Research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Art (Journalism and Media Studies), Johannesburg, 2016 / Rape is a predominant crime and a social issue in South Africa today. South Africa’s incidence of rape is among the highest in the world. Identifying and understanding the dominant rape narratives in news media is useful in pinpointing how the media represents the crime of rape. It is understood through agenda-setting theory that news media plays an important role in how topics come onto the national agenda, giving news media a particular influence in society. Further, through discourse analysis and narrative theories, research has shown how what people read and hear can influence their understanding of those matters, and can drive social change or maintain the stability of social structures. Some theorists take this further, arguing that narrative fundamentally informs how humans make sense of the world, that reality is discursively constructed. The research below attempts to access, reveal and unpack these dominant narratives as they pertain to rape, using a combination of corpusbased analysis and critical discourse analysis techniques on two corpora of South African newspaper text from the first quarter of 2013, and tied to a specific case study, the rape and murder of Anene Booysen. The resultant findings also provide a snapshot of the dominant ideology and social practices in South Africa over the time period studied, as discourse and narrative are implicitly tied to power in society / GR2017

本文包含了两篇关于金融分析师和公司治理的实证研究。第一篇论文（题目为"分析师影响公司避稅吗？来自自然实验的证据"）研究金融分析师对企业避稅的影响。基本回归结果表明追踪公司的分析师越多，公司避稅越少。通过充分利用券商倒闭和券商兼并这两个对金融分析师数量造成的外生冲击，我们利用双重差分的分析方法发现，相比同类公司，经受分析师数量外生下降的公司将从事更多的避稅活动。因此，证据充分表明分析师的数量对企业避稅具有强烈的负面因果影响。我们进一步发现，这一负的因果影响主要集中在本来拥有较少分析师和融资受到约束的公司。此外，在财务信息不透明和企业管制较差的公司，效果也更为明显。综上，该论文提供了新的数据表明，财务信息透明度对于企业避稅具有重要作用。当遭遇外生的分析师下降从而引起信息透明度降低的情况下，公司会更为激进的避稅。 / 第二篇论文（题目为"金融分析师影响公司治理吗？来自自然实验的证据"）利用跟第一篇论文相同的两个自然实验（券商倒闭和券商兼并），进一步探讨了分析师对公司治理的作用。我们发现，当追踪一个公司的金融分析师数量受到这两个自然实验的影响而减少之后，该公司内部现金持有量给股东带来的边际价值减少，其CEO获得更高的超额报酬，其管理层更有可能做出破坏公司价值的收购决策，其管理层更有可能从事盈余管理活动。重要的是，我们发现这些影响主要集中在本来拥有较少分析师和较少市场竞争压力的公司。我们进一步发现，本来拥有较少分析师的这些公司在受到券商倒闭和券商兼并的冲击下，其CEO的报酬和超额报酬对公司业绩较原来更不敏感。这些发现与我们的分析师监督假说是一致的，即金融分析师发挥着审查管理者行为的重要公司治理作用。当公司损失分析师之后，市场在对公司股票定价时会考虑公司因此而产生的代理成本的增加。 / This thesis consists of two empirical studies on financial analysts and corporate governance. The first essay (titled "Does Analyst Coverage Affect Tax Avoidance? Evidence from Natural Experiments") investigates the effects of analyst coverage on corporate tax avoidance. The baseline results indicate that analyst coverage reduces tax avoidance. Using a Difference-in-Differences approach based on two sources of exogenous shocks to analyst coverage - broker closures and mergers, we find that firms engage in more tax avoidance activities after an exogenous drop in the number of analysts following the firm, compared to similar firms that do not experience an exogenous drop in analyst coverage. The evidence therefore suggests a strong negative causal effect of analyst coverage on tax avoidance. We further find that the effects are mainly driven by the firms with smaller initial analyst coverage and more financial constraints. Moreover, the effects are more pronounced in the subset of firms with more information opacity and poorer corporate governance. Overall, the findings suggest that analyst coverage materially and causally affects tax avoidance. Our paper offers novel evidence that information transparency plays an important role in corporate tax avoidance decisions, and with increased information opacity induced by exogenous drops in analyst coverage, firms are likely to avoid tax more aggressively. / The second essay (titled "Do Analysts Matter for Governance? Evidence from Natural Experiments") further explores the causal effects of analyst coverage on mitigating managerial expropriation of outside shareholders, building on the same two natural experiments - broker closures and mergers. We find that as a firm experiences an exogenous decrease in analyst coverage, shareholders value internal cash holdings less, its CEO receives higher excess compensation, its management is more likely to make value-destroying acquisitions, and its managers are more likely to engage in earnings management activities. Importantly, we find that most of these effects are mainly driven by the firms with smaller initial analyst coverage and less product market competition. We further find that after exogenous brokerage terminations, a CEO’s total and excess compensation become less sensitive to firm performance in firms with low initial analyst coverage. These findings are consistent with the monitoring hypothesis, specifically that financial analysts play an important governance role in scrutinizing management behavior, and the market is pricing an increase in expected agency problems after the loss in analyst coverage. / 1. Does analyst coverage affect tax avoidance? : evidence from natural experiments -- 2. Do analysts matter for governance? : evidence from natural experiments. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Chen, Tao. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

