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Australian National School Chaplaincy Program : A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Online Newspaper Portrayals, Ashley Donkin

Theses : Honours

The media’s representation of the Australian National School Chaplaincy Program has not currently been addressed by social theorists. This thesis analyses online newspaper portrayals of the National School Chaplaincy Program, examining a total of eleven major state newspapers. Norman Fairclough’s theory of Critical Discourse Analysis, and particularly his theory on the three main types of assumptions (Existential, Propositional and Value), is employed to examine how language is used to construct ideologies and discourses about the Chaplaincy Program. Four key issues are examined, which include: the role of chaplains, the use of government funding for the Program, as well as church …

Gender Bias In Network News Reporting: Inaccurate Risk Information About Male And Female Birth Control, Krista Currer

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Pharmaceutical companies spend considerable amounts of revenue on advertising; therefore, media networks must portray an agenda which supports those companies. This thesis attempts to discover if and to what extent women are marginalized by the promotion of hormonal birth control. Particular focus is placed on the link between these drugs and breast cancer risk, as well as the existence of gendered messages. Framework for the study is established through Agenda-setting Theory and Marxist and feminist criticism. Media messages about birth control are then interpreted through content analysis. Only 9% of messages about female birth control mention the link with breast …

Rtbs: Your Audio Companion, 3am, Cori Schwabe, Casey Mattison, Kathryn Kawa, Allea Grummert, Nick Holle, Gabbi Silke, Derrick Sloan, Brittany Guindon, Amanda Hinrichs

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

Radio Talking Book Service, a non-profit organization that assists the visually impaired by providing a free radio reading service, came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a challenge: increase brand and service awareness throughout Nebraska.

We began by conducting both secondary and primary research, developing key insights and examining all possible target audiences. We investigated the day-to-day life of the visually impaired, learning that many who have experienced vision loss suffer from decreasing independence and increasing feelings of loneliness. Our primary research revealed that these individuals turn first to eye care professionals, resource organizations for the visually impaired and residential …

Partnership Representation In Public Communications: An Analysis Of Community-Engaged Universities' Websites, Christy Kayser Arrazattee

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines the ways in which campus-community partnerships are represented in public communications produced by community-engaged institutions of higher education. Leading scholars of campus-community partnerships and service-learning agree that such relationships should be based on a reciprocal exchange between partners. In public relations endeavors, however, professionals concentrating solely on communicating the university’s achievements may overlook the equal contributions of the community partner. This study analyzed website content and universities publications from six colleges nationally recognized for their community-engagement efforts. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis, web content was analyzed for indicators of reciprocity developed from foundational literature regarding campus-community partnerships. …

Students’ Attributions Of Instructor Credibility As A Function Of Instructors’ Out-Of-Class Support, Adam C. Jones, Paul Schrodt

Basic Communication Course Annual

This investigation examined the impact that instructor out-of-class support (OCS) and sex differences have on students’ perceptions of instructor credibility. Participants (N = 634) were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions manipulating the degree to which an instructor responds with a highly supportive, moderately supportive, or non-supportive message following a hypothetically stressful situation. Multivariate analyses revealed a two-way interaction effect of instructor OCS by student sex on perceptions of instructor credibility. Significant and meaningful main effects for instructor OCS on all three dimensions of credibility (i.e., competence, trustworthiness, and caring) were also obtained, with students attributing more credibility …

Trends In Communicative Self-Efficacy: A Comparative Analysis, Georgeta M. Hodis, Flaviu A. Hodis

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study integrates findings from the motivation-achievement and communication literature to underline the salient role that (communicative) self-efficacy beliefs play in academic settings. Additionally, this research shows that communicative self-efficacy beliefs can be accurately assessed by using a measure of self-perceived communication competence (SPCC). Using longitudinal data from 705 undergraduate students, the study shows that participants’ communicative self-efficacy beliefs increased linearly during the semester in which they were enrolled in a basic communication course. Finally, findings from this research indicate that the magnitude of change in self-efficacy was linked to the context of communication as well as attuned to the …

Developing Student-To-Student Connectedness: An Examination Of Instructors’ Humor, Nonverbal Immediacy, And Self-Disclosure In Public Speaking Courses, Robert J. Sidelinger, Brandi N. Frisby, Audra L. Mcmullen, Jennifer Heisler

Basic Communication Course Annual

Students often do not look forward to enrolling in public speaking courses, and therefore, it is warranted to examine opportunities to develop a supportive peer communication climate in what is typically seen as an anxiety inducing course. The present study collected data at three points in a semester (first day, mid-semester, and end-semester) to determine if initial perceptions of student-to-student connectedness and instructors’ communication behaviors (humor, nonverbal immediacy, and self-disclosure) lead to positive increases in student-to-student connectedness over the course of a semester in public speaking classes. Changes in perceptions of student-to-student connectedness at mid- and end-semester were predicted by …

I Need Help: Help Seeking Behaviors, Communication Anxiety And Communication Center Usage, C. Leigh Nelson, Toni S. Whitfield, Michelle Moreau

Basic Communication Course Annual

A web-based survey of 357 respondents enrolled in basic communication courses was conducted to examine communication center usage, communication apprehension, and help seeking behaviors. There was no significant difference between students who attended the communication center and those who did not in their communication apprehension and help seeking behaviors. There were significant correlations between help seeking behaviors and communication apprehension. Demographics, communication apprehension, and communication center usage and awareness predicted multiple types of help seeking behaviors.

