This semester's edition marks the seventh in the history of the Elon Journal.
The School of Communications has published the Spring 2013 issue of the Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, featuring student work on topics ranging from social media to crisis communications.
The online journal is at http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/communications/research.
The Spring 2013 issue contains nine research papers authored by School of Communications students. The lead article focuses on how Twitter was used in a 2012 congressional campaign in Virginia. Other articles in this edition include truth in presidential elections, Ad Watches in the 2012 election, women in broadcast news, motivating behavior change through PSAs, the impact of misogynistic lyrics in rap music and the portrayal of the American legal system in in cable crime dramas.
Accompanying the online articles are video introductions by the authors, who explain their research methods and their interest in the topics they chose to study.
Byung Lee, associate professor in the School of Communications, serves as journal editor. He assembled an editorial board of 28 Communications faculty members who participated in the multiple blind-review process to select the best student work.
In his editor’s note, Lee noted that many research topics centered on a common political theme.
“This issue has manuscripts covering a wide gamut of topics,” Lee wrote. “2012 was a presidential election year, so many students were especially interested in how the media covered elections.”
The Elon Journal began in Spring 2010, with spring and fall editions each year. The Spring 2013 journal marks the seventh edition.
“Every issue of the Elon Journal is a window onto what interests students as research topics in our contemporary media world,” said Paul Parsons, dean of the School of Communications. “From reading about social media in politics to the media’s framing of people groups, I learn so much from student research.”
The Council on Undergraduate Research catalogs 100 student research journals in the nation, and the Elon Journal is the only one that focuses on undergraduate student research in journalism, media and communications.