This dissertation interrogates how Florida’s major electric utility companies actively suppressed the nascent solar energy industry in their effort to consolidate solar energy production into their hands during the 2015-2016 election cycle. Along with this, newspaper coverage of this issue was analyzed to determine how the fight was presented to the public and whether prevailing commercial pressures that influence the news production process affected the coverage of this issue. Finally, audience commentary about this issue was explored to determine how Facebook users made sense of this issue and whether the commentary reflected the prominent themes that were also present in the news coverage. Results highlight the economic and political ties between the utility companies and their support network as well as the solar supporters and their affiliated network that squared off in this fight. Additionally, findings reveal that commercial pressures to the news production process resulted in news coverage that portrayed this issue this to the public from a small handful of viewpoints, limiting the range of perspectives from which this issue may legitimately be discussed. Furthermore, results indicate that Facebook users who commented on this issue largely reflected the same perspectives and concerns that were present in the news coverage. Final conclusions and recommendations for changes to the news production process are provided. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 12, 2018. / Environmental Communication, Newspapers, Political Economy, Social Media, Solar Energy / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michelle M. Kazmer, University Representative; Andy Opel, Committee Member; Brian Graves, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653440 |
| Contributors | Huebner, Alex (author), Kazmer, Michelle M. (university representative), Opel, Andy, 1964- (committee member), Graves, Brian (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Communication and Information (degree granting college), School of Communication (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (242 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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