Scholastic Journalism 2009 Abstracts

Scholastic Journalism Division

Exploring Approaches to Journalism Education in a Post-Print World • Sara-Ellen Amster, National University; and Sara Kelly, National University • There is little data concerning curriculum reform nationally to meet the changing realities of the journalism business. This is an exploratory study of the current state of journalism education at what may be the most critical time for the field. It paints a tentative picture of a field consumed with fear about the future. At the same time there was frustration that institutions, ever cautious and bureaucratic, are adapting to societal change with painful slowness.

Minorities and Majors: A Survey of High School Journalists’ Plans for College and Careers • Linda Bowen, California State University, Northridge • Few programs exist for the kind of one-on-one relationship building seen by many educators as the most effective way to entice multicultural students to college and university journalism programs. One unique civic engagement model in California, Media Mentors, puts soon-to-graduate university journalism majors in the classrooms with high school students working on their news publications for two hours each week.

Tinkering with Free Expression: Student Rights in the Age of MySpace • Lola Burnham, Eastern Illinois University • Beginning with the Tinker v. Des Moines School District case that guaranteed students’ rights to free expression, this paper looks at how those rights have been chipped away at in such cases as Fraser, Hazelwood, and Morse and argues that the Morse opinion, in particular, can be misinterpreted in lower court decisions in cases involving fake MySpace pages created by students about their school principals. Two such cases with very different outcomes are examined closely.

The Influence of Personality and Motivation on Mass Communication Students’ Choices between News Media and Strategic Communication • Elizabeth Crawford, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; and Glenn Hubbard, University of Texas at Arlington • A study of journalism and mass communication majors (n = 240) revealed differences in regard to personality indices and impetuses for selecting to pursue a degree that emphasized either news media or strategic communication. While showing overall agreement in the importance of openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, strategic communication students were significantly higher in their ratings of agreeableness, while news media students were significantly higher in their ratings of openness.

Assessing the State of Math Education in ACEJMC Accredited and Non-accredited Undergraduate Journalism Programs • Christine Cusatis, University of Florida; and Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida • Although journalists need basic math skills, little attention has been given to math education in collegiate journalism programs. To assess journalists’ math education, 341 department chairs from both ACEJMC-accredited and non-accredited programs were surveyed. Results indicated that few programs offered math courses specifically for journalism majors. Instead, most relied on general education requirements and segments of core journalism courses to teach math skills. Strategies are proposed for future implementation of math education in journalism programs.

Perceived Journalistic Roles of J-school Students: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong and PRC • Li Deng, Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Wang Wai Ma, City University of Hong Kong • A comparative study was conducted in Mainland China and Hong Kong to show journalism students’ different perceptions of journalistic roles. The six journalistic roles extracted from 24 items are Consonance, Populist mobilizer, Adversarial, Interpretive, Disseminator, and Culture and Entertainment, which represent different professional ideas among students in different social and media environment.

Some Things Never Change: A Retrospective Look at Practitioner Expectations of Journalism and Public Relations Education • Vinita Dhingra, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona • A controversy has been raging for decades about the appropriate curricula for journalism students and the validity of journalism and public relations education. This study presents previously unpublished data from a 1991 study for a retrospective glimpse into the views, expectations and attitudes of journalism and public relations professionals towards journalism education. Results show that the professionals do not place a premium on journalism education and most value strong writing and other practical skills.

Controversy, Job Satisfaction and Self-censorship: A Comparative Analysis of High School and College Media Advisers • Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh • An analysis of data from 807 high school and college media advisers revealed congruency regarding controversial topics with which they had the most and least comfort seeing published in their school’s paper. However, high school advisers were significantly less comfortable than their college counterparts in publishing on all these topics. Furthermore, high school advisers feared retribution for running such stories more than the college advisers.

Certain Restrictions May Apply: A Comparison of High School Principals’ Attitudes Regarding Free Expression between 2004 and 2009 • Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Warren Watson, Ball State University; and Adam Maksl, Ball State University • Data collected from a sample of high school principals in 2004 and a separate sample collected in 2009 (n=535) reveal improvement in regard to knowledge of free expression law and some improved tolerance toward some acts of free expression. However, the data also suggest principals have a reticence toward certain forms of expression, especially those that might occur within their schools.

Hooked on the News via the Web: Integrating www.newsvine.com into a College Level Journalism Writing Course • James Forsher, Seattle University; Gabrielle Evans, Seattle University; Jamie Wallace, Seattle University; Jamie Richardson, Seattle University; Webster Erica, Seattle University; and Jordan Laine, Seattle University • The paper discusses an instructor and his students experience integrating www.newsvine.com into an intermediate media-writing course at Seattle University. Newsvine’s is an online site that features international news, domestic, local, business, politics, odd news, health and entertainment. Readers can also write news articles or comment on stories they are reading.

The Effects of a Student Press Law on the Content of Student Newspapers • Jennifer Garner, Lakeside High School, Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Bruce Plopper, University of Arkansas at Little Rock • Through content analysis of student newspapers five years before and after implementation of the Arkansas Student Publications Act, this research measured whether the Act had any effects on student newspaper content. Findings showed that controversial news and feature stories declined significantly in newspapers at small, rural schools while they increased significantly at large, urban schools. Adviser training and experience seem to be more important determinants of newspaper content than is a student press law.

Item Response Theory versus Classical Test Theory: Proposing a New Approach in Evaluating Journalism Students’ Achievement • Mugur Geana, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Kansas • The present study provides a practical justification for the use of advanced test development methods in building instruments to measure journalism students’ achievement. Evaluating student performance is a cornerstone of the educational process. Developments in psychology of knowledge combined with advances in statistical reasoning applied to educational testing have opened new fields of research into areas of performance appraisal and test building.

Hooking ‘Em Young: Effects of Forms of Youth Exposure to Newspapers on Later Newspaper Adoption • Geoffrey Graybeal, University of Georgia; and Ann Hollifield, University of Georgia • This study examines how different types of exposures to newspapers in high school and prior to high school are related to decisions by college freshmen to adopt and use their college newspaper. The study draws upon newspaper readership and adoption theory to examine predictors. This survey of college freshmen found that interest in news predicts independent newspaper adoption but exposure to news does not.

Moving Beyond Rules: Codes and Classes Role in Ethical Decision-making by Editors at Campus Dailies • Marie Hardin, Pennsylvania State University; and Kirstie Hettinga, Pennsylvania State University • This research uses interviews with college Editors to explore their ethical decision-making. Findings suggest they value ethics classes but generally fail to connect instruction and codes with their newsroom experience. As they gain experience, they may move beyond a foundational, rules-based approaches to ethics, but they may also be overconfident about their decision-making abilities. Student journalists would benefit from instruction integrated into the newsroom environment that includes a focus on understanding the role of codes.

Copying Right and Copying Wrong with Web 2.0 Tools in the Communications and Teacher Education Classrooms • Ewa McGrail, Georgia State University; and J. Patrick McGrail, Jacksonville State University • Understanding copyright law in online content creation has become important in the Information Age. Student content creators should be educated about their responsibilities as producers of content derived from the intellectual property of others. As educators, we want to prepare our students for responsible participation in this new age. This paper describes an approach that we employ with underclassmen in communication courses and English teacher education students to prepare them to deal with copyright issues.

Journalism Students’ Knowledge About U.S. Politics and Government: Implications for Journalism Education • Uche Onyebadi, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • This research deviates from most studies about knowledge of politics and civic affairs with its specific focus on what journalism students in a US university know about the subject. The survey instrument was used in this study.

Designing a News Web Site To Appeal To Teens • Jessica Otwell, University of Memphis • This study links uses-and-gratification theory and the media choice model to teens’ online news consumption. It applies each of them to the future of news organizations and outreach to teen audiences. A focus group was conducted to determine the needs of teens and what changes need to be made to a citywide high school newspaper to reflect their interests. Research found that participants demand connectivity and new design standards when visiting news sites.

The Effects of the Ideological Congruency/Distance between Journalism and Mass Communication Students and their Professors on the Students’ Learning Experiences • Tayo Oyedeji, University of Georgia; Jennimaria Palomaki, University of Georgia; Uche Onyebadi, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; and Jiran Hou, University of Georgia • This study explores the effects of the ideological congruency/distance between journalism and mass communication students and their professors on the learning experiences of the students. The results show that ideological distance/congruency did not affect students’ perceptions of their overall learning experiences and their class grades but had a statistically significant effect on their participation in class discussions.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Public Relations 2009 Abstracts

Public Relations Division

Open Papers
Antagonistic Symbiosis or Interactive Symbiosis: An Analytical Study Of the Relationship between Public Relations Practitioners and Journalists in United Arab Emirates • mai Alkhaja, united Arab emirates university • The goal of study is discover and evaluate the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists at UAE. The important conclusions are : PR practitioners face difficulties in the execution of their roles. Top management have a different view about the free flow of information from that of the practitioner.

PR Goes to the Movies: Public Relations in Selected Films 1996 to 2008 • Carol Ames, California State University, Fullerton • This qualitative analysis of public relations in popular Hollywood films from 1996 to 2008 looks at three questions: First, how is the PR practitioner portrayed in recent films? Second, what kind of public relations activities and models of public relations are depicted? Third, how do other scholars’ results in prior studies apply to the portrayal of public relations in current films?

A Quantitative Review of Crisis Communication Research in Public Relations: 1991-2009 • Elizabeth Avery, University of Tennessee; Ruthann Weaver Lariscy, University of Georgia; Sora Kim, DePaul University; Tatjana Hocke, University of Tennessee • This study quantitatively examines18 years (1991-2009) of data from the crisis communication domain in Public Relations. 66 articles met the selected criteria; each was content analyzed to determine context (corporate, public/government, private, non-profit, other), primary methodology, and numerous contextual elements. Many specific findings are presented, and overall recommendations indicate crisis communication research in public relations may benefit both theoretically and pragmatically through more diverse contextual and methodological applications.

The impact of environmental disclosure on environmental legitimacy and the organization-public relationship • Denise Bortree, Penn State University • Environmental responsibility has become a critical area of focus for corporations. The aim of this research was to examine a key dimension of responsibility by exploring how disclosure of information impacts environmental legitimacy and the quality of the organization-public relationship. Results suggest that disclosure of environmental information leads to a greater perception of legitimacy of an organization and can lead to a stronger relationship with key publics.

New Dimensions in Relationship Management: Exploring Gender and Inclusion in the Nonprofit Organization-Volunteer Relationship • Denise Bortree, Penn State University; richard waters, nc state u • The role of gender in perceptions of the organization-public relations has not been explored. This paper reports on a study of the inclusive behaviors of nonprofit organizations toward teen volunteers. Borrowing from organizational communication literature, the study explores whether greater inclusion by the organization will lead to a higher quality relationship and whether the genders experience different levels of inclusion.

Applied Ethics and Stakeholder Management on Corporate Websites • Shannon Bowen, Syracuse University • A content analysis was conducted using a random interval sample of the 2008 Fortune® 500 list of the largest US corporations to explore their application of ethics and stakeholder management. Seventy-two of the 500 were quantified along the lines of the content of their corporate website related to ethics, communication, stakeholders, relationship measures, community relations, and other qualitative variables.

Increasing publicity and thematic news coverage: The impact of localizing news releases in a state-wide experimental field study • Bonnie Bressers, Kansas State University; joye gordon, kansas state university • In a state-wide experimental field study, Kansas newspapers were sent news releases over a four-month period addressing four children’s health issues. Half of the releases contained state-level data; half contained county-level data. The localized content was published 6-to-1 times more often. Contextual text regarding children’s health was retained. Commercial data and mail-merge software can help publicity efforts by increasing publication and prominence of messages and impacting the rhetorical framing of health topics in newspaper content.

Issues Management and University Alcohol Prevention: Improving Parental Perceptions of Organizational Legitimacy • John Brummette, Radford University • Developed from a strategic issues management and attribution theory approach, the purpose of this study is to assess the parental population to determine any significant relationships between perceptions of university drinking, awareness of alcohol prevention programs and perceptions of organizational legitimacy. A web-based survey (n=173) was conducted in the Spring of 2008 with parents of university students at a state flagship university.

Public Relations Best Practices in Sports Marketing: A Case Study of Aston Villa Football Club • Danielle Coombs, Kent State University; Anne Osborne, Louisiana State University • In some circles, “public relations” is a dirty term and PR practitioners are nothing but shysters. That is what many English football fans seem to think; beyond that, they perceive that those shysters, more often than not, are American. There is one notable exception to this: Randy Lerner, owner of Birmingham, UK’s Aston Villa Football Club. This paper examines the public relations efforts of AVFC through the lenses of relationship management and Grunig’s Excellence theory.

I Love What I Do, But . . . A Relationship Management Survey of Millennial PR Agency Employees • Tiffany Derville Gallicano, University of Oregon; Patricia Curtin, University of Oregon; Kelli Matthews, University of Oregon • Millennials, those born in 1982 and later, represent the largest and most racially diverse generation in history and the fastest growing segment of the workforce. They have also been characterized in the popular press as “coddled,” “entitled,” and lacking a strong work ethic. This survey of Millennial generation agency practitioners uses closed and open-ended questions to determine how they rate their relationships with their employers (on trust, satisfaction, control mutuality, and commitment).

Pretending to Care Regardless of Results: A Critical Examination of Relationship Types and a Revised Framework • Tiffany Derville Gallicano, University of Oregon • In this paper, I describe the conceptualization of relationship types and identify problems with this conceptualization. To fix the problems I identified, I propose a revised conceptualization of relationship types. In addition, I propose quantitative and qualitative measurements for the revised conceptualization.

Annual Earnings Releases: Intermedia Agenda-Setters and Corporate Reputation Influencers • Marcia DiStaso, Penn State University • By exploring corporate earnings releases and local and national coverage of those earnings for 207 companies, this study found that corporations do set the media agenda for annual earnings. Corporate earnings releases were found to have the greatest influence on positive content in local earnings coverage and negative content in national earnings coverage. Reputation was best predicted by the neutrality of the corporate earnings release in combination with the length of local and national coverage.

The Age Paradox: New Media and Public Participation Among Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Matures • David Dozier, San Diego State University, School of Journalism and Media Studies; Bey-Ling Sha, San Diego State University; Sandra Wellhausen, Katz & Associates; Kristina Bentson Ray, City of Carlsbad • In a national telephone survey (RDD), relationships were tested among generalized new media usage, public participation using new media, and age. Younger Americans use new media more frequently than their elders. However, older people are more likely to attend public meetings (traditional public participation) because of higher involvement. The significant negative relationship between age and new media public participation reverses to a significant positive relationship, once generalized new media usage is controlled.

An Experimental Investigation of the Crisis Response Strategies in Nonprofit Public Relations • Hilary Fussell Sisco, Quinnipiac University; Erik Collins, University of South Carolina • Crisis communications has distinguished itself as a leading area in public relations. However, little attention has been paid to nonprofit organizations (NPOs), one of the largest sectors of public relations practice. In particular, few studies have examined the crisis response strategies NPOs can employ to repair their reputations.

Corporate Communication Competencies and Expectations at Multiple Levels of Professional Maturity (Preliminary Report of a Work in Progress) • Tamara Gillis, Elizabethtown College • This content analysis of current corporate communication position descriptions (from entry-level to senior management) is intended to identifying expectations and competencies at multiple levels of professional maturity. As they advance in their careers, communication professionals are engaged in the strategic management of core communication processes for businesses and organizations.

Organizational Image Construction in a Fragmented Media Environment • Dawn Gilpin, Arizona State University • Organizations seek to influence their reputation through a variety of self-presentation activities, which collectively express the organization’s identity. Whereas news releases once constituted the primary form of self-presentation, online and social media such as blogging and micro-blogging (Twitter) also contribute to image building in today’s media environment. This paper focuses on organizational image as the social dimension of organizational identity, within a larger model of reputation construction.

Wary of the Web: The Underutilization of Web Sites for Public Outreach by State Emergency Management Agencies • David Guth, University of Kansas; Gordon Alloway, University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth • Expanding on prior research, this paper examines how state emergency management agencies (SEMAs) use the Internet for public outreach. Through content analysis and a survey of SEMA public information officers, it was determined that, overall, SEMA Web site content appears to be focused more toward emergency managers and first responders than toward citizens or the news media.

Crisis Communications in 160 Characters and Spaces: Student Responses, Perceptions and Preferences for Emergency Text Message Notifications • Joseph Giordano, Colorado State University; Kirk Hallahan, Colorado State University • In a quasi-experiment participants (n=337) were surveyed about their behavioral intent after reading two text messages. High-risk (versus low-risk) messages generated greater attention, re-reading, and retention (versus deletion) of messages, greater message forwarding and greater information sharing and information seeking. Effects related to gender and three personality traits—attitude toward technology, self-efficacy and risk-taking—also are reported. . Implications for the successful promotion of cell phone-based crisis alert systems are discussed.

In Search of a Standard Scale: Exploring the Dimensions of Perceived Source Credibility • Karen Hilyard, University of Tennessee • Perceived source credibility is a key construct in communication research but there are no standard scales by which to measure it. In a series of one-on-one interviews, this study explores the dimensions of Meyer’s Credibility Index: trust, fairness, openness, accuracy and bias.

The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer-Company Identification on Publics’ Dialogic Communication Intentions • Soo Yeon Hong, Virginia Commonwealth University; Hyejoon Rim, Syracuse University • A public’s engagement in dialogic communications with organizations is an important relational behavior that facilitates building of organization-public relationships. To date, most of the research on dialogic communication has focused on the dialogic potential of the Internet as a way to evaluate organizations’ relationship building practices. Relatively less study has been conducted to examine the factors that influence publics’ engagement in dialogic communications.

Expanding the Government Communication Decision Wheel with Four Levels of Government • Suzanne Horsley, University of Utah; Brooke Liu, University of Maryland; Abbey Levenshus, University of Maryland • The authors surveyed 781 government communicators to expand the model of the government communication decision wheel with the four levels of government: city, county, state, and federal. The results revealed that there are similarities and differences among the four levels of government in terms of daily public affairs activities and environmental obstacles and opportunities. The model was expanded to include the unique organizational attributes of each level and to visualize communication practices among government communicators.

Exploring the Value of Organization-public Relationships in Strategic Management: A Resource-based View • Lin-juan Rita Men, Hong Kong Baptist University; Flora Hung, Hong Kong Baptist University • This study combines the relational approach in public relations and the resource based approach in strategic management in exploring the values of public relations for an organization. Qualitative interview data showed that relationships were the organizational resources because relationship cultivation was an organizational capability and relationship outcomes were the intangible assets.

Examination of Scholarly Networks in Public Relations Research (2004-2008) • Sungwook Hwang, Myongji University; Chang Dae Ham, University of Missouri at Columbia • Based on the results of the bibliometric analysis, this study addresses the current status quo of public relations research as an independent discipline. After comparing the results with a previous bibliometric study (Pasadeos et al., 1999), this analysis of citations and co-citations of published works for the last five years (2004-2008) found that Grunig, J. A. and his work was still located at the center of a scholarly network of public relations.

Toward a Publics-Driven, Emotion-Based System in Crisis Communication:Unearthing Dominant Emotions in Multi-Staged Testing of the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model • Yan Jin, Virginia Commonwealth University; Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University; Glen Cameron, Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia • To better understand not only the minds, but also the hearts, of key publics, the authors assessed a more systemic approach to understanding the responses audience to crisis situations. The Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) model is based on a public-based, emotion-driven perspective where responses to different crises are mapped on two continua, the organization’s engagement in the crisis and primary public’s coping strategy.

