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Recent analytical work reveals the need to assess mediated interactions (independent variable-by-mediator multiplicative terms) in mediation models to ensure the proper reporting of indirect effects. Besides their analytical value, mediated interactions can aid theory development. This study adds a theoretical support structure to this emergent analytical imperative and provides a theory-driven decision tree for incorporating mediated interactions into communication models. More broadly, mediated interactions are used as a basis to encourage the field to move beyond a "one variable, one role" approach to model building. Monte Carlo simulations reflecting common communication research practices were constructed and 1,920,000 datasets were analyzed to reveal the relative upsides and minimal risk incurred from assessing mediated interactions. In addition, the analyses elucidate the downsides incurred from not exploring these relationships when they are present in a population. The implications of these findings for future research and theory development are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication seeks internal coherence and external distinction as its research profile grows and diversifies. The present essay calls for the establishment of scientific principles to guide future communication research and solidify the field's unique scholarly identity within the marketplace of ideas. An argument is made that the field has achieved the necessary foundations to establish scientific principles but has yet to embrace this undertaking as a collective goal. This offering is intended as an initial foray into the process of identifying and evaluating scientific principles of communication by considering the value of these fundamental pillars for the field's maturation. It proposes evaluation criteria which are then applied in a rendering of two candidate principles. These observations aim to initiate a broader conversation and spark a collective effort toward elucidating scientific principles of communication that can help to guide and anchor the field in its next stage of knowledge generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that the success of media personae in attracting audiences and maintaining their loyalty depends on the creation of a pseudo-friendship, known as para-social relationships, has been a mainstay of mass media research for more than half a century. Expanding the scope of para-social relationship research into the political realm, the notion that political support could be predicted based on the intensity of para-social relationships between voters and political figures was demonstrated in a recent study. The current exploration tests the predictive power of Political Para-Social Relationship (PPSR) in the context of the April and September 2019 Israeli election campaigns. Findings from online panel data (n = 1,061) demonstrate that PPSR toward Netanyahu was a positive predictor of voting for Netanyahu's Likud party and a negative predictor of voting for opposition leader Benny Gantz's Blue and White party in both campaigns. The opposite was true for PPSR toward Benny Gantz. The PPSR constructs also predicted shifts in party support from the February to October (post-election) waves of the study, and loyalty toward the parties. In all models, the PPSR constructs were among the strongest predictors of political support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the ability of parasocial relationships to predict support for political candidates and elected officials. A May 2017 survey of U.S. adults (N = 2,055) included items that reflect traditional approaches to the study of candidate support (e.g., political party identification, policy agreement) along with several batteries of a newly developed political parasocial relationship (PPSR) measure. This study gives primary attention to predicting support for U.S. President Donald J. Trump, but also focuses on Secretary Hillary Clinton and U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Parasocial relations prove to be a powerful predictor of Trump-Support, outperforming all other predictors (including past voting behavior). This study also explores what predicts citizen-politician PPSR. Citizens' parasocial relationships with Trump are predicted by general political knowledge (–), 2016 Trump voting (+), support for Trump's policies (+), along with news media exposure (+), and social media following of Trump (+). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political interest is a key predictor of likelihood to vote. We argue that the political interest–vote intention relationship can be explained by well-established theories that predict behavior across domains (e.g., theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior). Relying on the integrated behavioral model, we propose a core mediation model with vote likelihood (i.e., behavioral intention) as the dependent variable. Two types of media use (conservative and liberal–moderate) are then assessed in relation to the core model. We explore the ways in which our results contribute to theory and outline a research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-theoretical focus is given to how communication researchers are approaching and hypothesizing moderation. A moderation typology is