Media Ethics 2019 Abstracts

Open Call

Shared Vulnerability as a Virtuous Frame for Poverty Journalism • Sandra L. Borden, Western Michigan University • This paper proposes a unified account of the ethics of poverty journalism that takes the sheer banality of poverty–its commonplaceness–as its moral starting point. The virtue ethics theory of Alasdair MacIntyre (1999) will be used to argue for a shared vulnerability news frame to cover poverty. After assessing the failures of mainstream journalism’s record on the shared vulnerability account, the paper closes with a discussion of the implications for poverty journalism.

Exploring the Ethical Dimensions of Organ and Tissue Donation Coverage in Mainstream U.S. Media • Christina DeWalt, Florida Atlantic University • This study used textual analysis to examine 75 organ and tissue donation-focused news stories published by mainstream U.S. media outlets over a one-year period. Framing theory was employed to explore deontological and consequentialist ethical perspectives forwarded in organ and tissue donation-related media content. Data was analyzed using the theoretical framework of Beauchamp and Childress’ (2008) four principles of bioethics.

Moral reasoning and development across industries of mass communication • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Colorado-Boulder; Erin Schauster; Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Marlene Neill, Baylor University • This study examines how professional journalists, public relations executives and advertising executives score in moral development. The data illustrates very different industries than the ones tested in decades prior. We theorize that media fragmentation, blurred professional boundaries and a changing workforce contribute to a mass communication ecosystem with three industries acting similarly in terms of ethical application.

The ethic of transparency: A review of corrections language in international journalistic codes of ethics • Alyssa Appelman, Northern Kentucky University; Kirstie Hettinga, California Lutheran University • Abstract: A thematic analysis of journalistic codes of ethics (N = 88) was conducted to assess discussions of correcting inaccuracies. The sample included codes from newspapers, broadcast outlets, digital outlets, press councils, and NGOs. Overall, discussions across codes revolve around four themes: correction process, normative values, impact, and superficiality. The codes represented 55 countries, and the press freedom designation of those countries influenced results, as well. Implications for journalists and media organizations are explored.

The Ethical Dimensions of President Trump’s Tweets: Acceptable Advocacy or Democratic Demise? • Wendy Melillo, American University • This study examined the ethical dimensions of President Trump’s tweets from June 2016 to December 2017 using the ten principles of the Edgett (2002) advocacy model for persuasion ethics, and the Gambrill (1992) list of indicators for propaganda. The analysis found a greater need for the executive branch of the U.S. government to engage in public discourse based on the use of public relations ethical advocacy theories to help protect and strengthen America’s democratic system.

Seeing is believing? Ethical implications for AR, VR, and 360º technologies in journalism • Margaret Duffy, Missouri School of Journalism; Janis Page • This study offers an exploratory and cautionary critique of normative and ethical challenges of VR, AR, and 360º video, impressive and immersive tools in the practice of journalism. We first review definitions of the tools in use as of this writing. Second, we review theoretical frameworks that may be applied to these questions including semiotics, anticipatory ethics, and normative journalistic theory. We seek to link these perspectives to offer a critique of technologies that may manipulate news stories, affect reactions to stories by news receivers and have larger social implications. Third, we conduct a semiotic analysis of a well-regarded story from the New York Times. We find the characteristics of the technology and its bricolage of semantics create semiotic ambiguity. The lack of a reliable narrator, the gaps in recognizable story sequence, the possibility of cross purposes within the production team, and the reliance on implicit trust from the viewer/user all raise ethical questions. A particularly potential danger in this immersive journalism is the prospect that users may experience damage from high impact content, thus breaching codes such as those of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) guidance to “minimize harm” (SPJ, 2019). In the spirit of anticipatory ethics, it is important that journalists and scholars consider the values and ethical challenges that these remarkable technologies bring to journalism, thus we conclude with some considerations and guidance for both journalists and news consumers.

It takes a village: Communitarianism and Spotlight • Chad Painter, University of Dayton; Alexandra Scherb, University of Dayton • Communitarians argue that social identity is formed through the connection between individuals and their communities. This textual analysis focused on the breakdown of four Boston institutions depicted in the film Spotlight that failed their community, allowing decades of sexual abuse to go unrecognized and unpunished. Through the lens of communitarian ethics, the researchers argue that stakeholders must recognize the need for a strong community from which the press can report, explain, correct, and connect.

Toward a Humanistic Turn for a More Ethical Journalism • Perry Parks, Michigan State University • This paper argues that the social-scientific epistemology that has dominated journalism for the past half-century has devalued the moral implications of public affairs news and deprived citizens of the ethical tools necessary to make humane political decisions. Reviewing the contingent history of the integration of journalistic and social scientific methods leading to journalism’s computational turn, the essay calls for a humanistic reconceptualization away from journalists’ role as political interpreters toward a comparable role as moral interpreters.

Rights, Rites and Rituals: An international comparison of crime coverage practices • Romayne Smith Fullerton, University of Western Ontario; Maggie Jones Patterson, Duquesne University • This paper offers an overview of the conclusions of a nine year international study considering how mainstream media covers serious crime in ten developed , westernized countries. Under consideration were Canada, the United States, England, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Using primary and secondary sources, and interviews with nearly 200 media professionals and academics, we used crime coverage decisions as a key to examine underlying cultural attitudes toward concepts like public, private, public right to know and justice. We group countries under three main media models and offer summaries of the differing ethical crime coverage practices, and suggest what these ethical choices might mean about larger social attitudes to crime and criminals.

Carol Burnett Award for Graduate Student Papers

Inside the Ivory Tower: How Student Reporters Reason about Ethics • Yayu Feng • This paper presents a preliminary study that investigates ethics orientation and moral reasoning of student reporters. It aims to understand how student reporters, an important indicator for the future of journalism yet an understudied group, perceive and practice ethics. Ten face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with student reporters in an independent university newspaper. The findings revealed that the student reporters have an instrumental understanding of ethics, perceiving ethics as rules to follow and what’s taught in the newspaper’s ethics training. When confronted with what they perceive to be ethical dilemmas, which sometimes are false ones, they tend to consult editors and follow their advice without asking for further explanation. For student reporters who have taken ethics courses, theories or templates learned in class are not applied or thought of. Their moral reasoning is largely based on intuition, trust of authority/expertise, and the need to follow rules to avoid punishment. Based on the results, the study raises concerns, points out challenges and advice for ethics education inside student newsrooms, and outlines further researches.

Why should we care about care: The potential for feminist moral, environmental, and political philosophy in journalism ethics • Joseph Jones • This paper thus seeks to “contaminate” an ethics of care with three different but interrelated theoretical interventions: the expansion of the care ethic beyond interpersonal relations, ecofeminism, and feminist political theory. This makes care theoretically resilient: durable enough to have grounded meaning but flexible enough for situational application. This furthermore makes care a primary concept capable of subsuming some aspects, without being reduced to, the traditional ethical theories of deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics.

Special Call for Media Ethics and Teaching

Looking at future and seeking alternatives: An exploratory study on the uses of Team-Based Learning (TBL) in media ethics pedagogy • Dr. M. Delwar Hossain; Julie Estis • This study examines the impact of Team-Based Learning (TBL) in teaching media ethics. TBL is a paradigm shift from course concepts conveyed by the instructor to the application of course concepts by students. This instructional strategy has revolutionized pedagogy in different fields by achieving high levels of cohesiveness in small groups in a classroom setting. An extensive literature review shows no prior studies on the impact of TBL in teaching media ethics. Therefore, the current project will extend the existing knowledge on the role of TBL in media ethics pedagogy. This is a mixed-method study using both TeamUSA Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) pre/post course surveys and in-depth interviews to conduct the study. The findings show TBL helped media ethics students in collaboration and critical thinking. Both collaboration and critical thinking are important methods journalism students use to deal with daily issues related to media. Hence, the findings of the study will help improve the pedagogical approach of media ethics in the future.

Constructing a Game Design Framework for Ethics Teaching • Yuan Yuan; KUN FU; Barend Pieter VENTER • Citizen morality reflects civilization and is significant to society. Ethics education for improving morality, especially in China, may fail because of its reliance on lecture-based teaching. Game-based learning presents an innovative approach to ethics education. This paper identifies problems in tertiary ethics education and reviews relevant game design principles before establishing a framework for designing educational games that may assist in ethics education. It then proposes a game design model for teaching ethics.

< 2019 Abstracts

Mass Communication and Society 2019 Abstracts

Open Competition

Sharing Native Advertising on Twitter: Evidence of the Inoculating Influence of Disclosures • Michelle Amazeen, Boston University; Chris Vargo • Based upon a large data set of tweets linking to native advertising in leading U.S. news publications, this study explores whether the practice of native advertising disclosure in the field serves the inoculating function of resistance to persuasion. Leveraging the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad & Wright, 1994) and inoculation theory (McGuire, 1964), results show a) regular use of disclosures on publisher landing pages, b) the absence of disclosures in over half of publisher thumbnail images, and c) a negative moderating effect of disclosures on the valence of organic comments.

Effective Targeting of Youth through Online Social Networks in Diverse and Multicultural Marketplaces: New Developments and Perspectives. • Mian Asim, Zayed University • This study examines and compares the effectiveness of social networks to target youth for precision marketing under the conditions of cultural dispositions, innovative aptitude, and perceived medium credibility in emerging marketplaces. Under the premise of Social Identity framework, the results reveal external factors like recommendations, product offers, and appearance are more relevant than an individual’s traits and dispositions when evaluating products on social networks. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Ads for Forever Families: How Public Service Advertising Portrays Adoptive Children and Teenagers • Jackson Carter, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • There is a dearth of research in mass communication regarding family adoption, which may hinder meaningful progress to help policymakers, academics, content creators, and families. The current study adopts a qualitative approach to identify the persuasive appeals, dominant frames and media representation of adoptive parents and children in the PSAs that promotes adoption. This research informs social work professionals about how media portrait family adoption, and allow them to strategize how to shape future communication.

Developing and Validating the Scale of Parental Social Media Mediation Across Child and Parent Samples • Liang Chen; Shirley Ho, Nanyang Technological University; May Lwin; Lunrui Fu • “This research aims to enhance the conceptualization and operationalization of parental social media mediation. First, we conducted focus groups with both children and parents in Singapore to categorize parental mediation strategies of social media. Then, a survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,424 child participants and 1,206 parent participants in Singapore to develop and test the scale. The results of focus groups identified four conceptually distinct parental mediation strategies of social media – labelled as active mediation, restrictive mediation, authoritarian surveillance, and monitoring as well as developed an initial scale of them. Based on the data from survey questionnaires, we investigated both inter-item and item-total correlations and performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which developed and validated the scale of parental social media mediation.

Third-Person Effects of Fake News on Social Media • Yang Cheng, North Carolina State University; Zifei Chen, University of San Francisco • This study proposed and tested a model to understand the antecedents and consequences of third-person perceptions of fake news about a company on Facebook. Survey results (N = 661) showed impacts of self-efficacy, social undesirability, and consumer involvement on the perceived influence of fake news on self and others. The perceived influence on others served as a mediator in the model and positively predicted support for corporate corrective action, media literacy intervention, and governmental regulation.

Local civic information beyond the news: Computational identification of civic content on social media • Yingying Chen, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University; Kourtnie Rodgers, Michigan State University; Kjerstin Thorson; Kelley Cotter; Sevgi Baykaldi • This study proposes a conceptual definition of local civic information to guide computational analyses of the civic information health of communities. We define civic information by the functions it could serve in a community, rather than producer. To demonstrate utility, we use structural topic modeling and human coding to identify clusters of Facebook posts which may serve a diverse community functions and demonstrate that these posts were produced by a diverse set of community organizations.

Outside of Spiral of Silence?: Examining Partisans Outspokenness on Social Networking Sites • Stella Chia • This study discloses the direct and the indirect effects of issue involvement on partisans’ outspokenness on SNSs in the context of legalizing same-sex in Taiwan. The indirect effects appear to offset the direct effects. On one hand, partisans are motivated to speak out online by their strong involvement; on the other hand, their strong issue involvement leads to presumed media influence, which prohibits them from expressing opinions on SNSs. Their offline participation is also affected.

Uncertainty Management in Mass Shootings: Antecedents, Appraisals, and Communication Behavior • Surin Chung, Ohio University • This study investigates how situational antecedents affect perceived uncertainty and how uncertainty appraisals influence publics’ communication behavior about mass shootings. A total of 637 responses were collected through an online survey. The results revealed that situational antecedents were significantly associated with uncertainty. The results showed that uncertainty had a positive indirect effect on information seeking intention via anxiety and hope. Also, uncertainty had a positive indirect effect on information attending intention via anxiety and sadness.

Combatting science myths: The effects of fact-checking and platform congruency on hostile media bias and news credibility perceptions • Raluca Cozma, Kansas State University; Xiaochen Zhang, University of Oklahoma • An experiment was conducted to examine differences in story credibility and hostile media bias perceptions between readers assigned to attitude congruent vs. incongruent cable news platforms and between readers who read stories fact checked by a reporter, a scientist, or not corrected at all. The study advances understanding of the effects of fact checking in the realm of science news and found attitude congruency to be a predictor of news credibility perceptions.

Audience’s Emotion and Sense of Social Solidarity during a Media Event: Examining the Effects of Two Media Platforms • Xi Cui, College of Charleston; Qian Xu, Elon University • This study examines audiences’ emotional and social experiences of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration through television and social media. A survey of a national sample (N = 420) was conducted following the inauguration ceremony. Drawing on media events, emotional appraisal and identity self-categorization theories, the study found that television was socially integrative while social media was socially disruptive. Media events’ influences on audiences’ social and emotional experiences depended on both their identities and media affordances.

How is CSR covered in news media? A cross-national study of comparative agenda setting of CSR news coverage using topic modeling • Chuqing Dong; Yafei Zhang • “This study explored multifaceted corporate social responsibility (CSR) covered in major news media in the UK, US, Mainland China, and Hong Kong (HK) from 2000 to 2016. Under the theoretical framework of agenda setting, 4,487 CSR-related news articles from both business and nonbusiness news sources were analyzed using computer-assisted content analysis (LDA) techniques. This study contributes to CSR communication research by adding a global media perspective regarding what CSR means and should focus on.

Identification with stereotyped social groups: Counter-stereotyped protagonists and stereotyped supporting casts influence on symbolic racism • Joshua Dunn, Texas Tech University; Bryan McLaughlin, Texas Tech University • While exposure to stereotyped minority characters reinforces prejudice, when viewers identify with counter-stereotyped characters prejudice tends to decrease. This study examines the juxtaposition of identifying with either a counter-stereotyped Black protagonist or a stereotyped supporting cast. Participants read a prompt (group vs. individual salience), watched a television episode, then reported their identification with the protagonist and the social group. Findings suggest that individual identification reduces prejudice, while social identification with a stereotyped group does not.

Making sense of Harvey: An exploration of how journalists find meaning in disaster • Gretchen Dworznik-Hoak • Thirty journalists who covered hurricane Harvey and who also lived in the areas affected were interviewed in order to explore how journalists make sense of and cope with their exposure to the trauma associated with a natural disaster. Baumeister’s (1991) four needs for meaning framework was used as a guide to uncover how journalists used justification, purpose, efficacy and self-worth to find meaning in their traumatic experiences. Implications for news managers and future research are discussed.

Engaging the Dark Side: Fictional Antagonists and Real World Attitudes toward Criminals • Rebecca Frazer, The Ohio State University; Emily Moyer-Gusé • This work investigates whether moral salience (vice salience vs. virtue salience) and the revelation timing of a character’s immoral behavior in a fictional narrative (late reveal vs. early reveal) impact identification with morally ambiguous antagonists. Further, real-world attitudinal outcomes of antagonist identification are examined. A two-part study (n = 173) demonstrated that identification with a fictional antagonist can significantly impact real-world attitudes. Additionally, gender differences emerged in the impact of revelation timing on identification.

The Hostile Media Effect in Coverage of International Relations: Testing the Relationship Between Source, Nationalism and Perceived Source Bias • Guy Golan, Center for Media and Public Opinion; T. Franklin Waddell, University of Florida; Matthew Barnidge, The University of Alabama • The significant expansion of government-sponsored news organizations across traditional and social media places mediated engagement of foreign audiences at the heart of the global news ecosystem and modern international relations. While governments compete to build and shape the desired foreign policy frames, there is some reason to believe that foreign audiences may view foreign media sources as biased. The current study aims to investigate this possibility. Drawing upon the rich body of scholarship on the hostile media phenomenon, the study experimentally compares perceived media bias in foreign versus domestic news sources.

A crisis in pictures: Visual framing of the opioid epidemic by the Cincinnati Enquirer • Matthew Haught, University of Memphis; Erin Willis, University of Colorado Boulder; Kathleen I. Alaimo, U of Colorado • Local newspapers often are on the front lines of reporting about drugs, particularly the current ongoing opioid epidemic. The present study builds on a case study of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s heroin and opioid reporting by considering the visuals used in the reporting. Thorough a visual framing analysis, this research finds that while the previous researchers’ case study found a dominance of thematic framing in reporting, its accompanying photojournalism tends to be more episodic in nature.

Spatial Dimensions of Latin American Journalists’ Role Perceptions: A Hierarchy of Influence Analysis • Vanessa Higgins Joyce, Texas State University; Summer Harlow, University of Houston; Amy Schmitz Weiss, SDSU; Rosental Alves • Local, national, regional, and global networks of power intersect in this digital era, raising questions of how re-conceived notions of space are transforming the hierarchy of influences model. This study surveyed (N=1,543) the journalism community from 20 Latin American countries examining how spatial influences are changing journalists’ role conceptions. Findings suggest that, at the organization-structure level, spatial dimensions are related to role perceptions, and regional-institutional forces remain strong influences over how journalists see their roles.

An Examination of Information Behaviors Surrounding Controversial Sociopolitical Issues: Roles of Moral Emotions and Gender • Cheng Hong, Virginia Commonwealth University; Weiting Tao, University of Miami; Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami; Bo Ra Yook, University of Miami • Given the emotion-laden nature and moral considerations of controversial sociopolitical issues, this study examines two key antecedents of information behaviors regarding controversial issues. We focus on the under-researched emotions by investigating the effects of moral emotions induced by controversial issues, and a key demographic factor, gender, on information behaviors toward such issues. Results of this study highlight the significant role of moral emotions and expand theoretical understanding of public advocacy on highly divisive sociopolitical issues.

Will Consumers Silence Themselves when Brands Speak Up about Sociopolitical Issues? Applying the Spiral of Silence Theory to Consumer Boycott and Buycott Behaviors • Cheng Hong, Virginia Commonwealth University; Cong Li, University of Miami • To investigate boycotting and buycotting as responses to brand activism, this study adopted a 2 (consumer stance: consistent vs. inconsistent with the focal company) × 2 (public support of consumer stance: majority vs. minority) between-subjects experiment, with a third factor (perceived credibility of public opinion survey) measured. Findings showed brand attitude mediated the effect of consumer stance on boycott and buycott intention, moderated by magnitude of public support and perceived credibility of public opinion survey.

The Safety Dance: Examining the Reasoned Action Approach in Severe Weather Preparedness • Jue Hou, University of Alabama; Cory Armstrong; Nathan Towery • In light of the recent national-scale severe weather hits from Hurricane Michael to wildfires on the West Coast and blizzards in the East, this study sought to investigate factors that may advance residents’ disaster preparedness behaviors. In particular, this paper examined the model of Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) under the context of severe weather preparedness. A number of natural disaster-related concepts, from prior experience to the perceived knowledge base, were examined regarding their predictive ability towards subjects’ behaviors against severe weather outbreaks. With data collected from 1,035 participants, findings indicated that people’s disaster preparedness behaviors generally fit the reasoned action approach model. In specific, background factors would predict behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, as well as control beliefs. These factors consequentially influenced people’s preparatory intentions, which would eventually impact extreme weather preparedness behaviors. Academic insights regarding severe weather protection as well as practical implications on public disaster education were discussed.

They said it’s ‘fake’: Effect of ‘fake news’ online comments on information quality judgments and information authentication • Rosie Jahng, Wayne State University; Elizabeth Stoycheff, Wayne State University; Scott Burgess; Annisa Meirita Patimurani Rochadiat, Wayne State University; Kai Xu, Wayne State University • Using a mixed-design online experiment, this study examined how individuals determine the quality of information they encounter online and what factors motivate individuals to engage in information verification and authentication processes. The effect of a heuristic cue typically encountered when reading online news articles, i.e., online comments labeling presented contents as ‘fake news’ was tested. Results showed main effects of ‘fake news’ label in online comments on participants’ accuracy in identifying fake news, need to authenticate the information encountered, and their reliance on legacy news channels to authenticate the information.

Press, Protests and The People: How Media Framing and Visual Communication Affects Support for Black Civil Rights Protests • Danielle Kilgo; Rachel Mourao, Michigan State University • This study tests the impact of news frames on audience support for a civil rights social movement. Using a 3 X 2 experimental design, we explore how frames and visuals affect audiences’ criticism of police and protesters, support, and identification with the movement. Findings show legitimizing narratives have limited impact on increasing support and identification with protesters, and police criticism. Delegitimizing frames increase criticism towards protesters, decrease support and identification, and decrease criticism of police.

Children’s Fear Responses to News: A Survey on Fear Evoked by Children’s Television News • Mariska Kleemans, Radboud University Nijmegen; Ming Ebbinkhuijsen, Radboud University Nijmegen; Serena Daalmans, Radboud University Nijmegen • To get up-to-date insights into children’s fear responses to children’s television news, a survey was conducted among 892 children (9-12 y/o). Results show that children’s television news is still an important source of information. However, a majority of children reports being frightened by this news, in particular girls and younger children. Thus, it is necessary –for both theoretical and practical reasons– to further investigate how news can be more adapted to children’s social-emotional needs.

Examining the Paths of Influence between Individual Motivators, Information Behaviors, and Outcomes in Disaster Risk Reduction • Chih-Hui Lai, National Chiao Tung U • Building on the integrative models of media effects and audience activity, this study conducts a cross-lagged analysis of two-wave data in Taiwan. The results show that the relationships between individual characteristics and disaster risk reduction (DRR) information behaviors are driven both by media effects and selection effects, depending on the type of information behavior. Different mediating mechanisms exist as personal factors influence DRR information seeking and sharing differently, which then predict outcomes of DRR.

Complementary and Competitive Framing: Framing Effects, Attitude Volatility or Attitude Resistance? • Shirley Ho, Nanyang Technological University; Yan Wah Leung, Nanyang Technological University • This study is designed to answer two big questions regarding framing theory. First, what happens when frames are challenged? Second, how resistant are the opinions that initial frames induce? 1,006 participants completed an online experiment where they were randomly assigned to first view a blog post with either complementary or competitive framing on driverless cars. Participants also viewed a blog post that challenged the stance of the first blog post. Participants indicated their attitudes and levels of support for driverless cars after viewing each blog post. Results revealed that complementary frames polarized opinions, while competitive frames neutralized opinions. Further, competitive frames induced more resistant opinions than complementary frames did. Overall, we found that attitude and support were exceptionally susceptible to new, antagonistic information. Taken together, this study found that framing effects are typically ephemeral and easily challenged by new information. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Power Exemplification of Minority Members in the News Can Influence Attribution of Responsibility for Social Issues, Intergroup Attitudes, dehumanization, and Aggression • Minjie Li • This study experimentally investigates how the power exemplification of minority members (i.e. High-Power vs. Low-Power Transgender Exemplar) in the news narrative interacts with the audience’s sex to redirect people’s responsibility attributions for transgender issues, intergroup attitudes, dehumanization, and aggression towards transgender people. The findings demonstrated that after reading the news article featuring a high-power transgender woman, cisgender women respondents reported significantly higher levels of transphobia, individual attribution of transgender issues, and dehumanization of transgender people’s human nature.

Exploring the Role of Perceptual and Affective Factors in Predicting K-Pop Gratifications and Transcultural Social Networking • Carolyn Lin; Suji Park; Xiaowen Xu; Yukyung Lee, University of Connecticut • This study examines how K-pop (Korean popular music) promotes social media use among non-Asian college students via testing a Transcultural Communication Networking Model. Findings indicate that perceived social distance, cultural familiarity and perceived cultural similarities (between K-pop and American pop music) have either an indirect or direct effect on attitudes toward K-pop. While attitudes are linked to K-pop gratifications, these two variables and perceived cultural dissimilarities contribute to transcultural networking frequency on social media.

The Effects of Framing and Advocacy Expectancy on Belief Importance and Issue Attitude • Jiawei Liu, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Min-Hsin Su; Douglas McLeod; Joseph Abisaid • Message frames have been found to influence relevant issue attitudes by influencing the weight of issue considerations emphasized in the message. This study investigates differences in the framing effects of advocacy groups, depending on whether the message fits readers’ expectations for the communicator’s issue position (expected advocacy) or not (unexpected advocacy). Findings suggest that frames with unexpected advocacy significantly influenced readers’ perceived belief importance, which in turn influenced issue attitudes.

25 Years of Thematic and Episodic Framing Research on News: A Disciplinary Self-Reflection through an Integrative Process Model of Framing • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University; Stacie Meihaus Jankowski • This current study analyzes over 25 years (1991 – 2018) of research in academic journals on thematic and episodic frames in news coverage of social issues. As Peters states at the onset of a lengthy piece on the struggle of the communication field to define its purpose and institutional focus,“self-reflection is a key part of healthy social science” (1986, p. 527). Our purpose in this paper is twofold: 1) an examination of the research conducted on thematic and episodic frames in news coverage of social issues (1991 – 2018) using Matthes’ coding concepts from a 2009 study on framing research, and 2) an exploratory exercise of systematically organizing and analyzing our research using deVreese’s integrative process of framing model (2005) to understand our findings about episodic and thematic frames in news coverage, while positing a path forward for research on these frames in news coverage. Without the first part of this study, we could not undertake the second part of our theoretical exploration. While we do not address the current debate on framing research, it’s fractured state or declared demise, we believe our work in this study sheds light on the value of framing as a theoretical and practical foundation and articulate one path for its continued use to conduct research in communication.

#Blocked: Engaging with Politicians on Social Media in the Age of Trump • Gina Masullo Chen, University of Texas at Austin • This study sought to understand the phenomenon of Americans being blocked on social media by politicians, including President Trump. Using qualitative interview data (N = 22), this analysis reveals that blocking constitutes a threat to democratic norms and damages American’s perceptions of political actors and the health of democracy. Findings also show that some Americans perceive blocking by Trump as a badge of honor, while blocking by other politicians is an unfair act of silencing.

Viewing media about President Trump’s dietary habits and fast food consumption: Partisan differences and implications for public health • Jessica Myrick, Pennsylvania State University • A nationally representative survey (N = 1,050) assessed connections between Americans’ attention to media about President Donald Trump’s preference for fast food and public perceptions and intentions regarding fast food. Results revealed a significant positive relationship between attention to media about Trump’s diet and perceptions that fast food is socially acceptable, as well as intentions to consume it. Additionally, some differences emerged for audiences who identified as Republicans versus Democrats.

Credibility Effects of Fact-Checking Labels on Social Media News Posts • Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, University of Connecticut; Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University; Alyssa Appelman, Northern Kentucky University; Michael Boyle, West Chester University • With most Internet users now getting news from social media, there is growing concern about how to verify the content that appears on these platforms. This study experimentally tests the effects of fact-checking labels on social media news posts on credibility, virality, and information seeking. Results indicate that fact-checking labels do not have a beneficial effect on credibility perceptions of individual news posts, but that their presence does increase judgments of the site’s quality overall.

Testing the Viability of Emotions and Issue Involvement as Predictors of CSA Response Behaviors • Holly Overton, University of South Carolina; Minhee Choi, University of South Carolina; Jane Weatherred, University of South Carolina; Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina • Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) has become more prominent as companies continue taking stands on politically charged social-justice issues. This study examines emotions and issue involvement as antecedents of theory of planned behavior variables (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) to predict CSA response behaviors. A survey (N = 373) was conducted to examine the public’s response to a recent CSA example–Nike’s ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

The Representation of Stigma in U.S. Newspapers • Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama; Nicholas Eckhart, The University of Alabama • A content analysis examined the representation of stigma in 1,524 stories published by U.S. news outlets between 2000 and 2018. Stigma was discussed in relation to dehumanized conditions such as schizophrenia, drug addiction, and HIV/AIDS. However, journalists frequently trivialized stigma by referencing it in relation to football teams, food, and objects that do not experience the stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination inflicted upon certain social groups.

Something is better than nothing: How the presence of comments may decrease the sharing of fake news on social media • John Petit; Cong Li, University of Miami; Barbara Millet; Khudejah Ali; Ruoyu Sun, University of Miami • This study used a between-subjects experimental design to examine the effect of user comments on news readers’ perceived news credibility and sharing intention. It was found that, regardless of the type of news, participants who read news with no comments were most likely to share the news. This effect was mediated by perceived news credibility and news liking. These experimental results have important theoretical and practical implications for future research on fake news on social media.

