Media Management, Economics, and Entrepreneurship Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Faculty • Rasha Allam, The American University in Cairo • Configuring the usage of audience analytics on journalism practices inside Egyptian Newsrooms • The usage of audience analytics tools has redefined the whole process of news production. This study, which focuses on six major Egyptian news organizations, examines the use and role of audience analytics on the news production practices within the different types of news organizations understudy. Based on semi-structured interviews with senior and managing editors and using the sociology of news production theory, the study found that the type of ownership is quite decisive in defining the scope of usage for the analytics tools and their roles, in addition to the political context that plays a substantial role in this matter. Results show that although the private news organizations seem more open towards audience metrics, maintaining an authoritative tone of journalism is a priority to protect the organization’s brand. Finally, reaching transnational audiences and creating a pan-Arab news hub are seen by the private news organizations as potential benefits of the analytic tools.

Research Paper • Student • Fitria Andayani, University of Missouri • What is Fair? How journalists’ dual identity, resource conservation, and power dynamics shape pay secrecy culture • A textual analysis of 49 articles from the U.S. journalism trade publications finds that pay secrecy culture is responsible for journalists’ suffering from low wages and income inequity. Moreover, the research shows how the journalists’ dual identity creates their tendency to engage with loss aversion to protect their valuable resources of job security, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. The power dynamics within the news organization also lower journalists’ bargaining power leaving the company’s pay secrecy policy undisputed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Jon Bekken, Albright College • Do Four (or Five, or Six) Firms Control the American Media? Revisiting The Media Monopoly • Exaggerated versions of Bagdikian’s Media Monopoly are ubiquitous. This paper reviews the current state of media ownership concentration. After reviewing economic concentration in the book publishing, broadband and multichannel, motion picture, newspaper, radio and television industries, I demonstrate that the dominant U.S. media firms control more than 60 percent of mass media revenue. These firms’ relentless expansion and profit-seeking, I conclude, poses an existential crisis for journalism, and for the media more generally.

Research Paper • Student • Jaewon Royce Choi; Sooyeon Hong, University of Texas at Austin; Junghwan Kim, Pukyong National University • Does social capital matter to the Millennials? Social capital and user engagements in online video platforms • User engagements in video platforms are considered critical for businesses in measuring attention. This study investigates various factors influencing online video platform user engagements in the forms of showing empathy (e.g., “like”), commenting, and sharing. A theoretical model positing mediating role of social capital and moderating role of generational difference is suggested and tested against three types of engagement. Results indicate intriguing generational effect on social capital’s role in online video platform engagement.

Research Paper • Faculty • Amy Jo Coffey, University of Florida; Ann Hollifield, University of Georgia • Video Measurement and Analytics: Best Practices and Industry Challenges • This paper explores current approaches to video measurement in the rapidly evolving media environment. In-depth interviews of media analytics executives were employed (N=13), along with secondary analysis of data. Findings indicate that best practices include responsible integration of linear and census measurement, viewer assignment modeling, new metering technologies, and the retirement of older, less accurate data-gathering practices. Remaining challenges include a proven single-source method for cross-platform measurement and the resolution of definition issues.

Research Paper • Student • Mathias Felipe de-Lima-Santos, University of Navarra; Lucia Mesquita, Dublin City University • Digital news business models in the age of Industry 4.0 • The news media industry is a sector that is greatly affected by technology and the rapid speed with which changes are taking place. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and promising to bring with it novel technologies, such as data, automation, and artificial intelligence. However, fostering innovation inside the newsroom takes place with as many hindrances and bureaucratic obstacles as possible. To address how news outlets are adopting new approaches to sustain their business, we conducted thirteen (n = 13) in-depth interviews with leading actors of news organizations in Brazil, a leading country within the Global South with a complex national reality. Our study systematically analyzes qualitative data to present technology-driven, innovative business models and technologies that will be major players in the news industry’s future. Results indicated that organizations do not rely on a unique income source but combine different sustainable models of funding. By deploying technological assets in the news business, these outlets are capable of meeting the needs of audiences and better identifying customer segments, which brings a competitive advantage to these organizations. In summary, this research resulted in responsive knowledge sharing about digital journalism’s business model that is being implemented for the next revolution.

Research Paper • Student • Peter Johnson, Boston University • The Financialization of ABC: Wall Street Legitimation & the Financialized Commodity Audience, 1943–1970 • Leveraging literature from media history and political economy, I consider how the discursive transactions between U.S. television executives and Wall Street stakeholders in the post-war period represented an overlooked “commodity audience” construction. I chart the rise of publicly-traded broadcasting stocks in the 1950s and how the encroachment of institutional investors led to broadcasting’s financialization and concentration. Specifically, I examine ABC between 1953 and 1970, when it became vulnerable to financial extraction and financialized strategies.

Research Paper • Student • Asma Khanom; Peter J. Gade • Nothing routine: Television news management’s response to COVID-19, organizational uncertainty, and changes in news work. • COVID-19 impacted broadcast news work (routine and organization level) which influenced on content. This study, guided by media sociology, explores the impact of COVID-19 on broadcast news routines and management’s organizational responses. The study includes in-depth interviews with broadcast news directors in the southern Midwest of U.S. (n = 10). The pandemic is a macro-level influence, yet the data in this study suggest its influence on news is fluid, flowing up and down among organizational, routine, and individual levels.

Research Paper • Faculty • Dam Hee Kim; Kyung Jung Han; Sungchul Lee • Predicting Twitter Engagement with the Oscar-Winning Parasite: Through the Theoretical Lens of Country-of-Origin • This study examines how 96,131 tweets in Korean and English discussed the Oscar-winning Korean film, Parasite, through the theoretical lens of Country-of-Origin (COO) and electronic Word-of-Mouth. Korean tweets used more affective COO frames (e.g., history-making) whereas English tweets used more cognitive (e.g., film quality) and normative COO frames (e.g., social norms). The number of Twitter engagement was positively predicted by cognitive and affective frames overall, but was negatively predicted by normative frames in English tweets.

Research Paper • Faculty • Castulus Kolo, Macromedia University; Bozena Mierzejewska, Fordham University; Florain Haumer, Macromedia University; Axel Roepnack; Christopher Schmidt, Macromedia University; Anran Luo, Fordham University • Teaching Media Management in International Perspective: A Comparative Content Analysis of Curricula in the US and Germany • “This study was designed to learn more about how media management education varies within national contexts of the US and Germany as well as between both countries via a content analysis of undergraduate and graduate curricula. Information about the specific course content of 34 US programs and nine programs from German universities was captured on the basis of a codebook developed for this purpose. Data shows that media management education focuses on conventional content.

Research Paper • Faculty • Derek Moscato, Western Washington University • Transboundary Cultural Economy: Spatial and Market Configurations of Cascadia’s News • This study examines the news media environment of the U.S./Canada cross-border region known as Cascadia, which includes parts of British Columbia, Washington state, and Oregon. It analyzes the journalistic production processes that drive media coverage in this cross-border region. To better understand the unique dynamics of reporting about this area, the author developed case studies drawn from in-depth interviews with media practitioners from multiple news publications and outlets. Such interviews-driven cases not only inform how Cascadia is understood thematically and contextually, but also how the concept of Cascadia drives media business models and audience interest. This research explores how news media–as an outgrowth of regional communication and culture–navigate the spatial, logistical, and market dimensions of Cascadia reporting, especially as the Cascadia concept grapples with concurrent themes of politics, economy, social responsibility, and climate change. The results show that while regional media enterprises and practitioners on the whole embrace the concept and promise of Cascadia, they are increasingly constrained by logistical or economic challenges. However, emergent models of cross-border media production and dissemination provide insight into the future for Cascadia’s news enterprises.

Research Paper • Faculty • Ray Wang, Thammasat University • Educating effective practice of communication for sustainable development in Thailand • Scholarship has indicated that communication about sustainable development can have many different definitions and objectives. However, little research has discussed how higher education has prepared young professionals who aspire to work in this media management sector. Results from this study indicate that higher education may not be sufficiently preparing young professionals of these roles, and more research on the key competencies and development of young professionals should be conducted in Thailand and around the world.

Research Paper • Student • Changcheng Zhou • Analysis on financing efficiency of listed media companies in China from 2014 to 2018 • “his paper selected 118 media listed companies in mainland China as samples and analyzed their financing efficiency from 2014 to 2018, applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. On the basis of calculating the financing efficiency of all sample companies, the authors compared the financing efficiency of five sub-areas of news publishing, animation games, film and television media, marketing media and radio and television, and analyzed the changing trend of these indicators in the past three years. Findings from the study suggest that, the overall financing efficiency of media listed companies in mainland China is low. Among the current sample, companies with pure technical efficiency account for the largest proportion. More than half media listed companies are in the increasing stage of scale returns. Based on the findings, the study also provides suggestions on how to improve the financing efficiency of media listed companies.

<2021 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Carol Burnett Award for Graduate Student Papers • Gregory Gondwe, University of Colorado • Exploring moral ecology in the coverage of the 2020 racial protests: Analyzing sentiment and intent classification of Newspapers and Broadcast news content in the US • This study contributes to the literature of media moral ecology and the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) model. It does so by significantly expanding the methodological approaches, and theoretically, by incorporating media genres as a form of moral ecology that informs journalistic practices. The study uses the 2020 news content about racial protests to examine whether the media genre/category (Newspaper or Broadcast) affects how journalists choose to uphold their moral features of implicit norms, the harm principle, and the question of justice. Findings suggest that compared to broadcast media, newspaper genres are more likely to uphold ethical values when reporting racial protest. However, this only happened when political affiliations were controlled for. But when regressed with political affiliations, the effects were significantly skewed, indicating a higher presence of adulterated moral features in the news stories.

Research Paper • Student • Carol Burnett Award for Graduate Student Papers • Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis, School of Communication HKBU • A Need for Change: The Perceived Power of Media and Journalists in Greece • Through 42 interviews with prominent political actors in Greek society, such as members of political parties (including Members of the Greek Parliament and their employees), alongside with well-known anti-fascists during 2019 and 2020, this paper analyses their opinions, ideas, and thoughts regarding the role of media and journalists in the events connected with the Macedonian Name Dispute (MND) in 2018 and 2019. MND was one of the most influential securitized topics on the agenda due to the promoted “Prespes Agreement” from the then-government that was supposed to solve the dispute. The use of MND in Greece’s political competition provoked several important events, such as the government’s fall and change. This study reveals that the MND’s coverage for the interviewees was a part of the problematic Greek media landscape, in which the journalists and the media are perceived as the most powerful societal actors in the country. In addition, the interviewees tend to believe that Greek journalism is not real journalism, as the professionals of the field are pulling strings to realize other goals than serving the public.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • Shannon Bowen, University of South Carolina; Marlene Neill, Baylor University • Ethical Organizational Listening in Issues Management for Stakeholder Engagement and Moral Responsibility • Ethical listening is an essential component of strategic issues management as an executive-level problem solving function. This qualitative study of elite Chief Communications Officers (CCOs) seeks to help fill a gap in making listening an explicit and purposeful part of ethics. We seek to enhance the vital role of listening in engaging stakeholders and demonstrating moral responsibility in issues management.

Research Paper • Central Office Staff • Open Call • Yayu Feng, University of St. Thomas • Confucian Virtue System: Bring Media Ethics (Back) to a Humanistic Path • This article engages with Confucianism, the Chinese moral philosophy, and aims to introduce how Confucian ethics could benefit media ethics theorizing by explaining the central component in this ethical system: the notion of good and excellent it pursues and its highest principles. It facilitates a better understanding of the cultural and philosophical context that shapes media’s role in countries influenced by Confucianism, and contributing to the field a new perspective as it searches for global framework.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • Andrew Duffy, Nanyang Technological University • Tear down this wall: Native advertising as boundary object in scholarship. • Journalism’s iconic wall separates editorial from advertising with entrenched ideological differences. A hybrid form straddles this wall: native advertising. As a boundary object where competing fields meet, this has been a subject of growing scholarship, making it a suitable subject to investigate the doxa and habitus of academic thought in different fields. This paper analyses titles and abstracts of papers in journalism and advertising scholarship to assess how each frames the subject of native advertising, with a view to identifying ontologies and axiologies of each. It observes the value of such analysis of boundary objects as a means to identify limitations and potentialities in cross-disciplinary work; and to challenge epistemic authority in differing fields. Mapping fields creates space for re-articulation of normal practice in scholarship. This paper also expands earlier theorising on boundary-work to include pragmatics as an element of any field and associated boundary.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • Rick Moore, Department of Communication and Media, Boise State University • I Dare Someone to Try: SNL’s “Can I Play That” and the Ethics of Whitewashing and Stereotypes • The topic of whitewashing has been discussed in the popular press for many years. Scholars of media ethics, however, have been very slow to investigate the phenomenon. In this paper I wish to suggest a rather unusual place for academics to catch up on the most recent complications that whitewashing proposes. Given its growth in complexity, though, the problem—if looked at in all its dimensions—may have reached the point where it is insurmountable.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • Greg Munno, Syracuse University; Megan Craig, Syracuse University; Katherine Farrish, Central Connecticut State University; Alex Richards, Syracuse University • Journalists with Different Mindsets Agree on Truth as the Profession’s First Obligation • This mixed-method study examines the mindset journalists bring to their work. Study 1 (n = 167) asked professional journalists, journalism professors, and student journalists to rank statements on journalism ethics and norms from most to least like their mindset toward journalism. Using the factor analysis procedure common to Q methodology, we identified two distinct mindsets among the participants. One factor expresses a neutral journalistic mindset that favors dispassionate reporting. The other shows more concern with the impact of journalism on its sources and a desire for more engagement in political discourse. A participant pool larger than that of a typical Q study allowed for additional quantitative analysis that identified significant differences in journalistic mindset by age, gender, professional experience, and journalistic platform. Using an explanatory-sequential design, study 2 (n = 16) further explored the journalistic mindset—the underlying web of beliefs and attitudes about the profession’s core values—with a textual analysis of follow-up interviews. The results, we believe, have applications to research on journalistic ethics and norms, and may provide some insight into the divisions generating conflict in many newsrooms today.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • Holly Overton, Penn State University; Anli Xiao, University of South Carolina • Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide: Analyzing Moral Conviction, Perceived Motives, and Organization-Public Relationships in Corporate Social Advocacy Efforts • “This study conducts an online survey (N = 267) to examine the role of moral conviction as a

predictor of organization-public relationships (OPR) in the context of corporate social advocacy

(CSA). Four types of attributions are examined as a mediating variable. Results indicate that

moral congruency between an individual and an organization directly leads to stronger trust and

power balance and that moral conviction positively predicts all four OPR dimensions through

values-driven attributions. Implications are discussed.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • David Craig, University of Oklahoma; Katie Place, Quinnipiac University; Erin Schauster; Patrick Plaisance, Penn State; Chris Roberts, University of Alabama; Ryan Thomas; Casey Yetter, University of Oklahoma; Jin Chen, Penn State University • Moral Foundations in Life Narratives of Emerging Adults in Media-Related Fields • The purpose of this study was to explore the moral foundations evident in the life narratives of emerging adults in media-related fields, based on analysis of life story interviews with 182 recent graduates from six media-related programs across the United States. Participants offered rich accounts of how their sense of morality was shaped over the course of their lives, and thus influenced their sense of the virtues of care/harm, fairness/injustice, ingroup loyalty/betrayal, authority, and purity/integrity. Findings identified how individuals draw upon concrete examples of the moral foundations from their childhood, but also identified ways in which individuals moral awareness had refined during emerging adulthood. Thus, media educators must develop pedagogy that best enables our students to a) reflect on moral values and the roles they play in students’ holistic lives, b) engage in dialogue about virtues and moral foundation concepts, and c) have opportunities to explore and refine their moral awareness with regard to the media fields they will enter.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Call • Patrick Plaisance, Penn State; Marlene Neill, Baylor University; Jin Chen, Penn State University • Moral Orientations and Traits of Public Relations Exemplars • This study seeks to contribute to moral psychology research on media professionals with a survey of the highly selective College of Fellows of the Public Relations Society of America. The study explores personality and character traits as well as ethical ideologies, and it also introduces the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) assessment to media ethics scholarship. Results (N = 59) affirm the exemplar status of Fellows, indicated by their top-ranked Global Character Strengths, including Honesty and Fairness, their above-average scores on Conscientiousness and Openness to experience traits, as well as the fact that a large majority reject relativistic thinking and demonstrate a strong concern for harm. Results also document positive correlations among several factors linked to empathy, justice and concern for harm. Those, coupled with an embrace of the MFT’s Harm/Care and Fairness/Reciprocity foundations, suggest a progressive moral orientation, and affirm the usefulness of a neo-Aristotelian framework for media ethics scholarship.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Open Call • Erin Schauster • Moral reasoning and the life stories that depict personal interest, maintaining norms and universal principles • 75-word Summary: Moral exemplars in advertising are ideal candidates for understanding moral reasoning because of the challenges they face in the collaborative practices of strategic communication. Life story interviews and DIT results suggest that, while they exhibit high levels of moral reasoning, reasoning based on personal interest and, more so, maintaining norms are used to justify ethical decision making. More research is needed to understand the integrated, collaborative work of strategic communication and practices that influences norms.

