The financial decline of the traditional media; technological advances and 24/7 news cycles; and the rise of new media are transforming journalism in ways that are seen as problematic and leading towards less professional practices. In Eastern Europe this transformation tops off the still ongoing systemic transformation from communist systems, ongoing since the late 1980s. This study examines how journalists in Macedonia perceive their profession today, what they consider professional journalism, and how they define their role in Macedonian society and democracy. Macedonian media system is fragmented and financially fragile, providing an opening for political and business influence. Foreign capital in the media market is limited and only present in the print media. The ethnic diversity of the country is reflected in the mass media, thus there are number of media working in languages other than Macedonian. The research takes a humanistic approach, employing grounded theory. The researcher discovered five themes in the analysis of interviews with 32 participants: (1) Ideal vs. reality, or when journalists do not behave according to professional standards, even as they define them; (2) Self-censorship, as a rule; (3) The blame game, with older journalists blaming younger journalists, and vice versa, for the problems experienced in journalism; (4) Education, the acknowledged and ignored problem; and (5) Agents of change that cannot change anything, another exhibit of the tensions between the ideal and desired journalistic roles, and reality. These themes constitute the theoretical framework of journalism in transformation.

While the origin of the Arab Spring is well documented in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, the role of press photography in presenting these conflicts is not. Images taken during a conflict often follow a particular narrative that comes to define how we remember a conflict. Considering that Syria is composed of a heterogeneous, ethno-religious mix located at the center of intense regional and international rivalries, understanding the cause of the uprising and the trajectory of the conflict require a careful study of the socio-political history of Syria as well as her regional and international relations. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how photographs taken of the Syrian Civil War that earned critical acclaim from photographic institutions mythologize the war. Semiotics provides a template for the interpretation of images that may be related to the underlying cultural forces shaping the conflict. Myth provides the forms in the presentation of archetypes in the images that we are able to readily identify so rendering the images relevant and recognizable to the viewer. The mythologizing of images of war has been used since Frank Capa created an “aesthetic ideal” during the Spanish Civil War and been re-appropriated during subsequent conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries especially the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003. This study uses a semiotic and mythological approach to analyze the winning photographs as selected by the National Press Photographers Association, World Press Photographers Association and Pulitzer Prize awarded during the course of the Syrian conflict. The myths of the “victim” and “underdog” were the two most commonly applied myths to the civilians and the Syrian rebels, who were portrayed as the “lovable losers” in the conflict. These narratives differ from previous depictions of the two previous Gulf Wars in their empathetic depiction of the civilian population and of the rebels. If maintaining the status quo is one of the enduring functions of myth then the underdog myth perpetuates voyeuristic participation in the conflict without requiring the discomfort of the removal of the Assad regime.

Using myth, media memory, and boundary work as the theoretical underpinnings, this research aims to understand how journalists manipulated meanings assigned to a single subject over a long period of time. The research explores how journalists shaped and reshaped former Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno, and how journalists imprinted evolving cultural values on Paterno. As “what matters” within a culture shifts, the journalistic narrative of authority figures and heroes shifts along with it to reflect new or emerging cultural values. The research also examined what happens to a profession when it faces severe structural unrest. In this case, disruption to the Paterno narrative was caused by new technologies that increased access to the profession. To accomplish these research goals, the researcher employed qualitative and historical research methods, including archival research, textual analysis of newspaper, magazine, and online articles, and a critical historical analysis that allowed for input from multiple paradigms. The examination of shifting, long-term journalistic narrative matters because it helps us understand how cultures respond and adapt to gradual changes in values or sudden moments of public trauma. This research also offers journalism professionals insights into how new technologies affect industrial structures.

Bodybuilding “mecca” Gold’s Gym Venice is a popular hotspot for athletes, celebrities, and their fans. Traditional and new media celebrities inhabit the space together and use it for a variety of purposes. Social media influencers often congregate within the walls of Gold’s Gym, using the commercial space to film, host meet-ups with fans, and socialize with other social media stars. Recently, Gold’s Gym Venice has placed restrictions on when, where, and how the influencers can film. This study explores fitness influencers in relation to their environment, the commercial space of Gold’s Gym Venice, through the strategies and tactics (De Certeau, 2011) implemented by different social groups and the self-work (Banet-Weiser, 2012) done by influencers to construct authenticity for their followers and fans. Influencers have often been studied separately from their surroundings, and this thesis analyzes the social media personalities in connection with their surroundings in order to understand how new digital workers navigate creative work in a traditional commercial space.

