Communication Commons^™

Regret The Error, But Who Admits It?, Sue Burzynski Bullard

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Correcting errors is simple and quick online. For Craig Silverman, that ease raises ethical issues. The author of the popular "Regret the Error" book and website believes news sites too often "scrub" away errors without acknowledging the mistakes. But what's the most ethical way to handle those errors? Should the story be updated without explaining that the original error occurred, what Silverman and others call "scrubbing"? Or should the fix be made with a note appended to the original article explaining that an error had been made?

An Ardent Flame: Witness To Distant Suffering, Human Rights And Unworthy Victims In The Coverage By The New York Times And Two Journals Of The Religious Left Of The 1980s Civil Wars In El Salvador And Nicaragua, Charles A. Flowerday

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Scholars have investigated witness to distant suffering (WTDS) almost entirely in visual media. This study examines it in print. This form of reporting will be examined in two publications of the religious left as contrasted with the New York Times. The thesis is that, more than any technology, WTDS consists of the journalist’s moral commitment and narrative skills and the audience’s analytical resources and trust. In the religious journals, liberation theology provides the moral commitment, the writers and editors the narrative skills and trust and the special vision of the newly empowered poor the analytical foundation. In bearing witness to …

Antecedents Of Servant Leadership: A Mixed Methods Study, Curtis D. Beck

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the antecedents of servant leadership. The sequential explanatory research design consisted of two distinct phases: quantitative followed by qualitative. The Phase One quantitative survey collected data from 499 leaders and 630 raters from community leadership programs in the United States using the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). During Phase Two, selected leaders from phase one (N = 12) were interviewed to explain those results in more depth. The data were coded and analyzed for possible themes. Triangulation was used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data to validate …

The Debate Authors Working Group Model For Collaborative Knowledge Production In Forensics Scholarship, Gordon R. Mitchell, Carly Woods, Matthew Brigham, Eric English, Catherine E. Morrison, John Rief

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The disconnect between modes of knowledge production in forensics (mostly collaborative) and academic study in the humanities (mostly solo work) is a chasm that can complicate the transition from tournament competitor to professional scholar. Might arrangements that promote joint authorship help harmonize the two modes of knowledge production and convert creative energy from the forensics setting to the academic publishing enterprise? This essay considers the possibility, reflecting on how efforts to coordinate collaborative knowledge production in debate authors working groups relate to professional development challenges isolated in the 1974 Sedalia Conference, the 1984 National Developmental Conference on Forensics, the 1993 …

Orwellian Language And The Politics Of Tribal Termination (1953–1960), Casey Ryan Kelly

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

From 1953 to 1960, the federal government terminated sovereign recognition for 109 American Indian nations. Termination was a haphazard policy of assimilation that had disastrous consequences for Indian land and culture. Nonetheless, termination cloaked latent motivations for Indian land within individual rights rhetoric that was at odds with Indian sovereignty. Termination highlights the rhetorical features of social control under capitalism portrayed in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), in which opposing principles are fused and inverted. This essay critiques termination’s Orwellian language to show how ideographs of social liberation are refashioned by the state to subvert Indian sovereignty and popular dissent.

Financial Literacy Explicated: The Case For A Clearer Definition In An Increasingly Complex Economy, David L. Remund

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study explicates the concept of financial literacy, which has blossomed in use this century. Scholars, policy officials, financial experts, and consumer advocates have used the phrase loosely to describe the knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation necessary to effectively manage money. As a result, financial literacy has varying conceptual definitions in existing research as well as diverse operational definitions and values. This study dissects the differing financial literacy definitions and measures, urging researchers toward common ground. A clearer definition should improve future research, in turn helping consumers better understand and adapt to changing life events and an increasingly complex economy.

Contesting Sphere Boundaries Online: Private/Technical/Public Discourses In Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Discussion Groups, Kittie E. Grace

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The internet is fast becoming a means for people to obtain information, creating a unique forum for the intersection of the public, technical, and private spheres. To ground my research theoretically, I used Jürgen Habermas’s sphere theory. Habermas (1987) explains that the technical sphere colonizes the private sphere, which decreases democratic potential. In particular, the internet is a place for altering technical colonization of the private and public spheres.

My research focuses on women’s health because it is a particularly useful case study for examining sphere tensions. Historically, the biomedical health establishment has been a powerful agent of colonization, resulting …

Study Of Convergence In Nebraska Newspapers, Kathryn L. Schindler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

This thesis studies Nebraska newspapers and their efforts to converge with Web, multimedia, radio, or television entities. It also studies the efforts by Nebraska newspapers to converge reporter roles and organizational roles. Paper surveys were sent and in-person interviews were conducted in Nebraska during the 2009-2010 academic year. The results showed more examples of multimedia convergence than role or organizational convergence. Nebraska publishers and editors say they do not want to attempt convergence or multimedia products just to be trendy. They say convergence has to make sense, be useful, and be profitable for their individual businesses, staff, and communities.
Advisor: …

Be: Bookstore, Cafe, And Lounge, Melanie Boone

Interior Design Program: Terminal Projects

The re-design of the P.E. lier building located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska at 1113 Howard Street will challenge the way that a bookstore is typically portrayed. My goal is to create a unique and interesting space combining the bookstore with a cafe and bar/ lounge space.

