The new technological mediums of each era, such as the radio in the 1920s and 30s, television in the 1950s and 60s, and today’s Internet and social media platforms, allow presidential candidates the opportunity to control their messaging and the potential to reach a greater audience than ever before. Candidates today are increasingly using social media and the Internet as a vital campaign source for spreading information, raising money, and rallying voters. Whether social media will measure into offline votes and political influence is yet to be seen, but presidential candidates who quickly recognize the potential of the latest technologies and use the new mediums at their disposal will nonetheless reap the most benefits of political communication.

The purpose of this study was to compare media framing in the news coverage of South Korean and American newspaper media during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The findings show that major newspapers in South Korea and the United States framed the election as a political game, focusing on tactics and polling. A horse race frame was used in 40.2% of South Korean news articles and in 37.8% of U.S. news articles. In addition, this study examines the kinds of topics that predominated in the election coverage. The findings suggest that the topic of `election politics' accounted for more articles than any other topic: 53.8% of South Korean news articles, and 41.3% of U.S. news articles, dealt with election politics. This category of `election politics' includes debate, campaign strategy, candidate qualifications, and polling. Foreign affairs and the economy occupied a relatively small percentage among topics. Another finding was that the national interest frame was insignificant in the election coverage of the two countries. In U.S. news coverage, news sources are diversified among politicians (34.6%), candidates (29.4%), civil society (e.g., citizens or civil organization, 14.1%), and other sources. In contrast, among South Korean news articles, 44.8% used foreign media as a primary source.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Greta K. Weiderman, for the Master of Arts degree in Mass Communication and Media Arts, presented on Aug. 21, 2009, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: THE WATCHDOG ROLE OF NEWSPAPERS: NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF SINCLAIR BROADCASTING'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO AIR A ONE-SIDED DOCUMENTARY RIGHT BEFORE THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. William Babcock This thesis is a content analysis examining newspaper coverage of Sinclair Broadcasting's announcement that it planned to air a program titled "Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal" 13 days before the November 2004 presidential election. Sinclair Broadcast Group ordered its 61 stations to preempt regular programming and run the show, which attacked then presidential candidate John Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War (Jensen, 2004). The film was to be presented as news programming. This study examines how 41 newspapers in cities with Sinclair television stations covered the announcement to run the "Stolen Honor" documentary and the situation following it in news stories, editorials and columns. It also examines if the ownership or circulation of the newspapers was related to the way they covered the controversy and whether these newspapers served their watchdog functions. The results indicated that there was no relationship between a newspaper's performance of the watchdog role, as measured by the watchdog index, and its circulation or ownership. But the study did find, however, that as a whole, the newspapers performed their watchdog role.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF MOHAMMAD ALOTAIBI, for the Master of Arts degree in Media Theory & Research, presented on March 31, 2015 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN KUWAIT: EXAMINING THE USE OF TWITTER AND DIWANIYA AMONG YOUNGER GENERATION IN THE DECEMBER 2012 KUWAIT PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Uche Onyebadi This thesis assessed public discourse among the younger generation in Kuwait during the country's Parliamentary elections in December, 2012. The research question examined the extent to which Twitter, as a new form of social medium, became an alternative to the more traditional diwaniya, as a forum for discussing salient public issues among the younger generation. The methodological approach in this study was a combination of the online survey instrument and semi-structure interviews. Uses and Gratifications served as the theoretical framework for the study. The major finding in the study shows that Twitter was indeed an alternative to diwaniya as a forum for public discussion and information seeking among the younger generation in Kuwait during the election. Also important is the finding that there was no statistically significant difference in the use of Twitter and diwaniya among younger generation women in that electioneering period. Finally, it was found that the level of education was a significant factor among the younger generation in their use of Twitter and their attendance of diwaniya for information gathering and discussion, as a political activities unfolded in Kuwait during the election.

This study is a quantitative content analysis of the Facebook and Twitter communication of the Obama and Romney campaigns on seven dates within the 30 days prior to the 2012 presidential election. Specific rhetorical techniques are explored for similarities or differences in how these techniques have appeared in political communication in legacy media and how they are expressed in social media. Repetition, collective language, self-reference language and Benoit's functions of attack, acclaim and defend are examined. Additionally, the study identified what topics each candidate emphasized in their social media communication. Findings show that both candidates used repetition to reinforce key messages. The use of attacks, acclaims and defenses bore some similarities to uses in legacy media. However, the primary focuses by both candidates centered on motivating citizens to show support for the candidate and get out the vote. Few policy issues appeared in the communication of either candidate. / 2015-09-29

