This study examined factors important in determining the acceptance of racially charged humor. It utilized a 2 x 3 design in which race of joke teller and group targeted by the jokes were manipulated. It measured people’s level of acceptance regarding the jokes and recorded participants’ behaviors. This study found that under the conditions in which comedians derogated their in-group, White participants demonstrated higher levels of acceptance and a greater likelihood to perform the jokes. This pattern was especially true when the comedian was Black.

In many nations, the 21st century has been about women in politics. Not only are they running for prominent political offices, but they are winning them. The trend toward success for American female politicians has been slower to progress, however, as no women have been elected to the U.S. Presidency to date, and social science research suggests persistent gender biases exist in their news coverage. In order to explore the potential role that media play in continuing this gender disparity in U.S. politics, this comparative study investigates how cable pundit programs – a dramatic, partisan genre of “news” that has risen in popularity since the 2008 election – frame female candidates for the highest national office. A content analysis of pre-election coverage of three prominent U.S. politicians on the national scene, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, on The O’Reilly Factor, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show reveals a small incidence of gendered coverage across these shows overall. Among said coverage found, however, trends in the data suggest that conservative programs employ more gendered frames than liberal programs, and that those frames are particularly negative when referring to liberal candidates (Clinton), and positive when referring to conservative (Palin and Bachmann) candidates. Further, the gender of the pundits, the gender of the cable network production staff members, and the political party affiliations of executive staff/owners correspond to the frames employed by these programs in unique ways.

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Studien ämnar att utröna vilka semiotiska verktyg som används för att konstruera en bild av UlfKristersson på hans Instagramsida samt hur budskap blir personifierade. Detta görs genom en kvalitativ textanalys i form av en visuell textanalys. Inom detta ämne visar tidigare forskning på att trovärdigheten är av stor betydelse eftersom innehållet granskas kritiskt. Allt mer kreativa metoder och teorier skapas för att få publikens uppmärksamhet, dock blir detta en utmaning för demokratin, menar Edgerly och Thorson (2020). De beskriver den nuvarande media omgivningen som kaotisk och att det finns ett överflöd av politiska aktörer som konkurrerar om publikens uppmärksamhet. Detta är inte endast något som påverkar medborgarskap, men även demokratin, särskilt med det nya fenomenet “politiska influerare”. För att analysera den politiska kommunikationen ur ett visuellt sammanhang ämnar studien att använda en visuell textanalys. För den visuella textanalysen användes en socialsemiotisk metod för att tolka och förstå samband mellan semiotiskt material eller visuella element och förstå hur och vilken mening som skapas genom den visuella kommunikationen. En retorisk analys användes också för att se vilken retorik som används genom den visuella kommunikationen. I enlighet med analysen kunde slutsatsen dras att de teman som identifierades ger åskådaren en bild av Ulf Kristersson där han representerar det politiska partiet “Moderaterna”. Denna representation sker genom personifiering där Ulf Kristersson står för argument och teman som partiet vill reflektera. Dessa argument identifierades genom denotation och konnotation samt kategorisering för att gruppera bilder med liknande grundlig kommunikation, exempelvis bilder som kopplar an något om den svenska militären eller Ulf Kristersson hemma med sin familj. / This study means to find what semiotic tools are used to construct an image of Ulf Kristersson on his Instagram page, and how messages are personified. This is done through a qualitative textanalysis in the form of a visual text analysis. In this subject, earlier research indicates credibility is of importance because content must be thoroughly examined. More and more creative methods and theories are created to catch the attention of the audience, this, however, becomes a challenge for democracy, argues Edgerly and Thorson (2020). They describe the current media environment as chaotic and that there’s an abundance of political figures competing for the audience’s attention. This is not something that only affects citizenship, but also democracy, especially thanks to the new phenomenon “political influencers”. To analyze political communication in a visual manner, the study aims to use a visual textanalysis as its method. For the visual text analysis, a social semiotic method was used to interpret and understand the connection between semiotic material or visual elements and understand how and what meaning is created through the visual communication. A rhetorical analysis was also used to determine what rhetoric was used through visual communication. With the analysis, the conclusion could be made that the themes that were identified give the viewer an image of Ulf Kristersson where he represents the political party “Moderaterna”. This representation is done through personification where Ulf stands for the arguments and themes that the party wants to reflect. These arguments were identified through denotation and connotation as well as categorization to group photos together that communicate the same basic themes, such as pictures that show the Swedish military in some way or Ulf simply spending time with his family at home.

The present study is an attempt to bring into focus one of the many bases of party power over Soviet citizens. It is no great revelation that the Soviet government has long indulged in anti-American propanda, but the continuity, elaboratness and virulence of ths "crusade of hatred" demands further study. It is essential that such study be undertaken parallel with an appraisal of Soviet-American relations since 1917. In outlining the chronological development of anti-American libel campaign, some space will be devoted to methodology, technology and apparent purposes of the Soviet propagandists. Space limitations preclude an elaborate study of Soviet propaganda as a whole; however, the selected theme--graphic propaganda--includes within its scope many aspects of the whole and thus is representative of the broader subject.

