Does Media Coverage of a Celebrity Suicide Trigger Copycat Suicides?: Evidence from Korean Cases

This article investigates the link between media coverage of celebrity suicides and the nation’s suicide rate. The instrumental variable regression is applied to suicide data from Statistics Korea and the media coverage data on celebrity suicides from Mediagaon of the Korea Press Foundation during the period from 1997 to 2009. The estimation results demonstrate that Korean celebrity suicides have significantly increased suicide rates, whereas non-Korean celebrity suicides have not. Moreover, greater media coverage of Korean celebrity suicides is associated with an increase in suicide rates. These findings shed light on the importance of media policy in the prevention of copycat suicides.     

Online Celebrity Bashing: Wrecking Ball or Good for You? Adolescent Girls’ Attitudes Toward the Media and Public Bashing of Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez

Journalists and readers of celebrity news regularly bash celebrities online, a behavior that is easily accepted among adolescents. This study investigates whether these attitudes of acceptance differ according to the perpetrator of the bashing (media versus public) and the likeability of the involved celebrity (liked versus disliked). Using a vignette study, we examine adolescent girls’ attitudes toward media (journalists’) and public (readers’) bashing of a generally disliked celebrity (Miley Cyrus) and a generally liked celebrity (Selena Gomez). All participants read an identical negative news story (media bashing) and two related negative reader comments (public bashing). Participants were randomly assigned to read this information about either Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez. Results of a mixed-design ANOVA showed that the girls had less negative attitudes toward media bashing compared with public bashing. Moreover, they more easily accepted the bashing of a disliked celebrity than the bashing of a liked celebrity.     

大众媒体如何在自杀报道中起积极作用?

本文回顾了西方就媒体与模仿性自杀行为的研究,结合中国媒体的现实状况,对当前一些由于媒体参与而产生较大影响的自杀案例进行分析,从而对媒体的自杀事件报道及如何起到积极作用提出一些建议。     

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Celebrity Media Diet and the Cultivation of Emerging Adults’ Materialism

The present study used cultivation theory to explore the relationships between celebrity media diet and materialism for a sample of 224 emerging adults. Results indicated main effects between both celebrity magazine consumption and celebrity TV news consumption on materialism. Total celebrity media diet was also significantly related to materialism. Findings suggest that a media diet high in celebrity culture and lifestyle has significant impact on emerging adults’ preoccupation with consumerism, particularly for women. This research contributes to a growing body of literature on the effects of a celebrity-saturated media environment and the cultivation of materialistic attitudes.     

The dream of statehood and the reality of conflict: local and international coverage of the Palestinian United Nations bid for statehood

This paper examines whether or not media coverage is biased by the political orientation of the journalists’ country, specifically illustrated by the 2011 bid for statehood by the Palestinian Authority in the United Nations. This bid represents a symbolic step toward international recognition of a Palestinian state, an important event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quantitative analysis was conducted on 1577 news reports from American, European, and Middle Eastern outlets to determine the differences in media coverage of the Palestinian bid for statehood among the channels. The findings suggest that Israeli channels broadcasted a relatively low number of items in which the Palestinian declaration itself was the main theme. The BBC broadcasted a relatively high rate of such items, and offered balanced coverage of both Israeli and Palestinian positions, while coverage by American FOX News channel reflected a pro-Israel bias. The findings also suggest that media outlets may be biased toward specific leaders. This work builds on a growing body of research on media framing of political conflicts and the effect of the political context of a country on its media outlets’ coverage.     

Coming Out as Homophobic: Isaiah Washington and the Grey's Anatomy Scandal

In late 2006 and early 2007, a high-profile celebrity scandal developed around Isaiah Washington's use of an anti-gay slur to describe his co-star T. R. Knight. The mainstream media coverage of this scandal positioned homophobia primarily in therapeutic and confessional terms, echoing the typical treatment of a celebrity's coming out. As the “angry black man,” Washington failed to satisfy the criteria for neoliberal citizenship and seemed to confirm white culture's fears about black masculinity. Knight, in contrast, emerged as a successful neoliberal citizen whose “difference” was safely contained. The debate thus shifted from the morality of homophobia to the morality and psychological health of the individual, determined through Washington's failed performance of honesty and Knight's successful one. As a result, heteronormativity and white privilege remained largely unnoticed within mainstream coverage of the scandal.     

News framing of adolescents’ use of Facebook in Taiwanese newspapers

ABSTRACT

While media frames reflect the dominant discourse about an issue, frame analysis can elucidate how they affect public perception. ¹ 1 William A Gamson and Andre Modigliani, “Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach,” American Journal of Sociology 95, no. 1 (1989): 1–37. Employing content analysis of news coverage of adolescents’ use of social media in mainstream newspapers (n?=?323) from 2014 to 2017, supplemented with secondary data from two national surveys of adolescents, this study investigates how news media construct the reality of adolescents’ use of social media; how the constructed reality differs from the subjective reality reported by adolescents’ themselves; and how news media reflect the elite discourse in terms of adolescence’s nature, agency, and needs in the context of using social media.     

