Mass Communication and Society 2013 Abstracts
Measuring News Media Literacy • Adam Maksl, Indiana University Southeast; Seth Ashley, Boise State University; Stephanie Craft • News media literacy refers to the knowledge and motivations needed to identify, appreciate, and engage with journalism. This study measured levels of news media literacy among 500 Chicago-area teenagers using a new scale based on Potter’s model of media literacy and adapted to news media specifically. News literate teens were found to be more intrinsically motivated to consume news, more skeptical and more knowledgeable about current events than their less news literate counterparts.
Why Change the Story? Portrayals of the Arab Spring in the Western and Eastern News Media • Mian Asim, University of Florida; Hyojin Kim, University of Florida • This study examines the content and framing of new stories emerged from the Western and the Arab media, right before and after the peak period of the Arab Spring while suggesting that the level of deviance employed by protest groups in terms of tactics and goals are equally substantial in affecting their news coverage. This study also hints that media may adjust its stance as time proceeds depending upon the potential outcome of protests.
Facebook “Friends”: Effects of Social Networking Site Intensity, Social Capital Affinity, and Flow on Knowledge-Gain • Valerie Barker, Journalism & Media Studies SDSU; David Dozier; Amy Schmitz Weiss; Diane Borden • Using a subset of data from a survey of a representative sample of U.S. Internet users, 236 participants responded regarding social networking site (SNS) intensity, experience of flow (concentrated engagement in/enjoyment of an activity), social capital affinity (value of interaction/identification with online peers) and focused and incidental-knowledge gains. SNS intensity strongly predicted flow and social capital affinity, but the latter appeared to be a stronger predictor of focused and incidental-knowledge gains from social networking sites.
The creepiness factor: Explaining conflicting audience attitudes toward tailored media content • Lisa Barnard • In an online survey (N=2,002), attitudes toward tailoring were more favorable when tailoring was less invasive – i.e. when it involved impersonal media functions rather than personal ones, and when it used public rather than private information. Four individual difference models (narcissism; open-mindedness; audience selectivity; online media dependency) were tested. Those who were more narcissistic and more dependent on online media had more positive attitudes toward tailoring and thought more types of tailoring should be allowed.
Workplace Characteristics and Limitations on U.S. Journalists’ Professional Autonomy • Randal Beam • Autonomy is a hallmark of professional labor, but for individuals working in complex organizations, such as journalists, it is never unfettered. This study examines constraints on journalists’ professional autonomy. It uses analyses of open-ended and fixed-response questions from a national panel survey of U.S. journalists to explore what news workers characterize as the most significant limitations on their freedom as journalists.
Picturing Collective Memory: What Google’s Doodles Want Us to Think About • Bob Britten, West Virginia University; Mark Poepsel, Loyola University New Orleans • A Doodle is a variation of the logo on the starting page of search engine Google, used to commemorate dates, individuals, events and things. Their novelty, and Google’s widespread use, make them potent elements of collective memory. This research identifies the types of Doodles used over time, comparing which subjects are emphasized and which are omitted. Google encourages memory of artists and explorers, and covertly places itself squarely within that group.
The Influence of Participation and Online Norms in the Development of a Sense of Virtual Community • Michael Clay Carey, Ohio University; Hans Meyer, Ohio University • The emergence of Web 2.0 has facilitated the proliferation of virtual groups and communities. Virtual communities are distinct from online groups in part because their members experience a sense of virtual community (Blanchard, 2008). Participants in a nationwide survey (N=1,014) were asked about their experienced sense of virtual community, and solicits their opinions on other facets of online groups. The study suggests generalizable conditions that may facilitate sense of virtual community.
Transparency in Newsrooms: What’s visible, What’s not and Why • Kalyani Chadha, University of Maryland College Park; Michael Koliska • Facing a decline in public credibility, news organizations have been encouraged to embrace transparency to combat public distrust. In this paper, we examine how journalists at six leading news outlet grapple with the concept of transparency and its implementation in their newsrooms. Our data indicate that news outlets engage in a limited and strategic form of transparency, that enable them to appear transparent without offering substantive insights into the journalistic process.
Visiting Theories That Predict College Students’ Self-disclosure On Facebook • Chen-wei Chang, The University of Southern Mississippi; Jun Heo, University of Southern Mississippi • The present study explored theories that may explain information disclosure behavior on Facebook and provided understanding of each theoretical framework’s contribution in explaining such behavior. Findings suggested the potential of all the constructs tested in this study (the uses and gratifications theory, the social contract theory, trust/self-disclosure relationships, time spent on Facebook, the number of Facebook friends, and gender difference) as frameworks to explain self-disclosure behavior on Facebook. This social media-specific study observed rather interesting evidences that theories may have different implications from previous literature theoretically as well as practically.
Click “like” and share if you’re not affected: Adolescents, third-person perception, and Facebook. • John Chapin, Pennsylvania State University • A survey of adolescents (N = 1,488) documented third-person perception (TPP) regarding Facebook use and cyber bullying. As Facebook establishes itself as the dominant social network, users expose themselves to a level of bullying not possible in the analog world. The study found that 84% of adolescents (middle school through college undergraduates) use Facebook, and that most users log on daily. While 30% of the sample reported being cyber bullied, only 12.5% quit using the site and only 18% told a parent or school official. Despite heavy use and exposure, adolescents exhibit TPP, believing others are more likely to be negatively affected by Facebook use. The current study contributes to the TPP literature by linking the perceptual bias to self-protective behaviors. A range of self-protective behaviors from precautionary (deleting or blocking abusive users) to reactionary (quitting Facebook) were related to decreased degrees of TPP. TPP was also related to optimistic bias, experience, liking of and use of Facebook, perceived subjective norms and age. Implications for prevention education are discussed.
