Margaret Linstrom - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Papers by Margaret Linstrom
Communitas, Dec 16, 2011
In South Africa, the three spheres of government perform distinct functions in terms of the Const... more In South Africa, the three spheres of government perform distinct functions in terms of the Constitution. By spreading the responsibilities of government across national, provincial and local structures, the Constitution ensures that government does not become too far removed from citizens. If local government is the closest level of interaction for citizens, then media at community level provide the link for that interaction. It is against this backdrop that this article views the quote widely attributed to American congressman Tip O'Neil: All politics is local. Political news has social importance for virtually everyone (Gelman 2011). On the flip side of the coin, people are what matter in terms of community media (Lauterer 1995: 9). This implies that even at grassroots level, media should have an editorial policy on political reporting if they want their editorial content to be relevant to the community they are serving. This loyalty to the needs of the community is the essence of media at grassroots level (Milne, Rau, Du Toit & Mdlongwa 2006: 3-4). This article reports on a qualitative content analysis of the existing editorial policies of community radio stations and newspapers in the Mangaung area in the Free State. Based on these findings, suggestions are made for a framework to draw up an editorial policy on political news for community media.
Communitas, Dec 14, 2012
Framing theory has become increasingly popular in media analysis. The idea of framing is based la... more Framing theory has become increasingly popular in media analysis. The idea of framing is based largely upon the book by sociologist Erving Goffman (1974) titled Frame Analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Goffman used the idea of frames to label "schemata of interpretation" that allow people "to locate, perceive, identify, and label" occurrences or events. With Robert Entman's 1993 paper, frame analysis evolved into an important methodology. Since Goffman introduced the concept of frame analysis and Entman applied framing to the analysis of mass media, researchers have utilised it to understand how print and other media present information. Consequently for the last almost four decades, leading media scholars have applied the concept of framing to explain how the media structure their delivery of news, promoting certain interpretations of events by selecting certain facts. Frame analysis serves four main purposes within the context of media research-to define problems, to diagnose a course, to make value judgments, and to suggest remedies (Entman 1993: 52). In this article, the authors review the meaning of the concept of frame analysis, approaches to studying news framing, and qualitative news frame analysis. After defining news frames, we articulate a method for identifying news frames in print media.
Communitas, Dec 16, 2011
In South Africa, the three spheres of government perform distinct functions in terms of the Const... more In South Africa, the three spheres of government perform distinct functions in terms of the Constitution. By spreading the responsibilities of government across national, provincial and local structures, the Constitution ensures that government does not become too far removed from citizens. If local government is the closest level of interaction for citizens, then media at community level provide the link for that interaction. It is against this backdrop that this article views the quote widely attributed to American congressman Tip O'Neil: All politics is local. Political news has social importance for virtually everyone (Gelman 2011). On the flip side of the coin, people are what matter in terms of community media (Lauterer 1995: 9). This implies that even at grassroots level, media should have an editorial policy on political reporting if they want their editorial content to be relevant to the community they are serving. This loyalty to the needs of the community is the essence of media at grassroots level (Milne, Rau, Du Toit & Mdlongwa 2006: 3-4). This article reports on a qualitative content analysis of the existing editorial policies of community radio stations and newspapers in the Mangaung area in the Free State. Based on these findings, suggestions are made for a framework to draw up an editorial policy on political news for community media.
Communitas, Dec 14, 2012
Framing theory has become increasingly popular in media analysis. The idea of framing is based la... more Framing theory has become increasingly popular in media analysis. The idea of framing is based largely upon the book by sociologist Erving Goffman (1974) titled Frame Analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Goffman used the idea of frames to label "schemata of interpretation" that allow people "to locate, perceive, identify, and label" occurrences or events. With Robert Entman's 1993 paper, frame analysis evolved into an important methodology. Since Goffman introduced the concept of frame analysis and Entman applied framing to the analysis of mass media, researchers have utilised it to understand how print and other media present information. Consequently for the last almost four decades, leading media scholars have applied the concept of framing to explain how the media structure their delivery of news, promoting certain interpretations of events by selecting certain facts. Frame analysis serves four main purposes within the context of media research-to define problems, to diagnose a course, to make value judgments, and to suggest remedies (Entman 1993: 52). In this article, the authors review the meaning of the concept of frame analysis, approaches to studying news framing, and qualitative news frame analysis. After defining news frames, we articulate a method for identifying news frames in print media.