Digital Commons Network^™

Tied Together, Eiko Nishida

Theses and Dissertations

The paper is about a site-specific installation that questions a viewer’s norms and perspectives, through the use of multilingual newspapers as a sculptural material.

Bloody Sunday: Death & Press, Joseph Gaffney

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is a historical paper on Bloody Sunday, a day of violence in Dublin during the Irish War for Independence on November 21, 1920, analyzing primary and secondary sources centered on the subject to answer specific historiographical research questions. The primary objective of this research project is to understand the immediate social and political ramifications of Bloody Sunday in Ireland and England as reflected in the spread of information via the written press. The goal of the written analysis will be to answer a series of historical research questions. How were both the IRA’s killings and the subsequent reprisal …

Strategies That Weekly Print Newspapers Use In The Digital Age, Mia Alexander-Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The development of Web 2.0 transformed the distribution of information in the United States and challenged the print newspaper business model to develop an online presence. As a result, some weekly print newspaper managers were forced to develop digital strategies to maintain the viability of their organizations in a changing market. Grounded in Kotter’s change management model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies weekly print newspaper managers used to create an online presence. The data sources were semistructured interviews with three weekly print newspaper managers and publicly available documents, including company archives, website data, …

"Death Strikes Down The Innocent And The Young": Tracheotomy In The Saving Of A Child's Life During The Diphtheria Outbreaks Of Victorian London, 1850-1900., Samantha Franco

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The diphtheria outbreaks among children in nineteenth-century London required surgical intervention by means of tracheotomy to prevent death by suffocation. Tracheotomy was not universally accepted, and was contested by many circles as a high-risk procedure that offered no guarantee of success. Employing a detailed primary source analysis of contemporary medical records, case notes, textbooks, and journals, as well as newspapers accessed through the British Newspaper Archive and other databases, I analyze the various ways stakeholders (physicians, parents, public health officials) contended with risk to accept or reject tracheotomy as a procedure which could save the lives of diphtheritic children. Various …

Analysis Of Newspaper Coverage Of Psilocybin From January 1, 1989 To December 31, 2019, Dax Oliver

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psilocybin is a chemical compound that has received a lot of attention from medical researchers in recent years. However, this research is not merely a medical issue but a social and political one as well. In the 1960s, psilocybin and other psychedelic compounds were widely ingested outside of clinical settings. This alarmed some of the American public, resulting in severe legal restrictions on psilocybin use and research.

Today, many psilocybin advocates hope that it will avoid the negative public sentiment of the 1960s. To help gauge public sentiment about other psychoactive compounds, some studies have examined newspaper coverage, but there …

Framing And Newspaper Coverage Of Racial Integration, Amy Unruh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For many Americans who grew up in the 1960s, the first published information about Africans came directly from Africa, in the form of exotic photographs and stories in National Geographic. Susan Goldberg, Editor in Chief of National Geographic, addressed the issue of race portrayals in the magazine, reflecting on the realization that National Geographic often provided readers “their first look at the world” while rarely acknowledging the struggles of race in the United States. The magazine displayed full-color photographs depicting Africans from many nations, dressed in native clothing and jewelry, positioned in settings that implied dignity, beauty and strength. Meanwhile, …

A Year After Blackface: Where Are We Now? A Mustang News Campus Climate Special Edition, Quinn Augusta Fish

Journalism

The following is the introductory editorial I wrote for Mustang News’ special edition newspaper entitled “A Year After Blackface: Where Are We Now? A Campus Climate Special Edition” (Fish, 2019). Though lengthy, it serves as an effective abstract for this research paper:

I’m Quinn Augusta Fish and I’m a journalism and ethnic studies senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I am a white, cisgender, heterosexual, upper-middle class woman; most of which I knew nothing about before coming to Cal Poly. In the class structure that is America today, I exist in the second ring, just under white, cisgender, heterosexual …

(Gendered) Language?: Examining Ceo Demographics During Times Of Change And What The Media Has To Say About It, Nicole Taylor Ms

Major Papers

Previous business research indicates that there is a glass ceiling and other obstacles that females face to get to top management positions, specifically a CEO position. The Glass Cliff Phenomenon is a theory coined by Ryan and Haslam (2007) that indicates females are more likely to be appointed to a CEO position in a firm that is in a precarious situation with a high probability of organizational failure. Female CEO representation in public firms, therefore, is incredibly small relative to male CEO representation. This lack of visible representation of women in positions of power, as compared to their male counterparts, …