The diploma thesis is devoted to the analysis of the political communication of Czech populist politicians in the context of the elections to the Chamber of Deputies in October 2021. It aims to map the communication activity of selected political representatives and to compare how these politicians use social networks for their political communication, what influence the proximity of the elections has on the activity and narrative of their communication strategy, what topics they focus on the most in their posts and to what extent they use attributes of populism and personalization. The theoretical part focuses on the definition and genesis of the term populism with a special emphasis on the perception of populism as a communication style. Afterward, the thesis pursues the issue of political communication in the context of the emergence and spread of the Internet and social media, in particular how political leaders take advantage of this transformation of the communication environment in their political strategy. The analytical part of the thesis then examines the communication activity of three selected populist politicians (Andrej Babiš, Tomio Okamura, Robert Šlachta) on Facebook in the pre- election period, the post-election period and the period of ordinary political struggle, for a total of...

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which U.S. newspapers covered the chatter surrounding the 2009/10 healthcare reform debate at the expense of the substance. Also of importance was how the political leanings of newspapers influenced the coverage they gave the issue in terms of tone and page or story prominence. Newspaper endorsement data from Editor & Publisher magazine were used to determine the political leanings of U.S. newspapers based on the candidate they endorsed in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Newspaper articles related to the topic were retrieved from the Lexis-Nexis database and analyzed. The results showed that overall the healthcare reform debate received substantial coverage in U.S. newspapers; but the major part of the coverage was dedicated to the arguments, protests, and thoughts of people concerning the issue (90.3%) rather than the substance of the issue (9.7%). Implications of the results for media practitioners, communication scholars, and researchers were discussed.

Analyzing 195 televised political ads from the United States and Canada in 2004 and 2008, this research studies the use of issue and image ads and the attack, acclaim, and contrast function of ads in presidential and federal elections. Results indicate that there is no statistical difference in the use of issue or image ads and no statistical difference in the function of ads in both nations in 2004 and 2008. Issue ads are found to be more commonly used in Canada than in the United States, but there is no statistical difference in the use of acclaim ads between the United States and Canada. Winners in both nations are found to use issue ads more than image ads while winners in Canadian elections were found to use issue ads more than winners of American elections. This study also offers a methodological finding regarding the analysis of issue or image in political advertising. Limitations and implications for future research are also discussed.

In this analysis of public speeches from four American presidents from the Republican party, the ways in which those presidents discuss and position American defense activities and stances are examined, to track the progression from the 1960s to the present. Presidents from one party were chosen, who presided over a period of active armed conflict or cold war. The addresses analyzed comprised public addresses to Congress or the American people. The analysis groups recurring frames--conceptually developed based on framing and agenda setting theories--into thematic categories for each president. Some frames were more salient for certain presidents than for others. Other frames were common and pervaded the presidents’ remarks to Congress and the public. America’s struggle against a faceless enemy, American military might as a guarantor of, and the importance of the United States’ commitments to its international partners were all prevailing frames which emerged in the analysis.

Perhaps no one has had more influence on the role of political documentary in the contemporary public sphere than filmmaker Michael Moore. His unique melding of committed political arguments with an ironic reflexive style have changed the very look and feel of documentary film, contributing significantly to the form's newfound popularity. Furthermore, his steadfast commitment to progressive politics has given the issue of socioeconomic "class" the kind of attention it rarely receives within the mainstream media. However, Moore's films have also been the recipient of viscous attacks from his political opponents, and subject to some of the most contentious public debates over the documentary form since the 1960s. This study integrates documentary theory and poststructuralist discourse analysis within a critical/cultural studies perspective to map out the ways in which generic conventions, interpretive strategies and rhetorical maneuvers have often combined to undermine the political goals and cultural legitimacy of Michael Moore and his films. First, I look at the ways in which Moore's own deployment of a patronizing mode of address transforms his films into "fantasies of advocacy"; narratives that invite an imagined audience of fellow advocates to evaluate and judge the lives and behaviors of the working-class subjects depicted on-screen. Such a depiction only works to strengthen middle-class forms of social authority which have worked, historically, to encourage class resentment. Second, I describe the ways in which Moore is also undermined by a mass media system within which progressive views are not often welcome. I explain how a number of discursive logics worked to frame Moore at various times throughout his career as an untrustworthy documentarian pushing Leftist propaganda, as an "indie film auteur" providing innovative cinematic experiences to middle-class audiences, and as a savvy celebrity-huckster selling political entertainment to embattled liberals. Finally, I describe how Moore's opponents on the political Right exploited the problematic aspects of both his rhetorical strategies and public reception to paint Moore as a "Liberal Elitist," a move that worked to derail the political effectiveness of Fahrenheit 9/11 during the 2004 election. By describing the complex, public articulations of Michael Moore and his films, this study contributes to the fields of documentary studies, media studies, cultural studies and political rhetoric.