A study of rural-urban kashmir

The purpose of this study is to examine the predictors that influenced the interactivity of U.S. daily newspapers Web sites, namely the market size of newspapers, newspapers ownership, the number of online newspaper technical staff, length of newspaper Web site existence. Whether a national newspaper has different interactive Web site from a local newspaper is also studied. A content analysis of 106 U.S. daily newspapers Web sites found that market size and length of time newspapers having Internet presence sites are correlated to the interactive level of newspapers Web sites. National newspapers are also found having more interactive Web sites than local newspapers.

Advances in technology have given the blind public a new voice in corporate America. Today, blind individuals are able to utilize the Internet independently using screen access software. However, like ramps for wheelchairs in physical spaces, Web site accommodations are needed in cyberspace for successful use. A review of the current literature indicates trends in public relations are shifting toward a corporate ethic of social responsibility, but on-line concerns for the disabled are not clearly demonstrated among the leading corporations in the United States. The purpose of this research is to determine if blind consumers are being accommodated on corporate Web sites in a manner that is conducive to public relations efforts to establish and maintain positive relationships with this new public. A content analysis of the Web sites maintained by the top 100 Fortune 500 corporations in the United States was performed to identify the current Web design practices being used to relate to blind publics through the Internet. The results indicate the needs of the blind consumer are not being met in mainstream business practices on the World Wide Web, despite government initiatives to support Web accessibility for the disabled.

The purpose of this study is to explore the World Wide Web as a vehicle for advertising movies to college students. Through a survey of LSU students, this study finds that online promotions as vehicles for advertising movies have great potential. Movie promotion websites are rated the second most effective form of movie advertising after television. The study found that people surf movie promotion websites mainly for movie show times, movie plot and cast information to compare film choices, and movie ticket purchases. The huge amount of data available and the 24/7 access to the internet is an important advantage. However, even though the World Wide Web is a proving an excellent media vehicle for movie advertising, it is still too early to determine whether or not it will supplant TV advertising of movies in the near future.

Understanding the communication concepts behind promoting a brand name is essential to the successful adoption of that innovation. This research links diffusion of innovations theory, branding, and public relations by exploring the name change of a higher education institution. Extensive work has been done in the areas of branding and diffusion of innovations theory. However, this study links the two. The adoption of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette new name by its alumni was studied by analyzing the public relations campaign post-name change and by gathering background information on previous diffusion of innovations research and the importance of brand names to products, specifically higher education institutions. This background information set up a framework for testing diffusion of innovations theory with a marketing innovation. A survey was administered to a random sample of UL Lafayette out-of-state alumni to determine their opinions of the new university name, the rate of adoption of the new name, and the modes of communication utilized in the diffusion process. The approval rating of the new name by out-of-state alumni was split, with almost half of the respondents using the new name in everyday speech and a little more than half using it in everyday writing. In addition, while the public relations campaign did reach some out-of-state alumni, most learned of the new name through word-of-mouth and most were influenced to use the new name by other persons rather than by the university or university publications. The researcher also learned that the out-of-state alumni that approved and adopted the new name are also valuable supporters of the university through recruitment and funding. However, those who did not approve and adopt the new name now feel disconnected from their alma mater and do not choose to support it.

Using a survey of Louisianas State Legislature, this study examined the role media have in developing state legislators policy agendas by exploring the function of news media in the public policy process. The study also tested whether there was a correlation between media use, years of legislative service, and education level. This thesis was also able to establish a correlation between media use and gender, with results suggesting that female state legislators rely on newspapers more than their male counterparts. The results suggest that legislators do seek out issues in newspapers that affect the communities and constituents they serve and that newspapers do prompt their taking legislative action. As much as they use media, however, legislators do not have a particularly high regard for it. Legislators responded that newspapers favor one side in their reporting of the news and were split evenly when asked whether they felt newspapers were accurate in their reporting. Regardless of these perceptions, legislators continue to use newspapers to generate their legislative agendas.

This study examined the portrayal of women in television commercials and documented the stereotypes associated with women in todays television commercials. Content analysis was chosen as a method of inquiry for this study. Two hundred and twenty six advertisements were recorded from the three chosen networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. No local advertisements or public service announcements were included in the sample. Each advertisement was initially coded for the central figure, whether the central figure was a male or a female. In addition, each central figure in the advertisement was coded for the following categories: 1) age; 2) product use; 3) occupation; 4) voiceover; 5) product representative; 6) stance; and 7) product types. Analysis was performed to determine the extent to which female characters portrayed in these advertisements were subject to stereotypical portrayals. The analysis of the data gathered reveals that portrayals of women in television advertisements in many ways conform to most advertisings stereotypical portrayals of women (as documented by previous researcher). However, the study provides evidence that the stereotypes associated with women is lessening. The study provides evidence of the emergence of a new trend in some cases toward portraying women and men as equals.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether a region's economy has an impact on regional coverage of China's WTO entry. It is predicted that regional newspapers vary in reporting this issue because of variation in the regional economic structure. The findings of the study support this prediction. A content analysis of 282 news articles in the U.S. regional newspapers finds that the regional economy can be a predictor of regional newspaper's coverage. For North Carolina, Illinois and California, significant differences exist in the regional coverage of China's WTO accession in terms of reference to key economic issue, reference to regional economic gain/loss and coverage tone. This study extends the community structure approach by including the regional economic variable. This regional economy approach will add to our understanding of the traditional theoretical perspectives in the framing of international news.

This study examines the current status of online news sites in terms of their level of convergence, and how they are affected by different organizational factors such as organizational influence, cross media partnerships and circulation size. A content analysis of the top 100 circulated newspaper dailies in the United States was conducted to provide understanding as to the current status of these online newspaper sites. A number of categories were examined including newspaper circulation size, updatedness, cross media partnership/ ownership, and level of convergence. Results showed that the majority of the Internet newspaper sites examined shared a media partnership on their site. It also showed that a significant amount of these newspaper Web sites had a high level of convergence, and that those with cross media partnerships had a higher level of convergence than those that did not have any partnerships. The study advances our knowledge on how these online newspaper sites have utilized technology in information delivery, as well as what types of partnerships they share and if they utilized their media partners' information. Future studies may further examine the different types of partnerships involved, whether they were strictly parent owned partners or simply affiliated partnerships. Also, time will only allow technology to advance even further, allowing further studies to examine the level of convergence on newspaper Web sites in the future, and possibly whether cross media partnerships still show a higher level of convergence over individually owned newspaper organizations.

This study employed the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and a quantitative version of the five-factor TARES Test to gather data on the ethical decision-making patterns of public relations practitioners. The former is an instrument based on Kohlbergs (1969) moral development theory, the latter self-enforced, ethical consideration statements derived from the research of Baker and Martinson (2001). Results show that levels of moral development in public relations differ based on job segment, and that age, education, gender and rank significantly affect levels of ethical consideration. The TARES test, it was discovered, is better suited for a three-factor configuration based on Days (2003) definition of moral knowledge.