Pub Date : 2020-06-01DOI: 10.1177/1931243120933356
Shawn L. Nissen, Quint Randle, Jared L. Johnson, Jenny Lynes
Individuals verbally express meaning not only through speech sounds and words but also prosodically through the pitch, loudness, and tempo of their voice. Through a quantitative analysis, this exploratory study examined the prosodic elements of mean pitch, pitch variability, and pitch range in a sample of 450 voice-overs and throws from 90 male and female broadcast reporters and anchors from larger markets across the United States. Findings indicate that compared to typical speakers in the general population, male broadcasters actually speak with an elevated mean pitch, more pitch variability, and use more range. However, female broadcasters were found to speak at slightly lower mean pitch levels when compared to other female speakers in the general population (but like males with more variability and range). It is hoped that this study will serve as a starting point in moving broadcast vocal coaching from that of just an art to a bit more of a science.
{"title":"Prosodic Elements for Content Delivery in Broadcast Journalism: A Quantitative Study of Vocal Pitch","authors":"Shawn L. Nissen, Quint Randle, Jared L. Johnson, Jenny Lynes","doi":"10.1177/1931243120933356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243120933356","url":null,"abstract":"Individuals verbally express meaning not only through speech sounds and words but also prosodically through the pitch, loudness, and tempo of their voice. Through a quantitative analysis, this exploratory study examined the prosodic elements of mean pitch, pitch variability, and pitch range in a sample of 450 voice-overs and throws from 90 male and female broadcast reporters and anchors from larger markets across the United States. Findings indicate that compared to typical speakers in the general population, male broadcasters actually speak with an elevated mean pitch, more pitch variability, and use more range. However, female broadcasters were found to speak at slightly lower mean pitch levels when compared to other female speakers in the general population (but like males with more variability and range). It is hoped that this study will serve as a starting point in moving broadcast vocal coaching from that of just an art to a bit more of a science.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"14 1","pages":"63 - 77"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45407240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-13DOI: 10.1177/1931243120910448
Serena Miller, A. Cepak, Zhao Peng
Teachers shape how aspiring journalists collect and evaluate information. The primary method journalists employ to gather this information is through the interviewing method. However, research has yet to be conducted on how this important competency is taught in university settings. This study sought to identify the instructional approaches used by print and broadcast journalism educators through qualitative interviews. The results revealed that a variety of exercises and pedagogical approaches (i.e., observation, simulation, direct experience, and reinforcement) are employed by educators to teach students the complexities of the interviewing process. We also highlighted classroom exercises, identified challenges, and shared teaching strategies concerning the teaching of both broadcast and print journalistic interviewing.
{"title":"The Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching Journalistic Interviewing Competencies","authors":"Serena Miller, A. Cepak, Zhao Peng","doi":"10.1177/1931243120910448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243120910448","url":null,"abstract":"Teachers shape how aspiring journalists collect and evaluate information. The primary method journalists employ to gather this information is through the interviewing method. However, research has yet to be conducted on how this important competency is taught in university settings. This study sought to identify the instructional approaches used by print and broadcast journalism educators through qualitative interviews. The results revealed that a variety of exercises and pedagogical approaches (i.e., observation, simulation, direct experience, and reinforcement) are employed by educators to teach students the complexities of the interviewing process. We also highlighted classroom exercises, identified challenges, and shared teaching strategies concerning the teaching of both broadcast and print journalistic interviewing.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"14 1","pages":"78 - 96"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1931243120910448","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45227424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1177/1931243120910446
Karen McIntyre
Americans say that reading, watching, or listening to the news is one of their leading causes of stress. And indeed, research has shown that negative news can negatively impact people’s attitudes, behaviors, and mental health. To combat the unwelcome effects of negative news, some have suggested that reporters practice more constructive or solution-oriented journalism by reporting stories that highlight societal progress. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this study tested the impact of constructive news. In a mixed-design quasi-experiment, participants received access to a Google Assistant feature in which they could prompt the assistant to summarize a constructive news story. After 2 weeks, those who used the feature were more likely, between pretest and posttest, than those who did not to feel positive while consuming traditional news, suggesting constructive news could mitigate the effects of more typical, negative news.
