With the traditional commercial model failing, U.S. news organizations are increasingly turning to various types of collaborations in order to produce news content. They are partnering with nonprofits, universities, creative groups, citizen journalists and other entities, many of them non-journalistic in nature. As a result, these diverse groups are increasingly having to negotiate different sets of values and priorities as they establish journalistic processes and create news content. This dissertation explores, first, the question of how the structure and makeup of such diverse collaborations influences the journalistic values and norms by which the effort abides; second, it examines how the processes of collaborations reflect these negotiated norms and values. The project seeks to shed light on the ways traditional journalistic boundaries are being expanded and the journalistic field transformed by new, non-traditional journalistic partners in collaborations. The qualitative study – which utilizes in-person and virtual ethnography, in-depth interviewing, and textual analysis – focuses on two different collaborations: a fledgling partnership called the Dallas Media Collaborative, which involves 14 different journalistic and non-journalistic partners working together to cover the topic of affordable housing in Dallas, Texas; and the Credible Messenger Reporting Project, which pairs professional journalists and community journalists in the coverage of gun violence in Philadelphia. The study finds that these partnerships demonstrate evidence of journalists expanding their traditional boundaries to include new partners in the process of creating news content, showing that collaboration can mark an attempt at field repair. These new partners are helping to re-envision the purpose of the field, with a much greater focus on public service and the goals of effecting social change and empowering communities; they are also forcing an expansion of the boundaries of what can be considered journalism – especially in terms of creative work and audience engagement. However, journalists often continue to enforce traditional values even amid the presence of non-traditional partners, and the power dynamics of traditional journalism are persistent. As a result, collaborations continue to be a site of constant of contested norms and values, evidenced both in journalistic processes and in the content that they produce. / Media & Communication

While adaptation research possesses longstanding applications and ample material for study, seldom has a data set proven to be as iconic and culturally relevant as the various iterations of To Kill a Mockingbird. Novel to film to stage play, and then nearly 60 years later to a second stage play, the story has resonated with audiences in a range of performative variations. A defining characteristic of Harper Lee's tale is her use of a narrator; this characteristic provides an effective entry-point in examining the two stage adaptations by way of their interpretation of the narrator. A study of the respective presentations of the narrator(s) employed by the two official theatre versions of To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates that while both are appropriate to and reflective of the time in which they were initially produced, Aaron Sorkin's script offers a divergence from the standard form of the narrator and produces insight into the original novel as well as innovative potentialities for the performance of a memory play. This examination has been conducted through observations collected at live performances, individual playscripts, theatre reviews, and printed interviews, as well as academic articles and books. Sorkin's introduction of three narrators and compression of the presented timelines to create a state of "present consciousness" in both the narrators and the audience offers a range of new opportunities for the employment of the accepted narrator trope as well as the engagement of the audience with the world of the play.

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Keeping the audience engaged when presenting a topic in a conventional setting (a class presentation or a keynote in a conference) can be challenging. Often, presenta- tions tend to be linear and non-engaging. It was my intention to research how the ex- perience can be improved by using different methods to engage the audience.In this thesis the reader will find the results of my exploration and research on how to make presentations more engaging for the audience via interactive methods.After some background information, I go through the process of developing concepts that could improve the presenting experience. I describe different contexts where peo- ple deliver presentations and research about these environments to discuss the context of the thesis. I also discuss the concept of audience engagement.After selecting one of these concepts I describe the development of a prototype that il- lustrates the concept and discuss it after a series of user testing procedures.Finally some conclusions and comments are discussed in the final part of the docu- ment.

The film marketing is becoming increasingly important due to the fierce competition of film industry in China. With the drive of technology innovations, the creation of interaction among audiences has gradually become the spotlight of film marketing and many social media platforms are employed as marketing tools to encourage or foster audience engagement. Through the case study of Us and Them, the thesis studies how audience engagement is realized through film marketing strategies made by marketers, so as to identify the specific marketing strategies or techniques used for enhancing the audience engagement and promoting the film. As different marketing techniques will lead to different level of audience engagement, that are normally reflected by the preferences of audiences, their behaviors on social media and the way of involving into film contents, it is necessary to explore and understand the effectiveness and efficiency of these techniques, so that the film marketing can be improved while practical marketing progressing.

