http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3885 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:59:28 GMT 2013-05-18T17:59:28Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7201 Title: Lights, Camera, Accolade: Towards an Understanding of the Nature and Impacts of the Nobel Peace Prize Authors: Swiatek, Lukasz Abstract: The Nobel Peace Prize is more than a medal,diploma and monetary sum. This thesis investigates the nature and international impacts of this accolade. It traces the historical evolution of the media resources that underpin the Prize, and offers three ways of conceptualising it: as a meme, as a set of intangible and software assets, and as a tool of soft power. The study argues that these elements are all components of the award, and that they act as communicational tools that operate in various ways to disseminate specific messages to international publics. To substantiate these conceptualisations, selected media texts are analysed using a multi-method approach. The 2007 conferral of the Prize to the former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (represented by Rajendra Pachauri) serves as the case study. The thesis concludes suggesting that the Prize can have significant impacts on individuals around the world, in encouraging universal peacemaking. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7201 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7200 Title: An examination of Australian news coverage of Papua New Guinea Authors: Carter, Jessica Abstract: This thesis examines Australian news coverage of Papua New Guinea, a country with which Australia shares geographic proximity and strong historical ties. Specifically, this study examines the coverage of PNG by The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers from January 01 until June 30, 2010. This work aims to demonstrate that PNG is a neglected news region. This neglect – in terms of quality reporting – has produced a limited and fragmentary portrayal of PNG in the Australian media. In this context, this study observes that the majority of news stories about PNG tend to lack analysis and contextual background. By examining the process of news framing and news values, this thesis suggests that the disproportionate emphasis on events associated with crime, chaos, disaster, and corruption has constructed PNG as a fragile, suffering and dependent society. The key methodologies used in this thesis are content analysis, and indepth interviews with a selected number of Australian journalists currently or previously based in PNG. The thesis forms part of a much broader examination of the changing trends in international news coverage of developing countries, particularly the Asia-Pacific. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7200 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7199 Title: The Good, The Bad and The Morally Grey: The Ethics of Journalism in Film Authors: Law, Melinda Abstract: This thesis examines the portrayal of journalists in feature films and treats the films as cultural artefacts, which represent many of the prevailing attitudes and public expectations of the contemporary news media. It considers three films Good Night, and Good Luck (2004), Lions For Lambs (2007) and State of Play (2009) and uses three ethical frameworks, John Stuart Mill‟s Utilitarianism, Immanuel Kant‟s Deontological ethics and the Society of Professional Journalist‟s Code of Ethics to closely examine the actions of the journalists. After applying these frameworks to the films, the thesis examines the ethical framework favoured by filmmakers and analyses the work of these journalists as indicative of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary news media in the popular imagination. The thesis discusses how films containing journalists as characters shape public expectations of their real life counterparts and if there are indeed any suitable recommendations that can be applied as best practice to the work of journalists in the evolving news media industries Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7199 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7198 Title: A study of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s soft power in Indonesia and China 2007 – 2010 Authors: Irvin, Keeley Abstract: In 2009, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Managing Director Mark Scott put forward a contentious proposal to develop ‘a global ABC’, establishing the ABC as a leading international broadcasting presence. This thesis seeks to reflect on the plausibility of Scott’s vision, which was inspired by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s foreign policy strategy. It analyses to what extent the ABC’s international services, Radio Australia and Australia Network television, have been able to function as effective tools of Australian public diplomacy and soft power in Asia during the term of the Rudd government, from 2007 – 2010. This thesis argues that the ABC faces significant challenges to realising its policy aims in two key international territories, Indonesia and China. It provides innovative interpretive framing analysis of interviews with six senior ABC managers and four Asian media studies academics, together with government and corporate document research, to determine how Radio Australia and Australia Network’s achievements and problems have been perceived by key strategic communications actors and analysts. Four dominant frames were identified, through which the effectiveness of the ABC’s international services is investigated: political independence, resource dependence, colonialism and engagement. This analysis suggests that while there are a number of existing and emerging opportunities for the ABC to act as a vehicle of Australian soft power in Asia, Radio Australia and Australia Network have to date been largely unable to function as effective tools of public diplomacy due to a number of financial, political, cultural and regulatory constraints. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7198 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5872 Title: I am your worst fear, I am your best fantasy: new approaches to slash fiction Authors: BRENNAN, JOSEPH CARL LINDEN Abstract: This thesis uses slash fan fiction produced for the CW television series Supernatural to suggest two new slash typologies. While existing frameworks — romantopia (concerned with sex) and intimatopia (concerned with intimacy) — are useful, I argue that many slash stories fall outside the scope of these two terms into two newly proposed categories: paratopia and monstropia. Paratopic slash is centrally concerned with psychological change or geographical repositioning and realises, like romantopia and intimatopia, potentials of homosocial desire. Monstropic slash is centrally concerned with perversity and realises potentials of homosexual panic; it is a genre of slash fiction until now unexplored by slash scholarship. To illustrate these frameworks I discuss Supernatural slash stories in detail. Supernatural was chosen to illustrate both paratopia and monstropia because it is arguably a text that promotes homosexual panic as much as it does homosocial desire. I also argue that Supernatural slash, which would ordinarily be classified as romantopic or intimatopic, is paratopic due to the changes necessary to negotiate the characters’ homophobia and authentically present them in either sexual or intimate love. In conclusion, I argue that paratopia and monstropia are useful frameworks for understanding the ‘other worlds’ that slash inhabits — worlds beyond the reach of ‘topias’ romantopia and intimatopia. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5872 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5867 Title: “Can Daft Punk Play At My House?” Authors: Hui, Alan Abstract: This thesis analyses and discusses the tensions between sampling and copyright by posing the question: ‘Can Daft Punk Play At My House?'. It examines one particular case of music sampling - the Soulwax Shibuya Re-remix of LCD Soundsystem’s Daft Punk Is Playing At My House to consider the ways in which copyright views sampling as infringement and to what extent copyright can subsist in a work of sampling. Following Chapter One on methodology, Chapter Two reviews the relevant legal, cultural studies and media studies literature to consider how sampling further challenges the copyright’s assumptions about author. Chapter Two demonstrates how sampling further challenges legal assumptions of what is a work and who is an author, and threshold tests, based on the concepts of originality, the idea-expression dichotomy and substantiality. It finds that the application of these assumptions and tests restrict the creative practice of sampling. Chapter Three presents examines the case study recording through the interpretations of music commentators and brothers Stephen and David Dewaele, two of the four members of Soulwax. It also examines the case study through further interpretations of the case study by four relevant experts in the musical and legal fields, the subjects of primary interview research. Chapter Three finds that with the exception of the Licensing Manager’s view, all other interviewees, commentators and artists recognise the cumulative, creative contribution of Soulwax’s sampling over and above its reproduction of .prior work by LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk and other artists. It further finds by signing a contract with EMI, Soulwax gains access works for sampling but loses control of the rights in its Re-remixes. Chapter Four discusses the shortcomings of existing music industry licensing and contractual agreements, analyses prospective solutions and identifies future challenges. Chapter Four shows that the application of copyright law, based on the problematic assumptions about the author discussed in Chapters Two and Three, and industry practice of sampling clearance, discussed in Chapter Three, contribute to the tragedy of the anti-commons. It further shows by entering into contracts with copyright owners, who are often not creators or authors, artists make this tragedy perpetual. It argues that a number of prospective solutions, particularly, Creative Commons and recognition of transformative works, under a fair use doctrine or a compulsory licensing system, make some progress to avoiding this tragedy. It identifies extreme sampling that stretches the threshold of recognisability and the sampling of oral cultures as future challenges for sampling and copyright. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:02:13 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5867 2010-02-16T02:02:13Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5341 Title: In The Public Interest? : Investigative Journalism and Fourth Estate Philosophy Within the Australian Press Authors: Lenffer, Heidi Abstract: The tradition of ‘investigative journalism’ has come to denote the most lauded qualities of the journalistic profession, and has an impressive history of producing social reform in Australia. However, its grounding in Fourth Estate principles arguably promotes an adversarial, top-down approach to journalism, which has served to position the journalist as a removed ‘watchdog’ gaurdian of public interests, rather than as a professional who facilitates the public’s expressions of politcal, social and cultural interest. This thesis uses a case study of the National Times newspaper (1971-1986) to illustrate the form and effect of a particular manifestation of investigative journalism, and seeks to contextualise the tradition within a historical account of the development of Fourth Estate philosophy within Australia. This thesis aims to contribute to contemporary debates surrounding the role of journalism by situating this research within a broader discussion of the changing relations between the media and the citizenry within the contemporary public sphere. Sat, 01 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5341 2005-10-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4029 Title: The Disconnect Between Journalism and Governance: A Critical Analysis of The Interaction of Journalism and Governance in the Virtual World Second Life. Authors: Boyd Jones, Annabelle Abstract: This thesis analyses the interaction of journalism and governance in the virtual world Second Life. It examines the structure, practices and influence of journalism in Second Life and explores the nature and communicative aspects of governance in this virtual world. As virtual worlds attract