Good for Samsung is Good for Korea: Image restoration strategies used by Samsung after a whistle-blowing corruption scandal • Taejin Jung, SUNY Oswego; Ron Graeff, SUNY Oswego; Woomi Shim, Florida State University • This study sought to examine the various image restoration and renewal strategies a prestigious Korean company (Samsung) employed in responding to the allegations of wrongdoing made by the whistler-blower, Mr. Kim Young-chul. Review of official comments and documents found that the organization used defensive strategies (e.g., denial, attack the accuser, transcendence, bolstering) in order to protect its image.

Causal Linkages among Relationship Quality Perception, Attitude, and Behavior Intention in a Membership Organization • Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama • This study was designed to test two models linking relationship perception, attitude, and behavior-based involvement in a membership organization. For the four relationship quality dimensions used in this study—control mutuality, satisfaction, trust, and commitment—current members’ perceptions of relationship trust and commitment positively influenced their attitudes toward the organization. More importantly, this study demonstrates that the public’s perception of commitment can also directly engender supportive behavior toward the organization among members of a key public.

Expectation Gaps between Stakeholders and Web-based Corporate Public Relations Efforts: Focusing on Fortune 500 Corporate Web Sites • Sora Kim, DePaul University; Jae-Hee Park, University of Tennessee; Emma Wright, East Carolina University • This study primarily investigates how Fortune 500 corporations use corporate-focused website public relations efforts to prioritize their stockholders and trying to meet different expectations of each stakeholder. The study found that shareholder needs are most often addressed by the corporations followed by consumers, community members, government agencies, and lastly activists, implying expectation gaps between stakeholders and corporate PR efforts. The study also found differences in the way various industries target stakeholders with the exception of shareholders.

Agenda Building Effects of Presidential Candidate Public Relations on Global Media Coverage and Public Opinion • JI YOUNG KIM, University of Florida; zheng xiang, University of Florida; Spiro Kiousis, U of Florida • Grounded in first- and second-level agenda-building and agenda-setting, the relationships among public relations, global media, and public opinion were explored in the context of 2008 U.S. presidential election. Two candidates’ speeches, press releases, and foreign media coverage were analyzed and compared with public opinion. Object salience (issue and candidate) was found between public relations and global media; affective attribute (tone) salience was partially supported in the relationships of public relations, global media and public opinion.

A Quantitative Analysis of Governments’ Use of Interactive Media in International Public Relations • JI YOUNG KIM, University of Florida; Juan-Carlos Molleda, University of Florida • Seeking a relationship between contextual variables and global public relations practices, this study examined 118 official websites of national governments in every continent around the world. In particular, it focused on three political and socioeconomic variables-the level of transparency, economic freedom, and the readiness of E-government-and explored their associations with the interactive media use by national governments. Significant associations were found by supporting the regional differences in the interactive media use by governments.

Media Practices in the Urals Federal District of Russia: Examination of the Non-Transparent Practices at Three Levels • Anna Klyueva, University of Oklahoma; Katerina Tsetsura, University of Oklahoma • This study examined non-transparent practices that happen at the interpersonal, intra-organizational, or inter-organizational level in the media of the Urals Federal District of Russia. Findings showed that the most frequent non-transparent practice in the Urals Federal District of Russia happens at the interpersonal level. However, a number of non-transparent practices happen at the inter-organizational level and their frequency significantly differs between local and national media.

No sickness, no need: College student perspectives on health messages • Cheryl Ann Lambert, Boston University • Scholarship indicates a stark contrast between health impediments college students identify and the health information their respective campuses provide, campus health promotions often lacking personal relevance for college students, and health programs that utilize control-based strategies to compel behavior change. The purpose of this study was to explore how female undergraduates perceive health messages to identify implications for public relations scholarship and practice and to facilitate enhanced health communications for college students.

An Extension of the Situational Theory of Publics in Political Context • DooHee Lee, Department of Communication, University of Maryland; Hyehyun Hong, University of Missouri; Jongmin Park, Kyung Hee University; Youngah Lee, University of Missouri • This study attempted to reexamine and extend the situational theory of publics (STP) in the political context by using a national survey with a total of 978 random samples. Interestingly, in the low political knowledge group, the results showed that the greater problems were recognized, the more people were likely to communicate political issues while the relationship between problem recognition and communication activeness was not significant among those with high political knowledge.

The Emergence, Variation, and Evolution of CSR on the Media and Public Agenda, 1980-2004: The exposure of publicly-traded firms to public debate • Sun Young Lee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Craig Carroll, University of North Carolina • This study examines the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public issue over 25 years using a content analysis from two national newspapers and seven geographically dispersed newspapers in the U.S. Unlike most other CSR studies, this study adopted a comprehensive definition encompassing all four CSR dimensions: economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropic. We examined newspaper editorials, letters, and columns connecting CSR as a public issue to publicly-traded companies.

Strategic responses to influential external blogs: A model for managing blog-mediated crisis communication • Yan Jin, Virginia Commonwealth University; Brooke Liu, University of Maryland • Practitioners and academics are buzzing about the impact of the blogosphere on public relations practices. Emerging evidence indicates that strategically managing blog-mediated public relations may be especially critical for crisis managers. Yet, no known research provides a comprehensive, theoretically-sound approach indicating how crisis managers should engage with the blogosphere. Therefore, this study proposes a new conceptual model to help public relations practitioners navigate the evolving blogosphere: the strategic responses to influential external blogs model.

Measuring Information Source Usefulness to Differentiate America’s Traveling Public • Lisa Fall, University of Tennessee; Chuck Lubbers, University of South Dakota • This study investigates how publics (travelers) can be differentiated based on information source factors (domains), generational cohorts and residency. Over the course of a year domestic and foreign travelers who were traveling to, from, or through a southeastern state were surveyed; resulting in 1764 participants. Computer mediated communication sources, mass media sources, word-of-mouth, and travel/tourism sources serve as viable predictors. Implications for both practitioners and educators are discussed and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Bridging the Gap: An Exploratory Study of Corporate Social Responsibility among SMEs in Singapore • Mui Hean Lee, Nanyang Technological University; Xiu Wen Lien, Nanyang Technological University; Yan Zhao Poh, Nanyang Technological University; Ai Ling Soh, Nanyang Technological University; Angela Mak, Nanyang Technological University; Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University • Corporate social responsibility (CSR) among small-medium enterprises (SME) is an overlooked area. A self-administered web survey was conducted among 113 senior executives from top 500 Singapore SMEs (27.2% response). Key findings include 1) moderate awareness but low comprehension of CSR; 2) engagement relevance to immediate stakeholders; 3) individual values, stakeholder relationships, and governmental influences as main drivers; and 4) lack of various resources as key barriers. A potential framework and future research directions are discussed.

High School Guidance Counselor Preferences of College Web sites • Sheila McAllister-Spooner, Monmouth University • A survey of 69 U.S.-based high school guidance and admissions counselors suggests that college Web sites are the main source used to review colleges and universities. Of Kent and Taylor’s five dialogic features, the ease of interface and useful information features that conserve visit time and generate return visits are perceived as the most important. The dialogic feedback features were not strong indicators that would increase the likelihood of submitting an application.

Enhancing Social Capital between Journalists and Public Relations Practitioners? The Social Media Release Uncovered • Sara Portoghese, Elon University; Barbara Miller, Elon University • This study examines perceptions of the social media release (SMR), an evolution of the traditional news release that incorporates various social media tools. In-depth interviews with journalists and public relations professionals suggest the SMR addresses many of the concerns of the 24-hour news cycle by making story research faster and more convenient for journalists. The SMR may be particularly beneficial in enhancing relationships between reporters and public relations practitioners, particularly online journalists and bloggers.

Not Ready to Play Nice: An Analysis of Negativity in the News Releases of 2007 Presidential Primary • Mia Moody, Baylor University; Joseph Brown, Baylor University • Using competitive candidate position and policy prioritization frameworks, this study investigates negative campaigning and issue preferences as reflected in news releases posted to the Internet sites of candidates and tracking polls leading up to the 2007-2008 presidential primaries. Findings indicated that underdog candidates were more likely than frontrunners to engage in issue-oriented negative campaigning. Conversely, frontrunners were less likely to employ such tactics.

More Words, Less Action: A Framing Analysis of FEMA Public Relations Communications During Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav • Seth Oyer, Bowling Green State University; J. Keith Saliba, Jacksonville University; Franklin Yartey, Bowling Green State University • This study comparatively analyzes the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s crisis public relations communication leading up to and during hurricanes Katrina and Gustav to determine what, if any, changes FEMA made to its communication strategy. Employing framing analysis, the authors discovered that, aside from an increase of more than double the number of words devoted to its Gustav crisis communication, the action statements withing FEMA’s crisis rhetoric had actually decreased since that before and during Katrina.

Effects of interactive online media type and crisis type on public trust during organizational crisis • Seth Oyer, Bowling Green State University; Michael Mitrook, University of Florida • This 2 x 3 experimental design tests the effects of interactive online media type (specifically blog and streaming video) and crisis type (accident, intentional or victim) on public trust during organizational crisis. Coombs’ (1997) Situational Crisis Communication Theory formed the foundation for the crisis type independent variable. Hon and Grunig’s (1999) trust dimension measures from Relationship Theory were used as the basis for the dependent variables.

Extension of Symbolic Convergence Theory: “About us” Web Page Analysis of Fortune Top 100 Corporations • Jongmin Park, Kyung Hee University; Hyunmin Lee, University of Missouri • This study extended the mainly qualitative analysis of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) by conducting a quantitative content analysis of the “About us” Web pages of Fortune top 100 corporations. The findings revealed that, the fantasy type of superiority and the rhetorical vision of economic corporate management appeared the most frequently with related public (dramatic personae), competent and superior corporation (plot line), a person (scene), and economic corporate management (master analogue) as the structural terms of SCT.

Associations among Relationship Maintenance Strategies, Organization-Public Relationships, and Support for Organizations: An Exploratory Study of the Korean Non-Profit Sector • Hanna Park, University of Florida; Yunna Rhee, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies • In this study, the associations among relationship maintenance strategies, organization-public relationships, and support for the organization were examined. In particular, the focus is on non-profit organizations, which has seldom been subject to the public relations relationship management research in Korea. Support for organization was conceptualized and measured as intention to donate and volunteer as non-profit organizations heavily rely on these two types of public support.

From a Journalist’s Perspective: The Opinions and Attitudes Toward Dialogic Components of Corporate Websites • Justin Pettigrew, University of Georgia; Bryan Reber, University of Georgia • This study examines the attitudes and opinions of journalists regarding the use of dialogic components by Fortune 500 company Web sites designed for press use. Print journalists, via interviews, identified what components of online press rooms they found most valuable and desirable. Journalists appreciate the growing presence of dialogic components of corporate Web sites, but a level of distrust and sense of manipulation remains. Suggestions are made for re-examination of online dialogic communications typologies.

Political information source influence on perceptions of organization-public relationships with political parties • Trent Seltzer, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • Using Hallahan’s (2001) model of integrated public relations media planning as a conceptual framework, 508 voters were surveyed during the 2008 presidential general election to examine the relative influence of three sources of information on perceptions of organization-public relationships with political parties: media coverage, interpersonal political discussion, and parties’ strategic communication efforts. Strategic communication exerted the greatest influence on relationship perceptions. The findings extend research on strategic communication planning, public relations effectiveness, and relationship management.

Leading Up: Public Relations Beyond Managerial Roles • Marianne Sison, RMIT University • Public relations literature has often defined practitioners either as managers or technicians, or both. Public relations literature on leadership tend to refer to practitioners as working for or working with leaders, rather than being one of the leaders. By distinguishing between managers and leaders, this paper explores practitioner eligibility to become leaders by analyzing their exercise of influence and their perceptions of themselves as leaders.

Corporate compassion in a time of downsizing: The role of public relations in cultivating and maintaining corporate alumni social networks • Kevin Stoker, Texas Tech University; Susan Walton, Brigham Young University • This paper contends that corporate alumni networks serve a public relations purpose more than they do a human resource purpose. Through interviews with two developers of corporate social networks and a former employee who started an alumni network, the paper shows that these networks represent an opportunity and a moral imperative for public relations.

Perceptions of journalists and sources regarding time, accuracy and panic potential in an emergency • Christopher Swindell, Marshall University; James Hertog, University of Kentucky • The paper presents partial findings from a survey of journalists and official sources including public relations practitioners regarding emergency messages following a hypothetical terror attack. The coorientation model is used to assess both groups’ views. Journalists and official sources exhibit somewhat similar beliefs with regard to accuracy, timeliness, and audience panic but vary widely with regard to their understanding of the other’s views.

Anticipatory Socialization in the Use of Social Media in Public Relations: A Content Analysis of PRSA’s PR Tactics • Maureen Taylor, University of Oklahoma; Michael L. Kent, University of Oklahoma • This paper examines how public relations students are socialized in their understanding of the value and power of social media in the practice of public relations. It explores the public relations academic research about social media as well as the professional claims that state that social media is a valuable public relations tactic. The researchers content analyzed 59 articles and columns appearing in PR Tactics from April 2008 to March 2009.

Images of the U.S. and consumer politics in the Chinese marketplace • jay wang, university of southern California; lifeng deng, tsinghua university • This study addresses the issue of anti-American sentiments in the domain of consumer behavior in China. The central question is under what conditions American brands will become casualties of U.S. foreign policy towards China. We situate the analysis within the concept of “consumer nationalism” and approach the study from the perspectives of Chinese youth through focus group discussions in Beijing.

The Mediating Roles of Perceived Importance of and Attitude toward Corporate Social Responsibility in Consumer Response to Corporate Social Responsibility Communications • Alex Wang, University of Connecticut-Stamford; Ron Anderson, University of Texas at Austin • Despite the increasing importance of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) communications as effective reputation management, there has been limited understanding about variables and processes involved in consumer response to CSR communications. The current study proposes a three-stage model and investigates the mediating roles of perceived importance of CSR communications and attitude toward CSR communications in consumer response to CSR communications.

Crisis Managers in Crisis: Are PR Professionals Losing Control of the Message? • Shelley Wigley, University of Texas at Arlington; Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • This pilot study examined the role citizen generated content plays in the coverage of crisis situations and discusses implications for public relations practitioners who must respond to this type of coverage. By using a content analysis of newspapers and the websites of cable and broadcast news networks, the authors explored the use of both official versus non-official sources and the use of citizen generated content during coverage of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

Exploring Cultural Influences on Public Relations Practices in Indonesia • Ming-Yi Wu, Western Illinois University; Michael Putrawenas, Public Relations Society of Indonesia • This study explores cultural influences on public relations practices in Indonesia. Through the use of a survey instrument, this paper reports data collected from Indonesian public relations practitioners (n=54) and describes work-related cultural values as well as the practices of public relations models in Indonesia. The results suggest that the two-way symmetrical, personal influence, and cultural interpreter models are the most frequently practiced models.

Can You Break Up with Your Utility Company? Effects of the Relational Gap Between Experiential and Expected Outcomes on Company Attitudes and Switch Intention • Minjeong Kang, Syracuse University; Sung-Un Yang, Syracuse University • A monopolistic relationship between utilities and their customers creates a unique relational context in which the basic assumption of one’s ability to terminate a relationship with an unsatisfactory relationship partner is violated. The current study examined when competition becomes viable in the market, how this change in utility market would result in customers’ assessment of their attitudes toward their currently monopolistic utility company and their intention to switch to an alternative provider.

A Blog-mediated Crisis Communication Model: Effects of Engagement on Post-Crisis Outcomes • Sung-Un Yang, Syracuse University; Minjeong Kang, Syracuse University; Philip Johnson, Syracuse University; Eric Duncan, Syracuse University • Blogs are an essential tool to present narratives. This study focused on the individual blog reader’s interpretation of crisis communication information and aimed to examine how a blog can be optimally utilized for effective crisis communication. An experimental study (N = 281) was conducted, simulating audience experience with a blog.

Teaching Papers
Integrating Teaching and Research in Public Relations • Sun Young Lee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Many attempts have been made to account for the relation between teaching and research, and a great deal of attention has been focused on “what” are the nature of the relationships: positive, negative, or zero. Yet, more productive and meaningful way to discuss the topic will be focusing on “how” to better perform the two roles together.

Current Direction of U. S. Undergraduate Public Relations Programs: A Pedagogical Struggle • Karen Freberg, University of Tennessee; Michael Palenchar, University of Tennessee • While there is some agreement among educators and professionals about what undergraduate public relations students should learn, the literature still reflects a struggle among competing interests and perspectives, as well as a disconnect between what public relations practitioners believe they want from universities and what academics actually deliver.

Measuring Student Outcomes: An Assessment of Service-Learning in the Public Relations Capstone Course • Kelly Werder, University of South Florida • This study assesses the effectiveness of service-learning in the public relations capstone course by measuring perceived student learning outcomes. An assessment instrument is proposed and tested via a longitudinal survey of students (N=135) enrolled in the public relations capstone course at a large southeastern university. Results support a general service-learning assessment instrument for public relations education that includes measures of practical skills, interpersonal skills, citizenship, and personal responsibility, and discipline-specific functional, creative, and research skills.

Student Papers
Beijing Olympics: Public relations under an international spotlight • Jacqueline Alvarez, Pepperdine University • The Beijing Olympics held an unprecedented importance for the Chinese nation. This importance, paired with the international skepticism and criticism received upon the announcement that China would be hosting the 2008 Summer Games, called for an extensive and comprehensive public relations plan.

“Media Can Anger People” vs. “Organizations Can Reduce Anger” in a Crisis: Based on the Morality News Frame and the Organizational Crisis Response Strategy • Seon-Kyoung An, The University of Alabama • This study examined how crisis response strategies and news frame can be used to reduce people’s anger and blame in an internal crisis. College students participated in the 2 (individual vs. organizational responsibility) x 2 (immorality vs. non-immorality frame) between-subject factorial design. The result showed that individual level of responsibility strategy and the immorality frame can make people angry and blame more the organization. Significant interaction effects between the two factors on blame were found.

Using Dialogic Website Design to Build Effective Grantor-Grantee Relationships • Giselle A. Auger, University of Florida • The purpose of this study was to examine the paradoxical relationship that occurs between grantors and grantees in the grant making process and to discuss how this paradox may be alleviated through adoption of transparent communication features in website design. Through analysis of 106 independent foundation websites, the study examined features that correspond to the five elements of dialogic communication.

Asymmetric communication is not always a sin • Vanessa Bravo, Ph.D. Student • This article tries to apply the Information Asymmetry and Information Symmetry concepts -as defined and used in the field of Economics—in the Public Relations´ field, specifically in relation to the two-way model of symmetrical communication used in the theory of the Principles of Excellence in Public Relations and in the theory of the Generic/Specific Principles of Excellence in International Public Relations.

Effective Emergency Preparedness: Applying Agenda-Building and Framing to the American Red Cross’ Communication Practice • Rowena Briones, University of Maryland • This qualitative study explores agenda-building and framing within the American Red Cross’ emergency preparedness messages. Findings revealed that there is an interactive and reciprocal relationship between the American Red Cross, the media, and outside organizations, calling for a combination of rational and emotional appeals as well as the use of various framing devices to disseminate messages.

Unveiling Types of Relationship between Corporate Donors and Charitable Organizations Based on the Coorientation Model • Moonhee Cho, University of Florida • By utilizing the coorientation model, the study aims to examine the views of leading U.S. corporations and charitable organizations about types of relationship between two organizations. The expert survey results show that both corporate giving officers and senior fundraisers of charitable organizations perceive the relationship as more communal than either one-way patronizing or exchange.

