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

This paper investigates the strategic framing of homelessness in public awareness campaigns in Germany and the United States. Recognizing the critical role of public discourse in addressing social issues, this research examines how non-governmental organizations and other interest groups use strategic framing to influence political and social agendas. The study compares campaigns from both countries, utilizing qualitative content analysis to identify prevalent framing devices, themes, and strategies. The research aims to understand the extent and manner in which homelessness is portrayed, identifying differences and similarities shaped by cultural, social, and political contexts. By analyzing case studies, this paper seeks to provide insights into various framing strategies in mobilizing public support and informing policy initiatives. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of public communication strategies and offer recommendations for enhancing the impact of future campaigns on homelessness.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2024, Journalism (Communication)

This research assesses the effects of media richness on journalism students' attitudes and readiness to report on mental illness ethically and accurately. Due to the ongoing inaccurate and sensationalized depictions of mental illness in media, future journalists must be trained to combat these issues. This study engaged 280 U.S. journalism students in a posttest-only experimental design. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions through Qualtrics: rich media with a narrated slide deck, moderate media with a non-narrated slide deck, and lean media with a static text page. Results indicated no significant difference in attitudes, self-efficacy, or intentions between the groups, challenging the predicted educational advantage of rich media. These findings suggest alternative factors – such as individual motivation – might also influence learning outcomes. This study calls for further inquiry into rich media educational methods to prepare journalism students to tackle subjects like mental health in their future careers.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

Fighting false information, propaganda, open lies, rumors, misinformation, and disinformation by attacking it directly and challenging it is the dominant strategy for dealing with false beliefs (Lazer et al., 2018; Maseri et al., 2020; Van Bavel et al., 2021), and it is an important one. Refuting falsity is crucial. At the same time, there are instances when fighting false information does not work (Ardevol-Abreu et al., 2020; McIntyre, 2018; Van Bavel et al., 2021). One of the reasons is that it denies another's worldview, belief systems, and, as a result, their identity and even right to exist. Searching for alternative strategies for dealing with falsity, this study used qualitative research methodology and conducted three focus group discussions. My research findings show that identifying and framing a narrative behind falsity shifts the dynamic from facts to interaction, from fighting to beginning relationships to that narrative, and potentially people who stand for it, consciously or unconsciously. It allows one to find a belief system and a worldview of the other, and to engage and interact with it. Thus, there is a shift from finding who is telling the truth or lies to providing space for various belief systems and worldviews to interact with each other. Making this shift changes the power dynamic and empowers human beings to stop being simply victims of falsity and gain agency. My research also shows that there is a high need for talent and skills to hold polarities and different narratives, allowing them to co-exist and not deny each other, facilitating unpredictable and unimaginable ways to interact with each other, and bring more flow into communication instead of distancing even further. Finding narratives behind falsity and holding the opposite stories allow one to see falsity as not just an absolute evil, but potentially meaningful, transforming it into an opportunity for community-building processes and for people to work on differe (open full item for complete abstract)

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

This study explores the portrayal of the Spanish Civil War in the U.S. through innova-tive media. In this conflict, new styles of interpretative reporting were for the first time on a large scale paired with innovative technological mediums such as photography, newsreels, and radio. A qualitative content analysis of news outlets of Time Inc. reveals that reporting often focused on the common people's experiences, especially aerial bombardments. While some reports tried to evoke compassion, others emphasized geopolitical implica-tions, sometimes dehumanizing victims and justifying violence. The coverage used new media to create immediacy, drama, and emotional engagement. This constructed the war as a consumable spectacle. The study provides insights into the foreign perception of the Spanish Civil War and the impact of new media on war reporting.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2024, Film

Due to increases in technological innovation and accessibility, more commercial filmmakers have adopted visual storytelling techniques used in narrative filmmaking. In today's highly saturated media landscape, consumers are bombarded by commercials and advertisers seeking to buy their attention. As a result, the amount of capital that is invested in advertising and marketing has skyrocketed in the last few decades as companies compete for the attention span of Americans already overloaded by hundreds of thousands of images daily. Cutting through the media onslaught of the modern world is difficult for the micro budget advertiser, however in the last twenty years technological advancements have given those micro budget advertisers the ability to compete with the higher budgets of established brands and companies. LED lights, affordable 4K cinema cameras, and advancing video editing software has contributed to this revolution in the visual commercial space. These technologies have allowed commercial filmmakers to apply techniques and visual storytelling methods previously unavailable to them because of resources, time, and budget. Cinematic technological improvements have simultaneously driven the costs of production down while providing higher quality content, making the advertising a much more competitive space. This thesis aims to elaborate on the advancing filmmaking technology, that has provided micro budget advertisers a competitive edge in an deafeningly saturated advertising world.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2024, English

In “Reforming African American Literature in High Schools,” I explore how Black standpoint theory and reader response theory affect the instruction of African American novels and related books in the classroom. Namely, I examine how To Kill a Mockingbird is used in the classroom, whether or not the novel should be continued to be used in the classroom, and whether it can be used well as an introduction to the subjects of race, class, systematic oppression, and intersectionality. To do so, I analyze the contents of To Kill a Mockingbird, deconstruct my interviews with fifteen participants on how their teacher's instruction of To Kill a Mockingbird impacted their education, and examine how and when To Kill a Mockingbird succeeds in the classroom. I also determine whether or not To Kill a Mockingbird could be replaced by briefly diving into other prominent Black literature that is used in the classroom.

