Mass Communication Commons^™

Do Black Lives Matter In American Mainstream News Media? Two Case Studies Of Police-Involved Shootings Of Black Men Explaining A Racist Media Environment, Alfred J. Cotton Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This dissertation examines two cases of fatal police-involved shootings of Black men in order to expose the power structures perpetuated through racist media narratives assuming the officers’ behavior was justified and the unarmed men the officers killed somehow were complicit in their death. In reporting on police-involved shootings, mainstream media practices that privilege elites and officials as primary sources of information may produce a dominant media narrative that masks the marginalization and mistreatment of minorities at the hands of these officials and their institutions. The two cases under consideration here examine the “floating signifier” of race in media coverage of …

Sticking To The Script: Sexual Scripts In The Slasher Sub-Genre, Jennifer L. Clay

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The “slasher” sub-genre has been immensely popular, even spawning television shows that invoke the familiar slasher conventions. This sub-genre has simultaneously become vilified by media researchers over the years. The slasher has received particular criticism for allegedly reinforcing regressive attitudes regarding female sexuality. This study applies sexual script theory to better understand the messages about sex found throughout the sub-genre. This study utilizes content analysis to study the more recent iterations of the slasher sub-genre including the re-make, the modern slasher film and the slasher television show. This analysis uncovered that the slasher sub-genre has evolved over time. While slasher …

Ua1c11/89 Jim Burton Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs and negatives taken by Jim Burton documenting life in western Kentucky primarily between the years 1975 and 1980. Venues include Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Madisonville, Cumberland County and Scott County.

Band Formations - Burton was hired by WKU band director to photograph half time performances. It was a freelance job paying $250 per winter semester which allowed him to pay his car insurance.

Bobby Sandige - Bobby was from Burton's hometown of Madisonville and was married in college. Besides being a full-time student, he worked full-time at an underground coal mine. Burton did a feature story on …

The Television Spoiler Nuisance Rationale, Lisa Glebatis Perks, Noelle Mcelrath-Hart

Communication and Media Faculty Publications

This essay explores tensions surrounding television spoilers through interviews with thirteen people who are paid to write or edit discourse about television. These professionals include television critics, editors, an entertainment reporter, a popular culture writer, and a television columnist. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed that varying attitudes toward television pleasure undergird the spoiler debate. After describing three divergent television pleasure attitudes, we present the second half of our analysis: interviewees’ statements about the timing of their publications, the content of their writing, and the packaging of their writing. Properly packaging articles so that readers need to “opt in” was the …

Examining Local Law Enforcement Public Relations, Lindsay M. Mccluskey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed-method dissertation 1) identifies and describes common local law enforcement public relations activities, including reputation management, community relations and engagement, media relations, social media management, and internal communications; 2) addresses perceived similarities and differences associated with local law enforcement public relations relative to peers within the same level of government (e.g., public relations in the parks department of the same municipality); 3) identifies distinctive and reinforces common government public relations environmental characteristics, challenges, and opportunities associated with local law enforcement; 4) provides insights regarding how local law enforcement are using online tools (e.g., websites and social media) for public …

Exploring Organizational Resilience Asset And Its Antecedents For Effective Internal Crisis Communication, Young Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nowadays crises are omnipresent with daily news headlines as reminders. The public continues to see or experience many different crises that affect numerous individuals and organizations as well as society in general. Against this backdrop, corporate communication professionals, for effective crisis management, are expected to help the organizations and their leaders make decisions, as well as communicate clearly when crises arise. Considering a fast changing media environment, recent scholars have called for new approaches to crisis communication to enhance theoretical developments. They suggested that researchers should take a broader context beyond the dominant crisis communication research perspectives based on the …

Toward A Situational Technology Acceptance Model: Combining The Situational Theory Of Problem Solving And Technology Acceptance Model To Promote Mobile Donations For Nonprofit Organizations, Yue Zheng

Theses and Dissertations

Using a nationwide survey of 994 respondents in February 2016, this study combines the situational theory of problem solving and technology acceptance model to refine the conceptual understandings of people’s motivations to make a mobile donation benefiting health-related nonprofit organizations. Findings provide empirical support for the combined model and an emerging situational technology acceptance model. Mobile phone users’ intentions to make a mobile donation are mostly influenced by their attitudes toward using technology and subjective norms. Practical implications are also discussed for nonprofit practitioners to better segment publics, design strategic messages, and disseminate communication campaigns to improve future fundraising.

