Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Euthanasia in the press Australia'

When the Australian Labor Party member for Kalgoorlie, Ian Taylor, presented his Private Member's Bill - the Medical Care of the Dying Bill (1995), he laid the foundation for this thesis. Mr Taylor introduced his Bill to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly on 28 March 1995. The Bill codified the terminally ill patient's right to refuse medical treatment, which clarified common law. This thesis attempts to overcome the dearth of literature in Western Australian lobbying concerning conscience-vote issues. It also identifies the key issues in understanding political lobbying, the form of pressure group activity that takes place and why certain groups respond in different ways. The pressure groups selected for this case study are examined, classified and evaluated resulting in a prescription for lobby group activity for similar conscience-vote issues. According to the Bill's sponsor, Ian Taylor, the legislation was needed to deal with the inconsistencies in common law of the medical treatment of terminally ill people. The Law Reform Commission in its 1991 Report on Medical Treatment for the dying, stated that there was a need to deal with the issue in Western Australia. Due to the advances in medical treatment practices in the past 50 years, doctors can prolong the life of patients for whom there is no cure. The major problem, however, is the Criminal Code: doctors and care providers can be at risk of prosecution and conviction if the patient's wishes are respected and medical treatment is withdrawn, leading to the patient's death. At present there is a general common law right to refuse medical treatment. According to Mr Taylor, the difficulty lies in the fact that in Western Australia, the common law is overridden by the Criminal Code. The Bill also highlighted the role of palliative care and the treatment of the dying. The opinion of most pressure groups was that the rights of terminally ill patients should be protected and enhanced. Of the groups selected for this case study, only the Coalition for the Defence of Human Life objected to the Bill. Other groups supported the principles of the Bill, while some hoped for voluntary euthanasia legislation and others gave tacit approval. Of all the groups the L. J. Goody Bioethics Centre distinguished itself as a key organisation which tended to monopolise political influence. Media exposure of the issue was high, particularly in The West Australian. The "right to die" issue was canvassed and often was reported with references to euthanasia. At the same time the Northern Territory legislation, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill (1995), was receiving much media attention. The issue of euthanasia was necessarily discussed in the context of national and international arenas. The political masters of thought on citizen participation and group theory were introduced early in the thesis. John Locke, Jean -Jacques Rousseau, James Madison, Alexis de Tocqueville, Thomas Paine and John Stuart Mill provided valuable insight into the nature of modern political thought on this interesting aspect of political activity. Contemporary political writers such as Trevor Matthews. Dean Jaensch and Graham Maddox were also consulted. The eight pressure groups selected for the study were the: • West Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society Inc. • Coalition for the Defence of Human life • Australian Medical Association (WA Branch) • Australian Nursing Federation (WA Branch) • L. J. Goody Bioethics Centre • Silver Chain Nursing Association Inc. • Uniting Church of Australia • Anglican Church of Australia Information from the groups formed a significant part of this thesis. An attempt was made in the conclusion to ascertain the effectiveness of the various strategies utilised by the pressure groups and provide an insight into lobbying practices. Ultimately, though, the contentious Bill was not given a third reading. Nor was it debated in the Legislative Council. At one stage it was considered likely that the Bill would be recommitted to parliament. The monitoring of the Medical Care of the Dying Bill (1995) undertaken in this thesis, indicates that this would have been a lengthy and divisive process.

