Wang, Haiyan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 295-313). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

The problem of this study is to investigate how news policy in the Denton Record-Chronicle is defined and maintained and whether the newspaper staffers tend to conform to or conflict with the newspaper's news policy. The study suggests that the more experienced the staffer, the more likely he will conflict with the newspaper's news policy, and the less experienced the staffer, the more likely he will conform to the newspaper's news policy. Social control is in the hand of the newspaper organization. That is, the newspaper tends to control the mechanisms of social control. However, unless the newspaper recognizes the needs of the staffers' participation in its editorial decision, conflict may continue to be an important factor in the newsroom work-setting.

D.Phil. / The aim of this study is to critically analyse representations of gender and sex in newspaper reports on HIV and AIDS in the hope of improving messaging around HIV and AIDS. Within the scope of this study observations are made at the conclusion of each case study so as to inform prevention campaigns and media on more appropriate ways of representing gender and sex and HIV and AIDS. These observations serve as guidelines to inform journalists and civil society on how better to message HIV and AIDS and sexuality. Mutual recognition is used as the theoretical standpoint for understanding sexuality by emphasizing the premise of respect for self and other. Mutual recognition is used as the critical lens to rethink gender beyond constructions of masculinity and femininity, race, class and sexuality; looking for the moments and opportunities for recognition between both masculine and feminine subjects as well as for narratives on sameness and difference beyond race, class and sexuality. Mutual recognition is also the way forward for resisting phallogocentrism and shifting representation away from the workings of male hegemony. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on feminist psychoanalysis and feminist media interpretation. Special mention is given to the work of Jessica Benjamin, Donna Haraway and Jane Flax; on account of their reception of Freudian theory of the oedipal complex showing ways of rethinking the oedipal complex and gender differentiation. Foucault’s work on representation shows how we can rethink language to better serve the notion of mutual recognition, placing importance on concepts such as respect, responsibility and caring for self and other in ways that go beyond race/ethnicity, class, sex/gender or sexuality. Eros and thanatos (life and death drives) is nuanced to highlight how jouissance or the ‘little death’ (orgasm) is a way of resolving the tension between these opposing drives by shifting discourse away from sex and taboo or death towards sex and pleasure and thus emphasizing eros and mutual recognition. The study is concluded with a set of guidelines for representing gender and sex in relation to HIV and AIDS. It is significant to note that this is a qualitative study that, which makes use of textual analysis and seeks to offer a measure of transparency and accountability to the interpretation of selected texts.

