The phenomenon and acceptance of electronic publishing has proliferated in the last five years due to the expansion in the use of the World Wide Web in the general community. The initial fears that newspapers would be decimated by the introduction of this technology have been proven groundless, but despite a high web presence by newspapers world wide, profitable models of cyber papers are elusive. In an online environment traditional relationships between newspaper advertising and editorial may not stand. Despite the considerable body of published literature concerning the movement of print newspapers to an online environment, little was found concerning online content. A need to re-evaluate what content and functions are considered to be desirable by print readers, in an online environment was identified as the main objective of this research. Evaluation the of user attitudes to web based newspapers provides a foundation for future research into areas such as developing effective models for profitable online newspapers. To achieve this objective, the research tools used were a content analysis, an online newspaper user survey and newspaper management personal interviews. The study looked at Victorian regional daily newspapers that also had online versions. By focussing on the regional newspapers, meaningful comparisons could be made between content, staff attitudes and readership interests. The content analysis measured the quantum and nature of the content of the print and online versions of the regional dailies during a one week period. This provided a measure of the type and source of the articles included both in print and online. Newspaper editorial staff interviews contributed a personalised view of content priorities, which was then contrasted with a web based questionnaire which measured user requirements in relation to content and interactivity. It was found from the survey that content alone would not provide a sufficient basis to build a profitable online regional newspaper site. The findings were analysed in relation to the literature, newspaper site content and editorial staff interviews. Despite regularly accessing online newspaper sites, it was found that users are unwilling to pay for the experience. Users indicated a desire for a higher level of interactivity, in addition to the content, which is currently provided, by online regional newspapers. Evaluation of user attitudes to web based newspapers provides a foundation for future research into the development of effective for profitable online newspapers. / Master of Business

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 647-681).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Flinders University, School of Humanities, Dept. of English. / Typescript (bound). Includes bibliographical references: leaves 367-368. Also available online.

The goal of this thesis is to examine the editorial position of the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia's oldest continually produced newspaper, as a way of examining the character of colonial liberalism. Analysis will proceed by way of close scrutiny of key issues dealt with by the Sydney Morning Herald, including: state-aid to churches; education policy; free trade; land reform; the antitransportation movement; issues surrounding political representation; and the treatment of Chinese workers. Such analysis includes an appraisal of the views of John Fairfax, proprietor from 1841 to his death in 1877, and the influences, particularly religious nonconformity, which shaped his early journalism in Britain. Another key figure in the thesis is John West, editor 1854-1873, and again his editorial stance will be related to the major political and religious movements in Britain and Australia. Part of this re-evaluation of the character of colonial liberalism in the thesis provides a critical study of the existing historiography and calls into question the widely held view that the Sydney Morning Herald was a force for conservatism. In doing so, the thesis questions some of the major assumptions of the existing historiography and, while doing justice to colonial context, attempts to contextualise colonial politics with the broader framework of mid nineteenth-century Western political thought.

This research thesis investigates news journalists?? role in the promotion and protection of peace and human rights. I explore how news journalists do not just have the ability, through the discursive selections they make, to be a catalyst for peace and non-violent solutions, it is their obligation under international human rights. My study links arguments about universal ethics for media based on international human rights with the practical and analytical approach of ??peace journalism??. The main argument rests on the idea that objectivity or impartiality in news journalism does not equal ethical neutrality since there is always a discursive selection made by the news journalists. In order to monitor whether news journalists discursive selections comply with the international human rights obligations, I have explored how the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) report A Last Resort? were covered in three Australian newspapers when it was published in 2004. The HREOC report was a testament of human rights abuses by the Australian Federal Governments towards children in Australian detention centres. I establish that health professionals were a significant group for both HREOC??s main findings and recommendations and a key group for the contextualisation of the human rights violations explored and exposed in the HREOC report. Informed by conflict analysis and peace studies theories I argue HREOC establish how the detention policy equals ??structural violence?? that caused ??direct violence??, which was justified and normalised because ??cultural violence??. I use discourse analysis to explore the discursive selections in the newspapers, and establish that the report received limited coverage and health professionals were omitted in the news while the political conflict was reported. This trivialised the report and health professionals?? role, which led to the naturalisation and normalisation of the violence. I finally reinforce these finding by exploring alternatives to the coverage using a peace journalism framework, which further clarifies the subjective nature of the discursive selection.

This research thesis investigates news journalists?? role in the promotion and protection of peace and human rights. I explore how news journalists do not just have the ability, through the discursive selections they make, to be a catalyst for peace and non-violent solutions, it is their obligation under international human rights. My study links arguments about universal ethics for media based on international human rights with the practical and analytical approach of ??peace journalism??. The main argument rests on the idea that objectivity or impartiality in news journalism does not equal ethical neutrality since there is always a discursive selection made by the news journalists. In order to monitor whether news journalists discursive selections comply with the international human rights obligations, I have explored how the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) report A Last Resort? were covered in three Australian newspapers when it was published in 2004. The HREOC report was a testament of human rights abuses by the Australian Federal Governments towards children in Australian detention centres. I establish that health professionals were a significant group for both HREOC??s main findings and recommendations and a key group for the contextualisation of the human rights violations explored and exposed in the HREOC report. Informed by conflict analysis and peace studies theories I argue HREOC establish how the detention policy equals ??structural violence?? that caused ??direct violence??, which was justified and normalised because ??cultural violence??. I use discourse analysis to explore the discursive selections in the newspapers, and establish that the report received limited coverage and health professionals were omitted in the news while the political conflict was reported. This trivialised the report and health professionals?? role, which led to the naturalisation and normalisation of the violence. I finally reinforce these finding by exploring alternatives to the coverage using a peace journalism framework, which further clarifies the subjective nature of the discursive selection.

Bibliography: leaves 647-681 / xv, 681 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1985

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