Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Steven J. Smethers / This study describes and maps the process journalists employ when deciding issues of coverage, content, and treatment of news at community newspapers within the context of community standards. Much scholarship has been devoted to how journalists should make ethical decisions of news judgment in accordance with moral, ethical, and social responsibility theory. But little has been done in the way of describing and mapping how journalists – specifically, community journalists – actually make these on-deadline news decisions and how the concept of community standards plays into those decisions. Through the use of naturalistic inquiry methodology, in this case, a triangulation of qualitative depth interview methods – informant and ethnographic – within the context of society, this research describes the factors considered by community journalists when faced with decisions of news judgment, how that process takes place, and how and where community standards fit into that process. Data indicate that values and value-based moral and ethical reasoning are tempered by at least three considerations in the decision-making process: (1) how coverage and treatment will affect the journalist, (2) how coverage and treatment will affect others, and (3) the public instructional value, before being filtered through a screen of community standards prior to the final rendering of a news judgment decision. Furthermore, findings offer a base on which to construct a model of community journalism decision making, useful for study and discussions of ethical decision making among community journalism scholars, instructors, and students, and for its applications in practical situations by future or novice community journalists.

Using a critical discourse analysis (CDA), this thesis examines how risks and food security, in relation to Genetically Modified (GM) foods, are constructed within the media context. The project analyzes news articles that appeared in two Canadian newspapers, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star, and two British newspapers, The London Times and the Guardian, during three particular time periods between 1997 and 2005. I evaluate whether or not the selected articles contribute to the public’s understanding of science, and how journalism constructs risk and uncertainty. I also evaluate the use of expert knowledge by journalists. Using the theory of Risk Society, as proposed by sociologist Ulrich Beck, the project explores the connections between political, social, and economic issues connected to globalization. This thesis concludes that journalism in both Canada and Britain does not appear to adequately inform their citizens on matters of food security and the risks of GMOs.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / William Adams / Mental illness and suicide present vexing challenges for journalists who seek to elevate public understanding of public health issues and remedies. Using the theoretical frameworks of media agenda setting and issue framing, content analysis was used to examine a nationwide sample of newspapers stories for evidence of media familiarity with prevailing norms for community mental health care and suicide prevention. Stories examined showed little evidence of such expertise, leaving questions about the ability of journalists — and their readers — to differentiate between standard and substandard mental health care systems. Long-term change in public policy about mental illness and suicide prevention will likely depend on the ability of special interests to capture and keep media attention as well as media management decisions to assign mental health coverage to general assignment reporters or place it in the hands of journalists with specialized training.

