Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 47 Issue 1

Issue of Communications

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available March 11, 2022

Editorial

February 1, 2022

Editorial 2022

Leen d’Haenens, Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz

Page range: 1-4

Articles

Open Access May 19, 2021

The effects of constructive television news reporting on prosocial intentions and behavior in children: The role of negative emotions and self-efficacy

Iris van Venrooij, Tobias Sachs, Mariska Kleemans

Page range: 5-31

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Abstract

To reduce negative emotional responses and to stimulate prosociality, constructive journalism promotes the inclusion of positive emotions and solutions in news. This study experimentally tested whether including those elements indeed increased prosocial intentions and behavior among children, and whether negative emotions and self-efficacy are mediators in this regard. To this end, children (N = 468; 9 to 13 years old) were exposed to an emotion-based, solution-based, or non-constructive news video. Results showed that emotion-based and solution-based news reduced children’s negative emotions compared to non-constructive news. No direct effects for prosocial intentions were found, but solution-based news led to less prosocial behavior (i. e., money donated) than emotion-based and non-constructive news. Moreover, negative emotions served as a mediator, self-efficacy did not. The more negative emotions were elicited by a news story, the higher the prosocial intentions and behavior. In conclusion, a constructive style of reporting helps to reduce children’s negative emotional responses but subsequently hinders prosociality.

April 15, 2020

“It is their job to make sure that the long-term vision for the show … stays intact”: Using insights from the television format industry to rethink the concept of media events

Michael Skey

Page range: 32-49

Abstract

The concept of media events continues to generate widespread debate among scholars around the globe. Studies that have challenged the concept’s functionalist foundations have undoubtedly sharpened our thinking. Conversely, approaches that have sought to expand the concept tend to confuse rather than clarify. In this paper, we argue that events that are planned, anticipated, and involve external organizations in their design demand a specific set of analytical tools. Furthermore, we draw a further distinction between one-off events and those that are cyclical in nature, with the latter being theorized using insights from studies of the television format industry. This approach not only focuses much needed attention on the production side of media events but also on the struggles between different interest groups (rights-holders, event hosts, media producers). We illustrate our arguments by drawing upon ethnographic material from the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.

Open Access September 24, 2020

Political fact or political fiction? The agenda-setting impact of the political fiction series Borgen on the public and news media

Mark Boukes, Lotte Aalbers, Kim Andersen

Page range: 50-72

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Abstract

Politicotainment and democratainment are concepts used to identify the relevance of popular culture for citizenship. Among the most prominent examples of these concepts are political fiction series. Merging political facts with fictional narratives, such series provide a unique opportunity to engage the audience with political matters in an entertaining way. But can these series also affect the agenda of the public and the news media? Based on aggregate-level data of Google search queries and news-media content, the current study examines the agenda-setting effects of the political fiction series Borgen . Time-series analyses show that only a few Borgen episodes affected the public agenda and even fewer the news media agenda. Evidence is also found for negative patterns. Thus, we should be careful not to overestimate the impact of political fiction in terms of agenda-setting effects: It occasionally has agenda-setting effects but more often not.

February 20, 2021

Exploring adolescents’ motives for food media consumption using the theory of uses and gratifications

Yandisa Ngqangashe, Katrien Maldoy, Charlotte J. S. De Backer, Heidi Vandebosch

Page range: 73-92

Abstract

Food media have become a formidable part of adolescents’ food environments. This study sought to explore how and why adolescents use food media by focusing on selectivity and motives for consumption. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 31 Flemish adolescents aged 12 to 16. Food media were both incidentally consumed and selectively sought for education, social utility, and entertainment. The levels of selectivity and motives for consumption varied among the different food media platforms. Incidental consumption was more prevalent with TV cooking shows compared to online food media. The dominant motives for TV cooking show consumption were companionship and entertainment, while online food media were used for a more diverse range of motives dominated by information/inspiration and social interaction. Some participants consumed food media to get motivation and inspiration to improve health and fitness (Fitspiration) while others consumed food media to watch appetizing and aesthetically pleasing food content (Food porn). The social environment in the form of friends and family as well as existing food preferences were dominant psychosocial factors for both traditional and online food media use. Future research is warranted to explore how incidental exposure and the identified motives for use relate to food media effects.

Open Access April 10, 2021

Brand in focus: Activating adolescents’ persuasion knowledge using disclosures for embedded advertising in music videos

Eva A. van Reijmersdal, Suzanna J. Opree, Robert F. Cartwright

Page range: 93-113

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Abstract

Many artists and music labels rely on partnerships with brands to pay for the production costs of their music videos. In exchange, the brands are featured in those videos. To enhance the transparency of these embedded forms of advertising, sponsorship disclosures are required. However, it remains unknown what the content of these disclosures in music videos should be to enhance sponsor transparency for adolescents. We examined how disclosure type affected adolescents’ conceptual and attitudinal persuasion knowledge. In addition, effects on responses toward the brand, music video, and artist were examined. An experiment (N = 279, ages 14–17) showed that none of the tested disclosures enhanced adolescents’ conceptual persuasion knowledge. However, disclosures explaining that the embedded brand helped pay for the production cost of the video led to lower attitudinal persuasion knowledge and, consequently, to more positive attitudes toward the brand, video, and artist, and to increased intentions to purchase the brand.

