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BA (Hons) Public Relations and Media

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/7249

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2015 - 201821

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End date: 2019Has files: Yes

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    ‘Can organizations demonstrate shared values through supporting employee-led Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives’
    (2018)
    This research aims to investigate the Corporate Social Responsibility engagement of Deloitte Bulgaria for 2017. In particularly it aims to analyze Corporate Social Responsibility engagement, initiated by employee values, in order to benefit society- “bottom-up” approach. The employee initiated causes were chosen by Deloitte as a CSR agenda to mark its 25th Anniversary in Bulgaria (Deloitte 2017). Deloitte Bulgaria was chosen for this research due to its renowned CSR involvement in Bulgaria. For its 2017 CSR agenda it took an even more interesting turn by funding employee initiated causes which are based on personal connection, please refer to section 8.1 for Appendix A on the 2017 CSR agenda from the Deloitte Bulgaria website. In order to make it happen, an internal competition took place for the determined budget (Deloitte 2018). All of the 250 Deloitte employees in Bulgaria had an equal opportunity to receive funding for their social projects. The entire campaign funded by Deloitte Bulgaria was called “Your initiatives. Our impact” and had chosen 7 out of 13 causes in the contribution of social change in Bulgaria (Deloitte 2018). Deloitte is the brand under which tens of thousands of dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, tax and legal services to select clients. (Deloitte 2017) Each initiative chosen is a philanthropic act for the society employees live in. The causes aim to develop the educational level and sport opportunities for children deprived of parental care; the caring of homeless animals; health and well being in the office environment of Deloitte employees; and support for cancer patients (Deloitte 2018). Using qualitative methods, data will be collected by sending out questionnaires by email to the seven main initiators of the causes and their stance on CSR involvement. The dissertation will first conduct a Literature Review which will use relevant scholars to support and further look into CSR engagement and employee values. The second chapter will include the necessary Methodology for gathering the research using a questionnaire, please refer to section 8.2 for Appendix B on questionnaire details, in order to gather data from participants. The third chapter aims to present and analyze the results gathered from the participants. Limitations and further recommendations for this study will be discussed in chapter number five. This research aims to portray the benefits of CSR engagement. Qualitative method will be used to gather data from the employees who directly initiate causes for CSR agenda of the company they work in. Values of the seven employees will be analyzed alongside the values of Deloitte Bulgaria, and the benefits they bring to the society they live in. Investigating “bottom-up” CSR involvement of employees and the shared values among participants and the company they work in would be beneficial to readers.
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    In what ways can legitimacy be operationalised as a useful construct for determining how charities dealing with stigmatised issues attract donations? A case study of Social Bite and Bethany Christian Trust
    (2018)
    In recent years, the social issue of homelessness has been brought significantly into the limelight in the UK, specifically Edinburgh, because of charities such as Social Bite, Bethany Christian Trust, Cyrenians and Fresh Start. 14, 607 homeless applications were made to the Scottish Government in a period of 6 months from April- September 2017, which is an increase of 6 percentage points from the year before (Scottish Government 2018). Furthermore, Fitzpatrick et al (2015) suggest that roughly 660 people sleep rough on the streets in Scotland every night, meaning that help from homeless Charities is much more necessary than ever before (Scottish Government 2018). The issue of homelessness has gained a lot of negative press in the past with both The Scotsman and the Edinburgh Evening News papers declaring that the homeless were ‘The Real Shame on Scotland’s Streets’ (Small 1997). However, it is not clear how charities dealing with such issues that have gained negativity in the past can now show grounds for legitimacy. For this reason, it is necessary to look at the term legitimacy in detail and to figure out the ways in which a charity dealing with the above issue of homelessness may be seen as legitimate and if this legitimacy can affect donations. Conducting a case study, comparing both Social Bite and Bethany Christian Trust in terms of legitimacy is necessary as they both deal with the same issue- homelessness. However, there is a large gap in the volume of donations that they receive. Bethany Christian Trust received just over £1million in 2017 (Bethany Christian Trust Annual Report 2017), whereas Social Bite raised over £4million from their ‘Sleep in the Park’ event in November 2017 alone (Pagan 2017). Therefore, this dissertation is about testing a model based on legitimacy to see if it is a useful way for charities dealing with stigmatised issues- such as homelessness- to attract more funding.
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    SOCIAL MEDIA, STEREOTYPES AND SUBCULTURES: 'A case study using Twitter to evaluate the potential impact of the programme Big Fat Gypsy Weddings on the perception of Gypsy and Travellers in Britain today.'
    (Queen Margaret University, 2017)
    Channel 4's Big Fat Gypsy Weddings was first aired on the 18th February 2010. Despite it initially being produced as a one-off documentary for a Cutting Edge series, the show was so popular with UK audiences that it was later given its own spot on the channel with two successful series and a number of one-off specials and voted Most Groundbreaking Show in the Cultural Diversity Awards 2010. The programme claimed to offer insight into the notoriously secretive lives of Gypsies and Travellers across the UK. However, there has been some debate regarding the portrayal of Gypsies on the programme and the accuracy of the information that it produces with many Gypsies and Travellers complaining that they are misrepresented and shown in a negative light. This study aims to use the social media platform Twitter to gather opinions and statements by users as they viewed the programme in order to determine the impact that it has had on public perception of Gypsies and Travellers in Britain today. Particularly, it will focus on the stereotypes surrounding Gypsies and aim to determine if these are being reinstated in Big Fat Gypsy Weddings or if any new patterns of attitude can be found within its audiences. This dissertation will comprise of four parts. Firstly, there will be a literature review which will include analysis of scholarship in order to gain background knowledge related to the study. Next there will be a section which will outline the methodological approach this study will take and the research technique which will be used. This will be followed by a chapter which will present the analysis and findings of the investigation. The report will end with a chapter of discussion, here the findings will be considered and any potential conclusions will be detected. The limitations that arose during the research and any recommendations for future study will also be discussed in this section.
