Pennsylvania State University; Brian J. Bowe, Michigan State University • Samuel Huntington’s clash of civilizations paradigm was established after the Cold War to explain an emerging new world order and was utilized in the cultural framing hypothesis’ explanation of U.S. news coverage of conflicts. Through content analysis of three major U.S. newspapers’ coverage of the 2011 protests in Bahrain, this study uses the cultural framing hypothesis to determine if a clash of civilizations shaped news stories. The results largely support the hypothesis and Huntington’s paradigm.

Information Surplus, Information Overload, and Multiplatform News Consumption: Updating Considerations of Influential Factors • Avery Holton, University of Texas-Austin; H. Iris Chyi, University of Texas at Austin • Information surplus tends to trigger psychological effects on news and information consumers, causing information overload. This study explored novel areas of information overload, specifically with regards to news and information, and empirically examined factors associated with the degree of information overload as well as how people perceive the amount of time required to consume information across a broad spectrum of news and information platforms. The findings revealed that the majority of news and information consumers today feel overloaded with the amount of news they are confronted with. Gender, news interest, and the use of specific news platforms and outlets predict the degree of information overload. Additionally, consumers distinguish multiple news platforms by the perceived time required to consume news items on those platforms – older platforms are perceived as more time-consuming than newer platforms. Implications for media psychology, news consumption, and evolving production models are discussed.

Great Planes: National Media’s Understanding of America’s “”Flyover Country”” • Brian Hough, Ohio University • This content analysis investigates topical and spatial understandings of the American Great Plains by national media—specifically USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. The study finds (1) the Plains are sparsely mentioned in these media,; (2) stories involving economics and politics are the most common topics; (3) North Dakota and South Dakota are the most frequently mentioned states; (4) a high occurrence of depopulation articles in The New York Times.

The Rise of Specialists, the Fall of Generalists • S. Mo Jang • The present study revisits the question as to whether U.S. citizens are information specialists or information generalists.  Although the literature has presented mixed views, the study provides evidence that the changing information environment facilitates the growth of specialists.  Using a national survey (n=1208), the study found that individuals seek issue-specific knowledge driven by their perceived issue importance rather than by general education, and that this trend was saliently observed among those who relied on the Internet.

Framing National and International Disasters: An Analysis of Media and Actor Frames of Hurricane Katrina and Haiti Earthquake • Sun Ho Jeong, University of Texas at Austin • Using frames as organizing principles to construct meanings of an abstract concept of disaster, media and actor frames of Hurricane Katrina and Haiti Earthquake were examined in three stages upon development of the post-disaster relief: (a) Call for humanitarian assistance; (b) New Orleans under anarchy and hopelessness versus Haiti under scrutiny and hope; and (c) Katrina effects. Considering frames as cultural structures involving different social actors, newspapers, press releases and statements were analyzed.

Conflict Frames, Media Bias, and Power Distribution: Title IX as a Longitudinal Social-Movement Case • Kent Kaiser, Northwestern College • Through examination of Title IX as a social-movement case, this paper identified frames advocating for and against Title IX and used content analyses to discover the faithfulness with which conflict frames were transferred from the legal and legislative debate into newspapers.  The study finds that the newspapers were generally faithful to the legal and legislative debate but demonstrated some bias in favor of social reform, thereby challenging hegemonic ideas and empowering the women’s rights movement.

Does Online News Reading and Sharing Shape Perceptions of Online Deliberation?: Exploring the Structural Relationships among Motives and Behaviors of Online News Consumption and Online Deliberation Perceptions • Hyunjin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University; Jeong Kyu Lee, ClearWay Minnesota; Kyung Han You, The Pennsylvania State University; Seoyeon Lee • With the rapid development of interactive communication technology, the Internet is a major source of news and also plays an important role in connecting individual members of society. However, Internet users may have different perspectives on whether or not the Internet positively functions as a medium for civic deliberation. Because being exposed to information on public affairs is a crucial step for one’s civic engagement, this study focuses on the effects of online news consumption motives and behaviors on one’s perceptions of online deliberation. The study (N = 998) explores structural relationships between online news consumption motives, behaviors—elaborative reading and sharing—and perceptions of online deliberation. The study finds significant relationships between online news consumption motives and elaborative news reading and sharing behaviors, but only elaborative reading behavior had a significant effect on one’s perceptions of online deliberation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The Digital Age, Future of News and Implications for the MDM • Andrew Kennis • This paper is an attempt to make sense out of the many questions surrounding news media performance and its inadequacies. It does this by first synthesizing two critical models of news analysis and applying their respective strengths toward the other’s weaknesses. The synthesis is based on the propaganda (Herman and Chomsky 1988, 2002, 2008) and indexing models (Bennett 1990; Bennett, Livingston and Lawrence 2007). The new digital era of journalism, conventional wisdom on the topic asserts, has significantly usurped prior tendencies in terms of the domination of news themes and sources by government and corporate officials. Scholarly inquiries and findings into the matter, however, have showed that this is simply not the case (Livingston and Bennett 2003; Livingston and Van Belle 2005) and that an era of hyper-commercialism is mostly to blame for a lack of news media independence (McChesney 2000, 2004, 2008). While it cannot be denied that new media and online-based news outlets are increasingly producing exceptional content, the fact remains that the reach of this content is widely dispersed and its subsequent influence is also dispersed, disparate and lacking in comparison to the traditional outlets. Most importantly, it is widely acknowledged that the leading agenda-setting and U.S.-based print sources – the New York Times and Washington Post – are by-and-large responsible for an overwhelming amount of news content, which are in turn re-sourced by alternative news sources in broadcast and online-based media.

