Discussion re‐examined

Despite a large number of conferences, studies, and publications about inter‐cultural communication, there are many important problems which have thus far, apparently, escaped attention. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion which may help to uncover some of these problems and, perhaps, suggest strategies for studying them.     

Adequacy of coverage by still picture and film services: A study by the radio‐television news directors association

More than ever before, broadcasting stations are concerned with public service programming. Extremely relevant to this problem is the question of adequacy of news coverage. The Radio‐Television News Directors Association has initiated a series of studies into one of the major interest areas of the television news director, that of still pictures and news film. The first of these studies, dealing with the supply in various content categories of still pictures and motion picture films of news events, is reported below.     

Today's news — tomorrow's context: A dynamic model of news processing

We are proposing a feedback model of news processing, assuming that news reception is guided by media input as well as by existing cognitive structures. However, these structures are in turn shaped by former media coverage. In our study we examine viewers’ processing of TV news, comparing objective news content (content analysis) to subjective meaning of news stories (viewer interviews). Results show that viewers interpret information about new events in the context of past events, themselves mainly a reflection of former media coverage.     

Islamophobia in China: news coverage,stereotypes, and Chinese Muslims’ perceptions of themselves and Islam

An analysis spanning 10 years of news reports about Muslims and Islam in Chinese state news media (N?=?15,427) demonstrates that Chinese news reports project an overall negative view of Muslims. An implicit association test performed in the non-Muslim Chinese population (N?=?1479) reveals negative stereotypes of Muslims. In addition, a survey of Chinese Muslims (N?=?384) shows that they perceive negative coverage of Muslims and Islam in Chinese media, and that real-life discrimination might be a consequence of such negative stereotyping. This study reveals that (1) there is an overall negative framing of news coverage of Muslims and Islam; (2) non-Muslim Chinese hold a negative stereotype of Muslims and Islam; (3) Chinese Muslims are cognizant of a negative media portrayal of Islam and of themselves; and (4) some Muslim Chinese experience discrimination in their daily lives. The present study contributes to the literature on global Islamophobia, a phenomenon that is understudied in China.     

News coverage of abortion between Roe and Webster: Public opinion and real‐world events

Based on agenda‐setting research, this study focused on the links between media coverage, real‐world indicators, and public opinion about abortion. We conducted a content analysis of coverage of the abortion issue in two prestige newspapers, The New York Times and the Washington Post, between two key Supreme Court rulings. We hypothesized that amount of coverage would (a) increase during election years, (b) be related to number of abortions performed, and (c) be related to public opinion about abortion rights. We found mixed support for our hypotheses. Abortion coverage did peak during election years but was not related to the number of abortions performed, and was related negatively to public acceptance of abortion rights.     

The bells: A re‐appraisal

The Bells, although universally described by critics as melodrama, departs markedly from the traits most usually associated with the form. An investigation of this seeming contradiction leads to the testing of an alternate model for melodrama and an illumination of the play's structure by means of this model. The resulting analysis points clearly to the need for more theoretical work into the nature of melodrama.     

A re‐examination of relational repair and reconciliation: Impact of socio‐communicative style on strategy selection

This study examines some of the reconciliation and repair/maintenance strategies in the relational communication literature. These strategies were compared with Bell and Daly's (1984) affinity‐seeking strategies. It was concluded that Bell and Daly's strategies could identify many of the same relational strategies with less contextual confusion. It is argued that affiliation strategies represent a true multiphasic relational communication typology that applies to the range of repair/reconciliation contexts. The study then looks at the degree to which assertiveness, and responsiveness predicts the use/non‐use of affinity seeking strategies in the context of relational repair. The study indicates that self perceived assertiveness and responsive play a role in strategy selection as well. Finally, how others are perceived in terms of assertiveness and responsiveness was found to predict the types of strategies used and not used in relational repair contexts.     

