Digital Commons Network^™

Same Story, Different Narratives: The Influence Of Refugee Concerned Organizations On Egyptian Media, Shaimaa Gheith

Theses and Dissertations

It has been documented in the literature that media usually portrays refugees negatively, which affects how the public reacts to them. Consequently, organizations catering to refugees, referred to in this thesis as Refugee Concerned Organizations (RCOs), try to influence the media aiming to influence the public. So, they produce prepacked information and employ different communication tools. Using the agenda building theory, this research investigated the influence of communication tools used by RCOs on Egyptian media focusing on Facebook and news websites. Qualitative content analysis was conducted for 615 Facebook posts and 111 News reports and supplemented by semi-structured interviews with …

Solutions Journalism And Climate Change Journalistic Narratives: Comparative Insights From Egypt And The United Arab Emirates, Nouran Nour Abdelghaffar

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the heavy nature of the climate crisis, climate change news tends to be massively negative. Too much negative information can cause severe psychological impacts and spur news avoidance. Along these lines, solutions-focused climate change reporting presents a juncture for introspection. Solutions journalism is rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems. Focus on the positive while not ignoring the negative; a solution approach could help expand climate coverage by changing the traditional depressing narrative and sharing stories of effective responses. Despite the academia’s growing interest in solutions journalism, there is not an abundance of literature available in …

When And Why Do Arabs Verify? Predicting Online News Verification Intention During The 2023 Gaza War, Menna Elhosary

Theses and Dissertations

Guided by the network gatekeeping and secondary gatekeeping theoretical frameworks, this study employed a 2 (news headlines: pro-Palestine/anti-Palestine) x 2 (news sources: the Times of Israel/Al-Jazeera English) experiment embedded in an online survey on a purposive sample of Arab social media users (N= 452), aiming to understand the antecedents of online news verification during the 2023 Gaza War1. The study investigated the motives that might have encouraged or discouraged Arabs from verifying the war-related news circulated on social media. A model was proposed to examine the role of confirmation bias in shaping perceptions about sources and messages, thereby impacting online …

Risk Propensity In Journalists: An Analysis Of Journalists’ Personality Traits And How They Direct Behavior In The Field, Ellen Katherine Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

Much like first responders, journalists run toward dangerous scenes instead of away from them, often putting themselves at risk. Unlike first responders, there is no research on a how a person’s risk propensity ties to their career. For this project, reporters of various ages and tenures were surveyed on their sensation-seeking levels and propensity to engage in risky behaviors while working as journalists. Journalism risk propensity correlated positively with sensation seeking. Risk motivations increase with age and tenure, meaning that older and more experienced journalists are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Males are more risk-prone than females. The …

Exploring Trustworthiness Issues About Disaster-Related Information Generated By Artificial Intelligence, Xin Tao

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tested the degree of trustworthiness of disaster-related information generated by artificial intelligence among American people and Chinese people, and explored the causes of people's attitudes towards trust or distrust. The thesis used OpenAI's GPT-3 model to generate stories based on real disaster events by artificial intelligence, and tested the degree of trustworthiness in semi-structured interview. The study showed that it was promising to use AI technology to publicize disaster-related news to audience. To increase readers' trust in AI-generated disaster-related information, news organizations should maintain a high level of transparency about the identity of the AI author, use the …

Tiktok Battlefield: Comparative Analysis Of English And Arabic Language Representations Of The 2022 Russian Ukrainian Conflict On Tiktok, Dina Magdeldin Mahmoud Elhawary

Theses and Dissertations

This study extends the growing political communication research on TikTok platform through studying the representation of a major political conflict in modern history; the 2022 Russian Ukrainian conflict. The study is providing a cross cultural comparison by studying the perspectives of English and Arabic speakers about the conflict. The study is based on the analysis of the 500 most liked TikTok videos - in one month duration that starts with the day of the Russian invasion - with top hashtags about the conflict in order to find the common message themes. The study uses a multi-dimensional analysis approach of connective …

The Influence Of The Abraham Accords On The Visual Coverage Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict In Arab Media: A Comparative Analysis, Mona Alsaba

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the influence of the official signing of the Abraham Accords on the Arab media visual coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This study operationalized visual frames in terms of the human-interest vs technical frame and peace vs war frame, and explored the use of graphic portrayal as a framing device, in order to compare between the Arab media visual framing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before and after the official signing of the Abraham Accords to examine the impact of foreign policy on the coverage among news outlets of different Arab countries. A comparative analysis was conducted relying on …

