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Media Studies Theses and Dissertations

This collection contains theses and dissertations from the Department of Media Studies, collected from the Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Theses/Dissertations from 2024 2024

Networks of Resistance: A Regional Analysis of Extractive Conflicts in Central America , Giada Ferrucci

Arts-Informed Storytelling: How Arts-Informed Research was Used with Six Indigenous Peoples in London, Ont. , Percy Sherwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Witnessing Conspiracy Theories: Developing an Intersectional Approach to Conspiracy Theory Research , David Guignion

Canadians Redefining R&B: The Online Marketing of Drake, Justin Bieber, and Jessie Reyez , Amara Pope Ms.

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Instagram Influencers and their Youngest Female Followers , Amanda Jenkins

A descriptive analysis of sport nationalism, digital media, and fandom to launch the Canadian Premier League , Farzan Mirzazadeh

Influencer Engagement Pods and the Struggle Over Measure in Instagram Platform Labour , Victoria J. O'Meara

Radiant Dreams and Nuclear Nightmares: Japanese Resistance Narratives and American Intervention in Postwar Speculative Popular Culture , Aidan J. Warlow

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

More barriers than solutions: Women’s experiences of support with online abuse , Chandell E. Gosse

Heavy Metal Fundraisers: Entrepreneurial Recording Artists in Platform Capitalism , Jason Netherton

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Resistant Vulnerability in The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America , Kristen Allison

Unwrapping the Toronto Christmas Market: An Examination of Tradition and Nostalgia in a Socially Constructed Space , Lydia J. Gibson

Trauma, Creativity, And Bearing Witness Through Art: Marian Kołodziej's Labyrinth , Alyssa Logie

Appropriating Play: Examining Twitch.tv as a Commercial Platform , Charlotte Panneton

Dead Men Walking: An Analysis of Working-Class Masculinity in Post-2008 Hollywood Film , Ryan Schroeder

Glocalization in China: An Analysis of Coca-Cola’s Brand Co-Creation Process with Consumers in China , Yinuo Shi

Critiquing the New Autonomy of Immaterial Labour: An Analysis of Work in the Artificial Intelligence Industry , James Steinhoff

Watching and Working Through: Navigating Non-being in Television Storytelling , Tiara Lalita Sukhan

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Hone the Means of Production: Craft Antagonism and Domination in the Journalistic Labour Process of Freelance Writers , Robert Bertuzzi

Invisible Labour: Support-Service Workers in India’s Information Technology Industry , Indranil Chakraborty

Exhibiting Human Rights: Making the Means of Dignity Visible , Amy J. Freier

Industrial Stagecraft: Tooling and Cultural Production , Jennifer A. Hambleton

Cultural Hybridity in the Contemporary Korean Popular Culture through the Practice of Genre Transformation , Kyunghee Kim

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Regarding Aid: The photographic situation of humanitarianism , Sonya de Laat

The Representation of the Canadian Government’s Warrantless Domestic Collection of Metadata in the Canadian Print News Media , Alan Del Pino

(Not) One of the Boys: A Case Study of Female Detectives on HBO , Darcy Griffin

Pitching the Feminist Voice: A Critique of Contemporary Consumer Feminism , Kate Hoad-Reddick

Local-Global Tensions: Professional Experience, Role Perceptions and Image Production of Afghan Photojournalists Working for a Global Audience , Saumava Mitra

A place for locative media: A theoretical framework for assessing locative media use in urban environments , Darryl A. Pieber

Mapping the Arab Diaspora: Examining Placelessness and Memory in Arab Art , Shahad Rashid

Settler Colonial Ways of Seeing: Documentary Governance of Indigenous Life in Canada and its Disruption , Danielle Taschereau Mamers

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Finding Your Way: Navigating Online News and Opinions , Charlotte Britten

Law and Abuse: Representations of Intimate Partner Homicide in Law Procedural Dramas , Jaime A. Campbell

Creative Management: Disciplining the Neoliberal Worker , Trent Cruz

No hay Sólo un Idioma, No hay Sólo una Voz: A Revisionist History of Chicana/os and Latina/os in Punk , Richard C. Davila

Shifting Temporalities: The Construction of Flexible Subjectivities through Part-time Retail Workers’ Use of Smartphone Technology , Jessica Fanning

Becoming Sonic: Ambient Poetics and the Ecology of Listening in Four Militant Sound Investigations , David C. Jackson

Capital's Media: The Physical Conditions of Circulation , Atle Mikkola Kjøsen

On the Internet by Means of Popular Music: The Cases of Grimes and Childish Gambino , Kristopher R. K. Ohlendorf

Believing the News: Exploring How Young Canadians Make Decisions About Their News Consumption , Jessica Thom

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Narrative Epic and New Media: The Totalizing Spaces of Postmodernity in The Wire, Batman, and The Legend of Zelda , Luke Arnott

Canada: Multiculturalism, Religion, and Accommodation , Brittainy R. Bonnis

Navigating the Social Landscape: An Exploration of Social Networking Site Usage among Emerging Adults , Kristen Colbeck

Impassioned Objects And Seething Absences: The Olympics In Canada, National Identity and Consumer Culture , Estee Fresco

Satirical News and Political Subversiveness: A Critical Approach to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report , Roberto Leclerc

"When [S]He is Working [S]He is Not at Home": Challenging Assumptions About Remote Work , Eric Lohman

Heating Up the Debate: E-cigarettes and Instagram , Stephanie L. Ritter

Limitation to Innovation in the North American Console Video Game Industry 2001-2013: A Critical Analysis , Michael Schmalz

Happiest People Alive: An Analysis of Class and Gender in the Trinidad Carnival , Asha L. St. Bernard

Human-Machinic Assemblages: Technologies, Bodies, and the Recuperation of Social Reproduction in the Crisis Era , Elise D. Thorburn

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Evangelizing the ‘Gallery of the Future’: a Critical Analysis of the Google Art Project Narrative and its Political, Cultural and Technological Stakes , Alanna Bayer

Face Value: Beyond the Surface of Brand Philanthropy and the Cultural Production of the M.A.C AIDS Fund , Andrea Benoit

Cultivating Better Brains: Transhumanism and its Critics on the Ethics of Enhancement Via Brain-computer Interfacing , Matthew Devlin

Man Versus Food: An Analysis of 'Dude Food' Television and Public Health , Amy R. Eisner-Levine

Media Literacy and the English as a Second Language Curriculum: A Curricular Critique and Dreams for the Future , Clara R. Madrenas

Fantasizing Disability: Representation of loss and limitation in Popular Television and Film , Jeffrey M. Preston

(Un)Covering Suicide: The Changing Ethical Norms in Canadian Journalism , Gemma Richardson

Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom , Jennifer Spence

'What's in a List?' Cultural Techniques, Logistics, Poeisis , Liam Cole Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Distinguishing the 'Vanguard' from the 'Insipid': Exploring the Valorization of Mainstream Popular Music in Online Indie Music Criticism , Charles J. Blazevic

Anonymous: Polemics and Non-identity , Samuel Chiang

Manufacturing Legitimacy: A Critical Theory of Election News Coverage , Gabriel N. Elias

The Academic Grind: A Critique of Creative and Collaborative Discourses Between Digital Games Industries and Post-Secondary Education in Canada , Owen R. Livermore

We’re on This Road Together: The Changing Fan/Producer Relationship in Television as Demonstrated by Supernatural , Lisa Macklem

Brave New Wireless World: Mapping the Rise of Ubiquitous Connectivity from Myth to Market , Vincent R. Manzerolle

Promotional Ubiquitous Musics: New Identities and Emerging Markets in the Digitalizing Music Industry , Leslie Meier

Money, Morals, and Human Rights: Commercial Influences in the Marketing, Branding, and Fundraising of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch , Danielle Morgan

If I Had a Hammer: An Archeology of Tactical Media From the Hootenanny to the People's Microphone , Henry Adam Svec

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Watching High School: Representing Disempowerment on Teen Drama Television , Sarah M. Baxter

Will Work For Free: Examining the Biopolitics of Unwaged Immaterial Labour , Brian A. Brown

Social Net-working: Exploring the Political Economy of the Online Social Network Industry , Craig Butosi

Watching the games: Critical media literacy and students’ abilities to identify and critique the politics of sports , Raúl J. Feliciano Ortiz

The Invisible Genocide: An Analysis of ABC, CBS, and NBC Television News Coverage of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. , Daniel C. Harvey

It's Complicated: Romantic Breakups and Their Aftermath on Facebook , Veronika A. Lukacs

Keeping Up with the Virtual Joneses: The Practices, Meanings, and Consequences of Consumption in Second Life , Jennifer M. Martin

The (m)Health Connection: An Examination of the Promise of Mobile Phones for HIV/AIDS Intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa , Trisha M. Phippard

Born Again Hard : Transgender Subjectivity in Paul Chadwick's Concrete , Justin Raymond

Communicating Crimes: Covering Gangs in Contemporary Canadian Journalism , Chris Richardson

Online Social Breast-Working: Representations of Breast Milk Sharing in the 21st Century , Cari L. Rotstein

Because I am Not Here, Selected Second Life-Based Art Case Studies. Subjectivity, Autoempathy and Virtual World Aesthetics , Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez

Day of the Woman?: Feminism & Rape-Revenge Films , Kayley A. Viteo

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

"Aren't They Keen?" Early Children's Food Advertising and the Emergence of the Brand-loyal Child Consumer , Kyle R. Asquith

Immediacy and Aesthetic Remediation in Television and Digital Media: Mass Media’s Challenge to the Democratization of Media Production , Michael S. Daubs

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Home > USC Columbia > College of Information and Communications > Journalism & Mass Communications > Journalism & Mass Communications Theses and Dissertations

Journalism & Mass Communications Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

The Impact of Follower-Influencer Relationship Stages on Consumers’ Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions in the Context of Influencer Marketing , Khalid Obaid Alharbi

The Effect of Social Media (Instagram) Use Patterns on The Cultural and Athletic Identity of Black Female Collegiate Athletes’ Body Image Dissatisfaction , Shelbretta Kar’Anna Ball

Contextualizing Search: An Analysis of the Impacts of Construal Level Theory, Mood, and Product Type on Search Engine Activity , Jackson Everitt Carter

Words Evaporate, the Images Remain: Testing Visual Warnings in the Context of Intentions to Vape Among U.S. Adults as an Expansion of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) , Carl Arland Ciccarelli

Risk Propensity in Journalists: An Analysis of Journalists’ Personality Traits and How They Direct Behavior in the Field , Ellen Katherine Dunn

Online Information-Seeking and Cancer Screening Intention: An Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey 2022 , Rachel Aileen Ford

Always on Display: South Carolina Civil Rights Lawyer Matthew J. Perry Jr. Expanding the Civil Sphere Through the Courts and the News Media, 1954-1963 , Christopher G. Frear

Exploring the Agenda-Setting Dynamics Between Traditional Newspapers and Twitter During Mass Shooting Event , Yujin Heo

Extreme Persuasion: Analyzing Meaning Creation and Persuasive Strategies Within Extreme Discourse on Alternative Social Media , Naomi Kathryn Lawrence

Framing Police Brutality: An Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Walter Scott’s Murder , Shamira S. McCray

Understanding Podcast Advertising Processing and Outcomes: An Analysis of Podcast Ad Types, Message Types, and Media Context on Consumer Responses , Colin Piacentine

The Unsung Heroes for Intercollegiate Athletics: Examining the Dialogic Principles of Communication in Community College Athletic Departments , Matthew Alan Stilwell

Exploring Trustworthiness Issues About Disaster-related Information Generated by Artificial Intelligence , Xin Tao

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

The Effect of Emotional Intensity, Arousal, and Valence On Online Video Ad Sharing , Chang Won Choi

“Power, Poison, Pain & Joy”: Applying a Critical Race Conceptual Model of Implicit Racial Bias to Narratives Framing Blackness in Black Sports Columns, Black Music, and Black Journalism , Christina Lauren Myers

Gatekeeping Blackness: Roles, Relationships, and Pressures of Black Television Journalists at a Time of Racial Reckoning , Denetra Walker

The Binge Viewing Index: Creating and Testing a New Measure , Larry J. Webster Jr.

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Portion of Profit Donations: CSR as Public Relations Strategy and its Relationships with Trust and Purchase Intentions , Branden Dylan Cameron Birmingham

The Role of Sexting in the Development of Romantic Relationships , Max Bretscher

Let’s Be Friends: Examining Consumer Brand Relationships Through the Lens Of Brand Personality, Engagement, and Reciprocal Altruism , Daniel D. Haun

Go with The Flow: Testing the Effects of Emotional Flow on Psychophysiological, Attitudinal, and Behavioral Changes , Chris R. Noland

Brand New: How Visual Context Shapes Initial Response To Logos and Corporate Visual Identity Systems , Robert A. Wertz

Inoculating the Public Against Misinformation: Testing The Effectiveness of “Pre-bunking” Techniques in the Context of Mental Illness and Violence , Nanlan Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Gun Violence and Advocacy Communication , Minhee Choi

The Role of Third-person Perceptions in Predicting the Public’s Support for Electronic Cigarette Advertising Regulations , Joon Kyoung Kim

Conservative Media’s Coverage of Coronavirus on YouTube: A Qualitative Analysis of Media Effects on Consumers , Michael J. Layer

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Problem Chain Recognition Effect and CSR Communication: Examining the Impact of Issue Salience and Proximity on Environmental Communication Behaviors , Nandini Bhalla

The Games Behind the Scenes: Newspaper Framing of Female African American Olympic Athletes , Martin Reece Funderburk

Effectiveness of a Brand’s Paid, Owned, and Earned Media in a Social Media Environment , Anan Wan

Providing Prevention Education About Child Sexual Abuse to Parents: Testing Media Effects on Knowledge, Behavioral Intentions and Outcomes , Jane Long Weatherred

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Creating an Online Social Movement in Socially Conservative Societies: A Case Study of Manshoor Blog Using Frame Alignment Process , Noura Abdullah Al-Duaijani

How S. C. Daily Newspapers Framed the Removal of the Confederate Flag from the State House Grounds in 2015 Through Letters to the Editor and Editorials , Thomas Craig Anderson

Breaking The Silence: Extending Theory To Address The Underutilization Of Mental Health Services Among Chinese Immigrants In The United States , Jo-Yun Queenie Li

Fandom In Politics: Scale Development And Validation , Won-Ki Moon

Fatal Force: A Conversation With Journalists Who Cover Deadly, Highly-Publicized Police Shootings , Denetra Walker

Domestic Extension Of Public Diplomacy: Media Competition For Credibility, Dependency And Activation Of Publics , Yicheng Zhu

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Hydraulic Fracturing In the United States: A Framing Analysis , Kenneth Stephen Cardell Jr.

Network vs. Netflix: A Comparative Content Analysis of Demographics Across Prime-Time Television and Netflix Original Programming , James Corfield

Framing Marijuana: A Study of How us Newspapers Frame Marijuana Legalization Stories and Framing Effects of Marijuana Stories , Hwalbin Kim

The Allure of Isis: Examining the Underlying Mechanisms that Helped the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria , Alexander Luchsinger

International Twitter Comments About 2016 U.S. Presidential Candidates Trump And Clinton: Agenda-Building Analysis In The U.S., U.K., Brazil, Russia, India and China , Jane O’Boyle

Is That Online Review Fake News? How Sponsorship Disclosure Influences Reader Credibility , Mark W. Tatge

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Measuring Strategic Communications , Jeffrey A. Ranta

Public Perceptions Of Genetically Modified Food On Social Media: A Content Analysis Of Youtube Comments On Videos , Nanlan Zhang

Toward A Situational Technology Acceptance Model: Combining the Situational Theory of Problem Solving and Technology Acceptance Model to Promote Mobile Donations for Nonprofit Organizations , Yue Zheng

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Promoting HPV Vaccination for Male Young Adults: Effects of Social Influence , Wan Chi Leung

Redneckaissance: Honey Boo Boo, Tumblr, and the Stereotype of Poor White Trash , Ashley F. Miller

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Conflicted Union: Culture, Economics and European Union Media Policy , Daphney Pernola Barr

Beating Down the Fear: The Civil Sphere and Political Change in South Carolina, 1940-1962 , Sid Bedingfield

The State v. Perry: Comparative Newspaper Coverage of South Carolina's Most Prominent Civil Rights Lawyer , Christopher G. Frear

(MASCOT) NATION: EXAMINING UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAMS’ FACEBOOK PAGES , Matthew J. Haught

Innovation Among Georgian Journalism Educators: A Network Analysis Perspective , Ana Keshelashvili

Emotional Bond between the Creator and the Avatar: Changes in Behavioral Intentions to Engage in Alcohol-Related Traffic Risk Behaviors , Hokyung Kim

Handcuffing Speech: Federal Fraud Statutes and the Criminalization of Advertising , Carmen Maye

Social Movements, Media, and Democratization in Georgia , Maia Mikashavidze

Am I in Danger? : Predictors and Behavioral Outcomes of Public Perception of Risk Associated with Food Hazards , Sang-Hwa Oh

Parental Mediation of Adolescent Movie Viewing , Larry James Webster Jr.

