The current study is a content analysis and comparison of news articles from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The objective of this study is to explore media coverage of terrorism over the last five decades to determine the impact of religion and to compare coverage between two respected news sources that are known for their liberal (New York Times) and conservative (Wall Street Journal) view points. Using a stratified random sample, 1,832 news articles were selected between 1960 and 2006 from the two news sources of interest. The articles were read, analyzed, and categorized. Then, a qualitative analysis examined a random selection of articles pertaining to religious terrorist events. Results suggest an increase in coverage of religiously perpetrated terrorism in recent decades. Interestingly, coverage from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal showed similar patterns despite being representative of opposite ideologies. Implications are discussed. / by Heather Zurburg. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This study examined how different words and phrases used within the media may portray a certain image of an individual, ultimately impacting the perception that the reader forms of such individual. Specifically, the manner in which Fred van der Vyver was portrayed by both an Afrikaans language newspaper and an English language newspaper in the Fred van der Vyver-Inge Lotz murder case was examined. This was a highly publicized case from March 2005, when Inge Lotz was found murdered, to November 2007, when Fred van der Vyver, who was suspected of killing Inge Lotz, was acquitted. The aim of the study was to compare two South African journalistic cultures, namely the ones represented by Cape Times and Die Burger, respectively, in their construction of Fred van der Vyver as newsmaker. The rationale for the study was that newspaper coverage of a murder as well as of the investigation and trial which follow creates a certain perception among its readers, and that this perception is based on the information that readers accumulate by reading various published articles. The hypothesis was that both newspapers treated Fred van der Vyver as a newsmaker, and as a murdered in particular, by making use of various linguistic devices. The data analyzed were a selection of articles published between March 2005 and November 2007 in the online versions of Cape Times and Die Burger. A focal point of the study was to show how different aspects of newspaper reporting – specifically headlines and the text itself – construct a particular view or image of the case in general and of Fred van der Vyver in particular. It was found that neither the Cape Times nor Die Burger wrote that Fred van der Vyver was the murderer but both suggested it throughout by making use of linguistic devices. Loaded words, for example, were used to describe certain aspects of the case, and these aspects were then associated with Fred van der Vyver. Fred van der Vyver`s identity had been presented as that of a murderer within the press by means of linguistic tools and language use. The hypotheses was therefore borne out by the data, as both newspapers had indeed portrayed the identity of Fred van der Vyver as that of a murderer. What we read in the papers does have an influence on what we perceive to be true, objective or accurate and on how we ultimately form an opinion. In this case, the public automatically accepted Fred van der Vyver’s identity as portrayed in the press, namely as that of a murderer, and assumed that he was guilty once he was arrested.

Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The relationship between the media and the law is an important one, especially in an adolescent democracy like South Africa. On the one hand the law has the power to control the fundamental right to freedom of expression – the very core of the media’s existence. On the other hand, however, the media are vital mechanisms through which the law can ensure that citizens know that justice is being done. The media are therefore also powerful; having the ability to influence people’s perceptions of and respect for the law. The relationship between the media and the law is characterised internationally by frequent tensions and misunderstandings – a trend that has not escaped South Africa. Whereas some of these strains may be explained with reference to both the media and the law’s respective duties in a democracy; many problems are also caused as result of misunderstandings and inaccurate expectations of both parties’ responsibilities in a democracy. This study was thus launched from the premise that there is room and need for improvement in the relationship between the media and the law. The way in which citizens perceive the law (or legal consciousness) was investigated; as were the sources of such perceptions. Making use of a questionnaire distributed to a sample of students at two Western Cape universities, it was established that students’ opinions of lawyers and judicial officers are generally positive, but that they do not have much confidence in the efficacy of the South African legal system. The feedback also indicates that news and popular media are the most important sources of such opinions of the law – a context-specific finding that echoes similar results obtained internationally. Popular media as an important source of perceptions give rise to several concerns. Not only do citizens struggle to distinguish between fact and fiction in popular media; but most of the popular (legally-themed) media available in South Africa are furthermore imported from the USA. This tendency, defined in this study as the Hollywoodization of South African law, lead to concerns that citizens may not only be basing their opinions of the law on fiction; but also that such media are premised on a very different (American) legal system from our own. The importance of news media as a source was investigated more specifically by making use of a case study (the Inge Lotz/ Fred van der Vyver story). The way in which pre-trial publicity and court reporting may lead to the sacrifice of a defendant’s right to a fair trial was investigated by looking at the influences of news media coverage on the parties involved; the presiding officers, assessors and witnesses; and the perceptions lay audiences may have of the specific case and (consequently) the law in general. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verhouding tussen die media en die reg is ’n belangrike een, veral in ’n jong demokrasie soos Suid-Afrika. Aan die een kant het die reg die mag om die hart van die media se bestaansreg – die grondwetlike reg op vryheid van spraak – te beheer. Aan die ander kant is die media ook ’n noodsaaklike meganisme wat aan landsburgers oordra wanneer geregtigheid geskied, en wanneer nie. Die media kan dus die doeltreffendheid van die reg in ’n demokrasie ernstig beïnvloed. Die verhouding tussen die media en die reg word wêreldwyd met misverstande en probleme gekenmerk – ’n tendens waarvan Suid-Afrika nie afgesonder is nie. Hoewel van dié stremminge veroorsaak word deur die partye se onderskeie natuurlike pligte in ’n demokrasie, word sommige probleme ook veroorsaak deur misverstande en onregverdige verwagtinge van wat beide partye se verantwoordelikhede behels. Die studie is gevolglik onderneem met die uitgangspunt dat daar moontlikheid vir verbetering in die verhouding tussen die media en die reg is. Die wyse waarop burgers die reg beskou of ervaar (waarna in die studie verwys word as legal consciousness of regbewussyn) word ondersoek; en só ook die bronne van burgers se regsbewussyn. Deur gebruik te maak van ’n vraelys wat aan ’n groep studente by twee Wes-Kaapse Universiteite uitgedeel is, word daar vasgestel dat studente oor die algemeen baie respek het vir die regslui, maar min vertroue in die Suid- Afrikaanse regstelsel het. Die terugvoering bepaal ook dat nuus- en populêre/ gewilde media die belangrikste bronne van regsbewussyn is. Dié bevinding, wat konteksspesifiek tot Suid-Afrika is, bevestig soortgelyke gevolgtrekkings wat internasionaal ook aanvaar is. Die feit dat populêre media ’n belangrike bron van regsbewussyn is, lei tot talle bekommernisse. Behalwe dat daar reeds bevind is dat gebruikers van dié media nie kan onderskei tussen wat feite en wat fiksie is nie, word daar in Suid-Afrika hoofsaaklik Amerikaanse populêre media met regstemas versprei. Die gevaar is dus dat Suid- Afrikaanse burgers dalk besig is om hul indrukke van die reg te baseer op beide fiksie én ’n Amerikaanse voorstelling van die regstelsel (die sg. Hollywoodization van die Suid- Afrikaanse reg). Die studie beskou verder die belangrikheid van die nuusmedia as ’n bron deur ’n gevallestudie van ’n bekende Suid-Afrikaanse moordondersoek en regssaak (die Inge Lotz/ Fred van der Vyver-saak). Die aard van beide voorverhoor-publisiteit en hofverslaggewing en die moontlikheid dat dit skade aan die regverdigheid van ’n verhoor kan verrig, word veral van nader beskou. Spesifieke aandag word ook geskenk aan die moontlike invloede van dié tipe mediadekking op die betrokke partye; die onafhanklikheid van voortsittende beamptes, assessore en getuies; en die indrukke wat by gewone burgers oor ’n spesifieke saak – en dus die reg in geheel – geskep kan word.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Principles and standards in journalism warrant attention and this assignment attempted to offer some ethical concepts as a framework from which to evaluate journalistic conduct. The proposal was to investigate the level of moral integrity in journalism as practiced in daily newspapers using concepts proposed by specialists in the journalistic field such as accuracy, bias, and fairness. The newspapers examined in the research process were the Cape Argus, the Cape Times, Die Burger and Beeld. As a means of probing the dailies, case studies were made of reports on de Allan Boesak, the former anti-apartheid cleric accused and later convicted of theft and fraud, and Hansie Cronje, the former cricket captain of South Africa, who found himself in a similar position regarding money and the trust placed in him. The research comprised a comparative analysis of articles related to dr. Boesak in the period from 4 March 1997 to 27 March 1997, and Hansie Cronje from 8 April 2000 to 24 April 2000. These personalities were used as case studies to establish whether the four dailies differed in their portrayal of these figures as events unfolded in the public arena. The intention was to find out if there were differences in the approach to the topics covered, and if so, if it amounted to bias, inaccuracy and unfairness The results of the study showed that in the final analysis, dr. Boesak primarily enjoyed favourable coverage in the Cape Argus and Cape Times, while Hansie Cronje primarily enjoyed the same in Die Burger and Beeld. While these predispositions were rather obvious, the quality of reportage was not impaired to the extent that one could regard its news as distorted, inferior or of doubtful quality. The papers were still able to perform a high standard of professionalism in giving equal and just coverage to the topics covered, and were adept at providing a successful forum for the exchange of ideas while keeping the public informed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Beginsels en standaarde in die joernalistiek vereis aandag en hierdie werkstuk het probeer om enkele etiese konsepte voor te stel waarvolgens joernalistiese optrede beoordeel kan word. Die doel was om die standaard van morele integriteit in die joernalistiek van streekkoerante te bestudeer deu- middel van gespesialiseerde joernalistiese begrippe, onder meer akkuraatheid, partydigheid en regverdigheid. Die koerante wat deel gevorm het van die ondersoek sluit die Cape Argus, Cape Times, Die Burger en Bee/d in. Die dagblaaie is deur middel van gevallestudies bestudeer. Hierdie het bestaan uit berigte oor dr. Allan Boesak, die voormalige anti-apartheid aktivis wat eerstens aangekla en later skuldig bevind is aan diefstal en bedrog, en oor Hansie Cronje, die voormalige Suid-Afrikaanse krieketkaptein, wat in 'n soortgelyke posisie verkeer het weens beweerde bedrog. Die studie bestaan uit 'n vergelykende ontleding van berigte oor dr. Boesak wat verskyn het in die tydperk tussen 4 Maart 1997 en 27 Maart 1997, asook berigte oor Hansie Cronje wat verskyn het tussen 8 April 2000 en 24 April 2000. Die omstredenheid rondom hierdie persoonlikhede word gebruik as gevallestudies om vas te stel of hierdie spesifieke dagblaaie verskil het in hul uitbeelding van die persone terwyl hierdie gebeure in die openbare arena afgespeel het. Die doel was om vas te stel of daar verskille was in die manier waarop die onderwerpe benader is, en indien wei, of dit tot onjuistheid, partydigheid en onregverdigheid gelei het. Die uitslae van die studie het bewys dat dr. Boesak hoofsaaklik gunstige dekking gekry het in die Cape Argus en Cape Times, terwyl Hansie Cronje grootlik dieselfde behandeling ontvang het in Die Burger en Bee/d. Alhoewel hierdie neigings in die verskillende dagblaaie klaarblyklik was, het dit nie daarop neergekom dat die gehalte van die berigte verlaag is tot so 'n mate dat 'n mens dit as verdraaid, minderwaardig of twyfelagtig kon bestempel nie. Die dagblaaie het nog steeds daarin geslaag om 'n taamlik hoe mate van professionele vaardigheid te vertoon deur middel van egalige en eweredige beriggewing met betrekking tot die aangeleenthede van belang in hierdie studie. Die koerante het bepaald daarin geslaag om In forum vir die uitruiling van idees te verskaf terwyl hulle voortdurend sorg dat hulle die publiek inlig.

