Communication Technology 2006 Abstracts
Communication Technology Division (CTEC)
Municipal Broadband Services: Government Supply as Panacea to Market Failure in the Provision of High Speed Internet service to Underserved and Unserved Communities • Abubakar Alhassan, Florida • Broadband’s higher speed and greater bandwidth distinguishes it from the hitherto slow, limited bandwidth dial-up service. Although the US is the cradle of the Internet, but OECD reports show that it now lacks behind other nations in broadband deployment, a development blamed on market failure characterized by the commercial ISPs’ refusal to deploy broadband to certain communities. This paper examines the provision of broadband by municipalities as the policy panacea for the market failure.
Utility vs. Commodity: Framing the Provision of Broadband • John Anderson, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • The importance of broadband connectivity is growing, and while universal service is a national priority incumbent telecommunications service providers are not moving in this direction. This leads to public and non-profit entities working to correct this market failure. Incumbents have responded with a political offensive swiped largely from the playbook of the electric power industry some 100 years ago. Ultimately, the question of broadband provision may be settled at the national level.
Revisiting the Issue of Blog Credibility: A National Survey • Stephen Banning, Bradley and Kaye Trammell, Louisiana State • This study investigated the relationship between credibility, third-person effect, and blog use. Through a national phone survey (N = 575), researchers found support for all hypotheses. While credibility was neutral overall, blog authors assessed blogs as being more credible than non-bloggers, and credibility correlated with likelihood to act (behavior). Third-person effect was found in reference to blogs and it correlated with blog credibility and likelihood to act. Findings and future research are discussed.
Value and Digital Rights Management: A Social Economics Approach • Benjamin Bates, Tennessee-Knoxville • Current copyright overemphasizes financial return compared to alternative sources of value (both social and private) deriving from information use. I use an approach designed to emphasize those other aspects of value and consider the implications of current and proposed Digital Rights Management (DRM) approaches for the creation of social value. I conclude that while most DRM approaches actually exacerbate conditions, DRM also offers the potential for an irights system that more fully incorporates social value.
Generation iPod: An Exploratory Study of Podcasting’s ‘Innovators’ • David Brown, Texas at Austin • Podcasting has become one of the most heavily hyped media concepts in recent years, billed as the latest digital-age threat to “old-media”. Yet almost nothing is known about listeners, their habits, or podcast demand. This exploratory study offers one of the first snapshots of real-world podcast use among its earliest adopters. The results suggest surprising gender and other distinctions between listeners and non-listeners, barriers to experimentation, and fading interest after initial podcast use.
Pioneers in the Blogosphere: Profiling the Early Adopters of Weblogs • Byeng-Hee Chang and Trent Seltzer, Florida • Weblogs, or “blogs,” are increasing in their use, visibility, and impact. Using the Innovation Diffusion Theory literature as a theoretical framework, a secondary analysis of data gathered by the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicated that there are significant differences between adopters and non-adopters of weblogs in terms of demographic profile, innovativeness, use of other new communication technologies, and Internet use.
A Multinational Study on Online Privacy: Global Concerns and Local Responses • Hichang Cho, Rivera Milagros and Sun Sun Lim, National University of Singapore • Using a survey on 1261 Internet users from five international cities—Bangalore, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, and New York, we examined international Internet users’ perception and behavioral responses concerning online privacy. We found that online privacy was a “global human rights issue” affecting almost all Internet users worldwide, but the way individuals perceived and coped with it varied across a host of micro-macro level factors such as demographics, Internet expertise, nationality, and cultural values.
Extending Technology Acceptance Model With Social And Organizational Variables • Siyoung Chung, National University of Singapore • The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the differential influences of a comprehensive set of technology acceptance attributes on both adoption and usage behavior. A mail survey was conducted with the employees (n = 108) who were the active sales of a large corporation in the U.S, which recently introduced a web-based sales system. The findings demonstrated that attitudinal, social, and organizational variables selectively influenced technology adoption and usage behavior.
