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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE: STORIES IN THE MAKING DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Linda E. Berdayes, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1996 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Emeritus Joseph Foley, Adviser Professor Thomas McCain - 7 Advi Professor Sonja Foss nication Department UMI Number: 9630852 Copyright 1996 by Berdayes, Linda Evelyn All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9630852 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ABSTRACT This study investigates whether widely-distributed written public discourse about the information highway describes an infrastructure that generates positive social outcomes. A narrative method was used to analyze depictions of access, function, funding, and control of the information highway in eighteen magazine articles oriented to diverse segments of the population. These depictions were compared to themes from scholarly literature as to how access, funding, function, and control should be configured to be socially beneficial. Seven research questions guided the comparison: (l) what type of power relationships are constructed; (2) who are the experts; (3) what actions and responsibilities are attributed to the government; (4) what characteristics are associated with the setting; (5) is universal access evident; (6) what functions are depicted; and (7) is the information highway depicted as centralized or decentralized, and how does this affect function, and access. Relatively homogenous depictions of access, funding, and function were portrayed in the articles, but there was wide divergence as to what the function should be, and whether people's lives will be enhanced by implementing an "information highway". Evident in this discourse is an awareness of the economic imperative driving the planning of the information highway. Articles cluster around four responses to this imperative: (1) be happy, good consumers; (2) try to capture a piece of the profits; (3) succumb to despair; (4) hope the government will intervene. The conclusion is that public discourse that refutes the economic imperative of the information highway must develop stories that present logical, competent, realistic alternatives and address areas of ambiguity. Nonstories and vague references to universal access must become more detailed stories that catch the imagination of the reading public and policy makers. Academicians should integrate their research into public discourse to provide concrete alternatives to the dominant consumer-based model. Dedicated to my husband, Vicente Berdayes iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Joseph Foley, for his encouragement, strong intellect, and keen insight; he always helped me to reach the next step. I am grateful to Thomas McCain for his continual support, both intellectually and emotionally, throughout my entire graduate education experience. I thank Sonja Foss for sharing her knowledge of rhetorical criticism, as well as her continual support and encouragement for this project. I am grateful to graduate school chums, Chris Richter and Lisa Davis. I appreciate the citations Chris Richter gave me concerning policy and discourse analysis; Lisa Davis' willingness to file various papers for me in my absence were a great help. I wish to thank my sister, Joanne Park; my mother, Selma Meister; and Oscar Berdayes. I also wish to thank Robert Bailey, and Sally Fox (deceased), who encouraged me to follow my dreams no matter where they take me. Without the assistance o* my husband, Vicente Berdayes, this project would not have been completed. His dedication to good scholarship, intelligence, love, and humor, always help me to appreciate what is important in life. v VITA April 27, 1950 .......... Born - Cleveland, Ohio 1990..................... M.A. Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1988-1994 ............... Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1994-1995 ............... Instructor, Department of Communication, Denison University 1995-present ............ Adjunct Professor, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana PUBLICATION Berdayes, Linda E. (1996) Stories in the making about the information highway: a view from Mademoiselle." in Rhetorical criticism; exploration & practice, sonja Foss (Ed.), 2nd edition (pp 447-452). Ill: Waveland, Press. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Communication vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract .................................................. ii Dedication ...............................................iv Acknowledgements .......................................... v Vita ...................................................... vi List of Tables ............................................ x Chapters: 1. introduction ........................................... l General issue: Public Discourse and Practices ........2 Influence on Policy Makers ........................ 6 Information Highway Metaphor...................... 10 Specific Issue: Information Highway Discourse ..... 17 Criteria for Positive Social Outcomes ............18 Access, Funding, Function, and Control ............25 Access ........................................ 26 Funding ....................................... 31 Functions ..................................... 39 Control ...................................... 43 Research Questions .................................. 48 Narrative Method and Policy Analysis ................51 Sample Selection ................................. 56 Analysis: Procedural Steps ...................... 60 Conclusion .......................................... 63 2. Trickle-Down .......................................... 67 Overview ............................................ 67 Narrative Analyses .................................. 69 Time Magazine .................................... 69 Description of Narrative ..................... 7 0 Worldview .................................... 7 4 Technology Review ........................... 7 5 Description of Narrative ...................... 7 6 Worldview ..................................... 80 Business Week .................................... 81 Description of Narrative ......................82 Worldview ..................................... 86 vii Mademoiselle ..................................... 87 Description of Narrative ......................88 Worldview ..................................... 91 Call and Post (Cleveland) ........................ 93 Description of Narrative ......................94 Worldview ..................................... 97 Byte ............................................. 98 Description of Narrative ......................99 Worldview .................................... 105 Conclusion ......................................... 106 3. New Rules ............................................ 110 Overview ........................................... 110 Narrative Analyses ................................. 113 Oakland Post .................................... 113 Description of Narrative .....................114 Worldview .................................... 117 Hispanic Magazine ............................... 118 Description of Narrative ..................... 120 Worldview .................................... 123 Hispanic Business ............................... 124 Description of Narrative ..................... 125 Worldview .................................... 127 Working Woman ................................... 127 Description of Narrative .....................129 Worldview .................................... 133 Conclusion ......................................... 134 4. Social Good .......................................... 138 Overview ........................................... 138 Narrative Analyses ................................. 141 Rolling Stone ..................................

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