Through the phenomenon of digitization, political parties are now able to communicate their messages in a variety of ways. With this in mind, it is interesting to see how different parties tweak and refine their messages to different target groups. Earlier research suggests that arguments that affect people's feelings are those that make us act. It also shows that value-added words are usually used in connection with such arguments, which coincided with the results of this study. The purpose of this study was to combine rhetorical analysis and critical discourse analysis to see how the Sweden Democrats communicate their elderly policy in three main forums: election manifesto, motions, and the media. The framing of the main question therefore was "How do the Sweden Democrats communicate their elderly policy in their election manifesto, motions and in the media?". The material used in the analysis included three debate articles that were selected through the search words SD, Debate and 2018. Furthermore, the Sweden Democrats’ latest motion and the party's election manifesto on elderly policy were used. The analysis was conducted by reviewing the texts individually and by finding different tools that fell within the framework of rhetorical analysis and critical discourse analysis. This was followed by a summary of the tools that existed and of how the texts differed. The result of the analysis showed that the messages used in the three forums were similar, but that they were designed differently to suit the intended target group. For example, in the debate articles, the Sweden Democrats used arguments that evoked emotions, while in the election manifesto and above all the motion, they used arguments that were supported by data-based facts.

No description available.

The aim of this paper was to examine digital design processes by looking at two different types of employment, which are agency-employment and freelance-employment within digital design. The study which was conducted intended to investigate how digital design process is possibly unique compared to other working procedures within creative professions. The method which was used to seek answers to the questions of this paper was structured and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that design process within digital design do not differ markedly depending on type of employment, but are instead based in a similar structure. The results confirmed that the knowledge and personal experiences of the designer create a subjective apprehension of creativity and therefore steers the direction of a project. The digital factor is something which makes digital design process unique from another working procedures, which facilitates quick communication and efficient execution of digital design projects. / Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka digitala designprocesser genom att granska två olika anställningsformer, det vill säga byrå-anställda digitala designers och frilansande digitala designers. Studien som utfördes ämnade undersöka hur digital designprocess möjligen är unikt jämfört med andra arbetssätt hos kreativa yrken. Intervju, både strukturerad och semi-strukturerad, var den metod som användes för att söka svar på uppsatsens frågeställning. Resultatet speglade att designprocess inom digital design inte skiljer sig märkbart beroende på anställningsform, utan i stor utsträckning grundas i samma struktur. Resultatet påvisade att kunskapen och de personliga erfarenheterna hos designern skapar en subjektiv uppfattning om kreativitet och därmed styr projektets riktning. De digitala verktygen är något som gör digital designprocess unikt jämfört med andra arbetssätt, eftersom det möjliggör snabb kommunikation och effektivt utförande av digitala designprojekt.

In a time of shifting technological, regulatory and economic regimes, and debate as to the present and potential uses of media, this thesis offers radio practitioners and students a pragmatic, rather than a highly theorised, enquiry into the notion and value of local radio. In a detailed case study, it uses the chosen stations as the basis for an empirical examination of actual output, and demonstrates comparisons between objectives and achievement against the background of regulatory and self-reflective constraints, and within geographical and technological contexts. This thesis also challenges some common assumptions about localness in quasi-local radio and provides a detailed insight into the perceptions of a number of managers about local and community radio stations. This is a qualitative study, focusing on broadcaster-output rather than on listener perception. The enquiry takes the form of a case study of “local” radio in the south-west of Cornwall, UK, by examining examples of the three tiers of radio: BBC Public Service, Commercial and Community Radio respectively. Methodologically, background factors are first assessed by interrogating literature covering local radio in the digital age; the nature of locality and localness; the notion of community; and the role of commercialism in local radio. The research, centered in particular upon notions of localness and community, interrogates those terms for meaning and relevance. A detailed review follows, looking at the formal obligations imposed on each tier and each station (a) by broadcast licences and (b) by self-reflective aims and objectives. Field research then employs observation and full-day, annotated audio monitoring, leading to detailed analytical comparisons of the extent to which the stations rise to the challenges posed. Aspects of typicality and representative sampling are addressed, to ensure that the results obtained through field-research methodology are reliable and repeatable. Conclusions on the specific issue of compliance produce a mixed picture, with all stations complying to a greater or lesser extent with regulatory licence conditions while some appear to fall short of fulfilling their own objectives. Other conclusions on comparative operational and management issues are equally varied but equally worth perusal.