Caravella, Kristi D.

This study examines the coverage of an event that took place mostly in Miami, Florida and was reported on by The Miami Herald for more than six months. There are several issues that are addressed in this thesis. The primary hypothesis of this analysis is that the coverage of the Elian Gonzalez custody battle as it appeared in The Miami Herald uses the same narrative techniques as those used in fictional melodrama or soap operas. John Fiske's theory of melodrama as developed from Brown (1987) and a similar model used by Fiske (1987) is used to compare the specified piece of news coverage with generic soap opera narrative elements. The historical and political backgrounds of the Miami-Cuban community are integral factors in this news phenomenon---their roles in this controversy are thoroughly analyzed. Serious implications occurred as a result of this coverage; they are discussed in the conclusion of this thesis.

In this study, DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) institutional model of isomorphic change is hypothesized to explain the changes witnessed in educational organizations with regard to the acceptance, implementation and institutionalization of distance learning. In order to show the power of institutional theory in explaining organizational change over time, a comparative qualitative case study methodology is utilized. Document analysis and interviews are used to explore the utility of this isomorphic change model. Each research question seeks to explore different influences of institutional isomorphism, coercive, normative, and mimetic. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) suggest organizations converge on similar practices and behaviors and appear similar to like organizations over time. The appearance of change toward homogeneity is explored through the isomorphic change theory which indentifies three forces, coercive, normative and mimetic, influential in determining how adopted behaviors and pr actices become isomorphically accepted by the organizational field. Coercive isomorphism stems from political influence and organizational legitimacy, often conveyed through laws, regulations, and accreditation processes (or outside agency requirements); normative isomorphism is associated with professional values; and mimetic isomorphism is copying or mimicking behaviors that is a result of organizational response to uncertainty. By examining the organizational field for the presence of these forces and measuring the extent of these forces at various points in time one is able to explain convergence on regularized practices and institutionalized behaviors, or how an organizational field becomes institutionalized, around a particular idea or practice.