Photo Manipulation free essay sample

Image manipulation is everywhere on are daily life. It is a type of digital art. It is a unique way to describe editing photos and adding filters and special effects to photographs in order to make an illusion or define through digital means. Photo manipulation has been commonly used to deceive or convince viewers. It can be simply a photo which colors have been converted, or a photo that has been painted over, usually they use photoshop, but there are other softwares what can we use for manipulating images, image manipulation is an art as well. Photo manipulation is done for a number of purposes. More infamously, it is for political or sensational purposes. However, photo manipulation is also an art form in its own right (www. brightclub. com). The photographs have been manipulated in darkrooms for decade. Before computers, photo manipulation was achieved by retouching with ink, paint, double exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom, or scratching Polaroids. We will write a custom essay sample on Photo Manipulation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Airbrushes were also used, whence the term â€Å"airbrushing† for manipulation. The first recorded case of photo manipulation was in the early 1860s, when a photo of Abraham was altered using the body from a portrait of John C. Calhoun. The 1980s saw the advent of digital retouching with Quantel computers running Paintbox, and Scitex imaging workstations being used professionally Silicon Graphics computers running Barco Creator became available in the late 1980s which, alongside other contemporary packages, were effectively replaced in the market by Adobe Photoshop (wikipedia).

The Working Roles of Animals Essays

The Working Roles of Animals Essays The Working Roles of Animals Essay The Working Roles of Animals Essay Animals in the media Animals have been used in the media for many years as they catch the eye of the viewer. Animals which are used in advertisements usually don’t have any or much relevance to the products being advertised. An example of this is the adverts for Dulux Paint, which uses an Old English Sheep dog in their adverts. They have used this breed of dog in their adverts since 1961 because this breed of dog has been used for so many years people associate it with the Dulux Company. The adverts catch people’s attention and as the dog has no relevance to paint products and therefore people will discuss the adverts. Another example of animals having no relevance to the product in which they are being advertised is the Andrex adverts, they use Labrador puppies in their adverts for toilet paper. When the adverts first came out, Golden Labrador puppies became extremely in demand. However some of the people who were buying the puppies had done little to no research about the dog. The appeal of owning a Labrador was having a small, cute dog. However many owners didn’t realise the size that they would grow to, many owners then re-homed them as they grew larger. However, there are exceptions to this where the animals are relevant to the product being advertised. These adverts are usually for pet products and rescue centres. Recue centres use abandoned looking animals in their adverts, which is an emotive technique. Another example of animals being used relevantly in adverts is pet products, such as Iam’s or Pedigree. They show the animals which the product is for. They use cute animals which the public find appealing. Many adverts portray animals inaccurately; this causes people to believe that the images which are shown are a true reflection of the animal, as they have little or no knowledge of how the animal behaves. This may result in people potentially buying dangerous pets. This can be harmful to the owner or the animal and can result in abandonment. Animals which are portrayed as unpleasant, scary or dangerous can be in danger when people assume animals are worse than they are from seeing them on television. A good example of this is ‘Harry Potter’, where spiders are shown to be dangerous and scary. This causes people to have a higher fear of the animals, this can also develop into phobias, which may result in people hurting or killing animals. Another good example of where animals are portrayed to be much more vicious than they actually are is in the film ‘Jaws’. Great white sharks are perceived to be human killers and go out of their way to hunt humans whereas in reality the chance of being killed by a shark is less than 1 in 264. 1 million (1). Films also promote animals, implying that they would be good pets. In the film ‘101 Dalmatians’ many breeds of dogs are perceived as being extremely intelligent and easy to care for. This causes people to purchase them without doing the correct research and easily become overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a dog. Animals in sports The most popular sports involving animals are horse racing, dog racing and angling. Many people find pleasure and excitement in racing and betting on animals, it creates enjoyment for owners, trainers and spectators. A large part of racing is when people gamble on the race. This will generate money for the owners and trainers of the animals as well as the book makers and the people who place the winning bets. Television will provide a source of income and promote the sport. People may also watch the races and place bets at their local Bookies. The animals which win the most races, are the most successful and will be highly valued for breeding. This helps to ensure good offspring for racing. Race horses will usually be spoilt and have the best quality of life to ensure that they are the fittest they can possibly be for racing. However, Greyhounds may be starved and beaten before races. Starving the dogs may provoke them to run faster to try and catch the ‘rabbit’ because their natural instincts kick in. Some owners/trainers may be more concerned with the financial gain than the animals’ welfare. As a result animals may be harmed during training. This also means that animals that are not fit enough to race may be abandoned, rehomed or destroyed. Animals may also be killed during racing as a result of injuries. Angling is very popular in the UK. Live bait is usually used to attract the fish but dead bait or artificial lures can be used instead. There are different types of angling including coarse, game and sea. The advantages of angling include the financial gain for manufacturers, dealers, charter skippers and the owners of the lakes and rivers where fishing takes place. The water quality in the lakes and rivers has greatly improved over recent years to benefit the stocks which also improve the quality of the