{"title":"“Tell Me Something Good”: Testing the Longitudinal Effects of Constructive News Using the Google Assistant","authors":"Karen McIntyre","doi":"10.1177/1931243120910446","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243120910446","url":null,"abstract":"Americans say that reading, watching, or listening to the news is one of their leading causes of stress. And indeed, research has shown that negative news can negatively impact people’s attitudes, behaviors, and mental health. To combat the unwelcome effects of negative news, some have suggested that reporters practice more constructive or solution-oriented journalism by reporting stories that highlight societal progress. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this study tested the impact of constructive news. In a mixed-design quasi-experiment, participants received access to a Google Assistant feature in which they could prompt the assistant to summarize a constructive news story. After 2 weeks, those who used the feature were more likely, between pretest and posttest, than those who did not to feel positive while consuming traditional news, suggesting constructive news could mitigate the effects of more typical, negative news.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"14 1","pages":"37 - 54"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1931243120910446","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46846253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1177/1931243120910483
Cory L. Armstrong, Jue Hou, K. McLeod
This study examines media treatment of Ellen DeGeneres over a 26-year period, focusing on how she served as a surrogate for the same-sex marriage debate during that time. The study suggests that coverage of DeGeneres followed a similar path to that of a protest group, challenging the status quo, and therefore, suffering critical and negative treatment from media. Findings indicated that even after common gender-related variables such as female sources and mentions were controlled, the major contributing variable was the level of public support for same-sex marriage. Implications for both protest-related literature and scholarship on public opinion were discussed.
{"title":"Is Ellen DeGeneres a “DeGenerate?”: How TV’s First Out Lesbian Connects to Public Support for Same-Sex Marriage","authors":"Cory L. Armstrong, Jue Hou, K. McLeod","doi":"10.1177/1931243120910483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243120910483","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines media treatment of Ellen DeGeneres over a 26-year period, focusing on how she served as a surrogate for the same-sex marriage debate during that time. The study suggests that coverage of DeGeneres followed a similar path to that of a protest group, challenging the status quo, and therefore, suffering critical and negative treatment from media. Findings indicated that even after common gender-related variables such as female sources and mentions were controlled, the major contributing variable was the level of public support for same-sex marriage. Implications for both protest-related literature and scholarship on public opinion were discussed.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"14 1","pages":"21 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1931243120910483","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41690601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1177/1931243120910449
Mirjana Pantić
This study investigated citizen participation in live blogs in the changing media ecosystem from the public sphere perspective. The live blog is a web-native, participatory-oriented journalistic genre comprised of brief updates of an event in motion and designed to deliver real-time information from multiple sources about breaking news and scheduled events. To examine participation in this contemporary news format, the current, exploratory study, collected survey responses from 339 volunteers and found that participation was not a motivating factor for readers to engage in live blogging on a deeper level. Other study findings pertaining to participation were also pessimistic, showing that the majority of participants were not personally interested in participating in live blogging. This is an important finding for digital journalism as it implies that the capacity of online platforms to accommodate participation does not necessarily translate into citizens’ willingness to participate.
{"title":"Engagement With Live Blogs: When Passive Consumption Overpowers Participation","authors":"Mirjana Pantić","doi":"10.1177/1931243120910449","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243120910449","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated citizen participation in live blogs in the changing media ecosystem from the public sphere perspective. The live blog is a web-native, participatory-oriented journalistic genre comprised of brief updates of an event in motion and designed to deliver real-time information from multiple sources about breaking news and scheduled events. To examine participation in this contemporary news format, the current, exploratory study, collected survey responses from 339 volunteers and found that participation was not a motivating factor for readers to engage in live blogging on a deeper level. Other study findings pertaining to participation were also pessimistic, showing that the majority of participants were not personally interested in participating in live blogging. This is an important finding for digital journalism as it implies that the capacity of online platforms to accommodate participation does not necessarily translate into citizens’ willingness to participate.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"14 1","pages":"22 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44233202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-22DOI: 10.1177/1931243119896870
Michael D. Murray
{"title":"Book Review: Media localism: The policies of place","authors":"Michael D. Murray","doi":"10.1177/1931243119896870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243119896870","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"14 1","pages":"55 - 57"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1931243119896870","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42373313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.1177/1931243119883838
J. Cain
{"title":"Book Review: Communicating your research with social media: A practical guide to using blogs, podcasts, data visualisations and video","authors":"J. Cain","doi":"10.1177/1931243119883838","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243119883838","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"13 1","pages":"214 - 216"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45514638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-11-10DOI: 10.1177/1931243119883839
Y. R. Du, Lingzi Zhu, B. Cheng
The term “post-truth” was declared by Oxford Dictionaries to be its 2016 “International Word of the Year,” signifying the advent of a so-called post-truth era with rising misinformation and declining trust in media. Meanwhile, the “age of data” has seen a proliferation of big data alongside an increase in data-driven journalism, which is one critical way to make professional journalists distinctive with the production of fact-based, authoritative news. Using devised variations of one news report as stimuli, this experiment involves five test groups to determine whether data and data visualizations impact the perceived credibility of news. Results show that only when accompanied by visualizations does the use of data have a positive effect. Findings suggest the necessity and significant role of data visualizations in news production. The study also reveals that increased use of data components in the news does not always contribute to its audience’s perception of news credibility.
