Élaborée à partir d’une étude de cas extensive focalisant sur les perspectives multiples et concurrentes ayant émergé lors des négociations sur la gouvernance de l’Internet, thématique ayant dominé l’agenda politique du Sommet mondial sur la société de l’information (SMSI), cette thèse examine les manières avec lesquelles les débats mondiaux sur la gouvernance de l’Internet influencent la notion d’intérêt public en communication. Établie sur la base d’une observation participante extensive, d’entrevues semi-structurées et de l’analyse d’une documentation formelle et informelle associée au SMSI, cette thèse fait état de l’émergence des enjeux associés à la gouvernance de l’Internet au SMSI et présente une analyse approfondie des négociations ayant porté sur cet enjeu. Le cadre théorique développé par Lawrence Lessig au travers duquel « le code est la loi » est appliqué afin d’expliquer comment les différents acteurs ont débattu et ultimement atteint un consensus sur les frontières venant séparer les enjeux normatifs de politique publique et les questions techniques de régulation et de gestion du réseau. Cette thèse discute également de l’évolution des débats autour de la gouvernance mondiale de l’Internet ayant pris place à la suite de la conclusion du SMSI. Sur la base de cette étude de cas, un ensemble de conclusions sont formulées sur les acteurs et les caractéristiques institutionnelles ayant influencé les négociations sur la gouvernance de l’internet. Il est également suggéré que le SMSI a redéfini une discussion étroite sur la gestion d’un ensemble de fonctions techniques de l’Internet en un domaine de politique publique plus large de gouvernance mondiale de l’Internet. Il est également défendu que la notion d’intérêt public dans la gouvernance mondiale de l’Internet est conceptualisée autour des processus de participation et d’intégration des différentes parties prenantes au processus politique. Les implications directes et indirectes qui découlent de ce constat pour comprendre plus largement la notion d’intérêt public dans le domaine de la communication sont également présentées et discutées. En conclusion, cette thèse s’interroge sur les implications programmatiques des éléments ayant été précédemment soulevées pour la recherche médiatique et communicationnelle. / Centred on an extensive case study of the multiple and competing perspectives that emerged over the course of the controversial internet governance negotiations that dominated the United Nation’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), this thesis examines how the global debate on internet governance influences the public interest in communication. On the basis of extensive participant observation, targeted semi-structured interviews and analyses of a range of formal and informal documents associated with the WSIS, this thesis reviews the emergence of the issue of internet governance at the WSIS and provides an in-depth accounting of the negotiations that followed. Lawrence Lessig’s theory of “code is law” is applied in explaining how various actors debated and ultimately reached conclusions about the boundaries between normative public policy issues and questions of technical regulation and management. The evolution of the debate over global internet governance since the conclusion of the WSIS is also discussed. On the basis of this case study, a series of conclusions are drawn about the actors and institutional characteristics that influenced the WSIS negotiations on internet governance. It is suggested that the WSIS redefined a narrow debate over the management of a series of internet technical functions as a more broad public policy field of global internet governance. It is argued that the public interest in global internet governance however is process-focused and preoccupied with the political welfare of various stakeholders. The direct and indirect implications for understanding the larger public interest in communication are considered. In conclusion, this thesis reflects on the programmatic implications for the media and communication studies research agenda.

United Nation's (UN) millennium development goal number three is aimed at eliminating gender inequality and empowering women. Gender-based violence is recognised as a global public health and human rights problem that leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality, including sexually transmitted infections, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance dependence and suicide. In responding to this international public health and human rights concern, the South African government has adopted numerous public health communication strategies to highlight the plight of women and children. One of the campaigns that are conducted in South Africa is the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children (16 Days of Activism Campaign). This campaign was introduced in 1999 but the literature review reveals that to date, no studies have focused on its evaluation. As such, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the 16 Days of Activism Campaign with special reference to the Soshanguve community in Gauteng province. This study builds on two theories, namely the excellence theory and the diffusion of innovation theory. Mixed research methods (also called triangulation) was used whereby in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from the Government Communication and Information System and the Department of Women, Children and People with Disability to establish the promotion strategies used in the campaign and the methods used to assess the effectiveness of the campaign. Furthermore, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted within the Soshanguve community to evaluate the promotion strategies and assess the impact of the campaign.This study revealed a high level of reliance on the television, radio and newspapers in the communication strategies. Both government departments acknowledged that they do not have a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign from the receivers‟ perspective. The Soshanguve community felt that in essence the campaign is relevant but not on time. The residents viewed the study as an important part of creating awareness about the campaign and they believed the campaign helped them to know what to do when faced with gender-based violence so that they can assist those who are affected by it.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key tool for bringing about development to people who live in underserved areas. Technologies such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi are seen as advantageous because they can be made available to poor places without the cost of building extensive physical infrastructure. However, researchers argue that ICTs have failed to live up to their potential in the context of development. Researchers point out developing countries lack frameworks to guide them through the implementation of ICTs in this context. The objective of this study is to come up with a framework that can be used in rural areas in South Africa to implement ICT projects. The researcher interviewed individuals who have been directly involved in an ICT initiative in a rural setting in the Eastern Cape Province to learn from their experiences. The researcher also studied publications that have been produced from these initiatives in order to gain a richer understanding. The findings of the study show that participants share similar views about how ICT projects should be approached and implemented in rural areas in South Africa. The views are grouped according to similarity into themes and discussed in detail in the study. From these themes a framework that can help implement ICT projects in rural areas is developed.

