Perceived News Media Importance: News Parody, Valuations of the News Media, and Their Influence on Perceptions of Journalism

Against the backdrop of declining public confidence in news media, this project explores the question of what could be contributing to increased skepticism toward the press and how the public's apparent reluctance to express trust in news media might be interpreted by scholars.In an effort to address this basic query, this research effort is designed to (a) advance an understanding of news media perceptions, and (b) consider news parody's role in influencing these perceptions.To arrive at this point, various friends, family members, colleagues, and advisors have sacrificed much time, energy, and other resources on my behalf.First, thank you to Ohio State's School of Communication for the opportunity to be involved in the school's Omnibus Survey (OSoC) and Time-sharing Experiment (TESoC) programs.The support of the OSoC and TESoC programs helped make my data collection efforts possible.I consider myself quite fortunate to have had access to these high quality resources for this dissertation project.I'd like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Lance Holbert.When starting my graduate studies at Saint Louis University more than five years ago-before I ever arrived in Columbus-Dr.Holbert's scholarship helped spark my fledgling research ideas.I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to study under and work with Dr. Holbert.I also deeply appreciate his continued involvement as a mentor beyond the scope of Ohio State.His dedication, enthusiasm, friendship, and steady support have been invaluable and inspiring.Much thanks to Dr. Kelly Garrett for not only being willing to serve as my academic advisor for the latter part of my time at Ohio State, but also for consistently offering keen insights, constructive criticism, and