This qualitative study aims to analyze the lived reality of women working in sports media today. Through systematic analysis of 12 in-depth interviews, the findings of this study suggest that the adoption of technological advancements in news media and all associated outlets have created a leveling effect for women due to the demand for highly skilled individuals who can handle the digital demand of modern news production. This study suggests that longtime gender disparities in sports media are experiencing a bit of a reprieve due to the massive digital audience and the need for professionals who can deliver information quickly and efficiently and with accuracy. However, the persistent symbolic annihilation of women as well as hegemonic hiring practices that emphasize aesthetic appeal have created a difficult path for women to move off the sidelines and into roles with more creative and analytical breadth, even with a rapidly increasing demand for jobs in the media industry.

In order to survive in a hyper-competitive media marketplace, managers must constantly evaluate new technologies and their potential impact on the industry. Using theories on innovation management in organization, this study examined the processes used by managers at daily newspaper in the U.S. during the time period of 1992-2005 to plan for publishing content online. Fourteen subjects, all of whom held management positions during this time, were interviewed at length about their experiences. Their responses reveal that the processes were generally haphazard. This was a result of several factors, some of which were external to the newspaper industry, and others which were cultural, internal forces. Despite a general level of disorganization in the processes, the responses do identify some practices that can be used as blueprints for media organizations that wish to rethink their approach to potentially disruptive technologies.

Hundreds of reporters gather and interpret news for four English-language newspapers in India's second-largest urban area Kolkata, West Bengal's state capital, which is home to over 4 million people. Journalists from The Statesman, The Telegraph-Kolkata, The Hindustan Times and The Times of India discuss how they collect their stories in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, and many other languages and write them in English targeting a small but emerging middle-class audience. Whether these articles focus on people-centric urban planning, armed vigilantes in community disputes, dowry death cases, or celebrity culture, all of the reporting involves cultural and ethical challenges. Using semi-structured interviewing and qualitative theme analysis, this study explores how gender, class, and religion affect the decision-making practices of 21 journalists working in Kolkata.

Economic retrenchment, social shifts, and technological changes endanger journalism's democratic role. Journalism education faces parallel threats. I review the state of journalism and education, linking the crisis to society's loss of story, framed philosophically by the Dewey-critical theory split over journalism and power. I explore the potential for renewing journalism and education with Carey's ritual model and Postman's restoration of storytelling. I then summarize existing major academic programs and suggest a new interdisciplinary curriculum for environmental journalism, a specialty well suited to experimental, democracy-centered education. The curriculum uses as pedagogy active and conversational learning and reflection. A graduate introductory course is detailed, followed by additional suggested classes that could form the basis of a graduate certificate program or, with further expansion, a graduate degree concentration.

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 focuses on the amount of coverage given by four major tabloid newspapers-Demos, Zambeze, Savana and Domingo-to the candidates of the major political parties Renamo and Frelimo, during the 2004 presidential race. The number of stories of both parties in those newspapers were counted and calculated by chi-square to determine how much one party was covered than the other identifying signs of balance or bias. The research showed that there was a significant result of 42 percent of likelihood that stories in the four newspapers would either be about Frelimo or Renamo. However, the study also revealed that Frelimo was the party covered most often by Demos, Zambeze and Savana while Renamo was covered most often by Domingo.

The once private traditional written diary is shifting to an electronic storytelling tradition. Online diaries or weblogs are a growing phenomenon that scholars have ignored until recently. This qualitative project uses narrative and rhetorical analysis to focus on storytelling themes in weblogs, rituals in storytelling and the similarities and differences from traditional written diaries. In this study, 30 weblogs were chosen from three web domains: livejournal.com, blogger.com and diarest.net. The findings show that weblogs are filled with rich storytelling that emulates many qualities of traditional diaries. In general, weblogs authors are communicating stories online to an interactive mass audience and forming new rituals in a new electronic forum.

Through historical and content analyses of war coverage, this study qualitatively addresses emotional quality, use of sources, and implied use of technology to better understand the tension between Vietnam and Afghanistan war correspondents and their military counterparts. Early American democracy aspired to give total freedom to its people. But the American military, in its quest to uphold the ideas of democracy, has often challenged the freedom of press clause set forth by the United States Constitution. Since the Vietnam era, the relationship between the military and the media has been plagued by questions of censorship, assertions of falsehood, and threats to national security. But it is the technological advancements in both reporting and combat techniques that have caused a disappearance of the nostalgic war coverage that American correspondents once prospered from. The possibility of returning to journalists' vision of unrestricted press access is all but lost due to such advancements.

