published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

This thesis employs Jurgen Habermas’ theory of public sphere as an analytical tool to consider the role played by two popular private newspapers in the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe, one case from colonial Rhodesia and the other from the post-colonial era. It argues that, functioning under repressive political regimes and in the absence of credible opposition political parties or as a platform for opposition political parties, the African Daily News, between 1956-1964 and the Daily News, between 1999-2003, played a fundamental role in opening up spaces for political freedom in the country. Each was ultimately shut down by the respective government of the time. The newspapers allowed reading publics the opportunity to participate in politics by providing a daily analytical alternative, to that offered by the government and the state media, in relation to the respective political crises that unfolded in each of these periods. The thesis examines both the information policies pursued by the different governments and the way these affected the functioning of private media in their quest to provide an ‘ideal’ public sphere. It explores issues of ownership, funding and editorial policies in reference to each case and how these affected the production of news and issue coverage. It considers issues of class and geography in shaping public response. The thesis also focuses on state reactions to the activities of these newspapers and how these, in turn, affected the activities of private media actors. Finally, it considers the cases together to consider the meanings of the closing down of these newspapers during the two eras under discussion and contributes to the debates about print media vis-a-vis the new forms of media that have come to the fore. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.

Studies on letters to the editor examine many areas, including function of the letters column. Much agenda-setting research focuses on media influence, though the principles have been applied to many fieldsThis content analysis combined the two areas in an effort to measure how letters to the editor might reflect the agenda set by a newspaper.The study evaluated all letters and news stories that appeared in The Truth during June, July, and August 2004. Items were sorted into content categories, regions of coverage, and page position to see if a relationship existed between stories and subsequent letters.The findings suggest that readers respond strongly to an agenda of local news and are more likely to write about front-page stories. Furthermore, the strong response of letter writers to other letters led the author to conclude that letters themselves can play a role in the agenda-setting process. / Department of Journalism