This thesis undertakes a study of the research question: 'What is the nature of Australia's print media ownership and what is its impact on the diversity of print media, the diversity of views presented by the print media, and the incidence of bias within the print media in Australia?' This research question was developed after a study of submissions to Australia's 1991-1992 House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media, more commonly known as the Print Media Inquiry, revealed a dichotomy between submissions presented by proponents of a pluralist press and submissions presented by proponents of a market-based press. An examination of literature on pluralist and market-based press theories, and a comparison of these theories with the attributes of the Australian print media, shows that Australia's press is exclusively market-based and that the country's major newspaper owners have formed a powerful press oligopoly. Further, these owners act as members of an oligopoly tend to act. That is, they rationalise their operations where possible, draw substantial benefits from economies of scale, and are protected from the entry of competition into their markets. The formation of this print media oligopoly has led to some 88.4 percent of the country's national and capital city daily newspaper circulation being concentrated in the hands of two newspaper proprietors, Rupert Murdoch, who controls News Limited, and Conrad Black, who controls the Fairfax group (Communications Update, 1995, p.22). This concentration, the highest in the western world (Henningham, 1993, p.59), is claimed to adversely affect the print media industry, particularly in terms of a lack of print media diversity and a lack of diversity of views presented by the print media to the public. In 1991 moves by the Tourang Consortium (comprised, among others, of media magnates Kerry Packer and Conrad Black) to purchase the Fairfax group of companies caused a political outcry and were responsible, for the most part, for the Federal Labor Government's establishment of the Print Media Inquiry. The Inquiry was a wide-ranging review of the state of the nation's print media industry. It received 164 written submissions and 72 oral submissions from newspaper owners, industry personnel, union representatives, media researchers, academics, and the wider community. An examination of these submissions shows that most can be categorised as supporting either a pluralist or a marketbased view of how Australia's print media should operate. The principal concerns expressed to the Inquiry by proponents of a pluralist press were that Australia's print media ownership had resulted in a lack of diverse print media, mainly through the erection of barriers to the entry of competition, a lack of diversity in the views presented by the print media, and bias in the presentation of those views. Proponents of a market-based press argued, conversely, that Australia's print media were so diverse that no one person could effectively access all of them, that barriers to entry to the industry were confused with a guarantee of entry, and that a diversity of views was assured, as newspaper owners were required to appeal to as broad a readership base as possible to remain profitable. The House of Representatives Select Committee conducting the Print Media Inquiry ultimately concluded (although not unanimously) that Australia's concentrated print media ownership had not resulted in 'biased reporting, news suppression, or a lack of diversity' in the Australian print media industry (Simper, 1992, p.17), a conclusion that led to the Inquiry being labelled a farce, a political sop, and a whitewash. The results of three case studies undertaken for this thesis, however, supported both the findings of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media and claims by proponents of Australia's market-based press that barriers to entry were not erected by existing print media owners, that a diversity of views was presented by the print media, and that newspaper owners provided a reasonable balance in the editorial of their newspapers. The first case study, an examination of the establishment and subsequent failure of the Brisbane Weekend Times newspaper in 1993, found support for claims made by News Limited to the Print Media Inquiry that, in arguing that Australian press owners had erected barriers to the entry of competition, critics of the market-based press had confused ease of entry to the industry with a guarantee of entry. In examining start-up and delivery costs, the costs of news sources, readers' habits and advertiser support, the ability for the fledgling newspaper to absorb losses, and the influence of News Limited in the newspaper's proposed market, the case study found that the primary reason for the failure of the Brisbane Weekend Times was that its owner had insufficient capital to sustain its publication, rather than any specific barriers which the Australian press oligopoly had itself erected to preclude competition. The second case study, an examination of 254 news stories appearing in Fairfax's Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald and News Limited's Melbourne Herald Sun and Sydney Daily Telegraph Mirror during a composite week from 6 September 1995 to 17 October 1995, found support for claims that Australia's newspaper owners encouraged a diversity of views to ensure they appealed to general rather than niche audiences. The study linked diversity with the incidence of identical, near-identical, and non-identical political news stories that appeared in the above newspapers during the period defined. It found that, of the total news stories studied for both newspaper groups, 7.08 percent were identical, 34.64 percent were near-identical, and 58.28 percent were nonidentical, and concluded that a diversity of views (on matters political at least) did exist in the newspapers examined. The third case study, an examination of the incidence of political bias towards or against the Australian Federal Government in the above newspapers over the same composite week, found support for claims that Australia's newspaper owners provided a reasonable balance in the editorial of their newspapers. Averaging the results returned by three coders used for this examination, the study found that, for the total number of news stories analysed, 41.67 percent were coded as having a neutral bias, 40.47 percent were coded as having bias against the Federal Government, and 17.86 percent were coded as having a bias towards the Federal Government. However, the case study concluded that bias itself was difficult to ascertain, as a single definition of bias upon which to code the stories could not be obtained. In its conclusions the thesis contends that: Australia's newspaper ownership structure fulfils the criteria of an oligopoly and the owners of Australia's press act as members of an oligopoly tend to act, that is, they rationalise their operations where possible, draw substantial benefits from economies of scale, and are protected by the difficulty competitors have in entering the market; and the formation of this press oligopoly has effectively precluded the development of a truly pluralist press in Australia; however the results of three case studies undertaken for the thesis suggest that Australia's print media oligopoly does not lead, intrinsically, to the erection of barriers to entry, a reduction in the diversity of views presented by the print media, or an increase in the incidence of bias presented in those views. In a discussion of these conclusions, however, it is recognised that there are limitations to the overall study of this research question. These include the worldview brought to the writing of the thesis, where the discussion of Australia's print media is itself based in the socio-political structure within which the Australian press operates; the population sample for the second and third case studies, which has been restricted to news stories that deal exclusively with matters of federal politics; and the term print media, which has been limited to newspapers only, and does not include other printed media such as newsletters, magazines, or niche publications.