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Political Advertising In Kuwait - A Functional Discourse Analysis , Jasem Alqaseer

The Westernization of Advertisements Published In Kuwaiti Newspapers From 1992 to 2012; A Content Analysis , Farah Taleb Alrefai

What Can Reader Comments to News Online Contribute to Engagement and Interactivity? A Quantitative Approach , Brett A. Borton

Exploring a paradigm shift: The New York Times' framing of sub-Saharan Africa in stories of conflict, war and development during the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, 1945-2009 , Zadok Opero Ekimwere

Mental Health On Youtube: Exploring the Potential of Interactive Media to Change Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors About Mental Health , Caroline Belser Foster

That's News to Me: An Exploratory Study of the Uses and Gratifications of Current Events On Social Media of 18-24 Year-Olds , John Vincent Karlis

Making Stewardship Meaningful For Nonprofits: Stakeholder Motivations, Attitudes, Loyalty and Behaviors , Geah N. Pressgrove

An Alternative Path: The Intellectual Legacy of James W. Carey , Matthew Ross

The Corporation in the Marketplace of Ideas: The Law and Economics of Corporate Political Speech , Matthew W. Telleen

Child Sexual Abuse In the Media: Is Institutional Failure to Blame? , Jane Long Weatherred

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

The Relationship Between Facebook Use and Religiosity Among Emerging Adults , Heidi D. Campbell

Attribute Agenda Setting, Attribtue Priming, and The Public's Evaluation of Genetically Modified (GM) Food in South Korea , Soo Yun Kim

What's Mine is Yours: An Exploratory Study of Attitudes and Conceptions About Online Personal Privacy In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , Patrick Sharbaugh

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

How Journalists Perceive Internal and External Influence: A Qualitative Assessment of Local Television Reporters' Ethical Decision-Making , Beth Eckard Concepcion

Collective Memory of the War In Iraq: An Analysis of Letters to the Editor and Public Opinion Polls, 2003-2008 , Lisa Cash Luedeman

A Framing Analysis and Model of Barack Obama in Political Cartoons , Anthony Palmer

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Breaking Down the Fear' -- John H. Mccray, Accommodationism and theFraming of the Civil Rights Struggle in South Carolina, 1940-1948 , Sid Bedingfield

Do You See What I See?: A Comparative Content Analysis of Iraq War Photographs As Published In the New York Times and the Tehran Times , Garen Cansler

Exploring Intention to Adopt Mobile Tv Services In the U.S.: Toward A New Model With Cognitive-Based and Emotional-Based Constructs , Seoyoon Choi

Media Representations and Implications For Collective Memory: A Grounded Theory Analysis of TV News Broadcasts of Hillary Clinton From 1993-2008 , Mary Elizabeth McLaughlin

Resonance and Elaboration: the Framing Effect of Chinese Product Safety Issue Coverage , Ji Pan

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Masters Theses in Media Studies, Department of Communication, Stanford University

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41 catalog results, online 1. sociability project: social media and negative well-being [2023].

• Fanaika, Brandon Lee (Author)
• June 6, 2023; June 2019

Online 2. A Critique of How Television Represents Race Through Humor [2019]

• Snyder, Haley Rose (Author)

Online 3. “Better Than I Was Yesterday”: A Qualitative Analysis of Motivations to Self-Track [2019]

• Srinivasan, Leela (Author)
• June 4, 2019

Online 4. Health Behavior Change in Virtual Worlds: A Systematic Review [2019]

• White, Nicole (Author)

Online 5. Identity and Self-Presentation in Computer Mediated Environments [2019]

• Norder, Devin (Author)
• June 11, 2019

Online 6. Lights, Camera... Asians: Hollywood’s Quest for Success in the “Asian Box Office” [2019]

• Sagan, Samuel Kasem (Author)
• June 2, 2019

Online 7. Love as We Know It: A Consideration of Romance through the Lens of Trust in the Era of Technology [2019]

• Dagostino, Kyle (Author)

Online 8. Party Over Reality: The Impact of Partisanship on Perceptions of Political Disinformation [2019]

• Joseff, Kathryn (Author)

Online 9. Retail to E-tail: Understanding how ecommerce has reshaped the retail industry [2019]

• Conaton, Patrick (Author)

Online 10. Sociability Project: Social Media and Negative Well-Being [2019]

Online 11. the lifestyle project: a review of wearable technologies, motivations, and health outcomes in physical activity research [2019].

• Murphy, Alameen (Author)

Online 12. Trust in a Digital Age: Overcoming Systemic Difficulties in Returning Unclaimed Property [2019]

• Shaw, Sydney (Author)

Online 13. A Literature Review Promoting Counterinsurgency Cultural Training in Virtual Reality [2018]

• Hayden, "Carly" Constance Charlotte (Author)

Online 14. A New Era of Personalized Politics: The 2016 Twitter Campaign [2018]

• Schram, Connor (Author)

Online 15. Activist Responsibility and Social Platforms: Analyzing Billie Jean King's Furtherance of Women's Athletics Through Liberal Feminism [2018]

• Stone, Gabrielle Jean (Author)

Online 16. Community Supported Fisheries and Their Strategies for Social Media Marketing [2018 - 2019]

• Enriques, Evan (Author)
• 2018 - 2019

Online 17. Entertainment-Education and Narrative Persuasion in the Context of the Culture Cycle and Communication Theories [2018]

• Lim, Liliana Danielle (Author)

Online 18. Filter Bubbles And Music Streaming: The Influence of Personalization And Recommendation Algorithms on Music Discovery Via Streaming Platforms [2018]

• McClung, Madison Grace (Author)

Online 19. Is the United States Ready for a Female President? An Examination of American Media Culture and Current Political Evaluations [2018]

• Sorenson, Kylene (Author)

Online 20. Norbert Wiener and libertarian paternalism: a careful look at nudge economics through the thick lends of the dark hero [2018]

• Krem, Katherine Alexandra (Author)

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Media ecology: a complex and systemic metadiscipline.

1. Introduction

2. what is media ecology.

Media ecology looks into the matter of how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value; and how our interaction with media facilitates or impedes our chances of survival. The word ecology implies the study of environments: their structure, content, and impact on people. An environment is, after all, a complex message system which imposes on human beings certain ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It structures what we can see and say and, therefore, do. It assigns roles to us and insists on our playing them. It specifies what we are permitted to do and what we are not. Sometimes, as in the case of a courtroom, or classroom, or business office, the specifications are explicit and formal. In the case of media environments (e.g., books, radio, film, television, etc.), the specifications are more often implicit and informal, half concealed by our assumption that what we are dealing with is not an environment but merely a machine. Media ecology tries to make these specifications explicit. It tries to find out what roles media force us to play, how media structure what we are seeing, why media make us feel and act as we do. Media ecology is the study of media as environments. (see [ 7 ])

Traditionally, an ecological system or ecosystem refers to a biological system consisting of a natural physical environment and the living organisms inhabiting that physical environment as well as the interactions of all the constituents of the system. A media ecosystem is defined in analogy with a traditional biological ecosystem as a system consisting of human beings and the media and technology through which they interact and communicate with each other. It also includes the languages with which they express and code their communication (…) Language and technologies mediate and create environments like media. Media and languages are both techniques and tools just like any other form of technology. Media and technologies are languages of expression, which like a language communicate information with their own unique semantics and syntax. Given these overlaps, we claim that the ecological study of media cannot be restricted to narrowly defined media of communication but must also include technology and language and the interactions of these three domains, with together form a media ecosystem. (Logan, 2010 [ 3 ] (pp. 33–34))

Media ecology is a metadiscipline that deals with the study of a complex set of relationships or interrelationships between symbols, media and culture. The word ecology implies the study of environments and their interrelationships: content, structure, and social impact. A media environment is one that derives from the interrelationships between man and the different communication technologies such as: books, radio, television and internet. Media ecology is the study of techniques, modes of information and communication codes as the main part of an interrelated environment performing various effects in a given context. [ 8 ]

Media ecology is the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs. Media ecology “is” the Toronto School, and the New York School. It “is” technological determinism, hard and soft, and technological evolution. It “is” media logic, medium theory, mediology. It “is” McLuhan studies, orality-literacy studies, American cultural studies. It “is” grammar and rhetoric, semiotics and systems theory, the history and the philosophy of technology. It “is” the postindustrial and the postmodern, and the preliterate and prehistoric. [ 9 ]

According to the Media Ecology Association, the term “media ecology” can be defined as “the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs”. Media ecology theory centers on the principles that technology not only profoundly influences society; it also controls virtually all walks of life. It is a study of how media and communication processes affect human perception and understanding. The term was first formally introduced by Neil Postman in 1968, while the concept of the theory was proposed by Marshall McLuhan in 1964. To strengthen this theory, McLuhan and Quentin Fiore claim that it is the media of the epoch that defines the essence of the society by presenting four epochs, inclusive of Tribal Era, Literate Era, Print Era and Electronic Era, which corresponds to the dominant mode of communication of the time respectively. McLuhan argues that media act as extensions of the human senses in each era, and communication technology is the primary cause of social change. To understand how media effect large structural changes in human outlook, McLuhan classified media as either hot or cool. Hot media refers to a high-definition communication that demands little involvement from audience whereas cool media describes media that demands active involvement from audience. McLuhan with his son Eric McLuhan expanded the theory in 1988 by developing a way to look further into the effects of technology on society. They offer the tetrad as an organized concept that allows people to know the laws of media, the past, present and future effects of media. Media ecology is a contested term within media studies for it has different meanings in European and North American contexts. The North American definition refers to an interdisciplinary field of media theory and media design involving the study of media environments The European version of media ecology is a materialist investigation of media systems as complex dynamic systems. [ 10 ]

A broad based scholarly tradition and social practice. It is both historical and contemporary, as it slides between and incorporates the ancient, the modern, and the post-modern. ... More precisely, media ecology understands the on-going history of humanity and the dynamics of culture and personhood to be intricately intertwined with communication and communication technologies. [ 11 ]

Postman himself recognized that Marshall McLuhan had used it earlier this decade, specifically in the era of his greatest intellectual brilliance ( The Gutenberg Galaxy is published in 1962, and Understanding Media in 1964) (...) during his lecture, Postman defined the Media Ecology as the study of media as environments. [ 9 ]

No single individual is more central to media ecology than McLuhan, not because he was the first to employ this perspective, but rather because he popularized it, and produced the first great synthesis of media ecological thought. For some, McLuhanism or McLuhan Studies is sufficient in and of itself, and all the answers can be found in his writings. To others, it was the questions he asked that had the true significance, as he opened up a relatively new field of study, probed uncharted territories, generated excitement, and served as a source of inspiration. For the vast majority, it was this book, first published in 1964, which turned them on to the study of media environments. [ 7 ]

3. The Interpretation of Historical Time

The increase of speed from the mechanical to instant electrically reverses explosion in implosion. In the present Electric Age the imploding or contracting energies of our world collide with the old patterns of organization, expansionists and traditionals (...) In fact, creating our concern for the population is not increasing quantities, but the fact is that everyone has to live in closer proximity created by our electric and reciprocal involvement in the lives of others. (McLuhan, 1996 [ 11 ] (p. 55))

4. Media Ecology and Complex and Systemic Thinking

“Until very recently there is a voice that understood that set of ideas; to express everything through a word, I was forced to invent it. From there: cybernetics, resulting from kubernetes, Greek word, or helm, the root of which people of the West have formed government and its derivatives.” (Wiener, 1981 [ 1 ] (p. 17))

In 1948, Norbert Wiener (1894–1964) publishes Cybernetics or control and communication in animals and machines. This work, in which observation of physiological processes and neurophysiological monitoring (heart muscle contraction, benefits the nervous system as an integrated whole) and formalization of a general theory of technological control systems gets intersect, is the starting point for pilotage or science cybernetics.

We give the name of the content information which is the subject of trade with the outside world, as we adjust to it and make that fits us. The process of receiving and using information is to adjust to the contingencies of our environment and living effectively within it. The needs and complexity of modern life posed to this phenomenon demands more intense exchange of information at any other time; the press, museums, scientific laboratories, universities, libraries and textbooks have to meet them or fail in its purpose. Live effectively it means having the right information. Thus, communication and regulation constitute the inner life of man, and their social life.

states that the properties of the systems can’t significantly be described in terms of its separate elements. The understanding of systems occurs only when they are studied globally, involving all the interdependencies of its parts. The three basic premises are: the systems exist within systems, the systems are open and the function of a system depends on its structure. [ 25 ]

The Luhmann’s theory has, instead, powerful analytical tools for understanding the functioning of society, subsystems and organizations. Mechanisms for reducing the complexity, the codes of the various subsystems, the binary selection schemes and regulation of relations within each subsystem and exchanges between them, are rigorously scrutinized. So the conceptual apparatus is emerging as a very suitable to the characteristics of modern society vision, and the processes that occur at different levels. [ 28 ]

McLuhan (2003) argued that language is a form of perception, indeed, that languages are organs of perception. And to Luhmann (1982, 1989, 1995, 2000), both, perception and language, contribute to the maintenance and running of the limits of self-organizing social systems. (Strate, 2010 [ 5 ] (p. 35))

5. Conclusions

Author contributions, conflicts of interest.

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Islas, O.; Bernal, J.D. Media Ecology: A Complex and Systemic Metadiscipline. Philosophies 2016 , 1 , 190-198. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies1030190

Islas O, Bernal JD. Media Ecology: A Complex and Systemic Metadiscipline. Philosophies . 2016; 1(3):190-198. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies1030190

Islas, Octavio, and Juan David Bernal. 2016. "Media Ecology: A Complex and Systemic Metadiscipline" Philosophies 1, no. 3: 190-198. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies1030190

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Media Theories Revisited

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• Janina Krieger 2  

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The upheavals caused by digitalization at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the twenty-first century are indeed enormous, but they are not the first media-technical changes that have sustainably influenced and modified society and culture. The twentieth century, especially the 1950s, is characterized as the decades of society-revolutionizing, as the development of television was driven forward in this time. Such technical innovations were taken up by the media sciences. In the course of the technical changes, media theorists compared the prevailing media-technical conditions with those of book printing. The fact that the comparison medium or similar conditions can be seen in book printing shows how far-reaching the social behavior was from book printing, and also how far-reaching the changes caused by television and computer were perceived by media theorists.

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The novel reflects the US media conditions of the time. Since the USA was much ahead of Germany in terms of television development, because the USA was not destroyed by the war, the media conditions addressed in the novel only occur in Germany a few years later (in the 1960s).

Cf. Epping-Jäger, Cornelia (1996): The Inszenierung of Schrift. Der Literalisierungsprozeß und die Entstehungsgeschichte des Dramas. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, p. 39 ff.

In comparison to the individual media, the computer is a universal machine because computers are calculators that can process anything and play multiple senses at the same time based on their 0/1 code. But even that can’t the book, as a single medium, address multiple senses through imagination or conscious activation of the imagination through language, such as one can imagine a smell while reading.

Cf. Nelles, Jürgen (2002): Bücher über Bücher, p. 39.

Cf. ibid., p. 41.

Ibid., p. 39

McLuhan, Marshall/Fiore, Quentin (1969): The Medium is Massage, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Vienna: Ullstein, p. 26.

Ibid., p. 31–40.

Nelles (2002): Bücher über Bücher, S. 43.

McLuhan/Fiore (1969): Das Medium ist Massage, S. 50.

Cf. Nelles (2002): Bücher über Bücher, S. 44

Information center mobile phones: How does digital communication influence our social behavior?, URL: https://www.informationszentrum-mobilfunk.de/wirtschaft-gesellschaft/mobile-gesellschaft/sozialverhalten , accessed on 04/09/2020 at 1:22 pm.

Kuhn, Johannes: “1000 Likes and still lonely”, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung online, 18. March 2019, 16:20 clock URL: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/digital/sxsw-digitale-isolation-einsamkeit-social-media-1.4371017 , accessed on 02.09.2020 at 18:48 clock.

Cf. Peper, Erik/Harvey, Richard (2018). Digital addiction: Increased loneliness, anxiety, and depression. NeuroRegulation, 5(1), 3–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.15540/nr.5.1.3 , URL: https://www.neuroregulation.org/article/view/18189/11842 , accessed on 08.09.2021 at 00:22 a.m.

The form in which media influence our perceptual apparatus is also the subject of McLuhan’s investigations. According to McLuhan, media cause “an extension of human faculties, whether they be mental or physical” (McLuhan/Fiore (1969): The Medium is the Massage, p. 26). This has the consequence that our senses change, which in turn has the consequence that “the way we think and act—the way we perceive the world” (ibid., p. 41) changes. And thus the human being changes fundamentally himself. The famous sentence “the medium is the massage” is to be related to this, as Christa Karpenstein-Eßbach explains: “Its message lies in the modification of our sensory activity.” (Karpenstein-Eßbach, Christa (2004): Introduction to the Cultural Studies of Media, Paderborn: Fink, p. 68). This will be discussed in more detail in Sect.  5.2.2 .

Thus, the smartphone has to be defended, because it can also bridge and abolish isolation. This way, especially older people who live alone can stay in touch with their grandchildren and overcome local distance through video calls. Especially in the current pandemic time, the smartphone and all internet-enabled devices are very helpful for people who live alone to not be lonely.

Cf. German Institute for Trust and Security in the Internet: “DIVSI U25 study: children, adolescents and young adults in the digital world”, March 6, 2014, URL:

https://www.divsi.de/publikationen/studien/divsi-u25-studie-kinder-jugendliche-und-junge-erwachsene-in-der-digitalen-welt/ , accessed on 16.08.2021 at 12:03 p.m.

Information Center for Mobile Phones: “How does digital communication affect our social behavior?”, URL: https://www.informationszentrum-mobilfunk.de/wirtschaft-gesellschaft/mobile-gesellschaft/sozialverhalten . accessed on 16.08.2021 at 12:06 p.m.

Cf. Baumann, Eva/Keller, Katrin/Maurer, Marcus/Quandt, Thorsten/Schweiger, Wolfgang: “How media are used and what they do”, Federal Agency for Civic Education, 08.06.2011, URL: https://www.bpb.de/izpb/7543/wie-medien-genutzt-werden-und-was-sie-bewirken , accessed 16.08.2021 at 14:39.

Grampp, Sven (2011): Marshall McLuhan: an introduction, Stuttgart: UTB, p. 91.

McLuhan/Fiore (1969): The Medium is Massage, p. 63.

Ibid., p. 125

This thesis can be transferred to the world giant Facebook, which makes use of this principle.

Book data can be exchanged quickly if they are internet-based. The eBook reader also does not lose connection, as eBook readers are usually internet-connected. If a breaking news alert pops up on the screen, the book reader is also involved in world events at the same time. Consequently, the carrier allows the reader to be informed of events at the same time.