fish’s life and the underwater ecosystem. Many of the fish are returned to the lake or river in which they came. There are also disadvantages with angling. Fish will become stressed and physically injured through being captured and handled. Even when the fish are returned to lake/river, they may not always survive due to the shock. Careless anglers have been known to spread disease within the lakes and rivers. Alien species have also been introduced to the ecosystem which shall compete with the native species. Animal fighting is illegal in the UK as well as other countries. Animals which are used to fight include bulls, cocks, dogs, fish, as well as badger and bear baiting. There are no advantages in this for the animals however some people get pleasure and money from this particular sport. The dogs are mistreated and starved so they become more aggressive. All animals involved in fighting suffer and many die from injury and infections to wounds received. The survivors to the fight will not receive the veterinary treatment that they require; therefore the healing process will be long and painful. Animals in work Animals have been used for helping disabled people and in working situations for many years. Guide dogs are given to the blind or extremely visually impaired people so that they find it easier to partake in everyday life. The dogs are trained to watch out for cars and objects that the owner may walk into, the dog will be able to guide them away from danger. Dogs can also be specially trained to help the disabled by opening doors, retrieving medicines and food. They can also be trained to alert help if the owner is injured or is unconscious. Some dogs can be trained to detect oncoming epileptic fits and can therefore warn the owner before a seizure occurs. Animals can also be used in a farming environment. The dogs which are commonly used are Border Collies, they are used to herd animals into a group. They are extremely intelligent and can learn commands by whistling and speech easily. They are trained to know the difference between herding left and right, they are also usually trained from a young age and are used until they are old. Dogs such as Spaniels can be used as gun dogs, this is where a shooting team shoots down birds and the dog will retrieve it unharmed. Horses were used to plough fields, gather sheep and cattle and transporting goods. However, they have now been replaced by machines. Animals in commercial use Animals can be used for their meat or for the products they produce. Chickens are used for their eggs until they can’t produce anymore, then they are killed for their meat. Battery farms keep chickens in cruel conditions, they will sometimes be force fed and have their beaks cut off to avoid pecking other chickens in the overcrowded conditions. Free range chickens however, are kept in good conditions with lots of room to run around. Cows are used for their milk, which can be turned in to yogurts and cheese; meat and their skin, which is used to make leather. Animals can also be used for medical testing as well as the testing of cosmetics. Many animals are put through stressful situations whilst being tested on. Medical testing can include testing drugs on animals for humans. However, animals have a different anatomy to humans and what may be harmful to them may be good for humans. For example, rabbits will die from taking Penicillin whereas it is beneficial to humans. Testing cosmetics on animals is needless as there are alternative methods to testing products. It’s not as common as it used to be, however, it does still happen. Products that don’t test on animals often publicise it as it’s an effective selling point.

The Beginnings of Race, Culture, and Sexuality in Colonialism Essay

The Beginnings of Race, Culture, and Sexuality in Colonialism - Essay Example In terms of Foucaults argument, we can see that as a modern society, we still consider certain topics such as discussions about sex, a taboo topic and therefore, should not be discussed in public. Pretty much like it was for most couples during the Victorian era. We still live by the mindset that children should not be allowed to hear sexual discussions simply because the children are not having sex. But these days, the children are exposed early on to the topic of sexuality and gender. Yet we refuse to let them partcipate in the discussion because we have managed to carry over the Victorian mindset throughout the generations, culminating in the taboo discussion of our modern era. It is however nice to see that just like in the Victorian era, there are quite a number of 21st century experts who are opting to help open the minds of people pertaining to the matters or gender, race, and sexuality as it applies to the 21st century generation. The link between the Victorian era beliefs pertaining to the morality and virtue of the society still exists in our era. However, we are slowly coming out of this recessive argument in order to create a deeper understanding of sexuality in terms of the sexual act and its relation to gender role acceptance. With over three centuries of social transformation, I will have to say that we have move quite slowly and as such, have a society whose beliefs about race, culture, and sexuality during colonial times can still find itself going strong. We are still held back by the Victorian era beliefs that any discussion pertaining to sexuality, race, and gender must be addressed within the relationship of the couple rather than openly discussing it in order to achieve an acceptable end result. The Victorian era represented a time of going back to the privacy and elegance of previous eras. Prior to this era, our society was openly crude and under educated, characteristics which, at the time proved to be beneficial to creating a more mature society where no topic was taboo and cultural sensitivity began to find its footing. By bringing the sense of privacy into the discussion and requiring society to become more respectable by setting ground rules for certain discussions, we unwittingly set the standards by which our modern day society works. In fact, the experiences of Victorian era society could be considered to be a throwback to the time of Christopher Colombus when women were seen as the mother of the planet. A cosmic breath from whom the infant males yearn to feed on her warmth and love. This era fed the imagination of the people with open images of men and women cavorting in sexual pleasure pretty much similar to the era before the Victorian dawn. This was the era of t he porno - tropic traditions that lay the basis and foundation for the pornographic minds and stories that now exist. With women of the era being portrayed as more sexually active and needy than men, we can see that very little has changed in our modern times when considering the story basis for most female sexual fantasies as worked out in various forms of modern

