In the most recent edition of the Elon Journal, student researchers delve into a variety of media-related topics, including the framing of online news coverage of the coronavirus in the United States.
The School of Communications has published the fall 2020 issue of the Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, featuring student research on topics ranging from an examination of TikTok use by healthcare professionals to analysis of online news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The issue contains nine research papers authored by School of Communications students. The research studies highlight a diverse set of subjects such as Black Friday shopping, sexual education videos, dating apps, student media newsrooms, and the portrayal of dissociative identity disorder in films.
Maria Ramirez Uribe conducted topical research on early news coverage of COVID-19 in the United States using framing theory. Her research studied the styles and changes in framing from January 1, 2020, to the United States’ declaration of a state of emergency on March 13, 2020. The content analysis included 90 online articles from The New York Times, Fox News and CNN, and found that early coverage was more focused on the facts and immediate effects of the disease rather than individual and personal stories.
Health-related topics were also represented in Consuelo Mendoza Bruno’s examination of TikTok use by healthcare professionals, and Junie Burke’s analysis of abstinence-based sexual education videos. Bruno found that the use of the mobile video application has allowed healthcare professionals to develop messaging that is likely to resonate with younger audiences.
Journalism majors Anton L. Delgado and Jack Norcross both focused on the news industry, with the former examining how award-winning student newsrooms decide to remove online content. Through in-depth interviews with student leaders, Delgado delved into how student news organizations confront ethical dilemmas. Norcross focused on broadcast news, specially Sunday morning talk shows, analyzing the political affiliations and professions of guests between the Obama and Trump administrations.
Two scholars analyzed cinematic representation, with Sydney Dye examining how LGBT individuals self-disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity in popular film. Dye’s study sought to analyze how coming out, the reaction of others to a character coming out, the circumstances that pushed a character to come out, and the diversity of the primary characters each were portrayed. Additionally, Valerie Sampson studied characters who have dissociative identity disorder (DID) in films from the last 25 years. Through a content analysis, Sampson coded eight films to determine the prevalence of inaccurate stereotypes associated with DID and mental illnesses.
Finally, Morgan Collins’ article examined REI’s and Patagonia’s messaging against Black Friday consumerism, while Meghan Isaf studied college students’ use of social media for dating, surveying 90 college students at eight universities in the United States.
For this fall 2020 issue, Professor Harlen Makemson, the journal’s editor, assembled an editorial board of more than 30 communications faculty members who participated in the multiple blind-review process to select the best student work.
In his editor’s note, Makemson applauded the student researchers for their resilience during the pandemic, calling their work “remarkable” given the turbulent academic year. He credited both the students and their mentors for their tenacity.
“To see these students and mentors not only persevere, but thrive, in exceedingly challenging circumstances, is inspiring,” he wrote.
The Elon Journal began in spring 2010, with spring and fall editions each year. The fall 2020 journal marks the 22nd edition.
The Council on Undergraduate Research catalogs more than 200 student research journals in the nation, and the Elon Journal is one of the few that focuses on undergraduate student research in journalism, media and communications.