The Evolving Journalistic Roles on Social Media: Exploring “Engagement” as Relationship-Building between Journalists and Citizens

ABSTRACT

Scholarly and pragmatic definitions of the term “engagement” vary drastically. This article attempts to capture the nuances of the term by exploring journalists’ roles on social media where “engagement” is supposed to be particularly prevalent. Using in-depth interviews, we gauge the attitudes of traditional political journalists as well as those who think of themselves as “engagement specialists” about their responsibilities in interactive spaces. In addition, we analyze what kinds of engagement are happening in these spaces, and how citizens’ expectations are being articulated, in terms of journalist-audience relationship—an organic resultant of engagement. We found that journalists are taking on new kinds of roles in social spaces—often in the name of “engagement”—but that work is not always particularly interactive with citizens; rather, content is engaged with. In contrast, citizens look to journalists to play a number of roles that range from civic guide to therapist. Thus, relationship building happens sporadically. Furthermore, engagement level is dependent on the platform and its affordances. This research offers a continuum of social media engagement conceived as relationship building that can reconcile the disparities in how we define engagement, and suggests newsrooms appreciate the nuances via a series of recommendations.     

Gatekeeping in a Digital Era

The original concept of gatekeeping within journalism was based on a particular research method, a particular sub-profession within the news media, and a particular—now extinct—technological platform. This article describes and discusses what has happened to the function of gatekeeping as new technologies have developed, and it suggests that three models of gatekeeping are present in the digital era. The first model is based on a process of information, the second model is based on a process of communication, and the third and last model is based on a process of elimination, where the function of gatekeeping is taken over by people outside the newsrooms. All three models have been part of the history of journalism from the very beginning, but their importance for news reporters and the news media have changed with the invention of new technological means, methods and tools. This reassessment of the principles, practices and new technological platforms for gatekeeping concludes by discussing the ways in which our models of journalism can affect not only researchers but also news reporters and audiences.     

Moving Beyond Seating-centered Learning Environments: Opportunities and Challenges Identified in a POE of a Campus Library

Colleges increasingly are recognized as student workplaces, inspiring campus leaders to create healthier campus environments. Yet challenging this vision is burgeoning research regarding the health risks of sedentary behavior, an under-studied college health concern that implies deleterious health outcomes and, by extension, academic impediments as well.Can movement be incorporated into academic activities such as studying or reading? This question—particularly relevant to libraries due to their increasing use as study spaces—requires the expansion of standard methods of evaluating student health needs and behaviors. We propose Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) methods as a novel way to investigate sedentary behaviors in a campus library and identify designs and practices to help promote movement.In 2012 and 2013, as part of an undergraduate architecture class, we conducted two POEs of Berkeley's newest library to learn how the space is used and, inspired by new research about the perils of sedentary behavior, we also considered how the library could be used. Through our findings we confirmed the changing role of campus libraries as study spaces, observed social and built environment contexts of sedentary behaviors in library settings, and identified possible interventions to introduce postural variation and physical activity into observed patterns of library use.     

Re-presenting Sport: How Instant Replay and Perceived Violence Impact Enjoyment of Mediated Sports

Several long-standing theories intersect in discussing the impact of community characteristics and of the mass media. The structural pluralism model popularized by Tichenor and his colleagues says that social structure influences how mass media operate in communities because they respond to how power is distributed in the social system, whereas the linear model says that the increasing size of a community's population leads to more social differentiation and diversity and corresponding increases in subcultures with their own beliefs, customs, and behaviors. Recently, there has been a concern about how changes in society have led to a decline in organizational activity and the network of relationships and trust that constitute “social capital.” This article examines the impact of population and diversity (using census data) on individuals’ media use, interpersonal discussion and civic engagement (measured in a national survey), and the relationship among these variables. Analysis of a structural model provides evidence that the “linear hypothesis” can be combined with structural pluralism, with size—measured by population—impacting diversity, which influences the relationships that people have with their community. Concurrently, social categories influence people's communication patterns and community relationships, and communication impacts civic engagement.     

