This study examines the experiences of young adult women raised in non-resident father households in Tlokwe Local Municipality, North West. Focus groups and face- to-face interviews were conducted with 34 young women between the ages 18-25. Five important, nuanced themes emerged, these are: a) fathers who are physically present but emotionally absent, b) fathers who are physically present but uninvolved, c) fathers who are physically absent but involved, d) fathers who are physically present and involved and e) fathers who are absent and uninvolved. Non-resident fatherhood remains a challenge in the Tlokwe Municipality, most of the participants had never met their biological fathers. The study revealed the frustration young women feel towards their mothers and maternal grandparents for caring more about maintenance than they do about a healthy father-daughter relationship. The study further revealed a deep- seated need for close proximity and an involved type of fathering among the young women. / Sociology / M.A.(Sociology)

Aim of the research: This research aims to create an understanding for the new ways in which global fashion influencers’ attending fashion week are contributing to the presentation of it as gatekeepers and distributors of information and fashion knowledge, and how this rolea dds new perspectives to how fashion week is presented. Method: The research has been limited to analysing the material of six global fashion influencers, with a total following of 28 million people, during the major fashion weeks of Spring/Summer 2017 and Autumn/Winter 2017. The material has been collected and analyzed using a qualitative content analysis, also called ethnographic content analysis, with focus on distinguishing common characteristics in the text. Findings: The results have shown that the fashion influencers have contributed to the presentation of fashion week in several new ways, with the greatest characteristic being sharing a broad picture of what is going on during fashion week. The influencers are also sharing insight to exclusive fashion shows and events that have traditionally not been shared with the public. More over, the fashion influencers are sharing their personal perspectives and experiences of fashion week as well as their personal taste and opinions regarding fashion trends and other things. They are also adding a new commercial and promotional focus while presenting an idealized image of fashion week to their followers. The findings are indicated that the fashion influencers have established an important role at fashion week, which in turnis affecting the presentation of it. Contributions: The findings presented in this research can be of relevance for those who wants to understand the fashion influencers’ role during fashion week, for instance fashion brands and designers who wishes to learn how to engage with the fashion influencers’ from a business and marketing perspective. Considering social media and the fashion influencers affecting the presentation of fashion week as societal changes, the findings can also be relevant for fashion researchers who wishes to understand how these changes are affecting the presentation of fashion week and the fashion industry.

The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between best practice adherence and the ownership status of an eco-labeling organization. The research question that is aiming to answer is what key factors most often explain differences in the level of credibility between for-profit carbon management eco-labels and not-for-profit carbon management eco-labels in transnational environmental governance. The case studies of interest are the two certification agencies Verra and The Carbon Reduction Institute. The issue of credibility of eco-labeling schemes will be looked through a Green IR theoretical perspective and debunked with Neoliberal IR theory. The methods which will be used are Small-N comparison and Qualitative Content Analysis conducted through Index for Best Practices. The data for the study is acquired from the online platforms of the two case studies for investigation.

This graduation thesis: Influence of press agency ČTK on the economical columns of Czech dailies Právo, Hospodářské noviny and MF Dnes deals with press agency ČTK news influence on the national dailies. The first two months of the year 2006 of three dailies Právo, Hospodářské noviny and Mladá fronta Dnes were being observed. The author features basic excursus into particular stages of research, basic theses and agenda setting principles as a theoretical base. The final part of the work deals with news selection into news service and affinity between resources and editorial staffs. The result of the research, which used content analysis as the researching method, describes the way how editors work with services of press agencies. In which form ČTK news appear in newspapers and how much space they are given there by editors and to which degree they mention authorship while taking news from agencies.

This study investigates a Facebook page named Sŭweden nyusŭ, which stands as an example of ethnicmedia targeting Koreans living in Sweden. Having gatekeeping theory as the theoretical frameworkand using a quantitative-qualitative media content analysis, the study looks at what news topics andnews sources are most used by the page, whether and how the news are presented objectively orsubjectively, as well as how the page’s followers react to the page’s content and how the page’sadministrator deals with these reactions. The study found that news topics related to economy andpolitics are the most prevalent, while the daily Dagens Nyheter is the most cited news source. Some ofthe news stories are presented subjectively, and the followers’ reactions are in general positive butalso inquiring and occasionally even negative and critical. The administrator usually tries to cater forthe followers’ demands and questions, but sometimes ignores or even questions their remarks. As thestudy also has the general goal of getting insight into the Korean community in Sweden, the findingssuggest the following. Firstly, Sŭweden nyusŭ compensates for what the community’s few existingethnic media channels lack. Secondly, some Koreans in Sweden who lack Swedish language skillsmay even be considered poorly integrated into the Swedish majority society. However, as forKoreans’ level of integration into the Swedish majority society, further research is needed in order toconfirm what the actual state is. The study therefore recommends more research to be conducted onthis topic, as well as on the subject of ethic media in Sweden in general.

