Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Media Constructed Retirement Articles Of Professional Baseball Players, Kevin T. Berge

Sport Management Undergraduate

The career of an athlete may shape the narrative that the media uses when writing articles on that player when they retire. Many people fail to understand how the media constructs articles the way they do on Major League Baseball (MLB) players upon retirement. This research study used a mixed method approach to show how the media covers certain professional MLB players when they retire. The researcher counted how many times chosen variables were mentioned in two different articles of sixteen retired MLB players, and then extracted quotes from those articles. This study found that superstar pitchers and superstar hitters …

Information Sharing, Transparency, And E-Governance Among County Government Offices In Southeastern Michigan, Lawrence Bosek

All NMU Master's Theses

The Internet has given rise to the availability of information at our fingertips. While the public, particularly consumers, are more commonly described as being the leading users and beneficiaries of electronic information services, businesses and governments are also players in the arena for sharing official information. Information can be easily stored on Internet websites for the public, businesses, and other governmental offices to search and peruse when needed. This study examined the ease of locating county governmental information, such as contact information for public officials and financial reports, and surveyed elected county officials for purposes of identifying how information is …

Churchill’S Argument Against Democracy: The Average Voter. Information Levels And News Sources Among Americans, Kyle Priest

Political Science Theses and Capstones

A democracy needs an informed public. However, I investigate low levels of political awareness among Americans. I focus on whether people understand issues incorrectly or are simply disengaged and inattentive. There is an important difference between them. Those who are uninformed simply do not know, which would make it easier to turn them into informed citizens. All that would be needed is for them to access the right information. For those who are misinformed, however, it is a tougher task. They believe that their answer is right, and even though they are in fact wrong, they are more willing to …

The Rationale Of China’S Media Regulation Policy In The Process Of The Institutional Transformation, Wu Weiguang

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Through its institutional transformation, China’s media policy has features of both power-regulated societies and rights-regulated societies. The development of human societies is based on three dominant variables: competition, technology, and institutions. Throughout civilized history, human societies can be categorized into two types, either power-regulated societies or rights-regulated societies. The standard of categorization is based on different forces that coerce the social order of the society. The coercing force of power-regulated societies is rooted in the regime of power, such as authoritarianism or totalitarianism. Ancient China and the former Soviet Union are typical examples of such power-regulated societies. The coercing force …

Denial Of Harm: Sex Trafficking, Backpage, And Free Speech Absolutism, Jody Raphael

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Politics In 140 Characters Or Less: Social Media Sites As A Platform For Political Discussion, Jamie Brackpool

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Chinese Communication Studies: Three Paths Converging, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This contribution presents the possibilities for anthropological and neo-Marxist media within the hugely expanding sector of Chinese communication studies. China has sourced mostly from the American positivist tradition but is increasingly ­taking on board European critical thinking but it also needs to absorb some of the depth and diversity of indigenous scholarship existing in Chinese.

Jia, Lu, and Heisey (2002) presented an influential meta-analysis of every ­example of communication studies in China at that time. The book chapter which talks about the rise of the discipline and scholarship of Chinese communication as an academic discipline (Jia et al., 2014) summarises …

How Instagram Content Affects Brand Attitudes And Behavior, Ming (Bryan) Wang, Valerie K. Jones

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This paper examines the effectiveness of communication on Instagram, a type of visual social networking site, by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Results show that the TSA’s Instagram account elicited stronger emotional reactions than a private consumer product business Instagram account. More importantly, perceived usefulness of content, perceived persuasive intent of content, and negative emotions all affected attitudes toward the TSA. Additionally, perceived usefulness of content and negative emotions also influenced communicative action regarding the TSA account. Findings demonstrate the emotional impact of visual communication and the role of both cognitive and affective evaluations in changing attitudes and behavior …

Print Versus Digital: How Medium Matters On 'House Of Cards', Patrick Ferrucci, Chad Painter

Communication Faculty Publications

This study utilizes textual analysis to analyze how journalists are depicted on the Netflix drama House of Cards. Through the lens of orientalism and cultivation, researchers examine how depictions of print and digital journalism would lead viewers to see digital journalists as less ethical and driven by self-gain, while also viewing technology as an impediment to quality journalism. These findings are then discussed as a means for understanding how these depictions could affect society.

