Digital Commons Network^™

$750 Million Of Neutral News Coverage: A Content Analysis Of Nextel's Media Exposure Before And After Becoming Nascar's Primary Corporate Sponsor., Joshua Tod Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the exposure of the Nextel brand name in major U.S. newspapers 1 year before and after Nextel became the primary sponsor of the North American Stock Car Association of Racing. A content analysis of 576 newspaper articles was performed. The hypotheses tested the quantity and quality of Nextel's coverage, as well where the stories were appearing and where the brand was being used in the stories.

The study found the number of Nextel mentions in year two was almost 4 times as many as year one. The data reveal a dramatic increase in cases found in sports …

Disaster Communication Networks: A Case Study Of The Thai Red Cross And Their Disaster Communication Response To The Asian Tsunami, Tami J. Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

Disaster victims and vulnerable populations are audiences that communications professionals and scholars have ignored. Public relation practices dominate current disaster communication policy. This study examines the disaster communication network, including policy and practice, of the Thai Red Cross, before, during, and after the Asian tsunami. Disaster communication(s) is defined as the sharing and exchange of information with the victims immediately affected by a disaster. This definition focuses specifically on the vulnerable audience and allows response efforts to emerge from multiple disciplines. Focusing response efforts on victims' assessed needs and abilities allows for a multi-disciplinary approach to mitigate further suffering. The …

The Political Use Of "Family Values" Rhetoric, Elizabeth Caroline Powell

Communication Theses

The bipartisan political slogan “family values,” coupled with discourse surrounding the supposed breakdown of the American family, is a rhetorical move used by political agencies in an effort to excuse the socio-economic failings in America and to reassign responsibility for these failings to the private sphere. This rhetoric tends to promote the idealized nuclear family, while marginalizing the poor and non-traditional family groups.

The Rhetoric Of Volunteerism: Strategies To Recruit And Retain Volunteers In Nonprofit Organizations, Terry Bell Woods

Communication Theses

This study analyzes the rhetorical strategies of an international public service organization. Drawing upon narrative criticism, volunteer related literatures of the Continental Societies, Inc. were studied in order to gauge their rhetorical efficacy in light of the existing literature on nonprofit organizations and volunteerism. By analyzing the organization’s literatures – their “story” – it was discovered that part of it was missing. In an attempt to fill this void, more effective materials related to volunteer recruitment and retention have been created to exemplify greater narrative fidelity, along with recommended organizational transformations that create a better fit between these “stories” and …

Excellence In Incompetence: The Daily Show Creates A Moment Of Zen, Megan Turley Hodgkiss

Communication Theses

Jon Stewart, the anchor and purveyor of “fake news,” has catapulted television's The Daily Show into prominence. The show functions as both a source of political humor and a vehicle for political commentary. This thesis explores how the program visually and rhetorically problematizes the hegemonic model of traditional television news, and how it tips the balance between what is considered serious news and what has become cliché about the broadcast industry.

Communicating Cosmopolitanism:An Analysis Of The Rhetoric Of Jimmy Carter, Vaclav Havel, And Edward Said, Rasha I. Ramzy

Communication Dissertations

This project explores how cosmopolitan personas rhetorically negotiate the space between local and global, discursively tying people to the national as well as to the global or transnational. It examines the possible co-existence of cosmopolitanism and nationalism while identifying how each is articulated in response to the other. As global networks become increasingly complex, rethinking borders and how they are articulated is essential. Can a quintessential cosmopolitan also be a public nationalist? Are cosmopolitan discourses compromised by their presumed lack of attachment to the local? To what extent and with what success are cosmopolitanism and nationalism siultaneously articulated? In order …

Benefits, Corporate Motives, And Communication Patterns In Strategic Philanthropic Relationships As Perceived By Nonprofit Partners, Gregory Grant Rumsey

Doctoral Dissertations

Businesses are increasingly held accountable both to their owners and to the larger society in which they operate. Accordingly, many companies are extending their resources to meet community needs through philanthropic partnerships with nonprofit organizations. Such ventures, however, have drawn close scrutiny of motives and benefits. For example, some consumers register skepticism when evaluating the sincerity of corporate intent in cause-related marketing arrangements. Attribution theory suggests that altruistic reasons for corporate good deeds may be discounted in the context of apparent self-interest. Likewise, a debate between shareholder and stakeholder theorists introduces questions about possibly conflicting obligations facing corporate managers. Some …

Scripted Vs. Real: An Analysis Of Parent-Child Interactions In African American Sitcom Families And Real Life Families, Syrenthia Johnson Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

This is an exploratory study of the parent-child interactions in African American families as they are portrayed on television and as they are experienced in real life. The research methods- frame analyses, focus groups, and a parent-child relationship questionnaire- facilitated the exploration of common interactions between parents and their children, such as their verbal communication styles (conversation orientation, conformity orientation), conflict management styles (avoiding, accommodating, confronting, compromising, collaborating) and level of closeness (disengaged, separated, connected, enmeshed).

