Digital Commons Network^™

Punitive Damages Vs. The Death Penalty: In Search Of A Unified Approach To Jury Discretion And Due Process Of Law, José F. Anderson

All Faculty Scholarship

The role of the jury in awarding monetary damages to plaintiffs in a wide range of civil cases has captured the attention of the media, contemporary non-fiction writers, and reform-minded politicians in recent years. Particular attention has been focused on huge jury awards, which has led many commentators to criticize the wisdom of permitting juries to move so much money from one place to another. Although the right to a jury trial, and with it the exercise of broad judicial discretion, is constitutionally based, many reform efforts have moved toward removing juries from cases both as to the subject matter …

Time Out For Women Magazine: A New Magazine Prospectus Informed By A Historical Review And Qualitative Study On The Media Uses Of Mormon Women, Maurianne Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

This project uses a qualitative research approach to understanding Mormon women's uses and gratifications of magazines. The first study provides a retrospective look at the uses and gratifications of readers of the Relief Society Magazine (1915–1970) in order to understand where media targeted to Mormon women has been. Through interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, the study finds the main reasons Mormon women read the Relief Society Magazine was to provide (a) a handbook for daily life, (b) a community, (c) intellectual stimulation, (d) an aspirational ideal, and (e) an escape from daily life. When the magazine ceased publication, readers felt …

Learning Languages Through The Media: Toward An Understanding Of The Mediated Language Acquisition Process And The Motivation Cycle Of Mediated Language Acquisition, Kenneth F. Trent

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing in-depth interviews and constant comparative analysis through a qualitative approach, this research study examined the development of second language acquisition of US immigrants via the mass media as a part of the acculturation process. Nine international students (or international spouses of students) of a major midwestern university participated in 25-60 minute interviews. Based on participant responses, the author formulated the mediated language acquisition process, or the process by which the participants acquired English as an additional language with the help of the mass media. Additionally, motivation was found to be the primary indicator of the rate of language acquisition. …

Emulating Gossip Girl: Aggressive And Prosocial Material In Adolescent Novels And Associations With Behavior, Laura Ann Stockdale

Theses and Dissertations

Decades of researchers have found that exposure to aggressive content in multiple forms of media is associated with both physically (Bushman & Anderson, 2001) and relationally (Coyne, Nelson, Graham-Kevan, Keister, & Grant, 2010) aggressive behavior. Similarly, other researchers have found that exposure to prosocial content in multiple forms of media is associated with increased prosocial behavior (Mares & Underwood, 2008). While these associations have been studied in a variety of media, books as a form of media have received less research attention. The current study examined the associations between the content of adolescents' favorite novels and their normative beliefs about …

Relations Among Media, Eating Pathology And Body Dissatisfaction In College Women, Carrie Bair

Theses and Dissertations

Research has identified a relation between exposure to thin-ideal magazine and television media images and eating disorder pathology. However, few studies have examined the potential influence of Internet media on eating disorder behaviors and attitudes. This study investigated the associations among appearance-orientated media exposure, body dissatisfaction, eating pathology and thin-ideal internalization in a sample of 421 female undergraduate students. Results indicate that undergraduate women spend significantly more time viewing appearance-oriented sources online, rather than reading appearance-orientated magazines. Appearance-oriented Internet consumption was also more strongly associated with eating disorder pathology than was use of other media (television and magazines). Relations between …

Law Is Not A Spectator Sport: Addressing Challenges Posed By Civic Education Through Public Engagement With The Supreme Court, Erica Lauren Bashaw

Journalism

Democracy relies on an informed and engaged citizenry.  Low knowledge of public policy debates makes it difficult for government to meaningfully reflect the will of the people or for citizens to engage in fruitful public discussions.  The discussions we manage to have about law and politics too often resemble a hyper-partisan cable news show rather than an honest effort at a conversation.  In addition, many studies have suggested that, on the whole, Americans are not as informed about the courts as one would hope. This is especially true of the United States Supreme Court, which benefits from the “myth” that …

Love Out Loud Campaign: The Use Of Public Relations In A Suicide Prevention Program, Rachel Helen Egan

Journalism

Each year at Cal Poly, the student community loses at least one student to suicide; many more suffer from depression and its effects. The students who started the Love Out Loud Campaign saw a need for awareness about the aforementioned topics. The campaign raises awareness about depression and its effects, as well as attempts to change the stigma associated with the issue. This paper addresses the need for student initiated suicide prevention campaigns on college campuses, as well as the ways in which the field of public relations can be utilized in said campaigns. The importance of depression awareness is …

Who Earns What In Our Education Quangos, Irish Times

Media

No abstract provided.

Four Dublin Institutes Of Technology Seek Joint Designation, Sean Flynn

Media

No abstract provided.