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This study was designed to determine whether Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report news magazines expressed. opinions in their coverage of four topics concerning the 1979 energy crisis: United States government, OPEC, oil companies, and consumers. A content analysis of all stories in the three magazines from May to December 1979 indicated that Time was the most opinionated, U.S. News & World Report was second, and Newsweek was most neutral in coverage of the energy crisis. The percentage of article space allotted had no apparent effect upon the magazines' handling of those topics.

This thesis offers an analysis of the reporting on unemployment, social welfare and the environment in the quality press in Australia, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. The findings of this research are based on news about these issues provided in a sample of two constructed weeks in 1998. The quality papers chosen for analysis are: The Age and The Australian (Australia), De Standaard and Le Soir (Belgium), Le Figaro and Le Monde (France), The Guardian and The Times (England). This thesis starts by examining the history and the principles governing the press in the countries analysed, underlining the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and the Continental press, mainly in terms of relations between the press and the State. It questions the importance attributed to freedom of expression in a climate where the concept is still analysed in terms of freedom from government intervention, while the role played by business is generally accepted as unavoidable. This research found that quality newspapers overall present social issues as primarily economic issues, often neglecting their more social aspects. The world promoted is one which is best run by business, while the role of governments as possible managers of the environment and unemployment, and to some extent social welfare, is largely dismissed. The press analysed does this with varying degrees, depending on general attitudes held within countries and on the 'culture' of each newspaper. This research clearly shows the existence of particular newspaper 'cultures'. Each newspaper has its own priorities and news is generally framed according to those priorities. Generally speaking, the emphasis placed by journalists on certain aspects of news is in line with the 'culture' of the newspaper they are working for. The choice of sources of information used to provide news also fits within existing newspapers' 'cultures'. The dominant economic emphasis put on information is systematically endorsed by Le Figaro, The Australian, The Times and De Standaard. Only Le Monde and The Guardian, Le Soir and The Age at times offer alternative views, while endorsing the dominant economic frame. Le Monde and The Guardian, which are also the only two newspapers of the sample that are not part of a big media consortium, regularly stress the social aspect of unemployment and social welfare. These are also the only two newspapers which consider the environment as a long-term quality of life issue, reflecting that it is more than just an economic issue. Le Soir and The Age, which are the two newspapers in our sample with a more local emphasis, also defend the local environment against larger economic interests, and explore local social problems related to unemployment and poverty. In the case of The Age, this fits into a frame very common in the Australian press: that of an uncaring government. Australian papers are very critical and even cynical towards government and politicians. This cynicism is not found in the European papers. The findings of this research are based upon an analysis of the sources of information used by the newspapers, as well as upon an analysis of the frames adopted. This research has put a particular emphasis on sources of information, seen here as the promoters of news frames. General professional practices, together with the 'cultures' held by particular newspapers, account for the lack of representation of private citizens and lobby groups challenging economic interests. In turn their lack of representation can be held responsible for the small amount of information conflicting with dominant framing and dominant themes provided in the news.

