Most political systems around the world, including long-standing democratic systems, have been afflicted by corruption: non-transparent decision making processes, power distribution, cynical public relations and poor consultation exercises. The consequence has been a sense of prevailing injustice; citizenship inequality and lack of transparency in Governance. The media is often seen as a medium that could address and tackle these current socio-political problems within society. However, the role Social Media could play is widely debated between two schools of thought - media and communication studies and critical political economy – the study of social relations, particularly power relations, that constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of communication resources, and this debate leads to uncertainty about the role of ICTs in empowering public participation. This research assesses the views of those in Government Ministries, Democratic Institutions, National IT agencies, and emerging citizen leaders in the form of Nigerian graduate and postgraduate students. Nigeria makes an important case study as it sits at the fulcrum of the battle between citizen freedoms and Government censorship. This research asks how Nigeria’s government institutions and agencies conceptualises ICTs and to what extent they have used the new ICT tools for political re-engineering of the polity as well as to engage citizen’s participation in democratic processes as indices to ICT use for sustainable development in Nigeria. It draws upon power theories and theories on media and technology use in political communications, as theoretical benchmarks to contextualise Nigeria’s hegemonic media institutions, to explore the transparency and accountability within government institutions/agencies together with new participatory culture Social Media use. The study tests various social theories concerning interactive media, and asks whether ,by encouraging audiences to express their opinions, interactive media can be perceived as a tool for expanding the freedom of individuals (Sen, 1999) and in particular their social or political “capability” (Srinivasan, 2007), lending credibility to the label of new ICT’s as “technologies of freedom”(Willems, 2013). This study will establish whether or not expansion of interactive media leads, on balance, to more inclusive or more democratic practices and more transparent governance or more just and efficient delivery of public goods. The study examines how these new mediated ‘public’ spaces enable different expressions of public opinion.

This thesis seeks to explain the contradiction of ethno-national conflicts in northeast India involving much terrorism and violence not resonating in the New Delhi-based national press. Evidence suggests that the media cover only a third of ongoing global terrorist conflicts even though terrorism and violence have long been privileged in communications research as being irresistibly newsworthy. The case study is located in India, but selectivity is a global phenomenon with only few conflicts receiving sustained media attention: Northern Ireland, Basque separatism, Quebec, Kashmir, Catalonia, or the Middle East the rest are symbolically annihilated. I propose that the sustained coverage of a conflict in the national or international contexts depends on the key variable of the socio-cultural environment in which journalists operate. A conflict is likely to figure regularly in media content only if journalists see it as affecting or involving what they socially and culturally perceive to be the 'we' a similar conflict involving the socio-cultural 'they' may be routinely ignored or extended ad hoc coverage, even if it involves much violence and terrorism. The 'we'-'they' binary, used here as a socio-cultural concept, also connects with political debates about multiculturalism, recognition, citizenship and Orientalism. Located in the discourse of production of news, this study establishes that terrorism and violence as part of a conflict may not guarantee news coverage. Kashmir and northeast conflicts demonstrate several commonalities, but only the Kashmir conflict is routinely selected for sustained and prominent coverage. By mainly interviewing journalists, it is established that the northeast is routinely seen to involve and affect the socio-cultural 'they' hence its systemised low status in the news discourse compared with Kashmir, which is perceived to be located at the core of the 'we'. This news differential also suggests the existence of 'sub-Orients' within the Orient, even Orientalism within the Orient.

This thesis examines the role of the mass media in international relations and discusses processes of national image building. Its focus is on the way the press covers events, topics and issues relating to a foreign country, using Germany's newspaper coverage of Mexico as an example. Although a great deal has been published on personal and advertising brand image building, the literature on national image building is sparse. A range of literature on image building and national identity and the role of the media were reviewed to provide a suitable theoretical framework for the empirical research to follow. Communication developments, e.g. live television and the internet, have transformed diplomatic practices. Nation states, reacting to the input they receive from the media, adjust and redefine their communications policies accordingly. The axis of the national image creation is to define the country's preferred national image. In order to do so, countries must be aware of their actual image in specific locations around the world. Research methods can help to carry out the diagnosis and implement communication strategies towards that end. A content analysis of coverage of Mexico in German newspapers over one calendar year was conducted to examine a concrete national portrayal case. The year 2000 marked the beginning of a new phase in Mexico's political history with the opposition winning the presidential elections for the first time in 71 years. The identified 1020 news items showed that despite the low coverage of Mexican affairs, several topics of Mexico's preferred national image were covered. The implications of the findings from the empirical study are discussed in terms of their relevance for diplomacy. Studies on national image could develop into one of the branches of strategic analysis, where attention is called to creating a sound national image policy.

