Journalism Studies Commons^™

Farmers’ Place-Based Discourse About Water Relations: Ways Of Knowing Water And Multispecies Survival, Jeffrey Alan Hoffmann

Communication ETDs

The present study looks at farmers’ discourse about water and water relations. Through qualitative interviews using the method of cultural discourse analysis (CuDA), and the framework of ecocultural dialectics, the study reveals how, as farmers talk about water, they also make explicit and implicit arguments about specific cultural relations with the biosphere, as well as the role of identity, place, and power in designing and implementing agricultural solutions to ecological and social problems. I argue that the contradictions in how farmers discursively envision the problems of water pollution and scarcity, as well as solutions to those problems in their farming …

Recognizing Anti-Blackness In Media And Other Institutions, Marissa Lucero

Black History at UNM

Myra Washington, Associate Professor in Communication and Journalism at The University of New Mexico, discusses how dehumanizing portrayals of Black people in the media desensitizes people to brutal violence against Black people. She defines anti-blackness as multiple institutions working together to marginalize Black people. Washington explains, if people choose to discuss anti-blackness in media, it’s imperative to discuss other instances that showcase anti-blackness within different institutions, including education, policy, healthcare, religion, economy, and family. Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism at UNM, Shinsuke Eguchi, also reflects on the politics of race and anti-blackness in this article. This article is a …

Painted Over In Brown: Border Art As Visual Discourse Of Resistance, Nicole Rivera

Communication ETDs

Borders are created to colonize both land and body. The politically constructed line between the United Stated (U.S.) and Mexico impose physical and emotional trauma through border militarization and immigration policies that consequently separate families and criminalize individuals. Rhetoric centering xenophobic divisions has normalized violence against brown bodies. The relentless effort to continue this divide has led to a genre of art that manifests on the border wall. Artist use the U.S.-Mexico border as a canvas to resist and challenge migratory criminalization by visualizing their opinions to redefine this 1,954-mile line. This research is centered in the study of communication …

Political Use Of Instagram: The Relationships Between Motivations, Frequent Use, Incidental News Exposure And Online Political Participation, Hyerin Kwon

Communication ETDs

As Instagram is widely popular with young people, politicians and news media turn to Instagram and spread an array of political information. Despite the growing popularity, few studies have explored political use of Instagram. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate why and how college students use Instagram for politics. Based on the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory, this study examines students’ motivations and political uses of Instagram, such as getting political information, expressing political opinions, and following political accounts. Lastly, this thesis explores how young people unintentionally get political information on Instagram. This thesis found that motivation for …

Moving Away From The Alt-Right: How The Proud Boys Utilize Image Conscious Populist Media To Re-Brand White Nationalism, Christina Blankenship

Communication ETDs

Unite the Right, deemed a ‘failure’ by major media outlets, generated two important developments: One, it highlighted the increased public mobilization of the Far-Right, challenging the established notion that such groups existed only in online spheres and two, gave factions the motivation to disassociate from the Alt-Right’s message and carve out an identity for their own. This project examines the Proud Boys, a ‘men’s group’ formed in 2016 by Gavin McInnes. In studying the group’s online blog (The Proud Boys Magazine), this project demonstrates that while the group tried to distance themselves, much of their success in generating …

Genetically Modified Salmon And The Future Of Food: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Twitter, Margaret Markham Siebert

Communication ETDs

This dissertation is a qualitative content analysis of the ongoing online debate on Twitter regarding the AquAdvantage Salmon™, the first genetically engineered animal, fish, and meat product approved by the FDA for sale and consumption in the US. On Twitter, Topics can be discussed by any account user creating a public sphere and forum of discussion. In a time when the anthropogenic impacts on the environment are observable and at times detrimental, it remains in question how we will produce our food; this study problematizes whether or not genetic engineering is the solution and the future of our food, and …

"Is There Really A Way To Prevent Cancer?": Exploring Cancer Prevention Information Seeking Among Cancer Patients And Their Caregivers, Kaitlin M. Magee

