Qualitative Media Analysis Research Articles

The growth of sports betting in Malawi: corporate strategies, public space and public health

ObjectivesGambling is increasingly positioned as a public health issue, with links to a wide range of harms for individuals, communities and societies. Malawi has experienced a rapid rise in the availability of high street and online sports betting services, situated in a context of extreme inequality and poverty. We aim to document the strategies through which a leading sports betting firm have established a market worth MK2.1bn, to inform future initiatives to mitigate gambling-related harm. Study designA case study of strategies deployed by a leading firm to grow a sports betting market in Malawi. MethodsWe undertook a qualitative media analysis of articles from six major Malawian news outlets and combined this with photographic evidence relating to company advertising and presence in Malawian public space. Data were analysed thematically and triangulated to generate a typology of corporate strategies. ResultsWe collected 39 articles and 15 photographs. After we screened the articles, we analysed 27 and identified seven corporate strategies: adopt a mobile network franchise model; use media coverage; purchase high-visibility advertising; sponsor locally; build association with (European) football; appeal to aspects of hegemonic masculinity; construct narratives of individual and collective benefit. ConclusionMalawi has been exposed to a sophisticated set of corporate strategies aimed at growing a sports betting market. These strategies have been successful, and it is likely that a range of foreseeable gambling-related harms are affecting Malawi. We offer suggestions for how policy-makers and public health professionals might respond.

From National Holiday to Independence Day: Changing Perceptions of the “Diada”

Issues related to Catalan secessionism are central to current debates on European integration, nationalism, and territorial politics, and the Catalan independence movement has become famous for its large annual demonstrations on Catalan national day, the Diada. This paper represents the first attempt at a thorough empirical investigation of the most important political event in Catalonia combining historical and ethnographic analysis that covers the current modern period from 1977 to 2019. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach to study the Diada mobilisations with two different main approaches determined principally by the availability of sources. We investigate the recent period of activating the Diada since 2012 using qualitative interviews, ethnographic data, and social media analysis. For the more distant periods of the Diada celebration, we use a more classical historical approach centred on discourse analysis of print media and public discourses. We find that there has been a marked shift in the perception and organisation of the Diada in recent years. We conclude that when civil society organisations are in charge of the Diada celebration, the result is a more politically charged event that mobilises a much larger proportion of the population than when politicians and political parties organise the celebration. Further, when political parties are in charge, the Diada not only mobilises far fewer people, but usually takes on a much more cultural and festive character compared with the explicitly political Diada demonstrations organised by civil society actors since 2012.

‘Kollegah the Boss’: A case study of persona, types of capital, and virtuosity in German gangsta rap

AbstractThe article begins with a short history of German gangsta rap, followed by an overview of central theories and key concepts in hip-hop studies. It then focuses on a case study of a German gangsta rapper called Kollegah, who became one of Germany's most commercially successful artists of the past few years. The case study is divided into three parts: the first involves a deconstruction of both his artistic persona and his strategies of appropriating hip-hop cultures. This is followed by a closer look at two Kollegah productions, focusing on his rhyming and signifying skills. By adding a cursory qualitative media analysis of both Internet fan forums and print and television artefacts about Kollegah, very contradictory reactions can be depicted. The article is finally able to illustrate that this artist makes great use of a (typically German?) flavour of virtuosity and that he can draw from a very unique set of capital. Kollegah is viewed as representing a successful strategy of cultural appropriation and the use of different types of capital within the network of music business in its post-digital era.

Technology legitimation in the public discourse: applying the pillars of legitimacy on GM food

ABSTRACTThe public sphere, reflected by the public discourse, is an important domain for the legitimation of technology. In the institutional literature, four pillars of legitimacy are distinguished: normative, cognitive, regulative, and pragmatic. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent these pillars can be used as a framework for analysing the legitimation of technological innovations in the public discourse. We conducted a qualitative media analysis of the case of GM food in the Netherlands, analysing 287 articles from nine Dutch newspapers in the period of 1996–2016. The results show that the pillars provide insight into legitimacy in a multi-dimensional way and serve as a structure for the dynamics of legitimation processes. Regarding GM food, the public debate was pre-dominantly negative, with a strong focus on the normative pillar. Emotional rhetoric exceeded knowledge and understanding (cognitive pillar) of GM food. The regulative and pragmatic pillars were hardly addressed.