本論文以政治學及心理學的理論為基礎，探討社會人士的集體行動及政治參與行為及其背後的心理因素，以及網上新聞的普及對這些行為、意向是否具催化作用。根據政治學及社會心理學文獻，團體在社會得到的社會認定「social identity」）及個人對自身的政治功效意識 （「political efficacy」）往往是影響人們集體行動及政治參與（稱「團體參與行動」「intergroup participatory actions」）程度的決定因素。不過，個人/團體對集體行動的參與意向跟媒體使用及社會人士的實際參與之間的關係在文獻中似乎從未提到。然而，這方面的研究在現今數碼時代十分重要。 / 關於網上新聞的影響，主要的文獻論述有二：工具性論述指出網上資訊澎湃、隨手可得，且成本極低，網上新聞的使用對社會人士參與政治有直接影響（本論文將驗證此觀點，是為假設一）；心理學論述指出網上新聞對人們的影響視乎個人既有的心理素質。本文主張個人參與集體行動及參與政治的意向在於人們是否能從這些行動中得到高度的「社會認定」及「政治功效意識」；而這兩方面又可隨著個人接觸的網上資訊增加而得以提昇，因為人們傾向選擇接收那些肯定他們既有看法及態度的資訊（即「選擇性暴露理論」），以及那些提昇他們對某社群歸屬感的資訊（即「使用與滿足理論」）。本文提出下列觀點，並加以驗證：網上新聞的普及提昇「個人功效意識」（假設二）、提昇「集體功效意識」（假設三）、提昇參與團體行動人士得到的「社會認定」（假設四），而個人/團體從社會認定中得到的滿足對他們實際參與團體行動有驅動作用（假設五）。 / 本文對在美國及香港具代表性的民意調查作出分析，分析結果跟上列的假設吻合。然後進行了一項實驗，其結果指出「個人功效意識」或可作為「政治功效意識」內一有效的獨立準則。本人在美國及香港進行民意調查（各地兩項；所涉及的調查相隔一年），並作迴歸分析，以驗證上述有關社會人士參與集體行動及政治意向的假設，研究重點包括人們的投票意向、示威意向、議題參與意向及公民參與意向。研究結果支持假設一（即工具性論述）及假設三（即有關「集體功效意識」的心理學論述）的有效性。假設二（有關「個人功效意識」）及假設四（有關「社會認定」）可作進一步驗證。研究中所有具統計學顯著意義的結果卻否定了假設五（有關「社會認定」對個人/團體帶來的滿足程度）的有效信度。 / 最後，研究局限、結果應用等亦會在文中細述。 / Applying an interdisciplinary and integrative theoretical perspective and framework, this thesis is concerned with the role of Internet news on collective action and political participation, and the important moderating role of certain psychological antecedents on the relationship. The literature shows that identification with a group (social identity) and the feeling that one could make a substantive difference (political efficacy) are two important predictors of such actions (termed “intergroup participatory actions in this thesis). However, the processes that link the antecedents of participatory behaviors to media use and then to actual participation have been neglected. Such an examination is important in the digital age where the Internet provides citizens a media environment where access to information about politics and social causes is easy, cheap and abundant. / Two views of the impact of Internet are prevalent in the literature. The “instrumental“ view argues that Internet use has a direct effect on political participation and typically emphasizes the reduced costs and the relative “informational richness“ associated with Internet news use (Hypothesis 1). The “psychological“ view argues that the effects of the Internet depend to an extent on individual’s preexisting psychological dispositions. It is further hypothesized that two dimensions of political efficacy are important antecedents of participatory actions: ‘individual efficacy’ and ‘collective efficacy’. / The thesis argues that individuals’ willingness to participate in a collective action and participate in politics depends on high levels of social identity and political efficacy, which can be heightened by exposure to Internet news because individuals are likely to consume media content that reinforces their existing attitudes and opinions (as put forward by Selective Exposure Theory) and reinforces their psychological need to feel like a member of a social group (as put forward by Uses and Gratifications Theory). Conceptually, this means that individual efficacy (Hypothesis 2), collective efficacy (Hypothesis 3), and social identity (Hypothesis 4) will accentuate the effects of Internet news use on intergroup participatory actions. Moreover, social identity gratifications will accentuate the effects of social identity on intergroup participatory actions (Hypothesis 5). / Secondary data analyses of national data in the United States and Hong Kong provide initial support for the hypotheses. Moreover, an embedded quasi-experiment provides support for the validity of ‘individual efficacy’ as a unique dimension of political efficacy. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses also showed that both individual and collective efficacy to be unique dimensions of political efficacy, along with internal and external efficacy. / Regression analyses using two Hong Kong and two American samples collected a year apart test the hypotheses for a variety of participatory behaviors, including voting intention, protest intention, issue participation and civic participation. In general, the findings were supportive of the ‘instrumental’ view of Internet effects (H1) and the ‘psychological view’ with respect to collective efficacy (H3). There was less evidence for the effects of individual efficacy (H2) and social identity (H4). All significant interactions for social identity gratifications (H5) were in the opposite direction as hypothesized. / Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for further research are specified. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Chan, Che Ming. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 232-247). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.vii / List of Figures --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Overview of the Thesis Structure --- p.6 / Contributions to the Literature --- p.9 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Antecedents of Collective Action and Political Participation --- p.11 / Collective Action and Political Participation as Forms of Intergroup Participatory Actions --- p.12 / Perceived Injustice --- p.15 / Efficacy --- p.19 / Identification --- p.27 / Summary and Way Forward --- p.34 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- The Role of the Internet in Intergroup Participatory Actions --- p.37 / The Mobilizing Potential of the Internet --- p.37 / The Role of Internet News in Political Participation --- p.39 / The Role of Internet News in Protests and Demonstrations --- p.43 / The Internet and Participatory Actions in the Hong Kong Context --- p.45 / Summary and Hypothesis --- p.46 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- The Contingent Effects of Efficacy and Social Identity --- p.48 / Efficacy, Selective Exposure, and Participatory Behaviors --- p.50 / Social Identity, Selective Exposure, and Participatory Behaviors --- p.56 / Social Identity, Uses and Gratifications, and Participatory Behaviors --- p.61 / Summary of Hypotheses --- p.65 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Secondary Data Analyses of National Survey Data --- p.68 / Theoretical Approach to Analyses --- p.68 / American National Election Studies Survey (2004-2008) --- p.70 / The National Annenberg Election Survey (2008) --- p.97 / The PEW 2009 Values Survey --- p.110 / Hong Kong Survey 2009 --- p.114 / Summary and Way Forward --- p.118 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Measurement and Validation of Political Efficacy Dimensions --- p.124 / Question Item Selection and Analytic Strategy --- p.125 / Sampling and Operationalization --- p.129 / Results --- p.131 / Summary and recommendations --- p.153 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Predicting Intergroup Participatory Actions Among Young Adults --- p.156 / Young Adults, the Internet, and Participation --- p.157 / Sampling --- p.166 / Operationalization --- p.166 / Results --- p.174 / Discussion --- p.187 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Discussion and Future Research --- p.200 / Interdisciplinary Perspective of Intergroup Participatory Actions --- p.201 / Complementary Explanations of Internet News Effects --- p.205 / Expansion and Validation of Political Efficacy Dimensions --- p.212 / Extension of Uses and Gratifications Theory --- p.213 / Contributions to the Hong Kong Literature --- p.214 / Appendices --- p.215 / Chapter Appendix A --- Social Identity Studies in Hong Kong --- p.216 / Chapter Appendix B --- Mass Media and Collective Action in the Hong Kong Context --- p.219 / Chapter Appendix C --- Theoretical Basis for Group-Based Perspective of Uses and Gratifications --- p.222 / Chapter Appendix D --- Questions Items in 2010 Surveys --- p.226 / Chapter Appendix E --- Questions Items in 2011 Surveys --- p.229 / References --- p.232