How Scholars Have Responded to Social Media Phenomena in Advertising, Communication, Marketing and Public Relations Research From 1997-2010 • Hyoungkoo Khang, University of Alabama; Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama; Lan Ye, The University of Alabama • Drawing upon the social media phenomena in both practical and academic arenas, this study explored patterns and trends of social media research over the past 14 years across the four disciplines of advertising, communication, marketing, and public relations. As a whole, these findings exhibit a definite increasing trend in terms of the number of social media-related studies published in the four disciplines. This indicates that social media has gained incremental attention among scholars, and in turn, they have been responding and keeping pace well with the increased usage and impact of this new medium. In addition, we suggest that future scholarly endeavors emphasize the prospective aspects of social media, foreseeing applications and technological progress, and elaborating theories.

Attention, Explicated: A Psychological Approach to Mass Communication”            Gyoung Kim • In academia, the term “”attention”” has been defined, explicated, and studied intensively in cognitive psychology and neuroscience.  However, this term is also an important factor to analyze and explain mass communication effects.  This study explains and explores the mass communication theories, mass media effects, and types of a media audience in terms of media audience’s psychological cognitive process of attention and suggests a new definition of attention for studying mass communication effects.

Does Disagreement Mitigate Polarization? How Partisan Media Use and Disagreement Affect Political Polarization • Yonghwan Kim; Hsuan-Ting Chen • This study examines how partisan selective exposure and interpersonal political disagreement influence political polarization. Using data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Study, this study first investigates the association between individuals’ selective partisan media use and attitude polarization. This study also examines whether disagreement in political discussion networks moderate the association between partisan selective exposure and polarization. As expected, individuals’ partisan selective media use leads to political polarization. Results further show that exposure to disagreement attenuates the association between partisan media use and polarization.

How Self-Other Perceptions and Media Affordances Are Related to News Use by College Students • Esther Thorson, University of Missouri; Eunjin (Anna) Kim, University of Missouri; Margaret Duffy, University of Missouri School of Journalism • This study examines how the Self-Other variables and preferences for certain kinds of Media Affordances affect college students’ news use and importance. Guided by the Media Choice Model (Thorson & Duffy, 2005) we suspected that three Self-Other variables fundamental to how people process information about themselves, others, and the relationship between the two would prove to be individual differences important to media choice.  We also expected that four Media Affordances that we found college students value would predict their news use and importance. Finally, we suspected that the media features would mediate the effects of the self-other variables on news use and importance. This study discovered that the sSelf-Other variables and Media Affordances significantly predicted news use and News Importance. Also, it is revealed that Media AffordanceS successfully mediated the effect of the Self-Other variables on news use and News Importance.

Local 2.0: New Media, Advertising and the Emerging Local Web • Kathleen Kuehn • This paper offers an exploration of the local 2.0 technologies which are leading to the popularity of a “”local web”” in which place-based communities are being harnessed by start-ups and advertisers alike in order to capitalize on the untapped markets of local communities. However, new media research needs to consider this shift, as well as the implications resulting from it in regards to how it will impact social, cultural and political economic relationships. While there is much potential for the local web, there is equally many potential problems. Future media research must account for both.

Investigative Reporting and Local Power • Gerry Lanosga • This analysis of Pulitzer Prize nominations reveals a complex and varied relationship between investigative reporters and contingent groups of elites in which both sides have substantive roles to play as catalysts for societal change.  Investigative journalism, though entangled with power in strikingly intimate ways, plays a role as referee among competing power groups, periodically challenging components of the social system, if only in the interest of keeping the system operating by its own rules.

Female Journalists Contribute to Greater Transparency and Accountability on Twitter • Dominic Lasorsa • Female and male journalists were found to differ little in their use of the microblog medium Twitter, including their general presence on Twitter and the topics about which they tweeted. Furthermore, female and male j-tweeters were no different in the extent to which they engaged in two characteristic microblogging activities that contest major journalistic norms, expressing opinions and admitting nonprofessionals to participate in the news production process. However, regarding a third journalistic norm—transparency—female journalists provided significantly more openness and accountability in their tweets than did male journalists. Supporting a socialization perspective, it was found that female journalists working for larger, national, prestigious news media were less likely than those working for other less “”elite”” news media to express opinions in their tweets, to allow nonprofessional participation in the news they produce on Twitter, and to provide evidence of transparency and accountability in their tweeting. The implications of these findings are considered.