Interlocking Among American News Media • Adam Saffer, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Deborah Dwyer, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jennifer Harker, West Virginia University; Chris Etheridge, University of Arkansas Little Rock; Mariam Turner; Daniel Riffe, UNC-Chapel Hill • In today’s media landscape, companies seem to be more intertwined than ever. But are they? Is interlocking affecting journalists and the content being produced? This examines the networks at play among today’s media organizations and corporate businesses by using a three-method design. The first phase network analyzed interlocks among news media companies’ board of directors. The second phase surveyed editors of newspapers owned by these companies to assess the influence on the newsroom from the board and parent company. In the third phase, news coverage of directors and their affiliated organizations was content analyzed for newspapers whose editors perceived pressure “from above.” The network analysis results suggest a monolithic structure that Han (1988) and Winter (1988) feared has emerged. Unlike previous studies, we took this investigation two steps further to examine whether interlocks were pressuring newsrooms and influencing the news content produced. For about one third of survey respondents, interlocks were seen by pressured editors as having influence on the newsroom. Pressured editors indicated significantly stronger perceptions of financial pressures emanating from the newspaper’s boardroom, board of directors, “ownership/upper management,” and business interests than editors who did not indicate pressure from interlocks or their corporate parent. So, what was the pressured newsrooms’ coverage of the interlocks? Routine coverage of interlocks and their affiliated organizations was lacking. Even the disclosure of a relationship between a director or affiliated organization and the newspaper was disclosed half of the time and traditional journalistic scrutiny was applied to less than half of the time.

Effects of Narrative Political Ads on Message and Candidate Attitudes • Fuyuan Shen, Pennsylvania State University; Guolan Yang, Pennsylvania State University; Jeff Conlin, Pennsylvania State University; Pratiti Diddi, Pennsylvania State University • This study examined the effects of narrative political ads on message attitudes and candidate evaluations. We conducted a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects online experiment whereby participants viewed political ads manipulated by message valence (positive vs. negative), message format (narrative vs. non-narrative) and message focus (issue vs. character). Results suggested that both message valence and message format had some significant main and interactions on message and candidate evaluations.

How does Profanity Propagate Online? Measuring the Virality of Swearing on Social Media • Yunya Song, Hong Kong Baptist University; K. Hazel Kwon, Arizona State University; Jianliang Xu; Xin Huang; Shiying Li, Brown University • Swearing, also known as profanity, refers to the behavior of using foul language that is often linked to online incivility. In China, state government has been actively censoring profanity under the rationale of protecting civility in digital space. This study examines the diffusion of profanity in social media, based on the case of China’s microblogging service, Sina Weibo. The study utilizes computational methods to reconstruct the cascade networks of sampled swearing and non-swearing posts and compares various structural features of diffusion networks, including size, depth, width, and interlayer width ratios, between the propagation of swearing and non-swearing posts. The study contributes to the understanding of the diffusion process of profane speech online, and expands discussions about the impact of online incivility in shaping online discursive culture in China.

The Rise of Fact-Checking in Asia • Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Lim Darren, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Weng Wai Mak, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Shawn Tan, Nanyang Technological University Singapore • This study seeks to understand the roles, ethics, and routines of fact-checking organisations in Asia through interviews with 11 fact-checkers in the region. Results showed most fact-checkers developed similar routines whether they have a journalistic background or not. Leveraging of social media and technology were common answers given in searching for issues to fact-check, with those single operator or smaller fact-checking operation being dependent on their audience to bring trending issues to their attention. When it comes to the ethical principles that guide them, our participants identified the values of impartiality, independence, and accuracy. Finally, our participants conceptualised their role in society as educators, disseminators, and watchdogs.

Serial Tweeters: The individuals and organizations that sustain attention to the climate issue on Twitter • Luping Wang, Cornell University; Aimei Yang; Kjerstin Thorson • The study examines a group of serial participants who consistently tweeted about the climate change issue over five years. The findings suggest a once loosely connected set of Twitter users have become more akin to a community of practice over time. Their network positions in serial participants’ network correlate with their positions in the broader network of Twitter users discussing the climate issue. Organizational actors continue to play a strong role as attention hubs.

Who speaks for the majority? Comparing exemplar indicators of public opinion in a social media setting • Jinping Wang, Pennsylvania State University; Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University • This study explores both the origins and consequences of perceived opinion climates in an online environment, combining exemplification theory and the spiral of silence. Using a 3 x 3 experimental design, we examine the effects of exemplars within news stories and subsequent social media comments. The results showed that the news exemplar shaped the majority opinion perception among one’s close friends, which predicted one’s willingness to express opinions, moderated by fear of isolation.

The Medium is (Indeed) the Message: The State of Social Media Research at the AEJMC National Convention • Amanda J. Weed, Kennesaw State University; Chris McCollough, Columbus State University; Karen Freberg, University of Louisville; Enakshi Roy, Western Kentucky University • A systematic review of AEJMC national convention abstracts (n = 1,345) examined the state of social media research from 2009 through 2018. Analysis of abstracts examined volume of social media research, what platforms were studied, which research methodologies were employed, and how research was practically applied in 10 unique content areas of journalism and mass communication. Findings revealed social media research has grown from 3.8% to 25.0% of total research presented at the national convention.

The Public and the News Media: How Americans Think About Journalists and the Media Before and After Trump • Lars Willnat, Syracuse University; David Weaver; Jian SHI, Syracuse University • Based on two national surveys conducted among U.S. citizens in 2014 and 2018, this study analyzes how political polarization and social media use might affect perceptions of the news media. While perceptions of the media improved from 2014 to 2018, Republicans have become significantly more negative in their views of the media. Traditional media use, social media interactivity, and perceived effects of social media on journalism were associated with more positive evaluations of the media.

A New Era of Para-social Relationship: Mapping the Value of Social Media Influencers • Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; chen lou • The current study investigated the determinants of para-social relationship (PSR) between social media influencers and their followers and the effect of PSR in explaining the value of influencers via an online survey. Results showed that influencer traits and fairness of communication procedure significantly predicted the strength of PSR. PSR was a significant mediator that drove followers’ interests in influencer-mentioned products. The findings extended our understanding of PSR and provided practitioners insights in enhancing the relationship strategically.

Hostile Media Perception and Intention to Participate in Public Discussion of Mental Health: An Examination of the Role of Involvement • Xueying Zhang • The current study tested the “corrective action hypothesis” (see Rojas, 2000) by analyzing intentions to discuss mental health issues publicly after the exposure of news coverage of a mass shooting using a “dangerous people” vs. “dangerous gun” frame. 300 respondents were recruited through Qualtrics national research panels. The results of the survey suggested potential benefits of employing HMP (hostile media perception) in educating the public by appealing to empathy and value systems.

Keeping Up with the In-Crowd: The Extent and Type of Substance Use in Celebrity Gossip on Twitter • lara zwarun, UMSL • Following celebrity lifestyles via Twitter is a popular pastime. This study examines how often references to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs appear in tweets sent by celebrities and gossip media, and on webpages linked to in these tweets. It also considers whether the substances are portrayed in a positive or a negative light, using measures based on social cognitive theory. Substance references appeared occasionally but consistently in tweets, whether from celebrities or gossip organizations, and more frequently in content on the linked webpages. Portrayals were varied: some contain humor, slang, and appealing photographs that make substance use sound interesting and attractive, while others mentioned negative consequences. The findings suggest that people who follow celebrities and celebrity gossip via Twitter are likely to encounter substance use messages, and that some, but not all, of these messages may glamorize that substance use.

Student Competition

“Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t create it”: Online community formation through shitposting • Yi En Ho; Dion Loh; Tsi Ying Au; Celine Mok • This exploratory study provides a structured understanding of shitposting and examines its form and role in online community formation by conducting interviews and a content analysis on Facebook’s largest closed shitposting group, Spongebob Shitposting. Results revealed that members defined shitposting as posts with unfunny and nonsensical humour that require online cultural literacy to understand, having a recognisable form that are created with varying intentions. Findings also gave insight to shitposting’s role in forming a community.

Examining Media Modality and Social Media Engagement: A Content Analysis of Police Departments’ Facebook Posts • Rachel Italiano, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University; Anthony Ciaramella, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University; Jessica Wyers, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University • This content analysis examined if modality (text, photo, video) used by police departments (PDs) in Facebook posts impacts post engagement. Poisson regression results show that modality impacts post engagement. Posts using photos and videos increased engagement. Significant differences were found between large city PDs and small city PDs. Small city PD posts have less engagement than large city PDs. Overall, these results suggest how PDs can use social media as a community engagement tool.

A serial mediation model of media exposure on body shame: The role of internalization of appearance ideals and self-objectification • Lin Li, Michigan State University • Building on objectification theory and media effects research, this study found that image-focused magazine and Instagram use was associated with higher levels of internalization of appearance ideals, which in turn was related to increased self-objectification; this greater self-objectification translated into greater body shame. Image-focused TV and Facebook use were directly related to greater body shame. Snapchat use was negatively related to body shame through reduced internalization of appearance ideals.

Where Local Meets Plethora: Patterns of Media Usage and Community Integration • Meredith Metzler • Communication scholarship is seeing a renewed interest in the question of the impact of declining local news media. Underlying much of this research is the assumption that local news media will be used if it exists. This qualitative study uses the case studies of two rural communities to understand which media connect and disconnect individuals from their geographic community. The findings reveal that media use often relied on affinity for outlets and were contextually dependent.

Disposition Theory and Protest: The Influence of Media Frames and Individual Disposition on Audience Response to Protest • Hailey Grace Steele, University of Alabama • This study examined the influence of news frames and individual disposition on audience response to protest. The study sought to determine whether the social group depicted as the main actor in news coverage of protest would influence audience support for protest. Informed by disposition theory and tested using experimental design, the study found that certain audience characteristics can significantly predict attitudes toward protest based on the types of media content to which audiences are exposed.

Beyond the Differential Gains Model: The Effects of Authoritarian Orientation, Social Media Use, and Political Discussion on Political Participation in Taiwan and South Korea • Yan Su, The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University; XIZHU XIAO • In an attempt to investigate the roles of authoritarian orientation, social media use, and political discussion in shaping political participation in transitional democracies, this study analyzes nationwide surveys from two third-wave democracies: Taiwan and South Korea. The regression results show that in both societies, the effects of social media use and political discussion are positively associated with political participation; authoritarian orientation was only negatively associated with political participation in Taiwan. This study does not find significant moderating effects of communication variables on their relationships with political participation, which expands extant research on the conventional differential gains model research that mainly focused on liberal democratic countries. A significant three-way interaction also emerged in South Korea.

#Ageism: Exploring aging issues on Twitter • Tammy Walkner, University of Iowa • Twitter is a microblogging site that many people use to share their opinions on various topics. It’s not just young people who tweet – 28% percent of Twitter users are 55 or older. People in this older age demographic are using Twitter to speak out about ageism and the discrimination they have faced. This research examined tweets using #ageism, #agism, and keywords ageism and agism to investigate if the tweets discuss stigma or activism.

Moeller Student Paper Competition

Does Internet Access Still Matter?: A Lesson from China – How VPN Usage Influences People’s Attitude towards China-US Trade War • yezi hu, Washington State University • Digital divide studies have shifted from access problem to use problem because of the high Internet penetration in the world. However, the case of China is challenging such an optimistic bias. China has the most Internet users in the world but also has strict censorship. Chinese people have to use a VPN account to access the uncensored information on blocked websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Youtube. Using a survey, this research studied predictors of VPN usage in China and found that age and income play pivotal rules. Moreover, revolving around a case of China-US trade war, this study found that the more frequently people use VPN, the more they support American positions. This study alerted us of the threat from censorship to the Internet access and made us rethink the definition of access. Therefore, it extended our understanding of access studies of the digital divide.

Two Sides of the Bed: Does Mood Affect Consumer Response to Controversial Advertising? • Chris Noland, University of South Carolina • Mood management theory posits that people try to maintain intensity of good moods and diminish intensity of bad moods. This study uses mood management theory to examine the interplay between mood and controversial advertising. The results suggest people in positive moods have more positive attitudes toward non-controversial ads and less positive attitudes toward controversial ads. Conversely, people in negative moods have more favorable attitudes toward controversial ads and less favorable attitudes when evaluating non-controversial ads.

Post Facto: Experimental Test of a Game-Based News Literacy Intervention • Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • “Online misinformation abounds, from the long debunked link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, to doubts over climate change, to rumors that have stoked ethnic violence in Myanmar, India, and Sri Lanka. One way to address the misinformation problem may be news literacy, which aims to help people think more critically about the media they consume. But little is known about whether the current crop of news literacy interventions empower people to discern credible from non-credible information online, especially in the contexts of social media and news websites – a skill I call “digital news literacy.” In addition, most news literacy curricula do not take into account research findings related to selective exposure, which can substantially influence what media a person consumes and, therefore, what information they’re exposed to. This study sought to test, using a two-condition, single-level experiment (N = 228), whether a game-based news literacy intervention could improve the news literacy of adults outside a formal educational setting. Results showed that playing the game did not increase news literacy scores by a statistically significant amount compared with the control condition, in which participants played an unrelated game. However, people with more education were significantly more likely to score higher on news literacy, compared to those with less education. The results highlight the difficulty in affecting news literacy using short-term interventions, given that news literacy skills are likely built up over many years.

< 2019 Abstracts

Law and Policy 2019 Abstracts

Open Competition

Boycotts, Blacklists, and De-Platforming: The ACLU Wrestles with Private Censorship • Stephen Bates, UNLV • In the late 1940s and the 1950s, the ACLU wrestled with the concept of “private censorship”–protests against speech that have the effect of suppressing the speech. The issues arose over identity, such as the NAACP’s protest against the TV adaptation of “Amos ‘n’ Andy”; over morality, such as the Legion of Decency’s protest against the film “The Miracle”; and over ideology, such as the American Legion’s protest against films featuring Jose Ferrer and other purported communists and fellow travelers. The issues were difficult, and the ACLU tried various tests and formulations for distinguishing proper counter-speech from improper suppressive speech. This paper is based on internal documents from the ACLU, now in the Princeton University archives.

Lost in translation: The disturbing decision to limit access to audio court files for podcasters • Kelli Boling, University of South Carolina • In its October 2017 decision in Undisclosed LLC v. The State, the Georgia Supreme Court recognized that Georgia Rule 21 allows for public access to court files including both inspecting and copying records. However, the court held that a court reporter’s audio files from trial are not actually court records because only the official transcripts, not the audio tapes, are filed with the court. Therefore, audio tapes cannot be copied by the media for use in podcast production. This article explores the problems with this Supreme Court decision and argues that the courts need to revisit the right to access and produce a definitive answer to the current dilemma for emerging media in the wake of true crime podcast growth.

Troll Storms and Tort Liability for Speech Urging Action by Others • Clay Calvert, University of Florida • This paper examines when speakers, consistent with First Amendment principles of free expression, can be held tortiously responsible for the actions of others with whom they have no contractual or employer-employee relationship. Recent lawsuits against Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin for sparking “troll storms” provide timely analytical springboards. The issue is particularly problematic when a speaker’s message urging action does not fall into an unprotected category of expression such as incitement or true threats and thus, were it not for tort law, would be fully protected. The paper also reviews the U.S. Supreme Court’s “authorized, directed, or ratified” test for vicarious liability established more than thirty-five years ago in the pre-Internet era case of NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. The paper concludes by proposing a framework for vicarious liability when speakers urge action that results in others’ tortious conduct.

Media Mea Culpas and Journalistic Transparency: When News Outlets Publicly Investigate Their Reportage • Clay Calvert, University of Florida • This paper examines some important legal issues and implications surrounding reports commissioned by journalism organizations like Rolling Stone to investigative their own journalistic flaws and failures. Specifically, the paper explores how such reports carry the danger in cases such as Eramo v. Rolling Stone, LLC of blurring the crucial line separating journalism ethics from media law. Additionally, the paper examines the possible impact of third-party reports on the critical issue of truth and falsity in defamation lawsuits.

Wither Zauderer, Blossom Heightened Scrutiny? • Clay Calvert, University of Florida • This paper examines how the United States Supreme Court’s 2018 decisions in the First Amendment cases of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra and Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees muddle an already disorderly compelled-speech doctrine. Specifically, dual five-to-four decisions in Becerra and Janus raise key questions about the level of scrutiny – either a heightened test or a deferential variant of rational basis review – against which statutes compelling expression should be measured. Critically, Becerra illustrates the willingness of the Court’s conservative justices to narrowly confine the aging compelled-speech test from Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Furthermore, the paper explores how Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurrence in a third 2018 decision – Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission – heightens problems with the compelled-speech doctrine. The paper concludes by proposing multiple criteria for the Court to consider when determining the level of scrutiny to use in compelled-speech cases.

Exploring Legal Solutions to Address the Problem of Hate Speech in the United States • Caitlin Carlson, Seattle University • This paper explores potential legal remedies for addressing the proliferation of hate speech in the United States. Solutions include an anti-hate speech law, a change in the federal threats statute, group defamation, and reconsidering intentional infliction of emotional distress as a viable response for victims of hate speech. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach are analyzed in light of existing jurisprudence and intentional infliction of emotional distress is identified as the best path forward.

‘Funding Secured:’ A Forty Million Dollar Tweet that Highlights First Amendment Issues Associated with Regulating Speech on Social Media • Samuel Cohn • The following article is written in the wake of a legal battle that began in Augusts 2018. The parties involved are Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission. To limit the discussion of Musk’s behavior on Twitter to Securities law, largely the way mass media has done to this point, ignores Constitutional realities with respect to the use of social media in 2019. It is true that the legal battle between the SEC and Musk has more significance for corporations and their executives than the average person posting online. This reality does not discount the gravity of Musk’s situation. It is also true that Elon Musk is not the average Twitter user – he is a billionaire with twenty-five million followers and stands at the helm of multiple corporations. And yet, Elon Musk is an American citizen with the same rights as any other American in the United States. As such, he deserves the same constitutional protections. We can look at his recent involvement with the SEC as a prime example of the issues associated with regulating individual speech online as well as the chilling effects that stand to follow if said regulation is executed without considering the potentially adverse effects to the exercise of protected speech. Federal agencies, such as the SEC, should act with extreme caution when regulating the communication of individuals on social media as the legal boundaries of this new mode of communication are not fully understood.

Privacy Exceptionalism Unless It’s Unexceptional: How the American Government Misuses the Spirit of Privacy in Two Different Ways to Justify both Nondisclosure and Surveillance • Benjamin W. Cramer, Bellisario College of Communications, Pennsylvania State University • This article explores the American government’s contradictory stances toward privacy, via an analysis of the jurisprudence surrounding the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act, while comparing that to surveillance-oriented jurisprudence surrounding the actions of the national security and law enforcement establishments. The article argues that the government has displayed two contradictory stances toward privacy in these endeavors: it cites privacy concerns to withhold documents while ignoring privacy during its mass surveillance of citizens. This contradiction allows the government to violate the spirit of government transparency and the value of privacy in two different ways while becoming more secretive across the board. The article starts with an analysis of trends that have enabled agency rejections of FOIA requests for often facetious reasons of personal privacy – what researchers have dubbed “privacy exceptionalism.” This is followed by a similar analysis of the Privacy Act as another example of the American government’s professed concern for protecting personal privacy. The article then reviews how the national security and law enforcement establishments have largely ignored personal privacy as they conduct widespread electronic surveillance of citizens. The evidence will point to a new type of “privacy unexceptionalism” because privacy values have been unable to overcome the excesses of the surveillance state. The article concludes that the contradictions between these two views of privacy in the American government have enabled new patterns of secrecy and nondisclosure.

Past Imperfect: Packingham, Public Forums, and Tensions Between Media Law’s Present and Internet Regulation’s Future • Anthony Fargo, Indiana University • Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested in Packingham v. North Carolina that the internet had supplanted physical spaces as essential public forums for many users. The analogy is problematic because public forums are usually government-controlled spaces, while internet platforms are privately owned. Comparing the internet to other media generally is similarly problematic because the internet has no comparison. This paper argues that courts should view the internet as a unique medium with unique issues.

Forum Delegation: The Birth and Transposition of a New Approach to Public Forum Doctrine • Brett Johnson, University of Missouri; Shane Epping, University of Missouri • This paper explores the concept of forum delegation: the power of government officials to suggest which forums to allow speakers to use. The concept is born out of a recent legal battle between the University of Minnesota and conservative speaker Ben Shapiro, in which the UMN required Shapiro to speak in a venue away from the heart of campus due to concerns over the school’s ability to provide adequate security for the event. The paper first analyzes the UMN case to assess the constitutionality of forum delegation in the context of regulating speech and public universities. Next, it applies Robert Post’s theory of constitutional domains to transpose forum delegation from the public university context to situations in which cities must deal with controversial speakers. The goal in explicating the concept of forum delegation within this latter context to is give cities a tool in which to constitutionally balance the interests of speakers, audience members, public safety concerns, and efficient resource management. Such a tool can be especially helpful at a time when provocateurs have sought to weaponize the First Amendment through politicizing and polarizing free speech principles.

TL;DR and TC;DU: An Assessment of the Length and Complexity of Social Media Policies • Jonathan Obar, York University; Andrew Hatelt • A study of the length and complexity of terms of service (TOS) and privacy policies (PP) for 10 social media services. Average TOS is 26,320 words and PP 7,984 words, with most policies written at a grade 12 or college reading level. These findings may contribute to critiques of notice privacy policy, providing empirical evidence that policies continue to be “too long” and “too complicated”, contributing to users that “didn’t read” and “don’t understand”.

“I also consider myself a First Amendment lawyer” • Jonathan Peters • Charles Harder. Lin Wood. Tom Clare. They are among a small number of American lawyers who have significant experience bringing claims against news organizations for their editorial activities. They play important roles in the news ecosystem, and they are subjects worthy of scholarly attention. Their perspectives about their work, which is reshaping media law, can contribute to a better understanding of claims against the press. With that in mind, we interviewed eight such lawyers about their practices.

Deciding Fair Use • Amanda Reid, UNC Chapel Hill • The epic legal battle between Google and Oracle is knocking on the SCOTUS’s door – again. Viewing the jury verdict “as advisory only,” the Federal Circuit independently re-weighed the fair use factors and concluded that allowing Google to commercially exploit Oracle’s work would “not advance the purposes of copyright.” This case raises important and timely questions about how to conceptualize and operationalize fair use. The ontological nature of copyright fair use is often misunderstood. As a mixed question of law and fact, fair use does not fit neatly into the law/fact paradigm, which typically guides decision making authority. Is fair use a fact question for the jury or a legal question for the court? On appeal, are fair use decisions reviewed deferentially or de novo? In other words, is fair use a question of fact for the jury and off limits to appellate court second-guessing, or is fair use a question of law for which an appellate court can decide anew? Rather than hiding behind the “slippery” distinction between “fact” and “law,” this essay highlights the plainly political nature of allocating decision making authority. The policy question is whether we want speech-protective rights assessed by a judge or a jury. Who has the institutional capacity to do a better job? Who do we trust more?

The Trouble With “True Threats” • Eric Robinson, University of South Carolina; Morgan Hill, University of South Carolina • With abusive language endemic online, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Elonis v. United States did not resolve many issues in determination whether a statement is a “true threat.” In the absence of guidance, courts have applied various factors to rule in these cases. This paper quantifies and analyzes how courts have applied these factors in various cases, showing the need for clear standards for what communication can be considered “true threats.”

The Tribal University: Factions, iGen and the Threat to Free Speech on Campus • Joseph Russomanno, Arizona State University • The American college campus was once the ultimate marketplace of ideas. Now, speakers are sometimes shouted down or disinvited. Fear of trauma abridges classroom discussion. As the nation tribalizes, so do college students – members of iGen and psychologically fragile. This paper examines the interconnectedness of these issues. It also invokes factions – the tribalism of America’s founding era – and illustrates how James Madison’s approach to control them can be applied to speech on the contemporary campus.

A Structural Imperative: Freedom of Information, the First Amendment and the Societal Function of Expression • A.Jay Wagner • In the United States, the ability to gain access to government information is predicated by statute, the 1966 FOIA. Despite influential First Amendment scholars asserting access to government information to be a necessary corollary, the Supreme Court has only partially recognized such a right. The manuscript tracks this legal trajectory and examines international constitutional rights of access and explores why access has been rhetorically identified as an imperative yet has not received legal priority.

The Understanding of Absolute Right to Freedom of Expression Concerning Hate Speech in the Case of the Charlottesville Incident • Qinqin Wang; Roxanne Watson, University of South Florida • The purpose of this paper is to explore whether there is an absolute right to freedom of expression with regard to hate speech, and more specifically, whether tolerance should be exercised toward speech even in circumstances where this speech presents a clear and present danger to the public. The paper will delve into the decision by the Virginia Court that allowed the rally in Charlottesville which resulted in the death of a 32-year old woman.

Algorithms, Machine Learning, and Speech: The Future of the First Amendment in a Digital World • Sarah Wiley • By mediating how information is produced, distributed, and consumed, algorithms have a vast impact on how individuals perceive the world and thanks to machine learning and big data, they do so more autonomously than ever. This article examines how First Amendment jurisprudence has struggled to keep up and recommends a way to realign the doctrine with its underlying values of democratic self-governance, the distribution of knowledge and ideas, and individual autonomy in light of machine learning.

Neutral Reportage “Missing In Action” In U.S. Law But Expanding In Foreing Law As A Libel Defense • Kyu Ho Youm • Few media law scholars and practitioners in the U.S. have paid close attention to neutral reportage in foreign law. To fill the glaring void in the study of neutral reportage as a fascinating export from American law, this paper examines neutral reportage as a case of “reverse perspective.” Three questions provide the main focus of this study: (1) Why was Anglo-American law on republication of defamatory statements problematic for news reporting?; (2) How has neutral reportage been recognized as a libel defense in foreign law?; (3) How is neutral reportage similar to, and different from, the “public interest” defense in England and other countries?

< 2019 Abstracts

International Communication 2019 Abstracts

Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition

“Newsmaker-in-Chief”? Presidents’ Foreign Policy Priorities and International News Coverage from LBJ to Obama • Kirsten Adams, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Daniel Riffe, UNC-Chapel Hill; Meghan Sobel, Regis University; Seoyeon Kim, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Through a mixed-method analysis of country mentions across 50 years of U.S. presidents’ speech transcripts (N = 284) and New York Times’ international news coverage (N = 20,765) across nine presidencies, we find the phenomenon of an “echoing press” following the “presidential gaze” toward foreign-policy priorities steadily declining over time and within administrations. This study examines the complex roles of the “newsmaker-in-chief” and the press who cover – and sometimes “echo” – his administration’s foreign affairs agenda.

Investigating Empathic Concern, Reporting Efficacy & Journalistic Roles as Determinants of Adherence to Peace Journalism • Oluseyi Adegbola; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • This study examines the influence of empathic concern, perceived journalistic roles, and reporting efficacy on journalists’ adherence to peace journalism. Quantitative surveys (N=324) and semi-structured interviews (N=10) of Nigerian journalists were conducted. Results suggest that Nigerian journalists adhere to peace journalism more than to war journalism and that empathic concern, perceived reporting efficacy, and subscription to the interventionist role are strong predictors of adherence to peace journalism.

Reporting Bias in Coverage of Iran Protests: An Analysis of Coverage by Global News Agencies • Oluseyi Adegbola; Janice Cho; Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University • This study examines reporting of intense Iranian protests by global news agencies located in the United States (Associated Press), United Kingdom (Reuters), France (Agence France-Presse), China (Xinhua), and Russia (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union). A census of reporting (N = 369) was content analyzed. Results show reporting remains influenced by political systems. News agencies also vary in their assessment of causal agents, moral evaluations, and treatment recommendations. Implications for reporting foreign conflict is discussed.

Intimate Partner Violence: What do Nollywood Movies Teach Us? • Ajeori agbese • Scholars have long criticized mass media for largely ignoring, negatively stereotyping and downplaying the seriousness of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, considering few studies have examined this issue in movies, this paper examined Nollywood movies to determine the messages audience get about IPV in Nigeria. The paper also wanted to find out if the movies challenged societal stereotypes about IPV and gender roles in intimate relationships. The contents of nine IPV-themed movies were interpretively analyzed, using social learning and cultivation theories as guides. The analysis showed that while Nollywood movies depicted the severity of the issue, the portrayals mostly mirrored the stereotypes and beliefs people already have about IPV and gender roles in intimate relationships. The movies largely blamed victims and other outside forces for abuse in intimate relationships. In addition, the portrayals barely challenged the perception and problem of IPV in Nigeria and did not provide realistic solutions.

The role of media for young Syrian Refugees at a time of uncertainty and changing living conditions • Miriam Berg • A considerable number of refuges that came to Germany in 2015 and 2016 were unaccompanied minors. This study examines the Syrian minor refugees among them, who now, as young adults, are using media as a whole in their everyday life and how their usage has changed since their arrival in Germany. There is a particular focus on correlations with the changing living conditions of the minors from mass emergency shelters to refugee accommodation and youth flats. The study also explores how media was used in their home country and during their flight to Germany. The research was carried out in the form of 30 semi-structured interviews with refugees between the ages of 18-21 who arrived in Hamburg, Germany in 2015 as unaccompanied minors. Findings of this study have shown that digital media and internet connectivity is seen as a necessity in contemporary living for young refugees and is considered as important as food and shelter to survive. However, despite internet access being seen as the most efficient way to stay informed and connected with families, friendships developed offline were found to be more important and helpful in terms of adjusting to a new environment, coping with loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted in their host country.

Journalists, Newsmakers and Social Media in East Africa • Steve Collins; Kelly Merrill; Chad Collins; Kioko Ireri; Raul Gamboa, University of Central Florida • This study involved an analysis of 1,784 Twitter accounts representing journalists, news organizations and newsmakers in East Africa. An analysis of social media influence metrics suggests that although news organizations are on even ground with the people and organizations they cover, individual journalists are not. The data suggest a digital divide, with Kenya and Uganda ahead of Rwanda and Tanzania. By one measure, female journalists have more social media influence than men.

