This study investigates journalistic representations and discursive constructions of memories of the Asia-Pacific War (1931-45) in three newspapers from three East Asian countries: Japan, China, and South Korea. These three countries have been having decades-long debates over how to interpret and recount what happened in East Asia during the war. Numerous people perished during the wars Japan waged in pursuit of its ambition to be a great Asian empire. The debates over war memories intensified during the past decade due to “memory politics” in the region. Among the many atrocities that have been the subject of international disputes, this study explores media discourses of three of the most heated controversies associated with the Asia-Pacific War: the Yasukuni Shrine controversy, the “Comfort Women” controversy, and the Japanese textbooks revisionism controversy. There are two theoretical groundings that support this study: “memory and politics,” and “journalistic discourses of memory.” Regarding memory and politics, this study approaches the topic from a collective/cultural memory perspective. In this regard, the three controversies over war memories were theoretically identified as sites of memory by which war memories were articulated and reinvented. As for the journalistic aspect, this study focuses on the cultural meanings of journalism and news. The cultural approach in journalistic study views texts as cultural artifacts that represent key values and meanings. Journalism plays a major role in creating, transmitting, and articulating memories. A critical discourse analysis was the primary method that was employed to investigate the discursive constructions of memory through news texts. An interpretive policy analysis was also conducted to examine official stances of the three countries with respect to war memories. The analysis has found that the three newspapers were agents of collective memory. They articulated the meanings of national memory based upon what they believed to be the most appropriate interpretations of their nations’ past. Political circumstances and ideological stances greatly influenced their coverage of war memories. Their coverage has shown that East Asia still lives under the shadow of the Asia-Pacific War that ended more than a half century ago. Memory has not been forgotten because it has been reinterpreted and reconstructed mirroring the national, social, political, and international climate. Situated at the center of such reproduction of memory, the three newspapers were also sites of memory. The three newspapers’ active involvement in the historical controversies exceeded what scholars described as common features of commemorative journalism. The controversies surrounding war memories and the newspapers’ construction of memory have shown that journalism is a cultural practice and that a cultural approach is necessary in journalism studies to gain a more holistic understanding of the representation of social events in the news.

Samples of several populations, made up of both traditional and non-traditional students attending the University of Tennessee at Martin were shown different "newscasts," each newscast depicting a different style of news presentation. One style was the "Formal" newscast, and the other was the "Informal" style. The Formal style is characterized by direct eye-camera contact by the newscaster, a direct style of presentation, and no interaction between newscasters. The Informal style is characterized by interaction between newscasters, a more Informal presentation of the facts, and a relaxed atmosphere as the newscast progresses. The study attempted to find whether either style increased short-term retention of the news facts via a questionnaire administered following a video tape of a newscast. One group was shown an Informal newscast, while another separate group was shown a Formal newscast made up of the same stories. The questionnaire was administered following the completion of the tape. An analysis of the results shows there is no significant difference in retention of facts between the styles of newscasts. The only difference was an observed increase in interest with the Informal newscast, but this observance was not quantitatively analyzed and awaits further study.

It is the purpose of this study to evaluate from a literary standpoint the magazines published in our state since 1900, with a view to paving the way for a publication which shall please enough people to insure its life without losing its quality.

For the sake of this study, news impact and artistic value will be the chief concerns. Of course, the problem of obtaining news impact poses a number of questions, and two of the most obvious will be studied here: 1) Who is to evaluate a picture's new impact and artistic value? 2) How should the photographer cover his daily assignments to obtain the best of both and thus make the reader stop and look at a particular picture?

This thesis addresses universities’ image repair strategies when a student athlete is accused of sexual assault and the media’s coverage of these strategies. This is a particularly important issue due to the prevalence of campus sexual assault, as recent studies have shown that one in five women is sexually assaulted in college. Sexual assaults involving college athletes typically receive more media attention due to their high-profile nature. Athletic programs are typically sites of hegemonic masculinity, where men take action to maintain dominance over women. They may do this through misogynistic and homophobic talk or committing violence against women. Athletic departments’ image repair strategies when male athletes are accused of sexual assault also sometimes uphold hegemonic masculinity if their main goal is to maintain the team, which may generate significant revenue for the university. As such, their image repair strategies may allow male athletes to continue to partake in misogynistic practices, including committing violence against women. The media also has been accused of upholding masculine dominance by supporting rape myths or blaming the accuser in sexual assault incidents. This thesis consists of two case studies: the University of Colorado, which faced several allegations of sexual assault by football players in the early 2000’s; and Baylor University, which underwent a similar scandal starting in late 2015. It contains textual analysis of officials’ image repair strategies at both schools and the media’s responses to them. Ultimately, both Colorado and Baylor upheld hegemonic masculinity through their image repair strategies, though Colorado did so on a larger scale. In both instances, journalists were largely critical of their image repair strategies and argued that the strategies were not enough to change the structure of masculine dominance.