Media sociologists have produced much research on the systems of production of media content. Photojournalism, however, largely has been ignored in these studies. This paper presents the findings of an ethnographic study of work routines and photojournalism practices at three newspapers. The study explored the extent to which routines and practices are affected by professional norms and values and organizational needs and beliefs. The study also explored how these factors influence the content and aesthetic qualities of newspaper photographs. Findings suggest that photo editors and photojournalists operate under many of the same constraints as other media workers. The findings also show that photojournalists are socialized to newspapers. expectations by fellow photographers and photo editors. To gauge professional accomplishments, photojournalists rely on peers, professional organizations and competitions.

Advertising, which is an important sales tool for brands to the masses, may produce lasting impressions of a company and its products. These impressions rely on a consistent message over time to maintain a brand's image. This study examines how Ralph Lauren's advertising images have changed from a country club lifestyle image to urban/hip. In addition, the study examines the increased use of nudity and sexual imagery in Lauren's advertising. The findings were obtained by content analyzing all Ralph Lauren advertisements appearing in Gentlemen's Quarterly magazine from 1980 to 2000 (N=283). The study finds that Ralph Lauren lifestyle images have become more urban/hip, and that Lauren's advertising is utilizing more nudity, sexual interaction, and homoerotic imagery. By examining Ralph Lauren's shifting brand image via its advertising, this study contributes to a greater understanding of the connection between advertising and a company's brand image.

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.

Since abolition, women have used the media to bring attention to causes and injustices in society. Issues faced by these women are some of the same issues faced by women in public relations today and possibly the future. This paper is the history of the women of pre-professional public relations in relation to their use of the media to bring about change and communicate with an audience. It also discusses the evolution of the public relations profession as it pertains to the parallel issues that the women of the first wave faced in relation to the second wave, or professional era. The paper will then synthesize these two eras in public relations and discuss the future of women in the profession as seen by researchers and women practicing at this time.

With her Book Club, talk show host Oprah Winfrey has used the relatively new technology of television to revive literature. Despite the odds against her--selecting hard-to-read, quirky books by generally unknown authors--Winfrey has successfully created women's spaces for the 1990s, not so different from the American women's social clubs from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the French salons of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This study will show how Oprah's Book Club allows readers, especially women, to use the psychological processes of transference and transactional reading by using fictional literature from the Book Club to discuss sensitive areas of their lives.

This study seeks to show how Nike, Inc. has effectively followed a strategy to increase the sale of its products that can be characterized as propaganda. Regarding method, this is a qualitative study which applied the propaganda analysis plan developed by Jowett & O'Donnell (1992) to examine and describe (1) Nike's ideology, (2) corporate structure and culture, (3) purpose, (4) targeted audiences, (5) the dissemination of the propaganda, (6) techniques for increasing its effectiveness, (7) existing counterpropaganda and contradictions, and (8) the effectiveness of the campaign. The study provides evidence that Nike engages in propaganda through an organized, systematic, and deliberate attempt to influence the beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and actions of specific audiences for the purpose of accomplishing fixed objectives.

A comparative content analysis was conducted to determine whether the Russian (ITAR-TASS) and the American (UPI) wire service coverage of President Boris Yeltsin in the April 25, 1993, referendum was balanced and unbiased. Also, the amount of space dedicated to this topic was measured. Study results indicate that ITAR-TASS was more critical of Yeltsin prior to the referendum than UPI, and that there was no statistically important difference between the two wire services in their post referendum coverage. UPI articles were almost 30% longer than the ITAR-TASS articles. Each UPI article was on an average more than 220 words longer than were the ITAR-TASS articles.

A content analysis was conducted to determine the amount and type of causal explanation included in coverage of the 1992 Los Angeles riots in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor. The data were analyzed to determine whether causal explanations were primarily societal or individual/situational. The primary purpose was to examine whether the press has altered its reporting techniques since the Kerner Commission report criticized the narrow, descriptive-based reporting of the 1960s riots. Study results indicate riot coverage was predominantly descriptive and similar in content to that detailed by the Kerner Commission. The most frequently cited cause was the triggering event, the Rodney King acquittal verdict.