Research Paper • Student • Open Call • Christopher Vardeman, University of Colorado Boulder • Skepticism, Egoism, & COVID-19 Advertisements: An Exploratory Study of Consumer Attitudes and Moral Foundations • The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for advertisers, and for small businesses in particular. Many retailers have had to adopt new messaging strategies to address responses to the virus in order to allay fear. This study measures consumer attitudes toward advertisements that make reference to COVID-19 safety responses alongside individual factors of advertising skepticism, egoism, and moral foundations thought to influence and predict such attitudes. Results are interpreted and implications for advertisers are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Open Call • Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University; Pratiti Diddi, Lamar University • Morality rules: Understanding the role of prior reputation in consequences of scansis • Drawing from literature on crisis communication and moral licensing/consistency, we explored the role of prior organizational reputation on people’s responses to organizations’ morality-oriented negative publicity (i.e., scansis) through an online experiment (N = 293). We found organizations with better prior reputation tended to get more severe backlash in scansis than those with poorer reputation, which implicated the need to take the unique role of morality in scansis into account in both pertinent research and practice.

Research Paper • Faculty • Special Call for Ethics and Inclusion in Media Practice • Brad Clark, Mount Royal University • A New Objective: Recasting Journalism Ethics Through the Racial Reckoning • During the “racial reckoning” in 2020, racialized and Indigenous journalists in the United States and Canada called out their employers and industry for the systemic racism endemic to news operations and content. They explained their frustrations, criticisms and insights in columns, social media posts, essays, interviews, and other published media, frequently challenging notions of objectivity. This paper uses a qualitative content analysis of those media accounts to explore how journalism’s dominant ethic subverts inclusive newsrooms and news coverage.

Research Paper • Student • Special Call for Ethics and Inclusion in Media Practice • Alexis Romero Walker, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Converging Theory with Practice in the Media Skills Classroom • This article provides that there is a need to incorporate contemporary media and film theory in the media skills classroom to adequately work to decolonize education and bring equity to higher education media programs. Using an autoethnographic approach, the article showcases how to incorporate concepts related to equity in lighting in the skills classroom. The article additionally provides an adjusted approach to critical media literacy to effectively bring equity and inclusion to the media skills classroom, and proposes questions that instructors should ask themselves as they create their curriculum for their courses.

<2021 Abstracts

Mass Communication and Society Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Moeller Student Paper Competition • Alexis Fitzsimmons, University of Florida; Yufan “Sunny” Qin, University of Florida; Eve Heffron, University of Florida • Purpose vs. Mission vs. Vision: Persuasive Appeals and Components in Corporate Statements • Purpose statements persuade stakeholders of companies’ reasons for being. However, there is a lack of distinction among purpose, mission, and vision statements. This quantitative content analysis explored the differences among Fortune Global companies’ purpose, mission, and vision statements, adding to a much-needed body of literature on corporate purpose. Results provide implications for communicators who write these statements as well as theoretical implications related to rhetorical and social identification theories and organizational identification.

Research Paper • Student • Moeller Student Paper Competition • Kate Stewart, University of South Carolina • The New Media Normal: Survey-based study of COVID-19 Effects on Motivations to Consume Non-News Media • This large-scale, self-administered Qualtrics survey, based on a representative sample from 2020 United States Census Data, study specifically investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a mediating role, on motivations to consume non-news media by having an impact on social escapism, social presence, and coping mechanisms. The scope of this analysis has relevance as a current on-going global pandemic and could be replicated to study how disasters or other pandemics affect non-news media consumption.

Research Paper • • Open Competition • Ivy Ashe; Ryan Wallace, The University of Texas at Austin; Ivan Lacasa-Mas, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya; Q. Elyse Huang, The University of Texas at Austin • News in the Time of Corona: Institutional trust, collective narcissism, and the role of individual experiences in perceptions of COVID-19 coverage • All public health crises have an element of uncertainty to them; however, even in this context, COVID-19 stands out. Trust heuristics such as institutional trust, and trust in media in particular, become more important for people seeking information. In this study, we use a cross-sectional nationally representative study of the American online population to better understand factors impacting overall perceptions of and trust in COVID-19 news. We focus on a subset of people exhibiting traits of collective narcissism, the emotional investment in an in-group such as the nation-state. We show that for core values like institutional trust and perceptions of news media in general, indices for collective narcissism may prove valuable in understanding relationships between audience perceptions and core ideological beliefs. However, in the case of individual news events where uncertainty may be high, individual components of collective narcissism (i.e. anti-elitism, general conspiracy belief, and xenophobia) remain better perception indicators.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Seth Ashley, Boise State University; Stephanie Craft, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Adam Maksl, Indiana University Southeast; Melissa Tully, University of Iowa; Emily Vraga, University of Minnesota • News literacy, conspiratorial thinking, and political orientation in the 2020 U.S. election • The rapid spread of misinformation in the digital age has increased calls for news literacy to help mitigate endorsement of conspiracy theories and other falsehoods. This study conducted in the week before the 2020 U.S. presidential election shows that individuals with higher levels of news literacy were more likely to reject conspiratorial thinking, but also that news literacy is unevenly distributed across the population and matters more for individuals with liberal views than conservative views.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Kjerstin Thorson, Michigan State University; Ava Francesca Battocchio, Michigan State University • Change is the only constant: Young adults as platform architects and the consequences for news • We examine digital platform repertoires for news among young adults. Through the lens of “digital labor,” we explore the work that young adults’ undertake to design and maintain their personal media systems, and the consequences of those practices for news use. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with 18-34-year-olds, including a shared reading of participants’ newsfeeds in their top three social media platforms, we develop the theoretical concept of personal platform architecture. Our findings suggest that young adults architect and maintain platform repertoires for sociality, personal interests, and emotional well-being rather than for information—but with substantial consequences for news.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Porismita Borah; Xizhu Xiao; Yan Su • The interplay of narrative versus statistics messages and misperceptions on COVID-19 vaccine intention • Drawing on exemplification theory, we used a moderated moderated mediation model to test the relationships among message manipulation, perceived expectancies, perceived susceptibility, COVID-19 misperceptions and intention to vaccinate. Findings show that perceived expectancies mediate the relationship between message manipulation and vaccine intention. Findings indicate that among individuals with high misperceptions about COVID-19, statistical messages are more persuasive for individuals with high perceived susceptibility, while narrative messages are more influential for individuals with low perceived susceptibility.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Maria DeMoya, DePaul University; Vanessa Bravo, Elon University • New Cuban-American narratives about the homeland: Moving away from traditional storylines shared by “hardliners” via Twitter • This study analyzed Twitter conversations about Cuba, posted between June 1, 2017, and July 31, 2020, to discover the main themes that “hardliners” and the “new Cuban diaspora” communicated about in relation to Cuba and its future. This is a relevant and timely topic because, without a Castro as the head of the Cuban government for the first time in over six decades, the international community is getting to know a different image of Cuba. In this context, the Cuban diaspora in Florida has also changed and divided into two contrasting groups: the “hardliners,” who completely oppose the Cuban government and do not want any softening in the U.S.-Cuba relationship; and a newer generation whose members do not support the government on the island but prioritize their support for the Cuban people and are in favor of building new relationships on the island. The younger community approves the travel to the island, supporting their relatives at home through remittances, and potentially ending the U.S. embargo imposed on Cuba since 1960. As the analysis of their Tweets showed, this second group is a “new Cuban diaspora” that is changing the way in which the Cuban diaspora performs its public diplomacy roles in the United States.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Erik Bucy, Texas Tech University; Duncan Prettyman, Colorado Technical University • Misinformation and News Verification: Why Users Fact Check Suspect Content • The rise of misinformation has led to a corresponding call for more investigation into the antecedents of news verification, and for improved understanding about who verifies and why. In this study we conduct a thematic analysis of participants’ open-ended responses (N = 2,938 individual thoughts, volunteered by N = 715 participants) to an online questionnaire to explore the factors that may influence individuals’ decisions to verify or not verify information they have reason to believe might be false when they are given the opportunity to do so. We investigate what themes are associated with information verification broadly, then examine the prevalence of themes when associated with several individual difference variables that previous research suggests may be impactful. Specifically, we examine the association of themes with news knowledge (high vs low), news skepticism (high vs low), and individuals’ motivations for media use (surveillance vs entertainment). Descriptive results show significant differences in the characteristics of searchers compared to non-searchers. In addition, news knowledge is a particularly potent individual difference: individuals with high news knowledge had more thoughts about the need to verify information, concerns about manipulative intent, and were far less entertained by the idea of fake news than those with low news knowledge.

Research Paper • Postdoc • Open Competition • Richard Canevez, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Moshe Karabelnik, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Jenifer Sunrise Winter, University of Hawaii at Manoa • Media Mistrust and the Meta-Frame: Collective Framing of Police Brutality Evidence Reporting on YouTube • Social media impacts the news media’s role in police accountability. This convergence produces collective framings of police violence-related evidence that requires further attention. Using a frame analysis of news outlets and content analysis of comments on YouTube, we identify frames, responses, and the collective framing that results from this converging environment. Our findings suggest a triumvirate of competing frames around police brutality, with mistrust of media complicating the role news media plays in accountability.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Stella Chia, City University of Hong Kong; Fangcao Lu; Al Gunther • Who Conducts Fact Checking and Does It Matter?: Examining the Antecedents and Consequences of Fact-checking Behavior in Hong Kong. • This study utilizes a representative survey to examine multiple ways in which people engage in fact checking in a highly divided Hong Kong. The findings showed that stronger partisans who had greater news consumption were more likely to engage in fact-checking behavior. However, frequent fact-checking behavior enhanced, rather than reduced, their beliefs in pro-attitudinal misinformation. A warning of the backfire effects of fact-checking on exacerbating opinion polarization and social division is issued.

Extended Abstract • Research Fellow • Open Competition • Agnes Chuah; Shirley Ho; Edson Tandoc Jr; Peihan Yu • Extended Abstract: Exploring the Information Authentication Acts of Experts, Environmentalists, and the Public in Southeast Asia • Drawing on the Audiences’ Acts of Authentication framework, this study explores how the public, energy experts, and environmentalists in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore authenticate energy related information in a period of energy-related misinformation. The findings showed that the authentication behaviors across the three countries were consistent with the two-step process proposed by the framework. Individuals would turn to external forms of authentication when they were internally unconvinced of the authentication of the information.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Di Cui • What Remains? The Relationship between Counterfactual Thinking, Story Outcome, Enjoyment, and Emotion in Narratives • Counterfactual thinking is a psychological concept. It explains the phenomenon that occurs when individuals reflectively imagine different outcomes for events that have already happened. This paper examines the application of counterfactual thinking in the field of media psychology. It examines if readers can generate counterfactual thinking in a fictional context. It also looks at the relationship between counterfactual thinking, enjoyment, and negative emotions. By conducting two experiments, the author finds readers can generate counterfactual thinking toward narrative pieces. Different story outcomes play an essential role in influencing the generation of counterfactuals. These findings indicate that counterfactual thinking can be a critical factor that impacts audiences’ understanding and reimaging stories in the long-term.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Roxanne Vos, Radboud University Nijmegen; Serena Daalmans, Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute • Fit Bodies that Inspire? A Qualitative study exploring perceptions of and motivations for interacting with Fitspiration content on social media • The purpose of this qualitative study (N = 34 interviews) was to gain insight into the motives that underlie the interaction with Fitspiration content on social media and the personal meaning making processes surrounding this interactions. Based on the data four motives to post ‘fitspirational’ content and eight to follow the trend on social media were constructed. These give insight into the positive and negative ways participants believe Fitspiration affects them and others.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Lisa Farman, Ithaca College • Political news personalization and the third-person effect: Examining support for restrictions on audience data collection • An online survey (N=561) tested perceptions of the personalization of online political news. A third-person effect emerged: respondents believed others would be more affected by personalized political news than themselves. Those who thought others would be more affected by news personalization were also more likely to support restrictions on websites’ use of audience data to personalize news. Narcissism was a significant moderator of the relationship between perceived effect on self and support for regulation.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Juliana Fernandes, University of Florida; Moritz Cleve, University of Florida • The Labeling Experiment: Examining the Differential Effects of Equivalent Labels on Individuals’ Associations toward Immigrants • Using a mix-methods approach, this study examines the differential effects of equivalent labels (i.e., authorized, documented, legal vs. unauthorized, undocumented, illegal) and the impact of these labels on individuals’ associations toward immigrants. Results of three studies show that those exposed to positive valenced labels produce more favorably associations of immigrants than those exposed to negative valenced labels (Study 1a), that associations tend to be quicker for labels such as illegal and slower for labels such as authorized (Study 1b), and that the interaction of association type (warmth/morality vs. competence) with association valence accounts for more variance in evaluations than labels, especially for negatively valenced associations (Study 2). Overall, the series of studies suggests a stronger influence of associations about warmth and morality compared to associations about an immigrant’s competence.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Débora Martini, University of Colorado Boulder; Harsha Gangadharbatla, University of Colorado Boulder • Pornography Addiction and Social Media: An exploratory study on the impact of social media on the road to porn abstinence. • Pornography addiction is on the rise in our society and excessive use often leads to negative life consequences. Just as other addictions, porn addiction can also be triggered by a number of factors. Of these factors, the role of social media has not been fully studied or understood. The current exploratory study uses a survey method to investigate the role of social media in porn addiction among Brazilian porn addicts. Results suggest that social media content is seen as a trigger by self-identified porn addicts and the factors that influence such perception include age of the addict, gender, and the number of times they have relapsed. And changes in behavior on social media are influenced by individuals’ perceptions of social media as a trigger.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Mugur Geana, University of Kansas; Nathaniel Rabb, The Policy Lab, Brown University; Steven Sloman, The Policy Lab, Brown University • The Growing Influence of Political Ideology in Shaping Health Behavior in the United States • Political polarization is a growing concern in many parts of the world and is particularly acute in the US. This study reinforces previous research on long-term health consequences driven by partisanship by showing that these ideologically-driven differences manifest even more acutely in situations where the possibility of severe illness or death is immediate, and the potential societal impact is significant. The substantial implications for public health research and practice are both methodological and conceptual.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Tong Jee Goh, Nanyang Technological University; Shirley Ho • Public buying behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: Presumed media influence and the spillover effects of SARS • Testing for a historical spillover effect, this study examined how the influence of presumed media influence (IPMI) processes differed between people with low and high perceived severity of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), when it comes to predicting Singaporeans’ purchasing intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed that people’s presumptions of media influence on others predicted their intention to buy more. The study also found a historical spillover effect of pre-existing attitude towards SARS.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Gretchen Hoak • Unprecedented Times: How Journalists Coped with the Emotional Impact of Covering the COVID-19 Pandemic • This study explored the stress of covering the COVID-19 pandemic on journalists in the United States. A survey of 222 journalists revealed covering the story was both stressful and emotionally difficult. Females and those who were younger and less experienced perceived higher levels of stress and felt the story was more emotionally difficult than their counterparts. The repetitive nature of the coverage, interacting with victims, and public backlash for their reporting were among the top stressors. Supervisor support was associated with higher levels of work commitment and lower levels of stress. Nearly 60% of participants indicated they received no stress management or coping resources from their news organizations. Of those that did receive support options, most did not take advantage noting the resources were either not feasible or not helpful. Implications for organizational support and its impact on journalist stress are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Iveta Imre, U Mississippi; Jason Cain • Social Media Use Intensity and Privacy Concerns: The Implications for Social Capital • This study examines how SNS use intensity, specifically social routine integration and social integration and emotional routine, correlate with social capital, as well as how privacy concerns impact the relationship between SNS use intensity and social capital. Findings support that social capital correlates with both factors on the use intensity scale. Only the accuracy factor was a significant predictor of bridging capital while both accuracy and control, and collection proved significant for bonding capital.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Jessica Shaw, Louisiana State University; Soojin Kim, Louisiana State University; Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University • Determination of the Factors Influencing the Third-Person Effects in Health and Environmental Concerns • This study examines how three personal factors (issue involvement, behavior change intention, and consumption amount) influences the third-person effect in different public issues of health and environment. By employing two measures of the third-person effect (perceived threat of public issues and perceived likelihood of participating in risky behavior), this study found that the influence of the three personal factors vary across issues and measures. Practical implications and suggestions are also discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Shaheen Kanthawala, University of Alabama; Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; Tanya Ott-Fulmore • Science Podcasters and Centering Fairness in Content Creation • “The podcast industry has steadily grown over the last decade and keeps showing promise for further growth. Science and science-related podcasts are a popular genre of podcasts that seem to play a role in science communication. Fundamentally, information provided through science communication is a resource, and there is often disparity in the allocation of most resources. As creators of content that could not only help, but also possibly add to this disparity, science podcasters need to be aware of their audience when developing podcasts.

