by Lily Man-ling Mak. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71). / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Dedication --- p.iii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.3 / Chapter 3. --- Research Design --- p.13 / Chapter 4. --- Conceptualizations & Research Questions --- p.16 / Chapter 5. --- Findings & Analysis --- p.18 / Chapter 6. --- Conclusion --- p.64 / Bibliography --- p.67

D.Phil. / The aim of this study is to critically analyse representations of gender and sex in newspaper reports on HIV and AIDS in the hope of improving messaging around HIV and AIDS. Within the scope of this study observations are made at the conclusion of each case study so as to inform prevention campaigns and media on more appropriate ways of representing gender and sex and HIV and AIDS. These observations serve as guidelines to inform journalists and civil society on how better to message HIV and AIDS and sexuality. Mutual recognition is used as the theoretical standpoint for understanding sexuality by emphasizing the premise of respect for self and other. Mutual recognition is used as the critical lens to rethink gender beyond constructions of masculinity and femininity, race, class and sexuality; looking for the moments and opportunities for recognition between both masculine and feminine subjects as well as for narratives on sameness and difference beyond race, class and sexuality. Mutual recognition is also the way forward for resisting phallogocentrism and shifting representation away from the workings of male hegemony. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on feminist psychoanalysis and feminist media interpretation. Special mention is given to the work of Jessica Benjamin, Donna Haraway and Jane Flax; on account of their reception of Freudian theory of the oedipal complex showing ways of rethinking the oedipal complex and gender differentiation. Foucault’s work on representation shows how we can rethink language to better serve the notion of mutual recognition, placing importance on concepts such as respect, responsibility and caring for self and other in ways that go beyond race/ethnicity, class, sex/gender or sexuality. Eros and thanatos (life and death drives) is nuanced to highlight how jouissance or the ‘little death’ (orgasm) is a way of resolving the tension between these opposing drives by shifting discourse away from sex and taboo or death towards sex and pleasure and thus emphasizing eros and mutual recognition. The study is concluded with a set of guidelines for representing gender and sex in relation to HIV and AIDS. It is significant to note that this is a qualitative study that, which makes use of textual analysis and seeks to offer a measure of transparency and accountability to the interpretation of selected texts.

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.

This research presents a reception analysis of LoveLife's 'HIV: face it' billboards by youth aged 12 - 17 years old, LoveLife's target audience for the campaign under scrutiny. The study sought to find out whether the intended audience derived the same meanings from the billboards as they were initially intended by LoveLife; whether the target youth regard themselves as audience of the communicated campaign; and to assess whether LoveLife billboard producers have succeeded in communicating the intended message to the readers of the billboards. To achieve this, the study adopted a qualitative method of data collection by conducting two focus group discussions. One focus group was selected from a rural school in KwaZulu Natal and another one from an urban school of the same province. Participants were all youth between the ages 12 - 17 years old. The circuit of culture was used as the theoretical framework. The circuit of culture is a composition of certain moments in the communication process namely: representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation [see diagram. 1]. For the purpose of this research only one moment of the circuit, namely representation was adopted. Representation is an essential part of the process through which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. It involves the use of language, signs and images that stand for or represent things. Findings from the study show that respondents assigned different meanings to LoveLife billboards. LoveLife's messages are not being decoded by the target audience in the initially intended manner. A majority of the respondents negotiated meaning in an attempt to understand what LoveLife is trying to communicate because the billboards' objectives are not straightforward. The study also found that urban dwellers identified more closely as audiences for the LoveLife billboards than rural dwellers. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Chapter One includes an introduction to AIDS, the AIDS Quilt, and work by communication scholars related to AIDS and the AIDS Quilt. A literature review of creative works inspired by the AIDS Quilt follows. The research question which guides the analysis is included and followed by descriptions of the three artifacts to be analyzed: The Quilt: Stories from The NAMES Project, "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, and The AIDS Quilt Songbook.Chapter Two describes the method to be used in the analysis, cluster analysis developed by Kenneth Burke. The steps in the cluster method are: 1) identify key terms in the rhetoric, 2) chart the terms that cluster around key terms, 3) discover patterns in the clusters, and 4) name the motive, or situation, based on the meanings of the key terms.Chapter Three is a cluster analysis of a book entitled, The Quilt: Stories from The NAMES Project. Key terms found in this analysis are "love," "grief," "memories / remembrance," "hope," "intolerance," and “individuality." Chapter Four is a cluster analysis of a documentary, "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt." Key terms examined in this analysis are "negligence," "disease / AIDS," "grief," "love," and "memories." Chapter Five is a cluster analysis of poetry from The AIDS Quilt Songbook, a performance of poetry, music, and singing. Key terms discovered through this analysis are "death / dying," "disease / sickness," "cool / cold," and "warm / hot."Chapter Six contains conclusions pertaining to the analysis of all three rhetorical artifacts. Conclusions include the effectiveness of the positive, realistic approach to AIDS portrayed in the personal stories, which have helped humanize the AIDS statistics. Positive outlets for handling grief are also found through the analysis. Contributions to cluster analysis and rhetorical theory include the unique results in analyzing visual images, the effectiveness of using cluster criticism to uncover emotion-laden key terms, and evidence for the therapeutic uses of communication. Finally, communication scholars who study the personal side of contemporary problems can contribute by helping people understand the details behind the statistics, encouraging them to take steps toward solving contemporary problems such as AIDS. / Department of Speech Communication

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-151). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains x, 148 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, began doubting that HfV was the cause of AIDS in the late nineties, the debate he introduced in his country was not new; it had raged in the United States as far back as a decade ago. But, even prior to that, there had been numerous controversies pertaining to the discovery of the Ill-virus. This thesis argues that those contentions created such a heated atmosphere that the causal debates that were to follow, however incredible they were, were largely unavoidable. In its coverage of the epidemic, the media were immersed in its own politics. During the early eighties, the gay newspapers in the US felt a personal responsibility to find the cause of a disease that was rapidly killing many of its readers. But, in the process, the often promoted unscientific and dangerous approaches. By the time the AIDS dissident debate had unraveled in the US, the gay media was so suspicious of the anti-gay Reagan government that they frequently advanced dissident arguments. The mainstream and scientific media, on the other hand, were perceived as rigidly supporting government institutions, excluding critical voices. When the dissident debate reached South Africa ten years later, the South African media was completely unprepared. Most journalists had never heard of AIDS dissidents; some had not even heard of HfV or the anti-AIDS drug AZT, that the President had labeled toxic. Begin a new democracy, with a history of white oppression, the black and white media differed immensely on how to cover 'the President's debate'. Criticism of the newly elected ANC government's arguments were often branded racist and unpatriotic, with journalists suffering regular intimidation at the hands of state officials and governmentaligned editors. This thesis examines the development of the politics surrounding the science of AIDS, from the discovery of'HfV up until Thabo Mbeki's controversial contentions. To an equal extent, it looks at the news media's coverage of the process, focusing on the approaches to the debate of various media outlets and individual journalists. It also raises ethical issues, particularly in South Africa, that emerged during one of the most widely reported debates in the country's history. It in no way attempts to provide a quantitative analysis of media coverage and, in the case of the US media, draws heavily on analytical studies conducted at the time. NOTE: In the analysis of the South African media's coverage of the AIDS dissident debate in Part Three: B, issues pertaining to the country's public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), were not discussed The reason was that the author was the Corporation's Health Correspondent at the time, and therefore too closely involved in the institution in order to provide an objective perspective. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toe Suid-Afrika se president, Thabo Mbeki, in die laat jare negentig begin het om die oorsaak van VIGS in twyfel te trek, was die debat wat hy in sy land ingelei het, nie nuut nie; dit reeds 'n dekade tevore in die VSA gewoed. Maar, selfs voor daardie debat, was daar 'n hewige omstredenheid wat met die ontdekking van die MI-virus verband gehou het. Hierdie tesis argumenteer dat daardie omstredenheid so 'n driftige atmosfeer geskep het, dat die debat oor die oorsaak van VIGS wat sou volg, hoe ongeloofwaardig ook al, grootliks onvermydelik was. Met die dekking van die epidemie was die media in hul eie politiek gedompel. Tydens die vroeë jare tagtig het gay-koerante in die VSA 'n persoonlike verantwoordelikheid gevoel om die oorsaak te vind van 'n siekte wat