Thesis (M.J.)--Carleton University, 1997. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

This thesis is an examination of enski list, arguably the first magazine published exclusively for women between the wars in Croatia, and Yugoslavia. To fully understand the place, meaning and the impact of this magazine on everyday lives of its readers, with the study of the content I also include examination of the role of its editor and the first Croatian woman journalist Marija Jurić Zagorka. Finally, this thesis examines readers' responses to the content, their opinions, interactions between the readers and the editor, as well as interactions between the readers themselves for the overall assessment of the significance of enski list in the history of popular women's press in Croatia, and Yugoslavia. This thesis is a historical project which uses two theoretical approaches to study of media: feminist political economic approach, and the feminist critique of the public sphere. By combining these two theoretical standpoints I illuminated some of the ways in which media participate in everyday lives of people, specifically marginalized groups, in this case women. Situating the study within the historical context of the interwar Yugoslavia, and interwar Europe was important for understanding of this project, and its research questions. In this study I used multiple methods: (a) textual; (b) historical and biographical and, (c) audience study. In the larger part of this study which is a narrative discourse analysis of the content of enski list, I was also inspired by the interpretive ethnography of texts. I connected ethnography to feminist theory and political economy, to circumstances of gendered everyday practices and to circumstances of media culture production, all within the specific historical context. In this study I found that women in the changing socio-political and economic context expressed their relation to capitalism and modernity in different ways, sometimes exerting their critiques and the refusal of the existing patriarchal structures and sometimes seeking inclusion within the structures, with the intent to practice primarily gender equality by direct participation. Finally, the analysis of enski list has told an important story of the place of media, and the women's press in particular, in initiating, carrying, and challenging traditional and emerging discourses in the hope that they would contribute to the ways in which society can be imagined differently.

In the construction of their media infrastructure, most of the Arab countries are spending millions of dollars on US and Western contracts. Regarded as one of the fastest growing and dynamic markets for media technologies in the world, the region may lack a clear media policy as a guideline to shed light upon the mega million investments on the industry. Some critics suggest that the advanced media technologies provided to the Arab world are mostly initiated by Western sales/marketing strategy rather than Middle Eastern choice and initiative. They see the process as a reaction to the Western media practices, rather than a pre-planned policy. This study is directed toward constructing a critical understanding of the development, and current status, of media policy and infrastructure in the Arab world. Being undertaken as the basis of a Ph. D. thesis in an inter-disciplinary department, the research is informed by a strong inter-disciplinary perspective, but with a clear political economy emphasis. The study seeks to examine whether there is a clear media policy in the Arab world, either at a national or regional level. Within this context, ARABSAT, perhaps the most popular media system in the Arab world, constitutes a specific case study. Inaugurated in 1985, the system has been the subject of extensive debate, sometimes heatedly discussing its pros and cons. Its long period of operation, the extensive contribution of most Arab/Muslim countries in the process of the creation and operation of ARABSAT, as well as the footprint coverage of the system including the Middle East, most parts of Asia, the Indian subcontinent and some parts of Europe, make the contribution of ARABSAT within the Middle East media environment of particular interest. Now, nearly 15 years after the advent of ARABSAT, established and supported by the overwhelming majority of the Arab states, a critical assessment of the system in terms of policy/strategy is timely.

