Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Diminishing Role Of The Ombudsman In American Journalism, Wade B. Hilligoss

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

News ombudsmen have been around since 1967 when two Louisville newspapers created a position that served as an independent accountability buffer between the newspapers and the publics they served. That position was called the news ombudsman. Its role was to respond to reader complaints, call out newspaper errors and explain behind-the-scenes news decisions, processes and more in a weekly or bi-weekly column in the Sunday paper. In 1970, the Washington Post created an ombudsman position and other news outlets followed over the next 30 years. The New York Times instituted its first ombudsman in 2003 after the Jason Blair plagiarism …

A Qualitative Study Of The Effectiveness Of The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln's Journalism Program For Preparing Students For The Workplace, Sarah Anne Carter Rosenbaum

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Journalism is changing at a rapid pace with every new technology and tool being released. Within the past year, Twitter’s Vine, Instagram video, and Google Glass are examples of technology that has emerged and journalists have incorporated them into their news coverage. Journalism education is faced with the task of figuring out how to best educate journalists so they are prepared for the current workplace. The balance is sought between teaching traditional journalism skills and knowledge and teaching the ability to use the latest technology. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications (UNL CoJMC) has made changes …

Print Vs. Online Journalism: Are Believability And Accuracy Affected By Where Readers Find Information?, Burton Speakman

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Believability and accuracy of print and online news is studied via the comments of newspaper readers of a small Texas community. The readers of the Normangee Star were chosen to be the survey recipients to learn if readers in a small community had the same attitude about their local newspaper that national surveys have indicated exist about newspapers in general. The expectation was that those who read more news online would consider their local paper to be less believable and accurate than those who read little to no news online. Surveys were mailed to 200 subscribers of the Star, …

Floyd Gibbons: A Journalistic Force Of Nature In Early 20th Century America, Andrew J. Nelson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

“Floyd Gibbons: A Journalistic Force of Nature in Early 20^th Century America” examines some of the key journalistic work of dashing newsman Floyd Gibbons and his status as one of the top reporters to ever file a news story. This thesis will look at the world in which Gibbons inhabited 85 to100 years ago, what made him the man and journalist he was and his work as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune compared to what his competitors at national newspapers wrote.

As a reporter, Gibbons was remarkably aggressive and could be counted upon to get the story, no …

An Iphone In A Haystack: The Uses And Gratifications Behind Farmers Using Twitter, Sarah Van Dalsem

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

The fast-growing social media site, Twitter, is growing in popularity among Americans from all walks of life, including farmers who are using it to share information with other farmers and consumers. This thesis expands on Uses and Gratifications Theory by looking at how farmers are using the social media site to promote agriculture and reach out to others. Based on a qualitative analysis completed on 22 interviews with farmers, four major purposes for using Twitter came to light: (1) Farmers are using Twitter to seek information; (2) they are using it as a tool to lead others within the agricultural …

Study Of Convergence In Nebraska Newspapers, Kathryn L. Schindler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

This thesis studies Nebraska newspapers and their efforts to converge with Web, multimedia, radio, or television entities. It also studies the efforts by Nebraska newspapers to converge reporter roles and organizational roles. Paper surveys were sent and in-person interviews were conducted in Nebraska during the 2009-2010 academic year. The results showed more examples of multimedia convergence than role or organizational convergence. Nebraska publishers and editors say they do not want to attempt convergence or multimedia products just to be trendy. They say convergence has to make sense, be useful, and be profitable for their individual businesses, staff, and communities.
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