Land-grant college-admission web pages in the western United States: Analysis of marketing messages for public or private good

The purpose of this study is to describe the marketing messages being communicated to prospective students by marketers at 11 land-grant colleges in the western United States through the collegeadmission web pages. The college-admission web page is an important marketing channel because it acts as the marketing collateral for prospective students to begin their college information search. A qualitative media analysis (QMA) study was conducted recording words and images from the college-admission web pages. Some marketers used words and images that communicated a privategood marketing message depicting the student journey, while others displayed words and images that communicated public-good marketing messages, such as career placement, research projects, faculty projects and the university’s mission. The results showed that marketers used more private-good than public-good marketing messages.

Crime in Televised Presidential Campaign Ads: The Making of Visual Metaphor

ABSTRACTIn televised campaign advertisements, political rhetoric potently combines with visual metaphors. Drawing on a digital library of presidential campaign ads from 1952 to 2016, the qualitative media analysis scrutinized how crime rhetoric became visual metaphor. Crime images were positioned and manipulated alongside other content to craft a story about crime and the candidates. Across all ads, two tactics emerged: depicting crime as a problem akin to other social ills – a dark stain; and posing crime as the sinister side to an otherwise vibrant society – a lurking shadow. Candidates were branded as janitors and sheriffs who could rally against these foes.

Politicization of Sexual Misconduct as Symbolic Annihilation: An Analysis of News Media Coverage of the 2016 “Rape Election”

Sixteen months after Donald J. Trump announced his candidacy for president of the United States a Washington Post headline read: “2016 is the rape election.” This paper examines the evolution of the discourse of sexual misconduct in the 2016 US presidential campaign. Using qualitative media analysis as our method, we examined coverage in the Washington Post and New York Times. Our analysis provides insight into the ways in which the sexual misconduct allegations against Trump were framed in partisan terms and as, foremost, a political issue; we refer to this as the politicization of sexual misconduct. We argue that the politicization of sexual misconduct operates as a form of symbolic annihilation to trivialize and omit victims’ experiences in media coverage and we draw on empirical data to identify four rhetorical processes that comprise the politicization of sexual misconduct: (1) focus on the character of the accused (rather than harm to victims); (2) comparing severity of allegations relative to other politicians; (3) leveraging victim stories for political gain; and (4) dismissal of allegations as politically motivated lies. Ironically, however, our findings also reveal that coverage of sexual misconduct throughout the 2016 campaign provided an unforeseen context for dozens of women to publicly narrate their own stories—in an attempt to be heard—the consequences of which, we suggest, set the conditions for a wave of women coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men.

“I Wish I Could Grow a Full Beard”: The Amateur Pogonotropher on the Beardbrand YouTube Channel

Pogonotrophy refers to beard cultivation including growth and grooming practices. This exploratory study contributes to the little understood role of beard culture on YouTube. Scholarship examining the relationship between social media platforms such as YouTube and beard culture is almost nonexistent. This gap in the research allows us to ask the following: What sorts of content do users circulate about beards on YouTube? And, how does this content contribute to how users interact and learn about beards? A total of 62,061 user-generated comments across 310 videos featured on the Beardbrand YouTube channel were collected and examined using qualitative media analysis. Three themes emerged from an analysis of these data: the yeard quest, the ideal type, and how to beard. The findings illustrate the important role that YouTube plays in fostering contemporary beard culture. Suggestions for future research are noted.