BRANCO, Noemi Nascimento. O desafio de avaliar políticas públicas: conhecer, julgar, "publicizar" e aprimorar. 2005. 173f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Avaliação de Políticas Públicas, Fortaleza (CE), 2005. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-01-10T15:53:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2005-DIS-NNBRANCO.pdf: 10918138 bytes, checksum: 50805c6860c42eff01e5fd495f6d680a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-01-10T15:57:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2005-DIS-NNBRANCO.pdf: 10918138 bytes, checksum: 50805c6860c42eff01e5fd495f6d680a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-01-10T15:57:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2005-DIS-NNBRANCO.pdf: 10918138 bytes, checksum: 50805c6860c42eff01e5fd495f6d680a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / This presente research investigate if the head teachers election process have been mading with the participation of the school segments – parents, students, teachers and employees in day-today decisions of the education action, in objective of democracy of the management. This discussion is important for us in the sense that, how the head teachers election has been happen, since 1995 in the Ceará State, and the sametime, if it is possible to see how the school central actors had worked on the participation question. In the methodology we made bibliographyc and local research and in that time, we applied questionnaire and we made interview with teachers, students, employees, parents and members of the management nucleus of two state public schools: São Paulo school and São Caetano school: the results shows that, although they accept and they think that the election process of head teachers is positive, theirs participation in the schools direction is not full yet, because they don’t know how the education process happens; or because they don’t have interest on the school direction, because they don’t feel like participating in the education process; or because they are not envolved. The results make us to re-direction the participation practice, in the sence of make real the collective make in the school activities, that impose beliefs and values changes, understanding the participation in a view of consolidation and realization of the democratic management, that goes over of the head teachers choise by direct elections. / A presente pesquisa investiga se o processo eletivo de diretores escolares tem propiciado a participação dos segmentos escolares - pais, alunos, professores e funcionários, nas decisões cotidianas da ação educativa, objetivando a democratização da gestão. Esta discussão é importante no sentido de visualizarmos como tem ocorrido o processo de eleição de diretores escolares, desde 1995 no estado do Ceará, ao mesmo tempo, que permite perceber como os seus atores centrais na escola têm trabalhado a questão da participação. A metodologia adotada foi pesquisa bibliográfica e de campo, com aplicação de questionários e realização de entrevistas com professores, alunos, funcionários, pais e membros do Núcleo Gestor de duas escolas públicas da rede estadual de ensino: Escola do Ensino Fundamental e Médio - EEFM São Paulo e EEFM São Caetano. Os resultados demonstram que, embora os entrevistados aceitem e achem positivo o processo de eleições para diretores escolares, a participação de todos nos rumos da escola ainda não se concretiza plenamente: porque desconhecem como se dá o processo educativo; ou por falta de interesse pelos rumos da escola; por não se sentirem co-participes da ação de educar; ou, ainda, porque não lhes é dada à oportunidade de se envolverem. Os resultados da pesquisa nos remetem para o redirecionamento das práticas de participação, no sentido de propiciar a vivência do fazer coletivo nas atividades desenvolvidas na escola, que impõem mudanças de crenças e valores, entendendo a participação na perspectiva de consolidação e realização da democracia, que vai além da escolha dos diretores escolares por meio de eleições diretas.

A LEADERSHIP PROFILE OF THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSITIONAL PASTOR: A DELPHI STUDY Michael Austin Kramer, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Chair: Dr. Michael S. Wilder Over the last fifteen years denominational decline coinciding with megachurches led by iconic pastoral personalities has changed the playing field of pastoral transition. The current pastoral succession conversation has addressed the pastor’s responsibility in succession and provided snapshots of functional transitional plans. The question that now needs addressed is, “What does it take to be a transitional leader?” or “What is the leadership profile of a successful transitional pastor?” While the current literature contains hints at what the traits of a successful transitioning leader should be, these characteristics have yet to be statistically identified. Once systematically studied these traits would allow an individual to measure and improve areas of perceived growth. The purpose of this qualitative analysis of the characteristics of successfully transitioning pastors is to statistically identify the traits of a successful transitional pastor to prepare pastors to become transitional leaders. To accomplish this a qualitative study was prepared. Chapter 1 provides the need for the study—pointing to a void in the literature surrounding pastoral transition, specifically the identification of characteristics of successfully transitioning pastors. Chapter 2 reviews the current literature and distills 27 characteristics identified in pastoral, secular, and academic writings. Chapter 3 outlines the research design, which utilizes a Delphi study engaging an expert panel. Chapter 4 provides analysis of the Delphi panel results including a successful transitional pastoral profile and a transitional pastor competency model. Chapter 5 offers research applications noting the statistical prominence given to followership and confusion surrounding disciple-making, the statistical importance of the characteristics of willingness to let go of authority, concern for the church, and emotional maturity, as well as statistical implications for the use of a successful transitional profile and competency model for self-assessment, church leadership, and academic training.

