This study examines the portrayal of media within print advertisements found in Harper's Magazine between 1931 and 2000. This study evaluated a number of categories to provide understanding of the role of media within society, specifically the portrayal of gender and media use, how media are used in society and the perceived class within the advertisements featuring media products. The study also looked at the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, which states that a socioeconomic elite group are the first people within a society to adopt new ideas or technologies. A content analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, of Harper's Magazine produced the following results. The portrayal of women has not dramatically changed during the past seventy years and advertisements within Harper's Magazine still reflect negative images of women, such as, women as submissive, women as frivolous and women as decorative objects. Many gender stereotypes were evident throughout the study as more advertisements reflected women as wives and mothers than as career women. The exploration of the representation of media within advertising revealed that media were most often represented in a number of ways. The most common included, media use as relaxation, media bringing families together, media as tools of education and media as instruments in career development. The analysis of perceived class within advertisements revealed that some media, especially electronic media such as radio and television, are more often found in an upper class setting. The study advances our understanding of the Diffusion of Innovation theory by providing information about the portrayal of communication technologies within advertising. Future studies may further examine the role of this theory by evaluating how advertising contributes to the Diffusion of Innovation theory by positioning media to certain target audiences.

This study examines the newspaper coverage of Richard Jewell during the weeks after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing. Jewell, a security guard working in the Olympic Park on July 27, 1996, was initially hailed as a hero due to his discovery of a bomb minutes before the explosion. After Jewells name was leaked to the press as an FBI person of interest in the case, many reporters began to frame Jewell in a negative light and, in some instances, even implied his guilt. Through a discourse analysis of news stories published between the date of the bombing and the date Jewell was officially removed as a suspect (three months), four distinct framing clusters are identified in this study: The Reluctant Hero, He is Guilty, United We Stand, and Media Self-Coverage. Discursive tactics used to support these themes are identified as word choice, source choice and use of unnecessary information. The roles of myths, symbols, storytelling, and society in frame-making provide the foundation for an in-depth discussion about the broader meanings and implications of the news frames found in the coverage of the bombing. This study finds that frames are prevalent in media coverage and play an essential role in society, but they are sometimes misused by the press in such a way that harms individuals. A subsequent legal discussion underscores the courts dogged protection of First Amendment rights in these situations and the dilemmas that develop when a private individual is ruled to be a public figure in the defamation lawsuit. An additional examination of news media ethics offers possible reasons journalists resort to the types of discursive tactics found in the Jewell coverage; specifically, this study finds explanations that pertain to the journalist, the newsroom, industry guidelines, and the collective mindset of the profession.

This study focuses on how viewers relationships with their favorite media characters can impact their outlook on their own lives. Through the examination of parasocial relationships (PSRs), attractiveness, and the traits of materialism and envy, this study looks at the consequences of such traits on ones life satisfaction. Overall, the theoretical model presented argues to make the connection from ones PSR to his or her life satisfaction. Using a sample of undergraduate students, participants were asked to complete a survey that examined individuals' relationships with their favorite fictional media character through the study of various characteristics, habits, and media uses. The results support that the stronger ones PSR and attractiveness to his or her favorite character the stronger ones traits of envy and materialism tend to be. Also, the stronger ones traits of materialism and envy the lower the individuals life satisfaction. However, the over arching link from PSR to life satisfaction was not made, leaving room for further rationales and research within the area of PSR research.

The impact of the media on adolescent girls has received greater theoretical, legal and societal focus over the last few decades. Several studies link the development of womens gendered identities, healthy sexual activity and self-efficacy to how the media portray women. Restrictive or unrealistic themes of womanhood or femininity in the media can impact a young girls social construction of identity and provide limited examples of what it means to be a woman in todays society. This study qualitatively examines femininity in contemporary media by analyzingvia textual analysis and focus groupshow popular female characters embody, portray and promote different conceptualizations of femininity. Do these characters portray more traditional styles of femininity? Or do they embrace the gains of Third Wave feminism and promote more contemporary versions of femininity? Results suggest a shift toward contemporary femininity, but also reveal lingering stereotypes in a characters emotional and cultural behaviors.

This project answers the following questions: What does political reporting on social media look like? How is political journalists use of social media changing their relationships with sources and fellow political journalists? Triangulating qualitative and quantitative research methods (content analysis, social network analysis, and in-depth interviews) in an examination of Twitter, a social media platform popular among journalists, this project provides insight into how changes in media routines are affecting news content.