Hong Kong-er Or Chinese? Impact of Mainland Tourist News on Hong Kong Students’ Social Identity • Hexin CHEN, City University of Hong Kong; Wanqi Gong, City University of Hong Kong; Sixian Lin, City University of Hong Kong; Miriam Hernandez, City University of Hong Kong; Jie Ying Wang, Hong Kong Baptist University • Based on the social identity theory, this study examines the impact of news exposure on the perception of the social identities of university students in Hong Kong. We found that exposure to negative news about mainland tourists has a positive impact on respondents’ Hong Kong identity and their superiority sense over mainland Chinese. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Crisis frames across media and distances: An analysis of local, regional, and national news coverage of the Tucson shooting • Bethany Anne Conway • This study examined the evolution of frames in news coverage of the Tucson shooting to determine how traditional theories of crisis coverage map-on to a smaller-scale, domestic terrorism event. Along with adding to the literature on national coverage of tragedy, it provides insight into how crisis coverage differs among local, regional, and national newspapers. Findings reveal that human-interest frames made marked appearances across news outlets. While political frames were prevalent in later stages of coverage, cable and network news outlets emphasized politics to a different extent. Differences were found among the national, regional, and local newspapers, demonstrating how news coverage is adapted to the needs and interests of different audience segments in crisis.
Testing the Utility of Graphic Program Advisory Labels: An Eye-Tracking Study • Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University; Cam Stone; Boni Cui, Texas Tech University; Hannah Gibby, Texas Tech University • Despite the use of television program advisories for more than 15 years, viewer understanding of these advisories remains problematic. Thus, this study examined the effectiveness of alternate graphic program advisories as a means of attracting viewer attention and more effectively communicating their intended meaning. Results indicated that viewers better understood the meaning of the advisories. Moreover, eye-tracking data revealed that they also allocated greater attention graphic advisories during initial exposure.
“Oh Man! Am I a Woman!?”: Analysis of ESPN.com user comments on the presence of Danica Patrick in NASCAR • Denae D’Arcy, University of Tennessee; Kyle Heuett, University of Tennessee; Katie Reno, University of Tennessee • In the wild world of men’s sports, women are making a showing. This is evident in competitions such as NASCAR where Danica Patrick raced in the 2012 Daytona 500. Some contributors to the comments section on ESPN web stories suggested that she did not belong on the track or in the sport. Three coders analyzed more than 1,300 comments on ESPN online stories before and after Patrick’s Daytona 500 race to find the meaning of her presence in NASCAR.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent? Analyzing the moral nature of fiction characters over time • Serena Daalmans, Radboud University Nijmegen; Ellen Hijmans, Radboud University Nijmegen; Fred Wester, Radboud University Nijmegen • Recently, the public eye and the academic community have started to focus on the presence and effects of morally ambivalent characters in television fiction. Both assume a prevalence of these characters, but neither is based on more than anecdotal evidence. This study explores the longitudinal changes (1985-2010) in the moral nature as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the cast of television fiction aired during prime time in the Netherlands, through content analysis (N = 352).
The Chronicle of Current Events: uncensored information from the Soviet Union • Nino Danelia, University of South Carolina; Maia Mikashavidze, University of South Carolina • This study analyzed The Chronicle of Current Events, an underground Soviet publication issued from 1967 through 1982. Using scholarship on political framing, the study found Soviet dissidents using conflict and responsibility frames to write about the dominant themes of human rights abuses and persecutions of ethnic and religious minority groups. The publication was framing the dissidents’ cause as the protection of human rights, and aiming to get the word out to the international public.
The Miami Zombie Attack: How Broadcast News Media Constructed a “Bath Salts Epidemic” • Ruth DeFoster, University of Minnesota; Natashia Swalve, University of Nebraska • Using framing theory and textual analysis, this paper examines broadcast media coverage of a May 2012 crime in Miami that became rhetorically tied to a bath salts “epidemic” in mass media. It finds that coverage focused on bath salts use to the exclusion of other interpretive schema for the event, and finds a marked disparity between the portrait of bath salts use/effects presented in these texts and clinical literature and data on actual usage/effects.
Adolescent Perceptions of Digital Play: A Study in Third-Person Effects • Wendy Blanchard; Bryan Denham • Research on third-person effects has found that, relative to themselves, individuals perceive others as being more affected by media content. In this study, we examined perceived effects of video games and digital play among students enrolled at a charter high school in the Southeastern United States. As determinants of third-person perceptions, the study included measures of gender, race and age, time spent on video games during a typical school day, household rules governing time spent on video games and exposure to violent media content, and communication from parents about spending too much time in digital play. Results showed a consistent pattern of third-person perceptions, with those who reported lower levels of digital play estimating higher levels of adverse effects on others. Females and those who indicated the presence of household rules governing digital play and exposure to violent content estimated especially negative effects on others.
Surfing Alone: Search Engines, Flow, and Positive Outcomes • David Dozier; Valerie Barker, Journalism & Media Studies SDSU; Amy Schmitz Weiss; Diane Borden • This study integrates Stephenson’s (1967) play theory and Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) flow theory to examine the use of search engines. The challenge of an Internet search is balanced against the Internet surfer’s skills, permitting optimum experiences or flow. A national telephone survey, using probability sampling, provides evidence that search-engine flow mediates the relationship between search-engine usage and four positive outcomes: (1) focused knowledge gain, (2) incidental knowledge gain, (3) satisfaction, and (4) reputation.
Three Patterns of News Use in College Students • Eunjin Kim; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri; Margaret Duffy, U of Missouri; Heather Schoenberger • Through latent profile analysis, the study identifies three groups of college students based on self-reports of news consumption from various news sources. Most fell into Low News group, which also showed high levels of Entertainment Media use. Membership in the groups was strongly predicted by Parent and Friend News Use, needing the news every day, and confidence in knowing what others were trying to express.
A New Model for the Hierarchy of Influences?: Interviewing ‘Front Lines’ National Security Journalists • Heather Epkins, University of Maryland • This paper examines a critical tier in the global flow of terrorism information gathered through in-depth interviews with 35 national security journalists in the Washington, DC, ‘prestige press.’ Rarely studied but extremely influential, these ‘front-line’ reporters offer insider knowledge regarding how the post-9/11 era has altered journalist routines. Findings include evidence to reconsider the Hierarchy of Influences Model (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996) using the lens of an important modern frame: the “War on Terror.”