Communication ETDs

This thesis investigated cancer prevention information (CPI) seeking among cancer patients and their caregivers. Interviews that were conducted in 2011 were analyzed thematically to deconstruct perceptions and sources of CPI among 47 participants. The thematic narrative analysis of the predominantly Hispanic, low-income and low-education sample revealed differences in CPI seeking related to ways cultural practices and socioeconomic status impact information seeking. The digital divide, Spanish language and perceived high cost presented barriers to information yet created opportunities for patients and family members to emerge as health champions to share information interpersonally and intergenerationally. Understanding CPI processes of racial and ethnic …

Framing Of European Union Borders In Online News: Multimodal Discourses Of Inclusion And Exclusion, Ivana Cvetkovic

Communication ETDs

In times of crisis, online news media, on whose reports people heavily rely for information and interpretation of complex European affairs, play an important role in production of knowledge and negotiation of the meanings of the European Union’s response to the “migrant crisis” in 2015 when more than million migrants reached Europe after fleeing their home countries. This research project examines how European online news outlets constructed notions of borders, space, mobility and migration, and thus promoted particular institutionalized discourses on inclusion and exclusion with profound ideological implications. A secondary goal of this research is to explore the particular ways …

A Cartography Of Roots: An Exploration Of Plant Communication, Place, And Story, Mariko Oyama Thomas

Communication ETDs

This study uses oral history and auto-ethnography to collect thematic data on relationships and communication between plants and people in New Mexico, USA. Western and industrial cultures tend to be plant-blind, which is extremely dangerous in the wake of climate disruption and associated loss of plant biodiversity. This study works to collect and produce a generative landscape of narratives of non-binary relationships between humans and plants. These narratives show a range of hopeful, relational connections between human and more-than-human worlds. Overall results indicated the existence of many positive relationships between plants and people in the Western world, and that these …

“What’S With What’S Her Name? Siri, Call So And So… Can’T You Use Your Own Hands!?” Older Adult Perspectives On The Roles Communication Technology And Physical Activity Play In Their Aging Experiences, Andrew J. West

Communication ETDs

Information and resources are needed to promote quality of life and access to health resources for older adults. Physical activity is an effective health prevention strategy that can help increase older adult life satisfaction and maintain functional ability. Communication technologies like the Internet and smartphone are also useful tools that provide older adults needed resources to stay educated and engaged in healthy aging. This study investigated older adult perceptions of aging, communication technology, and physical activity for older adults. Literature on theories of aging, physical activity strategies, behavior change, and technology use was gathered to understand how these concepts contribute …

The Sweet Tale: A Pilot Study Of An Interactive Narrative Health Communication Intervention Using Positive Deviance To Highlight Communicative Acts That Lead To Effective Management Of Diabetes Among Hispanics, Claudia M. Boyd

Communication ETDs

In this dissertation, I conducted a pilot study that applied positive deviance (Singhal, 2011; Pascale, Sternin, & Sternin, 2012) findings from my master’s thesis (Boyd, 2015) to an entertainment-education (Singhal & Rogers, 1999) driven intervention in a Hispanic community (Baezconde-Garbanti et al., 2014; Murphy et al., 2013; Wang & Singhal, 2016), using an interactive narrative (Green & Jenkins, 2014) to develop achildren’s book. In the current pilot study, I created a children’s book The Sweet Taleusing extensive formative research and created a framework to aid in the development offuture Hispanic children’s books on diabetes. To evaluate The Sweet Tale, I …

It Is More Than A Game: An Ethnography Of Communication Treatment Of Resilience As A Key Element Of Basketball Culture, Matthew Charles Higgins

Communication ETDs

This study, theoretically and methodologically grounded in the ethnography of communication (Hymes 1974; Carbaugh, 1992; Covarrubias, 2008; Philipsen, 1992; Philipsen, Coutu, & Covarrubias, 2005), investigated the relationship between communication and resilience as expressed by professional basketball players and coaches from a particular city in southwest United States, referred to as PG City. Guiding questions include: Is there a basketball culture? Does basketball constitute a speech community? How do basketball and basketball culture help players and coaches fight through adversity? What is the role of resilience within basketball culture? Interviews, using ethnography of communication approaches, were used to uncover elements …

