Mass Communication Commons^™

Media Portrayal Of Individuals In The Lower Class And Its Effects On Attributions Of Educational Hardships, Krista A. Burke

Communication Studies

This study investigated how media portrayals of individuals in the lower class affect people’s beliefs about educational hardships in lower socioeconomic areas. Specifically, this study looked at the attributions of these hardships to determine if media consumption had an effect on the internality of attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would be related to an increased tendency toward internal attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would lead to lower support for policy changes regarding education. A survey was distributed to assess media consumption habits and attitudes toward educational hardships in the lower class. Correlation results yielded …

How The Mass Media Use Numbers To Tell A Story: The Case Of The Crack Scare Of 1986, Jerome L. Himmelstein

Numeracy

Scholars, notably Joel Best and Milo Schield, have emphasized the importance of incorporating social construction into the study of quantitative literacy. Studying social construction involves examining how numbers are produced, how they travel into the mass media, and how the media use them to depict a social problem or discuss an issue. This article presents a case study in the last of these. It asks in particular how important numbers really are in media constructions of a social problem. It focuses on the “Crack Scare” of 1986 in the United States and a classic study in social construction, Orcutt and …

Ua12/2/2 2014 Talisman: Reckoning, Part Ii, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

2014 Talisman yearbook.

• Hutchins, Seth. A Cut Above – Chris Page, Barbers
• Rogers, Shelby. Out with the Old – Thompson Science Complex
• Melcher, Jaclyn. East Meets Western – Shima Alessa, Saudi Arabia, International Students
• Swanson, Kayla. Deep End: Tim Slattery – Swimming
• Swanson, Kayla. Tackling Time: Jim Meyer – Football
• Swanson, Kayla. Beyond the Basket: Kami Howard – Basketball, Class of 1986
• Moster, Brittany. Right Kind of Writing – Walker Rutledge, English
• Smith, Mary-Kate. A Bug’s Life – Keith Philips, Biology
• Kirz, Lindsay. Honors with Par – April Butler, Golf
• Belknap, Abby. Setting the Tone – Greek Week, Spring Sing …

Ua19/16/1 Hilltopper Basketball 2014-15 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2014-15 men's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Ua12/2/2 2014 Talisman: Reckoning, Part I, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

2014 Talisman yearbook.

• Wegert, Sally. Stoop Kids
• Cole, Tanner. Green Thumbs – Horticulture, Facilities Management
• Kriz, Lindsay. A Driving Force – Steve White, Automobiles
• Cole, Tanner. Pitch Forward – Soccer
• Smith, Mary-Kate. Love of the Game – Soccer Club
• Kriz, Lindsay. Runners Without Borders – Track & Field
• Cole, Tanner. Lines & Angles – Raymond Poff, Recreation, Fishing
• Reckoning
• Beasecker, Allyson. Five-Year Leaders – Football, Luis Polanco, Chuck Franks
• Pratt, Elliott. Throwing in the Towel – Bobby Petrino, Football
• Cole, Tanner. Surrounded by Sound – Revolution 91.7, Versie Parker
• Belknap, Abby. A Clean Sweep – Shaker Village, Barrett Rogers
• Pointer, …

Ua19/16/1 2014-15 Wku Track & Field Cross Country Record Book, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2014-15 season.

Ua19/16/1 Lady Topper Volleyball 2014 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Athletic media guide for volleyball team.

Ua19/16/1/1 Hilltopper Baseball 2014 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2014 baseball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

The Public Sphere As Site Of Emancipation And Enlightenment: A Discourse Theoretic Critique Of Digital Communication, David Ingram, Asaf Bar-Tura

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Habermas claims that an inclusive public sphere is the only deliberative forum for generating public opinion that satisfies the epistemic and normative conditions underlying legitimate decision-making. He adds that digital technologies and other mass media need not undermine – but can extend – rational deliberation when properly instituted. This paper draws from social epistemology and technology studies to demonstrate the epistemic and normative limitations of this extension. We argue that current online communication structures fall short of satisfying the required epistemic and normative conditions. Furthermore, the extent to which Internet-based communications contribute to legitimate democratic opinion and will formation depends …

Political Criticism And The Power Of Satire : The Transformation Of "Late-Night" Comedy On Television In The United States, 1980-2008, Nickie Michaud Wild

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

How has political comedy on television in the United States changed over time? Earlier examples of political comedy on television were shows like Saturday Night Live and various late night talk shows, which focused primarily on political or personal scandals or personal characteristics, rather than policies or substantive issues. In other arenas of television and the public sphere in general, there was serious criticism of scandals, but not in political comedy. Shows that attempted to criticize politicians or serious public issues using satire, irony, or invective such as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, were routinely censored by network executives. With …

Agents Of Democratic Accountability? : Professional Culture Of Political Journalism In The Us And Germany, Matthias Revers

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Newspaper journalism in the early 21st century is experiencing economic predicaments and a crisis of professional authority, both connected to technological changes of public communication. This is the backdrop of this study of political journalism. It is based on three years of qualitative field research on political press corps in Albany, New York and Munich, Germany, encompassing 72 interviews with reporters (from 31 news organization) and spokespeople (across all political parties and branches of government) as well as about 350 hours of observation. It also draws on professional discourses, including news stories about journalism (meta-journalism), obituaries of journalists as well …

[Introduction To] Identity And Leadership In Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility And Influence, Dona J. Hickey, Joe Essid

Bookshelf

The presence and ubiquity of the internet continues to transform the way in which we identify ourselves and others both online and offline. The development of virtual communities permits users to create an online identity to interact with and influence one another in ways that vary greatly from face-to-face interaction.