Le dossier médical personnel, DMP, appartient aux données médicales informatisées. La thèse consiste à observer la politique de communication et d’information des acteurs publics et des acteurs privés de santé dans le dispositif de mise en œuvre du dossier médical personnel, désormais partagé (DMP) et de ses enjeux. Le périmètre est circonscrit à la médecine de ville, généraliste et spécialiste, ses usages et le comportement de l’ensemble des acteurs, incluant le patient, face à cet outil mis en place par la politique publique de santé dans le cadre de la régulation et de la rationalisation de la santé. La réflexion pose dans un premier temps les piliers de la réflexion, délimitant le système concerné, complexe et les concepts primaires. Les acteurs et les relations qu’ils entretiennent sont observés dans le cadre de leur collaboration spécifique sur le dossier médical personnel. La politique publique est observée et étudiée sous l’axe conjoint de la communication et de l’information dans un deuxième temps, suivie par l’analyse du discours généré par ce dispositif de santé. Un point important de la thèse se pose sur les données captées, leur hébergement, la dématérialisation, leur sécurité, leur archivage et leur traçage et traçabilité sans oublier la personnalisation de la médecine et le changement de rapport entre soignant et patient. Ce projet structurant du système de santé français a des conséquences sur les systèmes d’informations et le système d’information de santé, et la conduite du changement se répercute vers un changement de modèle économique lié à l’économie des réseaux / The Patient’s Medical Record (DMP) belongs to the medical electronic data. The thesis consists in observing the communication and information policy developed by the public and private actors of health in the implementation mechanism of the DMP, which is now shared, and of its challenges. The scope is restricted to urban medicine, general practitioners or specialists, the uses and behavior of the whole group of the people concerned, including the patient, in relation to the instrument set up within the context of health regulation and rationalization. As a first step, in order to lay the foundations of our reflexion, we delineate the relevant system (a complex one), and the key concepts. The actors and their relationships are observed as part of their specific collaboration in the DMP. As a second step, the public policy is observed and studied through the double focus of communication and information; then the language generated by the DMP is analyzed. An important point of the thesis lies in the collected data: hosting, dematerialization, safety, archiving, trackage and traceability, including the customizing of medicine and the fact that the relationship between the patient and the caregiver is changing. All this is studied throughout the leading theme of communication and the relevant sectors affected by e-health and more specifically by the DMP. This French development project of the care system has consequences upon the information systems and the health information system. Moreover, the change management has repercussions on a changing economic model, which is linked with the network economy.

