The educative role of a regional newspaper: Learning to be ... · The educative role of a regional newspaper: Learning to be drier Coral Campbell Deakin University Erica Smith and

Australian Journal of Adult Learning Volume 51, Number 2, July 2011

The educative role of a regional newspaper: Learning to be drier

Coral CampbellDeakin University

Erica Smith and Emma SiesmaaUniversity of Ballarat

Throughout the world, people have to deal with the issues of global warming and other more direct consequences of environmental change. This paper considers how a local newspaper has an educative function in a small community in advising people of specific issues and learning how to deal with changing resources. Across the period of several months in 2009, the Buloke Times, a local newspaper in the Wimmera-Mallee region of Victoria, Australia, was scanned for articles relating to the issue of water scarcity. In the 24 editions of the paper, 68 articles of various themes were found. The articles/themes were analysed along a number of lines: frequency across time, frequency within each issue, prominence of articles and unusual events. This research paper develops an overview of the role of the newspaper and its capacity to influence and educate the people who constitute its readership. Key words: adult education, rural education, water scarcity, community newspapers

270 Coral Campbell, Erica Smith and Emma Siesmaa

Introduction

Acrosstheglobe,governments,institutions,businessenterprisesandordinarypeoplearestrugglingtocomprehendandmanagetheimpactofglobalwarming.Howdopeopleinruralareasdevelopunderstandingofissueswhichmayaffectthem,eitherdirectly(asinadrought)orindirectly(asaglobalcitizen)?Australiaisonlyonecountrywhichisaffectedbydrierconditionsinmanyways,buttheissueofwateravailabilityhasbeenimpactingstronglyinVictoria,particularlyintheWimmera-Malleeregion.Traditionally,thisareahasbeenreliantonrainfallandthedeliveryofwaterfromthecatchmentareasviaopenchannels.However,a‘drought’,lastingfor13years,causedmembersofthesmallruralcommunitiesinthisregiontore-thinkthewaytheymanagedtheirwatersupplies,bothintheirfarmingpracticesandintheirdailylife.

Thispaperreportsonananalysisofaregionalnewspaper’scoverageofthedroughtandwaysofcopingwithit,duringtheearlypartof2009.Theresearchwaspartofalargerprojectwhichexaminedthenatureof‘learningtobedrier’infourcasestudyareaswithinAustralia’sMurray-Darlingbasin(Goldingetal.2009).Ineachcasestudy,anumberofparticipantswereinterviewedincludingsuppliersofwater,farmers,communitycentreworkers,agronomistsandeducationproviders.TheWimmera-Malleeareawasanareawhichhadalwayshadlimitedwateravailability,relyingprimarilyonprecipitationratherthanirrigation.Thecasestudyoftheregion(Smith&Campbell2009)showedthatarangeof‘learningtobedrier’strategieswereutilised,includingindividuallearningfromnewspapers.

Itwasdecidedtosupplementthequalitativefieldworkwithananalysisofthelocalnewspaper’scoveragefindingsofthenewspaperanalysisduringtheperiodofthefieldwork.Accordingly,threemonths’issuesofthetwice-weeklypaper,theBuloke Times,were

The educative role of a regional newspaper 271

analysedtoinvestigatehowthepapercoveredtheissueofdroughtandcopingwithit,andwhatcontributionthenewspapermightmaketopeople’slearningabouttheissue.

Thankfully,aprolongedperiodofrainfallduring2010endedimmediatedroughtconditionsintheWimmera-Mallee,whichhastraditionallybeena‘wheatandsheep’region.InthenatureofAustralianclimaticextremes,thisperiodcreateditsowndifficultiesforthefarmersandotherresidentsoftheregion,causingflooding,alocustplagueandadowngradingofthequalityofthewheatcrop.Despitethesedifficulties,therainwasextremelywelcome,promptingfront-pageheadlinesintheBuloke Timessuchas‘Jumpingforjoyintherain’(13August2010)and‘Alltheriversrun’(20August2010).Nevertheless,long-termclimatepredictionsindicatethatdrierweatherisnowthenorm,leavingthispaperstillextremelyrelevantfortheregion,forotherfarmingregionsinAustraliaandforothercountries.

