bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Empathy Theory
Authors: Zillmann Dolf 
Published: September 2017

Empathy is a social → emotion. It comes in response to bearing witness to the emotions of others, usually persons but also other beings thought capable of experiencing emotions. Prototypically, an empathic reaction is evoked by the immediate observation of others' acute emotions, and it manifests itself in an emotional experience that the witness believes to have some degree of similarity with the witnessed emotions.
Endorsement
Authors: Gaziano Cecilie 
Published: September 2017

Newspapers report → political news and may also attempt to influence voting decisions through editorial endorsements, that is, formally stated support of political candidates or parties (→ Election Campaign Communication). In countries following the US and British system of organizing newsrooms, the news media have separate news and editorial staffs and pages, although it is not unusual for a news editor to sit on the editorial board. In other news systems, e.g., in most continental European countries, it is quite common that the same individual journalists who cover the news might also write editorials about the same events (Esser 1998). Nevertheless, in all systems the editorial goal is to give meaning and context to news and complex issues, whereas news reporting seeks to be impartial (→ Balance; Objectivity in Reporting). Many newspapers try to present a range of viewpoints in the editorial pages, such as letters to the editor and opinion columns from various sources, including the → Public. The editorial staffers meet to discuss and vote on positions; however, publishers sometimes overrule them. The larger the newspaper, the easier it is to maintain separation of news and opinion. Other media endorse less frequently than newspapers.
English‐Only Movements
Authors: Barker Valerie E. 
Published: September 2017

English‐only movements seek to establish English as the official language of a nation, part of a nation, or a colony. As such (as with other dominant languages), English acts as a communicator of social identity (→ Personality Development and Communication) and a vehicle of culture and economic power (→ Power in Intergroup Settings). Although proponents of English‐only cite concerns about the erosion of English as a primary language, English is often seen as a language of wider communication, a world language, the language of globalization, and of the Internet. Underlying these descriptors is the notion of English as somehow “neutral” and non‐threatening to multilingualism. Historically though, English either spread to or was imposed on minorities, indigenous populations and colonized peoples. This occurred first under English monarchies and the British Empire, exemplified by its imposition upon the Scots, Welsh, and Irish as well as its use almost exclusively in education systems of far‐flung colonies like India and Africa. In the USA, Native Americans were systematically punished for non‐English use and their children educated in boarding schools in order to diminish indigenous languages. Recently, English has come to be considered a “lingua franca” largely because of the number of English speakers (native and non‐native) in the EU and because of USA corporate dominance globally (→ Media Conglomerates). Thus, among those of “Anglo‐Saxon” origin especially, English has served as a tool for maintaining the proverbial upper hand and consequently possesses high linguistic vitality (→ Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Communication).
Escapism
Authors: Klimmt Christoph 
Published: September 2017

Escapism was introduced as an explanation for people's use of entertainment media in the 1950s. The tremendous popularity of entertainment programming in radio and, especially at the beginning of the 1960s, in television inspired communication researchers to discuss the reasons why mass audiences felt attracted to these programs and what consequences should be expected from this development (→ Audience). Escapism – a Latin‐based term that could be translated as “tendency to evade one's current situation or environment” – was elaborated as an important motivation of entertainment consumption (→ Enjoyment/Entertainment Seeking; Selective Exposure). The concept centers on the assumption that diversion and distraction from real‐life circumstances are desires felt by many individuals in many situations, and that entertainment media can serve the purpose of diversion very effectively. The most influential reflection on escapism was authored by Katz and Foulkes (1962). Their work exemplifies that escapism theory and research was dedicated both to motivational determinants of entertainment use and implications of escapist media consumption for the individual and society at large.
Ethnicity and Exposure to Communication
Authors: Wilkin Holley A. 
Published: September 2017

We live in an increasingly diverse world, not only in terms of ethnic heritage, but also in the forms of communication available. With so many information resources to choose from, how do we make sure that communication campaigns reach target audiences? Ethnicity is often implicated in the formation of knowledge gaps, in which certain portions of the population receive and gain knowledge through the media at a faster rate than others, creating a difference between information “haves” and “have‐nots” (→ Knowledge Gap Effects). As a result, the issue of ethnicity and exposure to communication becomes particularly important when trying to ensure equal access to → Information pertinent to life in the twenty‐first century.
Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Communication
Authors: Bourhis Richard Y. 
Published: September 2017

