Digital Commons Network^™

International News Coverage, Borrowed News And Geopolitical Focus In The New York Times During 1991, 1996 And 2001, Heather E. Rogers

Masters Theses

International news coverage by the U.S. media (and for the purpose of this study, newspaper coverage) is a heavily debated issue within the scholarly and professional worlds. Critics, both in the United States and abroad, charge that the U.S. media prescribe to an egocentric attitude about international news coverage, and that Americans do not receive the quality of news that could be expected in a nation with a free press, where citizens are, for the most part, highly educated and where access to news is not restricted.

Previous studies have focused on how much international news coverage Americans receive, and …

Framing Of Breast Cancer In African American Magazines, Lanise Hutchins

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Print Media Portrayal Of The Culture Of Nasa Before And After The Challenger Explosion, Jodi M. Lockaby

Masters Theses

In recent years, culture has become a major topic within organizational studies. The culture of an organization affects how individuals in the organization interact, what is valued in the organization, and what goals the organization strives to achieve.

However, the view of culture that outsiders hold of an organization also has significance for the organization. Mostly, the mass media influence the outsider's view of an organization's culture. Yet, organizational cultural studies have failed to look at the external perception of an organization and how the external viewpoint is affected by major actions by or events in the organization. This study …

Selling The Internet: An Analysis Of Advertisements For The Internet And Related Products In Time Magazine, 1995-2000, Guiohk Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

This study attempted to examine how the Internet has been presented in advertising in the United States and to explore how cultural values play a role in shaping the images of the Internet. Using a document analysis method based on principles of qualitative research, 504 advertisements for the Internet and Internet-related products appearing in Time magazine during 1995-2000 were examined. The analysis focused on identifying categories of message strategies and technological themes used in the ads and examining the changes in the use of the message strategies and technological themes.

Careful analysis revealed that the number of ads promoting the …

An Expectancy-Value Analysis Of Web Gratifications, Meiling Shih

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study explored the mechanisms directing Web usage decisions to determine more reliable estimates of the importance of various influences involved.

A Web-based survey was administered to respondents who voluntarily participated by responding to a message posted to selected Internet discussion groups. Exploratory factor analysis and covariance structure model were employed to examine the relationships between attitude, expectancies, motivation, intention, and usage regarding the Web.

Research evidence spoke strongly against univariate or bivariate motivational schemes. In addition to surveillance and diversion functions that have been found in traditional mass media, the Web also provided two unique qualities, utility and …

'A Ship Leading Itself ... ': A Study Of Two Methods To Teach The Public Speaking Course, Rodney K. Marshall

Doctoral Dissertations

With the advent of the Internet, more and more classes are being moved to that medium. This study looks at using that medium to assist classroom instruction. Teaching the Public Speaking class with online-assistance requires placing the majority of the content online and using classroom instruction for individual conferences between the student and instructor to prepare for presentations. This study investigated the outcomes of this method of instruction and compared them to the traditional lecture/discussion method of teaching the class.

The outcomes investigated concerned student perceptions of course satisfaction and preparedness for speeches, their willingness to communicate, and their immediacy …

Interactivity And The ‘Cyber-Fan’: An Exploration Of Audience Involvement Within The Electronic Fan Culture Of The Internet, Victor Costello

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the relatively new uses of the Internet by television fans for keeping up with their favorite television programs and for interacting with other fans through on-line channels of interpersonal communication. A distinction is made between traditional television fans and a newly emerging segment of the fan population that routinely uses the Internet to supplement the viewing of their favorite television program. The name cyber-fan is used to describe this savvy and innovative member of television fandom.

The study was designed within a uses and gratifications framework in an effort to specifically observe the behavior of cyber-fans within …

Diffusion Of Innovations Theory Applied: The Adoption Of Digital On-Demand Technology By Book Publishers And Printers, Jill Cohen Walker

Masters Theses

Desktop publishing rose in popularity during the late 1980s, allowing whole documents—books, journals, reports, etc.—to be created on computers. The printing industry had to develop compatible technology to accommodate the changes in document creation. In response to desktop publishing, digital printing appeared in 1990 with the invention of computer-to-plate technology. In its earliest days, it was limited to specific commercial applications such as check and business-form printing.

