Diversity and my study by Qifeng Huang

My thesis will involve a content analysis focusing on Chinese magazine advertisements to explore the change in gender portrayal. The study will keep track of one Chinese magazine from 1960s to now, to see if there is a change in portraying gender relationship due to the dramatic social and economic change China has gone through.

The concept of diversity flows through various aspects of my study. Generally speaking, it has two major impacts on my study. First, the diverse cultural root I am going to explore in my study will involve exploring the impact of Chinese culture and politics on the portrayal of gender relationship. Second, the audience my thesis is going to meet includes various groups: such as gender researchers, cultural scholars, general advertising professionals and practitioners etc.

The main aspect from which I am going to conduct my content analysis is mainly from Goffman’s frame analysis. He develops this theory in his book Gender advertisements based on the framing theory to explore the relationship between men and women in advertisements. Lots of studies in advertising area have been conducted to explore the gender portrayal but few have been conducted in the Asian culture context. China has gone through dramatic economical and political change since 1960s, from the very beginning of its independence; continue with the “open door policy” in 1980s, to today’s stunning economic development. This change China has gone through has affected the general gender relationship shaped in old Chinese society, and women in today’s China are respected as “half of the sky”.

To explore the cultural and political reason to this amazing gender relationship change in China could lead to a journey to the culture of this powerful Asian country. So this study will continue with my research on diverse culture background, and find the implication of Goffman’s theory in different social and cultural settings.

My thesis will analyze the advertisements from the angle of camera, from the subtle gestures which indicates the potential relationship between men and women, according to Goffman’s frame analysis. The result of my paper would discuss the cultural and social impact on the change of gender portrayal which could draw the interest of scholars in the cultural study. This also involves the extension of gender study in the context of Asian culture, which could also attract scholars in the field of gender study. A different implication of framing theory in advertising content would also be interesting enough to draw attention of framing scholars.

The aim of my study would focus on revealing the gender relationship change in the Chinese culture context to emphasize the diverse implication of frame analysis in different culture.

Case Study: Contemporary Media Research Issue, Ethics & My Topic

Case Study: Contemporary Media Research Issue, Ethics & My Topic
By Darcy Delaney



Photos provided by Time Magazine


The contemporary media research issue of the news media’s coverage of female political candidates has numerous faults within the common ethics of journalism. Ethical codebooks usually list fair and balanced coverage as one of the main components in which all journalists should adhere. However, according to the information from five sources listed below, it is not being followed by all news organizations.

The first source I found was Journalism.org’s The State of the News Media 2009. This source emphasized how news magazine coverage has created biases against current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries. According to the article, current President Barack Obama appeared on the cover of Time 13 times and Newsweek 12 times during the 2008 race. However, Clinton only appeared on Time three times and Newsweek twice during the same time period.

The second source, the Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, provided an article that illustrated some of the biases the media have created against Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries. The site referenced The Center for Media and Public Affairs. The Center found that by the time of the Iowa Caucus, 84 percent of the news coverage Obama received was positive, while only 51 percent of the coverage Clinton received was positive.

The Temple News online, a third source agreed, but did not provide percentages. Instead, this Web site used examples of media biases like when Chris Stover, the author of the article wrote, “For example, MSNBC’s David Shuster said in February that former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton was “being pimped out” by her mother. Yet no one says anything about Sen. John McCain’s traveling, blogging daughter.”

The fourth source, Communication Currents, also emphasized that the media coverage of Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries were biased. However, this source suggested that these biases existed in coverage of Clinton, the biases were not as strong as previous female candidates had seen.

About.com: Women’s Issues provided a list of articles written about this topic in relation to sexism. “In her Shoes” is a blog by Linda Lowen. This blog allowed the reader to understand how many members of a viewing (or reading) audience can become frustrated with biased coverage.

Overall, each one of these five sources provided information that agreed there were biases in the media against Clinton during this election. While this happens, it is not ethical.

News organizations are supposed to provide factual, balanced and unbiased information to their audience. This does not seem to be the case with political coverage of this election or any election prior. It is important to understand that these biases exist in order to make the necessary changes in the media so that these differences in political coverage no longer occur.

Ethics and Malawian Newspapers

Ethics and Malawian newspapers

By Idriss Ali Nassah

As elsewhere on the African continent, Malawi has made efforts over the past decade to develop a Western-style media that would serve to enhance the country’s young democracy. However, prospects that the Malawian newspaper is in a position to do that look grim. Much of this grim outlook can be attributed to the quality of newspaper journalism. It is commonplace to hear public utterances on journalists in disparaging remarks as biased, unprofessional, unethical and ignorant.

The World Bank estimated that Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and the media face a number of constraints (http://www.pressreference.com/Ky-Ma/Malawi.html). My study will focus on the constraints of the country’s only two national daily newspapers, The Daily Times and The Nation, both owned by families with strong political ties.