offered and an evaluation of the field's common practices for positing moderation reveals an inability to discern between three overarching classifications (Contributory, Contingent, Cleaved). A content analysis of eight communication journals reveals moderation hypotheses lacking a level of precision that can best aid the field's knowledge generation. In addition, vague hypothesizing is leaving communication researchers vulnerable to the commitment of Type III error (i.e. correctly rejecting a null hypothesis for the wrong reason). Recommendations are provided in an effort to improve the field's conceptualization and presentation of moderation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its growing prominence in news coverage and public discourse, there is still considerable ambiguity regarding when and how fact-checking affects beliefs. Informed by theories of motivated reasoning and message design, a meta-analytic review was undertaken to examine the effectiveness of fact-checking in correcting political misinformation (k = 30,N = 20,963). Fact-checking has a significantly positive overall influence on political beliefs (d = 0.29), but the effects gradually weaken when using "truth scales," refuting only parts of a claim, and fact-checking campaign-related statements. Likewise, the ability to correct political misinformation with fact-checking is substantially attenuated by participants' preexisting beliefs, ideology, and knowledge. The study concludes with a discussion of the fact-checking literature in light of current gaps and future opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay provides a summary of editorial priorities and details a series of steps being taken to aid Journal of Communication's continuing mission to present high-quality communication research. Insights are offered based on our editorial team's first six months of shepherding the journal. In addition, a number of theory- and method-related points are detailed to allow potential submitters to gain a better sense of the types of work we are seeking to publish in the journal. The piece closes with thanks to a wide range of individuals, groups, and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stepping beyond traditional mass communication and political communication frameworks, this study utilizes the integrated behavioral model to predict traditional broadcast and print news media exposure. Specific focus is given to experiential (Is politics interesting?) and instrumental (Is politics important?) attitudes. A secondary analysis is performed on 2010–2014 World Values Survey data (N = 6,961) consisting of representative samples collected from the United States, Germany, Australia, and Sweden. Interest is a statistically significant predictor of both types of news media exposure, but importance and Interest × Importance are statistically significant for broadcast only. The positive predictive value of political interest for broadcast is isolated to only those individuals who perceive politics to be of low personal importance. Discussion focuses on task difficulty when comparing broadcast and print news media exposure and the theoretical implications of the study’s findings. In addition, a research agenda based on the integrated behavioral model is proposed for the study of news media engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines the influence of debate viewing-social media multitasking on campaign knowledge during the 2012 presidential election. Results from three waves of a national cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults conducted during and after the 2012 presidential election suggest that social networking site (SNS) use overall correlates with increased knowledge of campaign issues and facts above and beyond the use of other sources of news media. In addition, watching a debate with or without simultaneous social media engagement is better for knowledge generation than not viewing a debate at all, but the effect of debate viewing is dulled when simultaneously engaging in social media multitasking. The debate viewing-social media multitasking effect is moderated by candidate preference, with differential learning occurring largely for knowledge that is favorable to one's preferred candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political party conventions, rivaled only by general election debates, are media events that can affect democratic processes through their ability to reach a wide audience. Conventions hold a unique place in the American electoral system by serving as a pivot point between the nation’s primary and general election phases. From a normative perspective, the current study focuses on the degree to which consuming major political party convention speeches mitigates negative perceptions generated from the primaries on what citizens are anticipating for the general election. A national pre–post conventions panel survey of U.S. adults (N = 562) is utilized to address five hypotheses. The consumption of more convention speeches reduces the negative impact of perceived primary election threat on the anticipated legitimacy of the general election (i.e., positive normative effect), but also increases threat ambivalence associated with the conventions (i.e., negative normative effect). In addition, convention speech exposure generates a strong, positive direct