Minorities and Communication 2003 Abstracts
Minorities and Communication Division
Framing News Stories: The Role of Visual Imagery in Priming Racial Stereotypes • Linus Abraham, Minnesota and Osei Appiah, Ohio State • Three thematic news reports on welfare, the three-strikes law, and school vouchers were differentially illustrated with photographs. News stories were either illustrated with no images, with two photographs of blacks, with two photographs of whites, or with two photographs, one of a black and the other of a white person (mixed condition). In none of the four conditions did the text make any reference to the ethnic/racial identity of the subjects in the photographs juxtaposed with the text.
Are You Targeting Me? Effects of Ethnic Identification on Web Browsers Attitudes Toward, and Navigational Patterns on Race-Targeted Sites • Osei Appiah, Ohio State • Contrary to research that suggests blacks can only be reached effectively with black-oriented media (e.g., Appiah & Wagner, 2002; Fannin, 1989), this research demonstrates that there appears to be subset of the black population that can be reached equally well with white-targeted media as they can with black-targeted media. The study findings confirm expectations that blacks’ differential responses to race-targeted web sites are mediated by their level of ethnic identity.
La Opinion Digital: The Framing of Latino Immigrants’ Issues From a Latino Journalistic Angle • Jose Luis Benitez, Ohio-Athens • This study examines how a Spanish-language newspaper through its online version • La Opinion Digital • frames the issues concerning the Latino immigrants in the United States, the extent this journalistic reporting “advocates” for these communities, and how the different Latino groups are represented in the coverage of this newspaper. The findings of this content analysis from June 2001 • June 2002 highlight crucial relations between the reporter and certain aspects in the process of framing the news story.
Diversity • Awareness Assignments: Effective Teaching Tools for Journalism Students • Lori Boyer, Louisiana State • No abstract available.
Can We Talk? Racial Discourse as Community-Building Paradigm for Journalists • Meta Carstarphen, Oklahoma • This study is a discourse analysis of transcripts taken from depth interviews with 60 journalists about race and journalism. Framed by Oscar Gandy’s call from a structural approach to the study of communication and race and in light of continuing research about news and stereotyping, this new analysis of 1997 data offers some exploratory interpretations about the ability of journalists to define race, and to describe their racial sensibilities as members of a “discourse community” within their workplaces.
The More Public Schools Reform Changes, The More it Stays the Same: A Framing Analysis of Brown v. The Board of Education • Anita Fleming-Rife and Jennifer M. Proffitt, Penn State • Three salient frames emerged from the study of two Topeka newspapers, one mainstream and one black: conflict, consequences and dominant/subordinate. These frames told readers what and how to think about the United States Supreme Court decision on Brown. This study finds that the reform measures made in opposition to desegregation have survived for nearly 50 years and are now framed as public education policy measures aimed to assist disadvantaged students acquire improved educational access.
News Use and Knowledge about Diabetes in African Americans and Caucasians • Kenneth Fleming and Esther Thorson, Missouri-Columbia • Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model, this study examined the effects of newspaper and local television coverage of health care through personal relevance on development of knowledge about diabetes in African Americans (n=387) and Caucasians (n=1,219). The findings show that attention to news media, not exposure, and personal relevance have independent positive effects on knowledge about diabetes in both samples.
The Symbolic Convergence of Color On “Cops” • David B. Franz and William R Davie, Louisiana-Lafayette •Reality television has brought forth a variety of slices of life, and perhaps none more powerful to the public perception of crime and justice than the reality police drama. This content analysis based on substantial data sets from “Cops” applies the symbolic convergence theory to demonstrate how the show establishes patterns of what constitutes a rhetorical vision based on the behavior of police officers toward minorities.
A Matter of Life and Death: Effects of Emotional Message Strategies on Black Women’s Attitudes about Preventative Breast Cancer Screenings • Cynthia Frisby, Missouri-Columbia • A 2×2 experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of message strategies on attitudes toward breast cancer prevention. The researcher used a sample of African American women (n=59) and two dependent variables: willingness to have a mammogram and perceived importance of breast cancer screening. Results indicated that message appeals utilizing testimonials taken from real breast cancer survivors are most effective in increasing willingness to have mammograms and perceived importance of regular screening.
Performing the Watchdog Function: An Investigation of the Status of Freedom Of Expression Within Native American Tribal Courts • Stacey J. T. Hust, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Much has been published about the perceived censorship of Native American newspapers, but very little research about the tribal courts’ protection of press freedoms has been conducted. This study analyzes how free expression is defined and protected by native Tribal Courts. Results show tribal courts do not often deal with freedom of expression cases. However, the few cases included in this study, show tribal courts do protect their tribal members’ rights of free expression.
Model Minority: Portrayal of Asians and Asian Americans on U.S. Prime-Time Television • Jin Hee Kim, Penn State • This study examines the portrayal of Asians and Asian Americans on U.S. prime-time television at three different levels: programming, character, and scene. They frequently appear on drama genres, and their typical roles are as temporary special guests, or other minor, background, and crowd roles. Their occupations on television are heavily oriented to the legal, education, and health care fields. At the scene level, their most typical stereotype on television was “all work and no play.”
The Fighting Whites Phenomenon: Toward an Understanding of the Media’s Coverage • Lynn Klyde-Silverstein, Northern Colorado • The Fighting Whites, an intramural basketball team at the University of Northern Colorado, inspired a media frenzy during March 2002. Their names and mascot, a caricature of a Caucasian man, was an attempt to shed light on what many people considered a racist mascot in a nearby high school. Through interviews, this paper seeks to understand the media coverage afforded the team.
