Jacob Stephen Turner

The Influence of Religiosity and Ethnic Identification on Media Use Among Muslims and Non-Muslims in France and Britain

This is an examination of the ethnic media use of French and British Muslims. A total of 677 Muslims participated in the study. Analysis reveals being an immigrant or a native of a nation does not significantly influence ethnic media use in France but does in Britain. Ethnic identification was also revealed as an influential predictor of ethnic media use among Muslims in France but not in Britain. Religiosity significantly predicted ethnic media use among British Muslims. The article argues religiosity and ethnic identification should be included in studies examining media use among ethnic groups.

A Longitudinal Content Analysis of Gender and Ethnicity Portrayals on ESPN’s SportsCenter From 1999 to 2009

This longitudinal content analysis of ESPN’s SportsCenter from 1999 to 2009 found that women’s sports continue to be almost wholly absent from the influential program. Women were also no more likely to be depicted as show hosts, reporters, or coaches in 2009 than 1999. Furthermore, coverage of women’s sports was noteworthy for a lack of journalistic depth when compared to men’s sports. This study also looked at coverage of athletes of color. Results revealed increasing evidence of the hypervisible Black male athlete in the relative absence of African Americans and other ethnic minorities in positions of power (from SportsCenter hosts to head coaches) across the two seasons. These results, when taken together, point to the perpetuation of normative hegemonic White masculinity in mediated sports.

Cooperating Across Classrooms: Cooperative–Experiential Learning Through Design and Implementation of Health Campaign Messages:

The objective of this article is twofold: (a) demonstrate the utility of cooperative–experiential learning within the health sciences curriculum and (b) diversify student classroom experiences through a health campaigns project that challenged students to creatively and strategically develop health messages. Cooperative–experiential learning is a hybrid pedagogy that exposes students to many of the complexities they can expect to face within their career, thus bridging the gap between the classroom and workplace. The health campaigns project used to appraise the value of cooperative–experiential learning in this article tasked upper-level undergraduate student groups from two unique college courses (Health Promotion and Visual Communication) to design, launch, and analyze health-relevant campaigns on the authors’ college campus. At two points throughout the semester, students independently completed reviews (cooperation reports) of their group dynamics and progress—these reports became the data set for our analysis of cooperative–experiential learning. Using a grounded theory approach (open, axial, and selective coding), the results that emerged from our analysis point to four significant themes of cooperative–experiential learning: development of communication skills, problem solving and critical thinking through cooperation, workplace preparedness, and student satisfaction. Student quotes are used to help extrapolate these four outcomes. Suggestions are offered for how to effectively incorporate cooperative–experiential learning into curriculum.

Podcasts and Productivity: A Qualitative Uses and Gratifications Study

Through analysis of five focus groups with people who “usually (more often than not) listened to at least one podcast episode a week” in the last two months, this uses and gratifications (U&G) study uncovers several prominent themes among podcast listener experiences. In an effort to integrate old and new media use typologies within U&G research, our results are presented in two parts: emerging typologies and expansions of existing typologies. The emerging section includes reasons for podcast displacement of other media, customizable experiences, and multitasking (which involves both temptation bundling and feeding the brain). The expansion builds on the existing typologies of companionship and interaction by analyzing avenues for parasocial relationship formation and identifying social opportunities as well as social frustrations surrounding podcasts. We ultimately conclude that podcasts offer an endless supply of engaging content that travels with listeners, allowing them to be “productive” in various physical and mind-expanding ways. The enjoyment is facilitated in part by forging connections with hosts and other listeners.