Using a political economic perspective, this thesis examines how organized labor is covered in the corporate-owned media by analyzing coverage of the 2011 NBA lockout. Based on scholarly research by Schmidt (1993), Bruno (2008) and others, it is clear that media coverage of organized labor is declining in both quantity and quality. The little coverage that exists tends to focus on labor-management conflict, with the high-profile world of sport attracting greater media attention than other industries. This conflict-oriented coverage takes on several distinct characteristics, as identified by scholars Martin (2004), Parenti (1993) and Puette (1992). Among these trends are greater scrutiny of employee salaries rather than those of management, coverage that emphasizes management `offers' rather than union givebacks, and the use of a third-party, `consumerist' perspective that allows the media to appear objective while espousing management viewpoints. Newspaper articles and television transcripts concerning the NBA lockout were examined, including The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, CBS News, and PBS. The thesis finds that lockout coverage in the media outlets analyzed was largely consistent with the literature, with some exceptions. In particular, the Times and the AP offered in-depth coverage of player concessions. In addition, publicly-owned PBS provided greater context and criticism of owner positions than any of the privately-owned media outlets. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 22, 2012. / Corporations, Journalism, Labor, Media, Political economy, Sports / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Thesis; Davis W. Houck, Committee Member; Joshua I. Newman, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183508 |
| Contributors | Lewis, Jonothan (authoraut), Proffitt, Jennifer M. (professor directing thesis), Houck, Davis W. (committee member), Newman, Joshua I. (committee member), School of Communication (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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