The Second Watcher At The Gate: Local Newspaper Framing Of Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Immigrants, And Migrants At The Border In The Age Of Covid-19, Gabriel Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a repeat of a historical association between migrants and disease with the re-activation of Title 42, which gave the federal government the power to bar and expel migrants and asylum seekers without the opportunity to contest their expulsion, under the basis of public health. Based on a content analysis of the frames employed in the coverage of the pandemic by five newspapers located on the southern U.S. border for the period of 2020 to 2021, this study explored how these English-language newspapers gave priority to as sources, how they framed immigrants and immigration issues during the …

Normalization Through The Visual: How International Media Depicted The Abraham Accords, Mohamed Salama

Theses and Dissertations

This study is concerned with understanding the political dimensions of the visual coverage of the Abraham Accords and the shift that might have occurred in the visual portrayal of the Arab-Israeli conflict as a result of that agreement. The study offers quantitative and qualitative contributions to examine how international news websites on the Google News platform used photographs to draw on and contribute to the narrative of Arab-Israeli relations in the wake of the Accords. By establishing operational definitions for positive, negative, anti-normalization, and pro-normalization visual frames, and exploring the use of the emphasis framing device, this study content analyzed …

A Feverish Spring: A Comparative Analysis Of Covid-19 News Framing In Sweden, The Uk, And Egypt, Hend Abdelgaber Ahmed El-Behary

Theses and Dissertations

Based on framing and the social responsibility theoretical frameworks, this comparative study analyzes the dominance of frames in the media coverage of the COVID-19 global pandemic across three countries that have adopted different preventative measures: Sweden (herd immunity) the United Kingdom (full lockdown) and Egypt (partial lockdown ‘curfew’). While several studies have investigated the media’s role during COVID-19, few have analyzed the frames used by the media. The analyses that were made here, for the most part, is on individual countries. The current study bridges a gap by using a comparative approach to interpret the frames discovered in news articles …

The Impact Of The Media Coverage Of Sexual Violence On Its Victims/Survivors, Jaidaa Taha

Theses and Dissertations

As part of their daily routine, journalists are often assigned to cover accidents or traumatic events to keep the public updated. With the high competition and the constant deadline pressure, reporters are usually pressured to talk to the subjects of these traumatic accidents too soon to publish their stories. This in turn leaves limited room for them to think about how this coverage is affecting their interviewees. This study aims to examine the impact of the media’s coverage of sexual assault on the victims/survivors of the assault themselves. Media outlets often follow stories of sexual violence, tackling a lot of …

Influences On Business Journalists In Egypt During Imf-Backed Economic Adjustments Of 2016-2019, Tamim Salman

Theses and Dissertations

The economic adjustments that Egypt implemented as part of an IMF-backed program between 2016 and 2019 were a milestone event in the country's economic history. Business journalism was an important part of it as people, policymakers and businesses tried to grasp the developments. Using qualitative in-depth interviews with business journalists and editors, this study attempts to examine the various influences experienced by journalists that affected their framing of news and the quality and type of coverage. The study argues that journalists came under the influence of political pressure and media controls, as well as the technical allure of market sources …

Visual Messages Of Conflict Reporting On Twitter: Visual Frames And Ethical Standards, Hasan Karademir

Theses and Dissertations

This comparative study employs the theoretical frameworks of framing and hierarchy of influences model to analyze the ethical forces affecting journalists on Twitter and simultaneously their visual frames constructed in their images on Twitter. It investigates the portrayal of the Yemen conflict in the personal Twitter accounts of Yemeni journalists who were affiliated with the United States (US) and Qatari news organizations. Several studies have pointed out the graphic war coverage of Arab news organizations whereas scholars argue that US news organizations provide sanitized coverage on war zones (Johnson & Fahmy, 2007; Silcock, Schwalbe, & Keith, 2008; Karniel, Lavie-Dinur, & …

Pick A Horse, Ditch The Goat: The Rise Of The Spoiler Frame In A Bipartisan Election Discourse, Barbara Alexandra Raftes Dahlgren

Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly, public opinion shows Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are some of the most onerous in recorded history, and Americans want to see third-party options alongside them. Half of Americans use televised news to stay informed, but the two-party horserace leaves little room for the multiple candidates on the ballot. This analysis explores the prominent horserace discourse of the 2012 and 2016 televised coverage of the U.S. presidential races and the “spoiler effect” frame within. Following Jill Stein’s Green Party candidacy through the months surrounding each election, the coverage advanced her portrayal from “nonfactor” to “spoiler” despite the consistency in …

Brand New: How Visual Context Shapes Initial Response To Logos And Corporate Visual Identity Systems, Robert A. Wertz