Problem with zoo animal welfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem with zoo animal welfare - Essay Example Isolating the two smaller male animals is not the solution for avoiding the others from getting the coughing and weight loss. The veterinarian enclosed the animals in the four-hectare forested area with the intentions of saving the other animals from getting the disease. At the time the two animals spent in the forested enclosure, the animals felt comfortable, out of fear and panic. This change of environment and comfort gain resulted to the increased weight and fast recovery for the animals. Consequently, the veterinarian had the misconceptions that she solved the problem and took the animals back to the display pen. Little did she know that the root cause of the coughing and weight loss was the environment by which the animals were exposed. Fear aggression refers to a famous and common class of animal feline aggression. A high percentage of llamas inherit the shy gene, which resulted to their aggression once they face frightening environments. For instance, poor socialization can result in a fear aggression where punishing the animals make the situation worse. Llamas might develop a fear of individuals, odors, certain noises, other animals, places, and end up reacting with aggression. There are several solutions for solving panic and fear in llamas. The veterinarian can check the reactive distance and the tolerance level of the llamas. For instance, the animals might be comfortable in any environment as long as the scary/frightening animal or people stay some six feet away while on the contrary reacts with panic and fear at five feet. ... Concern 2 Isolating the two smaller male animals is not the solution for avoiding the others from getting the coughing and weight loss (Tolin, 2012). The veterinarian enclosed the animals in the four-hectare forested area with the intentions of saving the other animals from getting the disease. At the time the two animals spent in the forested enclosure, the animals felt comfortable, out of fear and panic. This change of environment and comfort gain resulted to the increased weight and fast recovery for the animals (McEwan, 2006). Consequently, the veterinarian had the misconceptions that she solved the problem and took the animals back to the display pen. Little did she know that the root cause of the coughing and weight loss was the environment by which the animals were exposed. Now, what should the veterinarian do to solve the problem of panicky and fearful behavior? Fear aggression refers to a famous and common class of animal feline aggression. A high percentage of llamas inheri t the shy gene, which resulted to their aggression once they face frightening environments (Tolin, 2012). For instance, poor socialization can result to fear aggression where punishing the animals make the situation worse. Llamas might develop fear of individuals, odors, certain noises, other animals, places, and end up reacting with aggression. There are several solutions for solving panic and fear in llamas. The veterinarian can check the reactive distance and the tolerance level of the llamas. For instance, the animals might be comfortable in any environment as long as the scary/frightening animal or people stay some six feet away while on the contrary reacts with panic and fear at five feet (McEwan,

Chronic illness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chronic illness - Essay Example As a continuum, palliative care addresses the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the patient and family which cannot be handled by one single agency lest it would cause fragmentation of care. It therefore follows multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary (integrative) care is the backbone of palliative care. With the integration of inputs from various disciplines in accordance with stage of the disease progression, pain and other symptoms, psychological state of patient and family, social and practical requirements and available resources, palliative care becomes a multifaceted care with the involvement of primary care and specialist doctors, nursing staff, social worker and many others in a coordinated manner ensuring continuity of care (Mitra & Vadivelu, 2013, p. 17). Thus, palliative care has been defined as the patient and family-centered one seeking to optimize their quality of life by treating their suffering which includes anticipation and prevention of the suffe ring by addressing their â€Å"physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs† (NCP, 2013, p. 12) throughout the continuum of illness â€Å"ensuring patient autonomy, access to information and choice† (NCP, 2013, p. ... e, its physical aspects, psychological and psychiatric aspects, social aspects, spiritual, religious and existential aspects, cultural aspects, care at the end of life and ethical and legal aspects. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010 (PPACA) also has mandatory provisions for both hospice and curative care under Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). It emerges therefore that philosophy and delivery of palliative care has the following characteristics. 1. Provision of care through coordination by an interdisciplinary team. 2. Care needs are determined by collaboration and communication among the patients, families, palliative and non-palliative care providers. 3. Concurrent availability of services along with curative or life-prolonging care. 4. Provision of support to patient and family throughout the period of illness, dying process, and after death (NCP, 2013) The NCP guidelines were revised in 2009 and 2013. The ten year working of the NCP has witnessed 47 % increase in the number of hospice programs and 148 % increase in non-hospice palliative care programs. It has been reported that in the United States about 1,059,000 deaths out of 2,513,000 deaths occurred under the care one of over 5,000 hospices in the year 2011. That is, 46 % of deaths have been under the care of the hospices. It is also claimed that hospices help reduce Medicare program expenditures. One study reveals that cost for the terminal year of life was reduced by an average $ 2309 per patient under the care of hospice. (NCP, 2013). Integrative care Authors interchangeably use the terms â€Å"interdisciplinary† and â€Å"multidisciplinary† but they do not mean the same though they represent contributions from variety of disciplines for individual patient care.

