Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The Dutch TV soap opera Good Times Bad Times has been hugely popular with youth audiences for many years. In this article, I discuss three ‘active’ ways in which teenage girls and boys from diverse ethnic backgrounds interpret this soap, using the concept of ‘performative style’ to analyse the results of twenty focus group interviews. One performative style revolves around questions of morality and sex, one focuses on specific characters, and one looks at the soap as a whole. By employing these performative styles in talking about the soap, young people construct a particular set of performances of the self. Rather than being influenced by the characters, storylines and representations of the soap, they use them for their own purposes. Gender and ethnicity play an important role in the way in which these performative styles are used.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study investigates the influence of textual images of vulnerable women characters in soap operas on women consumers, an audience vulnerable to the negative images of women that soaps project. The soap opera is analyzed in terms of the genre attributes of plot, character, and consumption that coalesce in images of damaged women, who, nonetheless, have appealed to women audiences for half a century. Qualitative data collected from long-time viewers of four soap operas show that exposure to negative role models is detrimental to viewers’ personal life satisfaction, realistic assessment of life situations, and achievement of rational goals.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Mass media in the United States have hosted news content and delivered audiences to advertisers. But while advertiser support for traditional media has been dropping, activities of online ‘citizen journalists’ have been on the rise. A key question for both traditional news organizations and citizen journalists is who will pay for content of online news and information. In-depth interviews were used to gain insight into consumer understanding of changes in the relationship between news and advertising as both adapt to the online environment. Three types of news and advertising users were identified: engagers, receivers, and avoiders. Among these three groups there were also three approaches to user-generated content: those who participate broadly, those who saw it primarily as being for interpersonal exchanges, and those who did not invest any time in it. Implications are discussed for the future of user-generated content.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: This presentation will discuss findings from a qualitative study in which 53 men and women in Germany of different cultural backgrounds watched an episode of a new educational soap opera directed at (immigrated) adults. The soap opera which features German, Turkish, Iraqi, Kenyan and Russian characters meeting in a German language evening class is designed to show everyday life (and its obstacles) among different immigrant groups, and to motivate immigrants on their journey to acquire German. In group discussions, the respondents explained how they liked the individual characters of the soap opera (issues of familiarity, recognition, para-social interaction) and what they think there is to learn from this program. Interviews with immigrated women who viewed the whole series provided deeper understanding of character interpretation. Issues of gender and cultural background of the viewers will be addressed that are important for the understanding of how the respondents read the characters of the soap opera.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Entertainment-Education interventions were evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methodologies to assess what specific variables may make more effective the communication strategy. Variables including length of the Entertainment-Education serial drama and the post-viewing discussion sessions in their relation to cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral intentional outcomes were examined using experimental design and focus group discussions. It was predicted that the length of the Entertainment-Education serial drama would impact the quality of the intervention. Likewise, it was predicted that the post-viewing discussion sessions would improve the quality of the intervention. It was concluded that the length of the Education-Entertainment serial drama did not produce significant change in the overall efficacy of the intervention. However, the post-viewing discussion sessions when incorporated with the E-E drama series or telenovela did produce significant change in regards to cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral outcomes of the Entertainment-Education intervention. Implication of the findings for future Entertainment-Education interventions is enclosed.