This study aims to analyze the audience engagement in a Chinese social media, Weibo, of the Palace Museum TV show “There is Something New in the Palace Museum”. It is new for a Chinese museum to cooperate with traditional media and digital media at the same time to generate more interest, particularly of younger generations. Weibo content is mainly about the TV show and the Palace Museum. While focusing on different types of content that create more interactions, quantitative and qualitative methods of data and content analysis of Weibo posts and in-depth interviews are used to find out the answers to the research questions. The theories of participatory culture by Jenkins and the book about edutainment “Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice” are considered in this study. Based on the theory, the research demonstrates the celebrity-related content is the one that generates the most engagement with fans and followers, followed by direct interaction-trigger content and the Palace museum promotional content. Each type of posts has pros and cons; for example, the celebrity effect can produce the role model effect on the followers and generate more engagement within the fan community, but also create meaningless content. As for the direct trigger content, it can attract many zombie accounts to participate in expecting a positive result. To sum up, Weibo still connects the Palace Museum and the young generation and helps to attract more visitors in the future. These findings offer new insights for the cultural institution to make their work affect the younger generation in the digital media era.

The study investigated how young people, aged between 20 and 26 years, use the media which is available to them, and how much time they spend on it on a weekday and on a weekend day. In addition to this, it identified which factors the people look for when they are about to choose which media is worth their time, and I found out which media or news user types the young people belong to. I believe that this target group includes the users of tomorrow which I find interesting. Hence, I decided to focus on their media habits in particular.The data was collected through the means of the media diary method since I strive to highlight the personal experiences of the participants. Five more in-depth interview questions followed the diary. Through the lens of the theory on worthwhileness, the data was analysed. From various dimensions of worthwhileness (Schrøder, 2010; Schrøder&Larsen, 2010), I tried to see which ones my participants could relate to, and which of the seven user types (Schrøder, 2010) they are part of.Results showed that not all the informants consume news in their everyday life but when they do so, it is mostly done through Facebook and Instagram or in a few cases, a newspaper’s website. Social media activities are given great importance by the young people, and from the various devices, they seem to prefer smartphone.Expanding on these findings, results also illustrated that accessibility, practical features offered by the technology, and that the media is easy to use are key for the young people. Participation is regarded as important: producing and sharing, commenting, or maybe discussing is a way for the people to express themselves. From seven user types, I identified four and my informants appreciate that they can get hold of the news and information very quickly and that the process is cheap.

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This study examines how professional storytellers negotiated a new storytelling stage—the videoconference platform—as they pivoted their careers during mandated shutdowns due to COVID-19. An examination of the literature reveals extremely limited research involving either professional storytellers or live virtual storytelling. After interviewing five professional storytellers, I analyzed their stories through narrative inquiry. Analysis revealed that the storytellers negotiated the limitations and affordances of Zoom and adapted their storytelling to successfully connect with their audiences. Through crafting a narrative of their stories, I was able to represent their emotions, unique experiences, and abilities to adapt to the online environment. Their stories document significant changes in the art of storytelling during a historic era. This research reveals how storytellers can master the techniques of online storytelling and effectively tell stories to synchronous virtual audiences.

This research investigates the impact of transmedia storytelling through a case study of Arcane, a Netflix TV show set in the League of Legends universe. Grounded in the combination of transmedia storytelling theory, audience engagement theory and reception theory, we utilised semi-structured interviews to probe and understand viewer perceptions. Participants, composed of Arcane viewers who have played the League of Legends game and those who have not, provided wide-ranging insights. Findings reveal that not only previous experiences with the League of Legends universe affected participants’ engagement and reception of Arcane, but also that Arcane enriched the audience's perception of the League of Legends. This enhancement stemmed from the show's in-depth storytelling and character development, amplifying viewer understanding and emotional connection. These results highlight transmedia storytelling's potential to shape audience perceptions, offering vital cues for gaming and television content creators.