Identity and Leadership in Virtual Communities: Establishing Credibility and Influence explores the notion of establishing an identity online, managing it like a brand, and using it with particular members of a community. Bringing together a range of voices exemplifying how participants in online communities influence one another, this book serves …

Media Bias Through Facial Expressions On Local Las Vegas Television News Programs: A Visual Content Analysis, Jessica Zimmerman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Trust in news media has been considered an important base for social order and cohesion in society and is a crucial variable for evaluating news media. Media credibility has been questioned by the audience for some time and the audience's trust in the media has been slowly diminishing over the years. When a news broadcaster communicates a story on local television news, it is possible for his own opinions to leak through nonverbal communication, specifically facial expressions. This thesis explores the six local Las Vegas television news stations' anchors and reporters to visually analyze whether facial characteristics reveal media bias …

Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Love And Marriage?, Lauren F. E. Galloway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examines the association between consumption of media messages via movie viewing and endorsement of ideals and expectations about romantic relationships in a university-based sample of 228 respondents. Frequent viewing of romantic comedy and drama films was significantly and positively correlated with idealized notions that love conquers all, greater expectations for intimacy, and endorsement of the eros love style. Viewing preference for romantic movies was also significantly and positively correlated with fantasy rumination and marital intentions. However, participants who frequently watched romantic movies did not endorse beliefs in sexual perfection, mindreading, or disagreement disallowance. Implications of the findings …

Media Bias Through Facial Expressions On Local Las Vegas Television News, Jessica Zimmerman

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Trust in news media has been considered an important base for social order and cohesion in society and is a crucial variable for evaluating news media. Media credibility has been questioned by the audience for some time and the audience’s trust in the media has been slowly diminishing over the years. When a news broadcaster communicates a story on local television news, it is possible for his own opinions and beliefs to leak through nonverbal communication, specifically facial expressions. This presentation explores the four main local Las Vegas television news stations’ anchors and reporters to visually analyze whether facial characteristics …

The Other September 11th: El Mercurio Media Coverage After The Chilean Coup Of 1973, Valeria A. Gurr‐Ovalle

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

This thesis provides an exploratory overview of the role the El Mercurio newspaper played along with the military after the Chilean coup of 1973. The study reviews the contents of the newspaper’s front pages, including their coverage of the events during the coup. The thesis will show how the paper revisited its coverage each year on the September 11th anniversary, beginning with the years dominated by the military government, from 1973 through 1990, and continuing through the transition to democracy, from 1991 through 2007. The primary method used in the course of this examination is a content analysis, which will …

Influencia De Los Programas De Concurso Televisivos En La Construccion De Identidad Cultural En Jóvenes Cusqueños, Tess Renker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este informe describe la realización de mi proyecto de investigación sobre las influencias de los programas de concurso peruanos en la construcción de las identidades culturales de los jóvenes cusqueños. En el primer capítulo, describo las motivaciones por esta investigación, la área temática, y las preguntas de investigación, así como el marco teórico y la metodología del estudio. El segundo capítulo incluye la revisión de unas lecturas previas acerca del tema. Estas lecturas se enfocan en la vinculación de la televisión nacional peruana con la globalización y la manera en que estos programas pueden influir las identidades culturales de la …

Reefer Madness To Marijuana And Legalization: Media Exposure And American Attitudes Towards Marijuana (1975-2010), Richard James Stringer

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

American attitudes toward marijuana have varied greatly from the time it was criminalized in the 1930's until 2010, and public opinion favoring the legalization of marijuana has steadily risen since 1990. Since the media is purported to have had an impact on the legislation rather than objective risk factors, it is possible that the marijuana epidemic could be the result of a socially constructed moral panic. As such, this study utilized General Social Survey data to examine the relationship between media exposure and attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana from 1975 through 2010, 1975 through 1990, and 1991 through 2010. …

Ua19/16/1 For This Is Dear Old Western's Day, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Athletic media guide for volleyball team.

Ua1b2/1 Wku-Glasgow Campus Celebrating 25 Years Of The Wku Spirit, Wku Glasgow

WKU Administration Documents

Program for the 25th Anniversary of WKU Glasgow celebration. Includes:

• College Heights
• Terry, Sam. History of WKU-Glasgow
• Harrison, Lowell. From College Heights to Liberty Heights
• WKU Regents. Meeting Minutes, 12/2/1987
• Lessenberry, Robert. Editorial, 12/13/1987
• WKU Fight Song
• Special Thanks

Ua19/16/1 Cross Country / Track & Field Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2013-14 season.