The vitality of language communities can affect the quality of intergroup communication between speakers of contrasting language groups. This is the case where accent, dialect, and language not only provide important cues for the categorization of speakers, but also serve as salient dimensions of ethnic identity. Vitality is defined as “that which makes a group likely to behave as a distinctive and collective entity within the intergroup setting” (Giles et al. 1977, 308; → Collective Action and Communication). The more vitality an ethnolinguistic group enjoys, the more it will be able to use its own language so as to survive and thrive as a collective entity.
European Court of Human Rights
Authors: Kozlowski Dan V. 
Published: September 2017

The European Court of Human Rights, established by and solely responsible for interpreting the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention), is arguably the most developed and respected international court. Its caseload has swelled in the past two decades thanks in part to its growing legitimacy and to the Council of Europe's expansion since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Court delivered 36 judgments in the 1960s and 1970s. By comparison, it issued 1,560 judgments in 2006. The Court is increasingly seen as a legitimate influence with a vital role to play in protecting individual freedom throughout Europe (→ Communication Law and Policy: Europe).
Excellence Theory in Public Relations
Authors: Grunig James E. 
Published: September 2017

The excellence theory is a general theory of public relations that resulted from a 15‐year study of best practices in communication management funded by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation. Three books were published from the research (J. E. Grunig 1992; Dozier et al. 1995; L. A. Grunig et al. 2002). This general theory incorporates a number of middle‐range theories of → Public Relations, including theories of publics, public relations and strategic management, models of public relations, evaluation of public relations, employee communication, public relations roles, gender, diversity, power, activism, ethics and social responsibility, and global public relations (→ Public Relations Evaluation). The theory was tested through survey research of heads of public relations, CEOs, and employees in 327 organizations (corporations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and associations) in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (→ Survey; Interview). The survey research was followed by qualitative interviews with heads of public relations, other public relations practitioners, and CEOs in 25 organizations with the highest and lowest scores on a scale of excellence produced by statistical analysis of the survey data (→ Interview, Qualitative).
Exemplification and Exemplars, Effects of
Authors: Daschmann Gregor 
Published: September 2017

The term “exemplification effect” describes the influence of illustrating and aggregating case descriptions in media presentations on the recipients' perceptions of issues. Aggregating case descriptions emerges whenever media coverage presents any kind of generalizing claim about natural or social phenomena and an arbitrarily selected sample of single cases to illustrate the issue at hand. General claims (e.g., “growing poverty in society”) often are supported by presenting quantitative information (so‐called “base‐rate information”) about a large number of cases (e.g., statistics about poverty; → Statistics, Descriptive).
Exposure to Communication Content
Authors: Vorderer Peter 
Published: September 2017

“Exposure to communication content” describes one of the most recent areas of specialization within the communication discipline. It is located at the intersection of → Media Effects research and audience research, two academic traditions that have remained relatively separate. Over the past half a century, the well‐established tradition of media effects research has revealed a rather complex and increasingly differentiated view of the individual and social processes that underlie and accompany notable changes in people's thinking, feeling, and behavior, caused by exposure to media content. The more recent work in this area has considered not only psychological mechanisms that manifest themselves in people's minds or behaviors some time
after
they have been exposed to communication content, but has also studied what happens
while
those individuals or groups are responding to media content or immediately after doing so. Book titles like
Selective exposure to communication
(Zillmann & Bryant 1985) or
Responding to the screen
(Bryant & Zillmann 1991) seem to indicate this trend and demonstrate that media effects research has become more involved with psychological
processes
rather than only with the end result. Conceptual and theoretical differentiations have also evolved, e.g., various attempts to distinguish between short‐ and long‐term effects, or between their cognitive, affective, and behavioral manifestations (→ Affects and Media Exposure; Media Effects Duration). But, despite multiple conceptual differentiations in this area of research, which also include distinctions between observations and explanations of effects at psychological (micro) versus sociological (macro) levels of analysis, media effects research maintains its focus on the consequences of exposure to media rather than on exposure itself. Meanwhile, the work focusing on “exposure” itself and on the individual and social processes that accompany exposure has outgrown the more traditional lines of research on media effects by simultaneously expanding its scope and differentiating its levels of analysis.
Exposure to the Internet
Authors: Lunn Robert J. , Suman Michael W. 
Published: September 2017

How has the spread of the → Internet been studied and explained? Numerous studies have established that the spread of Internet access follows an S‐shaped curve. What is not well understood is the factors responsible for different levels of Internet access among different countries (→ Digital Divide; Media Use, International Comparison of). Many theories of the diffusion of innovations, such as the Bass model, are oriented toward individual factors, such as perceived need (Bass 1969; → Diffusion of Information and Innovation; Media Use by Social Variable). The inadequacy of this theoretical stance becomes readily apparent when we consider that cultures exhibiting low levels of gender empowerment deny Internet access to half of their populations. Thus, adoption of the Internet is affected by factors beyond simple exposure to the technology. What are the theoretical and methodological problems with the current approach to cross‐country studies of the Internet diffusion process?
Exposure to Television
Authors: Hasebrink Uwe 
Published: September 2017

