For college freshmen, it can be difficult to pinpoint specific research interests, career goals and future plans. However, freshman Matthew Hebron has done just that. Conducting research with the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) under FSU’s College of Communication & Information and Dr. Steve McDowell, he has found a topic that he’s passionate about and that will help pave the path for him to reach his career goal of working in U.S. public diplomacy as a Foreign Service Officer.

Hebron’s research project looks at a diplomatic incident between the United States and India in 2013 and the differing media responses to it. An Indian diplomat named Devyani Khobragade had brought a maid with her over to the U.S., but she didn’t pay the maid the U.S. minimum wage as had been agreed upon on the visa application. Khobragade was then arrested for violating labor laws and visa fraud.

Hebron read articles related to the incident in two American newspapers, two Indian newspapers and two British newspapers for a balanced perspective. He created a rubric to measure each article on a scale of 1-12 based on three different criteria: 1) if the article possesses editorial characteristics, regardless of whether or not the newspaper explicitly defines it as an editorial; 2) if one is able to accurately verify that the facts in the article are true; and 3) how the article selectively highlights aspects of the incident to promote a particular interpretation of events.

The largest difference that Hebron has seen between Indian and American media is how they view Khobragrade.

Hebron explains, “Indian media generally highlights her public humiliation with little discussion of the actual crime, whereas American media will not express this nationalistic perspective. In other words, she is a victim and a symbol in India.”

When picking a research topic, Hebron heeded the advice of Dr. McDowell and thought about something that specifically interested him about South Asian Media and Cultural Studies, a significant area of research within the College of Communication & Information. He took his interests in the media relationship between media and diplomacy, international affairs and India and South Asia in general into consideration – and the result was a research topic that he’s terrifically passionate about.

He shares, “The intersection between media, culture and diplomacy is fascinating to me, and I am really happy that I chose this project.”

Hebron has presented his research at both the South Asian Media and Cultural Studies Conference in Tallahassee and presented most recently at the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC) in Tampa. The latter was an oral presentation and the former was a poster presentation, which Hebron says helped him dig deeper and enhance his knowledge of his research.

Dr. McDowell comments, “Mr. Hebron has identified a very interesting and important case to help us understand how media coverage interacts with diplomacy. He has undertaken an original and careful research study, and the recognition of his work by inclusion at [FURC] is well-deserved.”

McDowell was awarded with Florida State University’s 2016 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award for his work with students like Matthew.

Aside from the fact that it will help advance his career, Hebron enjoys conducting research because he gets to explore questions with non-concrete answers through a variety of means of his own choosing. He also enjoys the idea of specializing in a certain topic and contributing to a broader conversation about diplomacy and media.

Hebron says, “One thing I would just like to add is a big thank you to Dr. McDowell, who has been an incredible mentor throughout the whole research process thus far. Similarly, I’d like to highlight all the great research that is going on under the blanket of South Asian Media and Cultural Studies at FSU in the College of Communication & Information under him.”

To learn more about the research being done by FSU’s College of Communication & Information, follow this link.