Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Jiahd In The Global Village: Al-Qaeda's Digital Radicalization And Recruitment Campaign, Katie Cannata

Honors College Theses

Following America’s “War on Terror,” al-Qaeda and its affiliates became highly decentralized in terms of organizational and media operations. Though mass media outlets continue to play a significant role in drawing attention to al-Qaeda’s transnational campaign, Salafi Jihadists have recently begun to rely on new media for purposes of legitimization and promotion. The Internet serves as a suitable platform for these groups’ media objectives since it is inherently anonymous and absent of censorship. Most importantly, the Internet facilitates al-Qaeda in reaching a global audience, which is made evident by the growing amount of Salafi Jihadist media that is translated or …

Book Review: Twitter: Social Communication In The Twitter Age, By Dhiraj Murthy, Sue Burzynski Bullard

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Twitter has helped to shape social communication in today’s world. In his book, Dhiraj Murthy recognizes Twitter’s impact as a communication medium and puts it in context.

Visual Propaganda And Extremism In The Online Environment, Cori E. Dauber, Carol K. Winkler

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

Visual images have been a central component of propaganda for as long as propaganda has been produced. But recent developments in communication and information technologies have given terrorist and extremist groups options and abilities they never would have been able to come close to even 5 or 10 years ago. There are terrorist groups who, with very little initial investment, are making videos that are coming so close to the quality of BBC or CNN broadcasts that the difference is meaningless, and with access to the web they have instantaneous access to a global audience. Given the broad social science …

How Not To Get Lost In The Shuffle: Producing The Most Effective And Eye-Catching Press Release, Erica Derrico

Journalism

The following study investigates how to produce the most effective and eye-catching press release on a national level for Summit Outdoor Supply (S.O.S). Winter quarter of 2014, my partner and I worked on a local campaign for S.O.S., using traditional text-based press releases to get media coverage. Although we did see some success with the traditional press release, there were often times our releases would get lost in the shuffle of the many releases that media outlets received each day. My goal with this project is to learn how to produce a press release that will get noticed out of …

Blogging In The Fashion Industry: A Descriptive Study Of The Use Of The Two-Step Flow Communications Theory By Professional And Citizen Bloggers To Become Opinion Leaders, Mia Alexandra Mendola

Journalism

This study analyzes the differences between professional and citizen bloggers in the fashion industry, and their use of the two-step flow communications theory and certain tactics to become opinion leaders in the industry. With the rise of blogging as a popular medium for consumption of fashion news, thousands of bloggers have begun blogs hoping to become part of the fashion industry. With this rise comes bloggers with different levels of expertise and experience. With this comes a blurring of lines between a professional blogger with credible knowledge of the fashion industry, and a citizen blogger with no formal training or …

Get Schooled: A Visual Social Semiotic Analysis Of Target's Branding Using Instagram, Chelsea Bevins

Masters Theses

With new technology arising, brands must be able to adapt to them. This thesis will break down brand management, using David Aaker's framework, of the Target Corporation to see if they are using modern resource, Instagram effectively. This thesis will also look at how the theory of visual social semiotics, applied to communications, is used to decipher intended meaning. Brand management embodies a company and people are driven by what a brand portrays. People are driven by values, emotions and quality within a brand. People associate products with memories, celebrities, attributes and symbols. Brands are more than just a name. …

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 …

News Goes Native: An Examination Of Online Media's Disclosure Practices For Sponsored Content, Joseph Dean Moore

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Online news publishers are increasingly using sponsored content that assumes the format of the host site's editorial content. This has led to concern among some in the journalism industry that readers will be unable to distinguish advertising from news editorial. A content analysis and an experiment examined how publishers are formatting sponsored content and how readers are processing disclosure information for sponsored content. The results suggest that current labeling and disclosure practices may be inadequate in alerting readers to the commercial nature of sponsored content.

