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Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 357 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-137).

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No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

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.

Researchers have long-studied whether the media have an agenda or are strictly objective in their coverage. Using several agenda setting studies, this study built upon them and used the third-effect theory, which assumes people will the influence that mass communications has on the attitudes and behavior of others, to examine perceptions.This study examined whether Indiana mayors allowed the local newspaper to impact policy decisions. The effort determined that mayors perceived newspaper headlines impacted others more than the mayors.Indiana’s 115 mayors were divided by population classes and used to compare and contrast the results to questions examining agenda setting. One hypothesis assume mayors of larger cities would be impacted greater by the local newspaper than mayors of smaller cities. Statistically there was no correlation between the city size and how stories influence the operations in city hall. In fact, all mayors tended to agree that newspapers have little effect on policy decisions.The second hypothesis was based on the assumption that mayors perceived information in the newspaper had a greater effect on general readers of the newspaper than it did on the mayors. The results supported the notion and other third-person effect theories, which assume people will say information has a greater impact on someone else, the "third person," than it does on themselves. / Department of Journalism

This dissertation investigates print media reporting on the Jacob Zuma case to establish levels of bias, if any, in reporting such a high profile political case. The study is premised on the concept of social construction of reality where values and preferences could colour the perception of facts. The use of both ethnographic and quantitative content analysis allowed for the systematic investigation of the content of newspaper articles while the use of discourse analysis highlighted the importance of language use in the social construction of reality. Under apartheid the media was critical of government both ideologically and morally. The print media had a liberal democratic ethos and generally defended the underdog. This has been carried over into the democratic dispensation. The implication of the Deputy President of the country and the brother of the Secretary of the Arms Procurement Committee in corruption hit the nerve of the press, hence the vigilant reporting on the case. The media generally painted a picture of Zuma as a corrupt man not fit to be in public office with his implication in corruption being perceived as a threat to the country's democratic ethos. The view was that this undermined democratic principles of equality, justice and accountability. On the contrary COSATU, SACP and the ANCYL mobilised the public in support of Zuma arguing that the charges were instituted by vindictive opponents who wanted to destroy Zuma's political career. The NPA's conduct during the case including its failure to provide Zuma with a final indictment in over a year arguing that it was not prepared to continue with the case thus seeking a postponement - gave credence to the conspiracy theorists. At the end, the NP A conceded the conspiracy theory on the representation made by Zuma following leaked conversations between National Prosecuting Authority (NP A) boss Leonard McCarthy and former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka. This in essence brought a non-conclusive end to the saga as the allegations and the defence therefore could not be tested in a court of law. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This thesis attempts to make a useful contribution to our picture of the development of early nineteenth-century provincial liberalism. It investigates various political, social and economic aspects of liberalism in Manchester and draws attention to the ideas and activities of a small and identifiable group of respectable reformers who were active in the town in the first half of the nineteenth century and who had a significant impact on local affairs. Much has been written about Victorian Manchester and about Manchester politics in the era of Chartism, the Anti-Corn Law League and the so-called 'Manchester School'. This thesis seeks to elucidate and explain some of the less explored developments which were antecedent to and shaped these later events and movements. The main avenue of inquiry is provided by the public careers of a 'small but determined band' of reformers (as they were called by one of their number, Richard Potter), men who involved themselves in numerous political campaigns and who also pioneered a new kind of political journalism in the provinces. Archibald Prentice and John Edward Taylor in particular made the newspaper a vital organ in the formation and direction of liberal opinion. These men represented prominent features of Mancunian liberalism in the years before parliamentary reform and incorporation, and the main concern of the thesis is to illustrate these features by investigating the principles and campaigns of this reformist vanguard. Attention is paid to the band's political and theological precepts and motivations, to the examples and encouragement provided by earlier Manchester reformers, to the key role of the local reformist press in the work of enlightenment and mobilisation, to the liberals' battles with Manchester's mainly Tory-Anglican ruling party on certain local government issues, to the band's involvement in campaigns and discussions relating to important social questions such as education, health and welfare, poverty and labour relations, to the band's participation in commercial campaigns and the movement against the corn laws, and to their views and activities on the central question of parliamentary reform. The most important primary sources for this study are to be found in Manchester. The newspapers are invaluable; there are also substantial collections of contemporary pamphlets and miscellaneous ephemera which provide essential information as well as the material necessary for an appreciation of the wider Manchester setting. Members of the band have left certain materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, lectures, books and pamphlets, reminiscences and personal records - which are of importance when used alongside their letters, articles and editorials in the local newspapers.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1978. / Bibliography: leaves 236-242. / Microfiche. / xv, 242 leaves

vi, 405 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, Dept. of History, 1980