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.

Committee: Alexander Godulla (Committee Chair); Jatin Srivastava (Committee Co-Chair); Freya Sukalla (Committee Member) Subjects: Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Communication

When people experience reminders of their mortality, anxiety heightens. This, in turn, can increase worldview defenses such as outgroup derogation. In this experiment, White participants (N = 190) read an online news story that presented a death threat (death threat, non-death threat) and identity threat (White threat, Black threat, race-neutral threat) manipulation. Following exposure to the experimental manipulation, participants completed measures of anxiety, specific self-esteem, and worldview defense. A multicategorical moderation supported the integration of specific self-esteem in social identity processes. The findings from moderated mediation analyses support previous terror management research (Greenberg et al., 1997): When exposure to a death threat has not been sufficiently suppressed, anxiety from the threat can manifest in worldview defenses. Results demonstrate that specific self-esteem buffers anxiety elicited from threats unrelated to racial identity. Implications include identity processes by which the effects of threat can be mitigated.

Committee: Jesse Fox (Advisor); Lanier Holt (Committee Member); Nancy Rhodes (Committee Member); Zheng Wang (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research; Statistics; Web Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Media and Communication

This study utilizes an experimental design to explore how different frames impact individuals' perceptions of Muslim women when portrayed in news coverage of protests from the Middle East and North Africa region. Specifically, this research investigates the influence of news media frames on U.S. public perceptions of Muslim women activists, focusing on the impact of the hijab to test various perspectives related to minorities, gender, and stereotypical representations. In addition to examining the effect of text (positive and negative frames) and visuals (no visuals, visuals featuring veiled Muslim women, and visuals of unveiled Muslim women) on perceptions, this study also analyzes the influence of the interaction effect of the text and visual frames. This dissertation employed a factorial design, utilizing Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to conduct an online experiment. Participants were exposed to different news frames describing protests to assess their perceptions of Muslim women activists. One of the key findings of this study highlights the influence of Western-centric notions on perceptions of Muslims. Results demonstrated that positive text frames accompanied by visuals featuring unveiled women facilitated more positive implicit perceptions compared to negative frames. However, exposure to visuals featuring veiled women fostered more support toward Muslim women's protests compared to those exposed to unveiled visuals, regardless of whether the text frame is positive or negative. Additionally, results exhibited that preexisting stereotypes of oppression and victimization, along with interactions with Muslims, emerged as the most influential predictors in shaping perceptions. iv Based on the results, the author urges editors and journalists to carefully consider the goal of their coverage of protest news from the Middle East to ensure accurate and balanced portrayals that contribute to greater social inclusion, diversity, and equity in media discourse. The (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Louisa Ha PhD (Committee Chair); Kefa Otiso PhD (Other); Lara Langel PhD (Committee Member); Yanqin Lu PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Mass Media; Middle Eastern Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Womens Studies

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)

Committee: Aimee Edmondson (Committee Chair); Patrick Donges (Committee Member); Elizabeth Hendrickson (Committee Member) Subjects: Journalism

Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2021, Political Science

The 2019 Mueller Report revealed a campaign by the Russian Internet Research Agency to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and insert systemic distrust in Western democracy. The campaign engaged in “information warfare” using false accounts, or bots, to prey on inherent social vulnerabilities that are amplified by the novelty and anonymity of social media, such as echo chambers and the rapid spread of fake news. This thesis explores the aims, methods, effects, and behavioral patterns of bots. It also proposes BotWise, a model designed to distill average behavior on the social media platform Twitter from a set of real users and compare that data against novel input.

Committee: Tyler Highlander (Advisor); Staci Rhine (Advisor); Alyssa Hoofnagle (Committee Member); Yu Bin (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science; Political Science; Sociology; Technology

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.

Committee: Lois Foreman-Wernet Ph.D. (Advisor); Stephen Koch Ph.D. (Advisor); Sharon Croft Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Stephanie Wilson Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Information Science; Journalism; Political Science

MA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

Undocumented Latinx immigrants are stereotyped as threats to American economics, politics, and public safety. These stereotypes increase anti-immigrant sentiment and generate political support for fear-based policies. Due to the legal and political designations of undocumented Latinx immigrants as “illegal aliens,” whites tend to associate Latinx identity with immigration and undocumented status with criminality. Despite empirical evidence concluding that undocumented immigrants do not pose a threat to public safety, racialized fears incited through news media cause many white Americans to perceive all Latinx as fraudulent, dangerous, and criminal. In this study, I connect literature to data to elaborate on how young, white college students' consumption of stereotypes via online news media fuels racialized fears and racist beliefs about Latinx. I conduct OLS regressions and path analyses to interrogate the effects of internet and social media news consumption as well as demographic characteristics such as gender, political ideology, and major on criminal stereotyping of Latinx. While much is known about the effects of television news on racial stereotyping, less is understood about the effects of online news media. This research shows that higher rates of internet news consumption is associated with less criminal stereotyping while higher rates of social media news consumption is linked to more criminal stereotyping of Latinx among white college students. Beyond news consumption, political ideology and college major are also significantly linked to the students' stereotyping of Latinx as criminals.

