Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 260-268). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-260)

No description available.

The development of the tabloid press has stirred heated debate among media scholars. Critics have argued against the relevance of tabloids in society, often framing them as the ‘journalistic other’ deserving no place in ‘serious’ journalism. Much of this criticism, however, has not been based on a close interrogation of the phenomenon, or an examination of the reasons for their popularity amongst readers. It is against this background that this study investigates the reasons behind the popularity of the Zimbabwean state-controlled tabloid newspaper uMthunywa, among its Bulawayo readers. In particular, it explores the meanings obtained from the content of the paper and the relevance of this content to the readers’ everyday lives. In undertaking this investigation, the study draws primarily on qualitative research methods, particularly qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews (both group and individual). As the study demonstrates, these methods uncover the complex manner in which Bulawayo readers are attracted to uMthunywa and how they appropriate its textual meanings to their lived realities. The study establishes that despite uMthunywa being state-controlled, it offers space through which the conventional ways of presenting reality are challenged, and the importance of the newspaper being written in isiNdebele. As the study indicates, the popularity of the newspaper is largely dependent on its excessive formulaic and sensational stories, which cover issues experienced by its readers in their lived circumstances. The study thus argues that the newspaper constitutes an alternative mediated public sphere that finds space in the deeper social conditions that have alienated the people of Bulawayo from the macropolitical life of the nation and the ‘power bloc’.

To provide structure to cyber awareness and educational initiatives in South Africa, Kortjan and Von Solms (2014) developed a five-layer cyber-security awareness and education framework. The purpose of the dissertation is to determine how the framework layers can be refined through the integration of communication theory, with the intention to contribute towards the practical implications of the framework. The study is approached qualitatively and uses a case study for argumentation to illustrate how the existing framework can be further developed. Drawing on several comprehensive campaign planning models, the dissertation illustrates that not all important campaign planning elements are currently included in the existing framework. Proposed changes in the preparation layer include incorporating a situational and target audience analysis, determining resources allocated for the campaign, and formulating a communication strategy. Proposed changes in the delivery layer of the framework are concerned with the implementation, monitoring and adjustment, as well as reporting of campaign successes and challenges. The dissertation builds on, and adds to, the growing literature on the development of campaigns for cyber-security awareness and education aimed at children.

Research show that social media are effective channels to use in branding, at the same time Swedish municipalities are increasingly starting to see the importance of branding and reports show that  they are using social media channels for branding purposes. Even though reports show that the municipalities are using social media channels in branding there is a lack of studies done on how they are using social media in branding. To examine this two research questions is developed; (1) What is branding for a municipality and (2) How are municipalities using social media in branding. To examine the research questions different theories are applied and a conceptual framework is developed based on theories from branding, social media and branding in social media. To collect data for the research a qualitative study with three case studies (three Swedish municipalities) is conducted. The primary data from the three cases is collected through face to face interviews with employees responsible for the social media channels. Secondary information is gathered through observations of the municipalities social media channels examined in this thesis, and documents found on internet concerning the municipalities’ use of social media. The analysis of the data is done based on the conceptual framework presented in the theoretical chapter and consists of both within case studies and cross case studies in order to identify similarities and differences among the cases. The findings from this study show that both corporate, employee, and place branding is applied in the municipalities overall branding goals and strategies. Even though the municipalities are examined as organizations in this study employee and place branding goals are identified in order for the municipalities to reach their overall wanted position and image. A further conclusion is that social media has been effective in branding. Social media has enabled the municipalities to reach their branding goals through being transparent, informing, engaging and creating dialogues with their inhabitants and other publics. Through social media the municipalities have managed to establish, influence and create perceptions that have positively influenced their position and image. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have shown to be efficient social media channels to use in branding and has enabled the studied municipalities to change their perceived image from being unknown organizations to becoming more personal, transparent and increasing the public`s knowledge about the municipalities.

