Abstract Essay in Political Science, D-level, spring 2010. “Do the American mass media serve foreign policy interests? – A scrutiny of two American newspapers’ coverage of the coup d’état in Honduras in the summer of 2009”, Author: David Scott. Tutor: Anders Broman   The bias of the American mass media has been widely discussed among scholars. Not only has this phenomenon caught the attention of political scientists, but also academics from other scientific fields. Two of the most known researchers of the American media are the linguist Noam Chomsky and the professor of Finance Edward Herman. They apply, on the American media, a so called “propaganda model” which claims that the media will serve the interests of the domestic power elites. One of the interests that the media try to satisfy is the foreign policy goals of the American state, which is to vilify enemy states and idealize client states. This thesis is applied on the American media coverage of the coup d’état that resulted in the ousting of leftist President Manuel Zelaya from the presidency in Honduras in 2009. In this case the model predicts that Zelaya will be vilified as an enemy and that the cause of the coup will be portrayed as legitimate. The essay studies, in the newspapers New York Times and Wall Street Journal, the portraiture of three aspects of the coup: the cause of the coup, the role of the military and the victims of violence and, finally, Zelaya as a president and the support to versus the resistance against his presidency. Through a textual analysis of the material, the essay concludes that there is a bias and that this means that the propaganda model can be verified. The bias consists of that the papers tend to legitimize the clients (the perpetrators of the coup) by portraying Zelaya as violator of the Honduran constitution and as a radical leftist aligned with Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez. The legitimization goes further through the toning down of the military’s role in the use of violence against demonstrators. Although this is the bias, it must be stressed that it is subtle and has been detected through an extensive interpretation of the material.

Community of Jehovah's Witnesses is a significant element of the religious landscape of the Sverdlovsk region, which had not previously conceptualized in a scientific way. In this paper, based on field research addressing various aspects of the composition of the Jehovah's Witnesses community, the history of assembly, structure, forms of action and practice. Attention is paid to the issue of public opinion, formed around the followers of the faith. Media role in the formation of a negative image of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the Sverdlovsk region is submitted. / Сообщество Свидетелей Иеговы – заметный элемент религиозного ландшафта Свердловской области, который ранее не осмыслялся в научном русле. В работе на основе материалов полевых исследований рассматриваются различные аспекты состава общин Свидетелей Иеговы, история собраний, структура, формы деятельности и практики. Уделяется внимание проблеме общественного мнения, сложившегося вокруг последователей данного вероучения. Представлена роль СМИ в формировании негативного образа Свидетелей Иеговы в Свердловской области.

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Through several wars, Israel has proven itself capable of standing up against superior foes, and the Israeli Air Force has always played a significant role in these successes. During the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli forces faced a new threat in the form of superior anti-aircraft weaponry when Egypt and Syria launched an attack on October 6, 1973. The Israeli Air Force was forced to stray from its established doctrine, yet they still managed to once again achieve victory. The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the factors that contributed to Israel achieving victory during the Yom Kippur War and how a small state can defeat a superior foe. The actions of the Israeli Air Force during the Yom Kippur War were analyzed through the theoretical perspectives of John A. Warden and Robert A. Pape. The analysis shows that neither theory can provide a clear-cut answer to why Israel ended up victorious, but several aspects of them are prominent enough to help explain how Israel managed to get into an advantageous situation. A more extensive study that looks into factors such as the combined effort of the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Army would be required to reach a more definitive conclusion.

Harmonia axyridis is a ladybird native to Asia, but introduced widely as a biocontrol agent. It is invasive and detrimental to native species in North America, which meant its arrival in Britain was met with concern. Establishment was seen as an opportunity to track the spread of an invasive alien species (IAS) whilst also monitoring impacts on native species. The aims of this thesis were to examine the responses of native British ladybirds to the arrival of H. axyridis, to establish the effect of the IAS on native ladybirds when compared to other drivers, and to investigate the possible facilitation of the H. axyridis invasion by natural enemy release. Modelling ladybird distributions with life-history and resource-use traits found that species predatory on a wide range of prey families had larger range sizes than those which ate fewer prey types. This suggests that the wide diet breadth of the IAS is likely to have played a critical role in the species’ rapid spread. Dietary niche overlap between H. axyridis and native ladybirds showed positive correlation with declines of native ladybirds. This indicates that the IAS is playing an important role, but the significance of urbanisation suggests habitat destruction is also significant. Abundance of H. axyridis was influenced by habitat type and aphid abundance, but not by the native ladybird community, suggesting the spread of the IAS will not be slowed by biotic resistance. Harmonia axyridis is attacked by native parasitoids, but at a much lower rate than is the native Coccinella septempunctata, in line with natural-enemy release theory. There was no evidence of attack rate increasing with time since arrival in an area. Overall, H. axyridis is an extremely successful IAS, with detrimental effects on native ladybirds which are likely to continue.

