Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Journalism In The Age Of Doxxing​, Kathrine Huntington

Scholars Week

Doxxing is something that is becoming more and more of a reality to many journalists today and that reality can quickly become a nightmare if used in the wrong way. Doxxing is known as the release of private information without consent of the person it is directed towards. It is important for journalists today to be familiar with what doxxing is, what ethical dilemmas it creates as well as how to protect themselves against being doxxed. Anyone can be doxxed but journalists face the highest risk in today’s modern world due to easy accessibility to technology as well as our …

Reducing Stress For Student Journalists, Melody Kazel

Scholars Week

As a student in JOUR 214 and 414, I noticed that stress levels in the class were high. I asked students, currently in the class or who’d taken it one quarter previously, to fill out a survey about their stress levels and causes of stress. In order to prevent unconscious negative bias because of the nature of a survey about stress, I included questions about student satisfaction levels and causes of satisfaction. The majority of students rated stress at an eight or ten out of ten. Satisfaction levels were more varied; most students rated their satisfaction at a four, five, …

Journalists Need To Be A Voice For The Weakest Stakeholders In The Climate Crisis, Lucille Giaccio

Scholars Week

The paper covers the ethical dilemma concerning Journalism and its lack of coverage of the animal perspective. The research was done using Western Washington University's library databases and other news articles about the issue. The articles and websites focused on the ethical aspect of the "Voice for the Voiceless" including animals and nature. The primary issue with news organizations failing to discuss the animal suffering in the climate crisis was because they claimed it was too complicated. The challenge after that is writing for a human audience with a nonhuman perspective. Many journalists have adapted their style to cover all …

An Analysis Of Vogue: Femininity & Intersectionality As A Societal Standard In Fashion, Cassidy Tamburro

Scholars Week

The goal of this research project is to see if Vogue has evolved or changed its fashion coverage to be more intersectional as well as evolved in what it means to be ideally feminine. The research question that guided my work is: How has Vogue’s intersectionality and feminine ideals evolved in its fashion coverage from 1975 to 2019? My methods include a semiotic analysis of Vogue magazine covers images from 1975 and 2019, examining model diversity, cover-photo elements, and representations of styles. A qualitative analysis, including content-coding, of Vogue fashion articles 1975 and 2019. The main findings included that Vogue …

Kulshan Gives: Helping A Nonprofit Choir Create A Culture Of Giving, Emily Jackson, Schuyler Shelloner

Scholars Week

How can a nonprofit organization change from a culture of caring to a culture of giving? Emily Jackson, Schuyler Shelloner and Emma Calvert sought to answer that question in Fall 2020 during their public relations course, Research and Campaigns. They formed the Skyline Group agency and developed a PR campaign proposal for the Kulshan Chorus. This nonprofit, social-justice-oriented choir wanted to raise awareness about their mission, increase funding and involve more choir members in more community outreach. In response to their request for proposal, the Skyline Group conducted research, defined target audiences and created a 53-page campaign booklet with deliverables …

Nike In Politics: How Political Consumerism Impacts Corporate Social Responsibility, Samantha Frost

Scholars Week

How does Nike's campaign supporting Colin Kaepernick and the Black Lives Matter movement reflect the alignment of large corporations with political movements as a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and how does political consumerism impact this decision? The purpose of this project is to examine how Nike used the ‘Dream Crazy’ campaign to piggyback off the Black Lives Matter movement as a public relations and marketing strategy as well as how political consumerism is shaping corporate social responsibility. How do political movements impact the corporate world and how do corporations impact political movements? Nike’s Colin Kaepernick campaign titled ‘Chasing Crazy’ was …

Representation Of Addiction In The Media, Lauren Gallup

Scholars Week

Presenting the story of addiction in news and entertainment media presents an ethical dilemma for those doing the storytelling. This dilemma faces the ethical paradigm of Right vs. Wrong. In this research project, I focused on how addiction is presented in the media. Media representation of addiction shapes how people think about this disease and can affect legislation to support assistance for recovering addicts. This led me to determine that media has an important place in shaping how we think about addiction. In this paper, I identified how media can do a public good by accurately and ethically covering stories …

The Education Beat In A Declining Industry, Jon Foster

Scholars Week

The collapse of the newspaper industry and the disappearance of the education beat on many local and national newspapers can have profound impacts on journalism, civic engagement and our democracy. In this paper, I look at the the current state of education reporting in America and examine the ethical dilemmas local and national news agencies face as well as the hopeful future it has in a transforming news industry.

