Tesi sul tema "Mainstream mass media"

This study explores cultural productions in one television genre in Chinese mainstream media: dispute resolution shows. By applying the theoretical frameworks of Hall’s encoding and decoding and Habermas’ public spheres, this study mainly answers two research questions: 1) how does mainstream production convey politically-preferred cultural and social values to viewers; and 2) how do audience members exercise their citizenship in decoding televised social values and cultural norms? In a specific examination of Oriental Pearl Live Newsroom, mixed-methods are adopted, including unsupervised learning of the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), content analysis, thematic analysis, focus groups, and interviews. In the findings, the interviewees admitted that they propagated social and cultural values in accordance with the mainstream political ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in order to maintain social stability and state order. However, my interviewees also suggested that they had an ambition and willingness to promote a civil society in China, which requires a counterbalanced power from the audience’s side. The results of the audience analysis generally indicated that they challenged the power of legitimate authorities, including the nation-state, the elite class, and the media. This study identified five online public spheres: 1) Government is the core; 2) Request for rule of law; 3) Media is a paradox; 4) The elite class is not the boss; 5) The grass is always greener (adoration of foreign countries). In general, this study supports conceptualizing audience members as citizens. It demonstrates how audience members deconstruct the dominant interpretations of social values and their attempts to elaborate less-favorable voices in Transitional Chinese society. This conceptualization suggests the importance of audience members in creating diverse public spheres and promoting a civil society.

This study shows the findings of a qualitative study undertaken in the homes of seven primary participants of middle school age in Tucson, Arizona, Southern California, and New York City. The purpose of the study was to determine whether mainstream media has commodified these children into saleable audiences who would consume its media products. Findings show that all participants, at all levels, were ready to buy, and wanted to buy, at least one kind of mainstream media at any time. All participants with the exception of one, who did not seem to care about one form of media over another, pursued at least one form of mainstream media, usually more, during most of his waking hours and often. During the ninety hours of observation, at least two or more mainstream media products were used consistently. All participants expressed the desire to buy more specific products and wanted to have more than one title at a time. No regionally or locally distributed media were desired by any subject, only the mainstream media on forced-choice menus. Limitations of the research included difficulty of finding parents and children willing to allow the researcher into the home. Another problem was the invasion of privacy that some subject felt during the study. These were the major two limitations. Further research should be conducted on preschoolers' use of media. This study suggests that children aged one to five may already be addicted to Disney media in ways that preclude their enjoyment of other mainstream media. This study also suggests that these children may be so affected cognitively by their constant use of mainstream media products that their placement in school must be reassessed. Another area that requires more research is the ability of students with diagnosed learning disabilities to concentrate on, and operate, interactive media and to read any manual, article or electronic text having to do with their chosen media, without any problem. The conclusion is that participants in this study are, by their desire and willingness to buy, members of a commodity audience. Thus, the commodity audience actually exists.

This study examined the role mass media play in animating the relationship between globalization and the nation-state. This study interrogated this relationship using a multi-method approach that analyzed news coverage, the general "media climate" in Oklahoma, and audience responses to the media climate regarding the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, a comprehensive immigration reform bill passed into law in 2007. The key goals of this study were to examine the ways in which news media in Oklahoma cover the issue of immigration, particularly as it relates to the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, in order to garner a deeper understanding of the ways in which the mass media participate in global processes while cementing the national imagined community. Moreover, by examining audience interpretations of news coverage from mainstream and diasporic news outlets regarding this legislation, this study provided insight into the ways messages about the immigrant family and its contingent gender roles circulate and incorporate into day-to-day culture and how, in turn, these cultural meanings are put into the service of the nation-state. This study used a multi-method approach comprising of a textual analysis of the bill itself and news coverage of the two largest English-language newspapers in the state. I also analyzed the text of a Spanish-language paper based in Tulsa and conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with various state legislators, journalists, community members, and staff members at and clients of the Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City. In my analysis of the text of the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, or, as it is commonly referred to, HB 1804, I argue that the bill established the ideological parameters of the immigration reform debate in the state. The text of the bill also reifies the nation-state, produces a subaltern immigrant community without recourse to the legal system, and provides a template of the ideal U.S. citizen through its representation of the deviant immigrant. My textual analysis of the two largest English-language newspapers in Oklahoma posits that these news discourses criminalize the immigrant, and gender, racialize, and class the immigrant worker, family unit, and its contingent members. As a result, the news coverage can be seen to highlight the ways in which 1804 is an attempt at resistance to global intrusions in Oklahoma and to offer assurance to the citizen community that cultural turmoil will be calmed. The figures of the bill's main author and the Catholic Church also symbolize the tension between the nation-state and the global in these news discourses. Finally, I argue that the Spanish-language media and the LCDA serve to unify the Latino community in Oklahoma in the context of immigration reform discourses, regardless of legal status, providing cultural sustenance and support when 1804 would deny this to the immigrant community.

