Live Reporting in Television News: Breaking News or Black Holes?

In the early days of television, it was thought that live coverage of news events would be extremely rare. Instead, live coverage has become pervasive. Results from this study showed that stations in sampled-markets aired more stories containing a live element than they aired standard reporter packages. Most of the time, there was no apparent journalistic justification for going live, adding evidence to the contention that technology drives journalism in television newsrooms today.     

Images of Injury: Graphic News Visuals’ Effects on Attitudes toward the Use of Unmanned Drones

In this study, sanitized coverage of the United States’ use of military drone strikes in foreign countries is pitted against more graphic news images in an experimental setting to determine effects on attitudes toward the use of U.S. military drones. In addition, multiple news exposures are tested to determine whether individuals can become emotionally inured to such coverage, even when images are more graphic. Key results find those who viewed graphic news visuals did not show evidence of desensitization after repeated viewing and expressed higher levels of concern regarding drone use but not reduced support for U.S. drone policy.     

Displacing and Complementing Effects of News Sites on Newspapers 1998–2009

Media managers are facing the challenge of navigating their organizations through a series of extensive changes involving economic, editorial, and technological challenges. Media managers need to develop a better understanding of user behavior and demand. This article addresses the news media landscape and the dynamics at play between print and online media, departing from an elaboration on theories of displacing and complementing effects. The empirical journey focuses on changes over time with regard to how people make use of evening tabloids through print and online. A dataset that comprises annual postal-based surveys carried out from 1998 to 2009 is used for the analysis. The results show an historical change regarding the usage patterns of evening tabloids. First, online news, in general, has acquired a stronger position among users over time, at the expense of the readership of printed evening tabloids. Second, with regard to the interrelated roles of print and online news sites, the latter constitute the primary channel for users—in particular, among 16- to 49-year-olds. Third, gender has the strongest complementing effect, as men are distinguished users of both print and online news. When it comes to explaining displacing effects, these take place among the more highly educated, and the smallest displacing effects are found among 50- to 85-year-olds. The results illustrate the complex dynamics at hand with regard to simultaneous displacing and complementing effects, which nurtures sage managerial implications.     

Arousing News Characteristics in Dutch Television News 1990–2004: An Exploration of Competitive Strategies

This study investigates the processes by which competition in the television news market might promote the presence of arousing characteristics in television news. A total of 3,024 news stories from six Dutch television news programs over the period 1990 to 2004 were investigated through content analysis. The findings of the study show overall increases in all 6 arousing characteristics. The findings also show that commercial newcomers included more arousing characteristics in their news stories than the public service broadcasters, that commercial newcomers developed a news format that featured more arousing characteristics, and that existing programs reacted to newcomers by increasing the amount of arousing characteristics in their news stories.     

“News with an Accent”: Hispanic Television and the Re-negotiation of US Latino Speech

Using Bourdieu's concept of “linguistic capital” as an analytical concept, I examine the value of language as both a means of comprehension and a product that has currency in the television marketplace. Focusing on Fusion, an upstart cable network designed to engage Latinos civically and in English, I examine the ways in which television networks employ language as a device through which to create audiences. I argue that Fusion and other networks are attempting to re-constitute the Latino audience in ways that more closely align with the dominant culture, leading to forms of erasure that challenge the legitimacy of Spanish altogether. I further argue that in the process of pursuing the acculturated Latino, the network pivots away from those most isolated from civic discourses.     

News in an Age of Competition: The Case of Sensationalism in Dutch Television News, 1995–2001

Recent years have seen changing and shifting technologies as well as an uncertain economic climate. This research focuses on how audiences have reacted to these shifts, using a number of different sources of data to test hypotheses related to spending time and money on media. We suggest that previous studies examining audience expenditures and diffusion of new technologies may have overlooked the stressful economic conditions surrounding diffusion of some of those technologies. We find an increase in entertainment technology purchases as well as time spent with new and traditional media during recession years, beyond that indicated by the longer term trends. While there is a general decrease in coviewing behavior in recent years, the recession years reversed the trend. Results are discussed in terms of the constancy hypothesis and our hypothesis that the media provide outlets for reducing stress during difficult economic times.     

Does Background Music Really Help Radio Commercials? The Effect of Involvement on Ad Recall

This study tested the effects of background music on the recall of radio commercials. Free and aided recall were significantly higher for subjects who heard the commercials containing no background music in the talk program compared to that of subjects hearing the commercials containing no background music in the music program. Furthermore, involvement level appears to be a factor in influencing recall. The involvement level with the music program was low compared to the involvement level with the talk program and this seems to have a mitigating effect on the recall of the commercials.     

