Broadcast and Video Studies Commons^™

The Perception Of Single Mothers On Romantic Reality Television, Rachel A. Bliss

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper examines how single mothers are represented on romantic reality television, focusing on Love Island USA and the storyline of contestant Huda Mustafa. Using a qualitative content analysis of episodes one through seven, this study looks at how motherhood is framed through Huda’s self representation, the reactions of other islanders, and the show’s editing and production choices. The findings show that Huda presents motherhood as a central and meaningful part of her identity, while also navigating fear of judgment and possible rejection in a dating environment. Other contestants largely respond with support and acceptance, which challenges common stereotypes about …

How Elements Including Location, Time Of Day, And Narrative Structure Influence Audience Engagement And Emotional Connection Within Short Form Video Content, Ashleighe Gibson

Communications and Digital Media Theses

This study examines how TikTok-based digital storytelling communicates urban walking experiences in New York City, focusing on how content strategies influence audience engagement and emotional connection. While both walking and short-form video storytelling have been widely studied, their intersection in shaping perceptions of urban environments remains underexplored. Using a mixed-methods approach, a TikTok account was created to document walking experiences, with content systematically varied by key factors including narrative structure, posting frequency, and environmental context. Engagement metrics, including views, likes, comments, and shares were analyzed alongside qualitative reflections to identify patterns in audience engagement and response. Findings indicate that engagement …

The Impact Of Social Media Algorithms On Information Consumption, Emily Scott

Communications and Digital Media Theses

This research examines the profound impact of social media algorithms on information consumption in an era defined by rapid digital transformation. Social media platforms, powered by sophisticated algorithms, personalize user experiences to maximize engagement. These algorithms raise concerns about the formation of filter bubbles and echo chambers, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives, and reinforcing existing beliefs. This study investigates how algorithms prioritize content, the effects on users, and the influence of AI in distorting news and information. It explores the ethical responsibilities of social media companies in mitigating the negative impacts of algorithmic curation and promoting a more balanced and …

How Does The Rise Of Ai-Generated Media Influence Public Trust In Audiovisual Communication?, Danny Mathew

Communications and Digital Media Theses

This study examines how the rise of AI-generated media influences public trust in audiovisual communication. As artificial intelligence technology advances, they have become capable of producing highly realistic images and videos that challenge traditional assumptions about the credibility of audiovisual media. This research uses a qualitative visual content analysis to compare AI-generated and authentic audiovisual content shared on social media platforms, specifically on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. A dataset of 30 media samples was evaluated using a structured coding framework that evaluated visual realism, facial and visual inconsistencies, contextual presentation, indicators of AI generation, and perceived credibility. The …

Mental Health Representation And Audience Interpretation In Contemporary Streaming Media, Caitlyn Freeman

Communications and Digital Media Theses

This study looks at streaming television as a place where ideas about mental health are shaped and communicated. These shows communicate mental health through storytelling, rather than simply reflected. Instead of viewing series as realistic depictions of psychological struggle, this analysis focuses on different elements to understand how audiences understand mental illness. This study focuses on patterns in how mental health is presented to audiences, including whether it is shown as an emotional conflict, ongoing experience, or a moment of crisis within the story. Using a qualitative analysis, the research analyzes selected episodes from each series through a codebook with …

The Sensationalizing Of Presidential Assassinations In Mass Media Throughout American History, Lindsay E. Smith

Undergraduate Theses

This project explores how mass media has shaped the public response to presidential assassinations across American history. By examining the deaths of Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963), we can trace how evolving media technologies – such as newspapers, yellow journalism, radio broadcasts, and live television coverage – have sensationalized violence, politicized tragedy, and transformed periods of national mourning into mass spectacles. The thesis analyzes reporting methods, narrative framing, and the news industry to show how each has influenced emotional response, political landscapes, and eventual presidential legacy. Ultimately, we find that …

Fake News Y Redes Sociales: Cómo El Algoritmo En Torno A La Migración Afecta La Salud Mental, Maria F. Alarcon

Capstones

Las redes sociales son la principal fuente de información para migrantes latinos en Estados Unidos, pero también son un terreno fértil para fake-news que afectan la salud mental y desinforman.

Medst101 Contemporary Media, Fall 2025 Syllabus, Juan Monroy

Open Educational Resources

A survey of contemporary media industries including their technical, economic, social, political and cultural implications. We will also examine the economic underpinnings of media, the role of advertising and public relations, and the policies that govern contemporary media industries.