Typically a bookstore is designed for experiences for single individuals, unlike lounge spaces that are designed for interaction between multiple people.

This space will create a connection between various artistic aspects of Omaha including: art, literature, music, dance, etc. The first level will be a combined bookstore and cafe. The second level will be …

Female Undergraduate Students' Perceptions Of The Portrayal Of Women In Advertising, Virginia M. Johnson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

This study examined how twelve undergraduate female students at a university in Alabama perceive and react to the way women are portrayed in advertising. Using a purposive sample and qualitative copy testing techniques, the study was designed to investigate the reactions of these undergraduate students to seven images of women, each portraying a different role, that are similar to images currently used in print advertising. Several themes emerged from the participants’ responses to questions in the qualitative interviews. Themes about the participants wanting to have a family occurred within the responses to several of the questions. In addition, a theme …

Edward R. Murrow: His Life, Legacy And Ethical Influence, Howard Lester Rose

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

EDWARD R. MURROW: LIFE, LEGACY AND BROADCAST ETHICS TODAY Howard Lester Rose, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2010 Adviser: Nancy Mitchell This study researched the life and legacy of Edward R. Murrow and examined broadcast ethics today. Murrow invented radio news, as we know it and was the standard-bearer of journalism, ethics, and reporting. Many consider him the father of broadcast journalism.

This study covers ethics in broadcast journalism today, with remarks by veteran journalists (and one student) and journalism educators. These experts comment on where TV news stands today based on the ethical standards that Murrow set five decades ago. …

Youtube Politics: Youchoose And Leadership Rhetoric During The 2008 Election, Scott H. Church

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The present study employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine the discourse of leadership in the YouTube video clips of 16 candidates who competed in the 2008 U.S. presidential race. The introduction and farewell videos of the candidates included on the YouChoose portion of YouTube are inductively analyzed for leadership utterances. Common categories are constructed through a grounded theory approach, while frequencies of the appearance of leadership traits are discovered through a content analysis of the data. The findings are then compared with relevant literature to determine the nature of presidential campaigns within the participatory culture of YouTube. …

The Wired World: A Primer On Electronic Research, Wikipedia, Social Networking Sites, And Web Journalism, Ryan F. Love

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

THE WIRED WORLD: A PRIMER ON ELECTRONIC RESEARCH, WIKIPEDIA, SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES, AND WEB JOURNALISM

Ryan F. Love, M.A.

University of Nebraska, 2010

Adviser: Mary Kay Quinlan

The Internet initiated profound changes that are difficult to contextualize. Having grown up with the Internet, young people are particularly likely to perceive the wired world as a given condition, rather than the result of a developmental process. To understand and shape our society, people must see how the Internet has transformed it. After an introduction, this thesis contains three more chapters, focusing on electronic research and Wikipedia, social networking sites, and journalism. …

An Intergroup Perspective On Stepchildren's Communication With Their Nonresidential Parent's Family, Rebecca Diverniero

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Communicating and negotiating boundaries can be a challenge to family members who have experienced a divorce and remarriage. In particular, stepchildren and their nonresidential parent‘s family must manage potential changes and challenges to their communication and relationship as the stepchild transitions into stepfamily life. Centered in the interpretive paradigm and Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), the researcher interviewed 29 current and former stepchildren about their transition into stepfamily life to address six research questions: (1) What are the turning points in stepchildren‘s communication with their nonresidential parent‘s family? (2) How do stepchildren perceive and describe family identification with their nonresidential parent‘s …

Student Perceptions Of Digital Textbooks In A College Nursing Program, Alan D. Eno

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

The purpose of this research was to study the use of digital textbooks in a small liberal arts college. The research was a mixed methods descriptive study using a pre and post survey to determine student perceptions of the technology. Findings indicated that students needed training in the installation and use of digital textbooks. Findings also indicated the need for further research into what students understand about using digital textbooks. Recommendations are for the college to institute training sessions to teach students how to use the digital textbooks.

User Motivation: Likability And Usability Of An Agricultural Web Site, Vishal Singh

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Web communications has become a critical component of mass communications and media today. Web sites must be user-friendly if they are to communicate effectively. This study examines the relationship between user motivation and the likability and usability of web sites. Web designers, stakeholders, and web site owners need to pay close attention to the likability and usability of a web site since these are key components of its credibility.