growing numbers of subscribers and social interaction increasingly moves towards the online environment, it is crucial to understand the practices and conventions which structure human interaction in these spaces. To explore these concerns, a close critical analysis of Second Life was conducted, based upon academic literature, interviews and a content analysis. Eight interviews with significant journalists in Second Life were conducted and a content analysis of thirteen publications was undertaken. Yochai Benkler’s theory of social production provides a theoretical base which frames the nature of Second Life as participatory, collaborative and networked, and defines the relationship between media and governance using the concept of a networked public sphere. Practices of journalism in Second Life display a combination of traditional, professional,gatewatching and participatory, networked, gatekeeping characteristics, and it perform numerous roles in mediating communication. Second Life publications facilitate active and abundant conversation between residents, facilitating a networked public sphere. Linden Lab uses a variety of strategies to communicate governance discourses to users. Despite the similarity between normative and Second Life journalism, it has a negligible influence over the structure and direction of governance. The disconnect between journalism and governance in Second Life raises questions about individual freedom and collaborative production in virtual worlds, challenging existing understandings of online interactions. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4029 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3934 Title: Misconceived: Representations of "The RU486 Debate" in the Media Authors: Daroczy, Jenna Abstract: In December 2005, a cross-party coalition of female senators presented a Bill to Parliament that changed the way Australian women could have abortions. ‘Misconceived: Representations of RU486 in the Media’ is a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of newspaper coverage leading up to the passing of the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Repeal of the Ministerial Responsibility for Approval of RU486) Bill 2005 in February 2006, together with an extensive literature review. Analysing all coverage discussing RU486 in three publications – national newspaper The Australian as well as Sydney-based The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald – over a five month period, the study was chiefly concerned with the way RU486 and key stakeholders in the story were framed. The Bill sought to remove the power of veto the Health Minister held over abortifacients coming into Australia, instead assigning the power to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). One abortifacient in particular, known as ‘RU486’ or mifepristone, was already in use in many other countries. When the Bill was successful in February 2006, the TGA could assess RU486 and Australian doctors could prescribe medical abortions as an alternative to the already legal surgical abortion. This study positions itself within the established fields of theory and research surrounding interactions between science and the media, science and politics as well as science and ethics. Previous studies assessing the way science is framed in the media informed the direction of the quantitative and qualitative content analyses. The quantitative analysis found statistical evidence strongly suggesting the invocation of the wider ‘abortion debate’ utilised throughout the coverage, although the Bill itself was about regulation of abortifacients, not the procedure itself. It also found that despite journalists’ use of a wide range of sources, stakeholders presented in the ‘leads’ of articles preserved the status quo and favoured government or ‘anti-Bill’ sources over those in support of the Bill, thus challenging the status quo. The articles analysed fell short of meaningful engagement with the wider issue of Australia’s high abortion rate, based on the proportion of coverage relating to the underlying causes of Australia’s high abortion rate. The majority of coverage focused on the detail of the Bill rather than the ‘horse race’ of political manoeuvring behind it, suggesting a reluctance to revisit the issue after the parliamentary vote was taken. Throughout the coverage there was strong use of emotive language, which could be seen to obstruct objective engagement with the facts of the Bill. Using McKee’s ‘commutation test’, phrases deemed to indicate a particular frame were singled out for qualitative assessment. Four main frames were established relating to the wider abortion debate; portrayals of the medical profession, the use of medical jargon and the rhetoric of risk and claims that ‘accountable’ politicians should be in charge instead of the unelected Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Within the broad framing of the medical profession, the work of Karpf provides the scaffolding for an updated interpretation of the ‘medical’, ‘consumer’, ‘look-after-yourself’ and ‘environmental’ approaches. Interviews were also conducted with three journalists involved in reporting the stories, one from each of the newspapers and three key medical spokespeople frequently mentioned in the coverage, adding a further layer of meaning to the analysis. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3934 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3933 Title: Informing a Distracted Audience: News Narratives In Breakfast Television Authors: Copeman, Emma Abstract: This thesis takes its lead from Baym’s (2004) suggestion that incorporation of entertainment techniques into television news undermines its authority and credibility. To explore this question, textual analysis was conducted on the news bulletins of Australian breakfast television programs Sunrise and Today with regard to narrative features and the spread of traditional news conventions compared to entertainment techniques. This analysis was followed by a discussion of the dominant meanings produced by the news narratives of Sunrise and Today. The two programs employed similar narrative styles that largely adhered to traditional news conventions, positioning themselves as impartial and authoritative relayers of