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-111). / This thesis explores the evolving nature of independent music practices in the context of offline and online social networks. The pivotal role of social networks in the cultural production of music is first examined by treating an independent record label of the post-punk era as an offline social network. This develops a useful framework for then considering the similar and distinctive ways in which contemporary independent practices are enabled and/or shaped by online social networks. Analysis is based on close, comparative readings of the structures and affordances of two case studies: the UK-based Rough Trade record label (1978 - 1991) and MySpace (2003 - present). Numerous examples of artists and their practices are drawn upon to illustrate how discursive meanings of independence are negotiated within each network. Investigated are potentials for realizing not only autonomy from the mainstream music industry, but also a range of other post-punk ideals tied to a broader independent ethos concerned with issues of access and participation, artistic control and freedom, as well as desires to engender more diverse music cultures. The intersection of offline and online networks in the context of today's dynamic, transitional music industry further provides new opportunities for more meaningful artist-to-artist, artist-to-fan, and artist-to-company/label interactions. By emphasizing the centrality of social networks, conceptions of autonomous, "do-it-yourself" music making are problematized in favor of "do-it-together" understandings that foreground cooperation. / by Evan Landon Wendel. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-115). / This thesis examines how Marcel Duchamp's artwork Fountain has been reproduced and evaluated over time. The original piece was made in 1917 and was lost soon after it was created. Fountain has become renowned through its representations, descriptions, and copies and replicas of various scale; consequently, any later artistic critique was directed at the reproductions, rather than the original piece. Considering the fact that the original no longer exists, Fountain's reproductions somewhat reflect the artistic aura of the original, especially when Duchamp was personally involved in their creation. Fountain's reproductions may be viewed as originally (re-)produced artworks on their own. This thesis studies the processes of artistic evaluation applied to Fountain's reproductions. Fountain is a special example for the following reasons: When it first appeared in 1917, it openly posed the question of whether objects mass-produced by manufacture can be given artistic value. Moreover, since Fountain's artistic evaluation has been attributed to the reproductions, Fountain extends the question of attributing artistic value to reproduced objects, to artistic value attributed to reproduced art, in turn also raising questions about the relationship between original and copy. / (cont.) Finally, the artistic evaluation of Fountain has changed radically over time, further evincing the inherently ambiguous and subjective character of artistic evaluations, interpretations and debates. In order to respond to these subjects, this thesis compares the documentary information we have about Fountain, from photographs to descriptions and replicas, in order to analyze how artistic interpretations of the reproductions have gradually qualified Fountain's artistic reputation. A close examination of these reproductions raises dilemmas in regards to Fountain's artifactual status, as these may also be extended to reconsider its characterization as a ready-made. This thesis highlights the dilemmas underlying the interpretations and evaluations about Fountain and questions any presumption of direct analogy or similarity between the original and the reproductions. It explains these presumptions as the outcome of mechanisms of artistic evaluation and support. These mechanisms express the art system, operating each time in order to promote, or to suppress, any artwork. Over time, new artistic standards were being introduced transforming the art system in which Duchamp's artwork would be artistically appraised. / by Ioannis Zavoleas. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 46-49). / High precision voltage measurement has become a hidden part of our daily lives. Our phones, our wearables, and even our household appliances now include precision measurement capability that rivals what was once only available in laboratory grade test equipment. Converters with 6 digits of resolution and nanovolt noise floors cost less than a dollar and fit into our watches. In contrast, measurement of fast phenomena remains out of our daily reach, as it requires equipment too expensive and too unwieldy to be found outside the hands of specialists. Commoditization of sub-nanosecond measurement would improve our ability to process the information from spectral sensors, which in turn would impact portable medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and the healthy maintenance of the infrastructure we rely on. Here a novel measurement architecture is presented that enables cost effective measurement of these sub-nanosecond phenomena, and is easily integrated into existing digital processes. It is built on the same founding premises that the sigma delta architecture uses to dominate low cost precision measurement: 1) Precise measurement with imprecise components 2) Digital logic replacements for analog components 3) Trade time for accuracy A prototype unit constructed from existing digital communication components is shown to achieve 11 equivalent bits of resolution at 3GHz of analog bandwidth, with repeatability better than 1 millivolt and 3 picoseconds. Timing uncertainty is shown to be better than 1 picosecond. Several use cases are presented: Differential dielectric spectroscopy, LIDAR, and USB 3 SuperSpeed channel sounding. / by Eric VanWyk. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-92). / In this era of luxurious information, we are free to access as many news stories as we want. However, news is so abundant that people don't have the time to consume all of it, nor the time to select which stories they want to know about. We trust editors and algorithms to decide for us, giving away our control and sometimes missing the big picture. For computers, news stories are usually not annotated or categorized, they come in as an unstructured text that for machines is hard to generalize. While numerous tools exist that use Natural Language Processing to identify features of news articles, few use NLP to help readers navigate the universe of news stories. This thesis proposes a novel interaction method, coupling principles of data visualization and user experience with an interactive machine learning approach to ease our understanding and exploration of mass information while collecting nuanced annotations for the same information. We present a human machine collaboration where the computer analyzes and renders the data, making it easier for the reader to explore. The user in turn gives annotated labels that help the computer better analyze the next data points. As a proof of concept, we present Panorama, an interface for open, transparent and collaborative exploration of news. Panorama addresses information overload, by allowing users to filter, organize and control their news feed. Panorama is also an interactive machine learning system. As the user reads and explores the news that were analyzed by machine learning models, she is encouraged to submit feedback that is sent back to these underlying models, helping them improve. This work explores the relationship between knowledge and design. It demonstrates how data visualization and interfaces help humans understand, build, control and improve a system based on machine intelligence. / by Yasmine Rubinovitz. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-93). / In this thesis, I propose aqueous droplets as a form of programmable material that can computationally transform its physical properties. Liquid matter can undergo physical transformation through interfacial forces and surface tension. I introduce a system called DropletIO to regulate interfacial forces through a programmable electric field. The system can actuate and sense macro-scale (micro-liter to milli-liter) droplets on arbitrary planar and curved surfaces. The system can precisely move, merge, split, and change shape of droplets and thus enables a range of applications with human interactivity, information displays, parallelized programmable chemistry and dynamically tunable optics. DropletIO system uses electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) to manipulate droplets. EWOD is a physical phenomenon where a polar droplet on a dielectric surface is attracted to a charged electrode. I constructed EWOD arrays with integrated actuation and sensing on inexpensive printed circuit boards that can scale to arbitrarily large areas and different form factors. Additionally, in this thesis I discuss how semiconductor device scaling applies to electrowetting for smaller volume droplets and hence miniaturized programmable lab-on-a-chip. Droplet based microfluidics is extensively used in biology and chemistry. In this thesis I describe two novel fluid manipulation mechanism for microfluidics. First, I show an approach for splitting aqueous droplets on an open digital microfluidic platform and thus a system capable of performing a complete set of microfluidic operations on an open surface. Second, I demonstrate how electrowetting platforms can handle large volume fluids, and hence enable a new direction in programmable fluid handling called digital millifluidics. / by Udayan Umapathi. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2001. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-123). / Introduction: Zoo, garden, arcade--three places emblematic of European society's pleasure in and subjugation of animal and plant nature, of the texture of civilized life in a world created by Industry and Progress. This triad, it seems, would stand in opposition to Lummis' oft-repeated formula of "sun, silence, and adobe," and the vision of stillness in the Southwestern hinterland that it evokes. Indeed, few other regions of the United States have so consistently nurtured the cult of the primitive and the peasant that inheres in Lummis' simple paean to adobe. Indian and Hispano both build from adobe; and it, being earth, absorbs these populations back into the land, wedding artisanal, agrarian, and pastoral lives into an integrated vision of ethnicity and region, a spirit of the desert and of the sky. Here only, the modernist regional aesthete would argue, could the authentic American pastoral be found: "there is that genuineness of unfettered simplicity; the closeness to elemental realities in peasant life, which only in New Mexico, of all states, is indigenous." Hence the modernist Southwest was manifestly not a place of Victorian zoos, picturesque gardens, or Parisian shopping arcades. And yet, I would like to argue, the evanescent afterimages of these places--the ways of being and relating that they nurtured and expressed--appear before and behind the crystalline pictures of snow-blanketed desert and azure sky, the lines of Pueblo dancers, the Hispano santero with his wood and his knife, distorting and fragmenting any purely localist vision of Southwestern regionalism. The scent of piñon smoke mingled in the nose of the newly-arrived traveler with smog from factories in New York, Chicago, or Boston, and smelled all the more pungent because of this mixture. / by Christopher W. York. / S.M.