Papers by Rosemary Pennington
/ Through the technique of meta-analysis, this study investigates the scholarly articles appearin... more / Through the technique of meta-analysis, this study investigates the scholarly articles appearing in peer-reviewed online and offline journals that address the topic of communication and development from 1998 to 2007 to determine publication trends in the field. The research was prompted by the sense that development was moving off the research agenda of most communi-cation scholars. This seemed surprising in the era of globalization and it was decided to examine the literature for evidence. The study finds that published studies have moved away from mass com-munication and toward ICTs ’ role in development, that they infrequently address development in the context of globalization and often continue to embrace a modernization paradigm despite its many criticisms. In addition, International Communication Gazette was found to be the only mainstream communication journal to include a significant number of articles on development communication.
The Media World of ISIS, 2019
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/jovsa Part of the Arts and Human... more Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/jovsa Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, Business Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Law Commons, Life Sciences Commons, Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons
Radical History Review
Breaking news is hard to define, though the Associated Press has framed it as “news of transcende... more Breaking news is hard to define, though the Associated Press has framed it as “news of transcendent importance.” Generally, it is news that provides information about an issue or an event the public did not already know, and it is increasingly tied to a feeling of “liveness.” Because breaking news situations evolve quickly, the ability of journalists to cover them depends in part on the sources a journalist trusts and can access. All too often, those sources are people who have historically held power in a community. This essay argues that an ethics of empathy would help journalists move away from privileging the perspectives of the powerful in breaking news coverage, thereby making space for alternate understandings of the situation.
Journal of Communication Inquiry
In 2017, Universal Studios released a new version of The Mummy. The rebooted tale of an ancient E... more In 2017, Universal Studios released a new version of The Mummy. The rebooted tale of an ancient Egyptian mummy come to life featured a female villain for the first time. The decision to feature a woman in the role was pushed by the film’s producers, director, and stars as an innovative and groundbreaking change. Audience goers did not seem to agree. The film was not successful at the box office and the studio scuttled the Dark Universe slate of films that The Mummy was supposed to launch. Informed by scholarship on Orientalism, as well as literature on the idea of the monstrous feminine, this article examines the narratives of East and West produced by the film. It shows how the film, rather than being innovative, traffics in stereotype, helping perpetuate the ancient idea that the East is an other the West must fear and conquer.
Journal of Communication Inquiry
At the end of Women’s History Month 2017, social media sites were filled with posts using the has... more At the end of Women’s History Month 2017, social media sites were filled with posts using the hashtag #MuslimWomensDay. Muslim women have often been framed in media as either victims of a violent faith and its believers or enablers of that violence, rarely are they given the space to tell their own stories. The #MuslimWomensDay hashtag was designed to draw attention to the stories and experiences of Muslim women. This qualitative textual analysis of approximately 300 tweets explores how Twitter users deployed the #MuslimWomensDay hashtag in their posts in order to understand the story users told of what it means to be a Muslim woman as well as what narratives of Islam they had to fight against.
International Communication Gazette
Third spaces have been imagined as sites of resistance, where hegemonic and normative understandi... more Third spaces have been imagined as sites of resistance, where hegemonic and normative understandings of the world may be challenged. New media are often imagined to have this liberatory potential as well, particularly for those individuals who experience social, cultural, or political marginalization. This research considers whether social media might help facilitate third spaces. It takes as a case for exploring this topic the experience of 188 Muslim bloggers in social networking site Tumblr. Many of these individuals live in non-Muslim majority countries and say they sometimes feel stuck between identities. The qualitative analysis of their blogs, as well as interviews with 30 of the bloggers, seeks to understand how Tumblr can facilitate third spaces where these bloggers can explore the hybrid nature of their identities while connecting to others who share that experience.
International Communication Gazette
During the summer of 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge against Hamas positions in t... more During the summer of 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge against Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. The decades old conflict between Israel and Palestine flared up after three teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank by rogue Hamas members. The 2014 war left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead, with much of the death and suffering in Gaza witnessed in, through, and by media. This research examines the witnessing of this conflict by Muslim bloggers in microblogging platform Tumblr. It considers how bloggers in the space worked to make sense of what they witnessed, how they worked to advocate for Palestinians, and how the space made visible contestations over whose experiences, as victims and as witnesses, were most important for understanding the conflict.
