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

The use of rap-da'wah as a means of preaching Islam to both youths and online audiences is a key feature of contemporary Islamic activity in The Gambia. The study focuses on the Baraka Boys' rap music as the case study to examine the reactions of the research participants. A mixed method approach is employed to analyze audience reactions to rap-da'wah, the efficacy of digital rap-da'wah, sentiments, and the topical themes that arise in response to the Baraka Boys' music videos. Whereas rap-da'wah is being perceived negatively by most Senegambian audiences, with some even considering it the voice of Satan, music plays a significant role in the lives of some Senegambian Muslims, despite being considered haram by the majority. Online audiences on YouTube overwhelmingly responded positively to rap-da'wah as an effective tool for disseminating Islamic teachings. This holds practical implications for the development of more effective strategies for engaging disaffected youth in Islamic practices and teachings. Moreover, it sheds light on the complexities of Islamic preaching and offers valuable insights into the role of music and digital media in disseminating religious teachings.

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, Mass Communication (Communication)

Contemporary horror films have changed their aesthetic and thematic approaches, thus providing more reflection on current political and social issues. Conventionally, the horror genre frames the mother as the Other and often maintains a traditional subject-versus-object dichotomy that is aligned with the child-mother relationship. However, more contemporary horror films show their explorations of the maternal as subject, meanwhile replacing the subject-object dichotomy with the idea of intersubjectivity when referring to the mother-child relationship. Notably, the cinematic exploration of maternal subjectivity in contemporary horror cinema relies on unpacking a temporal experience, which rethinks the conventional exclusion of women from the theorization of temporality. Therefore, this dissertation argues that contemporary horror films constitute a promising field that challenges the horror genre's traditional gender representation by offering novel cinematic portrayals of mothers and motherhood through re-theorizing the understanding of time. Specifically, this dissertation aims to articulate and comprehend the changes in depictions of maternal figures in contemporary horror by answering the questions: How does the temporal experience in motherhood bring out the maternal subject in the contemporary horror cinema, and how does this shift in focus on the maternal time experience rewrite the genre's conventional theme of the mother-as-the-Other? Along with discussing a rising concern that overshadows the conventional idea of the reproductive future in contemporary horror, how does the recent cinematic conceptualization (particularly the temporalization) of motherhood unleash reproductive and temporal anxiety? And what aspects of this anxiety are revealed in contemporary horror films? To answer these questions, this dissertation investigates the novel cinematic portrayals of motherhood in The Babadook (dir. Jennifer Kent. 2014), The Wailing (dir. Na Hong-jin. 2016), The (open full item for complete abstract)

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.

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

In Ghana, sexual communication is frowned upon, and this is evident in the sexual scripts that guide the behaviors of partners in a relationship. Although this restriction affects both genders, women are at a disadvantage compared to men. This study looks into the different ways that sexual scripting has served as a barrier to asserting sexual needs from the point of view of women. To better understand how this script inhibits women from expressing their sexual needs, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 Ghanaian women. Findings from the interview revealed that cultural and interpersonal scripts, reinforced by societal attitudes, often limit women's agency and contribute to barriers to open communication about sexual needs and desires. Despite these challenges, there are indications of evolving attitudes and practices driven by changing media representations, content, and societal norms. This has made it possible for women to initiate sex using both direct and indirect strategies comfortably. The study underscores the importance of challenging restrictive sexual scripts and promoting environments that empower women to assert sexual autonomy.

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

This research project aims to understand what elementary teachers need from internal communication systems to promote trust and engagement within their school and across the district. The data for this project was collected through a sequential mixed-method approach that included a survey of all elementary teachers in the school district, as well as 5 one-on-one interviews with elementary teachers. Reasons for understanding teachers' attitudes about communication within the organization include the impact on teachers' trust within the organization and teacher's engagement within the organization. Additionally, teachers' satisfaction with the amount of information being shared with them is shown to be positively associated with their attitudes about communication. Themes identified in the research speak to the importance of efficiency and clarity in communication, the desire of the team to be equipped with knowledge, and timeliness and transparency as being key to trust and engagement. These findings indicate the need for schools to establish clear communication channels, but to also engage teachers in sensemaking opportunities and collaborative message building.

Doctor of Organization Development & Change (D.O.D.C.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Organization Development

This research explored the sustainability of collaborative networks and specifically the role of transparency. This deductive thematic analysis study focused on a midsized rustbelt city's citywide governing strategic change collaborative network that began sometime in 2010 and spawned sixteen individual collaborative networks by the end of 2012. Each of these seventeen collaborative networks were co-led by leaders, called champions, around their passion for the change they were tasked to create. The citywide governing strategic change network was formed to bring together citizen and government leaders to collaboratively decide what could be done to make this midsized rustbelt city better for the citizens and surrounding regional communities. Initially, the effort was governed by the founding key city executive and four citizen leaders and grew to over two thousand members and thirty-nine champion leaders. A disruption in commitment was caused by the change in executive sponsorship when the foundational key city executive's term ended. The successive key city executive was not supportive. This provides a secondary look at how a change in executive sponsorship affects commitment. There were also two outside paid members, a facilitator and me as a coordinator. Literature on collaborative networks, collaborative governance, and transparency has increased recently. Leading to Parung & Bititci's (2008) theoretical framework developed to measure the sustainability of a collaborative network. This framework includes a construct for the health of a collaborative network which has five characteristics, trust, commitment, coordination, communication quality, and joint problem solving. According to research by Schnackenberg et al., (2021), transparency is relatively new and has a variety of constructs not necessarily related other than the fact that trust is a common characteristic. Schnackenberg et al. (2021) also included quality information in their transparency (open full item for complete abstract)