Persuasive Appeals in Television Food Advertising for Children: A Comparative Analysis of Low-Nutrition vs. General-Nutrition Food Advertisements in the U.S • Hyuk Soo Kim, The University of Alabama; Doohwang Lee, University of Alabama; Yangsun Hong • Television food advertisements targeted to children were content analyzed. Using Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion, the study identified the various advertising appeals and conceptualized as central and peripheral cues. Further, it investigated how advertising appeals of central and peripheral cues were differently associated with low-nutrition food and general-nutrition food commercials. Overall, the findings suggest that general-nutrition food commercials employed persuasive appeals of central cues more frequently than low-nutrition food commercials. Theoretical, practical and regulatory implications are discussed in the discussion section.

The Impact of Contradicting Media Messages on Political Perceptions:  The Case of a Partisan Dispute in Korea over Lifting Ban on U.S. Beef Imports • ByungGu Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Since mass media is the primary channel through which average citizens are informed of political issues, the way a political affair is described by the media plays an important role in shaping people’s political attitudes. Although its impact has largely been supported by many experimental results, not many studies have tapped into real world issues and very few have tried to answer the question of whether a frame can survive in a competitive environment. By utilizing a natural experiment setting where news frames from different types of media outlets contradicted each other, this study examined whether the impact of countervailing frames can persist in competitive environments to affect citizens’ political evaluations. Along with the impact of news media frames, the influence of perceived responsibility on political judgments (Iyengar, 1989, 1990; Iyengar & Kinder, 1987) was taken into account as well. The results show that media messages with conflicting frames failed to influence citizens’ political evaluations, cancelling out each other’s effect. Instead, the evidence suggests that political perceptions were largely shaped by such factors as the locus of causal responsibility and policy evaluations, which, in turn, were affected by one’s political ideology. Implications for framing research and suggestions for future research were discussed.

Portrayals of Eating and Drinking in Popular American TV Programs: Comparison between Scripted and Non-scripted Shows • Moon Lee, University of Florida; Lauren Gispanski • The purpose of this study was to investigate the portrayals of eating behaviors in popular American TV programs as they pertain to popular scripted television programs as well as non-scripted or “”reality”” television shows. Through a content analysis of 95 episodes, we also measured the prevalence and nature of alcohol consumption that accompanied depictions of eating behaviors in 461 scenes. Regarding the type of food, various foods were portrayed in popular American TV programs of which only 6% of foods portrayed were healthy (e.g. low in calories and fat content such as fruits, vegetables, protein bars, etc.). In addition to food consumption, approximately half of eating scenes were either accompanied by alcohol or solely contained alcoholic beverages, suggesting that popular American TV programs portray alcohol and drinking as a predominant feature of society.  Implications as well as limitations of the study are also discussed in the paper.

The Effect of Editorials on Perceptions of Adolescent Marijuana Use as a Societal Problem • Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Ming Lei • News reports have influenced adolescents’ perceptions of the risks of marijuana use, so media advocacy could be a useful strategy to bring awareness to this public health issue. The current study informs our understanding of the media advocacy strategy by experimentally testing the effectiveness of editorials aimed at framing adolescent marijuana use as a societal problem.  The results indicate the effects of editorials with a societal frame differed based on participants’ decision to use marijuana.

The Influence of News Media on Optimism about Retrospective and Prospective Economic Issues as Sources of Social Capital: Tracing the Effects by A Path Model • Yung-I Liu • This study helps understand media’s conditional effects by investigating the role of mediating attitudinal factors in explaining the relationships between media, and civic attitudes and behaviors. This study attempts to understand the mechanism by which media could influence how much optimism people have in perceiving economic issues, which accordingly could influence people’s possession of social capital. Analyzing the 2004 ANES data by using the structural equation modeling approach, this study finds a path model that links news media to various dimensions of social capital through people’s optimism about economic issues. The findings suggest that news media could influence people’s possession of social capital indirectly through influencing people’s optimism about issues that are highly important and relevant to their lives.

What motivates online disagreement expression?: Examining the influence  of verbal persuasion, vicarious experience, mastery experience and self-efficacy • xudong liu, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Aaron Veenstra, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • A 2_2 experimental design explored factors influencing self-efficacy and the willingness to express disagreement online. The study found that self-efficacy is a salient factor in predicting whether people will choose to present different opinions on the online forum where the majority discussants opposes to their opinions. Mastery experience and verbal persuasion positively predict self-efficacy, while vicarious experience has no effects on self-efficacy concerning online disagreement expression. Overall, this study responded to the call to explore the reference group’s influence on online discussion and partially confirmed online peer discussants’ motivation role in discussion involvement.