International Communication Gazette, 2014
The goal of this study is to determine the possible factors leading to increased anti-Muslim sent... more The goal of this study is to determine the possible factors leading to increased anti-Muslim sentiment or Islamophobia in a comparative examination of public opinion in the United States and Europe. Secondary analyses of data from the 2008 Pew Global Attitude Project and the 2010 Pew News Interest Index, allow us to assess the role of religious practice, news interest and political affiliation in the attitudes toward Muslim minorities in several countries. Predictors of anti-Muslim attitudes include being politically more conservative and being older in all countries, and paying close attention to news coverage of the Park51 Islamic Community Center in the United States (which was proposed to be built near Ground Zero in New York). In France, but not in the other countries of the study, the importance of the respondents' religion was positively related to anti-Muslim attitudes.
Pop star Katy Perry courts controversy with the performance choices she makes. She has been accus... more Pop star Katy Perry courts controversy with the performance choices she makes. She has been accused of peddling sex to young girls and of perpetuating racist stereotypes in her music videos and live shows. In early 2014, Perry stirred up controversy when she destroyed a necklace with the word Allah—Arabic for god—on it in her Dark Horse video. What received less attention was her destruction of Orientalized men of color in Dark Horse. Informed by postcolonial scholarship and research on music videos, this qualitative textual analysis examines how Orientalism manifests in Katy Perry’s video. It uncovers a framing of Egypt as a mute object designed for consumption as well as a narrative that portrays men of color as a threat to Perry’s liberated, Western, female pharaoh.
The 2013 Steubenville, Ohio, rape case featured a sadly familiar story of juvenile acquaintance r... more The 2013 Steubenville, Ohio, rape case featured a sadly familiar story of juvenile acquaintance rape involving star football players; what captured national interest in the case, however, was how the rapists and peer witnesses alike captured video and photos of the sexual assault and disseminated them swiftly and publicly via social media sites. This qualitative textual analysis utilizes framing theory to explore how national news coverage framed new media technology in relation to the Steubenville rape case, particularly how technology was framed as witness, galvanizer, and threat during the rape and its aftermath. Implications of these frames, as well as a lack of broader sexual assault context in the media coverage, are considered.
The Information Society, 2012
International Communication Gazette, 2009
Media and migration by Rosemary Pennington
Abstract: Migration was one of the most important issues in the 2016 U.S. presidential
election. ... more Abstract: Migration was one of the most important issues in the 2016 U.S. presidential
election. While Hillary Clinton promised an immigration reform that
would create a path to citizenship, Donald Trump said he would deport illegal
aliens, build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and suspend immigration
from countries with a history of terrorism, capitalizing on some of the
public’s fears through his rhetoric. We examine the ways mainstream national
and regional press covered this issue from the Republican National Convention
through Election Day. This content analysis of 12 news outlets finds that political
themes drove the coverage more than anything else, with Donald Trump or
a member of his team most often serving as theme sponsor. Though about half
of the stories were neutral or balanced in tone, negative stories were sponsored
either by the Trump team or other actors.
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Papers by Rosemary Pennington
Media and migration by Rosemary Pennington
election. While Hillary Clinton promised an immigration reform that
would create a path to citizenship, Donald Trump said he would deport illegal
aliens, build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and suspend immigration
from countries with a history of terrorism, capitalizing on some of the
public’s fears through his rhetoric. We examine the ways mainstream national
and regional press covered this issue from the Republican National Convention
through Election Day. This content analysis of 12 news outlets finds that political
themes drove the coverage more than anything else, with Donald Trump or
a member of his team most often serving as theme sponsor. Though about half
of the stories were neutral or balanced in tone, negative stories were sponsored
either by the Trump team or other actors.
election. While Hillary Clinton promised an immigration reform that
would create a path to citizenship, Donald Trump said he would deport illegal
aliens, build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and suspend immigration
from countries with a history of terrorism, capitalizing on some of the
public’s fears through his rhetoric. We examine the ways mainstream national
and regional press covered this issue from the Republican National Convention
through Election Day. This content analysis of 12 news outlets finds that political
themes drove the coverage more than anything else, with Donald Trump or
a member of his team most often serving as theme sponsor. Though about half
of the stories were neutral or balanced in tone, negative stories were sponsored
either by the Trump team or other actors.