Research on exposure to → Television builds a large and heterogeneous field with one common denominator. Studies of television viewing try to provide evidence on the question: What do people do with television? Exposure to television has developed as a major research field since we cannot understand television as a medium of public communication without considering those who actually watch it. In particular, the television industry has an existential interest in finding out how many people watch its programs; it is exactly this kind of audience data that it can sell to the → advertising industry (→ Media Economics). But even beyond this economic interest, information on exposure to television is a necessary condition for any statement on the role of television in people's everyday lives and on potential social and individual consequences of television (→ Exposure to Communication Content; Audience Research).
Extra‐Media Data
Authors: Donsbach Wolfgang 
Published: September 2017

The term “extra‐media data” describes a methodological approach to assessing the quality of media content. The phrase was coined in the early 1970s by Swedish scholar Karl Erik Rosengren (1970) during a controversy about the criteria needed to assess bias in the news. Scandinavian researchers Galtung and Ruge (1965) had criticized the coverage of foreign countries in the Norwegian press for highlighting certain news factors and thus creating a distorted picture of these countries. The researchers' conclusion was based exclusively on the occurrence of news factors like personalization and negativism (→ News Values). Rosengren instead suggested that researchers should evaluate the performance of news media by comparing their coverage to external, primarily statistical indicators. In his own study Rosengren investigated how newspapers in three different countries covered parliamentary elections in countries around the world. He then related the coverage to information about the countries and about the respective elections as listed in contemporary archives. By doing this, he was able to compare media coverage of the events with their “objective” news value according to, e.g., country size, GNP, or whether an election brought about a new majority.
Fair Trial and Freedom of the Press
Authors: Park Ahran 
Published: September 2017

Fair trial and freedom of the press concerns how to balance the right of a free press and the defendant's right to a fair trial. News reporting on judicial proceedings helps the public understand the legal procedure better and contributes to the public's right to know about the working of the justice system (→ Right to Know). The media play an important watchdog role in monitoring the administration of justice (→ Freedom of the Press, Concept of). However, the news media sometimes misrepresent court trials and mislead viewers and readers (→ Yellow Journalism). This kind of inaccurate media coverage might affect jurors or judges in such a way as to prejudice their supposedly impartial judgment.
False Consensus
Authors: Ostman Ronald E. 
Published: September 2017

False consensus is the inaccurate perception that our own beliefs are similar to those of others, when in fact they are not similar (Ross et al. 1977), and the tendency to see our behavioral choices and judgments as common and situationally appropriate, while viewing alternative responses as uncommon, deviant, and/or inappropriate (Mullen et al. 1985; Bosveld et al. 1994). Overestimation inaccuracies and deviance perceptions are based on a social judgment projection that opinions, beliefs, values, traits, and behaviors like one's own are more prevalent than they in fact are. This “egocentric self‐anchor” or tendency to overestimate inaccuracies apparently exists even when the individual's attribute is in the minority (Sanders & Mullen 1983; → Social Judgment Theory; Social Perception).
Fandom
Authors: Merskin Debra 
Published: September 2017

A fan is someone who is more than an ordinary, occasional → Television viewer, → book reader, → Internet user, music listener, or movie‐goer (→ Cinema). The etymology of “fan” is the Latin word
fanaticus
, which is also the source of the word fanatic. Bielby et al. (1999, 35) state, while being a consumer of a medium is one thing, “to be a ‘fan,’ however, is to participate in a range of activities that extend beyond the private act of viewing and reflects an enhanced emotional involvement” with the narrative.
Feminization of Media Content
Authors: Dorer Johanna 
Published: September 2017

The term “feminization” tends to be used in communication studies in two basic ways. On the one hand, it describes any increases in the proportion of women working in a particular media profession. On the other, it refers to a process in which communication norms, values, and behaviors coded as “masculine” are becoming gradually modified, if not replaced, by others associated with the “feminine.” Some communication researchers use the notion of feminization to refer, for example, not only to increases in the number of women working in particular media but also to what they regard as a trend toward media organizations gradually acquiring a “feminine image,” i.e., undergoing a shift toward norms and values coded as feminine, with their attendant lower professional status (→ Femininity and Feminine Values; Gender and Journalism).
Fictional Media Content
Authors: Keightley Emily 
Published: September 2017

