Mass Communication

This study focused on individual interpretation of crisis communication messages and aimed to examine which forms of crisis narratives can enhance audience engagement in crisis communication such as reduction of negative emotions. An experimental study was conducted, simulating audience experience with blog posts written for crisis communication. Data suggest that the openness to dialogic communication is essential to creating and enhancing audience engagement in crisis communication, which, in turn, leads to positive postcrisis perceptions. Among several dimensions of audience engagement, reduction of negative emotions was a critical mediator that connected the impact of openness to dialogic communication with positive postcrisis perceptions.

This study presents an empirical evaluation of the co-production of a “Statement to the Candidates” and a “Voters Guide” for a key U.S. Congressional race. Citizens produced these materials during an intensive process called “Reclaim November Ohio,” which used the Citizen Jury method of public deliberation. We use a series of pre- and post-test surveys to evaluate this unique application of co-production. Specifically, we assess whether this deliberative approach to co-production in the political and electoral arena improved participants’ perceptions of politics and government and made citizens more interested in and knowledgeable about policy issues. We also assess whether participants believed the Reclaim November Ohio process would help the candidates better understand citizens’ concerns and whether participants were satisfied with the event. The results suggest that co-production in the political and electoral arena can have positive effects on citizens’ agency, voice, and perceptions of politics and government. The results are mixed for both the perceived influence of the event and issue interest and knowledge. Nevertheless, participants were extremely satisfied with the event and its various components.

Using a 2 Â 3 mixed between-within subjects experiment (N = 102), we tested how the presence of online comments affects self-other differences and perceptions of media bias, as well as factors predicting subjects' likelihood of commenting on an online news story. We found that (a) presence of comments lowers self-other differences and consequently attenuates the third-person effect, and (b) perceptions of media bias significantly predict likelihood of commenting. Additionally, we found that subjects were more likely to comment on stories they found biased against their position as a form of corrective action, and that subjects were more likely to share and like stories they found biased in favor of their position as a form of promotional action.

Q methodology provides a systematic approach to understand subjective beliefs and attitudes. It has been employed in fields as diverse as public health, psychology, communications, and political science. As a method that utilizes both qualitative and quantitative tools, Q is well positioned as mixed-method approaches to research gain in popularity. However, the development of digital tools to conduct Q studies has been slow compared to other methods, perhaps because Q researchers traditionally focus on relatively small number of participants, making the traditional Q paper sorting method feasible. Nonetheless, researchers may prefer a digital Q instrument for a variety of reasons, including ease of data entry, reaching home-bound populations, and conducting comparative research across geographic boundaries. This case examines a Q study on journalistic norms that uses a standard survey data collection instrument instead of more specialized Q software or paper sorts, while still preserving the analytical approach typical to Q.

The town of Nosara on Costa Rica’s Nicoya peninsula is home to a vibrant community of diverse residents and is adjacent to an important turtle nesting site. However, tensions between lifelong residents, more recent transplants, visitors, and developers have increased as more of the world discovers this once-isolated haven. Climate change, income inequality, and alienation from a distant government apparatus have further complicated effective land-use planning and fractured social cohesion. Using a mixed-method approach of in-depth interviews (n = 67), Q methodology (n = 79), and public deliberation (n = 88), we explored residents’ priorities for the future of their town. The results indicate four different perspectives on Nosara’s future. Despite the tensions among those four perspectives, they show consensus on one overarching community issue: the need for a sustainable development plan. The case also shows how Q-methodology can assist scholars and practitioners who embrace partici...

In-depth interviews with 36 Black women, ages 18 to 59, reveal that exaggeratedly overweight depictions of Black women portrayed by men dressed up as women had a strong effect on their identities. The women reported that portrayals, such as Madea in Tyler Perry's films, Rasputia in Eddie Murphy's Norbit, and Martin Lawrence's Big Momma, were “mammy-like” and the fact that men dressed as women to depict these roles heightened the stereotypes these images evoke. The male mammy portrayals increase the mockery of Black women in the media and contribute to the effeminization of African American men, according to women in our sample. Social comparison, social identity, and self-categorization theories are used for interpretation.