Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2021, Journalism (Communication)

The German relation to Israel is marked by its historic circumstances, namely the Shoah and the antisemitism which made it possible, but also cooperation between the two countries nowadays. Previous research on the portrayal of Israel in German print media, in particular during times of escalation in the Arab-Israeli conflict, have found a bias against Israel. This study provides an analysis of the media image of Israel in German online news media during a low-escalation period in the Arab-Israeli conflict, accounting for the changes in the media landscape due to digitalization and providing a comparison to traditional media. A sample by five German news outlets – Bild.de, n-tv.de, Spiegel.de, t-online.de and Zeit.de – during a 2019 low escalation-phase was analyzed using a structural objectivity content analysis. A focus was put on the overall evaluation as well as the topics and actors who can be found in the reporting. The findings show an overall balanced depiction with some outliers, in contrast to the portrayal of Israel during periods with high conflict.

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ), Ohio University, 2014, Journalism

This study is a comparative content analysis of the two Comcast-owned broadcast network television news programs, Telemundo's Spanish-language "Noticiero Telemundo" and NBC's English-language "NBC Nightly News." The study explores whether Telemundo and NBC news programs cover different types of stories, and how they cover the same story. It also explores the diversity of talent and sources used by both news programs. It will compare production values and style of presentation between the two, building on a previous study of Spanish and English- language network news programs produced by different corporations. The study examines one month of Telemundo and NBC newscasts during the November ratings period.

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 Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Media and Communication

With minorities making up about 42.2% of the total population in comparison to the 57.8% of White people (Jin et al., 2021), that number becomes much smaller when going into specific career paths. Black people in the television industry make up about 13.2%. However, that number becomes even smaller when looking at certain roles in television—with Black people making up about 6% of television news directors and 4.2% of general managers (Papper & Henderson, 2022). The lack of representation in the television industry affects how news is made. Using the case study method, two news programs (WDIV-TV and "CBS Mornings") at the local and national level were examined to see how representation for Black people has been utilized in those shows, as they have a presence of Black people in leadership roles; an additional local station in the same location was incorporated into the study to compare what representation looks like between these stations where there is higher and lower Black representation among news employees. A total of 237 episodes were observed for this case study with findings suggesting that when there is a Black person in a leadership role, the representation of Black people is not only higher, but also shows positive representation of the community. The findings support the idea that when Black people are given leadership opportunities in news, representation increases and stories about the community are more frequent and of better quality.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Communication

Over the past three decades, partisanship has become an increasingly salient social identity for Americans, resulting in an electorate that is affectively polarized. An electorate characterized by affective polarization cuts against normative models of democracy, as party loyalists tend to dislike members of other parties, prefer confrontation to compromise, and distrust government when their preferred party is out of power. The commercial US media environment has been a frequent culprit in theories of the origins of affective polarization. Cross-national comparisons find that the United States may have experienced the most rapid gains in affective polarization but Americans' fixation on party identity is far from unique. This comparative analysis categorizes 14 countries' national media systems and tests whether news media consumption in commercial media systems, such as the United States, predicts higher levels of partisan animus and party loyalty in vote choice than media consumption in other types of media systems. The results indicate that television consumption in commercial media systems is associated with higher levels of partisan affect than in public-service or hybrid media systems.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 1994, Telecommunications (Communication)

This research comparatively examined 1) The main factors influencing the international news selection processes of television journalists, and newsroom editorial procedures and control mechanisms in the three television news organizations – Cable News Network (CNN), and Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), non-commercial network and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), commercial network – through participant observation of each newsroom, and in-depth interviews and surveys of their news personnel; and 2) The main topics and actors of domestic and international news in the three main news programs – CNN “PrimeNews,” KBS “9 O'clock News” and SBS “8 O'clock News” – using content analysis. The key finding is that there are significant differences in the selection processes of international news and content between the U.S. CNN, and Korean KBS and SBS news networks. This result suggests that CNN is a more global-oriented news network and is mainly operated by the market-driven business control mechanism, whereas Korean news networks are more national-oriented organizations and thereby focus on maintaining a good relationship with the government, selecting and reporting of news stories. Another major finding is that there are high similarities in the international news selection processes and content between the KBS and SBS news networks. It arises from the homogeneous profiles of Korean television journalists and highly uniform newsroom editorial procedures and news sources.

Bachelor of Arts, Miami University, 2005, College of Arts and Sciences - Communication

CABLE NEWS AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: MOVING FORWARD OR FALLING BACK by Robert Christopher Walter This paper examines traditional theories on how television news media operates in a democratic society and their application to a twenty-four hour cable news cycle. The study explores whether the switch two a twenty-four hour cable news cycle has enhanced or diminished the ability of television news to fulfill its theoretical role in the democratic process. The switch to a cable news format was found to have potential to enhance the positive role of television news media in democratic society, but was found not to have done so in practical application.

