Focus: Journalism

Abstract: Journalism and mass communication education will remain relevant as long as it attracts talented students and provides evidence that its graduates are competitive in the job market. To do that, educators need to understand and embrace the field of mass communication in its new complexity and broaden their curricular options, as students will likely […]

Valerie Boyd and Cynthia R. Greenlee were recently appointed as Editors-at-Large by the University of Georgia Press. The ongoing mission of the University of Georgia Press is to publish exemplary, diverse scholarly and creative work. Boyd and Greenlee will represent the Press in seeking book projects in a wide range of subjects, including foodways, gender, […]

Little, Alexia (Grady M.A.) (Forthcoming). Cementing Their Heroes: Historical Newspaper Coverage of Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Confederate Monuments. Journalism History.  Abstract: Following continued conflicts about Confederate monuments in American society, this study explores Civil War memory encapsulated in newspaper coverage of the initial construction and dedication of four Confederate monument. Discourse and narrative analyses of […]

Abstract: Journalists serve as deception detectors for voters. Sometimes politicians refute journalists’ assertions. How do voters discern whom to believe? Based on cognitive sequences posited by truth-default theory (TDT), experiments tested voters’ reactions to alleged deceptiveness in a political news interview. In Study 1 (N = 209) perceptions of a politician being truthfully or falsely […]

Abstract: Forest certification has emerged as a market-based tool to safeguard the sustainability of the world’s forests. Since media can shape public opinion, this study examines media treatment of forest certification in the United States, the world’s largest producer and consumer of forest products. This study utilizes 309 print and digital newspaper articles published in […]

Abstract: The public considers politicians to be deceptive. Empirical research, however, indicates voters fail to notice deception from politicians in practice. An experiment was run in which U.S. voters (n = 133 Democrats, n = 138 Republicans) watched a partisan news interview featuring a senator. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: a […]

Abstract: Truth-default theory (TDT) holds that people tend to passively believe others without consciously considering whether they are being told the truth. But do voters have a truth-default toward politicians? In an experiment, voters across the U.S. (N = 294) watched a news interview in which a politician was either honest or deceptive. Party affiliation […]

Abstract: Journalists serve as deception detectors for voters. Sometimes politicians refute journalists’ assertions. How do voters discern whom to believe? Based on cognitive sequences posited by truth-default theory (TDT), experiments tested voters’ reactions to alleged deceptiveness in a political news interview. In Study 1 (N = 209) perceptions of a politician being truthfully or falsely […]

Abstract: Influences upon the visual content of US front pages are assessed at two levels. At the routine-level, visual differences are compared based on whether photographs are taken by on-staff photojournalists or are wire-provided. At the individual-level, differences are assessed based on the photographer’s race and gender. This study uncovers visual implications of fewer staff […]

Abstract: This study builds on our understanding of how visual journalism is used with environmental reporting to create a sense of place and understanding. While most American photojournalism tends to favor close-up photos with people, environmental coverage leans opposite: sweeping landscape photos devoid of people. However, our content analysis of wire and non-wire environmental photos […]