Thesis (M. A. (Media Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Citizen journalism has the potential to enhance the state of community newspapers. The emergence of digital media brought about the concept of citizen journalism, allowing ordinary citizens to practice journalism similar to professional journalism. The resultant high volume of news information from ordinary citizens, despite its benefits, leaves editors grappling with what enters the news gate. This study investigated the perceptions and attitudes of editors of community newspapers in Limpopo province of South Africa towards integrating citizen journalism into their daily journalism practices. This qualitative study used interview guide for data collection from a total of six (7) community newspaper editors in the province. The findings of the study indicate that most editors of community newspapers have positive perceptions towards citizen journalism. They are of the view that it could contribute positively towards their organisations particularly in strengthening democratic participation as a corner stone of community media, increasing the circulation of their newspapers, and assisting their communities to strive and strengthen their relationship with the outside world. However, they are not keen to incorporate citizen journalism in their professional practices. Their expressed concerns are lack of ethics and other basic journalistic skills in citizen journalism and the possibility of encumbering the process of news gatekeeping. However, due to many positive impacts of citizen journalism, editors should endeavour to find ways to incorporate citizen journalism into their organisations. Keywords: Gatekeeping, citizen journalism, community newspapers, community participation, news editors

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Arizona public school districts had a designated school-community relations director position with a clearly defined "gatekeeper" role and to determine the effectiveness of this role as perceived by newspaper editors and as evidenced by newspaper coverage of various news topics. Two different questionnaires and a topic analysis of newspaper stories were methods used to collect data. One questionnaire, responded to by 87 superintendents of Arizona school districts having enrollments of more than 800, pertained to the status of the position of school-community relations director and to school-press relationships. Data collected by this instrument was used to categorize districts into 18 different groups on the bases of district size, district type, and the employment of school-community relations personnel. A representative school district was selected from each category and editors of the newspapers serving those particular districts were contacted. Eleven different editors responded to a questionnaire or telephone interview pertaining to school-press relations and news coverage. Specific issues of the designated newspapers were then analyzed to identify the number and direction of different school news topics. In addition, an analysis of job descriptions submitted by school-community relations personnel determined specific functions of the position. The major findings of the study included: (1) Twenty-nine full- or part-time school-community relations directors were identified, who to some extent served as "gatekeeper" between their districts and the newspapers. (2) Although school-community relations directors expressed high priority on press-related activities, the amount of news coverage pertaining to these districts in most instances did not reflect this priority. Districts without school-community relations personnel appeared to receive just as much news coverage as those districts which did employ someone in the position. (3) School-community relations personnel perceived relations with newspapers to be much more positive than did newspaper editors. (4) Virtually no differences existed in the number of different topics nor in the direction of coverage between news about school districts employing school-community relations directors and districts that did not. Additional findings pertained to job roles, news sources, positive press-school relationships, and types of news topics.

Memoire (M.E.S.R.)-- Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi, 1988. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (M.A.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "December 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-107). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 2010. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major social and public health issue in the United States, particularly in rural locations. However, little is known about the context in which IPV occurs in rural areas. The goal of this dissertation was to examine the ways in which rural communities consider gender norms and the implications that might have for coverage and discussions of IPV. Since rural community newspapers have a uniquely important point of access by reporting on local news in a way that is not done by any other media source, newspaper content was analyzed. A content analysis was conducted of ten weekly, rural community newspapers in Iowa over one year, and comparisons were made with the state's largest paper, the Des Moines Register. The content analysis examined gender roles in articles, photographs and photograph captions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with editors of most of the same rural community newspapers. Editors were asked about their community culture, gender roles within the community, and their awareness and knowledge of IPV. The dissertation was conducted through the framework of feminist positions on gender and violence, and also examined the nature of discussions surrounding gender roles and IPV in rural community newspapers photographs, through the concept of gender display, which considers how gender, power and subordination are reflected through mediated images. Additionally, news gatekeeping theory, which examines the way that newspapers operate within their communities and make day-to-day decisions about how to cover certain topics was used as a framework to guide the semi-structured interviews with editors. Results of the content analysis revealed that while IPV was rarely discussed, gendered coverage reflected traditional ideals of femininity and masculinity, although not to the extent expected. The content analysis analyzed various forms of gender display in photographs of men and women in their occupations, community and social roles. Overall, rural communities experience gender disparities, but this was in subtle representations of power differences in newspaper photographs. Results of the interviews indicated that rural community editors rarely think of gender roles within their community. When editors did talk about gender roles, the word "traditional" was frequently used, and most editors felt that men still held the majority of prominent positions within the community, while women also worked outside of the home, usually in less powerful jobs. Interviews indicated that rural community members have a very active role in the gatekeeping process.