International News Agencies In The Era Of Global Communications: Cctv’S Contra-Flow And The Factors That Influence U.S. Media’S Selection Of News About China, Huan Ran

Communication ETDs

This research aimed to measure the initial perceptions of CCTV+ among U.S. journalists in 2011, a moment that marked the launch of CCTV News Content or CCTV+, a global news service by CCTV. The research was based on an analysis of surveys (n=572) with managers and directors of U.S. news agencies. Survey data collected was complemented with analysis of qualitative data from open-ended interview questions to explore how ideological factors influence U.S. journalists’ selection of news through CCTV+. The research found that the most important attributes of news coverage in U.S. journalists’ decision-making to use a foreign TV news service …

Kenyan Youths’ Experiences Of Intercultural Conflict: Negotiating Context, Intersectionalities, And Agency, Lindsay Scott

Communication ETDs

Kenya is faced with a myriad of intercultural conflicts that impact youth. This study shifts attention to eleven diverse Kenyan youth leaders, to understand how they experience and respond to conflict. To collect data, I facilitated a conflict transformation and peacebuilding workshop in Meru, Kenya. I analyzed participants' written reflections and workshop discussions using a critical textual analysis. Participants identified contextual structures, such as tribalism, politics, economics, and patriarchy as enabling and constraining conflict. I also found that accounting for intersectional subject positions is important during intercultural conflict because how participants are positioned influences their capacity to respond to conflict …

A Church’S Approach To Intercultural Communication Encounters In Short-Term Missions, Carolotta Anweiler

Communication ETDs

The prevalence of short-term mission trips by churches and/or faith-based organizations has increased tremendously (Howell & Door, 2007, Anaheier & Themudo, 2005). However, no research has been completed on the training offered to in preparation for these types of trips, specifically, training for intercultural trips. I joined a church on their short-term mission experience to examine as a participant observer how they were trained to interact with people of another cultural group and then, how the training affected the interactions on the trip.

Through the use of Grounded Theory, I examined the discourse used in the trainings offered and throughout …

Negotiating Culture In Africa: A Critical Analysis Of Organizational Discourse In Ghana, Eric Karikari

Communication ETDs

Organizational culture is a concept that is theoretically contested, particularly within critical approaches to communication. However, it is a highly crucial area of research which has symbolic and material implications for individuals, organizations and communities. This study contributes to the conversation about how organizational culture is constituted by interrogating the forces at play in this constitution. One of such forces is neoliberalism, which operates by subsuming all organizational practices under the umbrella of market value. The study takes a cultural materialist approach to organizational culture through the analysis of discourse at the National Communications Authority (NCA) in Ghana.

The NCA …

Realidades Culturales De Argentina: Demystifying (Trans)National Ideologies In Study Abroad Curriculum, Matthew Hoeg

Communication ETDs

The study focused on discourses in a study abroad textbook titled Realidades Culturales de Argentina which was designed for students from the United States studying abroad in Argentina. The aim was to understand what educational texts in (trans)national spaces such as study abroad programs, are expecting of students in relation to communicative practices that extend beyond language learning. The study used a critical discourse analysis approach to deconstruct first the expectations of the students and second how these expectations worked in the (re)construction of (trans)national ideologies. Examining four recurring discursive practices in the textbook demonstrated that students were expected to …

"Health Is An Achoot Beat": Factors Influencing Pakistani Journalists' Coverage Of Polio Vaccination, Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah

Communication ETDs

Pakistan is one of the three countries where polio remained endemic in 2017—the other two being Afghanistan and Nigeria. The highest number of polio cases, 15, was recorded in Pakistan in 2016. A majority of the polio cases emerged among the ethnically Pakhtun population living in Pakhtunkhwa, FATA (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas), and Karachi, a metropolitan city in the Sindh province where Pakhtun immigrants from Pakhtunkhwa and FATA work and live. The resistance to polio vaccination among Pakhtuns has been associated with several factors, including a lack of knowledge about polio and anti-polio vaccine, the ongoing “war on terror,” …

(Lie)Alectics And The Discursive Dequeerification Of Political Spaces Based On Religious Freedoms: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis Of The Mormon And Gay Website, Myra N. Roberts