Since passing its Death with Dignity Act into law in 1997, Oregon remains the only state in America to make physician-assisted suicide an explicit legal right. Currently, the legality of physician-assisted suicide falls under the jurisdiction of each individual state. Had the United States Supreme Court ruled differently in a recent case, however, the issue would have transferred to federal jurisdiction. The Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC) takes responsibility for developing the original Death with Dignity Act and has since moved on to proposing similar legislation in other states. It also champions statesâ rights, fearing that placing physician-assisted suicide under federal jurisdiction would severely hinder its goals. The DDNC has led the legal movement for making physician-assisted suicide an end of life choice available in each state, as well as for keeping that decision at the state level. Utilizing a content analysis, this study coded for frames used by the DDNC in its press releases and frames used in newspaper coverage of death with dignity across the same period of time. It was found that press releases about and newspaper coverage of the death with dignity social movement shared significant correlations in terms of the frames each used, as well as the level of substance given to these frames. Few significant correlations were found, however, for frame valence. It seems as though discussion of this social movement utilizes the same substantive or ambiguous frames, but cannot decide whether these frames are positive, neutral, or negative.
Master of Arts

This thesis provides a study of book publishing as it contributes to the production of a regional literature, using Western Australian publishing and literature as illustrative examples of this dynamic. 'Regional literature' is defined in this thesis as writing possessing cultural value that is specific to a region, although the writing may also have national and international value. An awareness of geographically and culturally diverse regions within the framework of the nation is shown to be derived from representations of these regions and their associated regional characteristics in the movies, television and books. In Australia, literature has been the primary site for expressions of regional difference. Therefore, this thesis analyses the impact of regionalism on the processes of book production and publication in Western Australia’s three major publishing houses— a trade publishing house (Fremantle Press), an Indigenous publishing house (Magabala Books), and an academic publishing house (University of Western Australia Press). Book history, print culture studies and publishing studies, along with literary studies and cultural studies, roughly approximate a disciplinary map of the types of research that constitute this thesis. By examining regional literature in the context of its 'field of cultural production', this thesis maintains that regionalism and regional literature can avail themselves of a fresh perspective that shows them to be anything but marginal or exclusive. Regionalism has been a topic of peripheral interest, at least as far as scholarly research and academia are concerned, because those who are most likely to be affected by and thus interested in the topic, are also those who are most disempowered as a result of its attendant dynamics. However, as this thesis clearly demonstrates, access (or a lack thereof) to the field of cultural production (which in the case of print culture includes writers, literary agents, editors, publishers, government arts organisations, the media, schools, book clubs, and book retailers, just to name a few) plays a significant role in establishing and shaping an identity for marginalised 3 constituencies. The implications for this research are far-ranging, since both Western Australia and Australia can be understood as peripheries dominated in their different spheres (the 'national' and the 'international', respectively) by literary cultures residing elsewhere. Furthermore, there are parallels between this dynamic and the dynamic responsible for producing postcolonial literatures. The three publishing houses detailed in this thesis are disadvantaged by many of the factors associated with their distance from the traditional centres of book publishing, while at the same time producing a regional literature that serves as a platform from which the state broadcasts its distinctive contributions to the cultural landscape and to a wider understanding of concepts such as space, place and belonging. These publishing houses changed the way in which Australians and others have come to know and think about 'Australia', re-routing public consciousness and the national imagination.