This thesis examines internal and external influences on news content at four Omani news organisations, Oman and Al-Watan (Arabic-language dailies) and Oman Observer and Times of Oman (English-language dailies). Three theoretical frameworks guided this study: the political economy approach, the cultural approach, and the social organisation of news. The study is divided into macro and micro levels of analysis. At the macro level, the study focuses on ownership and control, economic determinations, and media-society relationships. At the micro level, the study investigates newsgathering and news selection processes by focusing on journalists' backgrounds, journalistic practices in newsrooms, news values and journalists/sources relationship. Three methods are employed to collect the data in this study: content analysis of the selected news media, personal interviews (with journalists, editors, and editors-in-chiefs) and participant observation of the newsrooms at the Omani dailies. The findings of this research show that Omani daily newspapers, either private or government owned, are political projects working under government control. Most of the Omani news workers observed in this study were aware that they were not doing professional journalism work. The channels for gathering domestic news items at all four Omani newspapers in this study were very limited. The four main news sources for gathering domestic news items were (1) Oman News Agency (ONA), (2) public relation and information offices (PR), (3) reporters and (4) correspondents. News workers heavily depend on the national agency, and on ready-made news from the PR offices. Poor writing from correspondents leads to poor, similar domestic content in all daily newspapers. Because of the limitation of the news gathering channels, the selection processes were also limited. The findings of interviews and observations show the long process of decisions-making routines at the government-owned dailies. In contrast the private dailies work with less bureaucratic processes. Nevertheless, both private and government owned papers face the same problems in routines for selecting news items and the same difficulties gaining access to information, not only from the official sources, but also from ordinary people. The news workers face pressures from official sources, readers, advertisers, news organisations' administrations, and personal financial pressures. The findings of this research support the theoretical approaches to media content while focusing on Omani context. However, the findings match some perspectives more closely than others. The organisational, extra-media level and societal factors work stronger than the individual communicator perspective.

The research investigates political communication in a semi-democratic Hong Kong post 1997. It is particularly interested why and how pro-democracy agendas enter the public-media arena. The research hypothesises that the ability to set and control the public-media agenda (what the public read and view) is not concentrated solely in the hands of the state (government and governor) but is dispersed amongst various groups in Hong Kong civil society. It argues that despite their relative lack of resources, various political parties and pressure groups are able to bring the certain issues to public prominence. While this is a competitive struggle, such groups are aided by a largely independent media. The research challenges those who argue that Hong Kong, since 1997, is witnessing a strengthening of state power at the expense of civil society and the growth of media censorship. On the contrary, this research suggests that political communication in civil society is alive and well and is often critical of the powers that be. This research examines the formation of pro-democracy agendas in the Hong Kong media. It highlights the main political communication actors; their media centred dispositions, use of public relations strategies, and interrelationships. The study looks into the way parties, pressure groups and the government try to shape the flow nature of information in the media and how they try to influence debates in civil society. It develops two case studies; in particular it focuses on the discussion of ideas and politics during the legislation of Article 23. In this setting it shows how the different political actors mentioned seek to control the public agenda and through this shape public opinion. Finally, it tries to assess what implications the findings have for fledgling democracy in Hong Kong.

This thesis investigates relationships between reported television viewing and gender-attribute perceptions of Thai youth. It was conducted within a cultivation analysis framework that necessitated the collection of data about the nature of television output and about young people's perceptions of aspects of social reality. A detailed review and critique of the cultural indicators research literature identified both its relevance to this research and the limitations of early studies in this area. The main focus of this study was placed on TV drama representation and adolescents' social reality perceptions. The content analysis was used to extract the most frequent occurring of 416 TV male and female characters depicted on TV dramas containing relevant material in informational terms to the perceptions being explored. Audience survey was conducted using questionnaire methodology about their television viewing habits and gender-related perceptions. It obtained data from 962 male and female 10-to-19 years-of-age young adolescents in 15 secondary schools of Bangkok. This thesis argues that firstly, the stereotypes of gender-related social attributes, marriage, family or domestic, and occupational roles are evident in TV drama programmes. Secondly, heavy TV viewers adopt TV views of the world in some attributes and roles more than light viewers because of the effect of cumulative exposure to the depictions of gender-related roles. The original contribution to this thesis is based on Gerbner's cultivation indicator project of message system analysis and cultivation analysis. Message system analysis was referred to in order to assess the most representative, stable, and recurrent aggregate patterns of messages to which total communities are exposed over long periods of time. Cultivation analysis was used to compare real world perceptions of heavy and light viewers of television, assuming that heavy viewers will exhibit perceptions that are more consistent with the world of TV drama than do light viewers or cultivation effects.