Combating Violence Against Women Through C4d: The “Use Your Voice” Campaign And Its Implications On Audience-Citizens In Papua New Guinea, Vipul Khosla, Akina Mikami, Lauren B. Frank, Isabel Popal, Klara Debeljak, Amelia Shaw

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Violence against women (VAW) is universally identified as a barrier to legal, social, political, and economic equality for women, violating their rights and fundamental freedoms. This article brings together existing literature and empirical research on addressing such violence in Papua New Guinea (PNG), providing results that can inform future work in this area. The literature review examines the causes of violence against women and the role that communication for development (C4D) can play in addressing these issues. The Use Your Voice campaign was implemented in PNG in late 2011 in an effort to promote speaking out against violence and displace …

Power Girls Before Girl Power: 1980s Toy-Based Girl Cartoons, Katia Perea

Publications and Research

The socio/cultural history and partnership of toy advertisement and children’s television is rich and well documented (Schneider 1989, Kunkel 1988, Seiter 1993). In this article I discuss the influence of policy in girl’s cartoon programming as well as the relationship between commercialization and financial motivation in creating a girl cartoon media product. I then discuss the formulaic, gender normative parameters this new genre set in place to identify girl cartoons as well as girl media consumption and how within those parameters girl cartoon characters were able to represent an empowered girl popular culture product a decade before the nomenclature Girl …

Ua35/11 Honors Program, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Honors Program. Includes brochures, awards programs, student handbooks, newsletters and research publications.

Quality, Objectivity, And Tone In Media Portrayals Of Care For Older Adults, Jennifer Van Loan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In response to the growing population of older adults who will need assistance to care for themselves, this research evaluates media coverage of care options for older adults presented in local newspapers, an informational resource used by baby boomers and older generations interested in planning for their futures and caring for their loved ones. Computer databases for four newspapers representing the Capital Region of New York State were scanned for keywords to identify articles about older adult care, then articles were reviewed to ensure they were relevant to older adult care. A quantitative content analysis was performed on the articles …

Theories Of Public Opinion, Patricia Moy, Brandon Bosch

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

While the issue of citizen competency has vexed scholars throughout history, the modern concepts of a mass public and mass media are relatively new. Beginning with the seminal works of Lippmann and Dewey, we chart the evolving theories of public opinion, from the "hypodermic needle" model of the early twentieth century to the more psychologically oriented approach to media effects of today. We argue that in addition to understanding how audiences process media content, theories of public opinion must account for how media content is constructed and disseminated, which is complicated by the ever-changing nature of our media landscape.

Untangling Neoliberalism’S Gordian Knot: Cancer Prevention And Control Services For Rural Appalachian Populations, George F. Bills

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

In eastern Kentucky, as in much of central Appalachia, current local storylines narrate the frictions and contradictions involved in the structural transition from a post-WWII Fordist industrial economy and a Keynesian welfare state to a Post-Fordist service economy and Neoliberal hollow state, starving for energy to sustain consumer indulgence (Jessop, 1993; Harvey, 2003; 2005). Neoliberalism is the ideological force redefining the “societal infrastructure of language” that legitimates this transition, in part by redefining the key terms of democracy and citizenship, as well as valorizing the market, the individual, and technocratic innovation (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999; Harvey, 2005). This project develops …

The Mouse Who Ruled His Kingdom: An Agenda Setting Analysis Of The Walt Disney World Company, Jacob Overbey

Masters Theses

People are seeking their news in more social environments, but very little research has been conducted on agenda setting and online environments. This thesis examined the agenda setting relationship between an organization on Twitter, @WaltDisneyWorld (i.e., The Walt Disney World) and public opinion on Twitter. The relationship was examined using Twitter's database of tweets to measure public opinion on Twitter. Since the news media is losing steam on the ability to break news, and social media is growing rapidly, this study tested the value of the agenda setting theory on social media. To this end, this thesis qualitatively examined the …

Ua12/2/32 Veterans Outreach Week, Wku Student Veterans Alliance, Danielle Adams

WKU Administration Documents

Electronic mail from WKU Student Veterans Alliance to faculty and staff regarding Veterans Outreach Week.

The Cultural Complex Of Innocence: An Examination Of Media And Social Construction Of Missing White Woman Syndrome, Sarah Land Stein

Dissertations

This study examined the etiology and promulgation of the sociological phenomenon known as missing white woman syndrome. It was hypothesized that missing white woman syndrome may not be entirely attributable to racial disparity as has been claimed in the past. Rather, citing the work of Dr. Carl Jung, the researcher believed that missing white woman syndrome may be partially explained by a concept known as a cultural complex. The cultural complex that was hypothesized for purposes of this study is one related to innocence: That is, as a western society, we have been culturally overexposed to the blonde, Caucasian female …