A crisis changes news release?:A content analysis of news release and online press rooms of bailout companies • Daejoong Kim, University At Buffalo; Heasun Chun, University At Buffalo; Hyunjung Kim, University At Buffalo • The study examined how the amount and contents of news released in the press rooms of 25 American financial companies’ websites have changed among before, during, and after the bailout crisis. This study first selected 25 American financial companies which received exceeding 10 billion dollars as a bailout money from the list of bailout companies as of December 31, 2008.

Talking about Our Reputation: An Analysis of How Public Relations Firms Communicate Their Reputation Attributes • Maria De Moya, University of Florida; Jooyun Hwang, U. of Florida • Despite public relations’ role in reputation management, the reputation of public relations firms is unexplored. This study analyzed salient reputation attributes in firms’ releases and newspaper stories, and used Agenda-Building theory to measure correlations between attribute salience in firm and media news. Findings detailed the topics and reputation attributes salient in news releases and news stories, but showed no correlation in attribute salience. Implications for managing firms’ reputations and future research are discussed.

Whistleblowing in public relations: Call for a research agenda • Cary Greenwood, University of Oregon • This essay calls for a new research agenda in public relations to address the recent phenomenon of whistleblowing. Management literature has explored whistleblowing extensively since the first whistleblowing research in the 1980s, but public relations has only touched on the topic and not research on whistleblowing exclusively has been conducted in public relations.

Can Public Relations Professionals Help Span the Boundaries Between Scientists and Journalists, and Does This Function Help Increase Accuracy of News Articles About Public Health? • Emily Gresham Wherle, University of Missouri • A function of public relations professionals at public health agencies is to perform a boundary-spanning role. The research examined the role of PR professionals in the communication process, and to determine whether the involvement of a PR professional leads to improved news article accuracy. This study asked news sources to analyze news articles about health departments to determine the accuracy of the articles and the role of public relations professionals working in health departments.

Extent to Which the Federalist Papers Can be Viewed as an American Public Relations Campaign • Sara Hall, University of Florida • This research performed a qualitative content analysis of the Federalist Papers and personal letters to and from Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay in order determine to the role the Federalist Papers played in public relations’ history. A survey of public relations textbooks reveals confused and contradictory conclusions regarding the role of the Papers. This research comes to a determinative answer using the contemporary public relations process model, ROPES, and modern persuasive theories.

Audiences’ Perception of Product-, Corporate-, and Country- Image in a Product-harm Crisis: A Case Study of Sanlu Milk Powder Event in Mainland China • Guanxiong Huang, School of Journalism & Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Sanlu milk powder event is one of the most disastrous product-harm crises in mainland China recent years. This study investigates the influences of a single crisis at product-, corporate-, and country-level from an audience’s perspective, finding that government response and corporate response are significant predictors of country-of-origin effect of Chinese products, Chinese-based corporate image, and country image.

Either You Got it or You Don’t: Internship Availability at Public Relations Agencies • Christal Johnson, University of Oklahoma • This pilot study examined the relationship between public relations agencies and their internship availability. The study used a content analysis to examine internship opportunities on public relations firms’ Web sites and to determine if company size had an impact on internship availability. Data revealed that a little more than half of the companies offered internships, and companies with a smaller number of employees offered less internships than companies with more employees.

Korean Newspapers’ Framing Oil Spill news • Hyunmee Kang, Louisiana State University • This study examines news stories covering the oil spill accident in South Korea on December 17, 2007, in order to compare news frames presented in the three newspapers, two conservative newspapers, Chosun-Ilbo and JoongAng-Ilbo, and one progressive newspaper, The HanKyoreh, based on theoretical base of media framing and characteristics of media relations in Korea.

The Influence of Organizational Conditions on Public Relations Practitioners’ Dissent • Jin-Ae Kang, University of Alabama; Bruce Berger, University of Alabama • This study was designed to examine the ways in which organizational environment affects public relations practitioners’ dissent over organizations’ unethical decisions. The results of a survey of PRSA members reaffirmed that assertive confrontation is the most frequently adopted tactic for resisting organizations’ unethical decisions. Practitioners were more likely to confront management in an organization where top management did not support ethical behavior.

Anger as a Predictor of Active Public Protest: Extended Application of the Situational Theory of Publics to a Health Crisis • Jin-Ae Kang, University of Alabama; Seon-Kyoung An, The University of Alabama; Kyung Yoon Kwak, Sogang University • This study applies the situational theory of publics to a health crisis by exploring the effect of anger on public behavior. The results of a survey administered on the case of the candlelight rallies on the U.S. beef imports in South Korea demonstrated that involvement, problem recognition, and constraint recognition predict communication behaviors as well as various issue-related online and offline behaviors.

Product Categories Matter?: The Effects of Crisis Type and Involvement on Emotions • Jeesun Kim, University of Missouri • Although crisis communication scholars have examined the impact of perceived crisis responsibility and crisis type on emotions a crisis situation may generate, less attention has been devoted to emotion-related research. Taking two emotions from attribution theory, the present study aims to empirically investigate the interplay of crisis type and involvement on anger and empathy for crisis victims.

How Corporate Social Responsibility Contributes to the Relationship Management across Countries: The U.S. and South Korea • Daewook Kim, University of Florida; Myungil Choi, assistant professor • The purpose of this study was to explore how publics characterize the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and organization-public relationships (OPR). The study also examined how CSR practices influence OPR between the U.S. and South Korea publics. The study found that U.S. publics have higher perceptions of CSR practices and OPR dimensions than the Korean publics. Relational CSR practices serve as the fundamental dimension in increasing the level of OPR.

Messages of the people, by the people, and for the people • Nam Young Kim, Louisiana State University; Kiwon Seo, Pennsylvania State University • A candidate’s PR team creates news releases to convince voters that their candidate is more desirable than the opponents. These news releases are important because they can influence the voters’ political information as well as opinion about the candidates. The advance of new media allows candidates to update an unlimited number of campaign messages on their Web sites.

International Corporations’ Interactive, Dialogic Relationship Building on the Web: A Four-Dimensional Approach to Mapping Web Utilization State and Pattern • Hyung Min Lee, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Kevin Wang, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Soyoen Cho, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Soyoon Kim, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • A useful analytic tool based on a four-dimensional approach was proposed in this study to comprehensively understand the current state and pattern of international corporations’ interactive communication and dialogic relationship building strategies on the Web. In addition, the relationships between international corporations’ Web utilization and their internal/external factors were statistically tested. The findings confirmed the evolution of corporate Web interactivity and dialogic relationship building strategies.

Seeing is Believing: Assessment of Motion Media on Audience Judgments of Believability and Source Credibility • Hyunmin Lee, University of Missouri; Sun-A Park, University of Missouri; Youngah Lee, University of Missouri • The radical shift by news audiences away from newspaper to motion media (video stories on TV, web, cell phones, handhelds) prompted our assessment of media modality (text, text+picture, video) and source (PR, News, User-Created Content [UCC]) effects on credibility, as well as impact of messages. We found the motion media modality significantly enhances believability judgments and perceived veridicality, independent of source cue, in which News source garnered no greater credibility than PR or UCC source.

Maximizing the Internet’s Relationship-building Potential: Obama Campaign’s Strategic Management of its Internet-integrated Grassroots Strategy • Abbey Levenshus, University of Maryland • This case study examines the Obama presidential campaign’s use of the Internet to manage its grassroots campaign. Grounded in relationship-management theory, the study analyzed interviews with campaign staff, its Website, and news articles. Eight themes emerged regarding the campaign’s integration of the Internet and grassroots strategy; six themes surfaced regarding the campaign’s Internet use to manage relationships. Recommendations are made for extending relationship management theory focusing on its intersection with the Internet and political campaigns.

Perceptions vs. Practice: Testing the “Adversarial” Practitioner-Journalist Relationship • Christopher McCollough, Louisiana State University • Scholarship in public relations literature suggests an antagonistic relationship between journalists and public relations literature. This study attempts to account for emergent trends in the media environment, as well as to determine if long-standing trends remain. A series of frequency analyses and linear regressions yielded minimal support or answers for the hypotheses and research questions posed.

Spreading News or Let it Die: A comparative study of news diffusion in online and offline settings • Xiaoyan Pan, Universtiy of Maryland • This study examines the factors that influence individuals’ likelihood to diffuse news in offline and online communications. Individuals’ demographic characteristics, media use and interpersonal communication, as well as perceived news attributes, are included as potential predictors of news diffusion likelihood. Four hundred and thirty three respondents evaluated a news story and reported their likelihood to spread the news through online and offline channels.

Exploring How Corporate Social Responsibility Can Enhance Publics’ Attitudes, Purchase Intentions, and Supportive Behaviors • Hyojung Park, University of Missouri; Soo-Yeon Kim, University of Florida • This study examined the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on attitudes, purchase intentions, and supportive behaviors toward an organization using a 2 (corporate ability: good vs. poor) × 2 (CSR: good vs. poor) between-subjects experimental design. The MANCOVA results suggest that CSR initiatives positively influence the intended outcomes and that the effect of CSR becomes more powerful when a company lacks corporate ability.

Agenda-Building and Agenda-Setting in the Corporate Sphere: Analyzing Influence in the 2008 Yahoo-Icahn Proxy Contest • Matthew Ragas, U of Florida; Jinsoo Kim, University of Florida; Hyun Ji Lim, U of Florida • This study extends agenda-building theory into the corporate sphere. This investigation tested for first- and second-level agenda-building and agenda-setting relationships between the public relations efforts of competing corporate candidates, financial media coverage and investor opinion during the 2008 Yahoo!-Icahn proxy contest. Strong support was found for first-level effects, while evidence of second-level effects was mixed. Cross-lagged correlation analyses revealed that Yahoo!’s information subsidies enjoyed some success in influencing media coverage, while Icahn’s subsidies did not.

How Publicly Traded Companies are Using the World Wide Web: Building Dialogic Relationships • Amy Reitz, Colorado State University • This study examined publicly traded companies’ websites to determine how they use websites to build relationships with their investors. The content of systematic random sample of 25 publicly traded companies from the Standard and Poor’s 500 Stock Index list was analyzed to determine the extent to which publicly traded companies’ websites were employing dialogic communication as well as the significance of responsive and non-responsive companies. The findings indicated that publicly traded companies’ websites appeared to encompass some of the characteristics of dialogic communication.

The Right Words to Say: Implications of Regulation FD on Corporate Spokespersons • David Remund, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This research investigates enforcement actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since the issuance of Regulation FD in 2000. Regulation FD prohibits public companies and their employees from selectively disclosing material, non-public information. The SEC’s lack of clarity relative to materiality standards, though, has proven challenging in recent years for those who work in investor relations and corporate communications.

The View from within: Internal Publics and Corporate Social Responsibility • Ganga Sasidharan, National University of Singapore • This study explored the significance of corporate social responsibility as a predictor of organizational commitment for internal publics. The study has been conducted through a web based survey among a sample of employees in the managerial cadre, with around ten years of experience of working in private sector organizations across the world.

Beyond Activist Publics: Toward a Public Relations Typology of Activist Organizations • Erich Sommerfeldt, University of Oklahoma • This paper furthers public relations’ understanding of activist groups through arguing the importance of creating an activist public typology. From the extant literature on public relations and activism, the paper extracts four factors public relations scholars have used to define and characterize activist groups: organizational structure; access to resources; tactics; and goals/issue interest. The paper proposes how these factors might be used in the development of a typology and offers suggestions for future research.

Finding (and Defining) Corporate Social Responsibility in Sin City • Jessalynn Strauss, University of Oregon • This textual analysis looks at the Web sites of MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Entertainment, examining the ways in which these two corporations portray corporate social responsibility and their commitment to their local community. This research finds that the two corporations have fundamentally different attitudes toward corporate social responsibility as an extension of business practices and discusses the implications of this distinction, especially in a turbulent economy for the industry.

Public relations in Japan: A case study of historical significance and current problems • Koichi Yamamura, University of Miami • This paper takes a case study approach and looks at the historical development of public relations practice in Japan, the problems it faces today, and its potential for the future. It has been said that modern public relations practice was introduced to Japan by the post-World War II Allied Occupation Forces. However, recent studies reveal that the practice of modern public relations can be traced back further.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Newspaper 2009 Abstracts

Newspaper Division

Open Competition
Losing Ground: The New York Times and Washington Post News Coverage of the May 2000 Israeli Withdrawal from Lebanon • Abhinav Aima, Penn State New Kensington • This content analysis of the May 2000 coverage of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, when compared with a previous study of coverage of Israel’s 1996 attacks on Lebanon, shows distinct indicators of the presence of a “Late Breaking Foreign Policy” effect that Warren P. Strobel cites in his work, wherein the media tend to break free of traditional reliance of government sources and allies in times of crises when government is caught unprepared.

Framing them in order to hang them? Content analysis of the reporting of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans in Botswana Print Media • Eno Akpabio, University of Botswana • The aim of the study was to find where news stories on Zimbabweans fall and to determine if the reports are objectivist or advocacy framed. The findings indicate that stories on Zimbabweans are advocacy framed as opposed to objectivist framed. Also, there are more stories on Zimbabweans involvement in crime. Flowing from the one sided reports, we call for consideration of another aspect to the framing debate – frame up.

Too Old to Run?: Age, Race, and Gender in the 2008 Presidential Campaign • Ashley Kirzinger, Louisiana State University; Matthew Barnidge, Louisiana State University; Benjamin Jenkins, Louisiana State University; David Kurpius, Louisiana State University • This paper examines the newspaper coverage of four candidates during their campaigns in the 2008 presidential election: Palin, Clinton, Obama, and McCain. Using previous research on journalistic norms and routines, this study investigates not only how five different newspapers covered each of the candidates, but also how the newspapers covered specific age, race, and gender issues.

A Journalistic Ethics Scale: Measuring Constraints On Journalists • Jenn Burleson Mackay, Virginia Tech • This study builds off existing research to introduce a new journalistic ethics scale. The instrument measures the degree to which journalists tend to make acceptable ethical decisions when they face professional, organizational, and social influences. Journalists and scholars assisted in the development of the scale. Journalists working for metropolitan newspapers, community newspapers and television stations were administered the instrument. Community newspaper journalists tended to score higher on the scale than the other groups of journalists.

The Bay of Pigs-New York Times suppression myth • WJoseph Campbell, American University • The often-told anecdote of the New York Times censoring itself in advance of the Bay of Pigs invasion is, this paper finds, a media-driven myth. The paper presents compelling evidence demonstrating the Times reported closely on preparations for the CIA-backed invasion of Cuba in April 1961. The news Times’ reports were detailed and displayed on the front page in the days before the ill-fated assault.

Narrative News Frames in the Changing Times: New York Times Coverage of Space Disasters in Three Eras • Jeffrey Cannon, Indiana University – Bloomington • The present study examined New York Times coverage of the three major U.S. space program disasters, the 1967 loss of Apollo 1 and the 1986 and 2003 losses of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, all of which occurred during the same week of a non-election year. Overall overage increased threefold from 1967 to 1986 and 2003.

Interactive News Presentation and its Effects on Evaluative Perception: Is Being “Closer” to the News Better? • Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky; Mina Tsay, University of Kentucky • The current study investigates the effects of different online newspaper presentation styles on the evaluative perceptions of news audiences. An experiment (N = 251) was conducted to examine the influence of relevance and five interactive formats on site engagement, coherence, credibility, and intention to visit the site, along with content clarity, credibility, and objectivity.

U.S. Online Newspapers’ Performance in Local Markets: A Struggle of Inter- and Intra-Media Competition • Iris Chyi, University of Texas at Austin; Seth Lewis, University of Texas at Austin • To portray a realistic picture of the competitive landscape online for local newspapers, this study examined 68 local papers and their performance in both inter- and intra-media competition contexts—i.e., how they competed vis-à-vis their print counterparts and other Web sites for the attention of local audiences.

The Internet is a Dangerous Place: Newspaper Portrayal of the Internet Between 1988 and 1995 • Sabryna Cornish, Northern Illinois University • This paper examines the way the internet was portrayed by mainstream media when it first began to take hold in conventional society and offers insights into the social construction of the technology. This study looks for patterns in the type of information available to the public about the internet through a content analysis of newspapers. Established frames are then examined to determine the patterns that exist in the newspaper coverage of the new technology.

Narrating the Bloodbath: How U.S. and Finnish Newspapers Framed the Virginia Tech and Kauhajoki Shootings • Ruth DeFoster, SJMC, University of Minnesota; Meagan Manning, SJMC, University of Minnesota; Teemu Palokangas, SJMC, University of Minnesota • This study compares how the New York Times and the Helsingin Sanomat of Finland framed coverage of high-profile school shootings in each country. A content analysis examined sourcing trends in each newspaper. The Sanomat relied more on societal-level sources, while the Times used more individual-level sources. There was also a striking disparity in coverage of victims—the Sanomat included almost no coverage of victims, while 20% of the Times articles prominently featured victim coverage.

Framing legislative debate: Measuring bias in coverage of opposing ideological issues in the objective and conservative press • Matt Duffy, Georgia State University • A content analysis looks for assertion bias in the coverage of two issues in two newspapers. The researcher examined the New York Times as an example of the objective press and the Washington Times as an avowedly conservative paper. The two issues—welfare reform and campaign finance reform—curried favor with opposite ideological camps. The study finds a conservative bias in the Washington Times and a mirror-opposite liberal bias in the New York Times.

Adoption of Digital Photographic Archives by U.S. Newspapers and Potential Effects on the Historical Record • Keith Greenwood, University of Missouri • U.S. daily newspapers were surveyed (N = 105) to determine how digital photographic archives were created. The results affirm diffusion and organizational change suggestions that organizational characteristics such as size influence the decisions that are made and that innovations that fit well within the established routines of the organization are likely to be successfully adopted.

Did Enterprise Reporting Challenge Access Reporting and the Administration’s Line on WMDs?: Comparing Newspaper Sourcing in the Run-up to the Iraq War • Patricia Hart, University of Idaho; Kenton Bird, Univeristy of Idaho • This study examines newspaper reporting of three major U.S. news organizations between 911 and the Iraq invasion in light of subsequent criticism that reporters were uncritical in their use of government-supplied information supporting invasion of Iraq. The study asks whether the New York Times, which published an apology for providing uncritical reporting, was more or less balanced than the Washington Post or Knight Ridder papers in sourcing, including citing more varied, international, and nongovernment authorities.

It’s an Old Story: Cautionary Work Tales That Journalists Use to Connect to Ethics • Mary Hill-Wagner, affiliation • This study examines how reporters use workplace or newsroom narratives as guides for correct action in making ethical decisions. This analysis, based on in-depth interviews, employs the theory of narrative inquiry from the field of communication. The study shows that these narratives can lead to discussions on broader ethical matters.

Obituaries online: New connections with the living — and the dead • Janice Hume, University of Georgia; Bonnie Bressers, Kansas State University • This study examines online obituary pages at nine major U.S. daily newspapers seeking to understand how these sites use new technologies, and how they publicly portray people’s lives and deaths. These mainstream dailies provide a forum, and potentially large audiences, for mourners who send messages to the dead, express emotion, and tell stories. They also facilitate connections between readers and build new kinds of virtual communities. This represents a departure from traditional obituary content.

National Survey Finds Health Journalists Are Earnest about Their Educator Roles, Especially Newspaper Journalists • JiYeon Jeong, University of Missouri; María Len-Ríos, University of Missouri; Amanda Hinnant, University of Missouri • A national survey (N=774) of health journalists reveals that newspaper health journalists ascribe more importance to their professional roles than do health journalists working for other news delivery channels or newspaper journalists. Overall, health journalists earnestly strive to an educator role. This is critical considering the high stakes for translating scientific/medical details to help people lead more healthful lives. Personal characteristics, motivations, and workplace attributes are also examined as they relate to role conceptions.

