Journalism Studies Commons^™

Advertising Influence On Climate Change News Coverage: A Comparison Of The New York Times And The Guardian, Natalie L. Hamren

Communication ETDs

This study examines how fossil fuel advertising may influence climate change coverage by comparing The New York Times, which publishes fossil fuel advertisements, and The Guardian, which has banned them. Drawing on the Hierarchy of Influences and Social Responsibility Theory, the study uses ethnographic content analysis by analyzing (n=104) articles between 2022 and 2025 to examine framing, source usage, tone, and emphasis. Findings indicate that The New York Times more frequently framed climate change through political and economic lenses and relied heavily on government and business sources. In contrast, The Guardian more often employed scientific framing, cited researchers, …

Blockade Logic: Settler Consciousness And The Petro-Security Apparatus, Sarah Seroy

Communication ETDs

This study examines contemporary CID legislation and surrounding political rhetoric in Canada and its implications for Indigenous communities. It reveals how settler consciousness is affirmed through such legislation and how discourse rooted in colonial logics serves to strengthen Canada’s petro-security apparatus. Drawing from Teun van Dijk’s (1995) method of Ideological Discourse Analysis and integrating Indigenous epistemologies, it offers a research approach of anticolonial discourse analysis. This analysis reveals CID legislation as a racialized, colonial tool and a form of biopower the settler-state exerts over Indigenous communities. It normalizes settler-state hegemony and justifies the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous communities. This study …

How To Talk To A Seahorse: Communication In Transmasculine Gestational Experiences As Told Through Narrative, Emerson Armstrong

Communication ETDs

Transmasculine experiences before, during, and after pregnancy were evaluated using focus groups and autoethnographic research. As transgender people are more likely to experience inequality in healthcare encounters, this project aims to shed light on, and counter sensationalized accounts of male pregnancy, as transmasculine gestational individuals sought normalization in their experiences of pregnancy. Seven focus groups consisted of 90 minute sessions, with a total of 15 participants. Transcripts were analyzed using a trans narrative approach to find a greater understanding about identity construction, challenges, and changes around trans pregnancy. Asking about communities and healthcare experiences worked to create a complete picture …

Influences Of The Western Press On News Framing Of Global Events In Developing Countries: Examining Covid-19 And Climate Coverage In A Bangladeshi News Organization, Arif Md Tareque Habib

Communication ETDs

This study shows that a small number of Western news organizations (e.g., Reuters, The New York Times) may influence how local news organizations in developing countries frame global crises and that this influence may lead local news organizations to ignore locally relevant aspects of those crises. To test this thesis, two studies were conducted on the coverage of two crises -- COVID-19 and climate change -- by a news organization in Bangladesh, a developing country in South Asia. The news organization, www.bdnews24.com, serves both as a news agency or news supplier for local newspapers and an online newspaper for users. …

Between Two Countries: The Impact Of Globalization And Deglobalization On Generation 1.5 Chinese International Students In The U.S., Meiyi Jin

Communication ETDs

This study examines how Generation 1.5 Chinese international students, those who moved to the U.S. as teenagers and completed secondary education there, construct their identities amid globalization and the growing trend of deglobalization. Through in-depth interviews with 10 participants, it explores how they navigate their transnational experiences, negotiate belonging, and respond to shifting cultural expectations and perceptions from both China and the U.S. Using critical thematic analysis, the study goes beyond identifying recurring themes by analyzing the power relations, discourses, and sociopolitical dynamics that shape participants’ experiences. Findings reveal that geopolitical tensions, restrictive policies, and evolving public discourse in both …

Women In The Traditional Gender System Through Sexualized And Inappropriate Performances In The Modern Advertisements, Ruoning Xia

Communication ETDs

This study examined the body and gender identity performances and narratives of women in different Chinese advertisements, and deconstructed the motivation and representation of humiliation, sexual harassment, and gender offside toward women in public spaces. The study takes feminism, patriarchal capitalism, and rhetorical criticism to analyze the situation of Chinese women’s identity and gender in the traditional gender system, as well as the status of women’s situations with patriarchy and capitalism discourses. Through the analysis of the advertisements, the study criticized the gender (mis)representation of women’s gender identity and bodies among women's identities, bodies, and patriarchy, and deconstructs the gender …