This study identified the media frames that dominate Thisday newspaper's coverage of China's engagement with Nigeria and relate these frames to frame sponsors, who articulate and contest these framings. Frame analysis is applied to a sample of 40 news, feature and opinion articles between the sample period of 1 November 2011 and 31 December 2012. The study analysed media content from Thisday newspapers, drawing on the four dimensions of frames identified by Entman: define problems, diagnose causes, evaluate causal agents and their effects, and recommend treatment (Entman 1993). Using an inductive approach to frame analysis, the study identified two overarching mega frames, contested among the ruling elites who sponsor their views on China in the media, which define China's engagement with Nigeria; partner/role model and predator. The two mega frames mirror the broad characterisation prevalent in the academic literature on China in Africa. The primary partner/role model mega frame constructs China's engagement with Nigeria as a mutually beneficial economic partnership while on the other hand the predator mega frame constructs it as unequal and exploitative. The study identified the activities of frame sponsors who are articulating and promoting their views on China's engagement with Nigeria in the media as primarily responsible for these framings. The study also identified the activities of frame sponsors (ruling and economic elites) was key to the exclusion of ordinary peoples' voices, civic organisations, trade unions and human rights organisation in the text. However, the study also attributes the exclusion of ordinary voices, human rights, democracy and civic engagements in the text to the weakness of Thisday journalism in mediating the framings of China being promoted and articulated by elite frame sponsors. This is, however, symptomatic of the fault lines of journalism practice in Nigeria.