News as a Process: A New Approach to the Political Economy of Communication • Lori Cooke-Scott, Ryerson • This paper proposes a unified theory of the political economy of news communication, encompassing changing realities in technology, market capitalism and everyday life. A central feature is its treatment of news as a process of exchange rather than a product to be exchanged. A processive approach is needed to understand the structural transformation of the news industry, the shift in power relations among producers and consumers, and the revolution in audience agency and community formation.
Is Seeing–or Hearing–Believing?: Reactions to Listening to the 2004 Presidential Debates With and Without Video • Mike Dorsher, Wisconsin-Eau Claire • In a quasi-experimental study inspired by the Kennedy-Nixon “Great Debate,” 175 participants from a mid-size Midwestern university either watched the 2004 presidential debates on TV or listened to them without the video. The data yielded few significant differences between debate viewers and listeners. Candidate debate performances rated high on “presidential” qualities and eloquence best predicted the debate winner.
Can Billie-Jo sell wine? The Effects of Social Category Cues and Rich Media in E-commerce Websites • Edward Downs, Sampada Marathe, Bimal Balakrishnan and Suellen Hopfer, Penn State • Do social category cues and richness of media affect website perceptions and memory in E-commerce? If so, how do these variables relate to product price sensitivity? An eight-condition mixed-model experiment was designed to test these questions. A significant three-way interaction effect was detected, driven by a rich media by product interaction effect when holding source constant. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as limitations and directions for future research.
Sociology of News and New Media: How the Blogosphere Transforms Journalism and Changes News • Ivan Dylko and Gerald Kosicki, Ohio State • Political blogs have recently demonstrated an ability to affect public discourse, especially during the 2004 presidential election. In this paper we examined implications of the blogosphere for the sociology of news. A case study of the CBS’ 60 Minutes segment about George W. Bush was used to demonstrate that journalists used information from blogosphere and that blogs could break stories faster than traditional media and successfully push them onto media’s agenda.
Is the Internet an Agent of Empowerment in News Making? A Case Study of Chinese Journalists • Li Fu, Chinese University of Hong Kong • This study adopts the mediationist perspective to explore the impact of the Internet on Chinese journalists. It finds that, the Internet has made an impact on news making, however, its power is limited, affected by constraining and facilitating factors at the individual, organization, and institutional levels; the Internet therefore empowers journalists in a situational way, characterized as time-specific, genre-specific, media status-specific, and location-specific. Such situational empowerment is mainly driven by commercialization and propaganda reforms.
A Ten-Year Profile of the Democratic Agency of the Internet in 152 Countries • Jacob Groshek, Indiana • Since its inception, the internet has been lauded as a potent democratizing agent. Using macro-level data from 1994 to 2003, this study examined the extent to which the internet has fulfilled this promise. In the 152 countries included in this study, increased internet diffusion was not shown to be a meaningful predictor of more democratic regimes or diminished government control of the press. It did, however, show strong, positive relationships with economic growth.
Unraveling Uses And Effects Of An Interactive Cancer Communication System • Jeong-Yeob Han, Robert Hawkins, Bret Shaw, Suzanne Pingree, Fiona McTavish and David Gustafson, Wisconsin • As part of an effort to understand uses and effects of an Interactive Cancer Communication System (ICCS), the purpose of current study is to explore the relationships between different use patterns and subsequent changes in patients’ health outcomes. By examining different use patterns, this study revealed effective styles of use that are associated with benefits. Both theoretical and practical implications for eHealth research and evaluation are discussed.
Blogs in the Media Conversation: The Knowledge Factor in the Diffusion Process • Nanette Hogg, Carol Lomicky, Ruth Brown and Syed Hossain, Nebraska-Kearney • A content analysis of 1,168 stories in seven media outlets found blogs first mentioned in 2000. The number of stories mentioning blogs tripled every year until 2004 when the rate of increase slowed. Researchers concluded media provided knowledge about blogs as an innovation, consistent with the first step identified by Rogers in the innovation-decision process. Qualitative analysis revealed media generally discussed blogging in positive terms.
