Mass Communication and Society 2003 Abstracts
Mass Communication and Society Division
The First Hours Of September 11th: How Accuracy and Sourcing Fared in Three Television Networks’ Breaking News Coverage • Scott Abel, International University of Estonia, Andrea Miller, Louisiana State and Vincent F. Filak, Ball State • No abstract available.
Beyond Censorship: Real World Third-Person Effects • Stephen Banning, Lousiana State • Recent focus on the third-person effect has centered on behavioral implications, especially those relating to censorship. The third-person effect is the tendency for people to believe that others, “third-persons,” are more likely to be affected by media messages. This study examined behavioral implications in the context of messages with a random telephone survey (n=835) of people in a mid-sized city. Crime Stoppers is a program that uses local media to involve citizens in tracking down alleged criminals.
Confidential: Florida Child Abuse and Neglect Records • Courtney Anne Barclay, Florida • Florida has recently been in the national spotlight because of tragic child welfare cases, resulting in a call to loosen Florida’s confidentiality laws to create more accountability. This paper comprehensively discusses Florida’s laws regarding child abuse and neglect records. First, it discusses Florida’s constitutional and statutory laws providing for confidentiality of these records. Then, it discusses the relevant operating procedures for Florida Department of Children and Families. Finally, the paper analyzes the relevant case law.
Maturity And Interest In Movies, Videotapes, Or Advertisements And Reviews Of Movies Or Videos An Ohio Survey • Joseph Bernt and Marilyn Greenwald, Ohio • Based on questions in an October, 2001, random-digit telephone survey, this study examined entertainment preferences and sources of entertainment information of 403 Ohio residents, looking at media use, views of importance of film advertisements, promotions, reviews, and word-of-mouth comments, and other topics. Younger respondents were more frequent moviegoers and more dependent on media and interpersonal sources. Heavy television viewers in the survey had not attended a movie theater and half had not rented videotapes in the past month.
Sports Model, Sports Mind: The Relationship Between Entertainment and Sports Media Exposure, Sports Participation and Body Image Distortion in Division I Female Athletes • Kimberly L. Bissell, Alabama • Many studies offer clear evidence that exposure to TDP (thinness depicting and promoting) media leads to distorted body image perceptions in school-age females and college women. This study investigated Division I female athletes’ exposure to two types of media- entertainment and sports media-and looked for possible associations with body image distortions and eating disorders. Sports participation and interest in sports media were important control factors for this study.
Public Perceptions of the Phrase “God Bless America” • John V. Bodle and Larry Burriss, Middle Tennessee State • The phrase “God bless America” has been virtually everywhere people are following the events of September 11, 2001. Through random sampling of Tennessee residents in 2002, this study probes what people mean when they use the phrase. Significant variables include political perspective, education, age, gender, income and race. Information from public (conversations with clergy) and media (newspaper readership) sources also appears to have influenced perspectives. Respondents were split over what President Bush means when he says “God bless America.”
Cognitive Mapping: Another Window into the Ethical Reasoning of Journalism • Sandra L. Borden, Western Michigan • The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential of a coding technique called cognitive mapping, which is a systematic way of coding discourse that allows researchers to transform data into a visual representation of another’s thinking. A subset of data from an earlier study was coded using cognitive mapping to analyze journalists’ ethical reasoning in the first phase of a project that also will involve transferring coding decisions to mapping software in a second phase of analysis.
The Print Media And The Quality Of Governance As A Reflection Of The Existing State Of Social Capital In India’s States • Sumana Chattopadhyay, Missouri-Columbia • This paper attempts to analyze the effect of the print media using proxies like the vernacular language newspaper circulation as also the total newspaper circulation on the level of social capital as reflected by the quality of governance using a panel of fourteen Indian states. Newspaper circulation significantly affects the level of government development expenditures especially on social services like education and medical service.
Beyond Good and Evil: The Binary Discourse of George W. Bush and an Echoing Press • Kevin Coe, David Domke, Erica Graham, Sue John and Victor Pickard, Washington • Binary communications represent the world as a place of polar opposites. Binaries are commonplace in Western thought, but take on a heightened importance when they are used in political and media environments. With this in mind, this research (a) examines the presence of binary discourse by U.S. President George W. Bush in 15 national addresses, from his inauguration in January 2000 to commencement of the war with Iraq in March 2003; and (b) analyzes the response of editorials in 20 U.S. newspapers to the president’s communications.
Access to the Internet in the Context of Community Participation and Community Satisfaction • Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman, Purdue University • The introduction of the Internet in American life has led to debates among media scholars, sociologists and political scientists about the role of the Internet in society. Two areas of research that have received substantial attention in the domain of Internet effects are digital divide and social capital. Digital divide researchers have pointed out the critical gaps in society among different groups in the context of their access to new media and technology.
