Podium Session III
Alan M. Rubin, Professor/Director Emeritus, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Presentation: The (Even More) Personal Nature of Mediated Communication
Friday, 2:45 PM-4:00 PM | LVCC, N251
Presentation Topic: For many years, our research suggested the need to integrate the study of personal and mediated communication. We have done so applying the uses and gratifications framework to studying television news and entertainment, talk radio, and the Internet. In these instances, it seemed clear we needed an approach focusing on the individual when seeking to answer questions about the effects of mass media. We sought to integrate elements of this approach into the study of media dependency, cultivation, aggression, and third-person effects. We considered models evolving from motivation through individual differences and personal attitudes to media behaviors and outcomes. We found personal attitudes and felt relationships with media personalities (e.g., parasocial interaction) affected how people used media, and the outcomes of media use. The evolution of newer forms of personal media has added renewed focus to understanding the personal nature of mediated communication.

Introduction by: Paul M. Haridakis, Ph.D., School of Communication Studies, Kent State University

Alan M. Rubin (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is Professor and Director Emeritus of the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University. For more than 25 years, he has studied media uses and effects, including news and entertainment, personal and mediated communication, and newer communication technologies. He is co-author of the recently published Communication Research: Strategies and Sources, now in its 7th edition, and Communication Research Measures II: A Sourcebook. Besides writing many chapters, articles, and papers, he is a past editor of the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and the Journal of Communication. He has served on editorial boards and as a consultant to media, industry, and education. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and received the Broadcast Education Association's Distinguished Scholar Award.