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The study explores reasons for certain events trending on Sina Weibo - the most popular Chinese micro-blogging site - and cultural meanings of consumption in trending topics. Conceptually, it indicates that social media practice is more than a technical product, but it is also a cultural phenomenon that conveys cultural meanings. Multiple data were collected through a pilot study, a two-month online observation focusing on three trending topics and 34 in-depth face-to-face interviews. This e-ethnography study finds that Weibo is a Chinese cultural product in the global trend of high technology, mobile Internet and social networking. Also, it roots in the overall political and economic environment of Chinese media industry. Freedom of choices and equality in market are two doxa found in this field. The Weibo rituals present a negotiation of prosumers' political, economic and cultural identities. Neo-liberal elites become crucial agents lead in this field. The Weibo field demonstrates the social media relying on money line to push the Party line. In general, this dissertation argues a cultural paradigm of studying social media phenomena. It demonstrates how media phenomena are culturally constructed for society members to make meanings of their social lives. It goes beyond the limitation of a normative paradigm that makes judgments about whether media are contributing to--or harming--democracy. Instead, it provides a conceptual foundation to: begin to understand media phenomena by placing them within their original social context instead of a different context; to conclude the interpretation of the phenomena by integrating them with the bigger conceptual picture; and to eventually enable theoretical conclusions which will be transferable to other contexts.

An experiment was conducted to test hypotheses the country-of-origin, country animosity and product usage experience jointly determine the intention of product purchase. One hundred and seventy Chinese students participated in the experiment and responded to advertisements designed to promot laptop computers manufactured in Germany, Japan, India and the Philippines. Regression analysis results indicate that general product purchase intentions were significantly influenced by participants' pre-existing COO and CA perceptions. The interaction effects between COO, CA and product usage experience were also confirmed, meaning that the effects of COO and CA on purchase intentions were moderated by the variety and frequency of actual product usage experience.

In spite of a corpus of work over the last three decades acknowledging the centrality of religion in politics, (see e.g. Hunter, 1991; Layman, 2001; Putnam & Campbell, 2010; Wuthnow, 1988), there remains a scarcity of research examining the consequences of religious communication in political campaigns. The current study fills this void through an empirical exploration of the effects of religious campaign appeals on prospective voters. Specifically, this interdisciplinary investigation develops a theoretical framework and subsequent expectations as to how religious appeals are likely to activate individual religiosity thereby influencing the formation of political attitudes. Hypothesized expectations are then tested through a series of controlled media experiments administered to college students and a representative cross-section of U.S. adults. Consistent with expectations, results demonstrate exposure to religious appeals activates, or primes, religiosity, which significantly influences individual political evaluations. Priming effects are shown to be most pronounced based on ones religious beliefs relative to level of religious commitment or denominational affiliation. Those individuals holding more orthodox religious beliefs become significantly more likely to evaluate a candidate favorably following exposure to an appeal incorporating religious cues. At the same time, analysis demonstrates religious priming effects are attenuated in more complex information environments. Individuals exposed to additional partisan and non-partisan political information in the context of viewing religious appeals become less reliant on religiosity in forming political attitudes. Nevertheless, study findings strongly suggest religious beliefs remain a consequential consideration in the minds of potential voters regardless of information environment complexity. Additionally, experimental results point to the ability of candidates to prime religiosity through both implicit and explicit appeals. In a novel experiment, study results illustrate that a candidate can effectively activate the religious beliefs of viewers without formally referencing religion vis-à-vis implicit pro-life appeals and endorsement of traditional family values. Formal analysis then explores the potential for candidates to face backlash effects for mounting religious campaigns. Findings, however, suggest candidates face little adverse effects from explicitly appealing to religion. Indeed, general social acceptance of religion in the U.S. suggests candidates may appeal to religion more explicitly without fear of voter repercussions. The study concludes with a discussion of study results and implications for political discourse as well as a call for further research into the growing and influential role of religion in modern American politics.

