Generation “Undecided”: Millennial Discourses And
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Generation “Undecided”: Millennial Discourses and Media Reactions to Changing Political Behaviors A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Drexel University by Alison N. Novak in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2014 ii -Copyright Page- iii -Dedication- To my parents, who fought to get me into the high-honors civics course in 9th grade. v Acknowledgements To begin, my parents, Michael and Denise Novak have been an incredible support system. The way they live their life has taught me the meaning of being a true member of a community and citizen. The study presented here is based on the principles of responsibility, compassion, and engagement that they have taught me. Thank you for teaching me how to grow up and be an adult. A great deal of this study is inspired by the teachers in my life. I’ve been given many gifts along the way, but I truly believe that learning from inspiring leaders and teachers is foundational in the way I try to live my life. These people include Jeanne Boulanger, Evelyn Novak, Aunt Melinda Novak, Uncle Jerry Meyers, Uncle Leon Boulanger, Dorothy and Edward Markowski, Carol MacMullen, Colleen James, Mrs. Zwiben, and my professors from Marist College. I am grateful to the members of the Drexel University community. From the moment I started in the doctoral program, the University has been a tremendous source of intellectual, emotional, and social support. Over the past four years, The Department of Culture and Communication has made me and fellow students feel as if we can accomplish anything, and so we do. The wisdom of the individual professors that have guided this research is woven throughout this project. In one of my first days in graduate school, Ernie Hakanen and I developed a study of Chinese Art. Somehow, four years later, this dissertation resulted; and I am forever grateful to call myself one of his students. Ron Bishop’s watchful eye helped sharpen the journalistic inquiries and background of this study, as well as helped keep the spelling errors to a minimum. Barbara Hoekje has continued to give incredible feedback on this project, my career, and so many other aspects of adulthood. Sean Goggins’ methodological directions have helped improve the reasoning of this project as well as its plausibility to interdisciplinary audiences. Kathleen Kendall’s research on elections and campaigns is one of the reasons why I wanted to study political communication in the first place. My friends are also a source of encouragement and good humor when the situation requires it. Thank you to Lynnette Funnye, Emily Zepp, Alicia Wakefield, Marie Carroll, Ashleigh Whitfield, Lucy Buck, Chris Cholko, India McGhee, Magda Kolbuszewska, Alejandra Zannier, Emad Khazraee, Mica Storer, fellow students in the Doctoral program, and Members of the Drexel University Graduate Student Association Electoral Board. Thank you to Rachel Magee and Melinda Sebastian for the wine. And finally, Kari Bestrycki has been one of the best friends a person can ask for, even though she slapped me first. Thank you for reminding me how to stay young. v Table of Contents List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................. viii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ix 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 2. Overview and Rationale ...................................................................................................6 3. Background, Research Questions, and Content Collection ...........................................11 4. Analysis of Television Content .....................................................................................43 5. Analysis of Digital News Content .................................................................................77 6. Analysis of Millennial Journals ...................................................................................113 7. Synthesis, Analysis, and Research Questions .............................................................138 8. Discussion ....................................................................................................................180 9. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................202 References ......................................................................................................................205 Appendix .........................................................................................................................221 Tables ...............................................................................................................................227 Figures .............................................................................................................................246 Vitae .................................................................................................................................264 vi List of Appendices A. Journal Prompt ............................................................................................................221 B. Online News Code Frequencies .................................................................................223 vii List of Tables A. Brief Definitions of Key Terms ..................................................................................227 B. Three Decoding Options and their Indicators ............................................................228 C. Television Show Airtime and Content .......................................................................229 D. Television Segment Data ...........................................................................................230 E. Chi-Square Results from Television Segment Data ....................................................231 F. Number of Articles from Each Source .......................................................................232 G. Participant Contributions and Descriptions ...............................................................233 H. Number of Entries from Each Week of Data Collection ...........................................234 I. Frequency of Themes from Journals ............................................................................235 J. Second Coder Reliability in Journal Entry Coding .....................................................236 K. Overview of Discourses from Television and Online News .......................................237 L. Media Terms of Reference for Millennials ................................................................238 M. Millennial Terms of Reference for Media ..................................................................239 N. Millennial Terms of Reference for Millennials .........................................................240 O. Examples Operating Inside the Dominant Code .........................................................241 P. Examples of Negotiating with the Code .....................................................................242 Q. Examples of Substituting an Oppositional Code ........................................................244 viii List of Figures A. Hall’s Media Representation Cycle ............................................................................246 B. Primary Sources of News of the Millennial Generation ............................................247 C. Midterm Election News Consumption, 2010 ..............................................................248 D. News Coverage and News Interest Correlation, 2010 ...............................................249 E. Seeking Campaign Information from Cable News .....................................................250 F. Source of Campaign News for Various Age Groups ..................................................251 G. Most Popular News on Facebook and Twitter ...........................................................252 H. Graph of Segment Data by Show, Before and After Election ...................................253 I. Segments from Hardball with Chris Matthews ............................................................254 J. Segments from The O’Reilly Factor ...........................................................................255 K. Segments from The Rachel Maddow Show ................................................................256 L. Segments from Hannity ..............................................................................................257 M. Segments from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ....................................................258 N. Segments from The Colbert Report ...........................................................................259 O. Graph of Articles from Each Online Source ...............................................................260 P. Graph of the Four Most Popular Sources, Over Time ................................................261 Q. Graph of Online News Code Frequency .....................................................................262 R. Representation Models ................................................................................................263