effect on perceived general election legitimacy (i.e., positive normative effect). When judged from the standpoint of republicanism as a type of democratic theory, the positive influences of convention speech exposure outweigh this activity’s negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journalism and mass communication research is underutilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) for the purposes of specifying, estimating, and evaluating measurement models. The analytical exercises undertaken for this essay reveal SEM-based confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to be a multifaceted tool that can aid researchers in generating greater understanding of the measurement elements of their research endeavors. Secondary analyses of 2014 World Values Survey (N = 9,901) data emphasize the following: testing competing models, model identification, proper evaluation of covaried error terms, absolute and incremental model fit statistics, the chi-square distributed test statistic, model equivalency, multiple-group models, and assessing equality constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On November 28 and 29, 2012, ten scholars of political parody and satire and six parody/viral video producers met at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania to share their expertise, discuss the democratic uses of parody, and develop a set of strategies to guide the successful use of political parody in generating positive democratic outcomes. The symposium, P6: Professors and Practitioners Pontificate on Political Parody and Persuasion, was cosponsored by the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware and funded in part by a grant from the Omidyar Network’s Democracy Fund. The meeting served as a follow-up to the yearlong Annenberg Public Policy Center online project, FlackCheck.org. FlackCheck.org, the sister site to its companion FactCheck.org, is an educational site that uses entertaining visual formats and humor to inform the public and debunk false political claims. The November conference began with a keynote from Trevor Potter, former head of the FEC and lawyer to Stephen Colbert and his satirical—though very real—super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The explanatory principles of understanding and consistency are used to detail the past, present, and future of individual-level political communication media effects research. It is argued that the field of political communication is at a crossroads, with preferences for a dominant explanatory principle shifting from understanding back to consistency. In addition to understanding and consistency, it is argued that political communication researchers need to begin introducing additional explanatory principles (e.g., hedonism) to the field for the generation of new lines of inquiry. A call for embracing a diversity of explanatory principles is offered, and the utility of such an approach is explored within the context of the 2012 U.S. presidential election. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An 11-item Affinity for Political Humor (AFPH) scale is theorized as a higher-order latent factor with four lower-order latent factors (incongruity, superiority, anxiety reduction, and social connection). The theorized measurement model and several alternative models are tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In addition, reliability and validity assessments are provided. Analyses are conducted using four data sets collected between December 2009 and March 2011 (total N = 1860). Results reveal the theorized model to fit the data well, but also indicate that an alternative model (four lower-order latent variables only) retains the strongest and most consistent fit across all four data sets. Reliability assessments reveal strong internal consistency for the 11-item AFPH scale, as well as for each of the four sub-dimensions. In addition, correlational analyses reveal the AFPH measures to retain strong validity (i.e., statistically significant and positive correlations with political TV satire consumption). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are an emerging news source, but questions remain regarding how citizens engage news content in this environment. This study focuses on social media news reception and friending a journalist/news organization as predictors of social media news dissemination. Secondary analysis of 2010 Pew data (N = 1,264) reveals reception and friending to be positive predictors of dissemination, and a reception-by-friending interaction is also evident. Partisanship moderates these relationships such that reception is a stronger predictor of dissemination among partisans, while the friending-dissemination link is evident for nonpartisans only. These results provide novel insights into citizens' social media news experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an online round table discussion facilitated through a private group on the social networking website Facebook about the 2012 U.S. Presidential campaign. Topics discussed include decisive events in the campaign between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, including the Presidential debates and Hurricane Sandy. The round table also considered what role former president Bill Clinton played in the campaign and how the results will impact partisan media.

