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

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.