News Framing of HIV/AIDS in Uganda: Comparative content analysis of government owned and private press • James Kiwanuka-Tondo, North Carolina State University; Fay Payton, North Carolina State University; Kelly Albada, North Carolina State University • Though new frames for HIV/AIDS have been examined in developed nations, research that has investigated the presentation of AIDS by African press is sparse. Moreover, what little research exists has examined news frames over a limited time frame (e.g., one year), and has failed to consider the impact of media ownership on these news frames.

Issues, Candidate Characteristics and the Horse Race: Newspaper Coverage of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election • Dominic Lasorsa, University of Texas at Austin • An analysis of New York Times and Cleveland Plain Dealer coverage of the 2008 U.S. presidential election found that both policy issues and candidate characteristics received more attention than the horse race. Obama received more coverage and more favorable coverage than McCain. McCain and his supporters served as sources more than did Obama and his supporters. The study also found differences between the newspapers, including that Times coverage was more negative than Dealer coverage.

“It’s All About the Web Hits Here:” How and Why Journalists Create Audio Slideshows • Jonathan Lillie, Loyola College • Most newspapers now produce multimedia in an attempt to increase profits from online editions. Since only a handful of studies address aspects of multimedia news production, additional research is needed, which can hopefully help newspaper journalists successfully change, and save, their industry during this period of profit loss and mass layoffs.

Mapping local news: A research methodology • April Lindgren, Ryerson University • This paper introduces a methodology that applies traditional content analysis and computer-based geovisualization to journalism research so that investigators can map and visually explore patterns of local news coverage in an urban setting. The exploratory power of this information visualization approach is illustrated in a case study that investigates the Toronto Star (print edition) newspaper’s coverage of 13 geographically defined pockets of social need and poverty in Toronto, Ontario.

The Use of Anonymous and Transparent Sources in International News • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida • This study focuses on the use of anonymous sources in newspapers and found that international stories included these sources in 28% of stories compared to 5% of domestic stories. In addition, international stories that related to the U.S. were more likely to include anonymous sources. However, the use of anonymous sources did not vary according to story origination, length or placement.

Using Equity-based Performance Measures to Build a Community-based Brand • Dan Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Rachel Davis Mersey, Northwestern University • Despite competition, newspapers still have a potential competitive advantage as a community resource and leader. Therefore, if newspapers want to succeed, they need to position themselves as “community assets.” This research establishes the current measures of circulation and penetration as weak indicators of community service, and presents a simple and straightforward measure of how well a given newspaper serves its entire community using a summary statistical measure of inequality, the Gini coefficient.

Use of Infographics in Understanding an Environmental Health Risk • Barbara Miller, Elon University; Brooke Barnett, Elon University • A between participants factorial experiment tested the impact of graphic versus textual presentation of an environmental health risk. Results show the inclusion of the infographic did not lead to enhanced understanding of the probability of the health risk. However, participants who saw the map alone were less likely to believe that industries might release chemicals in their community and less likely to report a sense of internal control regarding the risk posed in the story.

Ideology of internationalism gives a significance to English-language newspapers in Japan • Hiroko Minami, University of Oregon • This paper discusses the raison d’être of English-language newspapers in Japan where English is not the native language. This study argues that the ideology of Japanese internationalism (manifested by publishing English-language newspapers) substantially contributes to their sustainability. The patriarchal Japanese industrial system, keiretsu, also keeps English-language newspapers running. The prevalence of these cultural institutions does not necessarily mean, however, that English-language newspapers in Japan are immune from the influence of the neo-liberal global economy.

Source Diversity within Hyperlocal Reporting • Paul Niwa, Emerson College • Hyperlocal is an emerging strategy for newspapers. This study compares source diversity in Asian Pacific American neighborhood coverage with another study of regional reporting. It finds that sourcing of non-elites is enhanced by proximity and by a reporter’s racial in-group. This shows the potential journalistic benefit of both hyperlocal coverage and newsroom diversity. Newsrooms that terminate workers based on seniority may be eliminating reporters who can best implement the hyperlocal strategy in ethnic neighborhoods.

Website Format or Media Experience Driven? A Test of Perceptions of Online Messages • Jennifer Greer, University of Alabama; Po-Lin Pan, University of Alabama; Kelly Frank, University of Nevada; Paula Lee Hobson, University of Nevada; Crystal Soderman, University of Nevada • By manipulating branded editorial, branded blog, and non-branded blog in a between-subjects experiment, this study examined perceptions of online message credibility, quality, preference and persuasiveness. The study was designed to examine whether online website format and personal experience with mass media would come into play when media users evaluated the news and information of branded and non-branded websites.

Information Recall of Internet News: Does Design Make a Difference? A Pilot Study • Val Pipps, The University of Akron; Heather Walter, The University of Akron; Kathleen Endres, University of Akron; Patrick Tabatcher, The University of Akron • This study looked at the effect of the design of online news presentation on content recall. One of four versions of a story were read online. Results of a post-test showed that recall was significantly higher after students read the text only or abbreviated text with photos and captions options over photos with captions and videos or animated graphics.

Bad bugs: U.S. newspaper coverage of antibiotic resistant staph bacteria, 1998-2007 • Paula Rausch, University of Florida; Debbie Treise, University of Florida; Heather Edwards, University of Florida College of Journalism & Communications; Eli Perencevich, University of Maryland School of Medicine • This study examines U.S. newspaper coverage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using Social Representation Theory to understand how these media portrayals may have affected public perception about this potential threat. Large majorities of articles discussed both hospital-acquired MRSA, and the much less common community-acquired MRSA, with this trend changing over time. MRSA was often described using potentially threatening language, with risk the most common topic of discussion, occurring more often than prevention, transmission, symptoms, and treatment.

When is a lead not really a lead? Sampling Error During the 2008 Presidential Election • Matthew Reavy, University of Scranton • This study examines how three prestige newspapers reported polling data during the 2008 presidential election. Of special note is their handling “marginal differences” that fell within sampling error. The study confirms hypotheses suggesting that the newspapers would overemphasize differences that could be explained by sampling error alone. Additional hypotheses testing suggestions from previous research that the New York Times would perform better than the other two newspapers were also confirmed.

The New Dynamic in Corporate Media Relations: Are Fortune 500 Virtual Press Rooms Useful to Journalists? • Justin Pettigrew, University of Georgia; Bryan Reber, University of Georgia • This study examines the use of dialogic components of Fortune 500 Company Web site press rooms. A content analysis of all Fortune 500 company press sites examined site content. Results showed that corporations have increased their Web presence, and that dialogic components on the Web are improving for journalists’ use. This study also suggests that operationalized elements of dialogic theory as it applies to the Web should be continually revisited as technology develops.

Weathering the storm: How newspaper sports editors have adapted during changing times • Jesse Temple, University of Kansas; Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas; Max Utsler, University of Kansas • This study examined how newspaper sports editors at some of the nation’s top daily sports sections from the Associated Press Sports Editors 2007 judging contest have coped with budget cuts as the industry struggles through difficult economic times. Through interviews and a survey, sports editors said staff reductions and Internet demands have created more work for their staffs with less time to do a good job.

Is Not-For-Profit Journalism the Key to the Future of News? • Dan Shaver, Jönköping International Business School/MMTC • Bankruptcy filings and newspaper closings have intensified the debate about whether not-for-profit newspapers can fill the gap in local news coverage created by shrinking newsroom resources at for-profit newspapers. This study examines the two major not-for-profit newspaper models and assesses their potential for sustainability and quality local coverage. It identifies opportunities and potential difficulties.

Are Blogs Changing the News Values of Newspaper Reporters? • Mary Lou Sheffer, University of Southern Mississippi; Brad Schultz, University of Mississippi • Traditional news outlets such as newspapers are incorporating blogs as part of their content in an effort to reach new audiences. Because blogs are typically opinionated and personal how newspapers present their blogs could indicate a shift from traditional journalism values. This content analysis sought to investigate several categories (news, sports, politics and entertainment) of newspaper blogs in terms of personal opinion/commentary, attribution and transparency.

The Impact of Newsroom Cutbacks on Newspaper Revenue: An Empirical Financial Analysis • Shrihari Sridhar, University of Missouri, Trulaske College of Business; Esther Thorson, University of Missouri; Murali Mantrala, University of Missouri, Trulaske College of Business • The newspaper industry is faced with troubled times. Executives continue to find ways to withstand the onslaught of various economic forces. However, an empirically observed phenomenon is that a) they have been resorting to cost-cutting measures and b) these cost-cutting measures are more pronounced in the newsroom departments. Scholars disagree with these cutbacks, arguing they constitute a myopic attempt to preserve high profit-margins which ignores the erosion of newspaper revenue.

Newspapers and Urban Growth: How an old Medium Responds to a Growing Trend • Gordon Van Owen, University of Florida • This study examines the impact of urban growth on The Orlando Sentinel and staff perceptions of that change. By analyzing in-depth interviews conducted with staff members from the editorial, circulation, and advertising departments, this study reveals trends that may be occurring on a larger scale at other newspapers across the state and country.

Dynamic Content in American Online Newspapers: Life and Updates in Lead News • Jin Xu, Winona State University • This research examines the life and update of lead news stories on newspaper sites and how they differ concerning newspaper size and story’s geographic focus. The sample includes 59 large, medium and small newspapers. By monitoring their lead news, it has documented the story life, update count, update interval, update immediacy and update clustering. It concludes that timeliness is a distinct hallmark but its degree is determined by newspaper size, not by story’s geographic focus.

Student Papers
Effects of a trend: The influence of user comments on readers’ perceptions of online newspapers • Erin Ash, Pennsylvania State University; Kirstie Hettinga, Penn State; Daniel Halpern, Pennsylvania State University    Online newspapers provide comment forums to generate a sense of community for audiences • This research investigates the relationship between the presence or absence of user-generated comments and perceived journalistic quality. A 2×2 between subjects experiment (N = 96) showed when comments were present, individuals perceived lower levels of reporting quality, yet liked the articles more. Also, sense of online community moderated the relationship between comments and story liking. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Attribute Agenda-Setting and Changing: A Comparative Analysis of U.S. and Korean Media Coverage of The Virginia Tech Shootings • Kanghui Baek, The University of Texas at Austin; Kangkyung Baek, Michigan State University • This study compares U.S. and Korean newspapers’ coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings for the month following the event. By applying attribute agenda-setting theory, this study shows how the Washington Post focused more on “societal” and “anecdotal” levels of attribute agendas, while the Chosun Ilbo focused more on “international” and “individual” levels. Furthermore, this study examines the differences in the two newspapers’ patterns of attribute agenda-setting across the four agenda levels throughout the event’s life span.

Framing a war and a people: The words portraying Iraqi violence • Jacob Dittmer, University of Oregon • This study explores what words are selected in portraying Iraqis and the violence that has plagued the country since the U.S. invasion. Through a content analysis of two newspapers’ stories on Iraq over the course of two years, this study examined the prevalence of certain words compared with others. This study also explored what sources were used in connection with certain frames and how they were attributed.

Change to Believe In? • Jeff Lemberg, University of Maryland • News media trade publications often use critiques and criticisms in an effort to shame the press into better serving their audiences. This analysis of coverage in the trade press about USA Today, from its founding in September 1982 through September 1987, revealed significant tensions over the relationship between traditional journalistic values and organizational change in the newspaper industry.

Attracting the Newspaper Reader in a New Domain: Dimensions of User Interest in News Content Online • Seth Lewis, University of Texas at Austin; Mengchieh Jacie Yang, University of Texas at Austin • To enhance our understanding of online news consumption, this study went beyond analyses of medium preference to explore issues of content interest: (1) identifying clusters of interest among online newspaper readers, and (2) comparing those dimensions across differences in users’ demographics, frequency of news-seeking, and offline relationship with the newspaper. Through an analysis of reader survey data (N=25,964), we found nine reliable classifications of content interest and distinct user types that were associated with them.

When Reporters Blog: Gatekeeping in mainstream newspapers’ blog coverage of ongoing and breaking news events • Bartosz Wojdynski, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This exploratory study sought to analyze whether news event blogs that are published by mainstream newspapers adhere to conventional journalistic norms with regard to sources both cited and referenced in links. Analysis of 416 blog posts from four separate ongoing and breaking news blogs show support for the extension of mainstream media’s traditional gatekeeping function to news blogs, in addition to newer functions such media criticism and rapid information dissemination.

Community Newspaper Reading Fosters a Sense of Social Cohesion • Masahiro Yamamoto, Washington State University • A long tradition of research in sociology and mass communication suggests that community newspapers serve community social organization by disseminating a pattern of content that promotes common community values and goals. Building on past community newspaper research, this study tests whether community newspaper reading has a direct positive effect on an individual’s sense of social cohesion.

Special Call for Newspaper Industry Research Papers
One Product, Three Markets: How Market Segmentation Informs Newspapers about their Online Readership • Iris Chyi, University of Texas at Austin; Mengchieh Jacie Yang, University of Texas at Austin; George Sylvie, University of Texas at Austin; Seth Lewis, University of Texas at Austin; Nan Zheng, University of Texas at Austin • This study proposes a market segmentation approach for analyzing online newspaper readership. The model first distinguishes long-distance users from local users (based on geographic proximity) and then differentiates between two classes of local users—hybrid and online-only readers (based on the use of multiple product formats). Analysis of online reader survey data from 28 U.S. newspaper Web sites outlines each of the three market segments. Marketing and advertising implications are discussed.

Perceived Differences in Credibility of Traditional News Channels Compared to Online News Channels • Audrey Post, Florida State University; jonathan adams, The Florida State University; Juliann Cortese, Florida State University; Gary Heald, Florida State University; John DuBard, The Florida State University • Much of the research measuring credibility of news across platforms over the past 10 years has been limited to newspapers, television and a broad category called “online.” This study narrowed the focus by comparing the perceived credibility of traditional media with the perceived credibility of their online counterparts, as well as with online-only news sites. It also compared the perceptions of college students and older adults.

Kansas City Star journalists cope with stress and self-affirmation following layoffs • Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • Steele’s (1988) self-affirmation theory posits that when faced with a threat, self-esteem, self-identity and personal control are affected. For layoff survivors, there are threats to job security, job quality and job satisfaction. In 15 months, the Kansas City Star newsroom was downsized by nearly half. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the self-affirmation of Kansas City Star layoff survivors and their job security, job quality, job satisfaction and coping strategies.

Role Call: 2008 Campaign and Election Coverage on the Websites of Leading U.S. Newspapers • Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire / University of Iowa • This study, based on a survey of online editors, explores how websites affiliated with leading U.S. newspapers covered the 2008 campaign and election. As the third in a series, it traces changes over a decade in which the internet moved from the periphery to the center of political, public, and media attention. Although the 2004 study suggested online editors were rethinking their function as information gatekeepers, this version indicates a reassertion of traditional journalistic roles.

Experimenting with Interactive Media: Negotiating the Role of Digital Media in News Organizations • Matthew Weber, University of Southern California • This research presents a case study of the evolving nature of the news media industry, from both a micro- and macro-level perspective. After reviewing currents industry trends, as well as previous theoretical work, this study then illustrates the variance in organizational patterns in the news media industry, from traditional hierarchies to network-based modified organizational patterns.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Media Ethics 2009 Abstracts

Media Ethics Division

Special Call
Teaching journalists how to navigate ethical dilemmas: A case study of ethics in the newsroom • Beth Concepcion, University of South Carolina • The purpose of the media is to cover the issues the public needs and wants to know. However, journalists face competitive and organizational pressures that sometimes conflict with personal morals and principles — and that larger altruistic goal of informing and protecting the public. Often these pressures result in personal and professional ethical struggles.

Standards of Excellence in Breaking News Online: A MacIntyrean Analysis • David Craig, University of Oklahoma • This paper examines the pursuit of excellence in breaking news online and the pressures that stand in the way of it, drawing on interviews with journalists at four large online news organizations. The analysis is guided by MacIntyre’s theoretical framework. Discussion centers on standards of excellence in online journalism, challenges to their attainment, and how journalism as a practice is advancing, declining, or both with developments in online journalism.

Interactive Ethics: Overlapping Norms of Practitioners and the Public in a Shared Media Space • Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire / University of Iowa • Journalists and users share the interactive digital environment in unprecedented ways, suggesting a need to reconsider both professional and audience ethics in this context. This essay considers several ethical principles that take on new configurations for journalists as they move into closer relationships with audiences, then turns to normative concepts that gain relevance for audiences as their online role expands. It concludes by suggesting that digital journalism ethics is an inherently collective enterprise.

The Paradox of Public Interest: Why Serving Private Interests Provides a Stronger Moral Foundation for Public Relations Performed in Behalf of the Public Interest • Megan Stoker, Brigham Young University; Kevin Stoker, Texas Tech University • The paper examines the concept of the public interest as defined in political science literature and public relations research. This paper applies various philosophical approaches from Ayn Rand to Immanuel Kant, along with recent literature on game theory and public and private interests in public relations, to show that the most ethical approach to serving the public interest is focusing on adhering to personal values and private interests.

Student Competition (Carol Burnett Award)
Building credibility: Developing transparency in public relations • Giselle A. Auger, University of Florida • As an industry, public relations struggles with poor public perception. Such perception is strengthened by highly publicized situations involving questionable ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to explicate transparency as it relates to public relations, and to discuss the potential for development of trust within organizations and credibility in public relations, through the practice of transparent communication.

Multi-contextual, Visual Ethical Analysis of Privacy and Ritual in Corpse Images from Sichuan Earthquake • Yang Liu, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism • This paper provides a visual-ethical interpretation and analysis of corpse images from the photo coverage of 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China. Corpse images are interpreted in multiple contexts and analyzed around two concepts of privacy and ritual, both of which feature cultural specificity. Through content analysis and interviews, the paper points out the inconsistency of standards and the impact of media benefits in the ethical self-regulation of Chinese photo journalism.

Yes We Can or No Can Do?: The Distortion of News Coverage in Political Ads • Anthony Palmer, University of South Carolina • Barack Obama’s presidential campaign’s use of the Internet in regards to a video advertisement called Bad News created an ethical controversy due to its use of distorted NBC material without consent. This paper addresses the ethicality of Bad News in terms of the ethical perspectives of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill and proposes a solution that would allow future politicians and political organizations to convey the same message without prompting legal or ethical concerns.

Media Morality and Compassion for “Faraway Others” • Ryan Thomas, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University • In January 2009, the BBC refused to broadcast an appeal by the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) for humanitarian relief for refugees in the Gaza region on the grounds that it would compromise BBC impartiality. This paper explores three issues highlighted by this incident of concern to media ethics scholars: the blurring of news and non-news discourses, the consequences of impartiality, and the responsibility media institutions have to “faraway others.”

Open Competition Papers
Negotiating Privacy in the 21st Century: The Millennial View • Seth Ashley, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Lee Wilkins, School of Journalism/University of Missouri; Amanda Wysocki, University of Missouri School of Journalism • Traditional philosophical and legal understandings of privacy are not sufficient for appreciating how people think about privacy today. Radin’s “contested commodities” and Westin’s “circles of intimacy” offer a bridge between positive and negative constructions of liberty and privacy.