When Undesirable Media Message Looms:  Possibility of Event Occurrence, General Self-efficacy, and Third Person Perception • xudong liu, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • This paper examines the influence of perceived possibility of event occurrence, self-efficacy, and general self-efficacy on third person perception concerning exposure to media coverage of H1N1 swine flu pandemic. Social cognitive theory and construal level theory guided the rationale. Results from a survey showed that people’s concern of disease spreading likelihood in the local community positively predicts perceived media effects on self and on others, but its impact on self-evaluation of media effect is more salient, and thus negatively influence third person perception. People confident in pretending oneself tend to be less affected by media coverage of the pandemic and demonstrate more third person perception. General self-efficacy also positively influences third person perception.

Who in the World? People, Content, and Systemic Bias on Wikipedia • Randall Livingstone, University of Oregon • This research investigates systemic bias on the English-language Wikipedia by focusing in on the representation of persons and people. The work of a particular group of editors devoted to combating bias, WikiProject:Countering System Bias, over a bounded number of edits (n = 2,204) is considered and compared to a sample (n = 2,588) drawn from the general population of editors. Statistical analysis and geographic mapping reveal successes and shortcomings of this group’s work.

So, Who’s an American Now? A Discourse Analysis of CNN.com’s Readers’ Comments on the Fort Hood Shooting and “”Jihad Jane”” Indictment • Jaime Loke, University of Oklahoma; Tania Cantrell Rosas-Moreno, Loyola University • This study discursively analyzes 2,782 readers’ comments from CNN.com’s stories of the Food Hood shooting and the indictment of “”Jihad Jane.”  The analysis illuminates society’s perceptions of what it means to be American. It also helps make sense of how criminals sharing similar religious background but different race and gender are discussed. Additional research on the complex relationship among religion, race and gender within the private-public space of online news readers’ comments is called for.

The ecology of news: Tracking emerging media forms • Wilson Lowrey • Low barriers to entry, failed business models, and a cultural decentering of mainstream journalism have sparked unprecedented variation in news forms and practices, and yet relatively little attention has been paid to the ongoing processes by which such innovations emerge, develop, persist, change and fade. These complex dynamics need more systematic study. This paper proposes a model that offers explanation for the evolution of news forms. The model is informed by sociological scholarship on organization ecology and by concepts from media sociology and media economics. The paper reports findings on an empirical test of aspects of the model, examining the case of “”health blogs”” – blogs that focus on health, medicine and fitness. Support for aspects of the model was found: overall, the health blog population is becoming more institutionalized and formalized, more specialized, and the growth rate more slow and stable.

Why Politics?: Young People’s Motivations for Facebook Political Engagement • Timothy Macafee; Karyn Riddle, University of Wisconsin – Madison • This study uses a convenience sample of undergraduate students to explore the motivations for engaging in three Facebook political activities and probes the extent to which political predispositions predict the motivations for engaging in these political activities. Results reveal that motivations for Facebook political activity vary by activity; the extent to which political predispositions influence motivations to participate politically reveal few patterns, suggesting young people’s political tendencies influence motivations for Facebook political engagement differently.

Less Objectivity Please: Teen preferences for news information • Regina Marchi, Rutgers University • This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about news consumption among young people, examining news behaviors and attitudes of teenagers. Based on one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions with 61 racially diverse high school students, this paper examines how adolescents become informed about current events and why they prefer certain news media formats to others. The results reveal not only changing ways that news information is being accessed and new attitudes regarding what it means to be informed, but also a preference among youth for opinionated rather than objective news.

Understanding the Internet’s Impact on International Knowledge and Engagement: News Attention, Social Media Use, and the 2010 Haitian Earthquake • Jason A. Martin, Indiana University School of Journalism • Relatively little is known about how Internet media use and other motivational factors are associated with outcomes such as knowledge of international news and involvement. Recent research suggests that attention and interaction with foreign affairs news is one path to closing the knowledge gap in this context. The acquisition of foreign affairs knowledge also has implications for individuals’ abilities to have a broader worldview, to hold accurate public opinions about foreign nations, to facilitate a greater since of global belonging, and to get involved with international events.  This paper examines the relationship of media use, foreign affairs political knowledge, and international involvement. A nationally representative survey conducted shortly after the 2010 Haitian earthquake produced measures of demographics, news media use, social media use, international engagement, general political knowledge, and foreign affairs knowledge.  Statistical analysis found that news exposure, news attention and various types of social media use produced significant independent positive associations with international news knowledge and international involvement after demographic controls. Hierarchical regression also found that domestic political knowledge, cable TV exposure, Internet news exposure, and radio exposure were the most important predictors of international knowledge. Another regression found that news attention, e-mail use, social media use, and texting about the Haitian earthquake were the three strongest predictors of international involvement.  These findings support related research that has found a positive association among Internet news use, international knowledge, and international engagement while also making new contributions regarding the importance of mediated interpersonal discussion for predicting international involvement.

Media Multitasking and Narrative Engagement: Multitasking as a Moderator of Transportation • Rachel Ross; Michael McCluskey, Ohio State University • This study investigates the role of multitasking as a moderator of narrative engagement. A sample of 201 undergraduates was exposed to either a film-only condition or a film coupled with a task to be completed on a computer, and responded to items measuring empathy, transportation, perceived realism and enjoyment. Media multitasking was found to moderate transportation, negatively impacting absorption. Evidence also showed that transportation led to perceived realism and enjoyment. Implications and potential avenues for future research are discussed.

