Mass Communication and Society 2019 Abstracts
Open Competition
Sharing Native Advertising on Twitter: Evidence of the Inoculating Influence of Disclosures • Michelle Amazeen, Boston University; Chris Vargo • Based upon a large data set of tweets linking to native advertising in leading U.S. news publications, this study explores whether the practice of native advertising disclosure in the field serves the inoculating function of resistance to persuasion. Leveraging the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad & Wright, 1994) and inoculation theory (McGuire, 1964), results show a) regular use of disclosures on publisher landing pages, b) the absence of disclosures in over half of publisher thumbnail images, and c) a negative moderating effect of disclosures on the valence of organic comments.
Effective Targeting of Youth through Online Social Networks in Diverse and Multicultural Marketplaces: New Developments and Perspectives. • Mian Asim, Zayed University • This study examines and compares the effectiveness of social networks to target youth for precision marketing under the conditions of cultural dispositions, innovative aptitude, and perceived medium credibility in emerging marketplaces. Under the premise of Social Identity framework, the results reveal external factors like recommendations, product offers, and appearance are more relevant than an individual’s traits and dispositions when evaluating products on social networks. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
Ads for Forever Families: How Public Service Advertising Portrays Adoptive Children and Teenagers • Jackson Carter, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • There is a dearth of research in mass communication regarding family adoption, which may hinder meaningful progress to help policymakers, academics, content creators, and families. The current study adopts a qualitative approach to identify the persuasive appeals, dominant frames and media representation of adoptive parents and children in the PSAs that promotes adoption. This research informs social work professionals about how media portrait family adoption, and allow them to strategize how to shape future communication.
Developing and Validating the Scale of Parental Social Media Mediation Across Child and Parent Samples • Liang Chen; Shirley Ho, Nanyang Technological University; May Lwin; Lunrui Fu • “This research aims to enhance the conceptualization and operationalization of parental social media mediation. First, we conducted focus groups with both children and parents in Singapore to categorize parental mediation strategies of social media. Then, a survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,424 child participants and 1,206 parent participants in Singapore to develop and test the scale. The results of focus groups identified four conceptually distinct parental mediation strategies of social media – labelled as active mediation, restrictive mediation, authoritarian surveillance, and monitoring as well as developed an initial scale of them. Based on the data from survey questionnaires, we investigated both inter-item and item-total correlations and performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which developed and validated the scale of parental social media mediation.
Third-Person Effects of Fake News on Social Media • Yang Cheng, North Carolina State University; Zifei Chen, University of San Francisco • This study proposed and tested a model to understand the antecedents and consequences of third-person perceptions of fake news about a company on Facebook. Survey results (N = 661) showed impacts of self-efficacy, social undesirability, and consumer involvement on the perceived influence of fake news on self and others. The perceived influence on others served as a mediator in the model and positively predicted support for corporate corrective action, media literacy intervention, and governmental regulation.
Local civic information beyond the news: Computational identification of civic content on social media • Yingying Chen, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University; Kourtnie Rodgers, Michigan State University; Kjerstin Thorson; Kelley Cotter; Sevgi Baykaldi • This study proposes a conceptual definition of local civic information to guide computational analyses of the civic information health of communities. We define civic information by the functions it could serve in a community, rather than producer. To demonstrate utility, we use structural topic modeling and human coding to identify clusters of Facebook posts which may serve a diverse community functions and demonstrate that these posts were produced by a diverse set of community organizations.
Outside of Spiral of Silence?: Examining Partisans Outspokenness on Social Networking Sites • Stella Chia • This study discloses the direct and the indirect effects of issue involvement on partisans’ outspokenness on SNSs in the context of legalizing same-sex in Taiwan. The indirect effects appear to offset the direct effects. On one hand, partisans are motivated to speak out online by their strong involvement; on the other hand, their strong issue involvement leads to presumed media influence, which prohibits them from expressing opinions on SNSs. Their offline participation is also affected.
Uncertainty Management in Mass Shootings: Antecedents, Appraisals, and Communication Behavior • Surin Chung, Ohio University • This study investigates how situational antecedents affect perceived uncertainty and how uncertainty appraisals influence publics’ communication behavior about mass shootings. A total of 637 responses were collected through an online survey. The results revealed that situational antecedents were significantly associated with uncertainty. The results showed that uncertainty had a positive indirect effect on information seeking intention via anxiety and hope. Also, uncertainty had a positive indirect effect on information attending intention via anxiety and sadness.