Framing News on Foreign Countries: Media Interests

Framing News on Foreign Countries: Media Interests Framing news on foreign countries: Media Interests and Motivations. Analyzing 10 yrs of US and UK newspaper editorials on Venezuela. 1)INTRODUCTION Media organizations are essential in international affairs in terms of their important role in providing information to the public.[3] The question has often been whether the Media frames news in the context of the national interest of the host country, for example. Whether they reflect official position without challenging them or rather influence national interest objectives by putting pressure on politicians. The Medias interest and other motivating factors are essential for understanding how editorials for instance are framed. Lacking in the study of Media framing is the application to bilateral relations. This study would attempt to add that dimension to the numerous researches on the Media in international affairs. It would analyze editorials by four prominent newspapers in the United States and the United Kingdom on issues concerning Venezuela. The aim is to find the likely motivating factors when it comes to framing news on foreign countries For many countries the media represents an important window to the international world. Patched knowledge on foreign issues would be close to a reality without a source of information about what happens elsewhere in the world, made available by the media. In democratic countries in particular, the reliance on the media for foreign news might be as important as the quest for local news. Images of foreign countries, issues and happenings in a particular country abroad are likely to be influenced by the media to a much larger scale when impressions are created of a healthy or strained bi-lateral relations, for instance. Due to factors such as cultural assumptions and political beliefs, it is believed that news carves out images and impressions of the world some of which are preferred over other images.[4] The media, both electronic and print are a major component of the democratic processes in several countries. The media has often been referred to, in many countries, as an important branch of the government with roles from functioning as the main political informant'[7] There has been several publications on issues of Media and Government relations by several authors. For instance, in the scope of international relations and communications, there have been books published on the issue of how the media works in or out of line with foreign policy or the national interest. The debate has been whether or not the media is likely to support the national interest of the country in which it operates in relation to other countries(as the theory of Manufacturing Consent depicts)[9]. Either option makes foreign events relevant to the media. On the whole the media is believed to reflect social consensus.[15] There may be variations in the nature of the Media depending on the region or country of operation. A media in a democratic country may be freer than those in a non-democratic country so news coverage, media culture and ethics could vary. In this study, a section of the Media in two democratic countries would be analyzed in terms of their positions on issues in a third country(Venezuela). What would be of interest to this study, as mention earlier, would be the factors that would be most highlighted in the accounts of these editorials. It may bring about issues of objectivity and latent Media interests or the interests of the consumers of the news content. In the US for example, the Media is often said to domesticate foreign news. The themes represented in news in the US are those which often have some relevance to American interests.[17] Thus, how the media frames news is largely important for understanding the positions they yield to and their response to certain foreign events. In issues of national interest and in relation to bilateral relations, it would be important to know how the media in different countries frame news on events in countries abroad. 2) LITERATURE REVIEW NEWS FRAMING Entman, (1993) suggests that the concept of framing could be studied as a feature of a political discourse or as an instrument applied by the Media in making news.[19] And by extension, Media analysis or news analysis would deserve a look at the concept of news framing. Framing is, the process by which a communication source constructs and defines a social or political issue for its audienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?.[23] Framing theory is also applicable to Media analysis. Media frames as explained by Entman (1991: 7), are attributes of news itself.[24] In a broad sense, frames are regarded as persistent patterns of cognition, interpretation, and presentation, and as selection, emphasis, and exclusion, by which symbol handlers routinely organize discourse, whether verbal or visual.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?.[27] Tuchman showed how framing as a process theory works. And that the routine procedures used by newsmakers, direct news frames in a particular way. She argues that these procedures continually help showcase certain places and ideas, while consistently closing off and blocking inquiry into others.[29] Entman (1993: 52) helped refine the scope of the definition given to news framing. He established that by the definition of news frame, frames could be seen as a process that defines problems à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" determine what a causal agent is doing with what costs and benefits, usually measured in terms of common cultural values; diagnose causes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" identify the forces creating the problem; make moral judgments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" evaluate causal agents and their effects; and suggest remedies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" offer and justify treatments for the problems and predict their likely effects.