Publicly Available July 1, 2021

Power of the people or the expert? The influence of vox pop and expert statements on news-item evaluation, perceived public opinion, and personal opinion

Kathleen Beckers

Page range: 114-135

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Abstract

Vox pops, interviews with ordinary people on the street, are one of the most common ways to represent public opinion in television news. Research found that they influence audience judgments more than static base-rate information such as poll results. However, little research has compared vox pops with vivified base-rate information. Most research studying vox pops assumed they are included in the news because of their apparent attractiveness and trustworthiness to audiences. Using a television news experiment comparing statistical base-rate information vivified by an expert with vox pop statements, this study shows that news items containing vox pop statements are perceived as being less attractive and trustworthy than items containing the expert statement. No difference is found between the two types of public opinion information in their influence on perceived public opinion, but vox pops do influence audiences’ personal opinion more strongly.

April 13, 2021

New perspective? Comparing frame occurrence in online and traditional news media reporting on Europe’s “Migration Crisis”

Christian S. Czymara, Marijn van Klingeren

Page range: 136-162

Abstract

News media have transformed over the last decades, there being increasing numbers of online news suppliers and an increase in online news consumption. We examine how reporting on immigration differs between popular German online and print media over three crucial years of the so-called immigration crisis from 2015 to 2017. This study extends knowledge on the framing of the crisis by examining a period covering the start, peak, and time after the intake of refugees. Moreover, we establish whether online and print reporting differs in terms of both frame occurrence and variability. The period of the crisis provided an ideal test to see whether the focus of media reporting differed between online and print sources. Employing a most- similar- cases design based on (autonomous) online and print versions of three major German news outlets, we extract the dominant frames in almost 18,500 articles using algorithm-based topic modelling. While results indicate that many frames are more visible in either online or print media, these differences often do not follow theoretical expectations. Furthermore, online media are dominated by particular frames and, hence, show less diversity than print media. However, important key events happening during our period of investigation do not affect overall diversity of frames.

Book Reviews

September 4, 2020

Jenkins, H. (2019). Participatory culture. Interviews. Medford, MA: Polity Press. 239 pp.

Ike Picone

Page range: 163-165

January 26, 2021

Harvey, A. (2020). Feminist media studies. Cambridge: Polity Press. 211 pp.

Sofie Van Bauwel

Page range: 166-167

October 7, 2020

Gunkel, D. J. (2020). An introduction to communication and artificial intelligence. Cambridge: Polity Press. 363 pp.

Marijn Martens

Page range: 168-170

About this journal

Objective
Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research is an established forum for scholarship and academic debate in the field of communication science and research from a European perspective. Communication science is concerned with the investigation of the structure and function of communication processes and their impact on society, social groups and individuals. Communications highlights the concerns of this discipline through the publication of articles, research reports, review essays and book reviews on theoretical and methodological developments considered from a European perspective. The journal encompasses the entire field of communication science as its domain of interest. The contributions published in the journal cover a wide range of subfields in communication science.

Topics

Communication reseach
Structure and function of communication
Impact on society, social groups and individuals
Interpersonal communication
Intercultural communication
Mass communication
Communication theory
Philosophy of communication
Media history
Media development and communication technology

Article formats
Original articles, research reports, review essays, and book reviews

Volume 47 Issue 1

Issue of Communications

Titelseiten

Editorial 2022

The effects of constructive television news reporting on prosocial intentions and behavior in children: The role of negative emotions and self-efficacy

Abstract

“It is their job to make sure that the long-term vision for the show … stays intact”: Using insights from the television format industry to rethink the concept of media events

Abstract

Political fact or political fiction? The agenda-setting impact of the political fiction series Borgen on the public and news media

Abstract

Exploring adolescents’ motives for food media consumption using the theory of uses and gratifications

Abstract

Brand in focus: Activating adolescents’ persuasion knowledge using disclosures for embedded advertising in music videos

Abstract

Power of the people or the expert? The influence of vox pop and expert statements on news-item evaluation, perceived public opinion, and personal opinion

Abstract

New perspective? Comparing frame occurrence in online and traditional news media reporting on Europe’s “Migration Crisis”

Abstract

Jenkins, H. (2019). Participatory culture. Interviews. Medford, MA: Polity Press. 239 pp.

Harvey, A. (2020). Feminist media studies. Cambridge: Polity Press. 211 pp.

Gunkel, D. J. (2020). An introduction to communication and artificial intelligence. Cambridge: Polity Press. 363 pp.