Exploring E-gov Online Structures for Citizen Participation • Min Jiang, Purdue • Acknowledging that Internet architecture, far from being value free, are results of deliberate choices, the paper utilizes website content analysis to examine the online structures for citizen participation on 30 Chinese provincial government websites. Their potentials and limits for democratic practices in the neo-authoritarian state are evaluated through a revised UN e-participation framework. Although not implemented to promote democracy, some features of the websites online structures grant cautious optimism for more open and responsible governance.
Creating a Web of Trust and Change: Testing the Gamson Hypothesis on Politically Interested Internet Users • Tom Johnson, Southern Illinois and Barbara Kaye, Tennessee-Knoxville and Daekyung Kim, Southern Illinois • Creating a Web of Trust and Change This study used an online survey of politically interested Internet users to examine the Gamson hypothesis that those who are low in political trust and high in political self-efficacy can be most easily mobilized into political action. Internet users in general were almost equally divided between being an Assured (high in trust and efficacy) and a Dissident (low in trust and efficacy).
Posting and Reading Personal Messages: The Motivation of Personal Blog Use and The Effects of Personal Blog Use on Users’ Loneliness, Belonging and Well-Being in Real Life • Younbo Jung, Hayeon Song and Peter Vorderer, Southern California • The purpose of the current paper is to develop a theoretical model that explains the motivation of personal Blog use (Impression Management, Voyeuristic Surveillance, and Social Comparison) and the effects of personal Blog use on offline life (loneliness, belonging, and psychological well-being). The proposed model for Study 1 (N=73) and Study 2 (N=531) were tested via an online survey of Blog users in Cyworld. Implications based on the findings are discussed.
Influences of Online Chat Use on Social Support and Psychosocial Well-Being • Seok Kang, Arkansas Tech • This study explores the role of disembodiment—telepresence in cyberspace—in online chat use and its effects on social psychosocial well-being. Results suggest that disembodiment in online interaction is a compelling contributor to increased loneliness and depression and decreased social support.
Abandoning Traditional News Media?: Factors Influencing the Time Displacement Effects of Online News • Daekyung Kim and Tom Johnson, Southern Illinois • This study surveys 266 college students to examine which factors, such as reliance, interactive use, motivations, and credibility of online news, predict perceived displacement effects of mainstream, portal news sites, and blogs on traditional news media. The study shows mixed findings and suggests that displacement effects vary by reliance, motivations, and credibility of each online news sites. Discussions about the relationship between online news sites and traditional media are followed.
When the Public Has the Press: An Analysis of Bloggers and Their Blogging Activities in the 2004 U.S • Eunseong Kim, Indiana • This study examines bloggers and their blogging activities during the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign. The analysis of an online survey of 270 bloggers provides valuable information about bloggers’ weblog activities, their motivations for blogging, political orientation, and the pattern of media use. The findings indicate that bloggers played active roles as information providers (or communicators in the participatory media) and as contributors of civic discourse.
Effects of Cognitive Busyness and Computer Modality on Gender Stereotyping of Computers • Eun-Ju Lee, California-Davis • Two experiments tested the mindlessness explanation for the Computers Are Social Actors paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants played a trivia game with a computer, which they thought generated random answers. They attributed greater competence and conformed more to the male than the female computers, but only when cognitively busy with a secondary task. However, when the computer produced its output in synthesized speech, as opposed to written text, such advantages of the male computer dissipated.
Philosophy and Network Structure: A Case Study of Japan’s i-Mode and Wi-Fi in the U.S. • Hoon Lee and Yong Jin Park, Michigan • This study examines how philosophical outlooks of societies influence the development of network systems. A comparison between i-Mode and Wi-Fi demonstrates that culture, which conspired to either hamper or accelerate the Internet diffusion, influences the configuration of wireless networks in each country. Hierarchical Japanese culture transformed the architecture of the Internet. In the US, the legacy of hacker reanimated grassroots movements toward free Wi-Fi network. Policy implications of technological designs are discussed.