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ), Ohio University, 2024, Journalism

The scientific and psychological communities have started to recognize ecological anxiety (also known as eco-anxiety or climate anxiety), an emotional response to climate change and environmental destruction, as a growing mental health phenomenon. There has been an increased focus on how psychologists and other mental health professionals can best support those who are experiencing negative mental health effects due to climate change, including increased anxiety. In turn, mainstream media outlets have increased their coverage of eco- anxiety and other related mental health impacts of climate change. This paper discusses how eco- anxiety has been framed by mainstream media outlets, specifically newspapers with large readership. Articles from eight different American newspapers that included the words “eco- anxiety”, “climate anxiety”, or referenced the phenomenon were compiled. These articles were coded to reveal the specific frames utilized, including master, generic, and issue-specific frames. The focus of this research was to provide a better understanding of how mainstream media frames the topic of eco-anxiety and if that framing reflects the current scientific understanding of eco-anxiety.

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ), Ohio University, 2024, Journalism

“Troubled Treatment,” investigates the history and operations of a private therapeutic boarding school in Spring Valley, Arizona, which has faced allegations of abusive and negligent practices from former students. It also looks at the larger industry of adolescent-targeted therapeutic programs, often referred to as the “troubled teen industry,” and how these types of programs continue to operate largely unregulated.

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ), Ohio University, 2024, Journalism

Dilapidated is a three-part, narratively-reported exploration of property blight, oversight and solutions in Athens County, Ohio. In southeast Ohio, there is not enough affordable housing. Simultaneously, thousands of older, neglected homes sit unoccupied. How do the two issues connect? This professional project has three goals: to explain the scale and context of vacant and dilapidated properties in Athens, Ohio, to use journalism as an accountability tool to understand the operations of the Athens County Land Bank and to explore alternative approaches to making homes adopted by community members. The project consists of a series of three longform articles, mapping, public records, interviews and data visualization that combine human interest storytelling, geographical justice frameworks and investigative journalism. The accompanying scholarly essays reviews related literature on rural distributive (in)justice, media coverage of the Appalachian region and ethical best practices for journalists.

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ), Ohio University, 2024, Journalism

Football is a fickle game. Men throw pads on and hit each other, for hours at a time. However, when you take the game away from the communities in Southeast Ohio, you see that football means much more than just a "game". When you strip away the game, you get stories of a man who rose from the 740 to national prominence, a story of a legacy forged on skulls, and coaching greatness passed down from father to son. That is the tale of Friday Night Legacies.

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

In a rapidly evolving digital media ecosystem, journalism is undergoing significant changes, affecting the production and distribution of content as well as their interaction with audiences and peers. Consequently, journalism is shifting from a traditionally discrete observer role to an increasingly interactive, visible presence in the public sphere, requiring professionals to become more active on social media platforms. While previous research explored journalists' use of platforms like Twitter and Facebook for professional communication and personal branding, the role of LinkedIn remains largely unexplored. This thesis aims to contribute to filling the gap using qualitative content analysis to examine how German and U.S. journalists contribute to the metajournalistic discourse on LinkedIn. The results indicate that journalists use LinkedIn to address industry challenges and provide insights into their work practices, with both groups portraying journalism as a rewarding profession fundamental to democracy and emphasizing their commitment to ethical standards. German journalists, who focus on critical reflection of the industry, mirror an idealistic professional culture, while U.S. journalists lean towards personal achievement, reflecting a more competitive, individualistic culture.

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.

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

This study examines climate journalists' perception of objectivity and balance, comparing their adherence to the working standards in a cross-national context. Given that a majority of individuals rely on media coverage for comprehension of climate change, one of the world's most relevant crises, the journalistic approach to it matters greatly for public knowledge-building and opinion-forming. The study questions the objectivity and balance norms' suitability as universal industry standards in climate news, due to widely observed misrepresentation and distortion of climate change facts through their application. Through the analysis of ten semi-standardized qualitative video interviews with five journalists each from the U.S. and Germany, an open coding process was employed to answer examine the research subject. Due to different personal and editorial approaches, objectivity and balance can no longer be considered universal industry standards within climate journalism. Instead, advocate for the concept of truth as a replacement, based on a general development towards fact- and evidence-based reporting in climate news.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, American Culture Studies

