Professional and Digital Media Writing Theses

This thesis examines the ethics of reporting health news out of context and how this practice has primed our country for the "fake news" era as well as the implications of this priming as they relate to information literacy and trust in science and the media. In order to do this, the researcher reviews the basics of scientific and health news communication, information literacy, audience behavior, and implications for the future of information literacy and public trust in the media. In addition to this literature review, the researcher conducted a survey to determine how people react to conflicting health news and how much trust they place in the media. This is followed by a brief case study of reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Finally, implications for current media behavior and the necessary information literacy and health news communication steps to combat priming people to fall victim to the fake news era are discussed.

This year, more than 100 women were elected to serve in Congress. Additionally, several women have announced their major-party campaigns for the 2020 Presidential Primary. In light of this historic progress, we must evaluate the ways in which female politicians are portrayed. The field of politics is still primarily dominated by older white men, and therefore many discrepancies exist in the expectations and standards men and women are held to. This thesis provides an in-depth discussion of the stereotype-based rhetorical constructs that female politicians face in their careers. Through extensive research of the rhetoric of many politicians, this thesis also identifies and explains four major rhetorical negotiation strategies that female politicians may use to counter these stereotypes. Lastly, this thesis provides a critical feminist case study examining the rhetoric used by and with regards to freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.