Do college students benefit from their social media experience? Social media involvement and its impact on college students’ self-efficacy perception • Ling Fang, Bowling Green State University • The indulgence in social networking sites (SNS) among college students has drawn scholars’ attention and research interest. Considering the importance of self-efficacy as a behavior indicator in every aspect of life, it is worth examining whether college students’ Facebook usage could influence college students’ self-efficacy perception in learning, socializing, and public participation. Based on a theoretical framework combining social cognitive theory and uses and gratifications theory, this study examined college students’ time spent on SNS as well as other users’ behaviors as indicators of perceived self-efficacy change after using SNS. This pilot study is based on a web survey of 395 students in public university in the Midwest on September 2012. Findings indicate a negative association between socializing use of SNS and perceived self-efficacy after using SNS. Specifically, students’ perception of SNS experience is an important indicator of their perceived self-efficacy after using SNS. However, students’ self-reported social learning behavior on SNS turned out to be a negative indicator. Moreover, positive associations found between perceived general self-efficacy change after using SNS and reported civic and politic participation suggest potential indirect effects of SNS involvement on students’ political and public participation. Interesting findings are discussed in this paper.
Thinking about issues: What drives opinion formation? • Stefan Geiss, Department of Communication, U of Mainz • Outcomes of collective opinion formation processes are often criticized. Obviously, some engage in sustained in-depth opinion formation while others process the information superficially and transiently. To account for this, a cognitive miser model is proposed: Individuals form cognitive appraisals of current issues which influence their motivation for engaging in opinion formation. A three-wave panel study tracks the progress of opinion formation. Findings support the notion that appraisals steer depth and duration of opinion formation processes.
Learning From “Fake News”: Is “Daily Show” Viewing Linked to Greater Political Knowledge? • Jennifer D. Greer, University of Alabama; Brooke Carbo, University of Alabama; Yeojin Kim • Using nationwide survey data from U.S. voters, this study examines whether exposure to “fake news” is linked to higher political knowledge, even when age, education, political participation, and political ideology are entered as control variables. “Daily Show” viewers overall had significantly higher levels of liberal knowledge than non-viewers. By gender, “Daily Show” viewing was linked to higher levels of all three types of political knowledge for women and higher levels of liberal knowledge in men.
Media repertoire and multi-platform media use: Media consumption diversity in a digital age • Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State University; Yen-I Lee, Bowling Green State University • In this digital age, many media options are available to consumers. People can resist or embrace the diversity based on their own habit and preference. This study of general population’s media consumption patterns including mobile media in a local market shows that media content preference diversity, total news consumption time and household income predict the news media repertoire diversity. But within each medium, the repertoire is narrow with most consumers using only one outlet in newspapers and social media. It advances the media repertoire theory and utilizes brand loyalty and media accessibility to explain why the proliferation of media outlets and platforms may not translate to consumption diversity. To maximize time use and efficiency and for different content, consumers choose a variety of media platforms to satisfy their needs. But in each specific medium, one platform dominates as their primary format to consume.
Victimhood and restoration: Retooling memory in newspapers • Choonghee Han, Hope College • Claiming victimhood provides victims with a sense of restoration, and helps them recover their self-esteem. This seemingly psychological process is, in fact, political. In a nation-state context, remembering victimhood enables a country to avoid division in the society by reminding the public that they shared the memory of national suffering. This paper explores the discursive construction of victimhood and restoration in Asian flagship newspapers. A critical discourse analysis was conducted on news articles.
Can Enduring Values Endure? Examining Professional Self-Image of Local News Workers in a News Community of Constant Change • Shawn Harmsen, University of Iowa; Brian Ekdale, University of Iowa; Jane B. Singer, University of Iowa; Melissa Tully, University of Iowa • “They didn’t know it at the time, but when Tuchman (1978), Gans (1979), and Schudson (1981) wrote some of the seminal works in the area of the sociology of news, they were writing about what some later called the “golden age” of journalism. Part of what they found and described in various ways was a group of journalists who saw themselves as professionals, as part of a special group with its own special history, training, skill, rights, and responsibilities. Forty years later the news industry looks very different than it did in the 1970s. But despite all of the changes, including but not limited to technology, ownership, and job stability, have journalists changed as well? This research uses a case study approach (interviews, observations, and surveys) at a small-market converged newspaper/television/online news operation to explore how journalists define themselves in an ever-changing environment. This paper first discusses the amount of change in general this particular news staff has experienced in the last five years, asks how they feel about those changes, and then focuses in on their feelings about management driven exploration of what is sometimes called “community” or “public” journalism. This paper describes a staff facing its own conflicting attitudes about change and the future of their jobs, while also determined to hold onto what they find to be special about their profession. It concludes with a discussion about the normative implications of these findings for journalism and for the society which the journalists are supposed to serve.”
“Am I Pretty?” YouTube Answers. • Azeta Hatef • The purpose of this study is to uncover the motivations and effects of creating an “Am I Pretty or Ugly?” YouTube video. We are able to infer the young women’s motivations for creating and uploading videos through content analysis of words and actions as well as viewer’s comments. Analysis of data illustrates the strongest relationships correlate with the amount of activity on a YouTube video page rather than the level of attractiveness of the video creator.
Twitter’s Role in the Modern Newsroom: Circumventing the Gatekeepers and Pounding the Digital Pavement • Keren Henderson, Louisiana State University; Andrea Miller, LSU • Is social media so convenient that journalists are replacing traditional news routines with Twitter? Analyzing a survey of 166 local television news workers, this study offers insights into use of Twitter in the newsroom, rates of adoption, who journalists are following, and their attitudes toward the value of Twitter as a story idea source.