Background and literature review

Therearemanywaysinwhichadultsaccessnewlearning,bothformallyandinformally.Ruralcommunitieshavetheirownpatternsoflearning(Kilpatrick,Falk&Harrison1998).Mostlocalruralcommunitieshaveacommunitycentre,anadultlearningcentre,localgardeninggroups,agronomistsandschools.Eachoftheseparticulargroupsprovidesopportunitiesforresidentstotalkaboutandshareideasregardinglocalissues,inthisinstance—thedrought.Thefieldworkfortheresearchproject(Smith&Campbell2009)showedthatcommunitycentresrunspecialinterestsessions;adultlearningcentresprovidespecificskill-basedtraining;localgardeninggroupsshareinformationandconsult‘experts’inthefield;agronomistsusetheinternetplusindustryresearchtoinformtheirspecialism,andschoolsprovideinformationtostudentsandindirectlythrough


tofamilieswithinthecommunities.Newspapersalsoplayaroleineducatingtheirreadershipsaboutcurrentissuesatlocal,regional,nationalandinternationallevels.

Howcanadultlearningtheoryinformourunderstandingoftheuseofnewspapersforlearning?Ithasbeenarguedthatadultlearnersconstructtheirownunderstandingandknowledgebasedontheirexperiences(Merriam&Caffarella1998:262).Peoplealsolearnthroughtheirsocialnetworkswithothers(socialconstructivism)(Carlson&Maxa1998).Thetheoryofconstructivismacknowledgestheimportanceofpriorunderstandingsandexperiencesintheconstructionofnewmeanings(Doolittle&Camp1999:15).AccordingtoKnowles,HoltonandSwanson(1998),inthelearningprocessadultswanttolearnabouttopicsrelevanttothemselvesandutilisepreviousknowledgetocreateunderstandings.Itmightbeexpected,then,thattheywouldlookthroughnewspaperstolearnabouttopicsofimportancetothemselvesandfocusonarticleswhichareaboutissuesfamiliartothembutwhichtaketheirunderstandingfurther.

Adultlearninginsmallcommunitieshasparticularcharacteristics(Goldingetal.2009:562),suchascommunity-based,adultlearningorganisations,localnetworksandinteractions,andindividuallearning—thereislittlelearningthroughformalinstitutionsandmechanisms.Thiscouldbeexpectedtomeanthatlearningfromnewspapersisalittledifferentinaruralcommunityfromametropolitancommunity.Communitiesareessentiallyboundbyphysicallocations,particularlyinremoteorruralareas.Communitiesofpeoplemaybethoseinonetownwhohavetightphysicalboundariesandareinterestedinthepeoplewhoaretheirneighbours.Withinthislocalnexusofpeople,asenseofbelonging,aswellasthegeographicallocation,alsoprovidestheoveralldefinitionofcommunity.Communitycanbeseenasaplaceofhumaninteractionor‘interconnectedrelationshipsamongpeople’(Kurpius2000:340)


or,asstatedbyJeffres,AtkinandNeuendorf(2002:391),‘overlappingsystemsthatincludeacommunicationnetworkandsocialstructure’.Insmallercommunities,therefore,socialnetworksarelikelytoplayanincreasinglyimportantroleinthelearningprocess.Communityconnectionsareimportantintermsofwhatisknown,howmuchisknownandtheparticularinfluenceofsomepeopleonothers.Theremightbeexpectedtobeaheavyrelianceonmaterialgeneratedbyorthroughthecommunity.