Cette recherche a pour objectif de comprendre le rôle des chaînes internationales d’information à l’ère de la mondialisation : la tension et l’harmonisation entre l’objectif de diplomatie publique de la chaîne internationale d’information et les principes journalistiques ; le rôle des chaînes internationales d’information pour l’espace public global dans le monde « trans-nationalisé ». Afin de répondre à ces questions, dans une perspective constructiviste, nous avons analysé les missions annoncées par les chaînes sélectionnées (CNN International, France 24, BBC World News, NHK World TV, Arirang TV et Al-Jazeera English) puis leur contenu réel : la programmation et le contenu journalistique. Les résultats d’analyse nous démontrent que les chaînes considèrent et réalisent implicitement leur rôle de diplomate public et soulignent explicitement les principes journalistiques. Enfin, nous avons trouvé que les chaînes internationales d’information fonctionnent comme une infrastructure de communication internationale, en réalisant un double objectif et une double identité à cause du croisement de deux acteurs principaux concernés au sein de la chaîne internationale d’information : le gouvernement et les professionnels du journalisme. De plus, les efforts qui peuvent montrer « l’objectivité » et « le respect des principes journalistiques » des chaînes internationales conduisent ces dernières à jouer un rôle dans la sphère publique internationale, notamment grâce aux émissions participatives et interactives, ainsi que par les dispositifs d’interaction et de discussion. / This research aims to understand the role of international 24-hour TV news channels in the era of globalization: the tension and balance between the role of the international news channel for public diplomacy and the respect for journalistic principles; the role of international news channels for the global public space in the transnationalised world. In order to answer these questions, we analysed their missions announced by the selected channels (CNN International, France 24, BBC World News, NHK World TV, Arirang TV and Al-Jazeera English) and their media content with a constructivist perspective. The results show that the channels implicitly realize their role for public diplomacy and explicitly emphasize the journalistic principles. Finally, we found that international news channels work as an international communications infrastructure phenomenally with dual goal and a dual identity. In addition, the result shows that the international 24-hour TV news channels try to play a role as international public sphere through participatory and interactive programs.

Abstract (version française suit)<p>Although the EU is a privileged point of focus for political science studies, its discursive activity has not received all the attention it deserves. This corpus analysis adopts a descriptive approach, based on the Neo-Aristotelian trend in argumentation theory, by using both analytical categories of classical rhetoric and (emic or etic) categories that belong to the conceptualization of the debate entertained by its own participants. The corpus consists of public interventions by representatives of the three main EU Institutions (Commission, European Council and Parliament). The speeches were pronounced between June and December 2005. Since it is discussed every seven years, the topic of the Financial Perspectives offers the possibility of making diachronic comparisons; it also allows identifying values, projects and means of the European construction at a rhetorical level. The last six months of 2005 followed two significant events: the conflicting attitudes of European Governments regarding the Iraq war and the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by referendums.<p>In the absence of any other metaphysical or natural foundation, the technocratic enterprise provides the European project with a rational and secular justification that is not always assumed as such, though, by the presidents of the Commission. The conceptual metaphors stemming from the preambles to the treaties convey the idea that European integration will be achieved by triggering a gradual process that should lead to the realization of an ultimate aim.<p>From a rhetorical point of view, the Financial Perspectives are in need of legitimacy. In 2005, the rhetorical invocation of dates/milestones, abundantly used by former presidents of the Commission, does not seem to work anymore. Both the requirement of unanimity in the legislative procedure and the habitus of European deliberation make it necessary to find an agreement; this consequently promotes “consensus” as a meta-communicational argument. The notion of a “consensus” runs against such theoretical (epistemological) and pragmatic objections that it proves imperious to wonder about its origin and roots. One should take into account not only scholarly conceptions of “consensus” (Habermas, the Deliberative Democracy movement), but also naïve and popular visions of it.<p>The EU Institutions are aware of the difficulty they meet in awakening citizens’ interest, and they have developed their Communication Policy in order to give themselves the means to overcome this obstacle. A systematic reflection on their strategy should take into account the divergent opinions of Moravscik and Hix, as well as the possibility of grounding the EU project anew on a revival of ancient homonoïa.<p>DISCLAIMER. The content of this thesis represents solely the views of its author and cannot in any circumstances be regarded as the official position of the European Commission.<p><p><p><p><p><p><p>Résumé<p>Quoique l’Union Européenne (UE) soit un objet de prédilection pour les politologues, son activité discursive n’a pas reçu toute l’attention méritée.<p>La thèse offre une analyse de corpus effectuée sur base d’une grille de lecture incluant des catégories rhétoriques étiques et émiques. Elle adopte une approche descriptive puisée dans le versant néo-aristotélicien de l’étude de l’argumentation. Le corpus a été constitué d’interventions publiques tenues par les représentants des trois principales Institutions Européennes (Commission, Conseil Européen, Parlement Européen) entre juin et décembre 2005. Le sujet des Perspectives Financières, débattu à intervalles réguliers, permet des comparaisons diachroniques ;il permet aussi de contraster les valeurs, les projets et les moyens de la construction européenne. La conjoncture des six derniers mois de 2005 présente la particularité supplémentaire que le projet de Traité Constitutionnel venait d’être rejeté et que les gouvernements européens s’étaient auparavant divisés sur l’intervention en Irak.