When It comes to the basic perspectives on personal and social reality, it is commonly assumed that these perspectives are learned within the parent-child relafionship. As a result, the family has been typically accorded a place of primary importance the explanation of socialisation. But another influence has been lurking in the background- the mass media . Media influence upon ~hildren has generally been assumed to be significant, with powerful, long lasting consequences. However, traditional explanatory attempts have predominantly dealt with the effects of media violence on juvenile behaviour. The result has been a relative neglect of empirical analysis of media socialisation as it relates to detinquent behaviour. a matter that the present study attempted to rectify. The present study proposes that the media's commitment to conformity varies in degree of congruence with societal expectations and this variation is directly "transmitted to the child influencing the child's behaviour. / Criminology / M.A.

The world is dominated by digital media that have become central to many children’s lives. Children born in the last 30 years have become known as ‘digital natives’, as digital technology has always been part of their experiential field. The use of such media in play therapy could offer innovative ways of enhancing dialogue with those children in whose field they are included, as they have been to date unexplored in play therapy interventions, possibly resulting in missed therapeutic opportunities. This mixed methods research took the form of an email questionnaire sent out to play therapists in South Africa to ascertain whether digital technology is being used in therapy and, if so, which digital media are being used and how. Additionally, a focus group interview was conducted using the same questionnaire to ensure data triangulation. The data gathered were analysed qualitatively, and an understanding was gained regarding the current use of digital media in play therapy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

The purpose of this study was to examine how male and female celebrities are represented on the 24 covers of e+, a weekly entertainment magazine that was published by Dubai-based Al Nisr Publishing. This cross-sectional, exploratory study used a qualitative visual semiotic analysis and quantitative content analysis to examine how male and female celebrities are constructed and represented on covers published between October 2010 and September 2011. In addition, the study explored whether the myths and ideologies found on the covers made an impression on the perceptions and tastes of teenagers living in the UAE. A subsequent self-administered questionnaire was completed by 30 teenagers living in the UAE aged between 16 and 19 with the purpose of determining how teenagers experienced representations of celebrities. Furthermore, to gain a deeper understanding of how teenagers experienced celebrity culture, three focus-group interviews, each comprising of six participants, are conducted. The study found that both male and female celebrities were represented in gender stereotypical roles. Results showed that male celebrities were represented as active, strong, decisive and dominant. Male celebrities were associated with success, fast cars and dangerous weapons. On the other hand, female celebrities were predominantly represented as submissive. The representations of female celebrities focused on beauty and fashion. The survey and focus-group results revealed that celebrity culture does have an influence on teenagers. Participants reported that they bought products that they saw celebrities wearing or using, emulated the celebrities’ behaviour and copied hairstyles and make-up looks. However, the study found that, in addition to celebrity culture, teenagers’ perceptions are also shaped by their peers, parents and other people they interact with such as teachers. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)

This thesis, titled “Normative Media Theory and the Rethinking of the Role of the Kenyan Media in a Changing Social Economic Context,” is a theoretical study that discusses the role of normative media theory in shaping and guiding debate on the role of the media and attendant policy making processes in a changing Kenyan social economic context. This is done against the background of acknowledgment of the general state of flux that characterizes normative media theory in a postmodern, globalized and new media landscape. The study thus extensively describes the Kenyan media landscape, with a view to demonstrating how it has and is continuing to be transformed by a variety of developments in the social economic set up of the Kenyan society. In order to provide a theoretical basis for explaining these developments, the study then indulges in an extensive theoretical discussion that presents a synthesis of current arguments in the area of normative media theory. This discussion fundamentally brings to the fore the challenges which characterizes normative media theory in a changing social economic context and therefore the inability of traditional normative theory to account for new developments in the media and society in general. In an attempt to integrate normative media theory and practice, the study then discusses (against the backdrop of theory) the views and opinions of key role players in the Kenyan media landscape, in regard to how they perceive the role of the media. Particular attention is given, inter alia, to matters such as media ownership, media accountability processes, changing media and communication technologies, a changing constitutional landscape, the role of the government in the Kenyan media landscape, the place of African moral philosophy in explaining the role of the media in Kenya, and the growth of local language radio. Finally, on the bases of theory, experiences from other parts of the world and the views of key role players in the Kenyan media landscape, the study presents several normative guidelines on how normative theory and media policy making in Kenya could meet each other, taking into account the changes occasioned by globalization and the new media landscape. These proposals are essentially made to enrich general debate on the role of the media in Kenya, as well as attendant media policy making efforts. / Communication / D.Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

