DOCSLIB.ORG

A Real Alternative? – How Alternative News Media Coverage Compares to the Mainstream in New Zealand Jay Acton 2019 School of C

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Real Alternative? – How Alternative News Media Coverage Compares to the Mainstream in New Zealand Jay Acton 2019 School of C A Real Alternative? – How Alternative News Media Coverage Compares to the Mainstream in New Zealand Jay Acton 2019 School of Communication Studies Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies A thesis submitted to the Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of a Master of Communication Studies 1 ABSTRACT The public receives most of its information about important national and international events through the news media. Since the advent of the internet, mainstream news media has experienced a decline in its audience as the number and popularity of alternative media outlets has dramatically increased. What the mainstream and alternative news media include in their stories and how they frame these stories has implications for citizens and society. This study compares how news is covered by online text-based alternative and mainstream news in New Zealand using quantitative content analysis. Article length, Context Factors, Number, Type, and Balance of Sources, as well as Dominant Media Frames were measured in coverage of 25 news events across four mainstream and four alternative New Zealand news outlets. The research showed that, compared to the alternative news media, the mainstream news was more consistent, and slightly longer in average article length; used approximately 25% more context factors; relied heavily on government sources versus alternative news reliance on expert sources, and used approximately 30% more sources overall; were 30% more ‘balanced’ in their use of sources, and approximately seven times less likely to run a story using an unopposed source. Furthermore, the research showed that the ‘conflict’ frame dominated mainstream media news stories – wherein two or more sides to a story are presented - while the dominant frame in alternative news media stories was that of ‘attribution of responsibility’. While the results of some of the measures – including article length, context factors, and number of sources – proved difficult to interpret, the mainstream media’s more balanced use 2 of sources, reliance on official government sources, and use of the conflict media frames were explainable in that it reflects the appearance of professional journalism’s values of balance and objectivity. The results showing alternative news media’s less balanced use of sources and their predominant attribution of responsibility framing was supported by much of the literature around alternative journalism describing it, in part, as oppositional, justice-seeking, and ‘activist’ journalism. However, while these results highlight some clear differences between the two types of media, it is worth considering the following; that historically, the mainstream news media, in a sense, emerged from what can be considered a proto-alternative oppositional news media; that the two have thereafter functioned in a complex relation to one another; and that with both alternative and increasingly mainstream news media moving to the internet, they may be in a relatively convergent period. 3 ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning. Signed:_____ ____________ ______________ Dated:____________10/04/2019________________________________ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Sarah Baker for her insight, guidance, and extreme patience throughout the lengthy process. I would also like to thank Associate Professor Vijay Devadas for his consistent and continued support, as well as Jessie Hsu for her patience and understanding. Finally, thank you to family – especially Catherine and Robert Acton – and friends, for your invaluable support and encouragement. 5 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... 2 ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................................................. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 10 1.1 Why Compare the Alternative and the Mainstream News? ....................................................... 10 1.2 The Media and the Social Construction of Reality ...................................................................... 11 1.3 Censorship and Propaganda ....................................................................................................... 13 1.4 The Propaganda Model in New Zealand ..................................................................................... 15 1.5 Comparing the Mainstream and Alternative Media ................................................................... 16 1.6 Thesis Structure .......................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 17 2.2 Defining the Alternative to the Mainstream News Media ......................................................... 17 2.3 The Dance of the Mainstream and Alternative Media ............................................................... 21 2.3.1 Bourgeois Journalism and the Public Sphere ....................................................................... 21 2.3.2 Challenges and Critiques of Bourgeois Media ...................................................................... 24 2.3.3 New Forms in Alternative Media ......................................................................................... 26 2.4 Political Economy Effects on Alternative News Media ............................................................... 28 2.4.1 Political Economy and Alternative News Media .................................................................. 29 2.4.2 Patronage ............................................................................................................................. 30 2.4.3 Commercial Support ............................................................................................................. 