Therefore, we use the fairness and justice literature to explore how science podcasters think about their audiences when creating content. We further explore how science podcasters view themselves and the role of their podcasts within the science communication space. To do this, we conducted a survey with 147 of the top science podcasters (identified from Apple Podcasts’ top rankings). Our results indicated podcasters view themselves in a connecting role between scientific information lay audiences. They hold ethical values and are mindful of principles of fairness. These findings indicate that they view themselves in the role of science communicators – a role of vital importance today. Their resources should, therefore, be harness in the future to spread science and scientific information to the general public.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Danielle Kilgo, University of Minnesota; Rachel Mourao, Michigan State University; Tania Ganguli, University of Minnesota • Media Consumption, Attitudes, and #BlackLivesMatter on the Ground, Court and Field • This work utilizes a nationally representative survey to explore how news media consumption of mainstream, partisan and sports news organizations and the attitudes held by audiences affect recall, negative attitudes towards protest utility, and support for Black Lives Matter. We include considerations for celebrity advocacy efforts in the NBA and NFL. We found ideological and political barriers to support for BLM, indicating conservatism has a stronger impact on protest attitudes, regardless of the tactics employed.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Jisoo Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Gaofei Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Xining Liao, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hernando Rojas • When does the Past Colonial Memory Plug into Nationalism? Information and Media’s Priming of Anti-Japan Nationalism in South Korea and China • Underlining the importance of the respective context of nationalism, this study focuses on anti-Japan nationalism in South Korea and China, which share a similar history of being colonized by Japan. Anti-Japan nationalism has always been alive but explicitly appears in people’s attitudes and behaviors only at certain times. Our study is centered on how information regarding a painful memory of the colonial past may prime individuals to express stronger anti-Japan attitudes and behaviors. Our results suggest that our prime contextually interacts with different types of media in unique ways: in South Korea, those that use social media more often are primed to express increased anti-Japanese nationalism, while in China it is those that consume more mainstream media. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Tom Johnson; Taeyoung Lee; Chenyan Jia, The University of Texas at Austin • Politically Contested Beliefs: Why Do Conservatives Tend to Have More Inaccurate Beliefs About COVID-19? • A fair amount of research showed that politically conservative people are susceptible to false claims about COVID-19. Based on the belief gap hypothesis, this study examines why conservatives have more false beliefs about COVID-19. A representative survey showed that institutional trust was associated with people’s beliefs around COVID-19. Meanwhile, conservative identity indirectly influenced having false beliefs through institutional trust. Also, support for Trump, education, and the use of conservative media predicted having false beliefs.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Lincoln Lu, University of Florida; T. Franklin Waddell, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida • The new yellow peril: Priming news context on attitudes towards Asian models, and brands • Recent increase in incidents of violence towards Asian Americans are indicative of underlying animosity often overlooked in discussions of race. Within a news story advertising context, an online experiment (N = 372) found some evidence that consumer ethnocentrism may moderate perceptions of attractiveness for male Asian models, consumer attitudes towards the ad, brand, and purchase intention. These results provide insight into race-based stereotyping at a time of flux surrounding race in America.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Nick Mathews, University of Minnesota; Christopher Ali • Informational, Infrastructural and Emotional Labor: The Extra Work in a News and Broadband Desert • This study offers a systematic qualitative investigation inside a combined news and broadband desert. Despite popular attention to both news and broadband deserts, most recently and acutely during the coronavirus pandemic, there has been no scholarly research into communities where these two deserts intersect. This article confronts this knowledge gap. Built on 19 in-depth interviews with residents of Surry County, Va., we argue that life in a news and broadband desert requires a substantial amount of labor to obtain the information and connectivity so many Americans take for granted. Our findings demonstrate three areas of increased labor for residents: (1) informational, (2) infrastructural and (3) emotional. We conclude with a discussion of life and labor in this desert, specifically, and how it may apply to similar communities across the United States.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Newly Paul, University of North Texas; Gwendelyn Nisbett, University of North Texas • Jessica Jones: Exploring Marvel’s Dark Anti-Hero and the Portrayal of Complex Women Characters • This project uses social construction of gender theory to explore transmedia narratives of Jessica Jones in the graphic novel Alias, and the Netflix television shows Jessica Jones and The Defenders. Transmedia narratives often ascribe new dimensions to characters and narratives, and we aim to compare and contrast the narratives that emerge in these spaces. Using thematic analysis, we find that Jones breaks the sexist tropes often associated with female superheroes, and exemplifies the qualities of a strong, independent woman.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Chang Sup Park; Barbara Kaye • Why and How People Avoid News during the Coronavirus Pandemic: An Analysis of News Repertoire • This study explored how the coronavirus pandemic as a large-scale news event functioned as a catalyst for news avoidance. In-depth interviews with 50 adults in South Korea in May and June 2020 revealed three reasons reconfiguring their media repertoire to ‘coronablock’ news about the pandemic: to tune out, to control information flow, and to seek positive news. The findings contribute to the understanding of news avoidance during a time of global crisis.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Scott Parrott; David L. Albright; Nicholas Eckhart; Kirsten Laha-Walsh • The media affect them, but not me: Veteran and civilian perceptions of news coverage about U.S. military veterans • Informed by theory of the third-person effect, the present study examined civilian and veteran perceptions of news content concerning veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the perceived quality and effects of news content. A national survey of adults in the United States, including veterans and civilians, documented the presence of a third-person effect in which individuals estimate that media exposure affects others more so than themselves. The effect occurred among both civilians and veterans. In addition, when asked to recall news stories about veterans, respondents often recalled stereotypical stories related to victimization/harm, heroism, charity/social support, mental illness, and violence. The results are important for veterans because the third-person effect may lead veterans to assume media content affects public perceptions of veterans, which could in turn affect veterans’ perceptions of interactions with civilians in social, employment, educational, and other settings. Put simply, veterans could act differently when they assume others are thinking they are traumatized heroes, the predominant image conveyed by U.S. news outlets.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Scott Parrott; Hailey Grace Allen • Swapping Insults, Neglecting Policy: How U.S. Presidential Candidates Communicate About Mental Health • Background. Candidates for high office in the United States of America play an important role in determining the political agenda and shaping public and mass media understanding of which issues should receive attention. Critics contend politicians rarely address mental health, despite the importance of the federal government in ensuring Americans access to quality care. Aims. Two studies sought to understand how candidates for the highest office in the U.S. — the presidency — communicated about mental health using formal (mental, depress, anxiety) and informal (crazy, insane) terminology in social media posts and debates. Methods. Two coders examined 1,807 tweets from 41 politicians who competed in the 2016 and 2020 races, plus transcripts from 47 debates during the primaries and General Elections. Results. Politicians often stigmatized mental illness, using mental health-related slang terms to insult opponents. They afforded less attention to policy and calls for action related to mental health. Conclusions. The authors offer recommendations for mental health professionals and advocates to encourage politicians to address mental health policy while avoiding stigmatizing language.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Mallory Perryman, Virginia Commonwealth • My Pandemic News is Better Than Yours: Audience Perceptions of Early News Coverage About Covid-19 • This study focuses on how American audiences perceived news coverage during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. Through a survey-experiment of American news consumers (N=767) over a three-day period in mid-March 2020, we show that news consumers had positive attitudes toward their own Covid-19 news sources, but were critical about the news sources others were using to get information about the virus. Our data reveal evidence of presumed media influence, where audiences’ evaluations of pandemic news were linked to their perceptions of how news content was impacting others’ health behaviors.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Jeffrey Riley, Georgia Southern University • When In Doubt, Blame China: A Qualitative Analysis of Conservative Coronavirus Content on Reddit • This is a qualitative content analysis examining the top content posted to the conservative, /r/The_Donald-affiliated subreddit /r/Wuhan_Flu from February 2020 until August 2020. The expectations of health misinformation and widespread downplaying of the virus were not met. Instead, /r/Wuhan_Flu deviated from Donald Trump’s public statements about the pandemic and tended to be far more alarmist than calming. Instead of health misinformation, the subreddit tended to encourage masks and social distancing. However, the results also indicate that geopolitical issues with China were the primary topic, with 217 posts containing negative language or visual images directed at China. Based on literature about radicalized digital spaces, /r/Wuhan_Flu represents the potential for dangerous real-world consequences, especially considering the increase in hate crimes against Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Aysha Vear, University of Maine; Judith Rosenbaum, University of Maine • Identity for Sale: Authenticity, Commodification, and Agency in YouTube Influencers • Focusing on YouTube influencers, this study extends structuration theory into the realm of social media. Interviews, observations, and content analysis were used to explore the relationship between agency, commodification, and authenticity in influencers’ performances. Results show a need to reconceptualize structures as emergent and embodied; that authenticity and agency are inexorably linked and constrained by the commodification inherent in influencers’ performances; and that influencers face a hierarchy of choices that enable and constrain their agency.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Burton Speakman, Kennesaw State University; Marcus Funk • Influencing the agenda: The role of conservative figures in melding media agendas for social media communities • Historically, mainstream news media held significant agenda setting authority. As news and social media evolve, individual actors and digital communities have to meld and filter diverse media agendas into one curated, personal space for their followers. This article examines attempts at far right agendamelding by fringe and conspiracy-affiliated Reps. Lauren Boebert and Majorie Taylor Greene during and after their respective runs for Congress. Results suggest far right politicians can meld agendas from friendly media and their own campaigns, while rejecting mainstream agendas, to influence their Twitter community.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Yan Su; Porismita Borah; Xizhu Xiao • “Infodemic” amid the pandemic: Social media news use, homogeneous discussions, self-perceived media literacy, and misperceptions • Heeding the call to address the “infodemic” in the COVID-19 crisis, this research investigates the associations among social media news use, homogeneous online discussion, self-perceived media literacy, and misinformation perceptions about the COVID-19. We use an online survey and a moderated mediation model. Results show that social media news use is positively associated with misinformation perceptions. Moreover, homogeneous online discussion was a significant mediator, such that social media news use is positively associated with homogeneous discussion, and the latter, in turn, is associated with increased misinformation perceptions. Further, self-perceived media literacy is a significant moderator for both the main and the indirect effects, such that the associations became weaker among those with higher self-perceived media literacy. Findings provide insights into the significance of information sources, discussion network heterogeneity, and media literacy education.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Chris Chao Su, Boston University • Attention Convergence and Narrative Coalescence: The Impact of the US Presidential Election on the Generational Gap in Online News Use • This study revisits the contentious role of the 2016 US presidential election in shaping news and disinformation use by contrasting usage networks of millennials and boomers, two groups with disparate preferences. Theoretically, through bringing the literature on selective exposure thesis into media events, this study advances an analytical framework to approach increased divergence and intensified polarization in the election through a sociological perspective. Empirically, this study compares the generational gap in online news usage in a typical month (Apirl-2015) and the month just before Elections (October-2016), by conducting relational analyses of shared usage for each cohort comprising all major news outlets. The analyses reveal that during the election boomers moved toward a collection of digital-native outlets that produce and disseminate political disinformation – the fake fringe – as well as more toward conservative partisan side of the news landscape. Investigating audience convergence during Donald Trump’s election, this study demonstrates that although the public tends to converge their attention in the event, the systematic divergence in consuming various narratives of the event forcefully steers to audience divergence compared to uneventful periods.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Yuan Sun; Nicholas Eng, Penn State University; Jessica Myrick, Penn State University • Getting Inspired by Fitspiration Posts: Effects of Picture Type, Numbers of Likes and Inspiration Emotions on Workout Intentions • The study investigated the potential positive effects of fitspiration posts for inspiring physical exercises through a 2 (Numbers of likes: High vs. Low) x 2 (Picture type: Body transformation vs. After-only) between-subject experiment. Numbers of likes cued subjective norm, while body transformation posts elicited inspirational emotion, which mediated the effects of picture type on workout intention. Picture type and numbers of likes jointly affected descriptive norm and inspiration emotion, which led to workout intention.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Edson Tandoc Jr; Hye Kyung Kim, Nanyang Technological U • Avoiding real news, believing in fake news? Investigating pathways from fake news exposure to misbelief • This study sought to examine the potential role of news avoidance in the link between exposure to and belief in misinformation. Using two-wave panel survey data in Singapore, we found that exposure to misinformation contributes to information overload, which is subsequently associated with news fatigue as well as with difficulty in analyzing information. News fatigue and analysis paralysis also subsequently led to news avoidance, which made individuals more likely to believe in misinformation.

Extended Abstract • Student • Open Competition • Taylor Voges, UGA; LaShonda Eaddy, Southern Methodist University; Shelley Spector, Museum of Public Relations; Yan Jin, University of Georgia • Effective Health Risk Communications: Lessons Learned about COVID-19 Pandemic through the Lens of Practitioners • The study utilizes semi-structured interviews of health risk communication practitioners in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contingency theory of strategic conflict management is the guide to understanding the challenges and nuances. Insights gained from interviewing practitioners (projected, n=40) from different sectors with diverse professional backgrounds will help advance the contingency theory’s application in understanding the dynamics observed in times of health risks and crises threatening societal wellbeing.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • T. Franklin Waddell, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida; Chelsea Moss • Fake News in the Family: How Family Communication Patterns and Conflict History Affect the Intent to Correct Misinformation among Family Members • Do family communication patterns or family conflict history affect the intention to correct fake news shared by family members? A pre-registered online survey (N = 595) was conducted to answer this question. Results revealed that conversation orientation and conformity orientation positively predicted the intention to correct family members, while family history was negatively related with corrective action intention. Presumed influence, by comparison, was not significantly related to corrective action. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Chuqing Dong, Michigan State University; Yuan (Daniel) Cheng, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities • How do NPOs effectively engage with publics on social media? Examining the effects of interactivity and emotion on Twitter • “Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are increasingly using social media to engage with publics. However, communication factors associated with effective social media use remain unclear in the nonprofit literature. Drawing from literature on public engagement, interactivity, and emotions, this study employs a computational approach to examine the effects of communication strategies on NPOs’ public engagement on Twitter (i.e., likes and retweets). By analyzing functional interactivity, contingency interactivity, and emotion elements of tweets from the 100 largest U.S. NPOs (n= 301,559), this study finds negative effects of functional interactivity on likes, negative effects of contingency interactivity on likes and retweets, but a positive effect of functional interactivity on retweets. The findings also show negative effects of emotion valence on likes and retweets but positive effects of emotion strength on likes and retweets. Using NPO type as a moderator suggests that there are varying effects of interactivity and emotion on public engagement for service-oriented and other types of NPOs. Practical implications regarding strategic social media use in the nonprofit sector are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Alexander Moe, SUNY Brockport • Do All Types of Warning Labels Work on Flagging Misinformation? The Effects of Warning Labels on Share Intention of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation • Using a survey experiment (N = 403), this study tested the effectiveness of Twitter warning labels flagging misinformation pertaining to COVID-19 vaccines. Results showed that all types of warning labels decreased perceived credibility and share intention compared to no label condition. Moderated mediation analysis showed that vaccine hesitancy moderated the relationship between exposure to warning labels and perceived credibility while perceived credibility served as a mediator on the effects of warning labels on share intention.

Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Xiaochen Zhang, University of Oklahoma; Jonathan Borden • Linguistic Attribution Framing: A Linguistic Category Approach to Framing Crisis • Based on Attribution Theory, this study proposes a linguistic category approach to framing. A 2 (language: concrete/abstract) x 3 (social identity: out-group/in-group/control) experiment in a political crisis context was used to understand linguistic framing’s effects on attribution. Main effects a) of abstract (vs. concrete) language and b) of out-group (vs. in-group) on higher attribution, future crisis occurrence and unethical perceptions of the politician were found. Implications for framing research are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Wen Xuan Hor, Nanyang Technological University; Rui Yan Leo, Nanyang Technological University; Xin Jie Tan, Nanyang Technological University; Agnes Yeong Shuan Chai, Nanyang Technological University • The Effects of Nudges on Social Media Users in the Context of COVID-19 Fake News • This study examines the applicability of nudging on reducing sharing of fake news. Using a 2 (Nudge Frame – Gain vs. Loss) x 2 (Nudge Frequency – Single vs. Repeated) between-subject experiment (n = 238), results showed gain-frame nudge will lower the likelihood of sharing and confidence of news. We also examined individual-level traits, need for cognition and reactance, but found no evidence to support moderation. Theoretical and practical implications for nudging theory were discussed.

Extended Abstract • Student • Student Competition • Sarah Fisher, University of Florida • Media Parenting Styles: A Typology of Parental Guidance of Electronic Media Use • Parental guidance for children’s electronic media use varies greatly. From parents who carefully limit the content set before their children’s eyes, to parents who allow freedom for their children to explore on electronic devices. This typology provides a useful definition of a range of parental oversight styles of their children’s use of electronic media. The typology categories emerged from in-depth interviews (N=20) with parents regarding their oversight of their children’s use of electronic media.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Niki Fritz • Porn and Consent: The relationship between college students’ pornography consumption, perception of realism, and sexual consent intentions • Despite sexual assault prevention education (SAPE) on college campuses, sexual assault remains a persistent issue on campuses. Student may be learning non-consensual sexual activity scripts from other sources, such as pornography. Additionally, perceived pornography realism may mediate the relationship between pornography consumption and non-consensual behavioral intentions. This national survey of 500 undergraduate students suggests pornography consumption has a strong positive relationship with non-consensual behavioral intentions and perceived pornography realism was found to mediate the relationship.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Si Yu Lee, Nanyang Technological University Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI); Jasmon Wan Ting Hoh, National University of Singapore • From “OK Boomer” to “Boomer Remover”: A Critical Examination of Ageist Memes by Meme Factories • Memes and meme factories are increasingly the new fronts for ageism online. Guided by the tripartite model of ageism and third and fourth age concepts, this study employed multimodal discourse analysis to analyze 98 memes from five meme factories in Singapore. An ageist portrayal of older adults in memes was found and tropes like fetishization and denigration of the old were identified. The intersectionality of ageism with gender, race, and class was also emphasized.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Xiaofen Ma, National University of Singapore • Predictors of IS Professionals’ Information Security Protective Behaviors in Chinese IT Organizations: The Application of the Organizational Antecedents, Theory of Planned Behavior and Protection Motivation Theory Abstract • “Securing organizational information systems (IS) as pivotal information assets is central to achieving a strategic advantage; this is an organization-wide concern. Recognition by practitioners and researchers of the positive impact of inside work-driven protective behaviors on IS security at the organizational level has led to the establishment of a research stream focused on IS experts’ performance of protective behaviors. To contribute to the research stream, this study employs two theories: protection motivation theory (PMT) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and a set of work-related organizational antecedents: organizational commitment and job satisfaction, often cited in information security literature. Therefore, given the varied facets central to work-motivated information security resources, determining the relationships of each distinct PMT, TPB, and organizational aspect with IS experts’ protective behaviors is a significant contribution. Using a survey of 804 representative IS professionals in the Chinese information technology (IT) industry, we find support for several associations: (a) information security attitude and subjective norms as constituents of TPB significantly influenced the information security protective behaviors performed by IS experts; (b) the coping appraisals (self-efficacy and response cost) and threat appraisals (threat susceptibility and threat severity) of PMT were significantly predictive of IS experts’ protective behaviors toward information security; and (c) organizational factors involving organizational commitment positively impacted the protective behaviors. However, job satisfaction, and perceived behavioral control as a construct of the TPB were not associated with information security behaviors. Contributions to theory and implications for practice are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Yefu Qian, School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Chen Li; Ruimin He • The Mediated Classroom: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Live Streaming Media Affordance and Teaching Context Remodeling from The Perspective of Actor-Network-Theory • The massive and popular application of emerging media technology (such as live streaming, virtual meeting-Zoom & Google Meet) in releasing the tensions of suspended classes during the global pandemic (COVID-19) provides an entry point to visualize the role of mediatization in shaping the traditional human social practice. As the online form of teaching penetrates in college education, it is of practical significance to comprehend the mediated teaching contexts and visualize the optimization of online teaching by exploring the affordance of live streaming media which serving as an “actor” in social networks. In this paper, we apply a qualitative analysis according to the grounded theory, based on detailed interviews with 45 college students in Shanghai, to elaborate on the affordance of live streaming in shaping the online teaching in Actor-Network-Theory. Besides, we target to explore the transformation of the teaching context between media technology and social practice so that we can offer insights for the ongoing or future researches of mediatization.

