Journalism prof’s research interests include Harry Potter novels

By Sara Kercho

Star Wars movies, baseball and Harry Potter books are shared interests among many college students and one of the newest Texas Christian University journalism professors has taken such personal passions and combined them with his professional endeavors.

Daxton “Chip” Stewart has conducted research about the effects of the Harry Potter books on journalistic images. Stewart said he feels the Harry Potter series is important because of its impact on the upcoming generation and referred to its popularity as a “cultural phenomenon.”

In the fourth and fifth Harry Potter books, Rita Skeeter is a chief antagonist who publishes lies and half-truths while having the ability to turn into a mosquito, Stewart said. The character personifies negative journalistic stereotypes, he said.

His hypothesis was that people who read the books would have worse perceptions of journalists and the media. However, during the study he found the exact opposite. Students who read the fourth and fifth books had a more positive image of journalists than those students who had not read the books.

Stewart noticed a correlation between readership and political affiliation. Readers who considered themselves liberal associated more positive attributes to journalists than liberal non-readers. And conservative readers held more negative viewpoints toward journalists than conservative non-readers. Stewart said he believes the books could be reinforcing readers’ preconceived images of journalists.

Stewart is currently revising his study in order to submit it for mass communication journals. He presented his work to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference and his paper tied for second place in the student competition in the Mass Communication and Society Division.

The new Schieffer School professor holds a J.D. degree from the University of Texas Law School and is currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in journalism at the University of Missouri. He is the editor-in-chief of Dispute Resolution Magazine, a quarterly publication. His Missouri dissertation focuses on law and the ineffectiveness of the open records and freedom of information legislation. Stewart said he cares deeply about people’s opinion of the media and feels it is important to diagnose the problems and perceptions of credibility.

Stewart is also in the process of revising and resubmitting another study this spring about “The Colbert Report” and viewers’ trust toward media credibility and politics, another personal interest that ties into his journalism scholarship.