McLuhan/Fiore (1969): The Medium is the Massage, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Vienna: Ullstein, p. 26.

Ibid., p. 41.

Karpenstein-Eßbach, Christa (2004): Introduction to the Cultural Studies of Media, Paderborn: Fink, p. 68.

McLuhan/Fiore (1969): The Medium is the Massage, p. 26.

Cf. Grampp (2011): Marshall McLuhan: an introduction, p. 122, refers to Hörisch: A history of media, pp. 71 ff. and Leschke: Introduction to media theory, pp. 245 ff.

Küchemann, Fridtjof: Printed or digital? The future of reading, FAZ.net, updated on 22.03.2017 at 13:07, URL: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/themen/gedruckt-oder-digital-e-read-erforscht-das-lesen-14936028-p3.html , accessed on 03.09.2020 at 11:13.

E-Read COST, ©2016, COST is supported by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020: https://ereadcost.eu , accessed on 03.09.2020 at 11:15 am.

In addition, popular scientists are also dealing with the topic, so it is Manfred Spitzer’s books “Digital Dementia: How We Drive Ourselves and Our Children Crazy” (2012), “Cyberkrank! How the digitalized life ruins our health” (2015) and “The Smartphone Epidemic: Dangers for health, education and society” (2018), which make the topic accessible to the general public.

McLuhan, Marshall (1968): Magische Kanäle. Understanding Media, Dresden/Basel 1995: Verlag der Kunst, S. 22.

Grampp (2011): Marshall McLuhan: eine Einführung, S. 129.

Cf. McLuhan, Marshall (1978): Wohin steuert die Welt? Massenmedien und Gesellschaftsstruktur, Wien: Europaverlag, S. 47.

Cf. McLuhan (1968): Magische Kanäle, S. 39.

In contrast, it is possible with internet-enabled eBook readers that, for example, short messages are displayed in the reading window. For others, however, an e-reader brings so many advantages that their consumption behavior has completely adapted to it and only books are re-ciphered over it.

Krampf, Leif/Hepp, Andreas (2016): Preface: Cultural Change as Media Change. On the Relevance of Walter J. Ong, in Orality and Literacy , The Technologization of the Word, in the series: Media—Culture—Communication, 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, p. VII.

Cf. ibid., p. VII.

Ibid., p. IX ff.

Ibid., p. X.

Ong, Walter (1987): Orality and Literacy, The Technologization of the Word, in the series: Media—Culture—Communication, 2nd edition 2016, Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, p. 73.

Ibid. p. 76.

Ibid., p. 77.

Ibid., p. 109.

Ibid., p. 114.

Ibid., p. 113

Cf. Ong (1986, 2016): Orality and Literacy, p. XII.

Ibid., p. XIII.

Ong (1986, 2016): Orality and Literacy, p. XIV.

See: Hickethier, Knut (1998): History of German Television, Stuttgart/Weimar: Metzler; Eurich, Claus/Würzberg, Gerd (1983): 30 Years of Television. How television has changed our lives, Hamburg: Rowohlt; Hörisch (2004): A history of the media. From the oblate to the internet, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp; Scholz, Werner (2007): Quickstart TV, Cologne: DuMont Literature and Art.

Kittler, Friedrich (1986): Grammophon, Film, Typewriter, Berlin: Brinkmann & Bose, p. 3.

Cf. Kittler, Friedrich A. (1993): Draculas Vermächtnis. Technische Schriften, Leipzig: Reclam, p. 8.

For Kittler, the media are not only involved, but shape world history, indeed dissolve it in three phases: Phase 1, since the American Civil War, developed storage techniques for acoustics, optics and writing: film, gramophone and the human-machine system typewriter. Phase 2, since the First World War, developed for all storage contents the appropriate electrical transmission technologies: radio, television and their secret twins. Phase 3, since the Second World War, transferred the circuit diagram of a typewriter into the technology of calculability as such; Turing’s mathematical definition of computability gave the name to computers coming in 1936. (Kittler (1986): Grammophon, Film, Typewriter, p. 352).

Karpenstein-Eßbach (2004): Einführung in die Kulturwissenschaft der Medien, p. 98.

Kittler (1986): Gramophone, Film, Typewriter, p. 29.

Ibid., p. 4.

Another topic of Kittler’s is that the typewriter not only revolutionized the materiality of writing, but also broke the gender role, because typewriter also stands for “typewriter” (cf. Kittler, Friedrich: Grammophon, Film, Typewriter, Binkmann & Bose Berlin, 1986, p. 273.): “The monopoly of writing on serial data processing was at the same time a privilege of men. Even if, in the course of general literacy, more and more women learned the letters, being able to read was not being allowed to write. [...]. Only the Civil War of 1861 to 1864, this revolutionary media combination of telegraph cable and parallel railway tracks, opened government bureaucracy, post office and stenography for women writers, the number of which, however, still fell below the statistical threshold of attention. The Gutenberg galaxy was thus a sexually closed system. He controlled [...] nothing less than German poetry.” (ibid., p. 275). Manuscripts written or dictated by men “went to male setters, bookbinders, publishers, etc., only to end up as a print with those girls for whom Goethe wrote” (ibid., p. 275 f.).

Kittler, Friedrich (1986): Grammophon, Film, Typewriter, Binkmann & Bose Berlin, p. 293.

Karpenstein-Eßbach (2004): Introduction to the Cultural Studies of the Media, S, 99.

Ibid., p. 98.

Ebd., S. 99.

Kittler, Friedrich: Dracula’s Legacy, p. 8.

Ibid., p. 9.

Kittler (1986): Gramophone, Film, Typewriter, p. 372.

Hartmann, Frank (2008): Friedrich Kittler, in: Handbook of Media Education, ed. by Uwe Sander, Friederike von Gross, Kai-Uwe Hugger, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, p. 256.

Ibid., p. 252.

Ibid., p. 244.

Hartmann, Frank (2008): Friedrich Kittler, in: Handbuch Medienpädagogik, ed. by Uwe Sander, Friederike von Gross, Kai-Uwe Hugger, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, p. 252.

Kittler, Friedrich (1986): Grammophon, Film, Typewriter, Berlin: Binkmann & Bose, p. 3

Ibid., p. 3 f.

Ibid., p. 4

Bollmann, Stefan: Editor’s Foreword, in: Flusser, Vilém (1997): Media culture, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, p. 7.

Flusser, Vilém (1997): Media culture, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, p. 61.

Ibid., p. 62 f.

Ibid., p. 63.

Ibid., p. 65.

Ibid., p. 66.

Flusser, Vilém (1991): Gestures. Attempt at a Phenomenology, Düsseldorf and Bensheim: Bollmann, p. 39.

Ibid., p. 42.

Ibid., p. 47

Cf. Ibid., p. 49

Flusser died in 2011 and was unable to experience the peak and aftermath of digitalized writing.

Flusser, Vilém (1992): Into the Universe of Technical Images. 4th, revised edition, Göttingen: European Photography, pp. 9–10.

Hörisch, Jochen: Introduction, in: Introduction to Media Studies. Developments and theories, by Peter Ludes, Berlin 2003, p. 17.

Hörisch, Jochen: The touching helplessness of the forestry industry, Zeit.de, 05.12.2014, page 2, URL: http://www.zeit.de/kultur/2014-12/spiegel-buechner-medien-branche-nervositaet/seite-2 , accessed 21.08.2021 at 14:37.

Ibid., p. 76 f.

The beginning of the distinction between digital and analog is “often understood as a world-historical watershed”, whereby here more the image, sound and media technology is meant. (Schröter, Jens: Analog/Digital—Opposition or Continuum?, In: Analog/Digital—Opposition or Continuum? On the Theory and History of a Distinction, ed. by Jens Schröter and Alexander Böhnke, Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, p. 8).

Ibid., p. 7.

Renner, Kai-Hinrich/Renner, Tim (2011): Digital is better. Why the Occident will not perish through the Internet. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, p. 235.

Ibid., p. 235.

Hörisch (1999): End of the presentation, p. 212

Ibid., p. 214.

Ibid., p. 247 f.

Cf. Ibid., p. 212.

Ibid., quoted Coy, Wolfgang (1995): From the Gutenberg galaxy to the Turing galaxy: Beyond printing and television. Introduction to: Marshall McLuhan: The Gutenberg galaxy. The end of the book age. Cologne: Addison-Wesley, p. XVII.

Hörisch, Jochen (1997): Media generations, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, p. 133.

Hörisch (1999): End of the Show, p. 207.

Cf. GfK Consumer Panel. Basis: book market including audiobooks (physical and downloads) and e-books, period: January to December 2018, in: Börsenblatt, issue 42: focus market and power, 15. October 2019, Frankfurt am Main, p. 18–19.

Hörisch (1997): Media Generations, p. 13.

The effects of collective and simultaneous television consumption are addressed in Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury. The television was particularly heavily criticized by literary scholars because it was an equalizing and dumbing-down medium. The same accusations are made against the television in Bradbury’s novel, which is representative of the criticism of the 1960s and shows how literature devalues itself in relation to the television.

Hörisch (1997): Mediengenerationen, p. 134

Cf. ibid., p. 135.

Ibid., p. 134.

Generation Y comprises people born between 1980 and 1995, and Generation Z, born between 1996 and 2010 (cf. UNICUM: Generation Z: Who are the young people of tomorrow?, URL: https://unicum-media.com/marketing-wiki/generation-z/ , accessed on 21.08. at 15:47 pm): “With the Generation Z we mean the young people and young adults born around the turn of the millennium. While the Generation Y was still referred to as Digital Natives, the Generation Z can undoubtedly be referred to as Digital Natives 2.0. Because in contrast to the previous generation, the Gen Z was already confronted with the digital flood of information in childhood, knows how to process it better and is technically more versed. She does not know a world without new technologies. The boundaries between virtual and real world are blurring for the Gen Z more and more.” (ibid.)

Cf. Zielinski, Siegfried (2002): Archäologie der Medien: Zur Tiefenzeit des technischen Hörens und Sehens, Reinbek bei Hamburg, Rowohlt.

This is made clear by the eBook reader Kindle Paperwhite by Amazon, whose electronic surface is modeled after a sheet of paper. That is, the screen feels like paper and the turning of pages is modeled after paper-turning.

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Krieger, J. (2023). Media Theories Revisited. In: The Book’s Road in the Age of Digitization. Palgrave Macmillan, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66683-8_5

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Mass Communications > Theses and Dissertations

Mass Communications Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

No Change No Gain: A Comparative Framing Analysis of the NFL’s Inspire Change Campaign , Kia K. Cannon

Comparative Analysis of Abortion Coverage in CNN and Fox News from the Perspective of Agenda Setting Theory , Xinyu Chang

From the Patient’s Perspective: Understanding the Colorectal Cancer Patient Experience Portrayed in Edutainment Television , Allison M. Fisher

Influence of Merck Gardasil 9 Advertisements on Male Vaccination Behavior Through a Health Belief Model Framework , Lauren Kierpa

Lights, Camera, Recruitment: Analyzing DoD-Hollywood Synergy and its Effects on Attitudes and Behaviors Towards the Military , Jose-Andres Leon-Gil

Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Media Influencers: Effectiveness of CSR Brand-Endorsed Messaging on Consumers , Hannah Sarmiento

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Crisis Response Message Strategies on Consumer Emotions, Perceptual Beliefs and Intended Behavior , Valentina Ahumada

How the Taiwanese podcast Bailingguo News framed the 2019 Hong Kong movement: A framing analysis of the anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill , Yu-Fei Chiu

Advocating for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Study of the NHL’s #HockeyIsForEveryone Campaign on Twitter , Jessica Martinez

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

An Analysis of International Soccer Fans’ Knowledge of Qatar, Perceptions of Qatar’s Country Image, and Intention to Support the 2022 FIFA World Cup , Taleb Al-Adbah

Analysis of Prescription Drug Brand Mentions in Music: Prevalence and Consumer Perceptions , Lisa A. Blake

Elements of Instagram Influencer Posts that Drive Follower Engagement , Yishan Li

Communicating Breast Cancer Awareness: Using the Health Belief Model to Develop Mass Communication Themes to Influence Early Detection Behaviors , Srisai Kamakshi Ramya Harika Pucha

The European Super League (ESL): A Political Economy and Media Framing Analysis , Patrick Sidwell

Inaugural Addresses, Framing Theory, and the Impact on American Perceptions of the Presidency , Kalin Meagan Velez

The Use of Social Media by Leaders in Times of Crisis: 2020–21 United States Election Protests , Cagdas Yuksel

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Influence of Hate Speech on TikTok on Chinese College Students , Tengyue Chen

Cultivating Courage: Medical Dramas and Portrayals of Patient Self-Advocacy , Alyssa H. Harrell

The Media Reproduction of Racial Violence: A Content Analysis of News Coverage Following the Death of George Floyd Jr. , Keylon Lovett

Credibility of Spokespersons and E-cigarette Prevention Messages: Elaboration Likelihood Model and The Moderating Role of Perceived Risk , Emmanuel Maduneme

An Examination of COVID-19 Health Behaviors and Public Health Messaging Using the Health Belief Model and Organization-Public Relationship Quality , Aaron L. Nichols

The Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM) and Risk Perceptions of Twitter messages related to COVID-19 , Muhammad E. Rasul

Framing #MeToo movement in China A Content Analysis of China Women’s News Coverage , Wenminzi Wu

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Super Bowl Ads and the Donald Trump Culture War , Jessica Barron

A Case Study on Black Twitter’s Reactions to the Framing of Blacks in Dove’s 2017 Facebook Advertisement , Shereena Farrington

The Roles of Emotional Cues and Purchasing Incentives in WeChat Commerce: A Content Analysis , Xuezhu Hao

People with Parkinson’s and Care Partners of PwPs’ Uncertainty Management Through Information Strategies , Amy Haywood

Asian Male Stereotypes: An Investigation of Current Beliefs About Asian Males and Stereotypes Perpetuated by U.S. Modern Cinema , Noelle Knopp

Developing Design Elements for a Parkinson’s Disease Informative Website: A Social Marketing Approach , Emilie R. Madsen

Evaluation of Native Advertisement though Third Person Effect Theory: An Experimental Design , Inga Nafetvaridze

EPPM and Its Effectiveness in Advertisements of Colorectal Cancer Screening among Young Adults , Anh T. Nguyen

The Role of Threat and Efficacy in Anti-Vaping Ads: A Test of the Extended Parallel Process Model , Ryan Noone

An Experimental Investigation into the Impact of Crisis Response Strategies and Relationship Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry , Nikoletta Pappas

Media Fandom: Social Media Use and Collective Identity in China: A Case Study of Z.Tao’s Weibo Fandom , Mier Sha

'Golden Spike': Examining Atlanta United FC Communications During the Launch of the Team , Maria Tsyruleva

The Role of Influencer Endorsement in Consumer Brand Engagement on Sina Weibo , Xiaofan Wei

One News Event, Three Media Frames , Le Xin

Applying the Situational Theory of Publics to Children's Sex Education in China , Baoyi Zeng

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Role of Social Media Journalists in TV News:Their Effects on the Profession and Identity of TV Journalism, the Quality of News, and theAudience Engagement , Yousuf Humiad AL Yousufi

Relationship Management Communications by NHL Teams on Twitter , Kelsey M. Baker

2018 China-United States Trade War: Framing Analysis of Online News Coverage in the United States and China as portrayed by the New York Times and the People’s Daily , Jiangling Huang

The Research on the Determinants of Users' Willingness to Pay for Chinese Paid Sports Model Based on Use and Gratification Theory , Jing Li

Online MMORPG Games in China: Player Motivations and the Mediating Role of Flow , Jiaxin Liu

The Hostile Media Effect and Its Potential Consequences: Examining the Influence of Presumed Influence of International Media Coverage , Zhennan Liu

Womenpreneurs in a Digital Environment: Utilizing Instagram to Build a Personal Brand , Michelle N. Nuñez

Objectification of Women in Bollywood Item Numbers , Zahabia Z. Slatewala

A Research on eSports Users’ Motives and Satisfaction in China The Case of League of Legends , Qianyin Sun

An Analysis of the Language and the Relationship of the President of the USA Related Twitter Accounts toward the National Media , Sait Serif Turhan

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Perception of Kazakhstan in the U.S through the New York Times Coverage , Tursynay Alikhanova

The Influence of Instagram Selfies on Female Millennials’ Appearance Satisfaction , Diliara Bagautdinova

Women’s Body Image in the Media: Fitspiration on Instagram , Brook M. Bryant

Political Talk Shows in Taiwan: First- and Third-Person Effects, Their Attitudinal Antecedents and Consequences , Shou-Chen Hsieh

An Examination of Image Repair Theory and BP’s Response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill , William Anthony Korte Jr.

