Professors in mass communications departments of higher education institutions continue to search for the best way to prepare graduates for the ever-changing world of print, broadcast, and online media. Business administration theories have long been used in other areas, including education. While some application of strategic planning has been documented with regards to education, there is not much to reference in this area. The study investigated the use of strategic planning in developing a course of action for curriculum convergence in mass communication programs. The study used a purposive sample to determine if administrators are utilizing this method as a part of curriculum convergence. The results indicated a use of this method among institutions involved in curriculum convergence.

This case study evaluated Major League Baseball's (MLB) media product portfolio to identify how broadcast revenues have evolved over the past decade. This research looked back across baseball's long, dysfunctional history with broadcasters in order to recognize the significance of its ambitious use of online content. While MLB had failed to fully utilize the potential of broadcasting, the league's aggressive online strategy through its Advanced Media (MLBAM) division made it the industry leader in broadcasting live streaming sports video. MLBAM expanded its online streaming video to mobile phones and iPad, further expanding the distribution of its content. This research compared MLBAM revenue to traditional broadcast revenue while analyzing the online division's role in promoting the MLB brand. This case study concluded that while MLBAM had made a number of groundbreaking developments, the league could still improve its use of embedded, shared video clips, archived footage and international marketing in order to further extend the brand equity of the MLB, its thirty individual brands and its media product portfolio.

This thesis examines the aesthetic of ballets adapted for BBC Television by producer Margaret Dale, beginning with her entrance to the BBC's training program in 1955 and culminating with her commissioned work Houseparty, which aired in 1964. A historical and organizational framework is discussed regarding the BBC's cultural mission and view of arts programming, as well as general developmental milestones in programming contextualizing Dale's working conditions. Particular focus is placed upon the appropriation of Romantic narrative ballets and their significance in reinforcing an aristocratic and culturally divisive structure in the arts. Textual analyses consider issues of restaging, camera placement, and lighting, as well as television's intimacy and relationship to characterization in ballet narratives.

This study seeks to use a dual-theoretical approach, through the use of para-social relationship theory and economic data analysis, to explain the success of reality television since the early 2000s. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative components to understand the growth of reality television. This study includes a literature analysis of both methodologies used. Focus groups were used to seek to find a strong level of para-social interaction in viewers of reality television. Two focus groups were conducted with participants 18-35. There were a total of 16 participants who attended the focus group sessions. The information collected suggested that viewers of reality television formed para-social relationships. It appeared that female viewers were more likely to form para-social relationships than male viewers.

In a small room in Austin, Texas, a group of 15 people are single-handedly deciding what is taught to the next generation of American children. The highly politicized 15 member Texas Board of Education is currently going through the once-in-a-decade process of rewriting the teaching and textbook standards for its nearly 5 million schoolchildren. Texas is also unbelievably influential on the standards that textbook publishers use as a basis for their textbooks nationwide. Over the last 10 years, the textbooks adopted by this board found their way in upwards of 65% of American classrooms. My goal is to shed light on this important issue and the key players in this process - I explain their goals, explore the scope of their influence, and delve into the personal motivations behind their actions, which will affect public education throughout the country.

This documentary film explores the damages produced by the illegal dumping of toxic waste in the environment and the rise in health concerns specific to the Campania region in Southern Italy. The management of waste material in the region is in the hands of the Camorra - a mafia organization with vast economic and political power. Through the narration of personal stories, the documentary reveals the broken emotional and cultural balance between the people from the region and their land.

It's a Wonderful Business: The Art of Production Sound is a documentary film that offers an inside look at what it takes to record the dialog of actors and diegetic sounds on a movie set. This is the job of the production sound crew, in charge of recording the voices of some of the most talented and prominent performers in the motion picture industry. The documentary features interviews with former and current production sound mixers and boom operators from some of the most acclaimed films in the history of cinema. The film also explores the personal demands, the working conditions, and the sacrifices sound crews have endured to succeed in the always challenging, but very exciting, world of film making.