Communication ETDs

Over the past decade, sexual orientation and identity has increasingly been added to state and federal anti-discrimination laws, prompting a rhetorical situation by the Christian Right in attempts to exempt themselves from upholding anti-discrimination laws pertaining to sexual identity and orientation. This study analyzes the Mormon and Gay website—a website dedicated to advancing the position of the Mormon Church on issues of non-heterosexuality. Utilizing rhetorical textual analysis, I develop two theoretical frameworks: (lie)alectics and dequeerification to demonstrate how the discourse under examination attempts to appear non-homophobic while maintaining homophobic church doctrine. I argue that this model stands to influence the …

“It Is Non-Summit” And “It Is Abnormal” Unpacking Whiteness: Critiquing Racialized And Gendered Representations In Non-Summit (Bijeongsanghoedam)., Seonah Kim

Communication ETDs

In this thesis, I focus on a Korean entertainment show Non-Summit as a media text through which to investigate racialized and gendered representations of transnational identities in Korean media. Specifically, I examine discursive strategies through which foreign male characters are racialized and gendered in order to interrogate the hegemonic masculinity of White, Western, and heterosexual identities. On the basis of a critical textual analysis of Non-Summit, I discuss Non-Summit reproduces and distributes representations of White, Western, and heterosexual masculinity as dominant foreign identities. Furthermore, I examine the ideological implications of such discourse on the hegemonic foreign identities given the …

Reproducing The Ghanaian/African Subject: Ideological Tensions And Queer Subjectivities In Postcolonial Ghana, Godfried A. Asante

Communication ETDs

Same-Sex sexual relationship continues to be a criminal offence in Ghana under the carnal knowledge clause instituted by the British during colonization. Although the law does not specifically mention same-sex sexual relations, carnal knowledge criminalizes all forms of non- heterosexual sexual activities. The criminalization of same-sex sexual relations has sparked an intense debate about African subjectivity. On the one hand, many African nationalists and most Christian organizations argue that same-sex sexual relations is unAfrican; this enables them to both subjugate queers while not having to defend their views more explicitly. Others (typically academics) have explored the existence of diverse sexual …

Sex Ed To Go- An Analysis Of Comprehensive Sexual Education Mobile Phone Applications, Kerstin M. Kalke

Communication ETDs

The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates among developed countries and the numbers of STIs have increased during the last few years. Mobile phone applications constitute a promising platform to disseminate sexual health information and to reduce adverse health outcomes, particularly among teens. In order to be effective, apps have to follow a comprehensive approach to sexuality education, include concepts of behavior change theories, and adhere to health literacy principles.

This study used a mixed-methods approach consisting of a quantitative content analysis and qualitative thematic analysis to assess the quality of sexual education apps available to …

Discourse On Gender, Religion, And Culture In Pakistani Films: A Narrative Analysis Of Contemporary Independent Films From Pakistan, Mohib Rehman

Communication ETDs

This thesis examines the discourse about gender, religion, and culture in four independent films produced in Pakistan between 2000 and 2013 to advocate for women's empowerment: Silent Water and Good Morning Karachi from female director Sabiha Sumar, and In the Name of God and Speak from male director Shoaib Mansoor. I analyzed plot, characterization, dialogues, and visual images to discuss how the filmmakers represented the dynamics of women's oppression, struggle against oppressive agents, and options or solutions for women's empowerment. Further, this project explored the ideological implications of the narratives constructed in the films within the Pakistani society in the …

Un/Desirable Subjects: South Asian Racialization In The Age Of Terror, Santhosh Chandrashekar

Communication ETDs

This dissertation examines South Asian racialization in the United States after the 9/11 attacks. Using a comparative racialization framework, it proposes South Asian racialization as entangled with neo-orientalism, anti-Blackness, and settler colonialism which Andrea Smith (2006, 2012) has called the three pillars of white supremacy and undergirded by heteropatriarchy. An examination of the Oak Creek shooting and the discourses surrounding it demonstrated that neo-orientalism rendered Sikh Americans as interchangeable with Muslims by constituting them as 'Muslim-looking' (Ahmad, 2004), even as it coerced the former to instantiate their difference from Muslims through an aggressive performance of heterosexual patriotism and by reducing …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Colombian Identities And Humanature In National Geographic Magazine (1903-1952), Mónica Pérez-Marín