Conflicting Advice On Oral Citations In Top Public Speaking Texts, Katherine N. Kinnick, Emily Holler

Basic Communication Course Annual

Learning to develop and deliver effective oral citations is an important speechmaking skill that helps to enhance the credibility of the speaker, the persuasiveness of the source, and reduce unintentional plagiarism. A content analysis of oral citation guidelines in the most widely-used public speaking textbooks reveals that they take different approaches to the topic of oral citations. The texts differ on the bibliographic elements that should be included in an oral citation, when an oral citation is necessary, and how oral citations should be introduced. In some cases, examples of citations in student speeches and chapter text do not follow …

Author Biographies

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 24

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (298 pages, 12.1 MB)

“All Girls Are Barbies”: A Feminist Critique Of Nicki Minaj’S Barbie Persona, Camellia Sarmadi

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Texting Laws And Cell Phone Users: Motivations For Texting While Driving, Jonathan Ferrante

LSU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT Legal scholars, academics, and industry researchers have indicated that using cell phones when driving is among the most dangerous hazard faced by motorists today. This relatively new technology is embedded in the lives of most people, at all times of the day, including when behind the wheel of a car. Harvard and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration researchers have exposed the dangers of cell phones and driving, but a solution to curtail the problem has yet to be found. This study seeks to understand the motivations and mediating factors affecting texting and driving law compliance by cell phone users. …

Understanding Involuntary Job Loss Among Former Newspaper Staff Photographers, Ryan K. Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines former newspaper photographers' experience with being laid-off from their staff positions. The purpose was to identify emerging themes within the context of involuntary job loss, job satisfaction, and occupational identity via interviews with 8 photojournalists who experienced the phenomenon of being laid-off. The newspaper industry has long been considered both the starting point for young and aspiring photojournalism careers and the most consistent and stable venue for an income. Yet recent changes in the media landscape, particularly economic stress on traditional business models and rapid adoption of digital technology sway the occupational future of photojournalism within newsrooms. …

Live Versus Recorded: Exploring Television Sales Presentations, Christopher Craig Novak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This is an exploratory study that poses the questions and discussion regarding live and recorded sales presentations via television. With its rich history, it appears that live television has more types of appeal that will get the shopper buying products. However, the recorded and edited presentation played back on television has had its share to grab the shopper's attention. Research questions are presented to determine which broadcasting method is stronger by examining factors related to home shopping such as credibility, authenticity, involvement, urgency, informativeness, entertaining value, sense of real time, spontaneity and interactivity. Additional questions will look at the …

The Rhetoric Of Evidence In Recent Documentary Film And Video, Steven W. Schoen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Documentary is a genre of film that portrays "real" events using depictions that connote the objectivity and facticity implied by the processes of photorealism. Many contemporary documentary theorists and critics observe a constitutive problem in this ethos: despite the apparent constructions and agendas of documentary filmmaking, the framing and assumption of documentary as a window on the world tend to naturalize its own constructions as "real." Critics who engage documentary trace the multitude of ways this problem plays out in particular films. These projects yield many important insights, but they most often approach documentary as a form of inherently deficient …

Improvisational Music Performance: On-Stage Communication Of Power Relationships, David A. Steinweg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project explores how musical improvisational processes come into being through interacting discursive power relationships that are embodied and enacted through performance. By utilizing the concepts of framing and performativity I am able to show how discursive power constitutes the performance of improvisational music. To exemplify this theory, the project presents a case study examining a Grateful Dead cover band named Uncle John's Band that performs at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, FL. Using an ethnographic methodology, the project articulates the dominant discursive power relationships that constitute Uncle John's Band's improvisational performances. The dominant discursive power relationships revolve around the lived …

The Effect Of Advertising-Focused, Short-Term Study Abroad Programs On Students’ Worldviews, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Global employers in the advertising industry are increasingly interested in hiring students with intercultural communication skills and cultural experience. While the benefits of long-term study abroad programs are well documented, this study focuses on advertising-specific, short-term study abroad programs. The purpose was to explore the effectiveness of such programs on students’ worldviews using a mixed methods design. The results show that students displayed lower levels of ethnocentrism after participating in short-term, advertising-focused study abroad programs. In addition, five qualitative themes emerged: an awareness of and appreciation for the out-group, an increased awareness of the in-group, the importance of communication, a …

Salud Y Saludos: The E-News Of The College Of Health Sciences, College Of Health Sciences

College of Health Sciences

Monthly e-newsletter of the College of Health Sciences.