Tales About Afghan Women After The U.S. Lost The War In Afghanistan In 2021: A Frame Analysis Of Coverage In The New York Times, Ismat Ara Begum

Communication ETDs

This study investigates how U.S. news media framed Afghan women’s identities and experiences in the context of the Taliban’s return to power after the U.S. military withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. In this qualitative inquiry, I examined 11 in-depth, human-interest stories in The New York Times, a mainstream news organization known for its influence on coverage of international and global affairs. A frame analysis was applied to identify salient frames and their ideological underpinnings. The findings show two dominant frames in the coverage, women’s rights and victimhood, articulated through three rhetorical strategies—binary oppositions, comparing loss vs. gain, and emphasis on …

“How I Dress Is No One’S Business!”: Fashion As A Subversive Language Of Resistance Among Female Christian Celebrities In Ghana, Amanda E. Gyesi

Communication ETDs

Influenced by burgeoning literature on feminism and feminist theories, specifically within the African context, I analyze the intersection of religion and celebrity culture among a select group of women in Ghana. Using the African feminist critical discourse analysis, guided by Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding model, this research examines how female Christian celebrities in Ghana enact resistance, project their agency, and shape their identities through their fashion statements and sartorial choices, hence contributing to the broader discourse on fashion communication among religious women.

Through a critical analysis of Instagram comments and YouTube interview transcripts, I argue that fashion communication among …

(Dis)Connecting Incommensurable Relationalities: Aesthetics Of Desirable Citizenship & Interethnic Solidarity In Vietnamese/American Diasporic Media, Anh A. T. Nguyen

Communication ETDs

Employing critical diasporic rhetoric to articulate the pull and push glimmer of essentialist and nationalistic agendas of constructing Vietnamese diasporic subjectivities, I elucidate the complicated structure of diasporic nationalism that gives shape to ambiguities, paradoxes, and contradictions of Vietnamese diasporic withdrawal and regroupment in interethnic politics. Through three case studies explicating Vietnamese diasporic responses to the Chinese virus rhetorics, the appearance of the South Vietnamese flag on January 6 Capitol grounds, and the Atlanta shootings in Saigon Broadcasting Television Networks (SBTN), I highlight how Vietnamese diasporic authorities perform and enact citizenships of becoming desirable, which elevates oppressive forces of ideological …

Media Road To Violence: A Process Of Racialization Of Rohingya Ethnic Minority, Md Didarul Islam

Communication ETDs

ABSTRACT

This dissertation examines how ideologically loaded news media representations advanced the complex and ambiguous process of racialization of the Rohingyas, an ethnic Muslim minority in Myanmar. This study first interrogates the dominant patterns in news sourcing and thematic emphasis in the coverage of Rohingya; secondly, it sheds light on how these representations contribute to reproducing dominant ideologies and power relations. I selected two English-language newspapers published in Myanmar: The Global New Light of Myanmar and the Myanmar Times. I applied the notions of media representation (Hall, 1997), ideology (Althusser, 2007), and racialization (Garner & Selod, 2015) as the central …

Transnational(Izing) African Communication: A Post-/Decolonial Approach To Nollywood And Globalization, Tomide Oloruntobi

Communication ETDs

In this dissertation, I examine culture and communication in transnational Nigeria, focusing on Nollywood and its industrial politics. Through a critical ethnographic examination of Nollywood’s reception among global and transnational audiences, I critique the evolving patterns of difference, power, and politics informing production, distribution, consumption, and performance/communication of otherness. With four composite dimensions of decoloniality: structural, epistemic, personal, and relational as theoretical foundation, I analyzed observations and interviews with 21 transnational Nigerians, online focus group discussions, user reviews, movies/series, and blogposts. I discuss the emergent themes of coloniality of space, mobility, and culture; re-making of racial otherness and hetero-patriarchy/normativity; cultural …

Breaking The Silence: Autoethnographic Account Of Communication In The Aftermath Of Parental Suicide, Marissa L. Lucero