Framing Syrian refugees: US Local News and the Politics of Immigration • Aziz Douai, Ontario Tech University; Mehmet Bastug • The article investigates news coverage and media framing of the Syrian refugee debate as a public opinion issue in US local news in 2015. Political response to the Syrian refugee crisis was divided, but public attitudes shifted after the terrorist attacks on Paris in November 2015 with calls for more restrictive immigration policies and smaller refugee quotas. In the US, GOP leaders demanded “extreme vetting” and “screening” of refugees and many opposed resettling them. The study analyzes local news coverage variation across the states that welcomed, not welcomed or did not commit to accepting Syrian refugees at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016. The findings of the study demonstrate that the editorial framing of the Syrian refugee crisis downplayed the global responsibility and international commitment of the US, highlighted the administrative costs, and framed them security threats. The implications of these frames are discussed.

India’s Mediated Public Diplomacy on Social Media: Building Agendas in South Asia • Nisha Garud Patkar • One tool in India’s mediated public diplomacy is the increasing use of social media platforms to build agendas among foreign audiences. In 2017, the Indian government ranked seventh in the world in its use of social media for diplomacy and had more than 1.2 million users following its diplomatic accounts on several social media platforms. Despite this high ranking and a sizable following on social media, little research has been done to understand India’s mediated public diplomacy through Twitter and Facebook. To address this literature gap, this study examined: (i) the agendas the Indian government builds on its social media accounts and (ii) the rank order of these agendas with the perceived agendas of the followers of these accounts. A quantitative content analysis of 6,000 tweets and status updates published on the 15 Indian diplomatic accounts along with a survey of 500 followers of these accounts were conducted. Results showed that politics, culture, economy/finance, and infrastructure were the top-ranked agendas of the Indian government on social media. These agendas rank ordered with a few top-ranked agendas for followers which were education, health and medicine, environment, economy/finance, and infrastructure.

Gatekeeping and the Panama Papers: an analysis of transnational journalism culture • Nana Naskidashvili, University of Missouri; Beverly Horvit, University of Missouri; Astrid Benoelken; Diana Fidarova • ICIJ’s Panama Papers transnational journalism project was analyzed on three levels suggested by Hellmueller (2017): the evaluative, the cognitive and the performative. The gatekeepers interviewed demonstrated a common understanding (evaluative) of what it means to be an investigative journalist. Regardless of a journalist’s location, prominent people were deemed newsworthy (cognitive), and the journalists created rules for searching and double-checking their data. At the performative level, the gatekeepers agreed when the stories would emerge.

Cognitive and Behavioral Factors of Online Discussion as Antecedents of Deliberation and Tolerance: Evidence from South Korea, United Kingdom and United States • Irkwon Jeong; Hyoungkoo Khang • The current study examined cognitive and behavioral factors of online discussion as antecedents of attitudes toward opposing views and two aspects of social norms, perceived importance of public deliberation and social tolerance. Employing surveys in South Korea, United Kingdom and United States, this study found that adjustment motive and discussion heterogeneity are positively associated with perceived importance of public deliberation and social tolerance in all three countries.

Framing Newsworthiness on Twitter: Analysis of Frames, News Values, and Tweet Popularity in Lebanese Media • Claudia Kozman, Lebanese American University • This content analysis of Lebanese newspapers and television stations’ accounts on Twitter revealed the media frame their tweets in terms of conflict and responsibility, while relying mostly on the news values of prominence and entertainment/human interest. Compared to newspapers, television stations were more likely to use impact instead of conflict as a news value. Judging tweet popularity, analysis revealed conflict and impact stories are the most attractive in terms of favorites, retweets, and comments.

Mainstream media, social media, and attitudes toward immigrants: A comparative study of Japan & South Korea • Heysung Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Gaofei Li ; Yibing Sun; Hernando Rojas • The paper examines media effects on attitudes toward immigrants in Japan and South Korea, through an online survey with 500 respondents from each country. Analyses show mainstream media associates to positive attitudes in both countries. However, regarding social media, Kakaotalk use in South Korea elicits negative attitudes, while Line use in Japan is not related to attitudes. The interaction effects indicate that Kakaotalk dampens the positive effects of mainstream media, whereas Line amplifies them.

Will internal political efficacy predict news engagement equally across countries? A multilevel analysis of the relationship between internal political efficacy, media environment and news engagement • Shuning Lu, North Dakota State University; Rose Luwei Luqiu, Hong Kong Baptist University • This study serves as the first to document the current status of news engagement with regard to the three proposed dimensions (e.g., overall news engagement, user-user, and user-content news engagement) across 36 countries. We employ hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the individual, aggregate, and cross-level effects on news engagement based on the multi- national cross-sectional survey data (N=72,930). This study demonstrates how internal political efficacy, the media environment, both political and technical, together shape news engagement. The findings reveal that internal political efficacy is positively associated with news engagement. Internet penetration could negatively predict the three indicators of news engagement. Press freedom moderates the effect of internal political efficacy on news engagement. The study contributes to the existing literature on the formation of news engagement regarding both individual and contextual mechanisms.

Africa in the News: Is News Coverage by Chinese Media Any Different? • Dani Madrid-Morales, University of Houston • In recent years, Chinese media have been challenging European and North American dominance of African news. While Chinese journalists claim they Africa coverage is quantitatively and qualitatively different, previous research has challenged this claim. Based on a content analysis of 1.1 million news from two Chinese and two non-Chinese media (2015-2015), this paper shows that Chinese reporting is more abundant, positive and diverse. However, for most countries, coverage is rare, episodic and monothematic.

Portrait of an Azerbaijani Journalist: Unpaid, Dissatisfied, but nevertheless Passionate and Committed • Rashad Mammadov • This study seeks to partially fill a gap in knowledge about the practice of journalism in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic. The study proposed here represents the first time Azerbaijan has been studied in a systematic fashion consistent with the literature of comparative journalism as represented by The Global Journalist (Weaver & Willnat, 2012) and Worlds of Journalism (Hanitzsch, 2011), studies well recognized as the standards against which all such efforts should be measured. One of the primary goals of the project is to explore the roles these journalists believe they play in the controlled, post-Soviet environment. Data, collected through an online survey of journalists indicate that several identifiable, perceived professional roles existed along the dimensions of Hanitzsch’s (2007) journalistic milieus. In addition, three other dimensions were identified that did not fit the model, but proved to be specific to the Azerbaijani media environment: Political Activist, Citizens’ Helper, and Entertainer.

Press Freedom in Ghana • Jason Martin, DePaul University • This paper analyzes original survey data (N=241) to investigate Ghanaian journalists’ attitudes toward libel law protections, Right to Information legislation, and professional ethics. Journalists in Ghana perceive themselves as straddling normative press freedom roles of watchdog and social responsibility while incorporating unique elements of their culture in their work. The results provide context for the successes and challenges of Ghana’s journalists and contribute to the more precise theoretical explanations of international press freedom protections.

Diagnosing Newsjunkies: Fielding and Validating a Measure of Intrinsic Need for Orientation in Three Arab Countries • Justin Martin, Northwestern University in Qatar • This study introduces an intrinsic need-for-orientation scale, and assesses reliability and validity of the measure in nationally representative samples from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE (N=3,239). Since the 1970s, need for orientation has been called an intrinsic motivation to consume news, but in operationalization, relevant research has not measured an inherent motivation, but rather the strength of political party identification and interest in an upcoming political event—usually an election—as the markers of a strong need for orientation. As this approach is inappropriate in many countries, which may not have political parties or campaigns, and also given there is likely a broader, intrinsic need for orientation (INFO) that motivates people to regularly seek news about current events, this study tested a parsimonious, four-item scale. The scale demonstrated robust internal reliability in both Arabic and English, and among nationals and non-nationals in the three countries. In line with the hypothesis that news use and certain media-related attitudes, such as support for freedom of expression, should be positive correlates of an intrinsic need for orientation, regression models of media-use variables and media-related attitudes explained considerable amounts of INFO variance in Saudi Arabia (52%) and the UAE (30%), and a more modest share in Qatar (15%).

Journalism during global disasters: Healing, coping and recovery • Michael McCluskey, U. Tennessee-Chattanooga; Lacey Keefer • Journalists often apply themes of healing, coping and recovery in news following significant traumas. Eight natural disasters on five continents were analyzed for the presence of nine themes of healing, coping and recovery in both international and local news outlets. Analysis (n = 528) found evidence that contextual factors like centralization of the disaster, type of disaster and number of casualties, along with structural factors like political freedom, had significant influences on the nine themes

Explaining the Gap Between Journalist’s Role Conception and Media Role Performance. A Cross-National Comparison • Claudia Mellado; Cornelia Mothes; Daniel Hallin; Maria Luisa Humanes; Adriana Amado; María Lauber; Jacques Mick; Henry Silke; Colin Sparks; Haiyan Wang; Olga Logunova; Dasniel Olivera • This cross-national study combines survey (N=643) and content analysis data (N = 19,908) from nine countries to investigate gaps between journalists’ ideals and their media organizations’ performance of the interventionist, watchdog, loyal, service, civic and infotainment roles. The findings show significant gaps for all roles across all countries, with the ‘civic’ and the ‘watchdog’ role showing the largest gaps. Multilevel analyses also reveal that organizational and individual-level influences explained the gaps better than country differences. Implications are discussed with regards to journalism as a profession in times of increasing media skepticism.

Public Diplomacy for the Media: A Survey of Exchange Program Alumni • Emily Metzgar, Indiana University; Yusuf Kalyango, Ohio University • This research surveys alumni (N=66) of the American government’s Study of the U.S. Institute for Scholars (SUSI) on Journalism and Media. The program brings scholars and media professionals to the United States to study and build professional networks. Framing discussion in the international communication literature, we assess SUSI’s potential as a public diplomacy effort with implications for both the study and practice of journalism and promotion of improved attitudes toward the United States.

Esto no es un problema político, es moral: Examining news narratives of the 2018 border policy • Lisa Paulin, NC Central University • This study analyzes the news narratives of a controversial U.S. immigration policy that included the separation of children from their families when attempting to enter the United States along the border with Mexico during the spring and summer of 2018, under the Donald Trump administration by analyzing the stories in Spanish-language media and English-language media by two news services: EFE, in Spanish and the Associated Press (AP), to see how these stories fit into cultural ideologies. The AP told a story of a political battle while EFE told a story of immoral policy and community solidarity.

Global media and human rights: Teaching the Holocaust across national fault-lines • stephen reese, university of texas; jad melki, Lebanese American University • Media literacy requires a ‘global outlook’ in dealing with issues across national and tribal affiliations. These challenges are explored here with a multi-national group of student, engaging with the Holocaust to better humanise global issues and understand how media are implicated in genocidal dynamics, using a survey of 165 previous participants in the programme over 11 years. We find that a historically-rooted but globally reflective approach is needed to understand genocide across national fault-lines.

Testing the Spiral of Silence Model: The Case of Government Criticism in India • Enakshi Roy, Western Kentucky University • This study extends the spiral of silence theory to India and examines self-censorship on Facebook and Twitter with regards to government criticism. Survey (N=141) results suggest while respondents with liberal attitudes were unwilling criticize the government on social media, respondents with pro-censorship attitudes, even if they deemed the opinion climate as hostile, were willing to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. Findings from this study expand understandings of online opinion expression and self-censorship in India.

Everybody Loves a Winner: Legitimation of Occupational Roles among Award-winning Financial Journalists in Africa • Danford Zirugo, City, University London of London/University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Jane B. Singer, City, University of London • Through an examination of award-winning stories and the discourse around them, this study explores how the interpretive community of African financial journalists defines and legitimates preferred occupational roles. Contrary to research immediately following the global financial crisis, which suggested that financial journalists primarily serve elites in their everyday coverage, this study concludes that stories deemed exemplary by the community are instead public service-oriented and fulfill a watchdog role.

Naming names or no? How Germany fits in an international comparison of crime coverage • Romayne Smith Fullerton, University of Western Ontario; Maggie Jones Patterson, Duquesne University • “Naming names and ethnicity or no? How Germany fits in an international comparison of crime coverage” offers the final installment of a nine-year study examining mainstream media’s crime coverage choices in ten democracies, and how journalists’ voluntary ethical choices reflect underlying cultural attitudes. Previously, the authors have argued protectionist policies that do not identify accused persons are common in Northern and Central Europe and are part of established cultural attitudes that construct everyone as community members, but new German data, collected in 2018, suggest journalistic choices to protect an accused’s identity, and all that practice implied, is no longer the reporting default.

The Aftermath of 2019 Pulwama Terror Attack • Nihar Sreepada, Texas Tech University; Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University; Simranjit Singh, Texas Tech University • The study analyses the coverage of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack by two major newspapers of India and Pakistan – The Times of India and Dawn. The online news stories and the dialogue within the comment sections are compared and examined through a qualitative content analysis. The findings are explored from a social psychological perspective along with the ramifications of the conflict on the international community.

Automated framing analysis of news coverage of the Rohingya crisis by the elite press from three countries • Hong Vu; Nyan Lynn • Triangulating several methods including automated framing analysis and critical assessment of texts, this study examines how the press from three countries frames the Rohingya refugee crisis in 2017. It finds that The Irrawaddy (Myanmar) tends to incorporate a nationalist narrative into news content. The New Nation (Bangladesh) frames the crisis according to the country’s priorities. The New York Times uses a Western hegemonic discourse. Findings are discussed using the lens of ideological and cultural influence.

Welcome to Canada: The challenge of information connections for resettled Syrian refugees • Melissa Wall, California State University – Northridge • Based on interviews with Syrian refugees resettled in Canada, as well as volunteers, NGO workers and government officials, this paper considers the ways the refugees interact with both formal (government, NGO) and informal (family, volunteers and shared heritage Canadians) in their communication practices. Refugees (“newcomers”) use a combination of digital tools such as social networks and interpersonal interactions to access information and work toward understanding and adapting to their new environment.

Distinguishing the Foreign from Domestic as Defensive Media Diplomacy: Media Accessibility to Credibility Perception and Media Dependency • Yicheng Zhu, Beijing Normal University • Given the fact that some foreign media (e.g. Twitter, The New York Times) have limited accessibility in China. This study conceptually distinguishes foreign media and domestic media, and examines the relationship between perceived media accessibility, media credibility and media dependency for both foreign and domestic media. It found that foreign media accessibility perception is an antecedent of foreign media credibility and foreign media dependency. In terms of foreign v.s. domestic media credibility competition, the final model showed that foreign media credibility positively relates with domestic media credibility. In sum, the model illustrated the role of accessibility perception in the media dependency formation process, the results imply that controlling foreign media accessibility may be an effective method to limit foreign media influence domestically.

James W. Markham Student Paper Competition

A devil’s dissection: Thematic analysis of the discussion of the Mexican documentary The Devil’s Freedom on Twitter • Gabriel Dominguez Partida • Mexican documentary films have tried to raise awareness among citizens against violence – for instance, The Devil’s Freedom, a story of violence’s testimonials of victims and victimizers. Three months of tweets related to the film’s discussion were analyzed to identify how people react to the message. The analysis suggests a group of citizens concern and sending signals to others about a social change; however, they urge the government to take actions instead of themselves.

Trollfare: Russia’s disinformation campaign during military conflict in Ukraine • Larisa Doroshenko, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Josephine Lukito, UW Madison • This study explores the strategies of information warfare of the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) against Ukraine during the military conflict in Donbass. Using a 10% Twitter gardenhose archive, we investigated the type of information spread by the IRA accounts and analyzed how they increased followers. Our study shows that the IRA created news websites and spread links to these pages on social media, accumulating followers by including these links and @mentioning other IRA accounts.

Health information sharing for a social exchange on WeChat in China • Lu Fan • WeChat has become an important platform of high sociability and social exchange in China. This study conducted a survey (N = 329) in China to understand people’s health information sharing behavior with the purpose of social exchange. The results reveal that people are motivated by the goal of sharing useful information, showing care and maintaining the social relationship when they share health information on WeChat, and older people are more likely to do so.

For whom do we do this work and in whose voice? Examining the role of International Communication in Africa • Greg Gondwe, University of Colorado-Boulder; Rachel van-der-Merwe, University of Colorado-Boulder • This study offers an overview of the state of the field of international communication in Africa. It argues that despite the boom in international communication scholarship, a schism still exists between theory emphasizing the perpetuated colonial tendencies and those that seek to situate African scholarship at an interactive position with other continents. The study operates under some founded hypotheses that International Communication studies in Africa are peppered with tales of marginalization, poverty, wars, and tribal conflicts. Literature asserts that such labels have impeded the quest for African scholars to realize the true definition of the field, therefore, reproducing a systemic litany of what the other world expects of them. While some scholars call for a broader and mutual interaction of the global communications systems, others hanker on ostensible arguments that perpetuate the propagandist approaches, which emerged as a result of the cold war. The two approaches underscore the western values versus the ‘African’ communication and postcolonial debates that have characterized much of the postcolonial discourses.

Social media network heterogeneity and the moderating roles of social media political discussions and social trust: Analyzing attitude and tolerance towards Chinese immigrant women in Hong Kong • Macau K. F. Mak, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Lynette Jingyi Zhang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • The social and political antagonism between China and Hong Kong has led to the stigmatization of mainland Chinese in Hong Kong. In particular, the Chinese immigrant women, a minority group faced with social and economic plight, have been viewed as locusts who exploit social resources in Hong Kong without any contributions. This study examines how social media network heterogeneity influences the social tolerance and political tolerance of local citizens in Hong Kong towards the Chinese immigrant women through general attitude towards these women. It also addresses the moderating role of social media political discussions and social trust in the influencing process. The analysis of survey data (N = 728) illustrates the moderated mediation process in which a more heterogeneous network on social media is indirectly related to higher levels of both social and political tolerance towards Chinese immigrant women through a more positive attitude towards these women. This indirect effect is enhanced by more political discussions and greater social trust. Implications of the results are discussed.

Reporting (ethno)political conflict in former colonies: An exploration of British and French press coverage of the Cameroon Anglophone crisis • Pechulano Ngwe Ali, The Pennsylvania State University • This study explores how the press in Africa’s former colonial masters frame (ethno)political crisis in their former colonies. Using a qualitative textual analysis approach, the study investigates how British (the BBC) and French (Radio France Internationale; rfi) framed the ongoing Cameroon Anglophone crisis, using news stories published from October 1, 2016 to April 2018. The case of Cameroon is unique because what has been politicized is a nexus between ethnicity and linguistic identity where a minority ethnopolitical group that is seeking greater rights. Findings point evidence that suggest that the British press validates and legitimizes the ‘actions’ and ‘requests’ of Anglophone Cameroonians (the return of federalism or complete separation of the duo), while the French press outlet suggest alignment with the ideas of the Cameroon government (one and indivisible nation), casting doubt on marginalization claims of Anglophone Cameroonians. Considering that the current Cameroon Anglophone is historically rooted in European (British and French) colonialism, it is important study from a postcolonial perspective, how the press in these countries that and created what is now a bilingual and ‘bicultural’ Cameroon, would report political crisis half a century after independence. Findings have implications on the development a fresh perspective of postcolonial media theory.

East Asian man ideal types in contemporary Chinese society: fluidity and multiple parameters of masculinity • Janice Wong • Asian masculinity is always an important, but under study area. There are concrete ideas of masculinity in the Western society, but in the East Asian culture, masculinity is not well-defined. Moreover, the way man tackles the fluidity and multiple parameters of masculinity is always changing in modern East Asia. Male surely have some ideal types of male images in their mind that they will try to manage their appearance included face and body, impression and images to achieve an ideal type. This study tries to generalize those male ideal types in East Asia culture through the wen-wu dichotomy. This exploratory study found that there are about eight ideal types of masculinities in East Asia. These ideal types are models or categories that for man to achieve. During the process of achieving an ideal type, male disclosed their reasons: social “other’s” expectations, institution’s expectations and also constructed by the consumer market, and the strategies they used to modify and improve their face and body. For men, they will depend on the inherent they owned, which can influence their self-perception, then select an ideal type that they can associate with or the standard they can reach and go toward that type. Men will control and modify their appearance, both face and body, manage their impression (or their front stage) toward the ideal beauty image standard or improve their impression (through symbolic capital) to satisfy the criteria of an ideal type.

The Moderating Role of Media Freedom on the Relationship Between Internal Conflict and Diversionary External Conflict Initiation: 1948-2010 • Kai Xu, Wayne State University • Conflict-as-functional theorists argue that since a critical function of initiating international conflicts for a country is to divert public attention away from its domestic problems, there must be a significant relationship between a country’s internal conflict and the likelihood of creating external conflict. This study aims to further examine this relationship by introducing a new moderator – the effect of a country’s domestic conflict on external conflict initiation is moderated by its media freedom level.

< 2019 Abstracts

History 2019 Abstracts

Pen and Dagger: America’s Journalist Spies in Soviet Russia, 1920-21 • Elizabeth Atwood, Hood College • The uneasy relationship between the American news media and American spy agencies can be traced to the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Division that was created during World War I and subsequently dispatched agents to Russia immediately following the Bolshevik Revolution. This paper explores three ways the organization used journalism to help gather information on Soviet Russia in 1920 and 1921: hiring American news reporters to work as agents, dispatching agents posing as reporters, and asking journalists to provide specific information. The three ways are illustrated in biographical sketches of Marguerite Harrison, a Baltimore Sun reporter who worked for the Army’s spy organization; Weston Estes, an agent who posed as a reporter and filmmaker; an Albert Boni, a publisher and newspaper reporter who agreed to obtain samples of counterfeit American money for MID’s office in Berlin.

Long Run: How Nick News with Linda Ellerbee stayed on TV for 25 years • Alison Burns • This study explores the longevity of the longest-running children’s newsmagazine in television history, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. While there are scores of news and feature articles about the program and its host, there are few scholarly articles and books that even mention, let alone analyze the show, and no study to date about its history and longevity. Using historical methodology, including original interviews, primary source documents and videos of programs, this article examines how Nick News with Linda Ellerbee stayed on the air for 25 years despite relatively low ratings and meager ad revenue for the network. This paper proposes that a confluence of forces kept the show running, including federal mandates for children’s educational programming, a steady commitment from network executives, an engaging and mission-oriented host who owned the show, high-profile guests and timely topics, and prestigious awards from the news industry.

“It is what I came for – to share in fear and suffering”: The Catholic Worker and the Civil Rights Movement • Bailey Dick, Ohio University • While most of the public knows of Dorothy Day for her social work, pacifist activism, and writing, few are familiar her decades-long commitment to combatting racial injustice. This paper will utilize a close reading of Day’s personal papers, her own reporting in The Catholic Worker to show she did what many mainstream newspapers did not. Day invested in covering civil rights on a consistent basis through long-term relationships with southerners, frequent visits to communities of color, and self-reflection on their role in the struggle.

Johnny Neill’s Lonely Defense of Press Freedom in 1893 Texas • Ralph Frasca • Johnny Neill made a fateful decision when he learned his local city council banned a newspaper as a “public nuisance.” His decision landed the blind twenty-nine-year-old news dealer in prison. His lonely, principled stand for free expression paved the way for two landmark court decisions ensuring freedom of the press, including one of the most famous First Amendment cases in Supreme Court history.

“Highways to Hope”: Samuel L. Adams’ Investigation into Public Accommodations Compliance Under the 1964 Civil Rights Act • Michael Fuhlhage, Wayne State University; Keena Neal, Wayne State University; Jalisa Patrick • Samuel L. Adams, the grandson of a slave, covered the Civil Rights Movement as the St. Petersburg Times’ first Black journalist and the only Black reporter on the race beat in the early 1960s. This paper examines the mainstream reporting methods, prior Black press experience, and ethos of nonviolent civic life that he brought to a 4,300-mile road trip testing Southern compliance with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and investigative series, “Highways to Hope.”

The Yom Kippur War as Reported in Milwaukee’s Newspapers • Timothy Roy Gleason, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • At the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle was a transmitter of news and helped to maintain the Jewish-American experience. Using James Carey’s concepts of communication, this study examines content published by the Chronicle and Milwaukee’s daily newspapers. The Chronicle worked across a transmission-ritual continuum—although close to the ritual side—while the transmission-oriented dailies gave little attention to its Jewish or Arab community members.

The Last Japanese WWII Holdout – Japanese & US Newspaper Coverage of Hiroo Onoda’s Thirty-Year War” • Daniel Haygood, Elon University • This research analyzes Japanese and American newspaper coverage to understand how the media shaped and framed an ongoing World War II narrative centered on Hiroo Onoda and his thirty-year holdout on Lubang Island in the Philippines. The goal is to understand the narratives built around Onoda’s story and how the perspectives are different between the print media of the two countries. The method used for this research was to review coverage by prominent newspapers in each country: Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun and The Japan Times and United States’ Washington Post and the New York Times. The learning informs us that there were differences in how the Japanese and US newspapers covered Onoda’s holdout. The coverage also forced the country to ask hard questions about itself and its intensive drive for material wealth.

Summer of ’67: A Comparative Analysis of Coverage of the Detroit Race Riots • Brittany Jefferson, University of Georgia • The current study seeks to explore the different ways that three newspapers; The New York Times, The Detroit Free Press and The Michigan Chronicle, covered the Detroit riots of 1967 from their respective standpoints as national, local and African American centered publications. This study will use a thematic content analysis and the theoretical framework of framing to determine the differing perspective of each news outlet. This research serves to provide an historical example of the growing body of literature regarding protests coverage across media outlets.

Victorian Eyes: Examining Nineteenth-Century American Journalism Through Three Major English Travel Writers • Farooq Kperogi, Kennesaw State University • American newspapers and journalists—and the newspaper reading culture that American newspaper journalists inspired— were irresistible narrative magnets for many European, especially English, travelers who visited America in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the records of the impressions that registered in the minds of Europeans travelers to America about nineteenth-century American journalism were not always the products of unmediated empirical observations; they were shaped as much by the social and cultural predispositions of the writers as they were by veridical perceptions of the time. Although there is already robust literature on nineteenth-century American journalism, there are scarcely any scholarly explorations of the forms and substance of this period from the perspectives of travel writers. This paper contributes to the disciplinary conversation between journalism history, travel literature and literary journalism by providing perspectives on nineteenth-century Americans newspapers and journalists from the travel narratives of Victorian travel writers and exploring the reactions these narratives provoked in American newspapers of the time.

The “Cronkytization” of the News Presenter Role in the United Kingdom • Madeleine Liseblad, Middle Tennessee State University • With increasing job demands in the 1990s, the British news presenter role underwent a transformation—a “Cronkytization”—as journalists were hired instead of actors/actresses. This case study examined the change, using boundary work and parasocial interaction. Boundaries were clearly redefined as journalists overtook the news presenter role. The role was elevated, becoming more visible for a stronger audience connection. The rotating presenter system was abolished, they were produced as teams, and personality was encouraged.

“Toward the benefit of the Allies”: Patriotism, Propaganda, and the Government-Press Relationship of the Great War • Meghan McCune • This study explores how American journalist Stanley Washburn operated as an instrument of government during the Great War. While the modern government-press relationship is often understood as an adversarial one, the experiences of Great War reporters illustrate a cooperative and friendly relationship that has not been adequately documented by scholars. This study suggests that a new “agency model” is necessary to fully understand the government-press relationship during the Great War and its impact on the modern press.

Regional Differences and the Associated Press: The Mason-Dixon Line in Journalism Standards • Gwyneth Mellinger, James Madison University • Following the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation ruling, the Associated Press found itself at the center of an ideological struggle in which southern, pro-segregation editors imposed their perceptions of objectivity, balance, and accuracy on the wire service. This analysis, which draws on correspondence between AP executives and southern members, demonstrates that unrelenting advocacy for news coverage that reflected southern views on race did in fact alter the wire service’s news values. Specifically, AP executives bent to pressure to cover racial discrimination in the North and to transmit stories that emphasized negative racial stereotypes of African Americans, portraying them as unfit for life in an integrated society.

Media coverage of the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979 • Hoa Nguyen, University of Maryland • The current study examines media coverage of the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979 within the power play between the two Communist brothers. This short war entailed controversial discourse way after its end. For both Chinese and Vietnamese history, this war is a gloomy chapter, and given the significance of casualties and political implications, the war was not given the media coverage it merited in either China or Vietnam. Due to attempts by both nations to cover up this war for fear of hurting bilateral relationships, the Sino-Vietnamese War, for the most part, has been written about by outsiders. Although journalism is considered the first draft of history, the paucity of first-hand media coverage has led to works on this war relying heavily on political analysis and assumptions. Now that more and more access is given to the journalism sources in both China and Vietnam, it is high time one looked at the war, its coverage, and its implications in a more thorough picture. The current study explores media coverage of the war from the following main sources: Nhan Dan newspaper and The New York Times. Subordinate sources include US embassy cables, interviews, books, and historical collections. This study analyzes the dual mute-unmute mode of the Sino-Vietnamese relationship as seen in coverage of the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War.

Tabloid Journalism and Right-Wing Populism: The New York Daily News in the Mid-20th Century • Matthew Pressman, Seton Hall University • The New York Daily News in the mid-20th century was the highest-circulation newspaper in American history (more than 2 million weekday, more than 4 million Sunday), but very little has been written about it. Drawing on seldom-used archival collections and the paper’s recently digitized backfile, this article examines the Daily News’ remarkable success and its controversial editorial positions, arguing that both were rooted in a desire to serve and fight for its core audience.

Neither Public Nor Private: Inventing PBS television, 1965- 1967 • Camille Reyes, Trinity University • Through textual analyses of archival material from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, as well as the Carnegie Commission report on educational television, the paper traces lost lessons from two public television systems abroad, as well as inconsistent rhetoric concerning diversity and audience construction. Despite the best of intentions for a system of public television independent from the constraints of advertising, American PBS was and is a strange hybrid—neither public, nor private.