A key finding of this study indicates there is not a direct relationship between likability of a web site and its usability. Often, web designers and web site owners judge web …

Counter-Mapping As Place-Framing: Naturalized Injustice, De-Naturalized Community And Organizing For Social Change On Google Earth, Joshua P. Ewalt

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, I perform an analysis of counter-mapping on Google Earth as a process of organizing for social change. I address the process of mapping the virtual earth as an act of place-framing, an organizing process by which space is transformed to place so as to motivate action on the part of current and potential organizational adherents. Specifically, I argue that there are at least two ways in which place is framed on Google Earth so as to motivate action: place as “naturalized injustice” and place as “de-naturalized community.” Using the analytical vocabulary of collective action framing, and Martin’s …

Conceptions Regarding Children’S Health: An Examination Of Ethnotheories In A Sending And Receiving Community, Maria Rosario De Guzman, Jennifer Deleon, Gloria Gonzalez-Kruger, Rodrigo Cantarero

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Ethnotheories are beliefs that adults hold about children and the factors that impact upon their development. Scholars suggest that “ethnotheories” serve as cultural models that underlie motivations for parenting practices and the way adults organize children’s early experiences. This study examines Mexican adults’ ethnotheories about children’s health in two communities that are linked by transnational migrants and serve as sending and receiving communities for workers. Forty-four Mexican adults in six focus groups discussed well-being issues affecting children in their communities. Qualitative analyses using grounded theory revealed a complex conception of children’s health issues that included physical, psychological, and behavioral components …

Responses Of Young Adult Grandchildren To Grandparents’ Painful Self-Disclosures, Craig Frowler, Jordan Soliz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined grandchildren’s relational and communicative responses to grandparents’ painful self-disclosures (PSDs). From the perspective of young adult grandchildren (N = 297), dis-comfort with PSDs is more significant in differentiating positive and negative aspects of the grandparent-grandchild relationship than simply the occurrence of such disclosures. Furthermore, results reveal that the family communication environment and communicative responsiveness of the grandchild are important factors in predicting discomfort with PSDs as well as grandchildren’s communication with grandparents.

Aejmc Adnews Winter 2010, Stacy C. James

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This is the mid-year newsletter written, designed and produced for the AEJMC's Ad Division. It includes information about the Ad Division, kudos, paper submission guidelines for the summer convention and other Ad Division news and information.

Perceptions Of Communication With Gay And Lesbian Family Members: Predictors Of Relational Satisfaction And Implications For Outgroup Attitudes, Jordan Soliz, Elizabeth Ribarsky, Meredith Marko Harrigan, Stacy Tye-Williams

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study investigates perceptions of family communication among members with different sexual identities. Specifically, from the perspective of heterosexual family members (N = 129), the study takes an intergroup perspective to determine how accommodative and non-accommodative communication and attitudes toward homosexuality predict intergroup anxiety and relational satisfaction with gay or lesbian family members. Further, the manner in which family communication influences attitudes toward homosexuality is examined. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research on heterosexual-homosexual interaction, family communication, and intergroup communication, in general.

Dialectic Tensions Experienced By Resettled Sudanese Refugees In Mediating Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An increasing number of global migrants are refugees who have fled religious, racial, ethnic, or other political persecution. As these refugee populations have grown, governmental and nonprofit organizations have emerged to help mediate the resettlement experience. The current study explores the dialectical tensions Sudanese refugees face in communicating with the organizations designed to make their resettlement successful. Sudanese refugees participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences communicating with mediating organizations. Four dialectical tensions emerged from participants’ stories about their communication in and with mediating organizations: (a) dissemination and dialogue, (b) emancipation and control, (c) empowerment and oppression, and (d) integration …

Discursive Struggles In Families Formed Through Visible Adoption: An Exploration Of Dialectical Unity, Meredith Marko Harrigan, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Grounded in the interpretive paradigm and framed by relational dialectics theory, the present study addressed the question: What discourses interpenetrate to reflect dialectical unity as parents communicate about their child’s adoption? Interviews with 40 parents across 31 visibly adoptive families—families with an obvious lack of biological connection—highlighted four instances of dialectical unity resulting from the following discursive struggles: (a) pride and imperfection; (b) love, constraint, and sacrifice; (c) difference, pride, and enrichment; and (d) legitimacy, expansion, similarity, and difference. Each struggle contains seemingly disparate discourses that, in combination, contribute to how parents discursively make sense of adoption. Practical implications of …

Forming Bodies And Reforming Healthcare: The Co-Construction Of Information Technologies And Bodies Through The Imperative For Self Care, Scout Calvert

