The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between Millennials' (also referred to as Generation Y) engagement with brands on social media outlets and the relationship they have with brands they interact with. Many organizations are shifting their marketing and public relations dollars away from traditional media outlets to social media outlets, yet there is little academic research on the effectiveness of these efforts. Moreover, there is much debate over how to measure success in social media campaigns. In this thesis, nearly 700 Millenial students at Florida State University were surveyed to examine their level of social media use, engagement with brands, and attitudes about the brands they interacted with. A modified version of Bruning and Galloway's (2003) Organization-Public Relations Scale was used to test the relationships that brands build through their social media efforts. This scale is a diagnostic tool for managers of Organization-Public relationships to measure relationships with key publics. Two dimensions, Anthropomorphic and Personal-Commitment, were used to assess the connection Millenials had with the brands they interacted with on Facebook and Twitter. Race and gender were also examined for correlation with social media engagement. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the level of correlation between exposure and engagement with messages from brands on social media and participants' connections to brands. Spearman Rho correlation tests confirmed significant positive relationships between reading and sharing messages on social media outlets and the respondents' commitment and trust associated with the brands they followed. Chi-Squared tests indicated that female participants spend more time on social media outlets in general. Research results indicated that demographics did not have significant correlations with Personal-Commitment or Anthropomorphic values. Nearly all participants (98.6%) indicated using Facebook or Twitter in the last 90 days and most (92.6%) indicated following at least one brand on either outlet. This study builds on the current body of knowledge in the marketing and public relations fields by providing specific information about the way Millenials interact with brands on social media outlets. These fields deal primarily with managing the perception of brands in the eyes of consumers and managing relationships with those consumers on behalf of organizations. This study provides some preliminary information for brands to make more informed decisions about social media strategy. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Communication and Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester 2011. / November 7, 2011. / brand, Facebook, marketing, Millennial, public relations, Social Media / Includes bibliographical references. / Jay Rayburn, Professor Directing Thesis; Ulla Bunz, Committee Member; John DuBard, Committee Member; Gerry Gilmer, Committee Member; Davis Houck, Committee Member.

Nasalance measures were reported for two groups, 36 trained female singers and 36 female non-singers. Each group sang and sustained the point vowels (/i/, /ae/, /u/, /a/) for six seconds duration across three frequency levels. Three seconds from the middle of each vowel was measured to generate nasalance scores. No significant differences were found in the mean nasalance scores between the trained singers and the non-singers. The nasalance scores were significantly higher for front vowels as compared to back vowels for both groups. Additionally, both groups displayed a pattern of producing significantly higher nasalance scores at lower frequencies than at higher frequencies. The implication of these results is that most singers spontaneously raise the velum on high frequencies and depress it on lower frequencies. These findings put into question the need to train velar movement in Western classical singing. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2004. / September 30, 2004. / Frequency, Non-Singers, Trained Singers, Vowels, Velopharyngeal Port, Soft Palate, Nasalance / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard J. Morris, Professor Directing Dissertation; André Thomas, Outside Committee Member; Julie A. G. Stierwalt, Committee Member; Leonard L. LaPointe, Committee Member; Virginia Walker, Committee Member.

