Renita Coleman

Network TV News' Affective Framing of the Presidential Candidates: Evidence for a Second-Level Agenda-Setting Effect through Visual Framing

This study expands the theory of second-level agenda setting to include affective framing of candidates conveyed through visual information during the 2000 presidential campaign. Network TV news coverage included nonverbal behavior for Al Gore that was more positive than George Bushs, and those who watched more were significantly more likely to hold attitudes that mirrored the media portrayals.

The Young and Agenda-less? Exploring Age-related Differences in Agenda Setting on the Youngest Generation, Baby Boomers, and the Civic Generation

This study examined agenda-setting differences between those aged 18 to 34 and two older generations. Using two surveys with statewide random samples and content analyses for each, it found that the agenda of issues important to young adults was correlated with the medias issue agenda (rho= .80 and .90). For the heaviest Internet users, who were more likely to be in the two youngest age groups, the correlation was .70. Although the youngest generation used traditional media such as newspapers and television significantly less frequently than older generations, and used the Internet significantly more often, this differential media use did not eliminate the agenda-setting influence.

The Moral Development of Journalists: A Comparison with Other Professions and a Model for Predicting High Quality Ethical Reasoning

This study gathered baseline data on the moral development of 249 professional journalists. Journalists scored fourth highest among professionals tested, ranking behind seminarians/philosophers, medical students, and physicians, but above dental students, nurses, graduate students, undergraduate college students, veterinary students, and adults in general. No significant differences were found between various groups of journalists, including men and women, and broadcast and print journalists; journalists who did civic journalism or investigative reporting scored significantly higher than those who did not. A regression analysis points to five factors predictive of higher moral development in journalists—doing investigative journalism, a high degree of choice at work, moderate religiosity, a strong internal sense of right and wrong, and viewing rules and law as less important than other factors.

Commenting on Health: A Framing Analysis of User Comments in Response to Health Articles Online

Public health officials have continually urged journalists and other members of the news media to ease off health frames that focus on individuals and to instead promote broader societal frames. Although some scholarly research has reinforced these pleas, none has examined the interplay between frames of health news coverage and resulting public comments. The current online environment invites such an analysis, allowing news organizations to post articles online and the public to comment on those articles. Using a content analysis, this study reveals thematic frames in online health stories may drive down gain-oriented responses, while episodic frames may prompt the public to share more personal comments. Furthermore, the findings examine other textual factors—gain and loss frames and mobilizing information—that may be driving the volume and frames of user comments to health stories online.

Searching for the Ethical Journalist: An Exploratory Study of the Moral Development of News Workers

This study gathered preliminary baseline data on the moral development of journalists using the Defining Issues Test (DIT), an instrument based on Kohlbergs (1969) 6 stages. Results show that a sample of journalists scored 4th highest among professionals tested using the DIT. The journalists ranked behind seminarians/philosophers, medical students, and physicians but above dental students, nurses, graduate students, undergraduate college students, veterinary students, and adults in general. No significant differences were found between various groups of journalists, including men and women, and broadcast and print journalists. The journalists in the study scored significantly higher on the 3 journalism-specific dilemmas than on 3 nonjournalism dilemmas.

Source Credibility and Evidence Format: Examining the Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Messages for Young African Americans

Using experimental methodology, this study tests the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS prevention messages tailored specifically to college-aged African Americans. To test interaction effects, it intersects source role and evidence format. The authors used gain-framed and loss-framed information specific to young African Americans and HIV to test message effectiveness between statistical and emotional evidence formats, and for the first time, a statistical/emotional combination format. It tests which source—physician or minister—that young African Americans believe is more effective when delivering HIV/AIDS messages to young African Americans. By testing the interaction between source credibility and evidence format, this research expands knowledge on creating effective health messages in several major areas. Findings include a significant interaction between the role of physician and the combined statistical/emotional format. This message was rated as the most effective way to deliver HIV/AIDS prevention messages.

The Moral Development of Public Relations Practitioners: A Comparison With Other Professions and Influences on Higher Quality Ethical Reasoning

This study gathered baseline data on the moral development of 118 public relations professionals. The respondents scored 7th highest among all professionals tested. They performed significantly better when the ethical dilemmas were about public relations issues than when they were not, indicating domain expertise on ethical issues. No significant differences were found between men and women, or managers and nonmanagers. There were significant correlations between moral reasoning and several variables including political ideology and fundamental/liberal religious views.

Louder than Words: A Content Analysis of Presidential Candidates' Televised Nonverbal Communication

This probability sampled content analysis of 1159 televised shots examined the TV news medias visual representation of the candidates in the 2000 presidential election. The purpose was to see whether it conveyed nonverbal messages that helped or hindered the candidates. Two dimensions of visual communication that convey affective information were examined—the facial expressions, appearance, and nonverbal behavior of the candidates, and the structural features of television edited into news stories by journalists such as camera angle, distance, and movement. Overall, we found fairly balanced coverage of the two candidates in the visuals that are under the control of journalists. There was not a consistent liberal bias or incumbent bias; in fact, there was slightly more evidence of the visuals favoring the Republican rather than the Democrat. There were significantly more stories about the Republicans, significantly more visual shots of Bush than of Gore, and the number of shots of Bush in the second half of the newscasts. The only indication of bias for the Democrats was the significantly greater number of shots of the Democrat running mate. There was no evidence of systematic bias of any kind in the structural features such as camera angle, distance, and motion.

Picturing civic journalism How photographers and graphic designers visually communicate The Principles of Civic Journalism

This study used in-depth interviews with 18 photographers and designers to explore how civic journalism has changed their work and some of the practical problems it raises. The main issue for designers was ‘too many pieces’ - stories, sidebars, info-graphics, and photographs. One solution they devised was a graphic device they called a ‘grid’ to package information in a systematic way. Photographers struggled with conceptual stories that were hard to illustrate. They suggested a return to ‘enterprise’ photos, but acknowledged they take too much time. Theoretical insights include the core problem of dichotomous reasoning in three general areas: First, the world of these civic journalism workers is divided into the visual and the verbal, with the verbal predominating. Second, the movement has neglected to address changes at the organizational level, focusing instead on individuals, i.e. citizens. Third, visual journalists think about their work as dialectic when they discuss the normative issues as being separate from the philosophical issues. Some solutions and implications for the profession are discussed.

Topical Punch Health Topics as Drivers of Idiosyncratic Reader Responses to Online News

Although scholars explore how news stories’ framing elements may affect reader responses, they have yet to examine how the topics of health-related articles affect those responses. By content analyzing three US newspapers’ online health content and reader comments, this study finds that certain health topics are idiosyncratic with reader responses. Readers reacted to personal health and obesity news with more episodic and gain-framed comments but relied more on loss frames when discussing chronic health issues. Readers also used more thematic frames in comments about mental illness. Health coverage related to politics and the government was associated with fewer episodic comments.