Radio Television Journalism 2008 Abstracts
Radio Television Journalism Division
Murrow v. McCarthy: A media-driven myth • W. Joseph Campbell, American University • This paper examines the emergence of the media-driven myth that Edward R. Murrow’s famous “See It Now” program about Senator Joseph McCarthy in March 1954 was a decisive and courageous blow that led to the senator’s downfall later than year. In deconstructing the myth, this paper notes that the legendary program benefited from fortuitous yet impeccable timing: It aired during the week that McCarthy’s fortunes entered a tailspin from which the senator never recovered.
Gatekeeping at the Portal: An Analysis of Local Television Websites’ User-Generated Content • Johanna Cleary, University of Florida; Terry Adams-Bloom, University of Miami • A content analysis of 100 local station web sites found that while 66% of stations are including user-generated content, much of it is designed to capture eyeballs, rather than to engage citizens in the journalistic process. The user-generated content includes still photos (78.8%), and blogs and video (34.8% each). The overwhelming majority (80.8%) focused on weather-related events.
Network and Cable News Framing of the Iraq Issue in the 2004 Presidential Campaign • Arvind Diddi, State University of New York at Oswego • This study adds to the conceptual understanding of the framing process in news media by examining the influence of the nature of the medium (network vs. cable channels) on framing of the Iraq issue in the context of a presidential campaign. In all, 445 stories from three network and three cable television channels were content analyzed between Labor Day and election day during the 2004 presidential campaign.
Living with the Bomb: Fred Friendly’s “The Quick and the Dead” • Matthew Ehrlich, University of Illinois • Fred Friendly’s 1950 NBC radio documentary “The Quick and the Dead” examined the creation of the atomic bomb, the looming prospect of the hydrogen bomb, and the potential benefits of atomic energy. The documentary featured Bob Hope and New York Times science reporter William Laurence. It exemplified journalism’s ambivalence regarding the new atomic age and marked a transitional moment in network documentary’s development, pointing the way toward Friendly’s work with Edward R. Murrow at CBS.
Journalistic authority and news narratives: strategic storytelling in news coverage of a family tragedy • Choonghee Han, The University of Iowa • This paper will talk about narrative and rhetorical construction of reality in journalistic coverage of 2006 death of James Kim, a Korean American who died in the deep forest in Oregon. The primary argument this paper makes is that strategic narratives by which journalists construct reality help them sort out important themes from incidents and maintain their journalistic authority.
Network Coverage of High-profile breaking news • Hong Ji, Project for Excellence in Journalism • The network newscasts coverage of high-profile breaking news over its life span was content analyzed. Networks placed high-profile breaking news on their agenda, but the frame of coverage varied. While both morning and evening programs devoted more stories, employed more packages, and aired more leads and longer stories in first days of breaking news events than later, package reporting was more pronounced in evening programs over the life span of breaking news.
Packing a Punch: Audio-Visual Redundancy and News Recall • Lacy Johnson, Iowa State University; Joel Geske, Iowa State University • The Limited Capacity Model of Information-Processing proposes that three subprocesses occur simultaneously in the brain, resulting in memory formation. Poverty of resources allotted to any subprocess results in inability to recall information. Audio-visual redundancy aids the processes, thereby encouraging memory formation. The study results show that producing television news packages with audio-visual redundancy improves immediate and delayed recall of information, especially in hard news, and viewers prefer audio-visually redundant television news packages to dissonant packages.
Young Adults Matter: A survey of television journalists on content, news presentation and young adults • Kelly Kaufhold, University of Texas at Austin • A national survey of 322 television and newspaper journalists found that only one in 20 considered those over 60 their most important audience. Nearly three in four journalists said it is important to present news to it appeals to young adults and nine in ten said young adults prefer online news to print. Only 7% said young adults won’t follow the news. Significant differences emerged between broadcast and print journalists, and between reporters and others.