Combatting science myths: The effects of fact-checking and platform congruency on hostile media bias and news credibility perceptions • Raluca Cozma, Kansas State University; Xiaochen Zhang, University of Oklahoma • An experiment was conducted to examine differences in story credibility and hostile media bias perceptions between readers assigned to attitude congruent vs. incongruent cable news platforms and between readers who read stories fact checked by a reporter, a scientist, or not corrected at all. The study advances understanding of the effects of fact checking in the realm of science news and found attitude congruency to be a predictor of news credibility perceptions.
Audience’s Emotion and Sense of Social Solidarity during a Media Event: Examining the Effects of Two Media Platforms • Xi Cui, College of Charleston; Qian Xu, Elon University • This study examines audiences’ emotional and social experiences of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration through television and social media. A survey of a national sample (N = 420) was conducted following the inauguration ceremony. Drawing on media events, emotional appraisal and identity self-categorization theories, the study found that television was socially integrative while social media was socially disruptive. Media events’ influences on audiences’ social and emotional experiences depended on both their identities and media affordances.
How is CSR covered in news media? A cross-national study of comparative agenda setting of CSR news coverage using topic modeling • Chuqing Dong; Yafei Zhang • “This study explored multifaceted corporate social responsibility (CSR) covered in major news media in the UK, US, Mainland China, and Hong Kong (HK) from 2000 to 2016. Under the theoretical framework of agenda setting, 4,487 CSR-related news articles from both business and nonbusiness news sources were analyzed using computer-assisted content analysis (LDA) techniques. This study contributes to CSR communication research by adding a global media perspective regarding what CSR means and should focus on.
Identification with stereotyped social groups: Counter-stereotyped protagonists and stereotyped supporting casts influence on symbolic racism • Joshua Dunn, Texas Tech University; Bryan McLaughlin, Texas Tech University • While exposure to stereotyped minority characters reinforces prejudice, when viewers identify with counter-stereotyped characters prejudice tends to decrease. This study examines the juxtaposition of identifying with either a counter-stereotyped Black protagonist or a stereotyped supporting cast. Participants read a prompt (group vs. individual salience), watched a television episode, then reported their identification with the protagonist and the social group. Findings suggest that individual identification reduces prejudice, while social identification with a stereotyped group does not.
Making sense of Harvey: An exploration of how journalists find meaning in disaster • Gretchen Dworznik-Hoak • Thirty journalists who covered hurricane Harvey and who also lived in the areas affected were interviewed in order to explore how journalists make sense of and cope with their exposure to the trauma associated with a natural disaster. Baumeister’s (1991) four needs for meaning framework was used as a guide to uncover how journalists used justification, purpose, efficacy and self-worth to find meaning in their traumatic experiences. Implications for news managers and future research are discussed.
Engaging the Dark Side: Fictional Antagonists and Real World Attitudes toward Criminals • Rebecca Frazer, The Ohio State University; Emily Moyer-Gusé • This work investigates whether moral salience (vice salience vs. virtue salience) and the revelation timing of a character’s immoral behavior in a fictional narrative (late reveal vs. early reveal) impact identification with morally ambiguous antagonists. Further, real-world attitudinal outcomes of antagonist identification are examined. A two-part study (n = 173) demonstrated that identification with a fictional antagonist can significantly impact real-world attitudes. Additionally, gender differences emerged in the impact of revelation timing on identification.
The Hostile Media Effect in Coverage of International Relations: Testing the Relationship Between Source, Nationalism and Perceived Source Bias • Guy Golan, Center for Media and Public Opinion; T. Franklin Waddell, University of Florida; Matthew Barnidge, The University of Alabama • The significant expansion of government-sponsored news organizations across traditional and social media places mediated engagement of foreign audiences at the heart of the global news ecosystem and modern international relations. While governments compete to build and shape the desired foreign policy frames, there is some reason to believe that foreign audiences may view foreign media sources as biased. The current study aims to investigate this possibility. Drawing upon the rich body of scholarship on the hostile media phenomenon, the study experimentally compares perceived media bias in foreign versus domestic news sources.