Digital media and cultural institutions in Russia: online magazines as aggregates of cultural services

ABSTRACTFocusing on online magazines, this article sheds light on Russian cultural institutions from the perspective of digital media. My analysis concentrates on urban lifestyle magazines, a sub-category of consumer magazines and a media genre, which emerged in Russia in the glossy magazine format and is now experiencing a powerful ‘second rising’ on the internet. My article asks how the adaptation to the digital communication environment by lifestyle publications re-defines the very concept of a magazine and reorganizes the institutional ties between media and cultural industries. This focus enables me to analyse lifestyle magazines as a dynamic field of interaction in which cultural meanings are produced and negotiated. Based on new media studies, I see the cultural transcoding (Manovich 2002) of the networked and automatized information transmission into the magazines’ content as being a significant factor in the development of contemporary culture and media. Ultimately, my article introduces an attempt to analyse new media titles combining qualitative media analysis with the developing theory of ‘algorithmic culture’ (Striphas 2015). My argumentation is based on two case publications: Afisha, established in 1999 as a weekly glossy magazine introducing all cultural events in Moscow, and Inde, a digital-born regional lifestyle magazine focusing on urban culture in the Republic of Tatarstan. Urban lifestyle magazines are important for the institutional organization of Russian culture, as they direct their readers’ attention to a broad selection of arts, products and events; strengthen the link between consumers and cultural entrepreneurs and build on a long tradition of print journalism, thereby transmitting the values of reading and literacy to a popular public. Moreover, my analysis shows that, through their multi-platform publication strategy, online magazines (re)organize as aggregates of digital resources helping to manage cultural decision-making in a consumerist setting.

A VIEW ON THE UNINFORMED CONSUMERS TOWARDS QUALITY STANDARDS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TTIP NEGOTIATIONS

Radio broadcasts, TV shows and online media make a significant contribution today-to-day consumer information and have a great impact on public opinion. Thepresent study provides an overview of the German reporting about the qualitystandards of the agri-food industry in the context of the negotiations towards a EUUSTransatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). On the basis of aguided empirical content analysis, 436 publications released via radio, TV orInternet in the period from June 2013 to December 2016 were quantitatively andqualitatively analyzed. The quantitative analysis showed that the agri-food industrywas generally of minor relevance in the coverage of TTIP, but focused mainly onquality standards. The term ‘quality and consumer protection standards‘ frequentlyappeared in the reportings with the topics such as genetic modification, use ofhormones, antibiotics or pesticides and the ‘chlorine-washed chicken‘. These arenot standards for official definition of the general food law. It was established thatall publications lacked information about specific standards. Thus, the quantitativeanalysis showed a superficial view of quality standards with only symboliccharacteristics. The results of the qualitative media analysis indicated a negativepicture of the effects of TTIP concerning the agri-food sector and its standards.Due to the complex structure of the globalised agri-food chains, the importance ofcomprehensive consumer information was highlighted. Overall, German mediafailed to provide scientifically based information. Unfortunately, they justhighlighted the possible negative changes which could be caused by TTIP.

From Rice Eaters to Soy Boys: Race, Gender, and Tropes of ‘Plant Food Masculinity’

Tropes of ‘effeminized’ masculinity have long been bound up with a plant-based diet, dating back to the ‘effeminate rice eater’ stereotype used to justify 19th-century colonialism in Asia to the altright’s use of the term ‘soy boy’ on Twitter and other social media today to call out men they perceive to be weak, effeminate, and politically correct (Gambert and Linne). This article explores tropes of ‘plant food masculinity’ throughout history, focusing on how while they have embodied different social, cultural, and political identities, they all serve as a tool to construct an archetypal masculine ideal. The analysis draws on a wide range of material from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a qualitative media analysis of #SoyBoy tweets posted between October 2010 and August 2018. It argues that, given that we live in a world steeped in ‘coloniality’ (Grosfoguel), it is no wonder that sexist and racist colonial-era tropes are alive and well today, packaged in a 21st-century digital culture form. In the digital politics of the alt-right, dairy milk has become a symbol for racial purity, connecting pseudo-scientific claims about milk, lactose tolerance, race, and masculinity. The term ‘soy boy’ provides a discursive counterpoint, relying heavily on colonial-era stereotypes of so-called ‘effeminate’ plant eating, often linked to Asian and other non-white cultures. The article concludes by arguing that for those working to reframe centuries-old norms and tropes related to race, sex, and humankind’s relationship to other animals, part of that work may take place online using the tools of social media and reappropriation of derogatory language. However, ultimately the power of social media to change norms and minds depends on the power of the social movements driving those changes; success is likely to only come through a robust anti-racist, color-conscious, and gender-conscious vegan movement (Harper).