Die Tötung Osama bin Ladens durch ein US-Sonderkommando Anfang Mai 2011, wenige Monate vor dem zehnten Jahrestag der verheerenden Terroranschläge vom 11. September, erhielt ein großes Maß an medialer Aufmerksamkeit. Der Tod des Mannes, der für die Terroranschläge verantwortlich gemacht wurde, führte zu einer erneuten Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Ereignis und dessen individuellen und globalen Folgen. Ausgangspunkt der Untersuchung dieses Pressediskurses ist die Annahme, dass eine solche gedankliche und sprachliche Auseinandersetzung, wie sie in der Presse kreiert und reflektiert wird, insbesondere auch von Metaphern bestimmt wird. Die Untersuchung stützt sich auf die Erkenntnisse kognitiver Metapherntheorien. Sie orientiert sich aber vor allem auch an jüngeren Untersuchungen innerhalb der Metaphernforschung, die speziell die sprachliche Dimension der Metapher wieder mehr in den Vordergrund rücken. Der Arbeit liegt daher ein multidimensionales Verständnis der Metapher zugrunde. Die kognitive Funktion der Metapher ermöglicht das Begreifbarmachen abstrakter bzw. unbekannter Phänomene. Metaphern können aber zugleich auch Indikatoren für die bewusste wie auch unbewusste Bewertung von Ereignissen, Handlungen und Personen sein. Die Untersuchung verfolgt einen vergleichenden Ansatz, der auf der Grundlage eines Arbeitskorpus aus US-amerikanischen und französischen Pressetexten zur Tötung bin Ladens den Metapherngebrauch in den beiden Ländern anhand ausgewählter Themenaspekte gegenüberstellt. Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Landespressen zu identifizieren und diesbezüglich mögliche Interpretationen anzugeben. Dabei wird der Sprachgebrauch im Terror-Diskurs nach 9/11 einer kritischen Betrachtung unterzogen, um ein Bewusstsein für möglicherweise unbewusste metaphorische Konzeptualisierungen zu entwickeln. Im Vergleich des Metapherngebrauchs in der US-amerikanischen und französischen Presse werden deutliche Gemeinsamkeiten festgestellt. Die analysierten Unterschiede sind häufig sprachlich bedingt. Teilweise können sie aber auch im Hinblick auf Differenzen in der Positionierung der beiden Länder in Bezug auf bin Ladens Tötung interpretiert werden. Die weitgehende Übereinstimmung in den Metaphern lässt sich zum einen auf die Nähe der beiden Sprachen, zum anderen auf den ähnlichen politischen Hintergrund der beiden westlichen Länder zurückführen. Darüber hinaus wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass der verstärkt stattfindende internationale Austausch von Nachrichten, vor allem über Presseagenturen, auch zunehmend zu einer Globalisierung auf dem Gebiet der Metapher führt. / The killing of Osama bin Laden by a US special task force in early May 2011, only a few months before the tenth anniversary of the devastating terror attacks of September 11, received a great deal of media attention. The death of the man who had been made responsible for the terror attacks triggered a fresh discussion of the events of 9/11 and both the individual and global consequences thereof. The starting point for an analysis of the relevant press discourse lies in the assumption that such a discussion taking place in language and thought, as it is created and reflected by the press, is to a great extent also determined by metaphors. The analysis draws on the insights of cognitive metaphor theories. It is, however, also primarily influenced by recent studies within metaphor research that aim to bring the linguistic dimension of metaphors back to the forefront. Therefore, a multidimensional understanding of metaphors forms the basis of the present study. The cognitive function of metaphors allows us to grasp abstract or unknown phenomena. Yet metaphors may further serve as indicators of conscious as well as unconscious evaluations of events, acts and people. The analysis follows a comparative approach: A study corpus of US and French press texts on the subject of bin Laden’s killing is analyzed with regard to selected aspects of the topic in order to compare the use of metaphors in the two countries. The aim of the study is to identify similarities and differences in the two countries’ press coverage and give possible interpretations for the results obtained. At the same time, the language used in the post-9/11 terror discourse is subjected to a critical examination in order to provide an understanding of metaphorical conceptualizations that are possibly unknown. In the comparison of metaphor use by the US and the French press clear similarities can be observed. The dissimilarities are often due to differences between the two languages. In some cases, however, they may be interpreted as the result of differences in the positions of the two countries on the subject of bin Laden’s killing. The extensive consistency in metaphor usage can be attributed to the closeness of the two languages as well as to the comparable political background of the two Western countries. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the growing international exchange of news, especially via press agencies, may increasingly also lead to globalization in the field of metaphor.

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The Michael Fay conflict in 1994 provided an opportunity to use Singapore as a subject for mass communication research.Three prominent U.S. newspapers, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, were chosen for content analysis of their coverage of Singaporean news eight months before, six months during and eight months after the Fay trial proceedings. The amount of news space devoted to Singaporean news ray the three newspapers during the three periods was also studied.The objective of the study was to determine if the coverage of Singaporean news by U.S. newspapers changed as a result of the Fay case.Results of the study showed that U.S. newspapers provided a negative coverage of Singaporean news as a result of the Fay controversy. In terms of news space alloted to Singaporean news, the New York Times remained fairly constant throughout the three periods. The Los Angeles Times first decreased its coverage during the trial proceedings, but expanded its coverage after the case ended. Conversely, the Chicago Tribune increased its coverage of Singaporean news during the case, but its coverage dwindled with the conclusion of the case. / Department of Journalism

Contemporary researches on news coverage of Persian Gulf Wars have shown many controversial results in examining how U.S. newspapers covered war events during the wartime. This study examined the coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom by the newspapers of the United States, Britain, and Saudi Arabia.Three prominent newspapers, the New York Times, the Times of London and Arab News, were selected for content analysis of their coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom between March 20 and May 1, 2003. The percentage breakdown of positive, negative and neutral paragraphs coded from composite two weeks of publications by all three newspapers was studied.The goal of the study was to determine if the coverage of the 2003 Iraq war by the New York Times and the Times of London were more favorable than that Arab News. The Arab News was used as a basis for comparison of American and British newspapers for this study.The results of the study showed that the three newspapers covered the Operation of Iraqi Freedom in a neutral manner.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306However, the Times of London treated the Iraq war coverage with more positive news rather than the New York Times and Arab News did, respectively. On the other hand, Arab News appeared to have devoted the lowest favorable news stories after the Times of London. / Department of Journalism