Perceived Realism, Enjoyment, and News Perception in the Context of Stereotypes: The Influence of Stereotypic Portrayals of Gender Roles on Attitudes toward News Stories • Jennifer Hoewe, The Pennsylvania State University; Alyssa Appelman, The Pennsylvania State University; Elise Stevens, The Pennsylvania State University • This study explores the relationship between stereotypic beliefs and subsequent attitudes, specifically how beliefs about women relate to attitudes toward news stories about a stay-at-home parent. A between-subjects experiment revealed that participants with more stereotypic beliefs about women thought a news story about a stay-at-home mother was more realistic than one about a stay-at-home father. Regardless of story condition, stereotypic beliefs about women were associated with negative attitudes regarding perceived realism, enjoyment, and news perception.
It’s All About Me: Narcissism and User-Generated Content on Facebook • Todd Holmes, University of Florida • It is thought that the content-generating capabilities of Facebook are leading to higher levels of narcissism within our society. A survey (N=344) was conducted that assessed a number of Facebook behaviors: self-promotion, ensuring a large network of friends, retaliation/anger over critical remarks, and entitlement/exploitativeness. Results were mixed concerning self-promotional behaviors and entitlement/exploitativeness, but were consistent with ensuring a large friend network and retaliating and becoming angry over negative comments.
Morally Engaged and Cognitively Mixed: The Prosocial Effects of Exposure to Unpleasant Media Violence on Charitable Giving • T. Franklin Waddell, Penn State; Edward Downs, University of Minnesota Duluth; James Ivory, Virginia Tech; Kwaku Akom, Virginia Tech; Marcela Weber, The University of the South; Desmond Hayspell, Southside Virginia Community College • Although media violence is generally assumed to desensitize psychological and physiological responses to real world violence, it should not be assumed that all violent content produces uniform, negative effects. An experiment found that individuals who viewed a media clip that portrayed the consequences of domestic abuse were more likely to donate money to a charitable organization for international victims of violence. These results provide evidence that exposure to some media violence can promote prosocial behaviors.
Occupying the Civil Rights Movement: Cable News Framing of Contemporary Protest through Historical Memory • Sarah Jackson, Northeastern University • This paper examines if and how public memory of the civil rights movement was put into action by newsmakers seeking to frame understandings of Occupy Wall Street on two of America’s most polarized news networks. A descriptive and discursive analysis reveals the differential journalistic values, and presumptions of core American values, that influence coverage of social movements on Fox News and MSNBC. Implications for debates about social change in the public sphere are discussed.
Promoting broadband and ICT access for persons with disabilities: International comparison of case studies • Krishna Jayakar, Penn State University; Chun Liu, Southwest Jiaotong University; Gary Madden, Curtin University; Eun-A Park, University of New Haven • Despite the promise of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and broadband to improve the lives of persons with disabilities, there are wide disparities in access and usage of ICTs between disabled and non-disabled populations. This paper researches ten case studies of policies and programs promoting ICT and broadband access for persons with disabilities in the leading economies of the Asia-Pacific region, in order to identify successful programs on the basis of effectiveness and cost efficiency.
The Features of Hegemonic Masculinity in Korea • Jaehyeon Jeong, Temple University • This study, focusing on the Korean variety-talk show, investigates how popular media form people’s consent to hegemonic masculinity, and what features of hegemonic masculinity are (re) produced through media discourses. The features of hegemonic masculinity are discussed in terms of the exclusion of the feminine, the exclusion of female masculinity, homophobia, and the division of labor.
The Priming of Arab – Israeli Stereotypes: How News Stories May Enhance or Inhibit Audience Stereotypes • Erika Johnson, University of Missouri • Present research shows that there is no study examining media representation of Arab women and Israeli women as a prime causing stereotype activation in Americans. The goal of this study was to understand how news stories about Arab and Israeli women prime stereotypes in Americans, extending research on priming and ethnic media representation. A 2 (female target ethnicity: Arab and Israeli) x 3 (depiction type: prototypical, non-prototypical, and control) x 3 (multiple messages) mixed factorial design was conducted to examine how depiction and ethnicity in news story stimuli would interact with stereotype activation and accuracy (N = 107). Results showed that participants exhibited higher stereotyping after reading prototypical stories about Arab women and after they were not primed by stories. Also, participants who read non-prototypical news stories about Arab women showed reduced stereotyping. The results give meaningful implications for scholars and journalists, including possibilities for expanding research and improving coverage.
Promoting the Tan Ideal? Does Exposure to Tanned versus Untanned Images Affect College Women’s Attractiveness Motivations for Tanning • Hannah Kang, University of Florida; Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida; Sarah Lashley, University of Florida • This study investigated how exposure to mass media images promoting a tanned appearance influence attractiveness motivations for tanning and how exposure affects tanning intentions. The study was based in social cognitive and social comparison theories. The participants were 106 undergraduate women who were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions (light, moderate or dark tan or control). The results indicated that attractiveness motivation for tanning was a predictor of sunbathing expectations and tanning salon use expectations at pre-test and post-test. However, exposure to models displaying different tan levels had no significant impact on women’s attractiveness motivations, body satisfaction, intentions to sunbathe in the future or intentions to engage in indoor tanning. Implications and limitations of the findings are addressed in the study.
Placing Blame and Seeking Solutions: Media Framing of School Shootings • Ana Keshelashvili; Kenneth Cardell, University of South Carolina • Analyzing newspaper articles and television transcripts, this study explores how American news media have framed the issue of school shootings in the United States. More specifically, through an examination at both the individual and societal levels, this research seeks to understand attributions of responsibility represented within the news coverage. Using a representative sample of newspaper and television news transcripts covering school shootings between 1999 and 2012, this study employs content analysis method to explore how the media has addressed the questions of who is responsible for school shootings and what can be done about them. Implications of findings, as well as suggestions for future research are also considered.
News Use and Cognitive Elaboration The Mediating Role of People’s Perception of Media Complex Issues Comprehension • Ji won Kim; Monica Chadha; Homero Gil de Zuniga • Using a two-wave panel data, the study attempted to find the relationship between news consumption and news cognitive elaboration while accommodating for the role of media perception. The results showed the mediating role of media perception in this relationship. The study contributes to the existing literature by introducing a new perception variable and examining its relationships with elaboration to make theoretical advancement and social implications in the democratic society.