News Stories on the Facebook Platform: Millennials’ Perceived Credibility of Online News Sponsored by News and Non-News Companies

ABSTRACT

This experimental study examined whether stories presented on Facebook that appeared to be from a news organization were rated as higher in perceived credibility than stories that appeared to be from a non-news organization. One-hundred-and-seven participants took part in the online study. One group saw stories that appeared to be from a news organization and another group saw the same stories that appeared to be from a non-news organization. Both groups rated the stories the same in terms of perceived credibility. The study also found that the higher the participants rated the stories in terms of perceived credibility, the higher they rated the organization’s perceived credibility. These findings point to potential implications for traditional journalistic outlets regarding their ability to be seen as credible, reliable online news sources—particularly through a social media platform like Facebook.     

Making Sense of “Views” Culture in Television News Media in India

ABSTRACT

The initiation of economic reforms in the 1990s led to major recastings in the media-state-market relationship in India. Looking specifically at the television news media space, the age-old monopoly of the state broadcaster Doordarshan was challenged by the mushrooming of a host of private television news media. Private participation in the television news sector was in sync with the logic of market capitalism. Market-based news model radically altered the nature of production, representation and consumption of news. This paper makes an inquiry into one such predominant aspect of news production, the ascendancy of views/opinion based prime time programming in television news media, in contemporary India. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with journalists, the paper attempts to make sense of the reasons, the nature and significance and the likely impact of such programming on the nature of public discourse in India.     

Expanding the Unidirectional View on Parental Television Mediation: Children’s Guidance of Their Parent’s Television Use

Compared to parental mediation research, much less is known about how children influence and guide their parents’ media use. This study examined whether children also mediate the television use of their parents. Measures of an existing television mediation scale were reversed to the perspective of the child guiding the parent’s television use. A sample of 187 parent-child dyads completed a cross-sectional survey in Flanders (Belgium). Factor analyses showed that the original subscales were reproduced with high internal validity. Both parents and children had congruent views about children’s television mediation; television mediation and children's restrictive mediation was positively associated with conflict in the family.     

Effects of Cognitive,Affective, and Behavioral Factors on College Students’ Bottled Water Purchase Intentions

Consumption of single-use bottled water has created severe environmental pollution problems around the world. By incorporating the theory of planned behavior with the additional cognitive and behavioral factors of perception, prior behavior, and knowledge variables, this study examined college students’ bottled water consumption intentions. Results show that perceived peer norm, behavioral control, and perceived bottled water benefits are significantly related to purchase intentions, as are prior levels of bottled water and tap water consumption. The same is not true for attitude toward and knowledge of bottled water consumption. Perceived tap water benefits negatively moderated the attitude-purchase intention relationship, whereas prior bottled water consumption negatively moderated the behavioral control-purchase intention link.     

The Stubborn Pervasiveness of Television News in the Digital Age and the Field’s Attention to the Medium, 2010–2014

A secondary analysis of 2010–2014 World Values Survey (WVS) data (N = 81,229) is performed across 56 countries to assess frequency of exposure to television news versus the Internet and mobile phone as information sources. A large majority of the comparisons (105/112; 93.75%) reveal television to be used more frequently than Internet or mobile phones (p < 1.0E-09). A content analysis of works published in 9 communication journals from 2010 to 2014 indicates a precipitous decline in the attention political communication scholars are giving to television. Meanwhile, there is substantial growth in the focus on new media.     

The Effects of “Friend” Characteristics on Evaluations of an Activist Group in a Social Networking Context

Research suggests that individuals use cues about the popularity of a cause or group to make judgments. This bandwagon phenomenon has found particular support in online contexts. However, perceptions regarding the group may also depend on the identity of those supporters. We employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment to test the effect of number of affiliates and affiliate race and age on feelings toward the group, its page, and intended support. Results suggest that feelings are not subject to a consistent bandwagon effect but rather are moderated by race, with White participants exhibiting more positive feelings when seeing a page with few Black affiliates or many White affiliates. This result contrasts with findings for age, which serves to moderate only intended page use.     

Where Have All the Milestones Gone? The Decline of Significant Research on the Process and Effects of Mass Communication

Between about 1930 and the early 1980s, a number of seminal research studies yielded most of today's theories of the process and effects of mass communication. Since that time, few studies have made significant theoretical contributions. This apparent slowdown is inconsistent with certain trends in the media industries and in the academy that logically should result in greater production of seminal studies. The question is why so few milestones have been produced in recent years? A possible answer is that certain trends are taking place in U.S. society that tend to reduce the number of ground-breaking studies that will be produced by contemporary academics. Specifically, social scientists have turned from media studies to their more traditional research agenda; increasing attention is being paid to qualitative analysis by today's media scholars, and many are now preoccupied with critical perspectives rather than research. Additionally, higher pay in applied research may be drawing bright doctors of philosophy away from basic studies; heavy use of part-time instructors increases the workload of full-time faculty; and, finally, funding for basic research in mass communication is increasingly difficult to find.     