Political Success And The Media, Connor J. Haaland

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

How have different media affected the linguistic performativity of the most prominent American politicians throughout history? How have different types of media allowed certain linguistic features to flourish, and others to fail? I address these question’s through a diachronic analysis of three different periods of American history as well as an investigation into effective linguistic features that manifest over the radio, through television, and on social media. In addition, I confront the myth that there is a relationship between reading level of speech determined by the Flesch-Kincaid algorithm and success as an orator. I find relationships between linguistic features unique …

Othering Others: Right-Wing Populism In Uk Media Discourse On “New” Immigration, Grace E. Fielder, Theresa Catalano

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Right wing populism is on the rise. Through the use of othering, right-wing groups delimit their own identities while excluding others. The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on how European mediated public spheres (such as reader responses to media discourse) constitute an important domain of identity articulation and struggle through the discursive construction of the ‘Other’. In this case, the others come from the Central and Eastern European countries that are perceived as newcomers to Western Europe due to the consecutive enlargements of the European Union. Specifically, this chapter provides an in-depth analysis of 236 reader comments …

On Making A Difference: How Photography And Narrative Produce The Short-Term Missions Experience, Joshua Kerby Jennings

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Short-term missions participants encounter difference in purportedly captivating ways. Current research, however, indicates the practice does not lead to long-lasting, positive change. Brian M. Howell (2012) argues the short-term missions experience is confined to the limitations of the short-term missions narrative. People who engage in short-term missions build assumptions, seek experiences, understand difference, and convey meaning, as a result of this narrative. The process of telling and retelling travel stories is integral to the short-term missions experience. Drawing upon literature on tourism, narrative, development, and photography, this study intends to evaluate the inefficacy of short-term missions through the stories which …

User-Generated Opinion: How Reader Reactions And Source Reputation Influence The Effects Of Online News, Stephan Winter, Nicole C. Krämer, Yuhua (Jake) Liang

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

On contemporary online news sites, readers are simultaneously exposed to journalistic articles and social reactions toward these messages. Two online experiments (N = 252) addressed whether negative user reactions can attenuate the persuasive influence of the main article, and whether these effects depend on the reputation of the original source. Results showed a selective consideration of user-generated content: Readers took into account comments with high argument quality and ratings of a credible website but did not follow others’ opinions if the comments merely contained subjective evaluations. On less reputable websites, user reactions were less influential. Findings are discussed with regard …

Understanding And Addressing The Gaps: Generational Perspectives On Public Relations Leadership Development In The United States, Michele E. Ewing, David L. Remund

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This qualitative study is the first known effort to define the differing perceptions of public relations leadership at three distinct career points and explore the leadership development gaps and needs from these varied perspectives. Semistructured interviews with senior public relations practitioners, young professionals, and current students in the United States bring needed depth and clarity to prior scholarship on leadership development, a growing concern within the public relations industry around the world. Additionally, the findings pinpoint leadership development best practices for better infusing leadership development into undergraduate public relations education and into training and development programs for young professionals.

The Role Of Familiarity In Shaping Country Reputation, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study examines inputs that contribute to country concept, specifically the country reputation of Ghana among Americans. The results of a structural equation model indicate that familiarity is a key mediator between participants' experiences with the country and Ghana's country reputation. It is found that the participants' experiences with Ghana affected the reputation of that country positively but indirectly through the mediating role of increased familiarity. Practitioners of international public relations and public diplomacy could benefit from the use of strategies and tactics that would increase the familiarity of the U.S. public with sub-Saharan African countries.