Cultural Hegemony in New York Press Coverage of the 1969 Stonewall Riots • Michelle Rotuno-Johnson, Ohio University • This paper analyzes New York newspapers’ coverage of the June 1969 Stonewall Inn riots in New York City, particularly depictions of the people involved, using Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. A qualitative thematic analysis is used to examine articles from the New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and Village Voice in the two weeks after the initial Stonewall riots on June 28-29, 1969. The analysis aimed to reveal any underlying stereotypes of gay men and masculinity that may be perpetuated by the media in journalists’ descriptions of the people who confronted police that summer. These four newspapers would set the tone for coverage of the gay rights movement in other U.S. publications, as other queer people began calling for equal rights and more fair press coverage after the riots. This paper defines hegemony theory and traces press coverage of homosexuals from the World War II era until the 1960s. This is a significant study because there has not been an in-depth academic study about contemporary coverage and the effects of societal pressures on press coverage of Stonewall. This paper is also significant as the 50th anniversary of the riots approaches. Research concludes that the New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and Village Voice all contributed to maintaining a heterosexual, masculine power structure through their portrayals of the rioters, thus creating a separation between the patrons at Stonewall and the societal norms of the time.

< 2019 Abstracts

Cultural and Critical Studies 2019 Abstracts

When Art & Culture Becomes the Symbol of Resistance: An Analysis of Creative Protests During the Political Unrests of Pakistan, Egypt and Tunisia • Rauf Arif, Texas Tech University • This paper is about the importance of creative arts in closed societies where freedom of information and speech is not an option. Using a critical discourse analysis, it highlights three case studies from Pakistan, Egypt and Tunisia where artists used creative means and social media to mobilize people against their authoritarian regimes. By providing a thorough analysis of the cultural and historical contexts of the three cases, the paper concludes that during critical circumstances when traditional media are not free, creative arts have the ability to perform the role of an alternate media in the digital age.

Collaboration and Teaching about Liquid Media Literacy: New Challenges • Ralph Beliveau, University of Oklahoma • This paper addresses two of the central concerns facing the advance of media and information literacy in an American context. First, the goals of media literacy proponents may not succeed in accomplishing what they set out to accomplish because of the complexity of the networked media environment. The first wave of media literacy was responding to propaganda in a mass media context. We live in a world of networks now. The second concern has to do with the relationship between media literacy and information literacy. This paper argues that both of these concerns can be addressed by a collaborative approach to media I argue that teaching should stress an alternation between, first, deep critical engagement with media texts and, second, initial evaluations of the veracity, position, and nature of a piece of content prior to critical engagement.

Manufacturing Truth: Epistemic Crisis in the Political Economy of Fake News • Jeffrey Blevins, University of Cincinnati • This study applies Herman and Chomsky’s famous political economic critique of the U.S. news media to the current realm of fake news, and shows that the growth and distribution of fake news on social media during the 2016 U.S. presidential cycle, along with doublespeak about what is considered “fake news” had a detrimental impact on the institutional effectiveness of journalism, and exposed an epistemic flaw in the oft-cited “marketplace of ideas” metaphor used in First Amendment jurisprudence.

Dominant, Residual and Emergent: The Journalistic Performance within The Post • Matthew Blomberg, University of Kansas, USA • Given the increasing stresses on the practice of journalism, both internal and external, and challenges to public perceptions regarding the credibility of the institution, a need exists to better comprehend how the practice is understood and portrayed within other mediums. This study, through an examination of the 2017 Steven Spielberg film, The Post, analyzes the film as a cultural forum and discursive site to see what dominant, residual and emergent messages are on display.

Missing, or just Missed? Mediating Loss in the Missing Richard Simmons Podcast • Kelli Boling, University of South Carolina; Kevin Hull, University of South Carolina; Leigh Moscowitz • This study critically examines the Missing Richard Simmons podcast to explore how producers and participants use media to define and process complex relationships with celebrity figures. Employing qualitative textual analysis, this research demonstrates how audiences mediate celebrity interactions and the potential role these relationships play within a marginalized and fragile community. This project qualitatively explores parasocial interactions to demonstrate the ways expressions of grief and loss are mediated by audiences when a celebrity “relationship” disappears.

A Fifty Year Evolution: A Content Analysis of Miss USA Pageant Questions • Lindsay Bouchacourt, The University of Texas at Austin • This study looks at the evolution of the interview questions of the Miss USA pageant from 1970 to 2018. Beauty pageant winners represent femininity and the ideal woman in American society, and the pageant questions can reflect society’s expectations for women. A qualitative content analysis was conducted, and the findings revealed eight prominent themes. The results show an evolution of the questions over 50 years, which suggest changing gender and social roles for women.

Colton, Coitus, and Comedy: Male Virginity as a Punch Line on The Bachelor • Andrea Briscoe • This study examines a successful reality television show – The Bachelor – and analyzes how it handled having its first male lead that is an outspoken virgin. Through a textual analysis, the television show’s episodes and advertisements are both examined, with a specific lens focusing on masculinity and virginity. The author showcases room for improvement regarding reality television’s narratives surrounding sex, particularly in light of the #MeToo movement.

Making common sense of the cyberlibertarian ideal: The journalistic consecration of John Perry Barlow • Michael Buozis, Temple University • This study critiques the way in which journalism and other media used John Perry Barlow, someone with little to no technical expertise, as an authoritative voice of the emerging Internet. By doing so, this research aims to better account for the ways in which Barlow’s vision of Internet freedom, a deeply problematic cyberlibertarian vision, became a sort of commonsense ideology of Internet discourses, marked by enthusiastic techno-utopianism and libertarian approaches to free speech and markets.

Visual Sovereignty: Six Questions Applied to an Indigenous Video Game • Susan Clotfelter, Colorado State University • The concept of visual sovereignty has been advanced by Indigenous scholars as a way to evaluate media creations, collections, museum exhibitions, and films, whether created by Indigenous or non-Indigenous people. How, then, to evaluate an Indigenous-created video game? This paper draws on the work of Jolene Rickard in photography and museum exhibitions; Michelle Raheja in film scholarship; but also critical explorations of recent Indigenous film and the actions and utterances of characters in those portrayals. It suggests six non-exhaustive questions that can be applied to “Never Alone,” an award-winning Alaska Native-created video game, as a starting point. Because the writer is non-Indigenous and non-Alaskan, these questions are only a beginning, but they chart a starting point for a research agenda, one that might prove useful for examining the contributions of future such Indigenous-created media, as well as future portrayals of Indigenous characters.

“Fake news” and the discursive construction of technology companies’ social power • Brian Creech, Temple University • This article takes up fake news as a kind of discursive object, and interrogates recent discourses about fake news in order to understand what they reveal about the social and cultural power wielded by Silicon Valley. In taking up social media platforms and technology companies as not just an industrial system, but a cultural regime partially constituted through discourse, this article argues discursive objects, like fake news, operate in ways that make technology companies’ social power sensible as a public concern. Using the tools of critical discourses analysis to analyze a broad corpus, this article shows how public commentary and debate has worked to construct fake news it as a socio-technical problem—a formulation that implicated technology company executives as morally responsible, but also created a means for articulating what role these companies should play in liberal democratic life. These discourses push against a corporate libertarian paradigm that has worked to insulate technology companies from broader political and cultural contest.

Making Race Relevant in Southern Political Reporting: A Critical Race Analysis of 2018-2019 Storylines • George Daniels • Using a purposive sample of 17 news media messages, this study employs critical race theory as a framework in a textual analysis of news reporting on political stories across the South. The 2018 gubernatorial elections in Georgia and Florida featured African American candidates while a Mississippi special U.S. Senate election featured an African American candidate. While none was successful, the news media played a central role in making race relevant. Then in 2019, the same news media made relevant in stories involving politicians in Blackface and attire of racial exclusionary groups.

Museums as a Public Good: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Met Museum’s Admission Policy Change • Michael Davis, University of Iowa • For decades, New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has stood as an exemplar for open access. On Jan. 4, 2018, President Daniel Weiss announced that the museum would discontinue its “suggested donation” policy. Starting March 1, 2018, non-New York State residents were expected to pay $25. Using Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze the language in Weiss’ press release, this paper will argue that this action discriminates based on race, residential status, and economic factors.

Malaysia and the Rohingya: Media, Migration, and Politics • Emily Ehmer, Texas State University; Ammina Kothari, Rochester Institute of Technology • This study examines the representation of Rohingya asylum-seekers in Malaysia’s media and how news coverage supports the state regarding issues of sovereignty, political debates about migration, and domestic policies on refugees. The framing analysis draws upon news stories reported by The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, in 2012 through 2016 to identify narrative themes during a period of escalating violence in Myanmar that prompted the Rohingya to flee to Malaysia.

The Vegas shooting: A case study of news literacy and a dysfunctional public sphere • Tim Boudreau, Central Michigan U; Ed Simpson; Elina Erzikova, CMU • This exploratory study examined comments associated with YouTube conspiracy videos posted days after the Las Vegas shooting. Overall, the study found that commenters used the social media platform as a public sphere, where debate and argument were conducted in ways similar to more mainstream outlets. This indicates a need for further exploration of the principles of news literacy and those principles can shape a public sphere.

The Dewey problem: Public journalism, engagement and more than two decades of denigrating discourse • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Colorado-Boulder; Jacob Nelson, Arizona State University; Miles Davis • Using a textual analysis of metajournalistic discourse from journalism trade magazines, this study examines how the industry discursively articulated the need for the public journalism and engaged journalism movements and imagines their audience. The data illustrates how remarkably similar these movements are and the consistency by which the journalism industry imagines its audience. The results are interpreted with an eye toward of the future of the industry and the potential effects of these interventions.

The Visual Rhetoric of Disaster: How Bodies are Represented in Newspaper Photographs of Hurricane Harvey • Ever Figueroa, University of Texas • This study looks at images that appeared on the front pages of newspapers during key dates of hurricane Harvey coverage. Drawing from 106 front page photos gathered from August 28th, 2017 to September 4, 2017, this study presents a visual textual analysis that pays attention to the way race is represented within this context. The results show that media used visual rhetoric that presents minorities as displaced, while whites are represented as saviors and caretakers during moments of environmental crisis.

Hacking Culture not Code: Qualitative Analysis of How the Russian Government Used Facebook Social Ads During the 2016 Presidential Election • Bobbie Foster; Sohana Nasrin, University of Maryland; Krishnan Vasudevan, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland at College Park • Russia’s disinformation campaign intended to cripple American democracy during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and in its aftermath is well documented in recent scholarship (Ziegler, 2018; Barrett, Wadhwa, and Baumann-Pauly, 2018; Farwell, 2018; and Jamieson, 2018). An integral aspect of Russia’s strategy was the exploitation of the existing architectures and affordances of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This study’s main findings suggest that discourses about Black identity such as Black empowerment and Black aesthetics that were presented within enclaved spaces (Squires, 2002) and by micro-celebrities on social media platforms provided a form of consumable culture that could be studied and replicated. The current study, based on a multimodal grounded analysis of 197 Facebook ads made public by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee in May 2018, examined how Russian operatives hacked American culture to encourage forms of mal-civic action. This deliberate decision was premised upon two considerations. First, the examination of Russian propaganda offers a unique case study to consider how Facebook provides a space for foreign actors to learn about American race relations, as the social media platform facilitates the sharing and consumption of text, image, audio and video. Secondly, the researchers argue that this cultural knowledge was employed to engender the trust of Black Americans to ultimately spur them in to civic action. By undertaking this study, we seek to provide a qualitative methodological strategy for scholars to examine other discourses within the dataset that warrant scholarly inquiry.

Performing Identity on Social Media: How the “Pan-African Network” Facebook Group Affords its Members an Oppositional Identity • James Gachau • This study is an exploration of the concept of human identity as it pertains to the ultimate goal of each individual to attain self-fulfillment by “having a responsible share according to capacity in forming and directing the activities of the groups to which one belongs” (Dewey 1954). By identity I do not mean the identity politics which campaigns for the elimination of discriminatory practices based on people’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, or any other “generalized social categories.” Rather, I mean the participation of group members in activities that allow them to identify with the group. I use philosophical and communications literature on identity to explore the Pan-African Network (PAN), a Facebook group that promotes the interests of Africans across the globe by campaigning for the advancement of a proud black identity in a world increasingly perceived as hostile to Blacks and people of African descent. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Rob Cover’s conception of identity online as performative. I propose that as a social media group, PAN gives its members a sense of identity that is predicated upon the discourse and rhetoric produced by the group. In other words, the group is made by and sustained by its multifarious members, and the members are made and sustained by the group as a body of subjective interlocutors, acting as a public composed of members who write and read the norms they expect each other to follow.

Elite Company: Sourcing Trends in 2014-2017 Prestige Press Climate Change Editorials • Christopher Garcia, Florida State University; Jennifer Proffitt, Florida State University • This paper examines the sourcing practices of 103 prestige press climate change editorials published in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today between 2014 to 2017. Utilizing a critical political economic approach, this analysis found that despite the ideological differences between the newspapers of interest in this study, each relied on sourcing practices that emphasized the views of elite political and economic actors with often no scientific training. This examination reveals that despite their differences from news content, editorial content reflects the “objective” balance of journalism norms that have been widely discussed in political economic literature. Thus, despite their ideological differences, editorials often reflect and rely on sourcing from elites who ensure that the discourse of climate change remains one that does not challenge the status quo and that remains a political debate rather than a solution-based discussion.

Losing the Newspaper Building: Collective Nostalgia as Periodization and Preservative • Nicholas Gilewicz, Manhattan College • This paper examines how journalists at metropolitan daily U.S. newspapers covered the sales of their buildings and newsroom moves between 2005 and 2018. In response to allocative decisions beyond their control, newspaper journalists use collective nostalgia in an attempt to preserve their values. As a structure of feeling, collective nostalgia offers refuge from present-day problems, and a future-oriented discourse that binds the community of newspaper journalists, preparing them—and readers—for the newspaper’s move.

Spill the Foundation: Parasocial Relationships with Beauty YouTubers • Samantha Kissel, Indiana University of Pennsylvania • Creating and utilizing a YouTube account is an important part of being a social media influencer. Influencers use their content to develop parasocial relationships with subscribers. This study looks at beauty YouTubers who maintain trust with their audiences after being involved in sponsored or collaboration projects with cosmetic brands. The findings reveal they need to maintain activity on their YouTube accounts and continually build PSI in their videos to gain additional followers.

Storming with communication: Organization leads a community’s resilience after Hurricane Harvey • Jacqueline Lambiase, TCU Bob Schieffer College of Communication; Ashley English, Texas Christian University • One district serving 75,000 students in parts of Houston and several of its southwestern suburbs, the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD), used a strategy of connection and empathy when creating community messaging tactics before, during, and after Hurricane Harvey. This qualitative case study tests the frameworks of social legitimacy theory and the discourse of renewal theory, as well as focuses on a public school system, rather than a corporate context, which receives the lion’s share of scholarly work related to crisis communication. This case study also uses rhetorical analysis of the district’s messaging—especially those of its superintendent—to scrutinize the ways that the Fort Bend ISD served as caretaker, booster, and beacon of hope during this historic storm in 2017 and for more than a year after the hurricane.

Mapping Representations of the Subaltern: The case of Indigenous Environmental Activists Bertha Caceres & Isidro Baldenegro • Dominique Montiel Valle • The present case study contributes to research on theories of the subaltern subject by examining news coverage of two Latin American activists’ (Berta Caceres, Isidro Baldenegro) death. In order to deconstruct and analyze dominant ideologies of ethnicity, gender, and class in news discourse, a mixed methods approach of critical discourse analysis and content analysis was deemed most appropriate. Research found that both activists were constructed as subalterns and that dominant ideologies of ethnic whitening, the patriarchal division of the private and public sphere, and classism were prevalent within news commentary. Though both activists’ representation as a subaltern was intersectional, Caceres’ was predominantly gendered.

Korean Popular Culture Consumption as a Way among First-and-a-half Generation Korean Immigrant Children in the United States to Develop Their Ethnic Identities • Jiwoo Park, Northwood University- Michigan • 12 first-and-a-half generation Korean immigrant children in the U.S. were recruited for photo-elicitation interview (PEI) to explore the effects of digital media-driven Korean popular culture consumption on their lives. As a result, they revealed their frequent consumption of Korean popular culture on their digital media devices functioned as a Korean cultural facilitator that is influential in their ethnic identity formation in one sense and in turn contributed to their senses of Korean identity in another.

Thinking Black: a Historical Analysis of the Impact of Black Racial Identity on the Discourse of Media Practitioners’ Coverage of Social Justice and Political News • Gheni Platenburg, University of Montevallo • Using a triangulation approach, this study explores this possibility by examining the impact of race on black, cable news practitioners’ discourse and looking for framing patterns in the discourse of these practitioners on the 2015 Baltimore protests, Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address and the Bill Cosby sexual assault scandal. This possibility is also vetted by examining whether these media practitioners embrace a black racial identity.

Caste Culture as Caste Power: Lifestyle Media and the Culturalization of Caste in India’s News Ecology • Pallavi Rao, Indiana University Bloomington • This paper examines how Indian lifestyle media perform an important role in reproducing the socio-politcal relations of caste through the benign language of taste cultures. I argue that mediated constructions of “Indian culture” that proliferate in soft journalism give life to essentialist notions of “caste as culture.” Lifestyle media therefore result in “the culturalization of caste,” through a heterophilia or love for the Other, without disturbing processes that make the Self or the Other.

Whose Vision Is It? Lessons of European Integration from Advocacy for the Roma in Romania • Adina Schneeweis, Communication and Journalism • Learning from the people doing activism, this article examines intervention for the Roma – Europe’s largest, most impoverished, and most excluded minority – through discourses of development, advocacy communication, and the international funding system. The study evaluates ideological commitments underpinning transnational development through in-depth interviews with Romanian activists (as an example of advocacy in the European Union today). A discourse of development marked by opportunism and bureaucracy emerges, different than a grassroots vision of integrated change.

#WhiteWednesdays, Femonationalism, and Authenticity A Twitter Discourse Analysis on the role of Hijab in Feminist Activism • Sara Shaban • In 2017, women in Iran launched a movement against the country’s compulsory hijab law, #WhiteWednesdays. Western right-wing conservatives capitalized on this movement to geopolitically isolate Iran by simultaneously praising women in Iran and criticizing western liberal feminists on Twitter. This study employs critical discourse analysis to examine the Twitter narratives around the role of hijab within feminist activism. Practical implications include the power of femonationalism to circulate specific political ideologies regarding feminism and geopolitics.

Hegemonic Masculinity in the 2016 Presidential Campaign: How Breitbart Framed Trump as the “Uber” Male • John Soloski, U of Georgia; Ryan Kor-Sins, U of Utah • During the 2016 presidential campaign, Breitbart News, a far-right, online publication, emerged as the most popular source of news for conservatives, eclipsing other mainstream news outlets like Fox News. Breitbart was one of Donald Trump’s primary allies in the media, and its former Executive Chairman, Steve Bannon, went on to become Trump’s Chief Strategist. The meteoric rise in popularity of this ideologically-centric news source shed light on the shifting character of the American media landscape. In this paper, we argue that this shift can best be conceptualized using the theory of hegemonic masculinity to trace how Breitbart framed Trump and his opponent, Hillary Clinton, during the 2016 election season. This paper uses critical framing analysis to analyze 62 Breitbart articles to understand how the themes of hegemonic masculinity are woven into Breitbart’s election coverage. Ultimately, we argue that Breitbart’s framing represents an alt-right brand of hegemonic masculinity and identify three main frames in the articles: Trump as a “manly man,” Trump as a “regular guy,” and Trump as an “underdog.”

The Carnivalesque in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election • Bob Trumpbour, Dr.; Shaheed Mohammed, Penn State Altoona • In the 2016 general election for the presidency of the United States, the world saw the emergence of a non-politician celebrity, Donald Trump, as a key figure who, in political rhetoric and actions, frequently challenged existing power structures and figures. That candidate’s eventual electoral win combined with reports of violence at campaign rallies and elements such as calls for removal of those in power, the ridicule of opponents, the use of invectives and name-calling, all suggest parallels to Bakhtin’s elucidation of the carnival and the carnivalesque. The authors examine media coverage of the 2016 campaign using quantitative methods to uncover specific, tangible evidence for carnivalesque references in coverage of the Trump campaign, followed by qualitative analysis of the findings. Evidence demonstrated that references to the carnivalesque were significantly higher in number than in media coverage during the same time frame for the democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. The far-reaching implications of presidential campaigns which are steeped in carnivalesque rhetoric and actions are discussed, with concerns raised regarding the future of media institutions and participatory democracy.

2019 Abstracts

Communication Theory and Methodology 2019 Abstracts

Open Call Competition
Social Networking for Interpersonal Life: Facebook Use and the Forms of Competence • Brandon Bouchillon • This study considered associations between Facebook use, computer-mediated communication competence, and interpersonal competence over time. Results indicate CMC competence contributed to interpersonal competence, and interpersonal competence related to CMC competence. Facebook use related to CMC competence as well, but not to interpersonal competence, at least not directly. Facebook use did contribute to interpersonal competence indirectly, through increasing CMC competence over time. Social networking can facilitate real-world interactional capability by first adding to its online counterpart.

Beyond the What to the Who: Advancing Archetype Theory to Improve Branded Communication • Katie Wiliams; Karissa Skerda; Jared Brickman, Carnegie Dartlet • Archetypal theories have been long studied to better define human personality. Concurrently, brands looking to separate from their peers have attempted communication strategies that take advantage of emotional storytelling through the voice of a personified protagonist. However, bringing consensus around this vision is difficult in organizations with varied stakeholders. This paper extends archetypal theory in communication specific to organizations while also proposing a method for consensus-driven research to uncover the “who” of higher education institutions.

Mediation analysis in communication science: Examining the study of indirect effects in communication journals between 1996-2017 • Michael Chan; Panfeng Hu; Macau K. F. Mak, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Mediation analysis is one of the most popular techniques in communication research. However, a systematic synthesis of the trends, tools and statistical methods used to conduct mediation analysis in the field is lacking. This content analysis examined 595 journal articles published in 14 communication journals from 1996 to 2017. Results showed an exponential increase in the number of studies employing mediation analyses in the past two decades using both regression and SEM-based approaches. The proportion of studies using regression-based approaches in particular has grown rapidly in the second decade, due to the popularity of user-friendly macros that simplifies necessary procedures to test indirect effects. Bootstrapping has become the most popular method for testing indirect effects while uses of the Baron & Kenny and Sobel approaches have declined over time. Many studies though claim mediating mechanisms without formally testing the indirect effects, and others report the indirect effects, but not how they were tested. Findings and implications for practice are discussed.

Climate frame dynamics over time: Computer-assisted detection and identification of news frames • Yingying Chen, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University; Kjerstin Thorson; John Andrew Lavaccare • We analyze the evolution of news frames about climate change over the course of four years, between 2012-2015. We use a structural topic model combined with human coding to detect frames in news coverage of twelve climate-related events between 2012-2015. Findings suggest that frame usage strongly varies by event, and that some events seem to constrain the diversity of news media framings. Journalists also consistently rely on a small set of “default” frames about climate.

That’s not news: Audience perceptions of ‘news-ness’ and why it matters • Stephanie Edgerly; Emily Vraga • How do people identify news on social media sites? This study uses an experimental design to isolate two features of a headline shared on Twitter to determine the impact on audience ratings of ‘news-ness.’ We find that headline story type (breaking, exclusive, opinion, fact check) and source (AP, MSNBC, Fox News) separately impact news-ness, with partisanship conditioning the influence of source on news-ness. News-ness then mediates these effects on outcomes of tweet credibility and verification.

What makes gun violence a prominent issue? A computational analysis of compelling arguments and partisanship • Lei Guo, Boston University; Kate Mays; Yiyan Zhang, Boston University; Margrit Betke; Derry Wijaya • Drawing upon theories of compelling arguments and selective exposure, this study examines the impact of mainstream and partisan media on U.S. public opinion regarding a highly polarized issue: gun violence. Results demonstrate that episodic framing of gun violence in the mainstream media increases the issue prominence among conservatives than liberals, thus to some extent narrowing the opinion polarization. Exposure to conservative media, however, makes people believe gun violence is a less important issue.

Priming Postpartum Prejudice: Comparing Media Effects and Embodied Risk to Accessibility of Mental Illness Concepts • Lynette Holman, Appalachian State University; Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina • A between-subjects experimental replication (N = 581) was conducted to ascertain whether a media exemplar could prime a stereotype of mental illness among women who are pregnant or of child-bearing age and how that media effect compared to the effect of one’s health status. The findings suggest that the provocation of the exemplars alone was not significant predictor of participant perceptions of risk. Pregnancy prominently predicted mental illness stereotypes, increased risk perceptions, and treatment avoidance.

Foundations for the development of communication that works with, not against, stakeholders’ existing viewpoints • Sadie Hundemer, University of Florida; Martha Monroe, University of Florida • The scientific and social complexity of natural resources issues can yield perspectives that vary substantially among stakeholder groups. This diversity can make it difficult to structure communication that promotes outreach objectives and cross-group collaboration while also attending to existing viewpoints. This study uses cultural domain analysis to examine stakeholders’ mental models of regional water challenges and explore ways natural resources communicators can use this information to bridge cognitive divides.

Mapping the Corporate Social Responsibility Research in Communication: A Network and Bibliometric Analysis • Grace Ji, Virginia Commonwealth University; Weiting Tao, University of Miami; Hyejoon Rim • This study evaluates how scholarly research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in communication has developed over the last four decades and discovers the pattern of knowledge diffusion during this process. Comprehensive bibliometric analyses were conducted with 290 peer-reviewed articles published between 1980 to 2018 by 490 authors in 61 communication journals. Taking a network perspective, invisible colleges of CSR research were unveiled via co-authorship and co-citation analyses. The study identifies the studies and publication sources that have the most significant influence over the construction of CSR scholarship in communication and uncovered the social networks of scholarly collaboration. Results empirically demonstrate the area of CSR research in communication is notably multidisciplinary, which is investigated by scholars from public relations, advertising, organizational communication, and environmental communication. In addition, results also show the joint impact from management and marketing literature to CSR scholarship and their transformation into the communication field via public relations and advertising research. Future paths of CSR research in communication are suggested.

Inferential statistical analysis with Inaccurate self-reports Comparing correlational outcomes with self reported and logged mobile data • Mo Jones-Jang; Yu-Jin Heo, University of South Carolina; Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina; Leigh Moscowitz; David Moscowitz, School of Journalism and Mass • Research on the social and psychological effects of mobile phone use primarily employs self-report measures. However, recent findings suggest that such data contain a significant amount of measurement errors. The key question of this study is not only to examine discrepancies between survey and logged data, but also to compare correlational outcomes resulting from two different measures. Two hundred ninety seven college students participated in this study by providing both self-reported and digital trace data of daily minutes of screen time and number of phone screen unlocks over seven days. We specifically examined correlations between smartphone use and four social variables, including bridging, bonding, well-being, and problematic use of smartphone. The results indicate that the effect sizes of correlations using self-reported data are in fact smaller compared to inferential statistical results with logged data. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.

Classifying Twitter Bots • Michael Kearney, School of Journalism | Informatics Institute | University of Missouri; Lingshu Hu, University of Missouri; Iuliia Alieva, University of Missouri – Columbia • The current study sought to leverage public Twitter lists in order to develop a machine learning classifier of “bot” accounts. In addition to developing a Twitter bot detecting-classifier, we have also exported this classifier in two ways. First, we have exported the classifier as an interactive Shiny web application. Second, we have exported the classifier as an R package, tweetbotornot. As a programatic tool, it is possible to leverage the classifier to get probability estimates of up to 90,000 Twitter accounts every fifteen minutes. Through our work to develop and share list-leveraging Twitter bot classifier tools, we threfore offer three major contributions. First, we provide a novel and flexible approach to the classification of Twitter accounts. While accounts were initially labelled using well-known “bot” accounts and lists published in previous research, additional labelling was achieved via a new snowballing method wherein additional accounts were identified if they appeared on similar Twitter lists. Second, we provide a transparent, user friendly (Shiny web application), and scalable tools (R packages) for classifying Twitter accounts. These tools can be used by members of the public and academics alike. Finally, we provide a template for a flexible and dynamic approach to the construction of Twitter classifiers. Twitter lists can similarly be leveraged for other types of accounts, allowing researchers to further maximize information gleaned from the large trove of Twitter data.

Culling on Social Media: Antecedents and Consequences of Unfriending and Unsubscribing • Dam Hee Kim; Kate Kenski; Mo Jones-Jang • This paper investigates whether selective avoidance actions on social media such as unfriending and unsubscribing in the context of elections are determined by motivated reasoning styles. Analyses of a two-wave national survey collected before and after the 2018 midterm election revealed that individuals with a high need for cognition and a high need to evaluate were most likely to selectively avoid over time, which then positively predicted political expression on social media.

Framing Effects of Numerical Information in Communicating Risk • ByungGu Lee; Jiawei Liu, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hyesun Choung; Douglas McLeod • In messages that present information about risk, the same piece of information can be presented in alternative ways. This article investigates the interplay between risk statements (i.e., positive versus negative portrayal of risks) and number formats (i.e., raw frequency versus percentage) in influencing readers’ comprehension of numerical information and their subsequent emotional and cognitive evaluations. Experimental findings across two issue contexts (impaired driving and endangered species) showed that statistics in the form of percentages reduced the effects of positive versus negative risk statements and produced more accurate and reliable comprehension of risks as compared to statistics with raw frequency formats. Moreover, the comprehension of risk statistics determined the level of emotions readers experienced, which in turn affected their risk perceptions. Implications are discussed.

