College of Arts & Humanities

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

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    WHERE DOES NEWS ABOUT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS COME FROM?: EXPLORING HOW ORGANIZATIONS BUILT AND FRAMED THE NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA AGENDA FOR HORMONE THERAPY FROM 1995 TO 2011
    (2013) Weissman, Paula L.; Aldoory, Linda; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT This longitudinal study explored how health and medical organizations used public relations techniques to influence news content about postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) from 1995 to 2011. A theoretical framework that combined agenda building, information subsidies, and framing guided the study (Zoch & Molleda, 2006). Quantitative content analyses were conducted on 675 press releases about HT distributed through PR Newswire and EurekAlert!, and 429 news stories about HT in the Associated Press Newswire (AP), The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Supplemental qualitative content analyses of organizational websites, annual reports, and scientific publications explored financial relationships and potential collaborations between ten organizations that emerged as the most successful agenda builders. Six types of health and medical organizations produced press releases about HT: pharmaceutical companies, academic/medical institutions, nonprofit health advocacy organizations, medical/scientific journal publishers, U.S. government agencies, and other for-profit organizations. A positive, statistically significant relationship was found between the quantity of press releases and news stories over time (r = .55, p<.001). Findings also supported the transference of specific objects, such as brand-name HT products, and attributes, such as risks and benefits, from the public relations to the news media agenda. Academic/medical institutions and nonprofit health advocacy organizations were significantly more likely than pharmaceutical companies to identify non-FDA approved, "off-label" benefits. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of leading HT brands Premarin and Prempro, financially subsidized most of the top-ten, agenda-building organizations, including four academic/medical institutions and two non-profit health advocacy organizations that were frequently cited in news stories. Additionally, a substantial degree of synergy was found between these organizations in terms of how they framed menopause and HT over the study period. This study supported and extended the theoretical framework used by offering insights into how organizations may collaborate through funding arrangements and third-party communication techniques to influence news content in a health and medical context. The findings also contributed a new and important dimension to scholarship on pharmaceutical promotion of prescription drugs, which has neglected the role of public relations and focused almost exclusively on more overt, paid-promotional efforts like direct-to-consumer advertising.
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    MEDIA FRAMING OF TERRORISM: VIEWS OF "FRONT LINES" NATIONAL SECURITY PRESTIGE PRESS
    (2010) Epkins, Heather Davis; Aldoory, Linda; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This research investigates a critical tier in the global flow of information about terrorism. This qualitative study employs 35 in-depth interviews with national security journalists in the Washington, D.C. prestige press (Stempel, 1961) to explore their perceptions surrounding the collection, interpretation and dissemination process of terrorism news content. This study includes a review of the recent rhetorical shift from the Bush Adminstration "War on Terrorism" to "Overseas Contingency Operation" attempted by the Obama Administration. Rarely studied, but extremely influential, these particular "front line" reporters offer substantial insider knowledge on evolving trends in the news media production process on terrorism and national security. Their unique geographical position allowing for daily interaction among American governmental leadership, combined with their responsibility to cover what could be argued as one of the most influential topics of our time - terrorism - offers readers an inside view of the daily constraints, strategies and perceptions of this elite group. Data analysis adhered to grounded theory methods. Findings include evidence of new and evolving journalist routines with implications for public policy and the evolving integrity of journalist practices. Moreover, extending the published literature in the mass communication theory and national security realms, this research offers value by analyzing and describing the news production processes and perceptions - for the first time - of the D.C. national security prestige press. Reported results should also offer practitioners new insight into best practices and an opportunity for information users to better understand and evaluate what they are receiving.