Publication Type: Paper/Poster Proposal
Abstract: This study examined how people in feeling of alienation from mainstream media message consciously engage in information search through the Internet, by introducing the concept of “media dissociation”- the discrepancy between mainstream media portrayals and an individual’s own view on an issue. Our analysis focused particularly on individuals’ information seeking behavior over the Internet, in doing so we proposed that the more individuals dissociate their views from media portrayals, the more they are engaged in the issue-related information search.
Using an experimental design embedded within a Web survey, we exposed Korean college students to mainstream news stories that were manipulated in slants on the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq. The manipulation focused on whether the mainstream news story was supporting for or opposing to the issue. Following the exposure to the mainstream news stories, accessible 10 online news articles were offered in a Web-style format page that presented hyperlinks with the headlines and leads of the articles. Research participants were instructed to follow their own personal interest in choosing and reading the articles. The headlines and leads of the articles were adjusted to show the tone of the article clearly so that readers recognized the slant of the article easily. The respondents’ hyperlinks usage was monitored and recorded into a log file.
The results showed that the respondents in dissonant news story condition read the news articles more in both supporting for and opposing to their own views than those in consonant condition. In addition, the respondents in dissonant condition were attracted to news articles that were consistent with their views significantly more than the respondents in consonant condition. The further implication of the study was discussed.

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: “Slant” or “bias” for or against candidates in news coverage can have a persuasive effect on voters. This makes it important to understand factors that have a systematic impact on balance in political news coverage. Focusing specifically on audience political preferences and newspaper profit motives, this paper argues that the political environment in a newspaper market determines the degree to which newspapers offer slanted campaign news coverage. In politically heterogeneous markets, newspapers are less likely to produce slant in campaign coverage because they want to appeal to the widest audience possible. Alternatively, in markets where political preferences are more homogeneous, newspapers try to cater to the dominant political preference in the market and offer campaign coverage slanted toward the preferences of the majority. Using 2004 election news coverage of two major competitive statewide races, slant in campaign coverage is examined as a function of the institutional characteristics of newspaper outlets and the political market contexts in which they operate. The findings reported herein suggest that both institutional and market features affect slant in political campaign coverage.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Despite common expectations about a balanced and impartial press, evidence suggests that there is sometimes a link between newspapers’ editorial endorsements of candidates and slant in their election coverage of those candidates in the news. Furthermore, the endorsement driven coverage has been shown to have electoral ramifications. Yet despite these important findings, no one has investigated the causal mechanisms behind editorial influence on news coverage. This work addresses the following research question: In what ways do the institutional structures of media outlets and their market contexts affect the degree to which editorial preferences are reflected in campaign news coverage? The results suggest that both the institutional arrangements of media organizations and their political market contexts have an influence on editorially driven news coverage.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: This paper follows up on Entman’s March 2007 Journal of Communication article on the potential benefits of conceptualizing bias and news slant in a more theoretically rigorous way as a means of understanding the media’s role in distributing power. It probes slant in the coverage of the Republican plan for fundamental changes in the Social Security. Using the QDA Miner/Wordstat content analysis programs, we were able to perform an unusually fine-grained analysis of the frame contest in the New York Times, USA Today, NBC Nightly and ABC World News, NBC’s Meet the Press, and ABC’s This Week between July 2004-July. We find favorable slant toward the Bush proposal early on, followed by shift toward negative slant. The software allows us to understand the dynamics of news slant and produced findings that help correct simplistic accusations and understandings of bias and advance theoretical insight into the dynamic relationships among framing, slant, bias and distribution of power.