Highlights of Two U.S. Presidential Debates: Identifying Candidate Insults that Go Viral • Josephine Lukito, UW Madison; Prathusha Sarma, UW Madison; Jordan Foley, UW Madison; Jon Pevehouse, UW Madison; Aman Abhishek; Dhavan Shah, UW Madison; Erik Bucy, Texas Tech University; Chris Wells, Boston University • This study analyzes social media discourse and debate rhetoric during two U.S. Presidential debates: the first 2012 debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and the first 2016 debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Using a combined strategy involving time series analysis to identify potential viral moments in social media and natural language processing to determine whether words shifted in use in the pre-viral and post-viral moment, we find and examine several viral moments in both debates. Notably, the majority of 2016 debate viral moments were insults or remarks about a scandal, rather than gaffs or mistakes. Overall, the results of both 2012 and 2016 suggest that candidates can induce viral moments on social media to temporarily increase attention towards themselves.

Processing News on Social Media. The Political Incidental News Exposure Model (PINE) • Joerg Matthes, U of Vienna; Andreas Nanz, U of Vienna; Raffael Heiss, Management Center Innsbruck; Marlis Stubenvoll • This paper outlines the Political Incidental News Exposure Model (PINE). The PINE model understands incidental news exposure (IE) as a dynamic process by distinguishing two levels of IE: the passive scanning of incidentally encountered political information (first level) and the intentional processing of incidentally encountered content (second level). The PINE model further differentiates intention-based and topic-based IE, and it conceptualizes IE with respect to political and non-political content. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.

Agenda Setting by News and by the Audience in a News Portal Experiment • Martina Santia; Raymond Pingree, Louisiana State University; Kirill Bryanov, Louisiana State University; Brian Watson • A 12-day experiment embedded in a purpose-built online news portal tested effects of the news agenda and the “user agenda.” Participants were randomly assigned to encounter more or fewer real, timely news stories on particular topics (the news agenda) and altered rankings of stories in a recommended or trending sidebar (the user agenda). News agenda setting effects were found only on education. A user agenda emphasizing racism increased perceived importance of immigration, particularly among Republicans.

Why Defining Automation in Journalism is not Automatic • Jia Yao Lim, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Ruoming Zheng, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Andrew Prahl, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Shangyuan Wu, Nanyang Technological University Singapore • This paper examined the ways automation has been defined in manufacturing, education, healthcare, and journalism, arguing that the journalism industry can learn from the experience of other industries when it comes to understanding the impact of automation. In the context of journalism, most definitions include references to an autonomous system that entails the replacement of humans, consistent with fears that algorithms might displace human journalists when it comes to writing stories. However, many of these definitions have focused on automated writing, when journalism is more than just writing articles.

Personality factors differentiating selective exposure, selective avoidance and the belief in the importance of silencing others: Further evidence for discriminant validity • Yariv Tsfati, University of Haifa • Recent research proposed self-report measures tapping three different strategies used by people to place themselves within an ideologically homogeneous information environment: selective exposure, selective avoidance and the belief in the importance of silencing others (BISO). However, demonstrating that people are able to answer survey questions about these strategies falls short of establishing that people are able to distinguish between them. Using online survey data collected in Israel (n = 749), the present investigation explores the discriminant validity of these constructs. Confirmatory factor models and model comparisons support their empirical differentiation. In addition, it is argued that the constructs are empirically different given the fact that they correlate differently with personality factors. BISO is more strongly and positively associated with authoritarianism. Selective avoidance is more strongly negatively associated with openness to experience. Selective exposure was positively associated with empathy, with which selective avoidance was negatively associated. Further differences in the correlates of these constructs are discussed.

Theorizing News Literacy: A Proposed Framework for Unifying a Fractured Field • Emily Vraga; Melissa Tully; Adam Maksl, Indiana University Southeast; Stephanie Craft, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Seth Ashley, Boise State University • News literacy research has received increased attention as we consider the role of news in a chaotic public sphere. However, existing research lacks a consistent definition of news literacy or guiding theoretical framework. Therefore, building from the Theory of Planned Behavior, we propose a model for exploring critical news consumption in which we add news literacy – defined as knowledge and skills in five domains – to the model. We conclude by proposing a continued research agenda.

News About Victims’ Delayed Sexual Harassment Accusations and Effects on Victim Blaming: A Mediation Model • Christian von Sikorski; Melanie Saumer • We lack research on how news about delayed sexual harassment accusations affect victim blaming. Drawing from construal level theory and attribution theory, we experimentally tested how participants react to news about a victim’s delayed accusations (harassment occurred years ago), non-delayed accusations (harassment occurred days ago), or accusations with no time cue. Findings showed that delayed accusations resulted in the attribution of negative motives toward the victim. Negative motives, in turn, increased victim blaming.

Testing the Role of Positive News in the Empathy-Helping Relationship • Masahiro Yamamoto, University at Albany; Chun Yang, Louisiana State University • This study integrates two types of news consumption, positive and crime news, into the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis. Data from an online survey of Japanese citizens reveal that positive news use at Time 1 has a positive effect on helping at Time 2. Data also indicate that positive news use does not have a significant effect on empathic concern and personal distress. Rather, empathic concern at Time 1 has a positive effect on both positive news use and crime news use at Time 2. Implications are discussed for the role of positive news in promoting prosocial, helping behaviors.

Exploring Genetic Contributions to Motives for News Use: A Study of Identical and Fraternal Twins • Chance York, Kent State University; Paul Haridakis, Kent State University • Prior research conducted within the Uses and Gratifications theoretical framework has considered the contribution of numerous social and psychological (e.g., personality) differences to media use and effects. In this study, we explore whether an additional fundamental source of individual differences—genes—also may explain motives to use media. Utilizing original data collected on identical and fraternal twins, we find differences in underlying genetic traits explained 35% of the variance in news consumption for surveillance purposes.

Understanding privacy concern in using social media: The extension of Marshall McLuhan • Bu Zhong, Pennsylvania State University; Tao Sun, University of Vermont; Yakun Huang, Jinan University; Yu Zhou, South China University of Technology • The advances of information and communication technologies (ICT) have reinvigorated a long tradition of searching for the links between the dominant communication technology of an age and the key features of society. Guided by Marshall McLuhan’s media ecology theory highlighting the ICT role in defining historical stages, this study analyzes the Internet privacy concern (IPC) among social media users (N = 1,340) from the United States and China. It has found a generation gap concerning IPC between people growing up with social media as a dominate media platform and those who did not. A significant correlation between the power use of social media and IPC was also identified, which was further moderated by respondents’ cultural background. The findings expand media ecology theory by providing empirical support to it in terms of the impact of dominant ICT on societal perceptions, thus contributing to the understanding of IPC in a cross-cultural setting.

Student Paper Competition
Realtime Distributed Cognition: A Conceptual Framework • Wes Hartley, Regent University • While the broad framework of distributed cognition has proven to be a versatile theoretical lens through which to view team problem-solving structures, this broad use of distributed cognition theory has, perhaps, allowed the theory to drift away from some of the root ideas that grounded the original concept. This paper seeks to advance the distributed cognition framework by narrowing the parameters of the theory and providing a new conceptual framework with clear boundaries for identifying distributed cognition units. Two real-world scenarios will be evaluated using this new conceptual framework in order to demonstrate its functionality.

An Approach for Measuring Partisan Segregation in Political Media Consumption • Jacob Long • Despite the amount of research on the topic, there are few direct measurements of partisan segregation in media use. Of those that do exist, none are easily transferable to multi-party systems. Using a network analytic approach, I use data from a nationally representative survey of the United States to describe the amount of partisan segregation in media consumption and discuss further applications for these measures.

Improving the Generalizability of Inferences in Quantitative Communication Research • Jacob Long • This paper discusses the quality of quantitative communication research in light of the so-called “replicability crisis” that has affected neighboring disciplines. I discuss some of the problems these fields have faced and suggest implementing some of their solutions in communication research. I then argue for greater consideration of generalizability and propose a theoretical framework for assessing the quality of studies suited to a variable field like communication.

A Territorial Dispute or An Agenda Battle? A Cross-National Examination of the Network and Intermedia Agenda-Setting Effects between Newspapers and Twitter on Diaoyu Islands Dispute • Yan Su, The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University; Jun Hu, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California • Within the theoretical frameworks of Network Agenda-Setting (NAS) model and intermedia agenda-setting, this study analyzed the media agendas in China, Japan, and the U.S. on the Diaoyu Islands dispute – a geopolitical issue involved multiple subjects, in terms of the theme, directionality, and valence of present relationships. Further, the study analyzed the discussions on Twitter and probed the intermedia power flow between Twitter and the selected media. The findings showed that the Chinese media’s depictions were more biased. Although reciprocities emerged, Twitter exhibited an overall stronger power in predicting traditional media’s agenda. Moreover, Chinese and the U.S. media had stronger transnational intermedia effects, whereas Japanese media is less likely to exert influence across the national boundaries.

< 2019 Abstracts

Communication Technology 2019 Abstracts

Faculty Paper Competition
Examining the Role of Individual Differences & Motivation in Predicting Social TV Viewing Behaviors among Young Adults in the U.S. • Alexandra Merceron; David Atkin • Social TV is the modern media multitasking behavior in which audiences engage in simultaneous social media use while watching linear or streaming television. An online survey (N = 276) tested uses and gratifications and social cognitive theory as a framework for examining motivations closely associated with television consumption and social media use. Results suggest that Personal Innovativeness, Internet Self-Efficacy and the Need for Control over media positively influence the likelihood of using Social TV.

Is video news better in virtual reality? An experimental examination of news processing outcomes between 2D and 360-degree formats on mobile platforms • Aaron Atkins, Graduate Student Interest Group; JAtin Srivastava, Ohio University; Eric Williams; John Bowditch; Benjamin Carpenter; Daniel Ryan • Considering 360-degree videos as a part of the news media fundamentally influences the way we think about the building blocks of journalistic practice, such as defining a story or defining the role of the journalist as a content creator. It also raises concerns about the audience’s ability to process the content effectively, which is vital to developing a critical understanding of that content. Unlike entertainment-based contexts, processing in 360-degree news environments involve assessment of the quality of the information and the source, among others, to make decisions about validity of the information being presented; immersive environments may hamper this evaluative process, which involves counter-argumentation and a deeper level of scrutiny. To address this, an experimental study was conducted to compare the nature of information processing between two-dimensional (2D) video news delivered through a mobile handset, 360-degree video news delivered through a mobile handset, and 360-degree video news delivered via head-mounted display. Findings indicated that across modes of delivery, 360-degree video news elicited a stronger experience of presence from its audience than the 2D format, which was expected. However, the 2D video format was associated with deeper processing of the messages than the 360-degree news. Implications of these findings for future research as well as professional journalism practice are discussed.

Countering Othering Through Digital Technology: How Online Semi-Structured Micro-Interventions across Difference Influence Belonging and Curiosity • Gina Baleria • This exploratory qualitative study sought to discover how a single, relational intervention in a digital space focused on civil, respectful conversation across difference might increase marginalized college students’ sense of belonging and privileged students’ level of curiosity. Findings involved how the digital intervention influenced student feelings of belonging, curiosity, and connection in other parts of their lives, including a desire and openness to foster rapport and build relationships where before they may have avoided engagement.

Hashtag Justice: Implications of Social Media Engagement on Social Movement Perceptions • Nadine Barnett Cosby, Iona College • In recent years social media platforms have emerged as integral and operative elements of activism social justice movements. Prior studies have focused primarily on quantifying the use of social media in political and social campaigns. The overall purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the quality and types of engagement that occur on social media platforms related to social justice movements. The study used mixed qualitative methodologies to investigate how the use of social media to communicate and/or engage with protest movements – specifically Black Lives Matter and Take a Knee — impacts awareness and perceptions of the movement. The mixed-methods research design incorporated content analysis of approximately 1400 Facebook and Twitter posts that utilized prevalent hashtags for the movements, in-depth interviews with a select sample of 5 participants, and analysis of the social media discourse on the topic among the interview subjects’ social media timelines. Findings indicate that discourse via social media affords movements and activists the opportunity for organization, mobilization and free expression of a movement’s people, purpose and plans. As a result, social media has become a preferred medium giving voice to the marginalized. However, one of the pitfalls of social media used in this way is the potential to effectively drown out or subvert the narrative of a movement by those presenting counter-narratives, which presents a major issue of concern for many activists and movements.

Media Participation When Nothing and Everything Is at Stake: Creative, Consumptive Influences on Political Engagement • Erik Bucy, Texas Tech University; Jacob Groshek, Boston University; Li Zhang, Boston University • This study builds upon previous inquiries into the media participation hypothesis, originally advanced by Author (2005) and recently buttressed with longitudinal data (Author, 2018). In this analysis, we examine the extent to which previous theorizing based largely on the presidential campaign context holds when considering midterm elections in the United States. A series of hierarchical regression analyses using nationally representative data from 2014 and 2018 were modelled and compared across dimensions of campaign participation, crossover political talk, and political system efficacy. On the whole, support is found for increased use of creative media activity in comparison to more passive consumption of traditional media in positively predicting political engagement. One instance where this did not hold, however, was in augmenting political system efficacy. Findings are discussed in the context of midterm versus presidential elections as well as changes in the perceived consequence of the highly disparate midterm elections of 2014 and 2018. This study thereby introduces additional nuance to the media participation hypothesis while contextualizing the evolving nature of the uses made of increasingly interactive and participatory media.

Virtual Diffusion: Psychometric Predictors of Consumer-Level VR Device Adoption and Usage • James Cummings, Boston University; Tiernan Cahill, Boston University; Blake Wertz, Boston University; Qiankun Zhong, UC Davis • In recent years virtual reality (VR) technology has been mainstreamed for everyday media audiences, with various consumer-facing devices released by media firms such as Facebook, Google, Samsung, and HTC. In order to better understand who is most likely to adopt mainstream commercial VR technology for personal use, the current study seeks to produce a psychographic profile of VR users. The present research investigates the role of various psychological factors in predicting VR adoption rates and patterns of sustained use over time, examining psychographics relevant to the unique immersive affordances of the technology (e.g., immersion, mental absorption, sensory richness, and escape from external reality), as well as trait levels of individual innovativeness and user demographics. Separate analyses were conducted for fixed versus mobile VR platforms, in light of distinct technological affordances. In general, models accounting for psychometric factors – specifically, individual differences in immersive tendencies, openness to absorption, sensation-seeking, need for cognition, and social well-being – offered additional predictive insight into VR technology adoption, initial usage, and change in usage over time. The findings yielded here not only expand upon the limited work previously investigating theoretically-relevant individual differences predicting VR adoption, but also mark the promise of psychometrics for understanding the diffusion of consumer-facing VR devices. Areas for future study – including explanation of distinct predictors of adoption versus usage, as well as testing of additional psychological variables of possible relevance – are discussed.

Social Media Engagement Tactics in Community Policing: Potential Privacy and Security Concerns • Alexander Carter, University of Tennessee; Mariea Hoy; Betsy DeSimone, University of Tennessee • Despite law enforcement’s best efforts to use social media as a means of community policing, some engagement tactics may lead citizens to disclose personally identifiable information (PII). Through Salesforce Marketing CloudRadian6 software, researchers coded 100 tweets with the popular #9PMRoutine that tagged @PascoSheriff for participant PII. Implications for law enforcement to protect their communities are discussed as well as opportunities to continue to cultivate their online relationships in a more secure forum.

Technology Power Usage and Health Portal Acceptance among Chinese Cancer Patients and Their Families • Chan Chen; Yujun Nam; Hang Guo • The advancement of mobile technology provided a unique opportunity for health communication research in China. Internet-based healthcare portals allowed users to remotely make appointments, consult with doctors and keep updated on current health news. Results showed that individual difference in technology power usage is associated with intention to adopt health portal to enhance health communication independently and via its prior influence on perceived control of health portal. Implications to healthcare practices are discussed.

Determinants of Technology Acceptance: Two Model-Based Meta-Analytic Reviews • Charles Feng, Shenzhen University; Xianglin Su, Shenzhen University; Zhiliang Lin, Jinan University; Yiru He, Shenzhen University; Nan Luo, Shenzhen University; Yuting Zhang, Jinan University • The technology acceptance model (TAM) and its variants and extensions are the most popular theoretical framework in examining the adoption of technologies. Two model-based meta-analytical approaches, i.e., the meta-meta-analysis and the conventional meta-analysis, were used to pool the correlations and to test the path relationships among the variables of the TAM. It was found that the extended TAM which we term the TAM Plus, prevails in the model fit testing and that the results of the pooled correlations and path coefficients estimated using the meta-meta-analysis and meta-analysis were generally consistent.

The effects of internet use, bystander experiences, and moral disengagement on children’s online privacy violation. • Yi-Hsing Han, Fu Jen Catholic University; Shih-Hsien Hsu, National Taiwan University • Based on national survey data, this study proposes new advances by examining the relationship among problematic internet use, online observation of cyberbullying, moral disengagement, and online privacy invasion among three age groups. Results show that the social cognitive development of self-efficacy, use of euphemistic labeling, and moral disengagement vary between children and adolescents. Children’s age, problematic internet use, and bystander experiences all predict their moral disengagement, causing their sharing and liking others’ privacy violation incidents.

Mobile Users and Power Users: Digital newspaper readers’ device preference, familiarity with technology, and engagement • Jackie Incollingo, Rider University • Mixed-methods research examines uses and gratifications sought by a newspaper’s mobile users, and correlations with technological familiarity and engagement. Survey results (n=1,252) demonstrate mobile-first participants had statistically significant higher levels of engagement. Participants most at ease with technology preferred mobile devices, and reported higher engagement. In semistructured interviews (n=25), convenience and affinity for mobile devices was salient. Correlations between mobile news preference and ease with technology suggest a process gratification derived from using mobile devices.

Interdependent Self-Construal and System-Generated Cues: Causal Attribution in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Campaigns • Jinho Joo; Yoon-Joo Lee, Washington State University; Hye Jin Yoon, Southern Methodist University • This article examined the interactions between interdependent self-construal and system-generated cues in evaluating casual attribution in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns. Under a high number of Twitter followers on a CSR campaign page, individuals with a high level of interdependent self-construal tend to perceive a CSR campaign more genuine and therefore have higher purchase intentions. However, under a low number of Twitter followers, the conditional indirect effect was not found.

Walk Me Through my Social World: The Uses and Gratifications of News Values on Social Media • Jack Karlis, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire • This study examined the uses and gratifications of news values on social media by 18-29 year-olds, the largest demographic of social media users through an electronic survey (N=613). Using Bednarek’s (2016) news values on social media and Sundar and Limperos’ (2013) gratifications of social media, a new gratification, Aided Exploration, and it was also found to be a predictor of news value consumption on social media.

Cognitive and Affective Processing of Interactive Infographics on the web • Narae Kim; Adam Pitluk; Glenn Leshner, University of Oklahoma • Effects of interactive infographics along with multiple modalities on online websites users’ cognitive and affective information processing outcomes were tested. A 2 (low/high interactive infographics) × 2 (low/high modalities) between-subjects factorial experiment was conducted in an online setting. Significant main effects and interaction effects were found on participants’ information comprehension, recall, recognition, and disorientation. Such outcomes were addressed in the context of theoretical frameworks guided this study. Implications and limitations were also discussed.

Facebook Birthday Fundraising as an impression management tool: The mediating role of altruistic motive on prosocial behavior • Hyosun Kim • An online experiment was conducted to understand how Facebook Birthday Fundraising helps enhance donation intent. Results revealed that social distance (proximal vs. distant) with friends does not directly affect willingness to donate to the Facebook Birthday Fundraising; however, the relationship between social distance and donation intent is mediated by altruistic motive and issue involvement. That is, individuals attribute the fundraising to altruistic motives when the fundraising is run by a socially close friend. Perceived altruistic motives then increase issue involvement to positively affect donation intent.

Understanding Public Engagement with #Refugee on Twitter: A Digital Movement of Opinion Framework • Ammina Kothari, Rochester Institute of Technology; Emily Ehmer • This study applies the digital movement of opinion framework to analyze how the Twitter hashtag #refugees was used to foster digital citizen participation. While the peak of the refugee crisis has plateaued, there is still political engagement around the issue of the refugees on social media which in turn shapes public opinion. Using a combination of computational and interpretive methods we examine public tweets in English (n=7,908) posted between October 2016 and March 2019. Results indicate that the digital movement of opinions around the refugees was driven by a combination of private citizens and officials accounts of NGOs which was then amplified by individual users.

How Age-Morphed Images Make Me Feel: The Role of Emotional Responses in Building Support for the Elderly Among Millennials and Generation Xers • Ah-Ram Lee, University of Florida; Eunice Kim, Ehwa Women’s University; Linda Hon, University of Florida; Yoo Jin Chung • This study explores the potential of age-morphing technology as a communication tool for promoting public engagement in elderly-related issues. Drawing on the perspective-taking theory, this research examines emotional responses as an underlying mechanism. Two experiments (laboratory and online) were executed to test the effects of subjects of images and temporal status manipulated by age-morphing technology on individuals’ attitudes toward the elderly and behavioral intentions to support elderly-related issues on the samples of different generations.

Parents, Peers, And Pot: Adolescents’ Social Media Sharing of Marijuana-Related Content • Jessica Willoughby; Stacey Hust; Jiayu Li; Leticia Couto; Soojung Kang; Shawn Domgaard • Adolescents often post content related to risk behaviors online, but it is unclear what types of content related to marijuana are being posted on social media and what may influence such sharing. We conducted an online survey in Washington state (n=350) to examine adolescents’ social media sharing of marijuana-related content. Peer marijuana use and perceived approval of marijuana were positively associated with the likelihood of posting marijuana-related content, and parental monitoring was negatively associated.

The Interplay of Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem Influencing Selective Exposure to Downward and Upward Social Comparisons on Social Media • Wenbo Li, The Ohio State University; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick • The study investigates the effects of self-awareness and self-esteem on selective exposure to online blog posts that portrayed upward and downward social comparison targets. A novel self- awareness induction was developed and shown to be effective in inducing private and public self-awareness. State self-esteem, on the other hand, was captured as a moderator. Participants then browsed the blog posts for five minutes. Their selective exposure to upward and downward social comparisons (portrayals of successful vs. unsuccessful others) was unobtrusively recorded. The results show that, for people with low state self-esteem, public self-awareness made them spend more time on upward social comparisons whereas private self-awareness made them spent more time on downward social comparisons. High state self-esteem individuals, on the other hand, preferred upward comparisons in the private self-awareness condition.

Effects of Bandwagon Cues and Automated Journalism on Reading, Commenting and Sharing of Real vs. False Information Online • Maria Molina, The Pennsylvania State University; Jinping Wang, Pennsylvania State University; Thai Le; Carlina DiRusso; S. Shyam Sundar • Do social media users read, comment and share false news more than real news? Does their engagement with news depend on whether the source of the story is a staff writer or a bot, and whether the story is endorsed by many or only a few others in the network? We conducted a 2 (real vs. false news story) x 2 (staff writer vs. bot) x 2 (high vs. low bandwagon) experiment to find out.

Nudge Effect of Fact-Check Alerts: Conditional Moderation Analysis of News Source and Media Skepticism • Elmie Nekmat • This study investigates the effectiveness of fact-check alerts to deter news sharing on social media, moderated by news source, and whether this moderation is conditional upon users’ skepticism of mainstream media. Experiment results (N = 929) revealed significant main and interaction effects from fact-check alerts and news source. The decrease in news sharing was, however, greater for mainstream news when nudged. No moderated moderation was found. Instead, media skepticism amplified nudge effect only for mainstream news.

#BeTheMatch: Assessing How Testimonial Narratives on Reddit Promote the Importance of Donating Bone Marrow • Nicole O’Donnell, Virginia Commonwealth University; Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University • This study explores how testimonials on Reddit encourage bone marrow donation. The integrative model of behavior prediction guided a content analysis of 1,024 Reddit comments about donation. Comments addressed more positive than negative outcome and efficacy beliefs related to donation. Additionally, exposure to testimonials successfully encouraged individuals to sign-up for national and international bone marrow registries. This research reveals how organic conversations on Reddit can positively lead to health information seeking and advocacy behavior adoption.

Effects of Cultural, Social, and Technological Influences on Snapchat Usage: A Cross-Cultural Study Comparing United States, Germany, and South Korea • Haseon Park; Joonghwa Lee, University of North Dakota; Soojung Kim, University of North Dakota • This study addressed unbalanced popularity of Snapchat worldwide and explored cultural, social, and technological influences associated with Snapchat usage by comparing United States, Germany, and Korea. The results from an online survey showed that separateness self-schema, personal-level norms, and perceived usefulness and ease of use had significant positive effects on attitudes toward Snapchat and behavioral intention to use Snapchat. National differences among United States, Germany, and Korea were discussed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Tweeting the Screen: Investigating Types of Second Screeners and Their Social Media Behaviors • Ke Jiang; Ruobing Li; Lance Porter; Rui Wang • This paper extends the previous research on second screening as a hybrid media practice by taking a broad look at second screening activities. Matching survey data on second screening with a year’s worth of Twitter data from survey respondents, we identified four types of second screeners, and found different Twitter behaviors among them. Twitter users who second screen at high levels are more active content producers and users are consequently more influential.

Mobile Phones and a Capability Approach to Those Experiencing Homelessness in Southern California • Nathian Rodriguez, San Diego State University; Peggy Peattie, San Diego State University • The study examines how individuals experiencing homelessness in San Diego County in Southern California use mobile phones in their daily routines to enable their capabilities – a concept of what a good and valued life is for themselves; what individuals are actually able to do and be, rather than what society says individuals should do and be. Employing the capability approach, the study found mobile phones contributed to nine out of the ten capabilities on the Central Human Capabilities List. It also found that capabilities are not mutually exclusive, but rather overlap in particular circumstances.

Social Bots as Threat for Digital Democracy? How News Coverage Can Empower Media Users • Desiree Schmuck, University of Vienna; Christian von Sikorski • We conducted two experimental studies to investigate how exposure to news coverage about social bots influences perceived threats from bots. Across both studies, we found that individuals perceived higher threats for their online political information behavior when the news media report about social bots in election campaigns without conveying literacy about bots. In contrast, when the news media include literacy, these threats were reduced, which could be explained by an increase of perceived behavioral control.

Community Social Media and Civic Life: Exploring Relationships among Social Media, Trust, and Participation in U.S. Local Communities • K. Hazel Kwon, Arizona State University; Chun Shao, Arizona State University; Seungahn Nah • Drawing upon social capital theory and a communication mediation model, this study investigates relationships among community social media use, trust, and civic participation across the US communities. Findings suggest that interpersonal trust is predicted by the uses of community social media. However, organizational and institutional trust played a more important role as mediators between community social media use and participatory behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications for civic technology and civic community building are also discussed.

Predicting Parasocial Relationships, Binge Watching and Social Media Engagement from Favorite TV Character Perceived Personality Attributes • Heather Shoenberger, Penn State University; Freya Sukalla; Ryan Tan, Penn State University • Contemporary television viewing exists in stark contrast to the days when people tuned in to their favorite show once a week. People have a plethora of choices in the entertainment content they consume and how they consume it. Television show creators encourage their audiences to interact with the episodes they are watching via social media to capture some of the attention diverted to multiscreen viewing (e.g., watching TV while also on a cell phone, tablet or laptop device). Some entertainment programs are marketed as “binge worthy,” a suggestion that several episodes of the program can be painlessly watched in one sitting. Media executives seek to engage consumers across all mediums or devices; enticing eyeballs from their programs on the television screen, the laptop or on the smartphone. This paper examines whether underlying character attributes may predict parasocial relationships with favorite characters, increased engagement with the program on social media as well as the proclivity of a television show to be binged.

Social media literacy: A hierarchy of competencies • Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Jeremy Ong, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Ysa Marie Cayabyab, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Duan Xu, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Han Zheng, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Matthew Chew, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Janelle Ng, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Cui Min Lim, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Lydia Rui Jun Cheng • This study sought to understand the problems that social media users encounter on social media and the competencies they think they need to address these problems. Guided by the social theory of literacy, this study refers to these as literacy events and literacy practices respectively. Through a focus group discussion involving 62 social media users in Singapore, this study finds correspondence between literacy events and practices: technical, privacy-related, social, and informational. Based on the results, which are grounded in social media users’ actual experiences, this study conceptualizes social media literacy as a hierarchy of competencies.

Fewer Ads or More Technology? Advertising Avoidance, Technology Acceptance, and Motivations for Cable Cord-Cutting • Alec Tefertiller, Kansas State University • Cable cord-cutting occurs when users cancel their cable subscriptions to adopt web-streaming as their primary means of watching television. This study sought to better understand the influence of advertising avoidance alongside perceived technological advantages on television users’ cord-cutting intentions. Using a survey (N = 599) analyzed via structural equation modeling, it was determined that advertising avoidance does not influence cord-cutting intentions. However, the perceived technological advantages of streaming are an important predictor of cable cord-cutting.

Digital Inclusion and the Third-level Digital Divide: A Social Cognitive Perspective • Hsin-yi Sandy Tsai • Bridging the digital divides has been an important issue. This study examines factors affecting how Internet users take use of the Internet and develops a theory of digital inclusion by using a mixed-method approach. An online survey and 17 in-depth interviews were conducted by applying social cognitive theory for Internet adoption. The results show that social cognitive factors (expected outcomes, observational learning, enactive learning, and self-efficacy) are important for shortening the third-level digital divide and facilitate digital inclusion.

