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News consumption is primarily done through online news media outlets and social media. There has been a recent rise in both fake news generation, and consumption. Fake news refers to articles that deliberately contain false information to influence readers. Substantial dissemination of misinformation has been recognized to influence election results. This work focuses on hyperpartisanship in web-searched articles which refers to web searched articles which have polarized views and which represent a sensationalized view of the content. There are many such news websites which cater to propagating biased news for political and/or financial gain. This work uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques on news articles to find out if a web-searched article can be termed as hyperpartisan or not. The methods were developed using a labeled dataset which was released as a part of the SemEval Task 4 - Hyperpartisan News Detection. The model was applied to queries related to U. S. midterm elections in 2018. We found that more than half the articles in web search queries showed hyperpartisanship attributes. / Master of Science / Over the recent years, the World Wide Web (WWW) has become a very important part of society. It has overgrown as a powerful medium not only to communicate with known contacts but also to gather, understand and propagate ideas with the whole world. However, in recent times there has been an increasing generation and consumption of misinformation and disinformation. These type of news, particularly fake and hyperpartisan news are particularly curated so as to hide the actual facts, and to present a biased, made-up view of the issue at hand. This activity can be harmful to the society as greater the spread and/or consumption of such news would be, more would be the negative decisions made by the readers. Thus, it poses a bigger threat to society as it affects the actions of people affected by the news. In this work, we look into a similar genre of misinformation that is hyperpartisan news. Hyperpartisan news follows a hyperpartisan orientation - the news exhibits biased opinions towards a entity (party, people, etc.) In this work, we explore to find how Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods could be used to automate the finding of hyperpartisanship in web searched articles, focusing on extraction of the linguistic features. We extend our work to test our findings in the web-searched articles related to midterm elections 2018.

Prior literature has identified several simultaneously occurring trends: namely, sharply intensifying negative partisanship, partisan patterns of media trust, increasingly partisan content on cable news networks, and increased viewership of these networks. A large portion of this literature, as well as journalistic research, has predominantly focused on individuals' consumption, rather than trust, of particular political media sources. I explore to what degree the nature of how individuals are consuming partisan media (be it trustingly, skeptically, etc.) plays a role in the relationship between partisan media consumption and partisan sentiment. Using OLS regression models across three ANES samples, I test the relationship between individuals' viewership and trust levels of particular partisan cable news sources (Fox News and MSNBC) and corresponding partisan sentiment, taking into account individuals' own partisan leanings. I find those who consume like-minded partisan media to express more partisanship (both for their own political group and against the other). I additionally find that trust, as opposed to just viewership, of these partisan networks correlates strongly with partisan sentiment. In light of these findings, I conclude that future research on this topic should more clearly distinguish between trust and viewership of political media. / Master of Arts / Over the last two decades, surging mass political polarization has occurred simultaneously with a strikingly more segmented and increasingly partisan news media landscape. A large portion of research on this topic, both academic and journalistic, has focused exclusively on individuals' viewership or consumption levels of particular media sources. Relying solely on consumption does not take into account the trust levels that individuals have in what they are consuming. In this study, I explore to what degree the nature of how individuals are consuming partisan media (be it trustingly, skeptically, etc.) plays a role in the relationship between partisan media consumption and partisan feelings. Utilizing multiple American National Election Studies samples, I test the relationship between individuals' viewership and trust levels of particular partisan cable news sources (Fox News and MSNBC) and corresponding partisan sentiment, taking into account individuals' own partisan leanings. I find those who consume like-minded partisan media (Republicans watching Fox News and Democrats watching MSNBC) to express increased levels of partisanship - both for their own political group and against the other. I additionally find a strong relationship between individuals' trust, as opposed to just viewership, of these partisan networks and their own partisan feelings. In light of these findings, I conclude that future research on this topic should more clearly distinguish between trust and viewership of political media.