Journalistic Constraints: Weighing the pressures that surround the modern media • Jenn Burleson Mackay, Virginia Tech • This paper outlines existing models of constraints on journalistic decisions and applies those concepts to journalistic ethics. The researcher considers how journalistic ethics may be influenced by society, the news organization, the profession, technology, and audiences. Survey responses from weekly newspaper, daily newspaper, and television station journalists illustrate how these constraints affect journalists. The researcher suggests that journalists and journalism students should to be aware of these influences in order to make sound ethical choices.

The Ethical Dimensions of Duke’s Communication Response to its Lacrosse Team Scandal • Rod Carveth, University of Hartford; Claire Ferraris, Western Oregon University • Duke University is one of the most elite private universities in the nation, having tied for fifth in the 2005 U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings, behind only Ivy League schools. In addition to superior academics, the school boasts several major sport powers, especially its basketball team.

Persistence of Narrative Persuasion in the Face of Deception • John Donahue, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Melanie Green, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Individuals are persuaded by fiction, but left unanswered is whether individuals maintain attitude change when a story presented as factual is later shown to be inaccurate. In this experiment, the alleged truth status of a narrative was manipulated. Participants in two conditions were informed after reading the story it was inaccurate due to (1) unintentional inaccuracy or (2) intentional deception. Although readers derogated a deceptive author, they did not correct their attitudes due to inaccuracies.

Offering the Cloak of Confidentiality to News Sources: Journalist’s Ethical Decision-making Behaviors • Michele Kimball, University of South Alabama • The use of confidential sources in news coverage can provide information integral to understanding significant issues for news consumers, but it comes at a price to journalists’ credibility and ethical standards. This study uses qualitative methods to evaluate journalists’ ethical decision-making behaviors when determining whether to grant sources confidentiality. Results show that journalists engage in a four-part process in determining whether to make a promise to protect a source’s identity.

Facing the Future: Media Ethics, Bioethics, and the World’s First Face Transplant • Marjorie Kruvand, Loyola University Chicago; Bastiaan Vanacker, Loyola University Chicago • When the world’s first face transplant was performed in France in 2005, the complex medical procedure and accompanying worldwide media attention sparked many ethical issues, including how the media covered the story. This study used framing theory to examine what happens when media ethics intersect with bioethics by analyzing French, American, and British media coverage on the transplant and its aftermath.

Television News Coverage and Disaster Management – The Ethical Difficulties of Disaster Journalism • Chao Chen Lin, National Chiao Tung University • The study explores ratings-driven television disaster journalism and other related issues on one side and discusses the relationship between disaster reporting and disaster management on the other. This study uses qualitative research methods such as “case study” and “in depth interview, focuses on the four typhoon disasters occurring between July and September of 2008 and conducts related analysis affecting the news production system of television in Taiwan.

Social Constructivism Meets Social Media: The Case for Collaborative Learning in the Ethics Classroom • Patricia Parsons, Mount Saint Vincent University • Teaching ethics as a collaborative process to cultivate moral imagination is an important adjunct to student development of the knowledge, attitudes and skills required of professional practice. The collaborative nature of the new social media provides a platform for the development of pedagogical approaches that are grounded in social constructivism. This paper presents a case illustration of the application of an online wiki to enhance student engagement in learning about professional ethics.

Short and to the Point: How More Ethical Online Headlines Might Help Restore Journalism’s Reputation • David Remund, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Writing headlines for online media can pose an ethical challenge. The limited real estate and dense saturation on most news organizations’ landing pages means trouble for copy editors and reporters. They must be extremely succinct in their wording yet clever enough to somehow breakthrough the clutter. This paper examines the ethics of news headlines online, drawing upon a blend of primary and secondary research.

Public Relations and Rawls: A Harsh Veil to Wear • Chris Roberts, University of Alabama • John Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” approach to ethical behavior is a seeming staple in mass media ethics textbooks, but the veil is less likely to be given serious consideration as an approach to ethical decision-making than other approaches. This paper looks at the uses, misuses and applications of the veil in contemporary discussions of public relations ethics, and it posits six reasons why the veil may be hard for public relations practitioners to wear.

Beyond Case Studies: An Analysis of Teaching Effectiveness in Award-Winning Media Ethics Exercises • Carol Schwalbe, Arizona State University; David Cuillier, University of Arizona • A content analysis of 228 Great Ideas for Teachers (GIFTs) found that the 16 activities suitable for ethics courses relied on traditional methods of teaching, mainly discussions, teamwork, and case studies. Few used technology, games, or simulations. The authors created an index to measure teaching effectiveness. While most ethics ideas stimulated higher order learning, they did not incorporate other elements that might improve student engagement. The authors make suggestions for dynamic, interactive ethics activities.

Guanxi, Gift-Giving, or Bribery? Ethical Considerations of Paid News in China • Katerina Tsetsura, University of Oklahoma; Zuo Lin, U of Oklahoma • This study of the phenomenon of paid news in China reviews the English-language and Chinese-language literature on the subject of media opacity and cultural traditions of gift-giving and guanxi in Chinese media practices to answer a question whether discussions of media bribery are appropriate in the context of the Chinese media environment.

Credibility as a strategic ritual: The Times, the interrogator, and the duty of naming • Fred Vultee, Wayne State University • This study examines the use of names in the construction of “credibility” as a journalistic duty. Using the framework set forth by Tuchman (1972) of objectivity as a “strategic ritual,” the study discusses the ethical justifications put forth by the New York Times for the process through which it decided to identify a CIA interrogator who had been involved in questioning 9/11 captives.

A Content Analysis of the Public Service Announcements Dealing with Children’s Nutrition and Obesity -Investigating Advertising Appeals, Health Claims, and Health Intervention Techniques- • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University; Hoyoung Ahn, U of Tennessee • Public Service Announcements (PSAs) against childhood obesity have been widely used to help children understand the importance of healthy eating habits and smart weight management in their lives. As the rate of childhood obesity in the country has increased enormously in recent years, researchers have emphasized the significant role of the PSAs more than ever, but few have comprehensively investigated the content of the current PSAs dealing with the issues.

<< 2009 Abstracts

International Communication 2009 Abstracts

International Communication Division

Bob Stevenson Open Papers
Mediating Identity: Nigerian Videos and African Immigrants in the U.S. • Adedayo Abah, Washington and Lee University • African immigrants living in the DFW, TX were interviewed for their views on the role of the Nigerian video industry in the way they sustain their multiple identities in their society of settlement. Results indicate that most of the immigrants view the videos as affirmation of the values they grew up with and with which they still identify. This is in direct contradiction of cultural denigration some feel in their professional lives in the U.S.

Framing North Korea’s nuclear crisis:Comparing the media and audiences’ frames in U.S. and South Korea • Hyun Ban, University of Incheon, Korea; Kanghui Baek, The University of Texas at Austin; Soo-Jung Kim, University of Incheon, Korea; Stephen Reese, The University of Texas at Austin • This research investigated and compared not only how U.S. and South Korean newspapers framed the North Korean nuclear crisis over time but also how the media frames influenced audience frames of the issue. The experiment results found individual schema played a significant role in framing effects, specifically when audiences formed an opinion toward their governments’ foreign policies. The study found that U.S. media frames affected audience frames more than South Korean media frames did.

Looking through Different Lenses: Media Coverage of the Northern Ireland Conflict and Peace Process • Janice Barrett, Lasell College • The conflict in Northern Ireland is unique, in that after decades of violence and thousands of deaths, the parties involved on both sides of the divided society eventually agreed to political and economic power sharing with a peaceful resolution.

A Changing World, Unchanging Perspectives: American Newspaper Editors and Enduring Values in Foreign News Reporting • Tsan-Kuo Chang, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota; Hyung Min Lee, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Yejin Hong, University of Minnesota • The purpose of this paper is to examine, through a longitudinal analysis over a 20-year time span, the priorities and beliefs that American newspaper editors hold toward foreign news reporting. Informed by the sociology of knowledge perspective and using the theory of cultural values as the framework, this study seeks to compare how American newspaper editors evaluate the importance of factors in their selection of foreign news between 1988 and 2008.

Extra-Media Influences on the Issue-Attention Cycle: Global Warming Coverage in the People’s Daily and The New York Times, 1998-2007 • Xiaofang Ma, Ohio University; Hong Cheng, Ohio University • This study examined the change in amount of the global warming coverage in the People’s Daily and The New York Times from 1998 through 2007, aiming at finding out if the media coverage of environmental issues in these two national newspapers in China and the United States followed Downs’ (1972) issue-attention cycle model.

A Comparative Network Analysis of Theoretical Structure of Communication Research • Chung Joo Chung, State University of New York at Buffalo; George Barnett, SUNY at Buffalo; Kitae Kim, SUNY at Buffalo; Derek Lackaff, SUNY at Buffalo • There is a lack of recent research on the theoretical structure of communication scholars in the United States and other countries. This paper explored the structure and status of theories in the communication discipline. Also, it examined what the widely cited theoretical contention among academic articles and how they were connected to each other.

Of ‘ominous dragons’ and ‘flying geese’: South African media coverage of China in Africa • Arnold de Beer, Stellenbosch University; Wadim Schreiner, Media Tenor South Africa – Inst for Media Analysis    • The question is interrogated whether China’s involvement in Africa should be seen (metaphorically) as either that of the “ominous dragon” ready to re-colonise Africa, or that of the “flying goose” bringing economic development and aid to a struggling continent. A content analysis of South African media coverage of China in Africa is presented.

Coverage of Obesity as a Global Health Issue by U.S. and British Newspapers • Kuang-Kuo Chang, Shih Hsin University; Fu-Jung Chen, Independent Researcher; Eric Freedman, Michigan State University • This paper reviews health-related literature on obesity and content analyzes how four U.S. and British elite newspapers covered the issue. Findings reveal that public health advocates dominated as the main type of social actor. Over time, these newspapers switched their assignment of treatment responsibility to the food industry. Among 30 micro-perspectives, the impact of the public health problem on personal health was the prevailing aspect of coverage.

Perspectives in framing reality: Comparing Virginia Tech shooting reports in U.S. and South Korean newspapers • Jaesik Ha, Southern Illinois University; Uche Onyebadi, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • This study examines and compares the media coverage of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacres in prominent newspapers in the U.S. and South Korea. It uses framing as the theoretical guide and content analysis as the method of operation for the research.

Toward a Roles Theory for Strategic Communication: The Case of South Africa • Derina Holtzhausen, Oklahoma State University; Natalie Tindall, University of Oklahoma • In this study, public relations roles theory was extended and measured through an online survey among a population of 782 South African advertising, public relations, and government practitioners. Eight of the roles were previously tested in public relations research, and a ninth, the role of strategist, was conceptualized based on the work of Steyn (2002, 2007).

A myopic view of Asia? How U.S. news organizations covered the region in 2006 • Beverly Horvit, University of Missouri; Maria Garcia, University of Missouri • The study analyzed 2006 Asian news coverage by The Associated Press, New York Times and four other U.S. newspapers. Overall, only a handful of Asian nations received significant coverage, and the coverage did not match real-world indicators such as the number of significant events occurring in different Asian countries. Compared with the Times and the AP, the nonelite newspapers included a significantly higher proportion of stories about combat and that had a U.S. angle.

A Study on the News Values of International Disasters: Determinants of News Coverage of International Disasters in the U.S. News Media • Yongick Jeong, LSU; Tulika Varma, Louisiana State University • This study explores the relationship between the various factors of a country and the news coverage of international disasters in the U.S. media. Media coverage of international disasters was assessed by the number of news stories reported in 12 representative news media. The results indicated that the extent of death toll and economic damages caused by a disaster, military expenditure, and close trading relations with the U.S. influence the media coverage of international catastrophic events.

What do reporters do in the People’s Republic of China? • John Jirik, Lehigh University • This paper uses ethnographic observation and analysis carried out from mid-2003 to late 2005 to explain the work of reporters at CCTV International (CCTV-9), China’s 24-hour global English-language channel.

Cross-national Content Analysis of the Russia – Georgia Conflict Coverage • Yusuf Kalyango, Ohio University; Petya Eckler, University of Missouri; Alexandra Cristea, Ohio University • This study compares media framing of the Russia-Georgia conflict across leading news outlets in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia. A content analysis of 288 stories from eight news media outlets in these countries examined two major frames – reactionary depiction and partisan alignment. Results show that Russian and Ukrainian news outlets covered the conflict through the partisan alignment frame but with different categories from it.

Entertainment and Stereotype: Representation of the Arab in Reality Show on Israeli Television • Yuval Karniel, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya; Amit Lavie Dinur, IDC • This study examined the participation of Arab citizens in reality shows on Israeli commercial television. Since Arabs are “others” vis a vis Israeli mainstream society, their presence in these programs has distinct cultural, social, and ideological connotations – as the literature in this field has shown. This study, the first of its kind, addresses three central issues: What is the degree of visibility of the Arab participants in these reality shows?

Resistance narratives in radical, alternative media: A historical examination of New Zealand’s Earwig magazine • Linda Jean Kenix, University of Canterbury • This research examined a radical, alternative publication titled Earwig that ran in New Zealand from 1969-1973. The study aimed to expose the cultural values and identities inherent in Earwig; extrapolate a meta-narrative that could be associated with the magazine as a cultural site; and examine how that narrative could impact emancipatory or hegemonic forms of resistance.

Under Fire: A Survey of Iraqi Journalists’ Perception of Physical Danger in Covering News after the Fall of Saddam Hussain • Hun Shik Kim, University of Colorado at Boulder • Iraqi journalists operate in a newsgathering environment that is rated as one of the most deadliest in the world, where news workers routinely face physical threats in the form of murders, kidnapping and death threats that affect the quality of the news, and prevent journalists from reporting on important stories.

A Cross-National Comparison of the Effect of Media Products on Country Image: South Korea Images in Six Countries • Byeng-Hee Chang, Sungkyunkwan University; Yang-Hwan Lee, Sungkyunkwan University; Sang-Hyun Nam, Sungkyunkwan University; Bo-Mi Kim, Sungkyunkwan University • Although understanding how media reflect country characteristics and how media affect the formation of individual’s country images are of critical importance, little study has been done so far. This study attempted to verify the effect of media products such as news, TV show, movie, advertising, book, music, Website, game, and mediated sports on shaping individual’s general country image (GCI) and product-specific country image (PCI).

Moderating effect of collectivism on Web-based customization: An exploratory study with tailored and targeted messages • Cong Li, University of Miami; Sriram Kalyanaraman, UNC-Chapel Hill • Web-based customization is widely adopted in a variety of domains today. Current conceptualization of customization is to provide individualized messages to message recipients based on their particular needs or preferences. A growing body of empirical research has shown positive effects for customization, suggesting that customized messages generate stronger memories and more favorable attitudes than non-customized ones because they match message recipients’ need for unique self identity.

The Portrayal of Hamas and Israel on CNN and EuroNews • Michael Murrie, Pepperdine University; Sarah Ivosevich, Pepperdine University; Rachel Friedman, Pepperdine University; Jacquelan Vujovich, Pepperdine University • After Israel invaded Gaza on December 23, 2008, a media frenzy covered related events varying across nations, raising the question whether geographic proximity to the conflict was related to media portrayal of who was victim and who was aggressor. A content analysis of CNN and EuroNews transcripts of accounts of the fighting in Gaza indicated balanced coverage despite the difference in proximity of the two networks to the conflict and hypotheses to the contrary.

Communication Technology and Culture: Analyzing Selected Cultural Dimensions and Human Development Indicators • George Musambira, University of Central Florida; Jonathan Matusitz, University of Central Florida • Correlations of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions – that is, the individualism-collectivism and the masculinity-femininity dimensions – and selected indicators of the Human Development Report (HDR) were investigated.

Thai Culture Revisited: An Investigation of Self-Representation Through Travel Web Sites • Anchalee Ngampornchai, Florida State University • This study analyzes three travel Web sites that are based in Thailand in order to identify dominant images of Thai culture and people. It uncovers four media representations of Thailand—royal heritage, Buddhist culture, people of nature, and agrarian and service-oriented country. It discusses ideology behind these representations, especially the connection to the maintenance of monarchical beliefs. The study also addresses the effects of media representation, especially Thai self-exoticization in the context of tourism promotion.

Professionalism in Chinese newswork: From concept to practice • Judy Polumbaum, Schl of Jourmalism & Mass Comm, The University of Iowa • Whether professionalism in Chinese journalism is best understood as a matter of rhetorical legerdemain, normative vision or ascertainable practice in a changing news environment may depend on whether one is a cynic, an idealist or an activist. Across a spectrum of political, occupational and academic discourse, however, the concept carries rhetorical utility and normative influence in China today. Furthermore, what might be termed professionalism in practice is evident in the conduct and results of news work.

Evaluating Social Networking in Public Diplomacy • Hyunjin Seo, Syracuse University; Stuart Thorson, Syracuse University • While much of e-government has focused on governments connecting their citizens with services, recently ubiquitous digital networks together with social networking tools have begun to transform the practice of public diplomacy by permitting governments to build and maintain direct relationships with citizens of other countries. In this paper, we describe several such initiatives undertaken by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). Our particular focus is on efforts aimed at South Korea.

Quality Control: Perceptions about User-Generated Content among Local British Newspaper Journalists • Jane B. Singer, University of Central Lancashire / University of Iowa • This UK study explores the boundaries that local print journalists see as distinguishing them from outside contributors, particularly in relation to occupational roles and the quality of the news product. The findings suggest journalists appreciate the potential of user contributions to generate hyperlocal information and boost website traffic, but believe it can undermine professional values unless carefully monitored – a gatekeeping task they fear cannot fit within newsroom routines threatened by resource constraints of increasing severity.

Culture or Position? Cross-Cultural and Cross-Positional Comparison of the Opinions about Creative Advertisements: The Case of the U.S. and Korea • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University; Yongick Jeong, LSU • Despite advertising creativity’s subjective and non-scientific characteristics, many advertising professionals and researchers consider it extremely important for making effective advertisements. Due to its interesting status, many studies have dealt with people’s different perspectives on creative advertising. This exploratory study investigates the different cultures/positions’ possible influences on interpreting this concept, using advertising professionals and advertising major students in two countries from western and eastern society: the U.S. and Korea.

Markham Student Papers
Civil Liberties and Democracy: Measuring the Impact of Freedom of the Press • Katharine Allen, The Pennsylvania State University • In a democracy, freedom of the press is arguably the most important civil liberty in the bundle of civil liberties and political rights. A free press is essential to both the functioning and quality of democracy. The free flow of ideas from independent sources provides transparency to the citizenry and requires accountability of the political elites. Where political officials and bureaucrats are held accountable to the masses, democracy can take root and flourish.

Lost in cinematic translation?: The Lake House, Siworae and the Hollywoodization of Korean culture • Keunmin Bae, Penn State University • Using the notion of communication as ritual activities through which people reaffirm cultural values they share, this study analyzes the cultural values reflected in the Korean original film Siworae, and the extent to which these values were removed or replaced with American values when it was reborn as The Lake House, the first-ever Hollywood version of Korean film. Implications for the globalization of media products are discussed.

Constructing “Globalization”: Media Framing of Globalization in the Coverage of The U.S. and Korea Free Trade Agreement • Kanghui Baek, The University of Texas at Austin • This cross-national study examines the recent issue of U.S and Korea FTA. Based on quantitative content analysis and qualitative textual analysis, this study found that U.S. newspapers were more likely to frame the FTA and globalization as a viable path to prosperity and focused more on their positive effect; however Korean liberal newspaper was more likely to frame the FTA and globalization as the neo-economic colonization of Korea and focused more on their negative effects.

