Communication Commons^™

Inherent Frictions And Deliberate Frustrations: Examining The Legal Variables Of State Foi Law Administration, A.Jay Wagner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

FOI laws are of a category of laws acutely predisposed to internal resistance and erosion. The study seeks to better understand these limitations by examining legal elements of the laws through an exploratory field study, or audit, of nine state FOI laws. Among the study’s findings are two uniquely strong predictors of better FOI results: The existence of an independent FOI advocacy organization in the state and a legislature subject to the law. The findings suggest cultivating a culture of transparency may be as or more important than any of the generally considered legal variables, such as deadlines or penalties.

Examining Antecedents To Accuracy- And Defense-Motivated Information Insufficiency In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Timothy K.F. Fung, Po Yan Lai, Robert J. Griffin, Sharon Dunwoody

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Although the Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) model recognizes that people seek and process risk information in various ways and for various motives, no research, to date, has examined the model beyond accuracy motive. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to advance the model by examining (1) the antecedents that induce individuals’ accuracy- and defense-motivated information insufficiency and (2) the effect of a broader array of the RISP’s perceived hazard characteristics and affective responses. To do so, we used the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study because COVID-19 is a newly emergent infectious disease with highly politicized, controversial …

Community Journalism In Zambia: The Case Of Chikuni Radio, Vincent Tilimboyi Nchimunya

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Community journalism is steadily gaining prominence in most African nations. It is a conduit through which different communities develop social interaction. It is also a platform through which the public create connections among themselves to identify and resolve local and national problems that affect citizens. The goal of this study was to examine how community journalists at Chikuni Radio practiced their craft in an effort to build a sense of community in southern Zambia. The study presents a qualitative thematic content analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with three Chikuni Radio editors and six journalists. The journalists’ community journalism experience ranged …

Populism And The Civil Sphere: A Textual Analysis Of The Photographs Of The “War On Drugs” In The Philippines, Nathaniel Lubanga

Master's Theses (2009 -)

A poignant photograph on the front page of a leading newspaper in the Philippines showing a woman cradling the lifeless body of her dead partner drew both local and international attention and outcry over the new president’s approach to the “war on drugs.” The purpose of this study was to determine the overarching story told by the photographs of the “war on drugs” in the Philippines. A textual analysis drawing upon both narrative and semiotic analysis was used to examine the settings, characters, plots, and symbolism in 143 photographs of “Killings” and “Protests” drawn from various news media agencies. Key …

Understanding The 1918-1920 Cultural Narrative Of The Spanish Flu As Told Through The New York Times And The Wall Street Journal, Gertrude Misornu Ofori-Parku

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Global pandemics have become one of the major health crises that happen to society from time to time. Past occurrences, including disasters and pandemics, are events that we learn from and draw upon to better understand current happenings. One way by which we build and understand historical trends and events, including pandemics, is through press coverage of those events. One significant pandemic in history was the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. This thesis explores the cultural narrative about the Spanish Flu as told through The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal between 1918 and 1920. Through the constant comparison …

Media Competency And Media Literacy Education (Mle) Among Tribal Religious/Seminarians (Trs), Justin Tirkey

Dissertations (1934 -)

The media and technological advances have enormously transformed our lives, including the lives and training of Tribal religious/seminarians in India. The emerging media landscape in the 21st century has also expanded the notion of literacy from reading and writing to being competent in accessing media, becoming creative and critical consumers, and judicious participants in media as responsible and compassionate citizens. This requires inclusion of MLE curriculum for the TRS in their early stage of religious formation. The current quantitative study explored the media competency (media habits, attitude, purpose, and participation) the relationship, and difference among TRS. For this purpose, survey …

Building Organizational Resilience Through Strategic Internal Communication And Organization–Employee Relationships, Young Kim