30 2.4.4 Personal Journalism ............................................................................................................. 31 2.4.5 Collective and Movement Support ....................................................................................... 33 2.5 News Selection ............................................................................................................................ 34 2.5.1 Structural Pluralism .............................................................................................................. 34 2.5.2 Gatekeeping ......................................................................................................................... 35 6 2.5.3 The Three Dogs: Watchdog, Guard Dog, and Lap Dog Theories .......................................... 36 2.5.4 News Values ......................................................................................................................... 37 2.6 The Propaganda Model ............................................................................................................... 40 2.6.1.Media Ownership ................................................................................................................. 41 2.6.2 Advertisers ........................................................................................................................... 45 2.6.3. Sources ................................................................................................................................ 46 2.6.4. Flak ...................................................................................................................................... 48 2.6.5. Anti-communism/Anti-terrorism/Dominant Ideology ........................................................ 50 2.6.6 Worthy and Unworthy Victims ............................................................................................. 52 2.6.7 Criticism of the Propaganda Model ......................................................................................... 53 2.6.8 The 6th Filter: An Instrumental Component .......................................................................... 57 2.6.9 The 6th Filter at the Paper of Record .................................................................................... 59 2.6.10The Black Box Problem ........................................................................................................ 60 2.6.11 Five Additional Filters for the Digital Age .......................................................................... 61 2.7 Framing ......................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Spencer Sunshine*
    Journal of Social Justice, Vol. 9, 2019 (© 2019) ISSN: 2164-7100 Looking Left at Antisemitism Spencer Sunshine* The question of antisemitism inside of the Left—referred to as “left antisemitism”—is a stubborn and persistent problem. And while the Right exaggerates both its depth and scope, the Left has repeatedly refused to face the issue. It is entangled in scandals about antisemitism at an increasing rate. On the Western Left, some antisemitism manifests in the form of conspiracy theories, but there is also a hegemonic refusal to acknowledge antisemitism’s existence and presence. This, in turn, is part of a larger refusal to deal with Jewish issues in general, or to engage with the Jewish community as a real entity. Debates around left antisemitism have risen in tandem with the spread of anti-Zionism inside of the Left, especially since the Second Intifada. Anti-Zionism is not, by itself, antisemitism. One can call for the Right of Return, as well as dissolving Israel as a Jewish state, without being antisemitic. But there is a Venn diagram between anti- Zionism and antisemitism, and the overlap is both significant and has many shades of grey to it. One of the main reasons the Left can’t acknowledge problems with antisemitism is that Jews persistently trouble categories, and the Left would have to rethink many things—including how it approaches anti- imperialism, nationalism of the oppressed, anti-Zionism, identity politics, populism, conspiracy theories, and critiques of finance capital—if it was to truly struggle with the question. The Left understands that white supremacy isn’t just the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis, but that it is part of the fabric of society, and there is no shortcut to unstitching it.
    [Show full text]
  • JMAD Media Ownership Report
    JMAD New Zealand Media Ownership Report 2014 Published: 2014 December 5 Author: Merja Myllylahti This New Zealand Ownership Report 2014 is the fourth published by AUT’s Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD). The report finds that the New Zealand media market has failed to produce new, innovative media outlets, and that all the efforts to establish non-profit outlets have proved unsustainable. The report confirms the general findings of previous reports that New Zealand media space has remained highly commercial. It also confirms the financialisation of media ownership in the form of banks and fund managers. The report also observes that in 2014 convergence between New Zealand mass media and the communications sector generally was in full swing. Companies, such as Spark (former Telecom NZ), started to compete head-to-head with the traditional broadcasters on the online on-demand video and television markets. The American online video subscription service Netflix is entering the NZ market in March 2015. Additionally, the report notes evidence of uncomfortable alliances between citizen media, politicians, PR companies and legacy media. As Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics book revealed, the National Party and PR practitioners used the Whale Oil blog to drive their own agendas. Also, events related to Maori TV, TVNZ and Scoop raise questions about political interference in media affairs. It is now evident that the boundaries between mainstream media, bloggers, public relations practitioners and politicians are blurring. Key events and trends concerning New Zealand media Financialisation of mass media ownership confirmed Substantial changes in Fairfax, APN and MediaWorks ownership Competition heats up in online television and video markets Turbulence at Maori TV Blurred lines among politicians, bloggers, journalists and PR practitioners The JMAD New Zealand media ownership reports are available here: http://www.aut.ac.nz/study- at-aut/study-areas/communications/media-networks/journalism,-media-and-democracy-research- centre/journalists-and-projects 1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Alternative Media As Activist Media
    Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology, 7(1), 23-33 http://journals.sfu.ca/stream Rising Above: Alternative Media as Activist Media Benjamin Anderson School of Communication Simon Fraser University Abstract This paper asserts that truly activist media must be dually committed to critical education and to political action. Whereas my previous work has focused on the need for activist media to challenge media power from within, it is my goal here to build a model of activist media characterized by di- rect action through engagement in critical education and activism in both content and production. Such a model will provide insight both into the limitations of previous research on the oppositional potential of alternative media and into the challenge facing alternative media scholars and practi- tioners alike – that of rising above the noise of the dominant media of the cultural industry in order to communicate for radical social change. Keywords Alternative media, activist media, critical theory Introduction “[God] could alter even the past, unmake what had really happened, and make real what had never happened. As we can see, in the case of enlightened newspaper edi- tors, God is not needed for this task; a bureaucrat is all that is reQuired.” -Walter Benjamin, Journalism Today's culture industry both shapes and reinforces the social totality. In contemporary media we see the limits of accepted reason, wherein the status Quo imposes itself as the one and only reality, the limits of human action and the culmination of a unified, linear history of human progress (Horkheimer & Adorno 2002). Just as the capitalist order enjoys the uncanny ability to co-opt dissi- dence and resistance, so too does the culture industry reappropriate creative resistance – in the commercialization of radical resources, the mass mediated smearing of radical voices, and the ab- sorption (or dissolution) of alternative media channels through economic strangulation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Notorious London Spy School Churning out Many of the World’S Top Journalists
    The Notorious London Spy School Churning Out Many of the World’s Top Journalists By Alan MacLeod Region: Europe Global Research, June 09, 2021 Theme: Intelligence, Media Disinformation MintPress News 4 June 2021 All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). Visit and follow us on Instagram at @crg_globalresearch. *** The fact that the very department that trains high state officials and agents of secretive three letter agencies is also the place that produces many of the journalists we rely on to stand up to those officials and keep them in check is seriously problematic. In a previous investigation, MintPress News explored how one university department, the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, functions as a school for spooks. Its teaching posts are filled with current or former NATO officials, army officers and intelligence operatives to churn out the next generation of spies and intelligence officers. However, we can now reveal an even more troubling product the department produces: journalists. An inordinate number of the world’s most influential reporters, producers and presenters, representing many of the most well-known and respected outlets — including The New York Times, CNN and the BBC — learned their craft in the classrooms of this London department, raising serious questions about the links between the fourth estate and the national security state. National security school Increasingly, it appears, intelligence agencies the world over are beginning to appreciate agents with a strong academic background.
    [Show full text]
  • Signature Redacted Certified By: William Fjricchio Professor of Compa Ive Media Studies Thesis Supervisor Signature Redacted Accepted By
    Manufacturing Dissent: Assessing the Methods and Impact of RT (Russia Today) by Matthew G. Graydon B.A. Film University of California, Berkeley, 2008 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2019 C2019 Matthew G. Graydon. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. S~ri' t A Signature red acted Department of Comparative 6/ledia Studies May 10, 2019 _____Signature redacted Certified by: William fJricchio Professor of Compa ive Media Studies Thesis Supervisor Signature redacted Accepted by: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE Professor of Comparative Media Studies _OF TECHNOLOGY Director of Graduate Studies JUN 1 12019 LIBRARIES ARCHIVES I I Manufacturing Dissent: Assessing the Methods and Impact of RT (Russia Today) by Matthew G. Graydon Submitted to the Department of Comparative Media Studies on May 10, 2019 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Comparative Media Studies ABSTRACT The state-sponsored news network RT (formerly Russia Today) was launched in 2005 as a platform for improving Russia's global image. Fourteen years later, RT has become a self- described tool for information warfare and is under increasing scrutiny from the United States government for allegedly fomenting unrest and undermining democracy. It has also grown far beyond its television roots, achieving a broad diffusion across a variety of digital platforms.