Committee: Tiffany Taylor (Advisor); Katrina Bloch (Committee Member); Christopher Dum (Committee Member); Josh Pollock (Committee Member) Subjects: Mass Media; Sociology

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Cognitive Linguistics

The emergence of online news has significantly influenced news production and consumption. Notably, key characteristics of online news, including immediacy and interactivity, have contributed to a new degree of fluidity; articles are now published, edited, shared, and consumed continuously. This poses considerable challenges as many articles are published while stories are still unfolding and undergo significant changes after publication. Editors have generally resisted calls to annotate these edits, suggesting that they view them as minor. Conversely, Cognitive Grammar holds that small changes to construal – the way a situation is presented – influence meaning. The present thesis explores evolving construals of online news headlines. Through analysis of 28 examples, this thesis argues that even minor edits may alter meaning in significant ways. It also serves as a proof of concept for a novel way of collecting attested examples of evolving construals, demonstrating how the internet may make new types of data obtainable.

Committee: Todd Oakley PhD (Committee Chair); Vera Tobin PhD (Committee Member); Mark Turner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Linguistics; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Sociolinguistics

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)

Committee: Louisa Ha (Advisor); Jill Zeilstra-Ryalls (Committee Member); Srinivas Melkote (Committee Member); Lisa Hanasono (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications

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.

Committee: Michael S. Sweeney (Committee Chair); Benjamin Bigl (Committee Member); Hans-Jo¨rg Stiehler (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications; Psychology; Web Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Media and Communication

Research in country image has received both kudos and questioning in the field of international marketing. China's country image is one of the most intriguing and controversial topics. Based on the three components (i.e., cognitive, affective, and conative) of country image, this study analyzed China's image in terms of country beliefs, people affect, desired interaction as well as product beliefs and purchase intention. By integrating priming with the Heuristic-Systematic Model, this research used a 2×2 pretest-posttest experimental factorial design to measure changes in Americans' perception of China's image after their exposure to the news stimuli about China from a partisan news website. Two manipulated factors were media partisanship (congruent or incongruent partisan media) and news slant (positive or negative coverage of China). The results did not demonstrate any priming effect of news coverage. However, media partisanship had a significant influence on country beliefs and purchase intention related to China. Significant interaction effects between news slant and media partisanship on country beliefs and desired interaction were also found. In addition, people perceived a congruent partisan media source as more credible than an incongruent source, but are more willing to like and share a positive news article about China than a negative one on social media. The results advocated a multidimensional approach to country image research and a refined view of news priming effects by taking the heuristic of media source into account. Implications on news media and international marketing were also discussed.

Committee: Gi Woong Yun (Advisor); Louisa Ha (Committee Member); Sung-Yeon Park (Committee Member); Neil Englehart (Other) Subjects: Communication; Marketing; Mass Media

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2015, Communication

This study investigated three factors that might impact persuasion in health as well as message characteristics and individual differences related to health-news sharing. The source expertise cue was found to have a significant impact on message credibility and behavioral intention even when the source was a mere “sharer” of the message. An interaction effect between sharing frequency and framing was significant. However, sharing frequency did not function as a bandwagon cue. In regard to the intention to get a colonoscopy, loss-framed messages were shown to be more effective than gain-framed messages, but only when shared by a non-expert in the health field. The perceived novelty of a message and the behavioral intention to engage in the behavior the message was intended to promote were strongly correlated with news-sharing intention. Finally, public self-consciousness moderated the effect of behavioral intention on information-sharing intention. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Committee: Roselyn Lee-Won (Advisor); Nancy Rhodes (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Master of Applied Communication Theory and Methodology, Cleveland State University, 2014, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

