OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per ital: RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: Place in book return to remove charge from c1rcu'lation records L' I 4'43“; if . mow” . @>1981 RICHARD IRWIN DIVELBISS All Rights Reserved THE GATEKEEPER FUNCTION OF AGRICULTURAL NEW EDITORS AND REPORTERS AT MIDWESTERN LAND GRANT UNIVERSITIES By Richard I. Divelbiss A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS College of Communication Arts and Sciences School of Journalism 1981 Q ABSTRACT THE GATEKEEPER FUNCTION OF AGRICULTURAL NEWS EDITORS AND REPORTERS AT MIDWESTE N LAND GRANT UNIVERSITIES By Richard I. Divelbiss The purpose of this research study, funded by the Michigan State University Agricultural Experiment Station, was to examine agricultural news editors and reporters in an attempt to determine if (a) they have similar news value systems by which they judge the worth of news releases; (b) they have similar perceptions of the news value systems used by newspaper editors to select news releases for publication; and (c) their news value systems are similar to those of media professionals. The study hinges on the belief that university journalists perform their duties in much the same way as do the editors who receive and judge university news releases: i.e. each individual must choose each story, for production in the former instance and use in the latter, from a wide variety of possi- bilities. To quantitatively describe the systems of behavior involved in making these news judgments, a method is needed that closely reflects the perceived needs of the journalist and then provides a set of alternatives that he/she evaluates as possible solutions. The interaction of respondent X in the given situation Y con- stitutes a behavior segment. In a behavior segment the individual has a subjective criterion for measuring benefits and deficits as to their effect on perceived needs in a particular situation. Subjects were chosen from the information staffs of six midwestern land grant universities on the basis of their job descriptions. (An attempt was made to include all those who produced, edited, or in some manner handled news releases, radio tapes or scripts, and television film or scripts.) Data were collected in two role-playing modes: (1) as senior agricultural information editor at a land grant university, and (2) as the news editor of a medium-sized daily newspaper in the same state. Q-technique can be useful in measuring subjective behavior in "XY interactions" because it operationally divides the journalist respondents as they relate to a variety of news releases produced by land grant university information re- porters. Six factors emerged to characterize possible "XY inter- actions," or behavior segments, in the university editor mode. The following are descriptive shorthand names for each. Factor l-Y -- The Local Disaster Lover Factor 2-Y -- The Timely One Factor 3-Y -- The Home Towner Factor u-Y -- The Critical Rationalist Factor S-Y -- The Broad Generalist Factor 6-Y —— The Timely Too Three factors emerged to describe possible "XY interactions" in the newspaper editor mode. Their descriptive names follow: Factor l-Z -- The Local Colorist Factor 2-2 -- The Hero Worshiper Factor 3-Z -- The Clock Watcher The results support the claim that land grant university news editors and reporters can, indeed, be categorized according to the news value systems they use on the job. The results further confirm that the university journalists use news value systems very similar to those previous researchers have found are used by newspaper editors. When asked to role-play as a newspaper editor, however, university journalists did not accurately predict the news value systems of newspaper editors. (Their perceptions did not match the results of previous researchers and were not confirmed by data from the small sample of newspaper and magazine editors and reporters who were also tested in this study.) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study, and any benefits that may accrue from it, became a reality thanks to the following people. Administrators in the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station provided funding and facilities. Eileen Lehnert provided advice on technical aspects of Q-method. Christine O'Connor provided editorial services and encouragement. Dr. Lawrence Sarbaugh provided counsel on the theoretical aspects of the study and critical reviews of the thesis manuscript. Drs. Robert V. Hudson and Sylvan H. Wittwer served as thesis committee members. ii CHAPTER I: CHAPTER II: CHAPTER III: TABLE OF CONTENTS Problem and Objectives. . . . Background. Literature Review MethOd. O 0 0 Summary Introduction. Q-Rationale . P-Sample Selection. Selection of Q-Sort Items Administration of the Instrument. Data Analysis Interpretation Introduction. Brief Sketches Factor l-Y, Factor 2-Y, Factor 3-Y, Factor H-Y, Factor S-Y, Factor B-Y, Factor l-Z, Factor 2-Z, Factor 3-2, The The The The The The The The The Consensus Items Y-Mode . . Z—Mode . . Local Disaster Lover Timely One . . Home Towner. . Critical Rationalist Broad Generalist Timely Too . . Local Colorist Hero Worshiper . Clock Watcher. page 13 13 13 1M 15 16 19 2O 26 26 29 29 30 30 3O 31 31 31 31 32 32 Factor l-Y, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor 2-Y, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor 3-Y, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor 4-Y, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor S-Y, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor 6-Y, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor l—Z, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor 2-Z, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Factor 3-2, Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: The Local Disaster Lover. Demographics. . . . Attitude Statements Q- Sort Items. . The Timely One. Demographics. . . . . Attitude Statements . . Q- Sort Items. . . . . . The Home Towner . . . . . Demographics. Attitude Statements . Q- -Sort Items. . . . The Critical Rationalist. Demographics. . . . Attitude Statements Q-Sort Items. . . The Broad Generalist. Demographics. . . . Attitude Statements Q- -Sort Items. . . . The Timely Too. . . Demographics. . Attitude Statements . . Q- Sort Items. . The Local Colorist. . . . Demographics. . Attitude Statements . Q- Sort Items. . . . . The Hero Worshiper. Demographics. . Attitude Statements . Q- Sort Items. . The Clock Watcher . . . Demographics. . Attitude Statements Q- -Sort Items. . iv page 38 38 39 MB 51 51 52 56 66 66 67 69 78 78 79 82 90 90 90 93 101 101 102 106 11H 11” 116 118 129 129 130 133 1R3 1H3 145 1MB CHAPTER IV: APPENDICES A: MUD BIBLIOGRAPHY. Conclusions Recommendations to Investigators. Recommendations to Administrators Instructions for Q-Sort . . . . . . . Items in Q-Sort Distribution Diagram. . . . . . . . . Q-Questionnaire Demographics. . Factor l-Y, Factor 2-Y, Factor 3-Y, Factor u-Y, Factor 5-Y, Factor 6-Y, Factor l-Z, Factor 2-Z, Factor 3-2, Factor Loadings The The The The The The The The The Local Disaster Lover Timely One . . . . . Home Towner. . . . . . Critical Rationalist Broad Generalist Timely Too . . . . . Local Colorist Hero Worshiper . . Clock Watcher. . . . Unrotated Factor Loadings (Y-Mode) Rotated Factor Loadings (Y-Mode) Unrotated Factor Loadings (Z-Mode) Rotated Factor Loadings (Z-Mode) . . Z-Scores of Items for All Factors . Intrasample Similarities. Comparison of Attitude Statement Responses (by Factor). . . 182 182 186 191 194 196 198 200 205 208 211 2H3 2M5 Table Page 28. Factor 1-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university ag- ricultural information offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased.". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 29. Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information of- fices should focus predominantly on ed- ucation (transmitting useful information to an audience).". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 30. Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information of- fices should focus predominantly on im- proving the image of the institution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support.". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 31. Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information of- fices should focus predominantly on news." . 132 32. Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices, and em- phasis on quantity of production should be decreased.". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 33. Factor 3-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information of- fices should focus predominantly on ed- ucation (transmitting useful information to an audience).". . . . . . . . . . . . . . lu6 3”. Factor 3-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information of- fices should focus predominantly on im- proving the image of the institution so that teaching, research and extension pro- grams will have public and government support.". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lu6 Table Page 35. Factor 3-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information of- fices should focus predominantly on news." . 1u7 36. Factor 3-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university ag- ricultural information offices and empha- sis on quantity of production should be de- creased.". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lu8 37. Representation on factors of respondents, by state.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 38. Factor l-Y, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 182 39. Factor 2-Y, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 186 HO. Factor 3-Y, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 191 Ml. Factor u-Y, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 194 HZ. Factor S-Y, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 196 #3. Factor 6-Y, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 198 nu. Factor l-Z, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 200 #5. Factor 2-Z, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 205 H6. Factor 3-Z, Demographics . . . . . . . . . . 208 N7. Unrotated factor loadings, Y-Mode. . . . . . 211 #8. Rotated factor loadings, Y-Mode. . . . . . . 21M HQ. Unrotated factor loadings, Z-Mode. . . . . . 217 50. Rotated factor loadings, Z-Mode. . . . . . . 220 51. Z-scores of items for all factors. . . . . . 223 52. Comparison of attitude statement scores, by factor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2R3 xi ( CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES From the vast potential for news, the subjects chosen by reporters and editors define and limit the news that even- tually reaches readers. These decisions constitute the news gates in the gatekeeper model.l Decisions made by agricultural editors and reporters, and the bases for them, are the subject of this study.2 Attention to the role of editors as gatekeepers has been confined largely to newspaper, television, and radio editors (see literature review). Little research has been conducted concerning similar decision making by agricultural information gatekeepers at land grant institutions of higher education. A major exception in Lassahn's study of judgments about agri- cultural science news by farmers, university information editors, county extension directors, university extension specialists, and editors of county weekly newspapers.3 This investigation encompasses a broader scope than Lassahn's. Hers was an intrasystem study of news facets within one Iowa university environment. Here, the range of testing includes reporters and editors from six land grant universities. Items used in testing news facets also have been expanded. A u v ‘ A u- ' \ . d‘n They include the whole range of subjects common to agricultural news coverage at land grant institutions (i.e. science, agri- culture, youth programs, natural resources, home economics). Specific questions of this study are: (1) Do agricultural news gatekeepers at land grant universities hold similar values and attitudes toward the worth of news releases? (2) Do agri- cultural news gatekeepers hold in common opinions about the values and attitudes that newspaper news editors use in judging the worth of news releases? (3) Do agricultural news gatekeepers hold values and attitudes about the worth of news releases similar to those of newspaper editors and broadcast media editors? An answer to the first question will confirm or deny the hypothesis that land grant gatekeepers have a similarity of news values that transcends institutional boundaries. An answer to the second question will confirm or deny the hypothesis that land grant gatekeepers have a similarity of opinion about the value system client editors use to select news releases for publication. Combining the results of the answers to the first two questions with data about client editors from this and other studies should answer the third question by comparing land grant gatekeepers to mass media gatekeepers who are known to hold uniform news values.1+ Resulting information may pro- vide clues that could be used to improve the flow of infor- mation from land grant institutions to intended audiences. Background Cutlip and Center say that public relations meets a vital need in democratic society by "the communication and inter- pretation of ideas and information to the publics of an insti- tution; the communication and interpretation of information, ideas, and opinions from those publics to the institution in an effort to bring the two into harmonious adjustment."5 Marston also points out that public relations is an integral part of democracy as a system of government and can only fully develop in democratic societies.6 On this premise one can postulate that no organization or person can, for long, fly in the face of public Opinion.7 American land grant universities were legislated into existence as a result of public need and have survived by adjusting to changing public interests. Their inception was based on a need to provide knowledge to a larger part of the populace than existing institutions were able or willing to serve. In addition these institutions were directed by law to provide reports of "improvements and experiments made, with their costs and results, and other such matters."8 This initial concern for reporting has continued to the present. In its modern form, it is manifested in many ways. A major means is through the use of mass media. A national survey of magazine, newspaper, and broadcasting editors indicates that these gatekeepers are bombarded with news re- leases from agricultural editors at land grant universities. Magazine editors reported receiving an average of thirty re- leases per week, newspaper editors eleven, and broadcast editors eight.g Writers in the Extension/Research Division of the Michigan State University Department of Information Services produce 10 They are intended more than 1,000 news releases each year. for state and national print outlets. This function is carried out by a staff of nine. Of the present divisions of the Michigan State University Department of Information Services, this staff is the largest and has the longest history. It was formed while the parent institution was still an agricultural college and before curriculum expansion brought diversification in the public relations/information arm of the university. This information staff deals with material generated by two groups - the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service. These organizations were brought into being by federal legislation. They were intended to generate knowledge that will benefit the public in a range of areas (research) and 11 The to transmit this knowledge to the users (extension). two units receive federal and state funding separate from the rest of the university. This system has been so effective it has been cited as a major reason for the U.S. dominant 12 In Michigan alone, cash receipts position in agriculture. for farm marketings exceed $1.8 billion annually. The total worth (receipts plus earnings from distribution, processing, and marketing) of the agricultural industry to the state economy ranks second only to the economic impact of the auto- motive industry.l3 Personnel in land grant university information units have a large potential influence since they are a part of this industry. Their efforts to provide new information, promote programs, and improve the public image of their organizations affect society. Their success, however, depends on their ability to get their information used by the media. Marston says, "'Thinking like the editor' is the key to success in writing news and feature stories for American newspapers."lu The literature indicates land grant university reporters 15 and editors have some intuitive ability to do this. Other investigations, however, indicate there is considerable room for improvement.16 Within each land grant institution there is some system, either formal or informal, for determining the validity of each news item and choosing the specific media outlet(s) which will receive the news item. Since little is known about how the responsible individuals make these decisions, correlations between news gatekeepers at land grant universities and gate- keepers in the mass media cannot be made effectively. In terms of news distribution, gatekeeper studies have almost exclusively been done within the mass media (that is, wire services, newspapers, television, and radio). A search of the literature shows only a very few studies of gatekeeper roles played by university-based agricultural writers and editors. This despite the fact that their reason for exis- tence is to funnel information into media channels so as to ensure its exposure to the general, or a selected, public. Variations in methodology and scope further limit the useful- ness of these investigations. Fortunately, one can assume that university based agri- cultural information gatekeepers Operate under some constraints held in common with mass media gatekeepers. Each must select, from a mass of detailed information, a few items important enough to be worthy of production under such limiting factors 17 Other similarities as budget, available labor, and time. may be assumed on the basis of commonalities in educational experience, basic job skills, and broad objectives (serving the public by providing news and information). With these premises, a study of land grant gatekeepers becomes possible. With proper methodological structure, such a study can give clues as to whether the movement of news from land grant institutions can be facilitated in the channels controlled by mass media gatekeepers. Literature Review The Gatekeeper Concept -Roots of the gatekeeper concept lie in the social psycho- logical research of Kurt Lewin during World War II. Lewin wanted to be able to manipulate cultural habits, particularly food buying patterns. He developed a "channel theory," based on his own research that considered the patterns and paths each food item followed from its source to the home. Lewin noted, "Food does not move by its own impetus. Entering or not entering a channel and moving from one section vula of a channel is effected by a 'gatekeeper. David Manning White was the first to apply Lewin's theory to the field of I O 9 mass commun1cat1ons.l White's application of the gatekeeper concept led to a continuing series of communications studies of gatekeepers and their functions. The gatekeeper concept has been so widely applied that the term has become a common part of communication jargon in the relatively short period of twenty-nine years. Mass Media Gatekeepers Validity of the gatekeeper concept in mass communications has been argued almost since White develOped the idea from Lewin's work. One major deviation from White's theory is reflected by Abraham Z. Bass who feels that "...attention should be focused on the news gatherer, for it is he who makes the significant decisions."20 Another school takes the gatekeeper concept to task for ignoring the organizational context that gatekeepers work in. "In order to understand the process by which news organizations transform events inthe environment into the content of newspapers and news broadcasts, it is neces- sary to shift the level of analysis from the gate-keeper to the gate-keeping organization."21 More recently, journalism watchers have become concerned with role conflicts within gatekeepers, as individuals or groups. Morris Janowitz maintains that conflict between roles of journalists as "gatekeepers" or as "advocates" may com- promise professionalism22 and has caused concern about the ability of social scientists to observe journalists objectively.23 The social psychology research technique (Q-methodology) developed by William Stephenson,2u and later applied to mass communications by Stephenson and others, holds promise for 25 resolving these problems to a major extent. On this premise, a number of researchers, including James K. Buckalew, have used Q-methodology to examine the decision making process used by media gatekeepers. Buckalew's original project studied 26 the decisions of television news editors. In later studies he compared decision making on the part of newspaper editors27 and radio news editors.28 Related Studies in Higher Education Literature searches in this sub-area have yielded only a very few research reports that can be related to decision making by land grant gatekeepers. Verification of this lack of information has been received.29 Extant studies that do have relevance include research by Hatch, Johnson, Lassahn, and Tichenor. These studies, unfortunately, provide con- flicting conclusions and do not deal in depth with professional editors and reporters at land grant universities. Hatch's study was a rudimentary mail survey that was sub- jected only to the development of percentages of certain replies as statistical analysis. He found that mass media editors felt college editors were too institution oriented and not audience 30 oriented enough. This contrasts with Lassahn's findings that land grant editors and weekly newspaper editors closely 31 agreed on news values. Tichenor, et al., like Lassahn, found a close correlation in news values between land grant institution representatives (county extension agents in this 32 Johnson's findings, however, case) and newspaper editors. agree with those of Hatch (that is, the dimensions of judgment used in judging science news stories were found to be unlike those of science writer-editors).33 Hatch's work suffers from poor methodology. His aims in conducting the survey were not purely research oriented. Lassahn's research leaves something to be desired. It was conducted only within the Iowa State University information system, and the editors used were from rural weekly news- papers. Her study is of interest, however, because she used Q-methodology. The Tichenor study gave broad consideration to newspaper editors in rural and urban settings, but was restricted to county extension agents on the university side of the com- munications flow model. Johnson's work also skirts the central problem under consideration here (the key relationship between land grant gatekeepers and news gatekeepers). He included college public relations personnel in his sample of science writers; however, these reporters were not all from college information staffs, and the writing evaluated involved science only. Social scientists are just turning to the college or uni- versity information/public relations staff as a suitable 10 subject for investigation. Until recently, the literature consisted of "how to" pieces or historical works. One thing that may increase the effectiveness of the college editor/ reporter is to learn more about the basis of their news judgments, as proposed in the present study. 1James K. Buckalew, "A Q-Analysis of Television News Editors' Decisions," Journalism Quarterly, XLVI (Spring 1969), p. 135. 2Characteristics of editors are discussed in detail in Appendix H. 3Pamela Henry Lassahn, "Comparison of Judgments About Agricultural Science News," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Winter 1969), pp. 702-07. uBuckalew, "Television News Editors' Decisions," p. 137. 5Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center, Effective Public Relations (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 106777—55. 15-16. 6 John E. Marston, The Nature of Public Relations (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963), p. 15. 7Cutlip and Center, Effective Public Relations, p. 10. 80rganic Act of 1862 (Morrill Act), ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503. 9J. Cordell Harch, "Mass Media Gatekeepers for Colleges of Agriculture," ACE Quarterly, LIV, No. 4 (1971), p. 33. loEldon E. Fredericks, "Annual Report of Extension/Research Information," (Department of Information Services, Michigan State University, 1977), p. l. llHatch Act. Smith-Lever Act. 12Sylvan H. Wittwer and Richard I. Divelbiss, "Successful Cooperative Research -- Bringing People Together," (paper presented at the 17ch meeting of the American Chemical Society, Chicago, Ill., 29 Aug. 1977), p. 3. 13David I. Verway and William Greer, eds., Michi an Statistical Abstract (12th ed.; East Lansing, M1ch.: Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Michigan State University, 1977), p. 71M. ll l"Marston, Nature of Public Relations, p. 123. Underlined portion in quotes ihdicates quoted author's italics. 15 Lassahn, "Comparison of Judgments," pp. 702-07. 16Hatch, "Mass Media Gatekeepers," pp. 31-40. l7John Dimmick, "The Gate-Keeper: An Uncertainty Theory," Journalism Monographs, No. 37 (November 197M), p. u. l8Kurt Lewin, "Psychological Ecology," in Field Theory in Social Science, (New York: Harper, 1951), p. 170. 19David Manning White, "The 'Gate Keeper': A Case Study in the Selection of News," Journalism Quarterly, XXXVI (1950), pp. 383-90. 20Abraham Z. Bass, "Refining the 'Gatekeeper' Concept: A UN Radio Case Study," Journalism Quarterly, XL (Spring 1969), p. 69. 21 Dimmick, "Uncertainty Theory," pp. 1-2. 22Morris Janowitz, "Professional Models in Journalism: The Gatekeeper and the Advocate," Journalism Quarterly, LII (Winter 1975), pp. 818-19. 23Gaye Tuchman, "Objectivity as a Strategic Ritual: An Examination of Newsmen's Notions of Objectivity," American Journal of Sociology, LXXVII (January 1972), pp. 660-79. 2L+William Stephenson, The Study of Behavior: Q-Technique and Its Methodology (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953). 25William Stephenson, The Play Theory of Mass Communication, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967). 26James K. Buckalew, "The Television News Editor as a Gate Keeper," (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 1967). 27Robert W. Clyde and James K. Buckalew, "Inter-Media Standardization: A Q-Analysis of News Editors," Journalism Quarterly, XLVI (Summer 1969), pp. sag-51. 28James K. Buckalew, "The Radio News Gatekeeper and His Sources," Journalism Quarterly, LI (Winter 197M), pp. 602-06. 29Clay Schoenfeld, Professor of Journalism, University of Wisconsin/Madison, personal communication, May 1978. 30 Hatch, "Mass Media Gatekeepers," pp. 3l-u0. 12 31Lassahn, "Comparison of Judgments," pp. 702-07. 32Phillip J. Tichenor, Clarice N. Olien, and George A. Donohue, "Predicting a Source's Success in Placing News in the Media," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Spring 1967), pp. 32-92. Kenneth G. Johnson, "Dimensions of Judgment of Science News Stories," Journalism Quarterly, XL (Summer 1963), pp. 315-22. ' CHAPTER II METHOD Summary Fifty-one respondents (all writers and/or editors) per- formed a Q-sort made up of forty items. The items were news release leads produced by a land grant university agricultural information staff. The items were selected on the basis of containing appropriate pairs of five basic news elements: impact, conflict, known principal, proximity (local interest), and timeliness. Each respondent performed the sort twice -- once as a land grant university senior agricultural editor and once as news editor of a medium sized daily. The re- spondents also completed a questionnaire that elicited demo- graphic data and responses to four attitude statements about their work situation and ethics. Respondents were land grant university information specialists from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Raw data were factor analyzed using the QUANAL and SPSS computer programs. Introduction In Chapter I the fact that previous investigators have used Q-technique to study the gatekeeper function and similar communication models was briefly discussed. 