William G. Christ

Effects of issue‐image strategies, attack and support appeals, music, and visual content in political commercials

One of the barriers to understanding how people process political commercials has been the scarcity of studies that manipulate the presence of significant dimensions of advertising content so that the impact of those dimensions can be examined individually and as they interact with each other. In this study, four characteristics often touted as important determinants of the impact of political ads were chosen for analysis. Two values for each of the four characteristics were completely crossed with each other by editing from components of real ads for Senate candidates unfamiliar to the participants. The ad characteristics sampled included: (a) whether issue or image strategies were articulated in the scripts, (b) whether attack or support appeals were used, (c) the presence or absence of music in the background, and (d) whether the visual content showed the candidate in the context of his family or performing his professional campaign activities.

Overcoming relationship-initiation barriers: The impact of a computer-dating system on sex role, shyness, and appearance inhibitions

A survey of the users of an online computer-mediated matchmaking service showed that their communication patterns and objectives varied by their sex, shyness level, and appearance. Men generally contacted women more than vice versa, but a substantial minority of the women contacted a great number of men, suggesting that the safety and anonymity the system offered helped them break free from traditional sex role norms. More than half of the women reported starting a romantic or sexual relationship through the system, as compared to less than a third of the men, reflecting, in part, that men outnumber women on the system nearly three to one. Users who scored higher on a shyness scale were much more likely than less shy users to say they were using the system to find romance or sex, suggesting shier users employ the system as a way to overcome their inhibitions. Women who rated their own appearance as average were less likely to be contacted by men than those who rated their appearance as above average, but there was no significant difference between appearance groups concerning the likelihood of starting a romantic or sexual relationship. Intrinsic aspects of this computer-mediated matchmaking system helped some users overcome relationship-initiation barriers rooted in sex role, shyness, and appearance inhibitions.

Assessment, Media Literacy Standards, and Higher Education

Recent assessment trends suggest that those interested in media literacy in higher education will need to clearly define the term and develop standards and competencies to measure media literacy student-learning outcomes. Standards, one from an accreditation agency and the other from an academic association, are presented as starting points for further conversation.

Do attitudes toward political advertising affect information processing of televised political commercials

This study tested whether attitudes toward politics and political advertising correlated with specific responses to issue/image, attack/support ads and the candidates who sponsored the ads. Memory, attitudinal, and emotional responses to the ads were measured. Liking for attack advertising, liking political ads for their information content and for their entertainment value, and interest in the political process all correlated primarily with attitudes toward and emotional responses to specific kinds of commercials.

An exploratory investigation into the relationship between television program preference and emotion‐eliciting qualities—A new theoretical perspective

This exploratory study applies Mehrabian and Russells newly formulated theory of emotion to the problem of explaining television program preference. The result is a fresh theoretical approach to media selection. Results suggest that as much as 40% of preference can be accounted for by emotional response. The authors suggest that these findings may allow for numerous advances in our understanding of viewer program preference and selection.

Affective state and the selective exposure to and use of television

Zillmanns “annoyance reduction” hypotheses were used to test the relationship between affective states and voluntary television selection and use. The results indicated that annoyed individuals viewed television significantly less than praised individuals.

Images Through Time: Man of the Year Covers:

reporting of presidential polls improves as presidential elections near. The only variable in the presidential polls that was reported significantly more often as the campaigns neared was sampling error. This may suggest that not all methodological disclosure data are equal. Many journalists, whether they are aware of precision journalism techniques or not, are apt to include common-sense methodological information that comprise the who (population and sponsor) and when (timing) elements of journalism. Population, sponsor, sample size (which may be considered part of the “who” element of news writing since it refers t o how many people were surveyed) and timing were among the variables reported most often in this study. In contrast to the other variables, sampling error is the only variable that could not be included as a matter of common sense. Sampling error was the only variable not reported in the majority of poll storieswhether presidential or other pollsduring any of the three periods. Wording was also not reported in many poll stories. This may be because editors believe including question wording in poll stories takes up an inordinate amount of space. Not only was there not any significant evidence for the assertion that methodological information is reported more often in presidential polls as the presidential campaigns neared, but non-presidential polls apparently improved in reporting of timing as the campaigns neared. There appears t o be no logical explanation for the reporting of timing in the nonpresidential polls to improve as the elections neared. If anything, one would expect the presidential polls to report timing more often as the campaigns neared because of the timeliness of the event. The difference of proportions for the reporting of each variable in presidential and non-presidential polls shows that three variables attained statistical significance. The findings again were contradictory because in two cases, the nonpresidential polls reported more methodological information. The non-presidential

Media literacy: Moving from the Margins?

Most of us in media education might argue that, by definition, we teach people to be media literate. If push came to shove, however, we may not be able to articulate exactly what we meant by media literacy. Does it mean knowing about media industries? Content? Audiences? Does it mean being able to produce media content? Does it mean all of the above? Is it possible to write one book that captures all that media literacy means and is? The calls for media literacy are not new. What is relatively new is (a) the rise of inexpensive media that allow students to produce their own works, (b) the continuing, rapid transnational transmission of programming, and (c) the concerted effort over the years by a number of countries to develop national media literacy curricula. In the United States, the term media literacy i s normally associated with K-12 education (Hobbs, 1998). Sometimes, the term i s used as a synonym for media education (Sholle & Denski, 1994). College and university media education programs in the United States tend to see their missions in terms of a professional orientation (Christ & Hynes, 1997) with the discussions of media literacy, if they take place at all, reserved for classes taught in the general education program. But what is media literacy and how well does W. James Potter’s book educate people to become media literate?

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.

Graduate Education at AEJMC Schools: A Benchmark Study

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Board of Directors charged the Standing Committee on Teaching to devise a set of metrics for assessing doctoral programs in journalism and mass communication. This directive was made with the strict proviso that the goal would be to offer suggestions for improvement—that is, how we can better prepare future faculty who may one day teach in journalism or mass communication programs. Exploring what schools are currently doing was a first step. The survey reported here covered the three primary areas important for tenure-track faculty—research, teaching, and service. It builds on the Task Force on the Status and Future of Doctoral Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.1 The article includes suggestions for metrics and student-learning outcomes.