Social Influence and Political Communication Commons^™

The Rise Of The Ideological Left? Testing The Asymmetrical Party Theory Through Case Studies Of 2018 Primary Elections, Wyatt Anderson

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

During the mid-term elections of 2018, primary challenges against Democratic incumbents in Congress captured the attention of national media. One of the most prominent cases of this was the victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York’s 14th Congressional District against the ten-time incumbent and Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley on June 26. While her successful primary challenge could be attributed to many different factors, of interest is the way in which she campaigned – bringing into question how primary campaigns have changed in recent years and the rhetoric that hopeful-nominees adopt to secure their party’s nomination. The central question of …

How To Protect Media From Soft Censorship In Montenegro, Ana Nenezić

International Programs

Free and independent media are the basis of every democratic society. In order for media to fulfil their watchdog role, they need to be politically and economically independent in their work, operate under clearly prescribed legal standards and be free from inadequate external political influence. In this way the competition would define the market, and not the political influence. Freedom of expression and media freedoms are under constant political pressure in Montenegro resulting in deep polarization of media environment. The non-transparent and non-competitive state distribution of public funds disrupts the media market in Montenegro, and additionally weakens the economic independence …

Immigration And Crime In The News, 2014-2018: Do Focusing Events And Policy Windows Affect Framing?, Abigale Rongey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although an abundance of literature demonstrates that immigrant populations are less crime-prone than the native-born population, the majority of Americans believe that immigration inherently threatens the security of the United States. Because Americans are not well versed in the complex issues of immigration and crime, public opinion is undoubtedly influenced by media outlets’ crafted narratives that simplify circumstances and events into easily digestible material. The current study examines how media behavior changes and responds to social and political events by examining “frames” utilized in articles that produce narratives about immigration and crime. Using content analysis of over 1,700 articles published …

“Someone’S Got To Look Out For The People”: Exploring Donald Trump And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’S Online Performance Of Populism And Immigration Rhetoric, Taylor P. Koopman

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the performance of populism by a right- and left-wing politician in the digital sphere during the peak of the immigration crisis in 2019 using the lens of Moffitt’s populism as performance theory (performer, stage, and audience) and Baldwin-Philippi’s four methods of ‘centering the people.’ My findings show that Trump and Ocasio-Cortez’s performances of populism condemn the degradation of the U.S. and portray themselves as immigration warriors. Trump uses exclusionary rhetoric to advocate putting “America First,” and Ocasio-Cortez expresses inclusionary rhetoric to develop an “America for All,” in a way that informs their performances of …

Selecting Information Sources In Times Of Crisis, Andi Amiratania Bastari

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

The Indonesian government has employed communication strategies such as leveraging new media and big data to provide its citizens with information during the Covid-19 global pandemic. Previous research has shown that these are some tools that were used by digital PR practitioners during a crisis. However, it is said that research on usage of new media has been focused on the organizational perspective. This article conducted an exploratory study on how and why users select certain forms of new media to search for information. An in-depth interview with three informants was done to gain a societal perspective. Uses and gratifications …

Chatbots And Government Communications In Covid-19 Pandemic, Ika Meilani Untari

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

COVID-19 has forced the world to change. Indonesian government, like the rest of the global community, promptly responded to the soaring transmission rate by launching an app to cater the Indonesians’ need for information. COVID19 GO.ID was launched on March 20, 2020, adding to previous chatbots built by WHO and afterwards followed by GOV UK. Using casestudies method and comparing it to the four unique affordances of chatbot, this study wasconducted to com pare the three chatbots, and thus achieve a valuable information to improve Indonesia’s chatbot under the Media Richness Theory. Indonesian government chatbot needs to add more engaging …

Factors Influencing Youth Audience Involvement (A Study On Bts Fans Who Follow @Army_Indonesia Instagram Account), Yolanda Gloria Hutauruk, Ummi Salamah

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Beberapa tahun belakangan ini, K-Pop menjadi suatu fenomena yang menarik perhatian banyak orang. Dengan dibantu oleh keberadaan media sosial, penggemar K-Pop mengambil peran peningkatan popularitas dari K-Pop itu sendiri serta perkembangannya menjadi suatu industri yang besar. Penelitian ini membahas mengenai faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi keterlibatan audiens dari penggemar grup idola BTS remaja di media sosial. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kuantitatif dengan metode pengumpulan data berupa survei daring menggunakan Survey UI. Jumlah responden penelitian ini adalah 131 responden, yang didasari oleh oleh teknik random sampling. Dengan menggunakan teknik analisis regresi linear berganda, didapatkan hasil bahwa keterlibatan audiens penggemar BTS remaja di media …

