Mass Communication Commons^™

Editor's Page, Angela M. Hosek

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Cover And Front Matter, Volume 37

Basic Communication Course Annual

Cover, editorial board, table of contents

Situating Media Literacy With A Theory Of Change: “Mapping Jmle”, Julian Mcdougall

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This article uses a theory of change to identify the difference media literacy work makes to people’s lives, based on work published in the Journal of Media Literacy Education in 2024. This is a pilot study stage towards a global field mapping, aiming to make the case for media literacy as an essential element in the health of the communication ecosystem (forthcoming, 2025).

This is an exploratory pilot sharing provisional evidence, but this is the point of the the broader work this article is a part of which seeks to is describe how media literacy can make a difference to …

Opting Out: Over-Alerting And Warning Fatigue In The Era Of Wireless Emergency Alerts, Jeannette Sutton, Michele M. Wood

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship

While warning fatigue is commonly described among emergency management practitioners as a problem due to over-alerting, which leads to opting out, there has been limited research to define these concepts in a systematic manner that can inform policymaking around public alerting strategies, especially as they relate to Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). In this study, we draw from semi-structured interviews with emergency managers and open-ended responses from surveys with emergency managers and members of the public, to develop definitions of “over-alerting” and “warning fatigue” and to identify the conditions that cause the public to “opt out” of WEA messages. We conduct …

Enhancing Cataract Surgery Outcomes: Optimal Use Of Pre- And Post-Operative Eye Drops, Keith Skolnick M.D., Anu Valiaveedu

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

Many preoperative and postoperative cataract patients struggle with comprehending the use of prescription medication as directed. Language barriers and low health literacy levels are major factors contributing to improper use of prescriptions. To increase patients comprehension, the Fort Lauderdale Eye Institute employed an educational intervention consisting of a live presentation and an instructional video. Results found that 44% of patients were hesitant to ask questions to clinical staff, 32% felt overwhelmed, and nearly 70% lacked confidence in using their prescribed eye drops. Following the intervention, 91% of patients reported increased confidence in their medications, and most indicated that the video …

Using Media As A Source In Lessons: Media Literacy Methodology And Constructivist Media Decoding, Ayşe Aslı Sezgin Büyükalaca, Chris Sperry, Cyndy Scheibe

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media literacy, beyond being an independent course, can be integrated into educational content at various levels through a structural approach that emphasizes questioning and understanding diverse perspectives. Students need tools to analyze diverse content critically, so it’s important to move away from traditional teacher-centered instruction. This paper examines a question-based approach to integrating media literacy into Turkish educational courses, emphasizing the Constructivist Media Decoding (CMD) method. The study highlights CMD’s potential to address gaps in Turkiye’s media literacy education, offering a detailed discussion of its theoretical background and benefits within the Turkish context. By illustrating CMD’s adaptability and value, this …

A Systematic Review Of Transmedia Literacy: Implications For Lifelong Learning, Rafel Meyerhofer-Parra

Journal of Media Literacy Education

One of the main objectives of international agendas is the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities. Transmedia literacy, usually acquired informally, offers many of the key skills, competences and strategies to ensure learning in a world where technology has a predominant role. However, no analyses reporting the impact of their use are systematically identified in the literature. Therefore, a systematic review of the literature on transmedia literacy and its practices is proposed, searching 4 databases and analysing a total of 42 articles. The results show experiences with plural thematic, extension and educational context, mainly located in the formal educational system, and …

How To Shape Digital Competences Among Pre-Service Teachers: A Global Expert Analysis, Łukasz Tomczyk, Francisco David Guillén-Gámez, Maria Lidia Mascia, Julio Ruiz-Palmero

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The article explores how to shape digital competences among pre-service teachers within the university education system. It addresses the challenges posed by the rapid development of the information society and the growing digitisation of education, necessitating the redefinition of existing teacher education models. Using the Delphi method, 36 media education experts from six continents were interviewed between June and August 2022. They identified 12 versatile solutions to enhance the effectiveness of digital competence formation in academia. These solutions aim to improve the content, methods, and forms of teacher education, ensuring future pedagogical staff are better prepared to integrate ICT into …

Insights From Educators: Integrating Ai Literacy Into Media Literacy Education In Practice, Stephanie Jean Tsang

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Through in-depth interviews with junior high school teachers in Hong Kong who participated in a media and artificial intelligence literacy program intervention, this research highlights the importance of prioritizing values and ethics education over technical proficiency when incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into media literacy training. While quantitatively assessing students’ literacy levels posed challenges, future media literacy programs should concentrate on introducing technological terminology and concepts, promoting awareness of potential issues, instilling values for responsible technology use, and fostering empathy to create a harmonious online environment. By focusing on fundamental values and key concepts rather than following fleeting AI trends, educators …

