In this study we aim to analyse the role of journalism in creating certain representations of the relationship between man and climate, especially concerning the climate change scenario. We assume that the news is a specific type of symbolic system and configures itself in a cultural construction built through the news values that work with maps of representation. Our main goal is to analyse the climate in Zero Hora, in its various editorials, based on news values to show how it happens in the news the relationship between man and climate. The specific objectives of the research focus on characterizing climate events for journalism, defining concepts such as weather and climate, to understand historically how the relationship between the media and climate and between journalism and meteorology. We present a mapping of climate events in Zero Hora through a quantitative survey of however qualitative approach to identify news values and their meanings based on certain aspects from the theory of Representations using contributions from Patrick Charaudeau, Stuart Hall and Cristina Ponte. We also conducted interviews with professionals in meteorology and journalism field in order to understand how they interact with the subject. Our study aimed to cover from the news that involve the variable weather in the day-by-day life up to the ones that deal with long term climate changes. This was sourced from the newspaper Zero Hora, in Rio Grande do Sul. We analysed 41 editions and mapped the coverage of 90 climate events. Considering the news values found, an observation can be concluded on how Zero Hora represents the relationship between men and climate. This study concludes that the newspaper represents man as a victim of the climate events. Furthermore there is a personification of the nature in these events, in which it is identified as a major culprit for the consequences, changes, destruction and death. This representation of the climate shows that there is no deep discussion over the influence of human intervention on nature itself. The news values that guide the approach to climate and weather in Zero Hora are not related to aspects such as environmental issues. Problems such as poor urban space planning, the siltation of rivers, high risk areas public policies, which can be considered as causes of flooding, for example, are not made evident in the news about the climate. / Nesse trabalho procuramos refletir sobre o papel do jornalismo ao construir determinadas representações da relação entre o homem e o clima, principalmente diante do cenário das mudanças climáticas. Partimos do pressuposto de que a notícia é um tipo específico de sistema simbólico e configura-se numa construção cultural, construída através dos valores-notícias que funcionam com mapas de representação. Nosso objetivo geral é analisar a cobertura do clima em Zero Hora, nas suas diferentes editorias, a partir dos valores-notícia para evidenciar como se dá, nas notícias, a relação homem e clima. Os objetivos específicos da pesquisa concentram-se em caracterizar os acontecimentos climáticos para o jornalismo, definir conceitos como tempo e clima, compreender como se dá historicamente a relação entre a imprensa e clima e entre jornalismo e meteorologia. Apresentamos um mapeamento dos acontecimentos climáticos em Zero Hora através de uma pesquisa qualitativa com abordagem quantitativa de caráter exploratório para identificarmos os valores-notícia, e seus significados a partir de alguns aspectos das teorias das Representações utilizando contribuições de Patrick Charaudeau, Stuart Hall e Cristina Ponte. Também realizamos entrevistas com profissionais da meteorologia e do jornalismo para compreender como eles interagem com o tema. Nosso estudo buscou analisar desde as notícias que envolvem as condições variáveis do tempo no dia-a-dia até as que mostram os efeitos das mudanças climáticas que podem levar anos para se manifestar, no jornal Zero Hora, da Rede Brasil Sul, no Rio Grande do Sul. Analisamos 41 edições e mapeamos a cobertura de 90 acontecimentos climáticos. A partir dos valores-notícia encontrados podemos observar como Zero Hora representa a relação homem e clima. O trabalho conclui que o jornal representa o homem como vítima dos eventos climáticos. Há uma personificação da natureza, diante desses eventos, na qual ela é apontada como a grande culpada pelas consequências, mudanças, destruição e mortes. Essa representação do clima mostra que não há um debate aprofundado sobre a própria intervenção do homem na natureza. Os valores-notícia que guiam a abordagem do clima e do tempo em Zero Hora não estão relacionados a aspectos como a problemática ambiental. Problemas como a má ocupação do espaço urbano, o assoreamento dos rios, os locais de risco e a falta de políticas públicas, os quais podem ser apontados como causadores de alagamentos ou enchentes, por exemplo, não são evidenciados nas notícias sobre o clima.

The 1996 Constitution of South Africa is ranked as one of the most liberal and democratic constitutions in the world. The right to freedom of sexual orientation, equality and the freedom of association amongst other rights is in its Bill of Rights and are thus inherently assured and protected in post- apartheid, democratic South Africa. However, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community continue to face discrimination and prejudice despite this newly established constitutional order. The present study is interested in how, in the light of the equality clause in the South African constitution, homosexuality is represented and constructed in the South African media. The thesis examines representations of homosexuality between the years 1999-2013 in articles collected from the Independent Online media site which incorporates 30 newspapers. The approach focuses on the topics, overall news report schemata, local meanings, style and rhetoric of the news reports. The results of the study show that negative attitudes towards homosexuality are framed in three main ways: homosexuality is represented as "unAfrican"; "ungodly" and "unnatural". I argue that rather than extreme forms of violence (such as "corrective rape" and murder) directed against LGBT citizens being interpreted as the aberrant behaviour of a few, these need to be understood in the context of the circulation of the above justificatory narratives.

This thesis seeks to understand how political awareness affects what information one uses to indicate their approval or disapproval of Congress and its members. More concisely, do more and less aware individuals rely on the same pieces of political information to mold their opinions of Congress? The second question of concern is what role does media consumption play in informing survey respondents about Congress. Third, I consider how survey respondents use cues like the condition of the economy and presidential job performance to help formulate their opinion of Congress Finally, by applying the Congressional approval literature to incumbent level approval, I seek to advance the theory and literature on what motivates the approval of incumbents.