Thelocalnewspaperprovidesinformationonarangeofeventswhichmaybelocal,regional,nationalandinternationalinnature.Initsmostbasicform,then,anewspapercanbesaidtobeadistributorofinformation.However,researchhasindicatedthatanewspaperismorethanjustaprinteddescriptionofsomeevent(Holder&Treno1997).Thecontentofanewspaperreflectsthesocialrealityofitscontext,mirroringwhatisactuallyhappeninginthesocietywithinwhichitisproduced.Atasociallevel,itcanrepresentthethingswhichacommunityholdsasmostimportant.Equallyimportantisthefactthatanewspaper,writtenbyhumans,isaconstructionofrealityasdeterminedbythewriter.Thisimpliesthathumanbiases,empathiesandopinionscandeliberately,orinadvertently,enterintothefabricofthearticle.

Someresearchindicatesthatnewspaperscanactasbrokersofpower,negotiatingwhoistobeempoweredandwhoisnot(Olien,Donohue&Tichenor1995).Acommunitycanbesaidtobeadynamicinterplayofpeople:someareontheperipherylookingin,whileothersarethepower-brokersofthecommunity,forminggroupsandguidingdecisionswithinthecommunity.Communitymediacanhelpillustratethesedistinctions(Mosco1998),highlightingthestrengthofparticulargroupswithinthecommunityaswellasdisenfranchisingothers.Furtherresearchintotheeffectofmediaoncommunities(Demers&Viswanath1999)showedhowsocialpowerstructures


shapethemedia’scapacitytofostersocialchangeandinterestinglyhowlocaljournalistsoftenframearticlesinwaysthatreflecttraditionalpowerstructures(Cohen2000,Sakamoto1999).

Moses(2007:153)statesthat‘themediahavethefunctionofinformingthedemocraticcitizenryonmattersthatareinthepublicinterest’,andmaintainsthatnewspapersshouldshoweverysideofanissue.ShegivestheexampleofchangingpublicattitudestoracialinequalityintheUSAwhichwritersattributedpartlytotheroleofthemedia(Moses2007:161).Thisviewofthemediaimpliesthatalocalnewspaperhasadutytoinformitsreadersaboutimportantmattersandtoprovidealternativeviewpointsaboutthesematters.

However,inanydiscussionoftheroleofmediaineducation,itisimportanttorememberthatnotallpeoplelearninthesamewayfromnewspapers.Grabe,KamhawiandYegyan(2009)inanexperimentalstudyfoundthatpeoplewithhigherlevelsofeducationlearnedmorefromnewspaperarticles,eventhoughthosewithlowereducationlevelswerejustasinterestedinthetopics.Theyascribedthisbasicallytotheextrayearsofpractice,amongpeoplewithgreatereducationlevels,inextractinginformationfromwrittendocuments.Fleming,ThorsonandZhang(2006)likewisefoundthatpeople’sindividualinformationprocessingstrategieshaveaneffectontheextentandnatureoflearningfromnewspapers,whichisalsoaffectedbyotherfactorssuchasgenderandethnicity,andindividuals’attentiontoothermediaoutlets.Marx, Nedelmann,Haertle,DietrichandEicke(2008),inastudyinthehealtheducationarea,cautionthatalthougheducationalcampaignsthroughnewspapersandothermediaincreaseawareness,theydonotnecessarilyleadtoachangeinbehaviour.Theyfoundthatpeoplewithlowereducationlevelslearnedmostfrominformationdisseminatedthrougharangeofchannelsthatused‘short-tailoredslogans’(Marxetal.2008:378)suchas‘PraiseforGMWWater’or‘restrictionlevelseased’.Thesestudiesofthe


educativeroleofnewspaperssuggestthatnewspapersformonlyonerouteforraisingawarenessofissuesamongthepublicandthattheyaremoreusefulineducatingcertainsectorsofthepopulationthanothers.