Theses and Dissertations

When a new logo is released, it does not have an established meaning in the mind of the viewer. As logos have become more highly scrutinized by consumers and critics, it has become more important to understand consumers’ initial response to logos. While other studies have researched the impact of aesthetic choices on viewer reaction to logos, few researchers have attempted to understand the effect of the surrounding visual identity system when a new logo is introduced. This study combines a content analysis of the logo review website Brand New with the voting data from their polls to understand how …

Internet Regulation In Egypt: Outcomes And Policy Recommendations, Sara Eldemerdash

Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid developments the Internet is witnessing, the topic of internet regulation sees itself taking center stage in a rising global debate among many stakeholders. This debate centers around hot topics and fundamentals such as the rights of free speech and access to information, intellectual property, as well as user and data privacy, and security issues. Egypt is no exception; especially after the uprising and mass demonstrations in 2011 and the growing concerns around internet regulation and freedom of expression.

This thesis aims at examining the development process of the current Internet regulation policy in Egypt to study its …

Instagram Use And Young Women's Body Image And Self-Objectification In Egypt, Sara Hussein

Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigates the effect of Instagram use on young Egyptian women’s body image and how it is related to self-objectification. The aim of this research is to understand how Instagram usage affects women’s body image and makes them dissatisfied with their bodies; besides, it also tests how the comments women receive on their Instagram accounts affect them positively or negatively, and how the more hours they spend on Instagram, the more pressure they face to acquire a better body shape. Additionally, it examines the direct relationship between feministic beliefs and body surveillance and self-objectification. Moreover, self-objectification and Cultivation …

Factors That Push Bangladeshi Media To Exercise Self-Censorship, Abu Taib Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Self-censorship is one of the biggest threats to press freedom. Press freedom, as well as freedom of the expression, is an indicator of a society’s freedom and democracy. If the media cannot act freely, it can impact society’s ability to function as a democracy. Journalists often face pressures from various power structures to engage in self-censorship. While journalistic self-censorship has been examined in a number of different countries, no studies of journalistic self-censorship in Bangladesh have been undertaken or no studies have been undertaken to see what factors influence journalists to exercise self-censorship or to figure out reasons that make …

The New State: Self-Governance & Self-Expression Through The Exploration Of Youth Social Spaces In Today’S Mediated Society, Alexia Samira Brunson

Theses and Dissertations

“Self-governance” and “self-expression” are tenets that one would hope to find in the standard of any progressive constitution. However, these terms are not presented here as parliamentary rhetoric, but as components of the mission to develop a “city block, creating public space, cultural infrastructure, and economic opportunity, while empowering our youth” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That project is called The New State. By looking at The New State as a conceptual template for youth culture development in the digital age, this study attempts to expand understandings of youth citizenship and how it might affect development of society beyond its physicality. This …

Production Of Native Advertising In The New Media Economy, Siddhant Dwivedee

Theses and Dissertations

The need to study the production of advertising content from an academic standpoint, particularly advertising content that mimics or is embedded in other editorial content, in some form or the other, is greater than ever. Emerging marketing techniques such as native advertising, content marketing, and sponsored content have disrupted traditional media eco-systems and created a new media economy. While traditional advertising research is skewed in the favor of the consumer experience, researching the production and the lived experiences of journalists involved in the production of native advertising can yield promising results.

This project discusses native ethnographic fieldwork that has been …

Bi The Wayside?: Shifts In Bisexual Representations In Teen Television, Analise Elle Pruni

Theses and Dissertations

Television can be a reflection of the values we have as a society and its representations can have an impact on the way people, especially youth, shape their identities. This examination of teen-oriented television shows on the CW network looks at bisexual and queer representations and compares them with previous representations. I ground this essay in the youth-oriented television context, the progression of queer television representations, and ideas about media representation in a post-gay era. My assessment of the CW’s bisexual protagonist Clarke Griffin in The 100 and several sexually fluid characters in Legacies help show how the network has …

“Where Are We Now?” The Image Construction Of Arabs And Muslims In Bodyguard, Safa K. Khairy

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade Arab and Muslim representations in the media have been either negative or overly simplified as a way to avoid criticism from watchdog groups. Arab and Muslim culture is viewed by the mainstream Western perspective as different, and inferior. According to Edward Said this divide and hierarchy between Eastern and Western comes through the process of Othering and is at the heart of Orientalism. This thesis investigates how Arabs and Muslims are Othered through a case study of the successful BBC television series Bodyguard.