The study critically explored the language of reportage of the Zimbabwe Land Reform programme as presented in selected Shona and English newspapers in Zimbabwe. The study focused on Kwayedza, The Herald, The Daily News and The Daily Mirror. The objective was to find out whether or not the verbal and visual languages used in reporting the Land Reform programme left readers more knowledgeable about the programme, and then adopt a critical attitude towards the Land Reform exercise. The study used qualitative textual analysis to unpack the language frames used in representing Land Reform in the selected newspapers. Some relevant critical voices from readers were also enlisted in order to support or complicate interpretations of how Land Reform was portrayed in the selected stories. Kwayedza and The Herald unequivocally supported the Land Reform. This official stance was contested in Chapter Four in which The Daily News adopted an ideological position opposed to both the idea of the Land Reform and the confiscatory way the land was repossessed. The Daily News’ extremely negative criticism of the Land Reform was challenged and then modified in The Daily Mirror. The Daily Mirror criticised both the government’s extremely supportive view of the Land Reform. The Daily Mirror also openly criticised The Daily News for refusing to acknowledge the historical inevitability and necessity of the Land Reform. The Daily Mirror advanced a perspective that suggested that Land Reform programme should benefit the masses more than the elites. It was argued that in contexts of political change such as that of Zimbabwe, newspapers take a stance and support particular ideological interests. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The purpose of this study is to measure and examine whether terrorism continues to be highly feared and over-predicted, whether exposure to mass or news media influences perceptions of terrorism, whether mass media remains a significant source of information on terrorism related matters and whether people are prepared to act in the event of a terrorist attack. The respondents in this research consisted of a sample of 135 students aged 18 and over, at a participating mid-size university in a southern state, who completed a self-reported online survey on voluntary basis. The findings of the study suggests that the respondents access terrorism related news-media on both weekly and daily basis. Those with frequent access tend to overestimate the likelihood of a domestic terrorist attack and the threat posed by terrorism and tend to show higher levels of fear associated with terrorism. The majority of the respondents indicated average access of news-media of once or twice a week, or no use at all and they tend to not overestimate the likelihood of a terrorist attack, indicate some or no fear in relation to terrorism and tend to have more accurate perception of the current threat posed by terrorism.

A comparative content analysis was conducted to determine whether the Russian (ITAR-TASS) and the American (UPI) wire service coverage of President Boris Yeltsin in the April 25, 1993, referendum was balanced and unbiased. Also, the amount of space dedicated to this topic was measured. Study results indicate that ITAR-TASS was more critical of Yeltsin prior to the referendum than UPI, and that there was no statistically important difference between the two wire services in their post referendum coverage. UPI articles were almost 30% longer than the ITAR-TASS articles. Each UPI article was on an average more than 220 words longer than were the ITAR-TASS articles.

The purpose of this case study was to compare the news coverage of The Umatilla chemical weapons by examining newspapers from different communities: The Oregonian and The Hermiston Herald. The author examines solution frames, pluralistic frames, episodic frames, and thematic frames and compares them across two newspapers. The study found the difference was not significant when comparing the use of solution frames between The Hermiston Herald and The Oregonian. In addition, there was not a significant difference in use of pluralistic framing by The Hermiston Herald and The Oregonian. However, there was a significant difference in the sources presented in the newspaper articles. There was also a significant presence of episodic frames compared to thematic frames in both the newspapers under examination.

This study analyzes newspaper coverage of immigration reform in mainstream newspapers prior to, and following the debate in June 2007. The newspaper text is analyzed using metaphor interpretation supported by content analysis. The quantitative result categorizes the identified metaphors in three distinct metaphor categories about: immigrants and immigration, immigration policy and enforcement, and metaphors about the debate and immigration issue itself. The relative distribution of metaphors among categories is provided. Using an open coding process, emergent metaphor categories are identified. The qualitative findings describe metaphors and schemas that were potentially activated by particular metaphorical phrases in this context. Lastly, this research compares the similarities and differences of the immigration debate of the early 20th century with the contemporary U.S. and European debate.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has continued to receive exposure in national periodicals. This thesis will explore that image from 1982 to 1990. During those years, the church continued to grow in membership and expand its existing programs. National periodicals can assist in assessing the public image of the Church because they help "mould public attitudes by presenting facts and views on issues in exactly the same way at the same time throughout the entire country." In this manner, they help to form the public opinion about the Church. They also reflect existing opinions because magazine publishers cater to what the public is interested in. This study will enhance the reader's understanding of this image by discussing the topics that received the greatest emphasis during that time period. This study is preceded by two theses, one by Adam H. Nielson covering the Church's image from 1970-1981, and the other by Dale P. Pelo, which studied the image of the Church from 1961-1970. Richard O. Cowan presented a doctoral dissertation which covered 1850-1961. This thesis is a continuation of those studies, and implements the same research procedures and methods.

The public image of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the product of several factors. This thesis investigates that image as presented in national periodicals from 1970 to 1981. During this time "Mormons" and "Mormonism" was a popular topic as the religion gained notoriety, and as an awareness of its peculiar beliefs and practices increased. The rationale for using national magazines to assess public image is the assumption that they "reflect prevailing points of view" and help "formulate public opinion." Since popular attitudes are one of the factors that influence how the Church is accepted in the world, this study will enhance the reader's understanding pertaining to the factors that molded those views. This study was preceded by a thesis covering the same subject from 1961-1970 by Dale P. Pelo, and a doctoral dissertation covering 1850-1961 by Richard O. Cowan.