Communication ETDs

The silence that surrounds the suicide of a parent often masks unresolved feelings of guilt, shame, and powerlessness in families grieving their loss. For children, the long-lasting impact of suppressing communication about parental suicide can endure throughout adulthood. In this autoethnography, I un-salience my voice to reflect on my father’s suicide in the context of my Nuevo Mexicana identity. I assert my Chicana feminist voice through an extraction of gendered and culturally grounded memories, personal journal entries from my childhood, and a review of academic sources on suicide. This thesis is a personal and intellectual engagement with Chicana/o critical theory, …

Reproducing And Challenging Islamophobia In News Framing Of Ilhan Omar And Rashida Tlaib, Two Prominent Muslim Women In U.S. Politics, Saiqa Shahzadi

Communication ETDs

ABSTRACT

Muslim women are frequently misrepresented in U.S. mainstream media and often portrayed adversely as a homogeneous group of women defined and silenced by religious and gender oppression. Scholarly research has documented how this historical pattern of representation ignores their intersectional, complex identities and reinforces the discourse of Islamophobia. This thesis will explore this problem in the case of the first Muslim American women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives: Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan). Drawing on theories of media framing, intersectionality, and Islamophobia, the research examined 12 in-depth stories from 2019 and 2023 in three mainstream …

Health Infographics: An Examination Of Breastfeeding Infographics From The World Health Organization, Naadiyahtu Iddrisu

Communication ETDs

This thesis employed a qualitative thematic analysis and the representational, interpersonal, and compositional functions of visual analysis approaches to examine the World Health Organization breastfeeding infographics published between 2019–2023 through the lens of two health promotion models: the Enabling Environment for Breastfeeding Model, and the Social and Ecological Model. A total of 59 infographics were analyzed. The findings revealed that breastfeeding infographics have called for creating an enabling environment that supports breastfeeding by emphasizing breastfeeding as a shared or collective responsibility. Again, mothers were the main target audience of breastfeeding infographics. Also, the use of multiple racial colors - White, …

Intersections Of Health And Religion: Experiences And Perceptions Of Muslim Refugee Women In The Us Regarding Communication With Healthcare Providers, Sumaira Abrar

Communication ETDs

Delivering healthcare to Muslim refugee patients in a healthcare environment necessitates a profound understanding of their cultural and religious beliefs. The healthcare provider faces intricate hurdles in facilitating effective communication due to the diverse social, cultural, migration, and religious backgrounds within this population. Moreover, bridging the healthcare communication gap often involves grappling with gender-specific expectations aligned with how patients perceive healthcare delivery. To effectively navigate these challenges and enhance patient-provider communication, it is essential for providers to comprehend cultural norms, be well-versed in religious values and restrictions, and grasp the significance of self-care practices and connections to traditional and cultural …

News Media Framing Of Disabilities In Ghana: Journalistic Practices Amidst Advocacy Calls For Change, Pamela Ofori Boateng

Communication ETDs

The study contributes to expanding scholarly research on media portrayals of people with disabilities in Ghana. Drawing on theories of framing, ableism, and intersectionality, I analyzed news stories published in Graphic.com.gh. in 2021 and 2022 to explore how the editorial practices framed people with disabilities and how framing patterns revealed change and continuity in representation. The findings affirmed a shift to using more diverse and appropriate language to represent people with disabilities more fairly and accurately; the categorization of most of the disability stories under “General News,” which suggests the significance attached to disability related stories; and the …

The Role Of Social Media Activism In Achieving Good Water And Sanitation In Ghana, Inusah Mohammed

Communication ETDs

This thesis examined the role of social media activism in ensuring good water and sanitation in Ghana. The study conducted a thematic analysis of Facebook posts (403) from March 2020 to December 2022 and found seven themes on how social activists are presenting issues concerning water and sanitation in Ghana. The study also found outcomes of the activism and also found theoretical implications of activism on social media usage in Ghana.