13 a v 0 -"‘ w-- n-‘A 1H Q-methodology has been used frequently to segment groups of people according to their needs or wants. Studies employing Q-technique can be categorized by products, services, insti- tutions, and more abstract concepts.l Products studied using Q-technique include cars,2 toiletries,3 magazines,1+ newspapers,5 and toothpaste.6 Services studied include golf;7 and institutions studied include libraries,8 utilities,9 small colleges,10 universities,ll and non-profit organizations.12 Q-technique is appropriate for this study because of successful use in previous behavior research efforts and because it provides a basis for operantly identifying behavior segments. The term "Operant" refers to the fact that the subjects define the segments by supplying the statements that make up the instrument, and by performing the Operations. Factor analysis of the resulting data results in grouping of like sorts that are independent of, and unexpected by, the investigator. A brief discussion of this rationale follows. Q-Rationale Stephenson rejected the concept of observing behavior as an isolated event in the environment. Instead he prOposed that behavior is not a concept to be developed and then tested, but should be studied as a natural phenomenon "...as a mountain might be surveyed apart from the land mass of which it is a "13 part. Stephenson postulated that specific behavior seg- ments were not matters of simple person/product interactions, 15 but were related to unique conditions he named "infacilitating" conditions. Viewed in this way, a behavior segment becomes a situation involving person "X," a product or service "2," and the relevant facilitating conditions "Y."lu In this study, respondent editors and reporters become the "Xs," the news releases become the product "2," and the roles the respondents are asked to play become the facilitating conditions "Y." Stephenson developed Q-technique as a means of measuring the subjective behavior expressed in the "XYZ" interaction. The method is effective because it can operantly divide re- spondents as they relate to a variety of products or services within the framework of a given set of facilitating conditions. P-Sample Selection The number of professional journalists involved in the production of land grant university news and information releases is quite small.15 It was therefore decided to sample a small number of states and attempt to interview all the production personnel (writers and editors) at each land grant university. The six states (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin) were chosen for their proximity to the base of the study in Michigan, their similar climatic and agri- cultural conditions, and the high importance of agriculture in their economies. Since 100 percent of the possible respondents were to be sampled, no attempt was made to differentiate them on the basis of sex, age, income, race, education, marital status, 16 previous employment, level of experience, or other demographic characteristics. The sample of respondents falls short of the ideal in that one senior editor and two production per- sonnel were absent from work when the Q-sample was administered. The fifty-one respondents who performed the Q-sort and completed the questionnaire comprise, for the purposes of this study, the P-sample. As a means of comparison, and for the direction of further investigations, it was deemed appropriate to include a small subsample of mass media editors and reporters in the study. These respondents were selected from a list of journalists provided by the senior land grant university editors in each state, and an attempt was made to have one mass media respon- dent from each state. Data from six mass media respondents were eventually collected and are included in the analysis. Selection of Q-Sort Items: The Q-Sample It is, in part, the intent of this study to replicate for land grant university editors and reporters Buckalew's 16 and Clyde and Buckalew's study of television news editors. study of newspaper editors.17 This will, of course, not allow direct comparisons between the three groups of respon- dents. It will allow some speculation that would be useful in investigations of the relationships between land grant university editors and reporters with gatekeepers in the media. With this in mind, this investigation was developed around the five accepted basic news elements: 17 Impact elements likely to have an effect on the majority of the audience. Conflict elements involving physical or verbal competition between principals or between the principa1(s) and nature. Known principal elements involving well-known persons, institutions, or issues. Proximate (local interest) elements relating to people or events in the immediate coverage area. Timely elements related to recent happenings, current situations, or updated items with new leads or fresh material. News items were selected to reflect high levels of each element (for example, high impact).18 These are called news facets, and the Q-sample was constructed to include two com- plete sets (one replication) of news items representing all possible combinations of the news facets - for a total of forty items in the Q-sample. To develop the news items used in this sort, a pool of more than 3,000 actual news releases written by land grant university reporters was used as the base point. The re- leases were arranged chronologically by subject matter area. Initial selection was made by pulling every third release from the file. This subset of approximately 1,000 news re- leases was evaluated. Those news release leads containing appropriate combinations of news facets were used to construct 18 the Q-sample. A second selection of about 1,000 releases from the "base" file was needed to obtain sufficient release leads with appropriate news facet pairs to complete the final forty-item Q-sample. Release leads selected were rewritten only for the geographic anonymity needed to make the sample applicable to respondents in all six states. No attempt was made to standardize style or correct poor journalistic style. The premise was that (a) any attempts to do so might bias re- sults and (b) respondents would be performing the sort on the basis of item content rather than the original authors' writing skills. Selection of Q-sample items in this manner is atypical for most Q-studies. The unusual method is justified, how- ever, on the basis of inter-state similarities in the types of material produced for news releases by land grant university editors and reporters.19 The Q-sample was pre-tested using five agricultural re- porters and editors from the Department of Information Services at Michigan State University. After review of the Q-sample items with these people, several statements were reworded for clairfy and one statement was replaced with a new release lead that more accurately represented the news facet pair in question. The sample is small, but each editor contributed a large number of responses, making Q-analysis a practical means of . . . . . . 20 obtaining the de51red levels of correlation and interpretation. ( (II '3 ya n: I ) “‘v A d “.v- ' \.. u— ‘5 ‘ Q *«,~~ b 19 Use of Q—technique is also indicated by MacLean who maintains that the sorting procedure resembles the gatekeeper decision process of comparing available items and then assigning them priorities.21 Administration of the Instrument The Q-sample and questionnaire were administered to fifty- two people. Respondents performed the Q-sort twice: first, in the familiar role of a senior agricultural information editor at a land grant university and second, in the role of a news editor at a medium sized daily newspaper. (News- paper journalists included in the sample performed the sort in reverse order so they would be dealing with the familiar role of newspaper editor first.) Several respondents indicated some trouble in playing the role of newspaper editor. This inability to empathize was expressed in several ways. Some respondents asked for a more definite description of the hypothetical newspaper and/or the duties of the hypothetical news editor at that paper. Other respondents (two) indicated they would perform the sort the same way in either role. Faulty execution of the instrument precluded the use of one Q-sort in the university editor mode and three Q-sorts in the newspaper editor mode. This gave a final respondent number of fifty-one and forty-nine, respectively. In the valid cases, each respondent was requested to rank the Q-sort items on a continuum from "most likely to use" to "least likely to use." Respondents were first asked 20 to sort the items into three piles -- one pile containing those items they were most likely to use (+), another pile containing those items they were least likely to use (-), and a third pile containing those items that they felt to be neutral or could not make up their minds about (0). (See instructions for sorting in Appendix B). Respondents then sorted the items into piles that met the forced requirements of the following frequency distri- bution. N = #0 Least Likely to Use / Most Likely to Use Value ' -6 -5 -u -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +0 +5 +6 Pile Number 1 2 3 H 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Number of Items 2 2 2 3 u u 6 u u 3 2 2 2 For an example of the distribution diagrams the respondents used for sorting, see Appendix C. In both the university editor mode and the media editor editor mode the respondents were asked to comment on their reasons for placement of those items to which they assigned -6 and +6 values. Data Analysis The 101 completed Q-sorts were processed using the Michigan State University Control Data Corporation 3600 com- puter and the QUANAL and SPSS programs.22 21 For each mode, the respondents' sorts were intercorrelated to obtain a correlation-matrix. The computer then used the correlation-matrix to perform a factor analysis. Factors thus obtained consisted of groups of respondents who had sorted the Q-sample items in a similar manner. Factors in both sorting modes were then rotated orthogonally, using a varimax solution, so that the maximum number of "pure" loadings (significant loadings on one, and only one, factor) 23 Statistics obtained for this program run were obtained. included: -- means and standard deviations; -- zero-order correlation matrix for all variables; -- communalities, eigenvalues, and proportion of total and common variance; -- initial factor matrix; -- rotated-factor matrix and transformation matrix, and; -- plot of the rotated factors (the relative position of each variable in all possible pairs of factor axes).2u The computer then evaluated the rotated factor matrix and assigned factor loadings. This allows individual sorts for each factor to be weighted according to the factor loadings. The factor arrays are converted into Z-scores and arranged, by Q-sample item, on a "most likely to use--1east likely to use" continuum for each factor. (According to Nie, a? 2 a ‘1 v- __-——- -/~~n ' JV- - viaAr‘ .— fl..~.. . — .0 ' V A ,. \ cL .y -u n a — é..v .- a n “-27 -40-». T u :‘v' ; v- 5 ‘ v... (I! V- In.“ 22 et al., the Z-score transformation generates a new variable with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of l. The formula for the Z-score transformation is: Xi - 7 SD where Xi is the original value of the ith case for the variable, Y'is the mean of the variable, and SD is the standard deviation.) The array of Z-scores for each factor provides the basis for interpreting the factor. In the university editor mode, factor analysis yielded six factors judged to be capable of interpretation. Media 25 The six factor editor mode sorts yielded three factors. solution in the university editor mode included, as "pure" loadings, the sorts of forty-two of the fifty-one respondents who provided usable Q-sorts. The three factor solution in the media editor mode included the sorts of thirty-three of the forty-nine respondents who provided usable Q-sorts. In addition to the Q-sorts, respondents supplied relevant demographic information, and responded to statements about land grant university editors and reporters by completing Likert scales.26 .These data were analyzed, by factor, using the SPSS program; subprogram Frequencies. Statistics obtained from the analysis include (for each item): -- table of frequencies; -- mean; -- standard error; -- median; 23 -- mode; -- standard deviation; -- variance; -- kurtosis; -- skewness; -- range; -- minimum; -- maximum; and a -- histogram (a graphic display of the relative frequencies of the variable's values). With the data analyzed, interpretation and reporting of the data is the next step. It is covered in chapter III. lNancy Lois Tschirhart, "Life Styles Vs. Behavior Seg- ments: A Study of Dental Health Consumers," (unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 197u). 2Eric D. Fischer, "The Automobile and the Consumer: Operant Market Segmentation," (unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1973). 3Ricky H. McCarty, "Packaging and Advertising of Men's Toiletries: An Intensive Analysis of a Pure Type," (un- published M.A. thesis, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1972). uLaurel Booth, "An Image Study of McCall's Magazine," (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1968). 5Pamela Henry Lassahn, "Comparison of Judgments About Agricultural Science News," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Winter 1969), 702-07. Eileen Lehnert, "An Attitude Segmentation Study of the Youth Market's Perception of the Ideal Newspaper," (un- published M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1979). 6Russell I. Haley, "Benefit Segmentation: A Decision- Oriented Research Tool," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32, No. 3 (July 1968), 30-35. 21+ 7Dan H. Zimmerman, "Attitudes About Golf: Operationalizing the Kernan and Sommer's Theory of Promotion," (unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 197M). 8William Stephenson, "An Image for Missouri's Public Libraries," (unpublished research paper, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1962). 9 , "Public Images of Public Utilities," Journal of Advert151ng Research, (1963). 10Philip Ganz, "The Student and the Small College: Operant Market Segmentation," (unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1973). 11Steven Shinn, "An Image Study of the University of Missouri, Columbia," (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1971). 12Charles R. Mauldin, "A Subjective Systems Approach: Application of an Image Study to Aggregate Behavior in a Socio-Economic System," (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1972). 13William Stephenson, The Study of Behavior: Q-Technique and Its Methodology (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953), pp. 90-99. lu-______—, The Play Theopy of Mass Communication, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 132. 15For a complete list of personnel see: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Communicators in Land-Grant Universities and USDA Agencies—(Washington, DTC}: Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1979). It should be remembered that not all of those listed are involved in the production of materials for mass media. 16James K. Buckalew, "A Q-Analysis of Television News Editors' Decisions," Journalism Quarterly, XLVI (Spring 1969). 17Robert W. Clyde and James K. Buckalew, "Inter-Media Standardization: A Q-Analysis of News Editors," Journalism Quarterly, XLVI (Summer 1969). 18Malcolm S. MacLean, Jr., "Communication Strategy, Editing Games, and Q," in Science, Psychology, and Communi- cation: Essays Honoring William Stephenson, ed. by Steven R. Brown and Donald J. Brenner (New York: Teachers College Press, 1972), pp. 327-uu. This is just one of several works that provide details on selection of items for Q-sorts. 25 19For a discussion of this rationale in broad terms see Appendix H. 20Frederick Nichols Kerlinger, Foundations of Behavioral Research: Educational and Psychological Inqpiry, (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1964?: p. 598. 21Malcolm S. MacLean, Jr., "Systems of News Communication," in Communication: Theory and Research, ed. by Lee Thayer (Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, 1967), p. 295. 22QUANAL is a program developed at the University of Iowa by N. Van Tubergen. SPSS is a program developed by Norman N. Nie, et al.; beginning at Stanford University and presently at the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. QUANAL was used to develop the initial correlation matrices and to perform the "WRAP" phase, which provided standard arrays for each item (by factor). SPSS was used to perform the orthogonal, varimax rotations and for the statistical analysis of demographic data and Likert scale responses. 23Mary Jane Schlinger, "Cues on Q—Technique," Journal of Advertising Research, IX, No. 3 (1969), pp. 37-38. Schlinger's "expedient and workable" guide is that a significant factor loading should equal or exceed three times the standard error of a zero correlation, that is: 3 x l/‘VfiZ where n is the number of items in the Q-sample. 2H Obtained for media editor mode factors only. 25Factors were judged to be "interpretable" if the com- puted eigenvalue for the factor was 1.000 or greater, and if the minimum number of respondents in the factor was three. An exception was made to the latter criterion in the case of Factor 5-Y (university editor mode) which was allowed to remain in the analysis with only two respondents because it had a higher factor loading than Factor 6-Y which was the lowest loading scored factor with three persons. 26For a complete list of demographic questions and Likert scale statements see Appendix D. CHAPTER III INTERPRETATION Introduction As previously noted, Q-study respondents sort a group of statements or items. The individual's distribution of these items constitutes his or her behavior segment. In the analysis phase each individual's sort is correlated with each other sort. Those sorts that correlate at or beyond a given level of significance are grouped together to become a factor. To obtain a typical "hypothetical" sort for each factor, all the sorts within that factor are averaged. This typical sort then represents the behavior of those respondents loaded on the factor. Each factor is different from the other factors. Thus, each factor is a model of how the people within that factor see or perceive the subject matter. It is a model of their subjective view- points. It can therefore be said that the factors represent concepts determined by the respondents as they performed the sort, as opposed to verification or denial of concepts deter- mined by the researcher beforehand. Once the factors have been determined, it is up to the investigator to interpret them by studying the arrangement 26 27 of the statements (or items) in the "representative" sorts for each factor. First, the relationships of the elements within each factor are explained. Then, the relationships between all the factors are explored. This is a subjective exercise for the investigator, but the results of this exercise must be based on the real (operant) evidence as expressed in the respondents' Q-sorts and the computer analysis of these sorts. Since the subjective role of the investigator allows for differences in interpretation of the operant data, it is common in Q-studies to preface the interpretive sections with the following statement: "If the reader disagrees with the interpretation, he/she may seek an alternative solution from the data listed in the appendices." In this study of land grant university agricultural journalists, nine factors were generated from the raw data. Six were determined for the university editor (or "Y") mode, and three were determined for the newspaper (or "2") mode. These factors are interpreted using an "if-then" approach.1 The examination proceeds from individual statements, to groups of statements, to groups of comparisons, until con- clusions can be derived. Attention is also given to consensus items -- those statements that all the factors essentially agree on.2 Consensus items are of extreme interest in that they may provide common grounds for the development of communication strategies acceptable to all factors. Special attention is 28 given to discriminating items, too.3 After these steps, the investigator develops a generalized explanation for the factor in question that is consistent with the factor array in question. Interpretations for each factor are presented in three parts: 1. A two or three word label that is generally descriptive of the factor. This gives the investigator and reader a convenient means of identifying the factors and rapidly dis- tinguishing between them. 2. A brief sketch that describes each factor. 3. An expanded sketch, with supporting evidence, that provides a more detailed description and discussion of each factor. Throughout, factors are spoken of in the third person be- cause the average sort for the factor represents a "typical" behavior segment and because the general explanation for each factor represents a hypothetical person (i.e., Local Disaster Lover).u Once the interpretations are made for each factor they can be used in several ways. Taken together they may be held up as a description of the news value systems held by agri- cultural information specialists at land grant universities. In turn, this description may be used in preliminary com- parisons of these journalists to what is known about the news value systems of the clients they serve (for example, newspaper 29 editors). The interpretations also provide the foundation for the design of future investigations of the key relation- ship between land grant university editors and reporters who generate copy and the mass media editors who select from this huge amount of copy the items that eventually reach the public. From such comparisons and discussions it may be possible to find ways to increase the flow of information from university sources to the public. Brief Sketches Factor analysis yielded six factors in the Y, or univer- sity editor, mode that could be interpreted. The analysis yielded three factors in the Z, or newspaper editor, mode that could be interpreted. The data analysis method results in each factor being a group of individuals who performed the Q-sort in one, and only one, significantly similar fashion. Thus, some respondents do not occur in any factor. The following brief descriptions of the nine factors will familiarize the reader with the basic characteristics of each factor before a more detailed discussion is taken up. Factor l-Y, The Local Disaster Lover Persons in Factor l-Y are best described as Local Dis- aster Lovers. They distinctly prefer stories that pit people, individually or collectively, against situations beyond immediate control. Local Disaster Lovers are also 30 concerned with situations that have a direct bearing on the local community, especially if the event is action packed. They do not care if the event is immediate in the sense of having an element of "hot" news. Factor 2-Y, The Timely One Editors and reporters in this group place the highest priority on stories with an element of timeliness. They show a lesser preference for events with a sense of com- petition, but shun those involving major issues. Factor 3-Y, The Home Towner Time is no object for the editors and reporters in this group. Instead, they emphasize news events with a local angle. Issues of broad general interest also carry weight with these people. They care little for stories that deal with impact or conflict affecting only a few readers. Due to their parochial emphasis these people are called Home Towners. Factor R-Y, The Critical Rationalist Individuals in Factor u-Y are best characterized by the label Critical Rationalist. Persons in this group are most likely to make choices on the basis of what they don't like. They have well defined ideas of what they don't think is news; their preferences are foggy. The strongest appeal for these people is the story with a local angle; but even this doesn't guarantee that they will like the story. 31 Factor 5-Y, The Broad Generalist The Broad Generalist feels that readers should be exposed to news with wide social impact. Though local interest may swell circulation, these editors and reporters disregard this commercial aspect in favor of the feature story that deals with issues or personalities. If a "big name" person is involved, all the better. Direct conflict, however, they consider inappropriate in the public relations news release. Factor 6-Y, The Timely Too Timely Toos are at first glance identical to persons in Factor 2-Y (The Timely One). They prefer stories with an element of timeliness, and have a secondary preference for conflict situations. The Timely Too differs from the Timely One in that he/she chooses conflict items that involve individuals. The Timely One prefers conflict items involving broad segments of the pOpulation. Factor l-Z, The Local Colorist Persons in this factor can best be described as Local Colorists. They tend to select those articles with an element of local interest and, thus, relevance to much of their audience. They place secondary emphasis on articles with high impact, evidently thinking it more important to inform readers about societal and environmental events. Factor 2-Z, The Hero Worshiper People in Factor 2-Z are the only persons (in either the Y-mode or the Z-mode) who give first priority to news releases 32 that prominantly feature a known principal. Because of this predilection they might best be called Hero Worshipers. If the known principal in a story is involved in a conflict situation, so much the better. The sure turn-off for these people is the story that depends primarily on timeliness. In fact, timeliness is more likely to cause a story to be rejected than known principal is likely to cause a story to be preferred. Factor 3-Z, The Clock Watcher Persons in this factor are best described as Clock Watchers. No matter on what basis their values are quantified, time- liness is by far the most important element. They do show a secondary interest in conflict situations of a general nature. The relationship of the news item to production agri- culture, or traditional agricultural activities, also appears to be an ingredient in their first choices. The Clock Watcher is least likely to use news releases that feature known princi- pals who have no local ties. Consensus Items According to Tschirhart, consensus items are of critical importance in Q-technique. "These statements (about which all factors agree) can provide the basis for communication strategy. Of most importance are those state- ments scored highly positive; these statements are not only agreed upon, but are of value to the respondents. Conversely, negatively scored consensus items are to be avoided in communication strategy. Those items surrounding the neutral point offer least in terms of communication."5 33 Y-mode: University Editor Role When respondents performed the Q-sort in the role of a senior agricultural information editor at a land grant university as noted previously, six factors resulted from the computer analysis of the data. There were no consensus items, however, that spanned these six behavior types. This surprising result leads to two conclusions. First, the Y factors can be said to be very clearly delineated since there are no common areas of agreement. Second, it can be said that finding a common ground for development of communications efforts acceptable to all six Y-mode behavior types would be difficult. Z-mode: Newspaper Editor Role When respondents performed the Q-sort in the role of an editor of a medium sized daily newspaper, three factors re- sulted from the analysis of data. Nine consensus items were found. These nine items represent 22.5 percent of all the items in the Q-sample. Three of the items were viewed by the factors as slightly positive, and six were perceived as slightly negative. None of these items had an average Z-score of higher than 1.00 or lower than -l.00. This indicated that although all items are similarly perceived by the three factors, the items are viewed as tending toward the neutral area. Average Z-scores for the nine consensus items are: 30 £322 Z-score 6 .83 3 .59 18 .36 ll -.12 lu -.16 9 -.18 12 -.30 32 -.H0 26 -.HB The most "likely to use" of the consensus items was number 6. This shows that the respondents follow the journalistic precept that newspaper's role is to report events representing updated or enlarged coverage of major local events. By assigning low priorities to items 11 and 26 [which also con- tain the element of conflict], however, they indicate that they believe newspaper editors distinguish between stories representing "hard news" and stories tending toward advice to readers. Z-Scores Fl-Z 1:‘2-2’. FS-Z (8) TSU Extension agents and .80 1.11 .57 local White County police and fire agencies are mo- bilizing rescue crews armed with four-wheel drive vehicles, chain saws and portable electric gen- erators in an attempt to rescue the estimated 250 rural families still stranded in the wake of the recent violent ice storm. Average .83 (ll) (26) agree on are items 3 and 18. 