An Analysis of Organ Donation Presentations on Weibo , Shengfei Li

Gender Sexualization in Digital Games: Exploring Female Character Changes in Tomb Raider , Jingjing Liu

Shithole Countries: An Analysis of News Coverage in the U.S. , Murewa O. Olubela

Self-esteem, motivation, and self-enhancement presentation on WeChat , Xiao Qiu

The Portrayal of Women in the Oldest Russian Women’s Magazine “Rabotnitsa” From 1970-2017 , Anastasiia Utiuzh

Cultural Adaptation and Maintenance: Chinese International Students' Use of Facebook and WeChat , Mengni Wang

The Understanding of Absolute Right to Freedom of Expression in the Case of Hate Speech , Qinqin Wang

Body Image, Self-Esteem and Eating Disturbance among Chinese Women: Testing the Tripartite Influence model , Weiwei Wang

I’m Your Fan – Engaging in Celebrity’s Social Media Page with the Mediation of Parasocial Interaction and Parasocial Relationship , Jiahui Zhuang

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Household Food Waste Prevention in Malaysia: An Issue Processes Model Perspective , Syahirah Abd Razak

Countering the Questionable Actions of the CPD and FEC , Brian C. Cole

“You Know Who I Am, Don’t You? I’m the One They’re Writing About in the Newspapers and on TV” , Casey Killen Crane

To Tell the Truth: The Credibility of Cable News Networks In an Era of Increasingly Partisan Political News Coverage , Christopher Jadick

Political Media Bias in the United States: Immigration and the Trump Administration , Bryce Josepher

Social Media Use and Political Participation in China: The Mediating Role of Political Efficacy , Bingyang Liu

Framing Genetically-modified Foods Communication in China: A Content Analysis of News Coverage of People’s Daily and Southern Metropolis , Linqi Lu

Conceptualizing Social Wealth in the Digital Age: A Mixed Methods Approach , Kristina Oliva

The Road to the White House: A Correlational Analysis of Twitter Sentiment and National Polls in the 2016 Election Cycle , Melissa G. Pelletier

Using Green Messages to Cue Recycling Tendencies , Danielle Quichocho

Traversing Privacy Issues on Social Networking Sites Among Kuwaiti Females , Shahad Shihab

Chinese National Identity and Media Framing , Yufeng Tian

Smog Pollution in China: News Framing and Issue-Attention Cycle per the , Yingying Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: Beliefs in Motives, First- and Third-Person Effects and Behavioral Consequences , Nianyuan Cheng

Crimean Referendum: Annexation VS Reunification. Framing Analysis of Online News Coverage in Russia and the U.S. , Anna Dedova

Investigating the Determinants of Recycling Behavior in Youth by Using Theory of Planned Behavior. , Tejaswini Gadiraju

Media Perceptions on Sexual Assault on College Campuses , Maggie M. Hall

The Impact of Emojis and Emoticons on Online Consumer Reviews, Perceived Company Response Quality, Brand Relationship, and Purchase Intent. , Jayme Hill Hill

Media Multitasking and Memory: The Role of Message Modalities , Le Nguyen

Cultivating Philanthropy in Community Colleges: A Dual-Model Approach , Rachel Faith Pleasant

Avatar Self-Identification, Self-Esteem, and Perceived Social Capital in the Real World: A Study of World of Warcraft Players and their Avatars , Melissa Watts

The Effects of Mission Statement Design on Behavioral Intention , Jonathan David West

Impact of a Brand Crisis on Nation Branding: An Analysis of Tweets about VW’s Emissions Crisis , Kara Julie Whytas

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Responding to a Rumor: How Crisis Response Strategies Influence Relationship Outcomes , Bo Breuklander

Crisis Communication and Celebrity Scandal: An Experiment on Response Strategies , Leah Champion

Speaking Their Language: Textisms in Today's Communication , Adam Lloyd Drum

Direct-to-Consumer Messaging: A Phenomenological Examination of DTC Best Practices , Nicholas Dominick Fancera

Examining Endorsement and Viewership Effects on the Source Credibility of YouTubers , Stephanie Fred

The Cultivation of Eating Disorders through Instagram , Kendall O'Brien

Online Game Advertising and Chinese College Students: Attitudes, First- and Third-Person Effects , Yan Tang

On the Convergence of Cinema and Theme Parks: Developing a Predictable Model for Creative Design , Ryan Luke Terry

I Threw My Pie for You: Engagement and Loyalty on TV Show Facebook Pages , Tracy M. Wisneski

First- and Third-Person Effects of Alcohol Advertising on Chinese College Students , Dong Xue

Framing Occupy Central: A Content Analysis of Hong Kong, American and British Newspaper Coverage , Mengjiao Yu

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Climate Change, Situational Theory of Problem Solving, and Issue Framing Effects , Michael Eddie Burch

British Cultural Narrative in Winston Churchill's Political Communication , Andres L. Faza

Communication Behavior Study of Support in the Arts Using the Situational Theory of Publics and the Theory of Reasoned Action , Ashleigh Gallant

A Comparison Study on Violent Video Games: Explained by the Gamers Themselves , Christopher John Kneifer

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Media@LSE MSc Dissertation Series

This is a selection of the best dissertations authored by students from our MSc programmes.

These MSc dissertations have been selected by the editor and deputy editor of the Media@LSE Working Paper Series and consequently, are not the responsibility of the Working Paper Series Editorial Board.

No 313 The App Keeps the Score: Period-Tracking Apps, Self-Empowerment and the Self as Enterprise , Martina Sardelli

No 312  Envisioning Solidarity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Chinese NGO Communications on Philanthropic Campaigns , Han Zheng

No 311  Examining the Western Media's Representation of Present-Day China Through the Lense of of Orientalism: A critical discourse analysis on BBC News’ coverage of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics , Danrong (Miko) Xiang

No 310  Bodies That Pain: An Emergent Resistance in Neo/Non-Liberal China. Exploring Weibo Hashtag Activism #FacingBirthInjuries From an Affective-Ethical Perspective , Jialu Sun

No 309  'The Algorithm Will Battle Against You': A Qualitative Study on Disabled Content Creators’ Perspectives and Understanding of the Challenges Presented by Algorithmic Systems on Social Media Platforms , Ishana Rhea Ramtohul

No 308  Why They Don't Trust Us: Chilean Mainstream Media, Metajournalistic Discourses and Repairing Journalism , Phillip Duran Pástene

No 307  A ‘Canary in the Coalmine' for Synthethic Media Regulation: The Emerging Threat of Deepfake Image Abuse , Olivia Otts

No 306  Communicating Inside to People from the Outside: How junior international employees in strategic communications companies in London perceive workplace well-being through internal communications , Nam Nghiem

No 305  The Voices That Build America: Theorizing the Labor Union as a Media Technology , Grace Nelson

No 304  "Art on Wheels": A Semiotic and Visual Discourse Analysis of Graffiti on Nairobi’s Matatus , Frank Mutulu

No 303  News Diversity and Morality in the Climate Reparations debate: A Quantitative Content Analysis of British and Irish News Coverage of the COP27 Negotiations about Loss and Damage , Marlene Jacobse

No 302  'We're all going through it': How the Construction of ‘Mental Health’ in One Pandemic HuffPost Series Positions Readers , Clare Lombardo

No 301 F rench Ecocinema and Young Audiences Environmental Mobilistations: An Exploration of the Intersection Between Film and Politics , Lola Messica

No 300  Balancing Digital Selves: Mediated Self-Presentation of Migrant Women in Germany on LinkedIn , Maya Hemant Krishna

No 299  Solidifying Social Immobility: Representation of Sex Workers within Human Trafficking Discourse in the Philippines , Olivia Austria Kemble

No 298  'Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together': Illusions of A Global village. A Critical Discourse Analysis of Meta Platforms’ Discursive Construction of the Global Citizen , Nelli Jouhki.

No 297  Enabling Empowerment by Establishing Indian Feminity , Sanskriti Bhhatkoti

No 296  The Forces of Development: Communicating Indigenous Identity in Brazil , Alan Gabrielli Azevedo

No 295  Can women really have it all? A Discourse Analysis of Neoliberal Feminist Discourse’s Roles in the Construction of Media Representation of Professional Working Women in Indonesia , Moudy Alfiana

No 294  Framing Utopia In Emerging Technology: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Financial Media Representation of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality , Chuyue Zhan 

No 293  Understanding Brand-Culture Interaction: A Social Semiotic Analysis of an Emerging Form of Brand Communications on Bilibili , Xinyu Yang 

No 292  ‘We don’t chase clicks, we chase public interest’: Investigative Journalism Between Democratic Ideals and Economic Realities , Lara Wiebecke 

No 291  A Health Risk Community or A Cultural Tourism Destination? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Intertextual Representation of Wanhua District in Taiwanese Mass Media Coverage of 2021 COVID-19 Outbreak in Taipei City and Official Tourism Promotion , Min Tu 

No 290  A Duality of Shifting Values in Journalism: ‘Responsible Capitalism’ and Public Service Mission – An Analysis of the News Trade Press , Hanna Siemaszko 

No 289  Mediated Social Class Identity Articulation and Performance Over Social Media , Shivani Rao 

No 288  Emotions running high – do they catch the reader’s eye? A quantitative content analysis on emotional frames in climate change news – the case of a significant global news publisher’s Cop26 coverage , Sara Nuder 

No 287  Selling Surveillance by Fixing Femininity: Exploring the Representation and Discursive Construction of the Gaze Between Women in Indian Advertisements , Vaishnavi Nair 

No 286  Development as its own Antithesis: Towards a Multi-disciplinary Exploration of the Neoliberalization of Development , Lisar Morina 

No 285  Can creative labor coexist under an industrial capitalist model? A qualitative analysis of worker subjectivity in production work in Vancouver’s film and television industry , Emily Mckenna Arbogast Larman 

No 284  Nothing to Hide – Everyone to Suspect: A case study of Neighbor, Neoliberal Security Governance and Securitization , Julia Kopf 

No 283  Building a Social Contract for the Network Society: A Discursive Study of How Meta Mediates its Relationship to Users and Society Through Public Policy Communications , Hunter Morgan 

No 282  Big Brother Watch’s campaign against COVID Pass and its implications for science communication , Zichen Jess Hu 

No 281  “Everyone Was Talking About It”: A Thematic Analysis of Audience Interpretation of Squid Game on IMDb , Junhan Gina Fu 

No 280  ‘An Existential Threat’: Right-wing Media and the Formation of Racialised Moral Panics , Sarah Campbell

No 279  ‘Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’: A Critical Discourse Analysis of UK Government Covid-19 press conferences , Morwenna Backhouse

No 278  Datafied Gay Men’s Dating: Ordering of Sexual Sociality on Blued , Hao Wu

No 277  Calculating newsworthiness: Investigating the role that probability plays in newsification and journalistic decision-making , Selina Swift 

No 276  Platformisation as Development: Discourse and Justification in the South American Gig Economy , Lucas Stiglich

No 275  Branding for New Futures: Brand Activism’s Mediation of Collective Prospective Remembering , Kelly M. Smith

No 274 ‘It wasn’t meant to be mine, yea?’ – The impacts of automation on the Brazilian Welfare State A case study of the Covid-19 data-driven emergency aid Auxílio Emergencial , Melissa Lima Silva 

No 273  ‘Toward a better future’: A critical discourse analysis of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting on the corporate websites of three large multinational corporations (MNCs) , Kanhai A. Parasharya 

No 272  Looking through the mirror: Finding Hybridity in Al Jazeera English’s Journalism Metadiscourse , Zoe Maria Pace 

No 271  How many more Emoji do we need? Examining the Unicode Consortium’s Vision of World Standard of Emoji , Yuka Katsumata 

No 270  Hate in the Mainstream: Proposing a ‘Keyness-Driven’ Framework to Surface Toxic Speech in the Public Domain , Pica Johansson

No 269  Mapping Networks of Moral Language on U.S. Presidential Primary Campaigns, 2016-2020, Kobi Hackenburg 

No 268  The Role of Selective Exposure in ‘A New Era of Minimal Effects’: The Mediating Effect of Selective Exposure on the Relationship between Personal Characteristics and Conspiracy Theory Beliefs , Eunbin Ha

No 267  ‘Thick girls get low’: Representations of gender, fatness, blackness and sexuality in music videos by Lizzo , Alexandra Grinfeld

No 266  We are raising our voices: The use of TikTok for the public self-representation of indigenous identity in Latin America , Camila Figueroa-Zepeda 

No 265  The Silenced Sound of Drill The Digital Disadvantage, Neocapitalist Media, and Hyper- Segregation , Alexandra Farje 

No 264  Blockchain Island: A critical discourse analysis of the colonial construction of a Puerto Rican crypto utopia , María De Los Milagros Colón Cruz

No 263 From Artists to Creators, From Music to Audio: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Spotify’s ‘Audio First’ Strategy , Ryan Carraro 

No 262  Imprisoned by Partisanship? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Bias of United States Print and Online Media in Reporting of Bipartisan Issues through the First Step Act , Kimberly Burton

No 261  “This Art of Being French” A Critical Discourse Analysis on Nostalgia and National Identity in Emmanuel Macron’s Speeches , Capucine Bourges 

No 260  Freedom for whom? Investigating notions of freedom in European media and communications policy, 1989-2021 , Jakob Angeli

No 259  ‘Inspire Creativity, Enrich Life’? A Critical Discourse Analysis on How Douyin Justifies Its Data Extraction and Shapes Public Values in The Platform Society , Jing An

No 258 Changing Humanitarianism For The Better? Virtual Reality and the Representation of the Suffering ‘Other’ in Humanitarian Communications , Francesca Liberatore Vaselli

No 257 We Are Humans Too: Refugees’ Perceptions of Representations of Migration in European News , Hannah Traussnigg

No 256 The Matter of Online Political Participation: A New Materialist Experiment on Emerging Adult Participatory Practices in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands , Hanne M. Stegeman

No 255 Rap Music As Evidence: A Prosecutorial Tactic of Institutionalizing Racism , Claire Ruder 

No 254 Put Students Before Your Public Image: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Strategic Communications in the University of Warwick Rape Chat Scandal , Clara Héroux Rhymes

No 253 Set The Record Straight: The Significance of Counter-Archives in Contemporary Struggles of Justice for Apartheid-Era Crimes , Ra’eesa Pather

No 252 Can Stories Change How We Feel About People: The Effect of Older People’s Online Personal Stories on Mitigating Younger Korean Ageism , Jeongwon Leah Park

No 251 The ‘Silent Majority': A Critical Discourse Analysis of Counter-Movement Key Opinion Leaders’ YouTube Coverage of the 2019 Hong Kong Protests , Limichi Okamoto

No 250 Man Up! A Qualitative Analysis of Representations of the Male Body on Instagram and Body Image Among Young Flemish Men , Femke Konings

No 249 Manufacturing The Mapped Metropolis: A Social Semiotic Analysis of Cartographic Representations of Gentrification and Displacement in New York City , Johanne Lahlum Hortman

No 248 The Police Have Confirmed all 39 Victims Were Chinese The Mis/Recognition of Vietnamese Migrants in Their Mediated Encounters Within UK Newspapers , Linda Hien

No 247 Brother A-Zhong For the Win: A Qualitative Analysis of Chinese Fan Communities’ Nationalist Practice of Cyber Expedition , Yannan Du

No 246 Police Facial Recognition in Progress: The Construction of The Notion of Accuracy in the Live Facial Recognition Technology Used by the MET Police in London , Romina Colman

No 245 Polarflation: The Inflationary Effect of Attention-Optimising Algorithms on Polarisation in the Public Sphere , Samuel Caveen

No 244 Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Examining How Representation and Accessibility Impact Each Other With Relation to Visual Impairment , Rebecca Sophie Brahde

No 243 Narrating Economics and The Social Vision of a $100 Billion Fund: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Financial Media Representation of Softbank’s Venture Capital Investments in Digital Technology , Carl Bakenhus

No 242 Look Back in Rebellion: Radical Transparency As Refusal of Surveillance , Beatrice Bacci

No 241  The Quantified (Female) Self: Examining the Conceptualisation of Female Health, Selfhood and Embodiment in Fitbit Strategic Communication Campaigns , Jourdan Webb

No 240  Transitioning from Analogue to Digital Broadcast: A Case Of Communicative Inequality , Boikhutso Tsikane

No 239  “Won’t somebody please think of the children?” A Critical Discourse Analysis of Representations of the Figure of the Child in Western Media Coverage of the Yemeni Conflict , Nadine Talaat

No 238  Embodying Disability: Problematising Empathy in Immersive Experiences of Non-Normative Bodies , Pablo Agüera Reneses

No 237  Democratising Bridge or Elite Medium: An investigation into political podcast adoption and the relationship with cognitive social capital , Steve Rayson

No 236  Manufacturing Consent: An Investigation of the Press Support Towards the US Administration Prior to US-led Airstrikes in Syria , Malavika Mysore

No 235  Intercultural dialogue, ordinary justice and indigenous justice in Bolivia: Between challenges, possibilities or utopias , Johanna Lechat

No 234  When a Woman Meets a Woman: Comparing the Use of Negativity of Female Candidates in Single and Mixed-Gender Televised Debates , Emil Støvring Lauritsen

No 233  “Let me tell you how I see things”: The place of Brexit and the Entente Cordiale in Macron’s strategic narrative of and for France on the international scene , Maud-Lily Lardenois-Macocco

No 232  The Pleasures of Solitude? A qualitative analysis of young Chinese women’s daily-life vlog viewing practices , Yue Jin

No 231  Hegemonic Femininity: A Laughing Matter? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Contemporary Stand-Up Comedy in the United States on the Issue of Female Reproductive Rights , Isabella Hastings

No 230  Nice People Take Drugs: An investigation into the communicative strategies of drug policy reform organisations in the United Kingdom from a social movement perspective , André Belchior Gomes

No 229  The Branded Muslim Woman: A Qualitative Study into the Symbolic Boundaries Negotiated around the Portrayal of Muslim Women in Brand Cultures , Nuha Fayaz

No 228  The Uncertain Decorum of Online Identification: Study in Qualitative Interviews , Samuel DiBella

No 227  Decentring Eurocentrism in Communication Scholarship: A Discursive Analysis of resistance in influential communication journals , Sara Demas

No 226  From Asthetic Criticism to News Reporting: Rethinking the concept of Ecstatic News through the Lens of French Print Cultural Journalism , Elisa Covo

No 225  Datafication of Music Streaming Services: A qualitative investigation into the technological transformations of music consumption in the age of big data , Jingwen Chen

No 224  Transnational, Gendered, and Popular Music in the Arab World: A Content Analysis of a Decade (2010-2019) , Dana J. Bibi

No 223  We the Ragpickers: A case-study of participatory video and counterhegemony , Suyash Barve

No 222  Audience Engagement with Ten Years and the Imagination of Hong Kong Identity: Between Text, Context and Audience , Zhi-Nan Rebecca Zhang