This dissertation explores the role of democracy promotion in US foreign intervention with a particular focus on the weaponization of media and civil society by two important US democracy promotion institutions, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and US Agency for International Development (USAID). Focusing on these two institutions and building on scholarship that takes a critical Gramscian Marxist perspective on US democracy promotion, this study brings media imperialism and deep political scholarship into the conversation. Delimiting the study to focus on US activities, I trace historical patterns of intellectual warfare and exceptional states of violence and lawlessness pursued by the US government in case studies of foreign intervention in which democracy promotion has played an important part since 1983. I survey the evolution of elite US Cold War conceptions of managed democracy as well as transformations of covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) media and civil society operations into institutionalized, pseudo-overt US democracy promotion that became a foundational pretext and method for US interventionism post-Cold War. Case studies include the Contra War in 1980s Nicaragua, Operation Cyclone in 1980s Afghanistan, the 2000 overthrow of Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, the 2002 military coup against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the 2004 coup against Haitian president Bertrand Aristide, and the 2014 Euromaidan Coup against Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. I dedicate the penultimate chapter to US-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011, demonstrating how USAID provided instrumental monetary, media, and civil society support to primarily sectarian, theocratic, Salafi rebels against the Ba'athist government. Throughout the dissertation, I argue that the NED and USAID represent important engines of intellectual warfare in US foreign intervention, mobilizing communications and organizational resources to reinf (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2024, Mass Communication (Communication)

This dissertation aims to better understand how Saudi citizens, particularly Al-Madinah citizens, consume their news via social media platforms. This dissertation employed the uses and gratification theory and adopted a quantitative method through the use of a descriptive online survey (Qualtrics) to answer the research questions and hypotheses. Therefore, snowball sampling tactics were used to reach 233 participants who received the questionnaire between January 15th, 2022, and July 15th, 2022. This dissertation's findings indicate two major motivations for news consumption: information seeking and personal preferences. This dissertation also finds that Saudis, particularly Al-Madinah citizens, tend to consume news via social media urgently, and they tend to consume their news about social events first, followed by the royal decrees' news, then sports news. Furthermore, this dissertation also finds that Saudi citizens in Al-Madinah prefer E-news accounts, which leads to a full belief in consuming news content that is quick, concise, and easy. The findings of this dissertation reveal that being updated about specific fields via specialized organization accounts on social media is a great encouragement for Al-Madinah citizens to consume news. Last, findings also reveal that citizens of Al-Madinah use Twitter as their primary social media platform to consume news, followed by WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2024, Mass Communication (Communication)

This study addresses a notable gap in the existing literature by investigating the securitization processes employed by populist politicians through social media channels. Focusing on the social media accounts of two prominent NATO member country leaders, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Donald Trump of the United States, the research analyzes posts that incorporate both populist and security-related themes on Twitter. The central objectives are to ascertain the frequency of such posts, identify the prevalent themes, and explore the similarities and differences in the detected themes across the twelve months of the last two election periods. The collected data underwent chronological organization to discern patterns in the frequency of these posts. For each sub-theme, the researcher selected tweets that most strongly represented the theme, subjecting them to thematic analysis. The findings indicate a heightened frequency of securitizing tweets by populist politicians as the elections get closer. Both leaders demonstrated engagement with the identified themes, revealing a nuanced approach that is influenced by their distinct linguistic and political-cultural backgrounds. Notably, the study unveils instances where these politicians, despite differing languages and political cultures, framed certain issues similarly while adopting communication methods incongruent with each other's framing styles. This research contributes valuable insights into the intersection of populism, securitization, and political communications, shedding light on the nuanced dynamics observed in the online discourse of populist leaders from diverse geopolitical contexts.

Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2024, English: Creative Writing

Scary Movies and Love Stories takes you through the journey of a first-generation African woman obsessed with “House Hunters,” “WrestleMania,” and other forms of pop culture as she navigates the intersections of illness, race, and gender in America. In this hybrid memoir, the speaker uses critical theorists and dark humor to comment on everything from terrible interviews, to psych wards, to bad sex, to “Teletubbies.” This is a book that examines (and laughs in the corner about) the experience of being caught between two locations—the United States and Nigeria—never feeling enough for both.

Master of Arts in English, Cleveland State University, 2023, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Our Bodies Like Rivers is an essay collection that meditates on the geographical and psychological landscape of home, Appalachia, climate change, and the anxieties and ironies of living in the Anthropocene. From environmental catastrophe, to the opioid crisis, to the plight of consumer, to the health and subtle changes of home and the ones we love, these essays all point to an interconnectedness. Our collective sickness and health is a body of water, without boundary or distinction. This work guides us through the wreckage of modern society and seeks to show us how we might go on.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2023, Mass Communication (Communication)

This research investigated the audience's viewpoint of Al-Jazeera's Opposite Direction talk show and sought to establish a practical framework for how mass media can uphold their agenda-setting and framing power while disseminating critical, unbiased, resistant-to-state-dominance, and methodical discourse in the Middle East. This region lacks freedom of speech in its media landscape. Respondents (n = 104) completed an online survey to gather their perspectives about the program. Pearson's correlation coefficients and linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Based on the findings, the researcher found that from the perspectives of participants, the talk show was successful in setting the agenda and framing perspective due to its critical content, level of freedom, professionalism of the host, context of discussions, and using familiar and popular terms during discussions. These key concepts were statistically significant in contributing to the program's popularity and influence. The concepts identified offer a practical framework for maintaining mass media's power of agenda-setting and shaping perspectives, particularly in the current era of media fragmentation in the Middle East.