35 Z-Scores Fl-z F2-z Fa-z Watch out for prolonged -.51 .35 -.20 exposure to the sun's rays and for intense heat; outdoors and indoors. Pro- longed exposure could re- sult in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Yes, it's true; eating too -.79 -.20 -.us much fish from Green County's Green Water Lake could be hazardous to your health. Average -.12 -.36 The remaining two consensus items that the three Factors They are similar to the most "likely to use" items (6) in that they all contain the element of local interest. None of the other consensus items, which are all negatively loaded, contain the local interest element, with the exception of item 26 which gets its low priority for other reasons, as noted above. F1-z Fz-z F3-z (3) Home State currently has .10 1.03 .63 approximately 50 days coal supply with which to fire generators that produce electricity; and with that dwindling supply is the growing prospect of rolling blackouts throughout the state. Major cities that may be hardest hit include Ewell, Hancock and Stuart. (18) Actor-rancher John Wayne -.03 .67 .03 and TSU will have some- thing in common the fourth week of March -- both will be praising agriculture. Average .59 .36 36 Respondents seem to believe uniformly that economic and political issues of a broad, general nature are not important to newspaper readers. Although any change in food prices will influence all persons, the item dealing with this sub- ject (14) gets a slightly negative rating. Activities of the state governor related to federal policy (9) and state taxes (12) also get slightly negative marks. Z-Scores Fl-Z F2-Z F3-Z Average (1H) Average retail food prices .26 -.MS -.29 -.16 in 1978 are expected to rise 4 to 6 percent above the average for 1977. Consumers can take comfort, however, in the fact that the same year-end forecasts call for an increase in average disposable income that should offset the higher cost of food. (9) Gov. Johannas B. Smythe -.u7 -.19 .ll -.18 pointed out the concern of U.S. governors for de- veloping effective federal farm policy yesterday, (March 23), during the annual governor's breakfast at TSU's Farmers' Week. (12) Gov. Johannas B. Smythe's -.37 -.61 .06 -.30 recently announced tax cuts will not have a major impact on the income tax paid by the average Home State family. Even though medical advances have made drugs a pervasive part of society in the United States, and concomitant drug problems exist in both youth and adult populations, the 37 respondents gave their second most negative consensus reaction to the item (32) reporting an anti-drug abuse campaign aimed at a youth. Z-Scores F1-2 F2-2 F3-2 Average (32) Joe Frazier, former World -.52 -.22 -.u7 -.u0 Boxing Association heavy- weight champion, is taking on a new opponent in Home State. The rival is drug abuse among youth. Taken in total, the Z-mode consensus items provide a clue to those stories respondents might find most agreement on. All of the consensus-item releases have in common the news elements of either "high impact" or "local interest." An exception is item 9 (containing the elements "known principal" and "timeliness"). On review, however, item 9 might be viewed as having an element of high impact because of the total societal impact of food systems, or as having an element of local interest because the respondents in this study are largely biased toward agriculture. It may, therefore, be concluded that the respondents be- lieve newspaper editors show a consistent preference for stories containing the news elements of high impact and/or local interest, since all the consensus items can be said to contain these elements. 38 Factor 1-Y, The Local Disaster Lover Evidence for the Sketch: Demogpaphics Factor l-Y, the Local Disaster Lover, is made up of twelve people -- eight men and four women. They range in age from 26 to 58, with the average age 37.6. Eleven are married and one is single. Five job descriptions are represented: two broadcast editors; four writers; two publications editors; one assistant senior editor; and three media persons.6 All persons on this factor have at least one college degree; seven have a bachelor's and five have a master's. Their degree majors include seven fields: one in TV/radio; four in journalism; two in agricultural communications; one in liberal arts; and one in English; one in special education; and two in history. For one person this is a first job. Only two of the re- spondents shared an employment history (as mass media em- ployees). Other job histories represented in the factor in- clude: agricultural broadcasting; agricultural publication editing; farming; military service; newspaper journalism; nursing; and specialized publication editing. Reported years of experience in extension/research information ranged from 1 to 31 years, with the average 9.2. Four respondents indicated interest in all subject matter areas common to extension/research information programs. Two indicated their major interest was in agriculture. One person listed an interest in u-H youth programs, one an interest in home economics, and one in agriculture and home 39 economics. The remaining respondents listed areas including urban gardening, journalism, and general news. Persons on the factor spent zero to 100 percent of their job time writing releases or scripts. The average was 28.33 percent. Five persons edit releases written by others. One person listed rewrite as a processing function of his/her job. The re- maining six respondents were either broadcast editors or listed no responsibilities of this nature -- thus indicating no processing activities on their parts. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Local Disaster Lover strongly agrees with the atti- tude statement "I think that releases from land grant uni- versity information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." [See Table 1] This response indicates that respondents on Factor l-Y are strongly supportive of the land grant phi- losophy as previously stated in Chapter I. (For a com- parison of attitude statement responses across all factors, both Y-mode and Z-mode, see Appendix I.) The Local Disaster Lover has a slightly negative response to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 2] This response may reflect the fact that none of the persons on Factor l-Y are in senior managerial positions. One might hypothesize TABLE 1: Fa NO ctor l-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 3 Strongly Agree +2 5 Very Strongly Agree +3 3 Average +1.83 TABLE 2: Fa ctor 1-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 3 Strongly Disagree -2 l Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 3 Agree +1 3 Strongly Agree +2 1 Average -0.58 41 that senior managers would be more conservative and more con- cerned with continued support of programs. They would thus have a more positive response to this statement. The Local Disaster Lover agrees with the attitude state- ment "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 3] Although news and education infor- mation are not incompatible, the nature of reporting in this field is such that breaking news stories are rare, while stories with educational focus are common. Thus, it appears that the Local Disaster Lover is confused about the relative importance of stories that report news versus stories that provide useful information [See Table 1, above]. TABLE 3: Factor l-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 7 Strongly Agree +2 2 Very Strongly Agree +3 2 Average +1.42 42 The Local Disaster Lover has a positive reaction to the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." [See Table 4] This favorable response may reflect the fact that respondents on Factor 1-Y are predominantly production persons. Thus, they would react favorably to a program emphasis that would either (a) reduce heavy work loads, or (b) allow them to in- crease the quality of each item they work on. TABLE 4: Factor 1-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 2 Agree +1 4 Strongly Agree +2 3 Very Strongly Agree +3 2 Average +1.25 43 Evidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis of the Local Disaster Lover based upon his/her interpretation and valuation of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other factor agreed (positive discriminating items). Also included are those items with which s/he disagreed more than any other factor (negative discriminating items). Where useful in clarification of the interpretation, reference to the rank order of items (descending array for the factor) also may be used. As noted previously in the brief sketch, the Local Dis- aster Lover gives higher priority to news stories that have elements of actual or implied tension and are of interest to a broad spectrum of potential readers. The Q-sort item that most positively differentiated the Local Disaster Lover from others contains the news elements of high impact and local interest (13). This item deals with energy conser- vation, a topic of major interest at the time of this writing. It might be considered to have an undertone of conflict in view of tightening American energy supplies. Average Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (13) Blue County is one of 1.794 -.168 1.961 15 Home State counties selected for a pilot study of energy con- servation in the home. News elements = High impact/Local interest r.- any. «1 Q ‘ .v\.v wk. .. “a 44 Conflict is clearly evident in the item that is the second highest positive discriminating item for the Local Disaster Lover (35). The conflict is general in nature, rather than specific. (No single individual is threatened or victimized; rather, an amorphous group is in conflict with nature.) This conflict involving humanity in general is common to all but one of the positive items that define the Local Disaster Lover (11, 16, 25, 6). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (35) President Carter has 1.664 -.042 1.706 promised federal aid after touring the popu- lous state of Home State that were ravaged by the recent flooding. News elements Conflict/Known principal (11) Watch out for prolonged 1.493 (Highly valued but not a exposure to the sun's discriminating item.) rays and for intense heat; outdoors and in- doors. Prolonged ex- posure could result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. News elements = High impact/Conflict (16) Tornados which ripped 1.274 (Highly valued but not a through the intensive discriminating item.) apple and peach pro- ducing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. News elements = Conflict/Local interest 45 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (6) TSU Extension agents .868 -.065 .932 and local White County police and fire agencies are mobilizing rescue crews armed with four- wheel drive vehicles, chain saws and portable electric generators in an attempt to rescue the estimated 250 rural families still stranded in the wake of the recent violent ice storm. News elements = Conflict/Local interest (25) Governor Johannas B. .886 .153 .733 Smythe maintains that the current coal miners' strike underscores the need for a federal energy policy to step up the de- velopment of nuclear power sources. News elements = Conflict/Known principal The only exception to this obvious preference for conflict situations of a general nature is one involving the state governor (a known principal) and a group of demonstrators (conflict). This item (5) is not given as much weight as the others, however. It is highly valued but not discriminating. (5) Home State Governor 1.073 (Highly valued but not a Johannas B. Smythe was discriminating item.) heckled by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal 46 An overall look at the Q-sort items that the Local Dis- aster Lover gives highest precedence to, and is distinguished by, provides the following analysis. The news element that occurs most frequently among the four discriminating items (13, 35, 6, and 25; see above) is conflict. It is present in three of the four items. The elements of local interest and known principal each occur twice in the four discriminating items. The element of high impact occurs once. When all items of import are considered (both discrimi- nating items and those highly valued7), the element of con- flict is by far and away the most frequent. It occurs six times in the seven news leads. High impact occurs twice. Thus, it is clear that the Local Disaster Lover has a strong preference for news stories containing conflict. Before he or she can be further defined, however, the negative side of his/her preferences must be examined. Three of the Q-sort items are highly discriminating in the sense that the Local Disaster Lover's Z-score rating of these items, when compared to the nearest or average Z-score for other factors, produces a difference of -2.0 or lower (27, 28, and 8). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (27) The competition will -2.659 .236 -2.895 be stiff for 4-H youth at the 1978 Home State Horse Show, August 22, at TSU. News elements = Conflict/Timely 47 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (28) Vice President Walter -2.380 .264 -2.644 Mondale will visit University City next month to deliver the Spring Commencement address at TSU. News elements = Known principal/Local interest (8) GRANT, Home State -- -1.405 .784 -2.189 Rep. Charles H. Varnum, Sherman, and Sen. Joseph S. Mack, Pickett, participated in the agricultural field day held at TSU's Up State Experiment Station. News elements = Known principal/Local interest The Local Disaster Lover rates an additional three items as having significantly low priority (36, 37, and 39). (36) The extended drought -l.787 .063 -1.850 that has hit White County has reduced ex- pected corn yields by almost 40 percent, according to County Cooperative Extension Service agricultural experts. News elements = Conflict/Local interest (37) What most people feel -0.883 .744 -1.627 has been screwy, un- settled weather the last few years may actually be a return to "normal" patterns, a weather specialist said yesterday. News elements = High impact/Conflict 48 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (39) Actor Robert Redford -l.166 .021 -l.187 announced support, yesterday (March 3), for Home State conser- vation groups that are fighting oil drilling on Home State owned forest sites. News elements = Known principal/Timely There is only one nondiscriminating item (17) to which the Local Disaster Lover gives significantly low priority. This item fits in with the other negatively rated items be- cause it it timely and because the conflict involved does not constitute human threat. (17) Home gardeners and -l.118 (Of significantly low pri- commercial sweet corn ority, but not a discrimi- growers should be aware nating item.) of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, it not destroy, their crop. News elements = Conflict/Timely An overall look at the Q-sort to which the Local Disaster Lover gives low priority provides the following analysis. The news elements that occur most frequently among the six discriminating items are known principal, conflict, and local interest. Each is present three times. The element of timeliness occurs twice, and the element of high impact occurs once . 49 When all the negative items of import are considered (both discriminating items and those of significantly low priority), the element of conflict occurs most frequently -- four times. The timely, known principal, and local interest elements occur three times each. High impact occurs once. At first glance there is an apparent contradiction between the Local Disaster Lover's highly valued and low priority items in that s/he rates conflict as the most significant news element at both ends of the value scale. A closer look at the conflict items, however, shows a difference in the type of conflict involved. In the highly valued items, the element of conflict concerns major disasters or direct threat to human welfare. In the significantly low priority items, the conflict element does not involve direct physical threats to humans or major community disruptions. On the basis of this comparison it can be said that the Local Disaster Lover takes a more traditional view of what is a major news story when the element of conflict is involved. Perhaps this prefer- ence is expressed on the premise that media editors are more likely to be attracted to the traditional page one news story than the softer, feature-type story that involves conflict. This preference for "hard news" copy over "feature" material is carried by the Local Disaster Lover into stories involving news elements other than conflict. The Local Dis- aster Lover gives negative marks to items that include tra- ditional agricultural activities and events directly associated 50 with the university (27, 28, 8, 36, and 17; see above). Only one such item occurs in the highly valued positive items (16; see above). When a comparison is made between the positive and negative valued items involving the elements of known principal and local interest, it is apparent that the Local Disaster Lover shows no positive or negative preference for these elements. Both occur three times in the highly valued items and three times in the significantly low priority items. The timely element presents a different picture, however. A timely element is present in three of the significantly low priority items, but it is conspicuous by its absence in the highly valued items. This is an apparent contradiction to the Local Disaster Lover's preference for "hard news" stories. Traditional journalism stresses timeliness as a major consideration in whether an editor is likely to use, or prominently place, a story. Evidently the Local Disaster Lover believes the proper type of conflict can compensate for the absence of timeliness. Items with high impact hold the least importance for the Local Disaster Lover. This element occurs twice in the highly valued items and once in the significantly low pri- ority items, for a total of three times. This frequency of selection is equal to the number of times the Local Disaster Lover selects items including the timely element. However, high impact is considered the least significant element be- cause it appears at both ends of the value scale. Timeliness ii; definitely considered a negative aspect. 51 Factor 1-Y accounts for 32.2 percent of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Y-mode. Factor 2-Y, The Timely One Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 2-Y, the Timely One, is made up of fourteen people -- two women and twelve men. They range in age from 29 to 62, with the average age 45.2. Eleven of the respon- dents are married, one is single, and one is divorced or separated. (One respondent did not indicate marital status.) Four job descriptions are represented: two broadcast editors, seven writers, three senior editors, and two assistant editors. All persons on this factor have at least one college degree -- eight have a master's and six have a bachelor's. Their degree majors are in ten fields; four are in journalism, two in agricultural communications, and one each in public relations and advertising, communications, English, agricultural economics, biology, history, education, and animal science. Two of the respondents had previous employment as editors of agricultural publications. Two others had been editors of specialized publications. Three had backgrounds at the county level of the Cooperative Extension Service. Other job histories represented include (one respondent each) newspaper journalism, military service, broadcaster, Co- operative Extension Service subject matter specialist, college professor in communications, and legislative as- sistant. For one person this is a first job. Reported 52 years of experience in extension/research information ranged from 2 to 35, with the average 12.4 years. Four respondents indicated they were interested in all subject matter areas common to extension/research information programs. Four indicated their major professional interest was in agriculture, one listed an interest in research, one listed an interest in 4-H youth programs, three indicated a multiple interest in agriculture and research, and one indi- cated a nontraditional interest. From zero to 80 percent of their job time was spent writing releases or scripts. The average time spent writing was 34.3 percent. Eight respondents indicated they processed releases (other than writing). Two functioned as editors, two others occasionally edited releases, and one was responsible for routing releases to media. Two others were director/ managers who gave out writing assignments and/or were re- sponsible for overseeing total staff production of release materials. One respondent handled releases as a function of his/her job as broadcast editor. The remaining six respondents indicated no responsibilities of this nature. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Timely One's opinion falls exactly between "agree" and "strongly agree" when it comes to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." [See Table 5] This response indicates that the Timely One is 53 supportive Of the land grant philosophy Of education. This philosophy is that education should be useful and readily available to the public. TABLE 5: Factor 2-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information tO an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 l Disagree -1 2 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 2 Strongly Agree +2 4 Very Strongly Agree +3 5 Average +1.50 The Timely One has a nearly neutral response to the atti- tude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on improving the image Of the institution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and govern- ment support." [See Table 6] This would imply that the Timely One would not be Opposed to releases that improved the university's image (a public relations function as opposed _ £ 54 to an educational function), as long as this activity did not interfere with release policies held to be Of greater importance. TABLE 6: Factor 2-Y -- Response tO the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 2 Strongly Disagree -2 2 Disagree -1 2 Neutral 0 2 Agree +1 0 Strongly Agree +2 2 Average (mean) -.286 Median 0.00 The Timely One has slight agreement with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information Offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 7] This attitude fits with his/her Opinion as expressed in Table 5. The Timely One could be viewed as seeing the news angle in a favorable light if it 55 is easily or naturally incorporated in the educational story, but it would be unusual for her/him to release a story for news purposes only. TABLE 7: Factor 2-Y -- Response tO the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 1 Strongly Disagree -2 0 Disagree -1 2 Neutral 0 2 Agree +1 5 Strongly Agree +2 3 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Average +.64 The Timely One has a positive reaction to the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality Of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information Offices and emphasis on quantity Of production should be decreased." [See Table 8] As is the case for the Local Disaster Lover, the Timely One's positive response to this attitude statement may re- flect the fact that the majority Of these persons have 56 production oriented jobs. They are reacting to heavy work loads or inadequate time for polishing each piece they work on. TABLE 8: Factor 2-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality Of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information Offices and emphasis on quantity Of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 l Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 3 Strongly Agree +2 6 Very Strongly Agree +3 3 Average (mean) +1.6 Evidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following is a detailed analysis Of the Timely One based on his/her interpretation and valuation Of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other factor agreed (positive discriminating items). Also included are those items with which s/he disagreed more than any other factor (negative discriminating items). Where useful for clarity, reference 57 to the rank order Of items (descending array for the factor) may also be used.8 As noted in the brief sketch, the Timely One prefers stories with an element Of timeliness. All three of the positive discriminating items that characterize the Timely One include the timely element (27, 9, and 40). Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (27) The competition will be 1.422 -.581 2.003 stiff for 4-H youth at the 1978 Home State Horse Show, August 22, at TSU. News elements = Conflict/Timely (9) Governor Johannas B. 1.625 -.241 1.866 Smythe pointed out the concern Of U.S. gover- nors for developing effective federal farm policy yesterday (March 23) during the annual governor's breakfast at TSU's Farmers' Week. News elements = Known principal/Timely (40) Eighty-five migrant 1.399 .206 1.192 students in Pickett will discover that summer school isn't all bad when Blue County's 4-H summer migrant program is implemented next Monday. News elements = Local interest/Timely 58 The timely element is still the common denominator for the Timely One when the analysis is expanded to include those items that are highly valued but not discriminating (l4 and 37). Thus, the timely element occurs in five Of the seven Q-sort items that are positively descriptive Of the Timely One's news value system. Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (14) Average retail food 1.269 (Highly valued but not a prices in 1978 are ex- discriminating item) pected to rise 4 to 6 percent above the average for 1977. Con- sumers can take comfort, however, in the fact that the same year-end forecasts call for an increase in average dis- posable income that should Offset the higher cost Of food. News elements = High impact/Timely (37) What most people feel 1.042 (Highly valued but not a has been screwy, un- discriminating item) settled weather the last few years may actually be a return to "normal" patterns, a weather specialist said yesterday. News elements = Conflict/Timely Other than the timely element, no single news element takes precedence over another in the positive discriminating items for this factor. The elements Of conflict, local interest, and known principal occur once each. In each case, the element is in combination with the timely element 59 (27, 9, and 40; see above). Conflict becomes a secondary determinant Of news value for the Timely One, however, when the highly valued, but not discriminating items are con- sidered tOO. The conflict element is present in four out Of the seven (11 and 16, below; and 27 and 37, see above). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (11) Watch out for prolonged 1.598 (Highly valued but not a exposure to the sun's discriminating item) rays and for intense heat outdoors and indoors. Prolonged exposure could result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. News elements = High impact/Conflict (16) Tornados which ripped 1.135 (Highly valued but not a through the intensive discriminating item) apple and peach producing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. News elements = Conflict/Local interest For the Timely One, the elements Of local interest and high impact are not major determinants in his/her choice Of the most highly rated releases. These elements occur only two times each in the seven positive items used tO describe the factor (40, 16, 11, and 14; see above). The element of known principal has the least effect on news choices made by the Timely One. It occurs only once in the positive items descriptive Of the Timely One (9; see above). 60 It thus becomes clear that the Timely One has a high preference for stories that are timely. If the story contains some element Of conflict, so much the better. The other news elements do not figure in his/her preferences, but the negative aspects Of these preferences must be considered before a com- plete picture of the Timely One emerges. For the Timely One, two of the Q-sort items are highly discriminating in the sense that his/her Z-score rating Of these items, when compared to the nearest or average Z-score for other factors, produces a difference of -2.0 or lower (5 and 31). Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (5) Home State Governor -2.604 .504 -3.108 Johannas B. Smythe was heckled by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal (31) The need for increased -1.643 .504 -2.228 world fOOd production and decreasing energy supplies will clash, with perhaps disastrous effects, in the next 10 to 15 years. News elements = High impact/Conflict The Timely One rates an additional four items as having significantly low priority (32, 25, 21, and 24). 61 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (32) Joe Frazier, former -1.710 .135 -l.845 World Boxing Associ- ation heavyweight champion, is taking on a new Opponent in Home State. The rival is drug abuse among youth. News elements = High impact/Known principal (25) Governor Johannas B. -0.985 .528 Smythe maintains that the current coal miners' strike underscores the need for a federal energy policy to step up the development Of nuclear power sources. News elements = Conflict/Known principal (21) Are there changes ahead -0.910 .142 for the Home State tax system? Several proposals are now being argued in the Home State Legislature and may appear on the November ballot. News elements = High impact/Conflict (24) Dieting may be -0.918 hazardous to your health, according to a report released Tuesday by the Home State Dietetic Association. News elements = High impact/Timely -1.513 -1.053 There are only two nondiscriminating items to which the Timely One gives a significantly low priority (30 and 2). 