Johnson & Johnson's Recall Debacle, Lashonda Louallen Eaddy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been viewed as a role model by many organizations for its successful handling of a 1982 crisis involving cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules that resulted in seven deaths. The public relations community applauded J&J for a swift response and for promptly implementing actions to prevent a similar crisis from occurring in the future. However more recently, J&J has become a poster child for poor crisis communications amidst a flood of recalls that started in November 2009. The present study used concepts from Coombs’ (2004) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and media framing research to develop a coding …

The Sidis Case And The Origins Of Modern Privacy Law, Samantha Barbas

Journal Articles

The American press, it’s been said, is freer to invade personal privacy than perhaps any other in the world. The tort law of privacy, as a shield against unwanted media exposure of private life, is very weak. The usual reason given for the weakness of U.S. privacy law as a bar on the publication of private information is the strong tradition of First Amendment freedom. But “freedom of the press” alone cannot explain why liberty to publish has been interpreted as a right to print truly intimate matters or to thrust people into the spotlight against their will. Especially in …

A Framing Analysis: The Nba's "One-And-Done"Rule, Daniel Ryan Beaulieu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2006, the NBA introduced the "one-and-done" rule that restricted high school graduates to enter directly into the NBA draft following high school. In turn, a high school prospect would essentially now have the option of playing professionally elsewhere (most likely overseas), enter the NBA's Developmental League, or play NCAA basketball. The rule has proved to be quite controversial, as it has had a great effect on both NBA and NCAA basketball, as well as the players. Various media outlets have been quite vocal not only about the rule itself, but the perceived effects it has had on both collegiate …

Communicating During An Organizational Crisis: Using Facebook As A Relationship Management Tool, Vjollca Hysenlika

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how organizations communicate on Facebook during a crisis, from a relationship management perspective, and how their interactivity, responsiveness, and transparency affect their Fan page's relevance, importance, and appeal. In this study, the researcher conducted a controlled experiment to examine if a strategized Facebook Fan page that contained a high level of interaction, responsiveness, and transparency contributed to long-lasting relationships with fans or helped organizations recover/prevent a crisis. The researcher created eight different conditions (Facebook Fan Pages) presenting a crisis message, and recruited 200 students (25 participants per condition) from the University of …

Playing The Christ Card: Courting Christians Through Religious Appeals In Political Campaigns, Matthew Lee Thornton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In spite of a corpus of work over the last three decades acknowledging the centrality of religion in politics, (see e.g. Hunter, 1991; Layman, 2001; Putnam & Campbell, 2010; Wuthnow, 1988), there remains a scarcity of research examining the consequences of religious communication in political campaigns. The current study fills this void through an empirical exploration of the effects of religious campaign appeals on prospective voters. Specifically, this interdisciplinary investigation develops a theoretical framework and subsequent expectations as to how religious appeals are likely to activate individual religiosity thereby influencing the formation of political attitudes. Hypothesized expectations are then tested …

Man Without A Country: How Character Complexity Primes Racial Stereotypes, Ben Miller

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the role character complexity plays in racial attitudes of television viewers. Previous research suggests that stereotypes and counter-stereotypes play vastly different roles in how people process information. Stereotypes act as automatic cues that call up pre-made judgments upon exposure to them. Meanwhile, counter-stereotypes actually work on a conscious processing level, forcing viewers to think more deeply about individuals when presented with them, skipping the automatic recall mechanism all together. By layering counter-stereotypes and stereotypes together in the same stimulus, this study examined whether the existence of there would be an appreciable difference between viewers exposed to solely …

Where The Good Times Roll: New Orleans As A Destination For Sports Event Tourism, Kristen E. Chighizola

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past several decades, sports event tourism has been a growing area of research for scholars in the fields of sport administration, strategic communications, destination marketing and tourism. The city of New Orleans is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States, with its various entertainment, sports, and cultural events. Over the past three decades, New Orleans has hosted over 30 major sports events and will host several more major events including the BCS National Championship, NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four, and the Super Bowl through February 2013. This case study shows several primary reasons …

An Investigation Into The Moderating Role Of Fear Appeals On The Relationship Between Regulatory Fit And Persuasion, Nam Young Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As one of the ways to persuade young people effectively, several scholars have indicated that using a tailored message that is consistent with individuals’ concerns and interests can influence their attitude and behavioral changes. Among diverse tactics to construct tailored health-messages, this research especially paid attention to individuals’ motivational goals (i.e., regulatory focus) that make them more inclined to a certain outcome. While promotion-oriented individuals primarily focus on how to achieve a desired ending, prevention-oriented individuals mainly focus on avoiding undesirable outcomes (Higgins, 1997; Higgins et al., 2001). Although numerous studies support the positive effects of the congruency between regulatory …

Pressures, Centralization, Economics, Technology, And Ethics: Factors That Impact Public Information Officer - Journalist Relationships, Christopher Jon Mccollough

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A study of public information officers (PIOs) in three states and the journalists that cover state government finds five primary factors that shape the working relationships between both groups. Institutional pressures on both PIOs and journalists impact the ability of both parties to meet the needs of the other party on a daily basis. High levels of centralization in state government communication limit the ability of PIOs to meet the needs of journalists, fostering journalists’ antagonism and a more combative working relationship. The economic decline of journalism is creating a dichotomous situation where PIOs can help journalists manage increasing demands …