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The fundamental problem of understanding the adoption and use of new information and communication technologies is that potential users are not familiar with them. Consequently, it is hard to ask people if and how they would use these services and applications. In this paper we discuss a methodology that makes it possible to judge the suitability of the use of new information and communication services while taking into account: [1] characteristics of the technology, [2] the context of the user and [3] user characteristics. Using the basics from factorial survey, vignette studies and conjoint measurement we will discuss the design issues of such a study as well as the data-analysis issues that have to be dealt with. Furthermore, we will describe an example of a typical study that uses this case-scenario approach. We conclude that the method supports the development of an innovative theoretical framework regarding the adoption and use of new information- and communication technologies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of 9/11, the US media's methods of representing Islam, Arabs, and people of Middle Eastern descent have been the subject of much criticism. Critics have argued that the media's representational strategies have deteriorated, going from more moderate approaches to a classically Orientalist framework. In this system of thought, the world in divided in Manichean terms: on the one side are the forces of destruction represented by terrorism, rogue states, and Islamist extremism, and on the other are the champions of democracy and freedom, represented by the US and its allies.Thus, when Muslims protested the cartoons published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 that caricatured Islam, they were denounced for not appreciating western values of "free speech." When a United Arab Emirates company was to take over the running of six U.S. ports from a British company in early 2006, a xenophobic backlash was unleashed and it was argued that "those" people cannot be trusted with the security of "our" ports. The Pope, in a speech in Germany in 2006, suggested that Islam was violent and that "reason" was more at home in the West. The stunning internal consistency of these and other arguments deserve scholarly attention. In this paper, I draw on existing literature on Orientalism to analyze the old and new ways in which Arabs and Muslims have been demonized post 9/11. I offer five discursive frames that have been employed to represent Muslims, Arabs, and the Middle East post 9/11. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract / This paper examines whether a journalist may report an illegally wiretapped conversation, comparing the South Korea Sangho Lee case with the U.S. Bartnicki case. Sangho Lee was the first case in Korea, in which the reporting of wiretapping was argued in the courtroom. However, the Korean High Court, rejecting the journalist's immunity from liability, gave more value to the right of privacy than to freedom of the press. In contrast, the U.S. Supreme Court protected the journalist, who disclosed secretly and illegally wiretapped telephone conversations, under the shield of the First Amendment. Even if both countries have different laws and legal systems, these conflicting judgments mainly result from how the court understands the role of the media as a watchdog. I argue that the Korean press cannot have more freedom until the Korean court realizes the press "watchdog" function as an important value in society. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs data from a mail survey (n=1,114) conducted among public school teachers and educational support professionals in New York State to examine the factors that contribute to individuals' attribution and information seeking about breast cancer risk. The results indicate that mass media use, as well as beliefs about existing information regarding breast cancer risk, influence individuals' causal attributions and seeking of information about breast cancer risk. Concerns about the local environment also positively relate to individuals' association of breast cancer risk with environmental factors. The conclusions argue for bottom-up dialectical health communication strategies that take into account individuals' understandings and perceptions of breast cancer risk and their local environment. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically examined whose interests All-China Women's Federation did, do and will represent by situating this organization in the past 90 years of development of Chinese women's movement. The study concluded that this organization has shifted between a party organ and a nongovernmental organization that represents women's interests, or sometimes played both roles. Complex characteristics of Chinese women's movement will make it more challenging for the future development of this organization. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1930s, the Institute for Propaganda Analysis used seven propaganda devices to monitor speeches of the “Radio Priest,” Charles Coughlin. In a similar vein, the study reported here examines Bill O’Reilly’s employing of propaganda devices in the “Talking Points” section of his cable show. In a content analysis of 80 commentaries the use of the seven devices, fear frames, and O’Reilly’s characterization of people or ideas as victims, villainous, or virtuous were documented. Not only did O’Reilly use propaganda devices substantially more often than Coughlin, but he was also less nuanced in his use of the devices. He used name calling more than twice as often as any other device. Moreover, almost half the commentaries were grounded in a fear frame, and specific people or ideas consistently emerged in the roles of victims, villains, or part of the virtuous. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the case of Aileen Wuornos is ostensibly about murder it is undeniably also the case of a woman who made her living as a prostitute, was convicted of killing her johns, had a lesbian lover, and claimed a long history of sexual abuse. Because these aspects of AileenÂ’s life were discussed and debated during her trial, incarceration and even after her execution this case study is ripe for examining how knowledge about sexualities are produced. The constant reminders of AileenÂ’s status as a sex worker and the questions of how she ended up doing what she did, which dominate the coverage of her case reflect Michel FoucaultÂ’s argument that repression does not function to silence us, but rather to incite us to speak voluminously and in particular ways and settings. Rather than displaying the undeniably and not unproblematically utopian quality about contemporary discussion of sex and sexuality that Foucault claims is characteristic of modern discourses of sex, in this case a central tenet of contemporary discourse of sex is actually the assertion that sex is a sin. Moreover, the print media coverage of Wuornos functions to produce a discourse of sex in which sex is not actually spoken about. What is talked about instead is evil. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between the media channel credibility of news media outlets and their brand equity. Media channel credibility was defined as audiencesÂ’ perceptions of a news channel's believability, as distinct from the believability of the individual journalists and sources, media organizations, or the content of the news itself (Bucy, 2003). The constructs of brand equity (perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association, and brand loyalty) identified by Aaker (1991) were used to create a composite index of brand equity. A survey was self-administered by 225 respondents. The results show statistically significant bivariate correlations between media channel credibility and (a) brand equity, (b) perceived quality, (c) brand association, and (d) brand loyalty. The relationship between media channel credibility and brand awareness was not statistically significant. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many advertisers view U.S. Hispanics as an appealing market segment and have been motivated to connect with them through a variety of persuasive efforts. As interest in the Hispanic market has increased so has the research involved in trying to understand the ways in which Hispanics can be effectively persuaded. Language has played a central role in much of this research and it has been found that language is important both for comprehension of central messages and for building ethnic identity. Much of the current research has explored the impact of Spanish versus English but there is little research on the impact of Spanglish, a widely used option. An empirical study was conducted in Montebello, California where Hispanics of varying acculturation levels were presented with print advertisements in English, Spanish and Spanglish. As predicted, the results indicated a significant relationship between level of acculturation and advertising preference. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a cross-market examination of newspaper accuracy, this study tracks errors identified by news sources in 2,700 news stories published by U.S. daily metropolitan newspapers. While journalists widely hold that errors are commonly detected and corrected, this study found that only about one in ten news sources had informed the newspaper of the errors they perceived. While many errors were considered too inconsequential to correct, news sources also expressed a sense of futility – that a correction would do little to set the record straight, or worse, that their complaints would either be ignored or draw reprisal from the newspaper. Results tentatively indicate that factual errors reported by news sources to the offending newspaper rarely yielded published corrections. The findings challenge how well the "corrections box" sets the record straight when inaccuracies occur or serves in journalism as a safety valve for the venting of frustrations by wronged news sources. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of names to prime stereotypes has been demonstrated in laboratory studies. To apply these theories and test the effect of name-based ethnic stereotypes on housing discrimination, an experiment was conducted on the Internet over a period of 10 weeks (6 weeks before the conflict with Iraq began in March, 2003 and 4 weeks during the conflict), in which 1115 inquiry email messages were sent to landlords who were advertising apartment vacancies in Los Angeles County. One of three names that implied either Arab, African American, or White ethnicity was randomly assigned to each of the 1115 messages sent. The results show that the African American and Arab names receive significantly fewer positive responses than the White name, and that the African American fares worst of all. This pattern holds true in all rent categories, in corporate and privately owned apartment complexes, and before and during the war in Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC) argue that the anonymity of Internet communication causes disinhibition, which in turn enhances online self-disclosure. However, recent research suggests that enhanced self-disclosure can also occur in non-anonymous instant messaging (IM). The aim of this study is to develop and test an “Internet-attribute-perception” model to explain the precursors and underlying processes of self-disclosure during IM. We surveyed 1,203 Dutch adolescents on their IM use, their perceptions of the relevance of IM attributes (i.e., controllability and reduced nonverbal cues), and their online self-disclosure. Using structural equation modeling, we found that adolescents’ perceptions of the relevance of IM attributes encouraged their feelings of disinhibition, which in turn enhanced their online self-disclosure. As expected, private and public self-consciousness and social anxiety stimulated adolescents’ perceptions of the relevance of IM attributes, but did not directly influence online self-disclosure. The study shows that users’ perceptions of Internet attributes can no longer be ignored in future Internet-effects research. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laws of many nations require consideration of certain kinds of value of sexually explicit material (SEM) in determinations of whether it is legally actionable. Using in-depth interviews, this study sought views of 41 Singaporeans aged 21 to 30, with a balance of heterosexual, gay male, and lesbian respondents, on the types of value and harm they perceived for themselves and their communities from SEM use. Our findings showed that the types of value legally recognized in Singapore were all perceived to be present in SEM to varying degrees. Respondents also reported some harmful effects. The findings suggest that a broader look at the value of SEM is necessary in ongoing policy debates about SEM regulation, and that SEM might contribute to individual self-realization, particularly for members of sexual minorities. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare people’s perception of their computer-email-web (CEW) fluency to their actual abilities performing related tasks. A total of 61 subjects (51% female, mean age 19) participated in the research sessions. Participants completed the CEW fluency scale (Author, Article 1), the computer anxiety ratings scale (Heinssen, Glass, & Knight, 1987), and an applied protocol developed for this study. Results show that the less computer anxiety subjects reported, the higher they perceived their CEW fluency to be (p = .001), but there was no significant relationship between computer anxiety and actual fluency (p = .12). There was no gender difference as to actual CEW fluency (p = .11), but women perceived their fluency lower than did men (p = .012). Overall results validate the robustness of the CEW fluency scale, help identify CEW fluency as a digital divide component, and underscore the importance of initiatives to raise women’s technological self-confidence. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores how young South Asian Americans negotiate cultural identity through mediated global flows. It looks at the hybridization of South Asian and American cultural forms, including music, television, and language. This study introduces readers to MTV Desi, a newly created MTV channel that targets young South Asian Americans. The development of MTV Desi raises further questions related to diaspora, globalization, ethnicity and media representation. This work seeks to bridge the chasm between theory and research by treating globalization as a mediated cultural experience that manifests in the diaspora. Using in-depth qualitative interviews with a carefully selected sample of young South Asian Americans, readers discover concrete examples of the audience’s experiences with hybridization and ways media affect discourse on race and ethnicity. Through selected interview excerpts, respondents express their feelings of misrepresentation in television and film. An important feature of this work is its analysis of the word ‘desi’ among various South Asian groups. It charts new territory in media studies by examining the cross-cultural appropriation of language. Reinvigorating a stale debate on MTV, this study sees MTV Desi as an intermediary of global culture that continues the process of reflecting and reinforcing the ethnic hybridity characteristic of transnational television networks. This study finds that MTV Desi constitutes a reverse flow of globalization as experienced by young South Asian Americans. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sees the mobile phone as a new medium evolving from the fixed telephone and examined the influences of generation and lifestyle factors to mobile phone usages. 276 participants of mobile phone users were classified into three generation groups and three lifestyle groups by a cluster analysis. Generational distribution of each lifestyle group was described and compared to each other. A factor analysis of motivation in mobile phone uses resulted in five significant motives compared to those of conventional mass media. Lastly, a multiple analysis of variances was run to identify differences in motives and usages among three generations and lifestyle groups. Generation and lifestyle factors, as social and cultural variables, appeared to have meaningful, but modest effects on mobile phone usages. The implication of generational and lifestyle differences in media behaviors were discussed in terms of a potential drive for a future societal change. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the impacts of virtual self-representation (avatars), a personÂ’s perception of the deindividuated situation in which he/she was located, and personality traits on the conformity or dissent behavior in a computer-mediated group decision-making. The present study used the interactionist framework integrating situationalist model and trait model to explain a personÂ’s conformity and dissent behavior in an online group discussion. In other words, this research extended the literature on conformity behavior in CMC by showing that not only objective situational factors provided by computer media, but also a personÂ’s perception of the situation as well as his/her personality traits could contribute to his/her conformity decision. Moreover, this study proved the existence of the curvilinear relationship between the intensity of deindividuation created by computer media and group identity as well as conformity intention by using a personÂ’s perception of the situational deindividuation as the measure of the intensity of deindividuation. This finding empirically supports the optimal distinctiveness theory arguing that a personÂ’s conformity behavior is maximized when they perceive the moderate level of deindividuation from the situation in which they are located. The findings of this study further demonstrated that the curvilinear relationship between perceived deindividuation and conformity intention was moderated by the way people represented themselves with avatars and their need for uniqueness. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite early predictions that the Internet would function as an open and accessible space for democratic communication, the Supreme Court in United States v. American Library Association (2003) denied the public a right to receive information over public Internet access. Although it does not set judicial precedent, the plurality’s reasoning in this case could prove a critical turning point for future determinations of whether end users have any speech rights online. Furthermore, the decision is emblematic of modern public forum law’s inability to protect public sites for expression and the harmful consequences of the government’s growing power over public space. Drawing on critiques of contemporary public forum doctrine, judicial precedents and dissents, and theories of government speech, I offer important distinctions that the law could make to limit the power of government to censor speech in public spaces and distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate government control of speech. I conclude that public forum law is better reformed than abandoned, since it still holds out the best hope for protecting critical spaces for the public exercise of speech rights. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, Minnesota history books omitted the story of how a white crowd numbering in the thousands lynched three Southern black men in one of the state’s largest cities. This research about how Minnesota newspaper coverage of this one event—that in some ways epitomized, and in other ways was an anathema to, much that marked American culture in 1920—constructed the account, and in the process shaped perceptions of responsibility for the lynching and perceptions of marginalized groups, people, and ideas. In the analysis of fifteen mainstream daily newspapers and two African American weeklies, research for this case study shows how dominant voices reinforced dominant presentations of responsibility for the lynching, presentations that reinforced dominant social structures. Additionally, it presents how black and white women’s, and black men’s, voices were absent or rare, as well as addresses information and ideas not reported or slighted and how media’s construction of the lynching contributed to hegemony. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-Categorization and spiral of silence predictions for speaking out are compared. Student participants (N = 60) indicated their levels of fear of isolation and the degree to which they considered themselves prototypical of their university before being presented with a high or low threat inducement (a proposed campus ban on alcohol consumption). A three way interaction was found on both perceived threat and willingness to speak out. For participants low on fear of isolation, those low on prototypicality were more willing to speak out under the high than low threat inducement. For participants high on fear of isolation, those low on prototypicality were more willing to speak out under the high than low threat inducement. Highly prototypical group members were high in willingness to speak out independent of fear of isolation and threat. Perceived threat mediated the effect of prototypicality on willingness to speak out. It is concluded that the findings are most consistent with self-categorization theory. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores tehelka.com as a critical turning point in Indian investigative journalism. Tehelka.com, an independent and alternative news website, setup a fake defense deal for shedding light on how rampant corruption was devouring democracy at the highest levels. In this sting operation code named "West End" reporters from Tehelka.com contacted top army officers and politicians, by posing as traders of defense equipment.