The aim of this study is to discover the relationship between health, media and gender, more specifically HIV and AIDS prevention, women’s magazines and women as readers. This research has been conducted within a Master’s dissertation at the Centre for Communication, Culture, Media & Society (CCMS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2012 and the primary emphasis is on media reception and the way in which women make sense of women’s magazines messages, particularly of HIV and AIDS messages. Therefore, the study’s focus is on media consumption, influences of women’s magazines and personal interpretation of embedded messages. The aim is to identify the role of women’s magazines as part of mass media within a particular field of communication rather than to identify the magazines’ impact on gender roles. My study will discover the reception of health messages on HIV and AIDS surrounded by controversial messages on femininity and gender stereotypes. The main research questions are: i) How, why and when are recipients using women’s magazines? ii) How are recipients perceiving and interpreting HIV and AIDS messages in women’s magazines, and specifically within the context of contradictory messages on sex, femininity and gender roles? iii) And, if and how are health messages in women’s magazines influencing recipients and their interaction with others? The interpretive qualitative research paradigm is applied and the method of qualitative interviews is used for collecting the data. The uses and gratification theory, social learning/social cognitive theory, the concept of entertainment education (EE), and the women-centred sense-making approach are consulted. As an overall result, the analysis reflects a positive picture and interpretation of women’s magazines by the participants, but it also shows the dual character of women’s magazines. Contradictions and critique on content were expressed, positive and negative features were identified, female stereotypes and at the same time the enjoyment of reading was noted, and with regards to health messages, the overall reception was predominantly positive and various content elements seemed to be relevant for the participants. In conclusion, the decisive factors for health messages on HIV and AIDS in women’s magazines, identified in my study are: motivation as an important stage, according to social learning/social cognitive theory in order 7 to enable behaviour modelling; relatedness, originally identified as a third human need within the self-determination theory, which helps to strengthen intrinsic motivation; the dual character of women’s magazines as an on-going conflict between the pleasure of reading a magazine and the consciousness of reprehensible stereotypes and female roles; the sense of female community and finally the role of readers as female opinion leaders. These results present women’s magazines as a multifaceted medium and might influence future research and programmes for health communication on HIV and AIDS prevention. Key words: Women, health, HIV and AIDS, women’s magazines, print media, reception analysis, HIV and AIDS communication, development communication, media usage, media consumption, health messages, relatedness, duality. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This qualitative research study explores the relationship between reducing uncertainty and assigning source credibility in the context of social media sites (SMS) and examines the effect of uncertainty reduction within the social media environment on the development of relationships between journalists and their sources. For this study, interviews were conducted with professional journalists to determine whether uncertainty was reduced and credibility was established with sources via SMS (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and what theoretical strategies journalists used to reduce their uncertainty. The study also aims to determine if correlations exist between a reporter's age, beat, and/or personal adoption of SMS and the reporter's usage of SMS for source development. The interviews were conducted with 15 journalists of The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida), using a standardized interview protocol. Subjects were asked to voluntarily participate in a face-to-face interview with the researcher. Reporters were selected based upon their gender and cultural ethnicity, which was representative of the newsroom demographics of The Palm Beach Post at that time. This research aims to contribute to the uncertainty reduction theory in the realm of computer-mediated communications, specifically with regard to the use of SMS in forming and maintaining journalist-source relationships. / by Michelle D. Brown. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

Not available / text

This thesis deals with the introduction of participatory research methods to programming staff working at Radio KC, a South African community radio station based in Paarl, in the Western Cape province. The focus is on a series of workshops conducted at the station, dealing with research tools developed to enable station workers to undertake research of their community. The aim was to determine, by means ofa case study, whether the introduction of participatory research methods could improve the ability of community broadcasters to facilitate democratic participation among the communities in which they operate. More particularly, the thesis assesses whether the application of such methods has improved the ability of the programming staff that were involved in this case study to identify a wider range of stories and voices within their target community, for inclusion in programming content. The participatory research techniques that are applied at the radio station are based on ideas in 'civic mapping' developed by Harwood and McCrehan (1996) under the auspices of The Pew Center for Civic Journalism, and supplemented by insights from Friedland (2001) and Downs and Stea (1977) about the cognitive, normative and imagined dimensions of community. All of the ideas and techniques were adapted for the South African situation. The findings of the research project illustrate that for community stations, the key concepts of 'community' and 'participation' are highly complex ones and that stations need assistance to apply these concepts in their everyday practice. The account of the intervention at Radio KC shows that the process did indeed assist the individual research participants to better deal with the application of these concepts. It did not, however, make much impact on the station as a whole. Reasons for this are believed to lie in the organisational dynamics of the station, and the fact that the model as applied in this case did not provide a means for tackling the agendas, investments and power relations that define the activities of individuals at a given community radio station - what Hochheimer (1993) talks about as the entrenchment of power and personalities. In order to address these shortcomings, an attempt is made to develop a model for future application, which places the mapping process within the context of a broader strategic planning process, focussed on a station's programming schedule.

Development aid in most of the developing countries can sometimes compromise the principles of public service broadcasting (PSB). This may be true when reflected against the tension between donor financed programmes in Malawi and the mandate of Television Malawi (TVM). Although the donor intentions are noble, the strings attached to the funding are sometimes retrogressive to the role of PSBs. A case in point is how donors dictate terms on the HIV/Aids communication strategies at TVM. Producers receive money from donors with strings attached on how the money should be used and accounted for. If producers deviate they are sanctioned through withholding funding, shifting schedules and reducing the funding frequency. The donors also dictate who to interview on what subject, how to conduct capacity building. Some scholars have researched much on the impact of commercialisation of the media. This study is a departure from these traditional interferences; it interrogates the interest of philanthropy tendencies by international donors in the three chosen HIV/Aids programmes broadcast by TVM. The study investigates the extent of pressure exerted by donors on the producers of HIV/Aids programmes in Malawi. Thus, the study seeks to illicit specifics in the power relationship between the donor and the producer hence the study employs the political economy of development aid as applied to the public service broadcasting and communication for development. The study employed qualitative research methods and techniques (in-depth interviews, case study and document analysis). The study reveals how donor ideologies dominate the Aids messages-content output of the texts constructed. The study argues that cultural alienation of the Malawian audiences retards efforts of donors in combating HIV infection rate.