This thesis examines the meanings that residents of the township of Hooggenoeg (in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa) made of the election coverage in the Grocott’s Mail newspaper during 2011 municipal elections in South Africa. In addition, this study also sought to understand the particular set of ‘normative roles’ played by the paper, both with reference to the well-established body of theory about the normative roles of journalism in a democracy, and in terms of the paper’s own conceptualisation of its role in the functioning of local democracy. Grocott’s Mail, the oldest independent newspaper in South Africa, provided extensive pre-election coverage, which included producing and distributing an unprecedented free edition of the paper. The paper also facilitated a town hall debate in order to encourage residents to vote, and empower them to make a more informed choice about their vote. Three qualitative research methods, namely qualitative content analysis, focus group interviews, and individual interviews were used to examine the relationship between the content provided by the paper and the audience’s process of ‘making sense’ and deriving meaning from the content provided. The study concludes that Grocott’s attempt to encourage democratic culture in Grahamstown, in keeping with the more ‘facilitative’ normative roles that the local media can play, was only partially successful. Much of the election reporting subordinated the voices of the ordinary people, and privileged reporting that focussed narrowly on the voting process, and which foregrounded the views of political parties. Overall this coverage largely failed to resonate with the Grocott’s readers who live in Hooggenoeg (a largely ‘coloured’ area of Grahamstown), whose key concerns in terms of their daily life – such as poverty, unemployment, crime, lack of services – seemed, to them, unaddressed by this election coverage and, consequently, was not as engaging or convincing as the publishers/editors had hoped it would be. It can be also argued that Grocott’s narrow conceptualisation of democracy as entailing only public participation in electoral processes failed to cater for how audiences can be made aware of how they can participate in governance beyond the election period.

李艷紅. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2004. / 參考文獻 (p. 320-328). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Li Yanhong. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2004. / Can kao wen xian (p. 320-328).

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.

This thesis argues that there is a clear imbalance in the representation of crime in the newspaper, Grocott’s Mail, in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The thesis concludes that the system of marginalisation and segregation which was established during the apartheid era is the foundation for the continued segregation and marginalisation of certain groups of people in Grahamstown as depicted in crime journalism. Previous research shows that not only people, but spaces are marginalised through media representations of crime. As people are represented as dangerous, so too the spaces they occupy become dangerous spaces. Importantly, the research shows that discourses of marginalisation are present in newspaper reports reproducing the discourses prominent in society, and in turn, the newspaper itself perpetuates these marginalising discourses. This extends into the coverage that different crimes receive in newspapers. For instance, the reports show that a middle-class audience will be more concerned with property crime in middle-class neighbourhoods, than other crimes in lower-class neighbourhoods. I argue that not only the type of crime, but the severity, the effect, and the necessity for justice represented by the newspaper, are all largely determined by the region of the crime. Further, I show that the criminal is not only demonised and represented as individually deviant in the reports in the newspaper, but that these representations are made by this newspaper because they are deeply imbedded as a discourse in society. This is partly because this newspaper has taken on a monitorial role, requiring neutral reporting from journalists, and a dedication to surveying the processes of state institutions, like the police and courts. As a result, the ways in which crime is reported on in the newspaper is fairly well fixed, making it difficult for journalists to conceive of different ways of reporting crime. The representations of the criminal justice system that the monitorial media, this newspaper included present, are a careful balance between the interest of the public, and the need to preserve relationships with sources. The monitorial media in general, and this newspaper in particular, represent the criminal justice system. The relationship between the police and the newspaper, and the courts and the media, therefore strongly influences the way in which crime news is reported. In particular, crime news is represented from the perspective of the criminal justice system. This research was carried out using Critical Discourse Analysis, qualitative interviews, and focus group interviews.

On May 16 2006 the government of Zimbabwe embarked on a clean-up programme of urban centres, destroying informal human settlements and informal businesses. This operation, which the government called operation "Restore Order", resulted in the displacement of nearly one million people and left thousands of families homeless. This study is a discussion and an analysis of the coverage of the clean-up operation by two of Zimbabwe's leading Sunday newspapers, The Sunday Mail and The Standard. The Sunday Mail is owned by the Zimbabwe government and The Standard is privately owned and perceived to be oppositional to the current Zimbabwe government. The two newspapers, therefore, covered the clean-up operation from different perspectives and often presented conflicting reports explaining why the clean-up operation was carried out and the extent of its impact on the lives of millions of Zimbabweans. The chosen research approach is the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework as developed by Fairclough (1995). Using CDA, this study seeks to find out and expose the underlying ideological struggles for hegemony between different social and political groups in Zimbabwe and how the newspapers became actors in this process. This process is made possible by looking at how news reporting is organised in the two newspapers, issues of language use, sourcing and external factors that influenced the coverage of the operation.