Mass media presentation of news stories more closely resembles entertainment than enlightenment. What effect does this have on: 1) the general public’s ability to recall political information; 2) their attitudes towards political actors and issues; and, 3) their ability to think critically about politics? Psychological research on the effect of “seductive details” has indicated that presenting interesting, but ultimately unimportant details in hopes of stimulating attention may serve to reduce individuals’ ability to remember and use information. To test for similar effects in print and television news, an experimental research design is employed to manipulate news presentation. One set of subjects is presented with serious news stories, while another is exposed to serious stories accompanied by frivolous stories. A number of techniques are employed to measure the effects of news as entertainment on recall, critical thinking, and political attitudes. Given that political information is acquired almost exclusively from the mass media, this dissertation raises important empirical and normative issues about the contribution of mass media to the general public’s information level and level of political sophistication. / text

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This dissertation interrogates how Florida’s major electric utility companies actively suppressed the nascent solar energy industry in their effort to consolidate solar energy production into their hands during the 2015-2016 election cycle. Along with this, newspaper coverage of this issue was analyzed to determine how the fight was presented to the public and whether prevailing commercial pressures that influence the news production process affected the coverage of this issue. Finally, audience commentary about this issue was explored to determine how Facebook users made sense of this issue and whether the commentary reflected the prominent themes that were also present in the news coverage. Results highlight the economic and political ties between the utility companies and their support network as well as the solar supporters and their affiliated network that squared off in this fight. Additionally, findings reveal that commercial pressures to the news production process resulted in news coverage that portrayed this issue this to the public from a small handful of viewpoints, limiting the range of perspectives from which this issue may legitimately be discussed. Furthermore, results indicate that Facebook users who commented on this issue largely reflected the same perspectives and concerns that were present in the news coverage. Final conclusions and recommendations for changes to the news production process are provided. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 12, 2018. / Environmental Communication, Newspapers, Political Economy, Social Media, Solar Energy / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michelle M. Kazmer, University Representative; Andy Opel, Committee Member; Brian Graves, Committee Member.

Zhang Jing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-57). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.2-3 / Introduction / Studying the changing reform discourse in China's media reforms --- p.5-8 / Chapter 1 --- Paradigm Change in reform discourse --- p.9-16 / Chapter 1.1 --- Changing paradigm of media operation: A theoretical framework / Chapter 1.2 --- Methodology / Chapter 2 --- "One Decade, Two Paradigms" --- p.17-33 / Chapter 2.1 --- "One decade, Two paradigms" / Chapter 2.2 --- The historical context for the two paradigms in90s / Chapter 2.3 --- The formation of reform discourse / Chapter 3 --- The Contestations of the two paradigms --- p.34-47 / Chapter 3.1 --- The growth of the new paradigm / Chapter 3.2 --- The modification of the old paradigm / Chapter 3.3 --- The future of the paradigm change / Chapter 4 --- Conclusion and Discussion --- p.48-51 / Reference --- p.52-57

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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006. / "May, 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-70). Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2006]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.