As the numbers rise among African Americans who are contracting HIV/AIDS, it becomes evident that research is needed to examine where African Americans obtain HIV/AIDS information. This study identified where African Americans obtain HIV/AIDS information and examined how that information affects African Americans sexual beliefs about HIV/AIDS. The theoretical foundation for this study was the Health Belief Model (HBM). This study used a survey method. The data analysis demonstrated that race does influence the type of media an individual uses. Race does not impact an individuals access to health information. Knowledge about HIV/AIDS impacts an individuals sexual beliefs about HIV/AIDS. Cues from the media and physicians impact an individuals sexual beliefs about HIV/AIDS. Perceived susceptibility impacts an individuals sexual beliefs about HIV/AIDS. The frequency of any media does not always lead to knowledge about HIV/AIDS. African Americans are more likely to use television to obtain HIV/AIDS information than other races (r = .161, p < 0.01). In addition, African Americans are more likely to use radio to obtain HIV/AIDS information than other races (r = .193, p < 0.01). Thus, African Americans media use of radio and television increased their knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

American public universities have passed through three stages of development: the religious, the philanthropic/land-grant, and the federal research university. Squeezed by government budget cuts and demands for more money to pay for research and faculty raises, U.S. higher education has entered a fourth phase, the entrepreneurial university. Public universities are increasingly capitalizing on the intellectual property of their faculty and students to sustain themselves and expand. Administrators spout free-market rhetoric as faculty attempt to commercialize research by creating spin-off companies. Using Louisiana State University as a case study, this dissertation, applies a combination of organizational knowledge creation and resource dependence theories to analyze the emergence of academic entrepreneurialism. This study also assesses LSUs capitalistic effectiveness against models of entrepreneurial development used by other U.S. colleges and frames entrepreneurial communication within the context of the states political environment, state budget cuts, and tuition waivers awarded to academically superior undergraduates. LSU messaging is compared to other peer public universities and scrutinized within the framework of results from a national public opinion survey on LSUs image. Results suggest strong support for the concept of university entrepreneurialism, but indicate the American public, aside from athletics, doesnt know much about LSU academics or research. Testing of LSU-related messages, meanwhile, advances themes that resonate among respondents and provide potential communication paths for increasing LSUs national academic prominence and entrepreneurial success.

An organization will almost always use persuasive communication tactics to influence public opinion. Persuasive communication tactics can be either pubic relations or propaganda. The definitions of both public relations and propaganda, as well as a study of the relevant models, reveals that neither practice heavily stresses the importance of social responsibility. Using the importance of social responsibility in honest persuasive communication tactics, this qualitative case study of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) determined that the efforts of the ATAAs persuasive communication efforts are in line with the methods of propaganda, as stated in the operational definition of propaganda and in the objectives of the synthesized propaganda model.

Scholars argue that a scientifically literate public is a requirement for a democracy. Children are watching television more today than ever before, and studies have shown that children learn academically educational content from television. The Children's Television Act of 1990 requires broadcasters to provide educational and informational content for children. This study qualitatively evaluated a sample of 38 children's television programs to obtain a description of the scientific content contained in children's television. The study yielded a large quantity of scientific content, yet the quality of the content left much to be desired. Based on the findings of this study, science in children's television can be divided into two categories: exposures and lessons. Scientific content contains both fact and fiction, and a mixture of the two. Science is generally looked upon favorably in children's television; it's just not brought up enough. The major scientific topics covered were life sciences and earth and space sciences; other topics were mentioned at a much lower rate. In comparing the number of programs containing scientific content, the cable channels outperformed the networks. Possible remedies are discussed, as well as the limitations and possible further research.

This study investigates the political and social activities of black church congregations within a southern community by assessing the effectiveness of three churches in mobilizing their congregations and serving as channels for political communication. The study pays particular attention to the differences between affiliations within the black church, the influence of religious leaders on political involvement, attitudes regarding political involvement and political influences outside of the church. The thesis begins by placing the black church in its historical context as a giver of spiritual and community orientation as well as a social and political mobilization agent. Using survey results from Catholic and Protestant congregations, it then considers how members of the Black Church acquire their political information, their political activity and whether members feel that their religious leaders are politically influential. Interviews with religious leaders will also consider if his or her beliefs and motivations equal those of the congregation. The results reveal that while there are variations across congregations, the black church is still politically important today.