{"title":"Are Numbers Not Trusted in a “Post-Truth” Era? An Experiment on the Impact of Data on News Credibility","authors":"Y. R. Du, Lingzi Zhu, B. Cheng","doi":"10.1177/1931243119883839","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243119883839","url":null,"abstract":"The term “post-truth” was declared by Oxford Dictionaries to be its 2016 “International Word of the Year,” signifying the advent of a so-called post-truth era with rising misinformation and declining trust in media. Meanwhile, the “age of data” has seen a proliferation of big data alongside an increase in data-driven journalism, which is one critical way to make professional journalists distinctive with the production of fact-based, authoritative news. Using devised variations of one news report as stimuli, this experiment involves five test groups to determine whether data and data visualizations impact the perceived credibility of news. Results show that only when accompanied by visualizations does the use of data have a positive effect. Findings suggest the necessity and significant role of data visualizations in news production. The study also reveals that increased use of data components in the news does not always contribute to its audience’s perception of news credibility.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"13 1","pages":"179 - 195"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1931243119883839","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47891189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-11-10DOI: 10.1177/1931243119883845
Justin C. Blankenship, D. Riffe
A quantitative survey of local television news directors in the United States (N = 159) explored three main topics: the perception/attitudes of current local TV news directors, potential differences in those attitudes by market size, and whether news directors felt “in step” with their staff and/or upper management. The results indicated that the majority of news directors are still White, male, and middle-aged. News directors see a strong connection between news product quality and resources devoted to news. News directors were also, overall, pessimistic about the future of the TV news industry. Analysis indicated that there were few differences among the news directors working in large, medium, and small markets. Further, news directors reported being somewhat “out-of-step” with their staff and management regarding profit and market orientation.
{"title":"In Step at the Top? Optimism, Efficacy, and Orientation Among Local Television News Managers","authors":"Justin C. Blankenship, D. Riffe","doi":"10.1177/1931243119883845","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243119883845","url":null,"abstract":"A quantitative survey of local television news directors in the United States (N = 159) explored three main topics: the perception/attitudes of current local TV news directors, potential differences in those attitudes by market size, and whether news directors felt “in step” with their staff and/or upper management. The results indicated that the majority of news directors are still White, male, and middle-aged. News directors see a strong connection between news product quality and resources devoted to news. News directors were also, overall, pessimistic about the future of the TV news industry. Analysis indicated that there were few differences among the news directors working in large, medium, and small markets. Further, news directors reported being somewhat “out-of-step” with their staff and management regarding profit and market orientation.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"13 1","pages":"196 - 213"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47218852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-01DOI: 10.1177/1931243119883655
B. Calfano, D. Green
Public service announcements (PSAs) are key staples for broadcasters in fulfilling their Federal Communications Commission–mandated public interest mission, and the familiarity of the PSA format has helped motivate broadcaster attempts to monetize these short, community-focused messages. But relatively few studies have rigorously assessed the impact of PSAs; to date, there have been no randomized experiments gauging PSAs aired on radio stations with different programming formats. To fill this gap, we report the results of three field-based experiments randomizing the airdates of PSAs on three separate broadcast radio stations. Results suggest PSAs have significant, but short-lived, effects on audience behavior. This finding has implications for organization sponsorship and broadcaster use of PSAs as well as researcher approaches to studying these spots through randomized field experiments.
{"title":"Assessing the Efficacy of Radio Public Service Announcements: Results From Three Field Experiments","authors":"B. Calfano, D. Green","doi":"10.1177/1931243119883655","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243119883655","url":null,"abstract":"Public service announcements (PSAs) are key staples for broadcasters in fulfilling their Federal Communications Commission–mandated public interest mission, and the familiarity of the PSA format has helped motivate broadcaster attempts to monetize these short, community-focused messages. But relatively few studies have rigorously assessed the impact of PSAs; to date, there have been no randomized experiments gauging PSAs aired on radio stations with different programming formats. To fill this gap, we report the results of three field-based experiments randomizing the airdates of PSAs on three separate broadcast radio stations. Results suggest PSAs have significant, but short-lived, effects on audience behavior. This finding has implications for organization sponsorship and broadcaster use of PSAs as well as researcher approaches to studying these spots through randomized field experiments.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"13 1","pages":"134 - 151"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1931243119883655","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46289049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}