Dreaming, Building, And Enduring Black Voices: Black Media In Omaha In The Post-Civil Rights Era, Elodie C. Galeazzi-Kelly

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation examines the purposes and roles of Black media in Omaha during the post–Civil Rights Era. It asks how African Americans and their allies in Omaha developed innovative media forms, institutions, and communication strategies to amplify Black voices, build community, and advocate for Black interests amid the rapidly shifting political and social landscape of the time. The study focuses first on three traditional forms of media (newspapers, radio, and television) and then broadens the definition of media to include key Black cultural institutions. These include a dramatic arts collective, a historical museum and archive, a memorial foundation, and an …

Qanon Affiliated Accounts Are Making 64% Fewer Social Media Posts About Human Trafficking, Bond Benton, Daniela Peterka-Benton

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

A joint social media study from Montclair State University faculty in the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Media and the Global Center on Human Trafficking shows a 64% decrease in the total number of posts about human trafficking made by prominent QAnon affiliated and adjacent accounts when compared to the highpoint of such posts in 2023. Results from the study produced by the Center for Strategic Communication and the Global Center on Human Trafficking include a 64% decrease in human trafficking posts from significant QAnon affiliated accounts …

Christian Identity And Commercialization: A Rhetorical Case Study Of Faith-Based Nil Branding In College Athletics, Santiago Diaz Finochietto

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

This project, “Christian Identity and Commercialization: A Rhetorical Case Study of Faith-Based NIL Branding in College Athletics," explores the intersection of faith, personal branding, and commercialization in the era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in collegiate athletics, with a specific focus on Christian student-athletes. Since the NCAA's 2021 policy change allowing athletes to profit from NIL, student-athletes have been thrust into a complex landscape of sponsorships, digital branding, and entrepreneurial identity. While this shift offers unprecedented opportunities, it also presents ethical and spiritual dilemmas, particularly for Christian athletes seeking to integrate their faith into their public and commercial presence …

Exploring Television Portrayal Of Gender-Based Violence In Uganda: A Case Of Ntv And Bukedde Tv, Nakagolo Racheal

Master of Arts in Digital Journalism

The study used NTV and Bukedde TV as a case of how television in Uganda portray gender-based violence to address the critical issue of how television framing impacts societal understanding and response to gender-based violence. The research adopted the framing theory as its conceptual lens and employed a mixed-methods approach combining content analysis of television news programs with in-depth interviews with newsroom staff. The findings reveal that Ugandan television predominantly employs victim-centered narratives, focusing on physical and sexual violence while often neglecting psychological violence and systemic contributors such as entrenched patriarchal norms. The human-interest frame emerged as the most utilized, …

Gendered Images In Online Political Advertising Videostyles: A Case Study Of 2024 Taiwan Presidential And Parliamentary Elections, Chia-Heng Chang

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Despite the increasing visibility of female politicians in Taiwan, the resurgence of the #MeToo movement ahead of the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections underscores the enduring influence of patriarchal norms and gender stereotypes within Taiwanese society. Prior research in political communication has documented how gendered expectations shape voters’ perceptions of politicians’ appearances, behaviors, and perceived competence in addressing political issues. These expectations, in turn, inform how candidates strategically construct their public personas during electoral campaigns. This dissertation contributes to this body of scholarship by analyzing how Taiwanese political candidates perform gender through political advertising. Integrating the videostyle framework, gender schema …

Sexual Harassment Effects On Bodies Of Work: Engaging Students Through The Application Of Historical Context And Communication Theory To Pop Culture And Social Media, Bryan Vizzini, Kristina Drumheller

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Rarely do professors have the opportunity to branch out and create a course that is literally shaped by the day’s news. The mediated unveiling of sexual predators in the summer of 2018 provided an opportunity to teach an honors seminar that wrote itself over the course of five weeks. Professors from the communication and history disciplines drew on theory commonly used in the communication discipline and used historical readings to frame a discussion of popular culture and its relation to current events. Each week, a film was incorporated for discussion and student projects were drawn from examples of popular culture, …