Regional Media And Its Role In Tahrir's Revolution: Comparison Between Al-Jazeera And Al-Arabiya, Alia Nabil Eshaq

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

One of the hallmarks of the Egyptian revolution was the extensive presence of different media outlets to the extent that their coverage directly affected the course of events, if not shaped them. Being a central state in the Arab world, Egypt naturally received a great attention through out the world during the revolution. The coverage of the 25 January revolution was by far more focused and extensive than that of the Tunisian revolution. Unlike the Tunisian revolution which developed gradually, the Egyptian revolution emerged since its initial stages with thousands of people marching to Tahrir Square, which is a stage …

Litigation, Legislation, And Democracy In A Post- Newspaper America, Ronnell Anderson Jones

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article is the first to address a looming constitutional crisis that can be expected to accompany the death of the American newspaper. Although the literature on newspapers’ pending demise is voluminous, it has failed to appreciate a critically important legal dynamic. Scholars and commentators have often assumed that the primary or exclusive harm resulting from the death of newspapers is the expected decline of public-affairs reporting. The assumption is that if other new-media entities can emerge to fully assume this role, the threatened harms to democracy will not occur. This Article demonstrates the falsity of that assumption, offering a …

Women & Language: Essays On Gendered Communication Across Media, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

The present volume of essays examines women's communication as it has evolved historically across multiple mediums. Part I explores how women became "gossip girls" and the important role of gossip in the perception and practice of female communication. Essays in Part II cover the convergence of oral and written communication in women's literature. Gendered performance in such arenas as salsa dance, Dr. Phil and the Internet is examined in Part III, and essays in Part IV discuss women's communication in the technology-rich 21st century. This excerpt features the introduction and one essay from the co-editor.

Women & Language: Essays On Gendered Communication Across Media, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

The present volume of essays examines women's communication as it has evolved historically across multiple mediums. Part I explores how women became "gossip girls" and the important role of gossip in the perception and practice of female communication. Essays in Part II cover the convergence of oral and written communication in women's literature. Gendered performance in such arenas as salsa dance, Dr. Phil and the Internet is examined in Part III, and essays in Part IV discuss women's communication in the technology-rich 21st century. This excerpt features the introduction and one essay from the co-editor.

From Sounds Bites To Sound Policy: Reclaiming The High Ground In Criminal Justice Policy-Making, Anthony C. Thompson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this article, the author contemplates the way the criminal justice system is portrayed in the media and suggests how the media's emphasis on "sound bites" - which makes it difficult to separate fact from hype - has had significant policy ramifications. The author makes a point of exploring the many ways that conceptions of crime are formed and influenced, as well as how the media has shaped legislation. In the author's opinion, in order to curb the excessive influence of most mainstream representations of the criminal justice system, there must be some mechanism for oversight of both the media …

"Smarten Up And Act Dumb, Sister!" Representations Of Sexuality And Gender In Children's Television Media, Zoe Nicole Kenney

Theses & ETDs

Media products created primarily for children must meet standards of acceptability that preclude sexual content. However, previous research indicates that representations of sexuality are present in children�s media. I examine this paradox through a content analysis of children's live-action television shows, with attention to the highly normative nature of the sexuality that is present. My sample includes 21 episodes from The Suite Life on Deck, the most popular show among 9-14 year olds on The Disney Channel as of Spring 2011. My data reflects the frequent heteronormativity and strictly delineated gender roles found in the content of such television programming. …

University Of Michigan Law School Faculty, 2011-2012, University Of Michigan Law School

Miscellaneous Law School History & Publications

Biographies of the University of Michigan Law School faculty.

After Truth: The Truth And Reconciliation Commission, Media And Race Relations In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Jazmin Acuña Cantero

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Are 'Voices For Justice' Heard: A Star-Studded Rally On Behalf Of The West Memphis Three Prompts The Delicate Question, Mara Leveritt

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The 2008 Us Presidential Campaign As Represented In The Online Edition Of The Korea Times, Sherri L. Ter Molen

Communication Faculty Research Publications

Because public opinion has been found to influence government policy (Page & Shapiro, 1983, p. 185) and because media are cultural products that “mirror society” and “contribute to the reconstruction of the culture” (Czarniawska, 2006, p. 250), I conducted a rhetorical analysis of the coverage of the 2008 US presidential campaign in the online edition of the English language newspaper, The Korea Times. Using Entman’s (2007) concept of framing bias in the media as a means to influence the distribution of power, I found that The Korea Times used the deictic expression ‘we’ to express and (re)construct nationalistic views of …

The "Illegal" Tax, Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Reshaping The Narrative Debate, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

In Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter, Joan Williams sets out to alter the terms of the public discussion about working, caregiving, and work-family conflicts. In doing so, Williams also reframes part of the conversation about the use of narratives in legal analysis and policy-making.