A crisis in pictures: Visual framing of the opioid epidemic by the Cincinnati Enquirer • Matthew Haught, University of Memphis; Erin Willis, University of Colorado Boulder; Kathleen I. Alaimo, U of Colorado • Local newspapers often are on the front lines of reporting about drugs, particularly the current ongoing opioid epidemic. The present study builds on a case study of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s heroin and opioid reporting by considering the visuals used in the reporting. Thorough a visual framing analysis, this research finds that while the previous researchers’ case study found a dominance of thematic framing in reporting, its accompanying photojournalism tends to be more episodic in nature.
Spatial Dimensions of Latin American Journalists’ Role Perceptions: A Hierarchy of Influence Analysis • Vanessa Higgins Joyce, Texas State University; Summer Harlow, University of Houston; Amy Schmitz Weiss, SDSU; Rosental Alves • Local, national, regional, and global networks of power intersect in this digital era, raising questions of how re-conceived notions of space are transforming the hierarchy of influences model. This study surveyed (N=1,543) the journalism community from 20 Latin American countries examining how spatial influences are changing journalists’ role conceptions. Findings suggest that, at the organization-structure level, spatial dimensions are related to role perceptions, and regional-institutional forces remain strong influences over how journalists see their roles.
An Examination of Information Behaviors Surrounding Controversial Sociopolitical Issues: Roles of Moral Emotions and Gender • Cheng Hong, Virginia Commonwealth University; Weiting Tao, University of Miami; Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami; Bo Ra Yook, University of Miami • Given the emotion-laden nature and moral considerations of controversial sociopolitical issues, this study examines two key antecedents of information behaviors regarding controversial issues. We focus on the under-researched emotions by investigating the effects of moral emotions induced by controversial issues, and a key demographic factor, gender, on information behaviors toward such issues. Results of this study highlight the significant role of moral emotions and expand theoretical understanding of public advocacy on highly divisive sociopolitical issues.
Will Consumers Silence Themselves when Brands Speak Up about Sociopolitical Issues? Applying the Spiral of Silence Theory to Consumer Boycott and Buycott Behaviors • Cheng Hong, Virginia Commonwealth University; Cong Li, University of Miami • To investigate boycotting and buycotting as responses to brand activism, this study adopted a 2 (consumer stance: consistent vs. inconsistent with the focal company) × 2 (public support of consumer stance: majority vs. minority) between-subjects experiment, with a third factor (perceived credibility of public opinion survey) measured. Findings showed brand attitude mediated the effect of consumer stance on boycott and buycott intention, moderated by magnitude of public support and perceived credibility of public opinion survey.
The Safety Dance: Examining the Reasoned Action Approach in Severe Weather Preparedness • Jue Hou, University of Alabama; Cory Armstrong; Nathan Towery • In light of the recent national-scale severe weather hits from Hurricane Michael to wildfires on the West Coast and blizzards in the East, this study sought to investigate factors that may advance residents’ disaster preparedness behaviors. In particular, this paper examined the model of Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) under the context of severe weather preparedness. A number of natural disaster-related concepts, from prior experience to the perceived knowledge base, were examined regarding their predictive ability towards subjects’ behaviors against severe weather outbreaks. With data collected from 1,035 participants, findings indicated that people’s disaster preparedness behaviors generally fit the reasoned action approach model. In specific, background factors would predict behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, as well as control beliefs. These factors consequentially influenced people’s preparatory intentions, which would eventually impact extreme weather preparedness behaviors. Academic insights regarding severe weather protection as well as practical implications on public disaster education were discussed.
They said it’s ‘fake’: Effect of ‘fake news’ online comments on information quality judgments and information authentication • Rosie Jahng, Wayne State University; Elizabeth Stoycheff, Wayne State University; Scott Burgess; Annisa Meirita Patimurani Rochadiat, Wayne State University; Kai Xu, Wayne State University • Using a mixed-design online experiment, this study examined how individuals determine the quality of information they encounter online and what factors motivate individuals to engage in information verification and authentication processes. The effect of a heuristic cue typically encountered when reading online news articles, i.e., online comments labeling presented contents as ‘fake news’ was tested. Results showed main effects of ‘fake news’ label in online comments on participants’ accuracy in identifying fake news, need to authenticate the information encountered, and their reliance on legacy news channels to authenticate the information.
Press, Protests and The People: How Media Framing and Visual Communication Affects Support for Black Civil Rights Protests • Danielle Kilgo; Rachel Mourao, Michigan State University • This study tests the impact of news frames on audience support for a civil rights social movement. Using a 3 X 2 experimental design, we explore how frames and visuals affect audiences’ criticism of police and protesters, support, and identification with the movement. Findings show legitimizing narratives have limited impact on increasing support and identification with protesters, and police criticism. Delegitimizing frames increase criticism towards protesters, decrease support and identification, and decrease criticism of police.