Social networking site uses,internalization, body surveillance,social comparison and body dissatisfaction of males and females in mainland China

Findings indicated that the mass media exposure significantly associated with body image dissatisfaction [Chen & Jackson, 2012. Gender and age group differences in mass media and interpersonal influences on body dissatisfaction among Chinese adolescents. Sex Roles, 66(1-2), 3–20; Field et al., 2005. Exposure to the mass media, body shape concerns, and use of supplements to improve weight and shape among male and female adolescents. Pediatrics, 116(2), e214–e220]. However, limited studies have examined the effect of social media on body image concerns. In regard to this, this paper aims to explore how appearance presentation and appearance interaction on social networking sites influence young adults’ body image dissatisfaction in the Chinese patriarchal society. It proposes that internalization, social comparison and body surveillance may be potential mediators of SNS influences from appearance presentation and appearance interaction on female’s and male’s body dissatisfaction. A survey of 181 males and 203 females indicated that online appearance interaction was significantly associated with female’s body dissatisfaction. In addition, its effect was partially mediated by body surveillance. Besides, body surveillance also mediated the effect of appearance presentation on female’s body dissatisfaction. In male’s case, the influence of online appearance interaction on body dissatisfaction was mediated by internalization and social comparison.     

公共图书馆地方名人专藏推广实践与探索——以广州图书馆为例

地方名人专藏具有重要的科研价值、史料价值和社会教育功能,对图书馆发展特色化馆藏、开展主动服务、提升服务水平具有重要意义。以广州图书馆为个案,阐述名人专藏体系的现状与发展历程,梳理其依托专藏文献建设构建阅览空间的举措,分析归纳地方名人专藏推广的实践经验,以期为地方名人专藏阅读推广的深入开展、可持续发展提供参考与借鉴。     

News Habits Among Adolescents: The Influence of Family Communication on Adolescents’ News Media Use—Evidence From a Three-Wave Panel Study

Keeping up with what’s going on in the world of politics and current affairs through various news media is commonly seen as important for civic engagement and informed citizenship. Today, however, citizens face more opportunities than ever to select media content according to their personal preferences and interests—leading to what previous research has identified as a polarization between news-seekers and news-avoiders. Given heightened concerns regarding growing shares of news-avoiders in particular, this study analyzes the development, stability, and family influences on Swedish adolescents’ news habits over time. The findings, based on panel survey data among adolescents and their parents, show that (a) news habits are fairly stable at the individual level, (b) parents’ own news consumption is the most consistent predictor of adolescents’ development of news habits, and (c) these family effects are distinct from adolescents’ personal motivations for seeking out news.     

Inter-media agenda setting in global news production: examining agenda attributes in newspaper coverage of the MH370 incident in the U.S., China,and Hong Kong

The disappearance of Malaysian Airline Flight MH370 attracted high media attention across countries. To explore how news media outlets influence each other in transnational settings, this study focuses on the coverage of MH370 by three major newspapers in the U.S., China, and Hong Kong, and examines the inter-media agenda-setting effect as an indicator of media’s mutual influence. A content analysis of 255 news articles revealed significant correlations among the issue agendas of the 3 newspapers, suggesting the existence of reciprocal, though asymmetrical, influence among the news media in the U.S., China, and Hong Kong. The findings also suggest that news media differ in power and that news media in high-power countries play a key role in shaping the global news agenda.     

新媒体语境下明星形象的“自塑”与“他塑”

技术理性日益改变人们的生活方式,新媒介的出现也给话语的生成带来颠覆性变化。明星作为公众人物本身就具有强大的社会属性,他们集聚了多重的目光,网络社会给明星带去更为复杂的表演"舞台"。近年来,明星人设崩塌的现象比比皆是,并且通过网络传播形成了恶劣社会影响,这进一步让我们思考明星形象在构建时面临的困境。文章通过探讨明星主体自我塑造的方式来证明其商品化的本质,指出网络环境已然对其形成了"全景监狱"式的监控;明星游荡在"自我"和"他者"间的焦虑引发了畸形的社会认知模式,文章由此强调了当下明星承担社会责任的必要性。     

Social media,legacy media and gatekeeping: the protest paradigm in news of Ferguson and Charlottesville

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the site of intersection between legacy and social media, whereby it asks how local legacy media (St Louis Post-Dispatch and Richmond Times-Dispatch) invoked social media (Facebook and Twitter) discourse within their coverage of the Ferguson (2014) and Charlottesville (2017) events. It thus explores how gatekeeping is manifested and, consequently, how the protest paradigm emerged in a news landscape of proliferating social media. Thematic textual analysis indicates that coverage of Charlottesville and Ferguson clearly relied on indulging the social media sphere in important ways. Common themes of social media as multipurpose platforms, as interfacing with law and order, and as reconciling material and digital modes culminating in social activism were revealed. The study shows that the protest paradigm that has long characterized legacy media’s coverage of social protest is not as “pure” as it may once have been, since a social media component is helping define the contours and content of legacy media’s landscape.     

