The fast expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) use has provided easier access to online health information. However, studies focusing on rural Vietnam, where many health issues exist, are still sparse. This current study aimed to investigate the ICT use among rural Vietnamese and examine factors associated with online health information-seeking behaviors. In this cross-sectional study, 226 Vietnamese aged 25 to 70 were recruited from a rural town in Quang Tri Province in 2017. Predictors were selected based on Andersen's Behavioral Model. Binary logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with online health information-seeking behavior. Results showed that less than half of participants used the Internet, had a smartphone, had a computer or tablet, and used mobile apps. Binary logistic regression results showed that females (OR = .22, CI = .05-.97) and being married (OR = .09, CI = .01-.59) were associated with lower likelihoods to seek health information online. People with annual checkups (OR = 2.89, CI = 1.13–7.41) and more ICT use (OR = 2.58, CI = 1.87–3.57) were more likely to seek health information online. These findings suggested that ICT use and annual checkups were the most important factors in predicting online health information-seeking behavior among rural Vietnamese. Future health and government initiatives should focus on advancing access to healthcare and digital applications among this population.
Professional associations' roles in shaping the journalism field have been understudied in news industry research. Adopting a social population ecology perspective, this study provides an across-time analysis of the emergence, rise and variation of the population of US journalism professional associations. In addition to the population demography, content analysis of current association websites was conducted to reveal associations' patterns of development and adoption of roles. Findings suggest associations are turning inward, embracing roles that are internally oriented towards members, their financial struggles, and their identities, while there is less emphasis on externally oriented roles that serve field-wide needs.
Interpretations of effect size are typically made either through comparison against previous studies or established benchmarks. This study examines the distribution of published effects among studies with and without preregistration in a set of 22 communication journals. Building from previous research in psychological science, 440 effects were randomly drawn from past publications without preregistration and compared against 35 effects from preregistered studies, and against Cohen’s conventions for effect size. Reported effects from studies without preregistration (median r = .33) were larger compared to those with a preregistration plan (median r = 0.24). The magnitude of effects from studies without preregistration was greater across conventions for “small,” and “large” effects. Differences were also found based on communication subdiscipline. These findings suggest that studies without preregistration may overestimate population effects, and that global conventions may not be applicable in communication science.
Modern journalism practices rely heavily on the use of sources. Traditionally, white, male officials are journalists' primary sources. This silences underrepresented voices, leading to symbolic annihilation of minority communities in media coverage. Journalists often cite their inability to reach communities outside of their own perspective as a primary reason for this symbolic annihilation, but what happens when reporters' networks of power are widened through digital connections? Previous research has explored the role of social media as a tool for newsgathering, and some studies suggest social media can provide the opportunity for journalists to reach previously inaccessible communities. Yet, the network theory of power suggests some nodes of these digital networks can create elite sources like officials or influencers that may uphold traditional sourcing practices and hegemonic power structures. Utilizing qualitative interviews with professional journalists, this study seeks to understand whether tapping into broader networks of power through social media helps journalists combat symbolic annihilation of sources or whether hegemonic structures continue. It also offers insight into influences on journalists' use of social media for multiperspectival sourcing and suggestions for reliance on certain networks for diversification of sources.
During crises, it’s challenging for journalists to keep their emotions out of reports. While broadcast journalists try to keep linguistic messages neutral, nonverbal behaviors are difficult to conceal. Graber’s stages of crisis coverage theory discusses routines of covering crisis and preventing verbal bias but doesn’t examine nonverbal bias. This study examines the neutrality of nonverbal expressions conveyed during the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School through the lens of the stages of crisis coverage theory. This study provides insight for understanding the responses news organizations should have in terms of crisis coverage. By examining the ways that the influence of emotional events have on the nonverbal expressivity of journalists during crisis, researchers can better understand the ritualization of the nonverbal neutrality standards of the profession and make recommendations on potential ways that the field could adapt their current crisis plans to consider nonverbal communication displays more explicitly. Further, by combining crisis planning, media ritualization practices, and journalistic nonverbal expression, this research provides further insight into how performance by media during a crisis can influence cultural meaning about the event for viewers. The findings in this study also suggest the stages of crisis coverage theory was not upheld by broadcasters in this context, calling for reexamination of the theory’s uses and applications to all crisis coverage.
Misinformation, or information that turns out to be false afterwards, has always been a challenge in risk-based situations. In times of crisis, misinformation can be particularly dangerous since most people rely on media and other information sources for details about the event, including coping strategies. In the digital age, misinformation proliferates as social media users are able to create, send, and disseminate misinformation in milliseconds with one simple click. This makes understanding misinformation in crisis and finding ways to correct it a critical area of study. This chapter enhances the understanding of misinformation during crises and how to take coping strategies to prevent and overcome emotional misinformation, even before the crisis begins. The hope is that as scholars consider the particular characteristics and processing strategies audiences use as they encounter misinformation, targeted messages can be curated and shared to correct the rapid spread of misinformation during crisis events.
The neutrality norm, journalists' ability to remove their opinions and emotions from coverage, is typically studied linguistically, not nonverbal communication, how something is said. More understanding is needed on how journalists maintain professional nonverbal neutrality norms during crises. Utilizing qualitative interviews with journalists analyzed through the lens of the needs of meaning framework, this study shows journalists are continually negotiating nonverbal neutrality boundaries. Results suggest journalists are not fully aware of nonverbal behaviors' impact on overall neutrality, trained in controlling nonverbal behaviors, nor receiving coping support. Suggestions for individual and organizational practices are provided.
More attention is being brought to the identity challenges minority gamers face. However, as the gaming industry moves into virtual spaces and virtual reality (VR) gaming continues to grow in popularity, it is important to understand how identity and the virtual metaverse combine. Using a carnal autoethnography of a competitive woman VR gamer's lived experiences with sexism and misogyny over 6 months, this study explores how many women experience VR games as outsiders in a male-dominated space. Through the application of ambivalent sexism theory, this study shows virtual platform affordances can both help and harm minority gamers in their quest to be accepted in gaming communities. This study is among the first to examine gendered experience of VR gaming, especially from an autoethnographic frame, contributing to existing literature in women and gaming. This work calls on players, developers, educators, and research to emphasize allyship and media literacy to encourage more diverse virtual spaces.
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