    [Show full text]
  • ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
    overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
    [Show full text]
  • NZ Politics Daily: 7 June 2015 Page 1 of 309
    NZ Politics Daily: 7 June 2015 Page 1 of 309 NZ Politics Daily: 7 June 2015 Today’s content Ben Rachinger Lisa Owen (TV3): Slater accused of offering blog hack payment Laura Walters: Cameron Slater denies hacking allegations Tim Watkin (Pundit): Dirty Politics 2.0 Patrice Dougan (Herald): Right-wing blogger accused of paying off hacker Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Slater’s bizarre response to the allegations of hacking Pete George (Your NZ): Rachinger promises more Pete Geroge (Your NZ): Rachinger’s “I am Rawshark” tweet Pete George (Your NZ): The Standard’s ‘not Labour’ problem Frank Macskasy (Daily Blog): The Curious Case of Cameron Slater, the Hacker, and the unforgivable crime of stupidity Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Compare how long Slater’s complaint gets investigated to investigations against him Pete George (Your NZ): Rachinger tweets Slater statement on his claims Pete George (Your NZ): Slater talks to Fairfax, contradicts Pete George (Your NZ): Links on Ben Rachinger accusations Pete George (Your NZ): The Nation on Rachinger and Slater versus The Standard Pete George (Your NZ): Rachinger on The Nation? Matthew Dentith: Episode 49 – The @B3nRaching3r Allegations Pete George (Your NZ): Standard goes dirty on dirty politics? Pete George (Your NZ): Slater’s statement on Rachinger looks dirty Pete George (Your NZ): Serious accusations against Rachinger Greg Presland (The Standard): Cameron Slater’s statement on Ben Rachinger TV3: Andrew Little: 'Toxic' Cameron Slater not wanted in NZ politicsMartyn Bradbury: Could this really be
    [Show full text]
  • Regarding the Involvement of the CIA in Nicaraguan Drug Running
    Western Oregon University Digital Commons@WOU Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) Department of History 3-9-2004 Following the White Line: Regarding the Involvement of the CIA in Nicaraguan Drug Running Nicholas Tipton Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his Part of the Latin American History Commons, Political History Commons, and the United States History Commons Nicholas Tipton 319t04 HST 351 Following the White Line: Regarding the Involvement of the CIA in Nicaraguan Drug Running Conspiracies abound on the internet, and given time, chances are that you will run across one that involves the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the organization within the federal government responsible for foreign intelligence gathering and covert policy enforcement. While the suspicions concerning this agency vary from the conspiracy belief that they orchestrated the assassination of John F. Kennedy to that they are in direct communication with aliens, there are instances when their secret activities have been found to be illegal and all to real, as evidenced by assassinations that they admit to doing following congressional banning and to their unsuccessful experimentation with LSD as a truth serum. LSD is not the only drug that has been tied to CIA activities, as rumors both Heroin and Cocaine have also crossed the historical trail of the agency, some merely alleged, others substantiated. In August ofl996, Gary Webb of the San Jose Mercury News wrote a three part series of articles under the title of "Dark Alliance" that would seek to firmly substantiate the connection of the Crack cocaine explosion in Los Angeles during the Mid-eighties to dealers associated with and funding the Contra army of Nicaragua, which was also bank rolled off and on by the CIA.