Adviser: Ming Wang

The Changing Format For Delivering An Effective Message Using Video And Multimedia In Education, Instruction, And Various Forms Of Communications: A Descriptive Analysis Using Public Relations Theory, Rachael Leigh Burnham

Journalism

ABSTRACT

Given the evolving nature of the forms of mass media in communication, it is imperative to stay up-to-date with the changes that occur in developing platforms of technology, as well as how these advancements are effecting new generations of learners and communicators. Generation Y students have developed a spectrum of learning styles and preferences due to their deep rooted connection to technology that has caused a conflict in learning with traditional, written instruction and communication. No longer do students just want to either read or listen, and video or multimedia platforms can provide them with the resources they may …

New Media Business Models, Where Content And Commerce Collide: Strategies And Ethical Considerations For Success In A New Media World, Aryn Bea Sanderson

Journalism

Media practitioners are finding themselves at a crossroads. Due to increasing digitalization and decreasing funding for so-called traditional outlets, “new media” forms have emerged and, with those, new economic models to generate revenue. New media platforms diverge from old media archetypes in the way they utilize the interaction of content and commerce. The collision of content and commerce is both a novel idea for media sustainability and treacherous water for its credibility. This study analyzes a few key new media economic platforms - sponsored content in a digital-first publication, crowd funding stories and a ranked, e-commerce model - in hopes …

A Study Of The Effect Of Product Placement In Television Shows And Its Influence On Consumer Behavior, Danielle Patton

Communication Studies

This study investigated the use of product placement in television shows as a catalyst for product purchasing behavior. It was hypothesized that television viewers would be more likely to purchase a product seen through a product placement in a television show than in a commercial advertisement. Furthermore, it was also hypothesized that viewers would be more influenced to buy a product if they saw a favored television character interacting or promoting the product. These hypotheses were tested by running a bivariate correlation to determine the correlation between television viewing and purchasing habits, a paired sample t-test to determine whether there …

Viral Marketing, Kevin Y. Wang, Mark A. Rademacher

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Viral marketing refers to the application of traditional word-of-mouth marketing to the online environment. Originally developed by Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper in 1997, the term is used to describe online techniques designed to generate peer-to-peer conversation and buzz about a company, brand, product, or service. A message that contains something of value or appeal is diffused throughout members of a given social network, and ideally across networks, in an exponential fashion, much like the spread of a virus in medical parlance. The rapid adoption of digital and social media tools by politicians has led to an increased visibility and …

[The Development Of Public Relations In] Kenya, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This chapter traces the practice of PR from pre-independence Kenya to the 21st century. It emerges that the practice of PR is closely tied to major national events and to social, cultural, political and economic forces. PR roles as understood by the pre-independence colonial government: keeping the public informed on government development projects, assessing public opinion and advising government, endearing government to Kenyans and building the awareness of Kenya abroad have continued to modern-day Kenya.

An Integrated Marketing Communications Plan For The Great American Comedy Festival, Johnny Carson Theatre, Norfolk, Nebraska, Adnormal Strategies, Emily Schaefer, Tony Nelson, Dominique Brown, Kary Benson, Mickey Mcconkey, Katheryn Schuller, Amanda Gammel, Max Wesely

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Client: The Great American Comedy Festival

Campaign Purpose: In the summer of 2014, members of the Great American Comedy Festival approached our team of 8 advertising and public relation students with a specific task. The proposed task was to help increase attendance as well as raise awareness for future Great American Comedy Festivals. Our team’s mission is to present innovative ideas that will help our client generate an increase in attendance and to also provide them with beneficial tactics for future festivals.

Research: For our campaign, we accumulated various data through both secondary and primary research. Our secondary …

Financial Markets And Online Advertising: Reevaluating The Dotcom Investment Bubble, Matthew Crain

Publications and Research

While the dotcom period is often dismissed as a false start in the history of the web’s commercial development, it is better conceived of as highly generative of modern structures of online advertising. Soaring investment markets and the developing online advertising sector entered into a pattern of mutual reinforcement that began in 1995 and intensified until the bubble collapsed in 2000, transforming the character of the web in the process. This article sketches the contours of this generative capacity, focusing on the production of demand for online advertising services. Taking the approach of critical political economy, this narrative is contextualized …

A Lesson In Crisis Communications And Transparency From Sub-Saharan Africa, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

The increased penetration of smart phones in Sub-Saharan Africa and the enthusiasm toward social media highlights the need for crisis managers working in the region to sharpen their crisis management skills to effectively protect and restore the reputations of their organizations. Research has consistently shown that Africa is the only region of the world where growth in mobile connections is expected in the next ­five years. Coupled with the ongoing increase in high-speed internet connections, there is little doubt that creating and sharing information online among locals will reach new proportions. Research by Portland Communications showed that South Africa was …