The alternative press refers to a group of anti-apartheid newspapers which proliferated in South Africa during the early 1980s until the early 1990s. What was ‘alternative' about these publications was how they actively pursued an anti-apartheid agenda in their news reporting. The Weekly Mail newspaper is regarded as one of the pioneers of this section of the press and is the focus of this study which examines the representation of black political voices in its political reporting. Recognising a gap in the literature on the alternative press pertaining to questions of race, gender, voice and sourcing patterns, this study utilises qualitative discourse analysis and content analysis to analyse the political reporting in the Weekly Mail to evaluate the representation of black voices in the newspaper. It asks the questions: how can we analyse the content emerging from the alternative press with regards to the representation of black voices? Who writes, who speaks and what does this say about race, power and black representation in the Weekly Mail? Would this esteemed newspaper reproduce some of the racial and gender stereotypes prevalent in mainstream newspapers, or would it shift its content to more progressive terrains? This study revealed that the Weekly Mail was centred around male voices, specifically, those of black male leaders of popular black organisations. The study further revealed an interesting division in the representations of black males, where older black males were constructed as respectable, rational and approachable, while younger black males who were sometimes referred to as “young lions” in the ANC Youth League, were constructed as unthinking, violent, politically naïve and were infantilised. The findings of this study further showed that the Weekly Mail framed black females in politics according to their roles as wives, mothers and maternal caregivers. There were inconsistencies in how white and black women were portrayed. While black women were put strictly in their motherhood boxes, white women were allowed space to think and speak more broadly about their political ideas and aspirations. These observations showed the ways which the Weekly Mail deployed subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) undertones of racial and gender biases in their representations of black political voices.

The alternative press refers to a group of anti-apartheid newspapers which proliferated in South Africa during the early 1980s until the early 1990s. What was ‘alternative' about these publications was how they actively pursued an anti-apartheid agenda in their news reporting. The Weekly Mail newspaper is regarded as one of the pioneers of this section of the press and is the focus of this study which examines the representation of black political voices in its political reporting. Recognising a gap in the literature on the alternative press pertaining to questions of race, gender, voice and sourcing patterns, this study utilises qualitative discourse analysis and content analysis to analyse the political reporting in the Weekly Mail to evaluate the representation of black voices in the newspaper. It asks the questions: how can we analyse the content emerging from the alternative press with regards to the representation of black voices? Who writes, who speaks and what does this say about race, power and black representation in the Weekly Mail? Would this esteemed newspaper reproduce some of the racial and gender stereotypes prevalent in mainstream newspapers, or would it shift its content to more progressive terrains? This study revealed that the Weekly Mail was centred around male voices, specifically, those of black male leaders of popular black organisations. The study further revealed an interesting division in the representations of black males, where older black males were constructed as respectable, rational and approachable, while younger black males who were sometimes referred to as “young lions” in the ANC Youth League, were constructed as unthinking, violent, politically naïve and were infantilised. The findings of this study further showed that the Weekly Mail framed black females in politics according to their roles as wives, mothers and maternal caregivers. There were inconsistencies in how white and black women were portrayed. While black women were put strictly in their motherhood boxes, white women were allowed space to think and speak more broadly about their political ideas and aspirations. These observations showed the ways which the Weekly Mail deployed subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) undertones of racial and gender biases in their representations of black political voices.

Power to the People: Responsible Facilitation in Co-Creative Story-Making describes and applies a tool for recording and analyzing the co-productive creation process of digital storytelling (DST) workshops to be used by project facilitators for the purposes of reflection and for developing an ethics of responsibly in story-making practices. It provides a method for analyzing digital storytelling practices that focuses on the rhetorical, dialogic, co-productive, creative story-making space rather than the finished stories or the technologies. Looking through a new media lens, this dissertation aligns the DST genre and practice in relation to alternative media broadly, and tactical media specifically, to understand DST as a resource for storytellers. This dissertation situates DST as a co-creative media process created among participants, individual storytellers, facilitators, institutions, and the audience, and discusses the inter-relationships within the workshop setting as well as in those found in the dissemination of the final digital stories. The author discusses the relationships among the storytellers and the facilitators, the other workshop participants, and the viewing audience, examining this final relationship in terms of face-to-face and digital interactions. This dissertation provides a reflexive look at the responsibility of the facilitator in co-creative digital storytelling endeavors and makes use of diverse international case studies in addition to an analysis of the author's own facilitated project, "Exploring Our Information Diets," as examples. The author argues that co-creative storymaking facilitators should interpret their roles within the collaborative creation process to ensure that responsible facilitation practices based in "witnessing" guide the storytelling process, and create an environment that treats participants as subjects with the ability to respond to the world.

Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities, 2016. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 83-86). / Virtual reality, as the name implies, is implicitly evaluated by its ability to reproduce or imitate aspects of reality, particularly in ways that convince users that they are physically present in the virtual space. This approach to the medium, a form of immediacy, effaces the material reality of the medium and can obscure the ways through which a medium can offer new forms of knowledge. Virtual reality's realism is a construct, and by acknowledging this, creators can push the medium to more experimental and novel ends. The framework of embodied montage proposed in this thesis seeks to provide an expressive vocabulary and techniques for creating virtual reality work that accounts for the material aspects of the medium. Drawing on theoretical research from film and media theory, analyzing existing virtual reality work, and discussing the process of creating an original virtual reality work, I analyze the 3D capture and interaction design process. I offer the term machine vision perspective to describe the process of experiencing such images through virtual reality systems. This process provides a ground to experiment with embodied modes of thinking that are not possible with the human body situated in the real world. This makes embodied montage, a novel framework proposed by this thesis, possible. Embodied montage is the decoupling and recoupling of action and perception in virtual reality experiences in order to generate new meanings, similar to montage in film. Drawing on film theory, media history and cognitive science, this framework creates a territory for creative expression that challenges embodied cognitive structures and could effectively use the medium in ways that are distinguished from other media forms. / by Halil Deniz Tortum. / S.M. in Comparative Media Studies

Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities, 2017. / "June 2017." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 106-111). / The improbable election of Donald Trump relied on myriad factors. Among the most important of these, I argue here, was Trump's deft use of the social media site Twitter, which Trump used as a means to both communicate with his supporters directly, and to reach a far wider audience in the mainstream media. In adopting this hybrid communications strategy, Trump's political communications reached a wider audience, on a sturdier basis, than earlier figures who had similarly adopted what I dub a "paranoid populist" philosophy. I present case studies of two of these historical figures, Charles Coughlin, whose radio "sermons" reached millions in the 1930s, and Pat Robertson, whose cable television network inspired a devout following from afar. The grander political ambitions of both Coughlin and Robertson were stymied by a combination of technological, legal and economic factors, which did not serve to constrain Trump's candidacy in the same way. Instead, Trump's hybrid use of Twitter blended the breadth of Coughlin's audience with the depth of Robertson's following, providing him both an unfiltered line of communication to his supporters and a means of reaching a far wider audience through the provocative nature of his pronouncements. Through a combination of theoretical and empirical analysis, I illustrate the extent of Trump's paranoid populism on Twitter, and explain how Trump secured an avalanche of mainstream media coverage through the eternally controversial nature of his candidacy. I conclude with some reflections on Trump's early presidency, and his evolving use of Twitter as a platform for decrying the very news organizations without whose coverage his election would have proved impossible. / by Josh Cowls. / S.M. in Comparative Media Studies

Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-168). / In the current political climate in the United States, much attention has been paid to the role of the press in our increasingly polarized society and to what extent it exacerbates or mends divisions. While the majority of that analysis is focused on national politics and news outlets, the role of local media and the crucial role it plays in civic life has been often neglected in the wider debate. In this thesis, I argue that local journalism is critical as a tool for informing citizens so they can be civically engaged and hold the powerful accountable, as well as keeping communities together. Methodologically, this thesis seeks to incorporate the worlds of both media theory and journalism practice. To understand the role local news plays in society, I utilize various theoretical frameworks, but particularly that of James Carey and his explanation of the "transmission" and "ritual" functions of communication. In my more expansive understanding of these theories, I suggest the transmission role encompasses the ways in which local journalism informs citizens on matters of public interest so that they can participate in democracy and keeps the powerful in check. The ritual model highlights the often-ignored but significant manner in which local media serves a vehicle for community identification and maintaining societal bonds. After explaining the decades-long economic decline of the local media industry, I survey the various projects and experiments in the fields of journalism and philanthropy that are seeking to revive or at least prevent local news outlets from disappearing. In the final chapter, which is based on my field research and uses a style of journalistic reportage rather than academic writing, I profile several new local news initiatives in West Virginia and Kentucky. While these projects are too recent to yet offer any definitive results, I conclude with some initial takeaways and a discussion of possible metrics to measure their success in the future. As a final note, I argue that the various sectors working to save the news industry from economic collapse, restore trust in the media and combat political polarization and strengthen democracy should consider focusing their efforts on sustaining local journalism as a means to address all three. / by Sara Rafsky. / S.M. in Comparative Media Studies

Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-106). / As the media landscape in the United States has shifted and changed, the emphasis placed on digital technologies - particularly with respect to audience engagement - has become increasingly noteworthy. However, when situated against a backdrop of risk communications and sensationalized spectacle, such an emphasis also becomes concerning. This thesis examines the audience engagement considerations and practices of the media industry at present through a discussion of current social media policies and practices, a discussion of the affordances and constraints of social media as they relate to public health communications concerns, and an analysis of the affective implications of the heavy emphasis placed on images used on social media. This breakdown is partnered with a data-oriented exploration of U.S. audience trends and U.S. media coverage of the 2014 Ebola and 2015-2017 Zika outbreaks to underscore the perception gap that U.S. audiences are contending with. In doing so, I use a theoretical framework of sensationalism, gatekeeping, and media figurations to argue that audience engagement is not merely a journalistic, revenue-oriented concern - it is a public health concern too. / by Aashka Dave. / S.M. in Comparative Media Studies

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013. / "June 2013." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-105). / Attention to the use of new media by social movements rose rapidly following groundbreaking global protests: The Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the "Indignados" Movement in Spain. However, determinism and rhetoric of newness have led to phrases like "Twitter Revolution," while tools and gadgets often overshadow human agency and grassroots efforts. In fact, media and grassroots strategies have worked hand-in-hand and have been pivotal to social movements throughout history. Through a comparative analysis of the Farm Workers Movement of the 1960s and the contemporary Immigrant Youth Movement, this work examines media strategies by emphasizing concrete media practices of movement actors. With a grounded approach that incorporates participant observation, semi-structured interviews, archival research, and literature reviews, this study provides cross-historical insight into media strategies in social movements. Particularly, this work covers external and internal media strategies, media practice, framing, community media practice, and capacity building. It concludes with a comparative analysis of how movement media strategies are related to movement goals, aims, and outcomes. / by Rogelio Alejandro Lopez. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "June 2013." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-132). / Web series or "webisodes" are a transitional storytelling form bridging the production practices of broadcast television and Internet video. Shorter than most television episodes and distributed on online platforms like YouTube, web series both draw on and deviate from traditional TV storytelling strategies. In this thesis, I compare the production and storytelling strategies of "derivative" web series based on broadcast television shows with "original" web series created for the Internet, focusing on the evolution of scripted entertainment content online. I begin by reviewing of the relevant academic literature in television studies, production studies, transmedia, and television storytelling to situate web series in a theoretical context. I then undertake an exploration of web series storytelling strategies. I compare the types of narratives told by derivative and original web series, investigating how the form has evolved to date, and which genres dominate the landscape. Finally, I focus on web series production, using John Caldwell's concept of "aesthetic salaries" as a lens to investigate creators' motivations for creating online content. I look into original web series production, exploring the aspirations of creators, as well as how they measure success. I also investigate the politics involved in the production of derivative web series-particularly the tensions between guild writers and non-union marketing "creatives," both of whom stake professional claims on web content. / by Katherine Edgerton. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-115). / Over the three decade long history of sports videogame development, design conventions have lead to the emergence of a new sports game genre: the televisual sports videogames. These games, which usually simulate major professional or college sports, look and sound like television, and they use televised sports as a reference point for players. This thesis takes a critical look at how these televisual sports videogames are situated in the broader sports media industrial complex of North America, while also considering how the televisual design of these games is meaningful for fans of sports. Specifically, the text looks at how sports videogames reflect or reinforce dominant ideologies of hegemonic sports culture. Building on critical theories in sports studies, and through critical close readings of videogame texts, this thesis explores the relationship between sports television production, and sports videogames, with a focus on features that are found in both. Features such as introductory sequences, audio commentary, in-game advertising, news tickers, and instant replay are all commonly found in both sports television and sports videogames. / by Abraham D. Stein. / S.M.