SOCIAL MEDIA DESIGN SAMPLES
EXAMPLE DESIGNS FOR WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA (2023-2025)
EXAMPLE DESIGNS FOR PHI ETA SIGMA NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY (2019-2023)
ADDITIONAL DIGITAL AND PRINT DESIGNS
RESEARCH: PROJECTS, PAPERS, AND PROPOSALS
RESEARCH PRESENTATION FROM THE ALABAMA COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION'S JULY 2023 CONFERENCE: ALABAMA'S TOKEN WOMEN LEGISLATORS
"A Tale of Two Teams: A Historical Content Analysis of Auburn Football’s Coverage in
The Auburn Plainsman During the 1950 and 1957 Seasons"
A research paper submitted in Fall 2018 to
Dr. John Carvalho for
COMM 7680 -
Sports, Media and Culture
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this proposed exploratory research study is to investigate the differences and similarities that exist between collegiate newspaper’s coverage of their school’s football team during years with a winning and losing record. Therefore, I will be conducting a historical case study which examines the coverage of the 1950 and 1957 Auburn University football teams through content and textual analysis of news articles published in the campus paper, The Auburn Plainsman. These seasons were selected and deemed appropriate due to the 0-10 losing record of 1950 and the 10-0 winning record of 1957. This study seeks to determine two things. First, the study will examine if a disparity exists in the amount of coverage devoted to Auburn’s football team in the campus newspaper during each season. Additionally, this study will work to identify the dominant frames that exist in stories covering a football team at its worst and best performance levels that could then be utilized in future research studies.
A total of 20 articles will serve as the sample for this study, 10 from each year in question. The results of the quantitative content analysis consistently showed that the average amount of news coverage devoted to Auburn’s football team increased from the 1950 season where the team held a losing record and the 1957 season where they were undefeated. Further, of the 30 articles from the 1950 season, the most prominently identified frames were either game-related positive (10 articles, 34%) or neutral in their coverage. In contrast, of the 76 football related articles from 1957, 40 of those (53%) were either game-related positive or neutral (16 articles, 21%). Little to no prior research studies have taken the idea of campus newspaper sport reporter’s biases and applied it to content associated with sports fandom for their team during winning and losing seasons. This study will seek to begin to fill this gap in the literature and provide a foundation for future research to build from.
“THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY—A CASE STUDY: HOW THE EARLY SUFFRAGETTES WERE PORTRAYED IN ALABAMA’S NEWSPAPERS”
Research Dossier and Final Project Proposal
Spring 2018, Dr. Andrea Kelley
Comm 7010 - Qualitative Research Methods
ABSTRACT
This research project will focus on conducting a case study examining the coverage and representation of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Alabama’s print newspapers. The southern region of America has long been distinguished by historians and characterized by practices of institutionalized racism and firmly held traditional Christian values. While prior research studies on the topic of women’s suffrage have sought to understand the role played by the media in the Movement, most were conducted with the goal of documenting and describing historical events or press coverage from a macro-perspective. Less attention has been paid to comparing how women’s suffrage was covered in the media in different geographical locations of the country at the time, particularly places that were less than accepting to the ideals of the Movement. It is vital to examine the ways the southern media has portrayed women’s suffrage and the female voter over time for several reasons. The first is to discover unique insights on how the South specifically reacted to and treated this social movement compared to their Northern neighbors to identify any potential lasting effects in the region. The second is an enduring need to study, recognize, and reflect on the events and mistakes of the past to develop strategies and avoid remaking them in the future. This project’s regional focus on examining a gender-specific, historical movement offers the ability to analyze the changes in historical-political discourses over time, and identify contemporary social movements as points of comparison. This project seeks to offer communication and media scholars, as well as historians, a different perspective on how extreme beliefs and cultural norms can manifest themselves and impact a particular location over time.
"Free Speech or Click Bait? A Frame Analysis of Online Content Published in
Opinion Articles by College News Organizations"
Research Study Proposal for Dr. Angie Chon in COMM 7970 - Public Relations Strategies
ABSTRACT
This purpose of this paper is to provide a frame analysis on newspaper opinion pieces published by a college news organization, The Auburn Plainsman, to their online website during 2016. This study used a quantitative content analysis on a sample of ninety-one opinion news articles to determine themes and topics, identify existing frames and evaluate the impact each framed message had on the particular audience. The goal was to provide insight into trends or patterns present in the sample by identifying the author, subject matter, attitudes displayed, and public engagement to each article through commenting. This study is limited by its examination of “opinion” pieces from one college news organization at a public university in Alabama. Similar research should be conducted in the future to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how college media organizations prioritize their coverage of news topics. Frame analyses make visible how individuals define and construct a given issue, and such can provide valuable insight to PR practitioners on a particular audience’s interests and engagement on matters. Existing research examining college newspapers have addressed popularity and average readership, as well as their coverage of issues like freedom of speech rights and previous national presidential elections. However, the variety of content and subject matter published overall by student media outlets has been overlooked. This study addresses that literature gap by providing insight on reoccurring themes in subject matter published online under the opinion news section of a campus newspaper website throughout the 2016 calendar year.