Although widely viewed in the West, Japanese films are often misunderstood, as they are built on cultural, theatrical, and aesthetic traditions entirely foreign to Western audiences. Particularly in regards to Japan's "fantastic" cinema - including giant monster pictures, ghost stories, and "J-Horror" films - what is often perceived as "cheap" or "cheesy" is merely an expression of these unique cultural roots. By observing and exploring such cultural artifacts as kabuki, noh, and bunraku - the traditional theatrical forms of Japan - long-standing literary traditions, deeply embedded philosophical beliefs, and even more recent developments such as the controversial dance form butoh, these films, including Gojira (1954), Daimajin (1966), Kwaidan (1964), Onibaba (1964), Testuo the Iron Man (1989), and Ju-On (2002), can be placed in their proper perspective, leading to a reevaluation of their worth not merely as commercial products, but as uniquely Japanese expressions of that society's unique place in world culture.

This thesis is a reception study that examines potential reasons why the adolescent to college aged demographic of youth culture is embracing communicative and informational mobility. The project attests that the move to mobility is motivated by two major factors, the attraction of being an early adopter of technology and the way social behaviors are made attractive in mobile marketing. Chapter 1 explores the importance of these social behaviors, as they are very much intertwined and contribute to how youth acclimate into society. Chapter 2 demonstrates that creating social distinction and cultural capital is linked to being an early adopter of technology. The remaining portion of the document examines recent mobile advertisements and why youth would be attracted to the aesthetic and thematic elements contained in the advertisements. Chapter 3 examines how Blackberry utilizes the behavior of creating and expressing identity in their advertisements. Chapter 4 focuses on how Apple has worked to create a community centered around their brand. Finally, Chapter 5 looks at how Google/Android has highlighted the acquisition, sharing, and utilization of content through the phenomenon of applications. With this project, I hope to illustrate the rationale why youth would be attracted to communicative and informational mobility.

This film examines the phenomenon of a family divided by the U.S.-Mexico border. Saul, the head of the family, migrated north in search of a better life for his wife and children while they stayed behind in Mexico. Not having the documents to cross the border has resulted in being apart from his family for more than ten years. This is a story about separation, pain, and the ultimate sacrifice a family makes as a means of survival.

Exploring the theme of Diaspora, this paper is an accompanying document for the documentary, A Dream Lost in Dream. It sheds light on the purpose, and process of producing this documentary. The main purpose for the production of this documentary has been described as initiation of healthy and casual dialog between diverse populations in America. It emphasizes the importance of creating visual media targeting masses rather than the elite. It is argued that it can act as a tool of awareness, reducing anxiety in the society. It also embarks on the production journey of the documentary A Dream Lost in Dream. The film is a portrayal of an East Indian immigrant struggling between economic survival, family issues and passion to fly.

Rehlet Iraqi was created to depict an Iraqi refugee family’s struggle after fleeing war-torn Iraq. Their struggle is highlighted with hope and high expectations for a better life within the United States. This film emphasizes the toll that emigration has on the life of a family before and after their arrival to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

True Tales of the Atom documents the creative process in the making of the film of the same name. It describes the intent and result of each step in the filmmaking process, including esthetic, budget and technical decisions. How the inclusion of animation increased the complexity and technical demands on the postproduction. It shows the problems encountered and overcome working on a production alone. Finally, it details the successful completion primarily due to extensive preplanning. The film on which the paper is based is a non-traditional look at several little-known aspects of civilian nuclear power, with a look at the media that could have helped to shape current attitudes in the United States about the technology.

This study reviews factors that identify U.S. Hispanics as being an ideal target market for adopting Location Based Services (LBS). By using the diffusion of innovation theory, an observed pattern of Hispanics’ adoption of technology, advertisements, smartphones and various smartphone value-added services reveals U.S. Hispanics to be more likely to adopt LBS than non-Hispanics. The study also identifies the top U.S. cell phone wireless providers and analyzes their marketing position towards U.S. Hispanics. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are noted as marketing their services to U.S. Hispanics via in-culture messages and campaigns. The four wireless providers also utilize LBS as a profitable tool and market LBS to their customers, regardless of ethnicity.

The cultural and popular media landscape of the United States of America changed after the Civil-Rights movement of the 1960s. The word “Nigger” was changed during that same period of American history. There are several authors and a comic that helped change this word during the 1960s. The post Civil-Rights American has a different experience and understanding with this word than those born before 1970. This work triangulates the current cultural location of the word “Nigger,” “nigga,” and “the n-word” using linguistics, law, and two media case studies. The “Nigger” trinity is a model that adds value to the discourse that surrounds this one word in post civil-rights/post 1960s America.

