Search

The wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, the crisis in Bahrain and the confrontation with Iran have created an environment of sectarianism in the region. This hostility has challenged the media to deal with the issue of citizenship ( Al-Muwatana) in a responsible manner. This study applies Social Responsibility Theory to shed light on the role of print media in shaping the concept of citizenship in the Arabian Gulf, with reference to states that enjoy full or partial freedom, especially Kuwait and Oman. The results of this study show that Omani newspapers deal with citizenship positively when reporting news from Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen and Iran despite press censorship, while Kuwaiti print media, with its greater freedom of the press, is more negative on the topic of citizenship.

Cyber vigilantism, in particular crowdsourced vigilantism, is a newly emerging practice whereby people expose misconducts and identify culprits through collaboratively searching and publicizing information using the Internet. This study proposes a theory-oriented framework with which we demonstrate that individuals’ media exposure and perceived social norms may interact and jointly predict their reception of and reactions to the practice. We tested the framework with web survey data of 800 adults in Taiwan. Results showed that the frequency and the ways in which the press covers cyber vigilantism were both directly and indirectly associated with individuals’ acceptance of or resistance to cyber vigilantism. The indirect associations were mediated by individuals’ evaluations and perceived social acceptance of the practice. We suggest that obtaining favorable news coverage is essential for cyber vigilantism to gain acceptance and attract crowds. When modeling or predicting the structure and evolving process of this newly emerging cyber practice, researchers may want to consider the overall media environment, social context, and personal evaluations.

Based on an integrated approach to media use, this study examines the association between integrated news use and civic participation in the networked digital media environment. Data from a web survey of a national online panel demonstrate that integrated news use, or the degree to which various media platforms are integrated for news consumption, is positively associated with civic participation. Data also show that integrated political discussion and integrated political information seeking mediate the relationship between integrated news use and civic participation. This study discusses theoretical and methodological implications.

Issue obtrusiveness has long been considered a condition in agenda-setting effect of mass media. Public’s perceived salience of news issues has been found to be more strongly influenced by mass media for unobtrusive issues than obtrusive issues. This study measures the issue obtrusiveness contingency in a developing country by comparing public perception of 10 different issues with varying levels of obtrusiveness. The findings support the original issue obtrusiveness contingency, and add that the public in developing countries report salience of obtrusive issues based on their own personal experience rather than from media exposure.

One set of media effect theories argues that people are more likely to model behaviors that lead to a rewarding outcome (goal-achieved) than those that lead to an unrewarding outcome (goal-failed); however, recent studies find that observing another person’s goal achievement deactivates the goal. In Experiment 1, a story in which a character’s diet goal is in progress activated participants’ diet goals more than a story in which the character’s goal is achieved. In Experiment 2, when a story character achieved a diet goal, participants’ perceived similarity with the character was related to a greater intention to model the character’s diet-related behaviors; that relationship was not significant when the character failed. When a story character continued to pursue a diet goal, however, participants’ goals were more activated than when the character discontinued to pursue the goal.

This article reports on an optimal design of nonwoven air filter media produced from fibres of different finenesses. A series of nonwoven filter media was prepared from polypropylene fibres of three different finenesses. The entire media were evaluated for filtration efficiency and pressure drop. A three-component augmented simplex lattice design was used for media preparation, and response surface methodology was employed for data analysis. A set of expressions was obtained for predicting the filtration efficiency and pressure drop of nonwoven filter media as a function of fibre composition. The composition in the media was optimized by desirability function approach to achieve maximum filtration efficiency and minimum pressure drop simultaneously.

In recent years, profound media environmental changes have sparked a controversy regarding whether we are entering a new era of minimal effects. Focusing on one of the most important media effect theories, agenda setting, this study combines a panel survey and a media content analysis to test three claims derived from the new era of minimal effects discussion: (1) that recent media environmental changes have reduced the agenda setting influence of traditional news media to non-significance, (2) that increased opportunities for media choice have made partisan selective exposure the key mechanism behind media effects, and (3) that the availability of alternative online news sources reduces susceptibility to agenda setting effects from the traditional news media. Among other things, the results show that traditional news media still exert agenda-setting influence on both the aggregate and individual levels, but that these effects are weakened by use of multiple online news media. Overall, the results suggest that a generalized “we” have not (yet) entered a new era of minimal effects, and that certain media system characteristics are likely to condition the pace of any potential transition to a new minimal effects era.

Media effect studies on children have focused on time spent with media relative to some outcome. We argue that researchers should examine quantity as the sole measure of media input only when it is of theoretical significance. In most circumstances media content and form are more important than time spent. A media diet metaphor is proposed as an alternative approach that includes both amount of exposure and program content across media platforms. Quantity is relevant primarily for hypotheses that concern time displacement (such as TV viewing displacing physical exercise) or other medium-general effects. In addition, technological advances have not yet been exploited that can allow new methodologies for studying media use and impact. As examples, eye tracking and magnetic resonance imaging are discussed to illustrate how new approaches can provide researchers with opportunities to ask different questions and to provide new perspectives on old questions.

The perceived as well as actual (in) effectiveness of anti-drug ads has been prominent in public discourse and concern. Using the third person effect hypothesis, this study examined adolescents' perceptions on the effect of anti-drug ads and the perception's relationship to attitudes and intentions concerning drug use. The results suggested that adolescents estimated the anti-drug ad effect on the basis of their behavioral experience, the self-anchored expectancy of a pro-social media effect: Those who had used drugs anticipated the effect of anti-drug ads to be smaller than those who had not used drugs. The perceived informative realism of anti-drug ads influenced the perceived message quality, which in turn influenced the perceived effect on self. The perceived effect on self was positively associated with anti-drug attitudes and intentions. The implications on future third person perception research and anti-drug campaign efforts are discussed.

The existing literature on environmental attitudes is dominated by two theoretical frameworks: cultural and rational choice explanations. This article proposes and examines two additional explanatory models: elite opinion leadership and media diffusion explanations. Compared to the dominant models, the two hypotheses introduced in this article have received little attention in the literature. Using the 1989 Harris survey, this article seeks to explore whether and how well public environmental attitudes are determined by elite opinion leadership and media diffusion in a cross-national context. The results of multiple regressions at both aggregate and individual levels demonstrate strong and significant direct elite influence on public environmental attitudes but challenge the direct media effect views in recent public opinion research.

If a certain solubilization of lipoproteic material takes place during treatments of knitted wool fabrics with sodium sulphite in an isopropanol/water medium, and if these treatments prevent wool shrinkage at some particular conditions of solvent con centration and temperature, then a relationship exists between the dissolved lipoproteic material and the shrinkproofing effect. The lipids of the fiber play an important role in obtaining this effect.

Issues dealing with the effects of otitis media on auditory processing skills, language, and learning are addressed, and strategies offered for suspected problems.

Most laboratory and field studies into media effect have focussed on aggressive drive or attitude. Overall, their results suggest that a relationship exists between media violence and personal aggression -though the findings are by no means clear-cut. In contrast to this assessment, the present paper asserts that the mass media exert no proven influence at all. Reinterpreting previous work and discussing the findings of new research, we argue that a subcultural explanation is the most promising way of synthesizing their results and expanding the limited insight into media impact provided by the effects paradigm. The influence of the media can only be gauged by understanding the social and cultural conditions in which the media-audience relationship takes hold.