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Care work and technological work are markedly striated by sex; the sites where they overlap are few. What happens when the labor of care meets up with information technologies? It makes good methodological sense to look at largely feminized environments that are also increasingly technological. Gender, Health, and Information Technology in Context, edited and with contributions by Ellen Balka, Eileen Green, and Flis Henwood, is a welcome contribution to the body of evidence about the socio-technical co-construction of technology, health, and gender. The volume houses nine studies, bookended by an astute introduction and conclusion by the editors. Each study …

Reflective Journeys Toward Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Tonia Renee Durden, Diane M. Truscott

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

In this qualitative case study we used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory methodologically and theoretically to investigate the reflections of three elementary pre-service teachers as they were learning about teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students. Data sources included a questionnaire, interview transcripts, course documents, and individual written records. Cross and within case analyses were conducted using a priori and open coding for all data utilizing the analytic strategy of relying on theoretical propositions. Findings suggested that participants’ reflected beyond the classroom on influences that impact the education of diverse students and there were program specific factors that encouraged critical reflectivity …

Constructing Family: A Typology Of Voluntary Kin, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Betsy Wackernagel Bach, Leslie A. Baxter, Rebecca Diverniero, Joshua R. Hammonds, Angela M. Hosek, Erin K. Willer, Bianca M. Wolf

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study explored how participants discursively rendered voluntary kin relationships sensical and legitimate. Interpretive analyses of 110 interviews revealed four main types of voluntary kin: (i) substitute family, (ii) supplemental family, (iii) convenience family, and (iv) extended family. These types were rendered sensical and legitimated by drawing on the discourse of the traditional family. Except for the extended family, three of four voluntary kin family types were justified by an attributed deficit in the blood and legal family. Because voluntary kin relationships are not based on the traditional criteria of association by blood or law, members experience them as potentially …

State Farm: "Talk To An Agent", Tyler Thomas, Jessica Williams, Kate Stevenson, Kala Mosel, Derek Dillon, Chelsea Thompson, Shea Samani, Katie Sorensen, Matthew Berg, Jennifer Larson, Aaron Jarosh, Kyle Stebbins, Mike Sammons, Daniel Scheyer, Sara Leimbach, Doug Flegle, Brett Tesmer, Maggie Geist, Will Sharpe, Jamie Ksieski, Nicholas Huff, Andrew Ciaccio, Drew Guiney, Michael Taylor, Erin Sorensen, Phil Willet

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

Established in 1922, State Farm has become a trustworthy, reliable company that prides itself on the dedication of its agents and their ability to provide personalized insurance policies. Even though State Farm leads the insurance industry, the company is struggling to gain customers in the 18-25 year old demographic.

As a part of this demographic, many of us were guilty of quickly purchasing our insurance policies online. We thought that we had the coverage we needed — that was before we talked to an agent. In one hour, local State Farm agent Vincon Krikac changed 25 minds. We learned how …

90.3 Krnu Get Indied, Power Of X (Ten)

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

Situation Analysis Since KRNU first started experimenting with broadcasting over 80 years ago, the University of Nebraska—Lincoln has recognized the importance independent radio stations play in a college community. For the last 20 years, 90.3 KRNU has relied on a format of alternative/indie music mixed with eclectic specialty shows. Through our research we discovered that 90.3 KRNU no longer has top-of-mind awareness among its target audience, which is primarily UNL students. Rick Alloway, KRNU station manager, saw the need for things to change. Through the collaboration of UNL supporters and KRNU supporters alike, it was decided that the station format …

Displaced: Stories Of Struggle In South Africa, Sarah Bryant, Shannon Lauber, Christina Devries, Jenna Gibson, Logan Meier, Anna Mostek, Kate Veik, Chris Slaughter, Vanessa Skocz, Chelsey Manhart, Bruce Thorson, Charlie Mitchell

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

In June 2008, a group from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln — two advisers, seven student photographers, two student reporters and one student videographer — traveled to South Africa for 18 days. Their project, which had been in the making for the previous six months, focused on documenting immigration issues in South Africa. Howard Buffett, a documentary photographer, funded the trip, which was a partnership involving UNL, Arizona State University and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The group arrived in South Africa amidst the aftermath of xenophobic violence that tore through the country in the several weeks leading up …

2010 Special Olympics, College Of Journalism & Mass Communications, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

A multimedia website, a nightly television broadcast and two new courses were created by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications for students to cover and promote the Special Olympics 2010 USA National Games in Lincoln.

Fifty students in two Journalism and Mass Communications classes joined forces with the games' media professionals to produce a website (http://cojmc.unl.edu/specialolympics) to tell the stories of the athletes and of competitions in text, photos and videos.

About 3,000 people with intellectual disabilities competed in 13 sports venues across Lincoln. The games, which were the largest multi-sport event in the state's history, attracted 15,000 family …