Media effects in a transitional country: Setting the political agenda in the Kosovo elections of 2007 • Lindita Camaj, Indiana University • This study suggests that during the 2007 campaign in Kosovo, political parties and mass media set the agenda of the elections while disregarding the priorities of the public. However, neither media nor parties were able to set the public agenda independently. These results confirm recent scholarship which suggests that media and politics have achieved some balance in Eastern European countries.

Opinions and Willingness to Speak Out About the U.S. Military Buildup on Guam • Francis Dalisay, Washington State University • Roughly 8,000 U.S. Marines and 18,000 of their dependents in Okinawa, Japan will be relocated to Guam. A survey of Guam residents revealed that support for this military buildup was predicted by colonial debt, local attitudes toward the military, and perceived majority support. Willingness to speak out about this buildup was positively predicted by interest, perceived knowledge, attention to information sources, and perceived majority support, but negatively predicted by lack of efficacy and conflict avoidance.

Bringing Society In: A Theoretical Account of China’s Press under Transformation • Dong Dong, University of Minnesota • In this theoretical paper, I propose to add a dimension of “society” to the current discussions on China’s media transformation. My approach will be as follows: First I will deliver a background review on the ongoing process of China’s media transformation, especially in the area of newspaper industry. Next I will depict Chinese journalists’ everyday practices based on previous research as well as real examples.

Global News Frames and Media Events: Frame Convergence • Nathan Gilkerson, University of Minnesota • The inauguration of Barack Obama was undoubtedly a global media event, covered by news media from around the world. This paper explores the various dominant news frames utilized by the international media in their coverage of Obama’s inauguration, and theorizes and investigates the possibility of the emergence of “global frames” in the worldwide news media’s coverage of Obama.

The Dazhalan Project: a Case Study of Citizen Media in China • Lei Guo, the University of Texas at Austin • Majority of the studies that examine citizen media are conducted in western countries. However, this study on the Dazhalan Project was a case study that focused on citizen media in China. Combining in-depth interviews and textual analysis, the study demonstrated the uniqueness of citizen media under China’s State-Party media system. Also, it suggested it was the collaboration among ordinary citizens, professionals, and journalists that framed the issue in the mainstream media in an alternative way.

Stifled Chinese Media Contra-Flow: A Case Study of Hong Kong-Based Phoenix Satellite TV • Jing Guo, Graduate Student/Miami University-Oxford • The concept of contra-flow is about a geographical shift of Western production capacities and the appreciation of contra-flow content in Western locations. Analysis of ownership and overseas expansion of the Hongkong-based Phoenix TV suggests that it exemplifies a powerful Chinese media contra-flow. However, by examining suppressive media regulations, I argue that the Chinese government, being afraid of losing control over public sphere, is thwarting its own effort to nurture an information contra-flow through local media.

Framing Dictators as “Enemy” vs. “Friend”: Comparing Pervez Musharraf and Kim Jong-il in U.S. newspapers • Jaesik Ha, Southern Illinois University • This study focuses on how the New York Times and the Washington Post framed differently Kim Jong-il, the chairman of North Korea, and Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan. It uses framing theory as the theoretical foundation and content analysis as the research method. The research findings show that prestigious U.S. newspapers more frequently used “enemy framing” in the news coverage of Kim Jong-il and “friend framing” in the coverage of Musharraf.

Telethon Viewing, Social Capital, and Community Participation in South Korea: A Case Study • Bumsub Jin, University of Florida; Soyoon Kim, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • On the grounds of Putnam’s social capital, this study suggests one underlying mechanism that results in citizens’ participation in altruistic activities in South Korea. Specifically, the study hypothesizes a sequential relationship among telethon viewership, the two resources of social capital (i.e., trust and neighborliness), and citizens’ intent to participate in altruistic activities. By virtue of cultivation theory, telethon viewership is assumed to enhance those two resources, which subsequently spur individuals’ intent to participate in altruistic activities.

Who frames the Nuclear Test: A Study of Frames and News Sources in the U.S. and South Korean News Coverage of the North Korean Nuclear Test • Yonghwan Kim, University of Texas at Austin; Mi Jahng, Universty of Missouri-Columbia • This study examined news frames and the source diversity of U.S. and South Korean newspapers in reporting the North Korean nuclear test on October 9, 2006. A content analysis of the New York Times, the Washington Post, Chosun Ilbo, and Hankyore Daily found that although the U.S. newspapers used more news sources, both the U.S. and South Korean newspapers used more U.S. official sources than sources from other countries.

Media Environment for Public Relations Practice: Perceived Influences on Media in the Urals Federal District of Russia • Anna Klyueva, University of Oklahoma • This research explored perceived factors that influence media practice in the Urals Federal District of Russia. This study adopted four factors of influence from the propaganda model (Herman & Chomsky, 1988) to guide the research. The data was collected from 43 media professionals in the region. The findings revealed three main factors that are perceived to influence practice of media in the Urals Federal District of Russia: corporate ownership of the media, municipal government, and advertisers.

A Study of The New York Times Coverage of Darfur: July 2003 – 2006 • Ammina Kothari, Indiana University – Bloomington • This multi-method study examines how The New York Times reported on the Darfur conflict in Sudan, which has led to an estimated 300,000 deaths and over 2.3 million people displaced due to fighting between tribes of Arab and Black Sudanese. Drawing on postcolonial and normative theories and prior studies of Africa’s representation, I analyze how the conflict was framed and what role sources played in reinforcing or resisting Western neocolonial values.

Avian Influenza News from China. Is China coming clean on bird flu? • William Lai, University of Hong Kong; Adrian Weisell, The New School University, New York, United States • Based on a report published in Science in November 2006 titled: “Is China coming clean on bird flu?” we sought to answer this question by comparing media coverage of avian influenza from two English-language newspapers in China. We coded bird flu stories from the China government-sanctioned China Daily and Hong Kong’s independent South China Morning Post newspapers during a one-year period.

Framing China and the United States: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Current Affairs Television Program in the 21st Century • Xiufang (Leah) Li, Miss • Media as a key player in international affairs shapes public attitudes towards events. China as a superpower has greatly attracted the global media attention and raised controversy. The improved Sino-Australian relation, the historical baggage and the world dynamics determine the examination of how the Australian media frames China in the 21st century.

Chinese foreign correspondents’ perception on their journalistic role in the Sino-U.S. relations • Xianglin Liu, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • The purpose of this research is two-fold: First, by field observation and conducting interviews with correspondents in different cities working for different media organizations, this study describes the basic working life of Chinese foreign correspondents in the United States as well as their professional attitude; secondly, by doing in-depth interviews and asking open-ended questions, this study also explores factors in different levels that may affect correspondents’ professional work.

A Shared Platform Model of the Media • T. Randahl Morris, Georgia State University • Theories of the press developed since the 1950s have been instrumental in analyzing media and society in relation to power, government influence, and social and political forces. The philosophical and ethical underpinnings that have formed the basis for numerous theories have been enlightening at certain points in time.

Thin as Paper, Light as Air: The Weight of Print, Broadcast Freedom on Interstate Conflict • Jeffrey Joe Pe-Aguirre, University of Missouri School of Journalism • Government leaders facing the specter of an interstate dispute are motivated by the desire to remain in power. As such, a leader’s calculus in arriving at a policy of restraint or resolute use of military force accounts for the sentiments of the public. Print and broadcast media are pervasive sources of political information and may influence foreign policy decisions.

World Systems Theory and Second-Level Agenda-Setting in Mexican News Online • Mark Poepsel, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri School of Journalism • This study is a second-level agenda-setting analysis of international news stories originating in newspaper-affiliated websites in Mexico, a semiperiphery country according to an interpretation of World Systems Theory. Analyzing each paragraph in hundreds of news stories, it discusses the prevalence of each country mentioned in three major Mexican news outlets.

Russian Disaster Coverage is No Accident: How Two Russian Newspapers and their Readers Frame a Russian Plane Crash • Svetlana Rybalko, Texas Tech University, College of Mass Communications • The present study is a content analysis of disaster frames found in 2008 Russian plane crash news coverage. A total of 182 paragraphs from two Russian newspapers, and 77 readers’ postings were analyzed to examine which of six news frames and level of responsibility were used by the media and readers. While the dominant frames used by newspapers were disaster aftermath, cause, and human interest, readers were mostly interested in the cause and attribution of responsibility.

Media Coverage of Hostage Taking: Source Credibility and Source Use during Afghan Hostage Case • Hyunjin Seo, Syracuse University • This study examines South Korean journalists’ coverage of the 2007 Afghan hostage case in which the Taliban abducted 23 South Korean missionaries. This study analyzes journalists’ perceived credibility of sources and their source use under the unusual circumstance in which the South Korean government banned journalists’ entry to Afghanistan.

Inter-media agenda-setting effects in Ghana: newspaper vs. online and state vs. private • Etse Sikanku, University of Iowa • The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the inter-media agenda setting relationships between government-controlled (state) and private media and the pattern of inter-media agenda setting between solely online news websites (non-newspaper websites) and print newspaper websites in Africa’s emerging era of media plurality.

“Crowdsourcing Crisis Information”: Internet, Mobile Phones, and Reporting Human Rights Violations in Kenya • Melissa Tully, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This paper explores the means by which people attempted to record and report the violence during the aftermath of the 2007 Kenyan general election. On December 31, 2007 the government banned live television broadcasts in an attempt to control the flow of information. Because the mainstream media was limited, alternative media outlets often became the place to receive information about the violence and human rights violations.

“Government Influences on News Media Content: The Media Strategy of 2004 Olympic Games” • Miron Varouhakis, Michigan State University • As predicted by the theories of influence on mass media content by Shoemaker and Reese, the study found that the Greek government’s media strategy for Olympic security issues clearly sought to influence the media content by instituting strict information control and a dominant presence as a source in the stories.

Image Constructions of New Civil Actors: Analysis of Media Coverage of Chinese NGOs Before and After a Natural Disaster • Aimei Yang, University of Oklahoma • Chinese NGOs’ activities during and after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake has been considered the largest demonstration of NGOs’ power in Chinese history. This paper utilized framing theory to analyze how Chinese media covered Chinese NGOs in 2008, and how NGOs’ social roles were portrayed in Chinese media. Finding suggests a ghettoization phenomenon of NGOs’ social roles. Findings also reveal the earthquake has impact on the way media framing NGOs’ activities.

Africa Through Chinese Lenses—China’s Perception of Africa • Liang Zheng, University of Colorado, Boulder • China’s involvement in Africa, especially in recent years, has raised eyebrows of many countries. This article aims to study China’s perception of Africa by examining African reporting of two major Chinese newspapers during an important China-African summit in 2006. The article finds that China’s perception of Africa is different from notions like neo-colonialism and ideological concern, and Chinese media have varied strategies for Africa reporting that based on their own audiences and goals.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Advertising 2009 Abstracts

Advertising Division

Research
Motivation Crowding and Word of Mouth Advertising: Why Extrinsic Incentives Could Make People Less Likely to Buzz • George Anghelcev, Penn State University; John Eighmey, University of Minnesota • Drawing on research in psychology and economics, the study explains how extrinsic incentives such as coupons, discounts, or other tangible rewards can decrease rather than increase consumer response. An experiment shows that when consumers who like a brand are offered tangible extrinsic rewards for engaging in Word-of-Mouth advertising, their response diminishes in extent and quality compared to a condition when no rewards are offered. Theoretical and practical implications for WOM and buzz advertising are discussed.

Communicating to Ethnic Minorities with Culturally Embedded Ads: The Effect of Cultural Identification and Self-Construal • Osei Appiah, The Ohio State University and Yung-I Liu, Cleveland State University • This study examines Chinese consumers’ reactions to advertising messages that contain symbols indicative of Chinese culture. In Study 1, a total of 121 Asian participants viewed targeted and non-targeted advertisements that were either absent or present of traditional ethnic-specific cultural cues. The strength of Chinese participants’ interdependent cultural identity was also assessed.

Stay Away From Me: A Conceptual Model of Personalized Advertising Avoidance • Tae Hyun Baek, University of Georgia; Mariko Morimoto, University of Georgia • This study focuses on the effects that personalized advertising carried by different media formats, including unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam), postal direct mail, telemarketing, and text messaging, can have on consumer skepticism toward the advertising media as well as on the likelihood of ad avoidance. The results of this study show that among the potential antecedents of ad skepticism and avoidance, personalization has the strongest effect, followed by perceived irritation associated with personalized advertising and perceived privacy concern.

Across the Ages: Are College Age Adults a Viable Segment for DTC Prescription Drug Advertising? • Jennifer Ball, University of Texas at Austin; Danae Manika, The University of Texas at Austin; Patricia Stout, University of Texas at Austin • Direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising studies have typically focused on older adults or a general population of adults. However, college students have the potential to be viable targets for DTC advertising too. In this paper, we compare college students and an adult sample divided between younger and older adults. Our findings indicate all age groups had relatively high awareness of DTC ads and similar attitudes and behavioral responses to the ads.

“You Are What You Eat!” An Investigation of CARU Cases Involving Nutritional Complaints from 2000-2006 • Courtney Carpenter Childers, University of Tennessee; Mariea Hoy, University of Tennessee; Margaret Morrison, University of Tennessee • Advertising food and beverage products to children has long been linked to rising obesity rates among children in the United States. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) plays a key role in monitoring all advertisements targeted to consumers under the age of 12. Using content analysis, CARU nutritional complaint cases from 2000-2006 were examined. Results show that 34.3% (n=24) of CARU cases during this time frame dealt with nutritional complaints.

Effects of Gaming System and Interpersonal Playing Context on Individuals’ Memory of In-Game Advertisements • Frank Dardis, Penn State University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Research on the effects of in-game advertising has grown steadily during the 2000s. However, there are two interesting gaps in this research that are noteworthy to scholars and practitioners alike: no studies have compared different gaming systems vis-à-vis each other in the same experiment, and no studies have incorporated multiple-player contexts into their research designs.

Spoofing: Social Commentary or Effective Marketing Tool? Testing the Reciprocal Mediation Hypothesis in Spoof Advertisements • Lucian Dinu, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Sidharth Muralidharan, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; William Davie, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; William Swain, University of Louisiana at Lafayette • This paper tested the culture jammers’ implicit assumption that spoof ads work as a social commentary that prevent consumers from using spoofed brands. An experimental design was used to follow the propositions of the Reciprocal Mediation Hypothesis. Although attitudes toward spoofed brands were not influenced by spoof ads, purchase intentions were. Spoofing in itself, rather than attitudes towards the spoof ads, may lead to lower purchase intentions.

Live Fast, Die (in memory) Older?: Seeing Faster Banner Ads Increases Memory for Products in Unrelated Ads • Brittany Duff, University of Illinois; Sela Sar, Iowa State University • While previous research on banner ad animation has generally indicated that animation leads to arousal, there have been conflicting findings for memory and behaviors related to the ad causing arousal. We offer two competing theoretical explanations and conducted an experiment that showed that not only is self-reported arousal higher for faster animation ads, but also that those who saw the faster ad are more likely to remember products in a subsequently seen circular ad.

Understanding Consumer’s Creating Behavior of User-Generated Contents, An Application of Uses and Gratification and Theory of Reasoned Action • Chang Dae Ham, University of Missouri; Joonghwa Lee, University of Missouri; Hyung-Seok Lee, University of North Florida • Based on the theory of uses and gratification with combination with theory of reasoned action, this study examined why consumer creates user-generated contents (UGC) and how their behavioral belief, in combination with subjective norm, influence attitudes toward, intention to, and behavior of creating UGC respectively. The result identified five significant motivations to create UGC, which partly predicted attitudes, intention and behavioral factor of creating UGC.

When Trust Falters: Consumer Responses to Online Risks and Implications for Internet Advertising • Jisu Huh, University of Minnesota • A number of surveys suggest that consumers have been cutting back or retreating from online shopping. This paper examines the role of trust and its absence in online consumer behavior using data from a national survey. The results reveal that some consumers reduce or retreat from online shopping and trust measures are more useful predictors of consumer stances toward online shopping than demographic characteristics.

Is Your Tourist Destination Sincere, Rugged, or Sophisticated? An Exploratory Examination of Online Brand Personality of Nations • Rajul Jain, University of Florida; Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • Adopting Aaker’s (1997) brand personality framework, this study explores how nations communicate their brands online in the context of international tourist destinations. Results of computer-aided content analysis of official tourism websites and correspondence analysis indicate that the countries examined do indeed possess distinctive brand personalities and communicate them online. The personality of “sincerity” was expressed most frequently by these nation brands. There are no observable similarities in brand personality based on regional similarities.

Advertising in A Live Drama: Audiences’ Game Involvement in the Super Bowl and Advertising Effectiveness • Yongick Jeong, LSU; Lance Porter, Louisiana State University • This quasi-experiment investigates the impact of audiences’ game involvement during the Super Bowl on advertising effectiveness by testing three determinants (field position, time and score). Using commercials aired during four years of Super Bowl broadcasts, we found that two measures of game time (official game time and actual broadcasting time) negatively affect the recognition of brands.

Recall of and attitudes toward brand placement in reality TV programming • Temitayo Fayemi, University of Central Florida; Rick Kenney, University of Central Florida • This study measures college students’ attitudes toward, and the effectiveness of, brand placement in the genre of reality television (TV). Surveys were used to discover the level of brand recall for the products and brands displayed in reality TV programming and to discover viewers’ reported reasons for paying attention to these brands.

When and Who Should Use a CSR Corporate Strategy: Examination of Relative Effectiveness for Corporate Strategies on Consumer Responses • Sora Kim, DePaul University • The study found that when a company is well-known to consumers as Motorola and Kellogg used in this study, a CSR strategy is more effective in influencing both consumer corporate ability (CAb) and CSR associations and in turn, company/ product evaluations. Consumers tend to automatically assume a company is also good at making reliable products when consumers associate the company with strong CSR, indicating transferring effects of CSR associations onto CAb associations, and onto company/product evaluations.

Something Larger than the Nation: “SELF” • Nam Young Kim, Louisiana State University; Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University • Military enlistment is a life-long commitment for youths to make. Therefore, the military needs to consider how to convince potential enlistees about the merits of joining the military through informative advertising, in response to the youths’ demands to know. In particular, the modern young generation has been characterized as “self-interested” individuals who pursue personal achievement and material possessions.

Determinants of Cause-Related Marketing Consumer Support and Its Consequences • Hyuksoo Kim, The University of Alabama; Seounmi Youn, Emerson College • This study investigated the determinants of support for CRM alliances and its consequences. As a theoretical framework, this study incorporated two theories, the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Social Behavior, into one integrative model. This model was used to assess attitude toward companies with either positive or negative CSR reputations. The findings provide valuable information to companies with bad reputations about whether CRM can be a useful tool for strengthening brand equity.

Who are the Opinion Leaders? The Physicians, the Patients, and Direct-to-consumer Prescription Drug Advertising • Annisa Lai, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • A popular perception holds that physicians prescribe requested drugs to patients influenced by mass mediated direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. This study finds that physicians only prescribe requested drugs to patients influenced by other healthcare providers, such as pharmacists, nurses and other physicians.

Attitudes toward Food Advertising and Issue Importance:Influence on Obesity Attribution and Food-Marketing Policy Evaluation • Jung-Sook Lee, Towson University • Using attribution theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the study investigates the influence of consumers’ attitudes toward food advertising and the perceived importance of obesity on social attributions of obesity and consumers’ attitudes toward food-marketing policy. Findings from a survey of 315 college students indicate that both attitudes toward food advertising and the perceived importance of obesity show significant relationships with attitudes toward food-marketing policy, both directly and indirectly through social attributions of obesity.

