This study looked at how different formats of online news story can affect the way users read and understand it.The researcher formatted one story taken off the wire into two different ways: simple text story and a story customized for Web presentation. As an example the researcher used the style of MSNBC.com, one of nation's leading providers of original online news content.One hundred and sixty subjects who participated in the study were split into two different groups reflecting their online reading habits: the users who read news in full (or slow readers) and the users who scan and/or skim online information (fast readers). Both groups were exposed to each type of online story presentation.With the help of an online instrument created for the purpose of this study the researcher monitored subjects' reading speeds and recall of different types of story.The data collected in the experiment were analyzed through two-way Analysis of Variance, or ANOVA, with equal sample sizes.Initial analysis of the data revealed no significant difference between the way both types of readers recalled the two stories. Further analysis, however, showed that the type of story presentation had an effect on the speed with which certain categories of subjects read the stories. Subsequent analysis revealed that it was fast readers who took statistically significant less amounts of time to read the story formatted for online presentation. / Department of Journalism

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-237). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-237). Also available on the Internet.

Television has become the primary 'story teller' in our society today (Gerbner, et.al., 1986, 1994). It is an all pervasive technology that most of us aren't even aware of in our surroundings. From airports, bus terminals, restaurants, bars to our own lounges, television is constantly passing on its message to its audience. Its role might vary from just a background noise to active information source, its presence remains constant. However television itself is not static, it is a dynamic medium with a constantly growing presence in our lives. Therefore, there remains a constant need to understand the role television plays in shaping our 'stories' and the current study is a short step towards understanding the role and impact of news media on the emotional responses of news viewers in Pakistan. During the last decade there has been an exponential growth in Pakistan's private media industry. Over 80 channels have already started with a number in the pipeline. Of these channels the most prominent are the 16 24-hour news channels which, for the first time, provided the Pakistani public multiple options for seeking news and information (previously only Pakistan Television, a state owned channel was available) - the Pakistani public is now spoiled for choice. However this growth in the media industry also resulted in the over-exposure of issues as the channels vied for viewers. Consequently the audience is regularly exposed to sensational news and content - with coverage ranging from the graphic to the mundane - as networks compete for ratings. Observing the media's behavior and keeping media effects research on exposure to violence in mind, the researcher was interested in seeing whether regular exposure to violence news and violent acts leads to desensitization of the audience. The relationship between news and sensationalism is an old one, starting from the early tabloids in the early 1900s which focused on crime/violence to attract readers. The same trend can be seen in news channels in Pakistan and abroad. One main reason can be the low cost of covering and reporting a crime or act of violence. The event itself provides the reporter with images and information (no digging required!), the drama of the crisis, its aftermath and consequences provide news channels easy fodder for their news mill which needs to run 24-hours, 365 days of the year. Therefore the aim of the present research was twofold: one, to evaluate the amount of violence/violent content that is being shown on Pakistani news channels; and two, to try and assess the impact of this content on the emotional responses of news viewers. The study also aimed to extend the desensitization hypothesis by arguing that the continued presence of the stimulus responsible for desensitization will result in audiences' crossing the attention threshold; i.e. viewers will ignore the central issues on the media agenda and remove it from their socio-political discussions. The model further suggested that viewers will focus more on the peripheral issues rather than the primary issues in the media agenda. The results of the content analysis clearly show that in both public and private television news violent content is the 2nd highest type of news being reported (with domestic politics being the highest type of news content across both channels). Two types of news on violence were studied: violence resulting in fatalities and violence without fatalities; with the first one have almost twice the volume of the latter type of news content. The content analysis and the first part of the survey analysis provide the pre-requisite information for the attention threshold assumption. One, they confirm the continuous presence of a particular issue in news in large volume; and secondly, the survey analysis provides support for the presence of desensitization amongst the respondents. The tests run for the attention threshold assumption indicated that despite the presence of the issue of violence on the media agenda, it is no longer on the public agenda, and is not a part of the social discourse of the respondents with either their family or their friends. The current research shows that heavy consumers of violent news content tend to significantly have pro-violence attitudes. They also tend to have lower levels of emotional empathy for victims of violence and higher levels of compassion fatigue. While these results were not statistically significant for the sample tested, the results show a consistently low mean, indicating negative trend for both the variables. The respondents were generally in favor of harsher punishments and greater state/military control of the country. Results of the current study indicate that heavy viewers of news media tend to be more desensitized to the violence in society. Their emotional responses are numbed down. For a country like Pakistan, with a history of military intervention in domestic politics and governance, this is a matter of grave concern. Strong feelings of insecurity and mean world syndrome, fed on a steady diet of violent news programing, can further undermine faith in the political system - leading to greater acceptance (and at times active desire) of military sponsored or led control - a situation that is very troubling for Pakistan. While the current analysis is a starting place, news content in Pakistan needs to be studied in greater depth. Future research needs to also focus on the wider range of news channels in Pakistan. This would help identify the effects of different variables like ownership, political affiliations, language and location on the content of news channels. In terms of the survey itself, a broader, more inclusive research in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country would provide better evidence of the effects of news violence on Pakistanis. And finally, a lot more in-depth and extensive research is needed before on the "attention threshold" model for it to be verified and its results generalized. If verified, the model will help future researchers identify why issues of audience concern are no longer getting the requisite attention from viewers, despite having strong media presence.

