How college students evaluate and share “fake news” stories

The spread of “fake news” stories online has become a pressing concern in the United States and around the world in recent years. Social media platforms enable the rapid spread of such misinformation and also make evaluating the credibility of online information more difficult. Since college students are frequent users of social media, they are particularly likely to be exposed to fake news. A survey was conducted with 63 undergraduate students in which they identified and evaluated examples of both fake and real news stories and reported their associated information behaviors. Results showed correlations between accurate identification of fake news stories and specific critical evaluation behaviors and strategies. However, students were unable to accurately evaluate their own skills, and their willingness to share fake news stories on social media was not related to accurate identifications or evaluations of trustworthiness. This study contributes to the understanding of not just how accurately students evaluate fake news stories, but of the specific information-seeking behaviors and critical evaluation strategies that are associated with accurate identifications and evaluations and with willingness to share news stories on social media. Implications for educators and directions for future research are discussed.     

Elucidating influences on superior‐subordinate communication: Attributional confidence and organizational control expectancies

The purpose of this study was to examine how differences in organizational control expectancies affect superior‐subordinate interaction and relational certainty. Employees (N = 280) from several organizations completed measures of perceived control, attributional confidence, and superior‐subordinate interaction. Results indicated significant relationships between subordinates ‘ work locus of control orientation with relational certainty and superior‐subordinate relationship quality. A large effect was observed between subordinates ‘ report of relational certainty with supervisor and supervisor leadership style.     

An alternative form of teacher affinity‐seeking measurement

Teacher affinity‐seeking has been examined in relation to a number of educational variables. This research is frequently conducted with a twenty‐five item instrument derived from the corresponding typology. This study presents an alternative to the longer twenty‐five item measure by providing an alternative eleven item measure of teacher affinity‐seeking. Results indicated that the measure is both reliable and valid for use with the appropriate research questions. Broad guidelines for use are presented.     

Keyword: Print‐on‐demand

Abstract

This article examines the state of management in Convergence today and poses questions and potential answers for overcoming cultural problems that exist between newspaper and television newsrooms. The article scrutinizes the seeming abyss between these expected media partners and examines cultural implications through literature in organizational psychology, organizational communications and general business management practices.     

Ideology and foreign news coverage: Propaganda model re‐examined

By comparing and contrasting the New York Times and Newsweek's coverage of the 1980 South Korean student demonstrations and the 1989 Chinese student demonstrations, this study set out to examine two important concepts of Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model: political ideology and national interest. While the original model did not address situations where both factors are present, and at the same time contradicting each other, it is the purpose of this study to test the applicability of the model in general, and to clear up this issue in particular. Dichotomous treatments of the two student movements were found in the New York Times and Newsweek's coverage. Important findings of this study further suggest that in a cold war context, ideology serves as a more important news factor than national interest in influencing the American media's foreign news coverage.     

Anatomy of Canada's largest broadcast failure: The all‐news radio story

The CKO Radio Network was the only privately owned English language news and information radio network in Canada. CKO held a one‐of‐a‐kind package of licenses to build, own, and operate 12 stations in the largest Canadian markets but built only nine of them. The network launched in 1977 and survived until 1989 when it was shut down by its owners under a staggering $55‐million debt. This paper chronicles Canada's largest broadcast failure and examines the broadcast regulatory agency's role in CKO's demise. It will also consider the legacy of CKO in the context of the current Canadian radio landscape.     

Cable's economic impact on over‐the‐air broadcasting

The author argues that cable industry is having increasingly negative impact on broadcast television as its power in both the programing and advertising markets increase. Cable system operaters are having increasing incentives to drop or refuse to add broadcast stations or to relocate them to less desirable channel locations as a means of improving their performance in the markets. The author warns that current trends could be harmful to many broadcast stations, but he is especially pessimistic about the future of independent UHF stations.     

The gods are drinking milk! Word‐of‐mouth diffusion of a major news event in India

The objective of this study is to explore whether the US media overemphasized recalled Chinese products in 2007 and, if so, how news coverage in the US media differed from that of the Chinese media. By using a framing analysis of the coverage in two US media and two Chinese media, this study pursues answers to these questions. After comparing the news coverage of the recalled Chinese products and a real world indictor, this study found that neither US nor Chinese media mirrored the real world phenomenon as it was. By comparing news coverage of the issue in The New York Times and The Associated Press with China Daily, and The Xinhua News Agency, the study found that news coverage of the recalled issues differed significantly in terms of the sources used, the nationality of the source, the dominant frames employed, and the attribution of responsibility for the problems. In particular, Chinese media more frequently employed government officials as their main sources, which inherently increased the use of thematic frames. By contrast, US media often used episodic frames. Likewise, American media approached the issues using ‘Customers' Worries’ and ‘Broken System’ frames, whereas Chinese media often attempted to defend the quality of Chinese products and criticized Western media for exaggerating the issues. Owing to the news framing process, US audiences might have acquired more negative images of Chinese products and China in general. By contrast, their Chinese counterparts might have experienced increased antipathy and distrust concerning the American media.     

US news magazine images of black‐Asian American relationships, 1980–1992

During the past 20 years, primarily Latinos and Asians have immigranted to these shores and settled in urban areas. Media sources assert that this influx created particularly problematic relations between blacks and Asian Americans. Using Frame theory and textual analysis, we explored the images newsmagazines produced of this relationship. We found that one frame predominated: the nature of group relations had to do with each group's “essential”; qualities. Within this frame there also appeared four media packages: 1) the nature of the urban space, 2) the role of culture in the quality of relationships, 3) the essential qualities of urban residents and 4) the preeminence of class over race. Analysis of black‐Asian American relationships, while not strictly hegemonic, rarely deviated from accepted critiques. The nature of the coverage constrained understanding to personal shortcomings, while poverty and racial strife were rarely associated with historical and structural factors.     