This thesis examines the reporting of AIDS-related news in both mainstream and alternative newspapers. This research suggests that mainstream newspapers, such as the New York Times, frame news stories in certain ways. Specifically, this study suggests that news about AIDS will be framed in ways which trivialize and/or marginalize those most affected by AIDS. The thesis also posits that the mainstream press will frame AIDS-related news in ways which support their own interests. Additionally, this research suggests that alternative presses, such as the Advocate, will frame their reporting of AIDS-related news in ways which support their interests. The mainstream newspaper articles for this study were taken from the New York Times, and the Oregonian. The alternative press articles were taken from the Advocate, the New York Native, Christopher Street, outlook, and the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter. The news stories focus on four individuals: Magic Johnson, Rock Hudson, Kimberly Bergalis, and Mark Woodley. The results of this thesis reveal that some mainstream reporting of AIDS-related news is framed in ways which trivialize and/or marginalize those affected by AIDS. The study also shows that the alternative presses frame reporting of AIDS-related news in ways which not only support their interests but in ways which appear to react to the reporting of the mainstream presses. Finally, there is evidence of hegemony as an underlying principle for the way news about AIDS is framed.

There are potentially negative health impacts of women's internalization of representations of women of color in mainstream on body esteem and weight. This study explores the relationships between mainstream hip hop, body satisfaction and body mass index (BMI) in Mexican descent college-age women. The study predicts that women who regularly listen to mainstream hip hop will be more likely to internalize the images of women. Internalization will predict body satisfaction and body satisfaction will predict BMI. Sixty-five participants completed a self-report survey with these measures. Regularly listening to mainstream hip hop was associated with higher hip hop internalization. Higher internalization was associated with less body satisfaction which, in turn, was associated with a higher BMI. Thus, women who regularly listen to mainstream hip hop and who internalize the images of women seem more critical of their body, which negatively affects their weight.

The 2014 national general elections were characterised by a cloud of scandal hanging over the ANC, and the ANC president Jacob Zuma. The biggest and darkest cloud was the Nkandla scandal. Owing to a reported R246 million spent by the state to refurbish his private home, the president stood accused of wasteful expenditure and financial irregularity. In a country reeling from the continued effects of apartheid, which include high unemployment and poverty, the scandal was a bombshell. According to a vocal and often adversarial mainstream media sphere, the ANC went into those elections with an albatross around its neck. The dominant thought was that the ruling party would suffer a heavy loss of votes. This outcome did not materialise. The ANC lost a marginal share of its previous vote. Mainstream media and civil society were confounded. What had happened? Why had poor black South Africans continued to vote for a party that was obviously in breach of the constitutional order? Against the mismatch between what was predicted or purported and the outcome, this study investigates how young people in the township of Joza, Grahamstown, interpreted one of the biggest political scandals in South Africa’s fledgling democracy. Using a combination of subaltern studies, counter public sphere and audience study, the research looks into the interpretation of a mainstream media scandal that was supposed to diminish the chances of the ANC retaining power, but, instead, barely dented its majority. Through a combination of interviews and participant observation, the study found that young people in the township of Joza demonstrated that they chose to ignore the messages about the corruption of the ANC. The data suggests that they did so, not because of overt racial solidarity, but due to the fact that in a context of high inequality, and continued limitations on economic emancipation, the party shone brightly as a vehicle for economic development. Overall, the study argues that the seemingly dubious undertaking to continue with the ANC is a calculated decision that makes sense when viewed within a given socio-economic context.

