Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The importance of audience members' feelings toward characters and the relationships formed between viewers and characters has long been established. However, these relationships have only recently received the necessary conceptual attention. The present research is designed to test the claim that like social relationships, viewer-character relationships come in more than one form. Two studies examine possible differences between identification, parasocial interaction and imitation, three of the most commonly used terms to describe how viewers relate to television characters. Results show that the three relationships are related to different viewing motives, involvement and reactions to viewing. Furthermore, significant differences in the intensity of these three relationships were found when viewers were asked to choose a character with which they identified or with who they felt friends or whom they wanted to imitate. It is suggested that a more precise understanding of these various types of relationships should help understand the functions they perform for viewers and their role in reception and media effects.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In 1996 the state of Georgia significantly altered its civil service system. One aspect of the reform mandated that all employees hired or promoted after July 1 of that year would be included in the state's unclassified service. As such, these employees would have very limited job protections and would serve in effect on an "at will" basis. Employees hired earlier would continue in the traditional classified service unless they were promoted. Classified employees enjoy an array of job protections and are entitled to due process procedures prior to termination. An examination of the attitudes of both groups of employees toward the Georgia reforms reveals generally pessimistic views. However, unclassified employees are found to be significantly more supportive and positive about the reforms than are their classified colleagues.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Cell phone (or, mobile phone) provides two interpersonal channels: voice call and text messaging. This study examines gender differences in interpersonal motives and uses of mobile phone. The six interpersonal motives (inclusion, affection, control, pleasure, escape, and relaxation) were measured in the contexts of using voice call and text messaging, respectively. The results suggest that people prefer text messaging to voice call to satisfy their interpersonal needs. As for gender differences, (a) women have higher level of interpersonal motivation than men in using two channels, (b) women use text messaging more frequently than men, and (c) men use voice call slightly more than women. The implications of these results were discussed in terms of women’s uses of media technology. We concluded that interpersonal media such as mobile voice call and text messaging were efficient tools for maintaining interpersonal relationships and fulfilling communication motives, especially for women.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: The distinction between hard and soft news has been a central topic in media sociology. Canonical texts such as Tuchman’s Making News showed that organizational dynamics shape differences in journalists’ categorical work and editorial routines for hard and soft news, but also the existence of a significant level of editorial, organizational and technological common ground. This and other texts helped established the still dominant notion that, borrowing from Zelizer, the differences between hard and soft news are of “degree rather than kind.” In this paper I will argue that this notion no longer accurately depicts contemporary dynamics in, at least part of, the journalistic field. Drawing from an ethnographic study of Argentina’s largest online newspaper, I will describe the divergent logics that govern the production of hard and soft news, explain why these “differences of kind” have emerged, and reflect on the study’s larger implications for theory development.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Contrary to the normative presumption that different human
rights are mutually reinforcing, I argue that different human rights
have different determinants and different effects. I show that judicial
independence has a stronger effect on due process rights than on other
types of rights, that democratization enhances political rights without
necessarily improving the protection of other rights, and that a good
economic environment does not entail improvements in the protection of
rights across the board. In each case, I offer empirical evidence and
suggest and test the observable implications of mechanisms that explain
the relationships that I identify. Depending on the dataset used in
each part of the paper, the number of countries in the analysis is as
high as 135.