Between 1877 and 1978, black reporters, publishers, and readers engaged in a never-ending and ever-shifting protest against American racism. Journalists' militancy oscillated as successive generations of civil rights activists defined anew their relationship with racism and debated the relevance of black radicalism in the fight for racial justice. Journalists achieved their greatest influence when their political perspectives aligned with the views of their employers and readers. Frequent disputes, though, erupted over the scope and meaning of racial justice within the process of reporting the news, compelling some writers to start alternative publications that challenged the assimilationist politics promoted by profit-minded publishers and middle-class community leaders.;This national network of news by, about, and for African Americans emerged in the late nineteenth century as the editor-proprietors of small, but widely circulated, newspapers defended the freedoms and rights gained during Reconstruction. In the early twentieth century, editors and publishers rushed to establish new publications aimed at African Americans leaving the southern countryside for urban industrial employment. Particularly in the North, many editors adopted militant editorial policies to win the loyalty of readers who might otherwise buy competing publications. During the interwar years, reporters and readers infused black journalism with an unprecedented racial militancy and political progressiveness by endorsing the politics and sensibilities of Harlem's radical orator-editors, New Negro authors and artists, and Popular Front activists. This style of racial advocacy extended beyond the restoration of civil rights as writers condemned Western colonialism, criticized American capitalism, and explored black separatism. During World War II, journalists' progressive outlook propelled black newspapers to their peak popularity and national influence.;By the early 1950s, the ascendancy of anticommunism moved publishers to jettison writers associated with the politics of anti-colonialism, anti-capitalism, and black separatism. They were replaced by younger journalists who accepted the narrower mission of fighting for domestic civil rights. In the 1960s, African Americans infuriated by the slow pace of desegregation accused commercial publishers of being too ready to compromise their militancy. Radical writers and editors tapped into this frustration by creating an alternative press that defined and debated the merits of Black Power. In the 1970s, journalists began to broaden the reach of black journalism by fighting to integrate white newsrooms. They ultimately transformed, albeit fitfully, how mainstream media covered and portrayed African Americans and other minority groups.;This dissertation complicates and challenges the historiography of black journalism. It supplants scholarship that depicts press protest as unchanging and driven by publishers by arguing journalistic agitation was continually reconceived by journalists and readers. It broadens the definition of who was a journalist by foregoing a narrow focus on the "black press" for a more inclusive examination of "black print culture." It characterizes black radicals and their publications as integral, not marginal, in shaping commercial black journalism. It argues the tenets of black journalism, while diluted, gained greater salience as black journalists integrated white-owned media.

Extending research of framing anti-war protest is framed in the public sphere, this study examines theatre critics' reviews and viewers' responses to Tim Robbins' anti-war play Embedded. My research examines how two groups of publics interpreted Embedded: (1) professional theatre reviewers and (2) a sample of Utah State University students. It is important to note that the majority of the students who participated in this study are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), a consistently social and political conservative religious sect. Thus, how this specific group of viewers deciphered Embedded is of special interest. Critical analyses of both reviews and responses revealed the prominence of two seemingly irreconcilable partisan master frames in critics' and spectators' interpretations of the play's protest narratives. Although these frames seem to be incompatible, adherents to both "whining for peace" and "anti-war protest" consider protection of American democracy the primary goal. However, members of both groups define the role of anti-war protest in, and defense of, democracy differently. Examination of discourse suggests that marginalization of anti-war protest continues to be the privileged discourse. Overwhelming dismissal of Embedded's anti-war narratives by the majority of critics and Latter-day Saint (LDS) viewers indicates that dissent was framed according to cultural and societal values, which perpetuated conceptions of anti-war protest as deviant. Thus, in both public discussion and personal interpretation of Embedded's outward expression of protest, anti-war activism is perceived to be illegitimate when the United States is at war. Results suggest that most theatre critics and LDS viewers relied on values framing in their perception of the play, which negated complex and nuanced discussion regarding military action in Iraq. By broadening discussion of how anti-war dissent is framed by including theatre critics and individual viewers, this research provides insight into how dissenting action is perceived within a larger cultural context. As findings reveal, it is reasonable to conclude that marginalization of anti-war dissent is not limited to mass media. Rather, I argue that dismissal of protest may be perpetuated on a wider societal scale, a problematic trend, especially as protest is widely considered to be a valuable tenet of democratic practice.

The St. Josephs-Blatt was a German-language newspaper published by the Benedictine monks of Mt. Angel Abbey from 1896 through 1952. The only fully extant collection of the St. Josephs-Blatt resides in the archives of Mt. Angel Abbey. The current archivist and Mt. Angel historian is Fr. Martin Pollard, who graciously allowed me to examine original copies of the newspaper and gave me the benefit of his personal historical expertise about both the paper and Br. Colestin. For my research on the newspaper I did not use the original bound copies of the Blatt, which were too sensitive and brittle to handle safely, but a microfilm copy of the St. Josephs-Blatt, made by the University of Oregon Library in 1965.

Because of expanding news programming and a greater emphasis on interpretative reporting, journalists have an increasing need for experts to interview for articles. One common source for experts is colleges and universities, which are interested in gaining the attention that media references to their faculty bring. Past studies of media use of experts show bias toward high-status sources. An Internet-based service called ProfNet gives university public relations practitioners opportunities to offer experts to journalists who have posted queries related to future stories. University public relations practitioners who use ProfNet were surveyed to examine criteria for success in promoting experts. The results found frequent and rapid responses to journalists' queries correlated positively with success in getting experts used in articles. Institutional size as well as complexity, i.e. the number and type of academic degrees awarded, also correlated positively with use of campus experts, though the size of the correlation was not as great as the correlation between frequency of response and frequency of media placements using ProfNet. Institutional reputation, as operationalized by magazine rankings, did not correlate with success. Future study is needed to determine the relationship between the two indicators of media choices of expert sources: effort on the part of public relations offices, and the size and complexity of institutions.

Hoosier born John Hampden Holliday, Civil War soldier, publisher, and civic benefactor grew to manhood in the city of his birth, Indianapolis, and there came to be recognized as one of the foremost pioneer journalists of his time.

The purpose of this study was to write a history of the Price, Utah Sun-Advocate and its predecessors, the six early newspapers which evolved into the present Sun-Advocate, with primary emphasis on the personalities involved, the physical changes and the editorial comment. Major economic, political, and social changes were noted as they occurred in the chronological history.