A Multilevel Analysis of Antimarijuana Public Service Announcement Effectiveness

In public-health campaign research, 3 prominent theories of persuasion and media effects—elaboration likelihood model (ELM), activation model of information exposure (AMIE), and limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP)—have been used to predict message effectiveness. Although conceptually overlapping, these theories suggest contradictory predictions about individual-level and message-level factors on persuasion outcomes. In this study, we contrast and test competing predictions of antidrug message effectiveness from 3 recent publications that draw on ELM, AMIE, and LC4MP. We use televised antimarijuana messages, young-adult samples, and a multilevel modeling approach. Significant interactions between individual- and message-level factors were found predicting message effectiveness as theory dictates; these results replicate some, but not all of the findings from the aforementioned publications.     

Social stability and harmony: A new mission for the press?

The world appears to be ready for a new journalism paradigm— one that stresses order and social harmony. Western media dominance is still a fact of life as the 21st century dawns. But the social form, pulling ever more complex populations toward order, cooperation, and a need for authority, is thrusting media systems into a new and more harmonious communitarianism.

The harbinger of such a drift away from the older libertarianism is found even in the US where public journalism is being heralded by many as an antidote to harmful effects of 18th Century Enlightenment liberalism that is accused of pushing journalism increasingly toward social irresponsibility and even chaos.     

Library Space Redesign and Student Computing

Academic libraries are spending considerable time and study on redesigning spaces. The use of technology is often an important part of these redesigned spaces. The space redesign goals at F.D. Bluford Library focus on creating open, activity-promoting, colorful spaces that are designed to be attractive to students. The goals also focus on implementing hybrid spaces that allow students to work alone or in groups, with support for mobile technologies like laptops or tablets. The space redesign goals focus on upgrading the quality of desktops available but reducing the number of desktops. This study examines the question “Does our library renovation significantly change computer use in the redesigned area?” Key findings include that, in defiance of expectations, there is no significant decrease in desktop usage despite the decreased number of computers. However, findings show there is a significant difference in tablet use, despite tablet-friendly spaces and charging options. Surprisingly, our students use fewer tablets. Laptop usage shows no significant difference. In summary, our research shows desktop computing—especially high-quality desktop computing—appears to still have a role in academic libraries even in the mobile technology age.     

Integrating Theoretical Traditions in Media Effects: Using Third-Person Effects to Link Agenda-Setting and Cultivation

In an earlier period of mass communication research, scholars were more adventuresome in advancing “new” theories and less hesitant to “create” theory. The 1970s, in particular, bore witness to the emergence of several such theories—from the knowledge gap and agenda-setting to cultivation. Scholars have generated substantial literatures elaborating work in these and other traditions. Those contributions are now sufficiently robust that it is time to direct some of our energies toward synthesizing theories. This article nominates third-person perception as a candidate for such integration. Several prominent theories of media effects in the mass communication literature are selected to illustrate how the theories can or have been integrated. Results from three surveys provided evidence that the theories of third-person perception, agenda-setting and cultivation can be interrelated. The proposition examined here can serve as a model for further integration of other media theories. This integration attempt harkened back to the times when theory building in media effects was more common and perhaps more optimistic about explaining processes of influence.     

Reevaluating “The End of Mass Communication?”

It is hard to imagine a more challenging arena for communication research than that presented by new media and their impact on our society. We have witnessed the fastest evolution in communication technology in human history and, along with it, the evolution of communication conceptions and theories used to assess its impact. More than a decade has passed since Chaffee and Metzger first published their intriguing article “The End of Mass Communication?” and suggested that the new media will change the notions of mass communication and, as a result, the theories used in communication research. Today, we know more about new media and its effect on communication, society, and communication theories. The present article, therefore, sets out to reassess Chaffee and Metzger's claim by describing the development of several core theories of communication research, namely the agenda-setting theory and the notions of media audiences and the Digital Divide, in light of the new media. Our review shows that the role played by communication technologies in social, cultural, political, and economic processes is as central and influential in the new media era as it was in traditional media environment and that, although theories may change to accommodate the changes of the new media environment, researchers are still dealing with the “old” issues of power and resistance, and structure and ownership.     