To examine the parent-child relationships depicted in African American television families, four television shows were included in the analysis: My Wife & Kids, Family …

Examination Of Asynchronous Volumetric And Frequency Communication Patterns In Online Courses And Their Impact On Adult Learner Satisfaction, Robert W. Treat

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of online discussion board interactions of adult learners and their satisfaction with their experience. Specifically, this study's objectives were to examine the asynchronous volumetric and frequency textual communication patterns through online discussion boards and the association to adult learner satisfaction for 102 electronically surveyed adult learners at a mid-western university during the 2005-2006 academic year. Highly reliable (Cronbach alpha = 0.97) and valid data were collected from a learner satisfaction form developed specifically for the outcome variable o f this study. Exploratory factor analysis provided evidence that the data collected …

Maintaining Online Friendship: Cross-Cultural Analyses Of Links Among Relational Maintenance Strategies, Relational Factors, And Channel-Related Factors, Jiali Ye

Communication Dissertations

Computer-mediated communication (CMC), such as electronic mail and newsgroups, is quickly becoming a pervasive interpersonal communication means. The general research purpose of the present study is to investigate the communicative strategies individuals use to maintain exclusively Internet-based friendships and the extent to which cultural, relational and channel-related factors may affect the use of these strategies. A total of 136 Chinese Internet users and 134 American Internet users completed an online survey that measured maintenance strategies that they used for sustaining a friendship that they had developed on the Internet, their online friendship relational experience (relational and partner certainty and relational …

Mothers’ Attitudes About Childhood Nutrition Coverage In Magazines And Newspapers, Carrie Suzanne Baker

Masters Theses

This study explores mothers’ attitudes toward magazine and newspaper coverage of childhood nutrition issues. The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased in recent years along with media coverage of obesity and obesity issues. This growing concern has posed a problem for society and parents.

Focus group interviews and individual interviews were conducted with mothers who read magazines and newspapers. These interviews explored mothers’ nutrition habits, knowledge of obesity and, overall, their attitudes about childhood nutrition topics, such a childhood obesity, as they are presented in magazines and newspapers.

An Examination Of Conflict Conversation In An Online Community: The Pie Fight At Dailykos.Com, Samantha Isabella Soma

Dissertations and Theses

The increasing popularity of the social web and online communities requires the attention of researchers of conflict resolution. Although there are many ways to resolve conflict offline, the ways in which conflict takes place within a native online context have not been much studied. Are any of the tools and strategies that are used to improve communication offline used successfully online, or are some other strategies taking their place? What communication patterns occur within an online community equipped with comment moderation capabilities? This research is a case study and addressed these questions by performing a qualitative analysis of comment conversations …

Compulsive Talkers: Perceptions Of Over Talkers Within The Workplace, Jason R. Axsom

Student Work

Compulsive talkers have been the focus o f limited communication studies, and those that have been written addressed the need for defining and identifying those considered to be over communicators. To date, no recorded studies has investigated the potentially negative impact compulsive talkers could have on those that work with them. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and reactions of interactants with compulsive talkers in the workplace. Interviews with coworkers of compulsive talkers were conducted to determine their perceptions of these over talkers and their attributes. From these interviews, four distinct patterns emerged. Overall, compulsive talkers …

Recall And Recognition Of Brand-Modified Product Placement In Movies, Caitlin Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the product placement industry has seen a significant boom. The growth of product placement continues as media seeks funding and branded products vie for increased audience attention. Because of the increased product placement, there are many studies that examine the attitudes towards product placement, the experiences and interpretations of brands post-product placement, the effects of product placement, and memory of product placement. However, while product placement is a popular trend, there are occasions when branded products are altered in movies and television (this thesis refers to the altered products as “brand-modified products”). Little, if any, research has …

The Power Of The Message: A Study Of Media Influence On The Development Of Public Opinion, Jonathan C. Churchill

Theses and Dissertations

The influential power that media channels have directly affects the development of public opinion when it comes to the National Football League, its players and subsequent on or off the field incidents.

The purpose of this study was to show how public opinion of the NFL is driven by different demographic information and by how fans get their news concerning the NFL and its subsequent adverse news. This study will attempt to show how age and media source can affect the development of public opinion, how public opinion is formed and potential variables that may influence opinion formation.