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.

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2023, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis examines the adherence of German and U.S.-American mainstream and right-wing online news platform's coverage of antifa protests to the protest paradigm. It further focuses on the portrayal of antifa protests and antifascist action in general, while considering societal differences as well as differences within the movements in both countries. This thesis applied a qualitative content analysis to N = 224 articles from eight media outlets. The analysis is structured along for key categories: framing as well as portrayal of the protest, portrayal of the protest group, and sourcing patterns. Results show common themes in the portrayal of antifa. All outlet types tend to demonize und delegitimize antifa protests and protest causes. German media does so in particular by heavily relying on the police as an official source. U.S. mainstream media is the only outlet type to sometimes include various other perspectives into their protest coverage, and to frequently provide contexts and political classifications of antifa protests. However, German mainstream and right-wing media generally show more similarities in their antifa coverage than German and U.S. mainstream media, especially in the portrayal of antifa. U.S. right-wing media stands out by employing frames that depict antifa values and protests as immoral, and members as anti-free speech and un-American. All outlet types' antifa protest coverage is marked by an emphasis on confrontations and on the measures needed to avert escalations, as well as by an overall negative tone towards antifa. Further, all media outlets point out the riot-like and in part anarchic characters of antifa protests and highlight property and violent crimes allegedly committed by antifa members during protests. All coverage adheres to the protest paradigm; mainstream media in both countries, however, employ more mixed frames, while right-wing media employ mainly marginalizing frames. Sympathetic and balanced re (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Media and Communication

This thesis creates a typology of indicators of difference for comparing community-centered newsrooms within the context of their local communication infrastructures and applies the resulting list to six illustrative case studies of Ohio news outlets. Research questions ask what the essential characteristics that may vary among community-centered news organizations are, how they may be used to understand differences among such organizations, and if they could relate to the success or failure of community news organizations. The list of key indicators for comparing community-centered newsrooms within the specific context of their positions in local communication infrastructures is compiled based on the existing body of research into communication infrastructure theory (CIT), community-centered journalism (CCJ), case studies and descriptions of key community-centered journalism themes, and journalistic engagement. The process for developing a list of essential indicators in a CCJ typology uses the current body of research to first determine areas of comparison within CIT. At the conceptual level, the essential constructs include the three actors within a storytelling network – local media, residents, and community organizations – according to Ball-Rokeach's CIT (2006a). Then, by interpreting from the literature the ways in which CCJ outlets differ from traditional journalism, measurable constructs are named and defined. Finally, six Ohio news organizations are evaluated based on the essential indicators of difference. Results suggest the criteria are useful for identifying differences in the characteristics of the six case studies. Determining the differences among community-centered news organizations is crucial to understanding their potential for success in the communities they serve. The typology is a starting point for analyzing the most effective attributes of a news organization for the needs of a specific community and within that community's existing co (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Media and Communication

Long has alternative media been conceptualized as inherently leftist. Using recent conceptualizations of alternative media as existing on a continuum (Kenix, 2011) and definitions of alternative media as critical in its content (Downing, 2001; Atkinson, 2021), a segment of the Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight (TCT) is thought of as conservative embedded alternative media. On April 26, 2021, a segment of TCT provoked widespread mainstream news reporting. This exploratory study sought to better understand the relationship between the mainstream news media and embedded alternative media. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis was used to examine an exhaustive list of 40 mainstream news articles that mentioned the TCT segment in the two days following its airing. Research questions asked include if and why intermedia agenda-setting is occurring, what the flow of information is between the mainstream news and TCT, and what news values are associated with the relationship between mainstream news and embedded alternative media. Results show several different directions for future research. It appears that the mainstream news constructs controversy using social media, in this case, Twitter posts, to provide negative reactions to a story. In cases where social media accounts were not referenced, articles still were generally portrayed negatively and focused on controversy. This controversy was, in some cases, tied to leftist alternative media site The Daily Beast. It also appears that intermedia agenda-setting is occurring at a first level, but not second. Additionally, it is argued that intermedia agenda-setting occurred because of the competitive advantage that negative and controversial stories may provide mainstream news media. Future research should attempt to broadly generalize these relationships, conduct further analysis of controversy as a news value in relation to traditional and embedded alternative media, and consider using a political economy framewor (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2021, Journalism (Communication)

This study examined sourcing and framing in PTSD news coverage published by The New York Times from 1999–2020 using quantitative content analysis. Based on the findings of previous studies, it was hypothesized that the sampled coverage would overrepresent combat trauma relative to other sources of trauma, underrepresent options for treatment and recovery, privilege men and official sources over women and unofficial sources (i.e., men and official sources would speak more often than women and unofficial sources), and favor episodic/individual framing over thematic/social framing. However, these hypotheses were only partially supported. The researcher ultimately found that, while the sampled coverage did overrepresent combat trauma and underrepresent treatment and recovery options, as well as favor men over women in sourcing, it defied expectations in other ways. Namely, it was observed that civilian/unofficial sources predominated over official sources, and that thematic/social framing predominated over episodic/individual framing.