Battle Cry To “Do The Research”: Vulnerability To Qanon, Alt Media, And Low News Media Literacy, Kaye D. Sweetser, Kalyca Lynn Becktel

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This survey (N = 579) investigated news media literacy among those likely to believe in the conspiracy theories of QAnon. Vulnerability to belief in QAnon conspiracies was predicted by a media diet of alternative media such as 4chan and SnapChat. Those vulnerable to QAnon conspiracy theories had lower news media literacy scores than those who appeared to be resistant to QAnon theories, and rated themselves with lower need for cognition and higher cynicism. Vulnerability to QAnon was predicted by a belief in other specific conspiracy theories, low value of news media literacy, less understanding of the news business, belief …

Gotta Be Fresh: Comedy Central’S Workaholics, Masculinity, And Paratextual Decay, Adamandrew Lenox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines social media marketing materials for Workaholics, a sitcom aired on Comedy Central from 2011 to 2017, to study paratextual temporality/ephemerality, the “brand as friend” social media strategy, and how masculinity is articulated through paratexts. The project incorporates theories from the fields of social media and internet marketing studies, television content and industry studies, and promotional paratext studies. Research centered on 100 Workaholics X (formerly Twitter) posts, published from January 2012 to March 2017. Posts were collected using Google Chrome extension TwExportly. Qualitative textual and content analysis of these paratexts results in three categories of findings. First, I …

The Influence Of Narrative Point Of View In Fanfiction On Character Identification And Parasocial Romantic Attraction, Rachel Delaurenti, Alex Cocoros, Lourdes Duque, Sean Oriotis, Jonathan Jauregui

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examines how narrative point of view influences character identification and parasocial romantic feelings in fan fiction. In order to conduct this research, an experiment was conducted in which participants read fan fiction about their chosen media figure (celebrity or fictional character) written in one of three perspectives: first-person self-insert, third-person self-insert, or third-person original character. Participants then responded to a series of questions regarding identification and physical and emotional parasocial romantic attraction. Following statistical analysis of the survey data, the study yielded results that indicate that there are stronger levels of identification and physical parasocial romantic attraction when …

Advertising To Children: A Content Analysis Of Ryan's World, Cora Denny

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Ryan’s World is a children's toy review YouTube channel with over 36 million followers and features kid YouTuber Ryan Kaji. A qualitative content analysis of the YouTube channel Ryan’s World was conducted to observe the rhetorical strategies the videos employ to sell Ryan’s World products, as well as how those strategies compare to traditional advertising. An analysis of twelve videos resulted in dominant themes of increasing brand familiarity and product performance of Ryan’s World products. These were accomplished through the use of traditional advertising rhetorical strategies such as product placement, special effects, appeals, and more. The study shows that the …

The French Connection: The Exponential Growth Of Rhode Island Women's Basketball, Mark C. Radigan

Senior Honors Projects

Since the arrival of Head Coach Tammi Reiss and Associate Head Coach Adeniyi Amadou to Kingston in 2019, the University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball program has emerged from mid-major obscurity to become a regional and conference juggernaut with a reputation for developing young women on the court and in life. Many factors have contributed to this meteoric rise, but one that stands out is the program’s reliance on international recruiting to close the skill gap with other mid-major programs, with a particular focus on recruiting within France. This project aimed to highlight the impact of this recruitment strategy on …

Media Quiteracy: Why Digital Disconnection Belongs In The Media Literacy Curriculum, Katie Day Good, Michelle Ciccone

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In this essay, we introduce media quiteracy, which we use to conceptualize and describe the valuable learning that can happen through the refusal to take up new media or the act of pausing or ceasing its use. We see media quiteracy as an active and generative approach to learning and argue for its inclusion in the media literacy curriculum. We trace the history of critical engagement with technologies within education and then articulate what media quiteracy can look like in practice. We surface and discuss three potential obstacles to teaching media quiteracy, which include the ways in which it …

Centering Relation In Media Literacy Practice, Paul Mihailidis, Bobbie Foster, Shannon Burth, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Melissa Tully, Patrick Johnson

Journal of Media Literacy Education

As calls for media literacy in formal and informal learning spaces continue to grow, educators’ understanding of media literacies and their purposes remains complex. In 2021, the authors of this paper led a multi-methods research project on media literacy education in the United States, focusing on impact and equity. Findings showed that educators share a commitment to equity and justice but are unclear on how to incorporate them into their work. In response, our research team developed a field guide that maps out equitable media literacy practices for classrooms and communities. In this study, we detail the findings from 11 …