《北洋官报》于1902 年12 月创刊发行，至1912 年5 月随清王朝的覆灭而寿终正寝。纵观清末十年《北洋官报》的刊行，可见其应新政而生，又以报道和宣传新政为第一要务。本研究旨在透过《北洋官报》来看清末北洋新政。具体而言，首先要探讨的是作为新政喉舌的《北洋宮报》的创刊背景，即清末新政与北洋独特的政治文化;同时，也要梳理这份新式官报与晚清业已存在的报纸之间的文本联系。其次要具体探讨的是北洋官报局的局务，包括《官报》的发行、书籍为主的印刷业务的开展，以及"官纸印刷"的筹划与争论等。其三是《北洋官报》对新政的展示和宣传。其四是《北洋官报》在展示新政与启蒙民众过程中对日本的借鉴与推崇。通过以上四方面的研究，本论文主要探讨了《北洋官报》及官报局在北洋新政中的作用《官报》在展示新政、启蒙民智上所形成的官方新政话语和所体现的官方与非官方之间的互动关系，以及北洋与中央之间的复杂关系等。 / 就时间的划分而言， 1906 年之前，清末新政主要集中在经济、教育、军事等诸领域的改革， 1906 年之后转为以中央与地方推行的宪政改革为主要内容。依此，本论文讨论《北洋官报》对新政的展示和宣传就以1906 年为界，分为两个峙段:新政时期和宪政时代。前者侧重于《北洋官报》中的不同部分如何展示新政;后者侧重于从《官报》中看到的清末宪政推进情况。论文正文的末章则对宪政时代作详细论析。 / 综合言之， 《北洋官报》从其创刊之际，即与晚清的变局、北洋政治文化以及清末新政息息相关。《官报》为新政产物和应新政而生的同时，又以宣扬新政与开民智为己任，塑造了呈现于《官报》上的新政话语。作为官方报纸上的新政话语，并非纯然代表官方立场表达官方意志，而是既有官方的一面，又有非官方的一面，更有官方与非官方之间互动的一面。《官报》的语境既与一个多元与过渡的时代息息相关，同样，这个多元与过渡的时代也呈现在《宮报》的各种不同文本空间之中。体现在《北洋官报》中的北洋新政，在某种程度上也预示了北洋政治左右民初政局的现象，这是多元变化和过渡形态的一个方面。 / The Beiyang Gazette (Beiyang guanbao) published its first issue in December, 1902, and stopped publication in May, 1912, following the fall of the Qing Dynasty. From an overview of its ten-year publication and circulation, it is clear that the gazette was born to serve the late Qing reform, and publicizing and reporting on the reform became its top priority. This thesis aims at studying the reform through textual and contextual analyses of the Beiyang Gazette. In details, the author first investigates the background of the gazette as the mouthpiece of the reform, to understand the unique political culture of the reform under the Beiyang authorities in the late Qing. This study also traces the textual links between the new-style Beiyang Gazette and other contemporary newspapers. Second, the thesis examines the Bureau of the Beiyang Gazette in length. Details include the distribution of the gazette, the development of its book-based printing business, the controversy of "official paper" printing, and so forth. Third, the representation ofthe reform in the Beiyang Gazette is studied through textual analysis. Fourth, Japan as an enlightening model for the Chinese reform as portrayed in the Beiyang Gazette is discussed. In sum, the thesis examines the function of the Beiyang Gazette and its bureau in the Beiyang reform, the official discourse of the reformed in the gazette and its role in demonstrating the reform and enlightening the people, the interaction between the official and the unofficial realms, and the complicated relations between the Beiyang and the central governments, and other related topics. / It is found that the year 1906 was a watershed between two stages of the Beiyang reform. Before 1906, areas of the reform were mainly economy, education, military, etc. After 1906, the main concern was constitutional implementation by the central and local authorities. Chapter 6 of the thesis focuses on the second period and demonstrates in details the advancement of constitutional implementation. / In sum, the Beiyang Gazette was under the influence of the Beiyang political culture ever since it started publication. To serve the Beiyang authorities, the gazette took priority in publicizing the reform and enlightening the people. The reform discourse, as formed by the Beiyang Gazette, contained not only official, but also unofficial factors which interacted with each other. The context of the discourse had been closely related to the backdrop of an age of multiplicity and transition which was in turn represented in different textual spaces of the gazette. The Beiyang reform embodied in the Beiyang Gazette, to a certain extent, heralded the Beiyang politics that came to affect China for some time after 1911. This vicissitude can be seen as one dimension of the phenomenon of multiple changes in a transitional era. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 姜海龍. / Sumitted date: 2011年11月. / Sumitted date: 2011 nian11 yue. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 268-275) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Jiang Hailong. / Chapter 第一章 --- 绪论 --- p.1 / Chapter 一 --- 选题意义 --- p.1 / Chapter 二 --- 概念界说 --- p.4 / Chapter 三 --- 学术史回顾 --- p.6 / Chapter 一 --- 关于清末民初天津史的研究 --- p.6 / Chapter 二 --- 关于晚清报纸的研究 --- p.9 / Chapter 三 --- 清末《官报》的研究 --- p.15 / Chapter 四 --- 清末新政研究 --- p.16 / Chapter 四 --- 研究思路及史料支撑 --- p. 25 / 研究思路 --- p.25 / 论文所使用的史料 --- p.27 / Chapter 五 --- 研究方法与论文结构 --- p.28 / 研究方法 --- p.28 / 论文结构 --- p.28 / 论文大致内容 --- p.28 / Chapter 第二章 --- 语境与文本: 《北洋官报》之创刊 --- p.35 / Chapter 第一节 --- 历史语境:《新政上谕》与《江楚会奏变法三折》之间 --- p.35 / 《新政上谕》的解读 --- p.35 / 《江楚会奏变法三折》的出台 --- p.38 / Chapter 第二节 --- 内陆码头式的北洋政治文化 --- p.41 / 内陆码头"北洋"政治地理版图的生成 --- p.41 / 内陆码头与北洋政治文化 --- p.45 / Chapter 第三节 --- 两种文本: 《京报》与《申报》 --- p.52 / 《京报》 :前官报形态? --- p.53 / 从《申报》到《北洋官报》 :官方的模仿和对抗? --- p.58 / Chapter 第四节 --- 《北洋官报》的创刊 --- p.65 / 《北洋官报》创办 --- p.65 / 北洋官报局的章程 --- p.67 / 晚清新式官报的起点? --- p.69 / Chapter 本章结语 --- p.70 / Chapter 第三章 --- 新政展示(1902-1906): 从文牍到新闻 --- p.71 / Chapter 第一节 --- 皇权秩序的"象征性存在" --- p.71 / Chapter 第二节 --- 文牍中的新政展示 --- p.76 / 从章奏到官文牍 --- p.76 / 文牍与新政 --- p.78 / 文牍中的袁世凯 --- p.85 / Chapter 第三节 --- 新闻中的"新政纪事" --- p.90 / 新政报道:文牍的延续 --- p.90 / 新政报道:与私家之报的共识 --- p.93 / Chapter 本章结语 --- p.98 / Chapter 第四章 --- 局:官方与非官方之间 --- p.101 / Chapter 第一节 --- 官报局:清末新政中的"局" --- p.101 / 晚清以来的"局" --- p.101 / 天津的"局" --- p.103 / 北洋官报局 --- p.111 / Chapter 第二节 --- 《官报》发行 --- p.113 / 首创《官报》派销模式 --- p.114 / 第一份邮发报纸 --- p.119 / Chapter 第三节 --- 兼营印刷出版业 --- p. 122 / 官方印刷与出版机构 --- p.122 / 官方书籍出版 --- p.126 / 官方与非官方之间 --- p.129 / Chapter 第四节 --- "官纸印刷"的争论 --- p.134 / 官纸印刷会详 --- p.134 / 咨议局对"官纸印刷"的驳议 --- p.142 / Chapter 本章结语 --- p.149 / Chapter 第五章 --- 日本因素 --- p.151 / 以日为师 --- p.151 / Chapter 第一节 --- 在印刷领域的借鉴与效仿 --- p.154 / 对《日本官报》的借鉴 --- p.154 / 印刷问答:中日官报局长的"面对面" --- p.157 / Chapter 第二节 --- 《官报》中的《日俄战纪》 --- p. 167 / 从《普法战纪》到《日俄战纪》 --- p. 167 / 从西电到西报 --- p.171 / 从新闻到新知 --- p.176 / Chapter 第三节 --- 日本新知 --- p.180 / 《官报》中的新知略述 --- p.181 / 日本新知 --- p.184 / Chapter 本章结语 --- p. 195 / Chapter 第六章 --- 宪政时代 --- p.197 / Chapter 第一节 --- 广告中的宪政 --- p.198 / Chapter 第二节 --- 文牍中的宪政--宪政编查馆 --- p.203 / Chapter 第三节 --- 文牍中的宪政--直隶地方自治 --- p.212 / Chapter 第四节 --- 新政纪闻中的"议会纪事" --- p.220 / 以选举为中心的展示 --- p.221 / 以议案为中心的展示 --- p.225 / Chapter 第五节 --- 变化 --- p.229 / 官报的变化 --- p.230 / 从部、周到议董两会 --- p.232 / Chapter 本章结语 --- p.240 / Chapter 第七章 --- 结语 --- p.242 / 新政与新政话语 --- p.242 / 官方与非官方之间 --- p.244 / 北洋与中央 --- p.249 / 附录 --- p.255 / Chapter 附录一 --- 《北洋官报序三》、《北洋官报序四》 --- p.255 / Chapter 附录二 --- 《北洋官报》所载京师风景插图 --- p.257 / Chapter 附录三 --- 《北洋官报》不同时期所登载的商务印书馆广告 --- p.264 / 参考文献 --- p.268