In recent years, the salience of obesity and body image in society has given rise to a "fat activist" movement dedicated to defending non-normative body types. This activism has extended to the online environment, in which groups who are ostracized from the traditional realm have taken to blogging as a form of resistance and expression. The term "fat" has been reclaimed by the movement as a term of emancipation and defiance. The so-called "fatshion" blogs have a growing audience, and there is a burgeoning scholarly literature on this phenomenon. The aim of this research was to investigate college-aged females who identify as "fat," who may or may not have been exposed to the online fatshion (fat fashion) market or blogs. Are these blogs being used as resources for these women? Do they even know these websites exist? Thus, the aim of this study was to discover what the current fashion sector is like for those who may not participate as heavily within these communities. The main objective of this study was to find how plus-size women's fashion choices are shaped by the dominant discourses of the body and how this, in turn, influences their shopping experiences. By conducting semi-structured interviews along with participants filling out a small questionnaire, an in-depth look at the personal thoughts and feelings of fat women outside of this movement was explored. Fatshion was studied through four theoretical lenses: as a counter-discourse, as a place for identity construction, as a mode of gender performativity, and how fatshion is informed by intersectionality of race, class, and gender. Based on the interview data, the study found that the messages found on fatshion blogs have the potential to spark opposition in ways that mobilize a more positive self-image as well as nonconformist self-presentations through a heightened awareness of the possibilities for opposing dominant ideologies.

This media analysis of the incidents in Bali in 2002 (10/12) and Madrid in 2004 (3/11) reveals the black and white portrayal of these attacks in western news through the localization of international terrorism occurrences, pro-government perspective, and internalization of U.S. policies. The Old Europe and New Europe debate further fractures the European press. Such rhetoric perpetuates the "us versus them" schism by contrasting the goals of the alleged perpetrators with the western values of democracy and freedom. Governmental sources remain central news sources during these crises. In addition, 9/11, war on terrorism, and fear from further attacks dominate news rhetoric to justify pro-U.S. policies and military actions in American and European media. This kind of news coverage that de-emphasizes context and demonizes the enemy, as well as the lack of conflicting viewpoints hinder public understanding about crises, Muslims, and the Middle East.

This study examines former newspaper photographers' experience with being laid-off from their staff positions. The purpose was to identify emerging themes within the context of involuntary job loss, job satisfaction, and occupational identity via interviews with 8 photojournalists who experienced the phenomenon of being laid-off. The newspaper industry has long been considered both the starting point for young and aspiring photojournalism careers and the most consistent and stable venue for an income. Yet recent changes in the media landscape, particularly economic stress on traditional business models and rapid adoption of digital technology sway the occupational future of photojournalism within newsrooms. The research method employed for this study includes in-depth interviews with a hermeneutical phenomenology approach focused on involuntary job loss, job satisfaction, and occupational identity.

This thesis explores the distinctive forms of journalism that have emerged in mainstream news websites in mainland China. Two case studies, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, are employed to identify features in Chinese and Western news online. Specifically, a comparison is made between the in-depth news sections of popular mainstream news websites in China and those in the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. The study finds that the Chinese version of mainstream web news genre differs significantly from the Western version. This thesis argues that journalists’ practice is strongly context dependent. Distinctive economic, organizational, social and cultural factors contribute to shaping Chinese web journalism in a way that contradicts the notion of a homogeneous worldwide journalism or of a single set of norms for journalism. The study challenges the dominance of the political explanatory framework that considers political factors as the most important approach to study Chinese web-based media. In the face of a sparse literature and sporadic studies concerning the development of the internet as a novel platform in China for news production and transmission, this thesis aims to bring more academic interest to an overlooked research area and to contribute to a broader understanding of the actual diversity of global communication research.

Through in-depth interviews with 12 regular contributors to the Lexington-Herald Leader’s website, www.Kentucky.com, this study attempts to examine how online citizen journalists view the definitions of citizen and professional journalism, as compared to Singer’s three dimensions of professionalism (i.e., cognitive, normative, and evaluative dimensions) as well as their perceived role conceptions of professional and citizen journalists, using Weaver and Wilhoit’s four roles of journalists. Analyses reveal that the main difference in the definitions of the two types of journalists revolved around the cognitive dimension, specifically the education and training that professionals receive. The role conceptions of professional and citizen journalists were similar, with the both groups being described as serving the interpretive/investigative and disseminator roles. The roles of citizen journalists also included the adversarial and populist mobilizer roles.