62 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (30) Mary E. Wahl was -l.281 (Of significantly low appointed TSU Cooper- priority, but not a dis- ative Extension Service criminating item) director for White County during the TSU Board Of Trustees meeting Tuesday (August 4). Wahl will assume her new position and duties on September 1. News elements = Local interest/Timely (2) The more people be- -l.ll4 (Of significantly low lieve that the energy priority, but not a dis- crisis is real, the more criminating item) they support policies advocated by President Carter. News elements = High impact/Known principal An overall lOOk at the Q-sort items to which the Timely One gives a low priority provides the following analysis. The news elements that occur most frequently in the six discriminating items are conflict and high impact. Each is present four times. The element of known principal occurs three times, and the timely element once. When all negative items are considered (both discrimi- nating and those Of significantly low priority), the element Of high impact occurs most frequently -- five times. The conflict and known principal elements occur four times each. The timely element is present twice and local interest is present only once. 63 Again (as with the Local Disaster Lover), there is an apparent contradiction between the Timely One's highly valued and low priority items. Although the timely element is clearly the major factor in his/her selection Of releases, conflict gets major consideration at both ends Of the value scale. The conflict items that the Timely One views posi- tively are by and large situations involving the natural environment (11, 16, and 37; see above). Only one Of the four items (27) involves conflict between people. Among the significantly low priority items involving conflict the Opposite is true. Three Of the items (5, 25, and 21; see above) involve conflict between humans. The remaining item (31) involves conflict between competing human demands for resources. From this review Of Timely One's preferences in regard to conflict it may be said that s/he believes that conflict in nature is apprOpriate, but that there is no place for reports Of human conflict in the land grant university news release. This opinion is in line with what appears to be a preference for news releases that are representative Of the traditional activity areas and information programs Of the Cooperative Extension Service: that is, promotional pieces or educational pieces in the areas Of youth programs, home economics, and agriculture. An examination shows that the Timely One places a very low priority on most items that contain the news element Of high impact. High impact occurs only twice in the positively 64 valued items. It is the most frequent news element in items Of significantly low priority, occurring five times. Further development Of this preference indicates that the Timely One takes a dim view Of releases that deal with major issues. For example, tOpics given very low priorities include: taxes; dieting and health; world food problems; and aspects Of the energy crisis including coal supplies, nuclear power, and electric generating capacity. Perhaps the Timely One sees these major issue stories as being in the realm Of media reporters or public relations experts in organizations other than land grant universities. For whatever reason, this attitude reflects the same value set mentioned in regard to the Timely One's attitude about the types Of conflict appropriate in releases from land grant university agricultural information Offices. Items containing the element Of known principal are also viewed negatively by the Timely One. This element appears four times in the significantly low priority items, once in the positively valued items. Even when combined with the timely element it only manages to appear once in the positive items (9; see above). The other three items in the Q-sort that contain the same news element combination (29, 19, and 39) are grouped toward the neutral point Of the Timely One's value scale. 65 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (29) American farmers are .805 (Seen as positive, but neither dependent on exports for highly valued nor discrimi- their livelihood, U.S. nating) Secretary Of Agriculture Robert Bergland said Friday, April 7. News elements = Known principal/Timely (19) The Budweiser Clydes- .796 (Seen as positive, but neither dales will be on the highly valued nor discrimi- TSU campus as part Of nating) the 30th annual Block and Bridle Club Horse Show, March 31 and April 1. News elements = Known principal/Timely (39) Actor Robert Redford -.7ll (Seen as negative, but neither announced support, yes- of significantly low priority terday (March 3), Of Home nor discriminating) State conservation groups that are fighting Oil drilling on Home State owned forest sites. News elements = Known principal/Timely The element Of local interest had the least effect on the Timely One's decision on individual releases. This element occurs twice in positively valued items and once in the items Of significantly low priority. Local interest apparently elicits a nearly neutral response in the Timely One. Perhaps s/he believes that emphasis on the timely element is enough to catch editors' attention and there is little need to emphasize local angles. Factor 2-Y accounts for 7.1 percent Of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Y-mode. 66 Factor 3-Y, The Home Towner Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 3-Y, the Home Towner, is made up Of seven people -- five men and two women. They range in age from 20 to 60; the average age is 44.3. Six are married and one is single. Three job descriptions are represented: three writers, two senior editors (managers), and two broadcast editors. All persons have an advanced college degree -- five a master's and two a Ph.D. Their degree majors include six fields: two in sociology and one each in agricultural communications, communications, extension education, speech, and home economics journalism. Three of the people were county agents for the Cooperative Extension Service before becoming agricultural information editors and reporters at a land grant university. Two listed a previous job in newspaper journalism. One reported having been a legislative assistant. One respondent failed tO indicate any previous job experience. Reported years Of experience in extension/research information ranged from 1 to 28 years, with the average 15.1. Two respondents indicated they were interested in all Of the subject matter areas common to extension/research information programs. Of the others, two indicated that their major interest was agriculture, two indicated home economics, and one indicated a nontraditional area of interest. 67 They spent from 10 to 100 percent Of their job time writing releases or scripts. The average was 38.6 percent. In re- sponse to the question of whether or not they handle or pro- cess releases (other than writing), three indicated they edit other persons' releases. Another three said they pro- cessed others' releases as a function Of their jobs as broad- cast editors. And one person indicated s/he occasionally edited others' releases. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Home Towner more than strongly agrees with the atti- tude statement "I think that releases from land grant uni- versity agricultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." [See Table 9] This response indicates that the Home Towner represents a behavioral segment that is, within the Y-mOde Of this study, one Of the most sup- portive Of the land grant philosophy as stated in Chapter I. The Home Towner disagrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus predominantly on improving the image Of the institution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 10] The Home Towner has a positive response to the state- ment "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information Offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 11] This positive attitude about 68 TABLE 9: Factor 3-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 2 Very Strongly Agree +3 4 Average +2.492 TABLE 10: Factor 3-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image Of the insti- tution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government sup- port." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 2 Strongly Disagree -2 1 Disagree -1 2 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 1 Average -l.286 I I 69 news, coupled with the Home Towner's strong preference for educational releases, gives rise to the hypothesis that s/he would give highest priority tO stories that manage tO contain both Of these attributes. TABLE 11: Factor 3-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 4 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Average +1.571 The Home Towner has favorable response to the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality Of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information Offices and emphasis on quantity Of production should be decreased." [See Table 12] Eyidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following is a detailed analysis Of the Home Towner based on his/her interpretation and valuation of certain 70 TABLE 12: Factor 3-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality Of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information Offices and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 3 Strongly Agree +2 1 Very Strongly Agree +3 2 Average +1.57l items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other factor agreed (positive dis- criminating items) and those items with which s/he disagreed more than any other factor (negative discriminating items). Where useful for clarity, reference to the rank order Of items (descending array for the factor) may also be used. As indicated in the section on brief sketches of each factor, the Home Towner is best characterized by his/her clear preference for releases with a local tie. S/he apparently believes that the best way to get a media editor to use a release is to make sure it involves something or someone relevant to the editor's community. This attitude 71 is reflected by the fact that six Of the ten positive dis- criminating items contain the local interest news element (26, 18, 10, 23, 20, and 16). Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Score (Z-Ave. Z) (26) Yes, it's true; eating 1.166 -.590 1.756 too much fish from Green County's Green Water Lake could be hazardous to your health. News elements = Conflict/Local interest (18) Actor-rancher John 1.092 -.469 1.561 Wayne and TSU will have something in common the fourth week Of March -- both will be praising agriculture. News elements = Known principal/Local interest (10) A petite TSU freshman 1.528 -.007 1.536 from Pope was named the Home State Honey Queen during the Home State Beekeepers Association annual pageant Tuesday night (March 21). News elements = Local interest/Timely (23) Leakage from a chemi- 1.434 .011 1.422 cal burial site in Brown County may have contaminated the munici- pal water supply for Meade, Home State. News elements = High impact/Local interest 72 Average Of Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (20) OMAHA, Neb. -- A1 Culham, a TSU junior from Gregg, Home State, was top individual point gainer at the National Meat Animal Evaluation Contest held here Tuesday. 1.040 .256 News elements = Local interest/Timely (16) Tornados which ripped through the intensive apple and peach pro- ducing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. 1.281 .216 News elements = Conflict/Local interest Difference (Z-Ave. Z) 1.296 1.065 The news element Of quency of occurrence in of the Home Towner. It these cases involve the interest (26 and 16; see above). conflict and other elements (1, that involves direct personal conflict is item 15. conflict has the second highest fre- the positive discriminating items is present five times. Two Of combination of conflict and local The other three involve 31, and 15). The only item The others involve conflicts that influence a broad segment, if not all, Of the community in each item. 73 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (1) Can we do something 1.276 -.714 1.990 about the weather? Well, yes and no, and a new publication sponsored by agri- cultural experiment stations in the North Central Region Of the United States tells us why the prediction varies. News elements = High impact/Conflict (31) The need for increased 1.465 -.037 1.501 world food production and decreasing energy supplies will clash, with perhaps disastrous effects, in the next 10 to 15 years. News elements = High impact/Conflict (15) Secretary Of Agri- 1.076 -.383 1.459 culture Robert Bergland was the target of eggs thrown by American Agri- culture Movement demon- strators who intercepted the Secretary's motor- cade as it left the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal The third most frequently occurring news element in the Home Towner's positive discriminating items is high impact. It occurs four times in the 10 items. In three instances it is combined with conflict or local interest (1, 31, and 23; see above). In the other, it appears with the timely element (24). The relatively high frequency of appearance 74 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (24) Dieting may be .725 -.268 .992 hazardous to your health, according to a report released Tuesday by the Home State Dietetic Association. News elements = High impact/Timely for this news element strengthens the idea, advanced in relation to the conflict element, that another preference for the Home Towner is the story that has broad general interest. The elements Of timeliness and known principal also occur in the Home Towner's positive discriminating items; three times and twice, respectively. They have no real bearing on his/her top story selections, however, since they are combined with other elements that were the over- riding influence in making the choices. (1, 18, 15, 20, and 24; see above) A review of the negative discriminating items confirms this. It shows that the timely element is the one element most likely to make the Home Towner eschew a particular release. The timely element occurs in four Of the five negative discriminating items. (17, 40, 14, and 4) 75 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (17) Home gardeners and -2.044 .186 commercial sweet corn growers should be aware of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, if not destroy, their crop. News elements = Conflict/Timely (40) Eighty-five migrant -l.34l .754 students in Pickett will discover that summer school isn't all that bad when Blue County's special 4-H summer migrant program is implemented next Monday. News elements = Local interest/Timely (14) Average retail food -l.706 .142 prices in 1978 are ex- pected to rise 4 to 6 percent above the average for 1977. Consumers can take comfort, however, in the fact that the same year-end forecasts call for an increase in average disposable income that should Offset the higher cost of food. News elements = High impact/Timely (4) UNIVERSITY CITY -- -l.687 .063 There will be more epi- sodes like the mercury contamination incident that continue to rock the private, industrial and political sectors Of Home State, a national authority on toxic chemicals said here Thursday. News elements = High impact/Timely -2.230 -2.095 -1.848 -1.750 76 The remaining negative discriminating item (35) contains the element of conflict. Overall, conflict occurs four times at the negative end of the Home Towner's value scale. It occurs twice in the discriminating items (17, see above; and 35) and twice in the items that are rated of significantly low priority but not discriminating (11 and 36). High impact also occurs four times in those items that the Home Towner views negatively. It occurs twice in the discriminating items (14 and 4; see above) and twice in the items rated of significantly low priority but not discrimi- nating (34 and 11). Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (35) President Carter has -.735 .437 -l.l72 promised federal aid after touring the pOp- ulous areas of Home State that were ravaged by the recent flooding. News elements Conflict/Known Principal (11) Watch out for prO- -1.364 (Of signifincantly low longed exposure to the priority, but not a dis- sun's rays and for in- criminating item) tense heat outdoors and indoors. Prolonged ex- posure could result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. News elements = High impact/Conflict 77 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (36) The extended drought -1.256 (Of significantly low that has hit White priority, but not a dis- County has reduced ex- criminating item) pected corn yields by almost 40 percent, according to County COOperative Extension Service agricultural experts. News elements = Conflict/Local interest (34) "Women are the largest -l.377 (Of significantly low single minority in the priority, but not a dis- nation," a Home State criminating item) legislator told the more than 1,200 par- ticipants at College Week, which Opened today on the TSU campus. News elements = High impact/Timely As in previous factors, the analyst is again presented with the problem of elements of secondary importance that appear with equal, or nearly equal, frequency in both the positive items and the negative items. In the case Of the Home Towner the elements are conflict and high impact. A review Of the items involved shows no discernible difference between the positive and negative items in regard to the type of conflict or the type of high impact. In other words, the Home Towner apparently does not discriminate between types of conflict or types Of high impact, and his/her decision is based on the presence of other elements in the item. For the Home Towner, the timely element has the greatest effect. As stated previously, the Home Towner rates 78 timeliness as the element most likely to make a news release undesirable. It is this tendency of the Home Towner to negatively rate the timely element that has caused the apparent conflict between his/her attitude about the conflict and high impact elements. In the negative dis- criminating items, the timely element is combined with high impact twice and with conflict once. If these items are eliminated from the evaluation, the problem is partially resolved, and conflict and high impact can be considered to have a slightly positive effect on the Home Towner's choice of news items. Throughout the array Of items, the element Of known principal is the one that has the most neutral impact on the Home Towner's decisions. It appears only twice in the positive items and twice in the negative items (18, 15 and 39, 35; respectively). Factor 3-Y accounts for 3.8 percent of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Y-mode. Factor 4-Y, The Critical Rationalist Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 4-Y, the Critical Rationalist, is made up of three pe0p1e -- two men and one woman. They range in age from 27 to 38, with the average age 33.7. Two Of the respondents are married and one is single. Three job descriptions are represented: one broadcast editor, one publications editor, and one assistant senior editor. All three have bachelor's degrees. One respondent failed to 79 list a major field Of study. The other two listed journalism and agricultural communications. One did not indicate previous job experience. The broadcast editor indicated a prior job in commercial agri- cultural broadcasting. The remaining person had previous jOb experience in newspaper journalism. Reported years Of experience in extension/research information ranged from one to sixteen, with the average 7 years. Two of the re- spondents indicated they were interested in all Of the subject matter areas common to extension/research information programs. The remaining respondent indicated that his/her major professional interest was in agriculture. These three spent 10 to 50 percent of their job time writing releases or scripts. The average time spent writing was 36.7 percent. In response to the question of whether they handle or pro- cess releases (other than writing), one person indicated s/he edited releases written by others. One person listed rewrite as a processing function of his/her job. The re- maining person used or reworked releases as part of his/her job as a broadcast editor. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Critical Rationalist agrees with the attitude state- ment "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." [See Table 13] This indicates that Factor 4-Y respondents are supportive of the land grant philosophy as stated in Chapter I. 80 TABLE 13: Factor 4-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 0 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 The Critical Rationalist has an almost neutral response to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 14] Though the emotions are mixed, the Critical Rationalist sees this public relations function in a slightly negative light. The Critical Rationalist agrees with the attitude state- ment "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 15] The Critical Rationalist, like the three previous factors in the Y-mode, sees a need both for stories that educate and stories that focus on news. 81 TABLE 14: Factor 4-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 l Strongly Disagree -2 0 Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 0 Strongly Agree +2 1 TABLE 15: Factor 4-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural offices should focus predominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Agree +1 3 The Critical Rationalist has a neutral response to the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be put on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." 82 [See Table 16] Although the average response is neutral, the majority of these respondents agree with the statement about production emphasis. TABLE 16: Factor 4-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural infor- mation offices, and emphasis on quantity Of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 l Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 2 Evidence for the Sketch: _Q-Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis Of the Critical Rationalist based on his/her interpretation and valuation of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other factor agreed (positive discriminating items) and those that s/he disagreed with more than any other factor (negative dis- criminating items). Where useful for clarity, reference to the rank order of items (descending array for the factor) may also be made. The Critical Rationalist has a unique thought process that determines his/her news release priority. As indicated 83 in the brief sketches section Of this chapter, the Critical Rationalist decides which stories to use on the basis Of dislikes. There are no positive discriminating items to which the Critical Rationalist gives a clear preference. Instead, three of the five news elements get equal ratings in the four positive discriminating items (38, 14, 5, and 3). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (38) Nobel Peace Prize 2.195 -.287 2.482 winner Dr. Norman Borlaug will visit the TSU small grains re- search station near Hooker, Home State, on a tour Of Home State agricultural research facilities slated for next month. News elements = Known principal/Local interest (14) Average retail food 1.725 -.544 2.269 prices in 1978 are ex- pected to rise 4 to 6 percent above the average for 1977. Con- sumers can take comfort, however, in the fact that the same year-end forecasts call for an in- crease in average dispos- able income that should Offset the higher cost of food. News elements = High impact/Timely 84 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (5) Home State Governor 1.455 -.308 1.763 Johannas B. Smythe was heckled by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal (3) Home State currently 1.070 -.189 1.259 has approximately 50 days coal supply with which to fire generators that produce electricity; and with that dwindling supply is the growing prospect of rolling blackouts throughout the state. Major cities that may be hardest hit include Ewell, Hancock, and Stuart. News elements = High impact/Local interest As indicated in the items above, the news elements of known principal, local interest, and high impact occur twice each in the Critical Rationalist's positive discrimi- nating items. The other two elements, conflict and time- liness, occur once each (14 and 5; see above). From this it becomes apparent that the Critical Rationalist has no clear preference for one news element over the others. Even when the one item that is highly valued but not discriminating is considered, there is no really clear preference (39). 85 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (39) Actor Robert Redford 1.001 (Highly valued but not a announced support discriminating item) yesterday (March 3) of Home State con- servation groups that are fighting Oil dril- ling on Home State owned forest sites. News elements = Known principal/Timely Adding item 39 to the analysis gives the news element of known principal the highest preference ranking, by one occurrence. However, a closer look at the items containing known principal is necessary. Examination indicates that all three have some flavor of local interest. One contains the local interest element (38; see above) and the other two (5 and 39; see above) deal with people and problems well known enough to create a local news angle in the eyes Of the editor. Thus, it may be concluded that the Critical Rationalist prefers the news story with a local angle; if s/he has a preference at all. This assumption is reinforced by the Critical Rationalist's ranking Of the known principal and high impact elements in the negatively valued items, which are discussed below. The real key to how the Critical Rationalist chooses one news release over another is found in the items to which s/he gives negative ratings. In the negative dis- criminating items, the elements of known principal and high impact occur five times and four times, respectively. 86 In fact, these elements are found, in combination or singly, in all the negative discriminating items (11, 18, 19, 29, 22, 34, and 2).' The timely element is present three times (19, 34, and 29). The elements of conflict and local interest are present once each (11 and 8, respectively). From this it becomes apparent that the Critical Rationalist has a definite prejudice against items with the elements of known principal and high impact. Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (11) Watch out for pro- -2.058 .642 -2.700 longed exposure to the sun's rays and for in- tense heat outdoors and indoors. Prolonged ex- posure could result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. News elements = High impact/Conflict (18) Actor-rancher John -2.l26 .174 -2.301 Wayne and TSU will have something in common the fourth week Of March -- both will be praising agri- culture. News elements = Known principal/Local interest (19) The Budweiser Clydes- -1.691 .221 -l.912 dales will be on the TSU campus as part of the 30th annual Block and Bridle Club Horse Show, March 31 and April 1. News elements = Known principal/Timely 87 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (29) American farmers are -0.823 .493 -1.316 dependent on exports for their livelihood, U.S. Secretary Of Agri- culture Robert Bergland said Friday, April 7. News elements = Known principal/Timely (22) According to former -0.945 .242 -l.187 First Lady Betty Ford, child abuse is on the increase in the United States. Suspected cases of child abuse and neglect have in- creased more than 50 percent in the last six years. News elements = High impact/Known principal (34) "Women are the largest -l.396 -.237 -1.159 single minority in the nation," a Home State legislator told the more than 1,200 par- ticipants at College Week, which Opened today on the TSU campus. News elements = High impact/Timely (2) The more pe0ple be- -1.289 -.251 -1.038 lieve that the energy crisis is real, the more they support policies advocated by President Carter. News elements = High impact/Known principal 88 Including the items to which the Critical Rationalist gives significantly low priority, but are not discrimi- nating, does nothing to change the developing picture of his/her news value system. In fact, these items strengthen the suppositions made previously (1 and 12). The news elements in these items bring the element totals for all negatively viewed items to the following figures: Known principal and high impact occur six times each; timeliness occurs three times; conflict occurs twice; and local interest is present only once in the nine items. Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (1) Can we do something -1.386 (Of significantly low about the weather? priority, but not a dis- Well, yes and no, and criminating item) a new publication sponsored by agri- cultural experiment stations in the North Central Region Of the United States tells us why the prediction varies. News elements = High impact/Conflict (12) Governor Johannas B. -1.017 (Of significantly low Smythe's recently priority, but not a dis- announced tax cuts criminating item) will not have a major impact on the income tax paid by the ave- rage Home State family. News elements = High impact/Known principal 89 A synopsis Of the evidence indicates that the Critical Rationalist has strong feelings about stories that s/he does not like. Releases that contain the news elements of known principal or high impact are least likely to be given high priority by the Critical Rationalist. On the positive side, the Critical Rationalist does not appear to have any particular news element preference that will ensure high priority for a news release. If there is any news element that has a positive effect on the Critical Rationalist it is local interest. This preference is not clearly expressed in the Q-sort, however. It only be- comes apparent after close examination of the Critical Rationalist's ranking of other news elements. Other elements that are ranked positively, particularly the known principal element, contain aspects of local interest even though is is not an apparent part Of the item's element pair. Also, known principal and high impact have very strong negative ratings that detract from their presence in the positive discriminating items. These considerations strip away some Of the ambiguity that is caused by the fact that local interest, known principal, and high impact occur twice each in the positive dis- criminating items. Local interest stands alone as the dominant positive element--but a rather weak one. Factor 4-Y accounts for 2.9 percent Of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Y-Mode. 90 Factor 5-Y, The Broad Generalist Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 5-Y, the Broad Generalist, is made up Of two people -- one woman and one man. The range in age is from 30 to 55, with the average 42.5. Both respondents are married. Both are writers, although one also functions as a publications editor occasionally. One majored in English and the other in agriculture. Both indicate previous job experience before working in extension/research information. One was the editor Of an agricultural trade publication and the other held a job in advertising. Reported years Of experience in ex- tension/research information are 2 and 21 years, with the average 11.5. One of the respondents was primarily interested in the traditional field of agriculture. The other had a multiple interest in agriculture and food marketing. They spent, respectively, 20 and 30 percent Of their job time writing releases or scripts. In response to the question of whether they handle or process releases produced by Others, both indicated they did not. