This thesis contributes to the digital and narrative turn in International Relations, supplying a response to the inquiry ‘Which strategic narratives have emerged in Ukraine’s digital diplomacy following the February 2022 Russian invasion?’ The paper observed how the field of politics is revitalised by the interplay between political communication during times of incertitude, digital diplomacy and the trend of personalisation. The thesis evaluated different approaches taken by prior theorists of these spheres and leveraged their knowledge in order to respond to the research question. The treatise employed a qualitative content analysis upon 12 presidential speeches, 4 parliament addresses and 10 social media posts. This content was published by Ukrainian elite political figures during the initial phase of the war, between February 24th and March 29th, 2022. This methodology generated three national identity archetypes (NIAs): the ‘hero’, the ‘partner’ and the ‘victim’. The treatise further conceived Ukrainian’s strategic narratives mechanism composed of distinct values, objectives, demands, target recipients, channels and ensuing initiatives, adjacent to these three NIAs, pillars of Kyiv’s political communication. The paper concludes with future directions for strategic narrative research deriving from the experiences of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

<p>Political socialization has been of interest to political science and communication scholars for decades. Focusing primarily on parents, few studies have examined how peer relationships can affect the political socialization process. Additionally, much of the literature does not examine political socialization past the age of 18. Using social penetration theory, this study proposes that the unique features of the college context—independence, new relationships, political organizations—make it a particularly ripe context for political socialization to occur. The study utilized a survey-based to test this assumption and examine if/how college students between the ages of 18 and 24 are communicating with their peers and to what political socialization effect. The findings contribute to political socialization literature, social penetration theory, and our understanding of how young people talk about politics.</p>

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This study will provide a clearer understanding of the construct, Third World, which may not seem to have a consensus meaning. This is because its perceived definition, which is linked, first to feudalism and then to the socio-politico conditions that existed during the period leading up to and immediately after the cold war means that its conceptual metamorphosis should have ceased once these periods were relegated to the annals of history. Whether and how contemporary definitions of Third World have changed since then should be of interest to scholars and is the focus of this study. This is because anecdotally speaking the media have reframed this construct in a manner that recreates, so called, Third World nations into the three categories of very Third World, somewhat Third World, and not at all Third World. What this study reveals, however, is that these distinctions and to some extent the designations of nations as first, second, and third worlds are misleading colloquialisms.

This paper explores the impact of political responses against terrorism and how they are linked to hypothetical voting intention. After September 11, 2001, terrorism became a major concern of democratic governments and their residents. Terrorism poses a constant unseen threat that people want to feel protected from. The goal of the current study was to examine whether the way political candidates communicate responses to terrorist actions affect the way people vote. The findings indicate that offensive portrayals of terrorism brought in more hypothetical votes than defensive ones. These data have the potential to help the general public better understand political messages related to the subject of terrorism along with facilitating communication during future possible crisis caused by terrorist attacks.

After law enforcement officials in Virginia found evidence of a dogfighting operation, the owner, National Football League star Michael Vick, became one of the most vilified figures in America for supporting a bloodsport that inflicts debilitating bodily harm on dogs. This thesis examines that case in light of the long human history of breeding fighting dogs for war and competitive entertainment. A content analysis was performed on a sample of news reports and opinion pieces that were published in three media outlets. Reactions to the Vick case illuminated strong popular opposition to dogfighting. Findings explore how strong anti-dogfighting views appeared in the publications while contrasting views were either criticized or ignored, and how the NFL sought to protect its tarnished image. Vick's notoriety opened the opportunity for animal rights organizations and activists opposing the bloodsport to argue for significant legal punishment.

This study examined patterns of framing in newspaper articles that mention gay teen suicide, gay bullying, and the "It Gets Better" campaign. A content analysis of randomly selected newspaper articles from 2009-2011 was performed. After presenting the frequency of content themes, emergent patterns are discussed. The most consistent theme--an evasive frame-- occurred with regard to homophobia, heterosexism, and meaningful solutions to anti-gay bullying. The day-to-day discrimination that LGBTQ people face was rarely addressed; instead, hot-button political topics such as same-sex marriage and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were presented as signs of social progress. This research shows the importance of media framing, particularly the news media, in stories that report on gay bullying, suicide, and homophobia.

The speaking of John Taylor influenced the lives of Latter-day Saints for five decades. He delivered between two and three thousand addresses. In those addresses he promulgated a diversity of principles concerning the kingdom of God. This study focused on Taylor's ideas regarding liberty. Those ideas were often found in Taylor's speaking between 1857 and 1867. It was a time of threatened liberties for the people he lead. His speeches during those years played a significant part in swaying politcal and military efforts, as well as bolstering Mormon determination.This study found that Taylor's ideas of liberty are based largely on his religious fundament. To Taylor, religious and poilitcal philosophy were inseparably inter-related. He believed that the Latter-day Saints had special rights. He presented his ideas to Mormon and Gentile alike in pointed, frank sermons. Taylor spoke as he lived--with great intensity.

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Increasing calls for regional independence are being made in several European countries, and such calls are accompanied by growing public support for secessionism. Over the last decade, Catalonia and Scotland have enjoyed the highest level of political mobilization for secession in the European Union. This research highlights the role of the media in changing attitudes toward independence and studies regionalist parties' strategic choices to understand their electoral success at the regional elections at a time of fast growth of independence sentiments among the population. This study employs different methods: process tracing to focus on the specificities of the independence process in a view to understand how the secessionist agenda transformed the cases; frame analysis of media links the theoretical arguments and their representation in the public discourse; content analysis of regional parties’ electoral programs via Regional Manifesto Project approach helps to define the strategic choices of regionalist parties which brought success to their secessionist agenda at the regional elections; most-similar cases comparative analysis allows to identify commonality and differences between the cases of Catalonia and Scotland. This dissertation uncovers how: the media communicate regionalist arguments to the audience; the media justify independence claims; regionalist parties strategize their secessionist programs. First, a strong pro-region bias is the main feature of media coverage. Secondly, saliency in influenced by the political process as a largely exogeneous factor, but the framing process may also influence reality by giving particular meaning to the major political events and by framing them as political opportunities or as having transformative power. Third, the political competition structure contributes to the strategic choices of political parties. My research contributes to the framing literature by considering the role of diagnosis, prognostic, and motivational framing in the independence discourse. It highlights the extent of pro-region message flows vis-à-vis pro-center and neutral messages in media communication. My analysis contributes to previous research on regionalist parties by making an in-depth case study to differentiate between subsuming and blurring strategies adopted by secessionist actors.