新媒体环境下科研信息行为与特征分析

[目的/意义]调查新媒体环境下高校研究者科研信息行为,分析新媒体环境下高校研究者科研信息行为特征,为知识信息服务者提供科研信息服务提出建议与对策。[方法/过程]构建新媒体环境下科研信息行为特征模型,选取高校研究者作为调查样本,运用问卷调查法对其科研信息资源使用情况、科研信息获取行为、科研信息消化行为、科研信息追踪行为、科研信息交流行为及科研信息服务需求进行调查分析,验证新媒体环境下科研信息行为特征模型。[结果/结论]高校研究者对新媒体科研信息资源依赖度较高,对电子期刊的偏好最高,且关注信息资源的质量;科研信息获取行为呈现途径多元化的特征;科研信息消化行为呈现碎片化特征;科研信息追踪行为呈现传统途径居多、方式单一化的特征;科研信息交流行为呈现新媒体平台交流主导化的特征;新媒体平台科研信息服务需求呈现个性化的特征。除科研信息追踪行为特征与模型存在偏差外,基本验证了所构建的新媒体环境下科研信息行为特征模型。     

WHO'S GOT THE POWER?

Over the last decades, media environments have become radically transformed. Among the most significant changes is the rise of interactive media technologies, which raise new questions about how influence over media content has changed. At the same time, changes in media technologies and how they may change the influence over the news should not be understood in isolation from other changes in media environments. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how much influence journalists ascribe to different sets of actors; how they perceive changes over time; and whether journalists working with online publishing differ in these respects from other journalists. Among other things, the study shows that the most influential group is perceived to be journalists, followed by the audience and media owners. The group that is perceived to have increased their influence the most is media owners. All investigated groups—except journalists—are perceived to have increased their influence at least somewhat. The results are discussed in the light of research on how interactive media technologies may reshape the influence over the news.     

Back to the Street: When Media and Opinion Leave Home

To achieve “deliberative democracy,” Gabriel Tarde's formula not only demands the press hold a nation together, but also offers an agenda of issues that serves as a kind of menu for discussions in cafés and salons, which leads, in turn, to more considered opinions, and thus provides the consensual valuations that inform political, economic and aesthetic actions. The elements of the formula consist of press, conversation, opinion, and action. I argue that the long-run effect of the mainstream media—the newspaper, but even more the radio and television— moved politics off the street and into the home, hence the concern over “the narcotizing dysfunction” of the news media. In the era of the Internet, I argue that media—old or new, mass or social—are far from being the whole of the story. It is some combination of these media, plus word of mouth, plus some rather well-known elements of social-movement theory, plus the social psychology of collective behavior that help to explain. But let us not lose sight of the different functions served by the different media. If the mass media—newspapers, radio, and television—may be said to have moved people “inside,” the social media, so called, serve to mobilize, and may bring them “outside,” again.     

媒介信息素养对知识创新意愿影响的实证研究

[目的/意义]旨在深化媒介信息素养在新媒体环境下知识创新中的应用,为科研团队利用新媒体进行知识创新提供实践层面的指导。[方法/过程]从媒介信息素养角度分析信息需求意识、新媒体技术应用能力和数据信息整合能力对知识创新意愿的影响,采用问卷调查和实证研究相结合的方法分析检验所构建的理论模型。[结果/结论]研究结果显示,信息需求意识、新媒体技术应用能力和数据信息整合能力对知识创新意愿均产生正向影响作用。情境感知在信息需求意识、新媒体技术应用能力和数据信息整合能力对知识创新意愿的影响作用中都有调节作用。     

A Social Cognitive Theory of Internet Uses and Gratifications: Toward a New Model of Media Attendance

Recent research explaining Internet usage has both extended and challenged the uses and gratifications approach to understanding media attendance by discovering "new" gratifications and introducing powerful new explanatory variables. The present research integrates these developments into a theory of media attendance within the framework of Bandura's (1 986) Social Cognitive Theory. Respondents from 2 Midwestern states were recruited by mail to complete an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test a.new model of media attendance in which active consideration of Internet uses and gratifications, moderated by Internet self-efficacy, joins habitual behavior and deficient self-regulation as determinants of media behavior. The model explained 42% of the variance in Internet usage. ,     

Metacoverage and Mediatization in US Presidential Elections

This article develops a theoretical model consisting of three mechanisms that link metacoverage, a type of election campaign news, to mediatization, a meta-process in which media organizations influence politics. The mechanisms hinge on the point that metacoverage—consisting of both topics and frames—constitutes a rich set of process-oriented cues that influence how campaign organizations adjust to the media logic in the course of performing functions associated with the office-seeking political campaign logic. A case study of 2012 US presidential election news was conducted to illustrate how metacoverage influences campaign strategies.     