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores the impacts of internal strategic communication and relationship management with employees for organizational resilience in effective internal crisis communication, thereby filling a gap in crisis communication research. Specifically, it provides empirical evidence for how organizational resilience in a crisis can be achieved through strategic internal communication and relationship building with employees. A nationwide survey (N = 830) was conducted among full-time employees in the United States. The results revealed the important mediating role of organization–employee relationships (OER) between resilience and its antecedent, demonstrating that OER is a strong underlying factor in understanding how two-way symmetrical communication …

Operationalizing Critical Race Theory In The Marketplace, Sonja Martin Poole, Sonya A. Grier, Kevin D. Thomas, Francesca Sobande, Akon E. Ekpo, Lez Trujillo Torres, Lynn A. Addington, Melinda Weekes-Laidlow, Geraldine Rosa Henderson

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Race is integral to the functioning and ideological underpinnings of marketplace actions yet remains undertheorized in marketing. To understand and transform the insidious ways in which race operates, the authors examine its impact in marketplaces and how these effects are shaped by intersecting forms of systemic oppression. They introduce critical race theory (CRT) to the marketing community as a useful framework for understanding consumers, consumption, and contemporary marketplaces. They outline critical theory traditions as utilized in marketing and specify the particular role of CRT as a lens through which scholars can understand marketplace dynamics. The authors delineate key CRT tenets …

The Year, So Far, In Foi Law: Novel Evasions And Efforts To Undermine, A. Jay Wagner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Enacting Anti-Racist Visualities Through Photo-Dialogues On Race In Paris, Francesca Sobande, Alice Schoonejans, Guillaume D. Johnson, Kevin D. Thomas, Anthony Kwame Harrison

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

Grounded in experience of co-organizing a two-day photography-based workshop in Paris, this paper explores how photo-dialogues can facilitate anti-racist pedagogy and generative discussions about how race and racism function in marketplace contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the authors' involvement in a cross-national and cross-disciplinary team of scholars who worked with local community stakeholders—including activists, artists and practitioners—to discuss, theorize and photo-document issues regarding race and racism in the Parisian marketplace.

Findings

This paper contributes to the literature on visual culture studies and critical race studies as it demonstrates the potentials of photography combined with dialogue to challenge the …

The Co-Creation Of Social Value: What Matters For Public Participation In Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns, Sun Young Lee, Young Kim, Yeuseung Kim

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores the impact of organization–public relationships (OPRs) and issue-related situational factors on publics’ intention to participate in CSR campaigns, based on relationship management theory and the situational theory of problem-solving (STOPS). We surveyed 698 respondents living in the United States about two CSR campaigns, one focused on girls’ empowerment and one on deforestation. The results showed that situational motivation and OPRs were strongly and directly related to publics’ participation intention for both CSR campaigns. Only two situational perceptions – constraint recognition and involvement recognition – were indirectly related to publics’ participation. We discuss the theoretical implications of these …

Piercing The Veil: Examining Demographic And Political Variables In State Foi Law Administration, A.Jay Wagner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

State and local governments play an important, and growing, role in everyday lives. The exploratory study positions FOI laws as a central mechanism in providing transparency to these more proximate governments. It is premised on a FOI audit, or field experiment, of 1002 requests across 9 U.S. state laws and 334 jurisdictions. The sample represents a broad cross-section of geographic, demographic and political variables, and the study analyzes these variables predictive and correlative value in determining outcomes, timeliness and communication in FOI requests. The results suggest significance in race and political variables in FOI outcomes and processes. The study's strongest …

Considering The Ethics Of Political Communication And Doing The Right Thing, Kati Tusinski Berg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

From Espn To Instagram Live: The Evolution Of Fan–Athlete Interaction Amid The Coronavirus, Lillian B. Feder

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

With sporting events canceled and Safer at Home orders in place, both athletes and sports fans have a void to fill. Consequently, social media use by both parties has increased. Athletes have become more active and interactive online, which may serve to strengthen parasocial relationships between them and their fans. These connections could develop to the extent that the line between parasocial relation- ship and friendship is blurred. Will stronger ties between athletes and fans be a by-product of COVID-19? In this editorial, the author builds an argument for the plausibility of this result by linking published studies regarding sports …