Using a critical discourse analysis (CDA), this thesis examines how risks and food security, in relation to Genetically Modified (GM) foods, are constructed within the media context. The project analyzes news articles that appeared in two Canadian newspapers, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star, and two British newspapers, The London Times and the Guardian, during three particular time periods between 1997 and 2005. I evaluate whether or not the selected articles contribute to the public’s understanding of science, and how journalism constructs risk and uncertainty. I also evaluate the use of expert knowledge by journalists. Using the theory of Risk Society, as proposed by sociologist Ulrich Beck, the project explores the connections between political, social, and economic issues connected to globalization. This thesis concludes that journalism in both Canada and Britain does not appear to adequately inform their citizens on matters of food security and the risks of GMOs.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Donald J. Mrozek / On 16 January 1991, a coalition of nations led by the United States launched a series of air strikes against Iraq to force that country to withdraw from Kuwait. What followed was an intense aerial bombardment of Iraqi military and civilian infrastructure which lasted until 24 February when the coalition began a ground offensive. After four days of ground fighting Iraq withdrew from Kuwait. American pictorial print media created a historical interpretation of the 1991 Persian Gulf War in the sense that selected images were immediately published to a broad audience and these images provided an acceptable story of the war. Perceptions of an Air Campaign examines the cultural meanings of the air war and how these meanings took shape in the narrative pictorial print media produced. The narrative is intricately related to the legacy of the Vietnam War. For generations, Americans viewed contemporary war, politics, foreign affairs, and culture through their memories of the U.S. defeat in Vietnam. President George H.W. Bush guaranteed the U.S. public that the Gulf War was consciously being constructed to avoid a conflict similar to Vietnam. According to the president, the United States was going to war with enough resources for a swift and decisive victory, thereby avoiding the Vietnam pitfall of an open-ended conflict. Pictorial print media articulated a narrative displaying U.S. military strength and dominance that fulfilled Bush’s promise.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Joye C. Gordon / Global warming and its implications have astounding consequences for the global community. Although some research has been done on the trends within environmental reporting, few studies have looked at the issue of global warming in particular. Global warming is a troublesome issue for reporters for a number of reasons, and hence, it is important that we delve into how newspapers cover the topic. Latin America, especially the Caribbean region, is expected to suffer extreme consequences due to global warming, yet no studies regarding global warming coverage have been done in these regions. The first purpose of this study was to discover how a Mexico newspaper frames the issue of global warming. Next, this study sought to expand the current knowledge of global warming coverage by the media. Lastly, this study sought to expand on existing literature to discover how journalists outside of the United States communicate, to the public, the issue of global warming. Based on previous studies on global warming a frame analysis was conducted to explore how the Mexico City-based newspaper Reforma covers the issue of global warming. This study identified that ecology/science and consequences are the most frequently occurring themes of coverage, while scientific conflict and North/South conflict are present, but in low frequencies and near the end of stories. This study also identified international relations as the most frequent solution to global warming, while global warming story frequencies peaked during international conferences. These results confirm previous research, which has found that news media outside of the United States tend to emphasize international relations and de-emphasize conflicts and controversies.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Robert W. Meeds / Recent research on magazine advertisements, for the most part, has examined race in terms of representation and gender in terms of stereotypical social roles and objectification. Very few content analyses have been done regarding the depictions of women in terms of specific body types portrayed in the advertising content of women's and teen magazines. In addition, very few, if any, studies have examined women's and teen's magazine advertisements for the presence of gender and racial stereotypes, overt sexuality, and depictions of a body ideal. This content analysis of six mainstream women's magazines explores the existence of all those variables and puts them in context with one another, examining the implications for what these advertisements say about our society. Specifically, this study focuses on the portrayals of women in women's and teen magazines, where previous studies have examined portrayals of women in general magazines or men's magazines, but no focus has been put on teen magazines or specifically women's magazines. Major findings include the obvious suggestions of specific body ideals for women and teens of different racial backgrounds, perpetuation of social role expectations and social stereotypes, and lack of sexual imagery prevalence in women's and teen magazines.

Le présent mémoire cherche à comprendre et à cerner le lien entre la stratégie de recherche d’information par le journaliste sur le web et les exigences de sa profession. Il vise à appréhender les précautions que prend le journaliste lors de sa recherche d’information sur le web en rapport avec les contraintes que lui imposent les règles de sa profession pour assurer la qualité des sources d’informations qu’il exploite. Nous avons examiné cette problématique en choisissant comme cadre d’étude Radio-Canada où nous avons rencontré quelques journalistes. Ceux-ci ont été suivis en situation de recherche d’information puis questionnés sur leurs expériences de recherche. L’arrivée d’internet et la révolution technologique qui en a découlé ont profondément bouleversé les pratiques journalistiques. La recherche d’information représente ainsi une zone importante de cette mutation des pratiques. Cette transformation amène surtout à s’interroger sur la façon dont la nouvelle façon de rechercher les sources d’information influence le travail du journaliste, et surtout les balises que se donne celui-ci pour résister aux pièges découlant de sa nouvelle méthode de travail. / This submission seeks to understand and identify the link between the strategies used to search information by the journalist on the web and the demands of his profession. It aims to understand the precautions taken by the journalist in his search for information on the web to respect the constraints imposed by the rules of his profession to insure the quality of information sources. We examined this issue through an investigation of the experience of Journalists at Radio-Canada’s. So we met some of the journalists of this media. These were observed in situations of information retrieval and questioned about their experience on search for information sources.. Internet and the technological revolution have deeply upset the journalistic practices. The search for information is an important area of this change in practices. This transformation leads mainly to questions on how the new way to search information sources affect the journalist's work, especially the factors that way the journalist resists to traps consubstantial to the new working methods he has to develop.