Conversations On Controversy: An Examination Of Internet Discussions On High-Profile Incidents Of Recorded Police Brutality, Brittany Nicole Jefferson

Wayne State University Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the conversations that Internet user have when discussing publicized, recorded incidents of police brutality. This study examined the deaths of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and Walter Scott and the subsequent discussions about the incidents on YouTube.com, MSNBC.com and NYTimes.com. This was accomplished by using an exploratory content analysis to establish what are the general topics of these discussions. This analysis found that there are 2 major themes that are discussed by Internet users when they comment; the content of the video and the social context of the incident itself. However, the popularity …

Anders Breivik And Elliot Rodger: Violence, Communication, And The Mediated Sphere., Walter Anthony Lucken Iv

Wayne State University Theses

The “mass shooting” has become a major hallmark of everyday news and discussions in mass media. Through the lens of two specific cases, this research situates the mass shooting within a few preexisting historical continuities and disciplines. The mass shooting is read as a communicative media event, and is considered from the perspective of mass media proliferation, political violence, discourse, semiotics, and turn of the century cultural antagonisms. The methods employed herein are textual analysis, rhetorical analysis, and post-Marxian models of historical causation.

The mass shooting is an outgrowth of global consolidation and proliferation of mass media. The mass shootings …

Slo Assessment Report Feedback Communication Studies - Journalism And Media Communication Ba And Bs 2016, Uno Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

Student Learning

Outcomes: The program has eight distinct SLOs (goals). Measures: A single measurement tool (internship supervisor evaluation) was used to assess each SLO. Specific items on the measurement tool were aligned to each of the goals. The performance assessment was completed for 48 students, and a proficiency target was identified (80% assessed as satisfactory or exceptional). Results Reported: The routine data collection over three year period substantiates the results. The internship supervisor evaluation provides the program with results for the eight program goals. Goals 1-7 were assessed with a single data point (one item per goal from the internship supervisor evaluation). …

Call For Manuscripts

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Gender Games: The Portrayal Of Female Journalists On 'House Of Cards', Chad Painter, Patrick Ferrucci

Communication Faculty Publications

This textual analysis focuses on the portrayal of female journalists in House of Cards. The uneven depictions of six female journalists could have a socializing effect on the audience. The researchers argue that the character Zoe Barnes is depicted as childlike, unprofessional, and unethical, while the character Ayla Sayyad is portrayed as a dedicated watchdog journalist. The researchers then explore the ethical implications of these portrayals through the lens of social responsibility theory.

In His Image: A Content Analysis Of Evangelical Youth Books For Their Representation Of Gender Roles And Ideals, Taryn Renee Vis

Honors Projects

This content analysis discusses the results of the analysis of twelve major Evangelical books for young adults and their representation of gender roles and gender ideals. The background of the Evangelical church’s handling of gender, particularly in relation to media beginning in the 1970s is established and discussed at length in order to situate this analysis amongst previous discussion of Evangelical gender roles. This analysis found that each of the books discussed four main themes of gender roles and relations: biological essentialism, complementarianism, counter-cultural branding of gender, and sexual purity (especially for young women).

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Contents And Abstracts

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

The Internal Marginalization Of Basic Course Scholarship, Cheri J. Simonds, Stephen K. Hunt

Basic Communication Course Annual

There is an adage in the field of communication education that states, the difference between knowing and teaching is communication (Hurt, Scott, & McCroskey, 1978). That is, a teacher can be an expert in his or her field, but if he or she cannot communicate that knowledge in a way that students understand, learning is not achieved.

This statement highlights the central role of communication in the teaching and learning process. As communication education scholars and Basic Course Directors, we conduct research in the domains of communication pedagogy (i.e., research questions that address the best methods of teaching communication) and …

Strengthening The Introductory Communication Course: An Opportunity Through Better Alignment With Today’S Needs, Jon A. Hess

Basic Communication Course Annual

More than a century after its inception in contemporary form, the discipline of Communication has encountered a tremendous opportunity—the chance to become an “essential discipline” in the academy, one like Math or English, which universities consider indispensable to the work they do. And yet, as a discipline, we have not sufficiently moved toward taking advantage of that opportunity. While such a move will require action in curriculum, scholarship, and service, one of the highest-impact areas in establishing the necessity of Communication is the introductory course.

In order to understand the opportunity that lies before us, we have to understand how …

Nontraditional Students, Multilingual Learners, And University Type: The Vital Missing Comparisons In Our Basic Course Research, Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post, Brenda L. Macarthur

Basic Communication Course Annual

After the G.I. Bill was passed in 1944, the United States saw a massive expansion of higher education. The subsequent economic growth, expanding middle class, and support of public education meant that more Americans had access to college education than ever before (Bok, 2006).

In the decades that followed, a typical or “traditional” college student was a person who entered a four-year university at the age of eighteen immediately after completing high school, attended full time, considered their education a full-time responsibility, had no dependents, was employed part time or not at all, and graduated in four years (Center for …

Beyond 'Basic': Opportunities For Relevance, Deanna L. Fassett

Basic Communication Course Annual

Recently one of my colleagues asked me if I could foresee a time when I would give up supervising teaching associates; she said it in a kindly way, but with a cringe and a shrug, as if to suggest that I was sacrificing my efforts on something beneath me…a departmental service. I’ve been coordinating our introductory public speaking course and supervising TAs for fourteen years now, and I still get this question.