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Broad Generalist more than strongly agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful in- formation to an audience)." [See Table 17] Again, this 91 positive response shows that the Broad Generalist agrees with previous factors in their support of the land grant philosophy, as stated in Chapter I. TABLE 17: Factor 5-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Strongly Agree +2 1 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 The Broad Generalist strongly agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 18] Apparently, the Broad Generalist sees no conflict Of interest between the edu- cational and public relations functions of the typical agricultual information Office. The Broad Generalist has a neutral response to the state- ment "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 19] 92 TABLE 18: Factor 5-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 0 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 TABLE 19: Factor 5-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 1 Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 0 Strongly Agree +2 1 93 S/he more than strongly agrees with the attitude state- ment "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." [See Table 20] As indicated previously, this strongly positive response may be partly due to the fact that Broad Generalists are production people without administrative or quasi- administrative functions. TABLE 20: Factor 5-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural infor- mation Offices, and emphasis on quantity Of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Strongly Agree +2 1 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Evidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis Of the Broad Generalist based on his/her interpretation and valu- ation Of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other factor agreed (positive discriminating items) and those that s/he disagreed with more than any other factor (negative dis- criminating items). Where useful for clarity, reference 94 to the rank order of items (descending array for the factor) may also be made. As noted in the brief sketches, the Broad Generalist gives preference to news releases that deal with or have impact on a major segment of the general public. This is not to say that a major segment of readers will be inter- ested in the story. Rather, the Broad Generalist sees this type of story as the most important in their role as a university agricultural information editor. This is verified by the fact that the high impact element appears in six of the eight discriminating items for the factor (34, 11, 12, 22, 33, and 2). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (34) "Women are the largest 1.592 -.835 2.427 single minority in the nation," a Home State legislator told the more than 1,200 par- ticipants at College Week which Opened today on the TSU campus. News elements = High impact/Timely (11) Watch out for pro- 2.007 -.171 2.177 longed exposure to the sun's rays and for in- tense heat outdoors and indoors. Prolonged exposure could result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. News elements = High impact/Conflict 95 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (12) Governor Johannas B. 2.007 -.526 2.075 Smythe's recently announced tax cuts will not have a major impact on the income tax paid by the average Home State family. News elements = High impact/Known principal (22) According to former 1.259 -.199 1.458 First Lady Betty Ford, child abuse is on the increase in the United States. Suspected cases of child abuse and neglect have increased more than 50 percent in the last six years. News elements = High impact/Known principal (33) White County has been 1.051 -.l24 1.175 selected as the site for a TSU study of family mobility that is ex- pected to last for 20 years. News elements = High impact/Local interest (2) The more people be- .261 -.561 .822 lieve that the energy crisis is real, the more they support policies advocated by President Carter. News elements = High impact/Known principal It may be speculated that the Broad Generalist compen- sates for the potentially weaker effect of high impact on media editors by giving a high preference to stories with 96 a known principal. This element is the second most fre- quent element in the positive discriminating items for the factor, occurring five times [12, 22 and 2 (see above); and 19 and 29]. The known principal element also domi- Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (19) The Budweiser Clydes- 1.425 -.402 1.827 dales will be on the TSU campus as part of the 30th annual Block and Bridle Club Horse Show, March 31 and April 1. News elements = Known principal/Timely (29) American farmers are 1.343 .059 1.283 dependent on exports for their livelihood, U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Robert Bergland said Friday, April 7. News elements = Known principal/Timely nates the positive elements that are considered significant but not discriminating (9 and 32). When all the positive items are considered, both discriminating and those highly (9) Governor Johannas B. 1.217 (Highly valued but not Smythe pointed out a discriminating item) the concern Of U.S. governors for de- veloping effective federal farm policy, yesterday (March 23), during the annual governor's breakfast at TSU's Farmers' Week. News elements = Known principal/Timely 97 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (32) Joe Frazier, former (Highly valued but not World Boxing Associa- a discriminating item) tion heavyweight cham- pion, is taking on a new opponent in Home State. The rival is drug abuse among youth. News elements = High impact/Known principal valued but not discriminating, the high impact and known principal elements each occur seven times. High impact is the most significant element for the Broad Generalist, however, because it is the dominant element in the dis- criminating items. After high impact and known principal, the next most frequent element in the Broad Generalist's positive items is timeliness (34, 19, 29 and 9; see above). The remaining news elements, conflict and local interest, each occur once in the positive items (11 and 33, respectively; see above). If there is one thing that can turn Off the Broad Generalist it is the element Of local interest. As men- tioned above, s/he gives high preference to items with high impact and/or known principal elements. These two positive elements each appear twice in the negative dis- criminating items for the factor. In three of these four cases, the positively viewed element is paired with the local interest element (38, 13 and 23). In addition, 98 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (38) Nobel Peace Prize -1.817 .516 -2.333 winner Dr. Norman Borlaug will visit the TSU small grains re- search station near Hooker, Home State, on a tour of Home State agricultural research facilities slated for next month. News elements = Known principal/Local interest (13) Blue County is one of -0.944 .380 -1.324 15 Home State Counties selected for a pilot study of energy conser- vation in the home. News elements = High impact/Local interest (23) Leakage from a chemi- -0.569 .412 -0.981 cal burial site in Brown County may have contaminated the munici- pal water supply for Meade, Home State. News elements = High impact/Local interest local interest appears four more times in the negative dis- criminating items for the factor (26, 30, 20 and 10), for a total Of seven times. (26) Yes, it's true, eating -2.192 .082 -2.274 too much fish from Green County's Green Water Lake could be hazardous to your health. News elements = Conflict/Local interest 99 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (30) Mary E. Wahl was ap- -1.902 .106 -2.008 pointed TSU Coopera- tive Extension Service director for White County during the TSU Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday (August 4). Wahl will assume her new position and duties on September 1. News elements = Local interest/Timely (20) OMAHA, Neb. -- Al -l.069 .165 -1.235 Culham, a TSU junior from Gregg, Home State, was tOp individual point gainer at the National Meat Animal Evaluation Contest held here Tuesday. News elements = Local interest/Timely (10) A petite TSU freshman -0.738 .446 -l.183 from POpe was named Home State Honey Queen during the Home State Beekeepers Association annual pageant Tuesday night (March 21). News elements = Local interest/Timely The timely element occurs four times in the negative discriminating items for the factor [30, 20, 10 (see above), and 7]. The Broad Generalist feels most neutral about this element. It appears with approximately equal fre- quency in both the positive and negative items descriptive of the factor. 100 Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (7) Dry weather has forced -.861 .425 -l.287 the cancellation Of an afternoon dairy-forage clinic to be held at the TSU Experiment Station near McClellan July 26. News elements = Local interest/Timely Although the timely element occurs more frequently than the conflict element in the negative items, the Broad Generalist sees conflict as the more negative Of the two. Conflict occurs only once in the positive discriminating items, but three times in the negative discriminating items [26, 7 (see above), and 15]. (15) Secretary of Agricul- -l.652 .162 -1.815 ture Robert Bergland was the target Of eggs thrown by American Ag- riculture Movement demonstrators who inter- cepted the Secretary's motorcade as it left the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal The news elements that appear least frequently in the negative discriminating items that describe the Broad Generalist are high impact and known principal. Each occurs twice. High impact occurs in items 13 and 23 (see above) and known principal occurs in items 38 and 15 (see above). 101 In summary, the evidence indicates that the Broad Gen- eralist prefers news releases with a subject that is of import to a major audience or significant segment of the public. If the story involves a known principal, the odds are also good that the Broad Generalist will give it a high priority. Conversely, s/he shuns the story with an element of local interest. Evidently s/he believes this is not an important factor in decisions made by media editors when screening public relations releases. Factor 5-Y accounts for 2.1 percent Of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Y-mode. Factor 6-Y,pThe Timely Too Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 6-Y, the Timely TOO, is made up of three people -- two women and one man. They range in age from 24 to 43, with the average age 30.7. None is married. Two are single and one is divorced or separated. Two are writers and the other is a working journalist in the media. Each has a college degree: one bachelor's, one master's, and one Ph.D. The major fields of study listed by the respondents are English, public relations and advertising, and agricultural communications. Two of the Timely TOO respondents list their present employment as their first job. The other person had previous experience in commercial broadcasting. All have a relatively limited number of years in agricultural infor- mation work. Two report two years of experience and the 102 other reports three years. The average is 2.33. Each respondent indicates a different area of professional interest. The three areas are traditional in agricul- tural information programs at land grant universities. They are agriculture, home economics, and 4-H youth pro- grams. All three persons spend a significant part of their working time on the production of news releases for print media and/or scripts for broadcast media. The range is from 30 to 50 percent of job time in such endeavors. The average for the factor is 40 percent. None of the respon- dents indicated s/he had responsibilities involving the handling of releases or scripts (other than writing).9 Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Timely Too agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." [See Table 21] The Timely Too is the last of the six factors in the Y-mode (respondents playing the role of senior editor/ manager on an agricultural information staff at a land grant university). So this Timely Too response indicates that all of the six representative types support the land grant philosophy of making useful information widely avail- able to the public. The Timely Too has an almost neutral response to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus 103 TABLE 21: Factor 6-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 l Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 0 Strongly Agree +2 1 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 predominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 22] The Timely Too more than agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant uni- versity agricultural information Offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 23] Again, the Timely Too joins other Y-mode factors in seeing a need both for stories that educate and stories that focus on news. Although the two foci are not mutually exclusive, an agricultural information writer is Often hard pressed to find a story that combines the two. Rather, it can be hypothesized that this twin-headed perceived need has its roots in two distinct motives. The positive reaction 104 TABLE 22: Factor 6-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the in- stitution so that teaching, research, and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 2 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 0 Strongly Agree +2 0 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 TABLE 23: Factor 6-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 2 to stories that educate may be traced to the individual's professional ethics as influenced and expressed by the land grant philosophy. The positive reaction to stories that focus on news (that is, hard news in the commonly accepted 105 journalistic sense) may be traced to the individual's under- standing that a release must have a strong attraction so media editors will be inclined to use it. The Timely Too strongly agrees with the attitude state- ment "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased. [See Table 24] This response is the strongest (either negative or positive) expressed by the Timely Too. Perhaps, as ad- vanced earlier, this is a function of the relative in- experience of the Timely Too. Or it could be a result of the fact that s/he is primarily concerned with produc- tion aspects of public relations, as opposed to admini- strative functions. TABLE 24: Factor 6-Y -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural in- formation offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 0 Very Strongly Agree +3 2 106 Evidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis of the Timely Too based on his/her interpretation and valuation of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other factor agreed (positive discriminating items) and those that s/he disagreed with more than any other factor (negative discriminating items). Where useful for clarity, refer- ence to the rank order of items (descending array for the factor) may also be made. The Timely Too derives his/her name from the positive news element to which s/he gives highest priority and from the fact that s/he represents the second factor in the Y-mode to give preference to releases containing the timely element (30, 39, 17, 7, and 4). Thus, the timely element occurs in five of the eight positive discriminating items for the factor. Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (30) Mary E. Wahl was ap- 1.841 -.643 2.483 pointed TSU COOperative Extension Service director for White County during the TSU Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday (August 4). Wahl will assume her new position and duties on September 1. News elements = Local interest/Timely 107 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (39) Actor Robert Redford 1.548 -.522 2.070 announced support yes- terday (March 3) of Home State conservation groups that are fighting oil drilling on Home State owned forest sites. News elements = Known principal/Timely (l7) ' Home gardeners and com- 1.293 -.481 1.773 mercial sweet corn growers should be aware of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, if not destroy, their crop. News elements = Conflict/Timely (7) Dry weather has forced 1.231 .007 1.225 the cancellation of an afternoon dairy-forage clinic to be held at the TSU Experiment Station near McCellan, July 26. News elements = Conflict/Timely (4) UNIVERSITY CITY -- .633 -.401 1.034 There will be more epi- sodes like the mercury contamination incident that continues to rock the private, industrial, and political sectors of Home State, a national authority on toxic chemi- cals said here Thursday. News elements = High impact/Timely 108 The news element to which the Timely Too gives the second highest priority is known principal. It occurs three times in the positive discriminating items for the factor [39 (see above), 32 and 8]. At first glance it would seen that the Timely Too has no preference between items containing known principal and the element of con- flict. Known principal carries greater weight in de- scribing the Timely Too, however. The average Z-score difference value (AZD) is higher for known principal than for conflict.lo Also, the element of conflict appears more frequently in combination with the preferred element of timeliness than does known principal. (The conflict/ timely combination occurs twice; the known principal/ timely combination occurs only once.) The single highly valued, but not discriminating, item for the factor (5) does not change the analysis. It contains both the known principal and conflict elements. Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (32) Joe Frazier, former 1.177 -.442 1.620 World Boxing Associ- ation heavyweight champion, is taking on a new opponent in Home State. The rival is drug abuse among youth. News elements = Known principal/High impact 109 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (8) GRANT, Home State -- 1.545 .194 1.351 Rep. Charles H. Varnum, Sherman, and Sen. Joseph S. Mack, Pickett, parti- cipated in the agricul- tural field day held at TSU's Up State Experiment Station. News elements = Local interest/Known principal (5) . Home State Governor - 1.293 (Highly valued but not Johannas B. Smythe was a discriminating item) heckled by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal As mentioned above, the news element of conflict occurs three times in the positive discriminating items that de- scribe the Timely Too [l7 and 7 (see above), and 36]. It occurs also in the highly valued but not discriminating item (5; see above). (36) The extended drought 1.066 -.507 1.573 that has hit White County has reduced ex- pected corn yields by almost 40 percent, according to County Cooperative Extension Service agricultural experts. News elements = Conflict/Local interest Local interest is the fourth most frequently occurring news element in the positively valued items descriptive 110 of the Timely Too. This element occurs three times (30, 36 and 8; see above). The elements of known principal and conflict also occur three times, in the positive discriminating items. Local interest gets a lower pri- ority because it is present one less time when all posi- tively valued items are considered. The news element of high impact occurs only twice in the positively valued items for the factor (32 and 4; see above). As is to be expected, a review of the negative dis- criminating items that describe the Timely Too's dis- likes shows the elements of high impact and local interest most likely to give a release low priority. Each of these elements occurs four times in the negative discriminating items. In two of the cases, the elements are in combination (6, 3, 1, 16, 12, and 33). The two elements have equal weight in the Timely Too's decision making.ll Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (6) TSU Extension agents -1.254 .360 -l.614 and local White County police and fire agencies are mobilizing rescue crews armed with four wheel drive vehicles, chain saws and portable electric generators in an attempt to rescue the estimated 250 rural fami- lies still stranded in the wake of the recent violent ice storm. News elements = Conflict/Local interest 111 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (3) Home State currently -l.143 .253 -l.396 has approximately 50 days coal supply with which to fire genera- tors that produce elec- tricity; and with that dwindling supply is the growing prospect of rolling blackouts throughout the state. Major cities that may be hardest hit include Ewell, Hancock and Stuart. News elements = High impact/Local interest (1) Can we do something -l.507 -.158 -1.349 about the weather? Well, yes and no, and a new publication sponsored by agricultural experiment stations in the North Central Region of the United States tells us why the prediction varies. News elements = High impact/Conflict (l6) Tornados which ripped -0.620 .596 -1.216 through the intensive apple and peach pro- ducing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. News elements = Conflict/Local interest (12) Governor Johannas B. -l.l75 .019 -l.l93 Smythe's recently announced tax cuts will not have a major impact on the income tax paid by the average Home State family. News elements = High impact/Known principal 112 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (33) White County has been -.811 .248 -l.059 selected as the site for a TSU study of family mobility that is expected to last for 20 years. News elements = High impact/Local interest The third most frequent news element in the Timely Too's negative discriminating items is the element of conflict. It occurs three times in the seven items (6, 1 and 16; see above). It is interesting to note that all of these stories deal with weather related forms of conflict. Apparently the Timely Too has a cloudy attitude when it comes to stories involving the age-old conflict between humankind and the weather. The Timely Too places the lowest priority on items containing the elements of known principal and timeliness. Known principal occurs twice in the negative discriminating items for the factor [12 (see above) and 9]. (9) Governor Johannas B. -.944 .273 -l.2l7 Smythe pointed out the concern of U.S. governors for developing effective federal farm policy, yes- terday (March 23) during the annual governor's breakfast at TSU's Farmers' Week. News elements = Known principal/Timely 113 The timely element occurs once (9; see above) in the negative discriminating items for the factor. This fur- ther confirms the idea that the Timely Too's preference is for releases that contain the timely element. In summary, it can be said that the Timely Too gives high priority to news releases that contain the timely element. Perhaps s/he believes that such stories will get preferential treatment from media editors. Known principal is also seen as a positive story element, though not nearly as strong a one as timeliness. The element of conflict is seen as neutral by the Timely Too. This element is just as likely to appear in the positive items for the factor as in the negative items. The elements that are most likely to cause the Timely Too to reject a story are high impact and local interest. These elements are essentially equal in their undesira- bility in the eyes of the Timely Too. An interesting sidelight is the apparent negative view that the Timely Too has of the state governor. Both of the negative discriminating items that contain the element of known principal deal with the governor of the state. In the three positive discriminating items containing the known principal element state officials are mentioned only once (and they are local elected representatives to the state legislature) and the other known principals are actors or sports figures. Factor 6-Y accounts for 1.8 percent of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Y-mode. 114 Factor l-Z, The Local Colorist This is the first of three factors that resulted from analysis of the data obtained when respondents sorted the Q-sample items as if they were news editors of a small to medium sized daily newspaper. Respondents were asked to perform the sort with the idea of placing the items within the distribution diagram on the basis of a con- tinuum ranging from "most likely to use" to "least likely to use." In essence, the respondents were asked to be client gatekeepers who regularly receive information/ public relations releases from agricultural information offices at land grant universities. Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 1-Z, The Local Colorist, is made up of sixteen people -- eleven men and five women. They range in age from 29 to 56, with the average 41.2. Thirteen of the respondents are married, one is single, one is divorced or separated, and one did not answer the marital status question. Six job descriptions are represented in the factor: (1) eight writers, (2) three assistant senior editors, (3) two senior editors, (4) one broadcast editor, (5) one publications editor, and (6) one commercial media writer/editor. All have at least one college degree. Six have a bachelor's, eight have a master's, and two have a doctorate. Their degree majors include twelve fields: Three are in journalism; two in agricultural communications; one in communications; two in English; and 115 one each in special education, biology, extension education, business, history, education, sociology, and home economics journalism. All of the persons in the Local Colorist factor have had previous job experience. Four reported having been in newspaper journalism; two had been county extension agents; two had been legislative assistants; and one each reported jobs in the following areas: editor of a com- mercial agricultural trade publication, editor of a specialized publication, advertising, nursing, broadcast journalism, cooperative extension subject matter specialist, college instructor in communications, and public relations. Reported years of experience in extension/research infor- mation ranged from one to twenty-one, with the average 9.3. Four respondents indicated they were interested in all subject matter areas common to extension/research in- formation programs. Three indicated their major profes- sional interest was in agriculture. Three listed home economics as their area Of professional interest. One person indicated an interest in research. And one cited his/her area of professional involvement as community development. Four respondents cited dual areas of interest and responsibility; the areas are agriculture and home economics, agriculture and research, agriculture and food marketing, and 4-H youth programs and horticulture. These individuals spent zero to 100 percent of their job time writing releases or scripts. The average time spent 116 writing was 34.4 percent. In response to the question of whether or not they handle or process releases (other than writing), five respondents said they edit other persons' releases. The two broadcast editors indicated they reworked other persons' releases for electronic media use. One person indicated that s/he directs all phases of news release production for his/her writing staff. One person indicated responsibility for routing releases to appropriate media. And six remaining re- spondents indicated they did not have release processing responsibilities other than writing. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements12 The Local Colorist strongly agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant uni- versity agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful infor- mation to an audience)." [See Table 25] The majority of respondents (twelve) had strong or very strong posi- tive responses to this statement. This response is indicative of the Local Colorist's strong support of the educational precepts that are the basis of the land grant philosophy. The Local Colorist has a slightly negative response (falling almost midway between the positions of neutrality and disagreement) to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural infor- mation offices should focus predominantly on improving 117 TABLE 25: Factor 1-Z -- Respons that releases from e to the statement "I think land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on educa tion (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 2 Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 6 Very Strongly Agree +3 6 Average +1.875 the image of the institution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have support." [See Table 26] The Local Colorist more than statement "I think that releases agricultural information offices on news." [See Table 27] So it dominant Z-mode factor continues in the Y-mode: The majority str from agricultural information of versities should educate, but a necessary to ensure eventual use public and government agrees with the attitude from land grant university should focus predominantly can be seen that the pre- the trend that emerged ongly believe that releases fices at land grant uni- focus on news is also and readership. 