To Celebrate International Women’s Day — Cite a Female (Communication) Scholar

We know the facts: women get cited less than men*. Men who publish with women experience a similar citational bias. Research across the social sciences shows that female scholars are less cited, get paid less, are less likely to be invited to give talks, and have difficulty moving beyond associate professor. Parsing out these inequities is only the beginning of a longer discussion about equity in academia: discussions of gender bias that focus on a binary between women and men fail to acknowledge key factors such as race, intersectional identity, and gender-identity.

The field of Communication has a gender problem. And a race problem (#communicationsowhite). This is not unlike the rest of academia. To highlight some of the gender imbalances in communication, it’s worth noting that the flagship journal in the field, The Journal of Communication, around since 1951, has yet to have a single female editor in chief. It’s been a long run of nineteen men thus far. Between 1991 and 2005, women were lead authors of40 percent of the articles in the Journal of Communication and Communication Research, but their citation rate was roughly at two-thirds lower than those articles by male lead authors.* (There are efforts underway: under now-former editor Silvio Waisbord, the Journal of Communication’s submission site began asking a question about gender balance in citations.)

In 2017, leading communication scholars Vicki Mayer, Andrea Press, Deb Verhoeven, and Jonathan Sterne penned a paper with a title that says it all: How Do We Intervene in the Stubborn Persistence of Patriarchy in Communication Scholarship? While I’m not a big fan of loaded words like patriarchy, it is worth noting that the citational patterns they observe in the field’s encyclopedias and reference handbooks are nothing short of atrocious. In Wiley’s The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy (2016), 40 male scholars get individual entries, with not a single woman getting similar recognition. The scholars note that in the “audience” entry, only two women are listed in a reference list of more than 30 names, despite the centrality of female scholars in audience research.

However, to move past implicit and explicit biases, it takes direct action, both by women and strong allies.

This week, the editor of Digital Journalism, Dr. Oscar Westlund took it upon himself to ask journal editors to highlight the work of female scholars (esp. female lead authors) by making a selection of journal articles open access. This is an effort to begin a conversation and to start to spur conscious correctives. He writes:

We hope this initiative will bring attention to some of the inequalities women in research face, including in academic publishing, and that this helps stimulate wider circulation of research published by Awesome Female Scholars, greater awareness of their work, and greater citations where appropriate in future submissions. The Digital Journalism Editorial Team considers such initiatives important steps towards a more inclusive academic environment, and continues to work towards improved diversity in the ways we all work.

With this spirit in mind, I’d like to highlight the first stretch of 10 articles that are now available by open access on Digital Journalism, which I’ll update as more become available. Update: I’m now featuring the open access lineup of articles being unlocked for this purpose.

Thus far, a number of editors have taken action to do so, including Dr. Louisa Ha, editor of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, who just posted that 17 articles from 2018 by lead female authors or solo female authors will be open access until April 8, 2019.

From JMCQ

Amazeen, Michelle A., Emily Thorson, Ashley Muddiman, and Lucas Graves. “Correcting political and consumer misperceptions: The effectiveness and effects of rating scale versus contextual correction formats.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 28–48.

An online experiment examined how the use of visual “truth scales” interacts with partisanship to shape the effectiveness of corrections. We find that truth scales make fact-checks more effective in some conditions. Contrary to theoretical predictions and the fears of some journalists, their use does not increase partisan backlash against the correction or the organization that produced it.

Young, Dannagal G., Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Shannon Poulsen, and Abigail Goldring. “Fact-checking effectiveness as a function of format and tone: Evaluating FactCheck. org and FlackCheck. org.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 49–75.

To understand the mechanisms by which audience misperceptions may be reduced, this experiment tests the belief-correcting effectiveness of a humorous fact-checking video produced by Flackcheck.org, a long-form FactCheck.orgprint article on the same topic, a nonhumorous video debunking the same set of claims, an unrelated humorous video, and a non-stimulus control group. Results suggest video (humorous or nonhumorous) is an effective way to reduce audience misperceptions by increasing message attention and reducing confusion.

Jarreau, Paige Brown, and Lance Porter. “Science in the social media age: profiles of science blog readers.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 142–168.

Science blogs have become an increasingly important component of the ecosystem of science news on the Internet. Through a survey of 2,955 readers of 40 randomly selected science blogs, we created profiles of science blog users…. But regardless of science blog users’ motivations to read, they are sophisticated consumers of science media possessing high levels of scientific knowledge.

Gaither, Barbara Miller, and Janas Sinclair. “Environmental Marketplace Advocacy: Influences and Implications of US Public Response.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 169–191.