Collective Sensemaking Around Covid-19: Experiences, Concerns, And Agendas For Our Rapidly Changing Organizational Lives, Keri Stephens, Jody L.S. Jahn, Stephanie Fox, Piyawan Charoensap-Kelly, Rahul Mitra, Jeannette Sutton, Eric D. Waters, Bo Xie, Rebecca J. Meisenbach

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Uncertainty is at the forefront of many crises, disasters, and emergencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different in this regard. In this forum, we, as a group of organizational communication scholars currently living in North America, engage in sensemaking and sensegiving around this pandemic to help process and share some of the academic uncertainties and opportunities relevant to organizational scholars. We begin by reflexively making sense of our own experiences with adjusting to new ways of working during the onset of the pandemic, including uncomfortable realizations around privilege, positionality, race, and ethnicity. We then discuss key concerns about how …

Not Stranger Or Friend: The Role Of Self-Disclosure In Personal-Service Provider Relationships, Sarah Elizabeth Devereux

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The process of self-disclosure was examined through a type of relationship that has not been studied significantly in previous research, the personal-service provider and client relationship. Most research regarding self-disclosure has looked at either close, intimate relationships or that of strangers. Self-disclosure between people who are not members of the groups mentioned above requires further research to fully understand how often it occurs, why it happens, what type of information is shared and more. Eight semi-structured qualitative interviews with hairstylists who have been working for two years or more and have built relationships with clients were conducted to answer the …

Bork, Robert H. Neutral Principles And Some First Amendment Problems, 47 Ind. L. J. 1 (1971), Erik Ugland

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Effects Of Different Online Syllabus Formats On Student Engagement And Course-Taking Intentions, Young Kim, Daradirek Ekachai

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores how different online syllabus formats affect students’ engagement and their course-taking intentions. Using a 2 (format: online learning management system vs. instructor’s website) X 2 (information amount: more vs. less) between-subjects design, an experimental study was conducted with undergraduate students at a large university in the United States Midwest to examine the effects of online syllabus format. This study found that students who read the instructor’s website syllabus were more likely to engage with and take the course than students who received the syllabus through an online learning management system. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Power Skills, Diverse Workforce Dismantle Racism, Eric D. Waters

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Activating Constructive Employee Behavioural Responses In A Crisis: Examining The Effects Of Pre-Crisis Reputation And Crisis Communication Strategies On Employee Voice Behaviours, Young Kim, Hyunji Lim

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores how organizational management can promote employee voice behaviours, as positive behavioural reactions with constructive ideas, in responding to organizational crisis. Using an experimental study (N = 640) among full-time employees in the United States, the study found that pre-crisis internal reputation and crisis communication strategies—accommodative response and stealing thunder—positively and directly affected constructive employee voice behaviours in a crisis situation. Furthermore, the study revealed how post-crisis internal reputation mediates the influences of pre-crisis internal reputation and stealing thunder on positive/constructive and negative/destructive employee voice behaviours. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical …

Activating Constructive Employee Behavioural Responses In A Crisis: Examining The Effects Of Pre‐Crisis Reputation And Crisis Communication Strategies On Employee Voice Behaviours, Young Kim, Hyunji Lim

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores how organizational management can promote employee voice behaviours, as positive behavioural reactions with constructive ideas, in responding to organizational crisis. Using an experimental study (N=640) among full‐time employees in the United States, the study found that pre‐crisis internal reputation and crisis communication strategies—accommodative response and stealing thunder—positively and directly affected constructive employee voice behaviours in a crisis situation. Furthermore, the study revealed how post‐crisis internal reputation mediates the influences of pre‐crisis internal reputation and stealing thunder on positive/constructive and negative/destructive employee voice behaviours. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical development of crisis communication in …

Measuring Readers Flow State With A High Medium Interactivity Online News Story, Eric A. Kowalik