Welcome To Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Collective Influence Of Multiple Spreaders Evaluated By Tracing Real Information Flow In Large- Scale Social Networks, Xian Teng, Sen Pei, Flaviano Morone, Hernán A. Makse

Publications and Research

Identifying the most influential spreaders that maximize information flow is a central question in network theory. Recently, a scalable method called “Collective Influence (CI)” has been put forward through collective influence maximization. In contrast to heuristic methods evaluating nodes’ significance separately, CI method inspects the collective influence of multiple spreaders. Despite that CI applies to the influence maximization problem in percolation model, it is still important to examine its efficacy in realistic information spreading. Here, we examine real-world information flow in various social and scientific platforms including American Physical Society, Facebook, Twitter and LiveJournal. Since empirical data cannot be directly …

Understanding How Intentionally Unplugging From Cell Phones Shapes Interpersonal Relationships And The Undergraduate College Experience, Jadelin P. Felipe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of what motivated college students—the Unplugged Students—to intentionally use their cell phones less and how they understood the impact that unplugging had on their interpersonal relationships and college experience. Nine undergraduate college students from four private schools were interviewed in one-on-one semi- structured interviews. These students, considered non-users, provided a particularly useful perspective as these students made a conscious choice to counteract social norms and experienced both being plugged in and unplugged. Cell phones and the act of unplugging proved to make up a complex and more nuanced topic than …

All In The Game: Communitarianism And 'The Wire', Chad Painter

Communication Faculty Publications

Communitarian ethicists argue that social identity is formed by community relationships, emphasizing the connection between an individual and his or her community. News organizations are part of that community. Indeed, journalism only functions properly in terms of the public and public life, and as part of a larger community. This textual analysis study focused on the breakdown of the fictional Baltimore community depicted in the television series The Wire. Five institutions—the police force and justice system, the labor force, local and state politicians and government, the educational system, and the daily newspaper—have failed, and, in turn, the city is …

Collective Influence Algorithm To Find Influencers Via Optimal Percolation In Massively Large Social Media, Flaviano Morone, Byungjoon Min, Lin Bo, Romain Mari, Hernán A. Makse

Publications and Research

We elaborate on a linear-time implementation of Collective-Influence (CI) algorithm introduced by Morone, Makse, Nature 524, 65 (2015) to find the minimal set of influencers in networks via optimal percolation. The computational complexity of CI is O(N log N) when removing nodes one-by-one, made possible through an appropriate data structure to process CI. We introduce two Belief-Propagation (BP) variants of CI that consider global optimization via message-passing: CI propagation (CIP) and Collective- Immunization-Belief-Propagation algorithm (CIBP) based on optimal immunization. Both identify a slightly smaller fraction of influencers than CI and, remarkably, reproduce the exact analytical optimal percolation threshold obtained in …

Youth Media And Social Change: Using Digital Storytelling As A Tool That Engages Youth To Become Change Agents, Soufiane Khebbaz

Capstone Collection

Today the importance of digital technology has significantly increased worldwide, as cameras, laptops, and easy-to-use applications and software have become available to educators and activists, enabling them to join the digital world. Through a digital storytelling workshop, I examined the use of digital storytelling as a potential means of empowerment for teenagers participating in the Access Micro-scholarship Program. Using qualitative methods, I looked at the students’ interactions with each other as well as with technology in the process of digital storytelling. The main purpose of this project was to investigate the opportunities that digital storytelling practices hold for youth in …

The Agenda Setting Effects Of Cnn’S Twitter In The 2016 Super Tuesday Primaries, Joy Huertas

Masters Theses

Governmental fall downs, electoral outcomes, terrorism propaganda, and climate change awareness are just some of the commonly known results of the effects of news media coverage on the public opinion and society as a whole. For years, researchers have utilized the agenda setting theory as a basis for their studies on the effects of the news media coverage on the public opinion in countless of contexts. The purpose of this study was to analyze the agenda setting effects of a major broadcast news organization but from one of their most influential social media channels, Twitter. CNN’s daily Twitter mentions of …

Medium As King: Social Media & The Political Campaign, Isaac Shea

Masters Theses

There is a growing need for a greater understanding of the intersection between great content, effective targeting and proper media usage in mediated communication and especially in American politics. As more campaigns move their efforts online in an attempt to reach a rapidly growing digital constituency, more content will continue to be less visible. The major quest for this study will be to challenge the long-standing idea that “content is king” which Bill Gates termed at the inception of the internet. A theoretical background of Marshall McLuhan and Kathleen Hall Jamieson will not only allow us to answer this question, …