This study tested a model of environmental marketplace advocacy, conceptually grounded in the persuasion knowledge model, with a national U.S. audience…Contrary to expectations, participants’ environmental concern was positively associated with persuasion; this effect was reversed among those with a graduate degree, a background in science, or membership in an environmental organization.

Edgerly, Stephanie, Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode, Kjerstin Thorson, and Esther Thorson. “New media, new relationship to participation? A closer look at youth news repertoires and political participation.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 192–212.

Results from a national survey of U.S. youth ages 12 to 17 reveal four distinct news repertoires. We find that half of youth respondents are news avoiders who exhibit the lowest levels of participation. The other half of youth respondents are characterized by one of three patterns of news use, each distinct in how they seek out (or avoid) using new media platforms and sources for news, and in their levels of participation.

Olson, Candi S. Carter. “We Are the Women of Utah”: The Utah Woman’s Press Club’s Framing Strategies in the Woman’s Exponent.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 213–234.

Drawing on mediated framing theory, this article considers how the 19th-century Utah Woman’s Press Club used its opportunity to control its public image in the Utah-based suffrage periodical Woman’s Exponent. The Exponent was edited by the club’s founder, Emmeline B. Wells, and was an outlet for many of the area’s women writers. This article demonstrates how the group’s three primary themes — education and professionalization, politics, and faith — developed a gendered framing of 19th-century womanhood.

Scharrer, Erica, and Greg Blackburn. “Is reality TV a Bad Girls Club? Television use, docusoap reality television viewing, and the cultivation of the approval of aggression.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 235–257.

In this study, associations between overall amount of television viewing as well as viewing of reality programs featuring adults in romantic, friendship-oriented, or familial settings and the approval of physical and verbal aggression are examined. Consistent with genre-specific cultivation theory, findings among 248 U.S. adult survey respondents show the ability of exposure to docusoap reality television as well as its perceived reality to predict normative beliefs about aggression, even under multiple controls.

Curtin, Patricia A., John Russial, and Alec Tefertiller. “Reviewers’ perceptions of the peer review process in journalism and mass communication.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 1 (2018): 278–299.

This survey of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) scholars (N = 547; response rate = 39.3%) examines perceptions of peer review, a study last undertaken in 1990. Respondents rated intrinsic motivations, such as helping others, more highly than extrinsic motivations, such as reviewing as a consideration for career advancement... Overall, respondents were ambivalent about the state of peer review, yet they resisted adopting approaches other than double-blind review.

Lee, Eun-Ju, Soo Youn Oh, Jihye Lee, and Hyun Suk Kim. “Up Close and Personal on Social Media: When Do Politicians’ Personal Disclosures Enhance Vote Intention?.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 2 (2018): 381–403.

Two experiments investigated how politicians’ personal disclosures on social media might affect individuals’ vote intention. In Study 1 (n = 240), a male politician’s Facebook posts centering on his private life (vs. impersonal posts highlighting public activities) enhanced U.S. participants’ intention to vote for him, mostly by heightening likability. By contrast, a female politician’s personal Facebook posts lowered perceived competence, and thereby, vote intention among those who considered Facebook ill-suited for relational purposes.

Mills, Hailey L. “Avatar Creation: The Social Construction of “Beauty” in Second Life.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 3 (2018): 607–624.

Rooted in the theory of Social Construction of Reality and informed by media portrayal of female beauty and virtual community research, this study examined how beauty is socially constructed by gatekeepers in Second Life…Findings suggest trendy and sex kitten/sensual beauty types were the most-portrayed beauty types. Most female avatars had the ideal body size and light colored skin.

Gerding Speno, Ashton, and Jennifer Stevens Aubrey. “Sexualization, youthification, and adultification: A content analysis of images of girls and women in popular magazines.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 3 (2018): 625–646.

The analysis includes a total of 540 advertising and editorial images from women’s, men’s, and teen girls’ U.S. magazines. Results show that adultification is more prevalent than youthification, that youthification is equally prevalent in men’s and women’s magazines, that girls who are adultified are more likely to be provocatively dressed and exhibit sexy facial expressions, and that advertising and editorial images are equally likely to feature adultification and youthification.

Appelman, Alyssa, and Mike Schmierbach. “Make No Mistake? Exploring Cognitive and Perceptual Effects of Grammatical Errors in News Articles.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2018): 930–947.

