Mass Communication Commons^™

"The Destruction Of A Legacy": Agenda Setting And The Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Allegations, Larissa Teran

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Media scandal has been a contributing factor to the American culture for centuries. However, ambiguity and pre-conceived notions arise when the media scandal is framed differently by various mediated outlets. This study investigates media scandal by examining the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations and how the scandal is framed by the media. This study utilized agenda setting theory to explore the argument that the public will think of the Cosby scandal as highly important due to frequent exposure and how the media presents and frames the stories on this subject could ultimately impact public opinion on issues such as power, …

A Content Analysis Of Gender-Specific Media Coverage Of Sport: Ncaa Athletic Department Home Webpages, Margo R. Malik

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Studies have found that media coverage of women’s sports is inadequate when compared with coverage of men’s sports. The results of these studies have revealed inadequacies in terms of amount of coverage as well as type of coverage. Findings demonstrate that there is a certain way media frame female athletes when they are covered. Female athletes are often portrayed in overly sexualized images, as feminine role models, as passive rather than active, and in sports that are considered gender-appropriate. These types of portrayals can perpetuate gender bias and stereotypes, undermine the true athletic ability of female athletes, and give the …

Depictions Of Beauty On Cosmopolitan Magazine: Content Analysis Of Covers (1959-2014), Azalee Maslow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The media, especially advertisers, have long used beautiful women as an ideal image for attracting viewers and selling products. American women have been portrayed as, ideally, thin Caucasians with blonde hair and blue eyes. Research has found that women compare themselves to the beautiful women in advertising and in turn have negative feelings towards their own appearance. This thesis’ goal is to find whether the ideal American woman has changed through a content analysis of the women on the covers of Cosmopolitan magazine over the past 55 years, 1959 through 2014. This content analysis will focus on how the covers …

Governing Through Permanent Campaigning: Media Usage And Press Freedom In Ecuador, Maria Jose Flor Agreda

Honors College Theses

In Ecuador, media and politics have been historically tied together. Over time, the banking industry has had financial stakes in the media and vice versa. Yet, from the time that President Rafael Correa took office in 2007, the situation has been turned around. Correa has used a permanent campaign to appeal to the public and change the media ownership environment of the country. The President’s strategy has included the acquisition of private media such as newspapers, and radio and television station; as well as the establishment of governmental media entities. Additionally, as part of Correa’s permanent campaign scheme, the president …

Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Love And Marriage?, Lauren F. E. Galloway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examines the association between consumption of media messages via movie viewing and endorsement of ideals and expectations about romantic relationships in a university-based sample of 228 respondents. Frequent viewing of romantic comedy and drama films was significantly and positively correlated with idealized notions that love conquers all, greater expectations for intimacy, and endorsement of the eros love style. Viewing preference for romantic movies was also significantly and positively correlated with fantasy rumination and marital intentions. However, participants who frequently watched romantic movies did not endorse beliefs in sexual perfection, mindreading, or disagreement disallowance. Implications of the findings …

Taiwanese Willingness To Communicate In English: Can Watching American Television Programs Help?, Yu-Ting Chien

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study explored the relationship between Taiwanese audiences' use of American television programs and their willingness to communicate in English. Taiwanese participants filled out an online survey consisted of questions from uses and gratifications constructs and willingness to communicate constructs. In addition, different subtitle settings were also examined.

Results indicated that participants with high integrative motivation consuming information from American television programs, in addition, the setting of subtitles were associated with perceived communication competence, integrative motivation, language anxiety and social interaction motivation.