Communication

Using theoretical frameworks from Appadurai, (1990); Nakamura, (2008); and Gajjala and Birzescu, (2010), this study employs visual analysis to examine the communication processes used in acquiring loans for people of low socio-economic status in developing countries. Images and narratives on online microfinance site, kiva.org, were examined in this study. The results suggest that though online microfinance through web 2.0 communication technologies is helping the poor, by providing people who otherwise would not have access to loan products with financial services, many of the so-called “poorest of the poor” do not have direct access to global communication tools used to represent them on sites such as kiva. This study suggests that the representation of borrowers from developing countries is riddled with representational issues.
Keywords: Kiva, microfinance, globalization, digital media, social change

Microlending through online venues has introduced a new model of lending through web 2.0 communication technologies. I examined micro lending through online venues – such as kiva.org, MicroPlace.com, and ACCION.org. The theoretical framework is based in Critical Cyberculture Studies and Critical Development Communication using visual analysis (Brummett, 2010; 2011; Mirzoeff, 2009; Nakamura, 2008; Olsen, 2007; Sosale, 2007) as my method, which is supplemented with interviews. I draw in part from visual rhetoric to inform my critique of the interplay of visual images, symbols, texts, and other elements in the microfinance web sites. On the home pages of Kiva.org, ACCION.org and MicroPlace.com, I analyzed the layout, including visuals and texts on their respective homepages. I examined the communication processes in these web 2.0 portals, because while some sites may indeed empower the poor, other sites may be disempowering to the poor. Kiva, ACCION, and MicroPlace thus reproduce issues of race, identity, and representation online, becoming discursive and rhetorical spaces where race and identity are produced and reproduced in various forms (Nakamura, 2002). Understanding the representations of third-world identities/bodies on micro lending sites is important. Also, global development initiatives such as kiva.org, MicroPlace.com, and ACCION.org have wide reaching ramifications; thus, the notion of empowerment of the poor, as reflected on the web portals of kiva.org, MicroPlace.com, and ACCION.org, bears scrutiny.

“FEMA doesn't evacuate communities. FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications...Many may be surprised to learn that, guess what, FEMA doesn't own fire trucks. We don't own ambulances. We don't own search and rescue equipment. The people of FEMA are being tired of being beat up, and they don't deserve it.”
--Federal Emergency Management Agencies (FEMA) Director Michael D. Brown during a congressional hearing in January 2006

This study comparatively analyzes the Federal Emergency Management Agency's crisis public relations communication leading up to and during hurricanes Katrina and Gustav to determine what, if any, changes FEMA made to its communication strategy. Employing framing analysis, the authors discovered that, aside from an increase of more than double the number of words devoted to its Gustav crisis communication, the action statements within FEMA’s crisis rhetoric had significantly decreased since that before and during Katrina.

This study examined behavioral, cognitive, and emotional jealousy in India (N = 1,111) and the United States (N = 1,087). Significant differences were found between men and women for all dimensions of jealousy. Indians reported less cognitive and emotional jealousy than Americans. Religion was found to be a significant predictor of jealousy. Hindus were higher on
cognitive and emotional jealousy, while Christians were higher on cognitive jealousy than Muslims. Results also show the interaction of sex and religion affected jealousy. Results of this study indicate both biology and social context influence jealousy.


Keywords: Jealousy, Sex, Religion, Nationality, Cross-cultural

HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that is still pervasive globally. Through effective health communication campaigns, the disease may be contained. This paper is a rhetorical visual analysis of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and its online presence. Global policy initiatives such as PEPFAR have wide reaching ramifications. Thus, the rhetoric of the George W. Bush administration as reflected in the PEPFAR initiative bears scrutiny. Both visual and discursive tropes reflected in the PEPFAR initiative offer an interesting contradiction. While the Bush administration's rhetoric purported to offer succor to those stricken with HIV/AIDS, the actual content and substance of PEPFAR belied its surface appearances by undercutting support for those in danger of being infected and those already ill with HIV/AIDS.

Keywords: Bush, PEPFAR, rhetoric, security, HIV/AIDS

Discourse surrounding the Trayvon Martin case spilled over to social media platforms with heated visual and textual exchanges. While supporters for Mr. Martin cried racial profiling, arguing for civil rights violation, others averred that Mr. Zimmerman's killing of Trayvon was justified because he shot him in self-defence. Many people have shared similar sentiments across the United States. Social curation site Pinterest displays thousands of images reflecting some of the national feelings on the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman. Using Lisa Nakamura's Race in Cyberspace theoretical framework, and drawing in part from semiotics, the present study critically examines some of the images of race, solidarity and dissent on Pinterest. Two themes emerged, performing white privilege and presenting a counter-discourse.