This thesis examines three cases of fatal police-involved killings of black men in order to understand the significance and value of citizen journalism. Citizen journalism, journalism that is produced by ordinary people rather than professional journalists, functions as an alternative to mainstream news media. With technological developments like smartphones and social media, people have the means to produce and disseminate their own news in real-time. There has been a recent trend of witnesses filming videos of acts of police violence against people of color. I argue that these videos are significant because of the way they challenge our perceptions of police officers and black men, force mainstream news media to report on news that are of public interest, amplify historically marginalized voices, and expose the issue of police brutality to a wider audience.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Communication and Culture.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-130). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11815

Much of the scholarly literature on Indigenous media relations frames Indigenous peoples as passive players in the mainstream media, and focuses on negative elements such as stereotypes. This thesis challenges this view, finding that Indigenous peoples in Canada actively and strategically engage with mainstream and social media as they forward their social and political agendas. This thesis provides an analysis of the counter-colonial narrative in Canada by offering a new perspective on Indigenous media relations, focusing as a case on the Idle No More movement. Emphasizing three dimensions of communication--the mainstream print media, social media, and individuals involved in Indigenous media relations--I examine the ways in which Indigenous agency and empowerment have the potential to change discourses in the media. As sources of insight I draw on a discourse analysis of mainstream news media, a qualitative analysis of social media and on interviews with those who have significant experience in Indigenous media relations. Interviews with prominent media personalities and individuals involved in media relations (including CBC’s Duncan McCue and Janet Rogers; Four Host Nations CEO Tewanee Joseph, and others) illustrate the novel and impactful ways indigenous peoples in Canada are actively and strategically shaping the mainstream media. These representations create a more complex picture of Indigenous peoples as they counter the stereotyped or victimized media narratives within which Indigenous peoples have historically been placed.
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tiahiltz@uvic.ca

This dissertation examines the historical forces that have rhetorically and discursively transformed suicide from a philosophical, legal, religious, and political issue into a primarily medical problem subsumed under the rhetorical banner of "mental health." In this dissertation, I examine the print press' articulation of the institutional belief that suicide is the act of irrational, mentally ill, disturbed, or otherwise impaired people in need of "prevention," "intervention," "help," and "care." What is said in the mainstream press about the self-inflicted deaths of U.S. residents---who are physically healthy, have caring friends and family, are relatively well-educated, have some measure of means, and, thus, are perceived by their peers as having everything to live for---speaks directly to the political nature of discussions about suicide and suicide prevention. Mainstream news media discussions of suicide tend to focus primarily on the mental health and "personal" problems of those who kill themselves, while suicide prevention is routinely represented as a fundamental right, a necessary public service, and a form of benevolence. What are the social, economic, political, and philosophical implications of representations of suicide and suicide prevention that ignore or downplay the specific lived reality of the people who commit suicide? Are there views of suicide that diverge from the dominant view of suicide as a health issue requiring professional medical solutions? And if there are, how does the mainstream press treat those ideas as rhetorical constructs? What can and cannot be said about suicide in the major media? Who speaks and who does not? Who are the people whose stories are told in the press? Why are these particular stories told? Does the wide-spread disapprobation of suicide in the U.S. limit understandings of suicide that do not privilege medical, psychiatric, and scientific explanations? What exactly is at stake in treating suicide and suicide prevention as political issues as well as mental health issues? By mapping the historical progression of the major ideological currents informing how this culture thinks and talks about suicide, this dissertation considers suicide's potentially subversive, political, and resistive nature.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of requirements for an MA in Journalism and Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Witwatersrand, August 2017
The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how alternative youth media, particularly onlinebased news sources, in covering the #FeesMustFall (#FMF) campaign 2015 students protest from October 14, 2015 to October 23, 2015, challenged news framing, while shifting traditional mainstream media’s agenda-setting role. In post-apartheid South Africa in 2015, which was dubbed “the year of the student”, the history of student politics was significant in what culminated in the hashtag #FeesMustFall campaign, challenging the representation of student protesters in the media. The unprecedented local and international alternative youth media and mainstream media coverage of the 2015 student protests—in print, online and on social media platforms—signaled the impact of the biggest student protests since 1994. The results from this qualitative research sampling online-based news platforms and interviews with journalists for their opinions on the blanket media coverage of the protests, shows a significant paradigm shift in how newsrooms re-examined what would be a silent consensus of framing and agenda-setting as was dictated by alternative youth media.
XL2018

