Research Publication Roundup: April 2019
A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media.
Below is a list of recently published or presented scholarship by Hussman School faculty and students.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has increased communication efforts that aim to raise public awareness of the harmful constituents (i.e., chemicals) in cigarette smoke. The researchers sought to investigate whether the public’s awareness of these chemicals has increased in light of such efforts. Two national telephone surveys (2014-2017) found that chemical awareness was low among US adults and adolescents. While awareness did not change among adults, awareness among adolescents dropped over time. Additionally, exposure to anti-smoking campaigns and chemical information seeking behavior were associated with higher awareness of chemicals in cigarette smoke. Campaigns and other efforts may be needed to increase awareness of cigarette smoke chemicals.
Courts have recently clarified some aspects of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor system, yet other aspects remain hazy. In this haze, ISPs are incentivized to over-block content, and copyright holders are allowed to give a narrow, subjective reading of a user’s fair use. Subjectively, copyright holders can, in good faith, hold objectively unreasonable views about fair use. The asymmetry between copyright holders’ rights and remedies and users’ rights and remedies threatens socially valuable speech and creates a chilling effect. And the risk of extra-judicial termination of Internet access under vague and variable repeat infringers policies threatens fundamental First Amendment interests. Policy changes are proposed to harness fair use considerations to protect First Amendment interests in the digital sphere. The calculus and consequence for sending takedown notices should be recalibrated. By curbing copyright overreach and minimizing the chilling effect, the potential for robust exchanges over new communication technologies can be realized.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), like most strategic communicators, are challenged with breaking through the saturated international media environment as they attempt to influence public opinion. Yet, before strategic communicators can build an agenda, they must get attention from the public. This study examined how NGOs’ network positions in the public Twitter discussion of the global refugee crisis influenced the public engagement NGOs received during two news events. Drawing from network theory and research, we posed two parallel sets of hypotheses. First, we predicted that NGOs with characteristics of “star” network structures will be well-situated in the network to garner attention. Second, we hypothesized that the “village” around an NGO also contributes to capturing attention. The results from our regressions offer evidence to support both hypotheses.
Some 1,000 surveys were conducted on Amazon's MTurk, asking respondents to rate a high- and low-quality visual design, in this case a billboard ad. While most respondents preferred the high-quality ad, over a third opted for the low-quality design. Respondents who showed a preference for the low-quality design liked it for its “static” qualities, in that it was common, typical, average, and standard. Those who preferred the high-quality design liked it for its “dynamic” qualities, such that it was innovative, fascinating, novel, creative, and rich in elements. Older participants show a significant preference for the low-quality design. Implications of these findings for different types of visual communication are discussed.