Branded content as an advertising tactic is a growing phenomenon that is not widely researched and is generally ambiguous in nature. This study uses qualitative methods to explain how branded content is defined, how it functions, and how it can influence a brand. Case studies of IKEA and Chevrolet were compared alongside four interviews with branded content professionals. the data collected suggests that branded content in structure and substance is varied, however it comprises engagement, the brand, and financial transaction. the data collected also suggested that brands take a variety of stances when controlling content to support their brand, and that branded content generally supports the intangible aspects of a brand, as opposed to product features.

Graciously We Receive is an ethnographic documentary film about Hearts for Homes, a volunteer Christian outreach organization that does no-cost home repairs for low income elderly homeowners. Graciously We Receive examines the symbiotic relationships between volunteers and the homeowners, addressing the need to be needed by meeting the needs of others. Using qualitative research methods derived from the social sciences, Graciously We Receive represents an advancement in media-based research methods. with the introduction of quick cine-ethnography, which combines quick ethnography methods and grounded theory for data acquisition and analysis, Graciously We Receive applies anthropological research methods to documentary film production.

Jiggs is a documentary that explores how Jiggs Gaffney serves despite his mental disability. By observing Jiggs’ involvement at Pine Cove Christian Camps, and revealing his past, the documentary shows how anyone can be used for a greater good, and reveals how God can be served and glorified by anyone, no matter the individual circumstances.

This thesis examines if and how the Internet viewers of Saturday Night Live skits were influenced by the video skits. the viewers’ online comments were read, categorized and analyzed for content to explore and discuss how the viewers “read” the text of the online video skits. Each video in which candidates John McCain, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama appeared is summarized and analyzed through viewers’ comments. a sample of skits including actors’ portrayals of McCain, Palin, Clinton, Obama and Joe Biden is also summarized and analyzed to find and discuss how the viewers’ perceptions were influenced by the portrayals.

My Land, My Life is a documentary film about the woman, Jo Angela Lamb, who lives and works on Frying Pan Ranch in Texas Panhandle. the film explores the complexity of a ranch woman's experience that breaks the spell of the stereotyped image of American cowgirls. It also reflects on women ranchers’ relationship with their family members and their relationship with the land.

The original works of copyright holders included tangible creations, as music written on a page, thereby, extending copyright protection to songwriters and music publishers. Until 1995, absent from U.S. copyright law was protection for copyright owners of intangible sound recordings. the Performance Rights Act (PRA) seeks to amend the US copyright law in order to grant copyright holders of sound recordings the right to performance royalties from terrestrial broadcast radio. If passed, the legislation would be unprecedented in the United States. the PRA has implications for broadcast radio, record labels, and performing artists. This study includes historical and legal perspective of previous attempts at legislation of this nature and predicts outcomes of current legislation.

Due to the evolution of new media technologies, social networking websites have become major avenues for online media consumption. Twitter is one of many proven beneficial for online users. It is utilized for many different reasons, one of which includes music. It is then necessary to know how beneficial Twitter is for music fans and consumers. This study attempts to analyze the benefits of Twitter for music fans and consumers. Using an online survey, different gratification items are measured. Results reveal that some music fans and consumers do use Twitter for music purposes and that there is a statistically significant difference in terms of gratifications between those who use Twitter for music purposes and those who do not.

Touchscreen technology is on the rise as the new standard in smartphone design. But, the usability of touchscreen is hindered for consumers that lack the physical ability to navigate such devices. Two focus groups were conducted in order to identify specific uses and gratifications that people with visual impairments had when using mobile phones. Additional questions were presented to the participants to determine if touchscreen technology limited access to communication and entertainment. The responses revealed an upward trend in touchscreen smartphone adoption among the participants. These users chose to adopt touchscreen smartphones that had built-in and downloadable assistive features which contributed to user-friendly designs.

Blood Brothers as a media project works as a diptych. There are two – seemingly identical – pieces of the project that must both be experienced to understand the project as a whole. The first piece of the project is the linear documentary. This part captures the experience as it exists in the past. It exists as a master copy of the original story of mine and my foster brother’s relationship. This version of the story will always exist in the past. The second part is the live-cinema documentary performance. In this version of the story, my foster brother and I are no longer only images on a screen; we are living, breathing, and emotional subjects in the present. Our presence alters how the audience consumes the material.