118 TABLE 26: Factor 1-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 2 Strongly Disagree -2 3 Disagree -1 4 Neutral 0 3 Agree +1 2 Strongly Agree +2 1 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Average -0.563 The Local Colorist's feelings approach strong agreement with the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information Offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." [See Table 28] This response may reflect the high proportion of writers on this factor. Evidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis of the Local Colorist based on his/her interpretation and 119 TABLE 27: Factor l-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 2 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 5 Strongly Agree +2 7 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Average +1.250 TABLE 28: Factor 1-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural infor- mation Offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Neutral 0 3 Agree +1 5 Strongly Agree +2 3 Very Strongly Agree +3 5 Average +1.625 120 valuation of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other Z-mode factor agreed (positive discriminating items). Also included are those items with which s/he disagreed more than any other Z-mode factor disagreed (negative discriminating items). When useful for clarification of the interpretation, reference to the rank order of items (descending array for the factor) may be used. Reference may also be made to consensus items (those items upon which all the Z-mode factors essentially agree) if they can contribute to the overall dscription of the factor. As indicated in the section on brief sketches, the Local Colorist places the highest priority on Q-sort items that contain the news element of local interest. This element occurs in six of the ten positive discrimi- nating items for the factor (33, 20, 40, 8, 28, and 13). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other z-Scores ‘(Z-Ave. Z) (33) White County has been 1.328 -.956 2.284 selected as the site for a TSU study of family mobility that is expected to last for 20 years. News elements = High impact/Local interest 121 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (20) OMAHA, Neb. -- A1 .711 -.826 1.537 Culham, a TSU junior from Gregg, Home State, was top individual point gainer at the National Meat Animal Evaluation Contest held here Tuesday. News elements = Local interest/Timely (40) Eighty-five migrant .411 -l.030 1.441 students in Pickett will discover that summer school isn't all that bad when Blue County's special 4-H summer migrant program is im- plemented next Monday. News elements = Local interest/Timely (8) GRANT, Home State -- 1.001 -.352 1.353 Rep. Charles H. Varnum, Sherman, and Sen. Joseph S. Mack, Pickett, partici- pated in the agricultural field day held at TSU's UP State Experiment Station. News elements - Known principal/Local interest (28) Vice President Walter 1.183 -.078 1.261 Mondale will visit University City next month to deliver the Spring commencement address at TSU. News elements ‘ Known principal/Local interest 122 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (13) Blue County is one of .685 -.480 1.165 15 Home State counties selected for a pilot study of energy conser- vation in the home. News elements = High impact/Local interest For the Local Colorist, the news element of high impact is almost as important as the element of local interest. High impact occurs five times in the ten positive dis- criminating items for the factor [33 and 13 (see above) and 34, 2 and 21]. (34) "Women are the largest 1.377 -.976 2.353 single minority in the nation," a Home State legislator told the more than 1,200 par- ticipants at College Week, which Opened today on the TSU campus. News elements = High impact/Timely (2) The more people be- 1.499 -.625 2.124 lieve that the energy crisis is real, the more they support policies advocated by President Carter. News elements = High impact/Known principal 123 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (21) Are there changes 1.473 -.425 1.898 ahead for the Home State tax system? Several prOposals are now being argued in the Home State Legislature and may appear on the November ballot. News elements = High impact/Conflict The third most frequent element in the positive dis- criminating items for the Local Colorist is the news element timeliness. The timely element occurs four times in the ten items [34, 20, 40 (see above), and 17]. (17) Home gardeners and 1.658 .566 1.092 commercial sweet corn growers should be aware of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, if not destroy, their crop. News elements = Conflict/Timely The news element of known principal is found three times in the positive discriminating items for the Local Colorist factor (2, 8 and 28; see above). Conflict is the news element that occurs least fre- quently in the positive discriminating items for the factor. The Local Colorist only selects two items that contain the conflict element (21 and 17; see above). 124 In the Local Colorist's negative discriminating items, however, conflict is the most frequent news element. It occurs six times in the nine items (16, 7, 5, 15, 35, and 31). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (16) Tornados which ripped -2.208 .776 -2.984 through the intensive apple and peach pro- ducing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. News elements = Conflict/Local interest (7) Dry weather has forced -.864 .803 -1.688 the cancellation of an afternoon dairy-forage clinic to be held at the TSU Experiment Station near McCellan, July 26. News elements = Conflict/Timely (5) Home State governor -l.073 .581 -1.654 Johannas B. Smythe was heckled by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal 125 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (15) Secretary of Agricul- -.718 .879 -l.597 ture Robert Bergland was the target of eggs thrown by American Ag- riculture Movement demonstrators who inter- cepted the Secretary's motorcade as it left the TSU campus. News elements = Conflict/Known principal (35) President Carter has -l.128 .241 -l.369 promised federal aid after touring the pop- ulous areas of Home State that were ravaged by the recent flooding. News elements ‘ Conflict/Known principal (31) The need for increased -.782 .243 -l.025 world food production and decreasing energy supplies will clash, with perhaps disastrous effects, in the next 10 to 15 years. News elements = High impact/Conflict The timely news element is the second most prevalent element in the negative discriminating items for the Local Colorist factor. It occurs once in conjunction with the element of conflict (7; see above) and three times with other news elements (10, 4 and 24). 126 Average of Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores Difference (Z-Ave. Z) (10) A petite TSU freshman -1.897 1.051 from Pope was named the Home State Honey Queen during the Home State Beekeepers Association annual pageant Tuesday night (March 21). News elements = Local interest/Timely (4) UNIVERSITY CITY -- -l.579 .094 There will be more episodes like the mer- cury contamination incident that continues to rock the private, industrial and political sectors of Home State, a national authority on toxic chemicals said here Thursday. News elements ‘ High impact/Timely (24) Dieting may be -1.l87 .452 hazardous to your health, according to a report released Tuesday by the Home State Dietetic Association. High impact/Timely News elements -1.673 -l.673 -1.640 Two of the news elements occur three times each in the negative discriminating items for the factor. Known principal is combined with the element of conflict in all three Of its appearances (5, 15 and 8; see above). High impact occurs twice with the timely news element and once with conflict (4, 24 and 31; see above). 127 As expected from the order of positive discriminating items, the least frequent news element in the Local Colorist's negative discriminating items is local interest. It only occurs twice -- once with the timely element (10; see above) and once with the conflict element (16; see above). When both the positive and negative items from the data analysis are considered together, the brief sketch of the Local Colorist is confirmed. S/he is most likely to select news releases for publication in her/his news- paper if the releases contain the news element of local interest. Releases containing the high impact element will also get major consideration from the Local Colorist. Conflict, however, is the one element that is likely to cause the Local Colorist to reject a news release. Aside from the obvious interpretation of the data for the factor, the following more subtle observations can be made about the Local Colorist. .The combination of the elements of conflict and known principal is universally considered negative by the Local Colorist. Three of the four news release leads that contain this pair of elements are among the negative discriminating items for the factor (5, 15 and 35; see above). The other item (25) that contains the elements of conflict and known principal is not considered sig- nificant because its Z-score is greater than -l.0. It is the lowest non-discriminating Z-score for the factor, however (Z score = -0.914). 128 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (25) Governor Johannas B. -.914 (Of low priority, but not Smythe maintains that a discriminating item) the current coal miners' strike underscores the need for a federal energy policy to step up the development of nuclear power sources. News elements = Conflict/Known principal The Local Colorist's preferred news element, local in- terest, occurs twice in the negative discriminating items; in fact, it is present in the two items that make the Local Colorist most different from other Z-mode factors. A closer look at these items (10 and 16; see above) provides a clue to the reason the most preferred news element gets such a low priority in these two cases. In one case, local interest is paired with conflict (16), the element that is most likely to cause the Local Colorist to reject a release. In the other case (10), it is paired with the timely element.‘ Further examination of the substance of the releases provides even more clarification. Item 10 is, by the modern standards of many peOple, clearly sexist and may have earned its low priority for that reason. Item 16 involves real violence in its conflict element, while the conflict items that appear in the positive discriminating items for the factor deal with non-threatening types of conflict. Perhaps the Local Colorist shuns violence and thus gives this release a low priority. 129 Factor l-Z accounts for 45.0 percent of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Z-mode. Factor 2-Z, The Hero Worshiper Evidence for the Sketch: Demogrgphics Factor 2-Z, The Hero Worshiper, is made up of eight people -- two women and six men. They range in age from 24 to 58, with the average 38.3. Five of the respon- dents are married, two are single, and one is divorced or separated. Four job descriptions are represented in the factor.) There are three writers, three senior editors, one publications editor, and one broadcast editor. No media people are represented in this factor. All the individuals have at least one college degree -- four have a master's degree, three have a bachelor's degree, and one has a doctorate. Their majors include six fields. Two are in public relations/advertising; two in agricultural communications; and one each in liberal arts, communications, extension education, and animal science. Six of the persons in the Hero Worshiper factor have had previous job experience. Three reported past jobs as county agents for the COOperative Extension Service. Two indicated military service. And one had worked as an agricultural broadcaster. The other two respondents indicated that this was their first job. Reported years of experience in extension/research information ranged from one year to 31 years, with the average 13.1. 130 Only two professional interest areas were reported by the people in the Hero Worshiper factor. Five re- spondents indicated they were interested in all subject matter areas common to extension/research information programs. The other three indicated their major field of professional concentration was 4-H youth programs. Persons in the factor spent zero to 50 percent of their job time writing releases or scripts. The average time spent writing was 23.8 percent. In response to the question of whether they handle or process releases (other than writing), five of the eight people said they worked with releases produced by other staff members. Two said that they occasionally edited releases. One regularly edited others' news releases. One directed the assignment and production of releases. And one re- worked others' releases for use in the electronic media. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Hero Worshiper has a slightly positive agreement with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience." [See Table 29] This response is the weakest positive response to this attitude statement from all factors, both Z-mode and Y-mode. The Hero Worshiper, however, can still be said to support the educational precepts of the land grant philosophy. 131 TABLE 29: Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information Offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 2 Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 3 Strongly Agree +2 2 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Average +0.750 The Hero Worshiper also has a slightly positive response to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information Offices should focus predominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 30] The Hero Worshiper more than agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant uni- versity agricultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." [See Table 31] From this response it is apparent that the Hero Worshiper believes news should be an important factor in deciding whether or not to pro- duce a release. 132 TABLE 30: Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 1 Strongly Disagree -2 0 Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 3 Strongly Agree +2 2 Very Strongly Agree +1 1 Average +0.750 TABLE 31: Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number Of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 0 Agree +1 4 Strongly Agree +2 3 Average +1.125 133 The Hero Worshiper more than agrees with the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices, and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." [See Table 32] TABLE 32: Factor 2-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural infor- mation offices, and emphasis on quantity Of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 2 Strongly Agree +2 2 Very Strongly Agree +3 2 Average +1.375 Evidence for the Sketch: Q-Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis of the Hero Worshiper based on his/her interpretation and valuation of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other Z-mode factor agreed (positive discriminating items). Also 134 included are those items with which s/he disagreed more than any other Z-mode factor disagreed (negative discrimi- nating items). When useful for clarity of interpretation, reference may be made to the rank order of items (descen- ding array for the factor). Reference also may be made to consensus items (those items upon which all the Z-mode factors essentially agree) if they can contribute to the overall description of the factor. The Hero Worshiper places the highest priority on items that contain the element of known principal. This news element occurs six times in the nine positive discriminating items for the factor. Conflict runs a close second in the priority listing of the Hero Worshiper -- s/he cites items that contain conflict five times in the positive discriminating items for the factor. The interesting fact is that all four of the items that contain the combination of known principal and conflict occur in the positive dis- criminating items (25, 15, 35, and 5). Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (25) Governor Johannas B. 1.453 -.969 2.422 Smythe maintains that the current coal miners' strike underscores the need for a federal energy policy to step up the development of nuclear power sources. News elements = Known principal/Conflict 135 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (15) Secretary of Agricul- 1.824 -.392 2.216 ture Robert Bergland was the target of eggs thrown by American Agri- culture Movement demon- strators who intercepted the Secretary's motorcade as it left the TSU campus. News elements = Known principal/Conflict (35) President Carter has 1.023 -.834 1.857 promised federal aid after touring the popu- lous areas of Home State that were ravaged by the recent flooding. News elements = Known principal/Conflict (5) Home State Governor .814 -.363 1.177 Johannas B. Smythe was heckled by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. News elements = Known principal/Conflict The other two positive discriminating items for the Hero Worshiper that contain the element of known principal are items 38 and 22. (38) Nobel Peace Prize .508 -1.296 1.804 winner Dr. Norman Borlaug will visit the TSU small grains research station near Hooker, Home State, on a tour of Home State agricultural research facilities slated for next month. News elements = Known principal/Local interest 136 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (22) According to former .197 -l.045 1.242 First Lady Betty Ford, child abuse is on the increase in the United States. Suspected cases of child abuse and neglect have increased more than 50 percent in the last six years. News elements = Known principal/High impact Conflict occurs only once in a positive discriminating item combination other than the known principal/conflict pairing. In this one instance, conflict is paired with the local interest news element (16). Out of the five items that contain conflict, all but one involves, conflict (16) Tornados which ripped 1.004 -.830 1.834 through the intensive apple and peach pro- ducing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. News elements = Conflict/Local interest that was violent in nature. When this preference for violent conflict is combined with the Hero Worshiper's slightly greater preference for the element of known principal, it becomes apparent that s/he is selecting stories on the traditional basis Often attributed to the tabloid newspaper or the yellow journalism genre. 137 The news element that has the third most frequent occurrence in the positive discriminating items that de- scribe the Hero Worshiper is high impact. It is found three times in the nine items [22 (see above), 4, and 24]. Average Of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (4) UNIVERSITY CITY -- 1.313 -1.352 2.665 There will be more epi- sodes like the mercury contamination incident that continues to rock the private, industrial and political sectors of Home State, a national authority on toxic chemi- cals said here Thursday. News elements = High impact/Timely (24) Dieting can be 1.555 -.919 2.474 hazardous to your health, according to a report released Tuesday by the Home State Dietetic Association. News elements = High impact/Timely The news elements of local interest and timeliness are both found twice in the positive discriminating items for the factor. Local interest is found in items 16 and 38; (see above). Timeliness is one of the elements in items 4 and 24; (see above). Local interest is considered to be of more positive influence on the Hero Worshiper's decision making because it is found twice in items that are highly valued but not discriminating (6 and 3), while the timely element is not found in the highly valued, non- discriminating items for the factor. 138 Difference (Z-Ave. 2) Average of Other Z-Scores Item Z-Score (6) TSU Extension agents 1.113 and local White County police and fire agencies are mobilizing rescue crews armed with four wheel drive vehicles, chain saws and portable electric generators in an attempt to rescue the estimated 250 rural families still stranded in the wake of the recent violent ice storm. News elements = (3) Home State currently has approximately 50 days coal supply with which to fire generators that produce electricity; and with that dwindling supply is the growing prospect of rolling black- outs throughout the state. Major cities that may be hardest hit include Ewell, Hancock and Stuart. 1.028 News elements = (Highly valued but not a discriminating item) Conflict/Local interest (Highly valued but not a discriminating item) High impact/Local interest In the Hero Worshiper's negative discriminating items the news element of timeliness occurs in eight of the ten items. The timely element is by far and away the one factor that can cause the Hero Worshiper to give a release a low priority. It occurs twice as Often as the next most frequent news element in the negative discriminating items for the factor (19, 34, 21, 29, 27, 20, 17, and 40). Item (19) The Budweiser Clydes- dales will be on the TSU campus as part of the 30th annual Block and Bridle Club Horse Show, March 31 and April 1. News elements = (34) "Women are the largest single minority in the nation," a Home State legislator told the more than 1,200 parti- cipants at College Week, which Opened today on the TSU campus. News elements = (21) Are there changes ahead for the Home State tax system? Several proposals are now being argued in the Home State Legis- lature and may appear on the November ballot. News elements = (29) American farmers are dependent on exports for their livelihood, U.S. Secretary of Ag- riculture Robert Bergland said Friday, April 7. News elements = Z-Score 139 Average of Other Z-Scores -2.359 1.486 Known principal/Timely -2.069 .747 High impact/Timely -1.445 1.034 High impact/Timely -1.433 .894 Known principal/Timely Difference (Z-Ave. Z) -3.854 -2.816 -2.479 140 Average of Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (27) The competition will .052 1.950 be stiff for 4-H youth at the 1978 Home State Horse Show, August 22, at TSU. News elements = Conflict/Timely (20) OMAHA, Neb. -- Al -l.325 .192 Culham, a TSU junior from Gregg, Home State, was top individual point gainer at the National Meat Animal Evaluation Contest held here Tuesday. News elements = Local interest/Timely (17) Home gardeners and -.003 1.396 commercial sweet corn growers should be aware of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, if not destroy, their crop. News elements = Conflict/Timely (40) Eighty-five migrant -1.392 -.l28 students in Pickett will discover that summer school isn't all that bad, when Blue County's special 4-H summer migrant program is implemented next Monday. News elements = Local interest/Timely Difference (Z-Ave. Z) -1.899 -1.517 -1.399 -1.264 The second most frequently occurring news element in the Hero Worshiper's negative discriminating items is local interest. It occurs four times in the ten times [20 and 40 (see above) and 13 and 28]. When local interest and 141 timeliness, the two most frequently occurring negative discriminating items, are considered, all ten of the negatively viewed items are included. Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (13) Blue County is one Of -1.206 .456 -1.671 15 Home State counties selected for a pilot study of energy conser- vation in the home. News elements igh impact/Local interest (28) Vice President Walter -.376 .701 -1.077 Mondale will visit Uni- versity City next month to deliver the Spring commencement address at TSU. News elements = Known principal/Local interest Known principal is the third most frequent news element in the negative discriminating items for the Hero Worshiper, occurring three times (19, 29, and 28; see above). It occurs twice in combination with the timely element that is seen most negatively by the Hero Worshiper. In the other case it is combined with local interest, which is also a major negative element for the factor. Perhaps these combinations explain why known principal occurs as many times as it does in the negative discriminating items. High impact also occurs three times in the negative discriminating items (34, 21, and 13; see above). The major difference between it and the known principal element 142 is that high impact is found three times in the positive items while known principal is the most frequent element in the positive discriminating items. Thus, high impact can be considered to be a neutral element to the Hero Worshiper. Conflict is the least frequent element in the negative discriminating items for the Hero Worshiper, occurring only twice (27 and 17; see above). In both cases it is combined with the timely element, which is the least valued news element for the factor. A review of both the positive and negative discrimi- nating items for the factor reveals the following inter- pretive observations. The Hero Worshiper has more clearly defined dislikes than s/he has preferences when it comes to news elements. Available data show that the most disliked element (time- liness) is more likely to cause a story to be assigned a low priority than the most preferred element (known principal) is likely to cause a story to receive a high priority. This makes the Hero Worshiper similar in logic to the Critical Rationalist Of the Y-mode factors. All four items in the Q-sample that contain the element pair of conflict/known principal occur in the positive dis- criminating items of the Hero Worshiper. This makes him/ her unique. No other factor achieved complete concurrence on all four items containing this element pair, or any other possible element pair. This is indicative of the 143 fact that the Hero Worshiper is strongly attracted to items that contain either conflict or known principal. It may also point out possible weaknesses in the design of the instrument used in this investigation. For example, a complete screening of the initial sample of the 3,000-plus news releases -- or the use of more releases in this initial sample -- might have resulted in the development of a Q-sample that contained element pair repetitions that were more nearly identical: for example, known principals all of the same public stature; conflict instances that were more similar in their implied threat and/or level of competition; and so forth. For the Hero Worshiper, the news element of high impact is neutral in determining the priority of use for public relations news releases. This element occurs three times in both the positive and negative discriminating items for the factor. Factor 2-Z accounts for 10.1 percent of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Z-mode. Factor 3-2, The Clock Watcher Evidence for the Sketch: Demographics Factor 3-Z, The Clock Watcher, is made up of nine people -- six men and three women. They range in age from 25 to 62, with the average 35.3. Seven of the respondents are married, two are single. Four job descriptions are represented. There are four writers, two broadcast editors, two representatives of the media, and one assistant senior 1w editor. All of the people on the factor have at least one college degree; four have a bachelor's degree and five have a master's degree. Their majors include seven fields: two are in journalism; two in English; and one each in television-radio, agricultural communications, agricultural economics, adult education, and animal science. All of the persons on the Clock Watcher factor have had previous job experience. Four reported jobs in newspaper journalism. Two had been editors of agricul- tural trade publications. The other three had previous jobs as agricultural broadcaster, Cooperative Extension Service county agent, and recreation director. Reported years of experience in extension/research information ranged from one year to 35 years, with the average nine. Six professional interest areas were reported by the people on the Clock Watcher factor. Two respondents indicated they were interested in all subject matter areas common to extension/research information programs. Two indicated a professional concentration in agricul- ture. And one reported working in the area of home economics. Two respondents said they had dual profes- sional interests; agriculture and home economics, and agriculture and H-H youth programs. The remaining two reSpondents reported interests in newer (non-traditional) fields or in areas not common to extension/research in- formation programs: urban gardening and general news. 145 Persons on the factor spent from zero to 100 percent of their job time writing releases or scripts. The average time spent writing was 52.2 percent. In response to the question of whether they handle or process releases (other than writing), one respondent reported that s/he regularly edited releases written by other staff members, one re- ported having a rewrite function, and two reported re— working others' releases for use in the electronic media. The majority of the people (five) on the factor, however, indicated they had no responsibilities involving work with releases produced by others. Evidence for the Sketch: Attitude Statements The Clock Watcher has strong agreement with the atti- tude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on education (transmitting useful infor- mation to an audience)." [See Table 33] Persons on this factor have the highest level of agreement with this statement, thus supporting the educational role implicit in the land grant philosophy. The Clock Watcher has a nearly neutral response to the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus predominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." [See Table 34] 146 TABLE 33: Factor 3—Z —- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful information to an audience)." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Agree +l l Strongly Agree +2 1 Very Strongly Agree +3 7 Average +2.667 TABLE 34: Factor 3-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre— dominantly on improving the image of the insti- tution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 l Strongly Disagree -2 2 Disagree -1 0 Neutral 0 3 Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 2 Average -0.222 147 The Clock Watcher agrees with the attitude statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus predominantly on news." [See Table 35] This traditional attitude about the purpose of newspapers, combined with the Clock Watcher's very strong preference for educational re- leases, indicates that the best chance of getting him/ her to select a release would be to combine these two attributes in the same story. TABLE 35: Factor 3-Z -— Response to the statement "I think that releases from land grant university agri- cultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Very Strongly Disagree -3 l Strongly Disagree -2 O Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 1 Strongly Agree +2 3 Very Strongly Agree +3 2 Average +1.0 The Clock Watcher agrees with the attitude statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality 148 of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural information offices and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." [See Table 36] TABLE 36: Factor 3-Z -- Response to the statement "I think that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of releases, scripts, etc. produced by land grant university agricultural infor- mation offices and emphasis on quantity of production should be decreased." Opinion Intensity Number of Level Value Respondents Strongly Disagree -2 l Disagree -1 1 Neutral 0 1 Agree +1 2 Strongly Agree +2 3 Very Strongly Agree +3 1 Average +O.889 Evidence for the Sketch: Q—Sort Items The following constitutes a detailed analysis of the Clock Watcher based on his/her interpretation and valuation of certain items within the Q-sort. Included are those items that s/he agreed with more than any other Z-mode factor agreed (positive discriminating items) and those items with which s/he disagreed more than any other Z-mode factor disagreed (negative discriminating items). 149 Where useful for clarity, reference to the rank order of items (descending array for the factor) may be used. Reference may also be made to consensus items (those items upon which all the Z-mode factors essentially agree) if they can contribute to the overall description of the factor. The Clock Watcher gets her/his name from the fact that s/he has a clear preference for stories that contain the news element of timeliness. This element is present in all of the positive discriminating items for the factor (19, 29, 7, 10, and 27). This preference for breaking news is so prevalent that the single non—dis- criminating but highly valued positive item also con- tains the timely element (17). The timely element is so dominant in the positive items that no other element can be said to play a major positive role in the way that the Clock Watcher selects items for use in the newspaper. Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (19) The Budweiser Clydes- 2.161 -.774 2.935 dales will be on the TSU campus as part of the 30th Annual Block and Bridle Club Horse Show, March 31 and April 1. News elements = Known principal/Timely 150 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (29) American farmers are 1.912 -.779 2.691 dependent on exports for their livelihood, U.S. Secretary of Ag- riculture Robert Bergland said Friday, April 7. News elements = Known principal/Timely (7) Dry weather has forced 1.583 -.420 2.003 cancellation of an afternoon dairy-forage clinic to be held at the TSU Experiment Station near McClellan July 26. News elements = Conflict/Timely (10) A petite TSU freshman 1.275 -.535 1.810 from Pope was named Home State Honey Queen during the Home State Beekeepers Association annual pageant Tuesday night (March 21). News elements = Local interest/Timely (27) The competition will 2.473 .740 1.733 be stiff for 4-H youth at the 1978 Home State Horse Show, August 22, at TSU. News elements = Conflict/Timely (17) Home gardeners and com- 1.134 (Highly valued but not mercial sweet corn a discriminating item) growers should be aware of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, if not destroy, their crop. News elements = Conflict/Timely 151 The news element conflict is present twice in the positive discriminating items descriptive of the Clock Watcher (7 and 27; see above). It is also the second element in the element pair of the single highly valued but non-discriminating item for the factor (17; see above). The news element known principal also occurs twice in the positive discriminating items (19 and 29; see above). The element of local interest is present only once in the positive discriminating items (10; see above). Interestingly, the element of high impact does not appear at all in either the positive discriminating items or the single highly valued item. To get any clearer picture of how the Clock Watcher uses news elements to rank stories, one must turn to the negative items for the factor. There are seven negative discriminating items for the factor and one item that the Clock Watcher considers of significantly low priority but not discriminating. In these eight items the most frequently found news element is known principal. It is present five times (2, 39, 38, 25, and 22). All five items that contain the known principal element are discriminating. 152 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (2) The more people be- -2.094 1.172 -3.265 lieve that the energy crisis is real, the more they support policies advocated by President Carter. News elements = High impact/Known principal (39) Actor Robert Redford -1.363 .306 -1.668 announced support yes- terday (March 3) of Home State conservation groups that are fighting oil drilling on Home State owned forest sites. News elements = Known principal/Timely (38) Nobel Peace Prize -1.789 -.147 -l.641 winner Dr. Norman Borlaug will visit the TSU small grains re- search station near Hooker, Home State, on a tour of Home State agricultural research facilities slated for next month. News elements = Known principal/Local interest (25) Governor Johannas B. -1.023 .270 -1.293 Smythe maintains that the current coal miners' strike underscores the need for a federal energy policy to step up develop- ment of nuclear power sources. News elements = Conflict/Known principal 153 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (22) According to former -1.344 -.275 -l.069 First Lady Betty Ford, child abuse is on the increase in the United States. Suspected cases of child abuse and neglect have in- creased more than 50 percent in the last six years. News elements = High impact/Known principal High impact is the news most frequent occurrence in items for the Clock Watcher. discriminating items and is in the single item that the nificantly low priority but (see above) and 33 8 4]. element that has the second the negative discriminating It is found in three of the one-half of the element pair Clock Watcher finds of sig- not discriminating [2 8 22 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (33) White County has been -l.240 .328 -1.567 selected as the site for a TSU study of family mobility that is expected to last for 20 years. News elements = High impact/Local interest 154 Average of Difference Item Z-Score Other Z-Scores (Z-Ave. Z) (4) UNIVERSITY CITY -- -1.124 (Of significantly low There will be more epi- priority, but not a dis- sodes like the mercury criminating item) contamination incident that continues to rock the private, industrial and political sectors of Home State, a national authority on toxic chemicals said here Thursday. News elements = High impact/Timely The news element of timeliness is found twice in the negative discriminating items [39 (see above) and 37] and is the other half of the element pair of the item that is of significantly low priority but not discriminating (4; see above). (37) What most people feel -1.139 1.067 -l.l39 has been screwy, un- settled weather the last few years may actually be a return to "normal" patterns, a weather specialist said yesterday. News elements = Conflict/Timely The news elements of local interest and conflict both appear twice in the negative discriminating items for the Clock Watcher (38 and 33 and 25 and 37, respectively; see above). A look at the items that have been referred to above provides the following perspective of the Clock Watcher. 155 The positive items have a uniform theme that is not reflected in the distribution of news elements. That is, all the positive items (both discriminating and highly valued but not discriminating) deal with subjects that may be considered to involve traditional agriculture from the standpoint of land grant university activities. These subjects are: youth programs, livestock exhibitions, pro- duction economics, production clinics, and agricultural association activities. When the negative items are considered in the same manner, nearly all are seen to contain non-traditional subject matter. These non-traditional subjects are also broad in nature; relating to segments of the population much larger than the traditional rural audience. The subjects are: energy, environmental protection, social research on families, and child abuse. It should also be noted that these subjects are all modern in the sense that they have only surfaced as major public concerns within the past 20 years. The fact that the Clock Watcher's preferred news element is timeliness is also of interest. The timely element is the one element that is least likely to be the subject of controversy. While other elements may have various meanings for editors and readers, timeliness can only relate to the chronological sequence of events. For example, conflict may be violent or non-violent, f an 156 individual or a group nature, and personal or non-personal. Timeliness, however, does not have varying degrees of meaning or intensity. When all these observations are considered together, a picture of the Clock Watcher as a conservative person emerges. A preference for tradition and traditional ways, an unwillingness to rapidly accept new ideas and concerns, and behavior patterns that are safe in that they avoid controversy are all indications of the conservative mentality. Factor 3-Z accounts for 7.7 percent of the variance among the variables (respondents) in the Z-mode. 1In this analytical procedure the combinations of items that emerge from each factor are examined and an attempt is made to explain why these combinations occur. 2Consensus items are defined as those items for which the factor scores differ by less than 1.0 standard score across the group of factors in question (either the Y-mode factors or the Z-mode factors). 3Discriminating items are those items ranked sig- nificantly higher or lower by one factor than by any other factor in the group. 1*It should be remembered that "hypothetical" refers only to the interpretation made by the investigator since respondents with a significant loading on a single factor are in reality holders of the typical attitude for that factor, whatever that may be. 5Nancy Lois Tschirhart, Life Styles Vs. Behavior Segments: A Study of Dental Health Consumers," (Un- published M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1974), p. 31. 6Broadcast editors write, direct and produce radio and television programs and spots for Cooperative Extension Services and Agricultural Experiment Stations; the writer's primary job is the production of news releases; assistant senior editors perform a managerial function, usually directing overall production of materials for commercial 157 media; publications editors edit, lay out and design bro- chures and reports for lay and scientific audiences; media persons are journalists and/or editors employed in com- mercial journalism. 7For any given factor, those items that are not dis- criminating, but have a Z-score of 1.00 or greater are considered to be highly valued by that factor. Conversely, those items that are not discriminating but have a Z-score of -l.00 or less are considered to be of significantly low priority for the factor. 8See footnote 7 above. 9This is, no doubt, a function of the limited years of experience for respondents, rather than an indication of lack of desire or innate ability. The job(s) of editing, rewrite, and routing to media are almost ex- clusively reserved for the more experienced members of land grant university information staffs on either a formal or informal basis. 10The average Z-score difference (AZD) is computed as follows: 2 - A = ZD. Then, ZDs = AZD. n Where Z = the Z-score for the item in question; A = the average or nearest Z-score for the same item as computed from the data for all other factors; ZD = the Z-score difference; ZDS = the sum of all ZD's containing the element in the factor's positive (or negative) dis- criminating items; n = the number of items containing the element in question; and AZD = the average Z-score dif- ference. In this case the AZD for known principal equals 1.680 and the AZD for conflict equals 1.524. 11The AZD values for local interest and high impact are -1.321 and -l.249, respectively. The elements are considered to be of equal weight since the difference between their AZD values is less than $0.10 (the dif- ference here being 0.072). 12For a more complete discussion see Chapter II. CHAPTER IV CONCLUSIONS This study sought to categorize reporters and editors on agricultural information staffs at land grant uni- versities on the basis of their attitudes about news re- leases commonly produced in the land grant university public relations/information situation. The division of these women and men into groups that exhibit similar behavior patterns (in relation to the pro- cess of making choices within a uniform group of news re- leases) was the primary goal of the study. As a secondary objective, the usefulness of the data in developing practical and theoretical implications was examined. As indicated earlier, this study was conducted in a virtual vacuum because it was the first detailed in- vestigation of land grant university agricultural infor- mation staffs to be conducted in more than one state. It was also the first study built around the idea that knowing behavior patterns in the study group might help these people to more closely meet the demands of their consumers -- the newspaper, radio, and television editors who receive news and information items from land grant universities. 158 159 As such, this study is the first effort to describe the behavioral response of land grant university agri- cultural editors and reporters to the entire range of subject matter dealt with at the land grant university level. Hatch (1971) made a unilateral assumption that all college editors are alike in his study of gatekeeper response to materials provided to media by land grant university agricultural information organizations.1 He also indicated that his results show that media gate- keepers are skeptical of "...the college editors' con- cern with promoting college staff members, administrators, and the institution and his apparent lack of concern for or knowledge of what people really want and need."2 This study indicates that Hatch's assumption that land grant university agricultural editors and reporters have a uniform attitude toward news is only partially correct. At least six distinct behavioral patterns were discerned when editors and reporters were asked to judge a uniform set of releases as to which should get the highest pri- ority in dissemination to media. The majority did, how- ever, have general agreement on which news values are most important. The beliefs of media gatekeepers, as indicated by Hatch, are proven to be in error. Results from this study indicate that the majority of land grant university agricultural editors and reporters (Factors l-Y and 2-Y) 160 place their highest priority on the transfer of knowledge and/or news, as opposed to promotion of individuals or the institution. Lassahn's (1969) study of judgments about agricultural science news revealed that information service editors and county newspaper editors were better predictors of audience news preferences (farmers) than were other pro- fessionals in the news system she investigated.3 This conclusion is at least partially verified by data from this study. Fifty percent of the small sample of media reporters and editors included in the study fall into the same behavioral segment that represents the majority of land grant university agricultural editors and re- porters studied (Factors l-Y and 2-Y). The study of newspaper and television news editors by Clyde and Buckalew (1969) found that these gatekeepers showed the greatest preference for news items containing the news elements of conflict, proximity [local interest] and timeliness.u Results of this study closely agree with the Clyde and Buckalew findings. In the university editor role (Y-mode) the preferred elements for the three most significant factors were conflict, timeliness and local interest, respectively. Clyde and Buckalew's observation that prominence [known principal] is not particularly valued by newspaper and television news editors is also confirmed on the part of land grant university agricul- tural information personnel: none of the Y-mode factors had known principal as the preferred news element.6 161 The agreement in findings from this study with the results from the studies by Lassahn and by Clyde and Buckalew provides further confirmation of the idea that land grant university information professionals have close agreement with media professionals as to value systems used by the two gatekeeper groups in determining the worth of news releases. In Chapter I the hypothesis was posed that land grant university editors have a similarity of news values that transcends institutional boundaries. This hypothesis was not confirmed. Although no single factor is dominated by editors from a single state, none of the factors con- tains a majority of the respondents. [See Table 37] In summary, this study found that agricultural in- formation gatekeepers at land grant universities do not have similarity in news values. Rather, there are three major and three minor groups of behavior that the respon- dent editors and reporters fall into. Institutional affiliation, as expected, does not account for any of the value differences between the respondents. Despite these intersystem differences, this study found that the value systems used by the majority of land grant university agricultural information personnel correspond well with the value systems that other researchers have found are used by newspaper, television and radio editors. Though these two groups of gatekeepers may judge the worth of news releases in the same manner, results indicate that 162 TABLE 37: Representation on factors of respondents, by state. State 8 No. of Respondents Fl-Y F2-Y F3-Y F4-Y FS-Y F6-Y O O * Michigan (9) 3 2 0 l l 1 Michigan State University Wisconsin (5) l l 3 0 0 0 University of Wisconsin Iowa (8) l 2 3 0 0 0 Iowa State University Ohio (7) O 4 O O 1 0 Ohio State University Indiana (7) l 3 0 l 0 0 Purdue University Illinois (9) 3 2 l 0 0 1 University of Illinois Media representatives (6) 3 0 0 l 0 l * Row totals may not agree with the total number of re- spondents from each state since factor analysis drOps out those respondents that don't fit into the observed groups. the land grant editor sometimes misinterprets the value system used by media editors, believing that media editors value news elements that, in reality, are given priority. In addition to the theoretical implications above, it is also held that this study has some implications. In terms of research, this study established a base from which researchers could to include a variety of respondent groups. For a low mentioned practical has expand example, 163 the P-sample could be expanded to a national scale, or the P-sample could be constructed to include an equal number of land grant university information personnel and media editors and reporters. Also, the P-sample might be reconstructed to contain university editors who deal with subjects other than agriculture; then com- parisons could be made between the two types of uni- versity public relations professionals. The empirical base comprising the questionnaire items, the discrimi- nating items, and the consensus items could be applied to all these potential research investigations. Using the example of an expanded P-sample containing approximately equal numbers of university and media editors, once the size of the factors were determined, university agricultural administrators could design public relations programs on general subject areas and style treatments that would increase the frequency with which media gatekeepers use news releases from land grant universities. A summary of responses to the Likert-scale attitude statements in the questionnaire indicates that land grant university agricultural editors and reporters consider education (the transfer of useful information) the pri- mary goal of the university produced news release. Secondarily, respondents concur that "news" should be a major component of releases. Respondents also indicated a strong agreement that quality should take precedence 164 over quantity in news release production at land grant universities. Administrators might make use of this in- formation as an effective means of improving employee morale where needed. This study does have limitations. First, this is a limited sample Q-study. Therefore, factor size cannot be extrapolated accurately beyond those states that are included here. These data serve only to identify the existing factors in land grant university agricultural information staffs. Second, even though the respondents were asked to complete the sort in reference to the roles of senior land grant university agricultural editor and working newspaper editor, some of them may have found it dif- ficult to perform the role playing exercise. Thus, their existing work experiences may have been reflected in the data. Third, it must be recognized that an individual's behavior is not static. Therefore, every land grant uni- versity information professional will not automatically conform to an attitude segment. Some will barely be within the confines of a factor; some will fall in more than one; and some on none. Also, errors within the design and manipulation of data might give rise to error in the study. In selection of items for the Q—sample, difficulty was encountered due to the broad nature of the various news elements. This 165 may be responsible for the fact that factors were able to discriminate between various aspects of a specific news element. For example, conflict involving many people versus conflict involving a few people or a specific person; or conflict involving physical danger versus conflict that is physically benign. Interpretation of the analyzed data was performed using standard objective analytical techniques. In- terpretations are therefore as valid as the accuracy of the data will allow. Application of the findings is, naturally, an ex- tension of the interpretation that must be tailored to individual situations and so might be tested before large—scale implementation. Despite these limitations, this study is held to be of value because it was the first investigation in depth of a category of gatekeepers that have heretofore been largely ignored. It identified and analyzed the news value factors that are likely to emerge in future studies of land grant university agricultural editors and re- porters. It established a set of questionnaire items, the discriminating and consensus items, that can be used in larger studies. Because of its seminal nature, it has delineated some of the design, administration and inter- pretation pitfalls that could beset future studies of this gatekeeper group. And it provided an information 166 base that can be used to develop strategies to improve the functioning of the land grant university/mass media relationship. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations based on this study can be divided into two types -- those for other investigators and those for the practicing agricultural information administrator at a land grant university. To Investigators: Researchers who plan to duplicate this study should consider the following modifications in the design. First of all, this study was never considered to be more than a pilot project. Future investigations of land grant uni- versity agricultural editors and reporters might well in- clude the entire United States. The number of university editors and reporters nationwide is small and would be well within the capacity of a well organized Q-study. More ambitious studies might well include matched P-samples of gatekeepers from universities and from the news media. This could result in direct comparison of news value sets held by factors comprising these two general groups. (The present study only allows the analyst to make inferences based on studies by other in- vestigators. Such inferences must be tentative due to the differences in method and analysis between this study and the preceding ones used in comparisons.) 167 In a more comprehensive version of this study a future investigator might well expand the attitude statements section of the questionnaire, adding items that would allow the determination of whether or not land grant university agricultural gatekeepers feel that their information office maintains a proper balance between production for print media and production for electronic media. This researcher has an unsubstantiated feeling that many respondents would think that print media receive more than their share of emphasis -- either because of traditional production prac- tices in land grant universities or because of funding limitations. Researchers interested in the more basic aspects of news value systems might profitably explore the perceptions that various groups have of the news values (elements) themselves. There is little information available to indicate how people distinguish between various levels of the same variable, e.g., violent conflict or benign conflict; physical conflict or mental conflict; conflict involving two or more humans, or conflict involving the environment and humans. The known principal element has similar variations. To Administrators: In the six states included in this study, a majority of agricultural information production personnel at land 1: grant universities (80 percent of the respondents) -eel that quantity of production is emphasized at the expense 168 of quality in each piece. Given this, information office managers who face staff morale problems might include work load alterations as a part of morale improvement efforts. Actual reductions in work loads could be instituted. Al- ternatively, the development of sabbatical programs or major variations in job activities/responsibilities should favorably affect low morale situations. Administrators might also ask employees what kind of quality indicators could be built into evaluation programs -- then use per- formance based on these indicators as a major consideration in salary increases and/or promotions. Agricultural administrators should also know that, by and large, their information specialists do a good job of selecting news releases that will meet the news value requirements of a majority of mass media gatekeepers. Although this ability to select cannot be said to be con- crete fact on the basis of data generated here, a com— parison of information from this investigation to the results of similar studies of media gatekeepers indicates the ability is present. Administrators should take time to acquaint themselves with studies dealing with news judgments. They then could let the editors and reporters know that the administrators are aware of the information staff's quality of judgments (closely matching the wants of client editors in the media) and that they support efforts to make further improvements that will result in even greater acceptance of news releases from land grant universities. 169 lJ. Cordell Hatch, "Mass Media Gatekeepers for Colleges of Agriculture," ACE Quarterly, LIV, No. 4 (1971), pp. 31- 40. 2Hatch, p. 39. 3Pamela Henry Lassahn, "Comparison of Judgments About Agricultural Science News," Journalismgguarterly, XLIV (Winter 1969), pp. 702—707. Other professionals that Lassahn studied in the Iowa news system were university extension Specialists and county extension directors. L[Robert W. Clyde and James K. Buckalew, "Inter-Media Standardization: A Q-Analysis of News Editors," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Summer 1969), pp. 349-51. 