Dissertation in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Journalism, Durban University of Technology, 2013.
Ethical behaviour by investigators is the cornerstone of scientific research. Recognizing, declaring and avoiding a conflict of interest are key responsibilities for biomedical researchers, particularly since commercial enterprises, such as pharmaceutical companies, have become major funding sources of research. Proactive disclosure of researchers' financial relationships is now a requirement for publication in most scientific journals. The question that arises is whether this same increased scrutiny of financial disclosure and potential for conflict of interest has extended to the mainstream press in Canada. A content analysis of biomedical research articles that appeared in Canadian daily newspapers from 2001 to 2008 showed that 82 per cent of the articles failed to identify the financial connection that existed between the researcher(s) and the commercial funder, and nearly half of the articles did not even identify the commercial funding source of the research. A text analysis showed that 94 per cent of the articles were positive about the drug/device cited by the research, and positive, optimistic words such as “breakthrough”, “significant”, “hope” and “promising” were often used in the news articles. Reporters frequently frame biomedical research articles using a battle-like template that describes a fight between good and evil. Another common approach was to frame the article as a message of hope for the future. A genre analysis showed that the genre of medical research news articles published in newspapers is highly dissimilar to the genre of medical research articles published in scientific journals. It is likely these two genres have been constructed to appeal to very different target audiences. The study results show overwhelmingly that readers are not provided with key information about potential financial conflicts of interest involving the researchers and the commercial sources of funding for the research. Such lack of transparency thwarts the reader’s ability to reach informed conclusions about whether or not the research has been either explicitly or implicitly influenced by the researcher’s potential conflict.

This study intends to discover distinctions between two minority groups, Mormons and Orthodox Jews, compared to a mainstream Protestant group, the Methodists, in terms of newspaper behavior. It intends to probe for differences in newspaper readership frequency and uses (Berelson, 1949) between religious minority group members and majority group members. It originated with the belief that religion (type) and degree of ingroup identification in the minority communities (stronger) would lead to greater newspaper avoidance and limit newspaper use primarily for information/public affairs, rather than Berelson's (1949) other categorizations of socialization, respite, entertainment. Indeed, minority-majority distinctions did not hold. Important differences emerged between religious and more secular individuals in all communities. It was the degree of religiosity that most deeply impacted newspaper use, not denominational ties. The more individuals scored highly on a "religion-as-spiritual-quest" factor, the less they read newspapers, particularly the business newspaper. For "spiritual questors" of all denominations, the house of worship, with its myriad activities, served as a leisure-time base and, for them, recreational use of the newspaper was minimal.
Communication Science
D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