<p>En l’absence d’un fondement métaphysique ou naturel, l’entreprise technocratique fournit au projet politique européen une justification rationnelle et laïcisée, même si elle n’est pas assumée explicitement en tant que telle par tous les présidents de la Commission. Les métaphores conceptuelles mobilisées dans les préambules des traités traduisent le fait que l’unification européenne devrait s’accomplir à la fois par l’entremise de réalisations progressives et à travers la poursuite d’un objectif lointain.<p>Sur le plan rhétorique, les Perspectives Financières sont en manque d’une légitimité emblématique. La clause des rendez-vous, des étapes cruciales, abondamment utilisée dans le passé par les présidents de la Commission, cesse de fonctionner en 2005. La nécessité d’un accord, issue tant de la lettre de la procédure législative par unanimité que de la coutume des délibérations, est devenue matière à un argument méta-communicationnel qui en est arrivé à englober toute circonstance susceptible de faciliter le « consensus ». Cette dernière notion soulève des réticences théoriques (épistémologiques) et pragmatiques qui imposent de s’interroger sur son origine. La problématisation que nous avons opérée tient compte non seulement des conceptions savantes du « consensus » (Habermas, courant de la Démocratie Délibérative), mais aussi de ses variantes populaires ou vulgarisées.<p>Les Institutions Européennes sont conscientes de la difficulté qu’il y a à motiver l’intérêt citoyen, et elles ont voulu, à travers leur Politique de Communication, se donner les moyens de dépasser cet obstacle. La thèse mène, à ce propos, une réflexion plus générale qui tient compte des avis opposés de Moravcsik et Hix, et d’une éventuelle refondation dans l’homonoïa de la rhétorique classique.<p>DISCLAIMER. Le contenu de cette thèse représente le point de vue de son seul auteur et ne peut en aucune circonstance être considéré comme la position officielle de la Commission Européenne. <p> / Doctorat en Langues et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The constitution of the Republic of South Africa has mandated government to keep in touch with the citizens, by regularly updating them on the services available for the improvement of their lives, and further to constantly report back on progress made in implementing government policies. In recent years, the country has been experiencing sporadic service delivery protests especially at the local sphere of government (municipal level). The aim of the study was therefore to examine the success of the communication and information system of the South African government in disseminating information to citizens. The area of the study was the Province of Mpumalanga which is one (1) of the nine (9) provinces constituting the Republic of South Africa. For the study, quantitative research method in the form of a survey was adopted, the hypothesis tested and the findings generalised. In creating a sample frame for the study, both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted. The type of data collection instrument adopted was a structured questionnaire. Single-stage cluster sampling was adopted for heads of government communication whereas judgemental or purposive sampling technique was adopted for citizens. Data was analysed utilising data tabulation, descriptives, and data disaggregation quantitative data analysis procedures. The key findings of the study, amongst others, are: (a) That the current communication and information system being utilised by the South African government has an impact (it has improved communication with citizens); (b) That the citizens prefer government to communicate with them in their own indigenous languages (communicating in all eleven (11) official languages); (c) That the citizens prefer face-to-face communication; (d) That citizens would like to receive government messages via social media (given its immediacy and interactivity); and (e) That the low status of the communication function at the local government level denies communicators access to information to be communicated. Amongst others, the study recommends that (1) communication should be recognised as a strategic management function in all spheres of government; (2) the use of radio as the primary channel of information should be strengthened; (3) face-to-face communication with citizens should be strengthened; (4) information dissemination should be done in all eleven (11) official languages, including in Braille and sign-language; (5) social media and SMS notification should be included in the government communication policy as one of its official information dissemination channels. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

I den här avhandlingen studeras Europeiska kommissionens kommunikativa praktiker i ljuset av de pressmeddelanden som dagligen distribueras till världens största presskår i Bryssel, men också via internet till andra journalister och allmänheten. Övergripande syften med avhandlingen är att beskriva textproduktionen i denna en av världens största textproducenter och att lyfta fram den, hittills förvånansvärt osynliga, språkliga dimensionen av kommissionens kommunikation. Avhandlingen tar avstamp i ett dialogiskt perspektiv på kommunikation, där kommunikation förstås som en dynamisk process i vilken människor (sam)agerar i ett givet sammanhang. Avgörande blir således att se pressmeddelandena som en del av den produktions- och distributionskontext de ingår i, både på lokal nivå och på en mer övergripande institutionell nivå. Empiriskt bygger avhandlingen på fältstudier vid Europeiska kommissionen och textanalyser av pressmeddelanden från kommissionen och från franska och svenska departement. Pressmeddelandena studeras både som process och produkt: formuleringsprocesser å ena sidan och textmönster och tempusbruk å den andra. Som ett exempel detaljstuderas produktionen av två pressmeddelanden mot bakgrund av skribenternas förklaringar och motiveringar till sina ändringar. Med sin unika inblick i hur ett pressmeddelande