L'idea di questa tesi nasce da una serie di circostanze, prima tra tutte la professione dell'autore che per quindici anni ha svolto in Italia l'attività di giornalista, lavorando prima al Messaggero di Roma, come cronista, e successivamente alla Rai - Radiotelevisione Italiana in qualità di redattore di 'giudiziaria' . Inoltre, l'autore di questa tesi, ha fatto una interessantissima esperienza professionale sia come critico cinematografico e sia come 'pastonista politico' presso la redazione romana del Giornale Nuovo - coordinata in quegli anni da Cesare Zappulli - quando era direttore il grande e indimenticabile Indro Montanelli, prima cioè che quell'arruffapopoli di Berlusconi affondasse completamente il giornale, trasformandolo nel bollettino parrocchiale di quel guazzabuglio politico che è 'Forza Italia' Questo non è il nostro primo cimento nel campo della storia del giornalismo in quanto segue una tesi di Master, conseguita al dipartimento di Storia dell'University of Queensland e che ha avuto come relatore il Dr. Don Dignan, dal titolo 'Press and Consensus in Fascist Italy'. In questa prima tesi è stata affrontata la fascistizzazione della stampa italiana tra il 1922 ed il 1940 e il modo in cui Mussolini, che capì esattamente l'importanza dei media e del controllo dell'informazione, creò quella corrente di consenso che permise al fascismo di governare indisturbato per tutto il 'ventennio'. In quella tesi di Master è stato anche affrontato e studiato il modo in cui i giornalisti (gli sceneggiatori del regime) ed i giornali, sia essi 'indipendenti' e di partito, manipolarono le notizie per darle in pasto ai propri lettori, con tutte quelle interpolazioni, ridondanze ed ombre che identificano il modo tuttora esistenze di concepire e fare un giornale. Nella nostra tesi di Ph.D. seguiremo una traccia similare, cercando di vedere e di analizzare se anche la stampa etnica ha usato, direttamente o indirettamente, forme di manipolazioni, di interferenze o di ridondanze nel creare e porgere le notizie al lettore italo-australiano. Inoltre è nostro intento accertare fino a che punto questa stampa ha creato un consenso verso particolari scelte politiche, sociali e di costume e se questo consenso è stato accettato dai lettori etnici, e in che misura. In altre parole il quesito che in linea di massima ci poniamo è identificare che influenza ha avuto la stampa etnica sulla comunità italiana. I problemi che questo tipo di ricerca implica sono stati numerosi, soprattutto dovuti al fatto che non esiste una letteratura specifica e non vi sono studi, nel campo del giornalismo italo-australiano, dei primi quaranta anni del novecento. Inoltre la maggior parte dei giornali pubblicati in quegli anni sono andati distrutti. Si è cercato inoltre di delineare una immagine dei problemi e delle aspirazioni della comunità italo-australiana attraverso l'analisi della stampa etnica, visto che la maggior parte degli autori hanno affrontato, fino ad oggi, questo tema usando documenti ufficiali o racconti e testimonianze di persone vissute nel periodo analizzato dalla nostra tesi. Abbiamo cercato, quindi, di dare una nuova luce e, quando è stato possibile, di dare la giusta dimensione agli avvenimenti accaduti dato che quanto veniva pubblicato sulle colonne dei giornali era scritto a 'caldo', senza influenze burocratiche e senza il filtro del tempo e delle memorie che spesso distorcono la realtà creando affabulazioni lontane dalla realtà.

The music press and music journalism are rarely subjected to substantial academic investigation. Analysis of journalism often focuses on the production of news across various platforms to understand the nature of politics and public debate in the contemporary era. But it is not possible, nor is it necessary, to analyse all emerging forms of journalism in the same way for they usually serve quite different purposes. Music journalism, for example, offers consumer guidance based on the creation and maintenance of a relationship between reader and writer. By focusing on the changing aspects of this relationship, an analysis of music journalism gives us an understanding of the changing nature of media production, media texts and media readerships. Music journalism is dialogue. It is a dialogue produced within particular critical frameworks that speak to different readers of the music press in different ways. These frameworks are continually evolving and reflect the broader social trajectory in which music journalism operates. Importantly, the evolving nature of music journalism reveals much about the changing consumption of popular music. Different types of consumers respond to different types of guidance that employ a variety of critical approaches. This thesis, therefore, argues that the production of music journalism is one that is influenced by the practices of consumption.

The music press and music journalism are rarely subjected to substantial academic investigation. Analysis of journalism often focuses on the production of news across various platforms to understand the nature of politics and public debate in the contemporary era. But it is not possible, nor is it necessary, to analyse all emerging forms of journalism in the same way for they usually serve quite different purposes. Music journalism, for example, offers consumer guidance based on the creation and maintenance of a relationship between reader and writer. By focusing on the changing aspects of this relationship, an analysis of music journalism gives us an understanding of the changing nature of media production, media texts and media readerships. Music journalism is dialogue. It is a dialogue produced within particular critical frameworks that speak to different readers of the music press in different ways. These frameworks are continually evolving and reflect the broader social trajectory in which music journalism operates. Importantly, the evolving nature of music journalism reveals much about the changing consumption of popular music. Different types of consumers respond to different types of guidance that employ a variety of critical approaches. This thesis, therefore, argues that the production of music journalism is one that is influenced by the practices of consumption.