Mitigating Identity-Related Anxiety Through Humor And Immersive Storytelling With 360-Degree Video In Virtual Reality: A Study On Microaggressions’ Mental Health Effects, Changmin Yan, Alan Eno, Adam Wagler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Background: Microaggressions are subtle slights that can cause significant psychological distress among marginalized groups. Few studies have explored interventions that might mitigate these effects. Objective: This study aimed to investigate if and how humor-infused immersive storytelling via virtual reality (VR) could reduce identity-related psychological distress caused by microaggressions. Methods: Using a community-based participatory research approach, we developed a 7-min 360-degree VR film depicting scenarios of microaggressions across various identities. Fortysix college students participated in a controlled study where they were exposed to this immersive VR experience. We measured identity-related psychological anxiety, character identification, perceived humor, and perceived …

Understanding Older People’S Voice Interactions With Smart Voice Assistants: A New Modified Rule-Based Natural Language Processing Model With Human Input, Zhengxu Yan, Victoria Dube, Judith Heselton, Kate Johnson, Changmin Yan, Valerie Jones, Julie Blaskewicz Boron, Marcia Shade

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the integration of Smart Voice Assistants (SVA) among older people. The qualitative data derived from user commands on SVA is pivotal for elucidating the engagement patterns of older individuals with such systems. However, the sheer volume of user-generated voice interaction data presents a formidable challenge for manual coding. Compounding this issue, age-related cognitive decline and alterations in speech patterns further complicate the interpretation of older users’ SVA voice interactions. Conventional dictionary-based textual analysis tools, which count word frequencies, are inadequate in capturing the evolving and communicative essence of these interactions that unfold over a series …

Representation Of The Fall Of Kabul In Pakistani And Afghan Media, Amir Hamza Marwan, Madeeha Naz

Faculty Research - Journal Articles

The fall of Kabul signified the termination of the democratically elected government in Afghanistan and reinstated the Taliban as the prevailing authority in the country. The ascension of the Taliban in Afghanistan holds significant importance considering the profound suffering experienced by both Afghanistan and Pakistan. This study looks at how well-known Pakistani and Afghan television channels, specifically Geo News, PTV News and TOLO News, covered the fall of Kabul in 2021 for eight days. The study utilizes content analysis as a research methodology. The authors’ primary aim was to determine if the selected television channels offered their viewers coverage of …

Reducing Loneliness And Improving Social Support Among Older Adults Through Different Modalities Of Personal Voice Assistants, Valerie Jones, Changmin Yan, Marcia Shade, Julie Blaskewicz Boron, Zhengxu Yan, Hyeon Jung Heselton, Kate Johnson, Victoria Dube

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study examines the potential of AI-powered personal voice assistants (PVAs) in reducing loneliness and increasing social support among older adults. With the aging population rapidly expanding, innovative solutions are essential. Prior research has indicated the effectiveness of various interactive communication technologies (ICTs) in mitigating loneliness, but studies focusing on PVAs, particularly considering their modality (audio vs. video), are limited. This research aims to fill this gap by evaluating how voice assistants, in both audio and video formats, influence perceived loneliness and social support. This study examined the impact of voice assistant technology (VAT) interventions, both audio-based (A-VAT) and video-based …

The Impact Of Interaction Time And Verbal Engagement With Personal Voice Assistants On Alleviating Loneliness Among Older Adults: An Exploratory Study, Changmin Yan, Kate Johnson, Valerie Jones

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Background: Loneliness in older adults is a critical issue that negatively affects their well-being. The potential of personal voice assistant (PVA) devices like Amazon’s Alexa Echo in reducing loneliness is an emerging area of interest, but it remains under-researched. Objective: this study aims to investigate the effect of interaction time and verbal engagement with PVA devices on reducing loneliness among older adults living alone. Method: In this experiment, individuals aged 75 and older (n = 15), living alone, were provided with Amazon Alexa Echo devices. They were instructed to interact with the device at least five times a day …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Argumentation For Critical Heterogenous Political Discussions: Constructing A Rebuttal, Rebecca Oliver

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

This activity seeks to explain to undergraduate students how to craft a proper attack and defense in argumentation and debate, persuasion, or political communication courses. The activity teaches students 1) the parts of a basic argument structure and 2) how to construct a rebuttal using a basic argument structure. Students will argue against their true political typology by selecting an opposing typology from the Pew Research Typology Quiz. Broadly, this exercise is designed to encourage students to engage in dialogues with people who disagree with their political positionality. Specifically, the activity accomplishes this by teaching students the value of basic …

Encoding & Decoding: Artfully Modeling Communication, Daniel L. Foster, Ashley D. Garcia

