Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / Main objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the dual perceptions of a selected group of public relations practitioners and journalists, who interact at Media24 (the print media business section of Naspers, a leading multinational media group) in CapeTown. These perceptions, by public relations practitioners and journalists, are of self and each other's professional objectives, skills and ability, function, and their relationships. The research aims to determine whether it is possible, through perception definition of each category from two points of view (perception of self and perception of other), to find sufficient common grounds first to understand and then to optimise the relationship between public relations practitioners and journalists. Research design and methodology An accidental quota, non-random sample of 15 (fifteen) journalists and 15 (fifteen) public relations practitioners was selected based on their interaction at Media24 in CapeTown. A single self administered questionnaire distributed to the combined sample group was used to gather data. The results obtained from the questionnaire were analysed in three parts; a) the combined group of journalists and public relations practitioners; b) public relations practitioners only and c) journalists only. Analysis, conclusions and recommendations included a comparison of the differences and similarities between the two groups. Keyfindings Keyfindings include: The majority of public relations practitioners interacting with Media24 on a corporate communication level do not belong to a professional body. The majority of public relations practitioners interacting with Media24 on a corporate communication level lacked clarity in defining their own professional objectives and functional role. The self-perception of the majority of public relations practitioners interacting with Media 24 on a corporate communication level was less positive than the perceptions of the journalists of public relations practitioners.

Trabajo de suficiencia profesional

Thesis (MPA) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / Ethical issues arise from our interaction with other people, especially at the point where there is potential or actual conflict of interests. In many cases, what is right for one person might not be right for other people. And, in some cases, doing the right thing might involve placing the greater good ahead of specific benefits that might accrue to oneself. Ethical choices, therefore, involve a trade-off or compromise between the interests and rights of different parties. Newspapers inform the public about events in government and the broader society. In doing so, they act within the bounds of legislation and ethical codes of conduct that are inherent in the South African society. In Limpopo Province, the newspapers are more often at loggerhead with the Department of Education when reporting on educational matters. The department claims that reporters do not report fairly and accurately about the activities of officials. Reporters flatly deny these allegations. Who then, of the two institutions, act ethically when executing its social mandate? Flowing from the question posed in the above paragraph, the problem of the ethical conduct of newspaper reporters in reporting on educational matters in the Department of Education in the Limpopo Province arises. Newspaper reporters have to adhere to and act in accordance with ethical codes of conduct, either institutional or societal. In making ethical choices about what is right, newspapers are faced with dilemmas. An ethical dilemma arises in a situation whereby it is difficult to tell right from wrong because all the alternatives may have potentially negative consequences. But, irrespective of the dilemmas that reporters face, reporters must report ethically, fairly and accurately. The Department of Education in the Limpopo Province sometimes questions the validity of the criteria that newspapers use in the evaluation and publication of information. The question frequently asked is, “How can newspapers fight for honesty and integrity when they themselves are less than honest in getting a story?” The department is, therefore, concerned about newspaper reporters who slant news and discredit the department when reporting on educational matters. To the department, this is unethical reporting.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-206). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: pp 276-310.

To fully comprehend the complex process of news making, we must first understand that the events we read about everyday in the newspaper are not merely a reflection of the world in which we live. News does not just happen. Rather, it is a socially constructed product in which events are “made to mean” (Hall, 1978). Thus, the news plays a fundamental role in shaping our interpretations of reality - our perceptions of the world as we know it. Informed by a structuralist approach to news making, this research provides a detailed ethnographic study of the determinants that shape and produce news in the South African print media. I provide examples of the influence various factors, operating at all levels, exert within the news making process. The research focuses on the news production process at East Cape News Pty. Ltd. (ECN) a small news agency operating in the peripheral news region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. It considers the journalistic routines and interests of the ECN reporters; how these reporters select events and turn them into news, how they interpret their significance and how they formulate them as news stories. The research also considers the second stage of selection ECN news must pass before it is read by the public - the “gates” of external newspapers. In this section, the study is primarily concerned with which ECN news stories succeed past the gates of national newspapers as these are the newpapers that play an influential role in shaping national perceptions of the marginalised Eastern Cape region. A province burdened with devastating rural poverty, unstable government, and little economic growth, the Eastern Cape warrants little coverage from the national, Johannesburg-based news market. As a result, little news of the Eastern Cape is published nationally, further perpetuating the region’s perceived insignificance on a national level. This point also demonstrates the fact that news both shapes, and is shaped by, our ideologies. News, therefore is ideological (Fishman, 1977). My findings reinforce many of the observations of other media researchers informed by a structuralist approach in the field of news making. However, some elements of news making emerge which appear to be unique in terms of other studies of news making. These elements are primarily a result of ECN’s informal organisational structures which allow the journalists a greater level of autonomy than a larger more bureaucratic organisation might. Thus, in addition to considering the structures that shape the news, I also discuss the role of human agency in making the news.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-149). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Münster (Westf.), 1980. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-206).