Extended Abstract • Student • Student Competition • Natasha Strydhorst; Sava Kolev; Philippe Chauveau, Texas Tech University; Eric Milman, Texas Tech University • Learning by doing: The potential effect of interactivity on health literacy • This experimental study investigates the relationship between message interactivity and message comprehension, absorption, and self-reported elaboration of health information as contributors to increased health literacy about COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic. A representative population will be exposed to a stimulus of factsheets, followed by tests measuring perceived comprehension, absorption, elaboration, message processing bias, and political ideology and interest. The authors anticipate a positive correlation between interactivity level and comprehension, absorption, and elaboration scores of participants.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Beverly Tan, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Gabrielle Lee, Nanyang Technological University; Rachel Angeline Chua, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Charlyn Ng, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University • Cancel Culture and Its Underlying Motivations in Singapore • This mixed-methods study explores Singaporeans’ understanding of cancel culture and motivators of participation. Interviews defined cancel culture as public shaming on a social media platform, carried out or supported by a group of people, which aims to hold people accountable for socially unacceptable behaviour. Our survey found attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, outcome expectancy, and general Belief in a Just World as significant predictors behaviour through intention, contextualising cancel culture in Singapore’s context.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Sofie Vranken, School for Mass Communication Research, KU Leuven; Sebastian Kurten, Leuven School for Mass Communication Research • A content analysis of alcohol posts from adolescents, brands, influencers, and celebrities in Facebook and Instagram’s persistent and ephemeral messages • “This content analysis examines how peers, celebrities, influencers and brands refer to  alcohol in Facebook and Instagram’s persistent and ephemeral messages. The results show  that: (1) all agents frequently portray alcohol posts, (2) adolescents are the sole agent to  refer to moderate and extreme forms of alcohol use as opposed to celebrities, influencers  and brands whom solely display moderate alcohol posts and (3) some agents  (celebrities/influencers) may have a commercial motive to share alcohol posts.”

Extended Abstract • Student • Student Competition • Shiyu Yang; Nicole Krause; Luye Bao, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Mikhaila Calice, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Todd Newman; Michael Xenos; Dietram A. Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dominique Brossard • Extended Abstract: In AI we trust: The interplay of media attention, trust, and partisanship in shaping emerging attitudes toward artificial intelligence • Artificial intelligence (AI) has changed the way scientists make genetic edits; it has infiltrated our daily lives through the internet of things; and it is being used by law enforcement agencies to fight crime. Many of the societal questions raised in its wake cannot be answered by science. Who or what will govern this technology? How do we prevent inevitable biases in how the technology is developed and applied? In this extended abstract, we report analysis of nationally representative public opinion data and examine what factors, including attention to mass and social media, shape U.S. publics’ trust in various institutions regulating AI development, as well as how trust and political ideology interact to shape public support for AI technology.

Research Paper • Student • Student Competition • Yi Yang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Yunyi Hu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Women on-screen: Exploring the relationship between consumption of female talent shows and sexism, internalization of beauty ideals, and self-objectification in China • Will consumption of female talent shows influence Chinese women’s self-body relationship? With the framework of objectification theory, this study provides empirical evidence to this question. Using data collected from a sample of 584 females in China, this study found that female talent shows consumption indirectly promoted body-surveillance through the mediation effects of benevolent sexism, internalization of beauty ideals, and self-objectification. Implications of the findings for the reflection on female talent shows in China are discussed.

<2021 Abstracts

Magazine Media Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Lydia Cheng • The practice and presentation of slow journalism: A case study of Kinfolk magazine • This paper contributes to the literature on slow journalism by analysing how elements of slow journalism is presented in the popular literary lifestyle magazine, Kinfolk. Based on a textual analysis of the editor’s letters from 30 issues of Kinfolk, this study found that the practice of slow journalism is manifested in the magazine through four ways: an emphasis on community, advocating for slowness in both production and consumption of content, and a niche editorial presentation.

Research Paper • Faculty • Lisa Phillips, SUNY New Paltz • Gender, the New Journalism, and the Early Careers of Gloria Steinem and Gail Sheehy • New Journalism has a woman problem. The core works critics, scholars, and the readers associate with the phenomenon are largely written by men, with subject matter—cars, wars, politics, motorcycle gangs—that often privileges male sources and perspectives. Yet a number of women writers consciously embraced the reporting methods, style, subjectivity, narrative structure, and subject matter of New Journalism, with several achieving levels of commercial success comparable to their male colleagues. Despite these accomplishments, women writers’ legacy in New Journalism remains tenuous. Joan Didion is the only woman who is consistently seen as part of the core canon of New Journalism writers. Several others occupy a far less certain position. What accounts for the tenuous foothold of women writers in the New Journalism? This article will address this question by looking at the process by which the accomplishments, writing style, and reportorial methods of two women journalists, Gloria Steinem and Gail Sheehy, connected them to New Journalism and the social and cultural forces that shaped their professional reputation and legacy.

Research Paper • Faculty • Gabriel B, Tait, Ball State University; George Daniels, The University of Alabama; Dorothy Bland, University of North Texas • Fifty Years of Black Enterprise Magazine Covers: A Visual Analysis of Black Business • The same year Black Enterprise Publisher Earl G. Graves, Sr died, his magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary. A content analysis of 509 Black Enterprise covers shows how it represented Black business professionals and issues. While they appeared more often in the last two decades, women were significantly less likely than men to be on the front of the magazine. Gracing the magazine cover most often were Barack Obama and Former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.

Research Paper • Faculty • Kelsey Whipple, University of Massachusetts Amherst • Cancel or be canceled?: How U.S. arts and culture journalists perceive the influence of politics and cancel culture in their work • Modern cultural journalists have a unique relationship to cultural knowledge, capital and authority that attracts them to audiences and establishes them as arbiters of culture. Through a series of in-depth interviews with 73 American arts and culture journalists conducted in 2020, this study seeks to understand how these journalists perceive the influence of politics on their work, as well as their own roles in “cancel culture.” Findings suggest they see the intersection between national politics and popular culture as an increasingly valuable realm for explication in their work. However, their views on cancel culture are mixed, based in fear and anger. Many journalists believe it is their responsibility to support the cancelation of cultural figures who have committed perceived wrongs, while others are afraid of being canceled themselves for unwittingly committing a cultural faux pas in their journalistic work.

<2021 Abstracts

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Interest Group

2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Rhonda Gibson; Joe Bob Hester • The social identities of Pete Buttigieg: How Twitter addressed counter-stereotypical attributes of a presidential candidate • Analysis of 8,705,300 tweets about presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg from 2019-2020 showed that only 6.8% addressed his sexuality. Most instead dealt with daily campaign occurrences, such as polls, candidate statements, and debate performances. Of the tweets that addressed his sexuality in a substantial manner, 10.2% referenced religion, with the majority discussing homosexuality as a sin. Counter-stereotypical tweets that presented Buttigieg’s Christianity and sexuality as congruent accounted for just 20.5%. Tweets were also likely to describe Buttigieg’s sexuality as a political liability. Using social identity theory as a framework, it was determined that Twitter conversation related to Pete Buttigieg repeated traditional God-vs.-gay stereotypes and did not produce a more nuanced discussion of the intersection of politics, sexuality and Christianity.

Research Paper • Patrick Johnson, University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication • Snake in the Grass: Adapting sex and sexuality from journalistic truth to the silver screen • This paper uses a case study approach to discuss issues of sexuality explored in James Franco and Justin Kelly’s King Cobra by dissecting the line that exists between fact and fiction when a creator bends the foundational truth of a story in an effort to maximize the pleasure of his audience.

Extended Abstract • Tien-Tsung Lee, University of Macau; Jared Tu, University of Macau • Cultural values and media use: Do they predict support for same-sex marriage in Taiwan? • In 2019, Taiwan became the first society in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Based on a survey of 2,028 Taiwanese citizens, this study identified the predictors of support for same-sex marriage, including a younger age, being female, having more education, having gay friends or relatives, disobeying traditions or customs, being open-minded and curious, having a stronger sense of fairness and justice, using Line less often, and having a higher level of online search diversity.

Research Paper • JungKyu Rhys Lim, University of Maryland, College Park; Hyoyeun Jun; Victoria Ledford, University of Maryland, College Park • Stigmatized groups with infectious diseases: Korean LGBTQ+s’ intersectional stigma and risk communication during COVID-19 outbreaks • Stigmatized groups may not engage in infectious disease testing and treatment, because of intersectional stigma and discrimination. In South Korea, the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced stigmatization when governments and media attempted to communicate COVID-19 risks that stigmatized LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer-identifying) individuals. Using qualitative in-depth interviews (N = 21), this study examines the intersectional stigma, discrimination, and risk communication that LGBTQ+ communities experienced during the COVID outbreak. Implications for public health are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Newly Paul, University of North Texas • Framing analysis of the Indian media’s coverage of Section 377, decriminalization of same sex relationships • On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled unanimously to overturn Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which was introduced in 1861 in British-ruled India and criminalized consensual homosexual sex between adults. This paper examines the major frames that emerged from the Indian media’s coverage of the court’s decision. Specifically, I examine the main frames that were used to discuss the event, the sources quoted most prominently in the stories, and the prominence given to the issue in the media.

Research Paper • Joseph Schwartz; Josh Grimm • Investigating the Content of #U = U on Twitter • Undetectable = Untransmittable (U = U) is the scientific fact that HIV cannot be transmitted when an individual is virally suppressed. This breakthrough discovery has the potential to greatly reduce HIV stigma and its negative effects. However, U = U is not widely known. Given that Twitter has the potential to raise awareness of health issues, the purpose of this study was to analyze the content of the #U = U on Twitter. The results showed that mentioning sex and mentioning love were strong predictors that a tweet would be liked and retweeted. This information could help to spread the message of U = U more widely and potentially lessen HIV stigma.

Extended Abstract • YOWEI KANG, NTOU; KENNETH C.C. YANG, UTEP • [EXTENDED ABSTRACT] A Computational and Longitudinal Text Mining Study of Gay Marriage Legalization in Taiwan • Homosexuality and gay marriage have been considered a taboo topic in Taiwan where LGBTQIA+ minorities are marginalized. Despite the landmark ruling by Taiwan’s Constitutional Court in May 2017, the legalization of gay marriage is claimed to polarize its society. On May 17, 2019, Taiwan’s Parliament passed the law to legalize gay marriage. This computational text mining study provides a descriptive and longitudinal examination of media framing of gay marriage legalization in Taiwan. Our preliminary findings of 232 media discourses from Lexis/Nexis database (Nexis Uni). We reported statistically significant topical framing variations among all nine extracted topics before and after the landmark passage of marriage bill on May 17, 2019. Discussions and implications are provided.

<2021 Abstracts

Law and Policy Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Debut Faculty Paper Competition • J. Patrick McGrail, Jacksonville State University; Ewa McGrail, Georgia State University • The ReDigi Case and the Digital Challenge to the First Sale Doctrine • We describe the First Sale Doctrine, its decline in recent years, and the company ReDigi’s novel protocol for its preservation in the current Digital Age. We describe how and why the courts have frowned on ReDigi’s protocol, and why our culture of virtual digital transmission has led to a decline of the First Sale Doctrine. We recount the history of infringement of digital musical works and afterward, why an essential difference between digital and analog copyrightable works is the little-seen reason for this decline. We propose a rationale for why the two types of works cannot be equitably treated the same at law. To do this, we introduce a taxonomy for digital works – how all creative works today actually need to be thought of with respect to their analog, digital or mixed state, (states which can and do change with time due to medium decay), how these changing states are distinct yet interrelated, and why federal legislators need to consider a wholesale revision of copyright law to reflect these distinctions. We conclude with proposals for how the law might be changed to restore the First Sale Doctrine.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Morgan Band, University of Florida • A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of Pretrial Publicity on Jury Perception • This investigation analyzed the conflicting values between the impact pretrial publicity has on defendants’ rights to a fair trial and the importance of upholding the media’s freedom of the press. The meta-analytic review aimed to answer ‘how does pretrial publicity impact jury perception’ and ‘what solution would be effective at reducing this impact?’ Several studies were examined to explore psychological explanations about how pretrial publicity creates bias and why current remedies fail to diminish it.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Courtney Barclay, Jacksonville University; Kearston Wesner • [EXTENDED ABSTRACT] Feeling the Bern: Commercial Speech Protections for Memes • The Bernie meme raced around the internet on Inauguration Day. Bernie found his way into Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Last Supper, as well as retailers and restaurants. Brands’ use of the meme raised questions about the extent of protection for meme discourse in a commercial context. This article reviews commercial speech doctrine and right of publicity. Concluding that memes, even when used by corporate speakers, are inherently protected under the First Amendment.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Stephen Bates, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • The Positive First Amendment in Constitutional History, Law, and Theory • The positive interpretation of the First Amendment holds that the First Amendment permits or even requires the government to foster the system of public deliberation. In essence, “Congress shall make no law” can mean “Congress shall make law.” This paper evaluates the theory, first in the context of the Framers’ understanding of the First Amendment. It finds that Madison, Jefferson, and several others directly addressed the issue. They insisted that Congress has no power over speech and the press. Arguing the other side were backers of the Alien and Sedition Acts, who maintained that the First Amendment forbids abridgment of free expression but not enhancement of it—just as positive First Amendment theorists now contend. The paper next examines case law for support of the positive interpretation. It finds that Associated Press v. United States and Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC, the cases most frequently cited as supporting the positive interpretation, contain soaring rhetoric, but their holdings, in the light of subsequent cases, are narrow. A few other cases provide oblique support. The paper concludes that the positive interpretation of the First Amendment is a provocative, innovative constitutional theory, but it bears little resemblance to original intent or judicial doctrine.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Genelle Belmas, University of Kansas; Tori Ekstrand; Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University; Kyla Wagner • Extended Abstract: Too Many Cases, Too Little Time: What Instructors Choose to (Not) Teach in Media Law Courses • “What cases do you teach?” Few questions this simple lead to heated debate, but among media law instructors, little consensus exists as to which topics and cases they should teach. Further, the research that has explored this debate is either outdated or non-comprehensive. This research, then, offers an updated, empirical examination of media law instructors on the topics and cases they cover and do not to, ideally, move the topic from debate to (general) agreement.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Benjamin W. Cramer, Pennsylvania State University • Nearly Extinct in the Wild: The Vulnerable Transparency of the Endangered Species List • This article reconstructs the Endangered Species Act as a government information statute. That Act makes use of an official list of vulnerable creatures that is used for agency action to save them from extinction. This article argues that the official list of species is not sufficiently accurate or transparent to citizens, so the compilation of that list does not satisfy the public interest goals of American environmental law or government transparency policy.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Anthony Fargo, Indiana University-Bloomington • Perilous in Seattle: The Dangers of Covering Protests and Implications for the Journalist’s Privilege • Five Seattle news organizations fighting a police subpoena for unpublished images from a 2020 protest made the novel argument that complying could endanger journalists covering future protests, who might be seen as police agents. A similar argument has been raised successfully by war correspondents asked to appear before international criminal tribunals. Given widespread mistrust of the media, this paper argues that it could be a viable argument in U.S. courts despite strong counter-arguments.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Roy Gutterman, Syracuse University • Liable, Naaaht: The Mockumentary: Litigation, Liability and the First Amendment in the works of Sacha Baron Cohen • The mockumentary, the primary genre of actor and provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen has generated a number of high profile lawsuits. Because the mockumentary genre is a hybrid of both documentary, fiction and comedy, legal questions continue to percolate. With Baron Cohen’s cable series Who is America still in litigation and the release of the Borat sequel within the statute of limitations, future litigation is not unexpected. The mockumentary raises questions of tort and contract law as well as how far protections extend under the First Amendment.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Frank LoMonte, University of Florida • Copyright Versus the Right to Copy: The Civic Danger of Allowing Copyright to Override State Freedom-of-Information Law • Journalists, researchers and activists rely on freedom-of-information laws for access to the essential data and documents they need. But the ability to copy and republish public documents exists in the chilling shadow of copyright law. Because the bar for a document to qualify as copyright-protected is low, a hidebound government agency could manipulatively use copyright protection to conceal studies, reports and other documents of undeniable public interest, if copyright is understood to operate as a trump card overriding the public’s right of access. A reckoning in the not-distant future is likely, as government agencies become repositories for more and more data and documents of commercial value. Further complicating the question, a dispute that implicates both federal copyright law and state open-government law has no single judicial “home.” As long as copyright is understood as an impediment to fulfilling public records requests, multiple rounds of parallel litigation may be necessary to adjudicate the bundle of state and federal issues wrapped up in a request for copyright-eligible documents. Although courts occasionally have applied the “fair use” defense to allow requesters to inspect and copy records that qualify for copyright, fair use is too fact-specific and unpredictable to give publishers the assurance they need to pursue and distribute the news. This paper concludes that copyright should never be understood to impede inspecting and copying government documents, because narrower FOI exemptions exist to fully protect rightsholders’ legitimate interests.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Michael Martinez, University of Tennessee • Thirty Years After Chandler v. Florida: Chauvin Trial Shows Flaws in ‘Cameras in the Courts’ • Thirty years ago, the decision in Chandler v. Florida, found that states have the right to allow cameras in the courts, differing from a prior ruling, in Estes v. Texas, that banned electronic media. Through legal and historical analysis, this study found that even though cameras access is allowed in all 50 states, there is a mosaic of rules that make access to courts inconsistent and calls for parity of access with its print brethren.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Hayley Rousselle, Syracuse University College of Law • Social Media and the Economy of Hate • Section 230 grants social media companies immunity in making good faith efforts to regulate content on their platforms. However, this legal norm does nothing to encourage transparent, consistent, or effective regulation of harmful content like hate speech. Instead, section 230 has left social media companies in a position where they can go unchecked in profiting from the harmful content they often claim to prohibit. This article examines how Congress can amend section 230 to best incentivize social media companies to enforce their policies that prohibit hate speech.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Amy Kristin Sanders, University of Texas at Austin; William Kosinski • Extended Abstract: The Arab Winter: How Privacy Norms, Social Media and Dissent Spurred Increasing Government Repression of Free Expression in the Decade Following the Arab Spring • Ten years after the Arab Spring, few, if any, pro-democratic developments in freedom of expression have taken hold in the Middle East. In fact, the rise of social media, with its potential to fuel dissent, has spurred a significant crackdown on media freedom and critical online speech. Using legal research methodology, this study analyzes the connection between the region’s socio-religious norms around privacy, the rise of social media, and the governments’ attempts to crack down on media freedom. After analyzing news coverage, white papers, constitutions, statutes, and other formal and informal sources of law, the researchers discuss authoritarian leaders’ increasing use of cybercrime laws, billed as a means of protecting privacy. These draconian laws, mostly promulgated after 2010, are vaguely worded, designed to discourage “offensive” speech and carry harsh penalties.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University • Rise of the Copyleft Trolls: When Photographers Sue After Creative Commons Licenses Go Awry • Creative Commons licenses typically signal that a photograph uploaded to the web may be used for limited purposes, such as noncommercial uses or with attribution. Some photographers are monetizing this, uploading photos with little commercial value, searching the web for uses with improper attribution, then demanding payment and engaging in high-volume litigation. This study examines more than 30 cases involving photographers suing after a Creative Commons license terminated, finding that courts are showing a willingness to accept users’ arguments of fair use based on transformative purposes and lack of economic harm, as well as general distaste for the arguments of photographers engaging in this kind of litigation.