Coverage Of The #Metoo & Time’S Up Movement: Examining Who Is Quoted And What Terminology Is Used In Msnbc, Fox News And The Bbc’S Coverage Of The #Metoo And Time’S Up Movements, Stella Harvey

Scholars Week

The widespread conversation on sexual assault and harassment that has been growing since October 2017 has impacted many industries, including journalism. Movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up aim to raise awareness about the prevalence of these issues and stop the cycle of abuse. Within these movements, many celebrities have spoken publicly about their experiences, resulting in extensive media coverage on an issue that has historically been swept under the rug. The terminology that is used when it comes to issues of sex crimes and allegations is incredibly important because there is a great amount of nuance between terms. It …

#Me Too: An Analysis On Whose Sexual Assault Stories The New York Times Publishes, Alyssa Evans

Scholars Week

Source representation in media impacts the public’s perception of social issues and groups represented. This study examines the extent to which coverage by The New York Times of the #MeToo movement includes a diverse background of victims of sexual assault and harassment. An extension of research is added to scholarly discourse on framing of sexual assault victims and the inclusivity of the Times’ reporting on sexual assault. Human sources most often sourced in #MeToo-related stories analyzed were white female victims who held jobs in the entertainment industry or politics. The second most often represented source was found to be white …

St. Vincent’S “Equal-Opportunity” Guitar, Lexi Foldenauer

Scholars Week

This research paper applied semiotics to examine the ways in which Ernie Ball Music Man's PR campaign for the release of St. Vincent's customized guitar utilized a third-wave feminist framework.

Capturing The Moment: A Rhetorical Analysis Of World War Ii Celebration, Kylie Wagar

Scholars Week

The iconic image V-J Day in Times Square is nationally remembered for the celebration of the end of World War II. Focusing on the archival collection Victory and Peace from the National Archives, this research demonstrates a disconnect in American perceptions and the reality of culture through iconic images. Specifically I investigate the extent to which images from the 1940s are romanticized, celebrated and replicated in reflection of remembrance of the World War II era. These replications do not properly reflect the true events in 1945, but rather the idea that many would like to take away from this era. …

Best Practices In Civic Engagement: A Case Study Of The B Kind Campaign By The Downtown Bellingham Partnership, Lauren Drake, Hallie Fuchs

Scholars Week

In November 2016, the B Kind Campaign was launched by the Downtown Bellingham Partnership (DBP) to address the growing concerns of many Bellingham residents. These concerns grew in conjunction with the presidential election, during which candidates with opposing ideologies created a rhetoric that caused civil unrest amongst many Americans and impacted local communities. In response to input from community and business leaders, the DBP created the Campaign in under 24 hours. Their public relations efforts focus on showcasing the inclusive atmosphere downtown Bellingham is known for, while creating spaces where people of all identities can feel welcomed. This message is …

A Reflection On Developing And Healing From Bulimia In College, Libby Keller

Scholars Week

A look into a personal recovery from an eating disorder relapse.

An Examination Of Methods Used In Truth Campaign Advertisements, Monea Kerr

Scholars Week

Every advertisement, no matter its nature, has a specific set of signs that it communicates. The meaning derived from the advertisements varies from person to person across different cultural and societal norms. This textual analysis of anti-tobacco television advertisements addresses the tobacco industry and the development of advertisements that aimed to bring it down. Utilizing the truth® campaign as an example, this study provides insight into the imagery and methods that are used in television advertisements in order to convince smokers to quit or non-smokers to never smoke. The different ways in which these strategies relate with audiences is a …

The God Father Of Public Relations, Abdullah N. Alsuabaie

Scholars Week

The God father of Public Relations

Edward L. Bernyas is a pioneer and many scholars consider him as a father of Public Relation “PR”. Bernyas started his career work as a press agent before World War I. He also worked for an organization that was created by the U.S government to affect public opinions in the U.S to know the effect of American participation in the war at that time and the organization name was Creel Committee. Furthermore, Dernyas developed and created many techniques to shape public opinions. He thought deeply and came up with new idea of life’s work …

Truth Was His Defense: The Libel Trial Of John Peter Zenger, Nicholas Dixon

Scholars Week

John Peter Zenger spent nearly eight months in jail starting in 1734 but still printed The New York Weekly Journal with the help of his wife while he was on trial for seditious libel. In those days, libel was anything that was against the government. It didn’t matter if the information was true or false. Controversy plagued Zenger’s trial from the beginning as William Cosby, the governor of New York, did everything he could to sabotage Zenger as Cosby was the centerpiece of most of Zenger’s editorials. Zenger was one of the first journalists to emphasize the importance of the …

The Golden Boy: An Examination Of Framing In National And Local News Coverage Of Jaylen Fryberg, Becca Freimuth

Scholars Week

This framing analysis of national and local news coverage uses contextual analysis to examine how both print media and television media portrayed the 14-year-old shooter of the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting. After the October 24, 2014 shooting in a town of roughly 63,000 people, news media began coverage almost instantly-- including national news media. This study adds to previous research done on mass murders because the recency of the shooting means the coverage has yet to be looked at with a critical eye. In the analysis it was discovered that the majority of the coverage framed the shooter as a …