Inspired by the apparent overtly negative coverage of Islam and Muslims by the mainstream press, this thesis asks the research question: In what ways do depictions of Muslims and Islam in the News inform the thoughts and actions of non-Muslims in England? As the media plays an important role in society, the analysis of the influences of the media on a person’s ideas and conceptualisations of people of another religious persuasion is an important social issue. News reports about Islam and Muslims commonly relate stories that discuss terrorism, violence or other unwelcome or irrational behaviour, or the lack of integration and compatibility of Muslims and Islam with western values and society. Yet there is little research on how non-Muslims in England engage with and are affected by media reports about Islam and Muslims. To address this gap of knowledge, a content and discourse analysis of news stories was undertaken and then verbal narratives or thoughts and actions of participants were elicited through fieldwork using focus groups. The data reveals personal stories that point towards the normativity of news stories and their negotiated reception patterns. Individual orientations towards the media as a primary information source proved to be a significant factor behind the importance of news reports, with individually negotiated personal encounters with Muslims or Islam further affecting the meaning-making process. Participants negotiated media reports to fit their existing outlook on Islam and Muslims. This existing outlook was constructed through, and simultaneously supported by, news reports about Muslims and Islam. The findings suggest a co-dependency and co-productivity between news reports about Islam and Muslims, and participant responses. This research clearly shows: The utility of focus groups in religious studies, the usefulness of a hermeneutical framework in the field of media studies, and demonstrates that participant responses are (re) productions of local and personal contextuality. These conclusions point to a need for further research into the consequences of socially constructed depictions of Islam and Muslims and their influence on human thoughts and actions.

The September 11 events received extensive coverage in the British and Greek media. This thesis employs a post-positivist, discursive analytic framework drawing largely from Laclau and Mouffe, Foucault and Derrida to explore the press representationso f major Greek and British newspapers six months before September 11 and during the ensuing Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Specifically, the analysis focuses on these two culturally distinct, European countries' constructions of the events, the role of the U. S. in the international system, their role as E.U. members, as well as their perception of emerging threats. Some of the key representationsa nalyzeda re the Kyoto protocol, globalization and the anti-globalization movement, terrorism, Islam and Saddarn Hussein. The thesis explores the way events are understood and represented in different cultural contexts. One of the primary aims of the project is to discover the differences and similarities in the representationso f the two countries,a s well as whether and in what respectse ventss uch as those of September1 1, the war in Afghanistan and the subsequenItr aq war can affect existing articulations and existing state identity constructions. Finally, drawing from the belief that discursive practices are political practices, the thesis studies the ways in which these discourses may have enabled, necessitated or disabled particular responses and courses of action and the ways in which they may have marginalized other discourses.

Social trading is a novel phenomenon that integrates social media into online trading, forming a social trading platform (STP) that allows participants to communicate and explicitly copy each other's trades in realtime. STPs are governed by a scopic environment, which is characterized by high information transparency and constant reciprocal scrutiny by participants. We categorize participants into two main groups: trade leaders, who execute original trades and refrain from explicit copying, and investors, who solely or partially copy trades. This dissertation focuses on the former. First, we investigate herding behavior using popular metrics developed by Lakonishok, Shleifer, and Vishny (1992) and Frey, Herbst, andWalter (2014). We nd levels of, and persistence in herding behavior that exceed those found in traditional nancial settings. We argue that this is due to the scopic environment governing STPs. Second, we examine the disposition effect of trade leaders. Building on the learning hypothesis discussed by Dhar and Zhu (2006), we propose that traders learn not only from their own trades, but also from the trades of others to adjust for this behavioral bias. We find ample evidence of a weaker disposition for trade leaders on a STP compared to traders on a traditional platform. This suggests that high information transparency erodes this bias. Third, we investigate the predictive ability of trade leaders in 16 currency pairs and three commodities. Using methods similar to Henriksson and Merton (1981) and Fishe and Smith (2012) we find that, although around 50% of traders trade profitably more than half of the time, very few possess the skill to do so in all market conditions. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that the scopic environment yields pro table short-term information that is contained in the order flow. The concluding chapter reviews the main findings of this thesis and discusses potential future work.

Focusing on the effects of the Internet on collective democratic action in China, this research seeks to understand the ways in which the Internet may promote civic participation and the public sphere in China. It is concerned with the rich experiences and enduring human spirits of Chinese citizens trying to facilitate social change. The research attempts to contribute to both constructing a theoretical framework for studying powers in collective democratic action in digital China, and exploring ways of conducting an indepth empirical examination of Chinese Internet culture. To do so, an event-triggered framework is proposed, focusing on a public sphere ‘in formation’ in China. A public sphere ‘in formation’ is examined in the context of the long-term social transformation in China where this formation may always be invoked and refused at the same time. The study of this formation focuses on the mechanisms of social mobilisation of events, highlighting the interplay between powers of politics, the market, technology, and civil society in China. A case study of the 2013 Southern Weekly Incident is adopted to explore this framework. In the investigation of the 2013 Southern Weekly Incident, I conducted 45 in-depth interviews. I examine the ways in which the Internet benefited journalists and citizens' information acquisition and communication, as well as the ways in which journalists and citizens adopted the Internet to facilitate online contention. I examine the radicalisation of action on the street in this case in order to understand who, in the sensitive protesting environment in China, is still mobilised to protest, and why. For both online and offline action, I analyse the mechanisms of embodiment and emotions, a framework of connective action, and the form of online and offline action being seemingly segmented in the Southern Weekly Incident. My investigation of the negotiation taking place within media organisations and people’s self-restriction during the incident further accelerates discussion of the interplay and conflicts between powers in Chinese society. Through this case study, the public sphere ‘in formation’ in China is examined.