Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Broadcast News Directors' Perceptions Of Race: A Survey Of Psychological And Sociological Measures, Amaya Nichele Worthem

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Understanding the role of media in the lives of consumers has been a longstanding concern of various scholars. Although the news media do not tell consumers what to think explicitly, they do imply what consumers should think, via the contexts in which news is presented. The central thrust of this thesis is a psychological and sociological perception study of news directors’ implicit and explicit perceptions of race when creating news content. The aim is to discover whether an implicit or explicit racial bias can be found amongst some news directors when covering racial minority groups. A better understanding of bias …

"Nobody Can #Dragmedown": An Analysis Of The One Direction Fandom's Ability To Influence And Dominate Worldwide Twitter Trends, Nicole Kelsey Santero

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With more than 25 million followers and counting, One Direction is currently the biggest boy band in the world, and its fans—known as “Directioners”—have become one of the most visible and recognizable fandoms to utilize social media, especially Twitter. Drawing upon an updated version of a fan theory highlighting the interpretive community and social hierarchy that exist within a fandom, this study examines the participatory culture among One Direction fans online that helps them create and dominate worldwide Twitter trends, as well as overshadow what is regarded as more serious news topics. Although previous research studies have examined Directioners and …

Virtual Rebel Website: A Strategy To Increase User Engagement Through Bounce Rate Analysis, Michael Vendivel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In a media environment that increasingly demands captivating content on a website, user engagement becomes a critical factor in the strategy of maintaining user interest. Research based on website analytics has shown that decreasing the Bounce Rate increased the time a web user spends on a website, entailing higher user engagement. Bounce Rate is the ratio of single-page visits on a website divided by the total number of visits, and it is used primarily used to quantify user interest. By examining the analytics and design of the student-run news siteVirtual Rebel, produced by the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and …

Niche Theory In New Media: Is Digital Overtaking The Print Magazine Industry?, Zeenath Haniff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

New challengers in mass media are poised to annihilate the competition. The trials and tribulations that magazine publishers have conquered over the years is a testament to the industry's undaunted resilience and perseverance against such competition. Presently, the paper-based medium has enjoyed massive success by catering to readers' individual interests in special interest publications called niche magazines. However, the future of print magazines is unclear as recent technological innovations in digital publishing become the latest contender against print media. Analyzing the possible effects of the new digital medium upon the incumbent print magazine may help publishers prepare to face their …

The Information Battlefield: Al-Qaeda's Use Of Advanced Media Technologies For Framed Messaging, Jessica Marie Martin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Through a descriptive and qualitative content analysis of Al-Qaeda videos from 2001 to 2010, this thesis describes how the organization's video production has undergone a surge in production quality by using modern technology and skilled recruits. This thesis also provides background on the Islamic culture and the history of Al-Qaeda in order to put into perspective the goals of the organization's framed messages that are incorporated into their videos. The study also draws on parallels of propaganda use throughout history to highlight how regimes from all over the world understand the importance of communication during a time of war.

Public Interest Standard Characteristics In Hybrid Digital Multicasts Of Noncommercial Educational Radio, Michele Ann Gothard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Radio broadcasting implements digital multicasting in the United States with the adoption of HD Radio from iBiquity. Hybrid digital radio multicasts can upgrade either AM or FM facilities, and stations adopt the technology without loosing traditional analogue broadcasts. Broadcasting with digital technology creates additional channels of information, extending limitations of the electromagnetic spectrum. Scholarly research about hybrid digital technology considers motivations for adoption by stations but has not focused on content of existing multicasts. This study examines noncommercial educational radio multicasts for characteristics of service in the public interest.

Discourse characteristics find a mix of sounds that include both speech …

Factors Of Adoption: Initiating Relationships Using Online Dating Sites, Rachel Lee Toyer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study used the Diffusion of Innovations Model to explore the circumstances that lead graduate and professional students enrolled at the a university in southern Nevada to adopt online dating services with the intent of initiating a serious commitment with a potential partner. The diffusion model was used to frame online dating as a process that people go through in acquiring knowledge about the service, forming an opinion about it, testing the service, and finally adopting the service into their daily life. Factors such as time afforded to relationships, apprehension in social situations, safety, and opinions of online dating …

Communication Technologies: Diffusion Of Online News Use And Credibility Among Young Web Users In The Information Age, Chee Youn Kang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The increasing popularity and extensive usage of communication technologies, particularly the Internet and online news, makes it important to obtain an insightful perception of the new media. The purpose of this study is to examine the diffusion of online news use and credibility among young web users in terms of how these main users adopt, use, and trust the new media. This study attempts to find which online news sites are widely used by this group, based on the credibility of online news adopted among undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), in which demographic …