Socially Mediated Self-Presentation, Image-Construction, And Twitter: A Multimodal Analysis Of Vice Presidents Across A Continental Divide, Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour

Communication ETDs

Struck by the paucity of studies on vice presidential rhetoric, the omnipresence of social media, and its centrality in politics, I analyzed the tweets of the vice president of the US, Kamala Harris, and the vice president of Ghana, Dr. Bawumia, after their respective elections in 2020. Taking a multimodal rhetorical analysis guided by a theoretical self-presentational framework centered around gender, personalization, and authenticity. I contribute to the broader discourse of how politicians communicate on social media to construct their public image. Taking a cue from the rhetorical approaches used by the two vice presidents, I argue that vice-presidential communication …

That's A Wrap: Using Cultural Discourse Analysis To Explicate The Film Portrayal Of Communication Between Elderly Parents And Their Adult Child(Ren) In A Caregiving Relationship, Gerri A. Duran

Communication ETDs

There are burgeoning numbers of elderly and a significant number of their adult children provide them with some level of care. To date, there has been little research on elderly parents’ perspective as they communicate with their adult children about the care provided by their children. This dissertation addresses this gap by identifying the nature of the communication, as portrayed in film, which occurs between an elderly parent (EP) and their caregiving adult child (AC).

In addition to identifying the nature of communication between an EP and their AC, I examine the similarities/differences of their communication among the films. I …

Un-Earthing Popular Climate Narratives: Maintenance And Prophecy In Settler World, Hannah Oxford

Communication ETDs

Climate change is fundamentally rooted in facts such as rising global temperatures, carbon emissions, losses in biodiversity, etc. However new information about our changing world is translated and incorporated within the narratives we live by and give form to our personal and collective worlds. While climate change is scientific, our mitigation efforts are entirely storied. This thesis looks at popular climate narratives that frames climate change as an issue of Earthly mechanics fixable through innovative technology. The goal of this thesis is to understand the ways in which settler colonialism, as a communicable mechanism of cultural production, organizes this particular …

Reimagining Rhetorical Ability: (Dis)Embodiments Of Disabled Speakers In The Stuttertalk Podcast And The 2020 Democratic National Convention, Katherine Mulle

Communication ETDs

While communication scholars have dedicated much research towards defining and furthering effective communication, explorations of speech disability, especially from a critical lens, are largely absent in these pursuits. I conducted a critical rhetorical analysis of the (dis)embodiments of disabled speakers through examining segments from the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC) program that cover Joe Biden’s story as a person who stutters, and episodes of StutterTalk, a podcast created by and featuring people who stutter. Moreover, I organize this thesis around two claims: (1) As a person who stutters with certain privilege and power, Joe Biden’s DNC story further secured …

"Sometimes You Just Want To Be Another Parent And Another Kid At The Party": Exploring Parental Narratives Surrounding Disclosure Of Child's Epilepsy, Lisa German

Communication ETDs

Epilepsy is currently the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world (Epilepsy Foundation, 2022). However, it is largely misunderstood by both the public and those with epilepsy. In addition, epilepsy is still a stigmatized condition in most areas of the world.

In part due to the stigma, as well as the impact on quality of life factors, disclosure of an epilepsy diagnosis can be a struggle for those with epilepsy as well as their parents or caregivers. Therefore, this study explored disclosure challenges faced by parents of children with epilepsy, utilizing Communication Privacy Management theory and Stigma Management Communication …

Coloniality And Paradoxes Of Migrancy: Experiences Of Nicaraguan Migrants In Costa Rica, Darcey Rydl

Communication ETDs

Vernacular (personal) discourses surrounding Nicaraguan immigration to Costa Rica were investigated through the lens of coloniality – a theoretical and conceptual process of understanding how the Eurocentered matrix of power and knowledge produces the subjectivity of peoples through exploitation (Mignolo & Walsh, 2019). Compared to national discourses, this study asked how vernacular discourses may challenge colonial social structures of power as well as support those same structures of power. To elicit these discourses, oral histories were conducted with nine Nicaraguans who have fled their country because of political violence. Oral histories allow for a complete account of the past by …

Melancolía X A Projection Of Queer Of Color Ambivalence In The 21st Century New Mexico, Anthony Rosendo Zarinana

Communication ETDs

This dissertation seeks to elucidate a form of investigation, derived from Jose Esteban Muñoz’s (2006) considerations of brown feelings. By triangulating a base across Queer of Color embodied critiques, I locate a research site in the field of Queer Intercultural Communication to ground the capacity of this project. In this, I work with Queer of Color men in New Mexico, focusing on their feelings about identity and desire as it relates to relational thresholds. By mapping an analytical structure across my own experiences and theirs, I determine to craft a more complicated vantage across our experiences, outlining the socio-cultural pressures …