Social TV and Audience Engagement • Hsin-yi Sandy Tsai; Mina Tsay-Vogel; Hui-Fei Lin, National Chiao Tung University • This study examined how social media engagement relates to the performance of entertainment TV programs. Investigating social TV engagement in the context of a popular reality talent program, The Voice, this case study considers how messages on the Facebook fan page of the program relate to program ratings. Specifically, three seasons (82 episodes) of social TV usage data were collected. Findings revealed a positive relationship between social TV use and TV ratings.

User Experience (UX) Matters: What are the Most Desired Skills in the UX Designer and UX Researcher Job Ads? • Ruoxu Wang; Jin Yang; Louis Asser, University of Memphis • A content analysis study (N = 200) was conducted to examine the most desired skills in UX designer and UX researcher job ads. Results showed the visual interface design skill is the most needed design skill for UX designers. Behavioral mixed and behavioral qualitative are the two most needed research skills for UX researchers. Information Technology & Service and Computer & Network Security are industries that have the highest need in UX designers and researchers.

Regulating Mood and Arousal: The Benefits of Interactivity as Information Control • Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina; Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Sela Sar • The present study explores the relationship between mood, arousal, and interactivity. The results demonstrated that when individuals are in positive moods and moderate arousal or negative moods and high arousal, they displayed more positive attitude toward the website and more favorable brand attitude to the high-interactivity website than the low-interactivity website. In contrast, the level of interactivity doesn’t seem matter much for people in positive moods and high arousal or negative moods and moderate arousal.

American and Chinese Subjects’ Explicit and Implicit Perceptions of AI-Generated Content: A Mixed-Methods Approach • Yi Mou; Yuheng Wu; Zhipeng Li; Kun Xu • Prior literature has accumulated mixed findings regarding subjects’ perceptions of content generated by algorithm. To resolve this inconsistency, an online experiment and follow-up content analysis have been conducted to investigate the explicit and implicit perceptions of AI-generated poetry and painting on two samples from the U.S. and China. The American subjects were more critical of the AI- than the human-generated content, both explicitly and implicitly; yet the Chinese subjects represented explicit approval but implicit underappreciation.

Will Location Privacy Concerns Influence Mobile Users’ Communication Privacy Management Strategies? • KENNETH C. C. YANG, The University of Texas at El Paso; Yowei Kang, National Taiwan Ocean University • Mobile services and apps rely heavily on users’ location information to deliver highly-targeted and -personalized contents. An important, but less studied, question is how consumer location privacy concerns may influence their privacy management strategies in the age of pervasive computing. A survey was used to collect data from conveniently recruited 391 participants from the United States. Empirical results from four hierarchical regression models found that mobile users’ location privacy concerns motivate them to employ different communication privacy management strategies to protect their own location information. After taking into consideration users’ previous experience with location-sensitive services/apps and demographics, location privacy concerns continue to be a powerful predictor of privacy management strategies. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Student Paper Competition
Problematic Instagram Use: Are Certain Affordances and Gratifications Responsible for Addictive Behavior? • Cheng Chen, The Pennsylvania State University; Olivia Cohen, Pennsylvania State University; S. Shyam Sundar • This study examined risk factors of problematic Instagram use from a uses and gratifications perspective. Data were collected from 493 Instagram users. Findings showed that 25.1% of the participants had PIU. The level of PIU was positively related to the lurking, broadcasting, and community-building affordances, as well as modality- and interactivity-based gratifications, but it was negatively related to navigability-based gratifications. Additionally, the mediating role of gratifications was examined in the relationship between affordances and PIU.

I am a Doctoral Student: A Content Analysis of Doctoral Students’ Online Self-Disclosure and Support-Seeking on Weibo • Haoyang Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University; Qiushi Jia; Jiawei Du, Hong Kong Baptist University • Various factors are influencing doctoral students’ well-being and their doctoral education experience. This study offers one of the first to examine Chinese doctoral students’ use of Weibo for in-group communication, through a content analysis of 930 anonymous posts in a Weibo super-hashtag page. The results elucidate the emotional states in the posts, nine topics of contents of the posts and the prevalence of supportive communication among doctoral students online.

Alexa, Netflix and Siri: User Perceptions of AI-Driven Technologies • Cheng Chen, The Pennsylvania State University; Carlina DiRusso; Hyun Yang; Ruosi Shao; Michael Krieger; S. Shyam Sundar • With the arrival and diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in media platforms, it is important to understand user perceptions of AI-driven technologies. Two focus groups identified five gratifications (i.e., efficiency, outsourcing, being served, information accuracy, and communicating without social pressure), two disappointments (i.e., lack of human warmth and intimacy and fears of malfunctioning), and two expectations (i.e., need for transparency and error-free performance). The findings provide significant implications for uses and gratifications of AI-based media.

Retailers in an Age of E-commerce: How Instagram User-Generated Content Frames the Target In-Store Experience • Teresa Daniel, University of Memphis • While consumers increasingly fill shopping carts online, this study employs a social listening tool to conduct a content analysis of Instagram posts containing the physical Target shopping cart. Findings show that through their user-generated content (UGC), customers frame Target as an experience, one in which adults can act like children and no shopping list is required. Target also encourages these frames through their re-posts of UGC on Instagram, a tool they use for digital communication.

The Relationship Between Influencers’ Self-Presentation Strategies and User Engagement on Instagram • Andrea Gudmundsdottir • This study investigated what self-presentation strategies of influencers affect user engagement. Influencers’ commercial viability is largely dependent on self-branding, where they capitalize on number of followers and user engagements for commercial gains. Thus, self-branding involves appealing to followers through self-presentation. This study employed content analysis of top influencers on Instagram based on three overarching self-presentation strategies: Authentic, real person; opinion leader; and micro-celebrity. The results show that micro-celebrity strategies are the main driver of engagement.

Real-world relationships matter: Attachment theory as a framework for explaining loneliness on social media • Yu-Jin Heo, University of South Carolina • This study employed attachment theory to explore how social media users’ attachment styles influence related psychological outcomes. Unlike other attachment theory studies, this study focused on real-world friends online. Findings show high-anxiety individuals tend to be sensitive to their real-world friends’ feedback on their activity on social media. Feedback sensitivity, in turn, increased loneliness. These findings imply real-world friends may be the key factor to explain psychological outcomes of social media use.

Chinese Automated Journalism: A Comparison Between Prior Expectations and Actual Perceptions • Chenyan Jia, The University of Texas at Austin • Chinese automated journalism started relatively late but developed rapidly due to the large market. This work adopts expectation-confirmation theory. Two experimental studies (Study 1: n = 125; Study 2: n = 308) were conducted to investigate the difference between the prior expectations and actual perceptions of Chinese automated news and human-written news. Participants in study 1 were randomly assigned to read either human-written or automated news. Participants in study 2 were asked to read both human-written and automated news. Results show that readers’ actual perceptions of human-written news do not meet up their expectations while readers’ actual perceptions of automated news are higher than expectations. When participants read both human-written and automated news, actual perceptions of human-written news are significantly higher for readability and expertise. When participants read either human-written or automated news, significant differences only exist for expertise.

The Untapped Potential of Big Data to Assess Organization-Stakeholder Relationship Type on Social Media • Devin Knighton, Purdue University • Big data has the potential to change the way public relations identifies and assesses the quality of its relationship with its stakeholders. Computational approaches, including text mining and semantic network analysis, represent untapped potential for public relations go beyond traditional social media analytics that measures audience reactions to stakeholder relationships. The study explores themes from analyzing more than 80,000 tweets from two major technology conferences – Adobe Creative Max and Salesforce.com’s Dreamforce. The results show map stakeholder-stakeholder communication to relationship type and demonstrate the power of CEO Communication at live events.

Motivations, Interaction, Knowledge, and Participation: An O-S-R-O-R Model of Second Screening’s Political Effects in China • Yiben Liu, University of Alabama; Shuhua Zhou, University of Missouri; Hongzhong Zhang • Second screening refers to a bundle of media practices in which individuals simultaneously use an additional media device while watching TV to further engage with the television content. Applying an O-S-R-O-R model, this study demonstrates a integrated procedure of second screening’s political effects among Chinese citizens — from motivations to second screening practices to mediating activity (online interaction) and psychological post-orientation (political interest), and finally to the cognitive and behavioral outcomes (political knowledge and participation).

Support Seekers on Instagram: Discrepancy between Given and Received Attention and Psychological Well-Being • Lihong Quan, Sungkyunkwan University • This study examines the relationship among the discrepancy between given and received attention on Instagram, support seeking behavior, perceived social support and loneliness. The results of the online survey (N = 300) showed that support seeking behavior increased perceived social support. However, it widened the discrepancy between given and received attention, which further undermined perceived social support. In addition, we found that support seeking behavior on Instagram intensifies loneliness.

Majority or Success: How Other’s Online Behaviors Shape Perceptions of Descriptive Incivility Norms • David Silva • Perceptions of descriptive norms are used to determine appropriate behaviors in online discussions. These norms can be formed by observing the majority’s actions, but online forums also provide additional social information through social endorsements. An experiment compared the effects of majority influence and social endorsements on perceptions of descriptive incivility norms. Findings show the effect of social endorsements on group norms is sometimes stronger than majority influence, but only when viewing a person’s ingroup.

Snap at me! Self-disclosure, Maintenance Expectations, Entrapment and Relationship Satisfaction on Snapchat: Experience Sampling Method • Preeti Srinivasan, University of Connecticut • This study applies the mobile maintenance expectations paradigm to the context of Snapchat, and looks at how self-disclosure, expectations, entrapment impact relationship satisfaction, and whether entrapment and satisfaction change over eight days. N=68 college students completed the study. Results indicate that maintenance behaviors positively predicted relationship satisfaction. Entrapment negatively affected relationship satisfaction, albeit contemporaneously. Entrapment decreased over a period of eight days. Practical implications for Snapchat’s design and theoretical implications for interpersonal relationships are provided.

Conspicuous Donation and Strategic Self-Presentation on Social Media: Prosocial Fitness App as a Double-Edged Sword • Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University; Wanying Zhao, Indiana University Bloomington • We conducted two studies to explore prosocial fitness apps users’ conspicuous donation behaviors on social media, and how networked audiences might respond to those users’ strategic self-presentation. Study 1 examined context collapse among users and found they tended to engage in positive self-presentation on Twitter. Study 2 indicated employing both self-oriented and other-oriented frames in posting donation messages would increase audiences’ self-presentation-related attributions to the message sender, which led to undesirable interpersonal and motivational outcomes.

Predicting Intentions to Use Mobile Fitness Apps: The Integration of TPB and TNSB • Ryna Yeoh; Yujun, Amanda Lin; Alvin Daniel Ho; Kai Feng Ho • This study integrates the theory of planned behaviour and the theory of normative social behaviour to study mobile fitness app use intentions. By comparing users and non-users, this study explores group difference by adoption phases. A sample of 277 university students participated in an online survey. Results highlighted the need to strengthen measurement of social influence in behavioural models, and revealed the effect of perceived behavioural control as the key difference between users and non-users.

Excitation Transfer Effect in Journalism Consumption in Mixed Immersive Environments • Li Zhang, Boston University; Xinyue Liu, Boston University; Di Mu; Bochao Sun; James Cummings, Boston University • With the mainstreaming of virtual reality and 360° video, media consumption will increasingly include engaging highly immersive messages alongside more traditional media formats. That means users will need to potentially switch back and forth between highly immersive and relatively non-immersive media messages. However, little is yet known about how transitioning between drastically different immersion levels may impact the cognitive and emotional processing of those messages. This paper presents the first study to examine the impact of immersion on excitation transfer during such transitions and the corresponding impact on message recall. We find strong support for the existence of excitation transfer of arousal elicited by an initial immersive message (T1 stimulus) to arousal response to subsequent non-immersive media experiences (T2 stimulus). Curiously, we also find that physiological arousal at T2 does not linearly increase with higher levels of message immersion at T1. However, in contrast to recent empirical work, higher subsequent arousal levels were not associated with greater memory of high-priority media content (e.g. messages that are more goal-related). Additionally, the non-specificity of valence in excitation transfer, a key feature of the original theory, was also confirmed. Theoretical implications and future research directions related to the psychological processing of sequences of messages of varied immersion level are then discussed.

< 2019 Abstracts

Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk 2019 Abstracts

Exploring attitudes and perceptions of young adults towards e-cigarette exposure in social media • Jordan Alpert; Huan Chen, University of Florida; Kelsy-Ann Adams • Electronic devices that deliver nicotine, e-cigarettes (e-cigs), can be addictive and dangerous. Young adults have the highest prevalence of e-cig usage and are among the most frequent users of social media. Although the FDA has recently imposed restrictions on the promotion of flavors and messages that claim e-cigs are healthier than cigarettes, there are no regulations in the social media space. Our objective was to understand how exposure to e-cigs on social media might influence attitudes and perceptions towards e-cigs among young adults. Thirty-one 18-24 year olds participated in four focus groups in which they responded to examples of social media posts about e-cigs. A thematic analysis was conducted, which revealed three primary themes: 1) social media normalizes e-cigs, in which young adults stated that they are frequently exposed to e-cig content on social media through news organizations and interpersonal relationships; 2) visual appeals are influential, including how depictions of aspirational lifestyles and appealing flavor associations enticed participants; 3) constantly seeing e-cig related messages on social media may encourage trial. The promotion of e-cigs within social media platforms should be closely monitored, to prevent the current epidemic from reaching even larger proportions.

Repeat After Me, This Pill Will Make You Smarter: Exploring the Truth Effect in Websites Promoting Herbal Supplements • Nicholas Boehm; Gayathri Sivakumar • This study examined if repeated exposure to websites promoting herbal supplements increased the perceived truth of health claims as well as beliefs in the efficacy of herbal supplements. Participants saw websites and rated the truth of health claims associated with the websites and beliefs in herbal supplements. Increased exposure to websites led to a truth effect and an increase in beliefs. Findings call for a closer look into the advertising practices of the supplement industry.

Liking and Physical Attraction offer Promising Pathways to Policy Persuasion despite  Potentially Negative Narrative Influence • Julie Cannon, Cornell University • Extant research indicates that narrative messages can be effective across many contexts, but there are boundaries left to explore. When promoting policy to help groups that experience social hostility, like people with obesity, the message source and point-of-view may be particularly salient. The present study tested the influence of point-of-view and source body type on obesity-related policy support and anti-fat attitudes among women in the United States. A pre-test, ten days prior to exposure, provided covariate data on baseline policy support, attitudes toward and experience with weight and income, as well as demographics and political party. The women viewed a social media post with either an obese or not obese profile image, and either a first-person narrative, second-person narrative, or informational post content. Then participants completed a questionnaire included liking, physical attractions, identification, reactance, anti-fat attitudes, and policy support. Findings indicate that second-person narratives from obese sources negatively impact support, whereas narrative point-of-view does not significantly influence policy support when the source is not obese. This experiment also explored the reactance pathway predicted by the entertainment overcoming resistance model (Moyer-Gusé, 2008). The informational condition predicted higher liking, which in turn predicted less reactance. Obese source condition was associated with higher liking, a pleasant departure from most of the literature. The obese source condition predicts lower physical attraction, which in turn predicts reactance. However, source body type does not predict reactance independent of this mechanism suggesting promoting attraction might make representation and parasocial contact more effective and less prone to reactance.

Advancing the EPPM through Inclusion of Social Threat for Smoking Cessation Promotion • Minyi Chen; Liang Chen • This study explored effective strategies to promote Chinese smokers’ cessation intention using the EPPM. Specifically, this study developed the EPPM with social threat to examine the effectiveness of different types of fear appeal messages on behavioral intention. Results revealed that there were significant main effects of individual threat, social threat and efficacy on the cessation intention. Moreover, the significant interaction effect between social threat and efficacy was detected.

Coping with Mental Health Issues via Communicative Action in the Digital Age: Testing the Cybercoping Model with Anxiety and Depression Issues • Myounggi Chon; Stephanie Lambert • This study aimed to examine the effects of individuals’ communicative actions on their affective and physical coping outcomes by using the cybercoping model. This study applied the cybercoping model into anxiety and depression issues. The finding of this research revealed that information seeking was strongly associated with affective coping and physical coping outcomes, whereas information forwarding was not associated with coping outcomes. Two coping processes exist simultaneously and fully mediate between information seeking and cybercoping outcomes.

Desirable or feasible? How psychological distance influences climate change engagement • Haoran Chu; Janet Yang • Based on construal level theory, we propose that psychological distance influences the effect of risk and efficacy framing in promoting climate change engagement. Results from an experimental survey based on a nationally representative sample (N = 1,282) indicate that at closer spatial distance, perceived efficacy boosted by efficacy information increased intention to perform climate mitigation behaviors. In contrast, at farther distance, risk information increased behavioral intention through heightened risk perception of climate change.

Effects of Reported Hurricane Behaviors and Outcomes on Efficacy, Threat Perceptions and Future Evacuation Behavior • Moritz Cleve, University of Florida, Gainseville Florida; Zhaoying Li • In an experimental setting, evacuation behavior and outcomes affected efficacy beliefs to evacuate or stay home, as well as threat perceptions, and intentions to evacuate during a hypothetical hurricane. Regression and parallel mediation models were proposed, and their implications to include efficacy beliefs about the non-recommended response in the EPPM (Witte, 1992) and risk communications, as well as new measures of prior hurricane experience are discussed.

How Narrative Engagement with Young Adult Literature Influences Perceptions of Anorexia Nervosa • Meredith Collins, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Allison Lazard, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Narratives have been shown to alter health beliefs through a process called narrative engagement; however, this process has yet to be empirically investigated for how increasingly popular young adult (YA) illness literature impact health beliefs among emerging adults. Using an experimental design, we found that YA illness literature fosters narrative engagement, which leads to more endorsement of prosocial beliefs articulated in the narrative compared to an informational brochure. The narrative was more relevant when a “supportive peer” main character was featured, as opposed to a main character experiencing the illness herself. Results suggest narratives may be viable tools to educate individuals serving in an illness support role.

The Impact of Source Credibility and Topic Relevance on Audience Responses to Health Podcasts • Ciera Dockter, University of Missouri; Sungkyoung Lee • “Podcasting is an increasingly popular medium for communicating health information, but little research has examined how podcast message characteristics influence listeners’ processing of the content. This experiment (N = 113) examined how information source and topic relevance can affect source credibility, perceived message effectiveness, health behavioral intentions, and podcast download intentions. Results showed relevant topics and credible sources (expert and experienced) improved information processing, which, in turn, increased health behavioral intentions and podcast download intentions.

Keywords: health behavioral intentions, health communication, information processing, podcasting, source credibility”

The 21st Birthday, 2.0: Exploring the Role of Social Media, Relationships, and Online Image Maintenance within a College Binge Drinking Ritual • Nathan Gilkerson, Marquette University; Joyce Wolburg, Marquette University; Katelyn Mills-Erickson, Marquette University • This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews with college student binge drinkers, to explore aspects of the 21st birthday as a highly anticipated and often high-risk drinking occasion.  The research examined perceptions of what comprises a typical 21st birthday experience, while also revealing complex dynamics related to social relationship, self-portrayals of drinking behavior on social media, and a perceived need to live up to expectations and use the event as an opportunity for online image maintenance.

A Picture of Health: How News Stories’ Terminology Correlates with Mental Illness Stigma • Emily Goldstein, University of Texas • “‘A very sick man … a very demented person’” (Johnson & Parker, 2017, para. 2). “Mentally disturbed” (Trump, 2018). These are the words — said to news reporters and written on Twitter — that the president of the United States used to describe mass shooters in Las Vegas and in Parkland, Florida, respectively. Wahl (1999) found that despite evidence to the contrary, “dangerousness is a key element of public beliefs about mental illness” (p. 14). With more than 44 million adults in America experiencing mental illness — and more than half of them going without treatment (Mental Health America, 2018b) — it is important to research how the media can frame news stories about mental health in a more precise, less stigmatizing manner. This content analysis (N = 158) shows that journalists’ use of the phrase “mental illness” correlates positively with stigmatizing frames in stories about mental disorders. It also corroborates findings associating news values such as conflict and timeliness with a skewed portrayal of mental disorders by showing a positive relationship between articles categorized as news (rather than business, sports, lifestyle, etc.) and use of stigmatizing frames. This calls for journalists to examine their practices and priorities regarding coverage of mental disorders. This research works toward balanced, accurate, and thoughtful news coverage of mental disorders.

Tweeting the #flushot: Beliefs, barriers, and perceived threat at different points of the flu season • Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University; Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University; Lucinda Austin, School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Nicole O’Donnell, Virginia Commonwealth University; Alessandro Lovari, Università degli studi di Cagliari; Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University • Influenza epidemics happen every year, and the World Health Organization estimates that the virus contributes to between 290,000 – 650,000 annual deaths. The most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza is vaccination. In recent years, misinformation regarding vaccines abounds on social media, but the flu vaccine is relatively understudied in this area, and the current study is the first one to explore the content and nature of influenza information that is shared on Twitter, comparing tweets published in the early flu season with those posted in peak flu season. Using a quantitative content analysis, 1,000 tweets from both parts of the flu season were analyzed for use of Health Belief Model (HBM) variables, engagement, and flu vaccine specific variables. Findings show promising opportunities for health organizations and professionals: HBM constructs were present more frequently than in previous, related studies, and fewer vaccine-hesitant tweets appear to be present.

Constructing and Influencing Perceived Authenticity in Science Communication: Experimenting with Narrative • Lise Saffran, University of Missouri, School of Health Professions; Sisi Hu, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Amanda Hinnant, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Susan Nagel, University of Missouri, School of Medicine; Laura Scherer, University of Colorado Denver • This study develops a measure of perceived authenticity in science communication and then explores communication strategies to improve the perceived authenticity of a scientific message. The findings are consistent with literature around trust and credibility, but indicate that authenticity—the perception that the scientist is a unique individual with qualities beyond institutional affiliations or a role in the production of the research—may add a potentially important dimension to accepted categories of integrity and benevolence.

Why Do Users Stick with Fitness Mobile Apps? Linking Technological Functions with Continuance Usage Intention among Chinese Users • Guanxiong Huang, City University of Hong Kong; Yuchen Ren • To understand how to increase user retention rates of fitness mobile apps in China, the present study draws from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and investigates the role of exercise self-efficacy along with the original TAM constructs in predicting current users’ intention to continue using the apps. Moreover, this study extends TAM from a human-technology interaction perspective by elucidating the antecedents of perceived usefulness in terms of specific functions of fitness apps.

Smartphone Addiction on Bullying in Schools in Early Adolescence in South Korea • Jaeyop Kim, dept. of social welfare of Yonsei university; Daeyeon Jang, Graduate school of social welfare in Yonsei university; Sookyung Park; Namkee Park; Yujin Lee • Background: Smartphone addiction(SA) is one of most serious problems for affecting bullying in schools(BS) among early adolescence that has been largely overlooked in research attention. Studies on smartphone addiction and bullying in schools indicate aggression as a mediator and parent attachment as a moderator. Smartphone addiction may affect Bullying in schools (in)directly through the mediator. And parent attachment may moderate between smartphone addiction and aggression. Methods: A sample of early adolescents (N=1,292) completed an offline survey, consisting of modified version of Internet Addiction Test, revised version of the Conflict tactics scales, revised version(K-YSR) of the Youth self-report, the scale of Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). Frequency, bivariate correlation, and mediated moderation analyses were conducted to assess the effects of smartphone addiction on bullying in schools, mediated via aggression and moderated via parent attachment. Results: SA, aggression and BS were positively related to each other in bivariate analyses. In mediated moderation analyses, SA was found to be a significant predictor of higher levels of aggression, which, in turn, were associated with greater BS, and parent attachment moderates between SA and aggression. Limitations: Study limitations included the use of cross-sectional data with the use of retrospective self-report. Conclusion: SA was positively related to BS, aggression mediated the effect of SA on BS, and parent attachment moderated the effect of SA on aggression. Findings suggest that reducing smartphone addiction and clinical intervention for aggression should be focused upon, and implemented for bullying prevention in the early adolescence context.

E-cigarette Communication on College Websites: The Risk, Campus Policy, and Cessation Support • Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina; Joon Kyoung Kim, University of South Carolina • We analyzed websites of 118, four-year public/private universities that adopted a policy to prohibit e-cigarette use on campus. We aim to provide an overview of colleges and universities’ current practices to communicate e-cigarette issues in terms of the risk, campus policy, and cessation support. Our results indicate that there is a lack of risk information on college websites. Health and other risks involved in e-cigarette use, which are proven to affect young adults were rarely or never mentioned. More than 20% of our sample colleges did not specify e-cigarettes as a tobacco product prohibited on campus, and more than 10% of colleges labeled their policy as “smoke-free” even though these schools adopted a vape-free policy. While the majority of colleges were promoting the health benefit, and other financial and professional benefits of tobacco-free policy were rarely mentioned. Less than half of colleges appeared to provide a resource supporting campus member to quit tobacco use. No website mentioned on-campus access to nicotine replacement therapy and a program assisting former e-cigarette users or helping those who wish to quit e-cigarettes. Our findings suggest the need for colleges to better inform the risk, policy, and cessation support related with e-cigarettes for successful adoption of complete tobacco-free policies on their campus.

Fighting the tide: How U.S. health organizations use Twitter to address the opioid crisis • Hyoyeun Jun, University of Georgia; YOUNGJI SEO; Andrea Briscoe; Charan Ramachandran, University of Georgia; Bartosz Wojdynski, University of Georgia • This content analysis evaluated tweets about the opioid epidemic published in 2018 by U.S. federal and state health organizations to find out what components of both textual and visual of tweets can achieve the most effective communication for opioid epidemic including text characteristics, perceived discrete emotion and visual components of images. This study found out that compared to fear, inducing sadness and hope can be more effective in motivating more public engagement.

Coping Strategies for Postpartum Depression in an Online Community for Korean Mothers • Hyang-Sook Kim, Towson University; Mun-Young Chung, Bloomsburg University; Eun Soo Rhee, Towson University; Youjeong Kim, New York Institute of Technology • The proliferation of online health communities creates opportunities to exchange social support. Given the growing need to investigate the ways and extent to which social support helps mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) and psychological distress, we examined the exchange of coping strategies in an online community for PPD among Korean mothers. Based on the dual social support model, we focused on how users sought and provided social support as well as the content of that support (i.e., problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies). Through a content analysis of 3,073 posts, including both original posts and replies, from a PPD-related message board in a prominent online community for Korean mothers, we discovered a tendency to provide rather than seek support, indicating strong reciprocity in the community. However, emotion-focused coping strategies were overwhelmingly more prevalent than problem-focused coping strategies, indicating how Korean mothers perceived and used the online community. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Who Is Responsible for Campus Sexual Assaults? Attributions of Responsibility and College Students’ Perceived Risk and Willingness to Engage in Preventive Behaviors • Sei-Hill Kim, University of South Carolina; Soobum Lee, Incheon National University; Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina • Analyzing data from an online survey of college students in the US, this study examines whether the way students attribute responsibility is associated with their perceived risk of campus sexual assaults and willingness to engage in preventive behaviors. We found that attributing responsibility to victims was correlated with a reduced level of perceived risk, while finding attackers or colleges largely responsible was related with perceiving a greater risk. Attributions of responsibility were also associated, in one way or another, with students’ willingness to help victims, take protective measures, and seek information, suggesting that who they blame primarily for the crime can affect not only their risk perception but also their willingness to engage in a variety of preventive behaviors. Finally, we found that that students’ gender could moderate the relationships between responsibility attributions, risk perceptions, and preventive behaviors. By assessing the role of responsibility attribution in understanding the issue of campus sexual assault, our study can add a new and likely helpful discovery regarding the dynamics of risk perceptions and preventive behaviors.

Food science decision: Scientific consensus, perceived health benefits, and healthy eating interest on making decisions • Jiyoun Kim, University of Maryland; Sumin Fang, University of Maryland • This study explores the effects of food science perception on food decisions in the controversial case of genetically modified (GM) foods. We examine (1) how scientific consensus and scientific deference affect the perceived health effects of GM foods; and (2) how perception and healthy eating interest influence people’s actual food decisions. We divided our samples into four segments with different perceptions of foods science: tradeoff, relaxed, skeptical, and uninterested in the process of data analysis.

Moderating Roles of Self-Construal, Risk Perception, and Direct Experience in the Theory of Planned Behavior • Hye Kyung Kim, Nanyang Technological University; Yungwook Kim • In the context of particulate air pollution in South Korea, this study examined moderators within the theory of planned behavior based on a survey of 1,245 South Koreans. For those who construe the self as independent and perceive higher risk, perceived behavioral control becomes a more important determinant for protective intentions. For those who were  impacted by the risk, perceived behavioral control exerts less influence on forming behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Public’s Responses to High Rate of Suicides among Native American Youths: The Roles of Attributions and Exemplification • Soojung Kim, University of North Dakota; Jenna Peneueta-Snyder, University of North Dakota • As an attempt to address the high rate of suicides among Native American youths, this study tested the effects of video public service announcements (PSAs) promoting support for them. Guided by the attribution and exemplification theories, this study found that external message attributions led audience’s external attributions, societal responsibility judgments, and helping behaviors, and that this linear path model fit well with data when PSAs included exemplars only. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Overcoming the Fear of Death: Applying Terror Management Theory in An Organ Donation Campaign • Sining Kong, Ms. • Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from terror management theory (TMT), this study examined how death defense mechanism (worldview value) reduces fear of death caused by organ donation campaign and changes people’s perceptions and behavioral intentions of organ donation. A 2 (worldview: enhanced worldview vs. non-enhanced worldview) X 2 (mortality salient condition vs. control) online experiment (N=487) was conducted. Results showed that when people were exposed to an organ donation campaign, increased worldview value generated higher level of trust of organ donation medical system than non-worldview increased condition. When people were not exposed to an organ donation campaign, increased world value enhanced people’s intention of promoting organ donation related information than non-worldview increased condition. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed in this paper.

