Page 218 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

8. INTERMEDIA PROCESSES 207

with the message content of Magic Johnson’s announcement, in
which he told of his promiscuous sexual behavior, but said rela-
tively little about practicing safe sex by using condoms.
2. Wanta and Elliott (1995) interviewed 366 Illinois respondents in
March 1991, prior to Johnson’s announcement, and 307 respon-
dents 10 days after the November 7, 1991, disclosure. Correct
knowledge that sneezing does not transmit the virus increased
from 77% to 91%. Knowledge that using the same restroom as
someone with AIDS could not transmit the virus increased from
80% to 93%. Further, the respondents reported a major increase in
knowing the difference between HIV and AIDS, which is consis-
tent with the content of the Johnson announcement (he disclosed
that he had the virus but did not have AIDS). The difference
between HIV and AIDS was stressed in news stories about Magic
Johnson’s disclosure.
3. Kalichman and Hunter (1992) gathered data from 361 men wait-
ing for mass transportation in downtown Chicago, before and
after the Magic Johnson announcement. A marked change
occurred in perceptions of AIDS, with increased concern about
AIDS, greater interest in AIDS-related information, and more-
frequent interpersonal discussions about AIDS. All of the men
heard about Magic Johnson’s HIV infection, and 86% discussed
his disclosure with their friends during the 3 days following his
news conference (100% had talked about it by 10 days after
November 7, 1991). The percentage of the respondents who
reported they “often” talked with friends about AIDS increased
from about 24% prior to the Johnson disclosure, to 37% three
days after, and to 48% ten days after.
4. An investigation by Brown and Basil (1995), utilizing interviews
with university students a few days after the event, found a high
level of awareness of Magic Johnson’s disclosure, increased knowl-
edge of HIV/AIDS, and a higher level of discussion of the issue.

One of the important effects of mass media messages about Magic Johnson’s
HIV infection was to encourage interpersonal communication about the issue of
AIDS (a crucial matter to which we shall return in our later discussion of
intermedia processes).

The Challenger Disaster

Jon Miller (1987) conducted three sets of telephone interviews with sam-
ples of the U.S. adult population: (1) an initial telephone survey of 2,005
interviews about a week prior to the Challenger disaster on January 26,