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Through a Thematic Qualitative Text Analysis and semi-structured interviews with journalists, athletes, and coaches, this thesis investigates the relationship between gender, sports, and media representation of menstruation in Belgian online sports news. This research emphasizes the delicate balance in sports media between normalizing discussing menstruation and avoiding sexist ideologies. One effective approach to breaking the menstrual taboo is to adopt the rationalist discourse of self-instrumentalization, where athletes enhance their performance by the use of science and technology. Given that menstruation is a physiological process connected to maximizing performance, it is vital to normalize its media coverage. There is, nevertheless, a palpable tension between private and public conversation. Journalists tend to concentrate on the personal stories and physical challenges of athletes, yet the coverage of the menstrual influences remains underrepresented. A more nuanced and ethical approach is needed, balancing public interest with athletes' privacy. The thesis advocates that menstruation should be normalized in the sports discourse in order to promote more inclusive media practices that reflect and fairly portray the experiences of female athletes.

The thesis investigates propaganda in the online news coverage about the media law proposal Lex TVN, committed to the Polish parliament in 2021. The mixed methods approach applied in the research is based on a novel analytical matrix combining the Propaganda Model theory (Herman & Chomsky, 1988) and modalities of propaganda techniques (Da San Martino et al., 2020). The main findings indicate that propaganda in the coverage about the Lex TVN is a cross-platform issue; that it occured in different forms, as: sources, critical content (flak) or expressions of ideological preferences; and that it was created using various propaganda techniques. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that propaganda was used for several reasons: to attract attention of the readers; to increase the firm’s profit and popularity; to express the stance of the media brand towards the bill Lex TVN; and to criticize the current government. The study contributes to the field of Media and Communication Studies by using the novel analytical matrix that tests the applicability of the PM in a new geopolitical context, Poland, and adds to the academically unexplored research area of news propaganda in Polish media. Several topics for further studies are suggested: the analysis of propaganda in the news coverage published by the Polish state media brand TVPInfo; an investigation of the news reception in Poland and the ability of the Polish news readers to identify news propaganda; and lastly, studying potential positive effects of news propaganda in the Polish context.

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