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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Trends In American Newspaper Coverage Of Autism, Allison Miller Jan 2019

Trends In American Newspaper Coverage Of Autism, Allison Miller

Master of Arts in Communication

The public's understanding of disabilities is cultivated via several media resources, including news media. Disability scholars often cite negative representations of disabilities in mass media, yet analyses of newspaper journalists' coverage of autism remain scarce. The present study explores the frames, stereotypes, stigmatizing cues, and individuals cited in news coverage of autism through a content analysis of The New York Times and USA Today coverage of autism from 2013-2016. The findings revealed that episodic frames are consistently utilized to discuss autism. References to abnormal social tendencies and coupling autism with adverse circumstances were the most common stereotypes in newspaper coverage. …


The Use Of Exemplars In Audio-Based Media To Increase Behavioral Intent In Adopting Preventive Skin-Cancer Behaviors, Christine M. Lemme May 2015

The Use Of Exemplars In Audio-Based Media To Increase Behavioral Intent In Adopting Preventive Skin-Cancer Behaviors, Christine M. Lemme

Master of Arts in Communication

Skin cancer is a growing concern in the young-adult population due to the popularity of indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanning and the acceptance of numerous myths that skin cancer is not a major health concern. This thesis aims to look at the use of media exemplar perceived to be similar and credible to the target population in order to persuade the target population to adopt preventative skin-cancer behaviors. College students of both genders and various ethnicities (N = 170) were surveyed after listening to different radio exemplars on skin cancer. Results indicated that similarity and credibility play a key role in …