Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Communication, Professional

Date of Award

5-2010

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

John M. King

Committee Members

Kelly Blake Price, Stephen W. Marshall

Abstract

The present study analyzes the way in which Toni Morrison, an established author, was covered by U.S. newspapers in the year before and year following her selection for Opraha's Book Club. The content analysis method was used in the research, and the results were used to test 6 hypotheses and 6 research questions.

The results indicated that there was a significant increase in the total number of mentions of Toni Morrison in the year after her inclusion in Opraha's Book Club. The overwhelming trend that was seen in all variable comparisons was that while there were obviously more mentions of Toni Morrison post-Book Club, there were also increases and changes in the tone, page placement, and story placement of the mentions of Toni Morrison .

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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