Browsing by Author "Jacobsen, Jaime, committee member"

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Open Access
Copper-nickel mining in Minnesota: cartography of a news media controversy
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Beaton, William David, author; Champ, Joseph, advisor; Benson, Delwin, committee member; Jacobsen, Jaime, committee member; Knobloch, Katherine, committee member
The Iron Range of northeast Minnesota became home to modern environmental controversies when logging and mining companies founded small communities there in the late 1800s. Ever since, news media have consistently engaged in public discourse regarding the management of the region's world-renowned natural resources, such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Lake Superior (Searle, 1979; Paddock, 2001). But today, as state and federal governments consider approving a new, potentially environmentally risky copper-nickel mining industry, local news sources are under-equipped to produce coverage that can adequately communicate the complex legal, cultural, and scientific processes involved (Kojola, 2018; 2019; Phadke, 2018). Therefore, this master's thesis uses a novel combination of qualitative research approaches — including a hermeneutic reading of 680 newspaper articles and an actor-network theory (ANT) controversy cartography (CC) analysis — to map the associations and arguments of journalists, stakeholders, and policymakers and provide them with a reference resource they may use to inform their coverage and decision-making moving forward. Ultimately, this study conveys the complicated nature of the controversy, describes patterns of polarization apparent in sampled news coverage, and establishes a platform to empower future academic research, journalistic application, and public deliberation.
Open Access
Narrative listening to the narrative listeners
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Mitchell, Katherine Jane, author; Wolfgang, David, advisor; Jacobsen, Jaime, committee member; Knobloch, Katie, committee member
When we engage in narrative listening, the purposeful act of attending to another's story, we are ideally a part of an agreement that a co-construction of a person's understanding of their own narrative identity is underway (Bamberg & Georgakopoulou, 2008; McAdams, 2013). However, the act of narrative listening, as it is practiced in the world, is not simply to understand someone's story. From the doctor's office to a car share with a stranger, the possible aims might be to better serve, heal, align, and even debate, the teller. My research pursues how vocational listeners have infused this skill into their lives, why, and by what effect. In developing an understanding of narrative listening, I was part of a team that created a podcast series wherein the interviewer conducts a session with a person whose vocation depends on their narrative listening skills (healers, leaders, servers, etc.). For this thesis, I collected data from the seasons we recorded and conducted a reflexive textual analysis of the interview transcripts. This analysis focused on uncovering the patterns and nuances in how narrative listeners engage with stories across two vocations: healers and leaders. Key aspects of the analysis included identifying the different intentions behind listening—such as empathy, curiosity, and goal-oriented listening. By examining the methods and effects of narrative listening, this research enhances our understanding of how stories are received and co-constructed. Ultimately, the findings from this study support the grounded development of narrative listening theory, a framework that can be applied to improve communication practices across a wide range of fields.