AFRIKAANS: Die teenwoordigheid van vroue in die massamedia, en spesifiek in televisie, is vroeg in die een-en-twintigste eeu groter as ooit vantevore. Reekse waarin uitbeeldings van vroue beperk was tot dié van meestal onderontwikkelde, periferale of sekondêre karakters, is iets van die verlede. Die wyse waarop vroue in televisie uitgebeeld word is dus uiters belangrik aangesien so ’n groot hoeveelheid televisiereekse spesifiek die vrouegehoor teiken wat, hetsy aktief of passief, met wat hulle in hierdie reekse sien omgaan. Boodskappe wat deur televisiereekse versprei word, sal waarskynlik onbewustelik ’n uitwerking hê op hoe vroue hulleself beskou, hoe hulle ander vroue beskou, sowel as op hulle houding jeens kwessies soos feminisme en vroulikheid. Die doel van hierdie studie is om dominante diskoerse oor feminisme en vroulikheid wat deur hedendaagse televisiereekse aan die samelewing voorgehou word, te ondersoek. Die studie konsentreer spesifiek op drie gewilde en veelbekroonde Amerikaanse televisiereekse van 1997 tot 2012, naamlik Ally McBeal (Kelley 1997- 2002), Sex and the City (Starr 1998-2004) en Desperate Housewives (Cherry 2004- 2012) – reekse wat al drie as sogenaamde zeitgeist-televisie beskryf kan word. Die artikulering van feministiese doelstellings, hetsy dié afkomstig uit die tweede generasie of uit meer onlangse bewegings in feminisme, val onder die soeklig en die wyse waarop hierdie doelstellings aangespreek word, word bespreek. Deur aspekte wat teoreties nóύ verband hou met feminisme (aspekte soos melodrama as ’n vroulik-geïdentifiseerde genre en verbruikerswese) te identifiseer, word daar aangvoer dat die drie reekse beslis in ’n feministiese sfeer geposisioneer is. Die teenwoordigheid van hierdie aspekte in die drie reekse het dan ook dieperliggende narratiewe oor feminisme blootgelê – narratiewe waarvan die alledaagse kyker waarskynlik nie bewus sal wees nie, maar wat onderbewustelik moontlik ’n invloed kan hê op kykers se denke oor en begrip van feminisme. Die belangrikste gevolgtrekking van hierdie studie is dat die drie gekose televisiereekse op verskillende en uiteenlopende wyses met feminisme en vroulikheid omgaan. Verder ondersteun die studie die uitgangspunt dat daar ’n behoefte is aan kritiese debat rakende die uitbeeldings van feminisme en vroulikheid in hedendaagse voorbeelde van populêre massamedia. ENGLISH: The presence of women in mass media, specifically in television, in the twenty-first century is larger than ever and the days of series featuring women that are generally underdeveloped, peripheral or secondary characters is a thing of the past. The way in which females are portrayed in television is thus of the utmost importance since such a large number of television series cater to an extensive female audience, who engage (whether actively or passively) with that which they see. Messages received from popular television series are likely to inadvertently have an effect on how women view themselves, how they view other women, as well as their attitudes towards issues like feminism and femininity. The purpose of this study is to examine dominant discourses on feminism and feminity that are being propagated by contemporary television series. The specific focus of the study falls on three highly successful and critically acclaimed television series running from 1997 until 2012, namely Ally McBeal (Kelley 1997-2002), Sex and the City (Starr 1998-2004) and Desperate Housewives (Cherry 2004-2012) – series that have all been described as so-called Zeitgeist television. The articulation of feminist goals, whether from the second wave or more recent feminist movements, is examined and the ways in which these goals are addressed are discussed. By identifying aspects that are theoretically related to feminism (aspects like melodrama as a female identified genre and consumerism), it is argued that these three series are definitely positioned in a feminist sphere. The presence of these aspects also uncovered deep-seated feminist narratives – narratives that the everyday audience member will most likely not be aware of, but which could unconsciously influence viewers’ thoughts on and understanding of feminism. The main conclusion of this study entails that the three chosen television series deal with feminism and femininity in very different and diverse ways. Furthermore, the study supports the view that there is a need for critical debates on the representation of feminism and femininity in contemporary examples of popular mass media
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Visual Arts
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