Wikipedia vs. Encyclopedia Britannica: A Longitudinal Analysis to Identify the Impact of Social Media on the Standards of Knowledge • Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University; Marcia DiStaso, Pennsylvania State University • The collaboratively edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia is among the most popular Web sites in the world. Subsequently, it poses a great challenge to traditional encyclopedias, which for centuries have set the standards of society’s knowledge. It is, therefore, important to study the impact of social media on the standards of our knowledge. This longitudinal panel study analyzed the framing of content in entries of Fortune 500 companies in Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica between 2006 and 2010. Content analyses of the length, tonality and topics of 3,985 sentences showed that Wikipedia entries are significantly longer, more positively and negatively framed, and focus more on corporate social responsibilities and legal and ethical issues than in Britannica, which is predominantly neutral. The findings stress that the knowledge-generation processes in society appear to be shifting because of social media. These changes significantly impact which information becomes available to society and how it is framed.

Conceptualizing Beauty and Culture:  A Quantitative Analysis of U.S. and French Women’s Fashion Magazine Advertisements • Pamela Morris, Loyola University Chicago; Katharine Nichols • This study investigates differences in the concept of beauty between France and the United States based on magazine advertisements found in each country.  As beauty is implicated in culture, culture is also explored.  Beauty is not only a mammoth idea; but looking beautiful is a major industry.  The difficulty with researching beauty is that it is elusive and varies with society.  Over 570 ads from ten women’s fashion magazines are reviewed.  Among the major findings is that American publications consist of more ads as a percentage of total pages.  American magazines also include more ad copy.  French advertisements employ more English words as opposed to the number of French words found in American publications.  In addition, ads for hair care products and makeup are more prevalent in the U.S. than in France.  In contrast, French magazines include more ads for lotions and perfumes.  Differences illustrate cultural priorities. In terms of tone, people in American publications show more smiles, while people in France are more bizarre and sexy.  American advertisements present more women, non-working women, and women as decoration than their French counterparts.  This may indicate that the United States is more traditional.  French publications show more men with family, which may imply more contemporary gender roles.  People in French publications also demonstrate more endorsements. Even though Americans and French have many similarities, subtle differences in advertising reveal cultural variations in beauty between the two nations.  This paper provides a framework for further study on advertising, culture, and beauty.

Paging Dora: Examining the impact of recognition of children’s television characters through the capacity model • Cynthia Nichols, Oklahoma State University • The purpose of this study was to examine how liking and recognition influence the processing of educational and narrative content through the constructs of the capacity model. The quasi-experimental portion of this study used 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 135) in a 3 (pace) x 2 (distance) factorial, within-subject design to measure the acquisition of educational content and narrative content. Pace, distance, and children’s cognitive maturity played a significant role in the acquisition of information, as well as liking and recognition. However, the sensitivity of these variables varied. Additionally, the results revealed that the degree of semantic distance and children’s cognitive maturity played a significant role in their ability to acquire information from educational and narrative content.

The Influence of Knowledge Gap on Personal and Attributed HIV/AIDS Stigma in Korea • Byoungkwan Lee; Hyun Jung Oh; Seyeon Keum; Younjae Lee, Hanyang University • This study tests a comprehensive model that explicates the influence of AIDS knowledge gap on personal and attributed stigma. Fear of contagion serves as a mediator between AIDS knowledge gap and AIDS stigma. An analysis of the survey data collected to evaluate the impact of 2008 AIDS campaign in Korea reveals that AIDS knowledge was significantly associated with personal stigma both directly and indirectly but only indirectly associated with attributed stigma through fear of contagion.

Cultural Influence in Differential Normative Mechanisms: A Cross-National Study of Antismoking PSA Effectiveness • Hye-Jin Paek, Michigan State University; Hyegyu Lee; Thomas Hove, Michigan State University • This study explores the detailed mechanisms of norm message effectiveness and cross-national differences in normative mechanisms. Online experiment data from 464 U.S. and Korean participants reveal three findings: (1) collectivism played a significant role in audience receptivity to norm messages, but the role varied by norm type and by country; (2) descriptive and injunctive norm perceptions affected behavioral intention through different mechanisms; (3) the normative mechanism was more rigorous and consistent among Koreans than Americans.

Does Prior Message Work to Promote Motivation for Serious Game Playing? • Eun Hae Park; An Soontae • This study aims to test effects of external aid that can enhance motivation and performance of serious game playing to maximize learning effects. Based on self-determination theory, two types of rationales were examined. Also, individual’s level of issue involvement was tested as a moderating variable. Overall, providing intrinsic goal was effective to increase both motivation and performance but there was no main effects and interaction effect in terms of issue involvement.

