https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/massey/oai:mro.massey.ac.nz:10179/3901
type: CreativeWork
name: The "manufacture" of news in the 1993 New Zealand general election : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Human Resource Management at Massey University
description: The news media's role in general election campaigns in New Zealand remains mysterious because few indigenous research antecedents inform the debate about the democratic function of journalists reporting election campaigns. This study analyses the creation of news by reporters during the 1993 New Zealand general election campaign and examines the relationships between journalists, politicians and third party sources which impact on political communication. The analysis leads to a discussion of the role of the news media in reporting election news. The notions that news is created by journalists and through relationship between journalists, politicians and third party sources are central to the study. The concept that news is "manufactured" or socially constructed is explained in the introductory chapter and linked to theoretical perspectives in the literature review in Chapter Two. The two broad research questions which the study answers are: 1. how was the news manufactured during the 1993 New Zealand election campaign? 2. what does this mean for the "dialogue of democracy" (Taylor, 1992)? The manufacture of news is examined from three perspectives in the research. These can be called the "doing" perspective which employs action research methodology, the "watching" perspective which uses participant observation methodology and the "measuring" perspective utilising content analysis. The research notes the failure of "any particular holistic paradigm" to sweep the field of political communication and employs "ground-up paradigm building" by carving out broad research problem areas and examining them through the use of appropriate research methodologies (Bennett, 1993, p.182). The objectives of the action research project were twofold. First, to assist an individual political candidate contesting the election to develop systematic processes to use the news media to raise the candidate's profile. Second, to increase the level of understanding by the political candidate …
abstract: The news media's role in general election campaigns in New Zealand remains mysterious because few indigenous research antecedents inform the debate about the democratic function of journalists reporting election campaigns. This study analyses the creation of news by reporters during the 1993 New Zealand general election campaign and examines the relationships between journalists, politicians and third party sources which impact on political communication. The analysis leads to a discussion of the role of the news media in reporting election news. The notions that news is created by journalists and through relationship between journalists, politicians and third party sources are central to the study. The concept that news is "manufactured" or socially constructed is explained in the introductory chapter and linked to theoretical perspectives in the literature review in Chapter Two. The two broad research questions which the study answers are: 1. how was the news manufactured during the 1993 New Zealand election campaign? 2. what does this mean for the "dialogue of democracy" (Taylor, 1992)? The manufacture of news is examined from three perspectives in the research. These can be called the "doing" perspective which employs action research methodology, the "watching" perspective which uses participant observation methodology and the "measuring" perspective utilising content analysis. The research notes the failure of "any particular holistic paradigm" to sweep the field of political communication and employs "ground-up paradigm building" by carving out broad research problem areas and examining them through the use of appropriate research methodologies (Bennett, 1993, p.182). The objectives of the action research project were twofold. First, to assist an individual political candidate contesting the election to develop systematic processes to use the news media to raise the candidate's profile. Second, to increase the level of understanding by the political candidate …
author: McGregor, Judith Helen
keywords: General election coverage, News media, 1993 general election, New Zealand, Election reporting, Democratic journalism, Election campaign reportage, General elections, New Zealand
date published: 1995
date modified: 2026-07-27T20:16:53Z
provider: Massey University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Massey University