This case study examined a peer-evaluation program at The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in which employees took turns serving on committees that critiqued each days coverage. Their critique reports, containing both negative and positive comments on all elements of the news pages, were distributed to each employee of the news department. The purpose of the study was to examine the content of the critique reports and to determine whether the participants and the editors thought the program improved the newspaper, whether they wanted to continue it and what changes might improve it. The research methods included a survey of the news staff, a content analysis of the critique reports the staff wrote during a ine-year period, and interviews with the editors. Results showed a majority of the staff mildly favored the program, thought it improved the newspaper and wanted to continue it with some revisions. The staff particularly favored more feedback from the top editors. The content analysis indicated that staffers addressed a broad range of journalistic issues and often offered solutions to the problems they pointed out. The editors generally agreed with the findings and planned to continue the program. The findings suggested that other newspapers attempting staffwide critique programs should provide specific training in critique techniques, write detailed guidelines for conducting the critiques, focus on problem areas instead of discussing everything in the news pages, require positive as well as negative comments, encourage critics to offer solutions to problems they find, and ensure management has a strong role to use the critiques to correct repeated problems and to encourage good work.

A study of Forbes, Fortune, and Black Enterprise magazines finds that the two mainstream business publicationsForbes and Fortuneprovide virtually no coverage of Blacks and the black business community, thereby helping to perpetuate the white-dominated view of society that places minorities in generaland Blacks in particularoutside the norm. Black Enterprise, on the other hand, continues in the long tradition of the black press, providing an alternative view of society through its focus on the black business community.

In 1992, a prominent Cuban-American organization, the Cuban American National Foundation, launched a full-scale campaign against the Miami Herald following an editorial against the Cuban Democracy Act, sponsored by Congressman Robert Torricelli, (D-NJ). The bill, which the Foundation endorsed and helped craft, was aimed at tightening the loopholes on the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Two men-CANF Chairman Jorge Mas Canosa and Herald publisher David Lawrence-represented opposing sides of the feud. CANF galvanized the exile community to support its side of the debate. The Herald used its opinion and editorial pages to argue against Mas's charges that the newspaper attacked the values and culture of the Cuban-American people. The opposing sides symbolized two distinct paradigms of culture and politics that were vying for control over setting the agenda in Miami's public opinion sphere. The battle between a powerful Cuban exile organization and Miami's daily newspaper is a defining moment for journalism in the twenty-first century. It also serves as a cautionary tale for daily newspapers in highly multicultural and heavily populated metropolitan areas of the nation still struggling to meet the needs of their audiences while adhering to the tenets of American journalism. A historical analysis sets the groundwork for future qualitative and quantitative analyses.

Journalistic objectivity is the definitive canon of American mainstream journalism. Yet American journalists cannot agree on what it is, how it is measured, or on how it is done. The source of the confusion is the assumption that objectivity is an ideal, absolute, impossible, incomprehensible, value-free state of being, outside of all physical, cognitive, psychological, and social contexts, where reality is perceived without distortions of any kind. This assumption is logically invalid and historically inaccurate. Journalistic objectivity evolved from the American cultural premises of egalitarianism and positive scientific empiricism through four historical stages: Nonpartisanship, Neutrality, Focus-On-Facts, and Detachment. It is possible, comprehensible, and reflects specific values. Within the context of journalism, there is no absolute truth. A "truth" is an interpretation of reality that passes three tests-coherence, correspondence and pragmatism--within a specific context. There are as many potential "truths" as there are contexts from which to determine those truths. With so many potential truths, chaos is unavoidable unless an added dimension of truth is identified. That added dimension is "objectivity." "Objective" truths are interpretations of reality that pass the three tests of truth within the largest, most information-rich contexts. An "objective" journalist is one who gathers interpretations of reality (true or not) from the smaller contexts of news participants, and presents them faithfully and accurately to the larger context of news consumers, so that the most objective truth (the one that everyone in the large context can agree on) can be determined. In order to do this, an objective journalist has to be able to surf contexts. Therefore, "journalistic objectivity" is the ability to surf contexts, or Contextual Independence.

This thesis, through an experiment of 108 subjects, studies the relationship between the presence of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL or web address) in newspaper advertisements and perception of the product advertised as well as the likelihood to act on the advertisement. The findings reveal URLs do in fact have an effect on perception, although, as it is suggested in the theoretical framework, it does not necessarily induce the subjects to act on the ad. This study also finds there is a stronger inclination for perception change to take place versus the likelihood for consumers to either seek more information or make a purchase of the brand advertised. The results indicate brands are much less likely to be considered high-tech or cutting edge when a URL is included in a newspaper advertisement. This is a departure from earlier work that suggested the inclusion of such URLs would have a positive effect on brand value and/or the perception of the company sponsoring the advertisement. The findings also indicate advertisers may have to change the way they present the use of a companys Web technology. The magic bullet of positive associations with technology in the minds of consumers is losing its efficacy from decreased sensitivity to URL saturation in print ads.