blir till steg för steg och av olika aktörer utgör denna del ett viktigt bidrag till forskningen om pressmeddelanden, som först på senare år blivit mer processinriktad. De olika delstudierna ger alla vid handen att kommissionen, enkelt uttryckt, måste arbeta mer för att underbygga sin argumentation och för att göra sina initiativ mer begripliga, legitima och motiverade. Detta kan i stor utsträckning tillskrivas den mer komplicerade kommunikationssituationen som gäller för kommissionen i förhållande till de nationella departement som är jämförelsematerial i studien. / The thesis investigates the European Commission’s communicative practices in the light of the press releases that are distributed daily to the world’s largest press corps in Brussels and on the Internet to other journalists and the general public. The overall aim of the thesis is to describe the text production of one of the largest text producers in the world and to highlight the linguistic dimensions of the Commission’s communicative practices, which until now have received little scholarly attention. The study adopts a dialogical perspective on communication, where communication is understood as a dynamic process in which people interact in a given context. This means that the press releases are seen as parts of the production and distribution context in which they are embedded, both on a local level and on a more general institutional level. The empirical data on which the study is based comprise field studies at the European Commission and text analyses of press releases issued by the Commission and French and Swedish ministries. The press releases are analysed on different linguistic levels, text pattern and the use of tense, on the one hand, and composition processes on the other. As an example, the production of two press releases is studied in detail, in view of the authors’ comments to and motivations for changes to the texts. With its unique insight into how a press release is drafted step by step and by the different parties involved this part of the thesis is an important contribution to research on press releases, which only recently has become more oriented towards the production process. The results of the analyses highlight the fact that the Commission, to a greater extent than the national ministries, must substantiate its argumentation and make its initiatives more comprehensible, legitimate, and motivated. This finding may be ascribed to the more complex communication situation of the Commission, compared to the national ministries, which served as material for comparison in the study.

The constitution of the Republic of South Africa has mandated government to keep in touch with the citizens, by regularly updating them on the services available for the improvement of their lives, and further to constantly report back on progress made in implementing government policies. In recent years, the country has been experiencing sporadic service delivery protests especially at the local sphere of government (municipal level). The aim of the study was therefore to examine the success of the communication and information system of the South African government in disseminating information to citizens. The area of the study was the Province of Mpumalanga which is one (1) of the nine (9) provinces constituting the Republic of South Africa. For the study, quantitative research method in the form of a survey was adopted, the hypothesis tested and the findings generalised. In creating a sample frame for the study, both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted. The type of data collection instrument adopted was a structured questionnaire. Single-stage cluster sampling was adopted for heads of government communication whereas judgemental or purposive sampling technique was adopted for citizens. Data was analysed utilising data tabulation, descriptives, and data disaggregation quantitative data analysis procedures. The key findings of the study, amongst others, are: (a) That the current communication and information system being utilised by the South African government has an impact (it has improved communication with citizens); (b) That the citizens prefer government to communicate with them in their own indigenous languages (communicating in all eleven (11) official languages); (c) That the citizens prefer face-to-face communication; (d) That citizens would like to receive government messages via social media (given its immediacy and interactivity); and (e) That the low status of the communication function at the local government level denies communicators access to information to be communicated. Amongst others, the study recommends that (1) communication should be recognised as a strategic management function in all spheres of government; (2) the use of radio as the primary channel of information should be strengthened; (3) face-to-face communication with citizens should be strengthened; (4) information dissemination should be done in all eleven (11) official languages, including in Braille and sign-language; (5) social media and SMS notification should be included in the government communication policy as one of its official information dissemination channels. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication)

Text in English / This study adopted a quantitative approach in order to produce numbers in relation to the diffusion of the new media. A descriptive quantitative survey was conducted – with sampling done in multi-stage probability – which comprised clustering, simple random, systematic, stratified sampling techniques, convenience and census sampling. A sample size of 379 respondents was selected, comprising 347 citizen-respondents and 32 government communicators (heads of communication). Data was collected utilising two (2) standardised questionnaires – one tailor-made for the citizens and the other for government communicators. Informed by the Diffusion of Innovations theory, this study has established that new media channels have difussed extensively within communities in the Province of Mpumalanga. This has provided a strong motivation to recommend that the communication policy of the South African government be amended, to include new media channels, like social media, as official government communication channels. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)