Questa tesi è composta di quattro capitoli, aventi come comune denominatore lo studio dell’economia dei media. Il primo capitolo fornisce una rassegna della letteratura teorica riguardante l’economia politica dei media con maggiore enfasi sulle economie emergenti. Il secondo capitolo analizza il ruolo dell’economia politica di “media capture”. È presentato un modello dinamico d’interazione tra media e audience che contempla la possibilità di compensazioni illecite da parte del governo in carica. Il modello sviluppato produce una serie d’intuizioni interessanti circa la relazione tra caratteristiche dell’industria dell’informazione, “media capture”, ed esiti elettorali. Il terzo capitolo studia come il meccanismo d’incentivazione per i potenziali candidati politici è influenzato dall’industria dell’informazione. È presentata un’estensione del modello cittadino-candidato proposto da Osborne e Slivinski (1997) e Besley e Coate (1997) attraverso l’introduzione di costi eterogenei associati alla candidatura elettorale. L’ultimo capitolo esamina la relazione tra i mezzi d’informazione e concentrazione politica guardando all’introduzione e alla diffusione di internet ad alta velocità agli inizi del ventunesimo secolo negli Stati Uniti. L’evidenza di causalità presentata dimostra come la diffusione di internet abbia aumentato fenomeni di estremismo ideologico negli Stati Uniti nella storia recente da parte dei rappresentanti politici. / This thesis consists of four self-contained chapters. The four chapters have the common denominator that they all deal with political economics of media. In the first chapter I review theoretical literature on politics of media with focus on emerging economies. In the second chapter I analyze political economy of media capture. I introduce dynamic model of media and audience relationship with the possibility of side payments from the incumbent government. The model developed here produces a number of interesting insights in the relationship between features of the media industry, media capture, and political outcomes. In the third chapter I study how the incentive mechanism for potential political candidates to emerge and run for the office is shaped by the media environment. I extend the original citizen-candidate model proposed by Osborne and Slivinski (1997) and Besley and Coate (1997) by introducing heterogeneous costs associated with running for the office. The last chapter examines links between media and political polarization by looking at the introduction and diffusion of high speed internet at the onset of the 21st century in the United States. I provide causal evidence that internet diffusion has increased ideological extremism of US representatives in the recent history.

No description available.

Pendant le 20e siècle, la relation entre médias et organisations sportives ont été symbiotiques. Les ressources obtenues grâce à la vente des droits de diffusion télévisée, la communication et les médias exercent une grande influence sur le succès global du football. C’est une relation de tensions et de coopération entre média et organisations sportives, et aussi les frontières sont floues entre les deux champs. Dans ce travail, nous souhaitons comprendre de quelle sorte les médias influencent les organisations sportives, plus précisément comment les clubs de football deviennent des espaces de production d’informations. Plus récemment, les organisations sportives ont investi dans le secteur de la communication, soit à travers le recrutement des communicants et d’autre professionnels de l’information, soit par la création de canaux de communications propres. Nous avons sélectionné, comme objets d’étude, les médias de trois organisations sportives : la webtélé du Paris Saint-Germain (France), le site web du Botafogo (Brésil) et la chaîne télé du Benfica (Portugal). Le travail empirique est constitué d’entretiens ethnographiques avec des professionnels de l’information et des communicants des clubs de football analysés. Suite à ces entretiens, nous avons l’objectif de répondre à trois questions sur la création des médias de club : quelle est sa motivation ; comment fonctionnent-ils ; et qui sont les responsables pour sa mise en place. Le choix de ces clubs offre l’opportunité d’une étude comparative et l’évaluation de différents marchés avec de degrés inégaux de modernisations, en permettant l’identification des proximités et des divergences, associées aux contextes respectifs, ce qui rend possible une tentative de généralisation sur les médias de club et leurs conséquences pour le journalisme sportif et pour la relation entre sport et médias. / During the 20th century, the relationship between Media and Sport were very fertile. The revenues generated by the sale of broadcast rights, the Communication and the Media have a great influence over the global success of football. Media and sports organizations have a relationship based on tensions and cooperation and also very fluid boundaries between them. In this present work, we want to understand how media influence sports organizations, more precisely, how football clubs become a space of content and information production. Recently, sports organizations have invested on media and communication departments, either by hiring public relations and media professionals or by creating their own corporate means of communication. We have selected as research objects, the media of three sports organizations: the WebTV of Paris Saint-Germain (France), the website of Botafogo (Brazil) and the subscription TV channel of Benfica (Portugal). Our empirical work was based on ethnographic interviews with the media and communication staff at these football clubs. Based on our interviews, we aim to answer three questions about the creation of these club owned media: why they were created; how they are structured; and who is responsible for their implementation. The choice of these three clubs allowed a comparative study and the analysis of different markets and realities with diverse levels of modernization, that together with each local social context made possible an attempt to offer a generalization about club owned media and the consequences for sports journalism and the relationship between sport and media.