Unfavorable opinions and images of the public relations industry have persisted for decades, and the industry still struggles to deal with them. Additionally, it is a demanding profession that is expected to grow faster than average but struggles to retain talent. Public relations research has also predominantly focused on how nonpractitioners perceive public relations. The present study psychoanalytically analyzed two movies with cinematic representations of public relations practitioners and 20 interviews with public relations practitioners to examine how practitioners' self-perceptions of public relations unconsciously influence their practice and expectations, as well as their stress and burnout. More specifically, stress and burnout dynamics were explored among younger and older practitioners and gender.

The overpopulation of domestic animals has become an ongoing problem across the United States. Approximately 1.5 million animals are being euthanized in the United States every year. In fact, shelters euthanize about 23 % of the animals they take in. However, the euthanasia rate would be much greater without animal rescues, which are different than animal shelters. Animal rescues are unique from shelters because they are not government-funded, and they do not usually have a physical location. Because of these factors, animal rescues rely on volunteers to care for the animals they save and donors to fund their operations. Animal rescues heavily depend on social media to fulfill many of their needs, including fundraising and volunteer recruitment, which makes the nonprofits particularly vulnerable to failure without a social media following. This research combined a content analysis of animal rescues' Facebook posts with a survey of the rescues to determine which Facebook affordances and message frames animal rescues used online were positively related to online and offline success metrics. The content analysis focused on analyzing posts for message frames, and the survey provided information about annual success. The combination of a content analysis and a survey uncovered relationships between Facebook characteristics, …

Journalists have insisted that John Oliver has inspired a new kind of journalism. They argue that Oliver's show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has inspired real-world action, a phenomenon journalists have called the "John Oliver Effect." Oliver, a comedian, refuses these claims. This thesis is the result of in-depth research into journalists' claims through the lens of agenda-setting. By conducting a qualitative content analysis, I evaluated the message characteristics of framing devices used on Oliver's show, then compared those message characteristics to the message characteristics and framing devices employed by legacy media.

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.

This problem's investigation deals with the influence of sports photographer Al Panzera upon staff photographers at four major metropolitan newspapers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Information was gathered through interviews, periodicals, and the pages of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The study found Panzera to be influential in varying degrees upon all photographers interviewed. He proved most influential with beginners, especially in the 1940's and 1950's. He influenced advanced photographers to a limited extent. Areas of influence included his techniques, abilities, personality, and tenure with Star-Telegram.

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 study determines and evaluates changes in the 10:00 p.m. newscasts of the Dallas-Fort Worth network affiliates following personnel and ownership changes, and a reduction in length of one station's newscast. Scripts and audio recordings of the newscasts were collected during four-week periods before and after the changes. The data were analyzed and supplemented with interviews conducted with the stations' news directors and producers. Conclusions drawn were that ownership changes had more impact on the presentation of the news than on its content, changes in anchormen and producers had more effect on presentation than on content, and a reduction in news time caused changes in the content of a television newscast.

The problem of the study was to analyze conditions of the South African press, including effects of apartheid legislation on the free flow of information. The method of research was mail questionnaire to editors of twenty-two South African daily newspapers. The study showed that the South African press is restricted by legislation and additional laws are expected. Other information from the study includes the following: at least four main laws impede the free flow of information; the press has ready access to government officials; Die Burger and The Star are considered the most influential newspapers; and Prime Minister Vorster's recent advice that the press "put your house in order" seems aimed largely at key English-language newspapers.

The purpose of this study was to specify quantitatively the meanings and images of eight branches of journalism as perceived by a selected group of college students majoring in journalism. The problem of this study was to identify the locations of these meanings, using a semantic differential, as points in a three-dimensional semantic space consisting of evaluation, potency, and activity dimensions. The study was also designed to test two hypotheses. Hypothesis One was that there would be a significant difference between the male and female groups in their perception of the same concept about a journalism branch. Hypothesis Two was that there would be a significant difference between two concepts perceived by the members of the same sex group.

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.

Market Place is a home furnishings trade magazine circulated free to approximately 35,000 employees in the home furnishings industry. The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining whether three demographic characteristics, including type of business, position, and experience, affect frequency of readership or influence of the magazine. Questionnaires were mailed in the spring of 1975 to a random sample of 1,000 recipients of Market Place. Analysis of the data showed that, although most of the recipients have a high frequency of readership of Market Place, the groups hypothesized to read most frequently and to be most influenced by the magazine did not read and were not influenced most frequently.

This study presents a picture of Martin Luther as a pioneer in mass communications. The text is divided into four sections and the conclusion; Martin Luther: man and his world, Luther and the German printing press, propaganda devices in Luther's Primary Reformation Treatises of 1520, and, propaganda and mass communications in Luther's liturgical reforms, religious broadsides, and preaching. The final remarks pertain to Luther's effect upon the reordering of society in the Western world.

This study presents detailed analyses of public relations practices of the Communications Services Department, Dallas (Texas) Power & Light Company. Information sources included interviews with company personnel, company publications, and other publications. Four chapters deal with unique problems with which the electric utility industry in the United States is confronted; history and development of the electric power industry in Dallas; history and development of Dallas Power & Light Company, and organizations, functions, and operations of Communications Services Department of Dallas Power & Light Company. The study finds much strength in the department, but recommends several minor writing and clerical changes in the department's practices. It recommends further scholarly examination of public relations activities in other electric utilities.