The Conservative party ruled Colombia from 1886 to 1930. During this period, a coterie of grammarians, poets, and theologians consolidated political power by appealing to literature as a form of rhetorical expertise. The Liberal party took power in 1930 and would hold it until 1946. Recent scholarship has argued that during this period Liberal intellectuals defended the political authority of literary expertise even as they endorsed a modernizing program. Although these charges of hypocrisy are well founded, they tell a limited version of the history of the so-called Liberal Republic, failing to take into full account the work of intellectuals at the edges of the Liberal party’s patronage network. This dissertation considers a series of writer-journalists—including Luis Vidales, Luis Tejada, José Antonio Osorio Lizarazo, José Joaquín Jiménez, and Arnoldo Palacios—who were active in Bogotá between 1920 and 1950. It examines their essays, chronicles, novels, and poems in newspapers and magazines, and less often in books, to argue that they elaborated a new function for literature in Colombia, appealing to the genres of urban journalism and the emerging discipline of urban sociology in order to transform literature into a form of social investigation.

A chain of actors brokers the flow of information through news organizations and transforms local realities into international journalism. “Fixers” are a crucial intermediary link between foreign reporters and local sources, translating, arranging logistics and interviews, and otherwise assisting reporters in gaining access and interpreting events. Fixers’ social networks and management of exchange between reporters and sources, this study argues, significantly shape the news. Brokers’ moral worlds, constituted by both norms of behavior toward brokers and norms that shape the behaviors of brokers themselves, are the focus of particular attention. How do news organizations, client journalists, and local news sources and power holders treat fixers? How do fixers navigate the uneven moral terrain created by conflicting expectations toward them? And how do their strategies for managing clients and sources shape the production of knowledge? This study, based on ethnographic research conducted in Turkey between 2014 and 2016, explains fixers’ mediations and their effects on the news. Empirical chapters provide composite narratives of fixers to illustrate both variation in mediating practices and typical career trajectories, followed by theoretical discussions. The production of international news, I argue, cannot be properly understood without reference to the national and local politics and media worlds that affect who becomes a fixer and what they use fixing to accomplish. Based on these contexts, some see fixing as an opportunity to gain recognition, as an apprenticeship toward a career in global journalism, or as a way to expand their social world; others see fixing as a way to remain anonymous while utilizing journalistic expertise they have developed, as a relatively safe form of activism in non-democratic political systems, or a step toward claiming refugee status. Patterns in who becomes a fixer and why affect the selection of “newsworthy” sources and events, the way local realities are transformed into information fed to client reporters, and the organizational structure of the foreign press corps. Fixers have difficulty, and are socialized to avoid, challenging overarching and preexisting meta-narratives, or frames, that foreign news organizations apply to Turkey and Syria. Nonetheless, they make use of “wiggle room” afforded them through the process of abstraction of local complexities into overarching narrative frames to shape international news in ways that are significant at the local level. This study offers insights not only into the production of international knowledge about Turkey and Syria, but also into the process of brokerage, a universal phenomenon in all contexts involving coordination of action and sharing of knowledge across social difference.

No description available.

Bibliography: leaves 647-681 / xv, 681 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1985

Solutions journalism, rigorous reporting on responses to social problems, has gained great traction in the last decade. Using positive psychology theory, also known as the theory of well-being, this qualitative study examines the impact of reporting while using solutions journalism techniques. Applying the five pillars of positive psychology theory: positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment (PERMA), this study used interviews and content analysis to investigate how journalists are applying the tools of solutions journalism as well as what they hope to accomplish in the process. Findings revealed that the application of solutions journalism techniques produces hope and community engagement resulting in flourishing and positive change for individuals, communities and all involved in the reporting process.

This study analyzed headlines in three influential newspapers to assess how those publications exercised media social responsibility in reporting the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The situation posed the common media paradox where inherent news values encourage dramatic reports and escalation of conflict that, in tum, are criticized as irresponsible. The particular circumstances surrounding the SARS outbreak presented an opportunity for media social responsibility through public education and conveying perspective about risk from the disease. This study developed an analytical framework to evaluate the extent of fearful language, style of communication about risk of the disease, use of source material, and prevalence of journalistic normative behaviors. The analysis indicates that personal fear responses of journalists may influence the use of frightening language in news headlines. The study found that in early stages of reporting about the disease, journalists relied on overtly fearful language with little analysis or situational context. As the story became more familiar, even though the factual circumstances did not change, headlines revealed more efforts to communicate productively about risk and less use of explicit fearful terminology. However, most of the headlines demonstrated reliance on traditional news-gathering behaviors emphasizing conflict, controversy and human interest, rather than analysis and interpretation. Political controversy stemming from concerns about disease management by the Chinese government often prevailed over headlines representing socially responsible information about health protection or risk perspective. This study affirms the importance of media in public education during health crises. It also suggests journalists would benefit from better understanding risk communication principles and the influence of personal fear responses on their reporting. Additionally, the study demonstrates that the concept of media social responsibility deserves to be reconsidered in contemporary terms, to better guide both journalists and those charged with developing communication strategies during such circumstances.