Between agency and structure: Situating Canadian war reportage in Afghanistan, 2001--2002.

摘要

Using a combination of structural, routine/organizational, and sociological approaches, this thesis uses Pierre Bourdieu's theories of practice and fields to ground the media study of the Canadian coverage of Afghanistan from Sept. 11, 2001 until Sept. 11, 2002. Emphasizing the theoretical space of the mezzo level of analysis between structure and individual agency, this thesis: (1) describes accounts of journalists and editors covering and managing the coverage of Afghanistan respectively, (2) places accounts within practice and fields theory, and (3) extrapolates the quantitative distribution of sources and their overall qualitative narrative constructions within media texts, drawing out overarching story lines of continuing Eurocentrism. This thesis arrives at a balanced vision of agency that includes an acknowledgement of the constraints at work in the field while recognizing that motivations, habitus-related identity politics, strategizing, and struggle are an active part of the practice of everyday life in the field of journalism.