Children’s Fear Responses to News: A Survey on Fear Evoked by Children’s Television News • Mariska Kleemans, Radboud University Nijmegen; Ming Ebbinkhuijsen, Radboud University Nijmegen; Serena Daalmans, Radboud University Nijmegen • To get up-to-date insights into children’s fear responses to children’s television news, a survey was conducted among 892 children (9-12 y/o). Results show that children’s television news is still an important source of information. However, a majority of children reports being frightened by this news, in particular girls and younger children. Thus, it is necessary –for both theoretical and practical reasons– to further investigate how news can be more adapted to children’s social-emotional needs.
Examining the Paths of Influence between Individual Motivators, Information Behaviors, and Outcomes in Disaster Risk Reduction • Chih-Hui Lai, National Chiao Tung U • Building on the integrative models of media effects and audience activity, this study conducts a cross-lagged analysis of two-wave data in Taiwan. The results show that the relationships between individual characteristics and disaster risk reduction (DRR) information behaviors are driven both by media effects and selection effects, depending on the type of information behavior. Different mediating mechanisms exist as personal factors influence DRR information seeking and sharing differently, which then predict outcomes of DRR.
Complementary and Competitive Framing: Framing Effects, Attitude Volatility or Attitude Resistance? • Shirley Ho, Nanyang Technological University; Yan Wah Leung, Nanyang Technological University • This study is designed to answer two big questions regarding framing theory. First, what happens when frames are challenged? Second, how resistant are the opinions that initial frames induce? 1,006 participants completed an online experiment where they were randomly assigned to first view a blog post with either complementary or competitive framing on driverless cars. Participants also viewed a blog post that challenged the stance of the first blog post. Participants indicated their attitudes and levels of support for driverless cars after viewing each blog post. Results revealed that complementary frames polarized opinions, while competitive frames neutralized opinions. Further, competitive frames induced more resistant opinions than complementary frames did. Overall, we found that attitude and support were exceptionally susceptible to new, antagonistic information. Taken together, this study found that framing effects are typically ephemeral and easily challenged by new information. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Power Exemplification of Minority Members in the News Can Influence Attribution of Responsibility for Social Issues, Intergroup Attitudes, dehumanization, and Aggression • Minjie Li • This study experimentally investigates how the power exemplification of minority members (i.e. High-Power vs. Low-Power Transgender Exemplar) in the news narrative interacts with the audience’s sex to redirect people’s responsibility attributions for transgender issues, intergroup attitudes, dehumanization, and aggression towards transgender people. The findings demonstrated that after reading the news article featuring a high-power transgender woman, cisgender women respondents reported significantly higher levels of transphobia, individual attribution of transgender issues, and dehumanization of transgender people’s human nature.
Exploring the Role of Perceptual and Affective Factors in Predicting K-Pop Gratifications and Transcultural Social Networking • Carolyn Lin; Suji Park; Xiaowen Xu; Yukyung Lee, University of Connecticut • This study examines how K-pop (Korean popular music) promotes social media use among non-Asian college students via testing a Transcultural Communication Networking Model. Findings indicate that perceived social distance, cultural familiarity and perceived cultural similarities (between K-pop and American pop music) have either an indirect or direct effect on attitudes toward K-pop. While attitudes are linked to K-pop gratifications, these two variables and perceived cultural dissimilarities contribute to transcultural networking frequency on social media.
The Effects of Framing and Advocacy Expectancy on Belief Importance and Issue Attitude • Jiawei Liu, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Min-Hsin Su; Douglas McLeod; Joseph Abisaid • Message frames have been found to influence relevant issue attitudes by influencing the weight of issue considerations emphasized in the message. This study investigates differences in the framing effects of advocacy groups, depending on whether the message fits readers’ expectations for the communicator’s issue position (expected advocacy) or not (unexpected advocacy). Findings suggest that frames with unexpected advocacy significantly influenced readers’ perceived belief importance, which in turn influenced issue attitudes.