This research looks at the way Australia is portrayed in the Western European press, particularly in the light of Australia's recent emphasis on being a clever country, within the Asia Pacific region. The research is based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of all articles explicitly referring to Australia, in seven newspapers from Belgium (2), France (2), Germany (1) and the United Kingdom (2), over a 6 month period. The main hypothesis was that those newspapers without Australian based correspondents or stringers picture Australia in a stereotypical way and that "news" in those papers, instead of giving "news", reinforces existing ideas and images held of Australia. My research supports the hypothesis, but also uncovers the very important role played by editors at home. They decide what is important, what is news and their choice will go to consonant "news". The research shows that newspapers in Europe largely portray Australia's older images, with its kangaroos, koalas and beaches peopled by sportsmen. Australia is largely portrayed as an almost untouched country inhabited by animals to be found nowhere else, and by people (mainly white Anglo- Saxon males) reputed for their friendliness, as well as for their laziness and sometimes their strangeness. "Newer" images of Australia promoted by the Australian government (e.g. Australia as a clever country and part of the Asia-Pacific region) get relatively little coverage in the Western European press.

In recent years, accounting researchers have turned their attention to media agenda setting theory in addition to legitimacy theory as the theoretical framework for researching voluntary social disclosure in the annual report of a company. Their research has tended to show a significant relationship between the extent and change in the number of press media social reports and the extent and level of social disclosure in the annual report of a company based on the same classification of Social items. They have also explored the existence of a time lag between the number of press media reports and disclosure in the annual report. A critical review of this literature suggested a number of gaps, some of which were acknowledged, present in this research. The purpose of this study is to replicate, refine and/or extend this recent research in a number of important directions.

The present study examined the role of the Korean ethnic press in Australia with special reference to the ways in which their professional backgrounds shaped the construction of the news content of their newspapers. The study sample consisted of six Korean ethnic newspapers produced in Sydney. Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors relevant to the role of journalists were identified in interviews with the editors and publishers. The overall news content was analyzed through quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The principal finding of this study was that none of Shoemaker's (1987) theoretical statements about how economic factors shape news content could be applied to the Korean ethnic press in Australia. Despite their reliance on commercial sources for their economic survival, all six papers devoted more space to issue oriented news than to event-oriented news, and were not responsive to their readers and advertisers in Shoemaker's terms. Journalistic professionalism as discussed by Henningham (1989) also was treated as a less important factor by Korean ethnic newspaper staff. Rather the professional identity of the ethnic press editors and publishers was grounded in the culture of their local community instead of in the mainstream standards of It is concluded that Korean ethnic newspapers in Australia have more pragmatic criteria both for the selection of their news content, and for the professional standards of their newspaper staff.

Defamation law‘s truth defence – the oldest, most obvious and principal defence – has failed Australian media defendants. Few who mount the defence succeed. Many, discouraged by the defence‘s onerousness, do not even attempt it. As a consequence the journalistic articulation of matters of public concern is stifled. This thesis argues that the limitations of the Australian truth defence are inconsistent with established freedom of speech ideals and the public interest in having a robust media. As a result society is constrained from enlightened participation in public affairs. This thesis proposes reforms to alleviate the heavy demands of the defence so as to promote the publication of matters of public concern and to strike a more contemporary balance between freedom of speech and the protection of reputation. These reforms employ defamation law‘s doctrinal calculus to reposition the speech-reputation fulcrum. While defamation law has for decades attracted reform attention, the truth defence has languished by the wayside. This thesis steps into the breech. The cornerstone of this thesis is a proposal to reverse the burden so that the plaintiff bears the burden of proving falsity of the defamatory publication where: the complainant is a public figure; the matter complained about is a matter of public concern; and the suit involves a media defendant. While this proposal is likely to dramatically alter the prevailing Australian freedom of speech/protection of reputation equilibrium, other measures are proposed to serve as a bulwark against the wanton destruction of reputation.