baie van hulle lesers vinnig laat sterfhet. Maar, in die proses het hulle dikwels onwetenskaplike en gevaarlike benaderings bevorder. Teen die tyd dat die 'oorsaak-debat' in die VSA begin posvat het, was gay-koerante so agterdogtig oor die anti-gay Reagan-regering dat hulle dikwels 'afvallige' argumente aangemoedig het. Die hoofstroommedia en wetenskaplike joernale is aan die ander kant weer gesien as rigiede ondersteuners van regeringsorganisasies, wat kritiese stemme wou stilmaak. Toe die 'oorsaak-debat' Suid-Afrika tien jaar later bereik het, het dit die plaaslike media geheel en alonkant betrap. Die meeste joernaliste het toe nog nooit van 'VIGS-afvalliges' gehoor nie; party nie eens van MIV of die teenvigsmiddel AZT, wat die president as giftig geëtiketteer het nie. Daarby was die land 'n jong demokrasie met 'n geskiedenis van wit onderdrukking, wat meegebring het dat wit en swart media-instansies grotendeels verskil het oor hoe die 'president se debat' gedek moes word. Kritiek teen die nuut verkose ANC-regering se argumente is dikwels as rassisties of onpatrioties afgemaak, en regeringsamptenare of regeringsgesinde redakteurs het gereeld probeer om joernaliste te intimideer. Hierdie proefskrif ondersoek die ontwikkeling van die politiek rondom die wetenskap van VIGS, van die ontdekking van MIV tot en met Thabo Mbeki se omstrede argumente. Dit kyk ook na die nuusdekking van die proses, deur op die benaderings van verskeie media-instansies asook individuele joernalistse te fokus. Dit bespreek ook etiese kwessies wat tydens nuusdekking na vore gekom het, veral in Suid-Afrika, waar hierdie debat van die wydste nuusdekking óóit in die geskiedenis van die land geniet het. Dit poog geensins om 'n kwantitatiewe analise van mediadekking te verskaf nie, en waar die Amerikaanse media beskou word, word daar sterk gesteun op analitiese studies wat tydens die duur van die debat uitgevoer is. NOTA: In die analise van die Suid-Afrikaanse media se dekking van die 'oorsaak-debat' in Deel 3:B word kwessies wat met die nuusdekking van die land se openbare uitsaaier, die Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie (SA UK), verband hou, nie bespreek nie. Die rede is dat die outeur die korporasie se gesondheidskorrespondent was, en was daarom te nou verbind aan die korporasie om 'n objektiewe perspektiefte verseker.

Within the context of debates concerning the impact of media on audiences, this study takes the form of a qualitative audience reception analysis; to investigate how a particular group of female audiences situated in Zimbabwe interprets televised HIV/AIDS prevention advertisements. It examines the extent to which the social context influences the audiences’ acceptance or rejection of preferred readings encoded in the texts. The study is situated within the broad theoretical and methodological framework of both the communication for development and the cultural studies approaches to the study of the media. Data for the investigation was collected through the focus group and in-depth interview methods as well as through the websites and organisational documents produced by the encoders of the advertisements. The findings indicate that the female audiences’ interpretative strategies were informed by their lived experience as well as pre-existing knowledge. Based on the findings it can be deduced that, contrary to earlier beliefs and media theories such as that of the “hypodermic needle” theory the audience of public communication is not a passive homogenous mass that easily succumbs to media influences, rather the audience is active in the production of meaning, but under determinate conditions in particular contexts. The texts, the producing institutions and the social history of the audiences supply these conditions.