Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Sociology

Beginning around 2020, conservative politicians and media outlets have launched an aggressive campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives via the symbolic vilification of critical race theory. Several scholars have observed that this crusade has largely taken the form of a conservative media-driven disinformation campaign that seeks to obscure the true intent and scope of critical race theory's influence on American society for political gains. Drawing upon critical race literature, framing theory, and various scholarship pertaining to the relationship between media and cultural hegemony, this project sought to qualitatively interrogate the frames used to discuss critical race theory within live Fox News broadcastings. Upon analysis of 50 randomly selected live Fox News transcripts, I found that Fox News commentators regularly invoked 6 common frames in discourses surrounding critical race theory. Therein, critical race theory was often projected to be: 1.) Divisive, 2.) Governmental Overreach, 3.) Indoctrination, 4.) a Marxist/Communist Agenda, and 5.) as Racist, with 6.) people of color (POC) often being used as legitimizers of these narratives. To conclude, I contemplated the implications of these frames, particularly in regard to what they unveil about mass media's influence over knowledge production and dissemination processes, as well as what they project for future social and racial justice strategies in light of the impending direction of the conservative political agenda.

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2024, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis examines how three major American newspapers reported on paleontology during the 1990s. Paleontology experienced a popularity spike in the 1990s with the Jurassic Park films breaking film records and bringing dinosaurs to the forefront of the public consciousness. A number of important specimens were found and improving technology revolutionized the field, leading to numerous discoveries. This study documents which topics within paleontology the media reported on the most and what news values drove this reporting. Additionally, this study analyzes the occurrence rate of a few common tropes, metaphors and mistakes often associated with paleontology within news articles. This thesis examines USA Today, The New York Times, and The Associated Press's coverage of paleontology due to their status as being amongst the largest news organizations and running wire services which distributed their work across the United States. This study applies the revised news values proposed by Harcup and O'Neill to gauge which news values are used by reporters and editors when covering paleontology and to determine if these revised news values are applicable to science journalism.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, English

More Than Reading: Narrative, Medial Frames, and Digital Media in the Contemporary Novel explores the narrative effects of medial experimentation in contemporary American and British novels. This project argues that the production and reception of many recent novels are influenced by a range of forms and practices common in digital media, and that these influences have a profound impact on contemporary storytelling techniques. Through analyses of novels by Kate Atkinson, Salvador Plascencia, Steve Tomasula, and Mark Z. Danielewski, I consider how (sometimes subtle) shifts in authors' use of media is changing the way that the novel form operates, reflecting audiences' familiarity with new media even as the novel remains a vital literary form in the twenty-first century. In order to study these issues, I introduce the new analytical category of the medial frame, a particular type of social frame used to identify and describe the conventionalized rules and expectations that readers apply to specific uses of media. Medial frames, developed from a diverse set of linguistic and phenomenological approaches, are defined as social contexts that pair technological materials with the wealth of conventions that govern how those materials are used as part of communicative acts. Medial frames can be employed as interpretive tools to analyze how a text's use of medial technologies (e.g., printed text, images and color, page layout, paratextual materials) prompts audiences to apply certain reception practices over others. I show how medial frames are particularly suited to examining the complex medial environment of twenty-first-century storytelling, in which creators often use a diversity of technologies to communicate with audiences. The print novels of this era ask readers to adopt surprising medial frames, such that persuasive interpretations of these texts are only available to those who are prepared (whether implicitly or self-consciously) to adopt and adapt digital and (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Media and Communication

Social media is an increasingly important space for community formation and interactions. Coinciding with the rise of social media has been an increasing interest in leftist ideologies once outside the mainstream. This analysis seeks to understand the social media siteReddit.com's enabling and constraining features on the community /r/socialism. Using the communicative theory of identity and Marxist media theory not only to look at Reddit and/r/socialism's relationship, but five key functions of a media: capital-economic, media sales and media market function, commodity circulation, domination, and the audience. Employing a mixed-methods approach enabled various data to be analyzed and relationally understood. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine user's salient topics and their uses for the community. Survey methods were deployed to the community to gather demographic data on the/r/socialism community and user opinions on the group's relationship with Reddit. Finally, secondary documents were analyzed to provide greater context to the other findings. Findings from the content analysis of salient subjects showed a preference for contemporary capitalist critique, socialist quotations, and class issues. However, topics impacting women and other minority groups were light to nonexistent. Analysis of platform uses found the top three uses to be a general discussion, information-seeking, and information-giving. The user survey was plagued by low participation and participants who were under the age of consent. As such, data from a community-administered survey filled in the gaps. Secondary document analysis shed light on many features of Reddit, particularly how the social media's systems are designed to elicit data and authenticity. Reddit'sprimary focus was on creating a space suitable for advertising with minimum corporate input. To attract users, Reddit sells the premise of community and interactions. For businesses, Reddit serves as an ad platform that ca (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Contemporary Music