Blog agenda: What did they blog about in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election? • Jae Kook Lee, Texas at Austin • This study investigates the way that political blogs prioritize a variety of public issues in comparison with mainstream media. With an analysis of news coverage of blogs and mainstream media in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, the study found that the priority, or the agenda, of blogs are similar to that of mainstream media. Furthermore, the study found that political blogs cover the election with virtually the same agenda, regardless of their political leaning.
Viewer Privacy over Cable, Satellite, the Internet, and other MVPDs: The Need for Uniform Regulator • Laurie Lee, Nebraska-Lincoln • Television viewers can now watch shows over a variety of distribution formats, including telephone, broadband Internet, and cellular phone, from many multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs). Unfortunately, subscribers also risk their privacy to MVPDs capable of collecting vast amounts of viewing data. Federal laws protect cable and satellite subscribers, but do not necessarily extend to all MVPDs. This paper examines these laws and proposes uniform federal legislation protecting all video consumers regardless of transmission medium.
The Effects of 3G License Fees on the Mobile Markets in OECD Countries • Sangwon Lee, Florida • Over the last several years, a large number of licenses for 3G services have been awarded through various approaches. This article presents an empirical analysis of the potential effects of 3G license fees on mobile markets in OECD countries. The findings herein reveal that 3G license fees have affected mobile prices in OECD countries, which may imply that large initial down-payments have an adverse effect on the growth of 3G services.
The Development of Mobile Television: Examining the Convergence of Mobile and Broadcasting Services • Sangwon Lee and Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Florida • The convergence of mobile and broadcasting services may deliver a driver for dramatic growth in the telecommunications sector. It is said that Korean DMB system is the most commercially successful mobile television services worldwide today. We explore the factors that influence the development of the Korean DMB market and their implications. It was found that the combination of broadcasting and mobile telephone in the context of mobile television presents a classic case of “complementary convergence.”
Mobile Phone Diffusion in Developed and Developing Countries: Digital Divide, Factor, and Difference • Yang-Hwan Lee, South Carolina • This study identified the exist of digital divide between 23 developed and 54 developing countries in mobile phone diffusion during 1996-2002. In addition, factors that known to the influential affecting ICT diffusion were tested. According to the empirical test, the digital divide in mobile phone diffusion still existed and had been widen. Based on the panel regression, it was found that economy, technology, and regulation factors affected mobile diffusion. Time effect existed, but was minimal.
Predictors of Cell Phone Use as a News Device • Xigen Li, Southern Illinois • Building on the theoretical framework drawn from diffusion of innovation, technology acceptance model and expectancy-value model, this study proposed and tested a model of cell phone use as a news device. Technology functionality, information accessibility and user technology initiative were found to be significant predictors of cell phone use as a news device. Perceived value of information, news reliance and news consumption were not significant predictors of cell phone use as a news device.
College Students’ Use of iPods: Connecting iConsumption to iPiracy • Lisa Marshall, Bowling Green State • The purpose of this paper is to analyze the iPod as a tool of communication for college students and explore connections it has to the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. This paper provides an iPod overview, shows connections to piracy and the theory, and presents findings to a survey completed by 100 college students. Seventy-three percent of students reported they never pay music used on the iPod, seeking ways other than purchase to obtain iPod media.
The Source Cycle: Intermedia Agenda-Setting Between the Traditional Media and Weblogs • Marcus Messner and Marcia Watson, Miami • This study examined the intermedia agenda-setting effects between the traditional media and weblogs based on the use of one as a source by the other. A content analysis of 2,059 newspaper articles was combined with a separate content analysis of 120 weblogs. It was found that the newspapers increasingly use weblogs as sources and that weblogs heavily rely on the traditional media as sources. Thereby, traditional media and weblogs engage in a source cycle.