news. However, narratives of both programs also diverged from traditional news: both used entertainment conventions – with Today often abandoning the traditional Inverted Pyramid news story structure for new structures – and contained briefer stories, with references to the opinions and personal experiences of the item presenters. In some breakfast news items, the short and sometimes personal narrative structure diminished the construction of impartiality. While entertainment techniques represented a potential threat to the overall authority of the news, in this analysis, the threat was mitigated by the dominance of traditional news conventions and authority was retained. In summary, departures from traditional news narrative structure and delivery are evident in Australian breakfast television, and may partly decrease its news authority and impartiality. However, the ability of these programs to retain distracted breakfast audiences may depend on the brief, entertaining and sometimes personal nature of the news items. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3933 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3932 Title: “MySpace: a place for friends?”: A Study of Friendship on MySpace Authors: Sawyer, Rhiannon Abstract: This thesis seeks to examine the concept of friendship on MySpace. It will address the need for a comprehensive study of the daily operation of friendship on the social software site. As the site itself is relatively new, previous studies of social software have not included a focus on MySpace. This study will analyse the concept of friendship by using a theoretical framework of friendship based on the work of Aristotle, Kant and Derrida. It will focus on three identified types of MySpace: MySpace for artists, for businesses and for individuals. The thesis will study these friendship types then analyse them according to the motivations behind these friendships and the context in which they exist. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3932 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3931 Title: The Mythic Monument and the Monumental Myth: 9/11 Through Film Posters. Authors: Williams, Kathleen Abstract: Two films were released in 2006 that depicted the events of September 11, 2001. This thesis seeks to interrogate the interpretation of the events through the vehicle of the film poster, for United 93 and World Trade Center. The single image of the film poster calls on audiences to re-engage with the events of 9/11 by bearing witness through consumption in the realm of entertainment. Combining these powerful experiential imperatives with memorialisation and commemorative practices, representations are located in the nexus of the troubled binary of personal and the monument. This discussion will be levelled at the depiction of the personal/monument binary and how this binary is employed to make sense of the event, by disciplining the narrative to exist outside of terrorists’ aims. The use of mythic Hollywood images in the posters can be seen as interpreting the events of 9/11 for a movie-going audience. The posters draw upon mythologies using particular constructions of the binary of personal/monument in response to the role of public memorials, trauma and commemoration, and representations of grief, tragedy and heroism in mythic Hollywood images. Considering the strong national and ideological divisions inherent in the September 11 narrative, film posters from English and non-English speaking contexts are considered. While no claims are made on the individual national identities portrayed, a comparison of five posters English language posters, with four posters released to non-English speaking countries – Korea, Turkey, Germany and Russia – show distinctions between the internationally released posters and alterations made for audiences in the United States. This thesis will adopt a post-structural method of critique. As such, binaries must be seen as contextually bound. Apart from the conceptual apparatus of post-structural theory, the body of literature provides a conceptual and thematic form for analysis. This study develops its own context for analysis by drawing on previous literature concerning: 9/11 particularly in relation to concepts of the Real, taken from Žižek and Baudrillard, including work on pain, tragedy and mourning drawn from Sontag and Butler; previous literature on the film poster, an area of work that is limited and normally tied to advertising discourses, which is not of interest to this study; and mythologies and semiotics, drawing heavily on the work of Roland Barthes. This thesis will use Barthes’ description of “Leaving the Movie Theater” that engages with posters and the role of the cinematic space, as a point of departure. The aim of this thesis is to engage with binaries to find dominant meanings to question the various interpretations and understandings of 9/11, and to question whether these parties to the binary are truly opposed poles. Engaging with a large body of previous literature to theoretically and conceptually guide the analysis, this thesis seeks to further existing study to argue toward a new socio-historical understanding of 9/11 through an in depth analysis of film posters. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3931 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3930 Title: Niche Publications and Subcultural Authenticity: The case of Stealth Magazine Authors: Blight, David Abstract: Authenticity is often constructed as an absolute subcultural value. Within the field of subcultural studies, a relatively small amount of literature exists regarding the relationship between different forms of media and subcultural notions of authenticity. Even less literature examines the relationship that individual media texts foster with subcultural niche markets or the internal techniques such publications utilise to discuss authenticity. This thesis aims to address these gaps by performing an in-depth analysis of a Sydney-based hip hop publication, Stealth magazine. The analysis explores how subcultural authenticity is constructed within this publication. In doing so, the nature of authenticity is called into question. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3930 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z