Chow, Chun Shu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-187). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / Tables and Figures --- p.vi / Chapter Part 1 --- An Overview / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review --- p.8 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Theoretical Framework --- p.30 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Methodology and Research Questions --- p.36 / Chapter Part 2 --- Comparison between Headline Daily and The Standard / Chapter Chapter 5: --- The July 1st Rally 2009 --- p.42 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Legislative By-election 2007 --- p.67 / Chapter Part 3 --- Ethnography on Sing Tao Daily / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Newsroom observations and Newsmaking --- p.102 / Chapter Chapter 8: --- News Handling - Compliance of News Workers --- p.118 / Chapter Chapter 9: --- Interviews --- p.139 / Chapter Part 4 --- Discussion and Conclusion / Chapter Chapter 10: --- Discussion --- p.148 / Chapter Chapter 11: --- Conclusion and Limitations --- p.161 / "Appendix I: Comparison between Headlines, Word Count and Page Count of Headline Daily and The Standard on Legislative Council By-election 2007" --- p.167 / Appendix II: List of news articles written during the part-time working period in Sing Tao Daily --- p.174 / Appendix III: List of Reporters and Assignment Editors in Sing Tao Daily whom I have encountered during the working period --- p.179 / References --- p.180

This study discusses the potential for promoting cyber democracy through interactivity, on the Internet. Both interactivity and cyber democracy will lead to a broadening of the Zimbabwean public sphere by including online newspapers in the media circle. It views interactivity, cyber democracy and the public sphere as central to free expression. Zimbabwean online newspapers are not fully exploiting the Internet’s potentials to promote the threefold ideal for public deliberations identified in this study. The content analysis of 22 Zimbabwean online newspapers revealed that many newspapers are providing interactive tools that are of limited relevance to interactive communication. The different models for assessing interactivity, cyber democracy and the public sphere in the online newspapers that were employed in this study point to very low levels of interactivity, hence the rest of the components were affected. The three aspects of public deliberation identified in this study were found to be interdependent on each other. The qualitative research procedure confirms and provided reasons for low interactivity on Zimbabwe’s online newspapers from the editors’ perspectives. The online editors are cautious in their approach to a free-form type of public deliberations. Interactivity, potentials for cyber democracy and possibilities of a broadened public sphere were found to be very low on Zimbabwe’s online newspapers. However, the Internet itself is endowed with great possibilities for political deliberations that remain untapped. The onus is upon the newspapers to accord citizens opportunities for participation by making available tools for higher levels of interactive communication. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

In the Kwa-Zulu Natal context, a lot of attention has been paid to the construction of Zulu ethnicity in the potential and discursive spheres. Less attention has been paid however to the construction of Indian ethnicity in this region. This project will explore the exclusivist construction of an Indian ethnic identity by an Indian-owned print medium in this geographical context during the time of the 1994 South African elections, when various political parties fought for what has been called the "Indian vote". It will attempt to point out that the notion of ethnic identity offered by this medium to its readers does not actually challenge those offered to the community by the old South Africa state. In grounding the analysis of the editions under discussion in a framework developed by Norman Fairclough, this study draws heavily on a theoretical continuum developed by Antonio Gramsci and Louis Althusser. It is in such a theoretical context that Fairclouch has developed the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). By bringing such a methodology to bear on the texts under analysis, the study hopes to develop an understanding of Indian ethnicity in this region which suggests that it is an extremely problematic construct. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1995.

This thesis explores the manner in which the conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta in Nigeria is represented in western Anglophone media. Large oil reserves in the Niger Delta have contributed millions of dollars towards the growth of Nigeria's export economy. Despite this, the Niger Delta is the least developed region in the country and is characterised by high rates of inequality. Residents of the Niger Delta have been outraged by the lack of action on the part of the Nigerian government and multinational oil corporations. Their discontent over the inequalities in the region has resulted in the proliferation of armed groups and militants who often use violent and criminal tactics to communicate their disgruntlement. This thesis closely examines the representations of the violent insurgency in the Niger Delta by conducting a Critical Discourse Analysis of 145 news texts selected from four western Anglophone newspapers from 2007 to 2011. The depiction of the conflict as it appears in the four newspapers is discussed in relation to an overview of scholarly literature which explores the portrayal of Africa not only in western media, but also in other forms of western scholarship and writing. The research undertaken in this study reveals that to a significant extent representations of the Niger Delta conflict echo and reflect some of the stereotypical and age-old negative imagery that informs meanings constructed about the African continent. However, the analysis of the news texts also shows that there are certainly efforts amongst some newspapers to move beyond simplistic representations of the conflict. The disadvantage however, is that these notable attempts tend to be marred by the use of pejorative language which typically invokes negative images associated with Africa. This study argues that the implications of these representations are highly significant as these representations not only affect the way in which the conflict is understood, but also the manner in which the international community responds to it.