Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Presidents And Media During Initial Federal-Level Hurricane Relief: A Study Of Presidential Crisis Communication Efforts, Emily A. Ball

Honors College Theses

Public relations serves a huge role in almost every sector, including politics. Crisis communication, a subset of public relations, is very important in a setting that constantly undergoes crises. The response to these crises matters a great deal on the federal level because the outcomes can affect such a wide variety of policies and even elections. Because of this, I wanted to focus on one type of crisis that every president is almost guaranteed to face: hurricanes. To examine the effectiveness of federal-level crisis communication, I look at Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden’s responses to the worst hurricane during their …

“We’Re Not Gay One Month Out Of The Year…We’Re Always Who We Are.” Exploring Connections Between Organizations, Pride Branding, And Lgbtq+ Publics, Sam Goodman

All Theses

LGBTQ+ visibility has increased in American society; moral acceptability of these identities increased significantly over the last 20 years alone and several US Presidents deemed June to be Pride Month in recognition and celebration of these individuals. To major companies and organizations, LGBTQ+ identities – which constitute more than 11 million US adults – are a growing and richly diverse market segment with considerable buying power and cultural influence. As companies attempt to engage with this segment, they increasingly attempt to engage with Pride Month and events related to Pride – including but not limited to having same-sex representation in …

Influencing Public Opinion: Activist Public Relations And The Arrest Of Susan B. Anthony, Arien Rozelle

The Seneca Falls Dialogues Journal

The Suffrage movement stands out as an early progressive cause that utilized an integrated approach to public relations in support of a clear objective. The arrest of Susan B. Anthony provided the movement with a huge opportunity to influence public opinion in order to win the right to vote.

An Exploratory Study Of Fake News And The 2017 Presidential Elections In Kenya, Anthony Kuria Wanjiru Mr

Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the proliferation of fake news in Kenya and sought to uncover if fake news affected the 2017 Presidential Election outcomes. Just like in the two previous elections (2007 and 2013), the 2017 presidential polls were closely contested. The use of social networking sites and other online platforms like websites for campaigns was common during the 2017 Presidential Elections. Presidential candidates did not only set up websites, but also employed bloggers, social media savvy individuals and public relations firms to manage their social media accounts and other parody accounts that they used for their online campaigns. Thus, the …

Defining And Addressing The Intersection Of Sports, Media, And Social Activism, Kaylee Layne Crafton

Honors Theses

Athletes have used their sports platforms and the elevated statuses of fame to share their political views and seek change for centuries. However, our society is now at a time in which athlete activism seems to be at its peak due to constant societal shifts and the quick, widespread dissemination of news through various forms of media. This study sought to answer one primary question: When can athletes share their views about racial equality and social justice? For Americans, the “when” in which athletes can speak up is often a divisive issue. This study analyzed how major sports leagues and …

Perceptions Of Black Lives Matter: An Analysis Of The Movement And Its Impact On The Relationship Between The Lincoln Police Department, The Media And The Public, Paige Heinemann

Honors Theses

This study examines the relationships between the Lincoln Police Department (LPD), the Lincoln Journal Star (LJS), and the public as they interacted during the Black Lives Matter protests in Lincoln, Nebraska, during June 2020. In order to analyze the relationships between the three actors, I utilized previous research that examined the role of the media on perceptions of police, how media framing of police brutality influences perceptions, and how the four models of public relations function in communities. This led me to pose the following research question: How do the relationships between the Lincoln Police Department, the media and the …

Is Care In The Air?: A Crisis Ethics Case Study Of American Airlines’ Communication During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lily V. Hicks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This research proposes a qualitative case study of American Airlines’ communication during the first month of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Data from the airline’s press releases along with its tweets and a sample of organizational responses to those tweets are offered for proposed analysis using the lenses of Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the Applied Model of Care Considerations, and the body of crisis literature on audience coping and emotions during crises. This in-depth look at a unique communication phenomenon will be a fundamental step in examining how airline communication exhibits ethics or lack thereof and is related to people’s emotions …

Fyre Festival: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly And Its Impact On Influencer Marketing, Loren Grace Gilbert, Courtney Childers, Brandon Boatwright

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Achievements And Limits Of Strategic Communication For Nation-Building: The Case Of Spain’S Catalan Region (1979-2017), César García

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Arts and Humanities

This paper explores the use of strategic communication for nation building purposes in Catalonia after the approval of the Second Statute of Autonomy in 1979. During this period, the Generalitat de Catalunya, Catalonia’s self-government political organization, has used the high degree of autonomy in a number of areas involving culture, communications or education, among others, to enhance a Catalan identity opposed to the Spanish identity. Soft power approaches – mainly the promotion of Catalan language, culture, sports and symbols – and the implementation of linguistic laws have resulted in a positive climate of opinion concerning an inclusive Catalan identity in …

Emotional Tweeters: What Causes Individuals To React During A Crisis? A Mixed-Methodological Analysis Examining Crisis Response Tweets To The 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, Gabriel John Fiore Iii

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

All entities and individuals can use, design or generate content appealing to emotions to maximize message saturation, audience reach, and engagement on Twitter during a crisis. The purpose of this study was to identify which specific emotion(s) yielded the highest engagement during the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting. Specifically, tweets conveying the emotional appeals of fear, anger, empathy, and advocacy were measured in terms of average likes, retweets, replies, and overall engagement using a content analysis and the constant comparative method. Results revealed which emotional appeal(s) yield the most likes, retweets, replies, and overall engagement with tweets.

Understanding And Addressing The Gaps: Generational Perspectives On Public Relations Leadership Development In The United States, Michele E. Ewing, David L. Remund

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This qualitative study is the first known effort to define the differing perceptions of public relations leadership at three distinct career points and explore the leadership development gaps and needs from these varied perspectives. Semistructured interviews with senior public relations practitioners, young professionals, and current students in the United States bring needed depth and clarity to prior scholarship on leadership development, a growing concern within the public relations industry around the world. Additionally, the findings pinpoint leadership development best practices for better infusing leadership development into undergraduate public relations education and into training and development programs for young professionals.

Integrating Evidence-Based Practices Into Public Relations Education, Karen Freberg, David L. Remund, Kathy Keltner-Previs

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Public relations continue to play an essential and changing role in society, requiring the regular reassessment of the education of future public relations practitioners. Academics and practitioners often differ in how they view the public relations field, how they define the discipline, and how they view the major pedagogical approaches. This paper explores the impact of integrating three different perspectives in public relations education, including practitioner perspective, client perspective, and the evidence-based perspective. Results from students’ reaction papers and an online questionnaire suggest that integrating an evidence-based approach improves the competence and clarity of communications counsel provided by aspiring practitioners.

The Contingency Theory Of Accommodation In Public Relations And Its Applicability To The Telecommunication Sector In Egypt, Rania H El Bakry

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Public relations continues to be one of the most difficult to define fields. Many strides have been made in the development of public relations theory in an effort to provide some guidelines for practitioners of the field. Among the field's most prominent theories is the two-way symmetrical communication model. The model was deemed the most ideal and normative theory for practicing public relations. The contingency theory of accommodation proposes an effective and ethical alternative to the two-way symmetrical model of communication.

The telecommunication sector in Egypt is among the country's most dynamic fields and boasts some of the most active …