Extending the Cognitive Mediation Model: Examining Factors Associated With Perceived Familiarity and Factual Knowledge of Nanotechnology

This research—a pilot study on the cognitive mediation model (CMM) in Singapore—seeks to revisit and test the applicability of an extended CMM in the context of nanotechnology by examining perceived familiarity as a separate outcome variable in addition to factual knowledge. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 719 adult Singaporeans. Results demonstrated partial support for the hypothesized CMM. First, elaboration was positively associated with both factual knowledge and perceived familiarity, whereas interpersonal discussions about science was associated only with familiarity. Results also showed differential relationships between attention to media platforms (traditional vs. new media) and reflective integration (composed of elaborative processing and interpersonal discussion); whereas attention to science reporting in newspapers and science television programs were associated with elaboration, media attention across all platforms were associated with interpersonal discussions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Chinese Newspaper Ownership,Corporate Strategies,and Business Models in a Globalizing World

This study takes Beijing Youth Daily (BYD), Beijing's largest newspaper in terms of advertising revenue and second largest in terms of circulation, as a case study to examine and analyze how globalization influences the ownership, corporate strategies, and business models of local newspaper organizations in China; and, thus, accelerates Chinese-style capitalism and media convergence. Declining advertising revenue and the loss of readers due to the digital revolution and the availability of multimedia news channels are global challenges that face newspapers around the world. BYD is no exception. In response, BYD has shifted from an exclusively state ownership model to a split or dual-track management model that has allowed foreign capital into the business operations while the party/state still retains ideological control over the news content. BYD has reoriented its corporate strategies and carried out structural reforms, building a media conglomerate via new titles, acquisitions, concentrations, and convergences; and developed its business models with advertising as a major revenue source. All these measures are market-oriented and intended to maximize newspaper profits by pursuing economies of scale and scope.     

Negotiating Genre and New Media for STEM News

ABSTRACT

This article—co-authored by a transdisciplinary team of social scientists and journalists in the United States—traces changes to the news landscape in recent decades, and asks: How are legacy media producers grappling with these new realities? As part of a four-year collaboration on young adult news consumption, we take a participatory action research approach to this question, tacking back and forth between newsroom concepts and anthropological ones in pursuit of a synthesis that strengthens both. Starting from anthropological frameworks of participation, the authors argue that broadcast videos typically position their audiences as overhearers rather than interlocutors, while the reverse is true for social media, and that these tendencies shape audience expectations. We find that many audiences have what we call poetic motivations: they are drawn to stories that exemplify their genre. For example, the participatory nature of social media genres translates well to a more candid style that can incorporate live questions and other direct participation. The study reported here focuses on STEM news, but many of the findings apply to news production in general. Our reflective methods can also be applied more widely in the field of journalism to synthesize perspectives from theory and practice.     

Media Framing of Capital Punishment and Its Impact on Individuals' Cognitive Responses

It is well known that mass media have the ability to frame a sociopolitical issue in specific ways, which can have considerable impact on the public's thoughts and perceptions regarding the issue. Through analyzing coverage of capital punishment in the New York Times since 1960 and then conducting an experiment in which we assessed individual-level responses to differently framed news stories, we show (a) the dramatic emergence of a new “innocence frame” within the past 10 years that accentuates imperfections in the justice system, and (b) the much greater impact of this frame on individuals' thoughts—in particular on those who favor the death penalty—when compared to the traditional morality-based frame. We suggest that the latter finding can be explained because individuals tend to resist changing their interpretations of issues based on arguments that contradict their core moral or religious beliefs; however, they seem quite receptive to new information along dimensions that they previously had not considered. This research also implies that U.S. trends toward lower sentencing rates and eventual public opinion changes are likely to continue as long as media and public discussion remains focused on questions regarding flaws in the justice system.