This article offers a formal normative assessment of political satire. It summarizes social scientific research on the influence of political satire and findings on the normative implications of political satire within a democratic framework. Two cogent lines of empirical research, persuasion and understanding, receive special attention. Political satire's potential to generate normatively positive democratic effects is examined according to three competing theories of democracy: republicanism, pluralism, and elitism. Reports of its relatively small effect prevent clear normative judgments on satire as good or bad for democracy. However, its relationship to internal political self-efficacy merits further investigation. At the system level, political satire might generate significant normatively positive effects in the republican and elitist democratic frameworks. Examples of U.S. traditional political satire reveal the boundaries within which satire functions and their impact on the normative roles of this potentially important form of political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much recent debate in political communication has centered on the influence of ideologically oriented media outlets. Some argue that the current media environment is creating partisan echo chambers, while others contend that today’s political media afford citizens increased contact with a diverse range of opinion. The current study seeks to clarify relationships between political ideology, conservative cable TV news viewing (i.e., FOX News), and liberal cable TV news viewing (i.e., MSNBC), arguing that ideology serves as a suppressor of the relationship between the two seemingly disparate forms of cable TV news consumption. Analyses of primary 2009-2010 statewide survey data (N = 305) reveal the relationship between FOX News and MSNBC consumption to be positive and this association increases substantially once the role of ideology as suppressor is addressed. A secondary analysis of 2010 PEW data (N = 3,006) reveals a strong replication of the primary analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study extends political humor effects research by focusing on two distinct types of satire, juvenalian and horatian. Theoretical arguments grounded in the elaboration likelihood model culminated in the positing of a series of interactions between message (juvenalian, horatian, traditional opinion-editorial) and recipient ability (high, low) relative to three outcome variables: perceived humor, counterarguing, and attitudes concerning Hillary Clinton’s universal health care plan. An experiment was conducted during the 2008 Democratic primary election. The Message × Ability interactions revealed a need to step beyond the study of satire as monolithic; different types of satire produce divergent effects depending on the ability of the audience member. Future lines of research and the need for additional theory building are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study is focused on the influence of late-night TV comedy viewing on political talk. It is posited that debate viewing serves as a mediator of this relationship, and age is argued to be a moderator of the association between late-night TV comedy viewing and debate viewing. More specific to age, it is hypothesized that the predictive value of late-night TV comedy for political debate consumption will be greater for those audience members who are younger. A secondary analysis of 2004 national Annenberg debate panel data provides evidence of a positive indirect effect of latenight TV comedy viewing on political talk through debate viewing, and the moderator of age functioned as predicted. Thus, this study details a series of positive unintended consequences of late-night TV comedy viewing on what are defined normatively as positive democratic communicative activities (i.e., debate viewing, political discussion), and these media effects are stronger the younger the voter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes up Bennett and Iyengar's (2008) call for debate about the future of political communication effects research. We outline 4 key criticisms. First, Bennett and Iyengar are too quick to dismiss the importance of attitude reinforcement, long recognized as an important type of political media influence. Second, the authors take too narrow a view of the sources of political information, remaining fixated on news. Third, they offer an incomplete portrayal of selective exposure, exaggerating the extent to which individuals avoid attitude-discrepant information. Finally, they lean toward determinism when describing the role technologies play in shaping our political environment. In addition, we challenge Bennett and Iyengar's assertion that only brand new theory can serve to help researchers understand today's political communication landscape. We argue that existing tools, notably the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), retain much utility for examining political media effects. Contrary to Bennett and Iyengar's claims, the ELM suggests that the contemporary political information environment does not necessarily lead to minimal effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elections should serve to reaffirm a citizenry's belief in the legitimacy of its political processes and outcomes. This study focuses on perceptions of vote count accuracy as a criterion variable. An argument is offered that voters' personal perceptions of postelection vote count accuracy are predicted by vote choice, with those citizens who did not vote for the winning candidate having to deal with the cognitive dissonance created by the election outcome. The model offered in this work focuses on an interaction between partisan strength and debate viewing as predictor of vote choice. In addition, an indirect effect of partisanship on vote choice through debate viewing is explored. Debate viewing is shown to promote partisan voting, and vote choice serves as a strong predictor of perceptions of vote count accuracy. A subset of the 2004 National Annenberg general election panel data (N = 5,660) was used for this secondary analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores empirical intersections in communication studies and research. The authors reflect on the importance of programmatic research and identify replication as the most important type of intersection. This article explores mixed methods research and intersections of quantitative and qualitative research. The authors contend that an interdisciplinary approach is needed in communication studies. Other topics include methodological aspects of cultural indicators in research, meta-analysis, and data collection analysis.