Der Zweite Weltkrieg war von neuer Technik und damit auch von neuen Möglichkeiten in der Propaganda und Psychologischen Kriegsführung geprägt. Speziell in der britisch-deutschen Auseinandersetzung wurden aus den Erfahrungen des Ersten Weltkrieges neue Konzepte entwickelt, mit denen eine Manipulierung feindlicher Soldaten und Zivilisten ermöglicht werden sollte. Die Dissertation setzt sich mit den Mentalitäts- bzw. Charaktereinschätzungen der Deutschen aus Sicht der britischen Akteure auseinander, die für eine effiziente Propaganda und Psychologische Kriegsführung gegen das sogenannte ''Dritte Reich'' sorgen sollten. Die oftmals präzisen Einschätzungen der Propagandisten, teils auch unter Verwendung psychologischer und psychiatrischer Dossiers hatten jedoch nicht immer den gewünschten Effekt. Auch aus diesem Grund wurden neue Strategien im Rahmen der sogenannten ''schwarzen'' Propaganda entwickelt, die den Gegner in den Grundfesten seiner Seele erschüttern sollte (und zu Teilerfolgen führte). Auch wenn die Briten auf beeindruckende Art und Weise die Deutschen hinsichtlich politischer, sozialer, religiöser oder lokaler Zugehörigkeit analysierten und Versuche unternommen wurden, diese Gruppen anhand dieser vermeintlichen Schwächen zu manipulieren, wurde nie das Ziel erreicht, via der Provokation von Differenzen innerhalb der Bevölkerung oder zwischen Bevölkerung und NS-Regime den Krieg zu verkürzen. Dabei ist die britische Effizienz im Einzelnen wiederum schwer messbar, festzustellen ist jedoch eindeutig, dass die britischen Propaganda-Maßnahmen keinen durchschlagenden Erfolg hatten, da die Autorität des NS-Regime zu keinem Zeitpunkt durch Massenaufstände oder Meutereien bzw. Massendesertionen an der Front gefährdet waren. Im Großen und Ganzen war die Entwicklung der mentalitätsorientierten ''geistigen Kriegsführung'' ein beeindruckendes Kapitel der britischen Geschichte, jedoch ohne messbare Auswirkung auf den Kriegsverlauf bzw. seiner Verkürzung. / The beginning of the Second World War imposed a new kind of warfare on the battlefield. The progress of radio and flight techniques permitted measures to manipulate the enemy with a combination of propaganda and psychological warfare. Furthermore, an analysis of his character was needed to spot the weak points in German psychology, to support the enemy population and soldiers in enmity towards their own government and to the war and to induce political uprising, sabotage and desertion. But the economic rebirth of Germany had created a strong connection between the Germans and Hitler, that would not be easy to weaken. British attempts to manipulate the German mind were wholly unsuccessful. Even the best analysis, very often close to the truth, could not jeopardize the efforts of Nazi propaganda, that drummed successfully into the German mind that the intentions of the Allied forces would be to destroy and enslave Germany. Furthermore, efforts to drive a wedge between the Germans and their leaders failed. Even in decline and defeat, the average German remained incapable of drawing his own conclusions and rising up against the Nazis. The history of the British attempts to manipulate the German mind was yet an impressive chapter of the Second World War, even if not entirely successful. The propaganda-organization of those measures and the confirmation of at least some of the estimates proved the efficiency of a well-organized brain-pool. For the totalitarian regime, it was easier in the end to oppress opposition, and for the democratic system too difficult to penetrate the German minds.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-03-27T14:46:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Eduardo Duarte de Oliveira Junior.pdf: 957011 bytes, checksum: 3a2470b245c01a0d0f208a3a6b53011e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-27T14:46:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Eduardo Duarte de Oliveira Junior.pdf: 957011 bytes, checksum: 3a2470b245c01a0d0f208a3a6b53011e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-31 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a relação existente entre mídia, processo penal e controle social. Isso para saber a razão que fundamenta a exploração da notícia sobre o crime e sobre o investigado, pelos meios de comunicação de massa, bem como os reflexos deste trabalho da imprensa no resultado do processo, na sociedade, na pessoa do investigado e na política criminal. O método escolhido para o desenvolvimento do estudo foi o fenomenológico-hermenêutico e o seu resultado foi verificação de que a mídia explora a notícia sobre o crime com o único objetivo de atrair consumidores para os produtos de seus anunciantes. Contudo, desta conduta resulta a violação de muitos direitos de quem faz parte do processo penal, uma vez que a mídia mitiga a presunção de inocência e os direitos e garantias individuais do acusado. Isso porque promove julgamentos antecipados, que resultam na estigmatização de determinados cidadãos e na seletividade operada pelo próprio Estado, através de uma legislação simbólica, desenvolvendo o que se denomina de processo penal do inimigo. Por fim, a única saída para minimizar os reflexos da atuação midiática no processo é a veiculação da notícia sempre com esteio na presunção de inocência, ampla divulgação das sentenças absolutórias e condenações para as hipóteses de ilícitos causados pelo abuso do direito de informar. / The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between media, criminal and social control. That to know the reason underlying the exploitation of the crime and the investigation by means of mass communication as well as the reflections of this work of the press in the process output, in society, in the person of the investigation and criminal policy. The method chosen for the development of the study was the phenomenological-hermeneutic. And the result was the finding that the media operates on news of the crime with the sole purpose of attracting consumers to the products of their advertisers. However, this behavior results in the violation of many rights who is part of the criminal proceedings, since the media mitigates the presumption of innocence and the rights and individual guarantees of the accused. This is because it promotes early trials, which result in the stigmatization of certain citizens and selectivity operated by the state itself, through a symbolic legislation, developing what is called the prosecution of the enemy. Finally, the only way to minimize reflections of the media work in process is the placement of news always stay with the presumption of innocence, full disclosure of convictions and acquittals sentences for cases of illicit caused by abuse of the right to inform.

