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press and Carol Lynn Kendall: A Roman-candle media star

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Date Issued:
1991
Summary:
As in drama and fiction, conflict is the chief criterion in news story selection. This drama of news is chiefly one involving individuals, causing journalists often to create instant celebrities, who must cope with the various phases of his or her public status. The involuntary celebrity presents journalists with ethical challenges embedded within the deep structures of their organizational and professional newswork. This thesis considers the case of Carol Lynn Kendall, who became famous in 1985 after her involvement in a car bombing for which her brother was convicted. This work focuses on news columns and interviews with journalists and with Kendall and on theory about newswork and the creation of fame. From this, the thesis draws an ideal type of the involuntary celebrity and shows how it is constructed and destroyed as well as how we might use it to understand the media's relationship with such individuals.
Title: The press and Carol Lynn Kendall: A Roman-candle media star.
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Name(s): Riggs, Karen E.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Budd, Michael N., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1991
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 117 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: As in drama and fiction, conflict is the chief criterion in news story selection. This drama of news is chiefly one involving individuals, causing journalists often to create instant celebrities, who must cope with the various phases of his or her public status. The involuntary celebrity presents journalists with ethical challenges embedded within the deep structures of their organizational and professional newswork. This thesis considers the case of Carol Lynn Kendall, who became famous in 1985 after her involvement in a car bombing for which her brother was convicted. This work focuses on news columns and interviews with journalists and with Kendall and on theory about newswork and the creation of fame. From this, the thesis draws an ideal type of the involuntary celebrity and shows how it is constructed and destroyed as well as how we might use it to understand the media's relationship with such individuals.
Identifier: 14723 (digitool), FADT14723 (IID), fau:11514 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1991.
Subject(s): Benson family
Crime and the press--Florida
Sensationalism in journalism
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14723
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.