Reaching Unhealthy Eaters: Applying a Strategic Approach to Media Vehicle Choice • Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • Founded upon the argument that unhealthy eaters need to be reached through strategic choices that are driven by adequate formative research, this paper examines the media consumption patterns of unhealthy eaters. Based on an analysis of the 1999 Lifestyle data, the paper points out that healthy and unhealthy eaters differ systematically in their media choices. While television news is the most effective channel for reaching healthy eaters, television sports and entertainment-oriented Internet are the two major media categories consumed by the unhealthy eater.
When the Terrorist is American: Analyzing News Frames of the September 11, 2001 Attacks and the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing • Jacqueline M. Eckstein, Oklahoma • The September 11, 2001 attacks and 1995 Oklahoma City bombing offer an opportunity to examine the performance of the U.S. news media under conditions of unprecedented civilian death and destruction. Guided by the theory that media frame what terrorism is and suggest its appropriate response (Iyengar, 1991), this study examined whether news frames differ when an American. is the terrorist perpetrator, or when non-Americans are believed the culprits.
September 11 and the Newslore of Vengeance and Victimization • Russell Frank, Pennsylvania State • The September 11, 2001 attacks inspired an outpouring of electronic folklore. This “newslore” is of two types. The newslore of vengeance consists of fantasies of annihilation or humiliation aimed at Osama bin Laden or Afghanistan. The newslore of victimization expresses bewilderment at the role of fate or chance in who lived and who died. This article analyzes the newslore of September 11 as a “strategy of rebellion” against the decorousness of the mainstream news media.
Follow the Leader: The Bush Administration, News Media, and Passage of the U.S.A. Patriot Act • Erica S. Graham, David Domke, Keven Coe and Sue L. John, Washington • Following September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress quickly passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act with strong support. We hypothesize that President Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and the news media were instrumental in this process via their communications about this anti-terrorism legislation. We content analyzed Bush and Ashcroft’s public communications and news coverage about the U.S.A. Patriot Act to identify both (a) the themes emphasized and (b) the timing of communications.
Is “Fat Free” Good for Me? A Panel Study of Television Viewing and Children’s Nutritional Knowledge and Reasoning • Kristen Harrison, Illinois • The family diet is influenced by children’s attitudes toward food, which in turn are influenced by television. In a panel study involving 135 1st-3rd grade children, television viewing, nutritional knowledge, and nutritional reasoning were measured six weeks apart. Television viewing predicted a subsequent decrease in nutritional knowledge and reasoning, but only for foods that tend to be heavily marketed as weight-loss aids. Television’s framing of diet foods may confuse children by equating weight-loss benefits with nutritional benefits.
Free Congress Research and Education Foundation: An Extremist Organization in Think Tank Clothing? • Sharron M. Hope, Purdue • No abstract available.
Information Control and Journalistic Performance: A Content Analysis of News Coverage in Two Chinese Websites • Qiping Hu and Glen T. Cameron, Missouri-Columbia • To better understand the relationship between information control and journalistic performance, two Chinese news websites, one inside China named SINA and one outside the borders named CNN, were compared using systematic content analysis. Results show that contrary to much conventional thinking, news organizations that are freer from information control do not necessarily perform better in terms of fairness and objectivity.
Sources of Influence on People’s Perceptions of the Quality of Life Available in their Communities and Elsewhere • Leo W. Jeffres, Kimberly A. Neuendorf, Cheryl Campanella Bracken and David Atkin, Cleveland State • Research into the “good life” has recognized that people’s assessments of their quality of life may be affected by their assessment of the larger environment and its impact on them. Few researchers have empirically examined sources of influence as people make comparisons based on personal experiences and observation as well as the mass media and interpersonal communication channels.
Compelling Arguments & Attitude Strength: Exploring the Impact of Second-Level Agenda Setting on Public Opinion of Presidential Candidate Images • Spiro Kiousis, Florida • This study explores the relation between attribute agenda setting and public opinion of political candidates. Specifically, media salience of presidential candidate attributes across 5 national elections is compared to public opinion data that measured perceived candidate salience and the strength of public attitudes regarding those candidates. Findings suggest that media salience of attributes is strongly linked with strengthened attitudes and is moderately liked with candidate salience. The implications of the findings are also discussed.
Is the Internet Shaping our Perceptions and Attitude? A Cultivation Analysis Perspective to Internet Use • Madhukar Kumar and Robert Meeds, Kansas State • A secondary analysis was conducted to investigate possible relationships between the amount of time a respondent spends on the Internet responses to cultural indicator questions from the perspective of cultivation theory. Data from the General Social Survey (2000) were analyzed and results showed that some of the cultural indicator variables had significant relationships with the amount of time a respondent spent on the Internet even when demographic control variables were taken into consideration.