Inappropriate Parental Divorce Disclosures,the Factors that Prompt them,and their Impact on Parents’ and Adolescents’ Well-Being

Recent research has shown that parents’ inappropriate disclosures about the divorce process can be stressful for adolescents. However, little is known about the conditions that prompt parents to disclose inappropriate information about the divorce to them. The current study examines factors (a lack of social support, a lack of control over divorce stressors, and the severity of the divorce stressors) that potentially influence parents to reveal inappropriate information about the divorce to their adolescents. It also explores the impact that these inappropriate disclosures have on parents’ and adolescents’ well-being. Surveys were gathered from 118 custodial parent–adolescent dyads. The results suggest that a lack of social support and the severity of the stressors did not influence parents’ inappropriate disclosures. Custodial parents’ lack of control over their divorce-related stressors was the only factor associated with their inappropriate disclosures. When a lack of control over divorced-related stressors was considered, parents with less stressful interparental conflict were likely to be distressed by their inappropriate disclosures, whereas parents who had a strained relationship with their former spouse were not. Adolescents’ perceptions of the inappropriate disclosures were also a stronger predictor of adolescents’ well-being than the parents’ perceptions of their own disclosures.     

That Sounds Familiar: The Relationship Between Listeners’ Recognition of Celebrity Voices,Perceptions of Vocal Pleasantness,and Engagement with Media

The human voice is a major component of popular media, yet its role in people’s media experiences has received minimal research attention. To address this gap, we investigated how recognition of celebrity voices interacted with perceptions of and engagement with audio-only media. After listening to famous actors reading stories, participants indicated whether they recognized each voice, rated its pleasantness, and completed parasocial interaction and narrative transportation measures. Results indicate that recognized voices were perceived as more pleasant. Additionally, vocal pleasantness was associated with increased parasocial interaction and transportation. Findings partially support the prediction that vocal recognition enhances parasocial interaction.     

“I’ll see you in Mystic Falls”: intimacy,feelings, and public issues in Ian Somerhalder’s celebrity activism

Critics of celebrity activism often assume that fans blindly follow celebrities who invite them to support celebrity activism and charity. These fans are often imagined as participating in celebrity activism only because their beloved celebrity asked them to — not out of any kind of rational understanding of a political issue, awareness of a public problem, or commitment to a public issue. We contest this view of celebrity activism. Drawing on scholars like Bennett, Ellcessor, and Chouliaraki, we argue that the case of Ian Somerhalder demonstrates that a commitment to a celebrity may actually be connected to a commitment to a public issue. We trace the ways in which Somerhalder plays with the slippage between television celebrity and his character, arguing that such slippage merges the intimacy fans feel for Damon with the intimacy fans feel for Somerhalder and imbues Somerhalder’s environmental appeals with the values his on-screen character comes to represent in The Vampire Diaries. We argue that Somerhalder deploys themes and ideals from The Vampire Diaries in his communication with fans and in his activist appeals. Ultimately, Somerhalder’s celebrity activism demonstrates how intimacy with celebrities might function to connect fans to public issues in powerful ways.     

Confirmation in Parent–Adolescent Relationships and Adolescent Openness: Toward Extending Confirmation Theory

Using self-report and observational data from parent and mid-adolescent dyads, this study examined the role of confirmation in parent–adolescent relationships regarding adolescents’ openness with their parents. Results from the self-report data suggest a positive link between parental confirmation and adolescent openness. The observational data revealed a more complex picture, particularly highlighting adolescents’ role in parent–adolescent communication as well as in their own openness. Adolescents’ confirmation was positively related to their openness, particularly for females. Sequential analyses further revealed that adolescents reporting less openness exhibited a greater mix of confirming and disconfirming messages towards parents, whereas adolescents reporting more openness exhibited more reciprocation of confirmation. The results suggest theory regarding confirmation in family relationships should incorporate a transactional perspective.     

Murder She Searched: The Effect of Violent Crime and News Coverage on Residents’ Information Needs

This study examines local web search data as a window into residents’ information needs surrounding the issue of urban crime. Media system dependency theory is used to explain the dynamic, interdependent relationships between changes in the local crime rate (i.e., the social system), news coverage of crime (i.e., the media system), and residents’ (i.e., the audience’s) online searches for crime-related information. It was hypothesized that crime rates and news coverage of crime would increase residents’ information needs, motivating residents to go online to search for crime-related information to cope with an increased sense of uncertainty. The responsiveness of local newspapers to residents’ dynamic information needs was also evaluated. In an initial study in Minneapolis, Minnesota, violent crime and newspaper coverage of crime did predict online searches for crime-related information. But news coverage did not predict searches for crime-related information in a follow-up study in St. Louis, Missouri. Coverage in neither city’s newspapers was responsive to changes in aggregate crime-related online searches. Reasons for differences between the two cities are discussed, as are theoretical implications for future efforts to assess what local residents’ information needs are and to evaluate whether they are being met.