Mass Communication Commons^™

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 26

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (276 pages, 9.7 MB)

Freedom Of The Press In Cuba From 2002-2013: Voices Of Post-Revolutionary Exiled Cuban Journalists, Writers And Dissidents In The U.S., Karen E. Anaya

Departmental Honors Projects

The role of media in any society is determined by the level of press freedom in that society. Freedom of the press can be best seen in the relationship between the government and mass media institutions. Since the end of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the Cuban regime has been criticized by organizations all over the world for allegedly limiting press freedom in the island. Despite the wide controversy, little is known about the state of freedom of the press in Cuban media in the last few years. This study set out to investigate the level of press freedom enjoyed …

Making Judge-Speak Clear Amidst The Babel Of Lawspeakers, Michael A. Wolff

All Faculty Scholarship

This article was prepared as a lecture for the Missouri Law Review 2014 Symposium entitled "The Art, Craft, and Future of Legal Journalism: A Tribute to Anthony Lewis."

Message Appeals Used By Nonprofits On Twitter To Increase Public Engagement, Lilliana Laura Lopez

LSU Master's Theses

As social media becomes a more prominent tool for mass communication, nonprofit organizations are using social networking sites as a means to communicate with their target audiences and recruit supporters. This study explores how nonprofits are using Twitter, a microblogging website, to communicate with their audiences during the year-end charitable giving period and investigate which messaging acquires audience engagement. This was determined by investigating nonprofit organizations’ use of Twitter’s multimedia features and the different types of message appeals used when tweeting about their organization’s year-end campaign. Another aim of this study was to identify which message appeals in online charitable …

Perceptions Of Collegiate And Professional Black Male Athletes Based On The Media, Dionell Mcneal

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on how media usage can affect one’s perceptions of Black collegiate and professional male athletes. While early research focused solely on traditional media, this study focuses on social media as well. This study investigates the relationships between the amounts of time spent using traditional and social media, and the perceptions of athletes in regards to their physical capability, the likelihood of being criminals, and prevalence of committing violent crimes. To explore relationships, this study utilized a total of 145 White participants. Findings showed a positive relationship existed between social media usage and perceptions of criminal-like characteristics. It …

Art Tweets: A Content Analysis Of Social Media Activity Among Six Top Art Museums In The U.S.A., Patricia Ann Milford-Hoyt

LSU Master's Theses

This study presents a content analysis of Twitter posts tagged with one of six institutions to establish uses and gratifications with this medium and the art museum industry. Due to industry norms, copyright law, museums traditionally do not permit photography and therefore may limit the advancement of their mission through misuse of the social media. This study establishes a baseline by seeking to understand how museums and individual account holders engage on Twitter within the art museum space as well as begin to unearth whether museums are misusing this media outlet and limiting their potential to educate the public while …

Impression Formation In The Online Amateur Setting: An Examination Of Transgender People, Minjie Li

LSU Master's Theses

Technology is enhancing our amateur culture, which may provide counter-stereotype depictions. The present study reexamined the continuum model of impression formation by investigating how the mechanism of an amateur technology platform interacts with the depiction of amateur content created by social minority members to redirect people’s cognitive process of impression formation of minority members in the online amateur setting. More specifically, conducting a 2 (Stereotype Depiction) x 2 (Platform) experiment, this study looked at whether amateur platform YouTube encouraged people to go beyond stereotyping to form an counter-stereotypic impression of the mediated transgender person featured in the amateur content. Moreover, …

"Les Miserables: The Twitter Revolution" : A Study Of Fan Activity, Parasocial Relationships, And Audience-Persona Interactions, Lance Stephen Bordelon

LSU Master's Theses

This study simulated a fan extension of the Broadway-renowned musical Les Miserables on a community level and measured the effects of fan interactions—both online and with the characters’ narratives as performed at Theatre Baton Rouge during summer 2013. The stimulus materials in this study were Tweets distributed via Twitter identities for each of the lead characters whereby their thoughts and narratives were communicated with audiences and Twitter followers—coinciding with the opening of the live theatrical production. Patrons of Theatre Baton Rouge were surveyed online after the closing of the production. This study served as a practical use of Twitter for …

Exploring Influences On Gender Equality In Photojournalism: Is The Field Picture-Perfect?, Andrea Briscoe

LSU Master's Theses

America prides itself on having a free press. Ideally, this free press would look like the communities in which they cover. However, research shows that gender discrepancies are quite common in newsrooms (Anderson 2014; Briscoe 2012; Norris 1997; Willnat and Weaver 2014). Women often have a marginal presence in newsrooms, and this is troublesome, because scholars have noted that men and women approach newsgathering and reporting differently (Beam and Cicco 2010; Briscoe 2012; Grabe et al. 2011; Weaver 1997). While research has focused on gender discrepancies in various types of media, little to no research has looked at the field …

British Cultural Narrative In Winston Churchill's Political Communication, Andres L. Faza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study uses Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech, delivered to the House of Commons following the evacuation of Dunkirk, France in June 1940, as a source text by which to examine Churchill's use of British cultural narratives in political communication. Narrative and heuristic theories are proposed as means by which listeners process such messages. A number of rhetorical devices are defined, in order to inform a discussion of the narratives identified, particularly the means by which those narratives were rhetorically embedded in the text. After a careful examination of the source text, the narratives of knighthood …

Blaming Halo: The Effects Of Violent Video Games And What Should Be Done About Them, Jonathan F. Kirk

Senior Honors Theses

In the wake of such incidents as the Newtown, Connecticut and Aurora, Colorado, shootings, much scrutiny has been applied to the topic of violent video games, because there appears to be a link between school shooters and video games that contain gratuitous violence. This paper examines the alleged link between video game violence and real-world violence.