Effects of Message Presentation Type on GM food Risk Perception, Similarity Judgement, and Attitude • Namyeon Lee, University of Missouri; Ciera Dockter, University of Missouri; Sungkyoung Lee • Media play an important role in communicating scientific and health-related information, in turn, influencing audience risk perception. This study examined how message presentation types—text only, addition of photographs, or addition of infographics—can affect risk perception and attitude towards GM foods. Audience characteristics were treated as moderators. Results showed infographics lowered risk perception and led individuals to perceive GM and non-GM foods more similarly in their safety on allergy, genetic changes, and organ toxicity.

Reassessing the Variables Used to Measure Public Perceptions of Scientists • John Besley; Nicole Lee, North Carolina State University; Geah Pressgrove • Both academics and science communication practitioners have long been interested in the public’s perceptions of scientists and the impacts of those perceptions. Despite this interest, perceptual variables (e.g., trustworthiness, credibility, and fairness) are inconsistently conceptualized and operationalized within the literature. Through an examination of existing scales, feedback from science communication scholars, and a national survey (N = 605), this study suggests four distinct dimensions underlying perceptual measures. We label these competence, integrity, benevolence, and openness.

Effects of Intergroup Comparison and Online Comments on the Promotion of Bone Marrow Donation for African Americans: The Mediating Role of Discrete Emotions and the Moderating Role of Group Identification • Roselyn Lee-Won, The Ohio State University; Sung Gwan Park, Seoul National University • We conducted an online experiment to investigate the effects of intergroup comparison and online reader comments on the mobilization of intragroup support in the context of bone marrow donation for African Americans, considering the role of group identification and discrete emotions. Results showed that intergroup comparison led to greater behavioral intentions to join a bone marrow registry in the presence of supportive reader comments through elicitation of hope particularly among those low in group identification.

To disclose or not? Understanding employees’ uncertainty and behavior regarding health disclosure in the workplace: A modified socio-ecological approach • Jo-Yun Li, University of Miami; Yeunjae Lee • Employees’ health disclosure may facilitate organizations’ effective workplace health programs and policy design and implementation. Given the complexity of the decision-making process of health disclosure, the present study seeks to understand employees’ health disclosure behavior from an interdisciplinary perspective. We incorporated the socio-ecological model of disclosure (SEM) from the health communication field, uncertainty reduction theory (URT) from the interpersonal communication discipline, and some organizational relationship concepts from the public relations area. Guided by the above theoretical frameworks, a survey of 409 full-time employees at a company/organization with more than 300 employees found that individual (perceived risks and benefits), interpersonal (bonding and bridging ties), and organizational-level factors (negative norms and organizational culture) were significantly associated with employees’ perceived uncertainty—a perquisite variable that predominates individuals’ decision-making process. In addition, engaging in different communication behaviors will help employees reduce uncertainty about health disclosure in the workplace. The findings contribute to the existing literature by expanding possible range of programs to encourage workplace health disclosure and imploring health communicators and organizations to implement interventions targeting multiple levels of the SEM framework to reduce employees’ perceived uncertainty, which in turn may facilitate their disclosure decision-making process.

Effects of Self-Persuasion and Referencing on Attitudes Towards Smoking: A Cross-Cultural Examination • Xuan Jim Liu; Charmaine Lee Jia Le; Muhammad Syafiq Bin Muhammad Shahiddin; Kai Xing Lim • This study investigates the effectiveness of self-persuasion and referencing in reducing smokers’ favourable attitudes towards smoking. The study adopted a 2 (persuasion: self-persuasion vs direct persuasion) by 2 (referencing: self-referencing vs other-referencing) between-subjects experimental study design. This is conducted across two cultural contexts to examine the role culture may play on message persuasiveness. Smokers were recruited from both collectivistic and individualistic societies, Singapore (SG, N=161) and America (US, N=163) respectively. While self-persuasion led to more counterattitudinal thoughts, its effects on smoking attitudes was not significant. Self-referencing was found to induce less favourable attitudes towards smoking than other-referencing, mediated by reactance. Results also found an interaction between Self-Persuasion x Referencing. Under self-persuasion, participants exhibited less favourable attitudes towards smoking in self-referencing than other-referencing. An interaction was also found for Self-Persuasion x Cultural Orientation. Self-persuasion worked better in US than SG, although this did not reach significance. Two-way interaction between Referencing x Cultural Orientation was insignificant. Study findings provide initial direction for anti-smoking campaigns and potentially other resistive behaviours. Future research can replicate this study in different health contexts and populations to increase generalisability of results.

Pro-Environmental Behavior Predicted by Media Exposure, SNS Involvement, and Cognitive and Normative Factors • YIMING LIU, City University of Hong Kong; Xigen Li, Shanghai University; City University of Hong Kong • This study investigates the effect of mass media exposure and social networking sites (SNS) involvement on environmental concern and perceived personal responsibility for environment and the consequent behaviors. Based on the norm activation theory and the theory of planned behavior, a model was built to investigate the mediator and moderator between the environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. The results show that mass media exposure to environmental-related messages positively predicts environmental concern and perceived personal responsibility, while SNS involvement shows a negative effect on environmental concern and insignificant influence on perceived personal responsibility. For behavior prediction, perceived personal responsibility mediates the relationship between environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. Subjective norm is found to weaken the effect of environmental concern on both behavior intention and self-reported behavior. Self-efficacy and collective efficacy do not moderate the effect of environmental concern on behavior intention, while collective efficacy weakly moderates the effect on self-reported behavior.

Acquisition and Processing of Health Enhancement Advice  and Behavioral Outcomes • Yang LIU, School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-Sen University; Xigen Li, Shanghai University; City University of Hong Kong • The study explores how people acquire and process health enhancement information and the underlying mechanism of their effects on consequent behavioral outcomes. Need for cognition and media belief significantly predict information acquisition and processing. The effect of information processing on behavioral outcomes is mediated by perceived efficacy and health consciousness. Information sufficiency mediates the effect of information acquisition on perceived efficacy. Health consciousness mediates the effect of perceived efficacy on behavioral outcomes.

“Why would I choose to live less?”: Millennial cancer clinical trial message frame preference • Brandon Nutting, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Monique Luisi, Missouri School of Journalism • This study assessed a millennial age cohort’s preference of cancer clinical trials message frames, comparing the preferences to a baseline group. Four types of message frames (altruistic gain, altruistic loss, individualistic gain, and individualistic loss), were tested among participants (n = 435). The millennial cohort preferred the individualistic loss cancer clinical trial message frames. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between message frame preference and age. The results of this study, along with their implications for recruiting millennials to participate in cancer clinical trials and reducing the cancer burden, are also addressed.

Uncertainty Salience in Prospect Theory: Assessing the Persuasive Effect of Goal Framing and Response Efficacy on the Elderly’s Influenza Vaccination Decisions • Meiyin Luo • Suboptimal influenza vaccination increases pandemic risks and adds burdens to public healthcare systems. Applications of goal framing to the vaccine advocacy have captured mixed findings and brought challenges to its rationale – prospect theory. Given debates on the concept explications of risk in the framing literature, the notion of vaccine risk has been further refined from a novel perspective. This research examined how goal framing and response-efficacy salience interacted to yield optimal persuasiveness in influenza vaccine messages. A 2 (goal framing) × 3 (salience of response-efficacy difference) between-factorial experiment was conducted in Singapore. Results showed that weak persuasiveness of framing could be optimized when introducing the difference of response-efficacy. Theoretically, this research improves the applicability of prospect theory in the health persuasion by redefining vaccine risks as the salience of efficacy difference between action and inaction. Practically, for Singapore government and public healthcare industry, present findings shed light on the alternative message designs to promote influenza vaccine engagement in the senior population.

Does Bringing Climate Change Closer Work? Examining the Impact of Proximizing Climate Change on Risk Perception • Kate Luong, The Ohio State University • The current study examined the impact of portraying climate change impacts as proximal vs. distal on environmental behavioral intention and policy support, mediated via risk perception. Competing hypotheses were derived from construal level theory and self-affirmation theory and tested in an online experiment. The results showed that proximizing climate change actually decreased risk perception and environmental outcomes for people who held more negative attitude towards climate change mitigation, providing support for self-affirmation theory’s predictions. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

Role of Self-Affirmation Order and Narrative Perspective in a Narrative-Based Self-Affirmation Message • Zexin “Marsha” Ma, Oakland University; Xuan Zhu • This study investigates (1) the relative effectiveness of integrated pre-message self-affirmation (SA) and post-message SA manipulations and (2) the persuasiveness of first-person and second-person perspective in narrative-based self-affirmation messages. Two parallel studies were conducted, with one focusing on e-cigarette prevention (N = 80) and the other on nutrition promotion (N = 242). Results from both data sets demonstrated that SA order did not significantly affect defensiveness nor persuasiveness. In the nutrition context, narrative perspective had a significant impact, such that the second-person (vs. first-person) perspective narrative led to higher levels of identification and self-efficacy. This effect was further strengthened in the pre-message SA conditions. Specifically, when the integrated SA manipulation was introduced before the health risk information, second-person (vs. first-person) perspective was more effective at improving identification and self-appraisal in the nutrition context, and at reducing defensiveness and promoting persuasion in the e-cigarette context. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Gun violence as a public health issue: Where do we go from here in terms of media advocacy? • Brooke McKeever; Minhee Choi, University of South Carolina; Denetra Walker; Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina • Recently there has been a push to reframe gun violence as a public health issue. An online survey (N=510) helped study media advocacy, frame salience, and frame adoption. Findings revealed gun control and gun rights are salient, and television and social media are popular sources of gun violence information. Individuals are being held responsible, the NRA is the most recognized organization, and background checks were the most prominent solution. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The silencing effect of balanced comments • Jessica McKnight, The Ohio State University; Graham Dixon, Ohio State University • In an experiment, we assessed the silencing effects of online comments for a topic rife with scientific misinformation – the autism-vaccine controversy. Exposure to comments representing both sides of the controversy produced silencing effects, but only for individuals whose views align with the scientific community. Instead of affecting one’s perceived opinion climate, “falsely balanced” comment sections might signal the likelihood of uncivil debate in face-to-face contexts, which people holding dominant views may want to avoid.

Social Capital, Stakeholder Perceptions, and Environmental Policy Support: Focusing on Carbon Capture and Storage in Texas • Won-Ki Moon, University of Texas at Austin; Lee Ann Kahlor; Hilary Olson • As new technologies emerge, the governmental organizations developing these technologies are tasked with communicating with the public important information about the benefits these technologies can bring to society, and the risks that may accompany those benefits. The hope is that such public relations efforts will facilitate a balanced understanding of the attendant risks and benefits of a given technology so that people can form opinions as to whether they support the technology’s continued development (or not). In some contexts, the emerging technology is of particular relevance to a specific community, and thus support for the technology is likely to be impacted by social-level variables as well as individual perceptions and attitudes. The current study focuses on public support for one specific emerging technology, carbon capture and storage (CCS), in an area of the U.S. where such technology is likely to have the biggest impact, the oil and gas industry-reliant communities of southeast Texas. Specifically, this study explores relationships between CCS policy support and several stakeholder-focused variables – social capital, risk/benefit perceptions, and perceptions about CCS stakeholders. The results suggest important relationships between perceived risks and benefits, community-focused perceptions (social capital), perceptions about stakeholders (trust in stakeholders and expected role of stakeholders in CCS policy making), and CCS policy support – both individual support and perceived community-level support. Implications for public relations practice are discussed.

Untangling the Contribution of Training on Scientists’ Willingness to Participate in Public Engagement: A Test of Parallel Multiple Mediation • Jacob Copple, University of Texas at Austin; Nichole Bennett; Won-Ki Moon, University of Texas at Austin; Anthony Dudo; Todd Newman; Nicole Leavey; Laura Lindenfeld, Stony Brook University; Chris Volpe, ScienceCounts • This paper investigates the impact communication training has on engagement intentions through a parallel multiple mediation model. Theory of Planned Behavior variables for internal efficacy, response efficacy, and attitudes are examined as potential mediators. Based on a survey of randomly selected scientists from universities in the Association of American Universities (AAU), results indicate indirect effects for internal efficacy and attitude. This research represents a first step into understanding communication training’s role in scientists’ public engagement.

Predictors of HPV Awareness: Data from Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) • Yuanfeixue Nan • Aiming to clarify the public’s awareness of and knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine in the U.S., as well as the possible factors that contribute to HPV awareness, a secondary data analysis was conducted using national data from National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s HINTS 5 Cycle 1. The results indicated that there is no progress in raising the awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine in past 4 years. Further efforts need be made in order to reach the remainings. Adults who are relatively younger, with higher education level and economic status were more likely to be aware of HPV and HPV vaccine. Females had higher awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine comparing to males. Adults who lived in northeast of U.S. were more aware of HPV than those in midwest. Non-Hispanic White are much more aware of HPV vaccine than other races, while the non-Hispanic Asian is the ethnic group with least awareness of both HPV and HPV vaccine. Cancer history and electronic health information seeking behavior also could explain part of the disparities of HPV awareness.

Difficult Conversations and Para-Social Relationships in Medical Shows: Analysis of Real-Time Tweets from Viewers of New Amsterdam Medical Drama • James Ndone, University of Missouri • Television medical dramas have been a subject of research among health communication researchers. These television dramas influence health behavior of the viewers. The purpose of this media analysis study was to analyze live-tweets for four consecutive weeks related to New Amsterdam, a television medical drama looking at how audiences perceive and respond to the difficult conversations they see on the drama by tweeting about the show. Thus, the study positions television medium as a powerful way to normalize and generate social dialogue on difficult medical topics.  In addition, the study sought to explore how audiences build para-social relationships and identify with the characters portrayed in the show by live-tweeting when the show is airing. The researcher collected 21,457 tweets, with 75% of the tweets occurring during the central time (CT) airing of the program. A total of 2,178 tweets were used for analysis in this study as they fit in the six broad categories the researcher identified in relation to difficult conversations in New Amsterdam. These themes were: Para-social interactions, tense topics, accuracy, empathy, emotional response and behavioral intention, and identification. Implications for health communication practitioners and medical television dramas’ producers on how to leverage on Twitter for health-related messages are discussed.

The effects of social media on risk perception and preventive behaviors during infectious disease outbreaks: The mediating role of self-relevant emotions • Sang-Hwa Oh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Seo Yoon Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Changhyun Han • While there has been increasing attention to the role of social media during infectious disease outbreaks, relatively little is known about the underlying mechanisms by which social media use affects risk perception and preventive behaviors during such outbreaks. Using data collected during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, this study explores the relationships among social media use, risk perception, and preventive behaviors by examining the mediating role of two self-relevant emotions: fear and anger. The findings demonstrate that social media use is positively related to both of these emotions, which are also positively related to the public’s risk perception. The findings also indicate that social media use can significantly increase preventive behaviors via the two self-relevant emotions and the public’s risk perception.

A Meta-analysis on mHealth Physical Activity Interventions for Weight Loss: Technology Use, Behavior Change Theories and Techniques • Yan Qin; Xiaojing Wang; Kang Namkoong • Overweight and obesity represent a significant public health problem in an increasing number of countries. Mobile technologies offer potential for efficacious and cost-effective interventions capable of reaching many individuals. The purposes of the current meta-analysis study were to (1) compare the effectiveness of mHealth physical activity (PA) interventions for weight loss to non-technology/usual care/minimal interventions; (2) determine whether technologies used in the interventions affected weight loss results; and (3) examine whether the use of behavior change theories/techniques influenced intervention results. A meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Weight loss was the primary outcome. Intervention content was independently coded by two coders for technology type, behavior change theory/technique, and other intervention characteristics. A total of 24 studies were identified with 23 RCTs and one matched comparison design. The results showed a medium significant effect size (d=0.400; 95% confidence interval=0.241, 0.558; Z=4.951, P<0.001; N=5146) such that participating in mHealth PA interventions led to more weight loss than control conditions. Interventions were significantly more effective when they used wearable devices as a component of the interventions (QB=3.931, DF=1, P<0.05). However, theory use, the use of smartphone applications and text messages did not have significant moderating effects on intervention effectiveness. This meta-analysis suggests that mHealth PA interventions have the potential to facilitate weight loss among various population groups, especial for overweight and obese populations. However, the inclusion of behavior change theories and techniques needs to be considered with the characteristics of mobile technologies to generate optimal results.

Of nature, trust, and health: Understanding public risk perceptions of genetically engineered foods • Kathleen Rose, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dominique Brossard, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Gene editing technology advances continue to shape agriculture. Past research on GMO attitudes focuses on media coverage and various moral considerations, including “unnaturalness.” Using a representative survey of a North American Midwestern state, we examine how potential outcomes, or consequences, of GE crops impacts risk perceptions. Controlling for established predictors, we find alignment with potential consequences has a significant and substantial impact on GMO risk perceptions, with negative consequences playing a relatively greater role.

The influence of motivationally-relevant appeals on memory for pronutritional health communication messages promoting healthy foods • Lelia Samson, Radboud University; Annemarie Nanne • Motivationally-relevant appeals activate motivational processing, which contributes to memorable messages influencing choices post exposure. Memory formation (recognition and free recall) was recorded in 169 Preteens (aged 7 to 12) and 119 Teenagers (aged 13 to 18) who watched 24 health-related messages varying in Social Visual and Sensory Textual Appeals. Results revealed that pronutritional messages featuring social appeals are better remembered, especially those featuring large groups. The paper makes recommendations for designing effective health-related messages.

Formative Research on Promoting Car-Free Youth Transportation • Autumn Shafer, University of Oregon; Jared Macary, University of Oregon • Car accidents are the leading cause of death among U.S. 10-24 year olds (CDC, 2018). Motivating youth to drive less by choosing car-free mobility may reduce fatalities (Litman, 2016). Results from youth focus groups analyzed through the lens of the theory of planned behavior along with perceived effectiveness feedback on sample messages are presented. This study contributes to our understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of an important and understudied area of health and environmental communication.

Users’ Responses to Public Discourse of HPV Vaccination on YouTube • Yanqing Sun; Fangcao LU, City University of Hong Kong; Stella Chia • This study examines the relationship between characteristics of YouTube videos and audiences’ responses through a content analysis of 186 HPV vaccination-related videos and 4,087 viewers’ comments. In particular, this study used the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior as a reference to identify six content constructs in videos, including the benefits and barriers of HPV vaccination, susceptibility to HPV, severity of HPV, subjective norms and behavioral control of HPV vaccination. We found that a substantial number of videos portrayed HPV vaccines in a negative tone. Videos from anti-vaccination advocacy groups such as Regret and Vaxxed TV were more popular than videos from other sources. Almost half of the videos framed HPV vaccines as female-specific vaccines. Moreover, videos highlighting subjective norms of getting HPV vaccination received more positive comments and in contrast, videos posted by governmental agencies and videos displaying barriers acquired more negative responses.

Truck turnovers and train derailments: How the U.S. freight industry downplays toxic spills • Kristen Swain, University of Mississippi • Social amplification of risk framework highlighted how freight companies communicate about truck and train spills. A newspaper analysis and survey of journalists and state transportation officials showed that almost none of the most serious 5,555 spills in a decade received any press. The 267 stories in 87 papers reported only 54 spills. While journalists provided inadequate coverage of preparedness and lacked knowledge about spills, freight companies blocked reporter access to information, citing homeland security concerns.

The Power of Emotional Appeal in Motivating Behaviors to Mitigate Climate Change • Weiting Tao, University of Miami; Shiyun Tian, University of Miami; Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami; Michelle Seelig, University of Miami • This study examines how emotionally evocative viral videos on climate change may promote Generation Z’s actions addressing climate change. Through an online survey of 837 participants, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the conceptual framework incorporating problem recognition, involvement recognition, and motivation mediators to understand the mechanism underlying the effects of emotions on advocacy behaviors from passive information seeking, to proactive willingness to speak out, and willingness to alter behavior to mitigate climate change.

Knowledge and risk perceptions following an an infectious disease outbreak • Esi Thompson, Indiana University • Comparing knowledge and risk perceptions about Ebola from different contexts is critical in designing communication campaigns. Using a comparative case study approach, this exploratory study compare knowledge, risk perception, and information sources between residents in Ghana (an unaffected country) and Liberia (an affected country). Findings show that Liberians had higher knowledge than Ghanaians. But there was no association between knowledge and self-efficacy. The findings suggest that increasing knowledge may not be sufficient in raising self-efficacy levels.

Science Fiction, God, and Nature: A Textual and Frequency Analysis of Facebook Comments about Environmental Applications of Gene Editing • Brittany Walker, University of Georgia • Gene editing holds the potential to address pressing agricultural and environmental challenges. To explore public discussions on this topic, this study performed a thematic analysis of 107 Facebook comments and a frequency analysis of 1,290 Facebook comments. Several themes emerged: pro-science arguments, fears involving higher powers, conflation with genetically modified organisms, and humorous science fiction interpretations. These findings have implications for science communicators and policy makers, as they demonstrate the multipronged reactions gene editing evokes.

Informing the Prescription Drug Cost Debate: What Consumers Want From Journalists Covering Prescription Drug Policy • Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida; Diane Ezeh Aruah, University of Florida, Gainseville Florida • Americans pay more for prescription drugs than citizens of any other country in the world. Recent public opinion polls show that large majorities of Americans, across party lines, consider prescription drug costs “unreasonable” and want Congress to take action to reduce prescription drug prices. These poll results demonstrate that the public has substantial interest in government policy related to prescription drug costs. However, the literature provides little information about where, specifically, people obtain information about drug policy (or, for that matter, most other health policies) or what type of information they want journalists to provide in their coverage of drug policy proposals. This paper describes the results of a national survey intended to begin to fill that gap in the research. Drawing on the arguments of Patterson, Donsbach and others that journalists should adopt a new role as society’s “knowledge profession,” the study explored the questions of which media and interpersonal sources consumers use to obtain information about prescription drug policy and what types of information they want journalists to include in their stories about policies meant to help reduce prescription drug prices.

Fear and Hope, Bitter and Sweet: Emotion Sharing of Cancer Community on Twitter • Jinping Wang, Pennsylvania State University; Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University • Using a deep learning model and social network analysis, we investigated emotions expressed in a large collection of cancer-related tweets. Joy was the most commonly shared emotion, followed by sadness and fear, with anger, hope, and bittersweet being less shared. In addition, both the gatekeepers and influencers were more likely to post content with positive emotions. Last, tweets with joy, sadness and hope received more likes, whereas tweets with joy and anger were more retweeted.

Predictors of Organ Donation-Related Cognitions and Intentions in China: Communication Variables and Cultural Values • Xiao Wang, Rochester Institute of Technology • China is in the process of establishing a more regulated organ procurement and distribution system. Previous media reports stated that misperceptions toward organ donation created by the media and value-expressive attitudes (e.g., helping others) were two important reasons that prevented or facilitated donor registration in China. Based on a sample of 472 Chinese non-registered donors, the present analysis found that misperceptions toward organ donation in China were a weak predictor of donor registration, compared with subjective norms, self-efficacy, and anticipated guilt, whereas value-expressive attitudes did not predict donor registration. Interpersonal communication, but not media use, was weakly correlated with misperceptions. Neither were related to value-expressive attitudes. Lastly, values (i.e., communitarianism and egalitarianism) were generally related to misperceptions, value-expressive attitudes, and subjective norms, but were not related to efficacy and anticipated guilt. Overall, results indicate that for internalized beliefs, media and interpersonal communication may exert less influence.

Users, Topics and Content Strategies:  Content Analysis of Twelve Climate Change Event Spikes on Twitter • Luping Wang, Cornell University • The increasing media coverage on climate change calls for more research attention on that issue. Reviewing previous studies, we find a focus on understanding the advocacy organizations, as well as how actors connect with other in the activist network. Yet few studies looked at the content, especially the content strategies people used in climate change online discussion.Thus, this work examines in twelve Twitter spike events, who are the most prolific users, what are the types of content people discuss, as well as specific content strategies people used in crafting tweets. The findings suggest prolific users in climate change discussion are activists and bots; users frequently broadcast the news, express personal thoughts and share others’ opinions; and hashtags, hyperlinks and mentions are often used in the content. These results suggest more interaction between elite and non-elite users will be helpful to sustain the momentum climate change activism.

Framing Environmental Risks: Thematic and Episodic Framing, Need for Cognition, and Public Engagement • YAJUN WEN; JIEWEN CHEN; NAINAN WEN • “This research examined the influence of framing of environmental risk news (i.e.,thematic vs. episodic) and individuals’ need for cognition (i.e., NFC) on message attitude, risk perception, and public engagement. We conducted a controlled experiment of 250 college and senior high school students who were asked to read either a thematic-framed or episodic-framed news article on a chemical leak accident in China. Results showed that message framing had direct and indirect influence on risk perception. The indirect relationship was mediated by message attitude. In addition, message framing and NFC worked together to directly influence public engagement with the risk issue. The interaction between message framing and NFC also indirectly influenced risk perception and public engagement, which were mediated by negative emotions. Implications of the findings were also discussed.

From snaps to sun? Young women’s social media use, emotions, and outdoor tanning behaviors • Jessica Willoughby; Jessica Myrick, Pennsylvania State University; Stephanie Gibbons; Clark Kogan, Center for Interdisciplinary Statistical Education and Research • There is a connection between social media use, emotions and tanning behavior, but work is needed to parse out the relationships. We used ecological momentary assessment to collect data from 197 women three times a day for seven days in July 2018. Boredom was associated with increased time on visual social media (VSM). Increased use of VSM was associated with tanning. VSM may be an important channel for skin cancer prevention efforts targeting young women.

Follow the Heart or the Mind?  Examining Cognitive and Affective Attitude on HPV Vaccination Intention • XIZHU XIAO • Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with various serious diseases including cervical cancer and genital warts. Although HPV vaccine has been commended as a breakthrough for preventing HPV and HPV-related diseases, the uptake rate remains inadequate and lagging. This dissatisfaction is possibly attributed to a component of interventions that is insufficiently related to individuals’ intentions to get vaccinated against HPV—attitude. With a sample of 430 participants, this study examined which attitudinal component (cognitive vs. affective) is a stronger influencer on the intention to get the HPV vaccine. This study also investigated the influence of risk perceptions of HPV on the attitude and intention of getting the vaccine. Results revealed that cognitive attitude is the sole predictor of intention and mediates the relationship between perceived susceptibility to HPV and the intention to get the vaccine. Theoretical and practical contributions to the field of health communication and HPV vaccine promotion are further discussed.

The Role of Social Distance in Narrative Persuasion for Risk Prevention • Yiwei Xu, Cornell University • This research was designed to examine how narrative messages can influence favorable persuasive outcomes related to driving without cell phone use based on the entertainment overcoming resistance model (EORM) and construal level theory (CLT). An experiment was conducted through using different versions of news stories as the stimuli to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that the low social distance narrative actually increased persuasive resistance. It was also found that one form of persuasive resistance was a significant mediator in the relationship between social distance and persuasive outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in the paper.

Young Adults’ (Mis)use of Prescription Opioid Drugs: An Exploratory Study • Jie Xu; Xiaoxia Cao • Based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) Framework, this study used a survey to examine various factors affecting the risk perception and behavior related to prescription opioid drug (POD) misuse among college students. The results showed that trait reactance, helicopter parenting, and peer pressure were negatively associated with risk perception and positively correlated with POD misuse. Self-efficacy, on the other hand, was positively linked with risk perception and negatively connected with POD misuse. Risk perception was negatively correlated with POD misuse. In addition, self-efficacy moderated the relationship between risk perception and the misuse. This study extends the purview of both SCT and the RPA by testing their central predictions among a sample of a demographic group most vulnerable to the opioid epidemic. It also sheds light on the development of more effective prevention and intervention efforts to counter this burgeoning crisis. Limitations and directions for future research were outlined.

The Leverage Power of Risk Framing in Physician and Patient Communication: A Study of Shared Decision Making Perception • Ellie Yang, University of Wisconsin Madison; Dhavan Shah, UW Madison; Elizabeth Burnside; Terry Little • Risk framing prevails in physician and patient communication where loss versus gain, relative versus absolute presentation intertwine with each other. Current study observed the effect of risk framing on patient perception of shared decision making when discussing breast cancer screening with their primary care provider during the clinical visit. Patients’ awareness of cancer risk is operated as a major condition to moderate the risk framing effect. Multilevel mixed effect models suggest that less risk framing is preferred by patients with high factual risk of breast cancer. Theoretical and social implication for the prospect and regulatory fit theories are discussed.

Online Media Use and HPV Vaccination Intentions in Mainland China:  Integrating a Market Perspective with Media and Behavioral Theories • Guolan Yang, Pennsylvania State University; Jessica Myrick, Pennsylvania State University • This study investigates the role of media in shaping HPV vaccination intentions in mainland China from a marketing standpoint. An online survey (N = 359) revealed direct effects of online information consumption on perceived scarcity of the vaccine, as well as an indirect effect via perceived influence of media on others. Scarcity perceptions, in turn, predicted vaccine attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, gender differences emerged in the data. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

FEMA, media, or search engine? Rumor validation on social media • Janet Yang; Haoran Chu; Sixiao Liu; Jun Zhuang • Based on data from a nationally representative sample, this study explored social cognitive variables that influenced the U.S. public’s motivations to validate rumors about Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma on social media. Risk perception and negative emotions influenced systematic processing of relevant risk information. While systematic processing was significantly related to validation through search engine, trust in information, as a form of heuristic processing, was significantly related to validation through official sources and news outlet.