Content analysis of The Dallas Morning News focuses on sources, bylines, photographs, and main characters to determine the quantity and quality of portrayals of women. The study included front pages and main local news pages during one week each from 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990. Change was charted by year for both sexes. In 1950, few representations of women were included and many were stereotypical. Some stereotyping persisted in 1990, and men outnumbered women more than 3 to 1 as story sources, nearly 3 to 1 in front-page bylines, more than 2 to 1 in photographs, and more than 2 to 1 as main characters. Women still lag behind men, despite feminists' efforts to improve coverage.

Data obtained through content analysis of articles about or concerning President Reagan in Newsweek, Time and U.S. News & World Report during two time periods indicated that no relationship existed between time and variance of news coverage given to Reagan. Three content analysis measures were used: comparison of favorable and unfavorable statements, amount of coverage and number of quoted words. The study is composed of four chapters: Chapter I introduces the study, Chapter II presents the data, Chapter III evaluates the data and Chapter IV summarizes and makes recommendations.

This study seeks to show that a tradition exists of personal journalists who, more than supporting a partisan position, have moral concern and desire reconciliation. Between the First World War and the Hutchins Commission report of 1947, Walter Lippmann and other media critics theorized that journalistic objectivity is impossible, but recognized journalists' responsibility to interpret events to their publics. In the 1930s these new theories coincided with historical events to encourage journalists' personal involvement with their subjects. The work of the best personal journalists, for example, George Orwell and James Agee, resulted from moral concern. This tradition is furthered today in the journalism of Bill Moyers.

This study explains the development of DALLAS magazine from its beginnings and changes in sixty-three years in content and format, departments, staff, and editorial policy. The study shows how DALLAS developed, reflecting the history of the City of Dallas' economic and business growth, and the Chamber of Commerce viewpoints since 1922. Concluding, the study reveals that the magazine projected the Dallas Chamber's viewpoints, that the magazine reported only positive images of the City of Dallas and its economy, that the magazine chronicled the changes in journalistic writing and graphic arts technology, that the magazine's audience remained the business leaders of the community, and that staff members progressively became better qualified for their positions.

This study examined promoting recorded country music from Atlanta, Georgia, and explored why Atlanta is important in this field. It was learned, through interviews, that promoters wanted radio airplay and top trade publication chart ratings. Radio station program directors decided upon playlists from reading trade publications, efforts by record promoters, listener requests and focus groups, and from reported sales. Stores used album and poster displays, charts, and played music for promotion. The business is one of personalities and experience, as much as product promoted. Large conglomerates are fast changing it.

This study compared the editorial positions of two magazines, The Christian Century and Christianity Today, on seven social and moral issues, then compared each magazine's positions with the opinions of their intended audiences. A directional content analysis was conducted that determined the editorial positions. On all four issues for which comparison was possible, the magazines demonstrated a marked difference in direction. These positions were compared with the published opinions of those social groups identified as representative of each magazine's intended audience. There was marked disagreement between each magazine and its intended audience on three of the five issues for which comparison was possible.

This study compared the public relations efforts in three Dallas retirement facilities against suggested standards of professional public relations practitioners to determine which standards each facility utilized. Externally, all three facilities related to the community in an "above average" way, as indicated by their utilization of the twenty-two suggested standards. Internally, two facilities related to residents and staff in a "superior" way, and one facility related in an "average way," as indicated by their utilization of the twenty-two suggested external standards and twenty suggested internal standards. The conclusions drawn from this study are that retirement facility administrators, in general, are not fully aware of the internal and external public relations strategies that could benefit them within the community and with residents.

The problem undertaken in this study was an attempt to discover the image Texas Baptists have of their eight colleges and universities, and to recommend steps to ensure a positive image. The two methods used to determine the image was a questionnaire distributed through a weekly newsmagazine, the Baptist Standard, and telephone interviews. From the study it was concluded that Texas Baptists have a positive image of their eight colleges and universities and rely on the Baptist Standard for their information. The major strength of the eight colleges and universities is the spiritual emphasis, and the major weakness is the high cost of attending a private college or university.