[30] Entman, (1991:7) also showed that frames used by the media are often captured in the keywords, metaphors, concepts, symbols and visual images in news narratives. He stresses the point that one way is which news framing works is through repetition which is important for Media news framing because news narratives, usually dependent on frames, are meant to direct attention to certain ideas, while excluding certain other ideas.[33] It has also been established that Framing involves processes of inclusion and exclusion as well as emphasis.'[38] Framing also has the ability to make consumers of news accept and adopt some symbolic themes and values.[39] While the process of selectively and emphasis is carried out by the newsmakers, those for whom a particular news is meant, are also likely to be predisposed to understanding and interpreting information in a selective way. Framing has also been explained to be the process of placing information into a context of preconscious symbolism. [43] The framing process employed by the Media is regarded as key to shaping both the publics and decision-makers knowledge, image and understanding of the world.[49]. Perhaps a perfect definition of the concept of framing in relation to the print media is the fact that, a frame is a central organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events, weaving a connection among them. The frame suggests what the controversy is about and the essence of the issue'[53] One of the significant areas in relation to framing of news and Media positioning is Foreign Policy. Assessments of the response of the media to foreign issues is largely based on a critical analysis of how the media operates or how a particular section of the media churns out news or editorials, for example the position that major newspapers take on certain foreign issues. In a way how it sets the agenda for government or public reactions. Both agenda setting and framing have been identified in news framing literature as ways in which the media can influence policy making and public opinion.[57] There has been some convergence on how framing analysis can be carried out, according to the literature. Two approaches of framing analysis has evolved over the years. The Inductive approach and the Deductive approach. The latter has been proven more scientific than the former. The Deductive approach organizes the framing analysis based on pre-outlined broader frames.[59] There has also been an attempt by some authors to group frames along certain distinctions. Frames could be grouped under issue-specific frames which deal with particular issues in detail and generic frames which cover broader themes found in different settings.[61] One issue raised by some authors on framing is how the Media treat sources. When elite sources to news are relied on by journalists for example, they may in a way be a channel for promoting the views and opinions of the political order or the elites to the larger audience[63] Most of the literature also agree that the location of a news story gives it much weight in terms of the perceived influence on the newspapers readership and how important the issues are to them. It also demonstrates the importance the media attaches to that particular issue or event.[67] In all, Media scholars have studied Framing theory as either theories of Effects and Process. By Framing as effects theory, media scholars have studied the influence that news frames have on audiences while studies on framing as a process theory have addressed how news content is created and modified in certain ways considering the factors that influence the carving of news in a particular way. [68] . Although the framing of news is important to the coverage given to events and issues, there are other elements or factors that influence the framing of news in itself have to be identified.[72] This study would turn the spot light on the wide array of all the other factors that may help explain why news is framed in a particular way. As pointed out earlier, some literature on the Media have suggested that the sources that the Media relies go an extent to make the news themselves. In other words, Organizations with more resources, or that have more credibility in the eyes of journalists, are more likely to become regular news sources, and thus shape which issues (agenda-setting) and which perspectives (frames) dominate the news.[74] Some Media scholars are of the opinion that the ideal state of Media Objectivity is far fetched. Some are of the view that there is no fundamentally non-ideological, apolitical, non-partisan news gathering and reporting system. Since there may be dispute over objectivity and news without bias, the concept of framing becomes important to analyzing the frames used in making news.[77] While journalists may dispute these assertions, it is believed that news content is not an objective entity, independent of political, social, ideological or sociopsychological influences than mere information.[80] As stated before, the Media often depicts the Governments position in respect to interests and issues especially in relation to other countries. There has been the suggestion that the Medias position is based on national values, national interest and cultural values of their host countries.[82] The Media is likely to succumb to the views of governments because the latters position on issues is seen as an overriding common good transcending the specific interests of parties, factions, and other entities smaller than the nation as a whole.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?[84] The problem with the concept of framing is that it lacks clear conceptual definitions and a comprehensive statement to guide research.[85] Yet these challenges would make it important for more research into factors that influence news framing. The extent to which consumers of news perceive foreign leaders in either a positive or negative light is dependent on how framing is carried out.