Social Influence and Political Communication Commons^™

Source Credibility And Trust Of Media Information Based On Gender Of Reporter, Madison R. Urse

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

An experiment was used for this study to explore if the gender of a reporter impacts perceived source credibility and thus trust in information. Previous research has shown how gender biases can affect how topics are covered, reported on, perceived and marketed in the journalistic world. Modern media and newsrooms are meant to mirror reality as they convey information to the public, yet women continue to be gatekept out of reporting on certain types of news. Further, changes in the mode of delivery of news are also impacting the journalism landscape. Thus, this study employed a digital stimulus to explore …

Empowering Elderpreneurs Scommerce For Genx Consignment Store Owners In West Virginia, Joyita Sarkar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In an ever-evolving digital landscape, this research explores Generation X (GenX) consignment store owners in West Virginia and the transformative power of Social commerce (sCommerce). Despite the ubiquity of Social media platforms, little attention has been given to the impact of sCommerce on the consignment store industry. Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT), this study examines the factors influencing sCommerce adoption decisions for GenX consignment store owners.

Through qualitative research, this study uncovers untold stories within this entrepreneurial landscape. Purposeful sampling of 11 women and 20-60 minutes of in-depth interviews reveal the …

Treating A Viral Culture: Using Cultural Competency And Social Informatics To Design Contextualized Information Literacy Efforts For Specific Social Information Cultures, Rachel N. Simons, Aaron J. Elkins, Shengnan Yang (Ed.), Xiaohua Zhu (Ed.), Pnina Fichman (Ed.)

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This chapter proposes a novel theoretical framework, Social Information Cultural Competency (SICC), that may be used for designing contextualized information literacy efforts. The SICC approach leverages the frameworks of social informatics, cultural competency, and psychosocial understandings of information behavior to encourage information professionals to develop more nuanced understandings of specific social information cultures. After defining this approach, the chapter then applies the SICC framework to a case study considering information literacy interventions addressing a social information culture engaged in sharing COVID-19 misinformation through social media. As part of this case study, the chapter discusses three current information literacy approaches to …

(Un)Successful Use Of Apologia: A Case Study Of Mayor Shubert's Resignation, Alexis Raineri

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With the growing tension in the political climate of the United States, political figures often use apologia in their attempt to repair a damaged image due to their mistakes or wrongdoings. This project reviews several scholars’ image repair typologies and strategies, applying them to the case of Craig Shubert, former mayor of Hudson, Ohio. While the specific image repair strategies employed can vary from one case to another, Shubert’s use of evasion of responsibility and reducing offensiveness proved to be ineffective and resulted in his resignation before completing his term at the end of 2023. Although it is recommended to …

Boycotting Vs. Canceling: Exploring Consumer Activism Against Corporations, Erica Buchman

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to establish the difference between boycotting and canceling a corporation and what compels consumers to act. Consumer activism attempts to hold companies to account when a line, be it arbitrary or rational, is crossed, and these attempts are not always successful. However, when enough social pressure is exerted on a company via boycotting, depending on the wrongful act committed, accountability and change can be possible. I want to determine what some of the factors are that could compel customers to engage in consumer activism or boycott against a corporation and whether a corporation that …

Theoretical Motivations For Posting In #Metoo, Shannon Pappas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2017, actress Alyssa Milano shared a tweet encouraging survivors of gendered violence to write “me too.” A media storm ensued as survivors answered her call in the millions. Anyone can look back at what survivors posted during the height of #MeToo, but we still don’t know why they felt the need to post in the first place. To answer this question, the social identity model of deindividuation effects and spiral of silence were utilized. The social identification, perceived anonymity affordances, and willingness to self-censor scales were used for this research, along with a perceived deindividuation scale that was created …

Right Turn At Reality: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Right Wing Negotiations On Race And Masculinity In Online Spaces, Andrew R.J. Hart

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The effects of right wing politically charged violence are more visible now than at any other point in recent American history. The Internet, and social media more specifically, has become a crucial nexus point in the dissemination of decentralized Alt-Right propaganda. The visual nature of social media has increased the importance of images a means of communication. Through this thesis, I analyze artifacts coming out of these spaces representing a conversation between creators and audiences, and how they work dialogically to introduce and reify symbols of white masculine supremacy within this subgroup. Through this process, I find multiple recurring patterns …

Advocacy Journalism And Climate Justice In A Global Southern Country, Shafiq Ahmad Kamboh, Muhammad Ittefaq

School of Communication Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Being among the world’s most affected countries by climate change, Pakistan is facing a variety of cases of climate injustice committed by internal and external drivers. Waisbord’s referred “Advocate-journalist” model carries a good potential to advocate these injustices to stimulate democratic dialogue among the audience that eventually pushes leadership to make eco-friendly policies. This study critically analyses advocacy journalism coverage of cases of local and regional climate injustice in the editorial contents of mainstream Pakistani newspapers by using the quantitative content analysis method. Results reveal that selected newspapers gave inappropriate coverage to climate injustice issues both in quantity and quality. …

Hustle In H-Town: Hip Hop Entrepreneurialism In Houston, Brittany L. Long

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Imagine a sprawling, overheated American megalopolis that epitomizes diversity and segregation in one of the world’s youngest countries. Despite Houston’s history of structural racism and segregation, Houston Hip Hop entrepreneurs built communities and created storied businesses that culminate in a sense of local pride and Hip Hop identity that has not been replicated in the same manner in any other city. An examination of thought-provoking existing scholarship about the Hip Hop South and Hip Hop in Houston, as well as an examination of existing and collected primary sources (interviews) allow me to demonstrate two things: Hip Hop entrepreneurialism is a …

The Quest For Influence: Examining Russia's Public Diplomacy Mechanisms In Africa, Isaac Antwiboasiako