How Newspapers' Social Media Editors In Bangladesh Use Official Social Media Accounts, Ahmed Shatil Alam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the last several years, the newspaper industry in Bangladesh has been using social media for disseminating news and connecting with readers. But the question remains how the social media journalists are using these social media accounts and what roles they perform every day in the newsrooms. This exploratory study sheds light on both issues through the lens of the Gatekeeping Theory. Following interviews with 13 social media journalists who worked for 11 national newspapers in Bangladesh, the study found that the overall traditional gatekeeping roles of these journalists had undergone substantial changes as they were heavily concerned about audience …

The Effect Of Newspaper Closure On Local Media Ecology, Cody David Nespor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

On August 31, 2019, the local newspaper of Youngstown, Ohio, The Vindicator, ceased publication after 150 years. The Vindicator’s closure left Youngstown as the largest city in the United State without a major newspaper. As local newspaper closures become more and more common across communities, there are questions on how, and if, the coverage and content those newspaper provide to their communities can be replaced or will simply be lost forever. This study has three research questions. Question one pertains to the amount of original reporting that will exist without The Vindicator. Questions two asks about the amount of locally …

Effects Of The Black Lives Matter Movement On Media Portrayals Of Accused Criminals, Samantha Strine

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Media impacts our everyday lives and shapes how we understand the world around us. It assists in creating social hierarchies which impact how groups of people are represented and understood. These hierarchies have led to the generation of stereotypes and disparate reporting practices in media. However, social movements tend to be created to provide evidence against these stereotypes and the movements attempt to undo disparate treatment of marginalized groups. This study had three hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 stated that prior to the generation of the Black Lives Movement, media depictions of black and white accused criminals will differ. Hypothesis 2 stated …

Chinese Nationalism And The South China Sea, Jordan M. Sandy

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

What role do domestic audiences play in authoritarian policy making? This study examines the relationship between newspapers and assertive foreign policy. Specifically, this study conducts content analyses of state-published newspapers during periods of unprecedented assertiveness in the South China Sea. Borrowing from Galtung’s theory of peace journalism, this study analyzes valence patterns used in 99 separate articles published in Xinhua, China Daily, People’s Daily, and Global Times. Additionally, this study examines the visibility of these articles, to better understand their prominence in national coverage. This study discusses nationalism in the case of China, as well as the overwhelming control that …

Media And The Formation Of Scottish Parliament, Emily Ashcraft

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The thesis explored how media interacts with politics, specifically the Scottish Parliament, by considering the representation of the Scottish Parliament in newspapers from the time the Scots voted for a parliament (1997) through the years following the beginning of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2003). It compared various newspapers from Scotland and the United Kingdom during this time and examined their reporting on the parliament. It also evaluated specific differences between the UK and Scottish Parliaments, where they originated and how newspapers and other media were involved in the conversation. This research found that press representation and media framing is important in …

‘Habituated To Drunkenness’: Opinions Of New Orleanians About Prohibition As Revealed Through Letters To The Editor Of The Times-Picayune, 1918-1922, Ryan P. Bourgeois

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Both popular and scholarly observers have portrayed New Orleans as a city both supported and burdened by its image as a diverse cultural other within the American South, historically tolerant of certain sins of the flesh. This image has been used by proponents and critics alike in order to push their respective agenda regarding the Crescent City. This thesis will not seek to discredit this image that is based largely on fact. However, using Prohibition as a case study, this thesis will use letters to the editor to uncover attitudes of New Orleanians in opposition to this reputation to reveal …

Emely Peguero’S Case: News Frames And Gender Stereotypes In The Dominican Republic, Maria Fernanda Simo

Theses

Gender-based violence is a controversial topic in the Dominican Republic that affects many families, and is a cause of more than 200 women dying every year from it. Journalists have an important influence in the country, making information more noticeable and memorable. Using framing theory, this study analyzed news stories reported by three Dominican newspapers (El Diario Libre, Listin Diario, and Grupo Corripio) to identify news frames and gender stereotypes in Emely Peguero’s coverage, who was a pregnant young woman murdered by her boyfriend in the Duarte Province of the Dominican Republic. A quantitative content analysis of (N = 185) …