Bachelor of Arts, Capital University, 2022, Communication

“Fake news” has magnified media credibility and utility as issues of the digital age. The COVID-19 pandemic, by presenting life-threatening uncertainty, has created new interest in online information and perceptions thereof. This study examines how the crisis and its political implications have affected college students' perceptions of online news media. A survey was administered to Capital University's undergraduate student body via email to gauge students' perceptions of online news media credibility and utility since the pandemic's onset. Other questions explored perceptions of “fake news,” social media use, and the value of user comments. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to draw conclusions about how perceptions of media credibility and utility are affected by the perceived presence of a crisis and its politicization. The study found a negative correlation between a crisis's politicization and online news media credibility and a positive correlation between the perceived presence of a crisis and online news media utility. Understanding how college students consume and perceive online news media may provide insights into how crises affect the public's perceptions of online news media.

Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2020, Communication

Women in the political sector struggle to find their place. Though the number of female representatives has increased in recent years, it has been a slow climb often complicated by the socially prescribed importance of their image to the public eye as represented through media. In the impeachment of President Donald Trump, two female senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, were prominently featured on news coverage outlets. As it is not historically common for female politicians to be at the center of major debates, this case allowed for valuable analysis of how the media portrays women in politics. Through this work, three questions are explored: 1) How did cable news media frame Senators Susan Collins' and Lisa Murkowski's roles in the impeachment process of President Donald Trump? 2) How did Senators Collins and Murkowski frame themselves in their self-representations through the impeachment process? 3) How have Collins and Murkowski engaged in self-representation for their overall identities as senators?

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2020, Foundations of Education: Educational Psychology

Journalists and academics have lamented that the United States is in an epistemic crisis and has entered a post-truth era due, in part, to a proliferation of fake news and ideologically slanted sources. It is the duty of the educational system to equip students with the attitudes, critical thinking skills, and knowledge necessary to engage with the news and make informed decisions; thus, this exploratory study investigates high school students' epistemic beliefs concerning news as a knowledge source. The review of literature provides an overview of frameworks from personal epistemology with a focus on components that are relevant to educational strategies for news media literacy, as well as a summary of news media literacy models and educational initiatives for high schoolers. This is followed by a description of a proposed epistemic framework for news media literacy--the ASK Framework--that integrates the two streams of research. Using a mixed methods approach, this study drew on semi-structured interviews and surveys administered in 2010 to 60 high schoolers from a rural district in northwest Ohio. Results demonstrated that while most participants agreed that the news should inform the public, many also observed that it could persuade, appeal to, or worry people as well, and these views impacted participants' attitudes and levels of trust toward the news. Although all participants noted using a portfolio of news sources, they most heavily favored television and expressed the most interest in news topics that they found directly relevant to their lives, such as healthcare or the economy. Participants also demonstrated high levels of news discourse with teachers and adults in their lives, particularly on local and national events. When it came to determining the quality of news, the majority of participants noted that an article should present an abundance of facts and details, and many also noted the importance of their news coming from a trusted outlet, citing its (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Media and Communication

News media's role as important sources of information, influence and political socialization and their impact in increasing political participation, awareness about policy issues and reducing knowledge gaps between different education groups have been shown by scholars from all over the world. Concurrently, news media have also been seen by researchers as inducers of alienation, cynicism and apathy among the people against the government, big business/financial corporations and the media themselves. In the United States, decline of media trust has been a trend since the 1970's, and the recent unhealthy relationship between the Trump Administration and the media has been the dominant picture. Media trust is important because it is not just the impact of the news media, but perceptions towards it have been shown to be linked with other areas of political and social feelings and standpoints and fosters activity towards or against certain issues. Hence, more knowledge about people's satisfaction with and perception towards the media and how they impact their impressions of different aspects within the social and political realms need to be studied. The objective of this research was to understand people's satisfaction with and perceptions of news media performance and their relationship with alienation from government and big business corporations. This study conducted a secondary analysis of data to investigate people's perceptions of and satisfaction with different news media, and then their level of alienation from the government and business/financial corporations. It then analyzed if perception and satisfaction levels towards certain news media predicted levels of alienation from government and alienation from big corporations. It used survey data gathered from 760 participants in 2016 (n=400) and 2017 (n=360), before and after the U.S. presidential election. The data were collected from college students in a Midwestern university using quota sampling method. Pe (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2018, Leadership Studies

