Akiba A. Cohen

What prompts users to click and comment: A longitudinal study of online news

This study examined the relationship between two mechanisms of online participation – clicking and commenting – as well as the characteristics of heavily clicked versus highly commented-upon news items. Based on 15,431 items from a popular Israeli website, correlations between clicking and commenting were calculated for 12 separately analysed months from 2006 to 2011. In addition, overlap rates were determined, showing that 40–59% of the heavily clicked items in any given month were different from the highly commented-upon items. A subsequent content analysis indicated that while sensational topics and curiosity-arousing elements were more prominent among the heavily clicked items than among the highly commented-upon items, political/social topics and controversial elements were more prominent among the highly commented-upon items. The study contributes to deepening our understanding of the role of user comments in constructing social/group identity and offers a new perspective on a prolonged controversy surrounding audiences’ news preferences.

Real Time and Recall Measures of Mobile Phone Use: Some Methodological Concerns and Empirical Applications

This article discusses the development, reliability, and validity of real-time measures of mobile phone use by means of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology, in comparison with traditional questionnaire-generated recall measures. The sample consisted of 211 Israeli adult mobile phone subscribers subdivided by gender and by the amount of airtime that they normally use. The measurements were applied to three questions to which the participants responded via IVR following their incoming and outgoing mobile phone calls during a five-day period: the identity of the person with whom they spoke; their location during the call; and the urgency of the call. These data were compared with recall measures obtained earlier from questionnaires. The article discusses the merits of the IVR real-time data versus those obtained from traditional recall questions asking for past or habitual behaviors.

Children's Uses and Gratifications of Home VCRs Evolution or Revolution

This study examines gratifications associated with home video cassette recorder use among Israeli school children in order to map the position of the VCR as a “new” medium in the overall media environment of young people. A sample of 576 children in grades 4 through 10, all from VCR households, rated the ability of VCRs and six “old” media (newspapers, radio, television, books, cinema, and records/audio tapes) to gratify twelve social and psychological needs. The study found that while the VCR is often used, it has not achieved any special priority in its perceived utility to gratify various needs. Moreover, based on smallest space analysis, the data suggest that VCRs have neither established a separate “identity” among children, nor created a “revolution” in the mass communication process.

The geography of foreign news on television: A comparative study of 17 countries

Since the advent of television in the middle of the 20th century, news has been an essential ingredient in TV programming. Often these newscasts are the most heavily viewed programmes, and by and large they are the main source of information for many people. This is particularly true for news from other countries and regions in the world. This immense significance of TV news has made it an important field in communication research. The article presents a new study that is formed from a multinational project. The project investigated foreign TV news in 17 countries from five regions in the world: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States of America. The data of the content analysis in all these countries in 2008 contain over 17,500 news items. The analysis concentrates on ‘news geography’, a term that is used to describe the extent to which the countries of the planet are represented in TV news. The results show a complex, multifaceted picture of foreign news reporting in the world. This multifaceted picture demands multi-causal interpretation. Several factors are discussed, i.e. the types of countries, their political order and integration into the international system, trade, different degrees in political power, but also historical connections, cultural ties, etc. Principally, the foreign news outlet depends on the selection criteria of journalists. On the whole the findings seem to question the world’s globalization, which is often taken for granted.

Social reality and television news: Perceptual dimensions of social conflicts in selected life areas

Perceptions of social conflicts in television news and in “reality” are organized according to their complexity, intensity and solvability, and also according to their different life areas.

Perception of gender equality on television and in social reality

This study examined the differential perceptions of men and women as they appear on television as an example of symbolic reality and the way they are perceived in social reality. A marked tendency to regard symbolic reality as more Stereotypic than social reality was found in most of the traits, roles, and occupations examined. This was especially true for heavier television viewers who also perceived a smaller gap between the two realms of reality.

Between Content and Cognition: On the Impossibility of Television News

The main thesis of this article is that television news represents one of the most difficult and complex media stimuli that people face towards the end of the twentieth century. It is suggested that this is due to the combined interaction effects of the content of the news items and the inherent cognitive limitations of viewers. It argues that the way reporters, editors and newscasters present the news makes it extremely difficult, if not often impossible, for the average citizen to follow, cope with, make sense of internalize and utilize much of the information contained in the news. The paper suggests that current trends in television news production tend to increase these difficulties. Growing numbers of news-producing stations lead to increased competition and the pursuit of ratings, often resulting in lower quality supervision and editorial control in the newsroom. This trend prompts many services to produce MTV-clip-style programming, which further inhibits the audiences ability to follow what is happening on the screen. The article suggests that the changing worldwide geopolitical conditions have increased the repertoire of potentially complicated news items. It argues that globalization coupled with advanced telecommunications technology have broadened the scope of news thereby increasing the need of viewers to cope with more concepts, issues, names, places and processes well beyond those traditionally presented in the national or local context.

People without media: Attitudes and behavior during a general media strike

Interviews with 229 respondents conducted during a nationwide media strike indicated that regular media consumption patterns were the best predictors of media consumption during the strike.

Do the Contents of Foreign News on Television Match Viewers’ Interests? A 12-Nation Study of Topics and Countries of Interest

This article draws upon content analytic and survey data from a 12-nation comparative study to examine the question of content-interest correspondence (CIC) regarding foreign news on television. That is, to what extent do the contents of foreign news aired on television match the interests that viewers have regarding foreign news? Treating CIC as a variable, the data show that, among the nations studied, CIC concerning foreign countries covered in the news is generally stronger than CIC regarding news topics. At the same time, the analysis examines whether the level of CIC relates to several national, media system, and viewer characteristics. The analysis shows that larger nations exhibit higher levels of CIC regarding topics and lower levels of CIC regarding countries. Also, CIC regarding news topics is lower in countries where the ownership and revenue structure of the television system leans toward commercialism and where television news focuses more heavily on soft news. Implications of the findings and directions for further research are discussed.

Speaking under duress: visual and verbal elements of personal and political messages in captive videos:

Videos of living captives presented in the media are extremely influential and have broad implications even beyond the boundaries of the countries involved in the depicted events. This study is the first to present a comprehensive analysis of the visual and verbal contents of captive videos. This analysis of eleven videos of captives involved in seven abductions in three countries between 1986 and 2014 describes recurring media patterns, both visual and verbal, and suggests the functions they perform. Based on a multi-layered theoretical and analytical framework, the analysis reveals a unique genre consisting of four polar opposites reflecting both personal and political messages: visibility vs concealment, free expression vs scripted and coercive text, collective memory vs public agenda, and newsworthiness vs culture. The study delineates their unique co-existence in the generic identity.