“Philosophical Treatises On Life And Death”:Newspaper Coverage Of A Controversial Brain Death Case, Khadija Ejaz

Theses and Dissertations

The central concern of this multi-method research project was to investigate newspaper coverage of the controversial brain death case of Jahi McMath. This represents the first study of sense-making of the case in the news media, positioning it at the intersection of science communication and critical qualitative inquiry. First, framing theory was used to guide a textual analysis of 81 newspaper articles from high-circulation newspapers in California. This revealed four frames that first created uncertainty about brain death, thereby permitting two competing frames of Jahi being alive and also being dead to co-exist before merging into a frame that further …

“The Wickedest Man On Earth”: Us Press Narratives Of Austria-Hungary And The Shaping Of American National Identity In 1898, Evan Haley

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

The narratives in this coverage created a sense of American nationalism and influenced U.S. leaders and members of the public on migration restriction and other issues. They also provided a basis for early English-language historiography on Austria-Hungary. Subsequent, archival based scholarship reveals that many of these narratives were fictions. My project adds to existing historiography by focusing on mainstream perceptions of Austria-Hungary, rather than the perceptions of high-level diplomats and politicians.

Contextualizing The News: Newspaper Front Pages In The Age Of Fact-Checking Journalism., Srijan Sen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates influences on the selection of stories on the front pages of newspapers. It investigates whether a daily newspaper that has an in-house, fact-checking unit (The Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel) selects front-page stories differently from a newspaper that does not have an in-house, fact-checking unit (The Star Tribune in Minneapolis, MN). While the study found no direct influence of fact-checking journalism, it did find that newspaper front pages in 2014 were increasingly prioritizing contextual stories over conventional stories. It also found a decline in political/governmental stories on front pages. It is suggested that these changes might signal a …

Mediated: An Investigation Of Print Media's Impact Of Self, Rachel Hertzman

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

In the 21^st Century print media is often overlooked for the masses of images available at everyone’s fingertips on the internet. This thesis is an exploration of the ways in which those original forms of mass produced images, specifically fashion/ beauty magazines and newspapers, alter one’s sense of self. The magazines have a proven negative effect on women consumers who internalize the singular thin beauty ideal persisted in this media. A similar internalization happens with the constant viewing of news papers, creating a sense of shared cultural memory. The Artist takes an in depth look at how these ideas …

Leaving Journalism: Self-Identity During Career Transition For Female Former Kentucky Reporters, Sarah May Heaney

Online Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This qualitative descriptive study focused on how did leaving the field of journalism affected the life narratives of female former Kentucky reporters.

Method: Three former Kentucky female reporters were interviewed to gather data on their experiences, including how leaving journalism affected their personal and professional self-identities, what about journalism was meaningful to them and what is meaningful in the work they do now, and what values and beliefs did they hold as reporters, and do they still hold them.

Discussion: Thematic data analysis revealed three overarching themes: self-identity as journalists persists after leaving newspaper jobs, other life roles took …

Repackaging The Reach Of Dreams: News Coverage Of Daca Rescindment By Three National Newspapers On Twitter, Megan Pietruszewski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis examines the frames used by three news organizations to cover the rescindment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The rescindment of DACA was a pivotal transition period open to new immigration policy, and frames used in the news coverage of DACA are important as frames influence public opinion and possible future immigration policy. This study uses corpus linguistic methods and Van Gorp’s inductive framing analysis to explore how a complex political decision like DACA rescindment is covered in condensed news stories on Twitter as well as in full-length news articles. The Executive Critique frame, which …

No End In Sight: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of U.S. National Newspaper Coverage Of The Iraq War, Anmol Rattan Kalsi

Theses and Dissertations

On May 1, 2003, standing in front of a banner declaring “Mission Accomplished” aboard the warship U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, President Bush announced an end to major combat in Iraq, referring to the war as “one victory in the war on terror.” Over seven years later, on August 31, 2010, President Obama in a televised speech also announced an end to the combat mission in Iraq. On October 21, 2011, President Obama once again reaffirmed that U.S. military personnel would be leaving Iraq, saluting the troops on their “success” and remarking on the Iraqi government’s readiness for governing. And finally, on …