This study examined StudentAdvisor.com's top 25 social media colleges to determine the ways in which these universities communicated with their various publics on Facebook. Using Hon and Grunig's models of public relations as frameworks, a quantitative content analysis was performed. The study considered each individual post on the universities' Facebook walls (n=709) over the course of a three-week period. The study's research questions were based on whether the posts promoted Hon and Grunig's relationship indicators, as well as what public relations models the posts resembled. Results indicated that posts were least likely to resemble the two-way symmetrical model and seldom promoted any of the relationship indicators. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT Legal scholars, academics, and industry researchers have indicated that using cell phones when driving is among the most dangerous hazard faced by motorists today. This relatively new technology is embedded in the lives of most people, at all times of the day, including when behind the wheel of a car. Harvard and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration researchers have exposed the dangers of cell phones and driving, but a solution to curtail the problem has yet to be found. This study seeks to understand the motivations and mediating factors affecting texting and driving law compliance by cell phone users. I conducted a survey that gathered preliminary data that was used to create an outline for two focus groups. The survey results showed that 18 to 21 year old undergraduates are highly knowledgeable (92 percent) about texting and driving laws, receive the majority of this information from friends, parents, and news sources, and have experienced, seen, or heard at least one negative story about texting and driving. The two focus groups explained the knowledge and motivations further. Participants reported a high degree of self-efficacy when multitasking with digital devices. This, coupled with what the participants perceived to be ineffective laws, prompted increased usage and deficient self-regulation. This project reveals how a digital natives hyper usage of mobile communication devices combined with texting and driving laws that are poorly crafted has created an atmosphere where texting and driving is neither constrained by laws or self-regulation.

This study examined the role character complexity plays in racial attitudes of television viewers. Previous research suggests that stereotypes and counter-stereotypes play vastly different roles in how people process information. Stereotypes act as automatic cues that call up pre-made judgments upon exposure to them. Meanwhile, counter-stereotypes actually work on a conscious processing level, forcing viewers to think more deeply about individuals when presented with them, skipping the automatic recall mechanism all together. By layering counter-stereotypes and stereotypes together in the same stimulus, this study examined whether the existence of there would be an appreciable difference between viewers exposed to solely stereotypes or both using both implicit and explicit measures. To investigate the relationships between character complexity and racial attitudes, this study used a 2 x 2 factorial experimental design featuring 99 students and the data was analyzed using factorial ANOVAs. In addition to the character complexity variable, an additional exposure variable measured differences between single or repeated exposures of the stimulus videos. This experiment used an Implicit Association Test, a Positive Attitudes Towards Blacks scale and a Black Stereotypes scale to measure racial attitudes. Findings show there was no difference in positive, negative or implicit attitudes between the two complexity conditions. And furthermore, there was also no demonstrated difference between the single- and repeated-exposure conditions.

A study of public information officers (PIOs) in three states and the journalists that cover state government finds five primary factors that shape the working relationships between both groups. Institutional pressures on both PIOs and journalists impact the ability of both parties to meet the needs of the other party on a daily basis. High levels of centralization in state government communication limit the ability of PIOs to meet the needs of journalists, fostering journalists antagonism and a more combative working relationship. The economic decline of journalism is creating a dichotomous situation where PIOs can help journalists manage increasing demands on shrinking deadlines, or they can take advantage of growing limitations on journalists and abuse the relationships. Growing use of social and digital media are providing opportunities to help journalists be more efficient in performing daily tasks, but some journalists perceive of PIOs use of these tools as a source of competition for public attention. Straightforward, ethical practices by both parties that are grounded in candor help build trust over time and strengthen working relationships. These findings provide the basis for a new model for state government media relations that helps PIOs and journalists negotiate these factors to meet their shared responsibilities in co-creating an enlightened citizenry.

As one of the ways to persuade young people effectively, several scholars have indicated that using a tailored message that is consistent with individuals concerns and interests can influence their attitude and behavioral changes. Among diverse tactics to construct tailored health-messages, this research especially paid attention to individuals motivational goals (i.e., regulatory focus) that make them more inclined to a certain outcome. While promotion-oriented individuals primarily focus on how to achieve a desired ending, prevention-oriented individuals mainly focus on avoiding undesirable outcomes (Higgins, 1997; Higgins et al., 2001). Although numerous studies support the positive effects of the congruency between regulatory focus and message frame on persuasion, the researcher was concerned with the limited discussion about the effects of some message attributes (i.e., fear appeals) in tailored health-related Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In particular, a large number of health campaigns provide information in the context of highly emotive graphic images and text; however, the stimulus used in previous studies did not consider such factors possible moderating effects. In the context of an anti-binge drinking health campaign, the researcher therefore focused on how the level of fear in tailored messages influences college students perceptions of the message, their message processing, and their attitudes and behavioral changes. Using a 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs. prevention) X 2 (message framing: gain vs. loss) X 2 (level of fear appeals: low vs. high) experimental design, the researcher found that messages that are consistent with individuals interests are more persuasive. When the tailored message contained a low fear appeal, more fluent message processing and greater perceptions of message relevance occurred, which in turn impacted persuasion. However, the findings indicate that message effectiveness should be discussed cautiously because the effectiveness of tailored messages is reduced when combined with a high fear appeal. Overall, this study advances our understanding of how a tailored messages attributes influence individuals message processing and persuasion. The findings have practical and theoretical implications for future studies on the use of emotional appeals in persuasive advertising.