“I Sometimes Have Doubts About The News On Facebook”: Adolescents’ Encounters With Fake News On The Internet, Joyce Vissenberg, Leen D’Haenens

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Fake news is increasingly present on the internet and on social media, and youths, who mainly follow the news on these platforms, are at risk of being misinformed and deceived. This study aims to serve as an important knowledge base about adolescents’ definitions of, experiences with, and opinions about fake news on the internet. A qualitative content analysis of open-ended survey responses regarding experiences with fake news online among 214 Flemish youths (aged 15 to 19) provides insight into the sources of fake news, the topics covered in fake news, and the characteristics of fake news according to these youths. …

“Be Careful And Don’T Forget To Pray”: Indonesian Female Journalists’ Protocol In Dealing With Harassments, Aderia Aderia

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Female journalists’ safety is a long ignored and forgotten thing in Indonesian journalism. It has been ignored even by the female journalists themselves. They took the safety issues as a job risk and as the things they have to face regularly. Many female journalists, even the experienced ones, tend to take harassments or violence for granted. In addition, most of Indonesian female journalists even blamed themselves for being a victim. This paper is a research study which aims to figure out how Indonesian female journalists perceived the safety issues, challenges they have to face in the field, and challenges for …

Communication Between Husband And Wife In Negotiating A Parenting Role For Their Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Andria Saptyasari

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Families that have children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) were vulnerable in terms of financial, emotional, energy, and time that causes tension between husbands and wives as parents in caring for their children with ASD. The main purpose of this study is to elaborateon the communication used by married heterosexual couples in negotiating a parenting role related to financial, emotional, energy, and time problems for their child with ASD by using relational dialectical theory. The data collection method used interviews. The participants’ selection used snowball. The participants consisted of three married heterosexual couples with three different ages of children with …

Audience Reception Of Hoax Information On Social Media In The Post-Truth Era, Sugeng Bayu Wahyono, Murti Kusuma Wirasti, Barito Mulyo Ratmono

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

This research is an audience reception study of hoax information on social media during the 2019 Presidential Election campaign in the post-truth era. This research uses a qualitative method with a reception study approach and various theories of active audiences such as the encoding-decoding model from Stuart Hall, which was also elaborated by David Morley and Ien Ang. The result shows that there are three typologies in receiving hoax. Those are the pragmatic-creative, ideological, and critical-skeptical type of audiences. The three typologies of the audience have different characters in the reception of hoax information in political communication on social media. …

What The New Cabinet Line-Up Says About Leadership Continuity And Renewal, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan discussed three features that stood out in the new Cabinet line-up after the July 10 General Election, and explained what this says about leadership continuity and renewal.

Ascriptive Nationalism, Demagoguery, And The Modern Presidency: A Case Study In Constitutional Decay, Christopher J. Putney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study is an account of the modern presidency as a source––and under Donald Trump, an accelerant––of systemic problems in American politics. Against the prevailing scholarly view of the Trump presidency as an unqualified aberration, I argue that the signal features of his efforts at governance are actually the product of converging patterns of political and institutional order. Building on seminal (but previously disjointed) work on ascriptive Americanism and the rhetorical presidency, I show that Trump represents the political synthesis of America’s ascriptive tradition and a form of presidential leadership inaugurated more than a century ago by Woodrow Wilson. Moreover, …

“I’M Real I Thought I Told Ya”: Developing Critical Media Literacy Through U.S. Latinx Digital Media Representations, Solange T. Castellar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how audiences engage with U.S. Latinx media representations through the practice of critical media literacy. I interrogate how media consumers construct critical media literacy through interacting with U.S. Latinx figures on digital media platforms, particularly on the social-media app, Twitter, and the user-generated video content platform, YouTube. Throughout this thesis, I argue that users on these platforms who engage with U.S. Latinx pop culture figures, like Jennifer Lopez and Belcalis Almanzar (Cardi B), read, digest, and comprehend a variety of multimedia images, texts, or videos, and that this engagement becomes an accessible form of critical media literacy, …