Media Use and Attitudes Toward Asian Americans • Tien-tsung, Washington State and H. Denis Wu, Louisiana State • No abstract available.
Portrayals of Asian Americans in Michigan State Magazine Ads: An Update • Ki-Young Lee and Sung-hee Joo, Michigan State • This study examines the extent to which portrayals of Asian Americans in magazine ads reflect a “model minority” stereotype commonly associated with this group. Portrayals of Asian Americans are content-analyzed in terms of several dimensions reflecting their model minority stereotype. The findings are also compared with those from the analysis of blacks and Hispanics’ portrayals. The results of a series of logistic regression analyses show that despite some improvement, the presence of Asian Americans is still limited to narrowly defined stereotypical roles.
College Students’ Stereotypes of Different Ethnicities in Relation to Media Use: What are they Watching? • Moon J. Lee, Meagan S. Irey, Heather M. Walt and Alana J. Carlson, Washington State • This study examined how college students in two regions stereotyped different ethnicities in relation to their television viewing patterns. Students were asked to rate six ethnic groups based on a brief version of the Big-Five Personality Traits. The purpose was to investigate whether heavy television viewing affects individuals’ stereotypes. In particular, how television exposure of different programming types influences individuals’ ratings of ethnic groups.
Competing Frames and Images of Carl McCall: An African American New York Gubernatorial Candidate • Belio A. Martinez, Jr., Florida • In 2002, State Comptroller Carl McCall, an African American ran unsuccessfully for New York State Governor as the Democratic candidate. Critics blamed McCall’s depleted funds and old-style campaigning for the low turnout among blacks. This paper offers an analysis of the key frames used by the McCall camp and the media to communicate his candidacy to black voters. It also examines the McCall frames held by blacks and their interpretation of the media’s frames.
Korean Immigrants’ Media Uses and Gratifications in the United States • Seung-Jun Moon and John DeLamater, Wisconsin-Madison • This study investigates Korean immigrants’ media usage patterns, based on the Uses and Gratifications perspective. MANOVA and a hierarchical regression were used, and results from the two different methods are consistent with each other in that the Uses and Gratifications perspective was applicable in explaining Korean immigrants’ American media usage patterns but not in explaining their Korean media usage patterns.
Use of Elite and Non-elite Sources At the Navajo Times and the Gallup Independent: A Conent Analysis • Keena Neal and Marcella LaFever, New Mexico • This study investigates the use of elite and non-elite sources to determine whether differences exist between mainstream and ethnic newspaper publications. A content analysis measured three dependent variables: who is quoted, elite or non-elite; title given, generic or non-generic, and; positioning within the article, front page or jump. Two newspapers were used as the independent variable: the Navajo Times, a newspaper of the Navajo Nation, and the Gallup Independent, a privately-owned newspaper.
Coverage of Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: A Content Analysis of Major U.S. Newspapers • David Oh, Syracuse • This study examines the extent to which Arab Americans were cast as the “other” in major U.S. newspapers after September 11, 2001. A content analysis was conducted to determine the extent to which Arab Americans have been depicted as outgroup members, ingroup members, and victims. At least in terms of coverage of Arab Americans, the results of this study seem to confirm the existence of modern racism and its manifestation after 9/11.
How Television Defines Deviance: African American Athletes and the Culture of Poverty • James A. Rada, Howard and K. Tim Wulfemeyer, San Diego State • No abstract available.
Pitting Latinos against African Americans?: Narratives of Inter-Ethnic Relations in News Reporting of 2001 Census Statistics on Race and Ethnicity • Ilia Rodriguez, St. Cloud State • This paper offers a critical reading of news reporting on the statistics on race and ethnicity released by the U.S. Census Bureau in January 2003. It focuses on the analysis of framing patterns in mainstream newspapers to show how they produce a discourse on the inter-ethnic relation between Latinos and African Americans that emphasizes competition, conflict and antagonism, while ignoring or marginalizing common goals and stories of solidarity among minority groups.
Lifting as we Climb: The Role of the National Association Notes in Furthering the Issues Agenda of the National Association of Colored Women, 1897-1917 • Dulcie M. Straughan, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This paper examines the role of the National Association Notes, the official publication of the National Association of Colored Women, in helping both to further the issues agenda of the organization and to build a sense of unity among its members. This paper analyzes stories from the first 20 years of the publication and identifies six major themes, or issue topics that appeared in The Notes over the 20-year period.
Publications of a Dangerous Tendency: Press Suppression in the Civil Rights and Gay Rights Movements • John C. Watson, American • This article examines the link between press freedom and the civil rights struggles of two minority groups in the United States. The focus here is on the similarities between the efforts to suppress press freedom as a means of quelling the movements, and the consequences of success and failure. This examination highlights the role played by the law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings on cases generated by suppression.
Can Cross Burning Be Constitutionally Proscribed?: Sixty Years of Hate Speech Rulings Culminating In Black v. Virginia • Roxanne S. Watson and Courtney Barclay, Florida-Gainesville • In a landmark decision 10 years ago, the U. S. Supreme Court found a statute prohibiting cross burning to be unconstitutional. Recently, however, events in Virginia have prompted the Court to hear arguments in another cross burning case in December 2002. The Court is expected to release its opinion by June 2003. This paper argues that cross burning is speech which can be proscribed consistently with the First Amendment.
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