Cautionary Tales:  Social Representation of Risk in News Coverage of Cyberbullying Victims • Rachel Young; Li Chen; Ge Zhu; Roma Subramanian • A mixed-methods analysis of 610 cyberbullying news stories found that exemplar narratives frequently mention suicide and that extreme risks are qualified by creating victim characteristics. Textual analysis shows how exemplars blame technology for making bullying worse and how deaths by suicide became cautionary tales that also create distance as a form of social coping. Overall, cyberbullying exemplars represent harm and attribute responsibility in ways that suggest how risks can be understood and avoided.

“It’s Global Warming, Stupid”: Aggressive Communication Styles and Political Ideology in  Science Blog Debates about Climate Change • Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; Hang Lu, University of Pennsylvania • Science blogs, as a competing channel to science news reports, play a role in informing and influencing individuals’ science decision-making. The current study examined the effects of a particular communication style – aggressive communication, which is often seen in blogs about climate change debates, on individuals’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions. In addition, two underlying mechanisms – psychological reactance and violation of expectation, as well as the moderating role played by political ideology were investigated. A between-subjects factorial experiment (N = 423) was conducted manipulating aggressive vs. non-aggressive styles in blog articles communicating climate change. The results showed that aggressive style was more likely to trigger psychological reactance and violation of what audience members expected from the writer, which further reduced the audiences’ intentions to act more pro-environmentally. Moreover, liberals responded more negatively to aggressive messages than conservatives. The findings provide plausible explanations for how communication styles affect individuals’ information processing and offer practical implications for science communicators regarding how to select communication styles strategically.

Breaking the Stigma of Depression: The Underlying Mechanisms of the Persuasiveness of Narrative Health Messages • Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • This paper examined how the message type and the attribute effect on responses to health messages in the context of depression. In addition, this study also investigated the underlying mechanisms of narrative persuasion. A 2 (narrative vs. non-narrative) 2 (attribution to others: presence or absence) factorial between-subject experiment was conducted online recruiting a national sample of 188 American adults. The results showed narrative messages caused changes on the intention to help depression patients through transportation, identification, and the feeling of pity in a serial mediation process. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

< 2019 Abstracts

Advertising 2019 Abstracts

Open Research
Puffing on Instagram: Effects of Puffery Claim Types on Assessment of Persuasive Intentions and Knowledge • Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University; Olivia JuYoung Lee; Anastasia Kononova; Jef Richards; Na Rae Park; Tao Deng, Michigan State University; Jessica Hirsch • The current study examines the effects of puffery in persuasive posts on Instagram. Findings indicated that attribute puffery claims were rated higher on sincerity, understanding persuasive intent and tactics, and purchase intention, while they were rated lower on skepticism and deceptiveness, in comparison to comparative and negative puffery claims. There were significant two-way interaction effects between familiarity and puffery type. The results are discussed using theoretical framework of puffery advertising and persuasion knowledge.

Reconsider Media Multitasking and Counterarguing Inhibition: Empirical Evidence of Underlying Mechanism and Offline-to-Online Advertising Effects • Yuhmiin Chang • Two studies were conducted to elucidate the underlying mechanism and subsequent advertising effects of counterarguing inhibition while television-internet multitasking. The two studies involved different product categories and measures and did not support counterarguing inhibition hypothesis. The results consistently showed that media multitasking increased capacity interference and cognitive load, which did not lead to fewer counterarguments. Media multitasking directly produced fewer counterargument which lead to lower urge to search and buy the target products.

Comparing the Effectiveness of Help-Seeking and Product-Claim Direct-to-Consumer Advertising (DTCA): A Persuasion Knowledge Perspective • Ida Darmawan; Hao Xu; Jisu Huh, University of Minnesota • This study examined the effects of help-seeking direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) as a form of covert advertising and compared its effects with those of product-claim DTCA on consumers’ persuasion knowledge activation and its outcomes. An online experiment was conducted with adults experiencing symptoms mentioned in fictitious experimental ads. Help-seeking DTCA was less likely to activate persuasion knowledge than product-claim DTCA, resulting in lower skepticism, more positive attitude toward the ad, and higher behavioral intentions.

Context Matters! Effects of Contextual Information on Processing of Social Media Ads • Kristen Lynch, Michigan State University; Tao Deng, Michigan State University; Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University; Ali Hussain, Arizona State University; Olivia JuYoung Lee • The individualized social media experience and the algorithmic approach to media buying highlight the importance of contextual effects in advertising. This study explicates the effects of sequential information processing as it pertain to ad processing through the lens of Zillman’s (1971) excitation transfer theory. The study focuses on the effects of emotional content preceding the ads, where ads were placed after pictures that varied in valence and arousal. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Privacy tradeoffs, localized deals, and consumer acceptance of mobile advertising • Lisa Farman, Ithaca College • This study explores consumer acceptance of mobile advertising, using a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults from the Simmons National Consumer Survey (N=19,657). Consistent with privacy calculus theory, willingness to make privacy trade-offs positively predicted acceptance of mobile advertising. However, desire for a specific trade-off (local deals) was a stronger predictor than a more general theoretical willingness to make privacy trade-offs. Privacy self-efficacy positively predicted mobile ad acceptance, while Internet use had a negative effect.

Does In-Stream Video Advertising Work? Effects of Position and Congruence on Ad and Brand-Related Responses • Jason Freeman, Pennsylvania State University; Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University; Hyun Yang; Fuyuan Shen • This study examined the effects of in-stream video advertising on consumer responses to the ad and brand. A 2 (ad position: pre versus mid-roll) x2 (congruence: low versus high) between-subjects experiment was conducted, whereby subjects viewed a short narrative video with embedded ads. We found that mid-roll advertisements led to higher levels of perceived intrusiveness and anger than pre-roll ads. Advertisements more congruent with the content elicited less anger, reduced perceived intrusiveness, but lowered brand attitudes.

Children and Unboxing Videos Online: Implications for Advertisers and Policy Makers • Deepti Khedekar; Harsha Gangadharbatla • Sponsored content, particularly content targeting young children, is on the rise on new media platforms. One such type of sponsored content is unboxing videos on YouTube that young children often watch on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets (Kabali et al., 2015). Using a sample of 421 parents with children between the ages of 4 and 10, our study investigates the role of parental mediation and the influence of selling and persuasive knowledge on such mediation when it comes to children’s consumption of unboxing videos. Results indicate that unboxing videos are highly effective in eliciting purchase demands and, in the absence of strict regulations online, parental mediation through higher levels of selling and persuasive knowledge might be the only line of defense in combating the persuasive effects of unboxing videos.

“Vioxx Provides Powerful 24-hour Relief of Arthritis” but “Vioxx Has Caused Number of Deaths from Strokes and Heart Attacks!” – Should I Continue to Take My Medicine? • Heewon Im; Jisu Huh, University of Minnesota • DTCA promoting the benefits of medications and drug injury ads emphasizing the most fatal side effects present consumers with extremely contradictory information about the same product. How would exposure to these types of ads influence consumers of prescription drugs? Addressing this question, we investigated relationships between exposure to DTCA and drug injury advertising and consumers’ beliefs about their illnesses and medications, and their medication adherence behavior. Findings offer important implications for advertising research and practice.

Antecedents of Ad Avoidance in Different Media Contexts • A-Reum Jung; Jun Heo, Louisiana State University • This study aims to a) identify a comprehensive list of the antecedents of ad avoidance and b) examine how strongly they relate to ad avoidance, and (c) to investigate how those relationships differ across media formats (traditional vs. new media). In order to fulfill these purposes, a meta-analysis was conducted. This study found 52 antecedents. Consumer perception of advertising was the main predictor of ad avoidance. The antecedents of new media ad avoidance were not much different from traditional ad avoidance although their degree of influence on ad avoidance differed across media formats.

Interaction Effects of Source Type and Message Valence in Instagram-Based Advertising Messages About Veganism • Joe Phua, University of Georgia; Seunga Venus Jin; Jihoon Kim • A between-subjects 2 (source type: celebrity versus non-celebrity) x 2 (message valence: positive versus negative) factorial experiment (N = 288) examined the effects of source type and message valence on various outcomes of Instagram-based advertising messages about veganism. Results of data analyses indicate significant main effects of message valence on perceived information value of pro-veganism posts on Instagram and significant interaction effects of the two manipulated factors on consumers’ intention to spread electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) about pro-veganism. Furthermore, perceived prosocial characteristics of the pro-vegan source and intention to build an online friendship with the source significantly moderated the effects of endorser type and message valence on perceived information value and eWOM intention. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

How Hateful Social Media Content Spills Over to the Adjacent Brand Ad: Implications for Brand Safety • Junga Kim; Chunsik Lee, University of North Florida; Joon Soo Lim, Syracuse University • This study proposes and tests negative spillover effect in the brand safety violation context. It created the two different experimental conditions that varied the levels of the offensive content-ad association and tested consumer responses to the advertised brands. The findings of the experimental study demonstrated that when the ad was highly associated with the offensive content, the negative emotion evoked by offensive content spilled over to the brand. The study also found that the negative spillover was amplified by ad intrusive perception and mediated by blame attribution to the brand. Lastly, negative emotions contributed to heightening negative word-of-mouth intentions.

How to Promote Health Products Online • Gawon Kim; Chun Yang, Louisiana State University; Yongick Jeong • This study examines the impacts of three critical factors on the effectiveness of online health product/service ads. Using a three-way mixed-repeated design, this study conducted online experiments with previously identified indicators of health advertising effectiveness, 2 (contextual similarity) × 2 (health threat orientation) × 2 (digital ad type). The results indicate a strong influence of contextual similarity on both Aad and PI, along with partial interaction effects of digital advertising type and health threat orientation.

Keeping up with influencers: Exploring the impact of social presence and parasocial interactions on brands • Hyosun Kim • A between-subject experiment was conducted to examine the mediating role of parasocial interaction in influencer marketing on Instagram. Drawing on the computer-mediated communication literature, the level of social presence was tested as a predictor of parasocial interaction. In a fitness blogger’s Instagram posts, social presence significantly predicts purchase intent of the brand featured in the posts as well as self-efficacy, working through parasocial interactions. Thus, parasocial interaction serves as a mediator and influencers act as role models to motivate people to exercise and benefit the brand featured in the post. Higher social presence in the posts led individuals to feel that the posts were less promotional. The effect of parasocial interaction, however, is moderated by advertising recognition, such that lower social present posts appeared to suggest promotional appeal and negatively affect purchase intent.

Can Visuals Mislead? A Test of the Visual Superiority Effect in Advertising • Kyongseok Kim, Towson University; Hyang-Sook Kim, Towson University • Based on the visual superiority effect and message framing, this study examined the role of an image in the processing of an advertising message. When the message content was ambiguous and difficult to grasp, participants tended to rely more on the image than its textual counterparts (e.g., a framed headline and/or body content) in forming attitudes toward a potential health-risk behavior (coffee drinking). Psychological mechanisms of the visual superiority effect and practical implications are discussed.

The effects of message framing and image valence on consumers’ responses to green advertising: Focus on issue involvement as a moderator • Jinhee Lee; Moonhee Cho • This study examines the effects of message framing, image valence, and issue involvement on consumers’ responses in the green advertising context. A 2 X 2 between-subjects experimental study was conducted. Significant main effects of message framing and image valence on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions were found. Regardless of message framing, positive images triggered stronger consumers’ responses than negative images. Lastly, this study revealed issue involvement’s moderation effects, and theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Going Native on Instagram: The Effects of Product Type and Endorser Congruity on Native Advertising Effectiveness • Susanna Lee; Huan Chen, University of Florida; Yu-Hao Lee, University of Florida • In recent years, brands have been actively using self-promoted individuals, also known as “micro-celebrities” or “influencers”, on native advertising to make the ad resemble a post uploaded by one’s online friend (Marwick & Boyd, 2011). This study explored how self-expressive product and perceived product-influencer congruence affect Instagram native advertising outcomes. Findings revealed that native ad with a high self-expressive product and product-influencer congruence positively influence attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, source credibility, and eWOM intention. Furthermore, results showed that people’s persuasion knowledge moderate the effect of product-influencer congruence on the source credibility.

When Online Behavioral Advertising Mistargets: The Underlying Mechanism of its Negative Impact • DongJae (Jay) Lim, University of Georgia; Shuoya Sun, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA; Bartosz Wojdynski, University of Georgia • The present study sought to define and test the effects of “mistargeting” – that is, the phenomenon in which consumers are delivered online behavioral advertising (OBA) that has served them an irrelevant ad based on misinterpreted characteristics. Results of a 2 (ad mechanism disclosure: present/ absent) x 2 (targeted ad accuracy: high/low) between-subjects experiment (N = 109) show that mistargeting produces higher reactance than simple low ad relevance, and subsequent negative effects for brands.

Effects of Disclosing Ads on Instagram: The Moderating Impact of Similarity to the Influencer • Brigitte Naderer; Joerg Matthes, U of Vienna; Stephanie Schäfer, U of Vienna • We investigated the effects of ad disclosures on Instagram and explored the moderating role of similarity to the influencer. We conducted a 2×3 experiment with N = 396 women, manipulating the presence of an ad disclosure and follower-influencer similarity. Findings suggest that ad disclosures can foster persuasion knowledge. However, disclosures can also lead to increased influencer trustworthiness when there is high similarity. Trustworthiness, in turn, impacts purchase intentions and future intentions to follow the influencer.

Fear of Missing Out: Components of the Experience and Experiential Variations In Different Contexts • Dominik Neumann, Michigan State University; Esther Thorson, Michigan State University • Fear of missing out (FOMO) has gained increased attention in recent years. However, dimensionality and context-dependency of the concept remain unclear. Using semi-structured interviews we examine three possible attributes of FOMO: social comparison, counterfactual thoughts, and negative affect. We examine whether these dimensions are context-dependent, that is, whether they vary in application to advertising versus social relationships. Findings suggest the importance of all three dimensions across contexts. Implications for theory and scale development are discussed.

“The Algorithm Follows Me:” Knowledge and Experience of Targeting and Re-Targeting in Online Advertising Across Age Cohorts • Olga Shabalina; Michelle Nelson • Personalized online advertising is becoming more common across online environments, especially the use of re-targeting across media devices. Research has shown that the practice can be relevant and creepy. In our exploratory study, we interviewed people of two age groups (ages 18-27; 55-67) to gauge their knowledge and experience. Both age groups developed tactics to avoid retargeted ads, but behaviors varied given differences in media experience, feelings towards OBA, and level of privacy concerns.

Chatbots as the Next Frontier for Brand Communication • Ching-Hua Chuan, University of Miami; Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami; Yu Liu, Florida International University • This study presents one of the earliest empirical studies on the use of chatbots for brand communication. Specifically, this study evaluates how chatbots’ anthropomorphic design and communication that projects social presence jointly influence perceptions of parasocial interaction and dialogue, which in turn improve consumer evaluation and overall brand-liking. The findings advance the emerging research on chatbots for brand communication, and provide strategic guidelines to help advertisers capitalize on the power of chatbots to engage consumers in interpersonal communication.

Exploring the effects of compliance/non-compliance framing, desirability of end states, and brand zealotry on consumers’ responses to wearables advertising • Ruoxu Wang; Yan Huang; George Anghelcev, Northwestern University in Qatar • This study examined the combinatory effects of compliance/non-compliance framing, desirability of end states, and brand zealotry on consumers’ responses to wearables advertising. Results showed compliance framing was more effective than no-compliance framing on ad attitude, purchase intention, and WOM intention. Desirable end-states was more effective than undesirable end-states on ad attitude, purchase intention, and WOM intention. Brand zealotry moderates the interaction between compliance/non-compliance framing and desirability of end- states on purchase intention and WOM intention.

Message Features Predict Engagement with #MeToo Tweets • Nathan Lemburg; Ming Wang • This paper examines how message features affected engagement with #MeToo posts on Twitter. This study analyzed a dataset of 393,135 tweets with the #MeToo hashtag dated between November 29 and December 25, 2017. Focusing on three message features – personal reference, time orientation and emotions – results show that these three features were associated with the liking and sharing behavior toward the #MeToo tweets in different ways.

Writing Style Matters: Comparing Narrative and Expository Native Advertisements with Different Disclosure Levels • Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Naa Amponsah Dodoo, Emerson College; Chris Noland, University of South Carolina • Previous native advertising research has reported inconsistent findings related to the impact of advertising disclosure, implying the existence of potential boundary conditions. This study compared the effectiveness of narrative and expository native advertisements with different disclosure levels and confirmed the moderating effects of the writing style. The results of an online experiment indicated that the negative impact of explicit disclosure on content liking and share intention was only significant for the expository native advertisement, but not for the narrative native advertisement. These findings are believed to be meaningful to theory building for native advertising and to advertising professionals who are running native advertisements.

Native CSR Advertising: How Does Advertising Recognition Influence Public’s Responses to Proactive and Reactive CSR? • Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Holly Overton, University of South Carolina • Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication has started to take the format of native advertising. Noticing its growing popularity and the lack of research in this area, the present study was conducted to fill this gap. Through an online experiment, this study investigated how advertising recognition influences the public’s responses to a proactive and a reactive native CSR advertisement. The results indicated that participants expressed more favorable attitudes and greater WOM intention toward a proactive native CSR advertisement than a reactive one only when they did not recognize the persuasion purpose of the native ad. This study also confirmed the mediation of perceived manipulativeness for the effects of advertising recognition and the mediation of values-driven motivation for the effects of CSR type. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Exploring the Effects of Facebook-Use Fluidity, Flow and Motivations on User Interaction with Newsfeed Advertising • Xiaowen Xu; Carolyn Lin • This exploratory study tested the relations among technology fluidity, social media motivation, flow and consumer responses to newsfeed advertising. The path analysis results suggest that fluidity may impact social media motivation, social media motivation could help elicit flow and perceived ad usefulness. While flow may influence perceived ad usefulness, social media motivation and perceived ad usefulness could help shape product attitude. Perceived ad usefulness and product attitude in turn may help explain purchase intention.

Teaching and Pedagogy
The Ideal Advertising Professor • George Anghelcev, Northwestern University in Qatar; Shageea (Gia) Naqvi; Sela Sar; Jasmine Moultrie • Advertising faculty and program administrators would benefit from knowing what advertising students expect from the “ideal” advertising professor, yet no research has examined the topic. The present study constitutes a first step towards building knowledge in that specific domain. We explored the issue directly by attempting to answer the question, ‘how do students imagine the “ideal” advertising professor’?, in a manner that allowed the students to freely define their expectations without being constricted by the researchers’ views. The results were partly intuitive and partly surprising. They revealed a nuanced and rather sophisticated set of expectations from the ideal advertising professor, and have actionable pedagogical implications beyond the study’s contribution to literature and methodology in advertising education research.

Inter-Agency Collaboration: Account and Creative Teams Speak Out About Their Relationship • Robyn Blakeman, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Eric Haley, University of Tennessee; Maureen Taylor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • The relationship between account management and creative is a complicated and ever-changing one. A common theme in the advertising literature is that account and creative teams sometimes struggle with inter-agency communication. This paper looks at why communication is still an issue today and what knowledge modern account and creative teams need to know about the others role in the agency to close the long-standing communication gap. We asked both account and creatives what they wished the other understood about their roles within the agency. From their answers, we identify pedagogical suggestions for advertising professors as they work to better prepare students for careers in the industry.

Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R)
Gender Expression and Contribution Amounts in Social Responsibility Advertising for Pride Collections: Does Doing More Make a Difference? • Sara Champlin; Minjie Li • One social issue that has gained popularity in recent years is representation of LGBTQ models and messages. Using samples of heterosexual and LGBTQ participants, this study examines the impact of boundary-crossing model gender expression (masculine, feminine) and non-profit contribution amount (1%, 100% of sales) on consumer responses to advertisements that feature a social justice topic. Findings from this study suggest that complete (100%) donations may elicit skepticism among consumers, implications for practitioners are discussed.

Are Digital Natives Naive About Digital Influence? An Exploration of Generational Differences and Understanding of Social Media Influencer Marketing • Brandon Boatwright; COURTNEY CHILDERS, University of Tennessee • Influencer marketing has upended traditional notions of celebrity endorsement, as advertisers partner with social media users with smaller followings but higher levels of engagement among key audiences. Twenty-five (n=25) diverse participants between the ages of 18-51 years shared their experiences with and opinions of influencer marketing via personal interviews. Findings suggest that there are differences between generational groups’ perceptions of social media influencers and move us closer towards establishing a model of audience-influencer relationships (AIRs).

Gender Portrayals in Adverts in the Gulf: A Content Analysis of Gender Portrayals in Television Advertising • Ali Khalil, Zayed University; Ganga Dhanesh • The stereotyping of women in dependent and familial roles in advertising has traditionally prevailed according to numerous studies. This study examined the level of gender stereotyping in television advertising in the Arab Gulf region, where conservative traditions and patriarchal structures remain strong among native populations. There is very little research into gender portrayal in advertising in this region. Following the lead from previous studies, this research has found that traditional stereotyping patterns mostly hold ground in the Gulf region, but change is starting to appear in certain areas.

Special Topics in Advertising
An Eye-Tracking Approach to Evaluate Personalized Advertising Effectiveness on Social Media: From Attention to Click • A-Reum Jung; Jun Heo, Louisiana State University • The main purpose of this study was to (a) examine how personalization influences advertising effectiveness and (b) investigate the roles of ad types and privacy concern during the persuasion process by employing eye-tracking equipment. The results revealed that perceived personalization of Facebook ads is positively related to (a) ad attention (i.e., total visit duration) and (b) ad clicks (i.e., click count). However, the positive effectiveness was significant only when participants viewed native ads and when they reported low privacy concern. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Power Users’ Branded VR Experiences on Immersiveness and Sharing Behavior: Moderating Effect of Prior Company Schema • Yoon-Joo Lee, Washington State University; Mina Park; David Silva; Jinho Joo; Pritha Agarwal • Virtual reality advertising campaigns allow consumers to interact with a company offering the VR experiences in a novel way. This study examined how individuals’ differences in power usage (confidence levels in using technology in an innovative and a functional way) and the company schema (trustworthy-related perception of a company) interact in experiencing immersion and evaluating attitudinal and behavioral intentions (share and recommendation of the VR experiences). The findings revealed that power users are more likely to be immersed into the VR environment, have positive attitude toward the VR experiences, and sharing the experiences, but less likely to recommend the VR experiences than non-power users. These effects of power usage were moderated by the trustworthy-schema toward the company providing VR experiences. Power users were less sensitive to the company schema than non-power users. The implications of the findings and future studies were further discussed.

Will Location Privacy Concerns Influence Location-Based Advertising Effectiveness? • Yowei Kang, National Taiwan Ocean University; KENNETH C. C. YANG, The University of Texas at El Paso • An important, but less explored, question about location-based mobile advertising (LBA) is how location privacy concerns would affect its effectiveness. Empirical results from an online survey of 391 U.S. participants found that location privacy concerns negatively predict attitudes toward, intention to use, and actual use of LBA. Positive attitudes predict a higher intention to use LBA, but not actual use. Overall, location privacy concerns predict LBA effectiveness even after considering users’ demographics and previous LBA experience. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Graduate and Undergraduate Student Research
He Said, She Said: The Role of Gender in Influencer Marketing in Saudi Arabia • Khalid Alharbi, University of South Carolina • This study uses social learning theory and congruence between social media influencers (SMI) and consumers to evaluate the impact of gender in influencer marketing. The findings indicate that SMI-consumer congruence positively increases the attitude towards the brand and the endorsement, especially when the endorser is a male influencer and the consumer is female. Also, influencer marketing appears to be a useful tool to increase consumer purchase intention and generate positive eWOM.

Advertising and Ethics: Theme and Community Segregation on Chicago’s Rapid Transit System • Ava Francesca Battocchio, Loyola University Chicago • Home to the United States’ second largest public transportation system, Chicago has a long history with economic, educational, and racial disparities amongst its 77 neighborhoods. Through content analysis, this study examines and categorizes 1,048 advertisements by their community demographics such as education, income and race, to examine theme variance within the context of residential segregation on Chicago’s rapid transit rail system.

The Impacts of Consumer Personality Traits on Online Video Ads Sharing • Chang Won Choi, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina • Despite the increasing importance of advertisement sharing, research on the characteristics of people sharing advertisements with others is limited. This study examines the impacts of personality traits on online video advertising sharing intention. Structural equation modeling test results show that neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion among big-five personality traits have positive impacts on the intention through the advertising message involvement. Implications of the findings as well as suggestions for further research are discussed.

Conflicting Messages: Eye Tracking Participant Outcomes of Empowerment and Objectification in Contemporary Advertising • Amelia Couture Bue, University of Michigan • Empowerment-themed advertising (ETA) is becoming a popular marketing strategy, and ETAs often pair ostensibly empowering messages with objectifying visuals. This study explores the independent and collective contributions of text and visual messages on women’s self-objectification and felt empowerment, including message processing. Results indicated that ETA visuals paired with empowerment-themed captions produced the lowest objectification scores, but the presence of the photo decreased feelings of empowerment. Limited differences in message processing differences were found across conditions.

Transparent Deception: Exploring the Relationship between Moral Ecology and Native Advertising • Jason Freeman, Pennsylvania State University; Michael Krieger • This study examined how the moral ecology of advertising and public relations agencies influence native advertising attitudes and practices. Six in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with advertising and public relations executives working at two New York based agencies. Participants discussed their views on native advertising using a dualistic perspective, at one moment speaking as a consumer, and then in the next as practitioners. Insights into the structural forces that shape a practitioners’ ability to negotiate their work are discussed.

The Effect of Verbal and Visual Product Information on Cognitive and Affective Responses • Xiaohan Hu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Chen Chen, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign • Visual and verbal are the two primary presentation formats in online information consumption. We conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of different presentation formats, as well as Internet use motivations, on the audience’s cognitive and affective responses respectively in the context of online product information search. Results revealed that verbal presentation led to better cognitive responses (i.e., the perceived amount of information). Utilitarian and hedonic motivations positively influence the audience’s attitudes and behavior intentions toward product information.

The Influence of Beauty-Related YouTube Content on Consumers’ Purchase Intentions • Kyungji Lee • Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is considered an effective tool in appealing consumers. Previous studies primarily focus on text-based eWOM. This study builds on earlier studies by applying the Information Adoption Model to beauty-related videos on YouTube. It confirms that information quality and source credibility are important determinants of perceived information usefulness which positively influence information adoption and purchase intention. It also found expected relationships between dependent variables within the elaboration likelihood model (ELM).

Exploring Musical Characteristics in Public Service Announcement: A Content Analysis on PSA Videos • Bitt Moon, Indiana University Bloomington • This study analyzed the PSA advertisements to examine how music is associated with message framing and message appeals. A content analysis was conducted on a total of 362 PSA ads. The results showed that background music with positive music emotion was observed most often in PSA ads. The findings also revealed the significant relationships between musical characteristics and message components. Theoretical and strategic implications were discussed.

Listicles vs. Narratives: The Interplay Between Mood, Message Type and Disclosure on Native Advertising Effectiveness • Chris Noland, University of South Carolina • Two studies examine the interplay between mood and native advertising type (listicle and narrative) on attitudinal and behavioral response. Study 1 suggests that people in a negative mood find native ads presented in a listicle format more appealing while people in a positive mood prefer native ads presented as narratives. Study 2 added disclosure language as a potential moderator; however, the results showed consistent findings as Study 1 and suggested disclosure language did not influence the effectiveness of native advertising. Furthermore, Study 2 also identified manipulativeness as an underlying mechanism which explains the interaction between mood and native ad type.

Effects of celebrity, social media influencer, and peer endorsements on attitude and behavior towards a celebrity-owned brand: The role of source credibility and the concept of congruence • Shiyun Tian, University of Miami • Product endorsement is a widely used advertising technique. In addition to traditional celebrity endorsement, electronic Word of Mouth appears to be highly effective for brand promotion, either through online opinion leaders (i.e., social media influencers (SMIs)) or through consumers’ peer reviews. This study investigates the effectiveness of three types of product endorsement (i.e., celebrity, SMI, and peer endorsements) from the perspectives of source credibility and congruity theory. Results indicated that source credibility, especially perceived expertise, play an important role in consumers’ evaluation process of product endorsement messages. In addition, the endorser-consumer congruence and the endorser-product congruence can serve as a moderating role that reinforces the effectiveness of product endorsement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Product Category Involvement Moderates Emotion Spillover Effect on Advertising Effectiveness • You Zhan, University of California, Davis • This study proposed and tested the idea that product category involvement could influence the elaborative level of advertising processing, and therefore moderate the effects of preceding emotional content on subsequent advertising effectiveness. Verbal and visual recognition, product attitude, and purchase intention data were collected to examine the predictions and research questions. The results demonstrated the interaction effects of preceding emotional content and product category involvement on advertising processing, product attitude, and purchase intention. The recognition data showed as the product category involvement level increased, more cognitive resources were directed from visual information to verbal information, improving the elaborative level of advertising processing. In addition, the preceding arousing content had greater influence on the elaborative level of advertising with moderate or high product category involvement compared with that of advertising with low product category involvement. Similar pattern was found on product attitude. And the effect of preceding arousing content on product attitude was smaller when the product category involvement was low compared with when the product category involvement was moderate or high. Furthermore, a three-way interaction of preceding valence, preceding arousing content, and product category involvement on purchase intention was observed. Particularly, the purchase intention for low-involvement product categories benefited most from the preceding positive arousing content while that for moderate- and high-involvement product categories was the highest when the preceding content was positive calm. Practical implications of the study and suggestions for future research have also been discussed.

< 2019 Abstracts