Analyses of war coverage address its relation to historical fact, propaganda, and bias, but I see a great need to position war coverage within the context of the industry that produces and distributes news content. To divorce televised war coverage from the entertainment industry is to decontextualize it in the most fundamental way. This dissertation investigates the way in which Cable News Network (CNN) and Fox News Channel (FNC) positioned and packaged the U.S. military’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003 for a domestic audience. I place those two networks and the 2003 invasion of Iraq within the context of post-classical Hollywood filmmaking, one offshoot of which is high concept. I argue that high concept—a filmmaking practice inextricably linked to conglomeration, new technologies, and an incessant, self-preserving drive to market— can be applied productively to the study of television news. When infused with critical theory, high concept is a valuable way to understand the politics and construction of entertainment-driven war coverage. The industrial development of television news has yielded a media artifact that mimics the practice of high concept filmmaking narratively, stylistically, ideologically, and commercially. By using high concept as an alternative approach to television news, I propose that studies that disregard or marginalize visuals, sound, narrative, and the industry that profits from the spectacular packaging of those elements cannot fully capture the thrust of television news. By stripping television news of its stature as somehow divorced from and above the rest of television programming, I aim to re-insert it into the entertainment industry. My intent is to bring together theoretical and practical insights from different disciplines so that I can contextualize contemporary television news in a unique and compelling way. In doing so, this dissertation aims to contribute to the pursuit of democratic media. / text

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

It is well recognized that the 1993 election campaign catapulted the Reform party into the national political scene, but our understanding of how this was possible is quite limited. Drawing on the work in cognitive psychology on attitude change, the work on the news media coverage of elections, and the political science work on election campaigns, this thesis locates the impetus for Reform's success in the dynamic flow of information about the party that was available in television news broadcasts and voters' likelihood of being persuaded by that information. This link is developed by an analysis that makes use of a content analysis of the 1993 campaign, the 1993 Canadian Election Study, and a merged analysis of the election and news data. The Reform party began the campaign as a minor component of the news coverage of the election, but the news media coverage changed dramatically. Reform was provided with more news access than its support indicated it deserved and that coverage focused on what became a major theme of the election; the welfare state and the role of government. Coverage of Reform underwent a further change as it both decreased and focused on cultural issues during the last two weeks of the campaign. Using a two-mediator model of attitude change, the analysis shows that people who were predisposed to agree with Reform's anti-welfare state message and who were likely to be aware of the news information, changed both their perceptions of the party and increased their support for the party. Further support for the impact of the media is derived from the analysis of voter response to the second change in news coverage. The analysis suggests that campaigns do matter, but that the size of the impact is dependent upon the underlying uncertainty associated with the parties and candidates, and on the degree to which the information flow of the campaign changes. The information flow contributes to both learning and priming among people who receive and accept new information. While voters respond reasonably to new information, the outcome will depend on what information voters are given and what information actually reaches the habitually unaware segments of the population.

No description available.

This study was designed to investigate the portrayal of violence on SABC Television News programmes, these being CCV News, presented at 19h.00 and TVI News at 20h.00. The literature reviewed reveals that Television News is an ideological construct that differs from one media organization to the other. This study focuses on the theories of media organizations which inform ideas about how Television News is produced. It is believed that to understand why Television News is presented the way it is, depends on ideologies applicable in the media organizations. It became difficult to write about violence without broadly looking at its producers. Data was obtained by comparative analysis between the SABC News broadcasts, CCV News and TV1 News, recorded at the Centre for Cultural and Media Studies at the University of Natal in Durban. The comparative analysis also included a reception study of the viewers from four areas. Two urban and three semi-urban areas were chosen as research sites using questionnaires, and interviews were conducted at Temba location which is a semi-urban area. The major findings of the study were that in its News broadcasts, the SABC appears strongly to favour certain parties, notably the African National Congress. There were few reports of ANC's involvement in the shooting of people. There was also a lack of consistency in the reporting of violent incidents. This is indicated by much reliance on the security forces and the police as News sources and the use of maps and graphics instead of showing video material of the actual incidents. The attitudes expressed by the respondents to the questionnaires reflected a dissatisfaction with the status quo and indicated that perhaps the SABC faced a mammoth task in covering both the election campaigns and violence. Some respondents suggested that the SABC could have extended its News programmes' duration to accommodate more crucial items. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

The purpose of this Q study was to learn broadcast news professors' attitudes on the current state of local television news. The researcher also wished to uncover if professors with primarily teaching experience have different attitudes on local television news than professors with primarily professional broadcast experience.Nineteen professors in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan sorted Q statements regarding the quality of local television news. An analysis of their Q sorts found the participants fell into three categories: the Ultra-Critics, the Moderate-Critics, and the Minimal-Critics.The Ultra-Critics were very critical of local television news and had virtually nothing positive to say about the topic. The Moderate-Critics had some positive thoughts about local television news, but were still very critical. The Minimal-Critics were critical of local television news, but still had many positive thoughts on the industry.The researcher also found that professors with primarily professional broadcast experience were much more critical of the industry than professors with primarily teaching experience. / Department of Journalism

The purposes of this research study were to determine the extent registered dietitians were involved in the Indianapolis local television news reports; to analyze the content of nutrition-related information covered by Indianapolis local television news reports for their length of time, subject, context of nutrition-related information; and to identify the reporter, and any expert sources used. A content analysis was the chosen research method for this research proposal.A total of 33 nutrition-related segments were identified and analyzed from a two week sample of Indianapolis local television news programs. Data were analyzed using SPSS, version 11.0. Registered dietitians were featured as expert opinions in six of the thirty-three news segments. The inclusion of either a registered dietitian or another trained health professional increased the rating of the news segments on the Nutrition Education Continuum. The two most common nutrition-related subjects covered by Indianapolis local television were disease prevention and cooking demonstrations. Results of this study provide modest support for the inclusion of registered dietitians in the local media when reporting nutrition-related information. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

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

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-121). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.