OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION

In recognition of their support and guidance, I hereby dedicated this thesis to my parents, Ernest and Noreen Hatton. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to first and foremost thank my committee chair, Dr. Marilyn Roberts, for her continued guidance, assistance and support of this thesis. I am appreciative of the time and resources she put forward. In addition, I wish to thank the members of my committee for their continued support throughout this process. Dr. Spiro Kiousis, Dr. Leonard Tipton and Dr. Ken Wald have been instrumental in the completion of this project. I would like to thank Manoucheka Celeste for the dedication of her time and assistance during the coding process. I especially would like to thank the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida for the countless resources provided to me. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents, Ernest and Noreen Hatton, for the immense amount of love, guidance, and support they have shown to me throughout the years. i