Date of Award

1-3-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Hazel

Second Advisor

Dr. Cheryl Coan

Abstract

This qualitative, phenomenological study explored both the lived experiences of Millennial journalists’ preferred style of intra-organizational communication with stakeholders from other generations, and non-Millennial supervisors’ preferred styles of interpersonal communication in the workplace. The primary theoretical framework for this project was guided by Buber’s philosophy of dialogic ethics and Philipsen’s speech codes theory as both focus on better understanding how interlocutors speak to each other and form unique, lasting relationships. Data collection involved guided face-to-face or phone interviews with 10 Millennial journalists and 10 non-Millennial supervisors. Data analysis followed constant comparison analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Five themes emerged from the data: (1) Despite growing up with computer-mediated communication (CMC), Millennials prefer face-to-face communication with supervisors, (2) non-Millennial managers do not have a clear understanding of how their Millennial employees prefer to communicate, (3) both cohorts agree that CMC can be a valuable communicative tool in the workplace, (4) while Millennials may communicate differently from previous generations, they do not create their own speech code, and (5) there is not a CMC digital divide within intergenerational newsrooms, but there is a divide emerging related to social media as a communicative tool.

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