Does Audience Participation on Facebook Influence the News Agenda? A Case Study of The Rachel Maddow Show

Social media have been theorized as being able to break the press' monopoly on agenda-setting, giving the public greater influence over which stories are covered in the news. This study uses a cross-lagged panel analysis to determine to what extent audience conversations on The Rachel Maddow Show's Facebook Page may have influenced the selection of issues covered in the TV broadcast. Results show a positive correlation between stories discussed on Facebook and the subsequent airing of similar stories on TV. The evidence also suggests that social media may enable many factors that influence both the media and the public agendas.     

Where Is My Issue? The Influence of News Coverage and Personal Issue Importance on Subsequent Information Selection on the Web

Researchers believe that the Web functions to supplement traditional news media. Little is known, however, about how traditional news media consumption influences Web use patterns. This study investigates how prior TV news exposure influences individuals' subsequent Web use by testing 3 theories that may explain individuals' information selection patterns—accessibility, instrumental utility, and personal issue importance. The results of this study reveal the strong effects of personal issue importance when selecting information on the Web, regardless of news coverage in traditional media. The findings also indicate higher levels of information selection when there is no prior exposure to news coverage.     

Does the Music Matter? Examining Differential Effects of Music Genre on Support for Ethnic Groups

Using data from a post-test only experiment with random assignment, this article examines whether differing music genres influence socially relevant decisions made by listeners. A sample of White college students was exposed to1 of 3 music genres during an ostensible waiting period, and was then asked to allocate funding to projects for different ethnic groups. Three music conditions—radical White power rock, mainstream rock, and Top 40 pop music—were examined to determine whether differential allocations to ethnic groups would emerge following music exposure. As expected, Top 40 pop music exposure led to equal allocations to the various ethnic groups. After listening to mainstream rock, participants allocated significantly higher budgets to White Americans compared to all other race groups. After listening to radical White power rock music, participants also allocated significantly higher budgets to White Americans, but changes in allocations to ethnic minority groups also emerged. Namely, African Americans and Arab Americans received particularly low funding from participants exposed to radical White power rock music.     

R U with Some1? Using Text Message Experience Sampling to Examine Television Coviewing as a Moderator of Emotional Contagion Effects on Enjoyment

Viewers regularly watch television with others, but the role of coviewing is often overlooked in entertainment effects models. Further, the models are rarely investigated in natural settings, limiting their ecological validity. The current study used experience sampling via text message to examine college students’ daily coviewing behaviors. Momentary assessments were taken 3 times a day for 1 week. Respondents reported their happiness during viewing and the enjoyableness of their experiences. Consistent with emotional contagion theory, data suggest that increases in emotional intensity mediated the effect of emotional contagion on program enjoyment, but only among respondents who reported coviewing with someone else. These results provide preliminary evidence that social context is partially responsible for contagious transfer of affect during entertainment experiences.     

Television—the Housewife's Choice? The 1949 Mass Observation Television Directive,Reluctance and Revision

This article considers the responses of women, many of whom describe themselves as housewives, in the 1949 Mass Observation Television Directive, in order to interrogate some of the broader assumptions around television's relationship with ‘the housewife’ as key to its success. Against the backcloth of social histories revising ideas about gender, modernity and suburbia in the post-war period, this article considers some of the ways in which initial reluctance towards television was recorded and negotiated. It presents three themes around tensions between home and leisure, the domestication of entertainment and ‘going out’, and the appreciation of particular genre, which suggest that the adoption of television as mass entertainment by women might not have been as smooth a process as we have come to understand.     

What Influences Advertising Price in Television Channels?: An Empirical Analysis on the Spanish Market

Advertising has an important role in the media industry. In a context where advertising generates a negative externality for viewers, this article analyzes the factors explaining ad prices in free TV empirically. This article also considers the participation of government-owned broadcasters in the Spanish market. This study finds that private ownership is associated with higher advertising prices. The results show a positive relation between audience size and ad price and a negative relation between ad price and advertising time. In addition, this study finds that higher prices are associated with the percentage of the population between 14 and 29 years old and the regional gross domestic product per capita in the broadcast area.