Contribuições de campanha afetam decisões públicas ou a atuação pós-eleitoral de atores políticos? Cientistas Políticos debruçam-se sobre esta questão há bastante tempo. No entanto, as respostas obtidas foram sempre ambíguas. Argumenta-se aqui que esta ambigüidade é em parte resultado de dificuldades metodológicas, muitas vezes malendereçadas, enfrentadas pelos analistas, como os problemas relativos a simultaneidade, a variáveis omitidas, geralmente não-observáveis, e ao estabelecimento do contrafatual adequado. Neste trabalho procuraremos contornar estes problemas através da utilização do método quase-experimental de regressão descontínua. Especificamente, iremos examinar a relação entre contribuições de campanha e a alocação de contratos públicos no Brasil. A pergunta a ser respondida é: existiu efeito de se exercer o mandato de deputado federal sobre os contratos públicos futuros recebidos por doadores dos candidatos na eleição de 2006? A conclusão a que se chegou foi de que a análise realizada nos permite afirmar que ter exercido ao menos um ano do mandato de deputado federal parece ter influenciado a quantidade de contratos públicos recebidos pelos doadores de candidatos eleitos por pequena margem na eleição de 2006, no Brasil, se consideramos apenas empresas que doaram para eleitos e apenas empresas que doaram para não-eleitos. / Do campaign contributions affect public decisions or the post-election actions of political actors? Political Scientists have battled this issue for a long time. However, the responses achieved have always been somewhat ambiguous. In this work it is argued that this ambiguity is partly the result of methodological difficulties, poorly addressed at many occasions, faced by the analysts, such as the problems of simultaneity, omitted variables, generally unobservable, and the establishment of the appropriate counterfactual. In this work we will try to circumvent these problems by using the quasi-experimental method of regression discontinuity. Specifically, we will examine the relationship between campaign contributions and the allocation of public contracts in Brazil. The question to be answered is whether there was an effect of exercising the mandate of federal deputy on future contracts received by donors to federal deputy candidates in the 2006 election? The conclusion reached was that the analysis allows us to affirm that having exercised at least one year of office for a federal deputy seems to have influenced the amount of contracts received by the donors of candidates elected by small margins in the 2006 election, in Brazil, if we consider companies who donated only to elected candidates and only to non-elected candidates.

M.A. / This research was conducted to establish greater clarity regarding God's sovereignty and His predetermined will. Many different views are held on this subject. Views on predestination have been much debated over the centuries with many believers being undecided or unsure on this subject. What adds to the confusion is that man cannot comprehend life outside of time and therefore finds it difficult to grasp the concept of God having knowledge of all things occurring within time. In order to gain a greater perspective and insight on the subject it was decided to trace the development of the concept of God's establishing His predetermined will through the Scriptures. Approaches to this subject in the past were clouded by the fact that many Christian groups held to the view that the Scriptures are the infallible Word of God. Many scholars in recent years have come to the realisation that the Bible, though containing the Word of God, displays the fallibility of man. This is the approach taken in interpreting Scripture for this thesis. The view was also taken that the revelation of Christ is seen as the key to interpreting Scripture (Heb. 1:1-3). The various factors influencing the writers of Scripture were also taken into account.

This thesis explores how peace journalism (PJ) translates into practice in the Kenyan media environment. Through the personal accounts of practicing reporters in Kenya, this research reveals the challenges and opportunities Kenyan journalist-participants faced while covering the 2013 presidential election. Through their personal experiences, this research reveals reporters were working in an exceptionally challenging media environment; one significantly shaped by the 2007 election and post-election violence. Participants identified numerous constraints that shaped their reporting practices, including structural constraints within their newsrooms and societal constraints in relation to ethnic identity. This thesis concludes that PJ has yet to offer sufficient concrete or practical solutions addressing these influencing factors, largely because of an overestimation of the agency journalists possess. Therefore, this research validates an existing body of research that suggests there is a need for PJ to consider factors outside of journalists themselves, which may constrain their work. The objective of the research is not to discredit the value of the tools PJ offers, but rather draw attention to the notion that those tools alone are insufficient.