The overall purpose of this study was to understand what factors contribute to teachers' willingness to communicate about HIV/AIDS in the broad educational setting (schools and communities). The study sought to fill the gap in the research on teachers and HIV/AIDS which has typically focused on cataloguing teachers' knowledge and attitudes, but without relating them directly to practice. The assumption of this study was that a better understanding of the personal and contextual variables that influence teachers' willingness to communicate about HIV/AIDS provides a key input into policy decisions and into the design of practical interventions that will strengthen the teachers' role as communicators about HIV/AIDS. The data were collected in Gaza Province in Southern Mozambique among primary and secondary school teachers by administering surveys to a stratified sample of 606 primary and secondary school teachers in five districts of Gaza province. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze the data. This study found that age, personal experience with HIV/AIDS, level taught and value expressive attitude functions toward talking about HIV/AIDS have a consistent impact on teachers' intentions to talk about HIV/AIDS and on their past behavior of talking about HIV/AIDS in schools and communities. Thus younger teachers, teachers who know someone who is sick/has died of HIV/AIDS, teachers who teach upper primary, and teachers who hold weak value expressive attitude functions are more likely to talk about HIV/AIDS across all three behaviors. Future intentions to talk about HIV/AIDS are also influenced by high perceived behavioral control. With respect to school behavior, it was found that teachers who had a high consistent record of talking about HIV/AIDS in schools had a high overall perception of personal risk, a high positive overall attitude toward talking about HIV/AIDS. Finally, with respect to past behavior of talking in the community it was found that in addition to the influence of age, personal experience, level taught, and value expressive attitude, teachers who were more likely to talk about HIV/AIDS if they consistently used condoms, had a high perception of personal risk, and a high positive overall attitude toward talking about HIV/AIDS. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2004. / April 27, 2004. / Strategies For Addressing HIV/AIDS, Hiv/Aids Behavior, Teachers Perceptions Of HIV/AIDS, Iterative Analysis Of Unstructured Data, Subjective Norms, Perceived Social Norms, Hiv/Aids Knowledge And Attitude Scale, Hiv/Aids Knowledge, Perceived Behavioral Control, Attitude Solicitation Survey, Theory Of Planned Behavior, Functional Theory, Attitude, Function Theory, Theory Of Reasoned Action, Talking About HIV/AIDS / Includes bibliographical references. / Gary R. Heald, Professor Directing Dissertation; Marcy Driscoll, Outside Committee Member; John K. Mayo, Committee Member; Steve McDowell, Committee Member; Laura Arpan, Committee Member.

This dissertation uses critical discourse analysis to conduct an examination of the reality television program Queer Eye. Queer Eye is a makeover show and each of the five main characters --Ted Allen, Kyan Douglass, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley and Jai Rodriguez—has an area of specialty. The first two seasons of the show entitled Queer Eye for the Straight Guy gave makeovers exclusively to straight men. However, after season three the Fab Five, as they are commonly called, shortened the title and expanded their makeovers to couples, a gay man and a transgender man. The purpose of this study is to help understand the manner in which the representations of queer culture in the show reinforce the binaries of sex, gender and sexuality. By investigating the evolution of Queer Eye (all four seasons), this study provides insights into popular culture's understanding and depiction of sexual difference and evidences the strong link between these representations and the commercial interests of the producers. This study's theoretical framework brings together concepts from queer theory and political economy to the examination of the commodification and construction of sexuality and gender. In the show Queer Eye, the identity of both the five main characters and the guest character is represented as a reflection of their aesthetic choices, and audiences are exposed to numerous product placements and advertising messages. In encouraging materialism, the show transforms the term queer into a commodity sign and redefines masculinity as represented through wealth and accumulation. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of the show, I argue that the Fab Five serve as normative figures within the structure of the capitalist system because their performance reflects the intrinsic values of a materialistic society and ignores social responsibility. Moreover, consistent with the stereotypical representation of gay males in American culture the queerness of the Fab is depicted as asexual and a form of aestheticism. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / March 18, 2008. / Queer Eye, Political Economy, Queer / Includes bibliographical references. / Donna Marie Nudd, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jerrilyn McGregory, Outside Committee Member; Jennifer M. Proffitt, Committee Member; Stephen D. McDowell, Committee Member.

Prior and during World War II comic books were among America's largest mass media. One of the most popular, if not the most popular, character to emerge from this time period was Superman, The Man of Tomorrow. Almost immediately after the character's first appearance in 1938, the country's newsstands were filled with brightly colored imitations. At the same time that the country's comic book industry came into being, the nation was undergoing a host of changes and controversy. The Great Depression had wrecked the country and President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal attempted to right the economic downturn. But as the country dealt with the lack of economic growth, it also came to question its role in foreign affairs. The outbreak of conflict in Europe led to a fight at home between isolationists and interventionists and whether the country should broach supporting the Allied Forces. After Pearl Harbor, the nation entered the European conflict with zeal, as did the comic book industry. This thesis is an historical and visual rhetorical analysis of Superman comic books from 1938 to 1945. Its goal is to examine how one of the nation's most recognizable fictional characters both reflected and reinforced popular public opinion from the time period. I use Cara Finnegan's concept of visual rhetoric, specifically composition, and David Zarefsky's "four senses" of rhetorical history to analysis the Man of Tomorrow's early adventures. I make three separate arguments. First, I argue that Superman comic books had New Deal sympathies by examining three issues and contextualizing these around popular public thought such as the need for improved workers rights, moral decay caused by slums, and admonishment of stockbrokers. Second, I detail how Superman comics presented isolationist messages and then interventionist messages. In showing this rhetorical trajectory I discuss the Nye Committee's investigation of the munitions industry and the Roosevelt administration's use of "guilt-by-association" to discredit aviator Charles Lindbergh. Finally, I argue that Superman during the war years came to represent the American people. This is done through the character's support of war bonds. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Communication & Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2011. / November 7, 2011. / Comic books, Historical Rhetoric, Superheroe, Superman, Visual Rhetoric, World War II / Includes bibliographical references. / Davis Houck, Professor Directing Thesis; Donna Nudd, Committee Member; Andy Opel, Committee Member.