Online Journalism and the War in Cyberspace: A Comparison between U.S. and International Newspapers • Matt Neznanski and Daniela Dimitrova, Iowa State • The 2003 Iraq War was the first military conflict in which online media played a significant role. This study explores how the Internet was used to disseminate war news and information by comparing a number of international newspaper Web sites (N=791). Through a content analysis, the study shows some differences in the use of Web-specific features such as hyperlinks, animations, multimedia content, and interactive elements. Differences between U.S. and international Web sites are also discussed.
Uses of the Internet by College Students: Implications for Political Involvement • Kristine Nowak, David Atkin, Christian Rauh and Mark Hamilton, Cleveland State • In this emerging online environment, an intriguing avenue for research involves the relationship between Internet use and political involvement. In an effort to fill that void, the present study explores the extent to which college students rely on the Internet as a channel for political information and the influence that such uses have on their levels of political involvement.
Ruling the Cyber-Cities: When the West and the East Walk Together • Yong Jin Park, Michigan • This study examines the moderating role of culture in promoting or curtailing the convergence of online marketplaces. Drawing upon international regime theory, this study challenges the viability of ‘industry self-regulation’ regime that neglects cultural differences in privacy. A survey compared regulatory perceptions of the US and Korean participants. The aim is to explore the nature of a consensus among policymakers and to measure the effectiveness of the policy in its operation.
The Political Shaping of Municipal Wi-Fi Networks: A Case Study of Hermosa Beach • Namkee Park, Southern California • This study examines the role of local government and its impacts on the municipal Wi-Fi networks’ deployment and operation from the perspectives of social/political shaping of technology and path dependency. By employing a case study method, the study investigates the ways in which the network in Hermosa Beach, CA, has been implemented. It uncovers that the role played by local government still matters even in the era of deregulation and privatization in communication technologies.
Information Technology and Information Literacy in Journalism-Mass Communication Libraries: • Patrick Reakes, Barbara Semonche and Fred Thomsen, Florida • The last decade has been a time of sweeping change in journalism education as well as in the research facilities that support it. The management and use of information technology are critical factors in the promotion and development of information literacy within the journalism-mass communication curriculum. This research was undertaken in an effort to investigate information technology use and information literacy programs in Journalism/Mass Communications libraries and to establish a “baseline” for future research.
The Internet Immersion Divide: A Barrier to Inclusive Online Communities • Louis Rutigliano, Texas at Austin • The concept of Internet immersion looks at the relationship between online access and online activities. It considers Internet immersion as a continuum from passivity to interactivity. This paper finds that people who go online more frequently are more likely to use the Internet for interaction and after comparing offline factors such as income to this continuum, this paper presents a new form of digital divide.
Is it More Fun to Kill Other People? Exploring Video Game Enjoyment in a Variety of Game Modes • Mike Schmierbach and Thomas Butler, College of Charleston • Video games exist to provide players with enjoyment, yet little research has explored what makes a game enjoyable. In this study, we consider how college students (N = 102) respond to one of three play modes in a first-person shooter. Enjoyment is fostered by greater excitement and attachment to avatar and lower frustration, all of which points to the importance of engagement or flow. Gaming experience shapes some responses, but game mode has minimal effects.
Online Citizens and Consequences of Internet Use for Political Participation • Daniel Schneider, Stanford • The Internet offers new opportunities for political dialogue and communication with possible implications for political participation. Using data from General Social Survey of 2000, 2002 and 2004 characteristics of Internet users with and without interest in political online content are investigated and the consequences of Internet use for political participation are examined. Results suggest a selection process for use of the Internet and political online content and that Internet use can increase political participation.