We live in a world where technology and especially digital communications are rapidly evolving, but we rarely think about how or what this development affects. The aim of this bachelor study was to examine whether any differences in news value could be found between the digital and printed versions of a local newspaper, Kristianstadsbladet, as well as the causes for such differences. Using the quantitative method, we coded all 1,230 local news articles (585 printed and 645 digital) from Kristianstadsbladet’s printed paper and website versions, from 2019-11-11 to 2019-11-29, with excluding days of Saturday’s and Sunday’s. Our results showed that our main hypothesis did not quite agree with our results since news value was largely the same on both platforms. Kristianstadsbladet published the same amount of subject categorys in percentage terms, except the subject “Lifestyle” which got more space on their website than in their printed paper. We also concluded that digitalization of mass media is one of the biggest reasons for Kristianstadsbladet to publish the same local news on both their platforms due to modern technology.

Has years of citizen-based nutrient sampling and baseline water quality monitoring efforts only had a "trivial" impact on natural resource management decisions? This thesis will explore this and other findings from a qualitative evaluation of the Rock River Coalition (RRC) citizen-based stream monitoring project in Dane County, Wisconsin, USA. These findings are the culmination of 47 semi-structured interviews with decision-makers from seven client-identified categories and participant observations of board meetings and other watershed groups. Interview questions focused on current strategies of data design and dissemination with the goal of constructing a clearer picture of existing data usage by Dane County decision-makers. In the wider picture of citizen science and community-based research, this case study aims to highlight barriers to data use and potential solutions. The results of this case study were understood through four key frames: (1) Bourdieu's concept of symbolic capital, (2) Barzilai‐Nahon's theory of network gatekeeping, (3) Newman et al.'s framework for leveraging the power of place, and (4) a Foucauldian approach to the production of scientific knowledge. The findings of this study highlight the presence of gatekeeping mechanisms within the scientific field as well as government institutions, problematize the practice of placemaking, assert there is untapped symbolic capital to be wielded by citizen scientists, and trace the "innovation" of volunteer water monitoring data in Dane County.

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which U.S. newspapers covered the chatter surrounding the 2009/10 healthcare reform debate at the expense of the substance. Also of importance was how the political leanings of newspapers influenced the coverage they gave the issue in terms of tone and page or story prominence. Newspaper endorsement data from Editor & Publisher magazine were used to determine the political leanings of U.S. newspapers based on the candidate they endorsed in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Newspaper articles related to the topic were retrieved from the Lexis-Nexis database and analyzed. The results showed that overall the healthcare reform debate received substantial coverage in U.S. newspapers; but the major part of the coverage was dedicated to the arguments, protests, and thoughts of people concerning the issue (90.3%) rather than the substance of the issue (9.7%). Implications of the results for media practitioners, communication scholars, and researchers were discussed.

Digitalization has made it possible to consume news through both newspapers and social media, but we rarely consider if both platforms share the same news selection. This bachelor study aims to compare which agenda Dagens Nyheter conveys through the choices in the displayed news on the front page of the newspaper and the Instagram feed. The theoretical framework is based on gatekeeping theory, agenda-setting theory and news value theory. Using the quantitative content analysis 486 news articles were coded and analyzed whereof 182 were articles from the news front page and 304 were from the Instagram feed. The results show that hard and soft news are equally represented in the two news outlets. On the other hand, the results also indicate that there are differences regarding the centralization of certain topics, the nature of the news and the main actors. From these results, we conclude that different agendas are conveyed through the news reported between the two mediums.

Both Qatar and FIFA have been heavily criticised for the bribes and corruption resulting in Qatar obtaining the FIFA World Cup 2022. Over 6500 migrant workers in Qatar are said to have lost their lives during the construction of new arenas, and the media is an essential part for this being acknowledged. This essay examines and identifies the discourses that are dominating the articles written in the awakening of FIFAs World Cup in Qatar 2022. This will be done through studying the portrayal of Qatar in Dagens Nyheter, the Guardian and Gulf Times. The articles are studied through a narrative analysis method with support from agenda setting, framing and gatekeeping theories. The results show that western media portrays Qatar as unworthy of the world cup, while Qatari media ensures that the country will create the greatest world cup in history. The results suggest that Qatar is guilty of sportswashing through their government-controlled media.