The craven dissent on proposed rule‐making

This project integrates a uses and gratifications perspective into the study of political satire, to explore the reasons why young people prefer (or avoid) political satire programming, and to understand how viewing and avoidance motivations relate to political and psychological constructs. Results indicate that respondents who prefer political satire report watching for the humor, to learn about current events, because they see it as unbiased, to make news fun, and to contextualize the news. Analyses also reveal significant differences in the demographic and psychological profiles of respondents who watch (and avoid) political satire for different reasons.     

Information adequacy,job satisfaction and organizational culture in a dispersed‐network organization

This investigation examined the relationship of information adequacy to job satisfaction and organizational culture in a healthcare organization with both office and field personnel. Information adequacy was assessed in four areas: personal performance, organizational policies, organizational performance, and organizational objectives. Comparisons of field and office personnel indicated that they did not differ on information adequacy or job satisfaction; they did, however, differ on several dimensions of organizational culture. Also, the relationship of information inadequacy to job satisfaction and organizational culture differed for employees depending on whether they worked primarily in the field or primarily in the office. Implications of the findings are drawn for organizations with a dispersed‐network structure.     

The value of goodness‐of‐fit indices in meta‐analysis: A comment on Hall and Rosenthal

In a useful article regarding testing for moderator variables in meta‐analysis, Hall and Rosenthal (1991) suggest, among other things, that when the sample of studies is large enough, it is acceptable to use ordinary inferential statistics such as the analysis of variance to test for moderator variables. However, because meta‐analytic data points (effect sizes) differ in important ways from those for which ordinary inferential statistics were designed, we recommend that analysts use conventional meta‐analytic statistics, which are at least potentially more informative about the literature in question. Hall and Rosenthal also suggest that tests of effect size variability should play a minimal role in meta‐analytic model tests. We concur that these tests of homogeneity cannot alone test for moderator variables and that at least tests between mean effect sizes should be performed. However, consistent with Hedges and Olkin's (1985) meta‐analytic framework, we show how homogeneity tests provide additional and valuable information regarding how completely a moderator (or set of moderators) explains the variation of effect sizes. Therefore, these goodness‐of‐fit statistics may prove quite valuable, especially in meta‐analyses of highly variable study outcomes. We further recommend that in meta‐analyses for which study outcomes are already consistent, analysts should continue to perform model tests if they have theoretical expectations about moderators. We discuss these and other meta‐analytic model testing concerns.     

Sex on prime‐time in the 90's

Although the proportion of network prime‐time programs with sexual images decreased somewhat during the 1990's, the overall message about sex did not change. Sex is often found in a humorous context—four often programs include humorous sexual references. Sex is most often found in dramas, followed closely by situation comedies. Moreover, one‐fifth of prime‐time programs have sexual content that is categorized as gratuitous (unwarranted) to the plot. Viewers do not seem to favor programs with sexual content — there was no support for the hypothesis that programs with sexual content would have higher Nielsen ratings than programs without sexual content.     

End users’ trust in data repositories: definition and influences on trust development

While repositories’ efforts to build trustworthy digital repositories (TDRs) led to the establishment of ISO standards, much less research has been done regarding the user’s side, despite calls for an understanding of users’ trust of TDRs. In order to learn about users’ perspectives on trust in digital repositories, the present study investigated users’ definitions of trust and factors that influence users’ trust development, particularly addressing the users of three data repositories in the United States. A total of 19 participants were interviewed in this study. The results of this study indicate that users’ definition of trust is largely based on a lack of deception, when it comes down to the specific context of data repositories. Regarding factors influencing the development of users’ trust in repositories, organizational attributes, user communities (recommendations and frequent use), past experiences, repository processes (documentation, data cleaning, and quality checking), and users’ perception of the repository roles were identified.     

Textual (im)possibilities in the U.S. post‐network era: negotiating production and promotion processes on lifetime's any day now

This essay explores the struggles experienced in the creation, production, and promotion of a U.S. television series that deliberately sought to encourage cultural reflection about ethnic diversity and defied industrial norms as an original narrative program produced for a cable network. Any Day Now (1998–2002) was the first successful original series produced for the Lifetime Television network and was one of the first successful original cable series. Through an analysis of the production process, interviews with the creators and writers of the series, and examination of the series' promotion, this essay explores how the transition to a post‐network era of industrial organization and competitive practice affected the production and promotion of the series and its narratives. These findings are informative both in terms of the specific case and as they might be extrapolated as characteristic of the development of the post‐network era.     

‘Alive’ on the internet: A user‐centred evaluation of BIS‐online

Recent UK government initiatives have encouraged academic staff to consider using IT to enhance students' experience of higher education in terms of its quality, flexibility and effectiveness. In 1999 second year undergraduate students studying Information Management at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh were invited to use a set of tailored web resources in support of the module Business Information Sources. This article presents the results of an evaluation conducted to discover the student view of the web site materials and the alternative learning methods employed for the module. Student opinions were sought on the accessibility, retrievability and usefulness of the information presented, and the ‘enjoyment’ of the learning experience. A comparison of the 1998/9 student examination performance was made with that of previous cohorts to determine whether adding another dimension to the experience of taking the module might impact the quality of the students' learning. The findings presented in the article will inform the further development of such initiatives, which in tum should improve the electronic delivery of learning materials in UK higher education.