A Multidimensional Approach to Socio-Political Internet Use: Patterns of Internet Use, Informal Associations, and Public Affairs Participation • Nojin Kwak, Ann Williams, Sung-Hee Joo and Xiaoru Wang, Michigan • This research project explores the ways in which distinct factors of socio-political Internet use influence offline political and civic engagement. Our analysis reveals that the three principal components of socio-political Internet-use: instrumental use, communal use, and expressive use each have unique associations with participatory outcomes. An examination of socio-recreational web-use, confirms that these types of activities are negatively related to traditional participation; however, it is found that offline informal socializing may be a conduit through which socio-recreational Internet use harbors a positive influence on participatory behaviors.
Health Communication Ad Campaigns: A Content Analysis of Televised Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertisements • Karla M. Larson Hunter and Sharlene R. Thomson, Oklahoma and Lisa Sparks Bethea, George Mason • This pilot content analysis of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising extends analysis of this ad phenomenon to arguably their most impacting medium, television. Shimp’ s (1981) foundational Affective versus Cognitive Processing theory provides the research lens. Findings indicate that DTC ads’ persuasive appeals are overwhelmingly affective in nature, and that adverse information is omitted or presented in ways which negatively impact recall of it, thus raising concern for the social implications of this form of advertising.
Outcome as a Determinant of Families’ Adoption of a Seasonal Allergy Drug • Yulian Li, Jackson State • This study is an experimental study of the effects of outcome description in a media message on families’ adoption of a seasonal allergy drug. The experiment randomly assigned the family subjects into two groups: outcome-present and outcome-absent. The results demonstrated that the family members exposed to the outcome-present message showed greater anticipation of outcome, more favorable attitude toward the brand, and greater purchase intention of the drug.
Presence in Informative Virtual Environments: The Effects of Self-Efficacy, Spatial Ability and Mood • Lynette Lim, Linda A. Jackson, Frank Biocca, Gretchen Barbatsis, Keith Bradburn, Ming Tang, Yong Zhao and Hiram Fitzgerald, Michigan State • The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether 3-D virtual environments have an effect on learning in virtual environments. The same information is presented on a regular webpage and a custom constructed 3D spatial environment. The results show (1) a correlation between an individual’s positive attitudes about the environment and a sense of presence; and (2) partial support for the hypothesis that users with high computer and Internet self-efficacy would experience a higher sense of presence in the 3D virtual environment.
The Role of Media Dependency in the Wake of September 11 • Wilson Lowery, Alabama • This pilot study uses Micro-Media Systems Dependency Theory to examine dependencies on media after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Generally findings show that socio-economic status and degree of social capital and connectedness matter little to either degree of dependency or to subsequent attitudinal and behavioral effects. Degree of perceived threat and age are the important predictors of overall media dependency, and prior use patterns most strongly predict dependencies on individual media types.
Patriarchy v. Functional Truth: Assessing the Feminist Critique of Intimate Violence Reporting • John McManus, Stanford and Lori Dorfman, Berkeley Media Studies Group • Journalism assumes reporters are able to pursue “functional truth”-an account of issues and events reliably describing social reality. Critical feminist scholars, however, contend that journalists working in male-dominated corporations are constrained by a culture of patriarchal values. The present study is the first in the U.S. to test this critique as it applies to reporting the vast social pathology of intimate partner violence. Contrary to that critique, newspapers very rarely blamed female battering victims or mitigated suspect blame.
F Is For Fat: Constructions Of A Weight Ideology In Children’s Books • Alissa A. Nolan and Michael P. Boyle, Wisconsin • Although research has examined weight portrayals in various media, little research has looked at representations of body size in children’s literature. Children’s media play an important role in the development of norms associated with weight. Our content analysis of children’s books takes a step toward understanding how weight is portrayed in children’s media. Findings demonstrate heavy characters were described according to weight almost four times as often and were shown with twice as many emotional reactions as thin characters.
Quantifying Globality in Hollywood Film • Jonathan Obar, Syracuse • This study examines the globalization of Hollywood film content, questioning the existence of a contemporary preference towards increasingly homogenous texts that transcend national/cultural boundaries. A quantitative system was formulated to evaluate the ten highest grossing films domestically in each five-year-period from 1951-2000. The findings show that globality (the ability to transcend boundaries) in Hollywood films has increased over time, but universal qualities in films from each decade assert that Hollywood films have always had global elements.