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

While scholars from a wide range of disciplines have analyzed thematic development, iconography, narrative, characterization, and animation style of Japanese anime, the music of anime programs is largely ignored or trivialized. This dissertation fills the gap in critical intercultural communication and media studies research by examining original anime soundtracks and their roles as narrative devices. Anime is explored as a site of global cultural resistance, while maintaining articulations of gender and cultural ideals in their stories and reflected in the lyrics of their theme songs. Employing critical intercultural communication, critical media studies, Affect Theory, with textual analysis and rhetorical criticism, this dissertation analyzes how music is intrinsic to the narrative and an expression of cultural values in anime. Analysis focuses on Hibike! Euphonium (2015-present) by Tatsuya Ishihara and Naoko Yamada, from the studio of Kyoto Animation, a slice-of-life drama involving the coming-of-age stories of high schoolers in a competitive concert band, and Vivi -Furoraito Aizu Songu- (2021) by Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara, produced by Wit Studio, which follows an autonomous Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmed to entertain humans with her voice, and who discovers her humanity through music while trying to save the world from destruction. Each anime illustrates how musical scores, lyrics, and instrumentation are incorporated into narratives of gender, agency, culture, and humanity. The dissertation also analyzes compositional style, structure, instrumentation, and lyrics encoded with hegemonic messages and constructions of gendered, raced, and cultural distinctions. It provides a critical analysis of how music is used as a narrative tool in media and communication studies involving anime and how the rhetorical messages encoded in texts, via lyrics and instrumentation, are forms of intercultural communication of Japanese anime viewed by a Western aud (open full item for complete abstract)

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)

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 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.

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.

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.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Leadership and Change

This dissertation delves into the intricate dimensions of humanization by shifting the analytical focus from denial and exclusion to affirmative aspects of inclusion. The central aim of this research is to unravel the mechanisms underlying the process of humanization, or how individuals perceive and internalize their being recognized as human beings. Employing the critical incident technique, this research methodically examined the lived experiences of a highly diverse group of individuals living with varying social stigmas and how they experience humanization. This research displays the intricate interplay of language, actions, and sensory elements engendered before, during, and after a humanizing moment. Several key findings and contributions to theory and practice emerged from this study. A dominant revelation of this study is somatic cueing's role within the humanizing process and how it underscores the wholistic nature of this phenomenon. Moreover, this research highlights how genuine acknowledgment is significant in shaping a humanizing encounter. This research also unveils that the humanizing process is not unidirectional; the effect of humanization can traverse various directions within an interaction. Lastly is the dynamism of certain humanizing characteristics, such as empathy, and how they can morph in capacity to serve the entire humanizing process. Some of the findings resonated with extant literature emphasizing the importance of personal awareness and self-reflection, along with the vital role of real-time implementation between individuals. Overall, this research advocates for proactive measures that extend beyond theoretical understanding. In conclusion, this dissertation enriches the discourse on humanization by explaining the complex processes that facilitate humanization. Through a meticulous exploration of lived experiences, this study advances the understanding of humanization as a dynamic, multidimensional process. By underscoring the potency (open full item for complete abstract)

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.

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

Studies of media coverage and framing of armed conflict in Africa routinely focus on the roles of Western media. In the post-independent periods, foreign media provided in-depth news as some African countries degenerated into armed conflicts. As Africa's newest country became dangerous for journalists, South Sudan's post-independence government imposed restrictions on local journalists' coverage of the third civil war (2013-2020). In neighboring Kenya, the East African (TEA) became a de facto regional African media covering the conflict during this period. This dissertation focused its qualitative examinations of TEA archives to explore the newspaper's coverage and framing of the conflict as an African newspaper. This research further examined TEAs' role in agenda-setting and framing theoretical frameworks. Among other conclusions, the dissertation found that TEA shaped the news agenda by using officials' news sources' narratives and framings. The study also concluded that as an African newspaper, TEA did not offer unique coverage or news framing; instead, it followed the traditional journalist practice of using and relying on officials as news sources. This dissertation is limited to the East African newspaper as a case study.

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Arts and Sciences: Communication

This study was conducted to investigate how the use of TikTok impacts Black American Muslim teen girls body image and identity. The analysis of twelve one-on-one interviews with girls aged thirteen to eighteen revealed the dialectical tensions girls experience in this stage of their identity formation and experience of embodiment. While TikTok use is often viewed as negatively impacting their psychosocial development, this study found some positive benefits. This implies that media platforms and media use can aid positive body education.