Reality TV Subgenres and Cultural Orientations: Individualistic vs. Collectivistic Values among a Multiethnic Sample of Viewers • David Park; Maria Elana Villar • This study tested uniformity of cultural orientations and reality TV subgenre preferences through gender and across a variety of ethnic groups. The results established correlations between collectivism and two reality TV subgenres, crime/police and informational reality programming, among an ethnically diverse group of participants. There were no significant correlations between individualism and any of the reality TV subgenres. Gender and ethnic differences existed in frequency of reality TV subgenre viewing, but not in orientations.

The rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated: What the data say about the future of television • Jack Powers, Ithaca College • There has been a great deal of controversy and speculation about the impact of the Internet and related digital media on traditional media, particularly television. Some have predicted—and sometimes purport to have discovered—a sharp decline in use of traditional media in general and television viewing in particular. Obviously, confirmation of the future awaits the passage of time. However, data of excellent quality and undeniable pertinence exist that identify the likely future pattern. Three representative national surveys of 8-18 year olds– each about five years apart– report on comprehensive media use in the United States. At the time of the first (1999), Internet use was well underway. By the time of the second (2004), Internet use had reached a high state of development, and by the time of the third (2009), wireless broadband was widely available for use in handheld devices, tablet computers, and portable laptops.  Between 1999 and 2009, time spent on the Internet more than tripled (3.6x) and new uses, not significant at the time of the first survey, appeared by the second and third surveys. However, traditional media—screen, audio, print—did not see the drastic decreases many had expected. Instead, total time devoted to television content increased considerably, but real differences in how that content is being accessed have emerged.

Breaking the News: Advertising Embedded in Local Television Broadcasts & Journalist Alienation • Andrea Prewitt, Portland State University • Advertisements have become an increasingly dominant part of daily life and television news is no exception. Market-driven journalism has impacted the way outlets choose stories as well as how they get covered. However, there is still work to be done on the overlooked issue of advertising embedded in news content and the effect it has on both viewer and newsroom values. This study aims to reveal how one station features promotional pieces about businesses and organizations that also pay to have commercials run on that channel. These stories are not clearly labeled as advertisements or sponsored spots and instead blend in with pieces on other topics and events. The practice is an abuse of the public airwaves and forces journalists to struggle with their own professional identity. However, these effects are part of a larger movement that will also be addressed: the implication of market-driven journalism. This study includes a textual analysis of stories the station aired during one program over four months in 2008 to understand the scope of embedded advertising. Additionally, the paper analyzes qualitative interviews with station employees through Karl Marx’s concept of alienation. Journalists come to realize that their work is slowly severed from its definition as a personal contribution to society and any sense of self that is tied to professional identity fails to coincide with roles assumed on the job.

Seeing what you get: A comparison of newspapers’ visual brand personalities and consumer perceptions • Adriane Jewett, University of Kansas; Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • A visual brand analysis identifies distinctive characteristics and current branding trends in the eight largest newspapers in the U.S., including USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post.  Additionally, A survey of college students (n = 608) utilizes J. Aaker’s (1997) Brand Personality Scale to examine the visual brand personality of top-circulating U.S. newspapers.  The theory of semiotics classifies newspaper brands as symbols, allowing the researcher to study their signified meanings and associations. Unaided versus aided personality rankings indicate that students with no visual brand aids rank newspapers as more personality filled than those face-to-face with the visual brand.  An analysis of current branding strategies concludes that most of the sample newspapers (7) portray an exciting or competent brand personality and suggests that newspapers are failing to realize the full potential of their visual brands.

Perceived Threat, Immigration Policy Support, and Media Coverage: Hostile Media and Presumed Effects in North Carolina • Brendan Watson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Journalism & Mass Communication; Daniel Riffe, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill • This study, using survey data (N=529), examined perceived “”threat,”” subjective knowledge about immigration, support for punitive and assimilative policies, and opinions about media coverage effects. Perceived threat was related to support for punitive policies, and “”hostile media perception”” was confirmed.  However, perceived threat was not related to presumed influence of coverage. Internet use, age, race, and education predicted threat perception; perceived threat, perceived favorableness of coverage, and daily newspaper reading predicted presumed influence of coverage.

Stereotypical Beauty Norms in Advertisements in Fashion Magazines • Sara Roedl, Southern Illinois University • This study examined models in advertisements in fashion magazines to determine whether portrayals conforming to the stereotypical beauty ideal decreased during a 5 year period. Fifteen codes were used to examine women in ads in Cosmopolitan and Glamour.  While some characteristics were shown with equal frequency, significant changes occurred in ethnicity, skin tone, hair length, and age, indicating an increase in the portrayal of multi-ethnic women and women over the age of 30.

