M.A. (Communication Studies) / SABC television coverage of general and municipal elections is regularly subjected to close scrutiny. The analyses made in these instances often concentrate on quantitative research of the time allocated to political parties, or analyses of the content of news reports, and items which are either ignored or used by the SABC. The controversy surrounding approaches such as this (and hence the motivation for this dissertation) is emphasised in Adams et al (1986: 155): "The irony of television news research in the social sciences is, that instead of producing studies of the audiovisual content of newscasts, it has largely resulted in research on verbal content alone." It is readily apparent, as attested by Adams that a lack of visual media research is a general phenomenon throughout the world. Quantitative research is practised with the use of stop watches and verbal analysis of content, but an important element of bias, viz. visual manipulation, is largely neglected. This study endeavours to create a broad framework for the analysis of visual bias. The handling of the 1987 and 1989 election campaigns on television by the SABC serves as material. Initially, the concept "propaganda" is discussed. It is noted that universally, "propaganda" has a negative. connotation in both research and practice. Due to the negative connotation of "propaganda", it is altogether underrated in the field of communication: it describes a phenomenon that occurs in totalitarian regimes and very seldom, it is assumed, in liberal democracies. The methods, applications, history and definitions of the term "propaganda" are discussed. Semiology and the possibilities of visual manipulation are subjects of discussion. It is noted that the viewer's experience of visual signs is naturally subjective. Andre (1984: 21) suggests that television can communicate truth or it can serve to present an aesthetic code, but it never engages the viewer directly with reality: "the camera never lies"; but the humans who manipulate it may do so...

This thesis examines the rhetoric employed by President George W. Bush in the period leading up the American-led invasion of Iraq. Specifically, this thesis posits that the appeals to obligation so prevalently featured in Bush's oratory were well suited to his particular rhetorical situation. In supporting this claim, a theoretical understanding of how obligation rhetoric functions is created. By approaching appeals to obligation from both a Neo-Aristotelian and Narrative criticism perspective, the conclusion emerges that obligation rhetoric: 1) builds a speaker's credibility, 2) limits a speaker's liability with regard to proposed action, and 3) allows a speaker to receive praise for future success. The rhetorical work done by appealing to obligation is then applied to Bush's particular rhetorical situation to show how obligation rhetoric worked in his unique context. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Communication in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2006. / March 30, 2006. / Presidential Rhetoric, Obligation, Duty, War Rhetoric, Crisis Rhetoric, Presidential Crisis Rhetoric / Includes bibliographical references. / Danielle R. Wiese, Professor Directing Thesis; Davis W. Houck, Committee Member; Donna Marie Nudd, Committee Member.

Analysing ideology through discourse is practiced academically in humanities and other social sciences. It is based upon the hypotheses that through close reading, and systematic analysis, people can figure out the ideologies behind spoken and written texts. People adopt discourse analysis to associate context with the structure of discourse itself. For instance, social positions (e.g. ethnicity, gender or profession) are linked with structural units or linked with strategies of speech or talk that are embedded in their so­ cial, political and cultural contexts. Depending on their various social positions, lan­ guage users might be categorised into various groups or communities . They are ex­ pected to follow a certain set of rules and regulations of their social positions. Based on the Appraisal theory this thesis seeks to discover not only the words people have uttered, but also their implicature which is not easily noted. It also seeks to understand to what extent their words are related to their stance. Firstly, the thesis review what has been achieved on the Appraisal theory. Then the thesis will come to a detailed presentation of the theoretical framework . This leads to the main discussion of this thesis, which is a comprehensive analysis on the basis of the Appraisal theory and have a better under­ standing of each candidate's propositions.

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by Yu Ding-bor. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Bibliography: leaves 98-104.

Three sound bites, Whatever it takes (55 seconds), Safer, Stronger (30 seconds), and War on Terror (30 seconds), of President George W. Bush during the presidential election of 2004 will be explored and unpacked.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1977. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Zale Anis. / M.S.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-226).