Models of mass media and democracy, as commonly discussed by media theorists, suggest there is a tight ideological relationship between the dominant discourse of mass media outlets and incumbent governments (Chomsky, 1997; Curran, 2002; Curran and Gurevitch, 2001; Curran and Park, 1996; Curran and Seaton, 1986; Herman and Chomsky, 1986; Herman and McChesney, 2001; Jacka, 2003; Schultz, 1998). In this thesis I analyse Australian print media opinion pages, and argue that the workings of Herman and Chomksy's Propaganda Model (1988, pp. 1-35) are evident in opinion page output on the Iraq issue. However, when applied to Australia and the Australian government's decision to invade Iraq in March 2003, as part of the Coalition of the Willing, I claim that the tight connection between mass media outlets and the dominant discourse of the government is not as evident. In other words, in this instance the dominant discourse that emerged from an analysis of print opinion pages was not as ideologically synchronised with the position of the Australian government as traditional theory would posit.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Nedostup
As my friends and I look forward to graduating this 2004, we are burdened with the task of carrying ourselves as delegates and agents of our respective societies. The challenge is even more exhaustive in the sense that the global landscape has been significantly altered as such so that we now live in a world which runs on a new breed of geopolitics; theories of interdependence perpetually interlock nation states in enduring fellowships of cooperation. Keeping this and the lessons that we've learned (both in the classroom and otherwise) in mind, there is an urgency to prevent and avoid future mass conflicts and ensure peaceful change. While this remains a worthy objective, the scope and complexities of modern-day world politics demands an understanding of a much wider range of issues. Moreover, new conceptual frameworks and theories are required to improve our understanding and assist in the development of better policies and practices. By human nature there naturally exists self-imposed obstacles and boundaries, which threaten to hinder progress. A more sophisticated knowledge and thorough education become essential countermeasures to safeguard growth and development. Within the realm of a research paper, the investigation and analysis of this subject can hardly be brought to a satisfactory conclusion within a reasonable amount of time. Therefore I choose to concentrate on the mechanisms, which shape the relationship between two highly visible, dominant and powerful global antagonists: the United States of America and the People's Republic of China. With the end of the Cold War era and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States was solidified as the most potent contender in the international arena. This title endured relatively undisputed and has remained fairly unchanged for the next decade thereafter. Interestingly enough though it was during this same period that China was concurrently grabbing headlines with its rapid development in many sectors. Analysts, professionals and experts are all in concurrence when they predict that by the first half of the 21st century this traditional Asian powerhouse will have met or surpassed the United States in stature and influence. It is reasonable, and accurate, to assume that US-Sino relations will have an unparalleled influence within the spectrum of international cooperation politically, culturally, and economically. Presently nations are vigilantly forming implicit alliances as they conceptually allocate themselves in favorable positions for the resurrection of a bipolar global infrastructure. From my delimited personal experience, I have unfortunately discovered a significant number of my peers are ignorant of these developing trends and the implications of this interrelationship. The purpose of this thesis is to converse with an audience comprised of individuals similar to those that I have met in these past four years, namely: intelligent and educated young Americans who are simply not informed of the nature, potential and circumstances surrounding US-Sino relations and policy. In this light, I intend to further specify the concentration of this study largely on the relationship that western media has with US-Sino relations. There will be a special emphasis and focus on the modern issue of human rights and trade. Furthermore, the bulk of the analysis will be limited within the timeframe of the three most recent American presidencies: George Bush (1989-1993), Bill Clinton (1993-2001), and George W. Bush (2001-present). The purpose of the first chapter is to give the reader a solid idea of the general issues that have plagued US-Sino relations in recent modern history. Again from personal experience it has come to my attention that the average American student has a narrow education concerning US-Sino relations often pervaded with misconceptions, which are not compensated for in personal readings. This recess of knowledge is particularly apparent concerning all episodes and trends that took place prior to the birth and maturation of our generation; mainly everything that took place before the early post-Cold war era of the 1980's. I feel that in order to have a solid grasp of current US-Sino relations, one must construct a respectable appreciation and foundation of knowledge concerning the historical events that took place from 1971 to the present.After this brief history lesson the thesis will explore the composite components that make up the media. It is from these resources that most college students in American draw their first and sometimes, only, impression of US-Sino relations. This section attempts to create a framework by which the media is broken down into its fundamental and more understandable elements. It is necessary to analyze the fabrics of the media; from the concept of self-perception, stereotypes, propaganda, and interest groups to the purpose that it serves as a median by which images of diplomatic-strategy are marketed. In short, the second chapter attempts to place the western media in a comprehensible light, enough so that the reader may continue with the remainder of the thesis with enough insight to make educated judgments. The dilemma between trade incentive and democratic moral ground is the key example that this thesis will use to illustrate the behavior of the mass media and the manners in which it can exert pressure on policy-making. Thus, a more mature understanding of the human rights debate is required. The third chapter explores the human rights issue in depth; tracing the evolution of the issue through contemporary history whilst highlighting this narrative with headlines from the press and mass media. The third chapter will additionally explore economics and trade relations in a similar manner using samples taken from primary sources. Finally, the core debate concerning these two issues will be scrutinized, analyzed and illustrated with headlines and proper examples from the media. In this realm analysis will naturally require some elements of subjective interpretation to hold any meaning. It is my hope that my audience will be able to walk away with that cultivated and deeper understanding not only of the media's capacity in shaping US foreign policy towards China but also the misleading conclusion that are often drawn from such a habit. It is important to keep in mind that perceptual gaps whether based on diverging cultures, histories, ideologies or all three, can be dangerous mental barriers. Because a significant portion of this thesis will also be concentrating on the manner in which lucrative trade and investment potential more often than not edge out the human rights concerns in modern US-Sino relations debates, the moral of the story will have to be interpreted by the reader him/herself. However, due to the fact that these issues, as well as the periphery issues that surround it, are so new and in a state of constant re-evolution, the fluidity of the subject makes it fairly difficult to draw conclusions. Moreover, it is also rather problematic to make firm stances and opinions either for one side or the other but I will write briefly on my own thoughts and opinions. Thus, ultimately I write this thesis in hopes to raise the issue of US-Sino cooperation into the consciousness of the young American mindset by providing an intelligent background upon which they may draw their own summations while being conscious of the influential ideas propagated by the media and the press around them
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: College Honors Program