What Makes Young Adults Care to Read Online Health Messages?  Efficacy and Exemplar Impacts on Message Perceptions and Selective Exposure • Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick; Melanie Sarge, The Ohio State University • Avoidance of health information presents a paramount challenge to health communication campaigns. Drawing on social-cognitive theory and exemplification theory, two studies examined how efficacy and exemplification as message characteristics influence young adults’ selective exposure and perceptions of health messages. Participants (n = 258) browsed an online magazine, with news leads varying by efficacy and exemplification, while selective exposure was unobtrusively logged. Participants generally preferred exemplar information. Men favored ‘low efficacy, exemplar’ messages; women avoided ‘high efficacy, base-rate’ messages. A second experiment (n = 111) examined how efficacy and exemplification affected message perceptions and found neither influenced relevance perceptions but both affected perceived message intent. Results suggest a trade-off of using persuasive elements in health campaigns, as they may reduce exposure.

The Ku Klux Klan’s right-wing appeal: An examination of today’s more mainstream KKK • Andrew Selepak, The University of Florida; john SUTHERLAND, uf dept of adv • The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among political orientation and fundamental Christian beliefs and agreement with Ku Klux Klan ideology. Results suggest political orientation and Christian fundamental beliefs are significantly related, but not as strong as expected, to agreement with Klan values. These findings support the notion the Klan is taking steps to rebrand its image into a more mainstream organization with an ideology similar to white, religious and political conservatives.

Examining Persuasion Appeals and Substance Featured in Antismoking and Antidrug Advertisements in Social Marketing Campaigns • Drew Shade, Penn State University; Robert Magee, Virginia Tech; Erin Cooper, The Johns Hopkins Institutions; Sarah Long, O’Keeffe & Company • Due to continuing debate regarding the best ways to use mass media to discourage youth marijuana and tobacco use, social marketing campaigns must examine which persuasion appeals will be most effective in changing young adults’ attitudes and behavior. Although the effects of fear appeals have been well documented, much less is known about the impact of humor and shock appeals. The effectiveness of these appeals was tested in a factorial experiment (N = 209) with persuasion appeal (fear vs. shock vs. humor) and substance featured (tobacco vs. marijuana) as factors. Findings revealed that the appeals had differing effects and that the success of any given appeal also depended on the substance with which the appeal was used.

The Use of Blogging as Online Grassroots Activism: Analysis of Blogs in the Scott Sisters Case • Thomas Broadus, University of Southern Mississippi; Melody Fisher, University of Southern Mississippi; Riva Teague, University of Southern Mississippi; Jae-Hwa Shin, University of Southern Mississippi • This study uses content analysis to examine the presence, involvement and mobilization of blogs in the case of Gladys and Jamie Scott, two sisters from Mississippi who received double life sentences for an armed robbery they say they did not commit. This study is significant because it examines how activists used blogs to publicize the Scott sisters‟ case to push for their early release from prison, which the governor granted after nearly 17 years. Blog posts and comments are analyzed and compared in terms of theme, frame, emotion, language and message. Results show that about half the blogs were administered by African Americans. Blog posts primarily provided case background and were predominantly oriented in the direction of personal and political content. The dominant theme was fact-based for blog posts and value-based for comments. The blog posts and comments both employed an episodic dominant frame, diagnostic language and neutral emotions. The findings support similar research that shows most bloggers tend to provide information rather than push their readers to take action.

Teaching Millennials to Engage THE Environment instead of THEIR Environment: A Pedagogical Analysis • Rick Stevens, University of Colorado Boulder; Deserai Crow, University of Colorado Boulder • This paper examines the difficulty in teaching contemporary students of journalism (those in the much-discussed Millennial Generation) to cover complex topics like science and environmental reporting. After examining contemporary literature, the authors subjected 120 undergraduate students to a strategy that combined visual representations of abstract concepts, media texts and experiential peer interactions with positive outcomes on comprehension and demonstrations of critical analysis.

Evolutionary Psychology, Social Emotions and Social Networking Sites — An Integrative Model • Sandra Suran; Gary Pettey; Cheryl Bracken; Robert Whitbred • This exploratory research employed an Evolutionary Psychology (EP) perspective whereby the human mind is viewed through the lens of the physiological and psychological mechanisms that created the developmental programs we use today (Cosmides & Tooby, 1992). This theoretical framework was used to study the relationship between human behavior, the state of alienation, and Social Networking Sites  (SNS). Based on survey data from college students, there seemed to be a relationship between alienation and SNS. Alienation dimensions were highest among those who had the lowest amount of contacts on SNS.  The findings from this study will add to the body of knowledge on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) as well as afford an opportunity for further research in understanding human behavior engaged in SNS through the viewpoint of Evolutionary Psychology.