The saxophone is relatively young compared to other instruments of the band and orchestra. Because the instrument is less constricted by traditional repertoire, composers looking to push the boundaries of concert music eagerly write for the saxophone, and saxophonists willingly experiment with new combinations of performance media. An exponential increase of works written for saxophone and multimedia has occurred since the 1960s. This increase in multimedia works for saxophone has paralleled a digital media revolution, manifested through advancements in recording, interactive media, and communication technologies. This document examines the synthesis of saxophone performance and the digital media revolution, elaborating upon existing repertoire for saxophone and digital media in a non-comprehensive manner, with emphasis placed upon electroacoustic works for saxophone and video. Possibilities for multimedia performance are rapidly expanding within the saxophone's repertoire. A poignant example, Matthew Burtner's meta-saxophone project combines motion tracking, accelerometers, and other technologies with the physical saxophone, creating a cyborg instrument. In this situation, Burtner is an auteur, acting simultaneously as the composer, performer, technologist, and sometimes visual artist, all while using the saxophone as the crux of expression. Other composers and artists take a collaborative approach while using saxophone and digital media. These combinations of saxophone and digital media create a new and exciting medium in concert performance. Yet, the combination of live performance and digital medium lacks scholarly analysis. While existing research provides valuable analysis from a performer's perspective, further examination of the interactions between mediums can reveal new potential and meaning. The introduction of elements of media theory and analysis to saxophone repertoire, using specific repertoire as micro-case-studies, will widen the artistic underst (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2017, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

Contemporary political discourse is rife with accusations of shadowy forces operating in secret to accomplish nefarious goals. Such discourse has been a mainstay in U.S. politics, but little quantitative research has been done on the impact of government-related conspiracy theories in media and how people differ in their use of such fare. This dissertation situates conspiracy theories in a media effects framework, applying uses and gratifications theory to examine whether specific background characteristics (i.e., media skepticism, need for cognition, locus of control, and conservatism or liberalism) work in concert with individuals' motives for and exposure to government-conspiracy-theory-oriented media fare to impact individuals' trust in government as an attitudinal outcome and political participation as a behavioral outcome. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify four motives for choosing media fare related to government conspiracy theories: (1) social utility/relaxing recreation, (2) political evaluation, (3) pass time, and (4) general information seeking. Significant correlations were found between several background characteristics and use of government-conspiracy-theory-oriented media fare. Use of such fare also correlated with trust in federal government entities and with political participation. Additionally, hierarchical regression analysis revealed the relative contribution of individual differences, motives for conspiracy-theory-oriented media use, and exposure to such fare in predicting levels of trust in four entities of the federal government. Regression analysis also showed the relative contribution of individual differences, motives for conspiracy-theory-oriented media use, exposure to conspiracy-theory-oriented media fare, and trust in government in predicting four forms of political participation. This study affirmed the value of a comprehensive uses and gratifications model for studying the political impact of government conspi (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2017, Communication Studies (Communication)

People with disabilities have long been under-represented and misrepresented in mainstream media, and have sought strategies to contest discourses of difference that frame disability as a pitiable tragedy, a burden, or a source of inspiration used to make non-disabled people feel better about their own lives. With the advent of the internet and the increasingly participatory character of the media landscape, people with disabilities are now more able to generate and circulate a counter-narrative--one which draws on the social model of disability to highlight the ways in which stigmatizing and oppressive responses to different bodies create and perpetuate marginalization. However, the disability community is far from monolithic. In addition, the line between "chronic illness" and "disability" remains blurry. Thus, as individuals engage in self-advocacy and collective/connective action by publicizing their stories, they draw from varied discourses of difference that preserve or resist medicalization. Similarly, advocates organize to pursue potentially conflicting goals. The resulting tensions of representation and organization are particularly apparent in the case of The Mighty, a for-profit media company that publishes stories submitted by people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and mental health conditions. This site has become an increasingly popular resource for some members of the disability community. At the same time, it has also become a site of contention and has received criticism from disability activists who protested its publishing practices via the hashtag initiative, #crippingthemighty. For this dissertation project, The Mighty served as a context to explore how public performances of self-advocacy in digital spaces link to connective/collective action. Taking a constructivist approach to grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006), I analyzed interviews with Mighty staff members (14 participants), Mighty contributors (29 participants), and #crippingt (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2014, Educational Leadership