La Guerre Froide domine l'histoire de la seconde moitié du vingtième siècle, et sa conclusion demeure source de débats aujourd'hui, le triomphalisme des conservateurs étant souvent remis en cause par les tensions avec la Russie. Au cœur du conflit se trouvait la perception pour les Américains d'une menace basée sur l'idéologie et la puissance militaire de l'Union soviétique. Mais cette « image de l'ennemi » resta fondée sur de nombreuses erreurs d'interprétation des données disponibles. En fait, l'étude des dernières années de la Guerre Froide révèle que cette image déformée des capacités et des motivations de l'ennemi a acquis des fonctions internes au paysage politique américain. Le débat public, souvent dominé par les personnalités anticommunistes, montre que la perception du conflit par les Américains dépendit longtemps de représentations ancrées dans l'imaginaire collectif. Or, l'arrivée au pouvoir de Mikhaïl Gorbatchev en 1985 va rapidement permettre de remettre en question ces représentations. Entre 1984 et 1989, la volonté de Ronald Reagan, puis de Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, d'apaiser les tensions à la source de la Guerre Froide, va donc signifier une déconstruction de l'image de l'ennemi et une ré-humanisation progressive des Soviétiques. En cinq ans, l'Union soviétique cessera d'être un « empire du mal » pour devenir « juste une autre grande puissance ». En étudiant cette évolution, on peut discerner l'origine et les fonctions de l'image de l'ennemi, et donc voir comment la perception des ennemis peut être influencée ou instrumentalisée. La fin de la Guerre Froide nous renseigne ainsi sur la construction de nos ennemis d'aujourd'hui. / The Cold War looms large over the history of the second half of the 20th century, and its conclusion remains a source of debates to this day, while renewed tensions with Russia may lead us to question the triumphalism of hawks after the collapse of the Soviet Union.At the heart of the conflict was the perception by Americans of a threat based on the ideology and the military power of the Soviet Union. But this « enemy image » was based on many faulty interpretations of the available data.In fact, the study of the last years of the Cold War reveals that this twisted image of the capabilities and intentions of the enemy had acquired internal functions of its own on the American political scene. The public debate, often dominated by anticommunist figures, shows that the perception of the conflict by Americans long rested on preconceptions deeply embedded in the collective imagination. However, the rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 would lead to a thaw in the Cold War : the enemy image was deconstructed and the Soviets progressively became more human in the eyes of Americans. In five years, the Soviet Union ceased being an « evil empire » to become « just another great power ». By studying this evolution, one can determine the origins and functions of the enemy image, et thus understand how the perception of enemies can be influenced or used. The end of the Cold War thus allows us to better understand the construction of today's enemies.