The researcher …

Analysis Of Layered Social Networks, Jonathan T. Hamill

Theses and Dissertations

Prevention of near-term terrorist attacks requires an understanding of current terrorist organizations to include their composition, the actors involved, and how they operate to achieve their objectives. To aid this understanding, operations research, sociological, and behavioral theory relevant to the study of social networks are applied, thereby providing theoretical foundations for new methodologies to analyze non-cooperative organizations, defined as those trying to hide their structure or are unwilling to provide information regarding their operations. Techniques applying information regarding multiple dimensions of interpersonal relationships, inferring from them the strengths of interpersonal ties, are explored. A layered network construct is offered that …

The Enduring Mythological Role Of The Anonymous Source Deep Throat, Shana Lyris Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

Deep Throat is one of the most famous anonymous newspaper sources in American journalism. He is known for helping Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's impeachment and resignation in 1974. Deep Throat's identity was a source of curiosity until he was revealed in 2005 as the former number two figure at the FBI, William Mark Felt. This thesis will show that, despite Felt's notoriety, Deep Throat was not an indispensable part of Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate coverage, speaking with Woodward 16 times about Watergate during the reporters' coverage. …

Ethical Pharmaceuticals? A Deeper Look At The Ethics In Pharmaceutical Public Relations, William M. Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

This study takes a deeper look inside the ethics of pharmaceutical Public Relations within marketing campaigns. More specifically, the researcher performed case studies on the ethically questionable marketing campaigns of Fen-phen and Vioxx and compared that data with data collected from focus groups composed of Rowan University graduate Public Relations Alumni.

The case studies were performed through primary and secondary research of the campaigns conducted for Fen-phen and Vioxx. The data was then used to reconstruct the two campaigns. The focus group data was collected from three focus groups, each with four members, and all data was tabulated and then …

An Analysis Of The Models Of Public Relations Most Commonly Used By Professional Minor League Baseball Franchises, Pasquale J. Rose Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the public relations practices of professional minor league baseball franchises by determining which of Grunig's four models of public relations are most commonly used by these organizations. With these findings, the study then evaluates the effectiveness of the models with respect to individual differences among the organizations and overall limitations encountered in the field.

Twenty directors of media and community relations for fifteen minor league franchises were asked to participate in data collection by completing a three-tiered Delphi study to reach a consensus on the most important job responsibilities and skill sets they feel are necessary to …

Product Placement During The Family-Viewing Hour., Harry C. Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The so-called family-viewing hour, the eight to nine o’clock hour of prime time, is one of the most watched hours of television by both adults and children. Advertisers, of course, favor shows that draw large audiences so their product presentations or commercials are witnessed by masses of people. Now, because of videocassette recorders and other similar control devices, viewers are eliminating commercials from their viewing experience¹ and advertisers are clamoring for new ways to get their products into the mind of the consumer.² To counteract this commercial avoidance by consumers, advertisers are embedding products within television programming thereby …

Computer Mediated Communication: Interaction And Interactivity, Mark Agle

Communication Theses

This study examines three popular theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and how they relate to increased modes of interactivity. The research takes place in a highly interactive virtual world called "There." A total of 18 participants took part in the study. Using participant-observation and in-depth interviews, the study found that all three perspectives manifested themselves in both the reported and observed behavior. The three perspectives examined are the social information processing theory (SIPT), the social identity model of de-individuation effects (SIDE), and the hyperpersonal perspective. The study found that SIPT and the hyperpersonal perspective did the best job at explaining …

The Discourse Of Planned Parenthood Of The Atlanta Area: 1964 – 1972, Melissa N. Miller

Communication Theses

Objectives. The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the mainstream reproductive rights organization Planned Parenthood of the Atlanta Area (PPAA) considered reproductive justice issues typically advocated for by non-traditional reproductive rights organizations. Methods. This research was a qualitative content analysis of discourse internal to PPAA (meeting minutes) and discourse communicated to the public externally via print media channels. Results. A total of 105 documents were analyzed as part of this study: 57 meeting minutes and 48 press clippings. The analysis revealed that, internally, PPAA did consider reproductive justice issues but that this was not directly communicated …

Developing An Integrated Model Of Interactivity In The Context Of Travel-Related Web Sites, Juran Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates relationships among interactivity as functional features, actual interaction and perception, its moderators (i.e. experience) and its consequences (i.e. attitude, trust and purchase intention) in the context of travel-related Web sites. This study is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge by clarifying the concept of interactivity in an important advertising/marketing context. An experimental design is used to explore key questions about relationships among types of interactivity, with a focus on exploring similarities and differences in Human-to-Human and Human- to-Computer interactivity, as well as moderators and consequences of the interactive experience at travel-related Web sites.