[86] The latter point might be important to understand how the reading-public of the four sampled newspapers are likely to perceive the leadership in Venezuela. Most of the research done on news framing have largely gone in the way of foreign policy research. A few have looked at news framing in relation to another country with a lengthy time range while Media response and framing on various issues are measured and analyzed. The study hopes to add to the already existing research on news framing in this regard. 3) Proposed Research Questions Research Question 1 :What is the tone of coverage on Venezuela in U.S. and U.K. editorials? Do the two groups of newspapers differ in tone? Research Question 2: Which frames dominated in the overall coverage and was there a significant difference between the two countries in terms of the frames used? Research Question 3: Which issues dominated the overall coverage country-wise? Research Question 3: Do positions on issues covered reflect National Interest of the two countries? Research Question 4: Do these editorials rely on government sources in arriving at opinions and conclusions? Research Question 5: Which issues are most prominent in all the coverage? Research Question 6: Do the editorials lean towards a kind of political or economic ideology? 4) VARIABLES The variables for this study would be the following 1 Independent -Tone of coverage and framing in UK editorials -Tone of coverage and framing in US editorials -Most highlighted issues 2 Dependent -The interests of the UK(economic, political, other) -The interests of the US (economic, political, other) -The ideology of the paper 5) Proposed Research Hypothesis 1 There is no difference in tone between the two groups of newspapers. 2 The level of interest given to highlighted issues between the two groups of newspapers will be the same? 3 Positioning and framing of news will depend on the interests of the host nation of the newspapers. 4 Positioning and framing of news will depend on the ideology of the host nation of the newspapers. 5 UK newspaper editorials are likely to be less critical of Venezuela because of better bi- lateral relations. 6 US newspaper editorials are likely to be more critical of Venezuela because of worse bi-lateral relations. 6) METHODOLOGY Method The study on these editorials would be carried out using quantitative content analysis to assess qualitative data published by the four newspapers. Content analysis is defined as a research technique that involves measuring a content( in this case, news frames) in a random sampling of some form of communication( in this case, editorials). The basic assumption implicit in content analysis is that an investigation of messages and communication will allow some insight into the people who receive these messages'[87]. However the use of content analysis in this study would be to capture the frames used in the sampled editorials and what informs interests in issues and not what the consumers of such news perceive or how they react to these messages. One advantage of content analysis is that unlike other research methods where the researcher can easily influence the outcome of the research, it offers mediated communication to be rather studied rather than the behavior of people which may be difficult to analyze. Additionally it provides numbers and figures which can be quantified to secure likely viable assessments.[88] Admittedly, the use content analysis technique also brings to the fore issues concerning the representativeness of the samples used, the adequate definition of issues, difficulties with measuring units to be analyzed and coder reliability issues.[89] A conversion of coded values into quantitative statistical data would be made after the content analysis. Population The population of this study would be all editorials on Venezuela within the ten year period by high circulating newspapers in the US and the UK. The assumption is that editorials from newspapers with a relatively high number of circulations, may have been read by a significant number of people or may have reached a wider audience or a politically responsive section of the public. The study would not be concerned with gauging public reactions but in the frames used themselves. Yet high circulation newspapers offer a good basis for selection in the sample. Sample The type of sampling used in selecting editorials is Criterion Sampling .Editorials which will make up the sample are those with references made to the words VENEZUELA and HUGO CHAVEZ and political and economic issues related to these terms. A retrieval of the editorials from the search engine LEXIS-NEXIS has already been carried out using the following terms: VENEZUELA, HUGO CHAVEZ and EDITORIAL for the US newspaper database. For the LEXIS NEXIS -UK database, editorials were retrieved using the search terms VENEZUELA, HUGO CHAVEZ and LEADING ARTICLE. Editorials not focusing on these issues or not focusing on issues of political relevance were dropped from the sample ,for example those focusing on say sports or those with the mere mention of these terms with no relation to relevant issues discussed. US Newspapers From an earlier assessment of the account of data on newspaper circulations by the Audit Bureau of Circulations in both the USA and the UK, the highest circulating newspaper over the 10 year period was USA TODAY with the most circulations for the said period. The WALL STREET JOURNAL (WSJ) came second with the most circulations over the period. The WSJ will however be discounted because of its orientation mostly to financial news and events. The research would be limited to newspapers which mostly deal with political news and also focuses on foreign political news in its content or publications. With these criteria, the third major political newspapers which polled the third highest number of circulations over the 10 year period was the NEW YORK TIMES (NYT). Thus editorials from the USA TODAY and the NYT will be used in the content analysis. UK Newspapers The selection criteria for the two highest Circulating newspapers in the UK however differ slightly from the basis on which the newspapers from the US were selected. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH and THE TIMES newspapers would be used in this study. The two newspapers averagely rank 4th and 7th in terms of circulation data according to the Audit Bureau from January 2000 to 2009. The two newspapers which ranked as the two highest-circulating newspapers for the 10 year period in the UK were THE SUN and DAILY MAIL. The two come under the category of Tabloid Newspapers and are not considered serious political newspapers. The two will not be the focus of this study. The DAILY MIRROR, DAILY STAR, and the DAILY EXPRESS ranked 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively. This study will focus on those newspapers which come under those usually termed newspapers-of- record or those which practice serious journalism. Of the newspapers under this category,THE GUARDIAN and THE TIMES had averagely, the highest number of circulations during the 10 year period discounting those newspapers which fall under the tabloid category. A percentage breakdown of the editorials from each newspaper is found below. The four newspapers had on average a significant circulation tally during the specified period namely from (January) 2000 to (December) 2009. Why Venezuela? Venezuela offers a good to chance to study the politics behind the news. Various perceived interests are involved in relation to the US, UK and Venezuela. The controversies have been over the stifling of democracy and civil rights, the abuse of power by President Chavez, issues over the supply of oil and what it means for the two western countries to have the economy of Venezuela in a bad shape. These factors make Venezuela a good choice and would it possible to analyze Media positioning on these issues in response to a relevant third country while factoring in bi-lateral relations. Time Period The choice of long time duration will allow for significant content analysis to be done on the editorials. Since this research would also assess government statements and positions on the issues arising from Venezuela, the time period which saw the BUSH and BLAIR administration for most of the period would offer an opportunity to compare the US and UK government responses and attitudes towards Venezuelan issues with hopefully little variation in policy change. The reasoning is that an unchanged administration or party in power is likely to have the same attitudes or reactions to foreign issues from a particular country than when the administration changes over a period of time, barring any major shift in interests and policy towards Venezuela by either country during the time period. The study will take all these changes into account in the final analysis, including the editorial responses and positioning on these issues. Coding Units Editorials will be the focal point for the coding procedures. Editorials are a good basis for this study because they often represent the view or position of the newspaper. Op-Eds and editorials with Bylines (those written by individuals and credited with names) have been excluded from the sample. The focus was to look out for editorials which have been written by the editorial board of the various newspapers and would represent a justifiable opinion or position of the newspaper itself rather than the views of individual writers. Coding Procedure The source for the editorials is the academic search engine; LEXIS-NEXIS (which stores electronic copies of newspaper articles and editorials including those that this study would be focused on). Pre-testing 4 independent coders would be used to code each editorial article according to frames created from a Pre-test which has already been carried out on two other newspapers. A pretest on The Washington Post and The Guardian newspapers has been carried out to source for appropriate categories of frames to be used in the final coding of the 141 editorials. In addition, coders could add extra categories of frames to the basic list during coding to update the original codebook. 24 editorials from the Washington Post and 54 editorials from The Guardian newspapers were retrieved with the same search words as the main sample. They all fit the same criteria. 25% of each newspapers editorial would be used in the Pre-test. The selection was done randomly. In all 19 editorials would be used for the Pre-test. Framing Variables Frames(meant for pre-test and to be modified). the problem frames, 1-the diagnostic frames( these coverage would identify a problem and assign a responsibility to someone or some other reason) 2-the prognostic frames.( here the study seeks to find an editorials solution to particular problems) the presentation frames, 1-the issue frame ( coverage on issues such as economy, oil etc) 3-the image frame.( portraying leadership, attitudes, affiliation of subjects) General tone (is the editorial positive(supportive) or negative(condemnatory))? Coder Reliability An intercoder reliability would predict the amount of agreement or correspondence among the 4 coders. Intercoder Reliability is the extent to which the different judges tend to assign exactly the same rating to each object.