The Digital Battleground: The Political Pulpit To Political Profile, Shylee Garrett

Celebration of Learning

Social media has infiltrated our daily lives, and with an upcoming election, the messages disseminated are becoming increasingly important for the public electorate. By examining Twitter accounts of 2016 Republican presidential candidates through a content analysis, I was able to decipher patterns, preferences and post effectiveness. As my Senior Inquiry research continues, I will be able to use my model to decipher the best practices for political use of Twitter for future elections and political candidates.

Pretty Princess And Hurdling Heroes: A Content Analysis Of Walt Disney Studio Movies, Jessica Noll

Communication Studies

This study investigated the portrayal of active and passive behaviors of male and female characters in Walt Disney Studio original animated films. It was hypothesized that males would exhibit more active behaviors than their female counterparts and that females would exhibit more passive behaviors than their male counterparts. The results indicated that both of these hypotheses were supported. The study also found that the least likely interaction of male and female characters was when the male character was being passive and the female character was being active. The most likely was male characters performing active behaviors and female characters performing …

Edward Snowden, Hero Or Traitor? An Analysis Of News Media Framing, Cole N. Caster

Communication Studies

Mainstream news broadcasters such as Fox News, CNN and MSNBC are some of the most popular sources of news in the world. With such a significant responsibility, it is both important and interesting to analyze how news outlets present their stories. This project focuses on the roll of framing in news media. Specifically, how the news broadcasters Fox News, CNN and MSNBC employ the hero and traitor frame in the presentation of Edward Snowden, an ex National Security Administration contractor who leaked thousands of highly classified documents to news outlets.

This Machine Kills Fascists: Music, Speech And War, Robert J. Crisler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

This thesis examines the history and persuasive power of rhetoric through the mass medium of popular music from Woody Guthrie to the modern era. It focuses on the Vietnam War era as a particularly significant and prolific era of topical (“protest”) music. Through interviews with media observers, historians and veterans of the Vietnam war, it seeks to understand the relevance of rhetorical speech in music within an overall mass media context, both within that era and extending to the present day. Through contemporaneous accounts of the intent of the songwriters and artists, an understanding is gained of the intent to …

Branding Faith: Do Christian Ministries Reach Millennials With Branding?, Bolashade Hanson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research study is to discover what branding techniques used by Christian organizations are effective in connecting with Millennials and why, and to determine what are effective branding practices in a religious context. A convergent parallel mixed–method research design was used to gather the data. It included a content analysis of the branding components of four Christian organizations that target Millennials—The Passion Conference, The VOUS Conference, Acquire the Fire and Winterfest. A survey of 150 Millennials of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds within the age range of 18-34 was conducted to collect quantitative data on Millennials’ predispositions …

Uncovering America’S Horror Story: A Content And Critical Analysis Of American Horror Story., Jessica Maio

Honors Projects in Communication

The popular television series American Horror Story has captivated millions of Americans with its shocking and twisted plotlines that never fail to surprise. Perhaps one of the reasons that the show has become so popular is that it uses the horror genre as a way to explore controversial topics. The purpose of this project is to examine the controversial topics that are presented in American Horror Society and compare them with the current views of mainstream society to determine whether the show primarily reflects the views of the larger society or challenges them. In other words, how does American Horror …

Social Media & Political Engagement: Environmental Organizations, Social Media And Political Engagement, Tyler Cate

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Social media is becoming more important in today’s digital society, but how effective is the use of social media when it comes to political engagement? How do environmental organizations use social media and is it effective in encouraging their “followers” to engage in online and/or offline political activity? I collected Facebook and Twitter data from ten environmental organizations to assess the effectiveness of each posting. I hypothesize that the groups making direct calls for action via social media receive a greater response – beyond “clicktivism” or “slacktivism” – than the groups that do not. The data includes the number of …