Editor's Focus

The Western Journal of Communication (WJC), published by Routledge in association with the Western States Communication Association, presents a balance of humanistic and scientific research regarding the human communication processes. Moreover, interpersonal, small group, organizational, public, and intercultural communication represent areas wherein research is published in WJC. In addition, WJC is known to be a very high quality journal; its average acceptance rate has been less than 20% for the past three years. In brief, the Western Journal of Communication is a competitive, scholarly journal that publishes an impressive array of research on human communication. A brief look at two recent issues illustrates this.

In Volume 69, Issue 2, rhetorical analyses of myths, media, and metaphors were featured. The issue contained three very different articles on the following topics: how the Buffalo Bill Museum perpetuates in various subtle and not-so-subtle ways the myth of the Old West; the manner in which Pixar's DVD release of features related to its animated film Monsters, Inc. alienated the Disney Corporation while establishing itself as a corporate auteur promoting the values Disney had promoted; and how the metaphor of scales of justice is used to promote the unfair use of victim impact statements in deciding whether or not someone will receive a death penalty. As one can ascertain, these papers are sophisticated and insightful in their analyses.

Volume 69, Issue 3 features social scientific analyses of non-verbal behavior. Three articles from that issue contained the following: various ways in which the Rabin-Arafat handshake was interpreted by parties and the press; whether training people to recognize non-verbal cues of deception really works; and how people respond non-verbally to strangers who vary in wearing sunglasses and greeting behavior. Although these articles differ in their methods - a content analysis, one a series of lab experiments, the third a field experiment - they all converge on how non-verbal behaviors convey meaning in different relationships.

As editor, I am pleased to announce that my final issue of WJC is in press. The next editor, Cheree Carlson, will no doubt continue to balance the various humanistic and scientific interests of communication researchers doing high quality work. In my view, that is WJC's strength.

Send submissions for future volumes to Cheree Carlson, Editor Elect, Western Journal of Communication, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University, PO Box 871205, Tempe, AZ 85287-1205 USA. Visit http://www.westcomm.org/publications/WesternJournal.asp for the editorial guidelines.

An institutional and personal subscription to Western Journal of Communication includes Communication Reports, another Western States Communication Association publication. For further information on becoming a member of WSCA, or on the WSCA in general, please visit: www.westcomm.org/. For further information on the journals, please visit: www.tandf.co.uk/journals/.

View sample articles from WJC Volume 69, Issues 2 and 3.

The Digital Auteur: Branding Identity on the Monsters, Inc. DVD
Robert Alan Brookey and Robert Westerfelhaus

Memory and Myth at the Buffalo Bill Museum
Greg Dickinson, Brian L. Ott, Aoki Eric

Through a Glass Darkly: Effects of Smiling and Visibility on Recognition and Avoidance in Passing Encounters
Miles L. Patterson and Mark E. Tubbs