The article examines the extension of communication accommodation theory into intergroup communication and considers its applications to law enforcement training, practice and policies. The media plays a role in shaping the views of the average person of the police. This became apparent with the popularity of shows such as "Dragnet" and "NYPD Blue." Since 1972, U.S. citizens demonstrated some confidence in and support for law enforcement officers.

The dominant view of communication efficacy rests on the assumption that effective communication relies on the interpersonal skills base of the interlocutors. This study presented an alternative perspective through an investigation of the processes involved in intergroup communication competence. Self categorization theory was employed to propose that categorization is a functional process, enabling positive outcomes in both intragroup and intergroup communication exchanges. Results suggest that two primary processes guide communicative behaviour to influence efficacy in the categorized context. The access to, or expectations of, a shared interpretive framework for ingroup members may make the communicative episode an easier process for interlocutors and therefore enable a more effective exchange. The additional motivation to work for the benefit of the ingroup may facilitate effective exchanges in both intragroup and intergroup contexts. Whilst directly enabling intragroup exchanges, this motivation may also enable intergroup exchanges if it is perceived that to work with the outgroup member will lead to a benefit for the ingroup. These findings present an optimistic view of the opportunities afforded for communication in the intergroup context. In so doing, this study challenges the perspective that categorization sponsors aggravated intergroup relations and that effective communication within the intergroup context can only be effected through the individually oriented application of communication skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a self-categorization explanation of pluralistic ignorance defined as the belief that one's attitudes are different from those of other ingroup members, even though public behavior is identical. The article provides a behavioral observation on the situation of alcohol drinking on the University of California, Santa Barbara campus among undergraduate students. The study infers that self-categorization theory (SCT) can be understood as a social-cognitive account of identity salience. As predicted by SCT, the more that the students thought of themselves as typical undergraduate students, the smaller the pluralistic ignorance effect.

An essay is presented on the press and political discourse analysis on the healthcare policy of the U.S. It presents an analysis of its moral discourse aimed at separating the undeserving from deserving healthcare recipients of the country. Moreover, it mentions that undeserving recipients are regarded as consumers who are irresponsible.