Media Representations of Multiracial Athletes

There is a substantial body of research examining racialized narratives about Black and White athletes. However, there is an absence of literature that has specifically explored multiracial identities in the sport context. The purpose of the current study was to examine narratives constructed in the media when discussing the race(s) of multiracial athletes. Investigators conducted a qualitative media analysis using 68 online and print news articles that clearly identified athletes as multiracial. Findings indicated that sports journalists are susceptible to perpetuating certain racialized sport stereotypes when covering multiracial athletes. Media members should make an effort to be aware of an athlete’s racial identity and be mindful of not relying on racial stereotypes when writing about multiracial athletes.

Species justice for police eagles: analyzing the Dutch ‘flying squad’ and animal-human relations

Dutch national police recently became the world’s first force to train eagles to combat the growing rise of drones within the Netherlands. Partnering with an eagle-training security firm, Guard From Above, both organizations believe using eagles to intercept and retrieve drones is the most effective countermeasure to handle rogue drones in the skies. This paper questions whether such a police operation to increase air security respects the rights of the eagles and ensures the animals’ protection from unreasonable injury, harm and suffering. Such an examination lies at the intersection of green criminological perspectives and critical security studies’ scholarship, an intersection of which I consider more thoroughly. By implementing a qualitative media analysis, this paper examines twenty media reports detailing the facts of the Dutch ‘Flying Squad.’ I contend that police agencies in the West must seriously consider such eagle initiatives as intrusive, harmful practices. The findings suggest that conceptualizing the eagles as exceptional ‘biotechnological’ state agents may increase sky security in Western countries, but such anthropocentric logics of security minimize the concerns for ‘species justice’ and the safeguards for eagles.

\u201cWe have been forced to move away from home\u201d: print news coverage of Canadians studying abroad at Caribbean offshore medical schools

BackgroundCanadian international medical graduates are Canadian-citizens who have graduated from a medical school outside of Canada or the United States. A growing number of Canadians enroll in medical school abroad, including at Caribbean offshore medical schools. Often, Canadians studying medicine abroad attempt to return to Canada for postgraduate residency training and ultimately to practice.MethodsThe authors conducted a qualitative media analysis to discern the dominant themes and ideologies that frame discussion of offshore medical schools, and the Canadian medical students they graduate, in the Canadian print news. We carried out structured searches on Canadian Newsstand Database for print media related to offshore medical schools.ResultsCanadian news articles used two frames to characterize offshore medical schools and the Canadian international medical graduates they train: (1) increased opportunity for medical education for Canadians; and (2) frustration returning to Canada to practice despite domestic physician shortages.ConclusionFrames deployed by the Canadian print media to discuss Caribbean offshore medical schools and Canadians studying abroad define two problems: (1) highly qualified Canadians are unable to access medical school in Canada; and (2) some Canadian international medical graduates are unable to return to Canada to practice medicine. Caribbean offshore medical schools are identified as a solution to the first problem while playing a central role in creating the second problem. These frames do not acknowledge that medical school admissions are a primary means to control the make-up of the Canadian physician workforce and they do not address the nature of Canadian physician shortages.

$#*! Sociologists Say: e-Public Sociology on Twitter

This paper explores how individuals who self-identify on Twitter as sociologists holding teaching posts at institutions of higher education use the popular micro-blogging social media site. A total of 152,977 tweets from profiles of 130 sociologists were collected and examined using qualitative media analysis. What emerged from these data was an empirical case for an expanded conceptualization of Burawoy’s vision of public sociology. Building upon published research (Schneider and Simonetto 2016), the purpose of this conceptually informed paper is to further empirically develop e-public sociology – a form of public sociology that emerges through use of social media whereby the sociologist can simultaneously be the generator and interlocutor of dialogue with multiple publics. Suggestions for future research are noted.