Facebook, “Frenemy?”: Examining the Relationship between Exposure to Facebook Profiles and Body Image • Ji Won Kim, Syracuse University • This study examined the relationship between exposure to Facebook profiles and body image. From the online survey of 175 respondents, results showed that the Facebook usage was correlated with higher levels of self-objectification and appearance comparison, and the hierarchical regression analyses revealed that self-objectification and appearance comparison mediated the relation between Facebook usage (Facebook Intensity, Facebook usage for social grooming) and body shame.
Investigating the Role of Motivated Reasoning on Third-Person Perceptions of PSAs • Nam Young Kim, Sam Houston State University • Since Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are perceived as socially valuable and promote positive behavioral changes, scholars have found that people tend to estimate larger impacts on themselves (i.e., a first-person effect) than on others (Cho & Han, 2004; Duck & Mullin, 1995; Gunther & Hwa, 1996). However, empirical studies have shown that individuals’ behavioral differences or a message’s features can evoke different estimates of media impacts on the self and on others (Duck & Mullin, 1995; Duck, Terry, & Hogg, 1995). In particular, when people are exposed to information that is inconsistent with their prior beliefs, it can be perceived as personally irrelevant as a defensive tactic toward the dissonance in their cognition (i.e., motivated reasoning) according to Keller and Block (1999). Using a 2 (Fear Appeal: High vs. Low) X 2 (Prior Attitudes: Negative vs. Positive) factorial experiment, this study therefore investigates how the dissonance between level of fears and individuals’ prior beliefs boosts their defensive information processing and influences the PSAs effects on both themselves and others in the context of an anti-binge drinking health campaign. The results show that there were no significant interaction effects between level of fears and participants’ prior attitudes toward drinking alcohol, which might differentiate third-person perceptions across conditions. However, a negative scores of other-self difference implies that participants generally evaluated the PSA effects on others is greater than the effects on themselves. The findings have practical and theoretical implications for future studies on the use of emotional appeals in PSAs.
Forewarning of Persuasive Intent: The Role of Regulatory Focus and Brand Attachment • Sang Lee; Hongmin Ahn • Forewarning people of incoming persuasive information often results in decrease in persuasion by conferring resistance to persuasion. The present research explored the forewarning effects and the moderating roles of regulatory focus and brand attachment in a public relations context. The results of a 2x2x2 factorial design experiment (N = 217) showed that forewarning of persuasive intent interacts with regulatory focus and brand attachment to influence participants’ attitudes and persuasiveness of the information. Specifically, the study showed that the impact of forewarning is more pronounced in prevention-focused than in promotion-focused conditions. It also showed that the impact of forewarning is less pronounced when participants’ brand attachment is high.
To Boldly Go: A Comparison of Early and Modern Gender Roles in Science Fiction Television • Alicia Linn, Oakland University • Through viewing the long-running United Kingdom shows “Doctor Who” (1963) and “Doctor Who” (2005), along with the United States shows “Star Trek” (1966) and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” one can see shifts in gender expectations for both men and women in science fiction. These shifts can be linked to cultural expectations of gender roles. Using a list of stereotypical qualities typically associated with each gender, I have determined a few of these shifts. Contentious discourse and dynamic frames: The interplay among online public opinion, media report, and government discourse in public event • Shiwen Wu; Na Liu • How do online public opinion, mainstream media, and government construct interpretative frames towards contentious social events? Employing a content analysis of 765 online posts, 87 commercial media reports, 77 party media reports, and 14 government releases regarding a sociopolitical event in China, we test the frame building and frame interacting impacts originated from the four actors. We find that each actor constructs divergent but interrelated frames by employing different functions of the frames.
Second-Level Agenda Setting in 140 Characters: How Journalists Used Twitter to Report the Newtown Shooting • Megan Mallicoat, University of Florida • This study explores second-level agenda setting and social media through a content analysis of journalists’ tweets during a 10-day period following the Newtown, Conn., shooting. The results show gun control was by far the cognitive attribute most frequently identified, followed by timeline and story details, news content, and emotional reactions. They also show that, in terms of affective attributes, the tweets were neutral in about half the cases, but negativity increased as time progressed.
Educational TV Consumption and Children’s Interest in Leisure Reading and Writing: A Test of the Validated Curriculum Hypothesis • Nicole Martins, Department of Telecommunications; Jakob Jensen, University of Utah • The relationship between children’s TV consumption and literacy outcomes is currently unclear as past research has identified both linear (positive and negative) and curvilinear trends. It has been suggested that one source of variance in this relationship is the content children consume; specifically, researchers have argued that research-based educational TV programming (e.g., Between the Lions) should be positively related to literacy outcomes whereas non research-based programming (e.g., Boohbah) should be negatively related to literacy outcomes (what we refer to as the validated curriculum hypothesis). To test this hypothesis directly, fourth and fifth graders (N = 120) completed a survey assessing educational TV consumption and leisure reading/writing behaviors. The results upheld the validated curriculum hypothesis and revealed several key moderators including composite TV consumption and parent’s reading behavior. The results help to rectify conflicting results in the literature, support the validated curriculum hypothesis, and underscore the value of research-based educational TV programming.
Handheld Media Use at School: Increased Use Negatively Impacts Reading Outcomes • Nicholas Matthews, Indiana University; Jakob Jensen, University of Utah; Nicole Martins, Department of Telecommunications; Rebecca Ivic, The University of Akron • Two studies were conducted to investigate the possibility that portable video game (PVG) devices and cell phones displaced children’s leisure reading. In study one, 120 fourth and fifth grade children completed a survey about their media habits and found that bringing PVG devices to school and talking on cell phones negatively related to leisure reading. In study two, 136 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders completed a similar survey and found that cell phones but not PVGs negatively related to children’s leisure reading. These data extend the displacement literature by illuminating the impact these newer technologies have on reading outcomes.