Howimportanthastheissueofdrought,andcopingwithit,beentotheWimmera-Mallee?ThereisnodoubtthattheWimmera-Malleeregionhassufferedthroughanextendeddrought.Inthetenyearsto2008,averagerainfallfellby13%whilstmaximumtemperaturesincreasedby0.7%,withmoresummerdaysreachingover30degreescentigrade(VictorianGovernmentDepartmentofSustainabilityandEnvironment2008).Althoughashort-termimprovementwaspredicted,ithasalsobeenpredicted(BCG2008)thatinthelongtermtherewillcontinuetobelowlevelsofrainfall.Theseverityofthedroughthasmeantthat,insomeyearsandsomepartsoftheregion,therehavebeenno,orseverelyreducedwheatcrops;onaverage,croplevelsareexpectedtobeabout18%lowerinthefuturethantheywerepriortothebeginningofthedrought(BCG2008).Thefarmingcommunityhashadtomakechangestothewayitdoesthings.Adaptationsinclude:changingthecropsgrown,changesinvarietiesofcrops,changingfarmingtechniquesandsowingstrategies,andusingdifferenthightechnologicalmachineryformoreprecisefarming(BCG2008,Schultz2001).Moregenerally,theCSIROTechnicalReport(2007)indicatesthatthereareanumberofclimaticchangeswhichwilloccur:annualwarmingleadingtoanincreasednumberofwarmdaysandnights;lessprecipitationincludingrainfallrunoff;increasedlikelihoodofdrought;andincreasedseverityofdroughts.CSIRO(2007)predictsthatlife,propertyandecosystemswillbeatincreasedrisk.Clearlythisisaserioussituationanditisimportanttoconsiderhowlocalinstitutionssuchasnewspapersmaycontributetochangesinhumanbehaviourthatcouldamelioratetheeffectsofdrought.


ThecasestudyintheWimmera-Mallee,previouslymentioned,proposedahierarchy(Smith&Campbell2009:537)of‘learningtobedrier’methods,fromthemostinformaltothemostformal(Marsick&Watkins1990):

• feedbackonactions,e.g.plantinganewvarietyofcroporgardenplant

• individuallearningthroughthereceiptofprovidedinformation(e.g.fromthewaterauthority,fromone’schildren’sschool,thelocalnewspaperormagazinesproducedbyagriculturalsuppliers)orfromseekinginformationviatheinternet

• talkinginformally‘overthefence’(backgardens)or‘throughthefence’(farms)toneighbours

• attendingacommunityactivityspecificallyonwaterissuesorviaanothergroup,e.g.gardeninggrouporCountryFireAssociationmeeting

• ifafarmer,joiningafarmers’developmentgroupand/oremployinganagronomist,bothofwhichsourceswereabletocollectandfilterinformationandpassiton

• enrollinginacourse(fromashortskill-focusedprogramthroughtoaqualification).

Methodology

Acrossthethreemonthsof3Februaryto1May2009,theBuloke Timeswasscannedforarticlesrelatingtotheissueofdroughtandcopingwithdrierconditions.Thenewspaperisproducedtwice-weeklyandtypicallyisbetween16and20pagesinlength.Therewere24editionsofthepaperinthestudy,inwhich68relevantarticleswerefound.

TheBuloke Timeswasselectedforthestudyas,amongtheavailablelocalnewspapers,itwastheonlyonewhichreportedonlyonthelocalarea(theBulokeShire)ratherthancoveringalargerregion,


and/orincludingmoregeneralrural‘inserts’.InviewingtheBuloke Times,wedrewonthewell-establishedresearchmethodologyofcontentanalysis.Contentanalysishasbeendescribedbymanyresearchersinsomewhatdifferentways,butKerlinger’s(1986)definition(inWimmer&Dominick2000:135)seemstobewidelyaccepted:‘contentanalysisisamethodofstudyingandanalysingcommunicationinasystematic,objectiveandquantitativemannerforthepurposeofstudyingvariables’.ContentanalysisisthereforethemethodweusedtoassessmediacontenttrendsinthelocalBuloke Times.Thestudyprovidesbaselinedatatoseeiftheframingofclimatechangeissuesshiftsandchangesacrossthethree-monthperiodoftheanalysis.Whileitisaformofcontentanalysis,itisnotasophisticatedform.Intermsofthe‘usesofcontentanalysis’(Wimmer&Dominick2000:136–137),weareusingthetechniqueinatraditionalanddescriptivemanner.Itis,however,partlybeingusedtoinfersocietalvaluesabouttheissueofadrierclimate.Ifwearetoberigorouswithouranalysis,weneedtoaddressanumberofquestionssuggestedbyKrippendorff(2004).Figure1showsthesequestionsandtheresponsesforthisstudy.


