Talking Heads: How Broadcast Media Frame the Public Relations Industry.

Researchers conducted a content analysis to measure framing of the public relations industry in 354 English language broadcast transcripts from the United States, Canada, and Australia from Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2010. The overall tone toward public relations was strongly negative. Mentions reflected one-way forms of communication and mentions of the pejorative term PR appeared more frequently than mentions of public relations . The profession was almost always mentioned within the body of the broadcast, as opposed to the headline or the lead paragraph. Exploratory research showed 15 shows that included negative mentions 100% of the time. Additionally, 27 shows included zero positive mentions of either term. Of 251 speakers recorded during data analysis, 126 spoke of the industry negatively 100% of the time. American shows were most often negative. Stories about the public relations industry were most likely to reflect public relations as a two-way form of communication

Cultural Values, Connection, and Participatory Cultural Divide: Chinese Generation Cohort Differences in Adoption and Use of WeChat

abstract: This study explores how WeChat, one of the most popular Chinese-based Social Network Sites (SNSs), has been adopted and used under different patterns between two Chinese generation cohorts, namely “The post-70” (i.e., people who were born in the 1970s) and “The post-90” (i.e., people who were born in the 1990s). Three major issues were examined in this Study: (1) what are the differences in WeChat connection between two generations; (2) how Chinese post-70 and the post-90 cohorts differ regarding their cultural value orientations and how those differences influence their WeChat connection; (3) if there is a participatory cultural divide between two generation cohorts. Two hundred and eight the post-70 cohort and 221 the post-90 cohort were recruited to complete a 91-item survey. Results indicated significant differences between the post-70 and the post-90 cohorts in WeChat adoption and use, collectivistic/individualistic (COL/IND) orientations, and participation in creating and spreading of popular online memes. Moreover, factors influencing human capital- enhancing activities on WeChat were examined. Also explored were the influence of cultural values on the motivations to connect to the Internet and frequencies of different types of WeChat activities. Major findings and limitations were discussed.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Communication 201

How in-U.S. Chinese college sudents consume Covid-19 information on social media: examining the relationship between media credibility and media dependency

In the 2019/2020 academic year, around 370,000 Chinese students studied at U.S. colleges and universities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media serve as an important channel for in-U.S. Chinese college students to learn about the pandemic-related news and information in both China and the United States. However, due to the wide circulation of misinformation on social media and the censored Chinese media system, the question remains whether in-U.S. Chinese students trust the social media platforms and information sources they depend on. This thesis seeks to answer this question by drawing upon the literature about media credibility and the Media System Dependency theory. Specifically, the study examines whether in-U.S. Chinese college students’ media dependency level can positively predict their perceived credibility level of different social media platforms and information sources within the platforms when consuming news related to COVID-19. Based on an online survey, this thesis found that in-U.S. Chinese students still depended mostly on WeChat, a Chinese social media platform, and perceived it most credible for consuming both Chinese and U.S. COVID-19 information. Despite their experience staying in the U.S., the Chinese students also largely depended on and trusted Chinese governmental and mainstream news media sources within the social media. In addition, media dependency levels could positively predict the perceived credibility level of all social media platforms and information sources. That is, in-U.S. Chinese students tend to trust the media and information sources they depend on. Theoretically, this thesis extends the previous literature about media dependency and credibility to social media and public health crisis contexts, further considering the different features and affordances of various social media platforms