25 Years of Thematic and Episodic Framing Research on News: A Disciplinary Self-Reflection through an Integrative Process Model of Framing • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University; Stacie Meihaus Jankowski • This current study analyzes over 25 years (1991 – 2018) of research in academic journals on thematic and episodic frames in news coverage of social issues. As Peters states at the onset of a lengthy piece on the struggle of the communication field to define its purpose and institutional focus,“self-reflection is a key part of healthy social science” (1986, p. 527). Our purpose in this paper is twofold: 1) an examination of the research conducted on thematic and episodic frames in news coverage of social issues (1991 – 2018) using Matthes’ coding concepts from a 2009 study on framing research, and 2) an exploratory exercise of systematically organizing and analyzing our research using deVreese’s integrative process of framing model (2005) to understand our findings about episodic and thematic frames in news coverage, while positing a path forward for research on these frames in news coverage. Without the first part of this study, we could not undertake the second part of our theoretical exploration. While we do not address the current debate on framing research, it’s fractured state or declared demise, we believe our work in this study sheds light on the value of framing as a theoretical and practical foundation and articulate one path for its continued use to conduct research in communication.
#Blocked: Engaging with Politicians on Social Media in the Age of Trump • Gina Masullo Chen, University of Texas at Austin • This study sought to understand the phenomenon of Americans being blocked on social media by politicians, including President Trump. Using qualitative interview data (N = 22), this analysis reveals that blocking constitutes a threat to democratic norms and damages American’s perceptions of political actors and the health of democracy. Findings also show that some Americans perceive blocking by Trump as a badge of honor, while blocking by other politicians is an unfair act of silencing.
Viewing media about President Trump’s dietary habits and fast food consumption: Partisan differences and implications for public health • Jessica Myrick, Pennsylvania State University • A nationally representative survey (N = 1,050) assessed connections between Americans’ attention to media about President Donald Trump’s preference for fast food and public perceptions and intentions regarding fast food. Results revealed a significant positive relationship between attention to media about Trump’s diet and perceptions that fast food is socially acceptable, as well as intentions to consume it. Additionally, some differences emerged for audiences who identified as Republicans versus Democrats.
Credibility Effects of Fact-Checking Labels on Social Media News Posts • Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, University of Connecticut; Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University; Alyssa Appelman, Northern Kentucky University; Michael Boyle, West Chester University • With most Internet users now getting news from social media, there is growing concern about how to verify the content that appears on these platforms. This study experimentally tests the effects of fact-checking labels on social media news posts on credibility, virality, and information seeking. Results indicate that fact-checking labels do not have a beneficial effect on credibility perceptions of individual news posts, but that their presence does increase judgments of the site’s quality overall.
Testing the Viability of Emotions and Issue Involvement as Predictors of CSA Response Behaviors • Holly Overton, University of South Carolina; Minhee Choi, University of South Carolina; Jane Weatherred, University of South Carolina; Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina • Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) has become more prominent as companies continue taking stands on politically charged social-justice issues. This study examines emotions and issue involvement as antecedents of theory of planned behavior variables (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) to predict CSA response behaviors. A survey (N = 373) was conducted to examine the public’s response to a recent CSA example–Nike’s ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
The Representation of Stigma in U.S. Newspapers • Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama; Nicholas Eckhart, The University of Alabama • A content analysis examined the representation of stigma in 1,524 stories published by U.S. news outlets between 2000 and 2018. Stigma was discussed in relation to dehumanized conditions such as schizophrenia, drug addiction, and HIV/AIDS. However, journalists frequently trivialized stigma by referencing it in relation to football teams, food, and objects that do not experience the stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination inflicted upon certain social groups.
Something is better than nothing: How the presence of comments may decrease the sharing of fake news on social media • John Petit; Cong Li, University of Miami; Barbara Millet; Khudejah Ali; Ruoyu Sun, University of Miami • This study used a between-subjects experimental design to examine the effect of user comments on news readers’ perceived news credibility and sharing intention. It was found that, regardless of the type of news, participants who read news with no comments were most likely to share the news. This effect was mediated by perceived news credibility and news liking. These experimental results have important theoretical and practical implications for future research on fake news on social media.