Branded Product Information Search on the Web • Chunsik Lee, University of Florida; Junga Kim, University of Minnesota; Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida • Drawing upon the cost-benefit framework and trust mechanism as a risk reducer, this study examines the role of brand factors and source credibility in branded product information search on the Web. The online survey was conducted under the pre-purchase context of digital camera brands. The results revealed that brand factors did not influence overall branded information search efforts. However, brand trust and source credibility appeared to influence the different types of online information sources sought.

Structural Equation Modeling of Consumer Perception of Values Advocacy Advertising: The Consequent Effects of Self-Construal on the Outcomes, Behavioral Intention, and Purchase Intention. • Yoon-Joo Lee, University of Southern Indiana; Eric Haley, University of Tennessee; Kiseol Yang, University of North Texas • This study attempted to show a holistic picture of how consumers may process values advocacy advertising messages and expanded on prior studies by incorporating individual differences in terms of how consumers perceived themselves through the concept of self-construal. A majority of prior studies have focused on the various factors leading to the positive attitude toward the company sponsoring social issues (Rifon, et.al., 2004; Dean, 2002), or the purchase intention (Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001).

A mediation model of the impact of for- and non-profit environmental advertisement • Andrea Maruniak, University of Missouri; Glenn Leshner, University of Missouri • This study tested how participants react to both non-profit and for-profit advertising in the domain of pro-social environmental marketing, and tested whether certain reactions predicted the likelihood that they will act on the behaviors requested by the ads. A second aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of non-profit environmental advertising to for-profit environmental advertising. The growth of environmental marketing has generated advancement for environmentally conscious advertisers and their products.

Presidential TV Commercials: Isolating the Key Lexical Characteristics of “Winners” and “Losers,” 1952-2004 • Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University; Md. Naser, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • Many studies have been conducted on presidential TV commercials, but analyzing the commercials in terms of “winners” versus “losers” has been largely overlooked. This study used Diction 5.0 lexical analysis software to analyze 1,027 presidential TV commercials from 1952 through 2004. Commercials of winners were significantly higher on “positive and dynamic” variables such as Inspiration, Accomplishment, Concreteness, and Activity, while losers tended to emphasize variables such as Self-reference, Tenacity, Cognition, and Passivity.

The Changing Face of the U.S. Military: A textual analysis of U.S. Army and Navy Recruiting Advertisements from pre-9-11 to six years into the Iraq War • Maryann Rowland, Louisiana State University; Lisa Lundy, Louisiana State University • This study examined changes in U.S. military recruiting advertisements on television during the eight-year period of the Bush administration. A comparative socio-historic analysis found that the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy responded to the downturn in military enlistment due to anti-war and anti-militarism climate by shifting the focus of message strategies in recruiting advertisements that aired on television.

Portrait of the Brand as an Extension of the Self: Effects of Self-Brand Connections and Argument Strength in Social Marketing • Christina Malik, UNC-Chapel Hill; Sriram Kalyanaraman, UNC-Chapel Hill • Research has shown that people’s relationships with brands are more complex than merely viewing the brand as favorable or unfavorable. We report results from an experiment that examined the interplay between self-brand connections (strong and weak SBCs) and argument strength (strong and weak arguments) in the context of a social marketing message. The results broadly support the heuristic systematic model (HSM) and suggest that both SBCs (heuristics) and arguments influenced persuasion, albeit in different ways.

I approve this message: Effects of sponsorship, ad tone, and reactance in 2008 presidential advertising • Patrick Meirick, University of Oklahoma; Gwendelyn Nisbett, University of Oklahoma • Existing research on the effects of candidate vs. third-party sponsorship of political ads has reached divergent conclusions. In this experiment (N = 198), political knowledge and sponsorship interacted such that high-knowledge respondents reacted more favorably to candidate-sponsored ads. Negative ads provoked more reactance and lower evaluations than positive ads.

Understanding High Sensation Seekers: Perceived Persuasiveness and Emotional Response to Blame and Attack Anti-tobacco Ads • Jensen Moore, West Virginia University • This study used 2 (SS – Low/High) X 2 (Message Type – Attack/Blame) X 2 (MSV – Low/High) repeated measures experimental design to examine what type of anti-tobacco message (i.e., Blame vs. Attack) and sensation levels would influence attitudes, behaviors, and emotional responses of High Sensation Seeking (SS) individuals – those most likely to currently smoke or smoke in the future.

Promoting Health (Implicitly)? A Longitudinal Content Analysis of Implicit Health Information in Cigarette Advertising, 1954-2003 • Hye-Jin Paek, Michigan State University; Leonard Reid, University of Georgia; Hojoon Choi, University of Georgia; Hyunju Jeong, Michigan State University • Health information in cigarette advertising is important because of its potential to impact consumers’ smoking-related perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. This study analyzed implicit health information in cigarette magazine ads —”light” cigarette, cigarette pack color, verbal and visual health cues, cigarette portrayals, and human model-cigarette interaction—and changes in the use of those cues in ads across the five distinct smoking eras covering the years, 1954-2003.

Movies and MySpace: The Effectiveness of Official Websites versus Online Promotional Contests • Emily Mabry, Louisiana State University; Lance Porter, Louisiana State University • This study used a comparison of survey results from an official movie site and a movie contest promotion within a MySpace site to compare and contrast the effectiveness of the two online promotional tactics. Results found overall positive attitudes toward the sites produced more favorable intent to purchase and movie opening weekend behavior. In addition, the official website was more effective than the MySpace promotional page at increasing intent to see and attendance on opening weekend.

The Role of Mood and Gender in Consumer’s Information Processing: Exploring the Effects on Memory and Judgment • Sela Sar, Iowa State University; Brittany Duff, University of Illinois • Two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of mood and gender in information processing strategies, and to investigate their effects in memory and attitude toward advertising messages. Results indicated that people in positive mood and women were more likely to use the assimilative processing style whereas people in a negative mood and men tended to use the accommodative processing style. Implications for advertising strategies and measurement are discussed.

Put Them in a Positive Mood! Effects of Affective Conditioning Techniques on Cognitive and Emotional Responses to Print Ads • Mija Shin, Washington State University • This study examined how readers process print ads featuring various stimuli that generate emotions and how they evaluate the ads. Three stimuli (nature images, animated characters and celebrities) frequently seen in print ads were selected in this study and compared with the control ads. Taking the perspective of affective classical conditioning theory, this study predicted that the ads featuring these stimuli would be more effective than their counterparts (i.e., ads without such features).

Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices on Mobile Phone Companies • Alex Wang, University of Connecticut-Stamford • Despite the increasing importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices as an effective reputation management, there has been limited understanding about its impact on mobile phone companies. Research has identified ethical, discretionary, and relational practices as three main dimensions of CSR practices. This study examined the effects of consumers’ perceptions of these three dimensions on their attitudes toward mobile phone companies.

Predictors of Consumer Behavior of Avoiding Mobile Phone Ads: A Structural Causal Modeling Analysis• Ran Wei, University of South Carolina; Xiaoming Hao, Nanyang Technological University • This study explores predictors of consumer avoidance of mobile phone advertising with a structural modeling approach. The model underscores the effects of perceived goal impediment, perceived irritation, past negative experience, and privacy concerns on avoidance of mobile phone advertising. Using empirical data collected from a survey of 407 mobile phone users in Singapore, the theoretical model was tested.

What’s on the menu in food advertising on child-rated television programs? • Jan Wicks, University of Arkansas Journalism Department; Ron Warren, Univ. of Arkansas Communication Dept.; Ignatius Fosu, University of Arkansas; Robert Wicks, University of Arkansas • A content analysis of over 2,400 food advertisements on 10 broadcast and cable networks was conducted in 2008. The results suggest most disclaimers were not presented in dual modality or simultaneously in the ad’s audio and video content. Ads appearing in child-rated programs present more of the emotional appeals and production techniques that might distract youngsters from attending to disclaimers. Future research should examine whether these techniques and appeals divert children’s attention from disclaimers.

Are All Products Placed Equal?: The Integration Effects of Conspicuous Product Placement on Affective Brand Attitude • Sukki Yoon, Bryant University; Yung Kyun Choi, Dongguk University; Sujin Song, University of Rhode Island; Sangho Seo, Konkuk University • Using real movie scenes as stimuli, Study 1 demonstrates that consumer feelings toward the placed brand improve when the product is seamlessly integrated, but deteriorate when the product is intrusively integrated. Study 2 shows that poor integration’s brand-damaging can be reversed to a brand-enhancing effect if viewers are cognitively preoccupied with another task. Study 2 further suggests that poor integration’s reactance-induced boomerang effect might increase the affective evaluation of the not-shown competitor.

Gender Difference in College Students’ Interpretation of Alcohol Advertising • Yanjun Zhao, SUNY Morrisville • This study examined gender differences in college students’ interpretation of alcohol advertising. It followed the various mediating variables mapped out in Austin’s MIP model. A judgment-task survey by 94 college students was conducted in 2008. Results showed significant differences in identification with characters in ads and positive expectancies toward drinking. Future study should also pay attention to the important role of drinking pattern as a control variable.

Teaching
Quality of Work and Team Spirit as Drivers of Student Peer Evaluation on Advertising Group Project Performance • Jooyoung Kim, University of Georgia; Tae Hyun Baek, University of Georgia; Daehyun Kim, University of Georgia • Using advertising management and campaigns course students, this study investigates the dimensions of peer evaluation criteria used by college students, and examines their effects on overall peer evaluation under the influence of three moderating self-related concepts: self-esteem, self-competence, and goal orientations (i.e., learning goal orientation and performance goal orientation). The results from Study 1 suggest Quality of Work and Team Spirit as two important factors for students’ evaluation of their peers.

Experiential Learning and Advertising Media Sales: A Case Study Perspective • Bobbi Kay Lewis, Oklahoma State University • Experiential Learning Theory, largely based on the educational philosophy of John Dewey, Paulo Friere, and Carl Rogers, provides an understanding of how the process of learning works. David Kolb developed the Experiential Learning Model of experiential education that involves a cyclical approach including experience, reflection, abstract conceptualization and application in a new situation. This article applies the concept and the roots of experiential learning theory to the application of teaching advertising media sales. A case study illustrates the use of project-based curriculum using student media.

Crossed Swords: The Teaching of Creativity in Advertising Courses • Mark Stuhlfaut, University of Kentucky and Margo Berman, Florida International University • The study investigated teaching of creative strategy within undergraduate advertising courses at U.S. colleges and universities. Using Web-site information, 17 curricular structures were found, which indicate a lack of pedagogical consensus. Using 55 current syllabi, researchers analyzed goals, content, textbooks, and teaching methods. Copywriting and creative-strategy courses duplicated each other in all categories, suggesting that reorganization may be needed. The challenge for educators is to keep the teaching of creative strategy relevant and current. The study should be interesting to administrators who are restructuring their programs and to educators who are designing new curricula or who would like new idea for their courses.

Professional Freedom & Responsibility
Content Analysis of Male Domesticity and Fatherhood in Taiwanese Commercials: Family Man in Advertising? • Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami • This study examines how Taiwanese commercials represent women, and in particular, men, in the family context as spouses and parents. A content analysis of prime-time commercials is conducted. Advertising representations of gender roles have made only slight and slow progress. Men are much less likely than women to be shown doing housework and taking care of children. Although men are shown as nurturant fathers, their involvements with children are limited to playing with children.

Regulatory Focus and Proportional Representation: Can Minority Status Affect Motivation in Female Creatives? • Kasey Windels, DePaul University; Wei-Na Lee, The University of Texas at Austin • Females are underrepresented in advertising agencies by a ratio of 2.3 to 1. This paper examines the impact of gender proportions on motivational regulatory focus. It is hypothesized that group gender proportions can induce regulatory focus. Whereas minority proportions should induce a prevention focus, majority proportions should induce a promotion focus. Results of an experiment support this assumption. The possible impact of minority status and a prevention focus on female creatives in advertising is discussed.

Are Food Commercials Healthy Enough? – Health Information Manifested in TV Food Ads Aiming at Children • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University • Since TV food advertising has been accused by several groups to be one of the major factors influencing children’s unhealthy eating habits and even obesity, the food companies kept promising to make some changes by including more health information for children in the content of their advertising. However, there have not been enough empirical studies investigating if the advertisements actually contain health-related messages and information for their major target audience, children.

Special Topics
Sponsortising or Advership: The Views of One Collegiate Athletic Program’s Corporate Supporters • Glenda Alvarado, University of South Carolina • The line between sponsorship and advertising is one that is burred. Researchers and practitioners offer a definition that is separate and allows for some kind of clarity. When looking at the sponsoring businesses, the focus on what constitutes a sponsorship begins to disappear.

Art Museum Marketing Communication: an account planner’s perspective • Jim Avery, University of Oklahoma • Art museums have adopted a new level of sophisticated marketing in order to increase revenue and attract new audiences. This paper seeks to identify the information necessary to determine marketing strategy for art museums by learning: 1. who are the target group(s) 2. what is the criteria this audience uses to make decisions 3. what is unique about art museums This paper addresses these issues by conducting in-depth interviews with high level art museum marketing professionals.

“Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet”: A History of Advertising’s Most Controversial Campaign • Fred Beard, University of Oklahoma; Anna Klyueva, University of Oklahoma • This historical study examines arguably the most controversial advertising campaign of all time. Critics have condemned The American Tobacco Company’s “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet” campaign for its explicit attempt to encourage smoking among women by linking cigarettes with themes of slenderness and youth.

Been There. Haven’t Done That Yet: An Innovative Technique for Introducing The Creative Process into 21st Century Education • Linda Correll, affiliation • There’s a change in the air. Creativity has become a hot commodity, and 21st century education must update itself to introduce students to the 21st century skills they will need to compete successfully in the global business arena. Creative Aerobics is an evolutionary idea generation system that lets users create, on demand, in a comfortable, relaxed brainstorming environment. It is a cross-cultural, process-driven system that exponentially increases results.

The Abercrombie Effect: Consumer Responses to “Gay Vague” Imagery in Advertising • Glenn Griffin, SMU; Jacqueline Lambiase, University of North Texas; Kartik Pashupati, Southern Methodist University • Advertising that uses “gay vague” imagery in an effort to appeal to both straight and gay consumers is popular among fashion brands, most notably by U.S. clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch. This study analyzes consumers’ responses to “gay vague” ads, their “reading strategies” for images, and how the strategy affects attitude toward the brand (Ab).

Insights from Venus for Academic Creative Directors • Jean Grow, Marquette University • This study addresses gender issues in creative departments based on the interviews of 21 top creative women from the United States and Canada. Content analysis of interviews led to six thematic categories related to creative work, gender and personality. The study defines some of the unspoken rules of the creative game. It suggests the need for an evolution to a fluid and open creative domain, extending beyond the constraining bonds of gender-bound creative culture.

Will digital media change the world for creative women? An exploratory study. • Karen Mallia, University of South Carolina • Advertising watchers have seen seismic changes in the business since the dawn of digital media. New channels have rapidly supplanted traditional media, as advertising has moved beyond rudimentary Internet display ads into the likes of viral video and social networking. While many have studied new creative products, few have investigated whether the creative process has changed, as new players nudge out traditional agencies and traditional agencies struggle to reinvent themselves.

Cultural Values of Generation Y Reflecting in iPod Commercials • Nutthanun Rajanakorn, University of Tennessee • Semiotic analytical method was utilized to investigate 20 iPod TV commercials to reveal the cultural values of Generation Y. Five crucial elements from iPod TV commercials: language, color, characters, movements, and shot were identified, and interpreted into first level meanings, which are the silhouettes, the movements and shot, and the music. Further analysis revealed the underlying themes associated with Gen Y’s cultural values: individualism, diversity, optimism, fun, and freedom.

Is the Television Ratings Industry Facing Structural Change? • Dan Shaver, Jönköping International Business School/MMTC • Although the audience research industry is competitive, the segment of that industry that produces television/video ratings data is essentially monopolistic in structure. This study examines whether a convergence of changes in audience consumption patterns, dissatisfaction with current measurement techniques and data by those who buy it and technological innovation are creating a situation where competitive challenges to current measurement firms may emerge.

Teens and Trends: Measuring Innovativeness • Amy Struthers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • This study is part of a long-term research agenda aimed at better understanding consumer trends, and the small segment of people who create and advance trends. In particular, this quantitative study is an exploration of what characteristics teenage trend leaders possess. The researchers addressed the problem of finding an effective methodology and measurement tools that could be used to discover this important information about teenagers.

How Can We Make People Better Recognize and Recall Advertising Disclaimers? -The Possible Influences of Humor in Ads and Disclamiers’ Repetition • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University • This experimental study, a 2*2 factorial design, focuses on young adults’ (between ages 20 and 27) recognition and recall of disclaimers in television advertising (e.g., “Keep Your Pace. Please Drink Responsibly”). As a stimulus for the experiment, humor was applied to advertising to determine if participants are better able to recognize and memorize advertising disclaimers. In addition, the participants were divided into two other groups: the treatment being exposed either once or twice to advertising disclaimers.

Student Papers
The Influence of Advertising Spacing on Candidate Evaluation • Juliana Fernandes, University of Florida • An experimental study investigates the influence of message spacing on candidate evaluation. Participants watched a 30-min TV show with one, three, or five insertions of a negative political advertisement. Repetitions of the advertisement were close together (massive presentation) or spread out (spaced presentation). Results show that massive presentations can harm the sponsor and benefit the target candidate. Spaced presentations greatly benefit the sponsor candidate and may produce a backlash effect toward the target candidate.

A Structural Model of the Communication Process in the Context of Internet Advertising • Jun Heo, University of Florida • This research develops a structural equation model that examines the causal relations among motives for using the Internet, Internet involvement, and outcomes such as media usage time and attitude toward Internet advertising. The results show that certain ritualistic motives predict affective involvement in the Internet, whereas certain instrumental motives predict cognitive involvement.

Transportation and Selective Interest in Advertising: The Cultivation of Consumerist Values through Genre-Specific Media Use • Fan Hu, Hong Kong Baptist University; Ning Wang, Hong Kong Baptist University • This research delineates what media use influences values judgments and what values judgments are influenced by media use. The specific media genre of beauty and fashion magazines is examined for spreading consumerist values of materialism and beauty-and-thin ideal. Two media variables—transportation and interest in advertisements—are used to gain new insights into cultivation processes. Traditional cultivation survey is employed. Young women, both college students and non-students are included in the sample (n = 413).

Incidental Exposure Effects of Brand Placement: Comparisons of incidental exposure effects between familiar and unfamiliar brands placed in a televised sports program • Dae-Hee Kim, University of Florida • For the purpose of extending knowledge about the effects of incidental exposure, a laboratory experiment using incidental brand exposures in a TV sports program was conducted. By manipulating brand familiarity and exposure frequency for the stimuli, attitude toward brands and brand choices were measured. The results indicate that the effects of incidental exposure can be observed only for familiar brands, not for unfamiliar brands. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Our Brand or Their Brand? Consumers’ Responses to Negative Online Product Reviews Regarding Domestic versus Foreign Brands • Mikyoung Kim, Michigan State University • This study examines how different cues influence consumers’ responses to negative online reviews. The results demonstrated that under high consensus condition, a negative review of the foreign brand led highly ethnocentric consumers’ brand attitudes to deteriorate compared to a negative review of the domestic brand. Contrarily, no such difference emerged for less ethnocentric consumers. Under low consensus condition, both highly and less ethnocentric consumers did not show different patterns of attitude change.