This project tests the ways audiences process grammatical errors in news articles. In all, results suggest that readers perceive stories with grammatical errors to be lower in quality, credibility, and informativeness, but the number of errors needed is relatively large. Analysis shows amplified effects for people who report concern about grammar, and, to a lesser degree, people with knowledge of grammar rules.

McIntyre, Karen, Kyser Lough, and Keyris Manzanares. “Solutions in the Shadows: The Effects of Photo and Text Congruency in Solutions Journalism News Stories.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2018): 971–989.

We tested the effects of solution and conflict-oriented news stories when the photo paired with the story was congruent or incongruent with the narrative. Results revealed that a solution-oriented story with a congruent photo made readers feel the most positive, but surprisingly readers were most interested in the story and reported the strongest behavioral intentions when the story was paired with a neutral photo.

Mortensen, Tara M., and Peter J. Gade. “Does photojournalism matter? News image content and presentation in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record before and after layoffs of the photojournalism staff.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2018): 990–1010.

This study explored the photojournalism and news presentation of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record before and after the newspaper laid off its entire photography staff. Differences between professional and non-professional photographs were compared. Following the layoff, the paper published fewer images, and presented less prominently. Professional images captured significantly more elements of photojournalism than non-professionals, including emotion, action, conflict, and graphic appeal.

Yang, Fan, Bu Zhong, Akhil Kumar, Sy-Miin Chow, and Ann Ouyang. “Exchanging social support online: A longitudinal social network analysis of irritable bowel syndrome patients’ interactions on a health forum.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2018): 1033–1057.

The analyses of 90,965 messages posted by 9,369 patients from 2008 to 2012 suggest that both receiving and offering support significantly encourage continuous social support exchange. Patients, however, were less likely to offer further social support when they kept reciprocating support only with certain individuals on the forum.

Sui, Mingxiao, Newly Paul, Paru Shah, Brook Spurlock, Brooksie Chastant, and Johanna Dunaway. “The Role of Minority Journalists, Candidates, and Audiences in Shaping Race-Related Campaign News Coverage.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2018): 1079–1102.

The question of whether press coverage of racial/ethnic minorities has improved remains. This study tackles it by examining (a) how journalists’ race/ethnicity affects campaign news coverage of race-related issues and (b) whether the nature of coverage is moderated by minority candidates and the racial composition of audiences. We pair local news coverage of 3,400 state legislative candidates with news data from 663 news outlets. We find newsroom diversity by itself does not influence the coverage of race-related issues. But in areas with large numbers of minority audiences, media outlets with diverse newsrooms are significantly more likely to cover race-related issues.

Post, Senja, and Natalia Ramirez. “Politicized Science Communication: Predicting Scientists’ Acceptance of Overstatements by Their Knowledge Certainty, Media Perceptions, and Presumed Media Effects.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2018): 1150–1170.

This is tested for scientists involved in a politicized science dispute. German climate scientists (n = 131) firmly believe in anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Yet not all dismiss alternative hypotheses altogether. Results indicate that the more certain climate scientists are of AGW, the more they perceive that the news media downplay AGW and presume that the media nourish politicians’ doubts about it.

From Digital Journalism:

Sarah Van Leuven, Sanne Kriukemeier, Sophie Lecheler, and Liesbeth Hermans. “Online And Newsworthy: Have online sources changed journalism?.” Digital Journalism 6.7 (2018): 798–806.

“This paper explores whether [changes in journalism]… have weakened the basis of journalistic legitimacy or have offered new grounds for journalistic legitimacy, and, in each case, to what extent.”

Claire Wardle. “The Need for Smarter Definitions and Practical, Timely Empirical Research on Information Disorder.” Digital Journalism 6.8 (2018): 951–963.

“This article is based on a keynote delivered at the Future of Journalism conference at Cardiff University in September 2017…. Arguing for closer relationships between journalism academics, news organizations and technology companies, this article outlines terminology and frameworks for making sense of information disorder, so those conversations can be based on shared definitions.”

Juliette DeMayer and Dominique Trudel. “@ franklinfordbot: Remediating Franklin Ford.” Digital Journalism 6.9 (2018): 1270–1287.

“Reading Ford is a jumping-off point for experimentations that raise original methodological questions in the field of media history and theoretical developments that speak to contemporary media problems. In that regard, our paper focuses on the methodological experiment undertaken to explore Ford’s work: the creation of an automated Twitter account, a “bot” that uses text-mining techniques to automatically tweet excerpts from his writings.”

Meredith Broussard and Katherine Boss. “Saving Data Journalism: New strategies for archiving interactive, born-digital news.” Digital Journalism 6.9 (2018): 1206–1221.