'Improvement The Order Of The Age': Historic Advertising, Consumer Choice, And Identity In 19th Century Roxbury, Massachusetts, Janice A. Nosal

Graduate Masters Theses

During the mid-to-late 19th century, Roxbury, Massachusetts experienced a dramatic change from a rural farming area to a vibrant, working-class, and predominantly-immigrant urban community. This new demographic bloomed during America’s industrial age, a time in which hundreds of new mass-produced goods flooded consumer markets. This thesis explores the relationship between working-class consumption patterns and historic advertising in 19th-century Roxbury, Massachusetts. It assesses the significance of advertising within households and the community by comparing advertisements from the Roxbury Gazette and South End Advertiser with archaeological material from the Tremont Street and Elmwood Court Housing sites, excavated in the late 1970s, to …

Madness In The Media: Understanding How People With Lived Experience Interpret Newspaper Headlines, Da Qing Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is research on media representations of mental health that suggests there is a tendency to portray mental health as problematic and those who are affected by mental illness as dangerous. It is evident there has been an increase in anti-stigma media campaigns. However, the effects of these efforts on beliefs held by members of the public has been mixed. What is most surprising from the literature is a lack of research about how people who have personal experience with mental illness interpret media messages. Individuals with and without lived experience participated in a structured conceptualization process known as concept …

Visualizing The News: An Analysis Of A Year In Interactive News From The New York Times And The Washington Post, Maria T. Olivo

Theses

In the past decade, newsrooms have been struggling to remain relevant while trying to keep and attract new audiences. Access to diverse online tools and big data has expanded the use of infographics and data visualization in news stories, increasing reader engagement with complex content. The increase of interactive visual content in journalism requires rethinking how journalistic and design elements are incorporated in a story. This study explores how The New York Times and The Washington Post incorporate principles of design and data visualization to present complex information for their readers. Using a mixed method approach, a sample of 275 …

The Possibility Of Peace: Israeli Public Opinion And The Camp David Accords, Daniel L. Gerdes

Departmental Honors Projects

The Camp David Accords, September 5-17, 1978, were a momentous development in Middle East relations. For over 30 years Israel and her neighbors weathered periods of warfare and aggression, but when leaders from Egypt, Israel, and the United States descended on Camp David in the United States for two weeks of peace negotiations everything changed. Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin became the first leaders in the Middle East to negotiate peace after decades of war between the two countries. This research discerns the changes in Israeli public opinion on the peace process with Egypt that …

Student Press Law: Past, Present, And Future, David R. Wheeler

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This dissertation will identify and describe the state of the law regarding student speech and press freedom. The following questions will be explored: What rights do young people have? What standards have state and federal courts established? To what extent and how clearly have state statutes defined student expressive rights? What do state laws say about this topic? What issues have yet to be addressed, either because a case has not raised certain issues or because the issue does not lend itself to compromise or a clear solution? How does the capacity of social media for widespread and rapid dissemination …

Narrating Jackson State: An Examination Of Power Relations And Mississippi Newspaper Coverage Of The 1970 Shootings At Jackson State College, Leslie Hassel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis examines media coverage of a 1970 campus shooting at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, during which two black students were killed and several others were injured. Over forty years after the shootings, the incident remains largely absent from the dominant historical narrative. This study posits that the contradictory accounts published by various Jackson-area news outlets blurred the lines between facts and subjective perspectives and as a consequence limited the resources used by historians to construct a narrative of the shootings. Consequently, Mississippi media outlets contributed to the incident's absence from the dominant historical narrative and American …

Reporting Crisis: An Analysis Of The New York Times’ Sports Section Following The Tragedies Of September 11, 2001, Gerard Timothy Mirabito

Doctoral Dissertations

The sport industry came to a standstill after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Major sporting events were postponed or canceled in lieu of the tragedy and for a week, while the nation mourned, the country went without sports. For many of the leagues it was the first extended hiatus for a non-labor dispute in nearly a century. On September 17, Major League Baseball returned, the first sport to resume, and when the games did recommence there were noticeable changes. Throughout this period, the New York Times, one of the country’s most prestigious newspapers, produced a sports section in every …

Multimedia Use In Small News Organizations, Robyn K. Keriazes

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.