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

Drawing objects and concepts, such as cats, trees, love, democracy, and family, is probably the last activity students expect to do in a communication course. Although this sounds like an introductory art activity, creating visual representations provides a nuanced understanding of the encoding and decoding processes. Encoding and decoding are the most hidden and often the most unfamiliar and complex fundamental components of communication for students to comprehend. By engaging in this activity, students translate their decoding process into drawings, which serve as personal artifacts representative of their encoding and decoding. Students come to better conceptualize this cognitive process with …

“Party In The Communication Classroom”: Exploring Communication Competence To Raise Social Awareness, Nancy Bressler

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

This activity demonstrates communication competence and allows students to observe, assess, and ultimately utilize the model of communication competence to engage with other people successfully. To understand how to engage in communication competence, students must recognize that appropriateness and effectiveness are crucial aspects of their communication. Through the communication competence model, students examine how to achieve effectiveness in their communication by setting goals for specific contexts; they also consider to what extent their goals are achievable given the particular situation. Using a 2014 MTV Video Music Award example, students can analyze why Miley Cyrus allowed a homeless man to accept …

Introducing Public Speaking Self-Concept (Pssc): A Novel, Qualitatively-Derived Communication Anxiety And Competence Variable, Karla M. Hunter, Joshua N. Westwick

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

Despite numerous quantitative assessments of teaching interventions that have helped mitigate public speaking anxiety (PSA), this common barrier to public speaking persists. In addition, quantitative measures may not be appropriate for all instructional goals, especially with students from across a variety of cultures. To enrich educators’ capacity to help diverse bodies of students overcome the challenges presented by PSA, this qualitative study asked students to “Please describe yourself as a public speaker” at the beginning and the end of a freshman-level, general education public speaking class. Thematic analysis identified a two-dimensional pattern within student responses (N = 51) (a …

Front Matter

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

No abstract provided.

Discourse: The Journal Of The Scasd, Volume 8 (2023), The Speech Communication Association Of South Dakota

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

No abstract provided.

Prevalence And Factors Associated With Vaping Cannabidiol Among Us Adolescents, Hongying Daisy Dai, Roma Subramanian, Avina Mahroke, Ming Wang

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE e-Cigarette use and vaping marijuana (cannabis) are popular among US adolescents. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a compound found in the cannabis plant that has recently increased in use.

OBJECTIVES To examine the prevalence of and factors associated with youths vaping CBD

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study included a nationally representative sample of students from middle and high schools (typical age, 11-18 years) in the US from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted from January to May 2022.

EXPOSURE Demographic characteristics, harm perception of tobacco use, and vaping behaviors.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The main outcomes were weighted …

Thyroid Sat510 I-131 Therapy With Dosimetry For Advanced Thyroid Carcinoma: Recombinant Tsh Vs Thyroid Hormone Withdrawal, Dana Awad, Jarod Hamsa, Abbey Fingeret, Craig M. Johnson, Frank Rutar, Carrie Carso, Anupam Kotwal, Anery Patel, Angela Thornburg, Whitney Sears Goldner

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Background: Dosimetry can be used to calculate an optimal and safe dose of Iodine-131 (I-131) for treatment of advanced differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW) is the preferred method of TSH elevation for I-131 therapy with dosimetry. At our institution, Recombinant TSH (RhTSH) is used in patients in whom prolonged hypothyroidism is deemed clinically unsafe or cannot tolerate THW. We aim to evaluate if RhTSH and THW are equivalent methods of preparation for I-131 therapy using dosimetry (I-131D).

Stand-Up Comedy Visualized, Berna Yenidogan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Stand-up comedy has become an increasingly popular form of comedy in the recent years and comedians reach audiences beyond the halls they are performing through streaming services, podcasts and social media. While comedic performances are typically judged by how 'funny' they are, which could be proxied by the frequency and intensity of laughs through the performance, comedians also explore untapped social issues and provoke conversation, especially in this age where interaction with artists goes beyond their act. It is easy to see commonalities in the topics addressed in comedians’ work such as relationships, race and politics.This project provides an interactive …

Mental Health In Sports Media, Samuel Ridgley

Communication & Media Studies | Senior Theses

This paper looks at the increasingly popular conversation surrounding mental health in sports. It provides a glimpse into how common the struggle of mental health can be for many high-level athletes while also examining the narrative and expectations that society and the media have created. The paper also provides examples of prominent athletes from a variety of different sports and delves into their personal mental health experiences in the eyes of the media. The goal of this paper is to show the progression and change of how the media portrays mental health amongst athletes in today’s ever-changing world.