Attacking or Self-Promoting? The Impact of Political Advertising on Candidate Evaluation and the Likelihood of Voting • Yonghwan Kim, University of Texas at Austin; Hsuan-Ting Chen, University of Texas at Austin • This experimental study examines whether negative advertising is effective for candidates, especially for challengers, and investigates the influence of issue relevance in negative political advertising. Results indicate that when advertising sponsored by a challenger was perceived as negative, individuals’ likelihood of voting for that candidate decreased.

Attribute-Goal Framing and Gain-Loss Framing Effects in DTC HPV Vaccine Drug Advertising • Kenneth Kim, University of Florida • The present study attempts to explore the interactive effect of gain-loss framing domain with the attribute-goal framing tactic on the persuasive outcomes associated with DTC HPV vaccine drug advertising. An experiment was designed with a 2 (framing tactic: attribute versus goal framing) × 2 (framing domain: gain versus loss framing) between-subjects design, exploring the interactive effects of framing tactic and framing domain on the consumer’s attitude toward HPV vaccination prescription drug, DTC-promoted behavior intentions.

Why People Pass Along Online Video Ads: from the Perspective of the Theory of Reasoned Action • Joonghwa Lee, University of Missouri; Chang Dae Ham, University of Missouri at Columbia; Mikyoung Kim, Michigan State University • This study employed the Theory of Reasoned Action to explore factors influencing consumers’ intention to pass along online video ads. Structural equation modeling test results indicated that attitude and subjective norm positively influenced intention. Among six expected outcomes (pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control) identified using the interpersonal communication motives (ICM) scale, only pleasure and escape had positive impacts on attitude. Finally, normative beliefs had positive influences on subjective norm. Implications are also discussed.

The Image of African-American Females in Advertising: A Content Analysis of African-American Magazines in 2007 • Mia Long, The University of Alabama; Cynthia Nichols, The University of Alabama; Creshema Murray, The University of Alabama; Terra Moody, University of Alabama • Throughout the years, the image of the African-American in advertising has changed from subservient roles to those of various occupations. The present study sought to examine the representation and portrayal of the African-American female in magazine advertising. Researchers analyzed advertisements in Ebony, Essence, Vibe, and XXL magazine for the frequency of African-American females and the presentation of African-American females in terms of status, occupation, setting, interaction, and sexual and family roles.

National vs. Local: The Representation of African-Americans in Advertising in The New York Times and The Advocate • Pavel Mrazek, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge/Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic • African-Americans are present in media and advertising more than ever before. However, the frequency and quality of their representation varies among different media outlets. This study investigates how blacks are represented in newspaper advertisements compared to the white majority. The main focus is placed on the comparison between the representation of African-Americans in advertising in a national newspaper (The New York Times) and a local newspaper from a state with high black population (The Advocate).

Impact of Ad Appeal and Brand Familiarity on the Attitude toward Brand and Advertising • Eun Soo Rhee, University of Florida • Previous studies have yielded conflicting findings regarding the effects of ad appeal and brand familiarity on attitudes toward the ad and the brand. Some studies found that familiar brands produced favorable brand attitudes while others found that unfamiliar brands produced favorable brand attitudes. Therefore, this study attempts to solve the reasons for conflicting findings. Specifically, this study focuses on the interaction between ad appeal and brand familiarity.

The Role of Self Esteem and Self Construal in Effects of Celebrity Endorsement • Nam-Hyun Um, The University of Texas at Austin • The present study is an initial effort to explore how self-esteem (low vs. high) and self-construals (independent vs. interdependent) influence the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement. Until now, little has been known about the psychological function of self-esteem and self-construals. The author suggests that self-esteem and self-construal play a decisive role in the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement.

If the shoe fits: Strategic uses of spokesmodels in magazine shoe ads • Lisa Wortman, University of Massachusetts-Amherst • Marketers strategically place spokesmodels in magazine advertising to appeal to consumer groups such as the readers of women’s, men’s, and teen girl magazines. Relying on a content analysis of shoe advertisements published in five magazine titles from April 2006 to March 2007, ads in women’s fashion and beauty magazines were found to rely most heavily on spokesmodels when compared to teen fashion and beauty titles, and men’s sports and fitness titles.

The Role of Presence in Anaglyph 3-D Advertising on Consumer Evaluations • Mark Yi-Cheon Yim, University of Texas at Austin • In order to avoid the reduced uses as a major advertising tool, traditional media are struggling to evolve themselves by adopting new formats of advertising based on technological or technical advancements. The current study introduces anaglyph three dimensional (3-D) magazine advertising that allows ad viewers to sense the true depth of objects. We investigated the impact of this new format of advertising on attitude toward ad, brand, and, purchase intention via entertainment and information routes.

<< 2009 Abstracts

Submission Process

Journalism & Communication Monographs

Following the practice common for book publication, a scholar must first submit a five to ten page proposal to start the review process.

Although work can be based on previously published articles (full disclosure to the editor is ethically required), accepted manuscripts must be previously unpublished.

The submission procedure is completed in five steps:

1. Peer review of proposal. A proposal must contain the title and abstract, 3-5 keywords, and seven brief sections: Thesis and Central Argument, Significance of Research, Major Arguments and Premises, Illustration Ideas with Sources, Potential Audience, Qualifications of the Scholar (without identification), and Bibliography.
2. Accepted proposals receive a deadline for completion of the manuscript. Once submitted, the original proposal reviewers will consider the manuscript.
3. If the original reviewers advise further revisions (almost always), authors will submit two files: One that answers and/or addresses all of the comments from the reviewers plus the revised manuscript.
4.  A final publication decision is made and your work will be scheduled for publication.
5. Authors will work with the editor to secure permissions for any illustrations and help arrange social media publicity for the work.

Start the process. Click here.

<< J&C Monographs

Tips from the AEJMC Teaching Committee

How to turn an Intellectual Property “incident” into a teaching moment

(Article courtesy of AEJMC News, September 2009 issue)

After more than 25 years of full-time teaching, I thought I had seen it all. But after the last meeting of the Visual Communication course I team taught this spring, a student emailed my colleague and me to thank us for the great panel discussion that day. A panel of professionals had answered students’ questions and freely shared valuable insights about their on-the-job experiences.

It wasn’t the “Thank you” that got my attention. It was the fact that the student had digitally recorded the panel discussion in its entirety. Apparently, the recording turned out so well that the student wanted to make it available to the rest of the class.

I had visions of lectures showing up on YouTube without us ever knowing about it. I’ve been known as an early adopter of technology for teaching. But I was not comfortable with this possibility. I saw this as an opportunity for a teaching moment and responded to the student’s request as follows:

While we encourage active participation and appreciate the proper use of technology in class, we do not appreciate that you recorded the panel discussion without letting us know ahead of time. It was unethical for you to do this. Our syllabus clearly states that you need prior permission from the people involved before you start recording. To refresh your memory, here is the part of the syllabus that addresses that:

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
Lectures given in this course are the property of the instructors and Kennesaw State University. Class lectures may not be recorded in any form without prior permission from the instructors and any guest lecturers that may speak to this class. Recordings, including class notes, may not be used for commercial purposes.

I can’t speak for my fellow panelists, but I would not have hesitated to give you permission to record our discussion and to share it with your fellow students from this class. But now, it is after the fact.

Since this is an educational environment, however, we are giving you a second chance. If you can get written permission from [the panelists], you may proceed with sharing your recording with your fellow students.”

Within a few hours, the student responded with an apology. Apparently, he decided to record the panel at the last minute as a test of his new digital recorder and didn’t expect the recording to turn out so well. He thought it would have been a shame for this panel discussion to go unheard for those who were unable to attend class. He admitted that he learned a valuable lesson from this experience and thanked us for giving him a second chance.

So, here are a few lessons we can learn from this experience:

1. Have an “Intellectual Property Protection” statement in your syllabus and discuss it with your students at the beginning of the semester. Feel free to adopt and adapt the one provided above, but make sure to include any specific guidelines from your own institution. While each institution usually has policies regarding intellectual property, you may not find one that specifically addresses lectures.

2. Add your name, date and copyright (©) to every slide of your PowerPoint presentation. Do the same for any handouts you author. This helps protect your intellectual property, and it allows students to properly cite you in their papers. In order to assure the best legal defense, one professor I know sends hard copies of his lectures and handouts to himself via snail mail and never opens the postmarked envelope.

3. While we might feel honored to see some of our best lectures show up on YouTube, some of our worst might end up there, too. In either case, it is not the kind of distance-learning we intend. I recommend monitoring “shared resources” by Googling your name and/or your lecture titles and check YouTube.com on a regular basis. You may not need to take legal action, but, at least, you will know what students notice about your lectures. At best, you can turn “incidents” into teaching moments.

By Birgit Wassmuth,
Kennesaw State University,
AEJMC Teaching Committee

<< Teaching Corner

Author Index W, 61-70

Journalism Quarterly Index Vol. 61-70 •  1984 to 1993

WAFAI, MOHAMED, Senators’ Television Visibility and Political Legitimacy, 66:323-31.

WAGNER, JANET, See ALLEYNE.

WALDEN, RUTH, Editorial Rights, Constitutional Restraints of Editors of State-Supported Newspapers, 62:616-25.

WALDEN, RUTH, The University’s Liability for Libel and Privacy Invasion by Student Press, 65:702-08.

WALDEN, RUTH, A Government Action Approach to First Amendment Analysis, 69:65-88.

WALKER, JAMES R., How Viewing of MTV Relates to Exposure to Other Media Violence, 64:756-62.

WALKER, JAMES R., How Media Reliance Affects Political Efficacy in the South, 65:747-50.

WALKER, JAMES R., The Impact of a Mini-Series: A Quasi-Experimental Study of “Amerika,” 66:897-901.

WALKER, JAMES R. and ROBERT V. BELLAMY JR., Gratifications of Grazing: An Exploratory Study of Remote Control Use, 68:422-31.

WALLACE, SAMUEL T., See SKILL.

WANTA, WAYNE, The Effects of Dominant Photographs: An Agenda-Setting Experiment, 65:107-11.

WANTA, WAYNE, MARY ANN STEPHENSON, JUDY VAN SLYKE and MAXWELL E. MCCOMBS, How President’s State of Union Talk Influenced News Media Agendas, 66:537-41.

WANTA, WAYNE, Presidential Approval Ratings as a Variable in the Agenda-Building Process, 68:672-79.

WANTA, WAYNE and YI-CHEN WU, Interpersonal Communication and the Agenda-Setting Process, 69:847-55.

WANTA, WAYNE, See LASORSA.

WARD, DOUGLAS B., The Effectiveness of Sidebar Graphics, 69:318-28.

WARD, JEAN and KATHLEEN A. HANSEN, Journalist and Librarian Roles, Information Technologies and Newsmaking, 68:491-98.

WARD, JEAN, See BUSTERNA.

WARD, JEAN, See HANSEN.

WARD, JEAN A., KATHLEEN A. HANSEN and DOUGLAS M. MCLEOD, Effect of the Electronic Library on News Reporting Protocols, 65:845-52.

WARD, STEVEN A. and RICK SEIFERT, The Importance of Mechanics in Journalistic Writing: A Study of Reporters and Editors, 67:104-113.

WARE, WILLIAM, See POTTER.

WARE, WILLIAM, See ZHU.

WARREN, JOHN, See MORTON.

WARTENBERG, DANIEL, See GREENBERG.

WASHBURN, PATRICK S., FDR Versus His Own Attorney General: The Struggle over Sedition, 1941-42, 62:717-24.

WASHBURN, PATRICK S., See SENTMAN.

WASMANN, ERIK, See LIMBURG.

WAYLLY, MOHAMMED EL, See GANDY.

WEARDEN, STANLEY T. and FREDRIC F. ENDRES, Standards and Perceived Roles of JMC Journal Reviewers, 68:499-508.

WEARDEN, STANLEY T., See BROWN.

WEAVER, DAVID and SWANZY NIMLEY ELLIOTT, Who Sets the Agenda for the Media? A Study of Local Agenda-Building, 62:87-94.

WEAVER, DAVID, DAN DREW and G. CLEVELAND WILHOIT, U.S. Television, Radio and Daily Newspaper Journalists, 63:683-92.

WEAVER, DAVID and LEANNE DANIELS, Public Opinion on Investigative Reporting in the 1980s, 69:146-55.

WEAVER, DAVID H., JIAN-HUA ZHU and LARS WILLNAT, The Bridging Function of Interpersonal Communication in Agenda-Setting, 69:856-67.

WEAVER, DAVID and DAN DREW, Voter Learning in the 1990 Off-Year Eection: Did the Media Matter? 70:356-68.

WEAVER, DAVID, See DREW.

WEAVER, DAVID, See RIMMER.

WEAVER, DAVID, See ZHU.

WEAVER, JAMES B., CHRISTOPHER J. PORTER and MARGARET E. EVANS, Patterns in Foreign News Coverage on U.S. Network TV: A 10-Year Analysis, 61:356-63.

WEAVER-LARISCY, RUTH ANN and SPENCER F. TINKHAM, News Coverage, Endorsements and Personal Campaigning: The Influence of Non-Paid Activities in Congressional Elections, 68:432-44.

WEBBER, GAIL M., See ADAMS.

WEBSTER, JAMES G., Cable Television’s Impact on Audience for Local News, 61:429-22.

WEDDLE, JUDY K., See HALLIN.

WEINBERGER, MARC G., CHRIS T. ALLEN and WILLIAM R. DILLON, The Impact of Negative Network News, 61:287-94.

WELLS, ALAN and ERNEST A. HAKANEN, The Emotional Use of Popular Music by Adolescents, 68:445-54.

WENTHE, LEILA S., See REID.

WERT, MARIA C. and ROBERT L. STEVENSON, Global Television Flow to Latin American Countries, 65:182-85.

WESSON, DAVID, See FRITH. WESSON, DAVID A. and EILEEN STEWART, Gender and Readership of Heads in Magazine Ads, 64:189-93.

WESSON, DAVID A., Headline Length as a Factor in Magazine Ad Readership, 66:466-68.

WESSON, DAVID A., Readability as a Factor in Magazine Ad Copy Recall, 66:715-718.

WHITBY, GARY, Economic Elements of Opposition to Abolition and Support of South by Bennett in New York Herald, 65:78-84.

WHITBY, GARY L., Horns of a Dilemma: The Sun, Abolition, and the 1833-34 New York Riots, 67:410-19.

WHITE, ALLEN, See SINGLETARY.

WHITE, H. ALLEN and JULIE L. ANDSAGER, Winning Newspaper Pulitzer Prizes: The (Possible) Advantage of Being a Competitive Paper, 67:912-19.

WHITE, H. ALLEN and R. CHARLES PEARCE, Validating an Ethical Motivations Scale: Convergence and Predictive Ability, 68:455-64.

WHITE, H. ALLEN and JULIE ANDSAGER, Newspaper Column ReadersÕ Gender Bias: Perceived Interest and Credibility, 68:709-18.

WHITE, H. ALLEN and MICHAEL W. SINGLETARY, Internal Work Motivation: Predictor of Using Ethical Heuristics and Motivations, 70:381-92.

WHITE, SYLVIA E., See MURRAY.

WHITE, TERRY J., See GRUNIG.

WHITING, GORDON, See PRATTE.

WICKS, ROBERT H., Segmenting Broadcast News Audiences in the New Media Environment, 66:383-90.

WICKS, ROBERT H. and DAN G. DREW, Learning from News: Effects of Message Consistency and Medium on Recall and Inference Making, 68:155-64.

WIEGMAN, OENE, JAN M. GUTTELING, HENK BOER, and REINDER J. HOUWEN, Newspaper Coverage of Hazards and the Reactions of Readers, 66:846-52.

WILCOX, GARY B. and SANDRA E. MORIARTY, Humorous Advertising in the Post, 1920-1939, 61:436-39.

WILCOX, GARY B., JOHN H. MURPHY and PETER S. SHELDON, Effects of Attractiveness of the Endorser on the Performance of Testimonial Ads, 62:548-52.

WILCOX, GARY B., ROXANNE HOVLAND and DWIGHT FLETCHER, Consumer Response to a TV Liquor Spot, 65:195-96.

WILCOX, GARY B., See CHOE.

WILCOX, GARY B., See STOUT.

WILCOX, GARY B., See TUCKER.

WILHOIT, FRANCES GOINS, Student Research Productivity: Analysis of Journalism Abstracts, 61:655-61.

WILHOIT, G. CLEVELAND, See WEAVER.

WILKINSON, JEFF S., See BENNETT.

WILLIAMS, GILBERT A., Enticing Viewers: Sex and Violence in TV Guide Program Advertisements, 66:970-73.

WILLNAT, LARS, See WEAVER.

WILSON, VANESSA, See BRAMLETT-SOLOMON.

WINDHAUSER, JOHN W., JENNIFER SEITER and L. THOMAS WINFREE, Crime News in the Louisiana Press, 1980 vs. 1985, 67:72-78.

WINDHAUSER, JOHN W., See NORTON.

WINDHAUSER, JOHN W., See NORTON, JR.

WINDHAUSER, JOHN W., See STEMPEL.

WINFIELD, BETTY HOUCHIN, The New Deal Publicity Operation: Foundation for the Modern Presidency, 61:40-48, 218.

WINFIELD, BETTY HOUCHIN, F.D.R. Wins (and Loses) Journalist Friends in the Rising Age of News Interpretation, 64:698-706.

WINFREE, L. THOMAS, See WINDHAUSER.

WOAL, MICHAEL, Program Interests of NPR Subaudiences, 63:348-52, 393.

WOLF, RITA, TOMMY THOMASON and PAUL LAROCQUE, The Right to Know vs. the Right of Privacy: Newspaper Identification of Crime Victims, 64:503-07.

WOLFSFELD, GADI, Symbiosis of Press and Protest: An Exchange Analysis, 61:550-55, 742.

WOLVERTON, DAVID O. and DONALD VANCE, Newspaper Coverage of Proposals for Rate Increases by Electric Utility, 64:581-84.

WOMACK, DAVID L., Live ABC, CBS and NBC Interviews During Three Democratic Conventions, 62:838-44.

WOMACK, DAVID L., Status of News Sources Interviewed During Presidential Conventions, 63:331-36.

WOMACK, DAVID L., Live TV Interviews at 1984 GOP Convention, 65:1006-09.

WOMACK, DAVID L., Live Television Interviews at the 1988 Democratic Convention, 66:670-74.

WOODMAN, KIERAN A., See RIFFE.

WRIGHT, JOHN C., See KERKMAN.

WRIGHT, JOHN W., II and LAWRENCE A. HOSMAN, Listener Perception of Radio News, 63:802-08, 814.

WU, BOB T.W., KENNETH E. CROCKER and MARTHA ROGERS, Humor and Comparatives in Ads for High- and Low-Involvement Products, 66:653-61.

WU, YI-CHEN, See WANTA.

WULFEMEYER, K. TIM, Perceptions of Viewer Interests by Local TV Journalists, 61:432-35.

WULFEMEYER, K. TIM, How and Why Anomymous Attribution Is Used by Time and Newsweek, 62:81-86, 126.

WULFEMEYER, K. TIM and LORI L. MCFADDEN, Anonymous Attribution in Network News, 63:468-73.

WULFEMEYER, K. TIM, Defining Ethics in Electronic Journalism: Perceptions of News Directors, 67:984-91.

WULFEMEYER, K. TIM and BARBARA MUELLER, Channel One in High School Classrooms: Advertising Content Aimed at Students, 69:724-42.

WYATT, ROBERT O. and DAVID P. BADGER, How Reviews Affect Interest in and Evaluation of Films, 61:874-78.

WYATT, ROBERT O. and DAVID P. BADGER, Effects of Information and Evaluation in Film Criticism, 67:359-68.

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