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Newspapers have been shown to have positive correlations with their readers, sense of community, political participation, and civic engagement. Using McMillan and Chavis, Sense of Community Theory and its accompanying SCI-2 as well as questions on demographics and media use, political participation, and civic engagement, this thesis conducts a survey study of two community newspaper readerships in differing locations within the continental United States. This study aims to discover and develop further understanding of the social, political, and community-building effects of community dailies and their mirrored-content news websites. First, it examines media consumption preferences and measure the sense of community (SOC) felt by readers of print-edition newspapers and their mirrored-content websites. Second, it examines the differences in SOC felt by print and website readers. Third, it examines the influence of SOC and print-news website-reading on political participation, and fourth, it examines the influence of SOC and print newspaper-website reading on civic engagement, both with the intent of discovering how SOC might mediate this relationship. This thesis will provide contextual information and build a case for the relevance of community dailies in an ever-increasingly fast-paced, technocentric society. Findings include a significant relationship between SOC and both print and online readers, and the question of whether readers of both print and online community news feel a stronger SOC than either on its own is answered. Further findings include newspaper website-reading shares a significant relationship with both political participation and civic engagement, and print does not. Implications and limitations are discussed. / Master of Arts

This study compares the May, 1974 and May, 1975 editions of suburban daily newspapers in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The purposes of the study were to determine how, when, and why suburban daily newspapers in the metroplex altered their editorial content and to evaluate the effects of the changes on circulation. The thesis is organized into four chapters. Chapter I introduces the study. Chapter II gives a historical overview. Chapter III analyzes the data. Chapter IV contains some conclusions. Some conclusions that emerged from this study include: 1. Suburban newspapers have small editorial staf fs. 2. Eight of the newspapers altered their content. 3. The changes helped them maintain or increase their circulation. 4. All of the editors responding to the questionnaire said that local news and sports are their primary goals.

M.A. / Het doel van deze studie is te komen tot een inventarisatie van de problemen -zowel op praktisch als theoretisch vlak- aan welke de nieuw gekozen plaatselijke overheden het hoofd moeten bieden, zoals deze zijn overgeleverd vanuit het verleden. Daarnaast wordt middels het empirische gedeelte bekeken, hoe de dagbladen in de provincie Gauteng - vaak het 'hart' van Zuid-Afrika genoemd - met deze problematiek en geschiedenis omgingen om de lezer annex kiezer adequaat te informeren. 3 Gekozen is voor een media-onderzoek over enkele maanden rond de twee laatste verkiezingen voor plaatselijke overheden: oktober 1988 en november 1995. Daarnaast wordt gekeken naar enkele van de vele begripsverwarringen binnen de Zuid-Afrikaanse politieke en media-context, zoals deze bijvoorbeeld onder meer bestaan rond zaken als 'democratie', 'macht', 'detribalisatie' en 'non-racialisme; allen termen die er in het discours omtrent regeren en geregeerd worden, nieuws produceren en nieuws ontvangen voortdurend met de haren bijgesleept worden maar voor de verschillende deelnemers aan het debat soms geheel uiteenlopende betekenissen hebben. De scriptie hoopt met deze onderwerpskeuze een bijdrage te leveren aan het voortdurende debat in Zuid-Afrika over het heden, verleden en wellicht ook toekomst van de gedrukte media, de politieke en sociaal-economische geschiedschrijving en de functionering en definiring van plaatselijk bestuur. Hoewel deze studie weliswaar nauwelijks alternatieve voorstellen voor de toekomstige behandeling van deze kwesties aandraagt, kan een kritisch en samenvattend overzicht hiervan zoals gepresenteerd in de hierna volgende hoofdstukken hemieuwde stof tot nadenken bieden, zowel gedragen als beperkt door de buitenlandse kijk van de auteur.