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson wrote,“The most effectual engines for [pacifying a nation] are the public papers... [A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of news writers who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper” (Sec.51). Jefferson's views are as salient today as they were in 1785. Some 232 years later, a “mass of people” struggle to distinguish between news that is real and news that is false. The largest context for this struggle to date was the 2016 United States presidential election (Pew Center, 2016c). For some, the “fake news” found on social media has become a harbinger for the emergence of a despotic government (Pew Center). The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the phenomenon of fake news through the lived experience of graduate students in the United States. The prospective student participants were pursuing advanced degrees in higher education. This research study utilized the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) approach to analyze how and why people used social media during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In light of the influence of fake news on the 2016 presidential election, this study also aimed to investigate the reasons why people believed that fake news were appealing. The thematic analysis revealed people were gratified by the use of social media for connecting with friends and family, gathering and sharing information, and as a vehicle of expression. Participants found a significant amount of fake news stories on social media during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. They tried to identify and differentiate between fake news and real news using the fact-checking websites and major news sources. However, the two significant themes that emerged during the interviews illustrated that (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2018, Media and Communication

This dissertation study applies the Hierarchy of Influences Model proposed by Pamela Shoemaker and Stephen Reese, to examine how the advent of social media has affected journalistic gatekeeping practices in India as the largest non-Western democratic country, identify the emerging challenges for the journalism industry, and explore sustainable strategies to address these challenges. Nearly 2,700 journalists belonging to three of the largest press clubs in India were invited to complete an online survey. The survey examined journalists' perceptions about social media's usefulness and credibility as a professional tool. The questions further investigated the factors that influenced their decisions to source or select breaking crime stories from social media platforms and upload such crime stories both on their organization's website, as well as their organization's official Facebook or Twitter pages. The survey was completed by 274 journalists from 15 Indian cities, and their responses analyzed for this study. In addition, for a deeper and insightful understanding of the research problem, and for purposes of corroboration, elaboration and development, in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 print, television, and online editors from five of India's largest metropolitan cities. The research results can be described in three parts: (a) The survey results showed that journalists consider social media to be an extremely useful professional tool, yet they do not find the platforms credible or trustworthy. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that while individual beliefs, organizational constraints, and social institutional influences impacted journalists' web uploading decisions, such choices were also influenced significantly by journalists' perceived usefulness and credibility of information available on social media. When sharing breaking crime news on organizational social media handles, journalists were only influenced by social system factors such as (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2018, Journalism (Communication)

For a long time habit has been a blind spot of research on media attendance generally and Internet usage particularly. Especially uses and gratifications approaches have mainly focused on intentional and conscious motives. Psychological research and recent studies on media attendance, however, suggest that habit is an important determinant of media behavior, too. This study set out to examine the role of habit in the use of online news, a medium traditionally associated with instrumentality and information needs. The study draws on social cognitive theory as theoretical framework. Two hundred fifty-nine usable datasets were gathered through an open online survey. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed habit strength as an independent factor. Habit strength had a significant influence on overall usage of online news. It was further correlated to deficient self-regulation, pass time and other self-reactive incentives, and context stability. An exploratory factor analysis tentatively confirmed hypothesized dimensions of online news behavior such as searching, elaboration, use of visual elements, follow-up actions, and distraction. These dimensions, however, lacked internal reliability.

Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Writing​, University of Findlay, 2017, English

The introduction of the comments section to online news articles enabled new forms of interaction, allowing readers to participate directly in the conversation. Scholars have hailed the comments sections as digital public spheres of democratic discourse. However, scant research has been done on how sexist rhetoric affects women's ability to participate in online discourse, despite research indicating that such rhetoric is a problem. This thesis project draws connections between research on the comments sections, uninhibited behavior and flaming, cybersexism, and women's participation in discourse to look at the impact of sexist rhetoric. I conduct a close reading of comments from BuzzFeed, MSNBC, and Fox News, analyzing the material using feminist and sociological rhetorical criticism. I argue that the presence of sexist rhetoric leads to a reduction in women's participation in the comments and negative effects on women's agency within the comments. Findings include consistent patterns of sexist rhetoric on all three sites, and consistent patterns of responses from women, the most predominant of which is silence. If the comments are to meet the ideal of a democratic public sphere, then the role of sexist rhetoric must be understood and mitigated.