Social and Behavioral Sciences | Open Access Articles

Jrsm 7990: Media Portfolio (Syllabus), Thomas J. Hrach

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Development of digital portfolio of professional and/or academic work and presentation. S/U. (2 hours)

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Voices “Herd”: A Social And Sentiment Analysis Of Consumers Perceptions Of Fair Oaks Farms, Jacelyn De'nae Nesmith

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Americans are searching for more information than just cost and quality of their food. Today, consumers are searching for information regarding the production practices and how animals are treated during the process. As consumers do not always have a first-hand source for this information, they are often referring to social media to have their questions answered. Social media has the reputation to negatively influence public perceptions of the agricultural industry. An example of an organization experiencing the consequences of social media influencing public opinion is Fair Oaks Farms. In 2019, an undercover animal rights activist group made accusations of poor …

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The Age Of The Advertorial: Incorporating Sponsored Content Into The Newsroom, Hayley Robb

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

During a time when news is fast, frequent and easier to find than ever, it has become harder for news outlets to not only generate revenue but to establish a need with their readers. Sponsored content pieces, also referred to as native advertising, have offered creative solutions to this problem for student media groups and professional news outlets across the country.

Using WKU’s first-ever content agency, Cherry Creative, as a case study and by analyzing various other news outlets in the U.S., this project aims to develop a series of recommendations for the future of Cherry Creative and student media, …

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Making A Dent, Emily Morwood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

West Virginia’s opioid-related death rates have surpassed any other state since 2014, with projections that it will continue to do so. With the epidemic, largely negative and stereotypical accusations have come, which have led to “othering,” or the concept of making groups ‘other’ due to their differences. This documentary project’s purpose is to address those that have been put in those othered groups through the concept of Standpoint Theory, which argues that insiders to a situation should tell their stories, rather than outsiders. The project aimed to allow the participants to tell their perspectives on the epidemic as insiders in …

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Exploring The Challenges Of Social Integration Within An Upper-Level Public Relations Classroom, Tabitha Hayley Dyer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Despite three decades of literature that has explored the gender imbalance of public relations at a professional level, there is a dearth of information addressing if or how these experiences are informed at a collegiate level. Accordingly, this study examines if the gender imbalance impacts students in the upper-level public relations classroom, and the similarities and differences exist between other single-gender dominant programs including nursing and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) using three dimensions (i.e., role strain, teamwork, and overall social environment) as a comparison. Using qualitative in-depth interview data collected from 13 junior- and senior-standing public relations students …

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

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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 …

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Habermas, The Public Sphere, And Wikileaks: The Public Sphere And The Right To Know, Mary Murray

Capstone Showcase

Jürgen Habermas, a German theorist, coined the public sphere as a place where citizens could interact, study, and debate issues together outside the realm of the home or family, which was defined as the private sphere. The public sphere can also be seen as a “manifestation of citizen sovereignty”. At its core, Habermas centered the public sphere around feudalism and the shift of one all-powerful individual reigning and representing the public to those citizens under the control of the state. Some critics argue voices encouraging the minorities were actually private voices leaking into the public sphere, while others argue the …

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