Bodyguard presents the British government and police force attempting to stop various terrorist …

The Games Behind The Scenes: Newspaper Framing Of Female African American Olympic Athletes, Martin Reece Funderburk

Theses and Dissertations

Competing in and representing their country in the Olympic games is considered one of the greatest achievements for an athlete. From heroes such as Michael Jordan and the “Dream Team,” to Michael Phelps setting world record after record in the pool, Olympians are remembered as legends to those watching at home. How their amazing achievements at these Olympic games have been framed by the media though is another story. Newspapers have facilitated a platform for a qualitative content analysis on the framing of three female African American Olympic gold medalists that showed statistical significance in terms of the amount of …

Contextualizing The News: Newspaper Front Pages In The Age Of Fact-Checking Journalism., Srijan Sen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates influences on the selection of stories on the front pages of newspapers. It investigates whether a daily newspaper that has an in-house, fact-checking unit (The Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel) selects front-page stories differently from a newspaper that does not have an in-house, fact-checking unit (The Star Tribune in Minneapolis, MN). While the study found no direct influence of fact-checking journalism, it did find that newspaper front pages in 2014 were increasingly prioritizing contextual stories over conventional stories. It also found a decline in political/governmental stories on front pages. It is suggested that these changes might signal a …

How S. C. Daily Newspapers Framed The Removal Of The Confederate Flag From The State House Grounds In 2015 Through Letters To The Editor And Editorials, Thomas Craig Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The removal of the Confederate flag from the State House grounds in Columbia, South Carolina during the summer of 2015 was an action that had been discussed previously in the state since the flag went up over the State House in 1961. While the state legislature acted swiftly to have the flag removed after Gov. Nikki Haley’s announcement on June 22, the two and a half weeks between her announcement and removal on July 10 was filled with opinions from citizens all across the state and in areas of the United States where Confederate monuments and memorials still have a …

The Value Of Internships In Radio Broadcasting, Anthony Mandella

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis was to investigate a generally understudied area in media professions – radio broadcasting internships. A survey, which included both close-ended and open-ended questions, was used to measure how internships were valued in radio broadcasting. The survey was distributed to radio station employees and select interns at a six-station conglomerate in the midwestern United States. Results showed that participants generally believed their internship experiences were more valuable than their classroom education. Additionally, participants developed unique skills at their internships which they claimed were not provided by their education. Participants also believed interns should receive financial compensation …

Fatal Force: A Conversation With Journalists Who Cover Deadly, Highly-Publicized Police Shootings, Denetra Walker

Theses and Dissertations

After the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement following the deaths of unarmed Black teens Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, news about police shootings catapulted into the local and national spotlight through videos and messages on social media. Information about police shootings is usually reported to the public through media sources such as television, online/digital news, and social media. This study examines how television news journalists cover the issue of police shootings in the United States. Through 10 in-depth interviews with television journalists who covered highly-publicized police shootings, the author analyzes how race, journalistic norms, technology, and citizen journalists …

Creating An Online Social Movement In Socially Conservative Societies: A Case Study Of Manshoor Blog Using Frame Alignment Process, Noura Abdullah Al-Duaijani

Theses and Dissertations

In the last decade, the Arab region has witnessed many political and social changes. Parts of these changes were initiated by millennials seeking social change to elevate the quality of life in their country and themselves. In one particular country, Kuwait, youth have pursued social change by advocating a freer lifestyle and regime change in government and institutions. Manshoor, an Arab language blog launched in November 2016 by two Kuwaiti liberals, Jassim Qamis and Ali Al-Nessif, stimulates an open conversation on a wide range of issues, including controversial ideas in the region such as scrutinizing some practices and beliefs of …

Fandom In Politics: Scale Development And Validation, Won-Ki Moon

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the importance of fandom in politics to understanding individuals’ political behaviors, reliable scales measuring political fandom are lacking. To fill this gap, the present study constructs and validates a new scale for political fandom. First, by reforming existed questions and making new questions, the author derived 42 questions belonging to seven dimensions as an initial item pool based on conceptualization. Second, to refine and develop the scale, the researcher conducted exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. According to the result of the studies, the final factor model of political fandom retained 25 questions and seven dimensions. In addition, …

How Working In Local Tv News Affects Journalists' Personal Lives, Danielle Stobb

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses participant observation and interviews to determine how working in local television news affects journalists’ personal lives. Twenty-eight journalists from a top 50 Midwestern station were interviewed. The inductive research data is organized into three themes: 1) Schedules 2) Family, friends and relationships 3) Moving. A personal narrative of the researcher’s experience working part-time ties each theme together.