    [Show full text]
  • Journalism (JRN) 1
    Journalism (JRN) 1 Journalism (JRN) Courses JRN 1101. Elements of Writing. 2 Credit Hours. This course focuses on the fundamentals of style and language usage necessary for effective writing. Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits. JRN 1111. Journalism and Society. 3 Credit Hours. The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with concepts and functions of journalism and the related industries of advertising and public relations in American society. Students will gain knowledge about the history, economics and industry structure of these industries, focusing on how mass media content is determined and disseminated. We will explore underlying values associated with journalism, relationships between journalism and other social institutions, and current issues facing journalists. NOTE: (1) Departmental core course. Normally taken as the first Journalism course. A grade of C or higher is required in order to take higher-level Journalism courses. (2) This course can be used to satisfy the university Core Individual and Society (IN) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information. Course Attributes: IN Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits. JRN 1113. Audio/Visual Newsgathering. 3 Credit Hours. This course will present students with additional story-telling tools by introducing them to basic techniques of reporting with and editing sound and video. The emphasis of this course will be on the use of digital audio and video recorders in the field to produce news stories for radio, television and the web.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1909.11836V5 [Econ.GN] 30 Oct 2020
    Propaganda, Alternative Media, and Accountability in Fragile Democracies Anqi Li1, Davin Raiha2, and Kenneth W. Shotts3 Forthcoming, Journal of Politics arXiv:1909.11836v6 [econ.GN] 29 Jul 2021 1Department of Economics, Washington University in St. Louis. [email protected]. 2Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. [email protected]. 3Stanford Graduate School of Business. [email protected]. Abstract We develop a model of electoral accountability with mainstream and alternative media. In addition to regular high- and low-competence types, the incumbent may be an aspiring autocrat who controls the mainstream media and will subvert democracy if retained in office. A truthful alternative media can help voters identify and remove these subversive types while re-electing competent leaders. A malicious alternative media, in contrast, spreads false accusations about the incumbent and demotivates policy effort. If the alternative media is very likely be malicious and hence is unreliable, voters ignore it and use only the mainstream media to hold regular incumbents accountable, leaving aspiring autocrats to win re-election via propaganda that portrays them as effective policymakers. When the alternative media's reliability is intermediate, voters heed its warnings about subversive incumbents, but the prospect of being falsely accused demotivates effort by regular incumbents and electoral accountability breaks down. Keywords: propaganda, alternative media, electoral accountability and selection, fragile democracy Supplementary material for this article is available in the online appendix in the online edition. Many countries inhabit a grey area between democracy and autocracy: their leaders are elected, but try to eliminate checks on their power and subvert the institutional foundations of democracy.
    [Show full text]
  • THE USE of ALTERNATIVE MEDIA in the OCCUPY MOVEMENT Submitted by John T. O'connell Department Of
    THESIS THE BEST ALTERNATIVE? THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT Submitted by John T. O’Connell Department of Journalism and Technical Communication In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2013 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Jamie Switzer Kris Kodrich S. Pat Mahoney Copyright John T. O’Connell 2013 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT THE BEST ALTERNATIVE? THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT This research study explores the use of alternative media among the Occupy social movement. A combination of factors, including emerging media technology and an antagonistic relationship with mainstream media has led many social movement actors to use alternative media to mobilize participation. The study looks into the participants’ perspectives concerning mobilization through alternative media. Qualitative interviews with participants of Occupy Denver revealed insight into methods of mobilization, users’ relationships with mainstream media sources, and vulnerabilities of alternative media use. The findings revealed that mobilization has been observed to occur successfully using open, interactive forms of online alternative media. Despite several risks identified with alternative media use, participants explained that Occupy Denver continues to prefer mobilizing through alternative media due to opportunities for horizontal structure, control, and independence from the mainstream media. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………ii
    [Show full text]
  • Simon Lusk's Plan
    CHAPTER 5 SIMON LUSK’S PLAN Simon Lusk had been watching US Republican politics for years and looking for ideas that were applicable to New Zealand. Gradually he put together a plan to move the country’s politics to the right. He laid this out in conver- sations with his close political allies and in a three-page strategy paper that was never intended to be made public. The plan was practical and methodical. The idea was to target candidate selection processes in safe National seats, installing a rump of hard right candi- dates who would influence politics for many years to come. Suitable candidates could also be found and trained for local government elections. At the same time, a pool of younger people would be identified, cultivated and guided into right-wing politics. Each of these groups would be managed and supported by professional strategy advisers, notably Lusk himself. Such figures were familiar in US politics but not in New Zealand. Lusk was also well aware, from his American observations, that the single greatest advantage of right-wing parties and candidates was their ability to greatly outspend their opponents with support from wealthy and corporate donors. Fundraising was central to the plan. Next, the right could dominate the media by the dominance of right-wing blogs: ‘the right currently controls the blogosphere,’ he wrote, ‘and political journalists repeat much of what appears on blogs.’ The blogs were part of the second track of politics available for ‘black ops’ and nega- tive campaigning. Finally, his plan involved ‘weakening the power of those who believe in big government’, meaning deliberate strategies and tactics to margin- alise anyone, even within the National Party itself, who did not hold hard right views.
    [Show full text]