Extended Abstract • Open Competition • Kirk von Kreisler, Primarily virtual at home, but may involve going into office (Host Company Location) occasionally. • EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Is Defamation Law Outdated? How Justice Powell Predicted the Current Criticism • Defamation law has seen no shortage of high-dollar verdicts in recent years, but attacks from influential public officials on foundational speech protections are much more concerning. Justice Lewis Powell’s personal papers show that this desire to shift the balance of protection away from free speech toward individual reputations is nothing new. Instead, today’s arguments in favor of abandoning New York Times actual malice likely draw their inspiration from Justice Powell’s desire to fundamentally alter defamation law by re-elevating the state’s interest in protecting individuals’ reputations.

Research Paper • Open Competition • Patrick Walters, Kutztown University • Beyond Positive & Negative: Developing a Complementary Framework for First Amendment Theory • Tracing back to the work of Isaiah Berlin and the debates of the Hutchins Commission, discussions of First Amendment theory have long been divided into opposing interpretations of “negative” rights protecting speakers from interference and “positive” rights ensuring that the public has the right to a quality information system. This paper explores whether these two contrasting approaches can be rectified, especially in an era where the lines between communicator and audience are no longer firm. The analysis explores these questions amid ongoing debates about regulating platforms, restricting hate speech and increased public intervention in the floundering news industry. The analysis, which builds on previous scholarship that has deemed First Amendment theory “inadequate,” finds that the two perspectives are indeed unique and cannot be rectified. But the paper argues that these perspectives need not be oppositional to each other. It issues a call for scholars and practitioners to support a complementary First Amendment approach that embraces both perspectives in the name of reaching a more complete understanding of our information ecosystem and all the factors involved in it.

<2021 Abstracts

Internships and Careers Interest Group

2021 Abstracts

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Cristina Azocar; Lourdes Cárdenas, San Franciso State University • Bilingual Spanish Journalism: Preparing Students for the Future • “Bilingual reporting and writing skills are opening multiple opportunities for journalists in print, broadcast, online and emerging media. But few opportunities exist to prepare students for these jobs, particularly for the bilingual writing expertise required, and the current journalism job market lacks applicants with the bilingual proficiency necessary to fill the openings. We used mixed-methods to assess whether a minor, a certificate, a concentration or a major would address the bilingual expertise needed for the current job market. We concluded that a bachelor’s degree in Bilingual Spanish Journalism is the best academic option to fill this expertise gap. Based on the expertise needed, we designed an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree that will provide students with the necessary tools and skills to report, produce and write news stories in Spanish and English for print, online and electronic media, and to work in Latinx mainstream media as well as English language publications covering issues affecting Latinx communities.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Robin Blom, Ball State University; Elena Lazoff • Internship Practices in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs: A review of ACEJMC-accredited programs • The use of professional internships has long been a defining feature of journalism and mass communication programs, but the practice is also increasingly controversial for the financial burdens it places on marginalized students. This study examines accreditation reports for 120 institutions to gain a better understanding of current practices. Preliminary findings show that almost all universities offer internships for credit, about 20% of programs require them, and most use them to assess student learning outcomes.

Research Paper • Faculty • Joey Senat, Oklahoma State University/School of Media; John McGuire, Oklahoma State University/School of Media • Benefiting or Exploiting: Judicial Interpretations of What Constitutes a Legal Unpaid Journalism and Mass Communication Internship Under the Primary Beneficiary Test • This study analyzed federal court applications of the primary beneficiary test used to determine when college students working at for-profit companies should be considered unpaid interns or paid employees. Courts have put few guardrails in place to protect students from being exploited as free labor. Instead, the test is so vague and easily met by employers that students are more likely to be exploited now than they were under the U.S. Department of Labor’s previous criteria. Consequently, universities must take responsibility for ensuring their students benefit from unpaid internships.

<2021 Abstracts

International Communication Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Shlash Alzyoud, Student • The Concept of “New Media” among Jordanian News Producers • Journalists and directors of major media have documented doubts about blogging and social media. Difficult questions must be asked to know how new technologies are affecting journalism, along with what is actually achieved for the news organization in the presence of these technologies. The purpose of the this study is to understand and explain how Jordanian news-story producers perceive social media networks as related to making news and the extent to which they rely on these networks in producing news, in addition to knowing their opinions of the pros and cons of these networks. The study uses the qualitative approach by conducting personal interviews with the study sample.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Augustine Botwe, University of Colorado Boulder; Selorm Adogla • Responsibility Framing of Health Issues in Ghanaian Newspapers: A Comparative Study of Ebola and Cholera • The media in Ghana can play a significant role in shaping narratives associated with public health problems, especially endemic health challenges. The results of a bivariate analysis of the contents of two most widely circulated Ghanaian newspapers show that experts, who dominate media conversations about public health issues, discriminate in their apportioning of responsibility. While they called on the government to tackle Ebola, they shamed individuals for the outbreak of cholera. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Chen Chen • The Geopolitics Game: A Comparatively Frame Analysis between the US and Chinese Coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” in the Perspective of Media Diplomacy • TikTok was considered to be banned by American government after July 2020, this commercial dispute was “politicized”. This study compared the news coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” by two comparable mainstream media groups in China and the US. By employing multi-layer frame analysis of two News Frames, this study aimed at uncovering how and why the dispute was constructed in the Media Diplomacy of the two states under the geopolitics game vision.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Calvin Cheng, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Wanjiang Zhang; Qiyue ZHANG • Conspiracy about COVID-19 Pandemic in Contemporary China: What is the Authority’s Role on Weibo • By illustrating how Chinese authorities narrate and spread conspiracy theories (CTs) on Weibo, this study argues that authority-led CTs are strategic rhetoric in political discourse in authoritarian systems. We found authority-led CTs are significantly different from individual-led CTs in terms of topics, narratives, and diffusion patterns. Particularly Chinese authorities applied denial, rivalrous and connotative rhetoric on controversial topics to signify conspiratorial claims, contributing to the widespread of misleading CTs from vast individuals on social media.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Abdul Wahab Gibrilu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • News use, partisanship and political attitudes in Africa: A cross-national analysis of four African societies using the communication mediation approach • Drawing from Afrobarometer survey respondents in four African democracies (N=5997), we explored news uses effects on citizens’ political attitudes and how such relationships are affected by partisanship. Findings showed that only online news uses predicted all levels of citizens’ political attitudes across the samples whilst mediation results further affirmed different pathways to political attitudes through political discussion. Partisan differences exhibited consistent indirect effects for ruling and no party support across large portion of the sample.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Jing GUO, Chinese Univeristy of Hong Kong • How twitter becomes the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy? • I applied grounded theory in social media research to explore how twitter became the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy campaign. By manual coding and simultaneous analysis on Chinese current foreign spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s Twitter postings and comments he received in three stages, I conceptualized China’s recent diplomatic move on twitter as ‘war of words’ model with features like ‘leadership’, ‘polarization’ and ‘aggressiveness’, while the effects in global community including ‘resistance’, ‘hatred’, and ‘sarcasm’.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Sima Bhowmik • Examining the media coverage of early COVID19 responses in the online version of Bangladeshi newspapers. • This study analyzes Bangladeshi news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine attention cycle patterns, cited sources, and news frames. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 729 articles from three newspapers (The Daily Star, The Daily Sun, and The Daily Prothom-Alo) published from March 1 to May 30, 2020. It was found that attention cycle patterns, news frames, and sources varied across the three newspapers. The study shows that these three newspapers gave more attention after the pandemic announcement. This study revealed that these three-newspapers emphasized mostly on attribution on government responsibility and reassurance frame. Regarding the news sources, these three newspapers equally used more sources from government. Apart from govt. sources The Daily Star and The Daily Sun also used international experts’ comments, while The Daily Prothom-Alo frequently used Bangladeshi health experts’ comments. This study will be helpful for researchers to understand third world country’s pandemic coverage.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • milan ismangil • Print as Digital Gateway: Hong Kong’s Yellow Economy and Bimodal Communications • Print is not dead. Machine readable communications and smartphones as the means to read them has given print new wings. Print is rearticulated as bimodal communication, standing between the physical and the digital realm. By analysing the yellow economic circle in Hong Kong, a pro democracy protest, this article argues that the new possibilities of paper as digital gateway to the digital has made it a vital part of the protest movement.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Solyee Kim, University of Georgia • What does the Korean Embassy’s Facebook page show us? • This study explores the discourse on the Facebook page of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States and how the Embassy constructs its roles and the US-ROK relationship. The study analyzes the posts that were published on the Embassy’s Facebook page between October 25, 2019 and October 25, 2020 and discusses how its findings help constructing the ideologies of the Embassy and dynamics of the US-ROK relations.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Wei-ping Li, College of Journalism • Extended Abstract: [It’s a small world after all] • During the Covid-19 pandemic, people in different countries have shared not only the fear of the virus but also false information. Based on international information flow theory and by examing Covid-19 false information in the Chinese language, this research studies the characters of the similar or identical false information that circulates in various countries. The research finds that cultural and geographical proximity are important factors in deciding where the information traverses.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Qiaozhi Liang; Yifei Li; Ke XUE • The Charm of Culture: An Empirical Research on Intangible Cultural Heritage Short Videos • With the prosperity of Internet techniques in digital age, culture-related short videos have sprung up to attract overseas audience to adopt information of exotic culture. The study is an empirical research to investigate the factors affecting the viewers’ adoption towards the intangible cultural heritage short video and thus influencing their cultural identity. The Information Adoption Model (IAM) was extended and verified to adapt to the context of culture dissemination by adding the moderating variables of visual aesthetics and personal involvement. Questionnaire was conducted online comprised of the short videos’ clips and psychological scales. In conclusion, 471 people took part in the survey and 433 were validated. With the regression results, we found the establishment of the positive effects of source credibility and information quality on information adoption, the dual-moderating effect of involvement, and the negative moderating effect of visual aesthetics to the relationship between source credibility and information adoption. The study provides insights into guidance for making attractive short videos and innovative strategies to spread culture efficiently.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • V Michelle Michael; Satrajit Ghosh Chowdhury • Extended Abstract: Framing Terrorism in a Global Media Conduit: Comparing Muslim-Majority and Muslim-Minority Countries • This study compared the news coverage of three terrorist attacks in Britain in the summer of 2017. As terrorism and Islam are often erroneously correlated in news coverage, 510 articles from three Muslim-majority and three Muslim-minority countries were analyzed for any differences based on national religious identity. Our study showed that the three Muslim-minority countries used more terrorism frames for Muslim perpetrators than a White perpetrator compared to the three Muslim-majority countries.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Nabila Mushtarin, University of South Alabama • #desi: Self-Representation on TikTok among the South Asian Diasporic Youth in the U.S. • With 2 billion downloads and 69% users under the age of 24 across 150 countries, TikTok has become a popular social media platform preferred by the youth for sharing unique interactive contents. The virtual space offered by TikTok motivates its users to participate in short performative videos reflecting socio-cultural practices. This paper explores the use of TikTok by the South Asian Diasporic youth and analyzes its role in offering a virtual space for self-representation of the group.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Mladen Petkov • Journalistic role perceptions and barriers to role fulfilment in post-communist Bulgaria: A preliminary assessment • This preliminary study explores role perception among journalists in Bulgaria, who work in a media landscape where political pressure and dissemination of false information create barriers to role fulfillment. The findings reported in this paper summarize semi-structured interviews with established Bulgarian journalists who discuss their work and reflect on professional values in an era of incomplete political transition and abundant disinformation. The findings make a contribution to scholarly studies about post-communist media systems.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Viktor Tuzov, City University of Hong Kong • Media coverage of trade war between China and United States by Russian media outlets • During the recent years the trade war between China and United States became one of the most important crisis not only in the global economic relations, but also in the international political agenda. The current research is focused on Russian media coverage of trade war between China and United States based on the content analysis and implication of structural differences existing in the current Russian media system into war and peace journalism paradigm.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Gea Ujčić • In “Other” news: A media framing analysis of COVID-19 emergence in Croatia • By qualitatively analyzing Croatian coverage of COVID-19 outbreaks in China and Croatia, this paper explored framing and the construction of “Otherness” in three Croatian digital news outlets. Findings indicate stereotyping, dehumanization and Orientalism were present in framing China as a threat, while with the domestic outbreak, empathy, resilience, and personalization prevailed. This paper contributes to the existing literature by exploring Croatian coverage of the pandemic and adding to the research of portrayals of pestilences worldwide.

Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Lupita Wijaya, Monash University • What’s in a name? Imagined Territories and Sea Names in the South China Sea Conflict • This study compares three disputants in the South China Sea conflict, namely Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia (2013-2018). This study marks the preferred names as a turning point of maritime territorial imagination, transitioning names from merely geographical references to names bearing territorial and geopolitical implications, exemplified by Philippines’ West Philippine Sea, Vietnam’s East Sea, and Indonesia’s (North) Natuna Sea. Geographic name is not simply a geographic reference of passages anymore but invokes an imagination of boundary and identity. The process of turning the SCS into a conflict has been signified by the practice of name change and this process is imbued with collective memories from past conflict experiences. Content analysis and exploratory topic model show three disputants revolve around contested names in their associated topics and frames.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Xin XIN • Extended Abstract: [Imagining Behind the Wall: Representation of Israel on Chinese Online Video Platform Bilibili] • Taking Israel on Chinese online video platform Bilibili as a case, this research adopts qualitative content analysis to investigate how people shape the imagination of distant others through digital media representations. Drawing Orgad’s (2012) global imagination, the researcher discusses three findings including parochial stranger-relationality, otherness in censored digital platform, and self-representation as alternative. Revisiting the work of representation help reveal new challenges and potentials for change in the symbolic production of others.

Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Jiahui Dai, Communication University of China; Yangyue Xiong, Communication University of China • Advocating International Cooperation and Confirming International Status: Metaphors Used by WHO in COVID-19 Briefing Speeches • In COVID-19 epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducts international communication through three forms: regular media briefings, delegation briefings and attendance of the Director General at other meetings. In this study, a total of 50 speeches from 22 January 2020 to 9 April 2020 of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO were selected for critical metaphor analysis. It is found that team metaphor, war metaphor, moral metaphor, journey metaphor and fire metaphor run through the metaphor use of WHO. WHO constructs the response to the COVID-19 epidemic as team work, war, moral responsibility or journey, and the COVID-19 epidemic as fire. In the in-depth analysis of its metaphorical interpretation and explanation, it can be found that WHO has expanded the connotation of these five types of metaphors through different metaphorical carriers, but its metaphorical intention is consistent in two aspects, namely, advocating international cooperation and confirming international status.