Journalists in the Australian Christian press are constrained by a range of factors from playing an emancipatory, or socially responsible, role similar to that played by their mainstream counterparts. This study examines the social theory ojjournalism and the role of the mainstream journalist, with particular regard to the social responsibility model ofpress. It then examines how this compares with the social theory and practice of religion and the role of the Christian press journalist, and specifically, those journalists working within the Anglican Church of Australia's diocesan news press. Following a case study involving Anglican and mainstream journalists, it concludes that factors relating to resources, professionalism and proprietors play the most significant role in constraining Anglican journalists from fulfilling an emancipatory, or socially responsible, role within the Church.

This thesis examines environmental journalists, and the nature of their response to a set of perceived constraints within their professional context. Much of the literature on the subject to date would portray journalists as simply a channel through which previously screened information would be sent. The journalist, in this interpretation, is reduced to a mere transport device - one uninvolved in the manufacture and negotiation of that which we see as news. This study refutes this viewpoint, holding instead that the environmental journalist, operating from the platform of a "round", has internalised a set of strategic methodologies that both acknowledge the constraints and work to circumvent them. Indeed, the title "Getting Around the Problem", was borrowed from a common response from those in the sample set. The respondents collectively acknowledged the existence of a set of unique constraints, but always maintained there was a way to "get around the problem". The study, operating at an intensive level of scrutiny, shows evidence of these constraints, explains their genesis, and demonstrates the journalists' own responses. Implicit in this study is the idea that journalists do in fact operate from within a managed system, but still continue, despite this fact, to retain a significant degree of professional autonomy.

This thesis explores links between perceptions of Australian identity and the national press reporting of two Olympic and two Commonwealth Games staged in Australia: the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games, and the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. When Australia plays host to the world or Commonwcalth of Nations it is the press' role to communicl!te to Australians and international visitors how Australia and its peoplc are seen, and where Australia positions itself in global or Commonwealth contexts. The assumption guiding this study is that during these major intcmational sporting events Australia's newspapers depicted athletes and Games rituals, such as opening and closing ceremonies, in ways that conveyed a sense of national identity and consciousness. The newspaper is selected as the main medium for analysis because written reports consistently provided substantial coverage of each of the selected Games.Particular attention is paid to the ways in which Australia's newspapers defined "Australianness" and "otherness" within this sporting framework. From onc perspective, the concepts "Australian" and "other" can be treated as two distinctive, or separate, entities. From another, the idea can be entertained that the boundaries of Australian identity and "otherness" are often blurred, in the sense that someone who is part of the nation may be perceived as being an "other", and someone who is not directly connected to the nation might be considered to be more compatible with the (mainstream) Australian way of life. Therefore, the findings of this study are divided into six sections which, one by one, focus on representations of Australian athletes and Australia as Games host; Indigenous Australians; the British monarchy and the Commonwealth of Nations; athletes from the regions of Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia; and depictions of Australian identity through Games ceremonies. The sixth section employs a case study of press constructions of local identity during the Perth British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The research is presented as both quantitative and qualitative findings. The qualitative results comprise the bulk of the thesis, and involve textual analyses of the prcss reporting and a semiotic analysis of the Games ceremonies. Comparisons of thefour Games are historical in nature. The findings and analysis draw on ways in which the coverage of these major events reflected social, cultural and political factors linked to the evolution of Australia's identity, but overall the study is grounded in communications discourse. The dissertation is interdisciplinary in that the research combines the fields of identity, print journalism, sports journalism, Australian sports history, and Western Australian history. In particular, this thesis aims to cxpand on the currently limited literature on Australia's involvement in the Commonwealth Games.