Frame-up: An Analysis of Arguments Both For and Against Municipal Wi-Fi Initiatives • Gwen Shaffer, Temple • Dozens of cities plan to build wireless broadband networks. This textual analysis compares documents used to bolster and break down the case for municipal Wi-Fi. It examines how Wireless Philadelphia uses “public good” principles to frame its argument for a potentially massive taxpayer investment, while the telecommunications industry frames city-run wireless networks as “risky” and unnecessary. Contradictions and inconsistencies in these documents highlight how information is manipulated to influence the debate over Wi-Fi policy.
Dear Radio Broadcaster: Fan Mail as a Form of Perceived Interactivity • Charlene Simmons, Tennessee-Chattanooga • In an attempt to learn more about perceived interactivity this study explores the perceptions of broadcast radio listeners. Early broadcast radio provides an interesting example for exploring interactivity because although the medium lacked interactive features millions of listeners perceived that the opportunity to ‘interact’ with radio personalities existed through fan mail. This study examines listener fan mail as well as radio programs to determine whether radio encouraged a level of perceived interactivity.
Political Web sites: An Equalizer for Candidate Gender and Race Disparities? • Melissa Smith, Mississippi State and Barry Smith, Alabama • This study examines the roles candidate race and gender may play in the evaluation of candidates presented via campaign Web sites. Apparent race and gender of a candidate were manipulated while issue information was held constant on a campaign Web site. The candidate’s gender was shown to affect evaluations of the candidate (positively for female candidates). The candidate’s race did not affect evaluations of the candidate.
Blogging for Better Health: Putting the “Public” Back in Public Health • S. Shyam Sundar, Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Yifeng Hu and Carmen Stavrositu, Penn State • Weblogs are a relatively new and unique online communication tool. This paper examines blogs that focus on mental health issues to better understand the function and content of these particular types of blogs. The researchers discuss theoretical issues surrounding technological and psychological aspects of health blogs and employ quantitative content analysis as well as qualitative textual analysis to determine who mental health bloggers are, why they blog, and the nature of mental health blogs.
Framing of Tsunami Bloggers: A Study of Print Newspapers from Four Countries • Renuka Suryanarayan, Ohio • The purpose was to see if blogs had become important journalistic sources in newspaper reporting of the tsunami, 2004. The coverage by the New York Times, the Daily Mail, London, the Times of India, and the Daily News, Sri Lanka, was content analyzed. Two findings were 1) that technology does not change journalists’ routine in Eastern and in Western countries; and 2) that the number of tsunami deaths in a country had no correlation to media salience.
An Experiment Testing the Agenda-Setting Effect of Blogs • Kaye Trammell, Louisiana State • This study explored the agenda-setting effect of communication style and interactivity on blogs among young people. As a multi-cell experiment on undergraduate students, this study exposed participants to blog posts that discuss an issue in 1). an anecdotal manner told from a first-person perspective or 2). report-like manner discussing facts and statistics about an issue. Results confirm the agenda-setting power of blogs, but find mixed results regarding the hypothesized impact of communication style and interactivity.
Credibility and the Uses of Blogs Among Professionals in the Communication Industry • Kaye Trammell, Lance Porter, Deborah Chung and Eunseong Kim, Louisiana State • Communication professionals are beginning to take note of blogs as more turn to them for information and deem blogs “credible.” Using an online survey of professionals in journalism and public relations, this study investigated the use of blogs within the communication industry. Factor analysis revealed simplistic blog use categorizations as being either passive or active. Results also indicate that those who are labeled “high users” in both factors assign more credibility to the medium.
From Yahoo! to AAARGH: Developments in the French Approach Towards Blocking Hate Speech • Bastiaan Vanacker, Minnesota • This paper discusses a recent case in which a French court ordered local ISPs to block certain American Web sites because they violate French hate speech law. It discusses how French courts have dealt with similar issues in the past and compares these approaches with the recent one. It also discusses the technological issues relating to destination ISP blocking brought up by such blocking orders.
