Broadcast and Video Studies Commons^™

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 …

Zippymania: A Multimedia Record Of The 2024-25 Akron Zips Men's Basketball Team, Drew Bailey

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will involve the production, promotion, and distribution of a weekly 30-minute live radio show focusing on the Akron Zips men's basketball team. After the airing of each show, the recorded episode will be published as a podcast. Additionally, a weekly column or sports blog (written by myself) will be published and serve as a companion work or supplement to the radio program.

An Examination Of How The Media Portrayed Professional Female Athletes During The 2023 Women's World Cup In The Match-Up Between Spain And The United States, Brianna R. Breazier

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

This project is an examination of how the media portrayed professional female athletes during the 2023 Woen's World Cup in the match-up between Spain and the United States. This project consists of a literature review of the history of both countries, an overview of feminist theory, and past studies that show current patterns of biases or stereotypical behavior in today’s mainstream media. This project also consists of a cross-examination and comparison between Spain and the United States, specifically examining the timeline of events between the two. The purpose of this study is to compare the media trends of professional female …

À La Carte Cable: A Regulatory Solution To The Misinformation Subsidy, Christopher R. Terry, Eliezer J. Silberberg, Stephen Schmitz, John Stack, Eve Sando

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Although “fake news” is as old as mass media itself, concerns over disinformation have reached a fever pitch in our current media environment. Online media outlets’ heavy reliance on user-generated content has altered the traditional gatekeeping functions and professional standards associated with traditional news organizations. The idea of objectivity-focused informational content has primarily been substituted for a realist acceptance of the power and popularity of opinion-driven “news.” This shift is starkly visible now: mainstream news media outlets knowingly spread hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and the like.

This current state of affairs is not some freak accident. The Supreme Court’s First Amendment …

Selling Knowledge: A Sociological Analysis Of Attorney Advertisement In Las Vegas, Giselle Velasquez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

I analyze how Las Vegas attorneys represent themselves, their associates and clients in televised law firm commercials. I use attorney commercials as a case to explore cultural beliefs in media representations. Using an inductive method, I analyze the textual, visual, and aural symbols that appear most frequently in television commercials to interpret how law firm advertisements convey themes of attorney expertise, knowledge, ethnic and gender stereotyping. I introduce this study with a historical evaluation of the rise of advertisement in the United States. I continue discussing how the media is an important realm of discourse that affects people's identity. Using …

Is “Fake News” The New News? The Effect Of “The Daily Show” On Media And Political Knowledge, Heather Avenson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

One can hardly argue the impact that “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” have had on popular culture. But do these shows also hold an impact on journalism and political knowledge? In other words, are “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” reasonable sources of news? Using data gathered by the Pew Research Center in April of 2008, and by myself through a survey of Bemidji State University students enrolled in political science courses, I attempt to answer the following questions: Are people who watch either “The Daily Show” or “Colbert Report” more informed than their counterparts? Do people who watch …

Behind The Face Of Radio, Melanie Terrill

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

The Last Day On Earth: Encoding And Decoding Of Resistant Ideology In Music Video, Desiree Damon

Communication Honors Theses

According to Stuart Hall's theory of encoding and decoding, an audience member, based on their individual ideological perspectives, can read media texts in one of three ways: dominant, negotiated, or resistant. Hall's theory, however, also implies that the producer will always encode a dominant or hegemonic message. Given semantically messy texts like music videos, however, producers now have the freedom to either encode a dominant ideology or to resist it. In order for the audience to make sense of a resistant ideology, it must first be relevant to them. Their subject position, which includes personal experiences, as well as familiarity …

Does The Internet Fundamentally Change Anything?: European Research And The Cost A20 Action On The Impact Of The Internet On Mass Media (Television, Newspapers And Radio), Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

The subject of this paper represents one attempt at a more balanced approach and consists of the research undertaken under the COST A20 action, ‘The Impact of the Internet on Mass Media’. The paper presents a brief overview of some of the principal themes under discussion in relation to radio, television and newspapers as well as offering some reflections on the emerging issues for communications research at a cross media level. The central theme is whether there the Internet (with a capital ‘I’) has had the transformative effect its proponents might once have claimed or whether there has been a …

College Students' Media Consumption And Their Voting Habits, Peggy Anne Prudhomme

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

New Media And The Circuit Of Cyber-Culture: Conceptualizing Napster, Bryan C. Taylor, Christof Demont-Heinrich, Kirsten Broadfoot, Jefferson Dodge, Guowei Jian

Communication Faculty Publications

Media studies scholars have employed the "cultural circuit" model to analyze media in the context of capitalist political economy. This model identifies interrelated "moments' in which the meanings of cultural products are determined, negotiated, and subverted in interaction between producers and audiences. The turbulent evolution of new media, however, requires continuous reflection on the adequacy of conceptual tools. Analysis of recent controversy surrounding the Internet music-exchange service Napster indicates that the cultural circuit model must be modified to accommodate the emerging media of cyber-culture.

The Political And Ideological Context Of Broadcast News Cbs Nightly News Coverage Of Eastern Europe, Terese A. Thompson

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the influence of United States/Soviet relations on network news coverage of Eastern Europe. It also measures the ideological character of network news reports about Eastern Europe or how television news in the United States is constructed along a particular ideological vision. The specific operational questions researched are: Is network news content influenced by trends in United States/Soviet relations? How is the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union reflected in the ideological presentation of the news? Samples of CBS nightly news programs were analyzed for quantitative and qualitative changes in news content over time. Analysis …