Research Paper • doctoral candidate • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Weiwen Yu, Arizona State University • Key Players in International Opinions on the U.S.-China Trade War • “Based on relevant theories and using the methods of thematic analysis and social network analysis, this study analyzes the roles of relevant countries and classes in international opinions on the U.S.-China trade war through measuring and comparing the sources and attitudes of related opinions in the mainstream press of some countries. The findings show that the United States and China are the main sources of relevant international opinion in other countries, while the traditional powers Britain and Russia had more opinions mentioned than Vietnam and Iran—even though the latter ones were more affected by the trade war. Meanwhile, elites and decision makers are the main sources of relevant opinions in the United States and China respectively, but there are also some substantial differences between these two countries. The national interests clearly dominated the attitudes of other countries toward the United States and China. At the domestic level, the U.S. government seems to unusually gain the agreement of various classes, while Chinese government is questioned by certain classes in China. All of these could strengthen the U.S. claims and weakened China’s voice in the international opinion. Furthermore, the opinions of relevant international organizations did not gain the attention they deserve from various countries, American and Chinese public opinions also were not expressed adequately in the press dominated by their elites and decision-makers. Their real roles in the international opinion still need to be further investigated.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Saifuddin Ahmed • Perception and deception: Examining third- and first-person perceptual gaps about deepfakes in US and Singapore • This study is one of the first attempts in understanding public perceptions of deepfakes. Findings from three studies across US and Singapore support third-person perception (TPP about influence) and first-person perception (FPP about recognizing) about deepfakes. A detection test suggests that the TPP and FPP are not predictive of real ability to distinguish deepfakes. Moreover, the perceptual gaps are more intensified among those with higher cognitive ability. The findings contribute to the growing disinformation literature.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Deb Aikat, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Mariam Alkazemi; Faten Alamri,, Princess, Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia; Cathy Zimmer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The Influence of Personality on Motivations: Comparing Uses and Gratifications of Social Media Users in the US and Kuwait • “Social media platforms dominate popular communication. However, few studies have examined how the media ecosystem impacts Kuwaiti students’ use of social media, and even fewer have matched it with students in the United States in a comparative context. Based on the uses and gratification approach, this study to compares students from the United States and Kuwait to understand social media use across cultures. This study offers insight to use of social media by students in these two cultural contexts. This study examines how personality may impact their motivations. This study offers insight to use of social media by students in US and Kuwait contexts, and examines how personality may impact their motivations.”

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Fitria Andayani, University of Missouri • What is ethical in entrepreneurial journalism? • In-depth and semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with Indonesian entrepreneurial journalists to understand their perception of the ethical dilemma due to their double role as journalists and entrepreneurs and how they implement journalism boundaries. The findings informed by the boundary work theory suggested the ethical dilemma is inevitable in varying degrees and contexts. Simultaneously, how entrepreneurial journalists deal with normative issues and implement journalism boundaries depends on their business objectives, journalistic experience, and perceived identity.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • John Beatty, La Salle University • American Stereotypes of Chinese: Traits, Values and Media Use • “This national study examines Americans’ perceptions of Chinese character traits and related cultural values, in addition to media use, communication and demographic items. Recent coverage of China in The New York Times was examined. Respondents perceived Chinese as “career types,” as overly religious and prudish, and generally as “good people.” Correlations with media use, communication patterns and demographics were weak, although there is a relationship between media use and a perception that Chinese are antisocial.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Robin Blom, Ball State University; Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University; Arwa Kooli, l’Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l’Information • Tunisian and U.S. Journalism Students: A Comparison of Journalism Degree Motivations and Role Conceptions • This study assesses journalism student motivations and role conceptions among Tunisian and U.S. students to compare aspiring journalists in a country with well-established free-press norms to those in a transitional democracy with a recent history of authoritarianism. Preliminary results suggest that Tunisian journalism students are more interested than U.S. journalism students in covering public affairs and using their work to fight social injustice. A Tunisian drive toward public-service journalism is consistent with these activist inclinations.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Michael Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Jingjing Yi, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Panfeng Hu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dmitry Kuznetsov, Chinese University of Hong Kong • The politics of contextualization in communication research: Examining the discursive strategies of non-US research in JCR journals from 2000 to 2020 • Non-US authors are often held to a different standard to US authors when contextualizing the findings and contributions of their research. We examined the discursive strategies they used in 605 articles across eight JCR-listed communication journals from 2000 to 2020. The findings showed a substantive amount of contextualization in relation to US concerns and literature; and demonstrated the ideological hegemony and omnipresence of the US-dominated academic culture that permeates the academic writing of non-US authors.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Dhiman Chattopadhyay, Shippensburg University • Indian Journalists’ Perceptions About Social Media’s Usefulness, Trustworthiness and Value As a Breaking News Platform • This study examines Indian journalists’ perceptions about (a) social media’s usefulness and (b) trustworthiness, as well as (c) why they believe their colleagues choose social media as a breaking news platform. Results from an online survey of 274 multi-platform journalists across 14 cities, indicated a dichotomy – journalists rated social media as extremely useful, yet not-so-trustworthy professional tool. Further, breaking from hierarchies of influences that have traditionally shaped mainstream media’s gatekeeping decisions, journalists reported that more than professional routines, or organizational diktats, ‘usefulness’ of the platform was the primary reason journalists shared breaking news on social media. Other perceived influences on gatekeeping decisions, included a need for higher page views, and inter-media competition to showcase trending news first. Results indicate emerging challenges for journalism practice in one of the largest non-Western media markets, and offer insights into newer ‘hierarchy of influences’ affecting gatekeeping decisions.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Surin Chung, Ohio University; Eunjin Kim, University of Southern California; Suman Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill; Euirang Lee, Ohio University • How Does Ethical Ideology Affect Behavioral Intention to Wear a Mask in Pandemic? • The present study examined how ethical ideologies (i.e., relativism, and idealism) moderated the relationship between two variables (i.e., attitude, and subjective norm) and behavioral intention to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-national survey was conducted in the U.S. and South Korea. The study found that relativism weakens the relationship between the two variables and behavioral intention in the U.S. whereas idealism weakens the relationship between the two variables and behavioral intention in South Korea.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Dinfin Mulupi, University of Maryland, College Park; Keegan Clements-Housser, University of Maryland, College Park; Jodi Friedman, University of Maryland, Philip Merrill School of Journalism; Nataliya Rostova; Gea Ujčić; Matt Wilson, University of Maryland; Frankie Ho Chun Wong; Linda Steiner, University of Maryland • Riot on the Hill: International Coverage of a U.S. Insurrection Attempt • A thematic analysis of strategic narratives was employed on media texts from 20 different locales on five continents to determine how the January 6 insurrection was covered in places accustomed to being reprimanded by the United States about governance and human rights. Four overarching themes emerged: reputation of the U.S., depictions of the event, underlying causes of the event, and the political implications of the event marked the worldwide coverage.

Extended Abstract • Member • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University • Extended Abstract: Fighting the Infodemic War on COVID-19 Vaccine: An international comparative analysis of factchecking organizations’ impact on Facebook and dialogic engagement • The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the world. An effective vaccine is deemed as the best solution to overcome this pandemic, but while vaccines have been approved and currently distributed, mis/dis-information contributing to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Fact-checker organizations are trying to combat the infodemic through posting their fact-checks on social media, especially Facebook. This paper explores the way fact-checkers in four countries are acting on Facebook, their impact, and how their audiences are responding/reacting.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Shugofa Dastgeer; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas • The Anti-Execution Movement of Iranians on Social Media • “This study explores the structure and content of the anti-execution movement of Iranians on Twitter. The findings indicate that the networks’ activity depends on cases of executions in Iran and that the networks shrink as an execution case becomes older. While the participants largely used the anti-execution hashtags to discuss their personal (irrelevant topics), most of the relevant tweets were had passive tones and relied on self-sourcing.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Carlos Davalos, UW-Madison • Two side of the same coin: How violent incidents have opposing media coverages • Summary: Using bilingual content analysis and comparative strategies, the purpose of this study is to observe how American and Mexican mainstream newspapers cover a violent attack on an American Mormon working family on Mexican territory. Results show that the American coverage lacked social and historical context, while the Mexican newspaper coverage used a holistic frame to explain the family’s attack in a national context.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Victor Garcia-Perdomo, Universidad de La Sabana; Jose Augusto Ventin, Universidad de La Sabana; Juan Camilo Hernández Rodríguez, La Sabana University; Maria Isabel Magaña, Universidad de La Sabana • Testing the protest paradigm on TV and newspapers’ social media coverage of Chilean and Colombian social unrest • This research utilizes the protest paradigm as theory to analyze how TV channels and newspapers in Chile and Colombia covered —on their social media— the historical 2019 protests. According to the paradigm, mainstream media frame stories in a way that focuses on the violence and spectacle, delegitimizing protesters. This paper mixed automatic/manual content analyses to fully explore the adherence to the paradigm in digital environments. Results show key difference among countries, media type and organizations.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Imran Hasnat, University of Oklahoma; Elanie Steyn, University of Oklahoma • Extended Abstract: Digital Public Diplomacy and Social Media: A Content Analysis of Foreign Embassy Tweets • Digitalization has changed public diplomacy (PD). Literature suggests that the new PD is dialogic and collaborative. Additionally, the presence of embassies online indicates the adoption of new communication platforms. Using Cull’s (2008) taxonomy of PD, this study analyzes tweets from 27 embassies, finding that they still use a broadcast model of communication rather than audience dialogue. It shows that images are the most commonly used media and mentions are more frequently used than hashtags.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Tang Tang, Kent State University • Information Verification and Discussion Networks as Pandemic Coping Mechanisms: A Cross-Country Study • Emerging infectious disease threats such as COVID-19 have caused profound impact on the human societies worldwide. In coping with the threat, individuals engage in a series of psychological, affective, communicative, and behavioral coping processes. But there is a lack of systematic examination of the roles of information verification and discussion networks in the coping processes. To address these gaps, this study tests and expands the existing IDT appraisal model by including these two factors. A cross-county online survey was conducted in the U.S. and Taiwan, which represent different levels of COVID-19 disease control. The results showed that different types of threat appraisals predicted both negative and positive emotions associated with the pandemic, which in turn predicted information behaviors, including information seeking, sharing, and sharing without verification. Information seeking was positively associated with engagement in protective action taking, whereas information sharing without verification was negatively related to protective responses. Information sharing was associated with protective responses only indirectly through discussion with strong and latent ties. Moreover, discussion with social contacts also mediated the relationships between threat appraisals/emotions and protective responses, but the patterns were different in the U.S. and Taiwan.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • You Li, Eastern Michigan U • Assessing the Role Performance of Solutions Journalism in a Global Pandemic • This research compares and contrasts the role performance of journalism in reporting prominent solutions to cope with the COVID-19 global pandemic in 25 countries. It found that solutions journalism performed more civic and loyal facilitator roles overall. The coverage in the U.S. demonstrated less tendency to be an interventionist or loyal facilitator than the coverage in East Asia, Europe, and the Pacific, and the COVID-19 infection number negatively predicted those two roles.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Limin Liang • From Ritual to Strategy: Li Ziqi as a Cultural Icon and the Political Economic Appropriation of Micro-Celebrity Fame • This paper uses Jeffrey Alexander’s (2004) cultural pragmatics theory in studying the media phenomenon of Li Ziqi, a Chinese vlogger who achieved stardom in major social media platforms with her cinematic videos celebrating the bucolic life of rural China, from preparing local delicacies to making traditional handicraft. The paper zeroes in on the narrative strategies of Li in crafting the image of an authentic pastoral life in China via short videos, which resonates well with an international audience. It moves on to examine how a cultural icon of the social media era maybe coopted by the Chinese state for its strategic soft power initiatives. The success of Li triggered a media debate whether she constitutes a successful form of “Chinese cultural export”, which remains an elusive goal for official media despite the resources channeled into the endeavor each year. As key opinion leaders debate China’s “cultural essence” and how it may create greater influence overseas, the commercialized videos with a cultural theme eventually get caught up in the more grandiose narrative about China’s soft power. The article dwells on the interaction between the authoritarian logic of the state, the proprietary logic of the media market, as well as the logic of network technology in its ever-shifting alliance with the other more established institutions, all within and through the making of a micro-celebrity.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Anita Kueichun Liu, University at Buffalo; Yotam Ophir; Dror Walter; Itai Himelboim, University of Georgia • Networked Framing and the Role of Elite Gatekeeping During the #TaiwanCanHelp Hashtag Activism Campaign • We examine a Twitter hashtag campaign criticizing the political exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO’s efforts to combat COVID-19. We employed the Analysis of Topic Model Network (ANTMN) to analyze frames used in the #TaiwanCanHelp / #TWforWHO campaign in 2020 (N = 25,992 tweets) and network analysis to study the diffusion of messages and interactions between users. We identify three frames, and demonstrate message diffusion was dominated by Taiwanese and Western politicians and officials.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Yuanyuan Liu; Liu Yining; Xiaojing Li • Exploring the Mediating Role of Perceived Credibility of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media on Political Participation • Inspired by priming theory, steeping stepping stone effect and spillover effect, this study fully examined the mediating role of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media (CCPM), a new social media platform of China’s party media, in the relationship of media use and political participation among young people in Chinese political contexts. A cross-sectional national survey was conducted in China, including the whole 31 provincial regions in Chinese Mainland, by a random cluster sampling among Chinese college students (N = 3,011). Results proved the whole research model of Chinese youth’s media use, general trust, perceived credibility of CCPM, and their online / offline political participation. It provided theoretical and practical significance for present politics alienation among youngsters, as well as for future studies on political participation, media practice, and political propaganda.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Justin Martin; Mariam Alkazemi; Krishna Sharma • A “Regional Halo Effect”? Media Use and Evaluations of America’s Relationships with Middle East Countries • This study examined news use and social media use as predictors of diplomacy evaluations of five Middle East countries among a representative survey of U.S. adults (N=2,059) conducted in September 2020. Respondents were asked if they deem each Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, and the UAE an ally, neutral, or enemy of the United States. The study utilized media and political socialization and public diplomacy scholarship as the theoretical framework. News use and social media use were mostly uncorrelated with diplomacy ratings of the countries, with the exception of Palestine, regarding which newspaper use and hard news consumption were associated with positive ratings and use of Fox News was associated with negative evaluations. The strongest and most consistent, positive predictors of diplomacy ratings were positive ratings of other countries. For example, rating each Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE as allies of the U.S. was strongly associated with similar evaluations of Israel. We may be observing a kind of “regional halo effect,” whereby people in the U.S. who view one country in a foreign region favorably, or negatively, tend to hold most, or all, other countries in that region in similar regard. The authors recommend that the current survey be replicated in the U.S. for ratings of groups of South Asian and sub-Saharan African countries, to test whether this halo effect applies elsewhere. Implications for research on media use and political socialization and on public diplomacy are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Abhijit Mazumdar, Park University; Zahra Mansoursharifloo, Park University • Who is a Less Dangerous Foe? Comparing U.S. Media Portrayal of Taliban and ISIS • “This quantitative research used Indexing theory to study U.S. press portrayal of Taliban and ISIS between 2014 and 2019. There was significant difference on eight frames. The U.S. press portrayed Taliban as a less dangerous foe with which the U.S. could broker a peace deal. However, ISIS was portrayed as a terrorist outfit that had to be crushed. Indexing theory found support from findings of the research.

Research Paper • • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Mingxiao Sui, Ferrum College; Yunjuan Luo, South China University of Technology; Newly Paul, University of North Texas • Trade War, or A War of Fake News?: An Exploration of Factors Influencing the Perceived Realism of Falsehood News on International Disputes • The rise of misinformation in recent years has re-boosted scholarly effort in investigating the origins, consequences, and remedies for the circulation of falsehood news, which primarily scrutinizes this phenomenon in one single nation. This scholarship has not yet considered how this phenomenon evolves in the context of international disputes where dissents, debates and rhetorical attacks often exist. Through a survey experiment, this study examines how Chinese readers’ perceptions about falsehood news is affected by a set of factors including news source, the presence of visual elements, general trust in mainstream Chinese media and trust in mainstream U.S. media, as well as general media literacy. Results suggest that falsehood stories reported by homeland media are perceived to better represent the reality of covered issue than those by foreign counterpart. This relationship is also moderated by readers’ general trust in U.S. media and general media literacy, which thus suggests media literacy training as a possible resolution to counter-effect news source.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, University of Georgia • Decolonizing Methodologies in Media Studies • Drawing on an African feminist autoethnography framework grounded in a decolonial philosophy of Bilchiinsi, I present critical reflections on my experiences as an African scholar conducting research on media studies in Ghana. I argue that although canonical theories can be useful in theorizing African media systems, it is imperative to decolonize research by first looking to Indigenous African epistemologies and knowledge systems to support knowledge production in media studies and communication(s).