This thesis is based on a particular domain of anthropological inquiry, the anthropology of policy, which proposes that policy be contemplated as an ethnographic object itself. The policy I consider is Australia's refugee policy, which advocates the mandatory detention of

While the cultural history and practices of press photography in Australia have gained scholarly attention in recent years, the contribution of other forms of photography published in magazines—including editorial, advertising and readers’ photographs—to burgeoning concepts of nationhood has been largely overlooked. This thesis examines the role of photography in visualising a post-war ‘imagined community’ in a study of The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine, the highest-circulating weekly publication in the country, between the end of the Second World War in 1945 and the introduction of television in 1956. In its examination of these photographs, the thesis asks: What narratives of national identity were evident in the photographs? What subject matter and framing techniques were frequently employed to construct a national photographic language? And what does this reveal about the values the Weekly’s publisher and editors attached to being Australian? I argue that the Weekly was not passively depicting or reflecting a national community and its ‘Way of Life’, but that it actively constructed an Australian identity through the thousands of photographs it published, while simultaneously instructing its readers what good citizenship looked like—and how to perform their belonging to the nation. Visual analysis of over 200 photographs highlights the predominant narratives during the period, including an emphasis on the practice of family photography to reinforce ideals of urban, family life as centred within the modern home. Representations of immigration and Aboriginal Australians, the repetition of photographs of families participating in community events, and a valorisation of the rural worker’s relationship with the land were intertwined with the concepts of ordinariness and of the ‘Australian Way of Life’. These core ideals were deployed to enable multiple and potentially oppositional narratives to coexist on the pages of the magazine. Analysis of a series of readers’ colour travel photographs published in the later years of the study foregrounds the Weekly’s encouragement of its readers as collaborators by providing them with an opportunity to demonstrate their performance of national identity. The magazine thus became a platform through which readers contributed to the visual narrative of Australianness, via the medium of photography as a form of participatory citizenship. The thesis foregrounds the implementation of a high-speed printing press in 1950 as a turning point at which readers saw a significant increase in the publication of colour photographs of native flora and fauna, and specifically photographs of ordinary Australians within the landscape. I argue that Alice Jackson and Esme Fenston, the Weekly’s editors during the period of study, positioned it as the mediator of knowledge about Australia, and constructed a relationship with readers based on notions of intimacy and authority. Situated within the multidisciplinary field of visual culture, and drawing from photography studies, visual anthropology, cultural history and media studies, the thesis highlights the cultural work of photography in the process of imaging, and imagining, post-war Australia.

The government-backed invasion of the Indonesian Democratic Party's Jakarta headquarters on the morning of27 July 1996, and the resulting violent riots in which at least five people died marked a pivotal point in Indonesian politics generally, and the pro-democracy movement specifically. This was a newsworthy event which was covered extensively by the broadcast and print media globally, however the time taken to relay the story and the credibility of the reports was highly variable for domestic as well as foreign media. Coverage by a national and regional Indonesian newspaper, as well as a national and regional Australian newspaper was compared with the email discussion list Indonesia-L's coverage for the news values of timeliness and accuracy. The October 1996 reports into the incident by the Indonesian National Commission for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch/ Asia were used as reference materials to evaluate the accuracy of the media reporting. The degree of government involvement in the attack on the PDI HQ was not reported by the Indonesian daily newspapers which also under-reported the number of victims while focussing on the law and order aspect of the story. Reportage by both the national and regional Australian papers focussed on the violence of the riots which posed a threat to President Soeharto 's rule, the role of the armed forces in maintaining law and order, and also underestimated the number of victims. Indonesia-L disseminated the fastest and most accurate reports of the event with eyewitness accounts providing considerable detail. Only two of the 18 postings were found to be sensationalistic and inaccurate. Implications for the future use of computer-mediated communication, such as email discussion lists, as an alternative source of news which circumvents government control, as well as the time and commercial constraints of print media are discussed.

Bibliography: leaves 247-256.
x, 256 leaves ; 30 cm.
Investigates, through the conceptual apparatus of Foucauldian analysis, poverty and unemployment in South Australia during the economic downturns of the 1890's and 1930's. That there is a direct parallel with the pattern of events in England is investigated through press representations in periods of severe economic contraction.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1997

The issue of the use of mass media by immigrants to sustain and develop special identities in their new country of residence has been a growing field of investigation over the past decade (see Riggins 1993, Gillespie 1993, Jakubowicz 1994, Gillespie 1995, Kolar-Panov 1997). In Australia, there has been work done on some immigrant communities including the Greek, Italian, and Vietnamese, but almost nothing on the Filipino community (see Bell et al. 1991, Young and Taylor 1985, Tenezakis 1984). This study, therefore, is an attempt to determine how Filipinos in Australia, particularly in Melbourne, use what might be called their ethnic newspaper, The Philippine Times (referred to henceforth as TPT), in sustaining and maintaining their cultural identity in relation to Australia's multicultural setting.

"April 2004"
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 439-471)
ix, 471 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Gender Studies, 2004