University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Gender, press and revolution: A textual analysis of three newspapers in Nicaragua's Sandinista period, 1979-1988

Valdivia, Angharad N.

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Description

Title
Gender, press and revolution: A textual analysis of three newspapers in Nicaragua's Sandinista period, 1979-1988
Author(s)
Valdivia, Angharad N.
Issue Date
1991
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Rowland, Willard D., Jr.
Department of Study
Communications
Discipline
Communications
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • History, Latin American
  • Journalism
  • Women's Studies
  • Mass Communications
Language
eng
Abstract
  • This dissertation is a study of the intersection of gender, the press, and revolution. As such it bridges disciplinary boundaries between women's studies and mass communications studies. From a gender perspective, this study focuses on Third World women and on the inherent tensions between socialism and feminism. From communications, this work draws on news and international issues literature and the inherent tensions between Western news models and developmental goals. This allows the author to examine how women and gender politics were presented in Nicaragua's press during the Sandinista years between 1979 and 1988.
  • Methodologically this study falls between a strict content analysis and a semiotic reading of the press. One of the chapters is composed of a reading of the entire universe of available newspapers for that year. Based on that extensive survey, categories were developed to be applied to the sampled issues for the following eight years. The sample was not random but purposive, based on dates and issues suggested by local journalists.
  • Some of the findings of this study concur with previous research while others are new. The Nicaraguan experience underscores the difficulty of pursuing both socialism and gender reform simultaneously. The study suggests that laws in combination with a previously existing and well-organized women's movement do open some space for the implementation of radical gender reform. Thus a revolution is a prerequisite but not a sufficient variable in this process. The study also suggests that given legal reforms and organized women, the influence on the press, at the organizational and content level, can be significant. In Nicaragua the Sandinistas' attempt to democratize political participation through mass organizations and to prioritize daily issues along with economics and defense, resulted in a news frame that included women and gender politics in a manner that is nearly impossible in a liberal context of politics and journalism.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/22324
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1991 Valdivia, Angharad N.

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Communication