An amalgam of several technologies, digital printing has evolved and on-demand printing has matured into a book-printing technology that starts with the creation of a document and ends with the shipping of the …

The Pack Horse Library Project Of Eastern Kentucky: 1936-1943, Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer

Masters Theses

This study examines the Pack Horse Library Project, partially supported by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in eastern Kentucky from 1936 to 1943 . The WPA supported the project by providing work relief for local women and a few local men. Communities, individuals, and organizations such as county boards of education, civic clubs, and Kentucky PTAs funded materials, operating expenses, and overhead. For hundreds of isolated mountain communities, schools, and individuals the Pack Horse Library Project provided the first public library service ever experienced.

The Pack Horse Library Project provided library service to an area of Kentucky that was geographically …

Reporting Technology: A Content Analysis Of Newsweek's Cyberscope Column, A. Scott Duncan

Masters Theses

Introduction: The Internet is perhaps the most rapidly developing communications technology in history (Eighmey and McCord 1998). In January 1995, there were 4.8 million people online. By January 1996, the number had almost doubled to 9.5 million (Lottor 1996). Today there are an estimated 110 million people worldwide using the Internet (NUA 1998). Most studies indicate that the primary use by consumers of the Internet is exploration and entertainment (Pitkow and Recker 1994: Eighmey and McCord 1998). However, consumers are not the only people using this new technology. Many businesses are trying to take advantage of this new commercial outlet. …

The Performance Of Industry Culture: Assumptions, Sources And Evolutionary Patterns As Revealed In The Paradigmatic Interplay Of Reporting Structures And Communicative Processes, Linda Lyle

Doctoral Dissertations

This study (1) describes cultural assumptions in the student travel industry, relying upon protocols previously established within the functionalist perspective and (2) explains how these assumptions may have evolved by examining the basic communicative processes (performances) wherein industry culture has been made manifest.

The study identifies eight members of the student travel industry and uses qualitative methods that consist of in-depth interviews with the industry's "elite" members, as well as content analysis of selected historical and contemporary documents. Data were analyzed, first by thematic coding and then by interpretive analysis of codes that emerged. To frame the analysis, Phillips' (1990) …

Framing Health Care Reform: An Analysis Of White House Information Subsidies And Ap News Stories, Rosa Renee Rallos

Masters Theses

This thesis was a text analysis using both thematic analysis and the computerized content analysis program, VBPro, to determine whether White House information subsidies on health care reform served as a framing influence on AP news stories. A census of all White House health care reform information subsidies and a random sample of AP news stories released between January 20, 1993, and September 30, 1994, were analyzed. The AP news stories were separated into two groups: those that cited the White House as a source first and those that did not. A computerized content analysis of these text files was …

Unaided Factors Predicting Client-Assessed Hearing Aid Performance, Usage And Satisfaction, Hilary J. Crowley

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if client-assessed hearing aid performance, usage, and satisfaction ratings could be predicted before hearing aids are purchased. Aided performance was represented by the Profile of Hearing Aid Performance, (PHAP, Cox and Gilmore, 1990), subscales. Based upon data from 46 subjects, multiple regression was applied to 16 unaided variables to determine if they could be used to predict the response variables of performance, usage and satisfaction. The 16 unaided variables included pure tone average, slope of hearing loss, the Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) test (Kalikow, Stevens & Elliott, 1977), dynamic range, comfortable …

The Effect Of The Gorbachev Era (1985-1991) On Newsweek's Photo Coverage And Image Of The Soviet Union, Ruth Winchester Ware

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined 729 photos and cutlines published in NEWSWEEK's International Section that depicted events that occurred in the Soviet Union during the Gorbachev Era (1985-1991). The period saw change in Soviet domestic affairs (especially glasnost) and foreign relations (especially New Political Thinking or NPT) that cumulatively led to the end of the Cold War. NEWSWEEK coverage of the Gorbachev Era was compared to NEWSWEEK coverage of the Chernenko interlude (February 1984-February 1985) in order to have a base line for comparison.

NEWSWEEK increased its coverage of the Soviet Union during the Gorbachev Era. There were more editions, photos, …

Applications Of Personal Computer Presentations For Corporate Video Users, Paul Raymond Alatorre

Masters Theses

This thesis is a study of desktop video as an application to the traditional postproduction process utilized by corporate video producers. Desktop video involves the personal computer in the editing process; this definition includes the personal computer as an editing and special effects tool.