This thesis explores how U.S. newspapers framed the death of Captain America. Specifically, the presence of various frames and their classifications was determined via a content analysis of 139 newspaper articles. Additionally, this thesis explores relationships between frame substance and other frame classifications. Generic/recurring frames were more prevalent than issue-specific/recurring frames. Frames tended to be episodic more often than thematic. Frames were also most likely to be neutral in valence, though differences from this overall trend emerged in some individual frames. Frames tended to be ambiguous rather than substantive. No relationship emerged between frame substance and the classification of generic/issue-specific frames, nor did one emerge between frame substance and the episodic/thematic frame classification. However, frames possessing negative valence were more likely to be ambiguous than frames possessing positive valence. Implications for framing theory and the news coverage's treatment of Captain America's death as an indicator of post-9/11 American identity are also discussed. Limitations of this study and opportunities for future research are acknowledged. / Master of Arts

As one of the most enduring theories in communication, gatekeeping suggests that stories have to move from one gate to another gate before being published. During this process, some stories are selected, while others are rejected. Previous studies heavily focus on traditional news media and explore the influence of internal and external forces on story selection. Very few studies, however, look at gatekeeping in new areas of technology. This case study extends this literature into social media. It looks at how editors at The Asian Magazine (TAM) select stories for its WeChat public account. Interviews with editors identify news values and news categories that these gatekeepers think are important. Results of the WeChat content analysis between May and August 2014 indicate that TAM editors do not strictly rely on established news values to select WeChat stories. News categories better predict story decisions. Examining which WeChat items generate the most reader engagement gives evidence of how well news content matches what attracts readers online. News category priorities closely match what readers want to read. / Master of Arts

The news media is the most common way for individuals to obtain information about a vast range of events. The purpose of the present study was to better understand what factors predict people's news media patterns, including mental health, personality factors, and propensity for altruism. This study investigated whether certain media patterns correlate with higher pathology in viewers. Participants were asked to complete an informal survey in which they provided information about their news patterns in general, and then specifically about their news media pattern when obtaining information about the Haitian crisis. The Haitian crisis served as an example of a crisis event broadcasted by a wide variety 9f news media outlets including local news, cable news, magazines, and internet sources. Additional measures in the study include the Symptom-Checklist-90 (SCL-90) self-report scale as a measure of psychopathology, the Civic Moral Disengagement Scale (CMDs), and the self-report Altruism Measure. It was predicted that participants who accessed news about the disaster through sources that presented a political agenda rather than just reporting the news, would score higher on psychopathology and lower Qn altruism. Although there was no significant correlation between news media patterns and psychopathology, a correlation between news media patterns and altruistic behavior was found. Personality factors were also significantly correlated to altruistic behavior and media choice. The findings of this study open the doors to further studies in the field of media, personality, and altruistic behavior. Implications of the findings, as well as need for further research are discussed.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of a unique experiment by the Rugby Football League, to apply the American professional team sports model to its game, making it the first British sport ever to attempt this. It investigates the economic, financial and social changes, which have occurred within the sport of rugby league, since the introduction of the 'Super League'. The adoption of the American professional team sports model is based on increasing the uncertainty of outcome of games in order to ensure profit maximisation of the clubs. This has raised a number of issues, pertaining to both the game of rugby league itself, the difference between American and British sport, and the ever increasing effect of television revenues and mass media on sport. The adaptation of the model by rugby league officials has resulted in decisive changes to the way the game is played and how the Rugby Football League is run. A change to three divisions from two, the introduction of a 'Super League' copying football's Premiership and a switch from the traditional winter game to a summer season has taken place. Also critical has been the move from terrestrial to satellite television and the effect of this move on network externalities that could influence the long-term future of the game. The £87million financial investment from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation provided the catalyst for change, in exchange for the five-year exclusive broadcasting rights to the game. The American model was utilised in order to try and financially stabilise the league through the process of profit maximisation. The need for equilibrium within the league also led to the utilisation of various restrictive controls, all of which are common-place in the United States. After critically evaluating the relevant literature, attention is turned to testing the effect of the experiment of applying the American model to British Rugby League. A five-strand approach has been adopted using data both pre and post, the introduction of Super League, utilising nine, case study-clubs throughout the study. Firstly, any change in uncertainty of outcome was examined using the standard deviation of Win/Loss percentage adapted from the approach by Noll (1988) and Scully (1989). Demand for the live matches through attendance figures and broadcasting demand, using audience viewing data were examined. The third strand examines whether the predicted outcome of the American model, and increases in revenue and profit, have been achieved. Finally, two social surveys were carried out on three major stakeholder groups, club officials, players and supporters. The results indicate that the application of the American Professional Team Sports model to rugby league did not achieve the predicted outcome of increased uncertainty, attendance and ultimately, revenue. The reasons for this can be explained by the partial implementations of the model and non-market factors, which appear to be much more significant within British Rugby League than in American sports. The over-riding results suggest that regardless of structural or organisational changes, rugby league is destined to remain a northern minority sport.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

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