The objective of this research was to study how two newspapers in Sweden, Aftonbladet and Expressen are creating an image of the Stockholm suburb Rinkeby. The method used to do the study was qualitative content analysis. Ten articles were chosen, five off either newspaper and were found on the internet homepages of the newspapers on 15 November of 2013 and 27 January of 2014. Several theories were used in the study. Agenda setting theory, a media theory that explains the power of media, Figuration theory developed by Norbert Elias that deals with power struggles between different groups in society. Labeling theory explains how society, by labeling someone a “criminal” may accept it as an own identity and become one. Mats Franzén theory of power and how it can be understood thru discourse, context and resources. While studying the subject I realized that for long time the suburbs of Sweden have been portrayed in a negative context, especially “famous” suburbs like Rinkeby. The suburbs’ are constructed by the media as very dangerous places, with young people (often males) running wild and engaging in destructive behavior.

The study examines medias impact on every day racism through Agenda Setting and Framing. Prior studies on the subject are either conducted from an American perspective, or are several years of age. In this study we highlight how todays media depicts our society and how it affects the concept of the world on an individual level. The study is a content analysis of the case study on the news stories “The hunt for the unregistered immigrants”, which have been analyzed through critical discourse analysis. It builds upon studies conducted by Löwander (1997) and Brune (2004) regarding ethnic groups in the Swedish society. The result of this study suggests that Swedish public service media, SR and SVT convey an image in which ethnic minority groups are of lower value than “the white norm” in Swedish society.

This research paper investigates the functions of community newspapers in the battle against HIV/Aids. The research is conducted through studying literature, analysing four selected community newspapers and interviewing the editors of the newspapers. According to the literature, a community newspaper stands closer to the reader than any other newspaper, which means it could have a larger impact than for example a national paper. A community paper can provide information or start a debate in the community. The media can focus the attention of the reader on HIV/Aids through agenda setting. By giving the subject prominence in a publication, for instance, the media show how important they consider the subject. The functions of the press can be divided in different categories: the informative function, the press as a booster of the public debate, the service function, the educative function and the entertainment function. This study finds that not all the researched newspapers consider it their responsibility to cover HIV/Aids. The importance that the editors give to the subject and the number of articles that reaches the publication also does not match. The functions the newspapers mainly fulfil, are the information and education function. The reasons for a moderate coverage of HIV/Aids include a lack of statistics, a lack of information from organisations, staff shortages and fear that the reader will receive the opinion that the newspaper writes about the same things over and over again. / Mini-dissertation (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The media has an important role to play in providing information to form the perceptions of media users on HIV/Aids. Furthermore, the media has an agenda setting function through which it determines what news consumers think about, and how they think about these topics they are presented with. Extensive media coverage has been given to the subject of HIV/Aids since the start of the pandemic. The nature of the coverage has, however, been widely criticised, mainly by interest groups actively involved in the fight against the disease. Few formal guidelines exist to guide journalists in this field. Moreover, the existing guidelines that originated mainly from the gaps interest groups identified in the coverage on HIV/Aids, are fairly fragmented. Many newspapers follow the general guidelines set by the media industry for ethical news reporting. These guidelines, such as the ethical code of the Press Ombudsman, are a result of self regulation, which is intrinsic to the social responsibility model that is seen as ideal for South Africa. There are several existing codes offering guidance regarding professional standards and general conduct. Only one - that of the now inactive South African Union of Journalists - includes criteria on HIV/Aids reporting. Through formulating guidelines, interest groups have an agenda setting function and a subsequent potential influence on the media and the public agenda. This paper endeavours to analyse and systematically summarise criteria set by the interest groups for ethically acceptable and accountable HIV/Aids reporting against the background of the agenda setting theory and the social responsibility model. In addition, HIV/Aids reporting in three Sunday papers (the Sunday Times, Sunday Sun and Rapport) is verified against these interest group criteria to ascertain how it measures up, and to determine whether a separate interest group code of ethics is desirable. It was found that the Sunday Times views HIV/Aids as a news priority, while the topic does not feature very high on the agenda of the other two papers. The analysis of news items created the impression that journalists have a basic knowledge of HIV/Aids. However, there is little evidence of deeper insight into the potential impact the media could have on the public's perception of the epidemic. Existing ethics codes compare well to interest group guidelines where general professional standards and ethical aspects are concerned. The interest group guidelines, however, focus on specific problems associated with the epidemic, such as stigma and a tendency to focus on the negative. It is within this applied context that such criteria could be useful. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Self-published web diaries called blogs are one manifestation of the Internet’s potential to create new discursive and dialogic spaces for citizens. Blogs are described by their authors and others in the news media (as well as some academic commentators) as a medium that potentially fosters political dialogue in the spirit of Habermas’ conceptual “public sphere.” Blogs also serve as potential competitors to mass media outlets in political debates in two distinct ways: first, by acting as agenda-setters and framers of issues, events and figures and second, by challenging journalistic norms such as the principles of fairness, neutrality and non-partisanship. In spite of these claims, however, very little empirical evidence exists to date on whether political blogs perform the roles of agenda-setters, gatekeepers or framers, or whether they are actually seen as a challenge or potential replacement to mass media outlets by themselves, by journalists or by those who could utilize blogs to transmit messages to the public. This thesis examines these questions as they pertain to Canadian politics, focusing on the interaction between journalists, partisan bloggers and political communications practitioners to assess whether blogs written by explicitly partisan authors actually: 1) create unique discursive spaces for discussion of Canadian political issues, 2) set agendas for political discussion and set issues and 3) serve as an occupational threat/potential replacement to media outlets for disseminating political information. Using surveys and content analysis, this thesis contends that partisan blogs largely mimic political discussion already occurring in media-produced content and are perceived as a potential, though not completely credible, replacement for shaping political agendas and disseminating information.

Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

La obra aborda el caso del conflicto entre EEUU e Irán por el proyecto nuclear de este último, a fin de tratar la relación entre el discurso de los medios latinoamericanos y el discurso hegónico norteamericano, a través de la teoría de <i>Agenda Setting</i>. El trabajo hace hincapié en la construcción del marco de agenda -frames- ofreciendo un modelo de análisis que permita investigar en la relación entre los discursos mencionados.

The Arab spring has been called a social media revolution and social media have been given large importance and significant space in both academic discussions and analysis in the media. The main focus of this study was to examine whether social media have impacted the news reporting of the conflicts. A sample of articles from four different newspapers was examined, taken randomly from all relevant articles published on the newspapers websites between December 2010 and December 2013. A part of that sample was checked for news agency cable reliance and the entire sample were checked for material from social media. Three newspapers were found to rely heavily on news agency material. The New York Times was the exception, having only 4 percent of articles being based on news agency material. Social media material and quotes were found and were used in the report-ing in different ways, but only in 4 percent of articles. It was mainly used as a way to get protester commentary. Two of the included newspapers were China Daily and the New York Times. The differences between the respective reporting in these newspapers were also examined in yet an-other subsample consisting of 100 articles from each newspaper. Several differences be-tween the reporting were found, with China Daily for example presenting a framing more in favour of the government of Syria than the New York Times.

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