Women Are a Problem

Media coverage of Title IX over the past several decades has both praised the law and the achievements of female athletes who have benefited from it and highlighted claims that men’s college sports have been the unanticipated victims of the effort to increase opportunities for women. This study sought to understand how coverage of the debate in 1974–1975 over the Title IX regulations helped shape discourse about the law with regard to intercollegiate athletics. Through a combination of archival research and qualitative media analysis, I identified arguments made by Title IX critics and advocates and analyzed coverage of the debate in the New York Times and the Washington Post, paying particular attention to the presence or absence of what Dunja Antunovic called conflict and celebratory narratives. I found that conflict narratives that reflected concerns of Title IX critics overwhelmed celebratory narratives as well as anticommercialism narratives that I also detected. I concluded that these newspapers allowed critics, led by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to shape the discourse about the meaning of Title IX and its consequences, thereby reinforcing male dominance of the American sport culture and missing an opportunity to question the commercialization of intercollegiate athletics.

Putting political spectacle to work: Understanding local resistance to the Common Core

In the fall of 2013, a parents’ group formed to protest the new Common Core based mathematics textbook recently adopted by their school district. Quickly allying with teachers, the new coalition began to, “hammer,” the district to drop the Common Core and return to more traditional texts and pedagogies. They did so by speaking at Governing Board meetings, participating in interviews with local newspapers, appearing on a local radio talk show, and forming social media accounts. This intrinsically motivated case study uses qualitative media analysis to examine the texts produced from these and other public declarations to better understand local policy formation through the mechanics of “political spectacle.” Political spectacle theory suggests that policy may be formed through dramatic public displays and that policy formed from such spectacles often undemocratically reinforces existing inequalities. The study analyzes the parent, teacher and administration policy actors’ use of political spectacle elements such as symbolic language, construction of problems, casting of enemies and allies and distinctions between onstage and backstage drama to understand the adoption, challenge and ultimate rejection of a Common Core based mathematics text in a mid-sized southwestern United States School district.

Evaluating learning technology content with discourse analysis

The researcher combined qualitative media analysis with tools for discourse analysis to review Blackboard Collaborate™, a tool often used in online education. Technology design references Discourses which dictate how and why these tools should be used. The analysis showed Collaborate™ uses sign systems and knowledge, along with politics, to reinforce a traditional educational Discourse. Educators should be aware of embedded Discourses to effectively incorporate technology into their practice, and designers should consider such Discourses during development. This paper describes discourse analysis as one approach to evaluating technology with regards to affordances for, and constraints to, teaching and learning.

Public Sociology on Twitter: a Space for Public Pedagogy?

Research has examined various elements of Twitter; however, no scholarship has explored how sociologists currently use the platform. This empirically driven paper explores how individuals that self-identify as sociologists on Twitter use the popular micro-blogging social media site. A total of 152,977 tweets from Twitter profiles of 130 sociologists were collected and examined using qualitative media analysis. The potential use of Twitter allows the sociologist to become both the generator and interlocutor of dialogue with publics. We frame our data analysis and discussion around the core theme of expertise - namely, the role that expertise plays in the use of Twitter by sociologists. Our findings indicate that when sociologists used Twitter as sociologists (i.e., drawing upon their stated research expertise) little direct engagement with publics occurred. Thus, while sociologists appear to be using Twitter as a space for public sociology, the use of this interactive platform is mostly limited to the generation of content, a finding consistent with Burawoy’s traditional form of public sociology. Suggestions for future research are noted.

Role and Image of Nursing in Children's Literature: A Qualitative Media Analysis

Nurses' role and image as portrayed in young children's literature were described and analyzed. A total of 30 children's books (pre-kindergarten through grade two audience) written in English were chosen using progressive theoretical sampling. Included were books, both fiction and non-fiction and with varying years of publication, that mentioned nurses and/or were about general healthcare topics. The books were analyzed using the method of qualitative media analysis which is derived from the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism. Nurses were generally portrayed positively but simply and inaccurately in this sample of children's literature. The seven themes discovered were labeled as nurse characters using traits evident in the sample: nurse unlikely, nurse minimal, nurse caring, nurse subordination, nurse skillful, nurse diversity, and nurse obvious. The image of nursing is socially and culturally constructed, and accurate portrayals of nurses and their roles are necessary in all media. Thus, better representation of nurses in children's books is needed as young children's literature is an important first exposure to the art and science of nursing. Future children's books authored by nurses may more closely reflect accurate contemporary nursing practice and contribute to an improved image of the nursing profession.