One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

Crises are unpredictable events which impact on organisational issues such as viability, credibility and reputation. In recent years, few topics have generated more interest within the discipline of public relations. Today, crises are a prominent feature of the business environment, and every organisation has the potential to experience one. The manner in which mass media frame crises can alter an organisation's reputation, affect organisational profitability, and ultimately the survival of the organisation. This thesis explores the application of Fink's (1986) Crisis Life Cycle model to mass media content. Further, it recommends the implementation crisis public relations strategies that address each stage of the model. The study demonstrated the relevance and importance of the extension of Fink's (1986) Crisis Life Cycle theoretical model to understanding mass media content during a crisis. The extended model provides a model to better understand a crisis and its life cycle from a public relations perspective. Further this expanded model provides the framework for public relations professionals to identify and comprehend the dynamic and multidimensional set of relationships that occur during the Crisis Life Cycle in a rapidly changing and challenging operational environment.

The aim of this study is to understand the importance of public relations activity in non-profit organisations. The study emphasizes the bearing public relations activities can have on non-profit organisations in the contemporary world. This is especially true in an over communicated society where the vast majority of organisations compete to gain access to the scare media resources to put their message across to their potential clients, supporters and customers. Non-profit organisations generally have to depend on the donor agencies and therefore fail to attract a sizeable public relations budget. On the one hand, these organisations lack the resources to launch a successful public relations campaign and on the other the lack of knowledge and interest among general staff members makes it even harder for a public relations campaign to be developed or successfully launched. In this study, I used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to collect and analyse data. The data were collected from two non-profit organisations based in New Zealand working in the area of child welfare. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires. A single semi-structured interview was conducted with each team leader of the two selected organisations. However, this was like skimming the surface and in-depth interviews would have helped me to collect richer data. On the other hand the data collected was sufficient for this research and it helped me to create a holistic understanding of the topic. The findings of the research highlight that most non-profit organisations working in the area of child welfare find it hard to market themselves due to a lack of funds and employee involvement. Although the findings from the study are significant; caution is necessary in applying the results to other scenarios and in making generalizations. One of the key findings from this research is that both organisations did not use public relations as a strategy. Most decision related to public relations was made on random basis and no long term strategic plan was made to adopt public relations as a core strategy to build creditability among their stakeholders.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

The Diploma thesis deals with the importance of body image marketing. Thesis depicts concept of body image, its evolution in time and the influence of media on people's self-concept and self-evaluation. The practical part is focused on content analysis of front-pages of specific magazine in given time period. Independent chapter concerns with analysis of consumers via data from MML-TGI database.

The advent of the digital era has brought transformation to various practices including consumer boycotts. Social media has enhanced consumer power and most boycott actions have an online presence so that their influence is no longer limited to specific geographical areas. Instead, there is a far-reaching global impact through online platform technologies. This study aims to fill in the gap in existing research on consumer boycotts by addressing the impact of social media on this practice. Using the case of the #NoJapan movement in SouthKorea, the thesis discusses the transformatory trends and changing motivations of consumer boycotts in the times of social media. The theoretical frameworks used in the analysis process include Self-Determination Theory and The Honeycomb of Social Media Framework which help explain diverse motivation factors, types of motivation, and social media functionalities. This research uses a mixed-methods approach to conducting in-depth interviews of #NoJapanparticipants and analyzing posts related to this particular boycott campaign. The main focus of this process is to investigate social media utilization and boycott motivation shown in the#NoJapan case. The findings of the study show the diversity of practices prevalent in social media use by people engaging with #NoJapan boycotts in the online environment. Moreover, the finding problematizes the social media space as one which has both positive and negative effects on an individual’s boycott motivation. This thesis has made significant contributions to the field of SDT and boycott studies by expanding their perspective on online interaction.

It's known that advanced technologies with their own artificial intelligence (AI) are gaining a bigger part in our daily lives. This AI can be found in phones, in smart homes, and in cars. Furthermore, it can be found in anthropomorphic robots seen in healthcare and in the entertainment industry as two of many examples. These advanced robots have also taken their steps into our friendships, and our romantic and/or sexual lives, in which humans develop parasocial relationships to the robot, creating human-robot relationships. The media has taken a great interest in those relationships, which I’ll call “technosexual relationships”, in which a human is romantically and/or sexually involved with an artificial individual. Oftentimes the artificial individual takes the shape of a so called “sex doll/robot”, which makes the phenomenon of technosexual relationships somewhat controversial to many. Media representations of those relationships are of growing interest, as there’s public curiosity regarding the subject. By also observing how the artificial individual has been framed throughout its history in myths and popular culture in the form of tv-series and films, it becomes obvious that the idea of the artificial individual as a partner and/or lover is viewed as something negative and sometimes even dangerous, a view that has proven difficult to let go off.  In this thesis, by asking three research questions and doing a media content analysis, I’m looking to answer how technosexuality “is being allowed” to exist in and by filmed media - focusing on five previously filmed interviews with technosexual persons and their artificial partner(s). The questions, inspired by Stuart Hall’s representation theory, are as follows: (1) How does the technosexual person speak about themselves?, (2)  How does the media frame the technosexual person and the relationship during the interview?, (3) Does the conversation change from being about artificial sexuality as an individual phenomenon, to whether society's view on relationships and sexuality are going through a reformation?  Results indicate that the technosexual person speaks of themselves as someone who simply prefers a partner that’s predictable and safe, and they usually speak of how they are happier now, in being together with their artificial partner. Furthermore, we can see that the media, to a certain extent, is allowing for the technosexual person and their artificial partner to tell their own story, but that some media producers are trying to manipulate the story being told by editing the story into angled contexts. Finally, we can see that technosexuality is an individual phenomenon that, much by the help of globalized media representation, has begun disrupting and challenges what earlier has been known as “the normal” human sexuality, splitting society into groups of “for” or “against” artificial relationships and their possible part in our understanding of what relationships and sexuality can be.