Category Archives: Media

Going to War: The Relationship Among the Media, the Public and the President

*In a new study, journalism associate professor Shahira Fahmy found the media and presidential agenda had only a limited influence on public concern for the war with Iraq. Public concern influenced how much space former President Bush devoted to issues on his Iraq war agenda, and the press also had some limited influence on the issues stressed by the president.*

Only four months after Sept. 11, 2001, former President Bush identified Iraq as a member of the “axis of evil,” a problem, which if gone unchecked, would endanger the nation’s freedom and security.

As part of the public relations buildup before going to war with Iraq, the former president explained that the Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for more than a decade. He said this is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world. (more…)

Read More

Women, Minority Writers Still Face Obstacles in Hollywood

A new report prepared by a UCLA sociology professor for the Writers Guild of America–West reveals that diverse writers continue to face significant obstacles to employment in Hollywood, particularly in light of the recession.

Darnell Hunt, who is also director of UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, writes that “the current recession has clearly done little to help women, minority and older writers move ahead in the Hollywood industry, relative to their male, white and younger counterparts.” (more…)

Read More

Firms Use Media Coverage to Influence Merger Negotiations

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Companies involved in merger talks manipulate their stock prices during negotiations by releasing more news than usual, according to a University of Michigan study.

“Media coverage has a significant effect on stock trading and returns,” said Kenneth Ahern, assistant professor of finance at U-M’s Ross School of Business. “Even stale news, if widely publicized, can dramatically raise short-term returns and influence prices of large and widely followed stocks in the S&P 500.”

In their study, “Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases during Merger Negotiations,” Ahern and Ross School colleague Denis Sosyura examined more than 500 completed stock mergers of large U.S. publicly traded firms from 2000 to 2008. They studied the frequency and content of news releases issued by acquiring firms, and analyzed more than 617,000 articles in 421 newspapers and newswires worldwide. (more…)

Read More

Film by Yale Environment 360 Receives Oscar Nomination

Yale graduate student James Franco will be in the spotlight on the night of the Academy Awards as both co-host of the ceremony (with Anne Hathaway) and a “Best Actor” nominee (for “127 Hours”). But also vying for its share of the glitter will be a short Yale film on a big topic: the fledgling environmental movement in China. (more…)

Read More

Spanish Woman Claims She Owns the Sun

The Sun. Image credit: NASA

Angeles Duran, 49-year-old Spanish lady has claimed to be the owner of Sun. Woman from Spain’s soggy region of Galicia said that she registered the star at a local notary public as being her property after learning about the American man, who registered moon and most planets in our solar system as his property.

Here is an international agreement, which states that no country may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about individuals, she added.

“There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law. I did it but anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first,” she told the online edition of Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo. (more…)

Read More

Video: Bob Woodward Discusses Investigative Journalism in the New Century

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Bob Woodward ’65 discussed “Secrets: Uncovering Mysteries in the 21st Century” during a conversation with Steven Brill ’72, LAW ’75, founder of the Yale Journalism Initiative, and Paul Needham ’11, journalism scholar and former editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News. (more…)

Read More

Researchers Find Cancer News May Contribute to Confusion About Cancer

New research from North Carolina State University shows that most online news stories about cancer contain language that likely contributes to public uncertainty about the disease – a significant finding, given that at least one-third of Americans seek health information online.

“Previous studies show that more than 100 million Americans seek health information online, and that their findings affect their health decisions,” says Dr. Kami Kosenko, an assistant professor of communication at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the study. “But, while people facing uncertainty about cancer issues are likely to seek out additional information, we’ve found that there are features of the information they’re seeking that may actually exacerbate the uncertainty.” (more…)

Read More