Communication Competence Training Within Minority-Owned Small Businesses, Shirleena Racine Baggett

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Business ownership is imperative in correcting economic issues for demographic groups subjugated to discrimination, inequality, poverty, and other harmful disadvantages. This project supports the idea that building communication competence within minority-owned small businesses and nonprofit organizations, will significantly increase achievement of long-term sustainability and success. The solution is not only creating communication training tailored for minority entrepreneurs, but to allow access in feasible and tangible ways. This study begins by defining communication and explaining its function to assist in moving past the narrative of communication interaction as “talking and listening,” but instead a concept rooted in logic, theoretical analysis, and …

Adoption Of E-Wallet Among University Of Malaya Students, Jia Enn Tan

Student Works (2020-2029)

Malaysia is towards a cashless nation and factors that delaying the process of cashless society are still unclear. The objective of this paper is to examine the adoption of e-wallet among University of Malaya (UM) students. The purpose is examined by key determinants which include social influence, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived security and trust among university students. Data is collected by a self-administered survey questionnaire from University of Malaya (UM) students. Software IBM SPSS is adopted to analyse the data collected from survey questionnaires. The findings in this study shows that social influence and perceived usefulness are …

Developing A Conceptual Framework For Research On Social Media And Political Polarization, Audrey C. Sanders

University Honors Theses

Americans in 2020 live in a time of unprecedented political polarization. Scholars often study this trend of increased polarization in conjunction with the use of social media platforms, or social networking sites (SNSs). Despite a nearly twenty-year existence, however, the discourse community surrounding the relationship between SNS use and political polarization has yet to develop past a scattered and largely theoretical body of literature. What follows is a description of the current state of the literature followed by a description of a conceptual framework scholars can use when approaching the field and designing their own research in order to make …

Driving Disruption: Assessing Uber's Corporate Identity In The Battle Over Driver Classification, Benjamin Peterson

Master's Projects and Capstones

This research analyzes the ongoing effort by Uber’s executives to prevent the reclassification of the company’s drivers from independent contractors to employees. Through rhetorical appeals made to customers, regulatory bodies, and drivers themselves, Uber’s executives are attempting to cultivate a corporate identity that portrays the company’s labor practices in a way that adheres to California’s labor laws, namely the “ABC” test for worker classification codified in Assembly Bill 5, while maintaining the company’s ill-gotten reputation as a bastion of Silicon Valley innovation. The success of this posturing hinges on attempts to conflate Uber’s labor practices with equitable social outcomes, publicize …

Religious Nationalism And The Coronavirus Pandemic: Soul-Sucking Evangelicals And Branch Covidians Make America Sick Again, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article investigates the response to the coronavirus crisis by Evangelical Christian nationalists in the USA. The article outlines the curious mediaverse of religious nationalism—its post-truth and fake news aspects in particular—links religious nationalism to American exceptionalism, and analyzes conflicts between secular and religious authorities. Drawing upon some lessons from the past, the article addresses the wider implications of Christian nationalism on American politics, and capitalist ideology, as it has been played out virally in the corporate media. The article shows that the ideological underpinnings of evangelical Christianity prevent its proponents from understanding the virus in an historical and materialist …

Truth And Consequences: With Harvey Weinstein Investigation, Rebecca Corbett Leads As The New York Times Triggers Cultural Change, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

"And then, five months after the Weinstein investigation began, Corbett, her team, and the Times' highest-ranking editors hunched over a computer screen as the button was pushed. The first Weinstein story was published"

Student Research Journal, Volume 10, Issue 1, Student Reseach Journal

School of Information Student Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Hollywood Media And The Model Minority Myth: The Representation Of Asian American Masculinity And Its Effects, Khanhlinh Le

Master's Projects and Capstones

Asian Americans are becoming one of the largest growing minority groups in the United States, almost surpassing the Latinx community. Asian Americans, however, are rarely ever represented in Hollywood films and are limited to stereotypical roles. Asian American actors have a difficult time finding roles playing characters that are three-dimensional and complex. While both Asian American men and women face this challenge, it seems that in Hollywood films and television shows, Asian American males are even less represented than females and are typically portrayed as the quiet nerd, sexy doctor, martial arts expert, or the villain. These media stereotypes impact …

An Outside Gaze On The Relationship Between Indigenous Groups And The Media, Nicole Daoust

Honors Theses

Indigenous groups around the world faced similar challenges. Many of these issues stem from stereotypes, one-sided stories, and overall lack of representation in the media. Without a voice or ally, they are often treated as second class citizens. For my research, I analyzed how the media affected public perception of indigenous people. I specifically focus on four groups: The Aboriginals of Canada, the Māori, Native Americans, and the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon.