No 221  Straightening out Same Sex Marriage for ‘all’ Australians: A content analysis study of prejudices in Australia's campaign for marriage equality ,Tate Soller

No 220  In Search for ‘Liveliness’: Experimenting with Co-Ocurrence Analysis Using #GDPR on Twitter , Sameeh Selim

No 219  ¿Dónde está mi gente? A qualitative analysis of the role of Latinos in the context of the Hillary for America 2016 presidential campaign , Andrea P. Terroba Rodríguez

No 218 Red, White and Blue for Who? A critical discourse analysis of mainstream media coverage of Colin Kaepernick and Take a Knee , Kim M Reynolds

No 217   ‘Algorithmic Bias’ through the Media Lens: A Content Analysis of the Framing of Discourse , Rocío Izar Oyarzun Peralta

No 216  Civic State of Mind: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Celebrity Language on Citizenship and Democracy , Hannah Menchhoff

No 215  Encoding the Social: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mark Zuckerberg's Construction of Mediated Sociality , Sam McGeachy

No 214  White for White: An Exploration of Gay Racism on the World's Most Popular Platform for Gay and Bisexual Men , Aubrey T. A. Maslen

No 213  Agent of Change? Malaysian Millenials' Social Media Consumption and Political Knowledge, Participation and Voting in the 2018 General Election , ZiQing Low

No 212  The Netflix Phenomenon in India: A qualitative enquiry into the urban Indian youth's engagement with Netflix , Richa Sarah George

No 211  Do the ‘Rich’ Get Richer? Exploring the Associations between Social Media Use and Online and Offline Political Participation Activities among Kenyan Youth , Eric Gatobu Ndubi 

No 210  The Weinstein Effect and mediated non-apologies: Evaluating the role of #MeToo public apologies in western rape culture , Eleanor Dierking

No 209  ‘No Script At All’. A Study of Cultural Context and Audience Perceptions of Authenticity in Reality Television , Yun Ting Choo

No 208  “It’s funny ‘cause it’s true”. A critical discourse analysis on new political satire on television in the United States , Darren Chan

No 207  In a Mediated Society, Can Indigenous Knowledge Survive? A Network Ethnography Examining the Influence of Internet Use on Indigenous Herbal Knowledge Circulation in a Remote Yao Community , Anran Wang

No 206  Beauty and the Blogger: The Impact of Instagram Bloggers on Ideals of Beauty and Self-esteem , Sanjana Ahuja

No 205  Memories of Babri: Competing Discourses and contrasting constructions of a media event , Sanaya Chandar

No 204  Habitus, Social Space and Media Representation: The ‘Romantic’ Contemporary Taiwanese ‘Wenyi Qingnian’ Discourse in the Local Lifestyle Magazine ‘One Day’ , Hoi Yee Chau

No 203  Stories Untold? A qualitative analysis uncovering the representation of girls as victims of conflict in the global south , Tessa Venizelos

No 202  What is the Norm? A study of heteronormative representations in Bollywood , Saachi Bhatia

No 201 Live Streaming and its Audiences in China: Making sense of authenticity , Qisi Zhang

No 200  Berniebros and Vagina Voters: Content Analysis of Gendered Facebook Communication in the 2016 U.S. Democratic Presidential Primary , Meredith Epstein

No 199  ‘Othering’ the ‘Left-Behind’? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the representation of Leave voters in British broadsheets’ coverage of the EU referendum , Louise S. Thommessen.

No 198  Social Media as Civic Deliberation Space: A content analysis study of the public discussion about the legalization of surrogacy on Weibo and Zhihu , Liu Yu

No 197  Stories of Dismantling the White Patriarchy: A thematic narrative analysis of the imagined futures in 2015 science fiction films , Kylie Courtney

No 196  Too Small to Succeed? The Case of #NoAlVotoElectrónico and the Limits of Connective Action , Juan Floreal Graña

No 195  How we remember and forget via Facebook: The Mediatization of Memento and Deletion Practices , Jacopo Villanacci

No 194  Mediated Japanophile? Media consumption and Chinese people’s attitudes towards Japan among different generations , Han Xiao

No 193  Digital Mediatization in the Lifestyle Sport Slacklining , Friedrich Enders

No 192  Recipe for Success: A qualitative investigation into the role of social capital in the gendered food blogosphere , Fiona Koch

No 191 Access and Beyond: An Intersectional Approach to Women’s Everyday Experiences with ICTs , Fatma Matin Khan

No 190  Not Manly Enough: A Quantitative Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Mexican Political Advertising, 2010‐2016 , Enrique López Alonso

No 189  Loudspeaker Broadcasting as Community Radio: A qualitative analysis of loudspeaker broadcasting in contemporary rural China in the framework of alternative media  Shutong Wang

No 188  21st Century Cholos Representations of Peruvian youth in the discourse of El Panfleto  Esteban Bertarelli

No 187  Representations of Calendar Girls and An Ideology of Modernity in 1930s Republican Shanghai  Yifan Song 

No 186  Reality Television as a Neoliberal Technology of Citizenship? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Điều Ước Thứ Bảy  Vu Anh Ngoc Nguyen

No 185  Truth on Trial: Indigenous News Media and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada  Tomas Borsa

No 184  No Place Like Home: Analysing Discursive Constructions of ‘Home’ in Canadian Mainstream Newspaper Coverage of the Elsipogtog Protest  Brooklyn Tchozewski

No 183  Modiplomacy and Diaspower: The discursive construction of modernity and national identity in Narendra Modi’s communication with the Indian diaspora  Saanya Gulati

No 182  “The centre must hold”: Partisan dealignment and the rise of the minor party at the 2015 general election  Peter Carrol

No 181  ‘Rapefugees Not Welcome’. Ideological Articulations of Media Discourses on Migrants and Refugees in Europe: New Racism and Othering – A Critical Discourse Analysis  Monica Ibrahim

No 180  Constructing Connectivity: A Qualitative Analysis of the Representation of the Connected and Unconnected Others in Facebook’s Internet.org Campaign  Minji Lee

No 179  Space and Place: The Communication of Gentrification to Young People in Hackney  Kimberley Brown

No 178  Adherence to the protest paradigm? An examination of Singapore’s news coverage of Speakers’ Corner protests from 2000 to 2015  Joann Tan

No 177  The system is rigged: A discursive analysis of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders  Jessica Cullen

No 176   An Examination of American Mainstream Media Discourse of Solidarity and Citizenship in the Reporting of the Black Lives Matter Campaign  Eilis Yazdani

No 175  Are All Lives Valued? Worthy 'Us', Unworthy 'Others'. A Comparative Content Analysis of Global News Agencies’. Pictorial Representation of the Paris Attacks and the Beirut Bombings . Dokyum Kim 

No 174  Imperial remains: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Televised Retelling of the Portuguese Colonial Period  Beatriz Serra

No 173  Unmasking USAID Pakistan’s Elite Stakeholder Discourses: Towards an Evaluation of the Agency’s Development Interventions  Anum Pasha

No 172  Boundary Work between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ Global News Agencies’ Double Standard on the Construction of Forced Migrants by Geographical Proximity  Woo-chul Kim

No 171  Why Did Our Watchdog Fail? A Counter Perspective on the Media Coverage of the 2007 Financial Crisis  Tran Thuy-Anh Huynh

No 170  Unmasking ‘Sidekick’ Masculinity: A Qualitative Investigation of How Asian-American Males View Emasculating Stereotypes in U.S. Media  Steffi Lau

No 169  The Silence of the Lamb: Animals in Biopolitics and the Discourse of Ethical Evasion  Sana Ali

No 168  The Tartan Other: A qualitative analysis of the visual framing of Alex Salmond and the Scottish National Party in the British Press  Ross Alexander Longton

No 167  The Unmasking of Burmese Myth in Contemporary Thai Cinema  Pimtong Boonyapataro

No 166  Neoliberal Capitalism, Transnationalism and Networked Individualism: Rethinking Social Class in International Student Mobility  Nguyen Quynh Tram Doan 

No 165  The New Media Elite: How has Participation been Enabled and Limited in Leaders Live Online Political Debates  Matilde Giglio

No 164  Constructing a Sense of Place through New Media: A Case Study of Humans of New York  Mariele O’Reilly

No 163  The failure of cosmopolitanism and the reinforcement of hierarchical news: managing the visibility of suffering throughout the Multimodal Analysis of the Charlie Hebdo versus the Baga terrorist attacks  Maria Paola Pofi

No 162  Imagining (In)security: Towards Developing Critical Knowledges of Security in a Mediated Social World  Kathryn Higgins

No 161  Tweens Logged In: How Social Norms and Media Literacy Relate to Children’s Usage of Social Media  Kalina Asparouhova

No 160  Finding Ferguson: Geographic Scale in the United States’ National Nightly Network News  John Ray 

No 159  Solidarity as Irony: Audience Responses to Celebrity Advocacy  Isabel Kuhn

No 158  Phantasmagoric Nationalism: State power and the diasporic imagination  Felicia Wong 

No 157  Investigating Music Consumption ‘Circuits of Practice’  Eva Tkavc Dubokovic

No 156  A complex history turned into a tale of reconciliation: A critical discourse analysis of Irish newspaper coverage of the Queen’s visit to the Republic of Ireland  Ciara Spencer

No 155  Economic power of e-retailers via price discrimination in e-commerce: price discrimination’s impact on consumers’ choices and preferences and its position in relation to consumer power  Arina Vlasova

No 154  Exploring the Boundaries of Crowd Creation: A study on the value of voice in neoliberal media culture  Ana Ecaterina C. Tan

No 153  “Songs of Guilt”: When Generosity is to Blame - A Content Analysis of the Press and Social Media Reactions to U2’s “Songs of Innocence” Giveaway on iTunes  Alessandro Volonté

No 152  Hybridity within Peer Production: The Power Negotiation of Chinese Fansub Groups  Zongxiao Rong

No 151  Writing On the Wall: Conversations with Beirut's Street Artists  Zeina Najjar

No 150  'Gaining Control with the Power of the Gun and Maintaining Control with the Power of the Pen': A Content Analysis of Framing the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in the  People's Daily   Yuanyuan Liu

No 149  Let My Voices be Heard: A Qualitative Study of Migrant Workers' Strategies of Mediation Resistance in Contemporary China  Yijun Chen

No 148  'Popular Politics': A Discourse Theory Analysis of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's TV/radio Program Citizen Link  Veronica Leon Burch

No 147  A Comparative Analysis of Chinese, Western and African Media Discourse in the Representation of China's Expansion of Economic Engagements in Africa Tong Wei

No 146  Ideological Trafficking of God and the Other  Sultana Haider

No 145  The Maasai and the Internet: Online Civil Participation and the Formation of a Civic Identity in Rural Kenya  Stine Ringnes Wilhelmsen

No 144  Wood in Water Does Not a Crocodile Make: Migrants Virtual Place-making, Ontological Security and Cosmopolitanism in the Transnational Social Field  Sheetal Kumar

No 143  Droning On: A Critical Analysis of American Policy and News Discourse on Drone Strikes  Sadaf Khan

No 142  The Impact of Mass Media Sentiments on Returns and Volatility in Asset Markets: Evidence from Algorithmic Content Analysis  Panu Kuuluvainen

No 141  Problematising the Self-Representation of Race and Gender in Vines: Who has the Last Laugh?  Shaikha Nurfarah Mattar

No 140  Corporate Public Apologies, or Capitalism in Other Words  Nina M Chung

No 139  Agenda Setting and Framing in the UK Energy Prices Debate  Nicholas Davies

No 138  'It is of Inestimable Benefit': Communicating American Science Policy in the Post-Cold War Era  Mercedes Wilby

No 137  Beyond Twenty Cents: The Impact of the Representation of Violence on the Coverage of the Brazilian Protests of June 2013 by the Mass Media  Margarida Gorecki Telles

No 136  Framing Françafrique: Neo-colonial Framing Practices in  Le Monde 's Coverage of the French Military Interventions in Mali and the Central African Republic  Lucie Gagniarre 

No 135  Representing Persia: A Discourse Analysis of The American Print Media's Coverage of Iran  Kyle Bowen

No 134  From Fat Cats to Cool Cats: CEOs and Micro-celebrity Practices on Twitter  Julia Regina Austmann

No 133  Critically Imagining Ineternet Governance: A Content Analysis of the  Marco Civil da Internet  Public Consultation  João Carlos Magalhães

No 132  The Ambiguous ICT: Investigating How Tablet Users Relate to and Interact with Their Device  Jessica Blank

No 131  Threats, Parasites and Others: The Visual Framing of Roma Migrants in the British Press  Grace Waters

No 130  Fifty Years of Negativity: An Assessment of Negative Compaigning in Swedish Parlimentary Election Campaigns 1956-2006  Gustav Gidenstam

No 129  The Talking Dog: Representations of Self and Others in Japanese Advertising  Eryk Salvaggio

No 128  The Selfie Protest: A Visual Analysis of Activism in the Digital Age  Clare Sheehan

No 127  Negativity and Australian Political Discourse: A Case Study of the Australian Liberal Party's 2013 Election Television Advertising  Clare Creegan

No 126  What are You Laughing at? A Social Semiotic Analysis of Ironic Racial Stereotypes in  Chappelle's Show  Cindy Ma

No 125  Reconsidering Agenda Setting and Intermedia Agenda Setting from a Global Perspective: A Cross-National Comparative Agenda Setting Test  Christoph Rosenthal

No 124  Big Data Exclusions and Disparate Impact: Investigating the Exclusionary Dynamics of Big Data Phenomenon  Charly Gordon

No 123  Tabloidisation of the Norwegian News Media: A Quantitative Analysis of Print and Online Newspaper Platforms  Celine Storstad Gran

No 122  Red, White and Afro Caribbean: A Qualitative Study of Afro-Caribbean American Identity During the Olympic Games  Ashley Gordon

No 121  The City without Gates: Facebook and the Social Surface  Andrew Crosby

No 120  Yes I Do Mind: Constructing Discourses of Resistance against Racial Microaggressions on Tumblr  Abigail Kang

No 119  Tensions in Urban Street Art: a Visual Analysis of the Online Media Coverage of Banksy Slave Labour  Elisabetta Crovara

No 118  The Sticky Case of Sticky Data: An Examination of the Rationale, Legality, and Implementation of a Right to Data Portability Under European Competition Law  Paul T. Moura

No 117  Pinning Pretty: A Qualitative Study of Pinterest Users' Practices and Views Elizabeth White

No 116  Comparing Perceptions of NGOs and CSR: Audience Evaluations and Interpretations of Communications  Gitanjali Co Devan Anderson

No 115  What is Web-Populism doing to Italian Politics? The Discursive Construction of 'Grillini' vis-a-vis the Antagonist Other  Isadora Arredondo

No 114  Yellow Skin-White Prison: A Content Analysis of French Television News Broadcast  Ngo Bossoro

No 113  A Revisionist Turkish Identity: Power, Religion and Ethnicity as Ottoman Identity in the Turkish series Muhteşem Yüzyıl  Esra Doğramacı 

No 112  Behind the Curtain: Women's Representations in Contemporary Hollywood  Reema Dutt

No 111  From  Liberal Conservative  to  Conservative Conservative : David Cameron's Political Branding  Ignacio José Antonio López Escarcena

No 110  'Micropolitics' and Communication: An Exploratory Study on Student Representatives' Communication Repertoires in University Governance  Nora Kroeger

No 109  Ideology No More: A Discourse of Othering in Canadian Mainstream Newspaper Representations of the Idle No More Movement  Christian Ledwell

No 108  Media Representation of Nationalism and Immigration: A Case Study of  Jamie's Great Britain  Xin Liang

No 107  You're Not Alone : Virtual Communities, Online Relationships & Modern Identities in the Military Spouse & Blogging Community  Elizabeth M. Lockwood

No 106  Harperist Discourse: Creating a Canadian 'Common Sense' and Shaping Ideology Through Language  Mashoka Maimona

No 105  The Spiral of Silence and Social Media: Analysing Noelle-Neumann's Phenomenon Application on the Web during the Italian Political Elections of 2013 Cristina Malaspina

No 104  Participatory Culture on YouTube: A Case Study of the Multichannel Network Machinima  Bryan Mueller

No 103  Up the Cascade: Framing of the Concession of the Highway between San Jose and San Ramon  Marie Garnier Ortiz

No 102  Science in the Headlines: The Stakes in the Social Media Age  Sasjkia Otto

No 101  Representing Disease: An Analysis of Breast Cancer Discourse in the South African Press  Lauren Post

No 100  Blob  and Its Audience: Making Sense of Meta-Television  Giulia Previato

No 99  Streaming the Syrian War: A Case Study of the Partnership between Professional and Citizen Journalists in the Syrian Conflict  Madeline Storck

No 98  Immigration Policy Narratives and the Politics of Identity: Causal Issue Frames in the Discursive Construction of America's Social Borders  Felicity P. Tan

No 97  Behind 'gift-giving': The Motivations for Sharing Fan-Generated Digital Content in Online Fan Communities  Mengchu Wang

No 96  Smartphone Location-based Services in the Social, Mobile, and Surveillance Practices of Everyday Life  Carey Wong

No 95  The Impacts of Design on Voluntary Participation: Case Studies of Zimuzu and Baike  Li Zeng

No 94   Mediated Politics and Ideology: Towards a New  Synthesis. A case study from the Greek General Election of May 2012  Angelos Kissas

No 93   E-Arranged Marriages:  How have Muslim matrimonial websites affected traditional Islamic courting methods?  Ayesha Ahmed

No 92   Hospitality in the Modern Mediapolis: Global Mediation of Child Soldiers in central and east Africa  Bridgette Bugay

No 91   Media Framing of the 2009-2010 United States  Health Care Reform Debate: A Content Analysis of U.S. Newspaper Coverage  Christina Brown

No 90   Behind the Laughter: Mediating Hegemony through Humour  Ningkang Wang

No 89   Saving Europe online?  European identity and the European Union’s Facebook communication during the eurozone crisis  Johannes Hillje