Vicarious Experience: Experimentally Testing the Effects of Empathy for Media Characters with Severe Depression and the Intervening Role of Perceived Similarity • Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina • This study reports results from a 3-condition experiment (N = 80), wherein participants either read an article about a person (high vs. low social similarity) struggling with severe depression or no article (control), before viewing a stimulus website for a faux peer support organization. The results indicated that the level of empathic responses, positive attitudes, and the likelihood of engaging in helping behaviors, might be enhanced after reading about a socially similar person with depression.
A comparative study of the propaganda devices used by FOX and MSNBC • Aimee Meader, University of Texas at Austin • This study investigates the use of propaganda devices on two cable networks: FOX and MSNBC. These devices work to sway audiences toward a conservative or liberal ideology, respectively, and may increase the political divide through rhetorical manipulation. A contextual content analysis found that MSNBC used more testimonials and name-calling than FOX, but FOX used more fear appeals. The results of this study may partially explain why partisan often fail to see eye-to-eye.
Citizens as Opinion Leaders: Exploring the Effects of Citizen Journalism on Opinion Leadership • Seungahn Nah, University of Kentucky; Kang Namkoong, University of Kentucky; Stephanie Van Stee, University of Kentucky; Rachael Record, University of Kentucky • This study explores the effects of citizen journalism on opinion leadership concerning community issues and nonprofit and voluntary organizations. Results from a quasi-experiment showed that there were no differences in opinion leadership between the treatment and control groups. However, the results also revealed that the diversity of news sources produced (i.e., use of both web and human sources in news articles produced by citizen journalists) yielded a positive relationship with opinion leadership changes.
Public Risk Perception of Food Hazards: Understanding The Relationships Between Communication Channels, Risk Perceptions and Preventive Behavioral Intentions • SANG HWA OH, University of South Carolina; Sei-Hill Kim; Jea Chul Shim, Korea University; Jeong-Heon JC Chang, Korea University; Hwalbin Kim, University of South Carolina • Using food-safety issues in South Korea, this study examines whether two levels of risk perception – personal and societal – are related with people’s precautionary behaviors. Our findings point to the important role of personal risk perception in shaping South Korean’s precautionary behaviors for food-safety. We also look into the role of communication channels in shaping the public’s risk perceptions. Findings indicate that interpersonal communication and reading of online news are positively related with personal risk perception.
“Lord, forgive them; they know not what they do”: The Divine and the Damned in News Coverage of Executed Texas Death Row Inmates • Gregory Perreault; Berkley Hudson; Delia Cai • This historical analysis examines selected newspaper coverage of the last words of executed death row inmates in Texas, U.S.A. from 1982-2000. This study seeks to place the words of those silenced within the context of history and media coverage. It focuses on themes of religion, spirituality, and forgiveness. The findings argue that the prominence of spiritual themes in the newspaper coverage serves as a humanizing story element in contrast with the brutality of the crimes. This research builds on Campbell’s theory of myth (1988), examining the degree to which the newspapers themselves serve as a reifying, perpetuating ritual role in their coverage of executions.
Rediscovering Media-Value Associations in the Internet Age • Chris Roberts, University of Alabama • An update and improvement to a 1981 study shows that, more than ever, participants associate specific media channels with specific values. In 2011, digital natives and immigrants replicated 1981 research by associating Rokeach’s 36 values statements with mass media channels. Data were analyzed using Rokeach’s approach and by Schwartz’s and Bilsky’s motivational domains. Adding the Internet introduced many value shifts from 1981, as well as revealing significant differences between contemporary younger and older participants. The Internet was perceived high for “freedom” as well as many instrumental, achievement and self-direction values. Newspapers remained associated with a preponderance of values, but with many changes in intensity. Television remained affiliated with many terminal and self-focused values, while radio and magazine associations remained flat.
Explaining third-person perceptions: Comparing self-enhancement, social distance, exposure, normative fit, and exemplar accessibility explanations • Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University; Michael Boyle • Although many explanations are offered for third-person effects, few studies directly measure and compare multiple theories. We present participants with three distinct types of media meant to evoke varied third- and first-person perceptions, and measure how well each theory predicts the perceptual gaps. Results show that the acceptability of influence and ability to think of examples of influence best predict both expected influences and perceptual gaps.
Television Viewing and the Cultivation of Attitudes toward American Exceptionalism • Laras Sekarasih, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Gregory Blackburn, University of Massachusetts Amherst • This study examined the cultivation of attitudes toward American Exceptionalism. Controlling for demographic attributes, television viewing predicted pride in being American, but not attitudes toward U.S. unilateralism. Significant two-way interactions between television viewing and gender and political orientations in predicting attitudes towards U.S. unilateralism were found. Among male and liberal participants, more television viewing was associated with more positive attitudes toward unilateralism. An indirect relationship between television viewing and unilateralism was found through American pride.
Effectiveness of Entertainment-Education in Communicating Health Information: A Systematic Review • Fuyuan Shen; Ashley Han • This paper conducted a meta-analysis of published research on entertainment-education and health communication. A search of databases identified 22 studies (N = 19517) that met our inclusion criteria and contained relevant statistics. Analysis of the results suggested that overall, entertainment-education’s effects on health outcomes—as measured by knowledge, attitudes, intention and behaviors—was small but significant, with an average effect size (r) of .11 (p < .001). This effect size did not vary significantly across channels, health issues, study locations, and participants’ gender. However, research designs (surveys vs. experiments) and exposure time were significant moderators of entertainment education’s impact on health outcomes.
Being a Truth-Teller Who Serves Only the Citizens: A Case Study of Newstapa • Wooyeol Shin, University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities • This study explores the boundary work of the Korean independent newsroom Newstapa. The journalistic value of truth-telling is emphasized in Newstapa’s practices. Newstapa journalists, who previously worked in mainstream media, open the boundaries of professional work by embracing the nascent practices of digital culture. Although this process causes the journalists to relinquish their autonomy to the citizens, it leads to their being exclusively accountable journalists who serve only the citizens through truth-telling.