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a multivariate technique suited for testing proposed relations between variables. In this article, the authors discuss the potential for SEM as a tool to advance health communication research both statistically and conceptually. Specifically, the authors discuss the advantages that latent variable modeling in SEM affords researchers by extracting measurement error. In addition, they argue that SEM is useful in understanding communication as a complex set of relations between variables. Moreover, the authors articulate the possibility for examining communication as an agent, mediator, and an outcome. Finally, they review the application of SEM to recursive models, interactions, and confirmatory factor analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends priming research in political communication by focusing on an alternative political information source (i.e., Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9-11), affect rather than cognitions, and the existence of intra-affective ambivalence. In addition, two moderator variables are analyzed: political party identification and need for closure. There is a statically significant three-way interaction between the viewing of F 9-11, political party identification, and need for closure relative to the dependent variable of affective ambivalence toward George W. Bush. High need for closure Republicans who viewed F 9-11 exhibited pronounced levels of Bush-affective ambivalence. In addition, high need for closure Independents who viewed F 9-11 exhibited far lower ambivalence toward Bush relative to their control group peers. The findings are discussed relative to the roles performed by emerging alternative political media and the expansion of the theory of priming within the context of political communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General questions concerning the role of entertainment media in politics permeated the 2004 election cycle. Political communication scholars are beginning to systematically analyze potential sociopolitical ramifications stemming from entertainment television viewing, but one difficulty with this emerging area of research is an inability to forge connections between seemingly disparate research agendas. Several distinct lines of research are summarized in this article and forged into a coherent whole through the lens of Zillmann's disposition theory and the broader study of media enjoyment. Extant works devoted to the study of entertainment television and politics are summarized, and a nine- part typology is introduced. This article closes with a discussion of how the typology can serve to advance the study of entertainment television and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study posits that debate viewing is a mediator between news use and vote choice, and that party identification is a moderator in the relationship between debate viewing and vote choice. A series of OLS regression equations, first tested using 2000 ANES data, revealed that debate viewing initially serves as a mediator between television news viewing and vote choice for the general voting population. However, party identification is a moderator in the relationship between debate viewing and vote choice. More specifically, debate viewing acts as partisan reinforcement for Democratic and Republican voters. These results replicate using 1996 ANES data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, research has come to recognize that nonpolitical associations have unintended but important consequences for citizens' participation in public affairs. Scholars theorize that these associational activities-embedded within social networks and sustained by confidence in the motives of others-encourage and facilitate participation in civic life. This study tests and broadens these theses by (1) assessing the relative impact of different types of associational activities (i.e., informal socializing, public attendance, and religious participation) and (2) examining interactive relationships between these activities and generalized interpersonal trust. Findings show that all of these associational activities significantly contribute to civic engagement. Furthermore, all three interactions between the social associations and social trust are significant, indicating that those involved in associational activities are even more likely to become civic participants when they hold trusting attitudes toward others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the effects of political talk radio use on the perceived fairness of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. In particular, a process of influence is hypothesized leading from talk radio use to feelings toward the two major-party candidates (Bush and Gore). Citizens’ affective associations with the candidates are then argued to have competing effects on the perceived fairness of the 2000 election. The influence of perceived fairness on subsequent feelings toward Bush is also assessed. This process of political talk radio influence is analyzed in a single structural equation model using 2000-02 American National Election Study (ANES) panel data. Political talk radio use leads to negative perceptions of Gore, which negatively influences perceptions of the perceived fairness of the 2000 election. Conversely, talk radio use generates more positive feelings toward Bush, which positively affects perceptions of fairness. Thus, feelings toward both candidates serve as important mediators that allow the use of this public affairs information source to make citizens feel better about how the fiercely contested 2000 presidential election was decided. Perceived fairness is also found to be a significant positive predictor of post-2002 election cycle attitudes toward Bush, even after accounting for prior feelings toward both Bush and Gore. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study analyzes the effects of political talk radio use on the perceived fairness of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. In particular, a process of influence is hypothesized leading from talk radio use to feelings toward the two major-party candidates (Bush and Gore).Citizens' affective associations with the candidates are then argued to have competing effects on the perceived fairness of the 2000 election. The influence of perceived fairness on subsequent feelings toward Bush is also assessed. This process of political talk radio influence is analyzed in a single structural equation model using 2000-02 American National Election Study (ANES) panel data. Political talk radio use leads to negative perceptions of Gore, which negatively influences perceptions of the perceived fairness of the 2000 election. Conversely, talk radio use generates more positive feelings toward Bush, which positively affects perceptions of fairness. Thus, feelings toward both candidates serve as important mediators that allow the use of this public affairs information source to make citizens feel better about how the fiercely contested 2000 presidential election was decided. Perceived fairness is also found to be a significant positive predictor of post-2002 election cycle attitudes toward Bush, even after accounting for prior feelings toward both Bush and Gore. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus on the relationships among three types of television viewing news, police reality, and crime drama) and attitudes toward capital punishment and handguns, as well as the likelihood of actually owning a handgun. A host of exogenous variables are treated as predictors of television use, support for police authority, fear of crime, and our criterion variables. A series of direct and indirect relationships are assessed. Analysis suggests that veining police reality/ shoves is both directly and indirectly related to the endorsement of capital punishment and handgun ownership, while also directly predicting a greater likelihood of actual handgun ownership. In addition, TV news viewing predicts fear of crime in audience members, and this fear contributes to the endorsement of capital punishment and handgun ownership. Crime drama indexing is positively/ related to support for the death penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every 4 years presidential candidates devote months and hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning for the highest office in the land. Some question whether these presidential campaigns actually make a difference in election outcomes, in 2000, the Bush and Gore campaigns provided a golden opportunity, to empirically assess campaign effects because both candidates focused their campaigns on a set of "battleground" states. Data from the 2000 National Election Survey indicate that those who lived in battleground states had significantly more issue knowledge and issue salience than citizens from other states. Because the Electoral College. with its winner-take-all rules. encourages candidates to concentrate on battleground states, the results suggest that the Electoral College may have a pernicious effect on representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses priming as a theoretical basis from which to investigate potential effects of NBC's The West Wing on individual-level perceptions of the U.S. presidency. As a result, this work extends political communication-based priming research to entertainment television content. Josiah Bartlet, the fictional president portrayed on the show, is generally perceived more positively by viewers than either the Republican President George W. Bush or Democrat William Jefferson Clinton. Perceptions of the importance of being engaging to presidential success rose as a result of watching the program, and The West Wing viewers retained more positive images of Bush and Clinton after the viewing experience. Viewing The West Wing seems to prime more positive images of the U.S. presidency that subsequently influence individual-level perceptions of those individuals most directly associated with this office. The authors make theoretical connections to previous work on role display and trust in democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the solidifying of the Internet as an influential form of mediated communication has come a surge of activity among media scholars looking into what leads individuals to use this emerging technology. This study focuses on religiosity as a potential predictor of Internet activity, and uses a combination of secularization theory and uses and gratifications theory as a foundation from which to posit a negative relation between these 2 variables. Religiosity is found to retain a significant negative relation with Internet use at the zero order and remains a robust negative predictor of the criterion variable even after accounting for a host of demographic, contextual, and situational variables. Ramifications for these findings are discussed and an outline for future research building on our analyses is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which investigated the approaches of structural equation modeling used by communication scientists. Description of the techniques in the communication sciences; Overview of Monte Carlo simulation technique.