[90] The Intercoder reliability would be checked for the Pre-test and the main test. The formula to be used is Holstis (1969) formula. Coder agreement on each unit of analysis( i.e frames) would be calculated. Preliminary Coding Sheet for Newspaper Editorial Content Analysis(To be amended). Technical Data: Editorial Number= give in full Paper: 1= USA; 2= NY Times; 3= Daily Telegraph; 4=The Times Date: given in full Title of Editorial: given in full Page: page on which the editorial is written. Location( section of newspaper) 1= Editorials and Opinions; 2= Features; 3=Non Stated 99= other Length of words= please indicate number Is a source cited?: 1= Yes; 2= No; 99= other Source cited: please indicate Country Mentioned in affiliation to venezuela: please indicate Country Location(continent): 1= Africa 2=Antarctia 3=Asia 4 =Australia 5= Europe 6=North America 7=South America Issues linked to country referred to: please indicate Themes in the News: Theme of the editorial: 1 =Concerns over Venezuelan crises impacting the world 2 =Concerns over Venezuelan crises impacting the US 3 =Concerns of economic and political life of Venezuelans being grim 4 =Concerns over oil supply and price hikes 5 =Championing support for Chavez and policies 6 =Denouncing Chavez 7 =A critique of white house intervention in Venezuelan matters 8 =Concerns over Venezuelan influence in Latin America 9 =Need to counter Chavez influence over other states 10 =That socialist economies are often a disaster 11 =Concerns over human rights abuse 12 =Concerns over Media abuse 13 =Need to have effective policies to deal with Venezuela 14 =Supporting regime change 15 =Denouncing regime change Secondary Themes: 1= Concerns over Venezuelan crises impacting the world 2 =Concerns over Venezuelan crises impacting the US 3 =Concerns of economic and political life of Venezuelans being grim 4 =Concerns over oil supply and price hikes 5 =Championing support for Chavez and policies 6 =Denouncing Chavez 7 =A critique of white house intervention in Venezuelan matters 8 =Concerns over Venezuelan influence in Latin America 9 =Need to counter Chavez influence over other states 10 =That socialist economies are often a disaster 11 =Concerns over human rights abuse 12 =Concerns over Media abuse 13 =Need to have effective policies to deal with Venezuela 14 =Supporting regime change 15 =Denouncing regime change Tertiary Themes: 1 =Concerns over Venezuelan crises impacting the world 2 =Concerns over Venezuelan crises impacting the US 3 =Concerns of economic and political life of Venezuelans being grim 4 =Concerns over oil supply and price hikes 5 =Championing support for Chavez and policies 6 =Denouncing Chavez 7 =A critique of white house intervention in Venezuelan matters 8 =Concerns over Venezuelan influence in Latin America 9 =Need to counter Chavez influence over other states 10 =That socialist economies are often a disaster 11 =Concerns over human rights abuse 12 =Concerns over Media abuse 13 =Need to have effective policies to deal with Venezuela 14 =Supporting regime change 15 =Denouncing regime change Other Themes?: Please state Orientation of Editorial: 1= event-oriented 2= issue-oriented Framing of the Editorial: (A) References To Sources Domestic Sources( in US or UK) : please indicate International Sources(in Venezuela) : please indicate Other Sources: please indicate How instrumental is the source to the story: 1=very central; 2= central; 3= moderately mentioned; 4=only gets a mention (B) Character of Commentary Evaluation of Commentary: 1= very laudable; 2= favorable; 3= neutral; 4= critical; 5= abrasive; 99= other Secondary Evaluation of Commentary: 1= crusading; 2= argumentative; 3= descriptive; 4= summary; 5= cynical; 6= humorous; 7= warning/ helpful; 8= lyrical; Descriptive Characterization of President Chavez in editorials: As 1= authoritarian 2= socialist/leftist 3= populist 4= autocrat 5= strongman 6= bold 99= other ( please state) Characterization of other persons in editorials: please mention character and indicate descrption Main Discourse: Please state any significant words used: Location of word in editorial: 1= headline 2= main body 7) BIBLIOGRAPHY Althaus, Scott L. 2003. When News Norms Collide, Follow the Lead: New Evidence for Press Independence.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Political Communication, 20 Barbara Allen, Paula OLoughlin, Amy Jasperson, John L. Sullivan The Media and the Gulf War: Framing, Pri

Abuse? :: essays research papers

Abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to a May 2001 article in Parents magazine 67% of the American population condones spanking as a regular form of discipline. Also, 67% say they would oppose a law prohibiting spanking at home and says that only 17% would support it. According to advice columnist and family psychologist John Rosemond, â€Å"Many parents are becoming frustrated with the very weak forms of discipline du jour advocated by ‘psychologically correct’ experts. He also says â€Å"More than 90% of children raised in the 1950’s and early ’60s were spanked and we don’t go around hitting people when we don’t get our way.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While I was visiting a friend recently, she told me about her most recent visit to the doctor with her two-year-old daughter. She told me that she was trying to get her daughter ready to leave after the appointment was over and her daughter would not quit playing with the toys which were in the doctor’s office. After several minutes of struggling with her daughter to get her coat on, her daughter turned to her, said â€Å"no, mom† and then her daughter proceeded to slap her across the face. My friend put her daughter over her knee and gave her a quick swat and told her that she was not to treat her mother like that. After seeing this, a nurse came over to my friend and told her that if they ever see her hit her daughter again they would call the Department of Children and Family Services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This situation is not all that unfamiliar to me these days. I hear of parents in similar situations almost every day and sometimes I actually see it with my own eyes. For instance, I was in Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and witnessed a woman tell a father that she was going to report him for child abuse because he grabbed his son’s arm and yelled at him for taking off and running through the store. Apparently the father had turned to look at something on the shelf and when he turned back around his son was gone and the father was paged over the store intercom to come and retrieve his son from across the store. In my opinion, that child was lucky that his father hadn’t given him a spanking right in the middle of the store. When I was a child my father would have given me a real whopper of a spanking for pulling a stunt like that in a store.