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Ruth Moon, Louisiana State University; Tryfon Boukouvidis, Louisiana State University; Fanny Ramirez, Louisiana State University • Covering COVID-19 in the Global South: Digital news values in the Ugandan journalism field • This study examines the differences between online homepage content and print front page content in a Ugandan newspaper (the Daily Monitor) to assess the extent to which current knowledge about homepage news selection applies to the Ugandan and by extension East African and sub-Saharan African contexts. The data comes from spring and summer 2020, in the height of the COVID-19 crisis, allowing the study to also draw conclusions about how the crisis was covered across platforms.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Bahtiyar Kurambayev, KIMEP University; karlyga myssayeva, al-Farabi Kazakh National University • Boycotting Behavior in Journalism • “A plethora of studies about boycotting exist in political sciences, marketing, business and other areas of scholarship, but this theme has been largely overlooked in journalism. This study contributes to scholarship on this unexplored aspect of journalism by examining boycotting behavior in an Asian context of Kazakhstan.

Although this study may have somewhat limited generalizability, this article interviewed journalists and editors from October 2020-February 2021 to examine their professional motivations in boycotting. The study identified that some journalists and news outlets in this politically constrained environment employ somewhat hidden, non-confrontational or undeclared tactics to boycott some selected news sources and certain policies in response to what they view as injustices in society, even when they see boycotting as ineffective. Accumulated professional tensions in an economically and politically constrained context lead to various forms of resistance and protests.

The findings also suggest that financially independent journalists are more likely to boycott certain sources of information, challenge authorities and protest or show resistance, while less financially secure journalists tend to be reluctant to challenge external forces affecting their own journalistic practice. This study discusses the findings in relation to Bourdieu’s field theory.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University; Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Arwa Kooli, l’Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l’Information • Digital Natives, Nascent Democracy: Tunisian Pre-Professional Journalists’ Uses and Perceptions of Social Media • This study assesses Tunisian journalism students’ uses and perceptions of social media in their work. This survey, conducted almost a decade after the country’s Jasmine Revolution saw an authoritarian regime and its state-run news media replaced with democratic elections and laws protecting a free press, shows Tunisian journalism students are using social media largely to connect with the audience, to monitor competitors, and to conduct research. Respondents were divided about impacts on the field.”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Ivanka Pjesivac, U of Georgia; Iveta Imre, U Mississippi; Ana Petrov, University of Toronto • The Use of Sources in News Stories about 2020 American Elections on Croatian Television: Who Dominates the Narrative? • This study examined the coverage of 2020 American elections on Croatian Public Service Television’s website. The results of the content analysis showed that Croatian television used significantly more international than domestic sources, more official than unofficial sources, more male than female sources, more named than unnamed sources, and more real people accounts than documents. The results are interpreted in the context of primary definer theories of news sources use applied to South/East European media model.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • To say or not to say: Examining online self-censorship of political opinions in India • This study examines how self-censorship by social media users in India may be contributing to the limitations of media freedom. While right to free speech to all Indian citizens is assured by the Indian Constitution, a climate of repressive media freedom can have an impact on individual expressions. It can lead to a chilling effect in the public discourse of controversial issues. This study examines self-censorship on Facebook and Twitter with regards to government criticism. Survey (N=141) results suggest respondents with liberal attitudes were unwilling criticize the government on social media. However, respondents with pro-censorship attitudes, even if they deemed the opinion climate as hostile, were willing to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. Findings from this study expand understandings of online opinion expression and self-censorship in India.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • Decade of Internet Censorship in India Examining Google Transparency Reports and Content Takedowns from 2010-2020 • Drawing on the literature on internet censorship this study investigates the practice of content takedowns carried out by the Indian governments. To that end this research employs two studies. Study 1 examines the transparency reports of Google from 2010- 2020 to find out what content is removed from Google platforms. Study 2 through in-depth interviews with technology lawyers and authors of transparency reports finds out about the content removal process and its complexities. The findings show “defamation,” “privacy and security,” “religious offense” and “national security” as the most frequently cited reasons for content removal initiated by the Indian government. Findings reveal a disturbing trend where defamation notices were misused to request takedown of content that was critical of the governments, politicians, public figures, law enforcement officials, and police. The findings of this study are important, they demonstrate several ways in which the internet is being censored even in democratic countries without the knowledge of the users. Such censorship maybe eroding the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitutions of India.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas; Yuchen Liu; Muhammad Ittefaq, University of Kansas; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas; Ursula Kamanga; Annalise Baines • International Migrants and COVID-19 Vaccinations: Social Media, Motivated Information Management & Vaccination Willingness • Using a mixed-methods approach combining an online survey with in-depth interviews, this study examines how international migrants in the United States used online resources in dealing with uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations and how it is related to their vaccine willingness. Our results show that international migrants’ perceived uncertainty, positive and negative emotions, efficacy, and outcome expectancy affect their information seeking related to the vaccination and that issue salience moderates the effect between information seeking and vaccine willingness.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Meghan Sobel Cohen, Regis University • A Dark Continent? Meta-analysis of communication scholarship focused on African nations • Using meta-analytic work, this study examines communication research methods, geographic focus, and lead author affiliation in research articles published in four leading communication journals over the course of a decade (2010 – 2019). Results point to scholarship by authors from North American and European institutions being dominant throughout the decade of analysis alongside an overwhelming research focus on North American and European populations and content, and a continued reliance on a small number of research methods.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Xiao Zhang, Macau University of Science and Technology; Chris Chao Su, Boston University • Media genre dissonance and ambivalent sexism: How American and Korean television consumption shapes Chinese audiences’ gender-role values • Driven by globalization, modernity and the development of media technology, transnational media consumption is increasingly prevalent. Together with indigenous media genres, exotic media genres constitute the fragmentation and diversification of individuals’ media consumption. Yet research concerning the hybrid media effects generated by indigenous and exotic media genres is still underdeveloped. Using a sample of 556 Chinese Internet users, this exploratory study proposes a concept of media genre dissonance to compare the effects of hybrid media consumption on sexism and gender-role norms in marriage (GRIM) in China. The findings suggest that individuals’ perceptions of gender-role norms are not only affected by indigenous media usage but also altered through exotic media usage. We illustrate how genre dissonance can affect Chinese audiences’ perception of GRIM through the mediating roles of culturally specific sexism and general sexism found in American and Korean television dramas.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Louisa Ha • Election Interference Strategies Among Foreign News Outlets on Social Media During the U.S. 2020 Election • This study investigates foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election news coverage of BBC World News, RT America and CGTN America across social media platforms from August 28, 2020, to November 2, 2020. We employed a content analysis of 420 randomly selected posts from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts of these three state-controlled international news outlets. We found content and political relationship factors affected engagement differently in each social media platform. Adversaries of the U.S. were more likely to employ election interference strategies than were allies, although the occurrences were low overall.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Jo Lukito • Russian Bots’ Narrative During Donald J. Trump’s 2020 Senate Impeachment Trial: A Text Mining Analysis • An analysis of Russian-language tweets (n1 = 465,329) collected during the 2020 U.S. Senate impeachment trial reveals that bots accounted for nearly 58% of users (n2 = 39,580) that generated 55% of overall content in a data set. LDA topic modeling method was employed to identify and quantify the differences in topic engagement between bots and nonbots. These findings offer empirical support for the theory of reflexive control, providing insights into Russia’s domestic information operations.

Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Tamara Welter; Jason Brunt • Effects of Individualism and Race On Visual Processing: An Eye-Tracking Experiment • Previous research suggests that East Asians tend to look at the context of an image while Westerners look more at the area of interest. Other research suggests that people might examine photos of same-race and other-race faces differently. Here, we tested for a same v. other race effect for looking at pictures of people in front of naturalistic backgrounds. Across two studies, for measures of number of fixations and for mean length of fixation to AOI and background, we found different effects for race of participant, same race and for number of people in the photograph.

Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Natalie Jomini Stroud; Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • Normative Expectations for Social Media Platforms • Critiques of social media hint at normative expectations, such as the ideas that information should be reliable and people should feel safe. It is unclear how these expectations vary, however, and whether they are better predicted by where one lives or one’s most-used platform. Our survey of over 20,000 people across 20 countries finds that expectations vary more based on respondents’ country of residence than most-used platform, revealing a challenge for social media’s homogenized products.

Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Dongdong Yang, The University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin • Communicating Nation Branding: Pandas as Ambassadors for Wildlife Conservation and International Diplomacy • The current study investigated whether watching panda videos could influence attitudes toward the “brand” of China. Results showed that nature relatedness and wildlife-conservation attitude positively predicted emotional response to the video and attitude toward Chinese culture. Wildlife-conservation attitude positively influenced attitude toward the Chinese government. Political conservativism negatively impacted attitude toward Chinese culture; the latter was positively linked to attitude toward Chinese people. Attitude toward Chinese people were positively connected to attitude toward their government.

<2021 Abstracts

History Division

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Karlin Andersen, The Pennsylvania State University • Evangelical Erasure?: Digital Communications Technology and the Memory of Rachel Held Evans • Rachel Held Evans was a blogger, author, and speaker who chronicled her “evolution” from a devout evangelical Christian to critic in four books, a popular blog, and multiple social media profiles before her death in 2019. Evans’ work is contextualized within the relationship between evangelicals and online technology and ends with a review of Evans’ community as of 2020. Evans’ story offers valuable insights for historians studying digital media, online communities, or public memory.

Research Paper • Faculty • Noah Arceneaux, San Diego State University • Acadian Airwaves: A History of Cajun Radio • This study explores French-language radio in southern Louisiana, particularly in the region known as “Acadiana.” This region is so named for the Acadian French who settled there in the late 1700s, a group commonly known today as “Cajuns.” Drawing from a variety of sources, this study outlines the history of this form of broadcasting, which has persisted since the beginning of radio in the region.

Research Paper • Faculty • Elizabeth Atwood, Hood College • Deadline: A History of Journalists Murdered in America • Although non-profit organizations issue periodic reports on violence directed against the media, little scholarship exists to explain why these attacks occur. Previous studies have focused primarily on volatile regions of the world, but this work looks at attacks on the news media in the United States. It identified seventy journalists who were murdered from 1829 to 2018 and offers a typology with which to categorize the violence.

Research Paper • Faculty • Thomas Bivins, University of Oregon • The effect of early journalism codes and press criticism on the professionalization of public relations • Following the end of WWI, both journalism and the nascent practice of public relations sought to establish a more professional image. The challenge to professionalize from Walter Lippmann on the one hand and Edward Bernays on the other exacerbated an already tense relationship between the two practices. While journalism reinforced its historical role, public relations attempted to elevate its occupation to a higher plane. The result was a sometimes literal battle of codes of ethics.

Research Paper • • Jack Breslin • Civil War Generals for President: Press Coverage of Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield During the Elections of 1876 and 1880 • During the 19th Century, four American “military chieftains” – Jackson, Harrison, Taylor and Grant – won the presidency. Besides their political careers, Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield also served as Union generals. By analyzing news stories and editorials during the Elections of 1876 and 1880 in selected New York City newspapers, this study examines campaign press coverage and electoral impact of the military heroism and political experience of Hayes and Garfield, who defeated General Winfield Scott Hancock.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Michael Buozis, Muhlenberg College • Extended Abstract: Targeting the trades, press associations, and J-schools: Tobacco industry mapping and shaping of metajournalistic discourses • Drawing on archival sources, this study explores how the tobacco industry targeted journalism trade publications, professional and press associations, and journalism schools in a decades-long effort to map and shape metajournalistic discourses to their advantage. By contributing to media-to-media publications, funding and participating in conferences, and engaging in journalism “education” initiatives the industry sought to influence journalistic practices. These journalism-adjacent actors and sites are particularly vulnerable to infiltration from corporate actors and deserve more scrutiny.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Anthony Cepak, University of Tennessee – Chattanooga • An Attempted Coup on King Coal: How The Tennessean helped reshape discourse of coal mining • Through extensive archival research, oral history and ethnography, “An Attempted Coup on King Coal” examines the reportage of journalists at The Tennessean at the beginning of the environmental movement. The activism of The Tennessean’s journalists is illustrated through the lens of photojournalist Jack Corn, as the newspaper covered issues related to the waning coal industry in Tennessee’s Clear Fork Valley, and the social, economic and environmental devastation left in the wake of its abandonment.

Research Paper • Faculty • Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen, University of Idaho • Community Divisions and Fractures in Print: Institutional and Student Media Coverage of a 1927 High School Student Strike • Throughout the 1920s, high school students went on strike across the United States. Yet, despite the number of strikes, their size, and their geographic diversity, they’ve largely been lost in scholarship. This paper examines the longest and largest strike of the decade, and details how it unfolded in institutional media, represented by the community’s daily newspaper, and student media. It argues the strike represented a clash of narratives and revealed a series of community tensions.

Research Paper • Faculty • George Daniels, The University of Alabama • Where There Was a Will, AEJ Made a Way for Diversity • The words “Still Here” were a banner to promote Lee Barrow’s work to recruit and retain students of color in the journalism and mass communication. This paper spotlights Barrow’s work and the others in the leadership of Association for Education in Journalism (AEJ) as they operated the AEJ/New York University Summer Internship Program, created The Journalism Council to raise funds for these efforts and supported a Job/Scholarship Referral Service and career-oriented newsletter Still Here.

Research Paper • Student • Andrew Daws, The University of Alabama • The 1980s and the War on Drugs: The Media’s Declaration Against Hollywood? • What began as a crusade against countries in Latin America turned into a war on the home front – a war against drugs. The federal government was fighting to curb drug use while Hollywood was brandishing images of it. Oftentimes the media sided with the government. Critics from The New York Times were quick to point out these distinctions in films such as Scarface, Drugstore Cowboy, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Clean and Sober.

Extended Abstract • Student • James Fuller, UW-Madison • Extended Abstract: A Socially Responsible Trade: an Analysis of Ethical Discourse in Editor & Publisher, 1930-1934 • This paper shows the trade journal Editor & Publisher regularly discussed ethics of journalistic practice. Through an analysis of 265 Editor & Publisher journals published from 1930 to 1934, I show that newsmen were concerned about ethics in the normative practice of journalism. Further, I argue ethical conversations found within Editor & Publisher illustrate elements of the Social Responsibility Theory of the Press over a decade before its adoption by the Hutchins Commission in 1947.

Research Paper • Faculty • Tamar Gregorian • The Making Of “The Young Budgeter”: The American Girl Magazine’s Role in a Girl Scout’s Life During the Great Depression • Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low founded the Girl Scouts and almost immediately began publishing The American Girl, arguably the most significant publication for adolescent girls at the time. Its content was reflective of societal norms for girls’ behavior. However, were economic effects of the Great Depression reflected in the content? The author, through a close reading of the magazine during that decade found the magazine avoided such content, leaving questions of the publications true influence.

Research Paper • Student • Autumn Linford, University of North Carolina • Perceptions of Progressive Era Newsgirls: Framing of Girl Newsies by Reformers, Newspapers, and the Public • As part of a larger project about news work and gender, this study focuses on the gendered experiences of Progressive era newsgirls. Newsgirls took up a disproportionate amount of public conversation during this time period, but have been mostly ignored by historians. This research suggests the image of the newsgirls was strategically framed and exploited to further reformer’s causes, bolster newspapers’ business, or excuse the public’s apathy.

Research Paper • Student • Alexia Little, University of Georgia • Cementing Their Heroes: Historical Newspaper Coverage of Confederate Monuments • Following continued conflicts about Confederate monuments in American society, this study explores Civil War memory encapsulated in newspaper coverage of four Confederate monument unveilings. Discourse and narrative analyses of 258 articles published in seven U.S. newspapers in the 1890s and 1920s examine how the American public negotiated terms of heroes, victims, and villains, largely in a hegemonic Lost Cause myth that took primacy over fact, thus distorting collective memory of the war.

Extended Abstract • Student • Ayla Oden, Louisiana State University; John M. Hamilton, Louisiana State University • Extended Abstract: “By Far the Best of Our Foreign Representatives:” Vira B. Whitehouse and the Origins of Public Diplomacy • The Committee of Public Information’s efforts during the first World War mark the beginning of American public diplomacy, but its influence has since been overlooked by scholars. The CPI owes a large portion of its overseas success to suffragist Vira Boarman Whitehouse. This paper examines the role Whitehouse played in the CPI’s efforts in Bern, Switzerland. So far, scant research has looked at Whitehouse’s role in shaping public diplomacy, and even then, diminishes the challenges she faced due to her position in a male-dominated field and how her initial efforts were marred by poor mismanagement. This paper analyzes how her role as a leader in the New York suffrage movement gave Whitehouse the skillset to serve as one of the most-accomplished CPI commissioners and trailblazers for modern public diplomacy.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Diane Prusank, Westfield State University • Dorothy Barclay: Mediating Parenting Advice • Research on the history of the women’s pages has neglected a staple of the women’s pages, namely the information provided regarding family and parenting advice. This study begins to fill this gap by analyzing the work of Dorothy Barclay, editor of the parent and child section of The New York Times between 1949 and 1965.

Research Paper • Student • Carolina Velloso • Race Films and the Black Press: Representation and Resistance • This paper investigates Black press coverage of race films in the early twentieth century. Using archival methods and textual analysis to examine coverage in three Black newspapers, this study argues that through advertisements, film reviews, actor profiles, and production updates, Black newspapers played a crucial role in the advancement of positive screen representations of African Americans. The Black press challenged dominant media representations of African Americans and provided readers with positive examples of Black accomplishment.

Extended Abstract • Student • HUANG WENLU • Title: The Image of Heroines in Advertisements of Shanghai’s Martial Arts Films during1920s-1930’s • This paper argues that Nüxia pian such as Red Heroine displays the females’ bodies in a de-gendered way, challenging the visual culture in which females’ bodies was often seen as objects of desire by male viewers. However, in newspaper advertisements, the image of Nuxia Pian has become sexualized, implying the resurrection of the male’s desire. By discussing the disparity of image representations, the present study attempts to offer an analysis related to issues of women’s liberation in Nüxia pian.