Interlocking Among American News Media • Adam Saffer, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Deborah Dwyer, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jennifer Harker, West Virginia University; Chris Etheridge, University of Arkansas Little Rock; Mariam Turner; Daniel Riffe, UNC-Chapel Hill • In today’s media landscape, companies seem to be more intertwined than ever. But are they? Is interlocking affecting journalists and the content being produced? This examines the networks at play among today’s media organizations and corporate businesses by using a three-method design. The first phase network analyzed interlocks among news media companies’ board of directors. The second phase surveyed editors of newspapers owned by these companies to assess the influence on the newsroom from the board and parent company. In the third phase, news coverage of directors and their affiliated organizations was content analyzed for newspapers whose editors perceived pressure “from above.” The network analysis results suggest a monolithic structure that Han (1988) and Winter (1988) feared has emerged. Unlike previous studies, we took this investigation two steps further to examine whether interlocks were pressuring newsrooms and influencing the news content produced. For about one third of survey respondents, interlocks were seen by pressured editors as having influence on the newsroom. Pressured editors indicated significantly stronger perceptions of financial pressures emanating from the newspaper’s boardroom, board of directors, “ownership/upper management,” and business interests than editors who did not indicate pressure from interlocks or their corporate parent. So, what was the pressured newsrooms’ coverage of the interlocks? Routine coverage of interlocks and their affiliated organizations was lacking. Even the disclosure of a relationship between a director or affiliated organization and the newspaper was disclosed half of the time and traditional journalistic scrutiny was applied to less than half of the time.
Effects of Narrative Political Ads on Message and Candidate Attitudes • Fuyuan Shen, Pennsylvania State University; Guolan Yang, Pennsylvania State University; Jeff Conlin, Pennsylvania State University; Pratiti Diddi, Pennsylvania State University • This study examined the effects of narrative political ads on message attitudes and candidate evaluations. We conducted a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects online experiment whereby participants viewed political ads manipulated by message valence (positive vs. negative), message format (narrative vs. non-narrative) and message focus (issue vs. character). Results suggested that both message valence and message format had some significant main and interactions on message and candidate evaluations.
How does Profanity Propagate Online? Measuring the Virality of Swearing on Social Media • Yunya Song, Hong Kong Baptist University; K. Hazel Kwon, Arizona State University; Jianliang Xu; Xin Huang; Shiying Li, Brown University • Swearing, also known as profanity, refers to the behavior of using foul language that is often linked to online incivility. In China, state government has been actively censoring profanity under the rationale of protecting civility in digital space. This study examines the diffusion of profanity in social media, based on the case of China’s microblogging service, Sina Weibo. The study utilizes computational methods to reconstruct the cascade networks of sampled swearing and non-swearing posts and compares various structural features of diffusion networks, including size, depth, width, and interlayer width ratios, between the propagation of swearing and non-swearing posts. The study contributes to the understanding of the diffusion process of profane speech online, and expands discussions about the impact of online incivility in shaping online discursive culture in China.
The Rise of Fact-Checking in Asia • Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Lim Darren, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Weng Wai Mak, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Shawn Tan, Nanyang Technological University Singapore • This study seeks to understand the roles, ethics, and routines of fact-checking organisations in Asia through interviews with 11 fact-checkers in the region. Results showed most fact-checkers developed similar routines whether they have a journalistic background or not. Leveraging of social media and technology were common answers given in searching for issues to fact-check, with those single operator or smaller fact-checking operation being dependent on their audience to bring trending issues to their attention. When it comes to the ethical principles that guide them, our participants identified the values of impartiality, independence, and accuracy. Finally, our participants conceptualised their role in society as educators, disseminators, and watchdogs.
Serial Tweeters: The individuals and organizations that sustain attention to the climate issue on Twitter • Luping Wang, Cornell University; Aimei Yang; Kjerstin Thorson • The study examines a group of serial participants who consistently tweeted about the climate change issue over five years. The findings suggest a once loosely connected set of Twitter users have become more akin to a community of practice over time. Their network positions in serial participants’ network correlate with their positions in the broader network of Twitter users discussing the climate issue. Organizational actors continue to play a strong role as attention hubs.
Who speaks for the majority? Comparing exemplar indicators of public opinion in a social media setting • Jinping Wang, Pennsylvania State University; Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University • This study explores both the origins and consequences of perceived opinion climates in an online environment, combining exemplification theory and the spiral of silence. Using a 3 x 3 experimental design, we examine the effects of exemplars within news stories and subsequent social media comments. The results showed that the news exemplar shaped the majority opinion perception among one’s close friends, which predicted one’s willingness to express opinions, moderated by fear of isolation.
