Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Johns Hopkins University, 2007. / Adviser: Matthew Crenson. Includes bibliographical references.

As eyewitnesses to history, American women newspaper photographers occupy ringside seats as they cover local, national or international events. Their names are credited under countless images printed in daily and weekly papers, yet viewers seldom consider how the private lives of individual women intersect with their profession. Regrettably their narratives are absent from most photographic and journalism histories. Female news photographers constitute less than 25% of this male-dominated profession. To comprehend how newsroom culture informed both professional and personal experience, extensive life histories were collected from thirty women who consented to participate in this study. As a means of painting a more complete picture of issues encountered during their careers, the group was chosen to reflect geographical location, age, ethnicities, and sexual preference. Participants were asked how they balanced career aspirations, personal relationships, and self-worth in context of the changing roles of women. What choices have they made? What compromises? Did their experiences change over decades or do some issues remain essentially the same? What kind of discrimination, if any, did they experience in their job and how did they respond? Did ethnic cultures or social mores clash with their career choice? Also explored were statements regarding education, parental professions, marital status, family dynamics, life changes, and stressors. On assignment and in the newsroom their presence has helped change social assumptions but because their profession straddles both journalism and photography, researchers have ignored much of their work. Naomi Rosenblum, author of A History of Women Photographers, cites only a few newspaper photographers and describes pictures produced by women photographers in the 1940s and 1950s as "pedestrian" in quality. Current photographic history is not false, but rather one-sided. Stories shared by the women of this study, whose collective experience spans over fifty years, offer insights to young women who will be working as news photographers in the future and refute benighted scholarly assumptions that women newspaper photographers have no history worth remembering.

This thesis identifies some of the new muckraking journalists writing for American newspapers and the role they are playing in the 1970's. To identify the modern muckrakers, questionnaires were sent to 50 newspaper journalists asking them-to define the term, discuss who's muckraking today and whether or not they consider themselves muckrakers. An additional 100 questionnaires were sent to all U.S. Senators asking them if newspapers in their state indulge in muckraking, character assassination and trial by newspaper. If so, they were asked to identify the newspaper, specific examples and name those reporters doing the muckraking. Senators were asked not to identify themselves on the returned questionnaire.As the result of this thesis it has been determined that muckraking is a bona fide practice today. However, many of those participating in this type of journalism prefer to call it investigative reporting. It was also determined that U.S. Senators are reluctant to make their views on the subject known, as only a small percentage answered the questionnaire.

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.

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The purpose of this study was to determine if metropolitan newspapers from the Southwest, Midwest and Northeast--the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Indianapolis Star and News--have made an attempt to predict future developments in computer technology and warn their readers about what changes in society, work and the home might occur. The study also used the four newspapers to see if any regional biases existed that may have influenced the reporting from 1950 through 1980. In both cases, the author used a content analysis technique to examine the article content. In all, 331 articles were analyzed and a Chi-square test was applied to the results to determine if a significant difference existed in "favorable" or "unfavorable" treatment of high-tech news by each of the newspapers. Little research exists in this area, although some studies have been made in the treatment of general science, political and business news. The author found that the Los Angeles Times printed a significantly higher number of "future-oriented" articles, but none of the papers treated computer technology and automation more favorably, in regard to bias, than the others.

The central contention of this thesis is that an increase in image-focused or pseudo-event-focused hyperlinked-headlines is occurring on online news sites. This central contention contains at least three implications. First, holding that the newspaper is the epitome of traditional journalism, a crisis in the news industry is underway. The crisis began as a result of newspapers’ financial challenges posed by electronic media, but the growth of online news sites has accelerated and worsened conditions. Second, as a result of this dire financial situation, news outlets, collectively, are shifting focus from traditional journalism’s concept of news to a 1830s-era Penny Press sensationalism style, marked by human-interest pieces, entertainment fluff and celebrity gossip. Third, news is shifting away from the ironic reporting method and theory of detached observer to a more personally connected style of narrative storytelling, which, together with the aforementioned implications, signifies a cyclical cycle and consequential return to the colonial roots of the American press and its definition of news. / The evolving crisis in the American news system -- Literature review of related topics -- Methodology -- Results : the news shift from event to image-based -- Discussion, limitations and recommendations for further study. / Department of Telecommunications

This thesis is an examination of representations of Muslim women in the American print media. I focus on one particular publication, The New York Times within a time frame surrounding the events of September 11, 2001. Articles were selected from this publication that fell within the time period of September 11, 2000 to September 11, 2002, in selecting articles, I chose those based on their inclusion of any discussion that clearly identified those discussed as Muslim women, through the use of the words "Muslim" or "Islamic" in their descriptions. The case study was carried out by reading through each daily edition of The New York Times in order to identify any articles that fell within my criteria. I also used an online database containing abstracts of the publication to verify that no article of relevance was overlooked. I then devised 5 categories within which to analyze the representations of Muslim women that were found within these articles, "Veil", "Biographical", "Women's Issues", "Politics" and "Muslims in the West". The main goal of this thesis is to determine how Muslim women are represented within this particular publication and to analyze whether the events of September 11, 2001 had any effect on how Muslim women were portrayed in The New York Times articles.

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