Television and foreign policy us response to the Beijing and Kwangju pro‐democracy movements

This study examines US network television coverage of the 1980 Kwangju and 1989 Beijing‐Tiananmen Square incidents in relation to American policy towards those East Asian nations and the increasingly global impact of television on foreign policy. Both episodes involved pro‐democracy movements, imposition of military force, violence, and implications for US policy. While both were covered by television, Beijing became a global media event while Kwangju was accorded more perfunctory coverage. The study documents heavy reliance on official sources in coverage of both events, but greater attention to pro‐democracy demonstrators in Beijing as more ‘worthy’ victims than those in Kwangju. It also points to the difficulty language poses for Western news organizations in East Asia, and the tendency of television to serve as a reference point for all reporting. The hypothesis that media index their coverage according to mainstream government debate must take into account such factors when being tested in an era of global television. When television is less actively engaged in covering an event, as in Kwangju, policymakers have greater power to shape the public dialogue. A broad question for the future regards the evolution of institutions to promote civil versus statist discourse.     

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.     

Enabling customer relationship management: Multi‐channel content model and management for financial eservices

Abstract

This study examines convergence as both a concept and a process. It examines the current state of convergence, various definitions of convergence, convergence practices, and it identifies Seven Observations of Convergence to be used as a strategy for best practices for organizations to integrate new and old media. Everett Rogers (1995) diffusion of innovations and the five stages of the innovation process in organizations, coupled with innovation management research are theoretical foundations used to examine the infusion of technological changes into business practices in the media industry. The study is based on research conducted during the summer of 2002 that included in‐depth interviews, participation‐observation, and archival documents from three leading corporate media groups and convergence pioneers‐Tribune Company, Media‐General, and Belo Corp at their integrated business units in Chicago, Dallas, and Tampa, Florida. The three organizations were selected for field study because they are convergence pioneers that fell under the grandfather clause of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission 1975 cross‐ownership rule and were allowed to maintain ownership of their television broadcast and newspaper business units in the same market.     

Propaganda and rush Limbaugh: Is the label the last word?

A content analysis measured the performance of much‐labeled talk show host Rush Limbaugh against traditional and modem standards of propaganda. A month of Limbaugh's syndicated radio program was recorded off air. The tapes were randomly sampled for topic segments defined as the units of analysis. Trained coders working in pairs rated each sampled segment on 40 questions, grouped to test seven hypotheses about Rush Limbaugh's performance, and t‐tests were used to test the variance of scores from the neutral median. Although Limbaugh was not found to use the majority of traditional and modem propaganda techniques or to conceal the source and purpose of the ideas he presented, he was found to have a political agenda, to espouse that agenda openly, and to employ a minority of propaganda techniques. The findings support the notion that analysis of the message source, individual techniques of presentation, and the totality of the message may be more important to effective understanding than the assigning of labels.     

Casualties of war: The decline of foreign‐language broadcasting during WWII

The purpose of this article is to initiate an examination of foreign‐language radio and establish its place in broadcasting historiography of World War II. First, an outline will be drawn of the dangers foreign‐language radio posed to the United States, as articulated by the mainstream press, U.S. Government, and the dominant radio industry. Second, the actions of the Federal Communication Commission and Office of Censorship, and the subsequent response of the radio industry, will be analyzed in depth. Finally, the impact of wartime policies on foreign‐language programming will be considered, as well as suggestions for further research.     

John Morley and the Irish question: Chart‐prayer‐dream

Attempts to circumscribe “the Burkean method” of rhetorical criticism can be frustrating. Critics more profitably might use Burke as an example and a prod, appropriating—as was done in this study—whichever of Burke's concepts, methods, and metaphors seem applicable to a given rhetorical event. Burke's “chart‐prayer‐dream” trilogy, together with his understanding of “strategies,” was employed to examine Morley's “Home Rule” speech before the Oxford Union in 1888. Morley's reply to Randolph Churchill abandoned propositional argument in favor of reviv‐alistic‐exhortation early in the speech; his strategies of form, argument, labelling, style, and mimesis are best understood as those of the High Priest seeking a confessional and an act of expiation from his auditors.     

Live news reporting: Professional judgment or technological pressure? A national survey of television news directors and senior reporters

Findings from this study indicate that news reporters are at times uncomfortable with live reporting, believing that news operations often allow technology to drive journalism. The data indicate that senior reporters and news directors adopt different perspectives of live newsgathering, and that the disparity between the two groups widens in larger markets. The majority of both groups agree that “live for the sake of live” takes place with disturbing frequency in newsrooms across the nation.