Trust, Happiness and the Watch-Dog: Social Trust in the Context of a Free Press • Heather Shoenberger, University of Missouri; Freya Sukalla, University of Augsburg, Germany • We conducted a hierarchical analysis using data from 45 countries from the World Values Survey wave with data from 2004 to 2008 and matching these with country information on the level of press freedom collected by Freedom House to simultaneously test for differences in levels of social trust among individuals and, more importantly, for variations in social trust between countries with different levels of press freedom. We also extend the theory of trust by examining the influence of press freedom as an important contextual factor. We find that countries with higher levels of freedom of the press (i.e., more free) are more likely to have a citizenry who report higher trust in their fellow citizens.
Media Credibility and Disaster: The Moderating Role of Information Satisfaction in Post-Earthquake Haiti • Erich Sommerfeldt, University of Maryland; Jennifer Mandel • The 2010 earthquake in Haiti left survivors in desperate need of information. This study examined if satisfaction with the availability of information moderated the relationship between frequency of radio use and perceptions of radio credibility. From data acquired in Haiti (N = 1,808), analyses revealed an interaction effect between radio usage and information satisfaction on the perceived credibility of radio. Lower satisfaction levels were found to enhance the relationship between frequency of use and credibility.
Once Upon a [Mediated] Time: How Retrospective Television Programs Shape Cultural Memory • Vivian Sponholtz, University of Florida • This paper examines how television shapes Cultural Memory through episodic retrospective dramas concerning gender equity in the workplace. It argues that television, as a ritually-viewed, performance-based, storytelling medium, which bridges the gap between orality and textuality, influences the cultural understanding of history and sense of identity for women through historic portrayals. Based on Cultural Memory theory, Social Cognition theory, and Transportation theory, and the Bechdel-Wallace Test, a typology of television programs as fables is proposed.
Constructing Digital Childhoods in Taiwan newspaper • Ping Shaw; Yue Tan • With a content analysis of news reports in the most popular children’s newspaper in Taiwan, this study examined the media framing of child computer users in Taiwan by showing how Taiwan media represent and construct childhoods and frame the impact of digital technology on children in order to explain how cultural assumptions of children’s nature, status, and needs influence the media representation, and as being mediated by children’s age and living domains (home vs. school).
FYI on FOI: Exploring the effects of freedom of information (FOI) laws around the world • Edson Tandoc, University of Missouri-Columbia • Many democracies, young and old, have instituted Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. FOI scholars and advocates argued that having an FOI law contributes to curbing corruption and improving standards of living. But having an FOI law can be different from effectively implementing it. Pooling together indices summarizing data from 168 countries, this study revisits the assumption that having an FOI law and implementing it can curb corruption and improve quality of life.
CNN’s Coverage of the 2012 Presidential Debates: Balanced or Liberally Biased? • Steven Voorhees, Rutgers University • Following the 2012 presidential election season, conservatives charged cable news networks CNN and MSNBC as being liberally biased in their news coverage. While MSNBC openly acknowledges its progressive leanings, CNN has maintained a commitment to balanced journalism. This study conducts a comparative rhetorical and semiotic analysis of both networks’ coverage following the three highly watched presidential debates to see if CNN holds to its balanced commitments. Results indicate a wide separation between the two networks.
Conflict avoidance, context collapse: Young citizens and politics on Facebook • Emily Vraga, George Mason University; Kjerstin Thorson, University of Southern California; Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, University of Southern California; Emily Gee, University of Southern California • Social networking sites like Facebook increasingly shape youth engagement with politics, but little is known about how individuals manage election-related content in this social space. This study combines twenty in-depth interviews with a survey of young adults to examine how individual predispositions and Facebook network characteristics shape attitudes and behaviors towards sharing political content. Our results suggest young adults perceive delicate norms governing political expression on Facebook, where mostly a motivated minority posts political content.
“Unbelievable job numbers”: Bias claims, economic reporting, and the 2012 presidential election • Fred Vultee, Wayne State University • This content analysis addresses a specific claim of quantifiable media bias arising from coverage of unemployment statistics in the 2012 presidential campaign. Partisan assertions about what the media “always” do for Republicans or Democrats are often easy to dismantle, but the framing of economic issues provides a chance to examine real, rather than imagined, press performance. Results suggest that partisanship is hard to find among the ideologies that appear to influence how economic news is presented during elections. More influential is professionalism – despite the apparently contradictory forms it takes in different media sectors.
Meaningfully Moved, but Emotionally Mixed: The Dual Effects of Inspiring, Meaningful Films on Viewers’ Enjoyment of Media Violence • T. Franklin Waddell, Penn State; Stefanie Davis; Erica Bailey • Recent research suggests that media violence interventions can reduce the negative effects of media violence by affecting viewers’ preferences for violent media content. An experiment tested whether exposing participants to an inspiring, meaningful film could be used to reduce viewers’ subsequent enjoyment of media violence. Results suggest that inspiring films elicit co-occurring emotional responses that both enhance and inhibit the enjoyment of media violence. The moderating role of viewers’ hedonic orientation is also discussed.
She should have/She shouldn’t have: Examining the effect of combined news frames in sexual health on people’s emotions, perceptions of societal responsibility, and social policy intentions • Kimberly Walker, Indiana University School of Journalism, Indianapolis • This study manipulated two variables in an experimental design–cognitive framing (thematic/episodic) and affective framing (gain/loss)–to determine whether changing the way newspaper stories report HPV and teen pregnancy alters readers’ emotions, attribution of societal responsibility, and intentions to support health policy changes. Results revealed the affective gain frame led to more positive audience emotions, support for societal responsibility and intentions to support health policy changes. No interaction effects between frames were found.