Scholars studying the content of televised entertainment programming bare long argued for a relationship between exposure to sexist media representations of women and opinions concerning women's status in society, yet research has rarely examined prime-time television audiences and their sociopolitical opinions concerning women's rights. To explore these relationships, we engaged in a secondary analysis of the 1997, 1998, and 1999 DDB Life Style Studies. Using hierarchical regression, we found three forms of entertainment television use (traditional drama, progressive drama, and situation comedy) that retain statistically significant, unique relationships with opinions concerning women's rights, even after accounting for variables thought to shape patterns of media use and influence support for women's rights. Further, regression path analysis revealed that these three forms also mediate relationships between various demographic, situational and orientational variables and the criterion variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses the methods for structural equation modeling (SEM) used in communication research. History on the use of SEM; Overview of SEM; Methodology of the study.

Determines the influence of soft-money-sponsored issue-advocacy advertising in the U.S. House and Senate campaigns. Comparison between issue-advocacy and candidate advertising; Increased in awareness of political campaigns; Advertising approach of Democratic identifiers.

Presents a study which demonstrated a variety of potentially important effects of watching televised presidential debates on voters in the United States (U.S.). Impact of the 1992 presidential debates on voters' perceptions; Relevance of issues discussed in the debates; Emphasis on the general presidential debate between Texas governor George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. on October 3, 2000 in Boston, Massachusetts.

This study examined the effects of issue advertising on candidate preferences and the democratic process, comparing the impact of party- and PAC-sponsored advertising against candidate-sponsored positive and contrast ads. Results revealed that the influence of political advertising varies depending on party affiliation. For Republicans, candidate-sponsored contrast and party-sponsored ads are most influential, but with unaffiliated viewers, candidate-sponsored positive ads are most effective whereas party-sponsored ads are the least persuasive. Effects of political advertising on the democratic system were especially revealing. Results revealed that candidate advertising enhances viewer interest in campaigns and knowledge of candidates and their positions, but that other effects vary based on party affiliation. Finally, the study tested inoculation as an antidote to system-based consequences of issue advertising. Results revealed that inoculation was able to protect viewers against the consequences of party-sponsored ads. However, with PAC-sponsored ads, efficacy was restricted to Republican viewers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between Internet use and the individual-level production of social capital. To do so, the authors adopt a motivational perspective to distinguish among types of Internet use when examining the factors predicting civic engagement, interpersonal trust, and life contentment. The predictive power of new media use is then analyzed relative to key demographic, contextual, and traditional media use variables using the 1999 DDB Life Style Study. Although the size of associations is generally small, the data suggest that informational uses of the Internet are positively related to individual differences in the production of social capital, whereas social-recreational uses are negatively related to these civic indicators. Analyses within subsamples defined by generational age breaks further suggest that social capital production is related to Internet use among Generation X, while it is tied to television use among Baby Boomers and newspaper use among members of the Civic Generation. The possibility of life cycle and cohort effects is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation examined the role and influence of print and video communication modalities in inoculation. Inoculation is assumed to be an active cognitive process, and past research has assumed that inoculation treatments function in much the same way in fostering resistance to influence, irrespective of the medium employed to deliver them. The pattern of results indicates that print and video forms do not differ appreciably in their capacity to confer resistance, but they vary considerably in terms of how they promote resistance. Compared to controls, both inoculation approaches effectively generated threat but, contrary to what was predicted, only video elicited significant counterarguing output. In addition, the results confirmed that video treatments employ an alternative mechanism in conferring resistance, one that is based more on source considerations. Video treatments immediately generated positive relational perceptions about the source of the treatments, and they immediately bolstered attitudes. Positive relational perceptions of the source of inoculation treatments were subsequently associated with more negative perceptions of the source of counterattitudinal attacks, and to resistance to the attacks. By contrast, print treatments worked through more cognitive means, eventually inducing resistance, but only after participant exposure to counterattitudinal attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the mass media on civic engagement in the United States. Use of the time displacement hypothesis in testing the effect of television viewing and newspaper reading on social capitalism; Mechanisms by which television influences participation levels; Indicators of group involvement; Trends in the use of newspapers and television.