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Seven papers by E.W. Scripps grad students accepted for presentation at AEJMC annual conference

by Michael Sweeney, Professor; Associate Director for Graduate Studies

E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduate students have authored or co-authored eight papers accepted for presentation in August at the conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

The annual conference will meet in Minneapolis, Aug. 3-7. Research papers submitted by students and faculty go through double-blind review.

The papers and their authors are:

Enakshi Roy, PhD student, co-authored a paper with Assistant Professor Parul Jain and Media Arts and Studies graduate student Zulfia Zaher that won the top paper award for research in the Magazine Division. The paper is “Magazines and Social Media Platforms: Strategies for Enhancing User Engagement and Implications for Publishers.” Using theoretical perspective of Uses and Gratification and Big Five Personality traits, this paper examines magazine readers’ social media behavior by exploring users’ preferred social media platforms for connecting with magazines, genre of magazines most likely to be accessed via social media sites, and motivations behind doing so. The study proposes engagement strategies that publishers could implement to optimize their social media channels as that may have important implications for magazine publisher. Roy also has been selected to participate at the 2016 National Communication Association (NCA) Doctoral Honors Seminar. She is one of the 12 students selected for participation in the Mass Communication group. The other two groups are Rhetoric and Social Science.

Ken Ward, PhD student and first author, with Associate Professor Aimee Edmondson. Their paper, “The Espionage Conviction of Kansas City Editor Jacob Frohwerk: ‘A Clear and Present Danger’ to the United States, was named the No. 2 student paper in the History Division. It analyzes the career and legal case of Jacob Frohwerk, the editor of a German-language newspaper in Kansas City whose prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917 was a landmark case in First Amendment law that has largely been overlooked by legal and journalism scholars.

Samantha Peko, PhD student. Her paper, “Ada Patterson: ‘The Nellie Bly of the West,’” also accepted by the History Division. The paper examines the life and work of a Stunt Girl reporter of the late nineteenth century who rivaled the more famous Nellie Bly.

Nisha Garud, PhD student. She was author or co-author of three accepted AEJMC papers. Her sole-authored paper, “Uprising to Proxy War: How Time Inc. and Newsweek Framed the Syrian Conflict (2011-2016) from War Versus Peace Journalism Perspective,” was named the No. 2 paper in the Magazine Division. Based on the theoretical framework of Johan Galtung’s war and peace journalism perspective, the study examines framing of the Syrian conflict in Time and Newsweek. A total of 255 stories published during the five years of the conflict were analyzed for the dominant conflict frame (war versus peace frame), salient indicators of war and peace journalism and variations in framing during three significant stages of the conflict. Analysis showed Time employed more war journalism indicators whereas Newsweek employed more peace journalism indicators, although war themes dominated. She also was co-author of two other papers, along with PhD student Burton Speakman and Associate Professor Hans Meyer.

Burton Speakman is first author of the paper “The First God’s Authority! A Frame Analysis of Kim Davis’ Refusal to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses.” It was accepted to the Graduate Student Interest Group. Nisha Garud is second author. This paper is a framing analysis of the coverage of Kim Davis using the websites of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. The paper found that story was reported primarily as issue between Davis and the legal system, yet it left out supporters of gay and lesbian rights that also should be considered a part of the discussion.

Associate Professor Hans Meyer is first author, Speakman second author, and Garud third author of the paper “Active yet Passive: Students Media Habits Begin with Active Choice, Evolve to Passive Consumption.” It was accepted by the Newspaper and Online News Division. According to his paper definition of media habits must include more than one dimension: active choice. LaRose (2010) calls for expanding the theory to include active and passive use. This study advances LaRoses call through at nationwide survey of more than 1,000 current college students. It finds that the main attitudes that drive frequent media usage are active, such as need to be involved, and passive, such as the need to know. In fact, the media students use demonstrate an evolution from a one-time active choice to passive attention. This is especially true for social media where students mainly seek entertainment and connection but end up getting a lot of important news and information.

A third paper, with Speakman as first author, Meyer as second author, and Garud as third author, was accepted for presentation to the Issues Facing College Media panel. The paper is “Active Choice, Passive Consumption: Exploring New Media Consumption Habits among College Students and Their Influence on Traditional Student Media.” This study examines news consumption habits of college students focusing on the factors, purpose and sources of new media consumption. Through a survey of 821 students, four types of news habit emerged: active, passive, civic engagement, and digital. Students actively seek digital media but consumption of these sources turns passive. Notably, new media, including mobile technology, have not completely taken over the news consumption habit of traditional sources.

Ayleen Cabas-Mijares, masters student, had a paper accepted by the Graduate Student Interest Group. It is “Conceptualizing the Bolivarian Revolution: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Chavez’s Rhetorical Framing in Alo Presidente.” The study examines the mediated discourse of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to identify and analyze the rhetorical frames he employed to characterize the Bolivarian Revolution in his weekly television and radio show Alo Presidente. A critical discourse analysis of 40 Alo Presidente episodes led to the conclusion that historical, socio-economic and religious rhetorical frames helped the president promote the revolution as a transcendent, patriotic and desirable governance manifesto for Venezuela.

posted in: AEJMC grad student papers

June 3, 2016