As a programming powerhouse that has survived five years, more than 200 episodes, and seven series locations, Bravo's The Real Housewives franchise has become a formidable force in cable TV. With viewers in the millions, spin-off shows, merchandise, and cast appearances that extend far beyond Bravo, the presence of the franchise and its "ladies who lunch" cannot be missed in the realm of popular culture. Because of its success and its cultural position as a female-oriented reality TV program, this study examines Bravo's The Real Housewives franchise through the lens of feminist political economy. Exploring the franchise through Kellner's (1995) critical cultural model, this study moves the franchise through the stages of production, text, and reception to understand not only how the franchise is guided by commercial motives, but also how the series upholds elements of capitalism and patriarchy that are problematic for its target audience: females. Through the circuit of production, text, and reception, this research uses critical, ideological textual analysis to unmask the motivations behind The Real Housewives production, the messages regarding gender, race, class, and sexuality found within programming, and the ways in which audiences are making sense of--and responding to--those messages themselves. Concluding that the franchise targets the female audience through intense marketing and interactivity, perpetuates stereotypical gender norms in programming via use of Bravo's infamous "wink," and is textually read by fans largely in line with programming intent, I argue that The Real Housewives franchise targets and exploits the female audience, selling them "images" of themselves that are deeply problematic and indicative of the contemporary epoch of postfeminist media culture. And while fans are responding to the series' messages of gender, race, class, and sexuality in a variety of ways, analysis suggests that they are likewise perpetuating the problematic portrayals in their own online interaction. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / February 28, 2012. / Feminist, Gender, Internet, Media, Political Economy, Reality TV / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Leigh H. Edwards, University Representative; Donna M. Nudd, Committee Member; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member.

The present study investigated the effects of an auditory distraction on the lexical semantic retrieval skills of ten monolingual English speaking children and ten Spanish-English speaking children between 3 and 5 years of age. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (PPVT-4: Dunn & Dunn, 2006) was used to establish English proficiency between groups. In addition, participants were administered a picture-word verification task. The task was presented in English for the monolingual children and in both Spanish and English for the Early sequential language learners (ESLLs). An auditory distraction of four-speaker babble was presented on random trials. Participant responses were recorded for both response time and accuracy. Similarities in bilingual and monolingual performance on tasks of lexical-semantic retrieval were observed. No differences between monolingual and bilingual performance by response time was elicited, however differences in group accuracy of response were found to be significant. Results of the study suggest that the bilingual advantage of attention may not be present as early as 3 to 5 years of age given the children's limited language proficiency. In addition, said advantage may be attributable to specific cognitive tasks and may not be present during tasks of lexical-semantic retrieval. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Communication Science and Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2009. / July 9, 2009. / Distraction, Cognitive Interference, Bilingual, Attention, English Language Learners, Language Processing, Lexical Retrieval, Noise / Includes bibliographical references. / Leonard L. LaPointe, Professor Directing Thesis; Carla Wood Jackson, Committee Member; Michael Kaschak, Committee Member.

In 2013, Gannett Company, Incorporated acquired the Belo Corporation and its twenty broadcast television licenses (Gannett.com, 2013b). However, for seven of these television stations, outright ownership by Gannett would be in direct violation of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) newspaper broadcast cross-ownership rule (NBCO) and the local television ownership rule, also referred to as the duopoly rule (Turner, 2014). To retain control, if not outright ownership, of these stations, Gannett entered into Joint Sale Agreements (JSAs) and Shared Service Agreements, also known as sidecar agreements, with Sander Media and Tucker Media Management, which allowed Gannett to circumvent the NBCO and duopoly rules (Malone, 2013). Specifically, the agreements concerned seven television stations in five Designated Market Areas (DMAs): Phoenix, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri; and Portland, Oregon. These DMAs raised concerns in terms of the NBCO rule and the duopoly rule because Gannett already owns and operates either a top four broadcast television station or a major daily newspaper in these areas, which critics suggest would severely impact the number of unique voices in each DMA. The research questions that this thesis addresses include: how did sidecar agreements gain traction as a business practice for broadcasters despite the NBCO and duopoly rules? How are the sidecar agreements realized specifically between Gannett, Sander, and Tucker? And, how do the sidecar agreements allow Gannett to exert undue influence on Sander and Tucker? Ultimately, this research will demonstrate the importance of the NBCO and duopoly rules in protecting the democratic function of the media. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2015. / April 15, 2015. / Joint Service Agreements, Political Economy of Media, Sidecar Agreements / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Thesis; Stephen D. McDowell, Committee Member; Joshua Newman, Committee Member.

On January 16, 1950, Elizabeth Waring delivered an explosive speech to the Coming Street (black) Young Women's Christian Association in Charleston, South Carolina. The speech was the first in a rhetorical campaign launched by Mrs. Waring and her husband, federal Judge J. Waties Waring, to publicize racial oppression and segregation in the South. Because of the outraged reaction and media publicity of the Charleston YWCA speech, Mrs. Waring garnered an invitation to appear on NBC's nationally televised Meet the Press. On the show, Mrs. Waring shocked Southern whites further when she declared that people should be allowed to marry whoever they please. In other words, the taboo against interracial sex was nonsensical. In this dissertation, I examine the rhetorical campaign of the Warings from historical-critical and rhetorical perspectives. I situate their rhetoric within its historical context of the Jim Crow South as well as the rhetorical situation that gave rise to the Warings' public discourse. Rather than a specific method, I employ close reading of the text of the YWCA speech to determine the ways that Mrs. Waring spoke of race relations and social equality. Along with delving deeply into the Charleston YWCA speech, I establish continuities between it and the Warings' other speeches. In addition, I argue that the Warings defied the rhetorical situation in terms of persuasion and fitting response because their rhetoric adheres to the elements of exhortation as well as polarization, shock, prophetic, and agitator rhetoric. After closely reading the text of the speech, I turn to the response among Southern whites and media by examining newspaper articles, editorials, and letters written to the Warings. The Warings endured social ostracism, vile letters, harassing phone calls, impeachment threats, and attacks upon their home. Yet, despite their efforts and perseverance, their attempts to end school segregation are little known. The timing of the Warings' rhetorical campaign is significant in terms of the Clarendon County school segregation case that began in 1948. After landing in Judge Waring's courtroom on two separate occasions, the matter eventually became one of the cases (Briggs v. Elliott) of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that ruled school segregation was unconstitutional. The rhetorical history of Briggs, specifically its prominence and significance as part of Brown, is largely unwritten. Judge Waring presided over these cases and ordered Thurgood Marshall and NAACP attorneys to revise the suit from an equalization case to a direct attack on the constitutionality of legally-mandated segregation. Southern whites continually questioned the Warings' motives, claiming that the couple was using race relations to exact revenge on the whites who socially spurned them. However, Elizabeth and Waties' activism included public and private actions. Along with their rhetoric and Judge Waring's judicial opinions, the Warings corresponded regularly with a network of prominent civil rights advocates like Septima Clark, James Dombrowsky, Aubrey Williams, Marion Wright, Walter White, and Myles Horton. They frequently entertained blacks in their home and aided Reverend Joseph De Laine after he fled South Carolina. I argue that the Warings were involved in both covert and overt actions to achieve their goal, the end of school segregation, and their motives were genuine, not spiteful. They purposefully pursued a rhetorical course of action to influence the outcome of the Clarendon County school segregation case. Examining that campaign offers a different appreciation and understanding for how Brown came about. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2013. / August 20, 2013. / Brown v. Board of Education, Civil Rights, Elizabeth Waring, J. Waties Waring, Rhetoric, Segregation / Includes bibliographical references. / Davis W. Houck, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kristie S. Fleckenstein, University Representative; Donna M. Nudd, Committee Member; Jennifer M. Proffitt, Committee Member.

This purpose of this dissertation is to identify how journalist and newspaper publisher Almena Davis Lomax (1915-2011) attempted to persuade her Los Angeles Tribune readers to accept her vision of a better United States through her editorials and columns. Utilizing African American women's rhetorical theory and grounded theory, this rhetorical biography examined selected Tribune editorials and columns obtained primarily from the online database "African American Newspapers, 1827-1998," accessed through the Florida State University and Florida A&M University libraries. This database included 150 issues of the Tribune, from Sept. 6, 1943 to April 22, 1960. Specific years included were 1943, 1944, 1946, 1958, 1959, and 1960. Although the database did not include all issues, the available editions spanned the approximate length of the newspaper's publication (1941-1960). I supplemented the database's editions with several issues from 1945, 1955, and 1956 available from the Almena Lomax Papers at Emory University Library's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. I thus conducted a convenience sample of extant editorials and columns in my analysis. Additional primary sources, which help shed light on Lomax's life, were obtained from the California State University-Fullerton Oral History Program (oral history of Lomax) and MARBL (interviews with Lomax and non-Tribune writings of Lomax's). From the online database and MARBL, I analyzed Tribune editorials written by Lomax labeled "Editorial What-Not," "More Editorial What-Not," "Political What-Not," "More Political What-Not," and "How 'Bout This." For each of the selected writings, I completed a data sheet based on Tippens' (2001) general guidelines, with modifications: 1. Column name, date, and page number; 2. Main topic; 3. Main theme; 4. Subtheme(s) (if any); 5. Argument/Claim; 6. Specific rhetorical tools. Once a data sheet was recorded for each editorial/column, all writings were then grouped chronologically. Within each of these time periods, I used the grounded theory approach and close reading to identify any themes and subthemes common in Lomax's available writings during the time period. Within each theme/subtheme, I then identified the most frequently occurring rhetorical tools, the best examples of Lomax's use of each tool, and my own argument as to how these tools functioned within that theme/subtheme(s). Each analysis chapter also included a critical argument I suggested as to how Lomax's rhetorical tools may have functioned within the time period under consideration to advance her arguments/claims within her Tribune editorials/columns. 1943-1956 During the Tribune's beginning and middle years, based on available editorials/columns, Lomax was primarily concerned with sociocultural issues and politics/civil rights. When addressing sociocultural issues, Lomax mainly employed self-disclosure and personal anecdote as rhetorical tools; when dealing with politics/civil rights, she engaged a variety of rhetorical means in her attempts to convince her Tribune readers. According to Kohrs Campbell (1986), Lomax's "authoritative," confrontational tone and style would have constituted a "masculine" form of discourse, though with some "feminine" elements (namely the privileging of personal experience, metaphorical language, and narrative modes of development); I suggest, however, that Lomax, as an African American woman, embodied a distinct rhetorical tradition whose features should not be evaluated in relation to an alien, superimposed standard of femininity, but should instead be assessed by its own merits as an entity unto itself (Royster, 2000; Davis & Houston, 2002). 1958 In 1958, Lomax appeared to be mainly preoccupied with politics/civil rights, but also sociocultural and personal concerns. Her Tribune editorials/columns dealing with politics/civil rights were largely characterized by name calling and/or inventive, as well as a sarcastic, cynical, and/or patronizing tone. Those addressing sociocultural issues featured mainly ethos as the primary rhetorical tool, and those concerned with personal issues most frequently utilized personal appeals, personal anecdotes, and ethos in her efforts to influence readers. Overall, her efforts to persuade her readers at this time through these means may have functioned rhetorically as her attempt to reinforce her desired persona as not only a knowledgeable and independent-minded journalist, but also as a worthwhile human being, despite her mental and emotional struggles. 1959-1960 In 1959-1960, Lomax appeared primarily concerned with issues of political leadership, and, to a lesser extent, politics/civic rights and personal issues. Although Lomax once again primarily utilized her favored rhetorical tool of cynicism in her available editorials/columns of 1959-1960, she also used whatever rhetorical means she found appropriate to meet her aims, especially when addressing politics/civil rights or personal issues. This variety of tools arguably functioned rhetorically to advance Lomax's stance as a capable, wise (especially in light of her eminent contested move South), and knowledgeable journalist, mother, and human being. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / May 7, 2014. / African American, Journalism, Newspapers, Rhetoric, Speech, Women / Includes bibliographical references. / Davis Houck, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maxine Jones, University Representative; Donna Marie Nudd, Committee Member; Felecia Jordan-Jackson, Committee Member; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member.