No 88   Like it? Ritual Symbolic Exchange Using Facebook’s ‘Like’ Tool  Kenneth J. Gamage

No 87   Understanding representations of low-income  Chinese migrant workers through the lens of photojournalists  Lee Zhuomin

No 86  The Modernization of Irish Political Campaigning: The 2011 General Election  Liam Murphy

No 85   Online Freedom?Film Consumption in the Digital Age  Luane Sandrin Gauer

No 84   Audience Reception of Charity Advertising:  Making Sense, Interpreting and Decoding Advertisements That Focus on Human Suffering  Magdalini Tsoutsoumpi

No 83  Beneath the Anthropomorphic Veil:  Animal Imagery and Ideological Discourses in British Advertising  Manjula Kalliat

No 82   Mobile Discourses:  A Critical Discourse Analysis on  Reports of Intergovernmental Organizations Recommending Mobile Phones for Development   Maria Paola de Salvo

No 81   We the People:  The role of social media in the participatory community of the Tea Party movement  Rachel Weiler

No 80   SOPA Deliberation on Facebook:  Deliberation and Facilitation or Mere  Mobilization?  Ray Wang

No 79   Discerning the Dominant Discourse in the World Summit on the Information Society  Ria Sen

No 78   The impact of online health information on the doctor-patient relationship. Findings from a qualitative study  Susanne Christmann

No 77   The Influence of Weibo Political Participations on the Political Efficacies of Weibo Users  Wenxu Wang

No 76   In what Forms and Patterns does Inequality Exist in  the Weibosphere?  Xiao Han

No 75   Creating Scandal to Avoid Panic:  How the UK Press Framed the News of the World Phonehacking  Scandal   Zuzanna Natalie Blaszkiewicz

No 74  Measuring media pluralism in the convergence era: The case of News Corp’s proposed acquisition of BSkyB  Davide Morisi

No 73  Observers, Witnesses, Victims or Activists? How Inuit Voices are Represented in Mainstream Canadian Newspaper Coverage of Global Warming  Patricia H. Audette-Longo

No 72  Global journalism, local realities: Ugandan journalists' views on reporting homosexuality  Rachael Borlase

No 71  Why pay if it's free? Streaming, downloading, and digital music consumption in the "iTunes era"  Theodore Giletti

No 70  Peacebuilding and Public Service Media: Lessons from Star Radio and media development in Liberia  Elizabeth Goodfriend

No 69  The Discourse of Protest: Using discourse analysis to identify speech acts in UK broadsheet newspapers  Stefan Brambilla Hall

No 68  Life With or Without the Internet: The Domesticated Experiences of Digital Inclusion and Exclusion  Mark Holden

No 67  We are all well (and undisrupted) in the shelter - the 33 of us: Narratives in the rescue of the Chilean Miners as a Live Media Event  César Antonio Jiménez Martínez

No 66  Critical Failure: Class, Taste and the Value of Film Criticism  Moses Lemuel

No 65  The Story of Egypt: Journalistic impressions of a revolution and new media power  Thomas Ledwell

No 64  Political Fandom in the Age of Social Media: Case Study of Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign  Komal H. Parikh

No 63  Against all odds: Evidence for the 'true' cosmopolitan consumer A cross-disciplinary approach to investigating the Cosmopolitan Condition  Saskia Scheibel

No 62  Relating to 'Ohio' in Political Advertisements: Interpreting Representations of Culture in Narratives, Myths, and Symbols from Democratic Spots in the 2010 Gubernatorial Campaign  Daniel Schwarz

No 61  Youth Understanding of Climate: Towards a theory of social adaptation to climate change in Africa  Hardi Shahadu

No 60  Translating China:A case study of Chinese-English translation in CCTV international broadcasting  Yueru Zhang

No 59  From watchdog to lapdog?The impact of government intimidation on the public watchdog performance of peace media in processes of democratisation  Michael Spiess

No 58  From Hardback to Software: How the Publishing Industry is Coping with Convergence  Lauren Christina Sozio

No 57  Witnessing War: Blogs from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan  Jessica Siegel

No 56  Mediated Cosmopolitanism? The Other’s Mediated Dialogical Space on BBC World’s Hardtalk  Andrew Rogers

No 55  Reconceptualising IT? Policy Learning and Paradigms of Sustainability in the ICT Policy of the European Union  Jussi Nokkala

No 54  ‘Alive with Possibility’: Brand South Africa and the Discursive Construction of South African National Identity  Yasuko Murai

No 53  The Journalistic Identities of Liveblogging A Case Study: Reporting the 2009 Post-Election Protests in Iran  David McDougall,

No 52  Blogging the Gap: A survey of China bloggers  Kerry Arnot

No 51  Young People’s Adoption and Consumption of a Cultural Commodity – iPhone  Hui Jiang

No 50  Preserving the Liberal World Order in an Age of Globalization: Representing the People’s Republic of China in the American Prestige Press  Jasmine Chan

No 49  In the Name of Allah?  Alison Jarrett

No 48  An Investigation into the Meaning of Locally Produced Entertainment Media to Lebanese Women:A Concentration on the Film Sukkar Banat (Caramel)  Carol Haidar

No 47  ‘Discuss This Article!’ Participatory Uses of Comment Sections on SPIEGEL ONLINE: A Content Analysis  Eilika Freund

No 46  Fleeting Racialisation?: Media Representation of African Americans During the California Proposition 8 Campaign  -  App 1  -  App 2  Tiana Epps-Johnson

No 45  The Big Society Will Not Take Place: Reading Postmodernism in Contemporary Conservative Discourse  Matthew Eisner Harle

No 44  Situating the imagination:Turkish soap operas and the lives of women in Qatar  Dima Issa

No 43  guardian.co.uk: online participation, ‘agonism’ and ‘mutualisation’  Mariam Cook

No 42  Freedom or intervention: What is the role of the regulator in achieving competitive pay-TV markets?  Yi Shen Chan

No 41  The united states of unscreened cinema: The political economy of the self-distribution of cinema in the U.S.  Bajir Cannon

No 40  Constructing the virtual body: Self-representation, self-modification and self-perfection in pro-eating disorder websites  Gillian Bolsover

No 39  The Altruistic Blockbuster and the Third-World Filmstar  Olina Banerji

No 38  The Modernisation of Australian Political Campaigns: The Case of Maxine McKew  Evie Watt

No 37  Platform-based Open Innovation Business Models: Bridging the gap between value creation and value capture  Michael Seminer

No 36  Transmit/Disrupt: Why does illegal broadcasting continue to thrive in the age of liberalised spectrum?  Justin Schlosberg

No 35  Domestic Conflict or Global Terror? Framing the Mumbai Terror Attacks in the U.S. Print Press  Kamla Pande

No 34  Information plurality, the financial sector, and the fate of Reuters News agency: Policy and problems surrounding the Thomson Reuters merger  Leila Lemghalef

No 33  The Contested Framing of Canada’s Military Mission in Afghanistan: The News Media, the Government, the Military and the Public  Brooks Decillia

No 32  UK community radio: policy frames and outcomes  Helen Charles

No 31  Bunny Talk: Teenagers Discuss The Girls Next Door  Jennifer Barton

No 30  Psephological Peer Production  Tim Watts

No 29  Domestication of the Cell Phone on a College Campus: A Case Study  Madhuri Shekar

No 28  The Visuals of Violence  Sofie Scheerlinck

No 27  All Work and No Play - Does it Make Jack a Dull Boy?  Ece Inanç

No 26  Perusing Perez: How do Taste Hierarchies, Leisure Preferences and Social Status Interact among visitors to Perez Hilton's Celebrity Gossip Blog?  Ellen Hunter

No 25  Exploring the 'Americanization of Political Campaigns: Croatia's 2003 and 2007 General Elections  Milly A. Doolan

No 24  Acts of Negotiation  Rajana Das

No 23  Banal Environmentalism: Defining and Exploring an Expanded Understanding of Ecological Identity, Awareness, and Action  Ryan Cunningham

No 22  Letting the Other Solitude be Heard: On the Media's Role as a Forum for Multilingual Conversation in Canada  Marc Chalifoux

No 21  Multilateral Institutions and the Recontextualization of Political Marketing: How the World Intellectual Property Organization's Outreach Efforts Reflect Changing Audiences  Sandra Bangasser

No 20  Branding in Election Campaigns: Just a Buzzword or a New Quality of Political Communication?  Manuel Adolphsen

No 19   A Study on Self-regulatory Initiatives in China's Internet Industry  Lijun Cao

No 18   An Exploration of the 2006 Electoral Campaign for the Re-election of Walter Veltroni for Mayor of Rome  Maddalena Vianello

No 17   Creating Global Citizens? The Case of Connecting Classrooms  Mandeep Samra

No 16   Audience Reception of Health Promoting Advertising  Cristian Raftopoulou

No 15   The Game of (Family) Life: Intra-Family Play in the World of Warcraft  Holly Peterson

No 14   Global TV and Local Realities: Constructing Narratives of the Self  Sunandini Pande

No 13   Twitter: Expressions of the Whole Self  Edward Mishaud

No 12   Crowdsourced News: The Collective Intelligence of Amateurs and The Evolution of Journalism  Melissa Metzger

No 11   To Support or Distort: An Analysis of Ontario Referendum Campaign Websites  Anna Mather

No 10   Political Handbags: The representation of women politicians  Eva Markstedt

No 9   Free Speech, Political Correctness and the Public Sphere in a Talk Radio World  Michele Margolis

No 8    Propaganda, Grassroots Power, or Online Public Sphere?  Zheng Liu

No 7   Preventing Drug Abuse in China: Anti-Drug Campaigns in the Eyes of a Drug User  Bo Li

No 6   Taming Technology: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Families and Their Domestication of the Internet  Josh Hack

No 5   Keeping up Appearances: Candidate Self-Presentation through Web Videos in the 2008 US Presidential Primary Campaign  Nisha Gulati

No 4   The End of the Media's '"War on Terror"? An Analysis of a Declining Frame  Dominik Cziesche

No 3   Fantasizing Reality: Wetware, Social Imaginaries, and Signs of Change  Jennifer Cross

No 2   The Colbert Nation: A Democratic Place to be?  Kristen Boesel

No 1   Media Constructions of Extreme Female Thinness  Nelly Abranavel

Search NYU Steinhardt

Doctor of Philosophy Media, Culture, and Communication

Grounded in an interdisciplinary approach to the study of media and culture, our doctorate draws from a rich array of disciplines and theoretical frameworks. Department expertise spans the globe: the Middle East, East Asia, the Global South, Africa, and Europe. Our faculty generate some of the most original scholarship in their respective fields, creating a stimulating environment in which to pursue graduate work.

Degree Details

Official degree title.

PhD in Media, Culture, and Communication

Research Focus

Alumni placements, funding for full-time phd students.

Five research areas operate as guiding frameworks for intellectual inquiry across the department: Global Communication and Media, Technology and Society, Visual Culture and Sound Studies, Media Industries and Politics, Interaction and Experience.

Your work as a doctoral student will be shaped by our faculty's commitment to:

• Engaging with theoretical concepts from a range of disciplines—media and cultural studies, visual culture, history, science and technology studies, anthropology, sociology, disability studies, sound studies, political science.
• A multi-methodological approach to research—from semiotics, global ethnography, gender and queer theory, critical race theory, qualitative and quantitative discourse analysis, to political/cultural economy, among other critical frameworks.
• A global perspective—conceiving of the global mediascape as transnational and transcultural.
• Recognizing media and technology’s long history and antecedents.

Read some sample dissertation abstracts .

After graduating, alumni join academic departments of media and communication, with placement in the social sciences and interdisciplinary humanities becoming increasingly common. MCC PhDs who graduated in the past ten years are now tenure-track or tenured professors at the University of California, Berkeley; University of Washington, Seattle; Cornell University; Stanford University; UCLA; Rutgers; Fordham; University of Michigan; George Mason University; University of North Carolina; University of Arizona; College of Charleston; Memorial University of Newfoundland; University of San Francisco; Scripps; Pratt; University of Maryland; American University of Beirut; American University of Paris, Ryerson University; Trent University; St. Joseph’s College.

Over the past decade, our PhD graduates have received numerous prestigious postdocs, including a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities in the Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at MIT; Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT's Center for Art, Science, and Technology; Postdoctoral Fellow, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University; Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science; Postdoctoral, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University; Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rice University in Technology, Culture, and Society; Research Associate, Center for Digital Humanities, Princeton University; Postdoctoral Fellow, Media, Inequality & Change Center, University of Pennsylvania.

If you are accepted as a full-time NYU Steinhardt PhD student without an alternate funding source, you are eligible for our competitive funding package, which includes a scholarship and tuition remission.  Learn more about our funding opportunities .

Graduate Leadership

Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication; PhD Director

Susan Murray

Department chair and professor of media, culture, and communication.

If you have additional questions about our degree, please contact us at [email protected] .

Alumni Profiles

Jacob Gaboury (PhD 2014)

Jacob is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Film & Media at the University of California, Berkeley. His dissertation "Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics, 1965-1979" investigated the early history of computer graphics and the role they play in the move toward new forms of simulation and object oriented design.

Xiaochang Li (PhD 2017)

Xiaochang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Stanford University. Her teaching and research interests include the history of computing and information systems, AI and algorithmic culture, speech and language technology, and software/platform studies. Before joining Stanford, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin.

Hatim El-Hibri (PhD 2012)

Hatim is Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at George Mason University. His research examines media technologies and urban space in the Middle East. His dissertation traced the history of the visualization of Beirut, from the politics of aerial photography and mapping during the French Mandate, to the visual economy of postwar construction, to the materiality of Hizballah's live satellite television.

Liz Koslov (PhD 2017)

Liz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. Previously, she was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT. Her research examines the cultural, political, and sociological dimensions of climate change adaptation. Her first book project, Retreat: Moving to Higher Ground in a Climate-Changed City , is under advance contract with the University of Chicago Press.

Devon Powers (PhD 2008)

Devon is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Advertising, Media & Communication at Temple University. Powers' research interests include popular music, 20th century history, and cultural intermediation – the people and processes that operate "in between" the production and consumption of culture. Powers completed a fellowship at the University of Leeds in 2014, and was recently elected Vice Chair of the Popular Communication Division of the International Communication Association.

Matthew Powers (PhD 2013)

Matthew is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington-Seattle. His dissertation "Humanity's Publics: NGOs, Journalism and the International Public Sphere" examined reporting roles assumed by international NGOs as legacy media outlets cut their foreign news budgets, and received the Gene Burd Outstanding Dissertation in Journalism Studies award from the International Communication Association. 

Media, Culture, and Communication

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2.2 Media Effects Theories

Learning objectives.

• Identify the basic theories of media effects.
• Explain the uses of various media effects theories.

Early media studies focused on the use of mass media in propaganda and persuasion. However, journalists and researchers soon looked to behavioral sciences to help figure out the effect of mass media and communications on society. Scholars have developed many different approaches and theories to figure this out. You can refer to these theories as you research and consider the media’s effect on culture.

Widespread fear that mass-media messages could outweigh other stabilizing cultural influences, such as family and community, led to what is known as the direct effects model of media studies. This model assumed that audiences passively accepted media messages and would exhibit predictable reactions in response to those messages. For example, following the radio broadcast of War of the Worlds in 1938 (which was a fictional news report of an alien invasion), some people panicked and believed the story to be true.

Challenges to the Direct Effects Theory

The results of the People’s Choice Study challenged this model. Conducted in 1940, the study attempted to gauge the effects of political campaigns on voter choice. Researchers found that voters who consumed the most media had generally already decided for which candidate to vote, while undecided voters generally turned to family and community members to help them decide. The study thus discredited the direct effects model and influenced a host of other media theories (Hanson, 2009). These theories do not necessarily give an all-encompassing picture of media effects but rather work to illuminate a particular aspect of media influence.

Marshall McLuhan’s Influence on Media Studies

During the early 1960s, English professor Marshall McLuhan wrote two books that had an enormous effect on the history of media studies. Published in 1962 and 1964, respectively, the Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media both traced the history of media technology and illustrated the ways these innovations had changed both individual behavior and the wider culture. Understanding Media introduced a phrase that McLuhan has become known for: “The medium is the message.” This notion represented a novel take on attitudes toward media—that the media themselves are instrumental in shaping human and cultural experience.

His bold statements about media gained McLuhan a great deal of attention as both his supporters and critics responded to his utopian views about the ways media could transform 20th-century life. McLuhan spoke of a media-inspired “global village” at a time when Cold War paranoia was at its peak and the Vietnam War was a hotly debated subject. Although 1960s-era utopians received these statements positively, social realists found them cause for scorn. Despite—or perhaps because of—these controversies, McLuhan became a pop culture icon, mentioned frequently in the television sketch-comedy program Laugh-In and appearing as himself in Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall .

The Internet and its accompanying cultural revolution have made McLuhan’s bold utopian visions seem like prophecies. Indeed, his work has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Analysis of McLuhan’s work has, interestingly, not changed very much since his works were published. His supporters point to the hopes and achievements of digital technology and the utopian state that such innovations promise. The current critique of McLuhan, however, is a bit more revealing of the state of modern media studies. Media scholars are much more numerous now than they were during the 1960s, and many of these scholars criticize McLuhan’s lack of methodology and theoretical framework.

Despite his lack of scholarly diligence, McLuhan had a great deal of influence on media studies. Professors at Fordham University have formed an association of McLuhan-influenced scholars. McLuhan’s other great achievement is the popularization of the concept of media studies. His work brought the idea of media effects into the public arena and created a new way for the public to consider the influence of media on culture (Stille, 2000).

Agenda-Setting Theory

In contrast to the extreme views of the direct effects model, the agenda-setting theory of media stated that mass media determine the issues that concern the public rather than the public’s views. Under this theory, the issues that receive the most attention from media become the issues that the public discusses, debates, and demands action on. This means that the media is determining what issues and stories the public thinks about. Therefore, when the media fails to address a particular issue, it becomes marginalized in the minds of the public (Hanson).