How ethical are journalists in Malawi and what effect does ownership has on this question? Interestingly, what journalists in America debate as matters of ethics is everyday occurrence in Malawi without anyone ever raising concern. The question of free food for journalists, for example. Nathan Kelly posted this question http://groups.poynter.org/members/blog_view.asp?id=190115&post=64848.

“During press conferences, especially those involving sports, journalists are offered food”, Kelly wrote. “Why is food, sometimes a buffet, offered and what are those putting on the conference expecting in return? Does the food subconsciously cause us to be nicer while reporting because we’re full of sandwiches and cookies, even though we try to remain professional?”

In Malawi, the absence of free food at any media event would cause journalists to be nastier in their reporting. And to ensure coverage, it is common practice for journalists to receive transport disbursements and envelopes containing wads of money from companies and organizers of media events. It is a known fact that at some events were no envelopes were distributed to journalists, the reporters became agitated and demanded “allowances” or else there would be no coverage.

The blame can be placed on the owners, not the reporters, because reporters in Malawi receive salaries that are generally a cruel joke.

And then there is the problem of sources planting stories via reporters. This is damaging to the print media but these sources often make these reporters offers they can’t refuse. Perhaps Malawi journalism needs a Jason Blair type of scandal to wake from this huge ethical lapse. If you need reminding, Blair was a young reporter who shook the media when it was discovered that his fabricated stories had found their way into the New York Times. In a remarkable chain of events, the Times published an unprecedented 14,420-word explanation (by its count) on May 11, 2003, with Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd leaving in its wake. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/new-york-times-media five/story.aspx?guid=%7BF8886DFF-921E-4D52-A2C6-4D5634AFBC36%7D&dist=msr_20.

After that, fair or not, Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s New York Times became the poster child for everything that was wrong about journalism, specifically its arrogance, its ethical lapses and its apparent inability to police itself.

Greg Mitchell, the editor of Editor & Publisher, posited: "Since the Jayson Blair case broke, many more, although still not enough, newspapers have done or some of these things: 1) expanded their corrections sections; 2) utilized plagiarism-checking programs; 3) formalized their ethics policies; 4) been more forthright in owning up to certain issues, either via an editor's column or an ombudsman."

It was reported on http://community.marketwatch.com/newsjunkie that after the Blair/Miller fiasco, The New York Times took steps to position itself as one of the most credible news organizations in the world, and its quality and depth of its reporting improved.

Malawi is yet to witness a reporter or editor who resigns as a result of ethical lapses. This is largely because such type of misconduct is, if not openly encouraged, them definitely tolerated. Perhaps that will soon change. In neighboring Zimbabwe in February 2000, Andy Moyse, the acting editor of The Standard, a Zimbabwe weekly newspaper, resigned in disgrace after admitting that the newspaper had written a false report (www.globaljournalist.org/stories/2000/09/01/africas-fight-for-ethics/).
Moyse, publisher Clive Wilson and reporter Chengetai Zvauya were found guilty, holding them responsible for reporting the allegations, which turned out to be false. The journalists were fined thousands of US dollars for the offense.

There is no consensus among Africa’s media as to whether the government, or the press itself, should be responsible for ensuring an ethical media.. Veteran Kenyan journalist Philip Ochieng also condemns what he called the “gutter press” for unprofessional conduct, and says it justifies the government’s insistence on regulating the media.

Africa’s media have grown tremendously in the past three decades and need to adhere strictly to professional ethics. Malawi’s newspapers need to play a leading role in their own regulation. That responsibility to ensure an ethical media should start with the owners and management of newspapers.

Diversity and My Study by Darcy Delaney

Diversity and My Study
By Darcy Delaney


Photo provided by MSNBC

The topic of my thesis is the portrayal of female political candidates by weekly news magazines. I will conduct a content analysis that analyzes three news magazines (Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report) during the 2007 Democratic primaries, ending with the Iowa Caucus. Current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden (then competitors for the Democratic presidential candidacy) will be the two candidates analyzed in this study. It will be a content analysis that analyzes photographs containing one or both of the candidates, and the headlines and cutlines that accompany these photographs.

Political diversity can be defined as encouraging acceptance of political candidates with different backgrounds. The 2008 U.S. Presidential race saw a multitude of diversity, not just with females being in the race, but also with an African American male running for president. It is evident by the results of this race (with President Barack Obama and Clinton being the final competitors for the Democratic seat and with Obama winning the overall election) that Americans are more accepting of diversity than ever before. However, are the media still creating biases?

Diversity plays a crucial role in my thesis. While there were positive outcomes from this election, it is possible the media still created biases that could have created negative portrayals of female candidates, which numerous researchers have suggested could result in the loss of an election. This study would not exist without diversity as its backbone. If diversity were not part of this study, it would have a huge impact on the subjects being analyzed and would determine the sources in every possible way.

If diversity were not a part of this study, Clinton would not be able to be analyzed. This would also not allow me to study Gov. Sarah Palin or Obama. The 2008 presidential election was filled with diversity, which is the primary reason it is worth studying. Without diversity, the election would differ in no way from previous presidential elections held in the United States.