Important works of data journalism are disappearing from the web because they are too technologically complex to be captured or archived by libraries or web archiving technologies. Research based on journalism depends on the existence of news archives. For the benefit of future scholars, it is imperative that libraries and newsrooms solve this problem. This research contends that dynamic web archiving of data journalism will require a new, emulation-based approach to capturing these works.

Magda Konieczna (2018). Evolving, Rather than Policing, the Boundary: A case study of the development of the Center for Public Integrity. Digital Journalism, 6(6), 759–776.

The ability to build boundaries, known as boundary work, is typically understood as being in the hands of major players, who keep out or begrudgingly admit interlopers. This article, based on a longitudinal case study of metajournalistic discourse around the Center for Public Integrity, one of the oldest and largest news nonprofits in the United States, finds the Center engaging instead in what I have called “boundary evolution,” starting out self-consciously outside of journalism, and gradually working its way in.

Sarah Pedersen & Simon Burnett (2018). “Citizen Curation” in Online Discussions of Donald Trump’s Presidency: Sharing the News on Mumsnet. Digital Journalism, 6(5), 545–562.

“In an era of fake news and concerns about “social-media bubbles”, we consider how participants in online discussions on the UK parenting website Mumsnet assess the validity and potential subjectivity of news information sources.”

Caitlin Petre (2018). Engineering consent: How the design and marketing of newsroom analytics tools rationalize journalists’ labor. Digital Journalism, 6(4), 509–527.

“Drawing on six months of ethnographic observation and interviews at a leading newsroom analytics startup, this article examines the discursive strategies and design elements employed by analytics companies to engineer journalists’ consent to analytics-driven labor discipline. These include performing deference to editorial judgment, professing allegiance to journalism’s institutional norms, and providing a habit-forming user experience. Such tactics enable the newsroom analytics dashboard to extract increased productivity from journalist-users — and to do so in a way that obfuscates, rather than highlights, managerial influence in the newsroom.”

Jingrong Tong (2018). Journalistic Legitimacy Revisited: Collapse or revival in the digital age?. Digital Journalism, 6(2), 256–273.

“However, the legitimatisation of journalism can be found in the efforts of news organisations — not only leading news organisations such as the Guardian and the New York Times but also regional and local ones such as the Trinity Mirror group and the Palm Beach Post — in adopting and possessing digital and technological tools and skills, and in defending their journalism.”

Eiri Elvestad, Angela Phillips, and Mira Feuerstein. “Can Trust in Traditional News Media Explain Cross-National Differences in News Exposure of Young People Online? A comparative study of Israel, Norway and the United Kingdom.” Digital Journalism 6.2 (2018): 216–235.

“Using data from a cross-national survey (N = 940) and from in-depth interviews with 37 students in Israel, Norway and the United Kingdom, we discuss how in different political and news media environments young people’s trust in traditional media can explain their news exposure online.”

Michelle A. Amazeen and Ashley R. Muddiman. “Saving media or trading on trust? The effects of native advertising on audience perceptions of legacy and online news publishers.” Digital journalism 6.2 (2018): 176–195.

“Extending research from Wojdynski and Evans, this experimental study replicates the challenges of effectively disclosing native advertising to readers and demonstrates a promising inoculation method that increases likelihood of recognition. Moreover, this quantitative research indicates that both legacy and online news publishers were evaluated less favorably for displaying native advertising.”

Jasmine E. McNealy and Laurence B. Alexander. “A Framework for Unpublishing Decisions.” Digital Journalism 6.3 (2018): 389–405.

“This article explores the conflict between traditional ethical news values and unpublishing requests, which have arisen as a result of the availability of digital news archives. In so doing, this article provides a framework for how news organizations can make unpublishing decisions by weighing the sensitivity of the information published against its news value.”

References:

• Knobloch-Westerwick, S., & Glynn, C. J. (2013). The Matilda effect — Role congruity effects on scholarly communication: A citation analysis of Communication Research and Journal of Communication articles. Communication Research, 40(1), 3–26.
• Dion, M. L., Sumner, J. L., & Mitchell, S. M. (2018). Gendered citation patterns across political science and social science methodology fields. Political Analysis, 26(3), 312–327.

Note: All commentary here reflects my own perspectives, not those of the organizing committee of the post-conference or any of the journal editors or academics referenced or cited. Moreover, I’m really not a raging feminist, nor a particularly stalwart partisan attached to either domain — I just started realizing/acknowledge that structural gender inequality really did have more of an effect on my career progression than I had previously liked to admit.