Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Graduate Program in Communications. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 383-401). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

The aim of this research is to investigate the representation of women in South African television news by closely comparing the three stations; e-tv, SABC 2 and SABC 3. The news bulletins that were recorded over a week (seven consecutive days), for each station were measured and compared to find out the presence of men and women as workers for news production; as news reporters and news readers as well as news subjects. Theories of news and feminist media are strong points from which the study is informed. The feminist media theories highlight the sexist ideology of media content and addresses issues of how television news positions the female news subjects. Theories of news on the other hand emphasize the question of what is news and aids the understanding of why women are represented the way they are in news as they stress the nature of news as a human construction that is shaped by the world. Together these theories used in this research highlight the background of the ideologies underlying the coverage and representation of both men and women as news sources. The findings of this research confirm the assumption that news is designed for male audience by having more men than women as newsreaders and reporters and also by having a remarkable dominance of men as news subjects over women. All the three stations; e-tv, SABC 2 and SABC3 are dominated by men in the newsroom. With affirmative action policy in South Africa, which was designed to uplift the image of the previously marginalised, especially women, the number of women as window dressing has increased. However, when looking for news sources, women are still not considered reliable and embodying reason, trustworthiness and knowledgability. Male experts occupy all fields of knowledge from politics, terrorism, and economics to science and medicine, from literature to technology, law, sports and environment. Of all the social actors who were covered in news, the presence of men outnumber that of women with the majority of 80.9% compared to 19.1% of women. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This study first summarizes extant empirical research concerning role depiction of women in television. Analysis of these studies show television's portrayal of women as discriminatory. Second, this study reports results of an original survey of women's organizations to determine what stands and actions had been taken concerning (1) role depiction and (2) employment of women by the television industry. Out of ninety-two organizations surveyed, fifty-one (55 percent) returned useable questionnaires. Responding groups fell into nine categories, with political and educational organizations most active. National Organization for Women was particularly active. Responding groups most often used "citizen action" and "informational actions" to achieve goals.

A considerable body of work on women's television careers exists in Europe and North America, but the English-speaking Caribbean countries have never been investigated for their regional practices. This dissertation fills this void by addressing three major themes: a) the discrepancies between the high female labour force participation rates and their low representation in media management positions; b) the role of Caribbean gender ideology and stereotypes in excluding females from the professions; and c) the dearth of anti-discrimination and equity legislation in the region, their impact on female professional careers; and what can be done to ameliorate the working conditions of female broadcasters in the Caribbean. Historically, there has always been a significant percentage of women in employment in the Caribbean: during slavery, women outnumbered male workers on the plantations. The last two decades have seen a marked movement of women out of agriculture and into the service sectors including tourism and banking; as well as communication and some of the professions. As elsewhere in the world, gender structures and fragments the contemporary Caribbean labour force; and the tendency for men and women to have access to qualitatively different types of jobs is a persistent feature of both professional and general employment patterns in the region. This thesis investigates journalism as one of the prestige professions, which has attracted female personnel since the 1960s; and compares their access, promotion and remuneration to that of the male professionals. The thesis further uses Canadian and American findings to determine the informal barriers encountered by females in building their careers, as well as asesses the equity legislation and its impact on the region. Two comprehensive surveys covering all Television stations in the Anglophone Caribbean provide the data for the thesis; which are similar to those used by Robinson/St. Jean (1997) in Canada and Weaver / Il existe en Europe et en Amerique du nord de nombreuses etudes sur la vie professionnelle des femmes oeuvrant dans le domaine televisuel. Aux Caraibes Anglophones, par contre, il n'existe aucune etude de ce genre. Ce travail vise a combler ce vide en considerant le probleme sous trois angles principaux: a) les ecarts existant entre le taux eleve de la main-d'ceuvre feminine dans le domaine televisuel et la sous-representation des femmes parmi les cadres superieurs du secteur des medias b) le role de l'ideologie et des stereotypes de sexes aux Caraibes dans l'exclusion des femmes des postes de responsabilite au sein des entreprises mediatiques et de la penurie d'une politique de justice sociale et d'equite d'emploi dans la region et ses consequences sur les carrieres des femmes; et dans quelle mesure it serait possible d'ameliorer les conditions de travail des femmes dans le domaine de la telediffusion aux Caraibes. Historiquement les femmes des Caraibes ont toujours constitue un pourcentage important de la main-d'ceuvre: pendant l'esclavage, le nombre de femmes travaillant sur les plantations depassait celui d'ouvriers de sexe masculin. D'ailleurs, au cours des deux demieres decennies, les femmes ont de plus en plus abandonne le secteur de l'agriculture au profit de celui de services et de consommation, y compris le tourisme et les operations bancaires, la communication et certaines autres professions. Comme ailleurs dans le monde, l'appartenance sexuelle conditionne et influence le decoupage de l'effectif aux Caraibes contemporaines; la tendance selon laquelle les hommes et les femmes occupent des postes qualitativement differents est donc une caracteristique permanente des politiques d'emploi de la region. Cette these analyse le journalisme comme profession de prestige ayant attire les femmes depuis les annees 60 et compare leur acces au travail et a la promotion et leur remuneration a ceux de leurs homologues masculins. La these s'inspire des resultats d'etud

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This study focuses on dark-skinned, Black women's representation in Black sitcoms. Through a mixed-methods use of a comparative textual analysis and focus group, the content and context of episodes from A Different World and Dear White People are explored to illustrate portrayals of dark-skinned, Black women and how these portrayals affect dark-skinned, Black women's self-esteem. Its findings contribute to colorism research by exploring colorism in Black sitcoms. Because this topic is largely unexplored, this study seeks to begin a conversation about dark skinned, Black women's representation in Black sitcoms. The main objective is to ultimately improve their depictions and roles in Black sitcoms and hold Black creatives responsible for the role they play in promoting colorism and its ultimate effect on Black women's self esteem.