When critics claim that a particular media outlet has an agenda, they are drawing on this theory. Agendas can range from a perceived liberal bias in the news media to the propagation of cutthroat capitalist ethics in films. For example, the agenda-setting theory explains such phenomena as the rise of public opinion against smoking. Before the mass media began taking an antismoking stance, smoking was considered a personal health issue. By promoting antismoking sentiments through advertisements, public relations campaigns, and a variety of media outlets, the mass media moved smoking into the public arena, making it a public health issue rather than a personal health issue (Dearing & Rogers, 1996). More recently, coverage of natural disasters has been prominent in the news. However, as news coverage wanes, so does the general public’s interest.

Through a variety of antismoking campaigns, the health risks of smoking became a public agenda.

Quinn Dombrowski – Weapons of mass destruction – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Media scholars who specialize in agenda-setting research study the salience, or relative importance, of an issue and then attempt to understand what causes it to be important. The relative salience of an issue determines its place within the public agenda, which in turn influences public policy creation. Agenda-setting research traces public policy from its roots as an agenda through its promotion in the mass media and finally to its final form as a law or policy (Dearing & Rogers, 1996).

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Practitioners of the uses and gratifications theory study the ways the public consumes media. This theory states that consumers use the media to satisfy specific needs or desires. For example, you may enjoy watching a show like Dancing With the Stars while simultaneously tweeting about it on Twitter with your friends. Many people use the Internet to seek out entertainment, to find information, to communicate with like-minded individuals, or to pursue self-expression. Each of these uses gratifies a particular need, and the needs determine the way in which media is used. By examining factors of different groups’ media choices, researchers can determine the motivations behind media use (Papacharissi, 2009).

A typical uses and gratifications study explores the motives for media consumption and the consequences associated with use of that media. In the case of Dancing With the Stars and Twitter, you are using the Internet as a way to be entertained and to connect with your friends. Researchers have identified a number of common motives for media consumption. These include relaxation, social interaction, entertainment, arousal, escape, and a host of interpersonal and social needs. By examining the motives behind the consumption of a particular form of media, researchers can better understand both the reasons for that medium’s popularity and the roles that the medium fills in society. A study of the motives behind a given user’s interaction with Facebook, for example, could explain the role Facebook takes in society and the reasons for its appeal.

Uses and gratifications theories of media are often applied to contemporary media issues. The analysis of the relationship between media and violence that you read about in preceding sections exemplifies this. Researchers employed the uses and gratifications theory in this case to reveal a nuanced set of circumstances surrounding violent media consumption, as individuals with aggressive tendencies were drawn to violent media (Papacharissi, 2009).

Symbolic Interactionism

Another commonly used media theory, symbolic interactionism , states that the self is derived from and develops through human interaction. This means the way you act toward someone or something is based on the meaning you have for a person or thing. To effectively communicate, people use symbols with shared cultural meanings. Symbols can be constructed from just about anything, including material goods, education, or even the way people talk. Consequentially, these symbols are instrumental in the development of the self.

This theory helps media researchers better understand the field because of the important role the media plays in creating and propagating shared symbols. Because of the media’s power, it can construct symbols on its own. By using symbolic interactionist theory, researchers can look at the ways media affects a society’s shared symbols and, in turn, the influence of those symbols on the individual (Jansson-Boyd, 2010).

One of the ways the media creates and uses cultural symbols to affect an individual’s sense of self is advertising. Advertisers work to give certain products a shared cultural meaning to make them desirable. For example, when you see someone driving a BMW, what do you think about that person? You may assume the person is successful or powerful because of the car he or she is driving. Ownership of luxury automobiles signifies membership in a certain socioeconomic class. Equally, technology company Apple has used advertising and public relations to attempt to become a symbol of innovation and nonconformity. Use of an Apple product, therefore, may have a symbolic meaning and may send a particular message about the product’s owner.

Media also propagate other noncommercial symbols. National and state flags, religious images, and celebrities gain shared symbolic meanings through their representation in the media.

Spiral of Silence

The spiral of silence theory, which states that those who hold a minority opinion silence themselves to prevent social isolation, explains the role of mass media in the formation and maintenance of dominant opinions. As minority opinions are silenced, the illusion of consensus grows, and so does social pressure to adopt the dominant position. This creates a self-propagating loop in which minority voices are reduced to a minimum and perceived popular opinion sides wholly with the majority opinion. For example, prior to and during World War II, many Germans opposed Adolf Hitler and his policies; however, they kept their opposition silent out of fear of isolation and stigma.

Because the media is one of the most important gauges of public opinion, this theory is often used to explain the interaction between media and public opinion. According to the spiral of silence theory, if the media propagates a particular opinion, then that opinion will effectively silence opposing opinions through an illusion of consensus. This theory relates especially to public polling and its use in the media (Papacharissi).

Media Logic

The media logic theory states that common media formats and styles serve as a means of perceiving the world. Today, the deep rooting of media in the cultural consciousness means that media consumers need engage for only a few moments with a particular television program to understand that it is a news show, a comedy, or a reality show. The pervasiveness of these formats means that our culture uses the style and content of these shows as ways to interpret reality. For example, think about a TV news program that frequently shows heated debates between opposing sides on public policy issues. This style of debate has become a template for handling disagreement to those who consistently watch this type of program.

Media logic affects institutions as well as individuals. The modern televangelist has evolved from the adoption of television-style promotion by religious figures, while the utilization of television in political campaigns has led candidates to consider their physical image as an important part of a campaign (Altheide & Snow, 1991).

Cultivation Analysis

The cultivation analysis theory states that heavy exposure to media causes individuals to develop an illusory perception of reality based on the most repetitive and consistent messages of a particular medium. This theory most commonly applies to analyses of television because of that medium’s uniquely pervasive, repetitive nature. Under this theory, someone who watches a great deal of television may form a picture of reality that does not correspond to actual life. Televised violent acts, whether those reported on news programs or portrayed on television dramas, for example, greatly outnumber violent acts that most people encounter in their daily lives. Thus, an individual who watches a great deal of television may come to view the world as more violent and dangerous than it actually is.

Cultivation analysis projects involve a number of different areas for research, such as the differences in perception between heavy and light users of media. To apply this theory, the media content that an individual normally watches must be analyzed for various types of messages. Then, researchers must consider the given media consumer’s cultural background of individuals to correctly determine other factors that are involved in his or her perception of reality. For example, the socially stabilizing influences of family and peer groups influence children’s television viewing and the way they process media messages. If an individual’s family or social life plays a major part in her life, the social messages that she receives from these groups may compete with the messages she receives from television.

Key Takeaways

• The now largely discredited direct effects model of media studies assumes that media audiences passively accept media messages and exhibit predictable reactions in response to those messages.
• Credible media theories generally do not give as much power to the media, such as the agenda-setting theory, or give a more active role to the media consumer, such as the uses and gratifications theory.
• Other theories focus on specific aspects of media influence, such as the spiral of silence theory’s focus on the power of the majority opinion or the symbolic interactionism theory’s exploration of shared cultural symbolism.
• Media logic and cultivation analysis theories deal with how media consumers’ perceptions of reality can be influenced by media messages.

Media theories have a variety of uses and applications. Research one of the following topics and its effect on culture. Examine the topic using at least two of the approaches discussed in this section. Then, write a one-page essay about the topic you’ve selected.

• Internet habits
• Television’s effect on attention span
• Advertising and self-image
• Racial stereotyping in film
• Many of the theories discussed in this section were developed decades ago. Identify how each of these theories can be used today? Do you think these theories are still relevant for modern mass media? Why?

David Altheide and Robert Snow, Media Worlds in the Postjournalism Era (New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1991), 9–11.

Dearing, James and Everett Rogers, Agenda-Setting (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996), 4.

Hanson, Ralph. Mass Communication: Living in a Media World (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2009), 80–81.

Hanson, Ralph. Mass Communication , 92.

Jansson-Boyd, Catherine. Consumer Psychology (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010), 59–62.

Papacharissi, Zizi. “Uses and Gratifications,” 153–154.

Papacharissi, Zizi. “Uses and Gratifications,” in An Integrated Approach to Communication Theory and Research , ed. Don Stacks and Michael Salwen (New York: Routledge, 2009), 137.

Stille, Alexander. “Marshall McLuhan Is Back From the Dustbin of History; With the Internet, His Ideas Again Seem Ahead of Their Time,” New York Times , October 14, 2000, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/14/arts/marshall-mcluhan-back-dustbin-history-with-internet-his-ideas-again-seem-ahead.html .

Understanding Media and Culture Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

• Department of Media Study >
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PhD in Media Study

The Department of Media Study’s PhD is one of a small set of innovative doctoral programs in experimental media theory and practice-led research in the United States. This program responds to the rapid development and transformation of media due to advances in digital technologies and to the growing number of artist-scholar-researchers working in technology-based art forms.

A new community of artist-scholar-researchers has emerged in the spaces between media art practice, the humanities and the sciences. This work is not easily categorized and often spans disciplines that traditionally have little overlap. Students of this program become experts in the hybrid set of conceptual and technical abilities that this field requires while they engage with the aesthetic, political and social challenges of media making. The department offers courses in film and video production, interactive media, digital media, physical computing, media networks and web-based media.

Learning Environment

This doctoral program is designed to create a framework for practice-led and scholarly research into media arts. Commensurate with the traditional PhD framework, most of the credits are earned in research and independent study. Consequently, students are free to organize their course of study around specific research trajectories. Coursework gives students opportunity to showcase and critique their work with peers. Students work closely with members of the faculty who share their research area. The dissertation combines both written and production components in a proportion and manner appropriate to the student’s area of research. The program only requires that the conversation between these two components be substantial and original. This PhD is most obviously appropriate for artists who plan to conduct their research in an academic context. However, the PhD is equally appropriate for media artists who want to explore the theoretical implications of their work or for ‘scholarly’ researchers who want to move from the purely discursive to explore practice-based research. This program is designed to be completed in five to six years. 

Program Requirements

Seventy-two credit hours are required, and students are expected to create a substantial and original media project to accompany their doctoral dissertation.

The PhD Requirements Manual offers a more comprehensive explanation of degree requirements. 

See Media Study advisor for forms.

Description of required coursework follows:

Production (9 credits): PhD students must be literate in media creation. (This category was previously Methods of Making.) Students should discuss with their  faculty advisor whether any particular courses in this category would benefit them.

Media Theory and History (18 credits):  The required course DMS 570, Media Theory, provides a graduate-level introduction to media theory and research methodologies. Additional media theory and history courses prepare students to take their qualifying exams and eventually to contribute original research to the field. The preliminary media theory course should be taken in the first semester, the other two media theory courses should be taken in the semester prior to the qualifying exam.

PhD Seminars and Research Ethics (6 credits):  Students are encouraged to take these courses (I and II) in semester 1 and semester 4. PhD Seminar I focuses on research methods and practices; PhD Seminar II focuses on research strategies and preparation of manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Students will identify appropriate professional journals, publication venues and conferences for the presentation of their doctoral research. Students must also pass a research ethics course, either by taking a 2 credit seminar (PHI 640 or RPN 541) or by completing the online Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) with a passing score of 80% or higher. Students taking the CITI course must submit documentation of their successful completion of the course with their Application to Candidacy.

Directed Electives (30 credits):  Students may choose any UB graduate courses that support their doctoral research, chosen in consultation with their faculty advisor. Students must keep records (course work and syllabi) of all course activities performed outside of DMS. This information will become important when applying for candidacy. Some directed electives (at least 8 credits) must be taken in additional media theory classes.

Dissertation and Project Guidance (9 credits):  Thesis and project work is usually credited by registering for DMS 598 project supervision during one of the last three semesters, and DMS 702 Dissertation guidance in the final two semesters, in any combination of credits suited to the work.

Required Coursework outside DMS:  Students must take at least 3 classes outside of DMS as part of their requirements for the major. Usually these courses will be used for electives and will be chosen in concert with the student’s faculty advisor. Use of these courses for PhD requirements, other than as electives, must be approved by the DGS. Students are required to keep documentation (syllabi, semester papers, etc.) for these courses. All credits must be in graduate level courses External Courses (counted under electives or other categories)(500 level and above).

Requirements for Student Starting Prior to Fall 2021

Production (8 credits)

Media Theory and History (12 credits)

PhD Seminar I and II (8 credits)

Research Ethics (0 credits, or counted under electives)

Directed Electives (38 credits) Includes at least 8 additional credits of Media Theory and History

Dissertation and Project Guidance (6 credits)

[Includes at least 3 classes outside of DMS]

Apply Today!

Join a community of scholars and researchers working together to solve pressing global problems.  We are committed to recruiting the very best PhD students and preparing doctoral students for career success. UB features:

• World-class faculty experts  mentor PhD students in a dynamic research and learning environment. Students can focus on their research and scholarship alongside renowned faculty while preparing for the careers and professions that await them after graduation.
• A city on the rise.  Buffalo, N.Y. offers affordable housing, arts, culture and community.  Learn more about Buffalo .

PhD Program Metrics

Phd funding opportunities.

• Academic year stipends of $23,000  for all full-time, funded PhD students on 10-month academic teaching assistant, research assistant or graduate assistant appointments.
• UB’s stipend levels are competitive among public Association of American Universities (AAU) member institutions.
• Arthur A. Schomburg Fellowship Program : To be eligible for a Schomburg Fellowship, candidates must contribute to the diversity of the student body, and can demonstrate that they have overcome a disadvantage or other impediment to success in higher education. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to receive Schomburg Fellowships.
• Presidential Fellowships :  To be eligible for Presidential Fellowships, candidates must meet the criteria listed on the Presidential Fellowship page. Both domestic and international students are eligible, if they meet these criteria. For any questions regarding funding for academic year 2025–2026, contact the director of graduate studies or department chair.

Learn more about the Department of Media Study Graduate Programs

• 6/10/24 Graduate Overview
• 6/13/24 Meet Our Faculty
• 5/23/24 Current Graduate Students

For more information about Media Study Graduate programs, email [email protected]

380 Academic Center

Phone: (716) 645-6242

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Phone: (716) 645-4787

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Home > Humanities and Sciences > Communication Studies > Communication Studies ETDs

Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Professional Papers

This collection includes theses, dissertations, and professional papers from the University of Montana Department of Communication Studies. Theses, dissertations, and professional papers from all University of Montana departments and programs may be searched here.

Theses/Dissertations from 2024 2024

The Role of Face Threats in Understanding Target’s Interpretation of a Tease , Shawn M. Deegan

RETROSPECTIVE AND INTERACTIVE ANALYSES OF PARENT-ADOLESCENT STORYTELLING ABOUT ALCOHOL , Kiersten Marie Falck

A CASE OF WATER: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL AND SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE ARIZONA V. NAVAJO NATION SUPREME COURT CASE , Mykel Patrick Greene

To Revise Or Not To Revise: How Feedback Type, Interpersonal Liking, and Messenger Credibility Influence Revision , Rachel Jane Jensen

The National Football League's Problem , Marley R. Merchen

Menopause in The Public Sphere: The Consciousness-Raising Practices of Technical and Experiential Experts , Emma J. Murdock

Minimizing Toxicity and Maximizing Social Connection in Collegiate Esports Teams , Julia Kay Tonne

EXPLORING CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENTS WITH CONSIDERATION TO COMMUNICATION ACCOMMODATION THEORY , Wendy K. Yeboah

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

COMEDY, CAMARADERIE, AND CONFLICT: USING HUMOR TO DEFUSE DISPUTES AMONG FRIENDS , Sheena A. Bringa

Navigating Toxic Identities Within League of Legends , Jeremy Thomas Miner

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA RICHNESS AND SOCIAL PRESENCE: EXPLORING THE IMPACTS OF MEDIA CHANNELS ON INDIVIDUALS’ LEVELS OF LONELINESS, WELL-BEING, AND BELONGING , Ashley M. Arsenault

CANCELING VS. #CANCEL CULTURE: AN ANALYSIS ON THE SURVEILLANCE AND DISCIPLINE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BEHAVIOR THROUGH COMPETING DISCOURSES OF POWER , Julia G. Bezio

DISTAL SIBLING GRIEF: EXPLORING EMOTIONAL AFFECT AND SALIENCE OF LISTENER BEHAVIORS IN STORIES OF SIBLING DEATH , Margaret C. Brock

Is Loss a Laughing Matter?: A Study of Humor Reactions and Benign Violation Theory in the Context of Grief. , Miranda B. Henrich

The Request Is Not Compatible: Competing Frames of Public Lands Discourse in the Lolo Peak Ski Resort Controversy , Philip A. Sharp

Patient Expectations, Satisfaction, and Provider Communication Within the Oncology Experience , Elizabeth Margaret Sholey

Psychological Safety at Amazon: A CCO Approach , Kathryn K. Zyskowski

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Discourse of Renewal: A Qualitative Analysis of the University of Montana’s COVID-19 Crisis Communication , Haley Renae Gabel

Activating Hope: How Functional Support Can Improve Hope in Unemployed Individuals , Rylee P. Walter

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

THE HOME AS A SITE OF FAMILY COMMUNICATED NARRATIVE SENSE-MAKING: GRIEF, MEANING, AND IDENTITY THROUGH “CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET” , Kendyl A. Barney

CRISIS AS A CONSTANT: UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNICATIVE ENACTMENT OF COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE WITHIN THE EXTENSION DISASTER EDUCATION NETWORK (EDEN) , Danielle Maria Farley

FOSTERING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE IN COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION: EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE FOUNDATIONS TRAINING , Shanay L. Healy

Belonging for Dementia Caregivers , Sabrina Singh

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Making the Most of People We Do Not Like: Capitalizing on Negative Feedback , Christopher Edward Anderson

Understanding the Relationship Between Discursive Resources and Risk-Taking Behaviors in Outdoor Adventure Athletes , Mira Ione Cleveland