This study seeks to understand how and why television news editors impose meanings onto news packages through montage editing. Through a qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews, this study will advance the notably few past narrative editing studies by investigating the norms and routines of television news editors. While other researchers recognize the significance of studying montage editing in television news, this is the first study to clarify the relationship between montage techniques and the creation of television news narratives.

Earlier studies have provided evidence for the importance of mass media in the acculturation process of immigrants. The current study intends to further investigate acculturation by exploring the influential factors in immigrants mass communication activities. A survey has been conducted among 208 participants from diverse ethnic backgrounds in the Baton Rouge area. Having examined the mass media and Internet consumption of the respondents, this study finds that psychological factors, not demographic backgrounds, are the primary influential variables in predicting immigrants media use patterns. According to this study, respondents stronger adaptive personality and acculturation motivation would lead to more consumption of host mass media and English Internet and, thus, promote immigrants acculturation. On the whole, this study casts light on the importance of psychological factors in immigrants acculturation process from the aspect of mass communication.

In a post-September 11, 2001 America and in light of the very real threat posed by radical Islamic terrorist, the courts must rethink the line between protected speech and incitement to violence. The Brandenburg test, which was previously understood to be the modern test to distinguish protected from unprotected advocacy, should be questioned. By examining the development of the Court's First Amendment doctrine leading up to Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), I establish that Brandenburg is ill fitted to be applied to advocacy of terrorism. In Brandenburg, the Court actually conflated two previously distinct speech tests-Judge Learned Hand's incitement test and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' clear and present danger test-without explaining how these two tests fit together. In addition, the Court founded Brandenburg on sandy soil. The Court failed to distinguish between the two traditions. They cited Hand's incitement tradition as precedent for the clear and present danger test. In doing so, they credited Brandenburg's imminence requirement to Hand's direct incitement tradition, which did not include an imminence requirement. Therefore, Brandenburg should be abandoned. I conclude that the courts should apply the clear and present danger test and the direct incitement test separately according to the particular circumstances of each case. I will give two modern examples of advocacy of terrorism. I will show how the courts would be better off applying the clear and present danger test as developed by Holmes and Brandeis in one case and the direct incitement test as developed in by Judge Hand in the other. By taking a two test approach to advocacy of terrorism, the government will better posses the tools it needs to protect national security.

The potential political effects of late night comedy programs have been a subject of much debate and concern, particularly since the 2000 Presidential election. Research into this area has been characterized by inconsistency in operationalizations of audiences and an almost exclusive focus on quantitative research. This project was designed to address key concerns that are central to this burgeoning literature by examining âheavyâ viewers of late night talk shows (including audiences of Leno, Letterman, and Conan OâBrien) and âheavyâ viewers of âThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart.â A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to understand the relationships between late night comedy viewership and how citizens engage with the political world and news media. In addition, I sought to understand the perceived benefits of viewership (entertainment versus information), including how audiences construct meaning around political information and integrate said information into their views of the world. Findings indicate viewers of late night talk shows tend to be politically unsophisticated and low news media consumers, relying on incidental exposure to news about current events that are introduced throughout the day in the course of other activities (i.e., news headlines on email servers, jokes in late night monologues). Viewers of âThe Daily Show,â however, are on the other end of the political spectrum, reflecting high levels of political sophistication and high news media consumption. They tune into âThe Daily Showâ for a âtwistâ on news stories with which they are already familiar, expecting Stewart and his team to provide a humorous slant on current events. The differences between these two audiences can be attributed to their political evolutions. A function of independence of thought and political sophistication, engaging in a political evolution process allows citizens to thoughtfully and deliberately consider (and re-consider) their political beliefs and perspectives. This conscious and effortful engagement with political information means those who are highly politically evolved have flexible and well-functioning mental schema in place to understand and contextualize new information, draw connections between seemingly disparate issues, and recognize and challenge media conventions in political coverage.

This study contributes to the body of research on public opinion and media coverage of foreign news by examining the coverage of nine foreign countries in The New York Times and The Times. Media coverage and the public opinion about foreign nations were strongly correlated. Specifically, negative coverage tends to have more agenda-setting effects than neutral and positive coverage. The findings also suggest that media portray foreign countries in a unidimensional fashion, by limiting the coverage around a few policy issues. Finally, the U.S. and the U.K. media coverage of foreign nations were very similar.