Communication ETDs

The main purpose of this dissertation is to challenge assumptions of neutrality and objectivity in popular science journalism by investigating how representations of Colombian identities and humanature in National Geographic Magazine between 1903 and 1952 create social knowledge and power in the context of the U.S.-Colombia relations. The investigation is based on the analysis of nine in-depth articles, including 214 pages of written text, 200 photos, and 6 maps. I applied two methods of analysis: critical discourse analysis and visual rhetoric. The discussion of discursive practices, textual structures, and social practices was organized chronologically into three significant periods and related …

Female Gender Role Representation Between 1990 And 2010 In Imported Childrens Cartoons And Their Implications For Conservative Yemeni Culture, Fatima Al-Hattami

Communication ETDs

This thesis explores the female gender role representations in imported cartoons across the years 1990 and 2010 and their resonance with the conservative Yemeni Muslim culture. The two selected cartoons are A Little Princess Sara (a Nippon Animation production) and Totally Spies (a Marathon Media production), both of which are imported to the Arab countries, dubbed into the Arabic language, aired on Arab childrens channels and popular among girls. The study is inspired by theories of media and cultural globalization and imperialism, which were developed to explain media policies and flow around the globe. The study also draws on the …

Censured Motherhood: Communicating The Double Bind Between Motherhood And The Professoriate, Sarah Fuller

Communication ETDs

This study revealed the interpersonal networks and communication resources available to women who are both mothers and professors in a large university in the southwestern United States. The current study was an inquiry using approaches from the ethnography of communication (EOC), which holds that culture and communication are inseparable and synonymous (Carbaugh, 2007; Covarrubias, 2002; Philipsen, 1997).Therefore, by interviewing nine women who are mothers of at least one child living at home and are also full-time professors, I accessed utterances that explicate cultural enactments of motherhood in the academy. During the course of this study, I asked the professors who …

Don't Put Me In "Quotes": Examining Communication Episodes Of Health-Related Stigma, Ashley Archiopoli

Communication ETDs

This study examined communication episodes of health-related stigma, which includes instances where individuals were made to feel bullied, excluded, rejected, blamed, or embarrassed due to a health condition they or someone they know possesses. This study used the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) to approach this study; in particular the DICA model advanced by Pearce (2007), which moves through a process of description, interpretation, critique, and action was used in study design. Six research questions were developed that roughly correspond to the DICA model. This study used a grounded approach to data collection and analysis: data were collected in two …

Mediated Narratives On Citizenship, Immigration, And National Identity: The Construction Of Dreamer Identities In Public Discourse Surrounding President Obama's 2012 Deferred Deportation Announcement, Marisa Garcia Rodriguez

Communication ETDs

In the present study, I explore mediated constructions of citizenship, immigrant identities, and national identity in the coverage of the debates that surrounded President Obama's 2012 deferred deportation announcement. My goals in this study are to understand (1) how citizenship is constructed in mediated discourse in response to President Obama's announcement; (2) how immigrant identities, specifically young undocumented immigrants (DREAMers), are constructed in mediated discourse; (3) how national identity is constructed through these mediated discourses; and, (4) how the representation of DREAMer identities reproduces or challenges dominant public discourses on citizenship, immigrant identity, and national identity. Using social constructionism and …

"This Is How Worklife Should Be": Quality Connections, Positive Relationships, And Positive Organizational Climate, Susan Scheller Arsht

Communication ETDs

This dissertation explores positive communication in the workplace; namely, that communication which constitutes quality connections and positive relationships associated with positive organizational climate. High quality connections and positive relationships are some of the most important dynamics in work life and key to developing a respectful, affirming work climate. By coding their communicative elements, this study develops a new communicative model of positive relationships and quality connections at work which synthesizes contemporary models from the fields of organizational behavior, psychology, and organizational communication. It demonstrates the applicability of this new model with empirical evidence from working professionals' stories and establishes the …