Cultural and educational functions of public service broadcasting come at a fortuitous time, as the changing environment of broadcasting is on various agendas. At the heart of this is the question of the present and future status of public service broadcasting. Major changes have taken place in the political economy of the media and the world economy at large, technological advancement has resulted in privatization and commercialization of the media. In most societies where these changes have taken place, public service broadcasting has been threatened by the rapid rise of commercial institutions, resulting in stiff competition for audiences. This study will examine the extent to which the adoption of the Commercialization Act (No 26) of 2001 in Zimbabwe has affected Radio Zimbabwe’s role as a public broadcaster. The study is based on the hypothesis that with the adoption of the Commercialization Act, Radio Zimbabwe is no longer playing its public service role effectively. The current nature of programming at Radio Zimbabwe as the research hopes to show will highlight tremendous changes towards a commercial logic. The study uses a combination of document analysis, secondary literature and qualitative interviews.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Media Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study focuses on the impact of social media towards conserving African languages, particularly Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga. Social media are given attention to explore their impact in conserving African languages amongst youth. Youth is a suitable group to focus on as they are the future and are thus expected to carry their African languages and pass them on to succeeding generations. This exercise should be done to ensure that African languages should not face extinction in the future. Generally, youth are constant users of social media platforms, hence it is cardinal to investigate their language-usage patterns on social media platforms. The majority of the African youth in South Africa use either one or more of the nine (9) indigenous African languages that are official, namely, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga. Therefore, one would expect speakers of these indigenous African languages to effectively use them on social media, particularly, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. African language heritage is undoubtedly a valuable resource, however, it needs state resources to develop it further and establish it as a core economic driver on various media platforms. The study employs exploratory and descriptive designs. These designs are appropriate for this study because it permits data to be collected through observations, focus group interviews and questionnaires. Focus group interviews, observations, and questionnaires were used to collect data. Focus group is a data-collection tool for understanding people’s behaviour and attitudes. The researcher moderated three focus groups. One hundred (100) questionnaires were distributed to the participants in this study. These tools are apt for the data-collection process in this study because they assist to discover factors that influence opinions, attitudes, and behaviours. Social media have great potential to conserve the African languages but the speakers of these languages should play a cardinal role in this process. Majority of the youth do not prefer to use the African languages on social media. Conversations on both Facebook and Twitter are dominated by English as youth prefer it ahead of Sepedi, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga. In contrast, youth prefer to use the African languages on WhatsApp because they know their contacts. However, code-switching is used a lot by youth on social media. Despite the fact that Sepedi, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga are not mostly used on Facebook and Twitter they remain relevant and useful amongst their speakers on a daily basis. Nevertheless, there is a need to develop the African languages based social media sites to stimulate their usage on these platforms. Additionally, these languages should be developed to fit the needs of social media. / National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS)

The main aim of this diploma thesis, that names "New challenges of the Surveillance theory", is to describe the surveillance theory in today's social network society by using information theory. Accordingly, I will verify the theory of surveillance in two case studies. First case study verifies an impact of Facebook's profiles content on the hiring decisions. The second case sudy analyzes regular day of concrete person in context of surveillance. Both case studies demonstrate surveillance in different surveillance sites.

Die Arbeit untersucht insgesamt 25 kostenfreie Social Media Analytics-Werkzeuge und liefert einen Beitrag zu einer systematischen Beurteilung dieser Anwendungssystemklasse im Rahmen des Social Customer Relationship Managements.:1 Einleitung 1.1 Motivation 1.2 Problemstellung 1.3 Vorgehen 2 Grundlagen 2.1 Social Media 2.2 Social CRM 2.3 Social Media-Analys 2.4 Softwareanalyse 2.5 Prototyping 3 Analyse von Social Media-Analyse-Tools 3.1 Kurzvorstellung der einzelnen Tools 3.2 Kernfunktionalitäten kostenfreier SMA-Anwendungen 3.3 Realisierbare Anwendungsfälle im SCRM 3.4 Vergleich mit Funktionalitäten einer kostenpflichtigen SMA-Anwendung 3.5 Betrachtung von Unterschieden 4 Entwicklung einer Auswahlhilfe 4.1 Vorüberlegungen 4.2 Implementierung 4.3 Beschreibung 5 Erkenntnisse 5.1 Ergebnisse 5.2 Defizite 6 Ausblick