The Concept Of Online Image Of A Brand And Its Application To Nation Brands • Giorgi Topouria, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism • Unlike traditional media, Internet, which is a dynamic global information system, is no longer just communication channel, but environment into which human communication and interactions are moving, and where these interactions leave tangible trace, forever changing the environment itself and parties involved.  Under these circumstances, the concept of brand acquires new momentum and special importance, especially for nations. With globalization and IT revolution, countries have become increasingly aware of their image internally and internationally. The concept of brand has strong connection to reputation and image of a country which is becoming increasingly important in world where everything is interconnected. Many countries adopted approach that looks at nations as brands and started managing their country’s image based on branding methods and practices developed within advertising, marketing and PR fields. This approach has become known as nation branding.  Based on Chaffee’s blueprint, the paper provides detailed explication of concept of online brand image conceptualized as dynamic sum of all available online information related to brand. Explication includes: justification, empirical description, primitive terms, underlying assumptions, variables, unit definition, operationalization and measurement. Further, the concept is applied to nation-brands, integrated into framework of conceptual model of nation image formation and is used as foundation for expansion of conceptual model of key perspectives in nation image.  Paper suggests an expanded model of image of nation-brand and defines directions of future study of how online brand image of nation affects countries’/nations’ reputation and global competitiveness.

Twitter As Public Salience: An Agenda-Setting Analysis • Christopher Vargo, Fall 2011: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Twitter provides an opportunity as a source of public opinion. Therefore, this paper argued Twitter as an indirect measurement of public salience. The issues of BP Oil and The Mortgage and Housing Crisis were given a time series analysis. First and second-level agenda setting variables were coded for television newscasts and newspapers and interpreted as measurements of media salience. Tweets were labeled public salience. A mild relationship between media salience and public salience was shown.

Are you for real? Communication Professionals, Virtual Identity Deception, and Consumer Backlash • Anastasia Pronin; Carson Wagner, Ohio University • Promoters have recognized electronic word-of-mouth can boost message effectiveness. Using anonymous identities, they’ve acted as “”everyday people”” to gain credibility but risk exposure, begging the question whether it causes more harm than good. A two- condition experiment (N= 59) examines source deception exposure effects on credibility and attitudes. In one condition, participants read eWOM by a professional who self- disclosed. In another, participants read the same message — by a product “”enthusiast.” Results show deception exposure backlash effects.

Re-Enlightenment: How Contemporary Dissenters in Pop Culture are Cultivating a New Age of Reason • Sheliea Walker • This essay seeks to explore the similarities between 18th century literature during The Enlightenment and 21st century discourse in the media. I propose that our society is entering a new age of enlightenment based on contemporary expression of dissent in popular culture. Just as in the age of The Enlightenment, dissenting opinions push our society toward increased progress, equality, and tolerance.

Are We Signing In or Logging Off?: The Effect of Information and Entertainment-seeking Internet use on Civic Engagement and the Role of Psychological Well Being and Political Talk • JungHwan Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nathan Hebert, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Chia-chen Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; MinWoo Kwon, University of Wisconsin at Madison; Stephanie Hartwig, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This article examines how two distinctive patterns of Internet use are associated with civic engagement, how four age cohorts might moderate these relationships, and how psychological well-being and political talk might mediate them. The data, drawn from the 2006 DDB Life Style Survey, indicate a positive effect for information-seeking use of the Internet on civic engagement, and a negative effect for entertainment-seeking use.  For both types of use, the effects of the Internet on engagement were largest for the youngest cohort and grew weaker, sometimes to insignificance, as age increased. A mediating role for political talk was not found. A mediating role for psychological well-being was found, but only for the youngest age cohort, “”Net Generation””.  For Net Generation, both types of Internet use were negatively associated with well-being, and lower well-being scores were associated with higher civic engagement. Though no mediation effect of well-being was found for the two oldest age cohorts, for them higher well-being was associated with higher civic engagement. Our findings suggest that Internet effects on civic engagement are changing and may be growing more influential on the young. The results underscore the need to continually track these relationships in rapidly changing democratic information societies.

Exploring Political Polarization: Polarized Attitudes or Polarized Perceptions? • JungHwan Yang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin – Madison • This study first examined multiple dimensions of political polarization by differentiating between the affective and cognitive components of attitude polarization and by introducing new concept of issue perception polarization. Then we identified factors that predict each aspect of polarization. In doing this, we constructed several measures that capture polarization at the group and individual level. Based on national survey data that conducted in Colombia in 2010, we found that the affective and cognitive attitude polarization and issue perception polarization showed different patterns: issue perception and cognitive attitude are highly polarized, whereas affective attitude polarization is not that severe. Also the predictors of each dimension of the polarization were different: the impact of media use was found only for affective attitude polarization; the extreme political ideology affects affective attitude polarization; and the extreme issue perception affects cognitive attitude polarization and issue perception polarization. The findings suggest that political polarization is consisted of multiple distinctive dimensions, which are differently influenced by diverse predictors. Further implications in polarization research were discussed.

Conflict Thesis or the Reverse?: Testing the Relationships among Religiosity, Attitude toward Science and Technology, Media Use, and Subjective Health Status among 56 Societies • Qingjiang (Q. J.) Yao, Fort Hays State University • Does religiosity harms supports to science and technology advancements? Does news media use mediate the relationship? With data drawn from the recent wave of world value survey that covers 56 societies, this study finds that religiosity neither increases nor decreases supports toward science and technology but enhances self-rated health status. Religiosity reduces news media use, but consuming news media does not improve health status and it lowers supports toward science and technology advancements.

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