5Interestingly, although there seems to be good agree— ment between university editors and newspaper and television editors as to the most important news elements, a sig- nificant portion of university editors appear to erroneously believe that newspaper editors prefer news stories that feature a known principal (see Chapter III, Interpretation of Factor 3-Z, the Hero Worshiper). APPENDICES APPENDIX A INSTRUCTIONS FOR Q-SORT The news and feature story leads that you have before you were developed from actual releases. The releases were selected from the normal production of press releases written by cooperative extension service and agricultural experiment station information staff members at a land grant university. In sorting these leads you will be asked to play two roles. First, that of an information editor (deciding which re- leases will get preference in sending to outlets). And, second, that of a newpaper editor (deciding which releases to publish and which to discard). Assumptions: In either role you may assume that all of the leads have some tie to the university cooperative extension service of agricultural experiment station (or other appropriate university units) -- even though the uni- versity or these units are not mentioned in the lead. The university in question, for this study, is called The State University and is referred to as TSU through- out. The name of the state is Home and is referred to as Home State throughout. In the role of newspaper editor assume that the paper you work for is a medium sized daily that does not include the university in its immediate circulation area. When you are sorting the leads in the role of newspaper editor, every lead that is "localized" should be treated as if your paper's circulation area included the city or area in question. If you have any questions on the above general instructions, please ask them at any time. Step 1: Assuming you are a university information editor, read through the 40 leads and sort them into three piles. Pile A -- Those leads you would be most likely to use. Pile B -- Those leads you would be least likely to use. Pile C —- Those leads that you feel neutral about or "can't decide." 170 Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: 171 APPENDIX A (cont'd.) Using the distribution diagram as a guide, pick the two leads you would be most likely to use and write their numbers in the vertical column of the diagram under +6 "most likely to use." Then con- tinue filling in the diagram columns with leads from your most likely to use file until you have recorded all their numbers. For example: +3 +4 +5 +6 most likely to use 21 G 4 [19 Diagram 11 37 35' L 7, 121 When you have run out of most likely to use leads, do the same thing for your "least likely to use" pile. Choose the two leads that you would be least likely to use and enter their numbers in the vertical column of the diagram under -6 "least likely to use." Then continue filling the columns with lead numbers until you have run out of least likely to use leads. For example: least likely to use -6 , -5 -4 -3 elz 25 1'? 15'23 <5 1 When you run out of least likely to use leads, choose the leads from the "neutral" pile that you are most likely to use and continue filling in the most likely to use side of the diagram. Then fill in the rest of the least likely to use side of the diagram with those leads remaining. 172 APPENDIX A (cont'd.) All spaces in the diagram must contain a number when you are finished. Use each number only once. Remember, you can change the order whenever you wish until you're satisfied. Step 5: Complete the remaining information that accompanies each distribution diagram. Step 6: Repeat Steps 1 through 5 as if you were a newspaper editor, using the second distribution diagram pro- vided. If you don't understand any of the instructions, or any of the questions in the questionnaire that accompanies this Q-sort, please ask the researcher in charge. Your comments are also welcome at any time. 173 APPENDIX B ITEMS IN Q-SORT 1. Can we do something about the weather? Well, yes and no, and a new publication sponsored by agricul- tural experiment stations in the North Central Region of the United States tells us why the prediction varies. * (News elements = High impact/Conflict) 2. The more peOple believe that the energy crisis is real, the more they support policies advocated by President Carter. (News elements = High impact/Known principal) 3. Home State currently has approximately 50 days coal supply with which to fire generators that produce electricity; and with that dwindling supply is the growing prospect of rolling blackouts throughout the state. Major cities that may be hardest hit include Ewell, Hancock and Stuart. (News elements = High impact/Local interest) 4. UNIVERSITY CITY -- There will be more episodes like the mercury contamination incident that continues to rock the private, industrial and political sectors of Home State, a national authority on toxic chemicals said here Thursday. (News elements = High impact/Timely) 5. Home State Governor Johannas B. Smythe was heckled ’ by irate farmers during his recent farm policy speech made on the TSU campus. (News elements = Conflict/Known principal) 6. TSU Extension agents and local White County police and fire agencies are mobilizing rescue crews armed with four wheel drive vehicles, chain saws and portable electric generators in an attempt to rescue the estimated 250 rural families still stranded in the wake of the recent violent ice storm. (News elements = Conflict/Local interest) * . . News elements for each Q-sort item are included here for researchers. They were not made available to respondents. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 174 APPENDIX B (cont'd.) Dry weather has forced the cancellation of an after- noon dairy-forage clinic to be held at the TSU Ex- periment Station near McClellan July 26. (News elements = Conflict/Timely) GRANT, Home State -- Rep. Charles H. Varnum, Sherman, and Sen. Joseph S. Mack, Pickett, participated in the agricultural field day held at TSU's Up State Experiment Station. (News elements = Known principal/Local interest) Governor Johannas B. Smythe pointed out the concern of U.S. governors for developing effective federal farm policy, yesterday (March 23) during the annual governor's breakfast at TSU's Farmers' Week. (News elements = Known principal/Timely) A petite TSU freshman from Pope was named the Home State Honey Queen during the Home State Beekeepers Association annual pageant Tuesday night (March 21). (News elements = Local interest/Timely) Watch out for prolonged exposure to the sun's rays and for intense heat outdoors and indoors. Pro- longed exposure could result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. (News elements = High impact/Conflict) Governor Johannas B. Smythe's recently announced tax cuts will not have a major impact on the income tax paid by the average Home State family. (News elements = High impact/Known principal) Blue County is one of 15 Home State counties selected for a pilot study of energy conservation in the home. (News elements = High impact/Local interest) Average retail food prices in 1978 are expected to rise 4 to 6 percent above the average for 1977. Consumers can take comfort, however, in the fact that the same year—end forecasts call for an increase in average disposable income that should offset the higher cost of food. (News elements = High impact/Timely) Secretary of Agriculture Robert Bergland was the target of eggs thrown by American Agriculture Movement demonstrators who intercepted the Secretary's motorcade as it left the TSU campus. (News elements = Conflict/Known principal) 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 24. 175 APPENDIX B (cont'd.) Tornados that ripped through the intensive apple and peach producing area near Geary, Home State, destroyed an estimated 70,000 fruit trees and put a major dent in the state's 1978 fruit crop. (News elements = Conflict/Local interest) Home gardeners and commercial sweet corn growers should be aware of a newly identified disease that can severely damage, if not destroy, their crop. (News elements = Conflict/Timely) Actor-rancher John Wayne and TSU will have something in common the fourth week of March -- both will be praising agriculture. (News elements = Known principal/Local interest) The Budweiser Clydesdales will be on the TSU campus as part of the 30th annual Block and Bridle Club Horse Show, March 31 and April 1. (News elements = Known principal/Timely) OMAHA, Neb. -- Al Culham, a TSU junior from Gregg, was top individual point gainer at the National Meat Animal Evaluation Contest held here Tuesday. (News elements = Local interest/Timely) Are there changes ahead for the Home State Tax system? Several proposals are now being argued in the Home State Legislature and may appear on the November ballot. (News elements = High impact/Conflict) According to former First Lady Betty Ford, child abuse is on the increase in the United States. Sus- pected cases of child abuse and neglect have in- creased more than 50 percent in the last six years. (News elements = High impact/Known principal) Leakage from a chemical burial site in Brown County may have contaminated the municipal water supply for Meade, Home State. (News elements = High impact/Local interest) Dieting may be hazardous to your health, according to a report released Tuesday by the Home State Dietetic Association. (News elements = High impact/Timely) 25. 26. 27. 28. 30. 31. 32. 34. 176 APPENDIX B (cont'd.) Governor Johannas B. Smythe maintains that the current coal miners' strike underscores the need for a federal energy policy to step up the development of nuclear power sources. (News elements = Conflict/Known principal) Yes, it's true; eating too much fish from Green County's Green Water Lake could be hazardous to your health. (News elements = Conflict/Local interest) The competition will be stiff for 4-H youth at the 1978 Home State Horse Show, August 22, at TSU. (News elements = Conflict/Timely) Vice President Walter Mondale will visit University City next month to deliver the spring commencement address at TSU. (News elements = Known principal/Local interest) American farmers are dependent on exports for their livelihood, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Robert Bergland said Friday, April 7. (News elements = Known principal/Timely) Mary E. Wahl was appointed TSU Cooperative Extension Service director for White County during the TSU Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday (August 4). Wahl will assume her new position and duties on September 1. (News elements = Local interest/Timely) The need for increased world food production and de- creasing energy supplies will clash, with perhaps disastrous effects, in the next 10 to 15 years. (News elements = High impact/Conflict) Joe Frazier, former World Boxing Association heavy- weight champion, is taking on a new opponent in Home State. The rival is drug abuse among youth. (News elements = High impact/Known principal) White County has been selected as the site for a TSU study of family mobility that is expected to last for 20 years. (News elements = High impact/Local interest) "Women are the largest single minority in the nation," a Home State legislator told the more than 1,200 par- ticipants at College Week which opened today on the TSU campus. (News elements = High impact/Timely) 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 177 APPENDIX B (cont'd.) President Carter has promised federal aid after touring the populous areas of Home State that were ravaged by the recent flooding. (News elements = Conflict/Known principal) The extended drought that has hit White County has reduced expected corn yields by almost 40 percent, according to County Cooperative Extension Service agricultural experts. (News elements = Conflict/Local interest) What most people feel has been screwy, unsettled weather the last few years may actually be a return to "normal" patterns, a weather specialist said yesterday. (News elements = Conflict/Timely) Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug will visit the TSU Small Grains Research Station near Hooker, Home State, on a tour of Home State agricultural re- search facilities slated for next month. (News elements = Known principal/Local interest) Actor Robert Redford announced support yesterday (March 3) of Home State conservation groups that are fighting oil drilling on Home State owned forest sites. (News elements = Known principal/Timely) Eight-five migrant students in Pickett will discover that summer school isn't all that bad, when Blue County's special 4-H summer migrant program is implemented next Monday. (News elements = Local interest/Timely) 178 APPENDIX C DISTRIBUTION DIAGRAM“ N=40 Least Likely Most Likely to use to use -6 -5 -4 -3 —2 -l 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 6 * Each respondent completed two distribution diagrams, using the same 40 Q-sort items. In filling one diagram the respondent performed as if s/he were a senior land grant university information editor. In filling the second diagram the respondent performed as if s/he were a newspaper editor selecting items for publication. 179 APPENDIX D Q-QUESTIONNAIRE Name Age Job Title Sex: Male Female Marital status: Married Single Divorced or separated Educational experience (circle the highest level achieved): Grade -- 8 9 10 ll 12 l3 l4 Bachelors degree (Major: ) Masters degree: (Major: ) Ph.D. (Major: ) Other: List the job you held immediately before becoming an infor- mation specialist in extension or research (if you are a media specialist, list the job you held before joining your present organization): Job Title How many years of experience do you have in extension/re- search information? (If you aren't with a university, list the number of years of media experience.) years Area of interest (circle one): Agriculture 4-H Home Economics Other Research All 180 APPENDIX D (cont'd.) What percent of your time on the job is spent writing news releases or scripts? (circle the percentage that is closest to your estimate) o\° 0% 10% 20 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Do you handle or process news releases or scripts (other than writing)? If so, please describe your activity: React to the following statements by making an "X" on the appropriate vertical mark on the scale that accompanies each statement: "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on education (transmitting useful infor- mation to an audience)." very strongly very strongly disagree neutral agree 1 l 1 I L I I "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural offices Should focus predominantly on improving the image of the institution so that teaching, research and extension programs will have public and government support." very strongly disagree neutral very strongly agree I l l | l 1 I "I think that releases from land grant university agricultural information offices should focus pre- dominantly on news." very strongly very strongly disagree neutral agree L l 4 ' l L ‘ 181 APPENDIX D (cont'd.) 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Sub- Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor ject 1-Y 2-Y 3-Y 4—Y 5-Y 6—Y 21 .459 .4801 .054 .325 .211 .175 22 .740 -.232 -.330 .182 .029 .025 23 .051 .692 .328 .344 -.086 .128 24 .599 .343 .219 .079 .046 -.370 25 .548 .545 .066 -.292 .007 -.028 26 .081 .183 -.398 .425 .414 .141 27 .619 -.l45 .174 -.401 .097 .018 28 .762 -.276 .293 -.217 .098 .026 29 .299 .672 .245 .248 -.l96 -.l2l 30 .501 .308 -.108 .078 -.391 .200 31 .309 .518 -.293 -.078 .261 -.220 32 .708 -.298 -.055 -.l43 .207 -.016 33 .674 -.l67 .024 -.080 .018 .216 34 .715 .445 .153 -.l84 -.032 -.029 35 .730 -.383 -.l73 -.034 -.069 -.032 36 .703 .253 -.311 .151 -.018 .184 37 .614 .387 -.246 .091 -.015 -.044 38 .469 .530 .181 -.301 -.110 .254 39 .294 .108 .557 .097 .454 .181 40 .440 .611 .209 .085 —.040 -.095 41 .178 .685 -.275 -.069 -.208 .252 42 .646 -.532 -.101 .194 -.101 .259 43 .603 .219 -.546 -.153 .099 .197 213 APPENDIX E (cont'd.) Sub- Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor ject l-Y 2-Y 3-Y 4-Y 5-Y 6-Y 44 .767 -.226 .223 -.008 -.218 -.026 45 .723 -.243 .232 -.119 -.023 -.l75 46 .764 .292 .036 -.007 .060 -.183 47 .616 -.094 .109 .365 -.009 -.398 48 .597 -.239 -.631 .148 .037 -.l43 49 .528 -.367 .325 .017 -.225 .321 50 .395 -.067 -.625 -.204 .010 .298 51 .574 -.468 .139 -.O42 .164 .158 214 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) ROTATED FACTOR LOADINGS Y-MODE Sub- Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor ject 1—Y 2-Y 3-Y 4-Y 5-Y 6-Y l .394 .181 .249 .540 .083 -.l4l 2 .902 -.051 .185 -.025 -.103 .017 3 .703 -.123 .476 -.219 -.098 .110 4 .268 .050 .700 .450 -.120 -.066 5 .335 .328 .493 .122 .026 .078 6 .585 -.137 .187 .255 .291 .193 7 .427 .226 .590 .052 .357 -.014 8 .044 .705 .178 -.412 -.087 -.006 9 .197 .263 .735 -.053 .085 -.098 10 .382 .258 .697 .065 -.130 .090 ll -.l48 .569 .111 .285 .377 -.l75 12 .514 .133 .358 .013 .355 .483 13 .044 -.028 -.166 -.213 .753 .298 14 .588 .143 .059 -.175 -.143 .078 15 .556 .245 .028 .150 .041 -.063 16 -.l28 .850 .065 .100 -.159 -.049 17 .385 .018 .292 .569 -.072 .235 18 .368 -.108 -.009 .099 .137 .641 19 .566 .272 .229 .164 .283 .131 20 .315 .330 -.194 .440 -.028 .413 215 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) Sub- Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor ject l-Y 2-Y 3-Y 4—Y 5-Y 6-Y 21 .080 .575 .107 .309 .423 .059 22 .596 .025 .483 .001 .394 -.014 23 -.l7l .721 -.296 .134 .158 .229 24 .108 .511 .475 .164 -.010 .379 25 .084 .676 .395 .164 -.144 -.l4l 26 -.157 .047 .107 .109 .712 -.117 27 .443 .100 .434 .342 -.287 -.103 28 .624 .067 .415 .434 -.198 .083 29 -.050 .782 .017 -.008 .067 .311 30 .424 .562 .058 -.l87 .118 -.088 31 -.252 .424 .517 .023 .206 -.135 32 .517 -.060 .545 .289 .050 -.047 33 .603 .130 .281 .252 .053 -.104 34 .273 .680 .417 .215 -.105 -.007 35 .680 -.072 .489 .016 .095 .007 36 .415 .463 .352 .010 .414 -.169 37 .208 .529 .432 -.040 .288 -.052 38 .200 .713 .102 .215 -.196 -.252 39 .068 .202 -.021 .757 .027 .191 40 .007 .734 .194 .138 .032 .181 41 -.052 .694 .002 -.200 .149 -.376 42 .832 -.l73 .164 .091 .261 .015 43 .286 .318 .500 —.034 .327 -.492 216 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) Sub- Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor ject 1-Y 2—Y 3-Y 4-Y 5-Y 6-Y 44 .723 .183 .311 .133 -.114 .230 45 .561 .084 .466 .234 -.l77 .236 46 .288 .513 .555 .173 .079 .135 47 .351 .141 .400 .047 .206 .558 48 .415 -.106 .620 -.243 .468 -.100 49 .767 .027 -.079 .239 -.116 .089 50 .348 .010 .336 -.l49 .271 ”.594 51 .608 -.193 .253 .386 .022 .023 217 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) UNROTATED FACTOR LOADINGS Z-MODE Subject Factor 1-Z Factor 2-Z Factor 3-Z l .570 -.l20 .493 2 .557 .094 .501 3 .581 .191 .115 4 .633 -.477 .028 5 .553 .523 .148 6 775 -.304 -.031 7 .616 .180 -.303 8 .518 .482 .325 9 737 .265 -.021 10 .693 -.360 -.301 11 .718 .086 .486 12 .717 .412 .139 13 .758 -.366 -.l33 14 .714 -.010 -.306 15 .674 -.447 .254 16 .726 .165 -.345 17 .641 -.450 -.280 18 .597 .108 .400 19 .609 .226 -.465 20 .857 -.072 -.233 218 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) Subject Factor l-Z Factor 2-Z Factor 3-Z 21 .750 -.369 .004 22 .597 .570 -.227 23 .646 -.408 .272 24 .719 -.320 .046 25 .352 -.140 .156 26 .733 .466 -.087 27 .833 -.055 -.127 28 .651 -.129 —.589 29 .551 -.317 .461 30 .440 -.435 -.498 31 .744 -.394 .200 32 .610 .561 -.133 33 .737 .209 -.200 34 .821 .347 .005 35 .739 .377 .166 36 .842 -.211 -.015 37 .691 .471 -.153 38 .627 -.096 -.l79 39 .805 -.340 -.216 40 .799 -.246 .119 41 .649 .401 .009 42 .477 .005 .555 43 .850 -.035 -.O64 219 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) Subject Factor l-Z Factor 2-Z Factor 3-Z 44 .715 -.023 .154 45 .602 -.256 .309 46 .700 .112 -.058 47 .518 -.094 .168 48 .281 .375 .388 49 .615 .326 -.173 220 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) ROTATED FACTOR LOADINGS Z-MODE Subject Factor l-Z Factor 2-Z Factor 3-Z 1 .135 .153 .753 2 .358 -.018 .664 3 .491 .174 .341 4 .006 .617 .498 5 .732 -.042 .254 6 .235 .643 .474 7 .549 .449 .030 8 .658 -.146 .389 9 .659 .307 .293 10 .170 .786 .232 11 .451 .090 .740 12 .745 .121 .366 13 .187 .728 .403 14 .459 .612 .136 15 .030 .491 .690 16 .608 .547 .059 17 .066 .791 .248 18 .405 .058 .601 19 .598 .517 -.116 20 .489 .687 .288 221 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) Subject Factor l-Z Factor 2-Z Factor 3-Z 21 .165 .643 .508 22 .835 .182 -.035 23 .041 .443 .679 24 .180 .573 .511 25 .087 .192 .351 26 .821 .236 .179 27 .476 .601 .354 28 .357 .807 -.088 29 .035 .224 .752 30 -.022 .793 -.036 31 .120 .536 .668 32 .826 .139 .049 33 .633 .444 .167 34 .771 .298 .334 35 .727 .136 .410 36 .346 .623 .495 37 .806 .248 .102 38 .324 .531 .217 39 .245 .791 .353 40 .279 .537 .589 41 .709 .163 .230 42 .233 -.049 .692 43 .496 .563 .407 222 APPENDIX F (cont'd.) 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Comparisons within the sample are justified one the basis of several commonalities. The programs and organizational situations are similar from state to state due to common legislative origins.l Geologic and climatic conditions unique to the corn belt are common to all these states and, thus, provide a major agricul- tural emphasis that includes similarities in crops grown and the economic importance of agriculture.2 Results of the study are compared within the sample to determine similarities and/or differences, and with compatible data on media gatekeepers that have been collected by others. lOrganic Act of 1862 (Morrill Act), ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503. Hatch Act, ch. 31”, 2M Stat. #40 (1887). Smith-Lever Act, ch. 79, 38 Stat. 372 (191“). These acts provide for the basic founding, philoSOphy, and funding of land grant colleges, agricultural experiment stations, and the cooperative extension service, respectively. 2U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1977. (Washington, D.C.: Government Prin- ting Office, 1977), p. 697. U.S. Department of Agriculture, State Agricultural Experiment Stations: A History of Research Policy and Procedure (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1962), p. 208. 2H3 .0000000 0005000>ow 000 000000 0>00 0003 0500w I000 0000000x0 000 000000 I00 .w0000000 0000 00 0000 I0000000 000 00 0m050 000 m00>00050 00 >000000500 I000 00000 000000 0000000 00000500000 0000000000 Im0 >00000>000 0000w 0000 0.0I 5000 00000000 0000 x0000 0 .000000000 00 00 000005000 I00 000000 m00000500000v 000000000 00 >000000500 I000 00000 000000 0000000 00000500000 0000000000 Iw0 >00000>000 0000m 0000 0.0+ 5000 00000000 0000 x0000 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-: 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 00000000000 00 000w0000he >0 000050000m 0000000< 00 00000m 0002 000000000 0000000< Amoeo<0 Wmv mmmzo0mmm Bzmzme000000d 00 000000 I50 000 .0000000 000005000 I00 0000000000m0 >00000>000 0000M 0000 >0 00000000 .000 .0000000 .00000000 00 >00 I000U 000 00 000 00 000000 00000050 0005 0000 00000 0 .0300 00 >000000500 I000 00000 000000 0000000 00000500000 0000000000 Iw0 >00000>000 0000w 0000 5000 00000000 0000 00000 0 Nlm Nlm NI0 Mlm Mlm m 0 0 0 0 00000000000 00 000w00omhh >0 0000500000 0000000< 00 000000 000: Ml: 000000000 0000000< 0.0.0coov 0 xHsz00< SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Brown, Steven R., and Brenner, Donald J. (eds.). Science Psychology, and Communication: Essays Honoring William Stephenson. New York: Teachers College Press, 1972. Cutlip, Scott M., and Center, Allen H. Effective Public Relations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1952. Kerlinger, Frederick Nichols. Foundations of Behavioral Research: Educational and Psychological Inquiry. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., l96u Lewin, Kurt. Field Theory in Social Science. New York: Harper, 1951. Marston, John E. The Nature of Public Relations. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963. Nie, Norman H.; Hull, C. Hadlai; Jenkins, Jean 6.; Steinbrenner, Karin; and Bent, Dale H. SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, 2d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., 1975. Stephenson, William. The Play Theory of Mass Communication. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967. . The Study of Behavior: Q-Technique and Its Methodology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953. Thayer, Lee (ed.). Communication: Theory and Research. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, 1967. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1977. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1977. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Communicators in Land Grant Universities and USDA Agencies. Washington, D.C.: Science and Education Administration U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1979. 296 State Agricultural Experiment Stations: A History of Research Policy and Procedure. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1962. Verway, David I., and Greer, William. Michigan Statistical Abstract (12th ed.). East Lansing, Mich.: Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Michigan State University, 1977. ARTICLES IN BOOKS MacLean, Malcolm 8., Jr. "Communication Strategy, Editing Games, and Q." In Science, Psychology, and Communica- tion: Essays Honoring William Stephenson. Brown, -Steven R., anderenner, Donald J. (eds.). New York: Teachers College Press, 1972. "Systems of News Communication." In Communi- cation: Theory and Research. Thayer, Lee (ed.). Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, 1967. ACTS OF THE U.S. CONGRESS Hatch Act, ch. 31%, 2M Stat. qu. 1887. Organic Act of 1862 (Morrill Act), ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503. 1862. Smith-Lever Act, ch. 79, 38 Stat. 372. 191u. JOURNAL ARTICLES Bass, Abraham Z. "Refining the 'Gatekeeper' Concept: A UN Radio Case Study," Journalism Quarterly, XL (Spring 1969): 69-72. Buckalew, James K. "News Elements and Selection by Tele- vision News Editors," Journal of Broadcasting, XIV (Winter 1969-1970): u7-5u. . "A Q-Analysis of Television News Editors' Decisions," Journalism Quarterly, XLVI (Spring 1969): 135-37. 2m "The Radio News Gatekeeper and His Sources," Journalism Quarterly, LI (Winter 197M): 602-06. Clyde, Robert W., and Buckalew, James K. "Inter-Media Standardization: A Q-Analysis of News Editors," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Summer 1969): 349-51. Fowler, Joseph S., and Showalter, Stuart W. "Evening Network News Selection: A Confirmation of News Judgement," Journalism Quarterly, LI (Winter 197M): 712-15. Haley, Russell I. "Benefit Segmentation: A Decision- Oriented Research Tool." Journal of Marketing, XXXII, No. 3 (July, 1968): 30-35. Harless, James D. "Mail Call: A Case Study of a Broad- cast News Gatekeeper," Journalism Quarterly, LI (Spring 197a): 87-90. Hatch, J. Cordell. "Mass Media Gatekeepers for Colleges of Agriculture," ACE Quarterly, LIV, No 4 (1971): 31-40. Janowitz, Morris. "Professional Models in Journalism: The Gatekeeper and the Advocate," Journalism Quarterly, LII (Winter 1975): 618-26. Johnson, Kenneth G. "Dimensions of Judgement of Science News," Journalism Quarterly, XL (Summer 1963): Lassahn, Pamela Henry. "Comparison of Judgements About Agricultural Science News," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Winter 1969): 702-07. Schlinger, Mary Jane. "Cues on Q-Technique," Journal of Advertising Research, IX, No. 3 (1969): 53-60. Snider, Paul B. "'Mr. Gates' Revisited: A 1966 Version of the 19u9 Case Study," Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Autum 1967): Hl9-27. Stephenson, William. "Public Images of Public Utilities," Journal of Advertisig Research, III (1963). "Scientific Creed -- 1961: Philosophical Credo Abductory Principles, and the Centrality of Self," The Psychological Record, XI (1961): 1-25. 2H8 Tichenor, Phillip J.; Olien, Clarice N.; and Donohue, George A. "Predicting a Source's Success in Placing News in the Media," ‘Journalism Quarterly, XLIV (Spring 1967): 32-42. Tuchman, Gaye. "Objectivity as a Strategic Ritual: An Examination of Newsmen's Notions of Objectivity," American Journal of Sociology, LXXVII (January 1972): 660-79. White, David M. "The Gate Keeper: A Case Study in the Selection of News," Journalism Quarterly, XXVII (Fall 1950): 383—90. MONOGRAPHS AND REPORTS Dimmick, John. The Gate-Keeper: An Uncertainty Theory. Journalism Monographs, No. 37, (November 197%). Kerlinger, Frederick Nichols. The Attitude Structure of the Individual: A Q-Study of the Educational Attitudes of Professors and Laymen, Genetic Psychology Monographs,'LIII (1956), 283—329. Singletary, Michael W. What Determines the News? A Review of the Scientific Research on News Values. ANPA News Research Report, No. 5 (August 12, 197771 UNPUBLISHED REPORTS Booth, Laurel. "An Image Study of McCall's Magazine" Un- published M.A. thesis, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1968. Buckalew, James K. "The Television News Editor as a Gate Keeper." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 1967. Fischer, Eric D. "The Automobile and the Consumer: Operant Market Segmentation." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1973. Fredericks, Eldon E. "Annual Report of Extension/Research Information." Department of Information Services mimeograph, Michigan State University, 1977. Ganz, Philip. "The Student and the Small College: Operant Market Segmentation." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1973. 299 Lehnert, Eileen. "An Attitude Segmentation Study of the Youth Market's Perception of the Ideal Newspaper." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1979. Mauldin, Charles R. "A Subjective Systems Approach: Application of an Image Study to Aggregate Behavior in a Socio-Economic System." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1972. McCarty, Ricky H. "Packaging and Advertising of Men's Toiletries: An Intensive Analysis of a Pure Type." Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Missouri/ Columbia, 1972. Shinn, Steven. "An Image Study of the University of Missouri, Columbia." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Univer- sity of Missouri/Columbia, 1971. Stephenson, William. "An Image Study of Missouri's Public Libraries." Unpublished research paper, University of Missouri/Columbia, 1962. Tschirhart, Nancy Lois. "Life Styles Vs. Behavior Segments: A Study of Dental Health Consumers." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1970. Wittwer, Sylvan H., and Divelbiss, Richard 1. "Successful COOperative Research -- Bringing People Together." Paper presented at the 17uth meeting of the American Chemical Society, Chicago, Ill., Aug. 29, 1977. Zimmerman, Dan H. "Attitudes About Golf: Operationalizing the Kernan and Sommer's Theory of Promotion." Unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 197M.