University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy, Dept. of International Communication, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 348-366. / Introduction -- Globalisation and network society -- Digital television -- Communication policy and development of Thai TV -- Research design -- Results : DTV: Thailand at the crossroads -- Results: National DTV policy and trends -- Results: Thai TV stations in technological transition (part 1) -- Results: Thai TV stations in technological transition (part 2) -- Discussion and conclusion. / The evolution of television and broadcasting technology from analogue to digital brings about changes in the global television industry. This technological transition is related to a political push which is highly concerned with national public interest in relation to socio-economic forces. Thailand's TV industry has also adopted and used digital television (DTV) technologies since the late 1990s in its TV production and broadcasting. The Thai government broadcasting regulators are expected to play a key role in launching and issuing national DTV policy. However, they seem to be involved in a conflict of interest which has negatively impacted Thailand's DTV transition. --This study selects Thailand's TV industry as a case study of a developing country in response to global technological transition. The thesis aims to explore major drives influencing Thai broadcasting in the shift from analogue to digital. It provides recommendations vis-à-vis the establishment of national DTV policy, and the current use of DTV technologies by Thai TV stations. The research project was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand, between October 2006 and October 2007, after the September coup in 2006. Two research methodologies employed in the study are (1) in-depth interviews with 26 experts (TV station administrators and mass communication scholars), and (2) observations of the nine TV stations. --Theoretical concepts in globalisation of communication echnologies and communication policy are reviewed. The research reveals two major pushes significantly forcing Thailand's TV industry into a newly administrative sphere. These are: (1) global push, and (2) domestic push; both are extensively addressed in this thesis. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xv, 366 p. ill. (some col.)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The furor around racism in the media was brought to the surface in 1999 when the Black Lawyers Association and the Association of Black Accountants of South Africa appealed to the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate the South African media. This request was based on the presumption that the South African media was rife with racism and urgently required attention. The subsequent enquiry was the source of much controversy and accusation. Almost three years since the enquiries inception, the issue of racism in the South African media has not disappeared despite decreasing media coverage in recent months. When the South African Human Rights Commission launched the enquiry into racism, prominent media leaders including key editors and newspaper representatives were summoned to appear before the controversial Commission. Some media leaders felt the Commission was a direct attack on the freedom of the Press. Others felt the enquiry was long overdue or slammed it as an all-time flop. Furthermore, pure and simple criticism of the government is still perceived as racism when it is the Press fulfilling its role as the 'watchdog of democracy' . Various Press theories, for example Developmental or Libertarian, impact on the perceived role of the Press in a democratic nation. The standard of journalism in a country can also impact on the way in which the press is perceived. For example, there are times when inept reporting is misunderstood as racist reporting. This assignment is a broad overview of the enquiry into racism in the media and the concerns around this issue as well as the response to it. It takes a closer look at the role of the media and the relationship between the media and the state. In particular, it focuses on how criticism of the government can be misread as racism, as well as investigating how the standard of journalism impacts on the way in which the media serve the public. The South African National Editors Forum launched a skills audit in 2002 and the results were surprisingly negative. The general standard of journalism in South Africa was assessed as "low". This assignment looks at the findings of the audit in the light of the above questions surrounding the standard of journalism as it pertains to reporting on race and accuracy, understanding and objectivity. The last section of the assignment takes a brief look at several examples of how to report on race in South Africa and what to be aware of when considering sensitivity to race issues. The questions as to whether it is racism, healthy criticism misconstrued as racism, or simply inept reporting, are explored. Although an expansive topic by nature, this paper provides an overview of the key issues pertaining to media ethics as it pertains to racism in the South African media. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die skandaaloor rasisme in die media was te vore gebring in 1999 toe die Black Lawyers' Association en die Association of Black Accountants die Suid Afrikaanse Menslike Regtes Kommissie gevra het om die Suid Afrikaanse media te ondersoek. Die versoek was gebaseer op die gedagte dat die Suid Afrikaanse media rasisties is en dringend aandag nodig het. Die ondersoek was baie kontroverseel en het na baie beskuldiging gelei. Omtrent drie jaar nadat die ondersoek begin het, is die kwessie van rasisme in die Suid Afrikaanse media nog lewendig alhoewel daar minder daaroor geskryf is in die land se publikasies. Toe die Suid Afrikaanse Menslike Regtes Kommissie die ondersoek op rasisme begin het, is belangrike media leiers - redakteurs en koerant verteenwoordiges - voor die Kommissie geroep. Sommige van die media leiers het gevoel dat die kommissie 'n direkte aanval op Vryheid van die Pers was; ander het gevoel dat die Ondersoek belangrik was en nog ander dit as 'n mislukking bestempel het. Eenvoudige kritiek van die regering deur die Pers is