Using a Second Level Agenda Setting theory, Interpersonal Communication, Attitude Accessibility and Need for Orientation framework, this exploratory study examined, using the qualitative research method of focus groups, the relationship between Interpersonal Communication and media messages about Stockton, CA. Based on the themes that emerged from the discussions, results show contextual evidence that Interpersonal Communication acts as a facilitating instrument, allowing participants to 6 develop an understanding beyond the attribute description of Stockton, CA, generated by the media. This study also discovered new technology, especially social media, amplified the influence of lnterpersonal Communication of how media messages were ultimately understood. Lastly, the study concluded the University of the Pacific's reputation compensated for the school's undesirable location. Limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.

For the last two decades displaced homeless people living in public places have doted the American landscape, despite increasing national wealth. Two factors which may contribute to this phenomenon are: 1) how the issue of homelessness is perceived through media coverage, and 2) what attributions of causality and responsibility are extricated from the vast multitude of media messages. An integration of theoretical frameworks within social-psychology (attribution and priming theory) and communication (agenda setting and framing effects) was consummated in a hypothesized mediated inference process: conceptualized as a cognitive continuum where the issue of homelessness first enters the cognition of the social observer (inaugural prime); is then given salience by the frequency of media coverage (agenda setting); thereupon shaped by media portrayals (framed); and attributions of causality and responsibility are formed. To examine the proposed mediated inference process a survey questionaire (n=283) was administered to college students revealing a significant correlation between the importance placed on the issue of homelessness (agenda setting) and resultant attributions of causality. As respondents' perceptions of the importance of homelessness increased, their societal attributions of causality increased. Conversely, as perceptions of importance decreased personal, internal attributions of causality increased. Additionally, high television use was found, through regression analysis, to be a significant predictor of situational attributions of causality. An experiment (n=96) was also administered to examine how different newspaper and television framing conditions effect attributions of causality. The results indicate that newspaper portrayals presented as isolated events lead subjects to attribute causality to personal dispositions; whereas portrayals presented as overall accounts lead subjects to societal attributions. Although the evidence for a mediated inference process was inconclusive, the results suggest that the frequency and framing of media coverage significantly affect the process of attributing causality for social issues such as homelessness.

No description available.

The goal of this research was to examine how the One organization's web site either supports or rejects established literature that concludes that U.S. media contains negative representations of the developing world.

Title in English and Afrikaans / Communication Science / D.Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science)

In this dissertation, I explore the ways in which traditional processes of opinion formation, media exposure, and mobilization operate in a networked, fragmented, and high-choice environment. From a methodological standpoint, one of the advantages of this shift toward Internet-mediated activity is the potential for enhanced measurement. In my dissertation, I take advantage of the data trail left by individuals in order to learn about political behavior and media effects online. Combining this measurement strategy with field experiments conducted in naturalistic online environments, I am able to shed light on how longstanding concerns in political science manifest themselves in the present-day media landscape. The overarching theme is that, thanks to advances in both research design and technology, many well-articulated concerns about the impact of the Internet on politics and public life can now be subjected to rigorous scrutiny. As I show here, the most dire predictions -- about people's tendency to cocoon themselves into ideological echo chambers or opt for low-cost "slacktivism" over more meaningful contributions to collective action -- appear to lack strong support. But it is also clear that results clearly depend on the structural features of a particular medium: Twitter enables peer effects and the mutual reinforcement of viewpoints, while the high-choice environment of the Web may inherently lead to moderation.

Print version of the author's thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Communication, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-71). Original thesis available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

This is a study of a child abuse panic. The events that brought Martensville, Saskatchewan to national and international attention in 1992 were similar in many respects to other panics concerning multiple allegations of child abuse that occurred in the Western world in the 1980s and 1990s. The methodology of the study included a review of descriptions of child abuse panics published in the mass media and in books and journal articles. Interviews were conducted with residents of Martensville, child advocates, reporters, investigators, officers of the court, expert witnesses and several of the accused. Five theoretical accounts or explanations of the events were examined in detail: Satanic ritual abuse, recovered memories, false memory syndrome, hysterical epidemic and moral panic. These accounts were considered in light of broader sociological theory. It was determined that the moral panic account provided greater explanatory potential than the other accounts. Moral panics are seen as a form of distorted communication that was typical of mass media treatment of certain conditions in the 1980s and 1990s under which allegations of child abuse targeted a group of people who were defined as a threat. Feminist theory, the concept of risk society and Habermas' theory of communicative action were examined to provide insights into ways of addressing and mitigating the panic and harm that occurred in Martensville. Conclusions and policy considerations centre on the need for training of professions involved in the investigation and response to child abuse, public education within a framework of communicative rationality and, ultimately, reclamation of the public sphere with attendant expansion of opportunities for face-to-face communication in public decision-making.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2008. / "Publication number: AAT 3323092."

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-190).