Cette recherche explore le journalisme indépendant dans le contexte contemporain de convergences socio-techno-médiatiques. Je questionne ici l’existence d’un lien entre les pratiques de pige et de convergence en journalisme et son apport dans le développement de l’univers journalistique. Il s’agit d’une étude exploratoire et empirique, consacrée aux expériences des journalistes indépendants et développée autour des concepts de tactique, résistance, liberté et gouvernance. J’ai constitué ainsi un cadre théorique à partir de l’articulation théorique de Michel Foucault relative au pouvoir. Je défends l’idée selon laquelle la pige et la convergence en journalisme sont chacun des mouvements libres qui coexistent et qui, ensemble, constituent une force motrice pour le dispositif de pouvoir que le journalisme représente dans un système démocratique avancé. La liberté de mouvement des journalistes indépendants leur permet de mener plus loin le journalisme dans le contexte actuel de convergences et d’augmenter l’horizon d’applicabilité de ce domaine de la communication de masse. / This research explores the independent journalism in the contemporary context of socio-technological and media convergences. Here I question the existence of a connection between freelance and convergence practices in journalism, and its contribution to the development of the journalistic world. This is an exploratory and empirical study, focused on freelancers’ experiences and developed around the concepts of tactics, resistance, freedom and governance. I have thus formulated a theoretical framework, supported by Michel Foucault’s accounts related to power. I argue that freelancing and convergence are free movements, co-existing and forming a driving force for the institution of power represented by journalism in advanced democracies. In this current context of convergences, this freedom allows freelancers to challenge the limits of journalism, hence increasing the scope of applications within this greater realm of mass communication.

Les nouvelles technologies mobiles, Internet et les plateformes d’échanges réseautiques ont-ils un effet tangible sur les habitudes de travail des journalistes politiques de la presse écrite? Comment ces nouveaux outils participent-ils à la construction identitaire de ces journalistes? Dans le but de mieux comprendre leur contexte de travail et de (re)construction identitaire, nous avons choisi d’analyser le rôle qu’occupent les nouvelles technologies dans leur quotidien, tant du point de vue de leurs pratiques actuelles que du point de vue de leurs perceptions d’eux-mêmes et du métier. Dans cette étude qualitative, sept journalistes politiques francophones de médias traditionnels écrits ont été interviewés dans le but de nous aider à mieux cerner les libertés mais aussi les contraintes qui accompagnent l’adoption de nouveaux outils technologiques ainsi que les nouvelles pratiques qui y sont rattachées. Les nouvelles technologies et les plateformes réseautiques ne sont pas que de simples outils de travail, ils redéfinissent le rôle même du journaliste dans la société. Hormis les adaptations quotidiennes qu’elles supposent dans les changements de méthodes de travail, elles contribuent souvent à déstabiliser le journaliste dans ses valeurs traditionnelles les plus solidement ancrées. Ces nouveaux outils deviennent le lieu d’échanges accrus où le journaliste se retrouve, bien malgré lui, à devoir défendre un rôle qui lui était autrefois acquis. Vecteurs d’autovalorisation pour le public, ils sont plus souvent le lieu de résistance pour les journalistes. / Do mobile technologies, Internet and social networks have a tangible effect on the work habits of written press political journalists? How do these new tools participate in building these journalists’ identities? In order to get a better sense of the conditions in which they work and perceive themselves, we have chosen to analyse the role being played out by technologies in their daily practice as well as in the way they perceive themselves and their work. In this qualitative study, seven francophone political journalists from traditional written press were interviewed to better understand both the freedom and constraints that come with the adoption of new tools and new techniques. New technologies and social networks are not just work tools, they also redefine the role of journalists in society. Besides daily technical adaptations in changing work routines, they also destabilize deeply rooted traditional journalistic values. Increased interaction with an active public often puts the journalist in a defensive position in order to insure his never-before contested relevancy. While new technologies can be gratifying for the public, they can also be met with resistance from journalists.