Media Perceptions and Public Affairs Apathy in the Politically Inexperienced • Bruce E. Pinkleton and Eric Weintraub Austin, Washington State • Political scholars and others regularly express concerns about a lack of public affairs involvement among young people. Although they are able to vote, college-aged citizens are notorious for their failure to engage in even the most basic forms of public affairs participation. The mass media are a primary source of political information for young citizens, though some researchers have expressed concern that the media discourage young people from participation.
Surveying the Home Media Environment: Family Characteristics, Media Deployment and Family Use Patterns • Jennifer A. Robinson, Alabama and Jinhee Kim, Penn State • A home media ecology survey of college and middle school students was conducted. Family media rules were related to the pattern of family communication and parental attitudes towards different media. The most used medium is still television, which is primarily used for entertainment and whole family viewing; whereas the computer is primarily used for information and individual use. Understanding family characteristics that moderate media use can assist families in wisely using the media at home.
Hypermasculinity, Aggression, and Television Violence: An Experiment • Erica Scharrer, Massachusetts-Amherst • This experiment tests the role of hypermasculinity (HM) and trait aggression in predicting aggressive responses to violent television. 91 male college students were exposed to a violent and HM television program, a violence only program, or a control program. Results find that some dimensions of HM and pre-existing aggression interact with exposure to the treatment stimulus to predict aggressive responses, and that HM can also be treated as a dependent variable that is affected by television exposure.
The Differential Effects of Exposure to “Youth-Oriented” Magazines on Adolescent Alcohol Use • Steven R. Thomsen, Brigham Young and Dag Rekve, Norwegian Ministry of Social Affairs-Norway • Objective: To examine the effects of exposure to “youth-oriented” magazines, those that typically contain high levels of alcohol advertising and that have a substantial number of readers under the legal drinking age, on normative beliefs about teenage drinking, drinking expectancies and drinking frequency during the past 30 days by a group of adolescents. Three specific magazine categories were considered: music and entertainment, sports and men’s lifestyle.
Mapping Deviance: The Role of News Content in Communicating Legitimacy • Tim P. Vos, Syracuse • This study examines the news media’s in mapping social deviance and legitimacy. Newspaper journalists are surveyed for their assessment of the relative deviance of several political, entertainment, and business organizations. Then a content analysis of newspapers is performed to assess the legitimacy of those same organizations. Three types of deviance are hypothesized as predictors of three types of legitimacy. The results show that normative deviance was a partial predictor of stability legitimacy.
Agenda Setting and International News: Media Influence on Public Perceptions of Foreign Nations • Wayne Wanta and Cheolhan Lee, Missouri and Guy Golan, Louisiana State • A national poll and a content analysis of network newscasts examined if coverage of foreign nations had an agenda setting influence. The more media coverage a nation received, the more respondents were to think the nation was vitally important to U.S. interests, supporting the first level of agenda setting. The more negative coverage a nation received, the more respondents were to think negatively about the nation, supporting the second level of agenda setting.
I Just Had to Look, Having Read the Book: Determinants of Film Attendance in the Information Age • Patricia Williamson, Central Michigan, Robert LaRose and William War, Michigan • What influences individual decisions to attend movies? Multiple regression analysis revealed that special effects and the books on which they were based were important predictors of intentions to attend The Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone among a sample of 343 college students. Visits to movie Web sites were also an important influence. Surprisingly, the perceived movie preferences of dating partners and friends had a relationship to movie attendance.
Exploring the Effects of Web Advertising on Readers’ Perceptions of On-line News • Hyeseung Yang and Mary Beth Oliver, Penn State • This study examines the idea that the commercialization of Internet news sites can have a negative impact on perception of news. An experiment (N=260) shows that perceptions of on-line news stories vary as a function of the presence or nature of webadvertising and Internet use (light versus heavy). Specifically, findings suggest that among light Internet users, the inclusion of advertisements results in significantly lower perceived news value of hard news stories.
Modeling Internet Current Affairs News Usage from Perceived Credibility of Internet News, Internet Dependency Relations and Social Locus • Jin Yang, Southern Illinois-Carbondale and Padmini Patwardhan, Texas Tech • Using an attitudinal, relational, and social locus perspective, this study constructed and tested an exploratory model of Internet current affairs news use. It examined causal relationships between Internet credibility, Internet dependency relations, age, education, and Internet usage for current affairs news. Data were collected through an email survey in a university population.
The Effects of Trust, Social Connectedness, and Mass Media Use On Civic and Political Participation • Weiwu Zhang, Austin Peay State and Stella C. Chia, Wisconsin-Madison • More recently, many scholars have lamented the declining levels of social capital and civic participation in American society. This study attempts to clarify the concept of social capital and its major components. We differentiate three dimensions of social capital: interpersonal trust, institutional trust, and social connectedness. In addition, we investigate the differential effects of newspaper and television hard news use, internet use, and entertainment programs viewing, on civic and political participation.
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