A study of the portrayal of female candidates by weekly news magazines that did not contain diversity would not exist. If different candidates were chosen, it would mean no diversity existed. The results would differ because it would no longer be measuring portrayals of female candidates by the mass media.

Click here to view a video showing media bias against female political candidates and some of the candidates’ wives.

Diversity & My study by Joshua Lunsford

Diversity & My study
by Joshua Lunsford

My project involves researching bicycle-sharing programs for the University of Oklahoma and/or the city of Norman through the theory of Social Marketing. I will be interviewing decision makers of existing bicycle-sharing programs domestically and internationally. I will also be conducting a content analysis of bicycle-sharing programs that have been implemented, including those that have ceased.

The subject of diversity is central to my research project. Social marketing is defined as “a process that applies marketing principles and techniques to create, communicate, and deliver value in order to influence target audience behaviors that benefit society (public health, safety, the environment, and communities) as well as the target audience” (Kotler & Lee, 2008). So, it will inherently be as diverse as the society that the marketing program is placed. (Photo: http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Image:Bicycle_two_1886.jpg)

A bicycle-sharing program, and any social marketing program, would look to include a completely diverse range of users - rich and poor, old and young, male and female, and so on. Subjects for my research will only include those that have started a bicycle-sharing program. So, it will be selective in its scope. However, the impact of potential users will be wide-ranging.

The intended users of a bicycle-sharing program may be less diverse if it becomes limited to just the university setting. Some of the existing bicycle-sharing programs have been implemented in a university setting. If that were the case in my project, the research would still be limited, and the potential users would also then be limited to the university population. Most of the existing bicycle-sharing programs, however, are implemented in a region or city where users are defined as anyone within that region or city. Some of those programs, like the Smartbike program in Washington, D.C., are limited to credit card users, which would disenfranchise the citizens who were unable or unwilling to obtain a credit card. The bicycle-sharing program in Berlin requires a user to text message a particular number to obtain a key-code to unlock the bicycle. This demands that a user not only have access to a cellular phone, but also a text messaging plan of some sort.

My project will take ideas from each of the bicycle-sharing programs and attempt to eliminate any reason for potential users to not access the program. The reason for the bicycle-sharing program is multidimensional, but one of those dimensions is to bring members of the university community and city of Norman together.

India

INDIA

Sarabdeep Kochhar

INDIA is one of the oldest civilizations with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved multifaceted socio-economic progress during the last 52 years of its Independence. As the seventh largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. India is a diverse country, a fact that is visibly prominent in its people, culture and climate. From the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the cultivated peninsula of far South, from the deserts of the West to the humid deltas of the East, from the dry heat and cold of the Central Plateau to the cool forest foothills, Indian lifestyles clearly glorify the geography.

The food, clothing and habits of an Indian differ in accordance to the place of origin. The Indian culture varies like its vast geography. People speak in different languages, dress differently, follow different religions, eat different food but are of the same temperament. So whether it is a joyous occasion or a moment of grief, people participate whole-heartedly, feeling the happiness or pain. A festival or a celebration is never constrained to a family or a home. The whole community or neighborhood is involved in bringing liveliness to an occasion. Likewise, an Indian wedding is a celebration of union, not only of the bride and groom, but also of two families, maybe cultures or religion too! Meditation and Yoga are synonymous with India and Indian spirituality. Meditation is one of the most important components of Yoga, which is a mind-body therapy involving a series of exercises. Another widely followed phenomenon in India is the Doctrine of Karma that preaches that every person should behave justly as every act or deed comes back in full circle in one of the births of an individual.

Will Durant, American historian said: "India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all"

http://www.incredibleindia.org/

LIFE AFTER MY THESIS

LIFE AFTER MY THESIS

Sarabdeep Kochhar

The thought of completing my masters fills me up with excitement and eagerness to go back to my country. My first two semesters here have been really good with many new things for me to learn. The courses like introduction to mass communication and research methodology in the first semester were good to help me understand the basics of a graduate program and what research is. The second semester was one step further where the theory class and thesis seminar gave me an opportunity to think beyond basic concepts. Be it the choosing of the thesis topic or the committee, thesis seminar did help me clear many of my questions. With professors coming in to share their experiences and interests was especially interesting.

I am leaving for India for summers with so many things to share with my family and friends. The next two semesters will be totally directed towards my thesis work. I plan to do my thesis on the changing paradigms of public relations, by studying more specifically the situational theory of public and dialogic theory. I am interested in knowing how the concepts of situational theory can be added with that of dialogic theory. I will conduct interviews. The thesis proposal which I submitted did help me to streamline what I plan to do with clearly defined time frames to work in.

I plan to finish my thesis work by around January and defend my thesis in March. I cannot wait for my graduation ceremony. I plan to find a good job in India and go back and work for my country. India is a developing nation and I as an Indian wish to contribute to that growth. I want to learn as a much as I can. I wish to work for a good organization in corporate communication department. Life after my thesis will be full of both opportunities and challenges.