Framing The Internet In China: Cross-Cultural Comparisons Of Newspapers’ Coverage In China, Hong Kong, Singapore, The United States, And The United Kingdom, Xiang Zhou

Doctoral Dissertations

This study introduced the framing theory, Shoemaker and Reese’s hierarchical model, and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions into a cross-cultural comparative analysis of news coverage of the Internet in China from 2000 to 2004 in selected newspapers in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Significant differences were found to exist across the societies in both the salience of Internet-related issues and the usage of generic news frames. The issue of Internet diffusion and use was most frequently mentioned in the newspapers from China, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The U.S. newspapers paid most attention to the issue …

Assessing The Impact Of The Interpersonal Communication Course, Michelle Epstein Garland

Masters Theses

The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to identify a strategy for the assessment of the interpersonal communication course. As envisioned, the assessment process focused on key elements of the course: knowledge of concepts, theories, and research findings; development of interpersonal skills through verbal and written activities; and understanding of a range of interpersonal contexts. Through a course-embedded assessment procedure, the review process examined students, faculty, and the course itself through various forms of formal and informal, direct and indirect methods.

Findings revealed an increase in communication apprehension and decrease in interpersonal communication motives from the beginning of the term …

Democracy, Hegemony, And Consent: A Critical Ideological Analysis Of Mass Mediated Language, Michael Alan Glassco

Masters Theses

Accepting and incorporating mediated political discourse into our everyday lives without conscious attention to the language used perpetuates the underlying ideological assumptions of power guiding such discourse. The consequences of such overreaching power are manifest in the public sphere as a hegemonic system in which free market capitalism is portrayed as democratic and necessary to serve the needs of the public. This thesis focuses specifically on two versions of the Society of Professional Journalist Codes of Ethics 1987 and 1996, thought to influence the output of news organizations. This analysis exposes the problems inherent in the news media's focus of …

Magazine Messages And Teenage Perception Of Skin Cancer, Tanning, And Sun Safety, Anna Marlene Greene

Masters Theses

Increasing skin cancer rates and a developing trend of tanning has emphasized the importance of sun safety, especially among youth. The purpose of this study is fourfold: (1) to explore the sun safety content of magazines with high teen readership, (2) to discover teenagers’ tanning behaviors, (3) to find their thoughts and feelings on magazine coverage of this issue, and (4) to learn their knowledge of the risks associated with sun exposure. Focus groups were held with 23 high-school-age students in eastern Tennessee. Understanding the barriers to changing this group’s behavior could be beneficial in developing effective persuasive messages.

The New ‘Struggle To Get It Straight’: The Broadcasting Board Of Governors’ And The Voice Of America’S Search For Purpose And Structure In The War On Terror, Curtis Joel Owens

Masters Theses

This study examined the purpose of United States international broadcasting form its inception, and emphasized the changes in structure that have helped the broadcasters to fulfill that purpose. The study used a three-pronged methodology involving personal interviews, historical perspectives and participant observation.

The survey of the historical narratives regarding the Voice of America and the findings from personal interviews with key members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors staff revealed an ongoing debate about the purpose of a government-funded broadcaster. The two prominent sides are those who want international broadcasting to serve an advocacy role versus those who want it …

What's Up, Bitch?, Mary Elizabeth Asbury

Masters Theses

This study examined the judgments rendered by college students about the term "bitch." While the term was once considered to be hate speech towards women, popular culture has made the term relatively common, often giving it a comical meaning (Lee, 1998). Because much of our popular culture is aimed at the 18-24 age groups, it follows that the term "bitch" is often not considered to be hate speech by this generation. In addition, women are now gaining status in Western cultures, and are entering fields once dominated by men. Women who were once considered to be outcasts and "uppity" for …

Exploring The Influence Of Supportive Communication Practices On Volunteer Satisfaction, Role Identity, Safety Perceptions, Loyalty, And Burnout, Virginia Ann Gregory

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to assess supportive communication practices as predictors of volunteer outcomes. As healthcare organizations continue to grow and expand services to patients, the need for volunteers will expand as well. If volunteers are supported within the organization they will become a part of the healthcare environment and ultimately can make a difference for the organization. lt was hypothesized that supportive communication by both staff and co-volunteers would predict higher levels of volunteer satisfaction, role identity, safety perceptions, and loyalty, and lower levels of volunteer bumout. Results indicate that emotional support from staff was the strongest …