It is visible in academic dialogue, specifically educational research, that there has not been any substantial research published that constructs or examines The Boondocks animated series in a capacity that extends the discourse past stereotypical issues and paradigms that are associated with the inferiority of African American males and the marginalized experiences they encounter. One primary purpose of this study is to offer a counter argument to the negative conversations that surround The Boondocks comic and animated series. Because most arguments about the text stem from the images and language, the conversations surrounding anything positive or hopeful as it pertains to being a Black male, are left out. Furthermore, this media text is currently not perceived as a reference that can be used as a pedagogical tool. In this qualitative critical media analysis, I sought to answer the question: How does the curriculum of The Boondocks represent issues of race, spirituality, and masculinity? Although The Boondocks is typically understood and critiqued as a Black Nationalist text, I intend to look at the animated series through the lens of race, spirituality and Black Masculinity. I specifically examine the text through the theoretical underpinnings of Critical Media Literacy and Critical Race Theory. Methodologically, Critical Media Literacy, Critical Race Theory and Qualitative Media Analysis help to contextualize The Boondocks animated series. I ultimately argue that the animated series can be understood and used as a curriculum text.

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2012, Journalism (Communication)

Blogs, as a new technology have influenced the journalism industry as well as journalists. It changed one-way communication to many-to-many communication. The content on journalists' personal blogs largely depends on why journalists start blogs. The motivation can be condensed into intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Journalists may apply their professional work experiences and judgments while writing the posts either for the purposes of informing the audience or releasing the pressure from work. By applying Uses and Gratification Theory, Diffusion of Innovation Theory and TAM and related theories, this study aims to analyze the motivations for journalists starting personal blogs and tests the relationship between journalists' attitudes, perceived usefulness and actual behavior. In addition, the study also analyzes the content of journalists' blogs. The study can lead to further examination of the structure for journalists' attitudes, perceived usefulness and actual behavior and help us understand how a journalist's blog is able to contribute to society.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2009, American Culture Studies/Popular Culture

This dissertation examines transgender images in film, television and media from the 1950s through the present, with an emphasis on images from the 1980s through today. The primary goal of the dissertation is to interrogate the various gender and sexual ideologies contained within the representations to determine the social status of trans people in American society. How do these images function to both encourage and stymie the liberation of transgender people in the United States? The dissertation deploys trans, queer and feminist theories to critically analyze the cultural work performed by these mass-media texts. What are the trends within the trans media canon, and how do they relate to the treatment of real-world gender-nonconforming people? In order to answer these questions, I separate the trans images into four different stereotypes. For each of these stereotypes, I analyze three to four films to compare and contrast the way the films deal with the issues of gender and sexual variation. The first stereotype I examine is the Transgender Deceiver. The Transgender Deceiver utilizes drag and gender transformation to obtain something they want from society. While the films analyzed are comedies (Tootsie, Just One of the Guys, Sorority Boys, and Juwanna Mann), I argue that they are not as innocuous as they appear due to the way they stereotype gender-variant people as duplicitous, selfish and conniving. Next, I examine the trope of the Transgender Mammy. Through turning my analytical lens on To Wong Foo, Holiday Heart and Flawless, I look at the stereotype of the fabulous, servile and palatable trans-feminine subject. In these films, the characters exist to fix the problems of gender-normative people, add color and spice to their broken lives, and become worthy through their devoted service to the hegemonic class. The Transgender Monster describes the use of gender-transgressive killers in horror and slasher films. While films such as Psycho and Silence of the (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Arts and Sciences: Communication

This study is a qualitative investigation that uses representation theory and exemplification theory to compare and contrast how Black romance is portrayed on screen and how Black female respondents perceive Black romance in everyday contemporary society. Using thematic analysis, a method used for identifying, analyzing, and interpreting the meaning and patterns of important themes, the study includes ten Black women film viewers between the ages of 23-36. The researcher will generate recurring themes after engaging in open discussion about whether participants feel the representations of Black romance in Black films are real to them, whether they identify with the depictions, and whether the depiction portrays Black romance positively or negatively to them

Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2023, School Psychology

This thesis explored how parental social media strategies differ across community types (e.g. rural, urban, and suburban) based on the idea that environment may influence parents' priorities. The need to understand how parents mediate their children's use of social media is growing since if disregarded, children may suffer harm. This research was the first of its kind to explore how parental social media mediation strategies differ across community types and the first to examine the relationship between mediation strategies and time outdoors/on screens. ANOVA and ordinal regression analyses revealed that urban parents practice restrictive mediation to a statistically significant extent, and restrictive parenting negatively correlates with parental perception of child screen time. In addition, restrictive mediation increased with population density. Reasons for this may be due to perceptions of greater risks, peer influences, and/or alternative activities available. More restrictive parents may set and enforce a greater number of time limits for their children, thus resulting in a perception that their children are spending less time on screens. Research in the future should explore how community type relates to parents' mediation behaviors and should consider using objective measures of children's screen time and social media use.

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2022, Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to build upon existing research that explored teachers' professional learning expectations and how teachers can utilize social media platforms or social learning environments to aid their professional learning. This information may be used to support thinking differently about time and space for both student and adult learning. Understanding to what extent and why teachers engaged in professional learning experiences in a social media environment can inform future learning options in utilizing these asynchronous platforms. Data generated may aid in the design of engaging professional learning experiences, through social media, that give teachers a venue for rapid, focused, personalized, and asynchronous learning. This qualitative study was limited to a non-random sample of interview participants, which ensured participants had a guaranteed proficiency in using social media environments for professional learning experiences. A survey was conducted to identify individuals who actively engaged in using social media platforms for professional learning, and six qualifying educators were invited to expand upon their experiences through their participation in semi-structured interviews. The open-ended questions inspired a dialogue about their lived experiences, resources located on social media platforms, and interests regarding professional learning during the 2020 pandemic time frame. Responses to the interview questions were coded to examine how and to what extent the teacher participated in a social media platform as a venue for professional learning during the pandemic. A theoretical, thematic analysis was used to identify how teachers participated in a social media environment for professional learning. The responses were coded based on CHAT's Four C's of Participation Taxonomy: Contemplator, Curator, Crowdsourcer, or Contributor (Trust, 2017). Additionally, the responses were coded to identify the type of informal learning experience th (open full item for complete abstract)

MFA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

As society evolves, technology also evolves to meet the wants and needs of changing cultures. Since the turn of the 21st century, social networking has dominated the world of technology and has radically influenced how we communicate as humans. With new technological shifts in social networking comes many advancements on both an individual and societal level. At the same time, however, these shifts present many ethical dilemmas such as the collection of personal data, the exploitation of our psychological vulnerability, or the promotion of addictive habits and behaviors. What are the driving factors that keep us immersed in our virtual lives and what keeps us coming back for more? How do these social networks affect our behaviors? Our ability to be constructive individuals? Our perceptions of ourselves and others? These are some of the considerations this paper investigates. Designers play an important role in the creation and application of technology. Thus, it is imperative for designers to consider how their design decisions affect the sustainable health and well-being of people. Are designers responsible for the design decisions they make? What resources are available to help guide them in making ethical design decisions? The goal of this thesis is to explore the relationships between media, audiences, and society as well as to reevaluate, through data analysis, the effects and implications of ethical design principles and practices to help designers better understand their role when it comes to ethics and technology.

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2021, Art

Monsters are powerful symbols of transformative agency, heavily ingrained in Western culture. With transmutating creatures living rent-free in our collective imagination, I have to wonder: why is it taboo for queer people to transform? Tracing a historical line from biblical angels, Greek mythology, the gothic novel, and contemporary horror cinema, I create a framework for understanding monsters as revered, transformative figures in important texts throughout the centuries. Just as LGBTQ+ activists reclaimed `queer' as a radical identifier, I reclaim `monster' as an uncompromising symbol of bodily agency, engaging with Queer readings and critical media theory along the way. Using my MFA Thesis artwork God Made Me (And They Love Me), I weave my soft sculpture beasties through historical imagery, religious text, folklore, and media pieces depicting `monster' and `monstrosity'.

BS, Kent State University, 2020, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

In this paper, I seek to bring epistemic principles, namely, epistemic justification, to the forefront of the discussion of journalistic best-practices. The goal is threefold: first, to examine contemporary views of best practices in the journalism industry using previous survey data and research papers on the subject; second, to provide a brief overview of some (but not all) epistemological principles relevant to the topic; third, to argue that epistemology would be the best starting point for developing or adopting best practices in the journalism industry (with a particular focus on reliabilism and virtue epistemology). The goal is to set the stage for, if not the development of a new theory that places greater emphasis on our approach to the concepts of knowledge, belief, and justification in an industry that deals in propositions as a commodity, further recognition and application of epistemological principles as an important component of journalistic best practices and journalism studies for future industry members.