The Medium is (Indeed) the Message: The State of Social Media Research at the AEJMC National Convention • Amanda J. Weed, Kennesaw State University; Chris McCollough, Columbus State University; Karen Freberg, University of Louisville; Enakshi Roy, Western Kentucky University • A systematic review of AEJMC national convention abstracts (n = 1,345) examined the state of social media research from 2009 through 2018. Analysis of abstracts examined volume of social media research, what platforms were studied, which research methodologies were employed, and how research was practically applied in 10 unique content areas of journalism and mass communication. Findings revealed social media research has grown from 3.8% to 25.0% of total research presented at the national convention.
The Public and the News Media: How Americans Think About Journalists and the Media Before and After Trump • Lars Willnat, Syracuse University; David Weaver; Jian SHI, Syracuse University • Based on two national surveys conducted among U.S. citizens in 2014 and 2018, this study analyzes how political polarization and social media use might affect perceptions of the news media. While perceptions of the media improved from 2014 to 2018, Republicans have become significantly more negative in their views of the media. Traditional media use, social media interactivity, and perceived effects of social media on journalism were associated with more positive evaluations of the media.
A New Era of Para-social Relationship: Mapping the Value of Social Media Influencers • Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; chen lou • The current study investigated the determinants of para-social relationship (PSR) between social media influencers and their followers and the effect of PSR in explaining the value of influencers via an online survey. Results showed that influencer traits and fairness of communication procedure significantly predicted the strength of PSR. PSR was a significant mediator that drove followers’ interests in influencer-mentioned products. The findings extended our understanding of PSR and provided practitioners insights in enhancing the relationship strategically.
Hostile Media Perception and Intention to Participate in Public Discussion of Mental Health: An Examination of the Role of Involvement • Xueying Zhang • The current study tested the “corrective action hypothesis” (see Rojas, 2000) by analyzing intentions to discuss mental health issues publicly after the exposure of news coverage of a mass shooting using a “dangerous people” vs. “dangerous gun” frame. 300 respondents were recruited through Qualtrics national research panels. The results of the survey suggested potential benefits of employing HMP (hostile media perception) in educating the public by appealing to empathy and value systems.
Keeping Up with the In-Crowd: The Extent and Type of Substance Use in Celebrity Gossip on Twitter • lara zwarun, UMSL • Following celebrity lifestyles via Twitter is a popular pastime. This study examines how often references to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs appear in tweets sent by celebrities and gossip media, and on webpages linked to in these tweets. It also considers whether the substances are portrayed in a positive or a negative light, using measures based on social cognitive theory. Substance references appeared occasionally but consistently in tweets, whether from celebrities or gossip organizations, and more frequently in content on the linked webpages. Portrayals were varied: some contain humor, slang, and appealing photographs that make substance use sound interesting and attractive, while others mentioned negative consequences. The findings suggest that people who follow celebrities and celebrity gossip via Twitter are likely to encounter substance use messages, and that some, but not all, of these messages may glamorize that substance use.
Student Competition
“Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t create it”: Online community formation through shitposting • Yi En Ho; Dion Loh; Tsi Ying Au; Celine Mok • This exploratory study provides a structured understanding of shitposting and examines its form and role in online community formation by conducting interviews and a content analysis on Facebook’s largest closed shitposting group, Spongebob Shitposting. Results revealed that members defined shitposting as posts with unfunny and nonsensical humour that require online cultural literacy to understand, having a recognisable form that are created with varying intentions. Findings also gave insight to shitposting’s role in forming a community.
Examining Media Modality and Social Media Engagement: A Content Analysis of Police Departments’ Facebook Posts • Rachel Italiano, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University; Anthony Ciaramella, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University; Jessica Wyers, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University • This content analysis examined if modality (text, photo, video) used by police departments (PDs) in Facebook posts impacts post engagement. Poisson regression results show that modality impacts post engagement. Posts using photos and videos increased engagement. Significant differences were found between large city PDs and small city PDs. Small city PD posts have less engagement than large city PDs. Overall, these results suggest how PDs can use social media as a community engagement tool.
A serial mediation model of media exposure on body shame: The role of internalization of appearance ideals and self-objectification • Lin Li, Michigan State University • Building on objectification theory and media effects research, this study found that image-focused magazine and Instagram use was associated with higher levels of internalization of appearance ideals, which in turn was related to increased self-objectification; this greater self-objectification translated into greater body shame. Image-focused TV and Facebook use were directly related to greater body shame. Snapchat use was negatively related to body shame through reduced internalization of appearance ideals.