Sisters Supporting Sisters: Photovoice & Diabetes Discourse Among Church-Based Women In New Mexico, Nina Mock Cooper

Communication ETDs

Within the expansive literature on diabetes in other disciplines, the communication lens focuses on the biomedical perspective and emphasizes doctor-patient and patient-provider relations. While there are limited studies that focus on the psychosocial aspect of diabetes morbidity, there is a gap in the existing literature across disciplines on communication about diabetes using both qualitative and participatory methods that are church-based. Because diabetes disproportionately and adversely impacts communities of color that report high levels of religious influence, there is an dire need for more effective interventions to ameliorate this chronic illness that causes high levels of morbidity and mortality.

The Sisters …

Re/ Constructing Race And Racism Among Unionized Mexican Immigrants Through Vernacular Discourse, Jocelyn Gomez

Communication ETDs

This study explores the vernacular discourse of unionized Mexican immigrants living and working in Orange County in California. Given the current political climate and the historical roots of the construction of "race" in the United States, I explore how the current sociopolitical conditions of organized Latina/o affect their understanding of race and their experiences with racism. It is also important to address the everyday racism the Latina/o community faces that continue to marginalize them. This study focuses on the vernacular discourses on race and racism of organized working-class Latinas/os who are members of labor unions. Through intentional conversations about racial …

Iina Dziil Be’At’Iin (On The Path Of A Strong Life): Dine (Navajo) Perceptions Of Self-Care And Social Support With Diabetes Management, Chenoa Bah Stilwell-Jensen

Communication ETDs

ABSTRACT

Managing diabetes requires a detailed self-care regimen of physical activity, eating well, testing glucose, healthy weight maintenance, and positive emotional outlook in order to maintain health outcomes. Education, clear communication, and sufficient support are needed to address challenging aspects of daily self-care at the onset of diagnosis and throughout the management of the illness. However, many people diagnosed with diabetes are unable to successfully manage their condition. Native Americans are twice as likely to have diabetes than Whites. Although diabetes-related kidney failure and other negative health effects remain a concern among Native Americans, rates of kidney failure in this …

Women’S Resilience Through Bullying Vernaculars: A Visual Vernacular Discourse Analysis, Karla Ibet Ochoa

Communication ETDs

This study shows the importance of understanding the vernaculars of resilience in relationship to bullying. In this thesis, I explore the public expressions of resilience from three women of color who experienced bullying and have become anti-bullying activists. I explore how the women construct public vernaculars of resilience and perform resilience. I drew on Feminist Standpoint Theory to conduct a visual vernacular discourse analysis of public expressions. The vernaculars discovered through analyzing the public expressions were resilience, self-expression, activism, and all voices matter. These vernaculars and performances reveal women’s feminist standpoints through the work that they do and release to …

Effects Of Message Frame And Cultural Orientations On Covid-19 Prevention Behaviors, Mika Hashimoto

Communication ETDs

This study aimed to explore effective message strategies to promote COVID-19 prevention behaviors among college students. Due to the fewer symptoms and lessened impact of COVID-19 in this population, young adults tend to have low perceived risk that results in low engagement in preventive behaviors. Also, some people may hold beliefs or values that are contrary to preventive behaviors. Thus, applying message framing theory, this study tested the effects of perceived risk and cultural orientation on adherence to prevention behaviors. The results showed that perceived risk and cultural orientation were associated with intention to maintain physical distance and wearing a …

Changing And Transitioning Name Narratives: The De.E.P. Standpoints Of Identities, Pauline C. Alvarez

Communication ETDs

The Changing and Transitioning Name Narrative project is a replicated study from the Name Narrative Project (2014) by Montoya, Vasquez, and Martínez. The changing and/or transitioning of names relates to a Decolonial Embodiment Process (DE.E.P.) that speaks to an internal process of how individuals break away from colonial powers. Furthermore, the study highlights nine (eight volunteers and the author’s) Name Narratives to investigate their realities that express an individual experience and shared standpoints. Importantly, the changing and/or transitioning of names is not an act to disrespect parents or name givers, but a profound self-love indication that is represented through materialize …