ook as rasisme gesien alhoewel hulle die rol van 'bewaarder van demokrasie' vervul. Daar is verskeie Pers teories, byvoorbeeld "Developmental" of "Libertarian" wat die persepsie van die rol van die pers beindruk het. Die standaard van joernalistiek in 'n land bepaal deur hoe die Pers gesien is. Byvoorbeeld, somtyds is slegte verslaggewering as rasisties bestempel. Hierdie opdrag is 'n wye oorsig van die ondersoek op rasisme in die media, die bekommernis oor die kwessie en die reaksie daaroor. Dit kyk nader na die rol van die media en die verhouding tussen die media en die staat. Dit fokus op hoe kritiek van die regering as rasisme misgelees kan word en gee ondersoek aan hoe die standard van journalistiek na beskuldiging van rasisme kan lei. Die "South African National Editors' Forum" het 'n Vaardighede oudit in 2002 opgedoen en die uitslae was negatief. Die standaard van joernalisme in Suid Afrika was as "laag" assesseer. Hierdie opdrag kyk na die oudit se vindings in die lig van die bogenoemde vrae oor die standard van joernalistiek: verslaggewing oor rase en akuraatheid, en objectiviteit. Die laaste deel van die opdrag kyk na verskeie voorbeelde van hoe om oor rase verslag te gee en waaroor te dink as jy sensitief teenoor rase kwessies wil wees. Die volgende vrae is na gekyk: Is dit rasisme; gesonde kritiek wat as rasisme bestempel word, of eenvoudig, slegte verslaggewing? Hierdie opdrag gee 'n wye oorsig oor die belangrike kwessies van media etiek in verhouding met rasisme in die Suid Afrikaanse media.

This thesis argues that there is a clear imbalance in the representation of crime in the newspaper, Grocott’s Mail, in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The thesis concludes that the system of marginalisation and segregation which was established during the apartheid era is the foundation for the continued segregation and marginalisation of certain groups of people in Grahamstown as depicted in crime journalism. Previous research shows that not only people, but spaces are marginalised through media representations of crime. As people are represented as dangerous, so too the spaces they occupy become dangerous spaces. Importantly, the research shows that discourses of marginalisation are present in newspaper reports reproducing the discourses prominent in society, and in turn, the newspaper itself perpetuates these marginalising discourses. This extends into the coverage that different crimes receive in newspapers. For instance, the reports show that a middle-class audience will be more concerned with property crime in middle-class neighbourhoods, than other crimes in lower-class neighbourhoods. I argue that not only the type of crime, but the severity, the effect, and the necessity for justice represented by the newspaper, are all largely determined by the region of the crime. Further, I show that the criminal is not only demonised and represented as individually deviant in the reports in the newspaper, but that these representations are made by this newspaper because they are deeply imbedded as a discourse in society. This is partly because this newspaper has taken on a monitorial role, requiring neutral reporting from journalists, and a dedication to surveying the processes of state institutions, like the police and courts. As a result, the ways in which crime is reported on in the newspaper is fairly well fixed, making it difficult for journalists to conceive of different ways of reporting crime. The representations of the criminal justice system that the monitorial media, this newspaper included present, are a careful balance between the interest of the public, and the need to preserve relationships with sources. The monitorial media in general, and this newspaper in particular, represent the criminal justice system. The relationship between the police and the newspaper, and the courts and the media, therefore strongly influences the way in which crime news is reported. In particular, crime news is represented from the perspective of the criminal justice system. This research was carried out using Critical Discourse Analysis, qualitative interviews, and focus group interviews.

This research focuses on the controversy surrounding the exhibition and media publication of Brett Murray’s painting, The Spear of the Nation (May 2012). It takes the form of a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), underpinned by Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional approach, to investigate how the contesting discourses articulated by the ruling political party (the ANC) and the news media have been negotiated in the City Press coverage in response to the painting. While the contestation was fought ostensibly on constitutional grounds, it arguably serves as an illustrative moment of the deeply ideological debate occurring in South Africa between the government and the national media industry regarding media diversity, transformation and democracy. It points to the lines of fracture in the broader political and social space. Informed by Foucault’s conceptualisation of discourse and the role of power in the production of knowledge and ‘truth’, this study aims to expose the discourses articulated and contested in order to make inferences about the various ‘truths’ the ANC and the media make of the democratic role of the press in a contemporary South Africa. The sample consists of five reports intended to represent the media’s responses and four articles that prominently articulate the ANC’s responses. The analysis, which draws on strategies from within critical linguists and media studies, is confined to these nine purposively sampled from the City Press online newspaper texts published between 13 May 2012 and 13 June 2012. Findings suggest the ANC legitimise expectations for the media to engage in a collaborative role in order to serve the ‘national interest’. Conversely, the media advocate for a monitorial press to justify serving the ‘public interest’. This research is envisioned to be valuable for both sets of stakeholders in developing richer understandings relevant to issues of any regulation to be debated. It forms part of a larger project on Media Policy and Democracy which seeks to contribute to media diversity and transformation, and to develop the quality of democracy in South Africa.