This problem's investigation deals with gauging the artistic influence, if any, pioneer editorial cartoonist John Knott had on his successors, Ficklen and McClanahan. Information was gathered through interviews and the pages of the Dallas Morning News. Organization is as follows: introduction, biography and art of Knott, biography and art of Ficklen, biography and art of McClanahan, summary and conclusion. The study found minimal artistic influence by Knott on the cartoons of Ficklen and McClanahan. Compared to Knott, Ficklen and McClanahan had different art backgrounds, cartoon styles, personal and political beliefs. Knott's successors admired different artists, drew during a different editorial page emphasis and had more freedom in cartoon selection than Knott did. Neither Ficklen nor McClanahan listed Knott as an artistic influence.

Condemned prisoners in Texas and most other states are given an opportunity to make a final statement in the last moments before death. An anecdotal review by the author of this study over the last 15 years indicates that condemned prisoners use the opportunity for a variety of purposes. They ask forgiveness, explain themselves, lash out at accusers, rail at the system, read poems, say goodbyes to friends and family, praise God, curse fate - and assert their innocence with their last breaths. The final words also are typically heard by a select group of witnesses, which may include a prisoner's family and friends, victim's relatives, and one or more journalists. What the public knows about a particular condemned person's statement largely depends on what the journalists who witness the executions chose to include in their accounts of executions, the accuracy of their notes, and the completeness of the statements that are recorded on departments of correction websites or records. This paper will examine, through rhetorical and content analyses, the final words of the 355 prisoners who were executed in Texas between 1976 and 2005, identify those who made unequivocal claims of innocence in their final statements, and analyze news …

This study gives an historical account of foreign ownership of newspapers in Kenya. Since the establishment of the first newspaper in the early 1900s, to the modern publication of daily newspapers in Kenya, the press has been dominated by foreign owners, writers and advertisers. Before independence from Britain, foreign domination was expressed by the total disregard of the African by the newspapers. After independence, foreign domination continued as the government, dedicated to the free enterprise capitalist system, has not made any substantial effort to nationalize already established newspaper companies. In 1977 the first African-owned newspaper, a weekly was established. Today, there is no African-owned daily newspaper. All indications are that only the modernizing process will result in African ownership and control of newspapers.

Today, both the way a story is told and how long the viewer's attention can be held are often as important as the story itself. This study shows how online media sets new standards for narrative and continues some print traditions. This study focuses on the dialogue between print and online media. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of this dialogue through story length, readability, shovelware and story packaging shows the numerous effects the Internet has had on news media content.

The study seeks to find a baseline of Twitter usage of traditional media. Findings suggest that traditional media are using Twitter (a non-traditional medium) in a traditional way. The study explores why a tool like Twitter needs to be approached by journalists in ways to which they may not be accustomed. The study additionally finds that newsrooms are underutilizing Twitter's potential for audience interactivity and have not established guidelines for journalists in the use of Twitter for work purposes. Conclusions include the need for more understanding of Twitter on the part of managers, a usage of Twitter that fits the medium, rather than traditional journalism models and more study in the future so that the journalism business can stay ahead of the curve when new communication technologies are introduced.

Stereo types and stigmas of individuals with mental illnesses have proved to be a major roadblock preventing these individuals from seeking help. The news media, despite having a responsibility to accurately inform the public, has played a significant role in portraying individuals with mental illness as violent, unpredictable, dangerous, and unfit to live with the rest of “normal” society. This happens through the words journalists choose to use and the information they choose in included, and excluded, when reporting on mental health issues. This study attempts to establish a guideline that journalists can follow that will hopefully reduce the stigma of mental illness in the media, and eventually in society. This study used a 2 x 2 ANCOVA to test two independent variables (amount of labeling terms and amount of corrective information). The variables were manipulated by modifying a news article four times to produce articles with varying levels of labeling terms and corrective information. A control article was also be used. The articles were randomized and passed out to 220 undergraduate college students at the University of North Texas who completed a questionnaire, read their assigned article, and then completed a second questionnaire to determine the impact the article …

The relationship between Japan and the U.S. has endured contention since the beginning of the millennium, but the two countries remain allies. This quantitative and qualitative content analysis examines the print coverage of two controversies in Japan-U.S. relations: the sinking of a Japanese fishing trawler and the controversy surrounding the Futenma base. By applying the theoretical framework of media framing, the research examines four U.S. newspapers and one Japanese newspaper while considering the two corresponding geopolitical periods: Japan (sur)passing. By coding each article for predefined framing categories, the research found in the era of (sur)passing, the application of the mea culpa and responsibility frames mirrored the geopolitical dynamic of the time. However, the reconciliation frame, created by the U.S. newspapers’ use of elite news sources in the period of Japan passing, went against the scholarly interpretation of the period, and instead focused on a positive bilateral relationship in order to influence public opinion.

This study was conducted to detail the history of The Arlington Citizen-Journal newspaper and its editors and the effect of an active newspaper on the orderly growth of a town. The Arlington Citizen-Journal evolved from a merger of two Arlington weekly newspapers, The Arlington Journal and The Arlington Citizen, which for more than fifty years reported Arlington happenings. The study includes historical information about the city, its people, and its institutions, and direct quotations of both editorial comment and news reports of Arlington events and people. It was found that throughout the years of Arlington's rapid growth, The Citizen-Journal was a vital force behind its citizens.

On April 30, 1997, for the first time in television history, an actress on a popular television sitcom announced to the world that both se and the character she played were lesbians. This study offers an interpretation of the significance of Ellen DeGeneres' coming through a cultural studies analysis of the April 14, 1997 Time magazine article in which DeGeneres comes out and the April 30, 1997 "Ellen" television episode in which DeGeneres brings her character, Ellen Morgan, out. The study revealed sites of ideological differences between the two texts that could point to a struggle over the meaning of gayness in modern American society. The results suggest that mainstream attitudes and beliefs could be in the process of shifting toward a more normalized view of homosexuality.