Where Local Meets Plethora: Patterns of Media Usage and Community Integration • Meredith Metzler • Communication scholarship is seeing a renewed interest in the question of the impact of declining local news media. Underlying much of this research is the assumption that local news media will be used if it exists. This qualitative study uses the case studies of two rural communities to understand which media connect and disconnect individuals from their geographic community. The findings reveal that media use often relied on affinity for outlets and were contextually dependent.
Disposition Theory and Protest: The Influence of Media Frames and Individual Disposition on Audience Response to Protest • Hailey Grace Steele, University of Alabama • This study examined the influence of news frames and individual disposition on audience response to protest. The study sought to determine whether the social group depicted as the main actor in news coverage of protest would influence audience support for protest. Informed by disposition theory and tested using experimental design, the study found that certain audience characteristics can significantly predict attitudes toward protest based on the types of media content to which audiences are exposed.
Beyond the Differential Gains Model: The Effects of Authoritarian Orientation, Social Media Use, and Political Discussion on Political Participation in Taiwan and South Korea • Yan Su, The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University; XIZHU XIAO • In an attempt to investigate the roles of authoritarian orientation, social media use, and political discussion in shaping political participation in transitional democracies, this study analyzes nationwide surveys from two third-wave democracies: Taiwan and South Korea. The regression results show that in both societies, the effects of social media use and political discussion are positively associated with political participation; authoritarian orientation was only negatively associated with political participation in Taiwan. This study does not find significant moderating effects of communication variables on their relationships with political participation, which expands extant research on the conventional differential gains model research that mainly focused on liberal democratic countries. A significant three-way interaction also emerged in South Korea.
#Ageism: Exploring aging issues on Twitter • Tammy Walkner, University of Iowa • Twitter is a microblogging site that many people use to share their opinions on various topics. It’s not just young people who tweet – 28% percent of Twitter users are 55 or older. People in this older age demographic are using Twitter to speak out about ageism and the discrimination they have faced. This research examined tweets using #ageism, #agism, and keywords ageism and agism to investigate if the tweets discuss stigma or activism.
Moeller Student Paper Competition
Does Internet Access Still Matter?: A Lesson from China – How VPN Usage Influences People’s Attitude towards China-US Trade War • yezi hu, Washington State University • Digital divide studies have shifted from access problem to use problem because of the high Internet penetration in the world. However, the case of China is challenging such an optimistic bias. China has the most Internet users in the world but also has strict censorship. Chinese people have to use a VPN account to access the uncensored information on blocked websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Youtube. Using a survey, this research studied predictors of VPN usage in China and found that age and income play pivotal rules. Moreover, revolving around a case of China-US trade war, this study found that the more frequently people use VPN, the more they support American positions. This study alerted us of the threat from censorship to the Internet access and made us rethink the definition of access. Therefore, it extended our understanding of access studies of the digital divide.
Two Sides of the Bed: Does Mood Affect Consumer Response to Controversial Advertising? • Chris Noland, University of South Carolina • Mood management theory posits that people try to maintain intensity of good moods and diminish intensity of bad moods. This study uses mood management theory to examine the interplay between mood and controversial advertising. The results suggest people in positive moods have more positive attitudes toward non-controversial ads and less positive attitudes toward controversial ads. Conversely, people in negative moods have more favorable attitudes toward controversial ads and less favorable attitudes when evaluating non-controversial ads.
Post Facto: Experimental Test of a Game-Based News Literacy Intervention • Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • “Online misinformation abounds, from the long debunked link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, to doubts over climate change, to rumors that have stoked ethnic violence in Myanmar, India, and Sri Lanka. One way to address the misinformation problem may be news literacy, which aims to help people think more critically about the media they consume. But little is known about whether the current crop of news literacy interventions empower people to discern credible from non-credible information online, especially in the contexts of social media and news websites – a skill I call “digital news literacy.” In addition, most news literacy curricula do not take into account research findings related to selective exposure, which can substantially influence what media a person consumes and, therefore, what information they’re exposed to. This study sought to test, using a two-condition, single-level experiment (N = 228), whether a game-based news literacy intervention could improve the news literacy of adults outside a formal educational setting. Results showed that playing the game did not increase news literacy scores by a statistically significant amount compared with the control condition, in which participants played an unrelated game. However, people with more education were significantly more likely to score higher on news literacy, compared to those with less education. The results highlight the difficulty in affecting news literacy using short-term interventions, given that news literacy skills are likely built up over many years.
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