This essay describes the debate about narrative or storytelling in the legal academy. Two decades ago, a pitched jurisprudential battle surfaced in the pages of law reviews about the value of storytelling as legal scholarship. Since that time, narrative has sifted into academic texts: people are telling stories all over the place. …

Watching The Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear Of Crime, And Attitudes About The Criminal Justice System, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Research demonstrates a complex relationship between television viewing and fear of crime. Social critics assert that media depictions perpetuate the dominant cultural ideology about crime and criminal justice. This article examines whether program type differentially affects fear of crime and perceptions of the crime rate. Next, it tests whether such programming differentially affects viewers’ attitudes about the criminal justice system, and if these relationships are mediated by fear. Results indicated that fear mediated the relationship between viewing nonfictional shows and lack of support for the justice system. Viewing crime dramas predicted support for the death penalty, but this relationship was …

Riot Or Rebellion: Media Framing And The 1967 Detroit Uprising, Casandra E. Ulbrich

Wayne State University Dissertations

Frames make sense of complex issues and events, including identifying who is to blame and who or what is responsible for overcoming the problem. This research builds on the growing list of framing research, but takes the focus in a new direction, focusing on the longevity of frames and how they may transition over time. This dissertation offers an in-depth case study of framing effects by analyzing media coverage from the 30 days following the 1967 Detroit uprising and comparing that coverage with the 40th anniversary coverage of the same event. By analyzing the uprising through a 40-year lens, this …

On A Good Day, You Get To Kill A Whore: Narrative Misogyny And Female Audiences In Supernatural, Jordan Richard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I attempt to analyze the function of gender messages in media texts and the engagement of audiences with these messages. I adopt an interdisciplinary approach, applying theoretical and methodological concepts from both film studies and audience studies, in order to develop a new model through which to study media texts and fans. I apply this model to an analysis of female characters in the television program Supernatural and to self-identified female fans of Supernatural. Throughout the paper, I contend that such an interdisciplinary model is necessary for understanding media texts and audiences, and I conclude that media …

Postwar Media Manifestations And Don Delillo, Joshua Adam Boldt

Online Theses and Dissertations

Media's influence on postwar American culture is undeniable. Don DeLillo's fiction is often a commentary on that influence. Hyperreality, Simulacra, Consumerism, and News Addiction are all regular themes in DeLillo's novels; this paper explores all of these concepts through the lens of media theory. Special attention is given to the novels White Noise, Americana, and Mao II, as well as to the media theorists Jean Baudrillard, Walter Benjamin, and Antonio Gramsci. The paper is both a history and a critique of postwar consumer culture and the role that media plays in the construction of that culture.

A Diva Defends Herself: Gender And Domestic Violence In An Early Twentieth-Century Headline Trial, Carolyn B. Ramsey

Publications

This short article was presented as part of a symposium on headline criminal trials, organized by St. Louis University School of Law in honor of Lawrence Friedman. It describes and analyzes the self-defense acquittal of opera singer Mae Talbot in Nevada in 1910 on charges of murdering her abusive husband. Based on extensive research into archival trial records and newspaper reports, the article discusses how the press, the court, and trial lawyers on both sides depicted the killing and Mae’s possible defenses. Without discounting the sensationalism and entertainment value, to a scandal-hungry public, of stories about violent marriages, I contend …

The Color(S) Of Perfection: The Feminine Body, Beauty Ideals, And Identity In Postwar America, 1945-1970, Elizabeth M. Matelski

Dissertations

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a number of models have existed offering women a spectrum of ideal body types and varying opinions about the role of fitness and diet in achieving these forms. In the years following World War II, prescriptive literature, Hollywood, and popular culture in general created and perpetuated the postwar feminine ideal of "the Sweater girl" - a busty, curvaceous figure more sexual than maternal. Yet, this ideal gave way in little more than a decade. In the late 1960s, youth culture placed a cult-like status on Twiggy, a model with a 31-inch bust and 32-inch …

Hot Crimes: A Study In Excess, Steven P. Grossman

All Faculty Scholarship

Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic. . . . [I]ts nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) restored to; . . . sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten . . . at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions and might produce such as those in legal and social policy or even …

New Media Photographic Representations Of Women`S Collegiate Volleyball: Game Faces, Action Shots, And Equipment, Alicia Pack

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers consistently find that mainstream media often represent women athletes in stereotypical ways including trivialization, sexualization, infantilization, passivity, and utilization of camera down-angles. However, research on new media's visual representation of women athletes is still in its infancy. This study adds to the growing literature on new media's representation of women athletes and concurs with previous findings suggesting that new media might be an outlet that can counter old media gender stereotypes. This thesis used mixed methods of qualitative content analysis and photovoice in order to better understand how Big East volleyball players are represented in photographs on websites: Instances …

Framing 10/12 And 3/11 In American And European News, Andrea Lypka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This media analysis of the incidents in Bali in 2002 (10/12) and Madrid in 2004 (3/11) reveals the black and white portrayal of these attacks in western news through the localization of international terrorism occurrences, pro-government perspective, and internalization of U.S. policies. The Old Europe and New Europe debate further fractures the European press. Such rhetoric perpetuates the "us versus them" schism by contrasting the goals of the alleged perpetrators with the western values of democracy and freedom. Governmental sources remain central news sources during these crises. In addition, 9/11, war on terrorism, and fear from further attacks dominate news …