N Chandrababu Naidu Launches 'Praja Galam' As Part of TDP’s Election Campaign
Robinson. 2008.
1. A Columnist’s Call To Action:
Audience Perceptions of
Credibility and Authority
Online vs. Print
Sue Robinson
University of Wisconsin-Madison
April 2008
2. The Experiment
2 (interactivity: blog, no blog)
X 2 (multimedia: text, video)
Kristof’s column on Darfur
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/opinion/26kristof.html?
_r=1&oref=slogin
Kristof’s video on Darfur
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?
fr_story=b1fe27b1121b74a6ca2529cd41184f9f3b989a01&rf=
bm
Kristof’s blog on Darfur
3. H1: Columnist’s Credibility
H1a: Those people who read the
blog, forced to comment will feel the
author is more credible than those
who did not have this opportunity.
H1b: Those people who watched the
video with Kristof as a character will
feel that the author is more credible
than those who only read the column.
4. H2: Columnist’s Authority
H2a: Those people who read the
blog, forced to comment will feel
Kristof embodies more authority to
tell this news story than those who
did not have this opportunity.
H2b: Those people who watched the
video will think Kristof is more
authoritative than those who read the
column.
5. H3: Accept Call to Action?
H3a: Those people who believe Kristof to
be more credible, will be more apt to
accept and advocate Kristof’s main premise
that the United States must get involved in
the Darfur situation.
H3b: Those people who believe Kristof to
be more authoritative will be more apt to
want the United States to get involved in
the Darfur situation.
6. Credibility
Neither H1a or H1b was supported
All thought Kristof credible
BUT open-ended questions
nuanced analysis
Almost half in text conditions: Kristof
is most credible of all characters
Video: Kristof least credible of all
characters
7. Text
“I would hope Kristof is the most
credible because if he isn’t then
who knows if the others are even
real.”
“I find Kristof most credible. As a
writer for the largest national
newspaper, his abilities can
generally be trusted in my
opinion.”
8. Video
Kristof: “annoying,” “sensational,” and
“arrogant,” and who “talks in a
monotone voice.”
Kristof was “only a reporter who was
probably not a 100% knowledgeable in
this area.”
“I especially find the elderly man
credible as we saw evidence of the
burns.”
9. Authority
Neither H2a nor H2b supported
But H2b’s opposite was true:
Column More authoritative
than video
11. Column:
“Committed,” “expert,” “advocate,” “activist”
Referenced events of Darfur
Kristof Primary source expert
Video:
“He covers international news”
“I see Kristof as a man who is using journalistic
pursuits to help spread a message”
“A dedicated journalist”
Referenced coverage of Darfur
Kristof Secondary source
12. A Call to Action
Both H3a and H3b supported
Perception of Kristof’s credibility and
authority accounted for nearly a third
of the variance of the desire to get
involved with Darfur
13. Furthermore…
People who read the column and
then were asked to blog were
significantly more likely to support
Kristof’s call to action (ß=.88, p<.05)
Modality had no significant predictor
value on call to action, at least not
directly
15. Blog:
Personalized call to action, more
emotive
“We must do something to stop the
situation in Darfur!”
No Blog:
Less emotion, more third-person
“The need for the US to be involved in
poorer countries affairs…”
16. Conclusions
Don’t stop writing
Consider video format, video narrator
carefully
Rethink purpose of multimedia
Call on blogs to connect, make it
personal, bring it home