Media content takes many forms and is differentiated by → code and convention, → Genre and technology. The term “content” refers to the nature of the representations that are communicated by media genres and technologies rather than the medium in which they are carried. Fictional media content is one such classificatory grouping, signaling a similarity in the nature of the content on the basis of its intended relationship to a given reality, regardless of the specific media genre or technology in which the content is conveyed. This type of media content has received varying degrees of academic attention in communication, media, and cultural disciplines (→ Media Production and Content).
Film as Popular Culture
Authors: Galician Mary‐Lou , Natharius David 
Published: September 2017

In the relatively short time since their invention at the end of the nineteenth century, movies have rapidly evolved from a temporary novelty to the most dominant visual form of modern popular culture worldwide. Unlike the print mass media (→ Book; Newspaper; Magazine), which require literate audiences, or even → Radio, which requires audiences who understand the originating language, film is an almost universal language of moving visuals that was immediately embraced and popularized not only in the US, but also around the world.
Film Production
Authors: Sergi Gianluca 
Published: September 2017

The term “film production” has routinely been used as a way to indicate the stage in the making of a movie where actual filming takes place. While this usage is shared by both the public and filmmakers, it is somewhat misleading in that it draws attention to just one aspect of filmmaking at the expense of a fuller understanding both of the different stages of production and of the key relationships at the heart of the filmmaking process (→ Collective Action and Communication).
Freedom of the Press, Concept of
Authors: Russomanno Joseph 
Published: September 2017

Virtually since the dawn of civilization and the establishment of authority‐wielding institutions, what people can say and write has been challenged. There is a universal impulse to control expression, particularly statements or opinions contrary to the views, policies, or dogma of those in power (→ Censorship). As is typical within repressive regimes, a justification for the suppression (though not expressed publicly) is the desire to preserve power. This desire to control information continued up to and through the era of the modern press. The phenomenon is not restricted to authoritarian nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Even liberal‐minded countries, such as the United States, that provide for some kind of speech and/or press freedom have histories of not only struggling with the interpretation and implementation of freedom of expression, but also histories of speech and press suppression (→ Freedom of Communication; Freedom of Information).
Gestures and Kinesics
Authors: Guerrero Laura K. 
Published: September 2017

Kinesics is the study of bodily movement, including gestures, posture, and movement of the head, arms, legs, or torso (Birdwhistell 1970). Some scholars also include → facial expression and → eye behavior as kinesic behavior. However, because these behaviors are discussed elsewhere in this encyclopedia, this entry focuses primarily on gestures and bodily movement.
Girl Culture
Authors: Mazzarella Sharon R. 
Published: September 2017

Within the discipline of communication there has been a long history of studying the relationship between girls, media, and other cultural artifacts. Until recently, however, the focus of such studies has been almost solely on girls as consumers of media and other products and/or as passive victims of mediated portrayals of femininity (→ Gender: Representation in the Media). For example, the norm for academic studies of girls has, until recently, been to define girls as potential victims of the culture that surrounds them – a definition guiding much of the research examining how girls are affected by teen magazines, romance novels, popular music, and other cultural artifacts.
Global Media, History of
Authors: Winseck Dwayne 
Published: September 2017

The first phase of a truly global media network ran from the 1860s through the 1920s. Two major interpretations of this era are available. One, long established, emphasizes how aggressive nation‐states deployed communication firms to further their own economic and political goals in carving up the planet (→ Cultural Imperialism Theories). Another, more recent, reads the period as one of capitalist cosmopolitanism, noting the international cartels and other multinational enterprises that in actual fact dominated the growth of the first global technical infrastructure for communication. However, growing nationalism and protectionism over the 1920s put paid to early proposals for a constructively regulated global communication system.
Goffman, Erving
Authors: Leeds‐Hurwitz Wendy 
Published: September 2017

Erving Goffman was a sociologist, but what he studied was communication. He established the “interaction order” as a legitimate topic of study; in doing so, he provided the logic for why, and the method for how, to study face‐to‐face behavior. People construct the social world through language and interaction, he argued, so if we are to understand the social world, we must examine the act of social construction, i.e., specific behavior. His method was careful attention to details of naturally occurring contexts of
co‐presence
(when people are physically together). Interaction socially constructs meaning, even when it appears nothing noteworthy is occurring. Language and social interaction (LSI) scholars analyze the same everyday behaviors, whether or not they explicitly acknowledge Goffman's influence (→ Language and Social Interaction). The main strands of research in LSI today are all different ways of studying Goffman's interaction order (→ Conversation Analysis; Ethnography of Communication; Ethnomethodology; Language and Social Psychology).