"This dissertation examines media coverage of the 2011-2012 famine in Somalia by the websites of BBC News, CNN and Al Jazeera. Using both quantitative and qualitative content analyses, it asks why coverage of the famine began as late as it did, despite ample evidence of the coming famine. It further ... surveys the famine-­-related news reports for evidence of four paradigms through which the causes of famine can be understood; as a Malthusian competition between population and land, as a failure of food entitlements as conceived of by Sen (1981a), as critical political event (Edkins, 2004), or as an issue of criminality (Alex de Waal, 2008). Findings include a dramatic silencing of victim’s accounts of famine, despite a reliance on their photographic images, as well as an overwhelming preference for Malthusian accounts of the famine. Late media coverage is explored via a new-values paradigm which links the sudden outburst of media coverage for the famine to a formal UN declaration, and suggests that this may have created a new elite-relevance to the event which did not exist before, and therefore making it of relevance to domestic publics." (Abstract) more

"This study contextualises the assumptions of media development historically and critically, with particular focus on new media’s roles and relationships with the media environment, and its objectives democratisation and development. Through the application of literature, theory and various resear ... ch studies, this thesis establishes a broader view of new media’s role and diverse consequences for media development, democracy and development. The study recommends greater collaboration, contextual research and theorisation of media development and new media as part of mixed media systems and cognisant of the multi-dimensional natures of its objects of democracy and development. One implication is the need for professionalisation of the media development and media assistance sector. In relation to the influences of new media on media use and the media as an institution, it motivates the need to address digital divides and emphasise the sustainability of the practice of journalism." (Abstract) more

"This study examines the perceptions of journalists working for two international television news agencies about this safety policy called the ‘Joint code of practice for journalists working in conflict zones’. This policy was adopted in November 2000 by five major television companies including ... the television news agencies Reuters Television and Associated Press Television News. This study finds that the policy had significant flaws in how it was formulated and how it is communicated, implemented and reviewed. Recognising the existence of unequal relations of power and conflicting interests at play in any policy process, this study stresses that in the case of the journalist safety policy, all stakeholders should have participated in the relevant policy stages. This argument arises from researching the policy document as well as from the point of view of managers, and particularly journalists who work on dangerous assignments, either full-time or on a freelance basis for either of the two television news agencies. It finds that while journalists are not generally aware of the policy, they do practice many of its elements as well as a range of their own custom-made strategies to protect themselves. The result is to make the policy less effective than it could be." (Abstract) more