Articles

This article examines Russian public diplomacy mechanisms in Africa. These include the intentional use of historical ties, various aid programmes in education and health, the targeted use of international broadcasting and digital media, and the exploitation of anti-Western sentiments on the continent. Russia employs these to win the hearts and minds of African publics for its national interest. The article first explores Moscow’s public diplomacy in general and analyses the challenges Russia faces in Africa, which has become a ‘dumping ground’ for public diplomacy campaigns by the US, the EU and its members, the UK, and China. The article argues …

Reconnecting With The Truth: Conspiracies, Perspective Taking, And Misinformation, Scott Sellnow-Richmond, Mili Pinski

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

“I’ve done my research.” Misinformation has become a prevalent topic in communication courses, particularly those focused on argumentation, public speaking, or even interpersonal and family communication. Students thus benefit from adapting public speaking-focused assignments to illuminate how to understand - and thus combat- disinformation in their own lives. This assignment works toward this goal in two stages, allowing students to argue not just against misinformation and conspiracies, but also to argue for them as an act of empathy and understanding. The applied nature of this exercise also empowers instructors with a way to concretely address this issue in the classroom. …

“People Don’T Always Show Up The Way You Want Them To”: Utilizing The Hunger Games To Differentiate Between Persuasion, Coercion, Propaganda, And Manipulation, Nancy Bressler

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

The ability to define and conceptualize persuasion and its nuances without engaging in coercion, propaganda, and/or manipulation can be difficult for students at first. This activity centralizes the fine points among these persuasive concepts. Students also recognize the role of their audience in the persuasive messages that they create. Rather than only having a conversation about the common characteristics of these terms and how they differ, students can observe them within the fictional movie The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Lawrence, 2014). After discussing these ideas with their classmates, students then apply what they have learned by creating persuasive messages …

Front Matter

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

No abstract provided.

Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests, Ariel Newell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much attention has been paid to Black male athlete activism both historically and in the contemporary movement for black lives. Black female athletes have also made historic contributions as activists, and they continue to do so. However, Black female athlete activism has not always been acknowledged or heard. This is a problem, as Black women in American sports and society face overlapping racial and gender inequities and injustices that distinctly marginalize and oppress them. However, some Black female athlete activists (BFAAs) have begun using social media to challenge media narratives about themselves, to redefine what it means to be a …

A Frayed Edge: A Qualitative And Poetic Inquiry Analysis Of White Antiracist Protest In 2020, Emily Katt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multiphasic study explored the narratives of five first-time Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating during the historic confluence of conflicts in 2020 America. After positioning the liminal 2020 circumstances within an antiracist research lens, the author analyzed, first through grounded theory and then secondarily through poetic inquiry, how these five participants described their protest experiences. The grounded theory phase yielded an overarching theory that first-time protestors experienced a dual process of unsuturing and of calling-out, with three subthemes categorized within each of these two processes. The author moved into analysis with the poetic inquiry phase, crafting poems guided by six …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 24. Wallace At 200: Potential Subjects For Student Theses, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

The bicentennial of Alfred Russel Wallace’s birth in 2023 will likely produce a wide array of reviews of his life and work; here, we pause for a short look at some Wallace-related questions that might be adapted for student theses and dissertations. Some of the subjects treated fall in with established lines of research, while others are suggested by other Wallace interests or activities that have not been much explored.

"Why This Post Now?" : Dramaturging Politics And Social Media, Kennedy Kemmerer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Political events have always been influenced by the media, but social media has provided a much stronger influence than the typical newspaper or radio. Users of social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, etc.) have the opportunity to share whatever they want, to whoever they want, whenever they want. While social media has given immense opportunity for artists and creators alike, it has also given way for creators to participate in uninformed performance, whether intended or not, with their content. Are social media consumers considering whether content, specifically political content, is actually true or are they accepting it at face …

Predictors Of College Student Support Toward Colin Kaepernick’S National Anthem Protests, Brooke Coursen, Nicole Peiffer, Sakira Coleman, Philip Lucius

VA Engage Journal

Racial discrimination and inequality have perpetuated within the U.S. since its inception. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick initiated the national anthem protests to oppose the oppression of people of color in America. This study was developed in 2018 to identify social determinants of health underlying discriminatory beliefs and behaviors. The objective was to investigate the impacts of college students’ race, gender, political ideology, socio-economic status [SES], NFL interest, patriotism, and general protest support on support for the national anthem protests. We administered paper-and-pencil surveys across locations on the James Madison University campus using a convenience sample. There were 408 participants included, …

Vaccinate: Posters From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aaron Sutherlen, Judy Diamond, Meghan Leadabrand, Julia Mcquillan, St Patrick Reid

Zea E-Books Collection

In 2022 we are living through a global pandemic, and vaccines are one of the most effective strategies for slowing the spread of infectious disease, minimizing symptoms, and lowering healthcare demands. In short, vaccines save lives and can reduce the risk of contagion from social interaction.

In the United States in late 2021, after the vaccines had been broadly available for almost a year, one in five adults still chose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Art can disrupt what is embedded in our minds and open us up to new perspectives and insights. We hope to offer access to …

Heterotopias Of Nationalist Youth Organisations In Poland: Communitarisation And Entry/Exit System, Helena Ostrowicka, Klaudia Wolniewicz-Slomka

The Qualitative Report

The article presents the results of an analysis of the discourse of nationalist youth organisations in Poland. The authors have attempted to reconstruct the common “us” of two youth organisations based on the materials made available by them as well as articles in the press published in 2018 in selected journals and weeklies. This was the year when Poland celebrated its 100^th anniversary of regaining independence, which made this an exceptional time in the context of discourse about the community. The article focuses on two youth organisations – the All-Polish Youth (APY) and the National Radical Camp (NRC). The …