Hyun Jung Yun

The Effects of Political Advertising on Young Voters

Political advertising effects on candidate evaluations, issue recall, political cynicism, and gender differences are explored in this pretest—posttest examination of 764 young adult participants. Results show no major gender differences in evaluation of candidates. Participants reported learning more about Bushs image and more about Kerrys issues through the ads. Exposure to ads did not produce increased cynicism among the participants but significantly increased political information efficacy.

WHERE IS SHE?: Coverage of women in online news magazines

Gatekeeping studies indicate that the top reason invoked by editors for excluding newsworthy stories from publication is a lack of space and inflexibility. Online news media, however, are not restricted by space and can, therefore, publish more diverse content with equal coverage. This content analysis of US and foreign online news magazines was conducted to determine whether womens portrayal in the news has benefited from the Internets potential for space and equality. Previous research has concluded that representations of women in traditional mass media are scarce, stereotypical, and gender biased. Our comparison of online news magazines examined whether this was also true for digital media. The findings partially supported the hope for more extensive and balanced coverage of women in online news media. The companion websites of the highest circulated news magazines in the United States, Britain, Korea, and Mexico allocated only an average 3–5 percent of their articles to female news subjects, and the featured stories were less likely to focus on women in leadership positions and more likely to highlight feminine attributes. However, those stories also avoided stereotypes and included more positive content than the coverage dedicated to men, and the placement of these articles was as dominant as the placement of articles about men. Thus, this study identified the Internets potential for diversified and equitable media coverage.

Political Advertising Effects and America's Racially Diverse Newest Voting Generation

Because of historical structural barriers to their participation, minority groups have been characterized in past studies as less participatory, less efficacious, and more cynical than racial and ethnic majority voters. This study examines minority youth voters in terms of attitudes and feelings toward political candidates, channels of political information, and feelings of efficacy and cynicism through advertising experiments conducted across the United States. There was little effect on minority voter cynicism after exposure to ads, suggesting that young minorities find candidates believable, credible, and trustworthy. Peers are identified as the most significant source of information in these groups, making interpersonal communication a major change agent for young minority voters.

Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration

Abstract This study provides a preliminary analysis of the market for PhDs in public affairs and administration projected over the next several years. Drawing on data gathered from three surveys, we explore the demand for academic PhDs (survey 1) and the supply of PhDs (surveys 2 and 3). The analysis of demand is further refined to estimate nonacademic employment (surveys 2 and 3 and examination of job postings). We also explore the diversity of PhD graduates. This kind of analysis is largely missing from the literature and is therefore an important, albeit initial contribution. We found that a gap exists between production of PhDs and the demand for them by universities, and that demand exceeds production. The gap is made much larger, though, because almost half of the PhDs graduating with degrees in public affairs and administration do not take positions in U. S. academia but rather assume positions in federal state and local governments, in the nonprofit sector, in think tanks, and in foreign universities and governments.

Welfare Reform and Racial Policy Regimes in the American State

Scholars have known for decades that welfare in America entails a fair amount of racial bias. Recent research suggests that the welfare reforms in the 1990s with their emphasis on work and the granting of more authority to the states may well have made matters worse. Our analysis seeks to add to the larger understanding of how race and politics interact in the new system of welfare. Our findings suggest that race conditions not only the content but also the politics of welfare reform.