Service Failure Management in High-End Hospitality Resorts , Hunter A. Dietrich

Fear, Power, & Teeth (2007) , Olivia Hockenbroch

The climate change sublime: Leveraging the immense awe of the planetary threat of climate change , Sean D. Quartz

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Relationship Between Memorable Messages and Identity Construction , Raphaela P. Barros Campbell

Wonder Woman: A Case Study for Critical Media Literacy , Adriana N. Fehrs

Curated Chaos: A Rhetorical Study of Axmen , Rebekah A. McDonald

THE ROLE OF BIPOLAR DISORDER, STIGMA, AND HURTFUL MESSAGES IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS , Callie Parrish

Cruising to be a Board Gamer: Understanding Socialization Relating to Board Gaming and The Dice Tower , Benjamin Wassink

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

STEAMED: EXAMINATIONS OF POWER STRUGGLES ON THE VALUE FORUM , richard E. babb

Beyond the Bike; Identity and Belonging of Free Cycles Members , Caitlyn Lewis

Adherence and Uncertainty Management: A Test Of The Theory Of Motivated Information Management , Ryan Thiel

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Redskins Revisited: Competing Constructions of the Washington Redskins Mascot , Eean Grimshaw

A Qualitative Analysis of Belonging in Communities of Practice: Exploring Transformative Organizational Elements within the Choral Arts , Aubrielle J. Holly

Training the Professoraite of Tomorrow: Implementing the Needs Centered Training Model to Instruct Graduate Teaching Assistants in the use of Teacher Immediacy , Leah R. Johnson

Beyond Blood: Examining the Communicative Challenges of Adoptive Families , Mackensie C. Minniear

Attitudes Toward Execution: The Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News , Katherine Shuy

Knowledge and Resistance: Feminine Style and Signifyin[g] in Michelle Obama’s Public Address , Tracy Valgento

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

BLENDED FRAMEWORK: BILL MCKIBBEN'S USE OF MELODRAMA AND COMEDY IN ENVIRONMENTAL RHETORIC , Megan E. Cullinan

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDICAL DRAMAS ON PATIENT EXPECTATIONS OF PHYSICIAN COMMUNICATION , Kayla M. Fadenrecht

Diabesties: How Diabetic Support on Campus can Alleviate Diabetic Burnout , Kassandra E. Martin

Resisting NSA Surveillance: Glenn Greenwald and the public sphere debate about privacy , Rebecca Rice

Rhetoric, participation, and democracy: The positioning of public hearings under the National Environmental Policy Act , Kevin C. Stone

Socialization and Volunteers: A Training Program for Volunteer Managers , Allison M. Sullivan

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

THIRD PARTY EFFECTS OF AFFECTIONATE COMMUNICATION IN FAMILY SUBSYSTEMS: EXAMINING INFLUENCE ON AFFECTIONATE COMMUNICATION, MENTAL WELL-BEING, AND FAMILY SATISFACTION , Timothy M. Curran

Commodity or Dignity? Nurturing Managers' Courtesy Nurtures Workers' Productivity , Montana Rafferty Moss

"It Was My Job to Keep My Children Safe": Sandra Steingraber and the Parental Rhetoric of Precaution , Mollie Katherine Murphy

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Free Markets: ALEC's Populist Constructions of "the People" in State Politics , Anne Sherwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

COMMUNICATIVE CONSTRUCTION OF EXPECTATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF EXPECTATIONS REGARDING MOTHERS IN NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION , Jordan A. Allen

Let’s talk about sex: A training program for parents of 4th and 5th grade children , Elizabeth Kay Eickhoff

"You Is The Church": Identity and Identification in Church Leadership , Megan E. Gesler

This land is your land, this land is my land: A qualitative study of tensions in an environmental decision making group , Gabriel Patrick Grelle

The Constitution of Queer Identity in the 1972 APA Panel, "Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to Homosexuals? A Dialogue" , Dustin Vern Edward Schneider

The Effect of Religious Similarity on the Use of Relational Maintenance Strategies in Marriages , Jamie Karen Taylor

Justice, Equality, and SlutWalk: The Rhetoric of Protesting Rape Culture , Dana Whitney Underwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Collective Privacy Boundary Turbulence and Facework Strategies: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of South Korea and the United States , Min Kyong Cho

COMMUNICATING ARTIFACTS: AN ANALYSIS OF HOW MUSEUMS COMMUNICATE ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY DURING TIMES OF CONTROVERSY AND FINANCIAL STRAIN , Amanda Renee Cornuke

Communication Apprehension and Perceived Responsiveness , Elise Alexandra Fanney

Improving Patient-Provider Communication in the Health Care context , Charlotte M. Glidden

What They Consider, How They Decide: Best Practices of Technical Experts in Environmental Decision-Making , Cassandra J. Hemphill

Rebuilding Place: Exploring Strategies to Align Place Identity During Relocation , Brigette Renee McKamey

Sarah Palin, Conservative Feminism, and the Politics of Family , Jasmine Rose Zink

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Salud, Dignidad, Justicia: Articulating "Choice" and "Reproductive Justice" for Latinas in the United States , Kathleen Maire de Onis

Environmental Documentary Film: A Contemporary Tool For Social Movement , Rachel Gregg

In The Pink: The (Un)Healthy Complexion of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month , Kira Stacey Jones

Jihad as an Ideograph: Osama bin Laden's rhetorical weapon of choice , Faye Lingarajan

The Heart of the Matter: The Function and Relational Effects of Humor for Cardiovascular Patients , Nicholas Lee Lockwood

Feeling the Burn: A Discursive Analysis of Organizational Burnout in Seasonal Wildland Firefighters , Whitney Eleanor Marie Maphis

Making A Comeback: An Exploration of Nontraditional Students & Identity Support , Jessica Kate McFadden

In the Game of Love, Play by the Rules: Implications of Relationship Rule Consensus over Honesty and Deception in Romantic Relationships , Katlyn Elise Roggensack

Assessing the balance: Burkean frames and Lil' Bush , Elizabeth Anne Sills

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Discipline of Identity: Examining the Challenges of Developing Interdisciplinary Identities Within the Science Disciplines , Nicholas Richard Burk

Occupational Therapists: A Study of Managing Multiple Identities , Katherine Elise Lloyd

Discourse, Identity, and Culture in Diverse Organizations: A Study of The Muslim Students Association (University of Montana) , Burhanuddin Bin Omar

The Skinny on Weight Watchers: A Critical Analysis of Weight Watcher's Use of Metaphors , Ashlynn Laura Reynolds-Dyk

You Got the Job, Now What?: An Evaluation of the New Employee Orientation Program at the University of Montana , Shiloh M. A. Sullivan

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Because We Have the Power to Choose: A Critical Analysis of the Rhetorical Strategies Used in Merck's Gardasil Campaign , Brittney Lee Buttweiler

Communicative Strategies Used in the Introduction of Spirituality in the Workplace , Matthew Alan Condon

Cultures in Residence: Intercultural Communication Competence for Residence Life Staff , Bridget Eileen Flaherty

The Influence of Sibling Support on Children's Post-Divorce Adjustment: A Turning Point Analysis , Kimberly Ann Jacobs

TALK ABOUT “HOOKING UP”: HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS‟ ACCOUNTS OF “HOOKING UP” IN SOCIAL NETWORKS INFLUENCES ENGAGING IN RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR , Amanda J. Olson

The Effect of Imagined Interactions on Secret Revelation and Health , Adam Stephens Richards

Teaching Intercultural Communication Competence in the Healthcare Context , Jelena Stojakovic

Quitting versus Not Quitting: The Process and Development of an Assimilation Program Within Opportunity Resources, Inc. , Amanda N. Stovall

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

IMAGES AS A LAYER OF POSITIVE RHETORIC: A VALUES-BASED CASE STUDY EXPLORING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN VISUAL AND VERBAL ELEMENTS FOUND ON A RURAL NATURAL RESOURCES NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION WEBSITE , Vailferree Stilwell Brechtel

Relational Transgressions in Romantic Relationships: How Individuals Negotiate the Revelation and Concealment of Transgression Information within the Social Network , Melissa A. Maier

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

THE SOCIALIZATION OF SEASONAL EMPLOYEES , Maria Dawn Blevins

Friends the family you choose (no matter what: An investigation of fictive kin relationships amoung young adults. , Kimberly Anne Clinger

Public relations in nonprofit organizations: A guide to establishing public relations programs in nonprofit settings , Megan Kate Gale

Negotiated Forgiveness in Parent-Child Relationships: Investigating Links to Politeness, Wellness and Sickness , Jennifer Lynn Geist

Developing and Communicating Better Sexual Harassment Policies Through Ethics and Human Rights , Thain Yates Hagan

Managing Multiple Identities: A Qualitative Study of Nurses and Implications for Work-Family Balance , Claire Marie Spanier

BEYOND ORGANIC: DEFINING ALTERNATIVES TO USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC , Jennifer Ann von Sehlen

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Graduate Teaching Assistant Interpretations and Responses to Student Immediacy Cues , Clair Owen Canfield

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This degree enhances students' knowledge of media theory and media practice, giving them the opportunity to engage with in-depth media research and contemporary media theory and explore creative production. The degree allows students to select a range of electives, including practical options (such as narrative literary journalism and political journalism) to more theoretical offerings (such as Media and the Public Domain and South African Public Rhetoric). All students complete a core course, Media Theory and Media Research, which prepares them for the main focus of the degree, their original academic dissertation OR their creative project.

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Trump rally shooting breeds social media lies and sick conspiracies. What's wrong with us?

The chaos of the moment, as is always the case now, was swiftly made worse by speculation blasted out to thousands or millions on x and facebook and other platforms..

News of a shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania broke Saturday, then descended immediately into the chaotic churn of social media, birthing the kind of lies, conspiracies and speculation that have become our new normal.

What happened was sickening. We didn’t need to wait on specific details to know that. Hearing a crackle of gunfire and watching the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – thankfully OK – swarmed by Secret Service officers , rushed off the stage with blood on his face? It’s unthinkable. It’s not how America is supposed to work.

But what followed, within minutes, was maddening. 

Shooting at Trump rally birthed swift social media conspiracies

The chaos of the moment, as is always the case now, was swiftly made worse by speculation blasted out to thousands or millions on X and Facebook and other platforms. It came from every source – random knuckleheads, pundits, lawmakers – deciding in the moment they knew exactly what had happened.

Facts rendered meaningless. Opinions and hot takes elevated to levels that were once the sole realm of actual, reputable news.

It was this person’s fault. It was that person’s fault. You’re to blame. They’re to blame. 

Americans' social-media-driven demand for instant answers hurts us all

Trending topics took off with claims of everything from an assassination attempt to a staged event. Unfettered garbage. Cynical manipulations. 

Sick, twisted imaginings and attempts at humor – worthless chatter that once had no way to enter the mainstream – were blasted out to a country where, quite literally, everybody has to have a damn opinion in order to grasp at some form of social status.

What is wrong with us? How have we let the drip of conspiracy theories and lies that are part of any society become a fire hose?

After the Trump rally shots, there was no waiting around for facts

I don’t know yet exactly what happened at Trump’s rally , beyond the reporting that says the former president is OK, a person at the rally was shot and killed, two others were injured and the shooter is dead. That will change as investigators learn more and share it with the public, but in the wake of the shooting Saturday, that is absolutely the extent of anyone’s knowledge.

This didn’t stop people from extrapolating, from fabricating, from sensationalizing a horrible moment that needed no augmenting. The dearth of facts were quickly backfilled with opportunistic bollocks.

As a journalist, as someone whose entire professional life has been anchored by facts, this out-of-control, all-too-predictable tornado of fiction makes me sick. It has made me sick following more tragic, chaotic moments that I can recall. It made me sick in the past few weeks as everyone and their uncle became an expert on aging and on President Joe Biden’s cognitive state.

But this moment – even though we still don’t know the motive or the full details – is one that demands clarity and unity and care. Damn it, we are one nation, and we can and should, across the board, condemn any form of political violence. Period. 

Trump rally shooting should've made us pause, not speculate

And that’s all anyone should have been doing Saturday, from the moment that shocking gunfire erupted and on and on through the night and until Americans know, without question, what the hell happened.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store .

This isn’t a battle. This can’t be us vs. us. We have to reach a moment where we put down our phones and just keep quiet. Just let the facts come out. Just hold back the emotions and the click-thirsty desires and the demand for instant gratification that has led us to this point.

I look forward to every detail of this horrific shooting coming out so we can move forward together and do what Americans should be doing: Make things better.

What happened on social media and across TV screens throughout the country in the wake of this shooting all but certainly made things worse.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter,  @RexHuppke  and Facebook  facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page , on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter .

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No, this photo is not of Trump rally shooting suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks

If your time is short.

• An unnamed man falsely claimed responsibility for the attempted assassination.  
• He posted a photo and a video of himself saying he was the shooter at the rally.  
• The posts came hours after police and local officials confirmed the real shooting suspect was dead.

Do these images show Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man named by the FBI as the suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump?

Social media posts quickly claimed to reveal the portrait of the suspect who authorities say shot and killed one person, injured former President Donald Trump and critically injured two others at the candidate’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania July 13. 

The posts seen on X and Instagram show the side profile of a long-haired blond man wearing a blue shirt and eyeglasses.

The man can be seen in a video claiming responsibility for the attack. "My name is Thomas Matthew Crooks," he said. "I hate Republicans, I hate Trump and guess what, you got the wrong guy."

The person in the video is not Crooks.

Featured Fact-check

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

U.S. Secret Service agents killed the suspected shooter, according to the agency’s July 13 press statement . Butler County District Attorney Richard A. Goldinger also confirmed the shooting suspect’s death.

The photos and video also surfaced online several hours after officials confirmed the real shooting suspect was dead.

We rate the claim that the viral social media images of a long-haired blonde man wearing a blue shirt and eyeglasses as the shooter at Trump’s rally Pants on Fire.

Read About Our Process

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ABC News, Trump rushed off stage as possible shots heard at rally; shooter dead , DA says, Jul. 13, 2024

The Guardian, FBI names suspect, 20, as ‘subject involved’ in Trump rally shooting , Jul. 14, 2024

X post, Anthony Guglielmi , Jul. 13, 2024

X post, Shayan Sardarizadeh , Jul. 14, 2024

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Minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. Here are the facts

What began as a jubilant rally for Donald Trump, just days before he becomes the official Republican presidential nominee, ended in mere minutes with the former president bloodied and a suspected would-be assassin shot dead by Secret Service.

Trump 2024 flag is raised outside of Trump Tower, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Within minutes of the gunfire, the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims — some outlandish, others contradictory — reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America’s fevered, polarized political climate.

The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information — and misinformation — for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics.

Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity . But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims.

“We saw things like ‘The Chinese were behind it,’ or ‘ Antifa was behind it,’ or ‘the Biden administration did it.’ We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,’” said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. “Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what’s going on. They go online to try to figure it out.”

Here’s a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting:

Claims of an inside job or false flag are unsubstantiated

Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack.

Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House’s orders.

The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump’s campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday’s rally and was told no.

What to know :

• Timeline of events : How the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump unfolded.
• On the suspect : What we know about the 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate Trump .
• Motive still not known : The FBI said that it had not yet determined a motive , but the agency believed that the shooter acted alone.
• Biden’s response : The president appealed for “unity” and said he was ordering an independent security review.
• A “man of conviction” : Victim Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, used his body to shield his family from gunfire.

“This is absolutely false,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. “In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”

Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump’s defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim — that the whole event was staged by Trump.

“How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??” wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service.

Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic.

An image created using artificial intelligence — depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting — was also making the rounds, Cyabra found.

Moments like this are ‘cannon fodder’ for extremists

Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism.

“Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online , because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence” said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions.”

Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter.

In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise.

“First they jail him, now they try to end him,” reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. “Stand Strong & Show Your Support!”

Republicans cast blame on Biden

After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”

Ware said that comment from Biden was “violent rhetoric” that is “raising the stakes,” especially when combined with Biden’s existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter’s motive until we know more information. Biden’s remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence.

Trump’s own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to “fight like hell” preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull.

Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College.

Westwood said he worries that Saturday’s shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic.

“There is a real risk that this spirals,” he said. “Even if someone doesn’t personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation.”

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here . The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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An Attempt to Kill an Ex-President, Caught in Real Time, Stuns the Country

The shooting targeting Donald J. Trump was the first of its kind in the era of social media, and was followed by a flood of striking images, rich eyewitness accounts and furious, fearful reaction.

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By Jonathan Weisman

Follow the latest news on the Trump assassination attempt.

It was the first attempted assassination of a current or former American president in the era of social media, and the conspiracy theories, finger-pointing and campaign gamesmanship moved at the speed of the internet, far faster than the actual facts of what transpired at former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 left the nation in bewildered grief. Conspiracy theories would proliferate, of course, and Abraham Zapruder’s film of Kennedy’s last moments would be studied for decades. But first, there was mourning. The assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 would rock the public consciousness again, leaving Americans wondering what would become of their country.

But in the era of memes, X posts, Truths, Threads and TikTok, introspection was never going to be the dominant mood. Rage, blame, even comedy were the watchwords of 2024. A picture of Mr. Trump, fist aloft, American flag fluttering overhead, became iconic in an instant.

Within minutes of the first televised images of Mr. Trump grabbing his wounded ear on Saturday, voices on the left were calling it staged, though they were hardly household names.

Not long after, far bigger names on the right, including Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, a finalist to be Mr. Trump’s running mate, had settled on the argument that Democrats had set the stage for an attempted assassination by framing the 2024 election as a battle between the forces of democracy and the soldiers of fascism. Of course someone was going to take a shot, these conservatives said.

Before anyone knew a thing about the man who had pulled the trigger, Mr. Trump’s most senior surrogates, including Mr. Vance and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, were blaming President Biden and Democrats.

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