College of Liberal Arts Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/1174
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Browsing College of Liberal Arts Theses and Dissertations by Author "Babbili, Anantha"
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Item Changing media leadership and its perceived impact on news objectivity(2020-05) Agbaje, Kehinde A.; Babbili, Anantha; Gurney, DavidThis study seeks to explore how media leadership has evolved in the United States and how leadership styles of media owners have impacted the perceived objectivity of news stories. Objectivity of news stories has been a major problem in the media industry in the U.S. and journalists are blamed often for lack of credibility of news stories. This study explores how select leaders have a major influence on journalists’ approaches to news, which ultimately influences news objectivity. This thesis employs a historical analysis approach using the four theories of the press as a framework to understand media leaders’ leadership styles. The analysis begins with the leadership styles of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, owners of traditional, 19th -Century newspapers, and concludes with an evaluation of the leadership styles of present-day tech giants, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, owners of Facebook and Twitter, respectively. Further, this study analyzes how yellow journalism has led to the present problem of fake news to attract readership in the new media and argues that media leaders have a major influence on how journalists approach news they cover.Item Dr. Hector P. Garcia: A study in cross cultural communication leadership(2020-05) Gomez, Rosana; Babbili, Anantha; Maresh-Fuehrer, MichelleThe purpose of this study is to investigate the communication leadership styles of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a Mexican American leader in the United States. Dr. Garcia is best known for founding the American G.I. Forum social movement with a mission to protect and defend veterans’ and Hispanic Americans’ civil rights by providing access to education, health, and employment. Trait, skills, and emotional intelligence leadership styles are applied using a critical rhetorical approach. Dr. Garcia’s leadership style is a reference to analyze, understand, and apply the different concepts, theories, and approaches concerning effective leadership. The results of this study demonstrate that Dr. Hector P. Garcia was a transformational and servant leader who used charismatic and authentic communication to build a relationship with followers. These findings illustrate how Dr. Garcia used different tools of persuasion such as ethos, logos, pathos, and civic spaces to deliver and engage in communication with his followers. Dr. Garcia’s rhetoric resonated with followers by creating a shared cultural identity due to similitudes such as cultural background, and experiences with racism and discrimination. Dr. Garcia’s leadership may be used as a model for today’s Mexican American leaders that are trying to generate change in society.Item Military and the news media: localizing the relationship(9/16/2014) Plascencia, Nicole; Babbili, AnanthaThis study takes a qualitative approach to the study of the relationship between local news media and Department of Defense public affairs personnel, which include the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army. Agenda setting theory suggests that media are highly influential in telling consumers what to think about. Using this theory, the exclusion of news happening on a military base could lead its surrounding community to think there is less or no value coming out of that entity. This study looks at how the relationship between journalists and public affairs personnel influences media coverage, the role of limited newsroom resources on base coverage, and how public affairs personnel can work around journalists with tight schedules as a result of limited resources. Data collected suggests there is no remedy for quick access to news events that happen on the base. However, research shows that a good relationship between journalists and public affairs personnel could provide quicker access to news events compared to their counterparts with no relationship. Research also found a lack of effort on the public affairs side to actively engage news media with daily, weekly, or monthly newsworthy events.Item Motivation and self disclosure in social media use among Nigerian women(2017-08) Oduba, Foluke A.; Sanford, Amy Aldridge; Babbili, Anantha; Gurney, DavidSelf-disclosure on social media around the world, including in developing countries like Nigeria, has become an important way to create enduring relationships. Past research has shown that females are more open to sharing intimate information on social media than males, but this research has taken place mostly within the United States of America. This study focused on how the communication behaviors of self-disclosure play out distinctively among Nigerian women, specifically examining patterns of social media use, the amount of disclosure, and the factors that influenced the disclosure. The data was analyzed within the frameworks of Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory and Social Penetration theory. Twenty female college-aged students between the ages of 18-26 who live in Nigeria and are active social media users were participants of the study. Focus groups were conducted and participants’ Facebook posts were analyzed. Findings from the study revealed that even though the participants use social media on a daily basis for different purposes, they are most motivated to use social media to maintain their relationships. They also carefully and strategically choose what intimate information they self-disclose and limit their audience when self-disclosing on social media. The women are cautious about hiding their posts from their parents and evil spirits, but still are motivated to disclose their life experiences for the purpose of helping others. The social media use of Nigerian women and their motivation for sharing certain private information online is supported by CPM. Moreover, the women’s decisions to not disclose certain information or to fabricate other information also supported the theory’s assumption that individuals have the ownership of their private information. Subsequently, the women’s deliberate way of disclosing information in a private Facebook group validated Altman and Taylor’s (1973) onion analogy in Social Penetration theory that human beings tend to disclose core private information to people with whom they have close intimacy. While joining the theoretical conversations, the study contributed to the body of knowledge particularly on social media in different cultural settings.