<2021 Abstracts

Graduate Student Interest Group

2021 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Julie Aromi, Rutgers University School of Communication and Information • Race on the debate stage: Senators Booker and Harris’s discussions of Blackness in Democratic primary debates • Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker both frequently discussed their experiences as Black Americans during the Democratic primary debates throughout 2019. Both Senators acknowledge the ways Black voters are often used as a tool to elect white Democrats, and use their personal experience to establish solidarity with Black audiences. This textual analysis of the Senators’ remarks about race throughout the debates, focuses on how each talks about their own racialized experiences, and the narratives they construct about who they are as Black politicians, advocates, and Americans.

Research Paper • Student Member • Diane Ezeh Aruah, University of Florida • Struggling to fit in: Understanding difficulties faced by African international graduate students in a Predominant White Institution (PWI) in the United States • Every year, thousands of African students apply to graduate programs in the United States with the hope of experiencing quality and standard education unobtainable in their home countries. However, difficulties encountered by African students while settling into the educational system in the United States can impact their pursuit of the “American dream”. This article examines these difficulties using a qualitative phenomenological study of African graduate students in a predominantly white institution in the U.S. In-depth interview was used to collect data from 16 Ph.D. and master’s students. The students encountered inter-personal-based, community-based, and institutional-based difficulties, which often led to feelings of isolation, depression, and low self-esteem. The students managed their difficulties through online and offline support, as well as self-developed skills. Predominantly white institutions in the United States must include the needs of African international students in their recruitment, orientation, and mental health support programs.

Research Paper • Student • Laura Canuelas-Torres • Young Activists or Misguided Children? American Adults’ Perceptions on The March for Our Lives Teen Activists • The efforts of young people to advance gun control measures media coverage from all across the political spectrum. The current project used Q Methodology to further understand American adults’ perception of these activists. Results indicate that three camps emerged: those who recognized the teens as activist, those who see them as mislead and confused and those who see their efforts as the result of adolescent naivety. Relationships with media consumption are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Sera Choi • The Use of Non-Verbal Cues to Express Apology and User Perception on Influencers’ Apology • This qualitative study examines how YouTube influencers use non-verbal cues in their apology videos and how users perceived these non-verbal cues displayed in the videos. This study utilized facial expressions via different arrangements of upper and lower facial structures, body and hand gestures, and speech rate to analyze how influencers used non-verbal cues. The study observed four different themes of users’ perceptions of non-verbal cues used in apology videos (i.e., sincere, fake, aggressive, and disappointed).

Extended Abstract • Student • Carl Ciccarelli, The University of South Carolina • A critical qualitative analysis of response framing of the COVID-19 pandemic across higher education. • The present study is timely and aims to employ a mixed method research design to extract meaningful insights to inform future practices in higher education through studying responses from a sample of five large public universities located in the southeast United States. This analysis will include in-depth interviews, content analysis of statistical COVID-19 dashboard data for each university, and a textual analysis of the framing and tone of response statements disseminated by each university.

Research Paper • Student • Nina Gayleard • Audience Member Twitter Discussion About Netflix’s Unbelievable (2019) • This research focused on themes amongst audience member discussions of crime entertainment media by examining tweets about Netflix’s Unbelievable (2019). The research aimed to identify major themes amongst audience discussions and see how those themes compared to current themes in crime entertainment media texts. The themes that appeared in the tweets reflected those in Unbelievable (2019) and those currently found within crime entertainment media texts, indicating that audience members actively discerned and discussed relevant themes.

Research Paper • Student • Lingshu Hu • Boosting Texts: Improving Text Classification Performance on Small-Sized, Imbalanced Datasets • Communication scholars, who traditionally focus on text messages, can benefit from adopting recently developed machine learning algorithms on text classification. This study introduced three methods—boosting, SMOTE, and Bert embedding—and tested their performance on small-sized, imbalanced datasets. Results show that SMOTE effectively increases the accuracy of classifying the minority class; Bert embedding can enhance the overall testing accuracy but may not improve minority class recognition; Boosting did not work well with text classification tasks.

Research Paper • Student • Shudan Huang, University of South Carolina; Max Bretscher, University of South Carolina • Motivation to Purchase Organic Foods, Message Clarity, and Information Processing from a Heuristic-Systematic Perspective • This study utilized a construal frame manipulation of an organic product and applied a heuristic-systematic model (HSM) as the theoretical foundation for testing people’s attitude, the brand, and purchase intention of the organic product with different levels of involvement and skepticism. The finding revealed that skepticism will have negative effects on participants’ cognition and acceptance of organic food. And frames were found to be a significant predictor of ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention.

Research Paper • Student • Jeff Hunter, Texas Tech University; Koji Yoshimura • Are there Partisan Differences in the Moral Framing of News? • This study investigated the relationship between moral framing of news media headlines and the political ideology of the source using moral foundations theory and the model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME). A content analysis assessed the moral framing of 1,100 news headlines sampled from major news sources. Results indicated that moral foundation framing did not differ according to the political ideology of the news source, but framing was associated with the issues examined.

Research Paper • Student • Yanru Jiang, University of California, Los Angeles • Understanding Triggers of Problematic Internet Uses in Casual Mobile Game Designs • There is evidence that players can become addicted to casual mobile games. This study identified seven elements that are frequently adopted in casual mobile game designs and could trigger game addictions. The study used a seven-item game addiction scale (GAS) to access the addiction level of casual mobile gamers. Adverse effects on addicted players, such as being isolated from social contacts, neglecting important activities, and undermining psychological conditions, were identified through the GAS.

Research Paper • Student • Sarah Johnson • Credibility from the Source: Comparing traditional celebrity endorsers with YouTube endorsers • This study examines the relationship between an endorser’s expertise, trustworthiness, and brand attitude using Source Credibility Theory, by looking at traditional celebrity and YouTube endorsers. A representational survey of the U.S. adult population was used. The research model was analyzed using mediation analysis; the results were determined to have significant direct and indirect effects. Based on the results, there was a slight increase in the strength of the mediator on brand attitude for YouTube endorsers.

Research Paper • Student • URSULA KAMANGA • Assessing the Implications of Cervical Cancer Information Sources and its Barriers Among Latinas • Cervical cancer is preventable, yet screening levels remain low among Latinas, contributing to a 40% mortality rate in the U.S. Health information-seeking behavior among this population remains low. Few studies have assessed channels used while investigating perceived uncertainty for health information-seeking among Latinas. This case study will test the Theory of Planned Behavior through semi-structured interviews to understand the health information-seeking behavior among Latinas and where new channels could be made to assist them.

Research Paper • Student • hakan karaaytu • Independent Journalists Reporting on Political Issues in Turkey, using Traditional and New Media • In this study, while the role and journalistic ideal imputed to the media in contemporary democracies are considered, the changes in the Turkish media sector, which have been structurally transformed since 1980, and the reflections of this change on the identity of the journalists are revealed. As the historical process of the media structure that has been transformed is described, the effects of the experiences in relationship between media and politics on the journalistic profession are illustrated with concrete examples. The research paper consists of interviews with 10 people who are selected from journalism academics and press-journalists in the profession.

Extended Abstract • Student • Yihan Li, School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Health code for datafied mobilities in China: Framing of datafication, algorithmic governance and dataism ideology • This research adopts critical discourse analysis to analyze the construction of health code discourse by Chinese governments and its social consequences. This research finds the frame of the health code as an objective tool for orderly mobilities, which is produced by the hierarchical relation between the state and local governments. And this discourse contributes to the emerging of a new mode of algorithmic governance and a dataism ideology with some doubtful assumptions.

Research Paper • Student • Paige Nankey; Rhea Maze • Social Media and Marine Plastic Pollution: A Study of Social Media Messaging on Engagement • This 2 (emotional appeal: hope vs. guilt) x 2 (call-to-action (CTA): presence vs. absence) between-subjects experiment randomly exposed 76 college students to one of four Instagram-type messages about marine plastic pollution: Guilt with no CTA (N = 18), guilt with CTA (N = 20), hope with no CTA (N = 19), or hope with CTA (N = 19). The results were not significant but revealed an interesting interaction pattern when combining hope appeals with CTA’s.

Extended Abstract • Student • Victoria McDermott; Drew T. Ashby-King, University of Maryland • Extended Abstract: Examining Institutional and Instructional Support of Communication Graduate Students Academic and Social Needs During COVID-19 • Rhetorical and relational goal theory posits that students have academic and relational needs in the classroom that need to be met to facilitate student success. By conducting focus groups with communication graduate students, this study explored how institutional/departmental and instructor communication met students’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We suggest that rhetorical and relational goals are intertwined concepts that contribute to supporting students’ academic and relational needs and success.

Research Paper • Student • Adriana Mucedola, Syracuse University • Royal baby boom: How British tabloids covered Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s pregnancies • This study used an intersectional approach to understand how media coverage during Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s first pregnancies differed from one another. A content analysis that coded 240 British tabloid articles revealed that Markle received a greater amount of press negativity and negative weight-related attitudes, while Middleton’s body was objectified to a greater extent. Findings suggest that media continue to objectify women in different ways depending on their identities, and reinforce the thin ideal.

Research Paper • Student • Christina Myers • Toward a Conceptual Model of Implicit Racial Bias and Representation of African Americans in Media • “The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model to explain how societal, cultural and historical circumstances contribute to the creation of meaning assigned by content creators and its subsequent understanding, particularly as it relates to the media’s portrayal of African Americans. The author suggests implicit racial bias, stereotypes and ideology, which are shaped by the historical, cultural and societal influences of content creators, allow for inherently prejudiced belief systems to be disseminated and reinforced by mass media. To the author’s knowledge, there is a paucity in mass communication literature that seeks to explain the cognitive processes involved in content creation by members of mass media.

Extended Abstract • Student • Nhung Nguyen, University of Kansas • Strangers helping strangers in a strange land: Vietnamese immigrant mothers and expecting mothers in the USA use social media to navigate health acculturation • Drawing from acculturation, this study analyzes 18 in-depth interviews with immigrant Vietnamese mothers and pregnant women in the United States on the role of online social support through Facebook on their pregnancy and motherhood in a strange land. Findings show that immigrant mothers seek out both informational and emotional supports. “Bonding” levels are low and unlikely to transcend into real-life friendships. Social media, however, allows community members to develop and thrive during enculturation.

Extended Abstract • Student • Jeffry Oktavianus, City University of Hong Kong; Yanqing Sun; Fangcao Lu • Extended abstract: The episodes of health crisis information response process among migrant domestic workers during COVID-19 pandemic • Guided by Crisis Response Communication Model (CRCM), this study examined how Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong digested and responded to health crisis information amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through in-depth interviews involving 32 workers, this study discovered that the participants went through four stages of crisis response process, including observation (i.e., information gathering), interpretation (i.e., filtering information and verification), choice (i.e., adopting adaptive and maladaptive preventive measures), and dissemination (i.e., information sharing).

Research Paper • Student • Runlei Ren; Xinyu Dai; Mengyuan Wei • The Impact of Internet on Public Trust in Government: Assessing the Mediating Effect of Subjective Social Justice • Over the past decade, public trust in the government (PTG) in developed countries has continued to decline. At the same time, the rapid development of the Internet has changed people’s perceptions. The decline of PTG will pose a challenge to government governance. Given the coexistence of the decline in PTG and the gradual popularization of the Internet, can the Internet explain or partially explain the fluctuations in PTG among citizens? Previous research pointed out that the negative effects may play a leading role. However, existing literature ignores that the relationship between Internet use and public trust in government (PTG) can be mediated by contextual variables such as perceived social justice. Thus, this study uses the 2018 Chinese Social Survey (CSS 2018) and household survey datasets in 2015 (CGSS 2015) to explore the influence of internet usage on PTG and its mechanism. Multivariate regressions and instrumental variable estimates support that: Besides playing a negative role directly (β=-0.0467, t=-3.0304, p<0.001), the internet can also affect PTG by polluting subjective social justice. Diverse applications of the internet have different effects on PTG. From the perspective of different government levels, it conforms to the characteristics of differential trust in government. This conclusion provides a reference for the governance of Internet public opinion. The department of management could treat the Internet as a platform to carry out effective communication between the government and the public to improve political trust.

Extended Abstract • Student • Zoey Rosen, Colorado State University; Channing Bice, Colorado State University; Stephanie Scott, Colorado State University • Extended Abstract: [Visualizing the Invisible: Visual-Based Design and Efficacy in Air Quality Messaging] • This study examines the effect of efficacy and visual design for messaging for air quality. The following study is a 2 (efficacy: high vs. low) × 2 (message design: visual vs. text) between-subjects experimental design, assessing the effects of these variables on students’ visual comprehension, source credibility, self-efficacy, and protective behavioral intention. Hypotheses were partially supported, finding that there were some statistically significant effects for efficacy and message design on the variables of interest.

Extended Abstract • Student • Andrea Smith, Syracuse University; Adriana Mucedola, Syracuse University; Jian Shi, Syracuse University • Partisan Pride: How Cross-Exposure to Partisan News and Emotions Toward Trump Leads to Civic Engagement • The purpose of this study was to examine the link between consuming either liberal or conservative media, partisans’ emotional reactions to news about Donald Trump, and their level of participation in civic engagement. A sample of U.S. adults (n=813) completed the relevant measures in an online survey. Results indicated that when participants consumed counter-attitudinal media, they experienced negative emotional reactions to news about Donald Trump, which in turn, led them to become more civically engaged.

Research Paper • Student • Courtney Tabor, University of Oregon • “What a 13-year old girl looks like”: A feminist analysis of To Catch a Predator • This paper examines three key episodes of early-2000s sensation To Catch a Predator and situates them within crime media and journalism literature. Based on the analysis, To Catch a Predator represents the apex of crime media as demonstrated by the treatment of women and girls as bait, claims of ownership over women and girls’ bodies, lack of nuance in reporting, and the liberties taken in their journalistic practices.

Research Paper • Student • Jingyue Tao • The Influence of Message and Audio Modalities in Augmented Reality Mobile Advertisements on Consumers’ Purchase Intention • Evidence shows that AR technology is an effective advertising approach to raise a brand’s awareness, so many big brands implement AR into their marketing strategy. However, the effectiveness of AR mobile advertisements on consumers’ purchase intentions remains unclear. To fill this dearth in the literature, this study examined how message and audio modalities of AR mobile advertisements influenced consumers’ purchase intentions through an experiment. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective, this online experiment manipulated the message type (emotional/factual) and audio-verbal appeal (present/absent) of AR advertisements to investigate their impact on consumers’ attitudes towards buying a watch. The results showed that audio-verbal appeal played a salient role in the emotional message to positively influence consumers’ perceived entertaining gratification and intention to buy the watch. However, the audio-verbal emotional message negatively influenced consumers’ purchase intention and did not influence their perceived information gratification. Future research should test other multimedia such as images, video, or animations to better understand the interaction effect between AR mobile advertisements and consumers’ purchase intentions.

Research Paper • Student • Taylor Thompson • Trust in media in the era of fake news • This study explores how political ideologies, media bias, and media credibility affect trust in the media. This research uses an ATP survey from Pew Research Center. The analysis found that people who identify as Democrats have a significantly higher trust in the media, and think the media is doing their job well and effectively. Republicans were less trustful of the media, which suggests a problematic relationship between the media and people who identify as Republicans.

Research Paper • Student • Yue Wang, University of Leuven • Why are smartphones a thief who steals time? An Empirical Study of Smartphone Dependence in China • With the rapid spread of smartphones worldwide, the negative effects of overuse and dependence on smartphones have attracted more and more public attention. To explore how people’s psychological motivations affect smartphone dependence, this research expands the motivation of media-system dependence and adds two psychological characteristics of loneliness and FoMO. The results showed that “recreation”, “orientation”, “loneliness” and “FoMO” had significant impacts on smartphone use, while “understanding” did not have a direct effect on smartphone dependency.This survey provides important information for academicians concerning smartphone dependency, which is still rarely explored in China.

Research Paper • Student • Tian Xinhe • Research on Online Social Support Related to Gender Issues from the Perspective of Communication-An empirical analysis based on Zhihu, an online question-and-answer community in China.docx • Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 has highlighted the importance of social caring, and the related gender issues have attracted more attention online. This paper studies the posts related to the “sanitary napkins in loose packing” in Zhihu Community, and examines the impact of online social support on gender issues, from the perspective of communication and through social network analysis, content analysis and text analysis. Findings: Users have not developed a tight social network, but the Matthew effect is significant; online social support strengthens connections between users on gender issues; “otherization” for female is found users in agenda setting; intensified online gender contradiction reflects the polarization effect of network. Misogyny is found in China’s male-oriented online society. On this basis, the paper argues that gender inequality is an objective, deep-rooted existence in Chinese society, and that gender antagonism is becoming increasingly prominent in China’s online society. In the long run, however, we should avoid grafting gender contradictions into class contradictions, with efforts made to coordinate gender relations and seek equal rights for men and women.

Research Paper • Student • Wanjiang Zhang; Jiayu Qu; Jingjing Yi, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong • Stripped from society abruptly: Effects of physical social isolation on people’s emotional expression and well-being • The study employed a quasi-experiment with 1,398 users’ 1,376,718 posts on Weibo. Three computational methods (SA, ITS, STM) were used to investigate the influences of physical social isolation on people’s emotional well-being during the quarantine. Results showed that quarantine brought a sharp fall in people’s emotions immediately without sustained effects. STM-generated topics implied social media’s role in fulfilling three psychological needs. Heavy Weibo users expressed more positively, whereas light users expressed negatively.

<2021 Abstracts