The purpose of this study is to measure the feelings and attitudes of professionals in the field of video postproduction about desktop video and its application to traditional methods of editing. The introduction of new technology inevitably leads to a period which the new technology is opposed by those who understand and are comfortable with the …

The Value Of A Videotaped Storyboard In A Non-Broadcast, Client Oriented Video Production: A Case Study, Clifton Duane Willard Ii

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the value of using the videotaped storyboard in the pre-planning and pre-production approval of a client oriented, corporate videotaped training program.

The methodology in this study is as follows: (1) to undertake the production of a corporate videotape training program; (2) to gather the necessary pre-production information about the topic, the audience, the manner in which the videotape program will be used; (3) to develop a storyboard based on the information obtained; (4) to present this storyboard for production approval; (5) to videotape the storyboard; (6) to present this videotaped version of …

Audience Perceptions Of Five Types Of Radio Humor, Larry Zane Leslie

Doctoral Dissertations

Humor, a natural part of the human environment, is all around us; from newspaper comics and television sit-coms to popular movies and the latest joke. Yet the phenomenon of humor on radio, i.e., humor used by air personalities, has remained largely unstudied.

Can the variation in listener response to radio humor be accounted for? The relationship of five demographic variables to five types of humor was tested by regression analysis. The intent was to learn the extent to which each variable contributed to appreciation of each type of humor.

One hundred sixty subjects were exposed to fifteen humorous radio segments. …

The Black Press Of Tennessee: 1865-1980, Karen Fitzgerald Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

At least 112 black newspapers have been published in Tennessee, beginning with the Colored Tennessean in 1865. William B. Scott, and East Tennessee harness-maker, and his son, William Jr., published the Colored Tennessean in Nashville on or about April 29, making it one of the first black newspapers in the South.

From 1865 to 1899 there were at least 35 black papers published in the state, 52 from 1900 to 1950, and 25 from 1951 to 1980. By the end of the period there were only three black papers being printed in the state: the Memphis Tri-State Defender, Memphis Mid-South …

A Study Of The Effects Of Syllable Releasing And Arresting Function On The Correct Articulation Of /S/ By Normal And Articulatory Defective Children, John Carlton Pennington

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to investigate the effects of syllable releasing and arresting function on correct /s/ productions by normal and articulatory defective children; and (2) to investigate the effects of different phonetic environments on correct /s/ productions in syllable releasing and arresting positions by normal and articulatory defective children.

Two groups of five-year-old children, 15 with normal articulation and 15 with defective articulation, were selected as subjects in this study and met the following criteria: normal hearing, normal intelligence, no significant deviation in the structure and/or function of the oral mechanism, and no more than …

Opinions Toward Automated Information Retrieval Among Reference Librarians: A National Survey, Danuta A. Nitecki

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify opinions among members of the American Library Association (ALA), Reference and Adult Services Division (RASD) toward automated information retrieval services. Specifically, the primary objectives were to identify prevalent viewpoints concerning the role of librarians in relation to such services and to determine the practical needs of the profession to better cope with the new technology. A secondary objective was to experimentally test the effect of two variables on response rate. These variables were perceived prestige of sender and incentive for the respondent.

The survey was a one-shot descriptive research design, involving a …

Religious Broadcasting In America: A Regulatory History And Consideration Of Issues, Gary R. Drum

Masters Theses

The purpose of the research gathered in this thesis was to bring together an ordered history of federal regulation of religious-affiliated broadcast licensees and to consider the issues raised in such regulation.

The work consists of (1) a detailed analysis of the thirty-five sectarian licensees that were in operation during the regulatory period of the Federal Radio Commission from 1927 to 1934; (2) a chronology of cases involving sectarian licensees considered by the Federal Communications Commission from 1934 to 1976; (3) a discussion of landmark cases relating to the issues of private property, limitation of access, freedom of speech, and …

The Relationship Among Nasality Ratings Of Single Words, Phrases, And Running Speech Samples Obtained From Cleft Palate Children, Hal Jefferson Daniel

Masters Theses

The Problem and Definition of Terms Used: This study is concerned with the relationships between rating of nasality of cleft palate children while speaking structured words and structured phrases and the nasality ratings of the children speaking unstructured running speech.