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TV Writers’ Strike Led to Distress and More Media Use

April 19, 2011 coms 0

We tend to think television viewers would spend more time exercising or hanging out with friends if their TV was just turned off — but according to a new study by assistant professor of communication Emily Moyer-Gusé and former grad student Julie Lather of Ohio State University, that may not be the case.

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Most Commonly Used Words In Children’s Toy Ads Reinforce Gender Stereotypes [Infographic]

April 16, 2011 coms 0

New research by Crystal at The Achilles Effect looked at vocabulary used in television commercials for children’s toys. She found that the most commonly used words reinforced gender stereotypes. After analyzing 658 words from 27 commercials for boy’s toys and 432 words from 32 commercials for girl’s toys, Crystal was able to create a word cloud showing the most commonly used words in these TV adverts.

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How materialistic advertising messages negatively shape the female body image

April 13, 2011 coms 0

Psychological research has consistently shown that women feel unhappy with their body after looking at images of thin, idealized models, which are typically represented in the media. However, today’s consumer culture and media promote not only the ideal of perfect beauty, but also that of the material affluent lifestyle, both of which are commonly depicted together, and highlight the benefits of beauty and of owning material goods to one’s personal success and fame.

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Films Promote Superwoman Expectation for Women

April 11, 2011 coms 0

Exposure to attractive, aggressive, female leads in films affects how men and women think about who women ought to be in the real world. Women in particular have high standards for other women, and expect them to be both stereotypically feminine and masculine i.e. beautiful and aggressive rather than beautiful and passive.

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MSNBC reports women are dominating social media

February 22, 2011 coms 0

Thomas Roberts from MSNBC Live interviews Johanna Blakley, the Deputy Director of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center on February 9, 2011. Blakley speaks about how women are dominating the social media sphere.

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What your TV habits may say about your fear of crime

February 18, 2011 coms 0

What’s your favorite prime-time crime show? Do you enjoy the fictional world of “CSI” or “Law & Order,” or do you find real-life tales like “The First 48” or “Dateline” more engrossing? Your answers to those questions may say a lot about your fears and attitudes about crime, a new study finds.

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Swear Words Less Offensive on Cable Than Broadcast TV

February 7, 2011 coms 0

Four letter words may offend you more depending on which television channel you watch, according to a recent study out of Florida State University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This study, published in the January issue of Mass Communication and Society, found that some TV viewers believe swearing on premium channels and cable is less offensive than vulgarity on broadcast channels. Similarly, viewers are more tolerant of swearing on the premium channels than they are on the advertiser supported cable channels. This differs from previous research, which found that how swear words reach people does not affect how offensive they are.