Jennifer Jacobs Henderson

Race, Advertising, and Prime-Time Television

Critics have frequently noted the lack of diversity in TV programs, but few have analyzed diversity in TV commercials. This article focuses on prime-time TV commercials, noting the amount and type of representation of people of color. Although people of color appear regularly in ads, they usually appear as secondary (not primary) characters. A distinct racial segregation exists in prime-time ads, with Whites appearing in ads for upscale products, beauty products, and for home products (cleaners, non-fast food). People of color, in contrast, appear in ads for low-cost, low-nutrition products (such as fast food and soft drinks) and in athletic and sports equipment ads. These product trends raise questions about the continuance of racial stereotypes, particularly a somewhat one-dimensional view of people of color as key consumers of low-cost products in America today.

The Players They are A-Changin': The Rise of Older MMO Gamers

To learn more about demographic characteristics, play behaviors, and motivations of massively multiplayer online gamers over the age of 50, researchers administered a questionnaire to 32,261 Wizard101 subscribers. Cross-referencing responses with behavioral data recorded by game servers, researchers found that older players were significantly more likely to be women. Older players played longer and underestimated their playtime, they were less likely to play on console and hand-held systems, and they were less likely to cite social, achievement, and player versus player combat motivations. However, older online gamers were more likely to cite self-growth and learning motivations for game play than those under 50.

Benchmarking ACEJMC Competencies What It Means for Assessment

The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) has developed twelve professional values and competencies that all students in accredited programs must demonstrate before graduation. This study asked Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC) program administrators which competencies were most emphasized in their current programs and which were most important for students graduating in 2020. Findings revealed that the core competencies of “writing,” “thinking,” and “technology” were seen as being most emphasized currently and most important in the future. The authors use these findings to suggest that a tiered assessment system might be more appropriate to accommodate differences in program emphasis.

Assessing the ACEJMC Professional Values and Competencies

The accrediting body for media education, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC), has established twelve professional values and competencies that all students must demonstrate before graduating from accredited journalism and mass communication programs. A close reading suggests that these twelve competencies actually embody more than thirty assessment requirements. Having such a large number of assessment requirements seems problematic for programs seeking accreditation. To remedy this problem, the authors suggest a tiered system of assessment where programs would assess “understanding” and “application” for the competencies most emphasized by their program and a less rigorous standard of “familiarity” or awareness for the remaining ones.

Oh, my god! I CAN FLY!’: female agency in Marvel’s Runaways

ABSTRACT Researchers conducted a textual analysis of the first 18 issues of Brian K Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s comic book series Runaways analysing the four female and two male lead characters in the narrative – Nico, Karolina, Gertrude, Molly, Alex, and Chase. The study operationalised the ideas of rationality, intentionality, and power to create the new variables of social, individual, and authoritative agency. Researchers then assigned a score of 0–10 to the characters for each of the three variables using a Holistic Agency Scale to more comprehensively reflect the ‘power’ of each character. The study ultimately found that (1) Alex had more agency than all of the female characters, and (2) that while none of the young women possess complete agency in any of the three categories, they are all complex, highly competent protagonists.

Searching for Ethics in Social Media

This set of book reviews features three titles that explore an important segment of today’s media landscape—social media. Reviews by Jennifer Jacobs Henderson, Yuwei Lin, and Jenn Burleson Mackay demonstrate that social media are creating a wealth of new and interesting questions. Perhaps not surprisingly, however, many of these questions can be traced back to enduring issues in media ethics, such as truth, privacy, and transparency, to name just a few. While the tools of social media are new (and continually evolving), media ethicists should not find themselves in need of a completely new skill set to deal with them; we may just need more practice.