This transnational discourse analysis examines the relatively recent visibility of transmen on the web. The sites selected represent two types of web presence: resource web pages sponsored by organizations or individuals and individual transition blogs. Several North American and European sites were visited repeatedly over a one-year period to document transmale discourse on the Web and to examine the cultural identity constructions embedded. The analysis points to the emergence of two meta-discourses: a global transmale youth discourse and a traditional transman discourse. A key aspect of contemporary transman identity, the inability to avoid locating oneself in multiple, sometimes contradictory discourses, overshadows multiple webbed discourses. Key themes identified could be considered active discursive strategies designed to counteract erasure. Rather than constructing trans identities, these sites can be said to inscribe transpeople's lives in durable and conspicuous ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effectiveness of message framing strategies, taking into account interactions with approach/avoidance tendencies (BIS/BAS), on beliefs, self-efficacy, attitudes, and intentions to engage in adaptive coping behaviors (e.g., take personal time) for parents of children with eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia). Healthy adaptive behaviors are likely to improve both caregiver health and child recovery from an eating disorder. A threecondition (gain frame vs. loss frame vs. control) experiment provided evidence that gain frames may be more beneficial in promoting adaptive behaviors among parents of children with eating disorders, while loss frames may be harmful. Findings are qualified by interactions with approach/avoidance tendencies. This study contributes to the literature on gain and loss framing by examining framing effects on an adaptive health behavior rather than a prevention or detection behavior and by examining framing effects on a new health issue, caregiving. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compassion fatigue (CF), or burnout towards social issues, is an important problem facing public relations, nonprofit, and health communication practitioners. Relationship management, including stewardship strategies in communication, can help alleviate feelings of inefficacy among donors and stakeholders. Nonprofit message frames affect the success or failure of the communication, the organization, and ultimately, support for various health issues. This study examines connections between the conceptual frameworks of CF and stewardship strategies. Additionally, through a content analysis of 117 health nonprofit websites (457 web pages), the study investigates how nonprofit health organization websites are framing their communication to various publics in an environment of CF, and how the strategies of stewardship are being employed online. Findings indicate that while health nonprofits are using positive frames and multiple stewardship strategies, more can be done by nonprofit public relations practitioners to facilitate positive, long-term relationships with stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses ethnographic audience research to contextualize selfhelp reading, proposing connections between gender, identity and the reception of selfhelp texts. First, I argue that it is reasonable to consider selfhelp in the context of an ongoing conversation about women's popular cultural forms. Then, I present an instrumental case study that describes the way members of a women's group in suburban New Jersey encounter selfhelp. In particular, I observe the women as they discuss the 61stselection of Oprah's Book Club, Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (2005) and similar books, referred to here as spiritual selfhelp. My findings challenge the assumption that selfhelp reading minimizes the need for social interaction, discourages community building and isolates readers from the help of others and instead, identifies a spiritual subculture in which selfhelp reading is a source of authority and an expression of social identity. This work has implications for the study of women's popular culture and the role of ethnographic audience research in contextualizing debates about the relationship between local audiences and mass media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined if babies (6-24 months; n=60) learn words from a DVD modeled on Baby Einstein. The study was novel in that it utilized an infant-directed DVD but was edited to include low-frequency words (e.g., medallion) and it utilized the preferential looking method in the post-test so that very young babies could be tested. Results suggested that babies could learn the novel words in the live condition; however they did not appear to learn them in the video condition. Furthermore, there was no age effect in the video condition. Lastly, there was no relationship between visual attention to the video and learning from it. Thus, high attention did not necessarily result in learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of news aggregators, internet start pages and portal sites, there now exists a chain of sources for any piece of online news. Credible portals sometimes carry news items published by non-credible sources, but do users really factor in all the distal sources or do they rely simply on the proximate source delivering the news? Dual process models in psychology would predict that source is a peripheral cue and only those who are highly involved in the topic of the story would care to dig deeper. We tested this proposition with a 2 (Issue involvement: High vs. Low) x 2 (Proximal source credibility: High vs. Low) x 2 (Distal source credibility: High vs. Low) full-factorial between-subjects experiment (N = 238) and found that while highly involved readers considered both proximate and distal sources, low-involvement readers were primarily influenced by the proximate source. Implications of these findings are discussed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a content analysis of messages posted on Univision Online's immigration forum. Through a social support framework, the author explores what types of support messages are expressed by the forum's users and how these messages may contribute to the development of social capital. Univision Online caters to Latinos, and Spanish-dominant Latinos in particular; therefore this study describes how Latino Internet users are engaging in computer-mediated communication (CMC) within a very specific online community. Immigration-related social support messages expressed in the immigration forum can contribute to community building and the development of migrant-specific social capital. The resource and information sharing occurring within Univision Online is an example of a powerful, and often ignored, strand in the fabric of social relations that can influence migration and mobilization among Latino immigrants. Latinos currently access the Internet less than other ethnic groups, but high levels of engagement with the Univision Online portal may signify a growing interest in CMC among this population. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study found that most of the theoretical work concerning social movements in communication studies has been constructed using American and European exemplars. Many of the concepts posited by these theories have proved inadequate for analyzing and explicating movements beyond these cultural contexts. This theoretical essay conducts a critical analysis of the current theoretical work on social movements in communication studies and utilizes a rhetorical analysis of the Burmese protests of 2007 to calibrate theoretical understandings. The essay first describes the relevant Burmese historical and cultural context, identifies and critiques the relevant literature and its underlying assumptions, and analyzes the chanting of the Mettā Sutta ("Discourse on Loving-Kindness") as political expression using traditional notions and invitational notions (Foss & Griffin, 1995) of rhetoric. The study found that theory has assumed movements operate using oppositional rhetorical forms, develop according to modernist conceptions of time, are leader-driven, possess a unified membership, and must build a credible image and acquire power. Based on the rhetorical forms in the Burmese protests, these assumptions have proved insufficient. The study recommends eschewing these assumptions and enriching theory further by studying movements in Asia and elsewhere in the world. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores communication effects on foreign policy opinions. Specifically, it is argued that isolationist attitudes lead to selective avoidance of international news, which leads to effects on foreign policy opinions above and beyond the effect of isolationism alone. Furthermore, the effects of framing the intervention in cooperative versus militant terms are explored. Secondary analysis of the Pew Center for the People and the Press' December 2006 News Interest Index Survey demonstrated that in the context of evaluations of the Iraq war and willingness to engage in Darfur, isolationist attitudes affected opinions through avoidance of news media. Additionally, framing of the intervention influenced the process by which individuals evaluated an intervention. Furthermore, it was found that the framing effects were moderated by party identification. Implications for research and practice are discussed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of physical attractiveness in online daters' self-presentation and deception. Eighty online daters identified the deceptions in their online dating profiles, and had their photograph taken. A group of independent judges rated online daters' physical attractiveness based on the lab photographs, and another group of judges rated the attractiveness of daters' main profile photograph. Results show that less attractive online daters used deception strategically to improve their physical appearance: they enhanced the attractiveness of their profile photograph, and also lied more about their physical descriptors (height, age) than more attractive daters. However, less attractive daters did not lie more on profile elements unrelated to their physical appearance (e.g., income, occupation). Results are discussed in terms of (1) evolutionary theories about the importance of physical attractiveness in the dating realm, and (2) the technological affordances that allow online daters to engage in selective self-presentation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines 17 U.S. Supreme Court transcripts in oral arguments that took place in mass communication-related cases from December 8, 2004 to April 22, 2008. Researchers sought to understand differences among Justices in type of prompts given to lawyers at oral argument. In order to accomplish this, we categorized each prompt by a Justice as one of the following types: open-ended (who, what, when, where, why and how questions); disjunctive (question offers alternative possible answers); yes/no questions; leading questions (question itself suggests desired answer); rhetorical questions; and declarations or statements. These categories were derived from literature in interpersonal communication and legal studies. We hypothesized Supreme Court Justices would fall toward the non-question controlling, rather than open-ended inquisitive, end of what one scholar called the "continuum of control." Results are presented to discuss Justices' information-seeking profiles and the implications for broader communication study. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first aim of this study was to investigate the validity of four potential mediators that may account for the effects of CMC on interpersonal attraction (i.e., amount of self-disclosure, depth of self-disclosure, question asking, and reciprocity of self-disclosure). The second aim was to clarify the role of nonverbal cues and visual anonymity in the CMC-interpersonal attraction relationship. Eighty-one unacquainted cross-gender dyads were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: a face-to-face, a visual CMC (i.e., CMC with a webcam), or a text-only CMC condition. Content analysis of the verbal interactions revealed that text-only CMC interactants liked each other more than face-to-face interactants. However, there was no difference in liking between text-only CMC and visual CMC. Depth of self-disclosure and question asking mediated the CMC-liking relationship. Again, there was no difference between the text-only and visual CMC conditions, suggesting that it is not the visual anonimity of CMC that accounts for the higher levels of interpersonal attraction in CMC. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars from a variety of disciplines have observed that the coverage of the hallucinogenic drug LSD in popular magazines in the 1950s and 1960s seemed to stoke public interest in the drug. The lack of drug information in the mass media during much of the first half of the twentieth century may have helped this magazine coverage to have such a strong effect. Speech about other, illegal drugs was restricted in much of the media prior to the 1960s through a variety of means, including obscenity law and industry codes. This study examined some of the legal and pseudo-legal mechanisms that controlled speech about drugs and explored why LSD may have been covered differently in popular magazines. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normative theories of deliberative democracy have revolved around the concept of the rational citizen. Ideally, fully informed and motivated citizens would gather together to engage in careful weighing of ideas and arrive at the best solution. The purpose of this study is to question such assumptions of the ideal citizen by examining the effects of one particular emotion, i.e., anger, and information on the deliberation process and post-deliberative outcomes. I hypothesized that a) anger will have a main effect on the deliberation process and the post-deliberation outcomes; b) amount of information will have a main effect on the deliberation process and post deliberation outcomes; and c) the effect of anger on deliberation will differ by the amount of information given (interaction effect). Participants were assigned to one of the four conditions (2(anger)x2(information)) to read articles about a controversial issue on environmental conservation. They then engaged in a 3 - 4 person group discussion about the issue described in the articles. Video recordings of the discussions were content analyzed for assessing the deliberation process. Post-deliberation outcomes were assessed through self-reported measures after the discussion sessions. Results indicate a clear pattern of anger significantly influencing the post-deliberation outcomes but not necessarily individual performance during the deliberation process. Level of information, on the other hand, affected the deliberation process, while only having an indirect effect on the post-deliberation outcomes. Anger and information's distinctive routes of effects open up new interpretations on the functioning of the two in deliberation processes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online multimedia platforms have allowed news organizations to cover the Iraq War in a more vivid and interactive manner than previous conflicts. This study examined the utilization of multimedia story types by U.S. newspaper Web sites in covering the Iraq War in 2007, and its role in framing aspects of the War. A total of 201 photo galleries, audio slideshows, interactive graphics, and interactive packages were analyzed from the 100 most-visited U.S. newspaper sites. Dominant textual and visual frames were coded for each story, along with framing dimensions including main subject, time and space. The study concluded that human interest framing dominated multimedia coverage, although the extent of such framing differed between multimedia story types. While there were no significant differences in framing along story platform, photo galleries and slideshows constituted a majority of the sample. 72 percent of stories utilized a human interest textual frame, and 81.1 percent of stories featured a human interest visual frame. Multimedia coverage of the war primarily told the stories of individual U.S. stories and their families. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NBC Dateline's popular "To Catch a Predator" series, which purports to expose would-be child molesters, has generated a substantial amount of both praise and controversy. A discourse analysis of the extensive press coverage of the series and related newsworthy events reveals a complex array of issues with two dominant themes emerging. First, the series has been referred to as evidence and proof of the problem of predators trolling the Internet. Discussion of the series has contributed substantially to a broad discourse of fear regarding the safety of children and subsequent calls for legislation to enhance law enforcement powers and increase penalties against sex offenders. And second, the series has become an important locus for self-reflexive discussions within the press regarding normative journalism. Some of the criticisms levied against Dateline's journalistic practices can be understood as a form of "news repair" that aims to strengthen and legitimize the standards of the profession. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journalists' blogs (j-blogs) are novel journalistic practice emerging in Chinese news industry. This study is the first step in establishing what is going on in Chinese news media in terms of j-blogs and finding out how new technology would change and transform the traditional news industry in Mainland China. Content analysis was conducted to study j-blogs on Chinese newspaper websites and investigate their implications for journalism in China. Topic, format, reader comments, hyperlinks and multimedia such as video, audio and pictures in j-blog posts were analyzed. It was revealed that the most often addressed topics in Chinese j-blogs were lifestyle, politics/government/military, crime/accidents/disasters, and business/economic activity. The most frequently adopted formats in Chinese j-blogs were the straight opinion column, the rumor-mill blog, and reporter's notebook of news tidbits and incidentals. It was shown that the formats of j-blog posts varied by topics. Significant influence of topic and format were found on the number of reader comments in Chinese j-blog posts. The use of hyperlinks and multimedia also differed in j-blogs with different topics and formats. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals have struggled to select and implement effective and appropriate trust-building and persuasive techniques as they move from a face to face environment to an online environment. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending is a new online alternative to requesting and receiving loans, providing a natural experiment for examining how language can be used in an online environment to persuade and build trust. We examined how the language in 9,695 loan requests at P2P lending site Prosper.com affected lending behavior. Although borrowers often provide justifications or humanizing personal details these verbal indicators did not increase funding by lenders. Instead, word count, quantifiers and prepositions significantly predicted increased loan success. The results are discussed in terms of Elaboration Likelihood Model and Uncertainty Reduction Theory, and practices on how borrowers can optimize the persuasiveness of self-presentations in these contexts are presented. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the history of technology innovation, many studies have been conducted in order to understand adoption speeds, successes and failures of these innovations. Within this adoption research, a vast amount of scholars uses Davis' (1989) 'technology acceptance model' (TAM) or extended versions thereof. This article suggest a break with this tradition by showing that TAM is limited in its understanding of technology adoption. Instead, two alternative models are proposed that, unlike TAM, acknowledge the role of a technology-specific characteristics and uses (model 1) and temporary dynamical contexts (model 2) in the process of adoption decision-making. Together with TAM, both models were empirically tested by incorporating them in a questionnaire regarding the adoption intention of HDTV in the Netherlands. The results show that both models are indeed viable: they show significant influences on the adoption intentions of HDTV. Together, they also provide for a statistical explained variance that is only slightly lower than TAM-based constructs, while providing a more profound understanding of technology adoption processes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although sharing the same cultural heritage, Hong Kong and mainland China have distinct political governance systems and approaches resulted in very different social ideology, which impacts on communication between Hong Kong people and mainland Chinese as a difficult issue. In this study, the adaptation of mainland Chinese postgraduate students to Hong Kong is investigated based on the dynamic model of cognitive/affect/behavior components. Both institutional factors focusing on college impact and cultural elements are taken into account. This study provides further support for this dynamic framework and most proposed relationships in the model are confirmed. Results show that, cross-cultural awareness (cognitive) and cultural empathy (affective) both have facilitated academic integration and social interaction (behavior). The positive role of additive bilingualism and the moderator role of mass media usage in cross-cultural adaptation are supported and formative. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To curb unauthorized downloading, the major film, music, and software corporations have developed public education campaigns aimed at children, extolling the virtues of copyright and the immorality of piracy. Some were designed to be shown among movie trailers in theaters, others are made available online; some are delivered to schools as curricular materials to be incorporated into K-12 classrooms. Through an examination of the materials themselves and through interviews with their designers, this presentation examines not only their characterization of copyright law, but their implicit claims about how, why, an by whom culture is produced, circulated, and consumed. These campaigns traffic in and perpetuate an industry-centric idea of what copyright is for, how technology is meant to be used, and why culture is important, helping to structure the dynamics of cultural participation. Amid these assumptions, comfortable roles are offered to young users of new media -- particular that of "consumer" rather than "user" or "citizen" -- roles that are far from neutral in the current debates about cultural policy, and work against the tide of emerging forms of creativity and collaboration. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses an important area of research that has fascinated advertising professionals who are eager to make more attractive ads: understanding how the viewing audience perceives and processes television advertisements. Ad incongruity, the introduction of unexpected elements that are atypical of a given ad category, and production pacing were tested to explore the roles of these stimuli in capturing higher levels of arousal, which can produce both better evaluations and clearer memories of ads.Sixty subjects, who were recruited from among undergraduate students at Cornell University and patrons of a local shopping mall, participated in an online experiment in which a set of TV ads was shown. Participants then answered questions immediately following exposure to the ads, providing data pertaining to ad evaluation, and memory. The ads themselves represented six different conditions: incongruent and slow paced, incongruent and medium paced, incongruent and fast paced, congruent and slow paced, congruent and medium paced, and congruent and fast paced.The main findings involved Lang?s limited capacity model. It was found that the mental capacity or cognitive load required to process incongruent fasted-paced ads exceeded study participants? cognitive capacity to process the information in such ads. Participants? memory strength declined when exposed to both stimuli. Another key finding is that, as expected, incongruent ads were evaluated more positively, and better remembered than congruent ads. Production pacing also had some effect on participants. As pacing increased, people?s memory strength tended to increase as well, and ad evaluations tended to be more positive. However, ad type had a significant influence on the processing of ads. Car ads were evaluated more positively, were more arousing, and were better remembered than over-the-counter drug ads. The study?s contributions include a key finding pertaining to incongruity effects that should help to resolve discrepancies in the literature on incongruity. The study also provided further confirmation of Lang?s (2000) limited capacity model. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article asks us to consider spatial dimensions embedded in Brazil's digital television transformation by looking at the symbolic significance of the medium in Manaus, a transnational city-region that will most likely be the manufacturing hub for the digital technology. Through an analysis of three physical spaces in Manaus implicated in the creation of digital television, the article exposes the political, economic, and social conditions that support, and ultimately contradict, national digital television rhetoric that focuses only on the uses of digital television. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay (re)situates Ritzer's concept of McDonaldization within the context of Hardt and Negri's concept of Empire. The result of this combination is McEmpire, or McDonaldization in the age of Empire. We argue that New Belgium, a Colorado-based craft brewery, communicates the myth of localism, or anti-globalization, in the age of Empire, and that this communicated myth produces a catalyst for the multitude's resistance of Empire. Ritzer's modernist model of McDonaldization did not allow people or companies to resist the McDonaldization phenomenon, but as the shift from modernity to postmodernity takes place, new networks of power are being developed that both establish the conditions of Empire and allow for resistance against Empire. These new networks allow alt-commerce companies, like New Belgium, to compete with the powerful global corporations by selling the myth of anti-globalization. New Belgium, we argue, uses the current transitional period between modernity and postmodernity to construct a nostalgic myth of the pre-postmodern condition. This myth creates the catalyst for resistance against the globalization of the food industry. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first aim of this study was to examine which uncertainty reduction strategies members of social networking sites used to gain information about a person who they had recently met online. The second aim was to investigate whether and how these uncertainty reduction strategies resulted in social attraction. Drawing on a survey of 704 members of a social networking site, we found that respondents had used active, passive, and interactive strategies to reduce uncertainty about their new acquaintance. Interactive strategies were most effective in reducing uncertainty about the target person. Respondents' level of uncertainty about the acquaintance mediated the relationships between the use of interactive uncertainty strategies and perceived similarity on the one hand and social attraction on the other. Finally, respondents' perceived valence of the obtained information about the acquaintance moderated the relationship between the level of uncertainty and social attraction. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]