This thesis looks at how news shaped people's relationship to the world in Algeria under French rule. This territory operated under an uncertain legal status that made it both a part of France and a colony, and within it lived a society divided between European settlers and Muslim natives. Accounts of recent events helped Algerians determine what was domestic and what was foreign in a place where those two notions were highly contested. Colonialism did not close Algeria off from the world or open it up, instead it created a particular geography. In a series of case-studies taken from across Algeria, this thesis investigates a wide range of types of news: manuscripts, rumours, wire dispatches, newspapers, illustrations, songs, newsreels, and radio broadcasts. It focuses on the period in which Algeria's legal status as part of France was most certain, from the end of the conquest and the consolidation of Republican rule in the 1880s to the outbreak of the Second World War. In this period, authorities thought the influence of outside events on Algeria was a bigger threat than disturbances within. Because of this, state surveillance produced reports to monitor foreign news, and these form the backbone of this study. But state attempts to manage the flow of news had unintended effects. Instead of establishing effective censorship, authorities ended up spreading news and making it more politically sensitive. Settlers, supposedly the state's allies, proved highly disruptive to state attempts to control the flow of information. Through a social history of information in a settler colonial society, this research reconsiders the relationship between changes in media and people's sense of community. From the telegraph to the radio, new technologies worked to divide colonial society rather than tying it together, and the same medium could lead to divergent senses of community.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 360-391).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 352-362). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 352-362). Also available on the Internet.

Since the 1960s, the United States has experienced steady declines in news consumption and commensurate attrition in civic engagement and political participation. Americans read newspapers at less than one fourth the rate of 60 years ago; voter turnout has fallen to the point where the U.S. ranks 23 out of 24 established democracies; signing petitions, volunteering for a civic organization like the PTA and political party affiliation are all at contemporary lows. But these indicators only tell half the story…the younger half. Because among Americans over age 50, attrition in all these areas is much milder; among those under age 30 they are much steeper. So do young adults get news? If so, how do they get news? If not, how do they find out about things? A 21-year old journalism student reported that: “I usually just hear it from friends, when I talk to friends.” The present study employed four methods: Secondary analysis of longitudinal Pew data; interviews and focus groups about news consumption and media use habits, including social media and wireless devices; a survey on social media use and its relationship to news and news knowledge; and an experiment testing a novel game as a way to convey news and civics knowledge, all involving students at three large state universities. Findings include the following: students often rank social media use, like Facebook, as their most important and most-used media; social media are negatively related with traditional news use and with news knowledge; students draw clear and important distinctions between news and information; one method of teaching (direct instruction) works well while another (a news game) works, but not as well. Of particular interest is the role of opinion leaders in the two-step flow of news, and the role of relevance and need for orientation in agenda setting. Novel contributions include a clearer definition of students’ distinction between news and important information as they define it, a framework by which to experiment with creating an interactive game using news to promote news seeking, and some provocative recommendations for future research. / text

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished