The purpose of this study is to examine whether the different type of ownership will affect the degree of objectivity of newspaper coverage of 2000 presidential election. It is predicted by Shoemakers news content theory that publicly-owned newspaper is more objective than privately-owned newspaper. The findings of this study support this theory. A content analysis of 238 news stories and eight editorials from publicly-owned the Boston Globe and privately-owned the Boston Herald showed that not only does the ownership affect the objectivity of the coverage of these two newspapers on 2000 presidential election, the endorsements also affect the degree of objectivity. The study found that there has been some improvement on the newspapers coverage of Presidential election since 1988. This study found more evidence to support Shoemakers theory of news content and ownership. It also extended the previous study done by Kenney and Simpson(1993) by giving new evidence from a different election, in different newspapers, and by including the owners political views.

Universities are beginning to brand themselves. The days when the doors to higher-ed opened and students flooded into the classrooms are no more. Colleges have to find ways to separate themselves from each other in a noisy marketplace. Also there is a decline in newsroom resources for academic coverage, which leaves university marketers searching for ways to communicate their messages. However, universities have another available marketing outlet, which is not seeing declining media attention: sports. College sports are a big business, which generate national media attention. The Southeastern Conference had revenues of over $100 million from the marketing of its sports to television networks. The national reach of college sporting events is immense and university marketing officials have the opportunity to capitalize. This study examined a communications campaign launched by Louisiana State University's Office of University Relations to see how it translated athletic coverage generated by its 2003 college football national championship appearance into academic promotion. This case study was used to determine if athletics are a viable academic marketing tool in higher education. It used student enrollment, licensing revenue, and movement in the U.S. News and World Report's college rankings subsequent to the championship to evaluate the campaign and determine if sports are a viable academic marketing vehicle. Athletic success provided a Halo around the LSU brand and its Office of University Relations capitalized by launching a marketing campaign titled A Great Game Plan On and Off the Field. Since winning a football national championship LSU has realized a 208% increase in licensing royalties, student enrollment has reached record numbers, and its academic reputation ranking in U.S. News and World Report's college rankings increased. The positive results realized by LSU after winning an athletic national championship are an indicator that sports are an effective academic marketing vehicle in higher education.

How talk show workers, guests and audiences behave behind-the-scenes is largely a mystery to the public. This research focuses on the behind-the-scenes workings of a daytime syndicated talk show to better understand the motivations of talk show guests and how talk show workers manipulate guests and audiences. While researchers have conducted studies of talk show guests using formal interviews and questionnaires, no researchers have posed as covert observers to study talk shows. The researcher conducted participant observation to study the behaviors of those involved with the on and offstage talk show structure. The researcher interned for the show without revealing she was conducting a study. She anticipated the workers', guests' and audiences' behaviors would not be affected by her presence. The researcher was able to participate in the talk show environment, ultimately being accepted by those under study. This study found that talk show workers manipulate guests and audiences to engage in onstage behavior that potentially increases ratings. This research also determined additional reasons why guests appear on talk shows. Due to those under study perceiving the researcher as an intern, they behaved as if she was a natural part of the environment, not an observer recording their actions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perception and the level of freedom in the media of the Republic of Georgia. The study examines the medias perception of freedom by identifying the frame newspapers used while covering the event between the government and the independent media outlet. The main interest is to define the predominant frame. A content analysis of 115 news articles of the four Georgian daily newspapers find that responsibility and conflict frames were more frequently used than economic consequences frame and morality frames. The study concludes that the Georgian media have considerable freedom from external restraints but less understanding of what may be accomplished by freedom.

The purpose of this study was to investigate deterrence factors for online file-sharing by analyzing different conditions that affect compliance with the law through survey of the students in a large university in Southern U.S. The findings show that certainty of punishment, stigma of the label, knowledge of the laws and consensus with the rule negatively correlated with both actual and likely future file-sharing activities of the users

This dissertation examines media coverage of two social protests set more than three decades apart The March on the Pentagon in October 1967, part of the anti-Vietnam war movement and The Battle for Seattle in November-December 1999, part of the movement for democratic globalization. Through two separate studies a content analysis of print media coverage and qualitative in-depth interviews with journalists this dissertation looks for patterns of sourcing and framing between the coverage of these two protests. It also examines any possible influence on these patterns caused by journalists access to diverse sources and research through the Internet. This examination is prompted by the current celebration as well as debate over the capacity of the Internet, as a tool of political organization, to empower social movement protests, boost political participation, enhance media coverage and develop the public sphere. This research uses the lenses of sourcing and framing to examine journalists reliance on official and authoritative sources in government and trade, the circumstances under which they cite sources of dissent, their preferences and practices in their use of the Internet, their use of the episodic versus thematic frame and the valence in their stories. The dissertation found that journalists who covered the anti-globalization protests used more official and authoritative sources in government and trade than did their predecessors who covered the anti-Vietnam war protests 30 years ago. No significant difference was found, however, in journalists sourcing from among protesters or the frames and valence in the coverage of both protests. Moreover, the coverage did not show any discernible impact of the Internet in either increasing the diversity of journalists sources or causing a shift from episodic to thematic frames; journalists exhibited skepticism over protest Web sites and showed a preference for official and authoritative sources even over the Internet. This dissertation, therefore, points to the endurance of age-old news values and norms despite journalists enhanced access through new tools and technologies. It also calls for a continued examination of the Internets ability to cause any shift in social movement-media relations, given the impact of these relations on participation and public opinion.

Country Roads magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary in September of 2003. Founded by Dorcas Woods Brown in 1983, the publication prides itself on offering its readers a cultural events guide showcasing events, festivals and destinations from Natchez, Mississippi, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Readers have watched the magazine evolve over the years. However, nearly two years ago, readers experienced one of the biggest changes. The magazine moved its headquarters from St. Francisville to Baton Rouge. This study evaluated Baton Rouge advertisers' reactions the move. The researcher modified and tested the Country-of-Origin Effects (COO) on a smaller scale by examining City-of-Origin effects. The following research questions were posed: RQ1: What dimensions do Baton Rouge advertisers use when evaluating magazine brands? RQ2: To what extent is COO an influence on the decision to buy advertising with a magazine? Based on the researcher's review of the literature on the subjects of branding, country-of-origin effects and brand image, the following hypotheses were proposed: H1: City-of-Origin is a dimension used in the consideration of whether to buy or continue to buy advertising with the magazine. H2: The more experience that an advertiser has with the magazine, the less influence COO has on the buyers' perception of the brand. H3: The more experience that an advertiser has with the magazine, the less influence COO has on the buyers' intention to buy. The researcher conducted fourteen personal interviews. The first seven interviews were conducted with Baton Rouge advertisers who have been with the magazine consistently before, during and after the move. The second set of interviews were with advertisers who began advertising after the move. Ultimately, although advertisers insisted that there is no direct correlation between where Country Roads is headquartered and whether or not they advertise, the underlying tone in most of the participants' responses was that the name "Country Roads" lends a certain amount of credibility to a magazine that is about "country things." Contrary to the concerns of the staff, having the "country" connotation actually works as a positive for the company rather than a negative.

Legal scholars said the National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley decision would create a "chilling effect" in government subsidy programs, and it unlawfully expanded the government speech doctrine. By analyzing cases that subsequently use Finley for a substantive part of their rationale, this article argues the opposite: the courts have rejected the government's attempts to interpret the decision as one that allows viewpoint discrimination and have not allowed the government to further a broad reading of the decision. The article also argues that, under the government speech doctrine, Finley provides the controlling precedent for truly "hybrid speech" cases where the government and private voices are equally responsible for the speech that occurs. These cases involve "excellence criteria," in which private voices are selectively chosen by the government. In these cases, Finley should apply.

Because university foundations are facing increased pressures as the result of declining funds and increased competition, they must learn to use more effectively a wide range of marketing activities and demographic segmentation. Prospect identification may be one such tool. The literature on non-profit philanthropy suggests that the demographic segmentation of alumni and prospect screening and subsequent identification may serve as appropriate criteria. This case study examines how giving levels, involvement levels and attitudes of donors may vary as a result of the implementation of the National Advancement Plan, a systematic peer screening model and communications tool developed for a university foundation. The results of this case study suggest that other university foundations may be able to use similar strategies to identify potential donors.

The purpose of this study is to note, categorize, and discuss the stereotypes of African Americans in animated childrens cartoons. The purpose is also to compare them to see how they changed. A content analysis of two cartoons finds that characters do act in stereotypical ways. A quantitative analysis of 76 cartoons supports these findings. Overall, The Proud Family, a cartoon of the 21st century, is more stereotypical than Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, a cartoon from 30 years ago. Though primary characters display the same amount of stereotypical behavior, secondary characters show an increase in the amount of stereotypical behavior. This study extends the amount of research in the entertainment media field by focusing upon animated childrens cartoons. This approach will add to our understanding of stereotypes and the manner in which they are presented to audiences.