Protecting The Image Of A Nation: Jim Crow Propaganda, Kevin Leaven

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This project investigates how the United States Information Agency (USIA) functioned as a propaganda machine on behalf of the United States government at the dawn of the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. Drawing from literature on propaganda, public relations, and public diplomacy, this thesis connects 20^th century American propaganda to its roots in public relations, communication studies, and psychology.

The Civil Rights movement exposed the cultural inertia of white supremacy in America for the world to see while American foreign policy makers sought to crystallize a cultural hegemony fashioned after American political, cultural, and economic systems. Although …

Book Review: Reluctant Interveners: America’S Failed Responses To Genocide From Bosnia To Darfur, Jeffrey Bachman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Taking Terrorists At Their Word: Testing The Co-Religionist Hypothesis In Islamic State Propaganda, Joel Elliott

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

This dissertation operates on the idea that, as conflict researchers, we can look to Islamic State’s (referred to from here on as ‘Daesh’) own recruitment propaganda to identify the best people to counter Daesh’s violent rhetoric. This project analyzes Daesh’s main print publication, Dabiq, to catalogue and classify the types of people and institutions Daesh targets most, and which types of arguments Daesh uses to attack those targets. It uses this information to test the Co-Religionist Hypothesis, which predicts that the most effective peaceful interveners in a religious conflict will be of the same religion as the belligerents. Conventional …

Political Public Relations Agenda-Building: A Content Analysis Of The Us 2016 Presidential Campaign Speeches, Tweets And News Stories, Emmanuel Nwachukwu

Dissertations

This study investigated the role of political agenda building of political speech and tweet in the 2016 US presidential elections and the relationships between the campaign messages and the news cycle during the election campaign period. It also used functional theory of political campaign discourse to evaluate the speech and tweets of the presidential candidates. The study utilized content analysis and analyzed 5303 units of speech, tweets, TV (CNN, FOX and NBC news) clips and news stories from New York Times and Washington Post to derive its conclusions.

The result of the study showed how tweets shaped the media agenda …

The Political Preferences Of Arkansas Farmers And Ranchers, Rachel J. Barry

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research was conducted to evaluate where farmers and ranchers find political information and assess their political preferences. By conducting a survey of Arkansas farmers and ranchers we were able to determine that they prefer face to face interaction as a source of information by large margins. They typically consult friends, peers, and extension agents where appropriate. Depending on the type of political information they are seeking (information about candidates as opposed to information about policy topics), they often used other types of information sources such as the internet and broadcast media. We also ascertained that farmers and ranchers have …

#Dreamcrazy And #Boycottnike: A Content Analysis Of The Twitter Debate, Grace Voll

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

In 2016, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt for the national anthem in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. A less than two-minute action galvanized a brand-new movement in the United States. Two years after losing his NFL contract, Nike endorsed Kaepernick and produced the controversial “Dream Crazy” advertising campaign. The initial advertisement launched on Twitter, shared first by Kaepernick with the #DreamCrazy hashtag. There was a substantial amount of discussion about this campaign through the hashtags #DreamCrazy and the counter-campaign #BoycottNike on Twitter. This paper presents a content analysis that examines the tone and support of the initial campaign …

Sex, Stress, And The Supreme Court: Verbal And Vocalic Analysis Of Brett Kavanaugh’S Senate Confirmation Hearings To The Supreme Court, Alexandra Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed the relationship between verbal and nonverbal vocalic communication patterns exhibited by Brett Kavanaugh, now a sitting Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, during his Senate confirmation hearings in 2018. Additionally, the relationship between verbal statement types: attempt to define reality, personal narrative, policy positions, attacks, acclaims, and defenses, and the nonverbal vocalics of sighs, sharp intakes of breath, and sniffs were evaluated together to see which statement types would elicit higher physiological stress responses during both the 16-minute speech given at the end of the Day One hearing and the 45-minute testimony during the sexual assault hearing. …