Ethical and Strategic Messages: Frames and Learning in a Mixed Media Context • Aaron Veenstra, Ben Sayre, Dhavan Shah and Doug McLeod, Wisconsin • Many people consider strategic framing harmful to democracy because it erodes citizen interest in the democratic process. Our results demonstrate that this is not always the case. Testing the effects of textual strategic frames and video processing in a digital environment, we show that strategic frames may also provide a context that is more conducive to learning in mixed media news environments than that provided by ethical or value frames.
The Diffusion of GIS in Journalism • Ben Wasike, Texas at Brownsville • This study looked at the likelihood of journalists to adopt GIS and the future of the technology’s diffusion in journalism. In-depth interviews and a Web survey were used. Sixty-three percent of reporters were aware of GIS but only 11% use GIS. OLS regression showed that gender, age, and the use of other technologies affect the likelihood to adopt GIS. The availability of map data, competition, and use of secondary GIS products will affect diffusion.
Internet Gratifications, Media Use and Technology Cluster as Predictors of Wi-Fi Adoption • Ran Wei, South Carolina • The Internet becomes portable thanks to Wi-Fi and Wi-Max. However, existing research shows use of wireless Internet was low. This study explores factors predicting adoption of Wi-Fi powered WLAN. Findings show that low level of Wi-Fi awareness is a hurdle to adoption. Results of multivariate analyses indicate that newspaper reading is a predictor of Wi-Fi awareness. The motivations of information learning and social escapism are the strongest predictors of Wi-Fi interest and adoption likelihood.
The Adoption and Use of Mobile Phone in Rural China: Behavioral and Psychological Factors • Lu Wei, Washington State and Mingxin Zhang, Hubei University • Based on a theoretical model adapted from perceived need theory and original diffusion theory, this study demonstrated that both behavioral and psychological factors may significantly predict Chinese rural resident’s adoption and use of mobile phone. The effect of psychological factors, however, is very limited in the prediction of adoption and use of new media technologies, especially in the context of rural society. The relationships among demographic, behavioral, and psychological factors were discussed.
The Big Three’s Prime Time Decline: The Technological and Social Context • Kenneth Wiegand and Douglas Hindman, Washington State • This paper is an analysis of factors associated with the 25 year decline in the prime time shares of the top three television networks. Time series analysis revealed that share decline was associated with multiple video programming distribution (MVPD) penetration. MVPD penetration and network profits were associated with social differentiation, indicating organizational adjustment to the social environment. Findings were discussed in terms of the principle of relative constancy and open systems models of organizational change.
Perception Gaps of Cyber Public Sphere • Xu Wu, Arizona State • The focus of this research is to explore and compare people’s perception of online sphere as opposed to print media sphere and broadcasting media sphere. Nine attributes were summarized from Jürgen Habermas’s original discussions. A comparative survey study was conducted among some 150 undergraduate journalism students in China and in the United States, respectively. Findings exposed significant perception gaps on cyber sphere’s capacity and performance as a genuine public sphere.
Weblogs as Agents of Political Participation: Mobilizing Information in Weblogs and Print Newspapers • Masahiro Yamamoto, Washington State • Considering the growing popularity of Weblogs for journalistic use, the present study investigated the possibility that Weblogs could become a catalyst for political participation. Examining Weblogs and print newspapers, this content analysis study found more tactical mobilizing information in Weblogs than in print newspapers. This result suggests that Weblogs can potentially function as an alternative information source that encourages citizens to engage in political activities.
Perceived Anonymity and Online Public Disclosure • Haejin Yun and Robert LaRose, Michigan State • This study redefined anonymity as perceived anonymity based on a critique of previous, pertinent empirical studies. The redefined construct of perceived anonymity adopted the Social Information Processing (SIP) model’s approach to computer-mediated communication (CMC). Two competing models of perceived anonymity affecting online public disclosure – a deindividuation model and a SIP-based model – were built and tested with real online social support community data. The SIP-based model was supported with perceived anonymity negatively affecting public disclosure.
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