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Ambassador Crawford / Department of Accounting

Financial analysts have increasingly investigated a wide variety of nonfinancial factors to better understand their potential impact on the valuation of a firm. This dissertation examines whether a firm's negative environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues covered by media influence the assessment of financial analysts regarding its future prospects. Specifically, I investigate whether a firm's media coverage of its ESG activities has an impact on analysts cash flow forecasts and cash flow forecast accuracy. I provide evidence that corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) coverage of ESG issues is negatively associated with analyst issuance of cash flow forecasts. I also find that a firm's CSI coverage of ESG issues is negatively related to the firm's analyst cash flow forecast accuracy. The results hold for additional tests including propensity score matching models and Heckman's two-stage analyses. However, I do not find strong evidence that a firm's media coverage of environmental issues, social issues or governance issues is positively related to the firm's analyst cash flow forecast accuracy. Using Liu (2006)'s liquidity-augmented capital asset pricing model (LCAPM), I find that a firm's media coverage of ESG issues is positively related to accounting-related liquidity risk, indicating that investors may expect higher compensation for liquidity risks when they invest in firms which receive higher CSI coverage. Additionally, I find that an analyst's decision to issue a cash flow forecast does not play a role in the relation between media coverage of ESG issues and accounting-related liquidity risk. This dissertation provides insights into the link between CSI information and information asymmetry by examining the relation between the third-party-disclosed negative ESG information and accounting-related liquidity risk. The findings of this study have implications for managers, investors, financial analysts, regulators, and other market participants.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2019, Mass Communication (Communication)

This research examines how Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants in Columbus, Ohio, have employed social media to retain and reinforce their cultural identity and community, and how their migration experiences have been mediated on these platforms. This study seeks to explore how migrants use social media in their daily interactions as a tool for personal communication. In particular, how it contributes to individual and collective memory, retention of their culture, survival, resilience and wellbeing, identity formation in relation to the question of integration, and survival. This study also explores how the application of various social media has improved their lives. The epistemological assumption is that for far too long migrant voices have been neglected and relegated to the background as they are often not given the platform to tell their own lived experiences. As a result, pertinent issues concerning migrants' lives have been muted, their stories have not been told, and their voices have not been heard and this impacts them and society at large. The argument is that social media have provided migrants the platform to express their voice, including their memories, joys, shared information, anxieties, and even trauma. The hope is that my work gives migrants the opportunity to tell their own stories as they have experienced them against a set of key theories, notably, communication, postcolonial and decolonial theories as they pertain to social media. The research used an ethnographic approach to delve into the conditions and the migrants' everyday life, what I refer to as quotidian. In this research, the participants used the word “everyday” a great deal. They talked about the rituals, memories and actions as everyday things, both in the past and in the present, like drinking coffee, or eating injera, remembering their loved ones, re-living their horror, going to church, or calling or sending texts to their loved ones, in the USA or elsewhere. I used a qualitative (open full item for complete abstract)

MFA, Kent State University, 2017, College of the Arts / School of Art

This essay analyzes the works in Trey D. Gehring's M.F.A.- Textile Arts Thesis Exhibition Musclebound. The writing discusses how this exhibition presents, in the form of woven and knitted works, the male body as a decorative object and proposes that the sculpting of the male body into an idealistic form– suggestive of patriarchal power and extremes of biological maleness– is an intentional act of objectifying one's own body to allow for homosocial bonding within the patriarchal structure that regulates men's homosocial interaction. It further asserts that the digital nature of the processes, imagery, and their underlying reliance on optical mixing emphasize the abstract quality of identity and gender.

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2017, Communication

Applying feminist media theory to the 2015 Spike Lee film Chi-Raq, this thesis explores portrayals of black-female power and sexuality. In three layers this thesis examines: the language used by and toward women of color, the gender roles and power constructs within the film, and finally the either/or dichotomous thinking associated with the four controlling images of Black womanhood, particularly the role of the Jezebel as a promiscuous and socially dangerous character. This thesis seeks to understand how sexualized portrayals of Black women, despite the power associated with their sexuality, are limiting and problematic.