Each time, I explain that giving up those responsibilities would be like asking someone to uproot their research passion from, say, performance studies to instructional communication, from any …

Basic Course Strength Through Clear Learning Outcomes And Assessment, W. Bradford Mello

Basic Communication Course Annual

Former NCA President Richard West, writing in Spectra during his presidential year, lamented that the basic course in communication lacked national cohesion, especially compared to other disciplines like psychology, political science, or sociology (West, 2012). Some, including myself, may quibble with the comparison to other disciplines, arguing that History 101, Political Science 101 or Sociology 101 do not necessarily look the same at all institutions around the nation.

However, West’s call for examination of the basic course was a welcome one:

• I believe it is time for our organization to undertake a thoughtful examination of the basic course and ascertain …

A Digital Divide? Assessing Self-Perceived Communication Competency In An Online And Face-To-Face Basic Public Speaking Course, Joshua N. Westwick, Karla M. Hunter, Laurie L. Haleta

Basic Communication Course Annual

Previous research has documented an inverse relationship between speaking anxiety and self-perceived communication competence (SPCC). However, a recent assessment case study of an online basic public speaking course revealed that while the course decreased students’ speaking anxiety, it failed to increase their SPCC. Prompted by this surprising discrepancy and bolstered by continuing calls for increased exploration of educational quality of online public speaking courses, the current study compared SPCC between online (n = 147) and face-to-face (F2F) (n = 544) delivery of the large, standardized, multi-section basic public speaking course at our institution. Pretest scores of students’ overall SPCC were …

Assessing The Effects Of A Public Speaking Course On Native And Non-Native English Speakers, Tara Suwinvattichaiporn, Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study tested whether there is a difference in the benefits of a traditional public speaking course for Native English Speakers (NES) and Non-Native English xii Speakers (NNES). The study assessed changes in Communication Apprehension (CA), Self-Perceived Communication Competence (SPCC), and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) before and after participants took the traditional public speaking course.

The findings indicate that NES and NNES had equal benefits and growth in these self-report measures and suggest that we should further investigate which public speaking course structure is most beneficial for NNES.

The Unaware, Accurate, And Overly Critical: Video Technology Use Of Improving Public Speaking Competency, Luke Lefebvre, Leah E. Lefebvre, Mike Allen

Basic Communication Course Annual

Students often hold overly favorable views of their public speaking skills. In this study, students set goals prior to speaking, and then assess the presentation via video replay. Although some basic courses use video, the technology is not standard practice nor consistently utilized to aid student skill development for speechmaking.

Differences between students’ self-estimated and earned grades students were categorized into five estimator groupings. Study 1 (N = 102) results indicated video self-evaluation positively influenced student ability for predictive goal-setting, improved accuracy for assessing speech quality, and diminished overestimation from the informative to persuasive speech.

To further explore the findings …

Assessment Of Student Learning Gains In Oral Competency, Lynn O. Cooper, Rebecca Sietman

Basic Communication Course Annual

The basic course in communication has a well-established record of enhancing oral competency, which plays a primary role in personal, academic, and professional success. However, there is limited empirical support to substantiate that the ways we teach this course are responsible for these gains. A 24-item Likert- like scale instrument developed from the eight Competent Speaker categories (Morreale, Moore, Taylor, Surges-Tatum, & Hulbert-Johnson, 1990; Morreale, Moore, Surges-Tatum, & Webster, 2007; SCA, 1993) has been reliably used for the past decade in campus pre- and post-assessments.

In Study One, measures of 2485 students taking the basic course over the past six …

Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 28

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (222 pages, 8.5 MB)

Eisenhower's Farewell Speech: Initial And Continuing Communication Effects, Bruce Kuiper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

When Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his final Presidential speech in 1961, he was using the opportunity to bid farewell to America, but he was also trying to warn his fellow countrymen about deeper challenges threatening the country. In this analysis, Eisenhower’s speech is examined in light of the impact it had on American culture, communication concepts, and political ramifications. The paper initially highlights the previous literature on the speech, especially in light of its 50^th anniversary, and reveals a man whose main concern was how the speech’s words would affect his beloved country. The painstaking approach to the wording …

Effect Of Mass Media On Family Planning Choices In Indonesia, Beta Ardiansyah

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Realizing the necessity of family planning, the Indonesian government started family planning programs in the late 1960s, long before the global Program of Action from the International Conference of Population (ICPD) in 1994.

Many studies have tried to draw plausible explanations for the prevalence of family planning focused mainly on socio-economic factors but few studies have approached the issue from the perspective of mass media influence as the variable of interest. This study attempts to fill this gap created by the lack of empirical evidence about mass media effects of family planning choices by examining the contraceptive behavior of Indonesian …