The study's problem was whether five major newspapers that covered Viking produced informative, educational, interpretive, and credible stories. Indexed, microfilmed articles from January, 1975, to November, 1976, were analyzed. Conclusions: no newspaper gave the landings the greatest percentage of coverage; every newspaper devoted the largest percentage of coverage to interpretation; science writers used analogy most often; adequate explanations of Viking's implications were not found; four of five newspapers had more references to named than unnamed sources; only two newspapers utilized their staffs more than outside sources. Recommendations: covering a science event should be planned to include preliminary coverage, follow-up, and analysis; writers must interpret the facts, use educational writing techniques, explain implications, and have specific attribution; newspapers should assess their capabilities for science coverage.

This study presents a detailed analysis of the public relations organization, objectives, and practices of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, Dallas, Texas. Information sources included interviews with telephone company public relations personnel, company publications, and other publications. The five chapters deal with the history and development of the company and its public relations program, and the organization, functions, and operations of the public relations department. With a long and varied history of public relations activities, the company executes numerous activities for employees, customers, educational institutions, the community, stockholders, and the media. The study recommends that the department establish a committee to formulate long-range public relations goals, initiate a management orientation program, and advertise in area high school and college publications.

This study traces the history of the Plano Star-Courier. Information was obtained from newspaper files, interviews, and directories. The thesis is divided into six chapters: Chapter I introduces the study; Chapter II chronicles the founding of Plano and the first newspaper publications; Chapter III concerns consolidation of the newspapers in Plano; Chapter IV traces the changes in ownership; Chapter V describes the newspaper under family ownership and corporation ownership; Chapter VI summarizes the history, influence, and future of the Star-Courier. This thesis combines the history of the Plano Star- Courier and the previously unwritten history of the town. For 100 years, the Star-Courier reflected the attitudes, values, and needs of people in the community.

This study compares the staff structures and the employment opportunities of Dallas area businesspapers and company publications. The study has five main purposes. They are (1) to examine the staff organization of various Dallas area business publications, (2) to examine the job roles and responsibilities within each type of publication, (3) to determine the education requirements for employees, (4) to determine the experience requirements for employees, and (5) to evaluate business and industrial journalism as a career choice for journalism graduates in the Dallas area.

This study gathers demographic data on members of three Dallas racquet clubs, determines what media will reach club members, discerns facilities that members expect from their racquet club, and suggests ways the data can be used in an image program. Five chapters make up this study. Chapter I explains the purposes of the study and tells how research was conducted. Chapter II explains the steps in building a corporate image. Chapter III gives research results. Chapter IV explains how data gathered it into the total image program for a racquet club. Chapter V concludes. Members desired good tennis facilities above anything else in a racquet club.

The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the reasons for and the processes of underground communication in Russia since the seventeenth century and (2) to utilize the information to interpret the clandestine media's significance. The study concluded: (1) underground media have evolved because Russian governments have oppressed free speech; (2) dissidents have shared similarities in the methods of illicit communications; (3) whereas the earlier clandestine press tended to be either literary or political, today's samizdat is a synthesis of many varieties of dissent; (4) underground media have reflected the unique characteristics of Russian journalism; and (5) the Chronicle of Current Events is unparalleled as a news journal in the history of Russian dissent.

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.

The problem is to determine if identifiable factors influence selection of soft news for coverage on television newscasts. Data were obtained from news releases, newscast scripts, and interviews with participating practitioners and editors. Chapter I presents the problem; Chapter II contains an analysis of news releases submitted to editors; Chapter III presents analysis of techniques and attitudes of practitioners and editors; Chapter IV presents conclusions and guidelines. The study indicated practitioners could influence selection of their items through attention to certain factors and techniques: elements of newsworthiness, personal contact, method of item dissemination, quantity of items submitted, and professionalism and credibility. Specific guidelines were developed for practitioners to follow in dealing with television news editors.

Changes of ownership, a seeming lack of interest in history, several deaths, and a fire prompted this study into the history of The Weatherford Democrat. Data for the thesis came from back issues of The Democrat, Ayer Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, letters from former publishers, and personal observations and experiences of the writer, who worked on the paper 14 years. All but about a dozen years of the back issues are available. The thesis is written in chronological order, dating from the beginning in 1895 to 1967, when the Donrey Media Group gained control, ending local ownership. The Democrat is the survivor of more than 20 newspaper ventures in the city and is still the principal county paper.

This study is concerned with determining the effects that video display terminal use had on reporters' and editors' attitudes toward their jobs and the machines themselves. Data for this investigation were obtained with questionnaires returned from seventy-one reporters and editors who use video terminals in their daily work. Questionnaire data were supplemented with interview data from thirteen questionnaire respondents, Ten hypotheses in five categories were tested with the t test. Four additional hypotheses were tested with raw data. Findings showed that video terminal use enhanced perceived job professionalism and made respondents think they should make more money. Attitudes toward video terminals improved after use of the devices, and respondents recognized the value of video terminal training in college,

This study is a content analysis of the coverage in Time, Newsweek, and U. S. News & World Report on Spiro Agnew from August 13 to October 22, 1973, and is concerned with the use of leaks as determined by analyzing the levels of attribution and the attitudes of the magazines toward leaks. All three magazines used approximately equivalent amounts of material from concealed sources. Time and Newsweek defended the use of leaks; U. S. News & World Report attacked their use. The perils inherent in using information from concealed sources make it necessary to consult as many sources as feasible when following a controversial story.