Murder She Searched: The Effect of Violent Crime and News Coverage on Residents’ Search for Crime-Related Information • Brendan Watson, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • This paper examines the agenda-setting effect of local news coverage of crime and local violent crime rates on local residents’ Google searches for crime-related information. These web searches can be viewed as manifestations of the latent cognitive salience of an issue. The time-series analysis found that while news coverage, which does not reflect changes in “real-world” conditions (i.e., changes in the violent crime rate), does affect searches in the short-term, in the longer-term violent crime, not coverage, has an agenda-setting effect on local residents’ searches for crime-related information.
‘Child of Mine:’ Impacts of Prolonged Media Exposure on Women’s Fertility Desires • Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, The Ohio State University; Laura Willis, The Ohio State University; Ashley Kennard • A prolonged exposure experiment examined whether media portrayals of women’s social roles affect fertility desires with childless adult women. Participants viewed magazines pages five days in a row. Stimuli presented women either in mother/homemaker roles, professional roles, or beauty ideal roles. Exposure to mother/homemaker and beauty ideal portrayals increased the number of desired children across time. Exposure to the professional portrayal increased the time planned until first birth compared to the beauty ideal portrayal.
Not on my watch: A textual analysis of local and national newspaper coverage of the Martin-Zimmerman case • Erin Willis, University of Memphis; Chad Painter, Eastern New Mexico University • The shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman made national newspaper headlines. Textual analysis was used to examine news framing of race and crime in news coverage. Five themes are discussed: (1) the Sanford Herald compared to national newspapers, (2) Zimmerman’s mysterious race, (3) uneven descriptors of Martin and Zimmerman, (4) the case being used as a platform for discussion of larger issues such as race and gun control, and (5) the infamous “hoodie.”
Use of SNSs, Political Efficacy, and Civic Engagement Among Chinese College Students: Effects of Gratifications and Network Size • Qian Xu, Elon University; Lingling Qi, Nanjing University • A survey (N=471) was conducted to explore the impact of social networking site (SNS) use on political efficacy and civic engagement among Chinese college students. SNS network size positively predicted civic engagement, but not political efficacy. Social connection gratification positively predicted both internal efficacy and engagement in political voice, whereas entertainment gratification negatively predicted external efficacy and engagement in political voice. Information seeking gratification did not significantly correlate with either political efficacy or civic engagement.
A Multilevel Analysis of Individual- and Prefecture-Level Sources of Media Trust in Japan • Masahiro Yamamoto, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Kansas; Weina Ran • Previous research has examined various sources of media trust including media consumers’ political stands and media use, objectivity in news reports, and perceived biases stemming from journalists’ political leanings. The goal of this study is to examine community contextual sources of media trust. Data from the Japanese General Social Surveys reveal that community structural pluralism and political heterogeneity have independent negative effects on audiences’ trust in the media.
Antecedents to Media Use: Effects of Parent Socialization and Childhood Behavior on Consumption Patterns During Adulthood • Chance York, Louisiana State University; Rosanne Scholl, LSU • Whether the media choices of adults are influenced by the socializing role of family during childhood is a largely unexplored question. Using parent-child panel data, this study shows that parent media behaviors and childhood media use influence news and entertainment consumption patterns later in life. Media consumption patterns, which have been shown to influence political knowledge and voter turnout, appear to be learned and habituated during childhood.
Insight for Policy-Making:Mothers’ Opinions of TV Snack/Fast-Food Advertising Aimed at Children Regarding Its Overall Amount, Content, and Influence on Their Children’s Health • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu • This exploratory study investigated the opinions of mothers who had at least one child between the ages of 7 and 12 on TV snack/fast-food advertising targeted at children. Mothers’ opinions were assessed concerning the amount of this advertising, its content, its influence on children’s health, and the need for stricter regulation of such content. The present research also examined whether there was a social distance or third person effect active in the mothers’ opinions about the influence of TV snack/fast-food advertising on children by identifying their opinions about the effects on their own children, their friends’ children, and the children of people they didn’t know. The results showed that most mothers in this study believed that there were too many TV snack/fast-food advertisements for their children to avoid, and the content of these advertisements should be improved, even if this required stricter regulation. However, it was also found that the mothers believed the children of people they didn’t know were more negatively influenced by exposure to TV snack/fast-food advertising compared to their own children. Thus, the third person effect was observed. There was evident complexity in mothers’ opinions about TV snack/fast-food advertising. Mothers hesitated to say that TV snack/fast-food advertising was the most important influence on their children’s eating habits, and even though they were generally negative about the impact of TV snack/fast-food advertising on their children and wanted to see greater regulation of content, they did not think that adverting was the most important factor influencing their children’s eating habits and health. Rather, they thought that they were, and should be, the most important mediator of how many TV advertisements their children watched and what kinds of food their children ate.
Framing depression: Cultural and organizational influence on coverage of a public health threat and attribution of responsibilities in U.S. news media • Yuan Zhang; Yan Jin; Jeannette Porter; Sean Stewart • We conducted the first study of how U.S. news media covered depression over the past three decades. We analyzed how media framed depression thematically vs. episodically and attributed causal and problem-solving responsibilities at personal vs. societal levels. We also explored how cultural and organizational factors influenced the frame building process. U.S. news media relied on thematic framing to cover the issue but placed more causal and problem-solving responsibilities on the individual than on the society.
A self-created spiral of silence?: Modeling the effects of media reliance and perceived media diversity on opinion expression • Xinyan Zhao, University of Maryland • This study investigated the effects of media reliance and perceived media diversity on individuals’ opinion expression intention and the psychological mechanism underlying such effects. Both direct and indirect effects of media reliance and perceived media diversity on people’s opinion expression were tested and compared. Using data from a survey of 317 undergraduates in China, it was found that: (1) Perceived media diversity does not directly predict one’s willingness to speak out; instead, it moderates the relationship between opinion congruency and individual opinion expression; (2) newspaper reliance has both a positive direct and indirect influence (through self-efficacy) on individual opinion expression; (3) perceived diversity of Internet rather than the perceived diversity of traditional mass media is positively related to self-efficacy and individual opinion expression.
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