Copious amounts of research have been dedicated to this topic. Although many researchers conclude that violent video games lead to increases in aggression, a causal link between violent video games and real-life acts of violence remains unseen. This paper explores the origins of this …

Trust, Credibility And Authenticity: Race And Its Effect On Audience Perceptions Of News Information From Traditional And Alternative Sources, Sadaf R. Ali

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate audience perceptions of trust, credibility and authenticity in news information coming from traditional and social media sources, especially focused on how securitization amplifies the effects of news frames regarding race and culture. Research in race and media suggests that citizens of nations who look like the "other" will be framed differently than those of nations that look like "us." The study examines the effects of securitization and how exceptionalism coupled with framing can create an atmosphere where American culture has become securitized, in particular the ways in which multiculturalism due to increased …

Crisis Communication Through Text Message And On Social Media, Larae Wade

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Dimensions And Validation Of Perceived Message Sensation Value Scale For Print Messages, Lisanne F. M. Grant

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The purpose of this research project was to develop a reliable and valid scale to assess the perceived message sensation value (PMSV) of print messages. The goal of this project was accomplished by conducting two studies. Study one involved collecting 397 undergraduate students’ responses to one high and one low sensation value anti-smoking message, while for study two, 284 undergraduate students’ responses to one high and one low sensation value anti-crystal meth message were collected. The results of the studies highlighted that the PMSV of a print message can be assessed using three dimensions (emotional arousal, novelty, and dramatic impact) …

[The Development Of Public Relations In] Kenya, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This chapter traces the practice of PR from pre-independence Kenya to the 21st century. It emerges that the practice of PR is closely tied to major national events and to social, cultural, political and economic forces. PR roles as understood by the pre-independence colonial government: keeping the public informed on government development projects, assessing public opinion and advising government, endearing government to Kenyans and building the awareness of Kenya abroad have continued to modern-day Kenya.

Visualization, Viewer And Emotion: An Empirical Study Of Cognition And Affective Responses To Infographics Used For Crisis Communication, Sean M. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

A 3 (crisis response strategy) x 3 (medium) factorial design experiment was conducted to determine if information graphics conveyed through online news sources may be more beneficial for organizational reputations during some crisis situations than the use of news videos and text-based news stories. Variables examined include cognitive and affective appraisal, third-person effect, behavioral response and crisis response strategy.

Recent research in organizational crisis communications has pointed to the fact that more information is needed regarding how individuals react cognitively and affectively to crisis communications. Current crisis communications literature is also sparse concerning the behavioral aspects of crisis message reception …

(Tele)Presence In Mediated Worship: The Influence Of Antecedent Traits And The Effect On Memory, Enjoyment And Behavior, Brian Klebig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the phenomena of (tele)presence in the distinct mediated environment of an online Christian worship service. A quantitative field experiment involving 48 participants who had just viewed a religious Internet broadcast was undertaken. Individual differences in personality and religiosity are examined in tandem with (tele)presence as predictors of a number of outcome variables, including memory, enjoyment of the online worship service and behavioral intention to be more active with the church. The results showed no significant relationship between religiosity and the experience of (tele)presence, but that users who experienced greater (tele)presence enjoyed the service more, had a greater …

Psychographic Characteristics And Health Behaviors In Young Adults, Jose Alonso Cabriales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Non trivial smoking rates are observed among young adults and Hispanics, particularly as light and intermittent smoking is on the rise. Additionally, the assessment of other health behaviors including alcohol use, physical activity, and dietary practices seems warranted in young adults. The primary aim of this study was to identify clusters of individuals based on psychographics (e.g., lifestyle, preferences, personality characteristics), and their relation to tobacco use within a primarily Hispanic young adult border sample. Secondary aims were the assessment of group differences with respect to alcohol use, …

Beautiful Disease: The Story Of Angelina Jolie’S Mastectomy In The American Media, Angie Michel

Maria Dittman Library Research Competition: Student Award Winners

In 2013 Angelina Jolie revealed in a New York Times editorial that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy earlier that year. This qualitative study examines the social meaning of that Times piece. Using fantasy theme analysis, I unearth the story the American media told about Jolie, her surgery and her editorial. I find that newspapers and magazines dramatized Jolie’s gender traits and portrayed her as an ultra-feminine hero protected from the physical and social threats of breast cancer.

[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 …