This paper is designed to explore how online readers process information when online news articles have majority cues. These majority cues are conceptualized as a specific type of heuristic cue and this study discovered complex interaction effects of this heuristic cue. Heuristic and Systematic Model (HSM) and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) successfully predict how these interaction effects work when these models work together. MANOVA and ANOVA analyses report significant interaction effects among heuristic cues, involvement, and argument quality on readers attitudes (attitude toward information and author's credibility) that supporting both Hypothesis 1 and 2. Specifically, in regard a Hypothesis 1, when argument quality is strong the heuristic cue increases the attitude toward information and author's credibility more positively when the information is about a low-involvement product. On the other hand, the heuristic cue decreases attitude toward information and author's credibility more negatively when the information is about a high-involvement product. Regarding a Hypothesis 2, when the heuristic cue is low, the strong argument quality increases the attitude toward information and author's credibility more positively when the information is about a high-involvement product. On the other hand, the strong argument quality decreases the attitude toward information and author's credibility more negatively when the information is about a low-involvement product. In summary, the explanations of both HSM and ELM are supported only when people use their cognitive resources efficiently. On the other hand, theories of Maximization of Cognitive Efficiency (MCE) and affordances explain when people need to use cognitive resources inefficiently. That is because humans are naturally moderate their information processing in the dynamic manner that maximizes their cognitive efficiency to interpret the given information and environment efficiently and in a timely manne (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: EDWARD HOROWITZ Ph.D. (Committee Chair); CHERYL BRACKEN Ph.D. (Committee Member); GARY PETTEY Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Information Science; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2014, Communication

This study examines the role of social cues, such as rating systems and aggregate opinion indicators, on perceptions of online news credibility, quality and article sharing behavior. Additionally, the personality trait fear of social isolation was examined as a possible moderator. Social impact theory, the bandwagon effect and the interactive nature of online news media were used to hypothesize the effects of social cues on perceptions and intention to share news. In a 2 (high-involvement, low involvement) X 2 (positive cue, negative cue) between-subjects design, participants (N=325) were given a pre-test to measure fear of social isolation followed by a post-test which included a simulated Associated Press online news article about either college student loan interest rates (high involvement) or pre-kindergarten funding (low-involvement) with either positive or negative social cues. Significant effects were found regarding quality perceptions and willingness to share the news article.

Committee: Erik Nisbet (Advisor); David DeAndrea (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2009, Journalism (Communication)

This comparative content analysis examined two weeks without weekends in April 2009 of the U.S. television newscasts PBS NewsHour and NBC Nightly News and the German television newscasts ARD Tagesschau and RTL Aktuell and the relationship to their respective web videos in terms of focus, geographic area, link to television, topic, and format with a special interest in international news. For the 702 stories analyzed it was found that content-wise little is new online; international news online is for the most part imbalanced in terms of topic and geographic area, falling into traditional patterns that neglect the Southern hemisphere. Public-service broadcasters appeared to be the more reliable choice to obtain news on politics and the economy. In addition, different formats of online presentation were found to have evolved between the two countries.

Committee: Joseph Bernt PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Bernhard Debatin PhD (Committee Member); Robert Stewart PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Journalism

MA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

Emerging online platforms and channels of communication are allowing lay citizens to contribute to the collection and dissemination of news like never before. This shift in the media landscape is often described within the context of participatory journalism, which is a broad term that is generally understood as the increasing amount and various ways in which an audience actively contributes to journalism, such as through commenting on articles or submitting images taken on smartphones. To better understand how user-generated content informs the newsgathering process and thus the media agenda, this thesis borrows from previous agenda-setting research to examine how journalists use audience feedback submitted through digital channels such as Facebook, Twitter, article comments and emails. Twelve senior and mid-level editors at major online newspapers in the United States were interviewed in qualitative one-on-one, in-depth interviews. The results suggest the sampled editors view online audience feedback channels as an increasingly integral part of the day-to-day newsgathering process. As a result, user-generated content—and the public agenda by extension—does seem to inform the media agenda to various extents, as evidenced both by increased audience engagement as well as published content that is directly attributable to audience-generated story ideas, tips and news leads.

Committee: Robert Batchelor PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Danielle Coombs PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Jacqueline Marino (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications

MA, Kent State University, 2013, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

Responding to a growth in technology, young people often turn to social media and online communication as their primary means of expression and interaction. However, some of the content students create and post while at home can negatively affect the school environment. School administrators have, at times, disciplined students for their off-campus online speech. This act has raised legal questions about how much control schools can and should possess over speech that originates away from the school's physical boundaries. Some students and their families have sued their respective school districts when they perceive an overreach in school authority for such discipline. Despite this issue's gravity among First Amendment scholars and advocates, the general public probably has little direct experience with these legal questions beyond what it learns through news reports. Because news is a basic social learning tool, the way journalists present information can profoundly affect the public's understanding of any given issue. This study examined how the news media portrayed four court cases pertinent to this issue: Layshock v. Hermitage School District, J. S. v. Blue Mountain School District, Doninger v. Niehoff, and Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools. The researcher used textual analysis to investigate the frames found in 76 news stories by examining the way journalists presented the following items: legal context, the actions of the student litigant, the actions of school administrators, and the online speech itself that initially led to school discipline.

Committee: Candace Bowen M.A. (Advisor); Mark Goodman J.D. (Advisor); Danielle Coombs Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Journalism; Legal Studies; Mass Media