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    A comparative analysis of the framing devices used by an online pro-same sex marriage publication (The San Francisco Chronicle), and by Democratic Politician Hillary Clinton when framing their views on the same-sex marriage debate.
    (Queen Margaret University, 2016)
    Introduction (part): Issues directly impacting lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens of the United States of America have gained serious media and political attention for a number of years (Warren & Bloch 2014). It has gained traction in recent years due to LGBT rights becoming more salient within American society, with 51% of people supporting same-sex marriage in a poll conducted in 2013, compared with just 32% in 2003 (Pew Research Center 2013). The issue of same-sex marriage has been at the forefront recently due to it's legalization after the 5-4 ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case on June 26th 2015, which ruled that same-sex couples now have the Constitutional right to marry across the 51 United States of America. Same-sex marriage as a social movement is one of the fastest growing social movements in recent years, and many have stated that legalization of same-sex marriage is of cultural significance and representative of old barriers of sexuality, class and race are being broken down indicating that there is a much bigger appreciation for diversity in today's society (Holtzhausen 2012, p. 2). The issue of same-sex marriage in the United States, is one that has divided a nation, with some championing the legalization and others strongly opposing, and previous laws of the issue being left at state level, creating a confusing mix in which some states were issuing marriage licenses, and other's were not. This confusing mix forced the issue to go before a national court, with it ultimately being legalized.
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    'An investigation of how Taylor Swift used social media during the promotion of her album '1989'
    (Queen Margaret University, 2017)
    Social media has proven itself as the new main medium for distributing information without the need of gatekeepers or third parties such as journalists, traditional press and TV (Bratu 2016). The channel brought a revolution by providing opportunities for direct communication between individuals, businesses and their stakeholders, but also between public figures and their respective audiences (Bright 2014). Public image and representation were hugely influenced by traditional media in the past and shaped the way people perceived various elements of celebrities' lives, their contribution to the society and dictated their popularity (Harris 1991). Such publicity can be recognised in social media posts (Aula 2010) - only that the same various elements of life are communicated and framed directly by the artists themselves; and that virtually the reach of social media is limitless. As social media has proven to be an excellent PR tool and marketing opportunity (Valentini 2015; Kelleher 2009; Coombs & Holladay 2014), this research aims to explore how the music artist Taylor Swift makes use of her large audience reach on social media during the promotion of the album '1989' to gather an understanding of what communication and PR tactics are implemented within the content she publishes. Taylor Swift is one of the best-selling and most successful music artists on the planet and is known for her continuous and successful use of social media (see Appendix 1), so therefore she will be a very relevant subject of analysis, the conclusions of which will prove beneficiary for public relations practitioners.
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    Exploring participation in the Facebook French Flag Filter Campaign
    (Queen Margaret University, 2017)
    Symbolic campaigns provide organisations and other parties with the opportunity to easily attract supporters, who use platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. The recent study is focused on exploring participation in the French Flag Facebook Filter (FFFF) campaign and the extent to which social media can be seen as a useful tool for activism. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate a number of issues. Some of the main themes which emerged from the findings of the research are the notion of raising awareness and creating visibility. The effectiveness of the FFFF campaign was seen as something which can create unification and strengthen a sense of social support for all Europeans. The study also discovered potential links between online-based campaigns and other forms of political participation. On the other hand, there were opposing views that the campaign was actually an example of slacktivism, making it incapable of fostering further actions. A third probability which emerged from the interviews was that there is no real relation between online based campaigns and other forms of political participation.
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    Vloggers: the importance of charismatic legitimacy and authenticity in online video bloggers
    (Queen Margaret University, 2016)
    Introduction (part): The dawn and growth of the Internet has changed the way people communicate, with social media shifting the paradigm from consumer-based communication to participatory-based communication (Wyrwoll 2014); both organisations and consumers have the ability to create and share their own content with the world. In 2015, the Office for National Statistics found that 78% of adults in the UK access the Internet on a daily basis. They also found that 61% of adults use a social networking site and that 79% of them access at least one daily (Office for National Statistics 2015). It is therefore clear that social media is an interesting and important area for investigation within the communications field.
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    The effectiveness of fear appeals in political communication: exploring the persuasive effect on female voters in the Scottish Independence Referendum
    (Queen Margaret University, 2016)
    Introduction (part): On the 18th of September 2014 voters in Scotland went to the polls to answer the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?". The independence referendum was fiercely and passionately debated by both sides, with 42 campaign groups (21 for a Yes vote and 21 for a No vote) registering with the Electoral Commission (Electoral Commission, 2014). After months of intense debate taking place across the press, Scotland's streets, and a series of televised debates, a record 3,623,344 voters placed a vote in the ballot box. This represented 84.6% of the electorate and the highest ever voter turnout recorded in the United Kingdom since the introduction of universal suffrage (Parliament UK, 2015). With such high levels of engagement and voter involvement, the Scottish independence referendum quickly became an important political and cultural turning point. The campaign was also increasingly close to call, with polls showing both Yes and No sides in the lead just days prior to September 18th. When the Scottish National Party (SNP) won an overall majority in the 2011 Scottish parliamentary election, thus beginning the process of holding a referendum, a YouGov poll created for The Sun newspaper estimated just 29% of Scots supported independence, with 58% opposed (YouGov, 2011). Over the course of the campaign period, the Yes side slowly closed the gap between the two sides. The final outcome of the referendum was Yes 44.65% to No 55.25%.