Professional Projects

The rapid maturation of the Internet has enabled journalists and news media companies to push the boundaries of traditional journalistic narrative by utilizing the techniques of literary journalism to integrate pictures, audio, video and other multimedia elements into interactive and immersive multimedia rich stories. These immersive stories, while aesthetically stunning, are neither easy nor cheap to create. This study uses expectation confirmation theory and the theory of flow, with uses and gratifications as an umbrella theory to examine whether individuals who read interactive stories experience higher levels of media disorientation than readers of stories presented in a traditional online …

Extending The Theory Of Planned Behavior With Ego-Network Social Capital To Examine Chinese Women's Tampon Use Intentions, Yin Yang

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Building on the theory of planned behavior and ego-network social capital, this study tested how different levels of network closure and brokerage influenced Chinese women’s tampon use intentions. Results from an online survey (N = 766) showed that network density was associated with positive attitudes, and high levels of injunctive norms and descriptive norms of tampon usage. Furthermore, results of a path analysis demonstrated that network density had indirect impacts on tampon use intentions through attitudes, descriptive norms, and perceived behavior control. This study extends the theory of planned behavior by incorporating ego-network social capital. Practically, the findings shed light …

Repetition Or Reckoning: Confronting Racism And Racial Dynamics In 2020, Kevin D. Thomas, Judy Foster Davis, Jonathan A.J. Wilson, Francesca Sobande

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Organizational Resilience And Employee Work-Role Performance After A Crisis Situation: Exploring The Effects Of Organizational Resilience On Internal Crisis Communication, Young Kim

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study is to explore the positive outcomes of organizational resilience to see how resilient employees can support an organization by adapting to and initiating changes during the recovery process following a crisis. This study focuses on organizational resilience generated by employees, as a resilient system, through their psychological ability and positive communication behaviors. Resilient employees can help their organization bounce back to normal functioning following a crisis. A nationwide survey (N = 830) was conducted among full-time employees in the U.S. to examine the positive effect of organizational resilience on employee work-role performance. The results …

Coke And The Digital Age, Tao Deng, Daradirek Ekachai, Jean M. Grow

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Hunt With John Walsh: True Crime Storytelling, Amanda R. Keeler

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

In her analysis of The Hunt with John Walsh, Amanda Keeler explores the public service function of true crime television programs that feature unsolved or unresolved cases. Trough an investigation of visual style and narrative elements, Keeler examines the multiple intentions of television programs that seek to entertain audiences and simultaneously help solve crimes.

A Structural Imperative: Freedom Of Information, The First Amendment, And The Accountability Function Of Expression, A.Jay Wagner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of News Media Consumption On Political Partisanship, Identity And Issue Stances, Dalton Bouzek

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This research sought to identify to what extent news media consumption plays a role in forming an individual’s political identity and their views on individual stances. The subsequent novel quantitative study asked students of various disciplines at Marquette University questions in regards to how much they pay attention to various news sources, to what extent they trust those news sources, and their views on individual issues as they relate to their chosen political identity. Results from the study found basic trends in regards to selected news sources and one’s political disposition. Furthermore, stances on certain issues, like border security, were …

Exploring Crisis Communication In The Internal Context Of An Organization: Examining Moderated And Mediated Effects Of Employee-Organization Relationships On Crisis Outcomes, Young Kim, Minjeong Kang, Ejae Lee, Sung-Un Yang

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study seeks to foster a greater understanding of effective crisis communication from the internal context of organizations. The present research conducted an online experimental study of 640 full-time employees in the United States. Results through OLS multiple regression and path analysis indicated 1) employee-organization relationships (EOR) and timing strategy of self-disclosure (stealing thunder) were positively associated with the positive internal reputation and employees’ supportive behavioral intentions, 2) the positive effects of EOR on the employees’ supportive behaviors appeared differently according to whether or not stealing-thunder was used, and 3) the effects of EOR and message strategy (accommodative …