Agenda-setting and Rhetorical Framing by Semantic Proximity: A New Computerized Approach to the Analysis of Network TV News • Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University; Lei Xie, Southern Illinois Univeresity Carbondale; Oliver Witte, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • The present study combined agenda-setting and news framing analysis to examine a random sample of 631 presidential campaign stories from 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. It is the first study to combine the strengths of three specialized software programs (QDA Miner 1.3, WordStat 4.0, and Diction 5.0) to (a) discover the major topics in the campaign coverage, (b) identify patterns by which the topics were co-mentioned to frame each other, and (c) determine how the networks used different rhetorical styles to frame the news.
National Newsmaker: A Look Inside the Making of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” • Sara Magee, Ohio University • Radio news audiences are diminishing but National Public Radio’s All Things Considered continually draws in 11 million listeners each week. This study uses first hand observation and analysis of the news judgment and production processes that go into the program to examine why the ATC audience remains loyal. The conclusions can shed light on what radio news audiences want to hear and provide ideas that commercial radio news might capitalize on to retain its audience.
Anonymous sources in nightly news programs • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida; Esther Thorson • The use of anonymous sources has undergone scrutiny in the television newsmagazine, newspaper and newsmagazine industries after a series of embarrassing scandals. The nightly news programs and their sourcing policies have not sparked a similar public outcry. However, the nightly news programs draw millions of viewers, many who cite television news as their main source of information, making this an area worthy of study.
The CNN Effect on the Six Party Talks: A Conduit of Elite Consensus • Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jinah Seol, Korea National Open University • For nearly two decades there has been much debate about the so-called ‘CNN effect’ on foreign policy. It was believed that CNN had greatly influenced the perceptions of policymakers and international leaders, shaping reality of the international events. This study examined how CNN coverage of the Six Party Talks is conveyed in terms of elite discourses and policy uncertainty.
Talent 24/7: The Changing Nature of On-Air Newswork, Kathleen M. Ryan, University of Oregon; Hillary Lake, University of Oregon; Joy Mapaye, University of Oregon • In 2007, former ABC World News anchor Bob Woodruff returned to the airwaves one year after surviving a life-threatening attack in Iraq. However, his first appearance was not on the nightly newscast World News, but rather on ABC’s morning news program Good Morning America. This example illustrates a new pattern in network newswork which changes how frequently talent appears on-air. As Kurtz argues, the traditional prominence of the evening newscasts has declined.
Tell it not in Harrisburg, Publish it not in the Streets of Tampa: Framing, Media Ownership, and the Public Interest • Amit Schejter, Penn State University; Jonathan Obar, Penn State University • Throughout 2006-2007 the FCC conducted six public hearings across the United States as part of its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking procedure, brought about by the court’s annulment of the media ownership rules enacted by the FCC in 2003. These hearings – the first of their kind in scope and quantity – drew the attention of the media, public interest groups and the public.
Edward R. Murrow: Portrayals in Docudramas and Documentary • Lawrence Strout, Mississippi State University • Three TV and film productions have been produced about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow since his 1965 death: Murrow (HBO, 1986); Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter (PBS, 1990); and Good Night and Good Luck (Warner Brothers, 2005). From 1986 to 2005, his portrayal becomes less humanized and more mythical in nature.
Dimensions of Emergency Messages between Journalists and Sources • Christopher Swindell, Marshall University • The paper posits a set of dimensions along which emergency message construction between journalists and official sources differs from other message interaction. The coorientation model is used to assess both groups’ views about three features of emergency news and to evaluate their expectations about each others’ views on the topic.
Should Certification of Meteorologists Serve as a Model for Broadcast Journalists? • Charlie Tuggle, UNC-Chapel Hill; Lynn Owens; Lynette Holman, UNC-Chapel Hill • As the face of the news media changes, the definition of the word “journalist” begins to blur. Those who are delivering news, information, and opinion via the growing expanse of new media such as blogs, podcasts and social networking sites might think of themselves as journalists.
Where Media Turn During Crises: A Look at Information Subsidies and the Virginia Tech Shootings • Shelley Wigley, Texas Tech University; Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • This study explored the use of official and non-official sources as information subsidies in coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings and introduced a new type of information subsidy – new technology sources. Results indicated that reporters used significantly more new technology sources as information subsidies during the first two days of the crisis, compared to the latter stage of the crisis, and that non-official sources were used to a greater extent than official sources.
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