Digital Literacy For Participating In Presidential Election: A Study On Indonesian Students, Marwiyah Marwiyah, Labibah Zain, Aliva D. Kamila, Thoriq T. Prabowo

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Digital literacy is needed during the presidential election. This study aims to determine the level of digital literacy of Indonesian students concerning what they do with social media information in facing the 2024 presidential election. We conducted a survey in which questionnaires were used as a research instrument to measure the four digital competencies: technical skill, information usage, communication, and creation. The questionnaires are sent to four Indonesian public universities. One hundred ninety-seven students from four State Islamic Universities (Universitas Islam Negeri) participated in this study. We used the mean and percentage score for the data analysis. The research result …

Assessing Media And Information Literacy: Scale Development And Measurement Among College Students, Erlis Cela, Alban Tufa, Melsena Danglli

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is a topic discussed by many authors in recent years. Several authors have developed measurement scales and validated them mainly among students and teachers who have media and information literacy knowledge. Although no evidence is tracked for any research conducted, MIL has been an unexplored field in the Western Balkans region. This article delves into developing and testing a scale for measuring the level of Media and Information Literacy among students in Albania. Firstly, it employs an exploratory qualitative approach, with the use of focus groups, the results of which contributed to the design of …

Cognitive Diagnosis Of Media And Digital Literacy Knowledge Schema In Mexican High School Students, Janneth Trejo-Quintana, Guadalupe E. Morales-Martinez, Betsabe Hernandez-Alvarez

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This research explored the mental representation of media and digital literacy (MDL) in 242 Mexican high school students through a definitional task based on the natural semantic networks technique. The participants defined ten target concepts related to MDL, using verbs, nouns, and adjectives as definers, and then they rated each definer with a scale from 1 to 10. The smaller the number, the lower the quality of the definer to conceptualize the target, while the higher the rating, the higher the quality of the definer to define it. The participants showed a beginner level in MDL despite their daily navigation …

Provision Of Brand Information And Critical Reasoning Predict Advertising Literacy, Eugene Zheng Yao, Alexandra List

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study investigated students’ critical reasoning about commercials, as an aspect of advertising literacy. Critical reasoning was examined under two different experimental conditions. That is, students were tasked with watching four different commercials with 1) brand information provided or not, and 2) asked to engage in critical reasoning or not. The commercials chosen used various production techniques (e.g., socially conscious marketing) to mask their persuasive message. Students provided with brand information within commercials had significantly higher critical reasoning scores when viewing two, out of the four, commercials, and significantly higher overall Analysis of Persuasive Intent (API) scores and brand recall. …

Capturing Tradition: The Business, Branding, And Personal Identity Of Senior Portraits In The Modern South, Xenia R. Minton

Honors Theses

The rise of college students starting photography businesses, particularly in graduation portraits, has transformed the creative and entrepreneurial landscape in the South. This thesis explores the senior portrait culture at the University of Mississippi, analyzing its rapid growth through the perspectives of photographers and academic experts in Southern Studies. Grounded in eight years of experience as a photographer, this study examines the evolution of the industry, business strategies, and cultural significance. Through interviews with seasoned senior portrait photographers and Southern Studies professors, this research investigates how regional traditions, social media, and consumer expectations have shaped the profession. By analyzing these …

Does Ai Help Or Harm? Why And How Ai Use Influences Workplace Outcomes And Employee Well-Being, Haille Trimboli, Reka Lassu

Education Division Scholarship

Although the recent surge in excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) might suggest it is a new development, AI has been applied in organizations for over forty years (Fanti et al., 2022; Markelius et al., 2024). Indeed, the term "artificial intelligence" itself emerged in the 1950s during a research project at Dartmouth College, where it was used to describe "machines able to simulate human intelligence" (Haenlein & Kaplan, 2019, p. 3). Most recently, in 2022, the landscape of AI use for laypeople greatly changed when OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, a generative AI tool, to the public; ChatGPT is an advanced AI language …

Cpec In The Shadows Of Fifth Generation Warfare And The Dynamics Of Propaganda Model, Muhammad Usman Sahibzada, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose – The clear patterns of bias and propaganda such as narrative framing and selective reporting are severely affecting the public opinion and policymakers. Overall, the study shows that media depiction of CPEC conditioned by the propagandistic model and 5GW strategies carries deep meanings for global politics. In addition, there is the necessity to increase media literacy and strategic communication so as to direct the complications of these projects. Transparency and international cooperation become important for regional stability as well as informed public discourse.

Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative analysis of media content is carried out for this research across the …

The "Green Gals" Podcast And Website, Courtney Perkins

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

This is a series of three podcast episodes under the series name "Green Gals" with a companion website of the same name. Each episode focuses on a different aspect of sustainable living with the goal of providing valuable tools, tips and information that everyday people can use to integrate sustainability into their everyday lives. The episodes ("Reduce, Reuse... Recycle?"; "Food Waste" and "Composting 101") are hosted by myself and a co-host, discussing the topic along with pre-recorded interviews which I conducted with experts in the field. The material is presented in a casual, engaging manner, employing music intros, transitions and …

Evaluating Campus Safety: Insights From Cal Poly Students, Demaree E. Lewis

Communication Studies

Campus safety is a major concern for students and faculty, especially in light of a few recent incidents at Cal Poly. This study explores students’ overall perceptions of safety, thoughts on Cal Poly’s method of communicating with students about crises, and the selection process of Resident Advisors (RA) on campus. Using a mixed methods approach, a survey collected responses from 125 students at Cal Poly, analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data. Analysis showed significant gender differences, with women reporting lower feelings of safety, satisfaction of Cal Poly crisis communication efforts, and overall lower trust in RA’s and Cal Poly’s vetting …

Resilience And Reality: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of People Living With Hiv In Texas During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Qualitative Study., Ahmed F. Alanazi

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

This study investigated the lived experiences of individuals living with HIV (PLWH) in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area of Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework. The research examined the intersection of health, social dynamics, and psychological resilience among PLWH, who faced compounded vulnerabilities due to systemic inequities and the dual public health crises of HIV and COVID-19. Through semi-structured interviews with ten participants from diverse backgrounds, the study captured the profound impacts of disrupted healthcare systems, heightened stigma, and social isolation on this marginalized population. The findings reveal that the pandemic exacerbated existing inequities …

Co-Creation, Interpretations And Engagement With A Movement-Based Symbol For Climate Justice: A Qualitative Inquiry, Kai Reimer-Watts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The climate crisis demonstrates with complete clarity the need for massive systems-level changes towards far more sustainable societies. Global and local emissions need to decline rapidly to mitigate intensifying climate breakdown, accompanied by climate and sustainability solutions, to secure a far more stable, safe, and just future for all people and all life. Within these changes, engaging in our communities is essential to support and co-create broader solutions to help advance more sustainable societies, reduce negative impacts of a changing climate, and to move towards cultures and systems that recognize natural limits and centre care for people and planet.

‘Climate …

Exploring Critical Thinking Of Smartphone Use From Elementary School Students In Kosovo, Muhamet Jahiri, Gëzim Qerimi, Dren Gërguri

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study examined smartphone usage behaviours of elementary school students and media literacy. Data were gathered from a survey with a sample of 450 students from different schools in seven main regions of Kosovo, aged 10-15. There is no difference between males and females in smartphone access, while there is a slight difference between them in time spent using smartphones. This research clearly shows that elementary school students’ smartphone use is very high, but on the other side, it is not reflected at all in the school curriculum. There is a low level of getting advice from parents and a …

Vulnerability Profiles And Educational Demands Of Spanish University Students In The Face Of Fake News, M. Esther Del Moral Pérez, Jonathan Castañeda Fernández, Nerea López-Bouzas, M. Carmen Bellver Moreno

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study is part of the Surfing the Waves of Fake News (SURFake) project, involving 543 Spanish university students. Its purpose is to understand the variables related to potentially risky practices students engage in on social media and their educational shortcomings. An opinion questionnaire was used to establish levels of vulnerability to fake news. The results show that the most vulnerable are the youngest and those who spend more time exposed to social media, limit themselves to consuming content, read their news superficially, and lack specific education or training. Respondents who are aware of their limitations request training to recognize …

Ela And Social Studies Teachers’ Perspectives On The Importance Of Media Literacy For Student Learning, Hillary Gould, Sam Von Gillern, Matthew Korona, Alicia Haywood

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In this study, researchers aimed to develop an understanding of how English Language Arts and social studies teachers of middle- and high-school students perceive the value of media literacy skills and competencies for their students. The research team reviewed how these teachers rated various media literacy skills utilizing a set of 15 media literacy strategies categorized into three constructs, authors and audiences, messages and meaning, and representations and reality, in a survey demonstrating their perspectives on aspects of media literacy and their importance for student learning. The 860 teachers overwhelmingly recognize the importance of media literacy competencies for their students. …