Which data are analyzed?Specificnewspaperarticles,publicnotices

How are they defined?Theyareeasilydefinedbythecontentwhichmustincludesomereferencetowaterscarcity.Thearticleheadingsmaynotnecessarilyrefertowaterchange.

What is the population from which they are drawn?ThepopulationwhichaccessesandreadstheBuloke Timescamefromaregionalareaofapproximately50kmsaroundthetownshipofWycheproofintheWimmera-MalleeRegionofVictoria.

What is the context relative to which the data are analyzed?Thedataareanalysedacrossanumberofcontexts.Initiallythearticlesarereadandclassifiedintoanumberofthemes.Thesethemedarticlesareanalysedaccordingtotheirfrequencyacrossthetimeoftheinvestigation,accordingtotheirfrequencywithineachissue,theprominenceofarticles(e.g.wheretheysitinthenewspaper)andanyunusualoccurrences(e.g.newspaperissueswithoutanyarticles).

What are the boundaries of the analysis?Theanalysisisboundedintimeandstrictlytothearticlesextractedfromthenewspaperswithinthatthreemonthperiod.

What is the target of the inferences?Thetargetrelatesbacktoouroriginalquestion—howthepapercoveredtheissueandwhatcontributionthenewspapermightmaketopeople’slearningabouttheissue.

[AfterKrippendorf2004]

Figure 1: Issues addressed within data analysis


From3Februaryto1May2009,eachissueoftheBuloke Timeswasscannedforarticlesonwaterissuesorscarcity.Thecontentofthearticlesrelatedtothewaterscarcityissue,butthearticleheadingdidnotnecessaryhavetocontainwordsillustrativeoftheissue.Classifieds,sport-relatedstories,advertisementsandtelevisionguideswereexcludedfromthecollection.Wesampledeveryeditionofthenewspaperinthespecifictimeperiod.Thisisacensus(Riffe,Lacy&Fico1998),takingcountofarticlesincontext—exceptthatwehavefocusedonlyoncertaincontent.Acensusisthebestmethod(ratherthantaking,forexample,oneeditioneverymonth)witharelativelysmallamountofcontent,andavoidsdistortionofresults.Thetimeperiod(FebruarytoApril2009)waschosenasitcoverstheperiodjustpriortofieldworkandthereforemayhavehadsomebearingonourparticipants’responses(seeSmith&Campbell2009forareportonthefieldwork).Toalignourmethodmorecloselywithanactualcensus(i.e.ofallcontent),wecountedthenumberofarticlesrelatedtowaterscarcityasaproportionofthetotalnewspapercontent.Wealsolocatedeachstorywithinthenewspapertoascertainits‘prominence’(e.g.pagenumber,placeonpage)(Riffeetal.1998:132).Wewereawarethatasimplecountingortallyingapproachcouldberegardedassuperficialandreveallittleabouttheactualvalueofwaterscarcitytothecommunityofreadership(Riffeetal.1998:36)oftheBuloke Times,whichiswhywelookedattheprominenceandcontentofarticles.

Thearticlescollectedwerethenfurthergroupedintoanumberofcategoriesorthemes.Wehavedonethisonasimple‘groupingbasis’wheretherecordedunits‘sharecommonattributes’(Riffeetal.1998:86).Wecouldhavechosenmorecomplexcategorisation,forexample,‘hierarchicalallocation’,butasallofourselectionscomeunderonemajorthemeofwaterissues/scarcity,thisdidnotseemrelevant.


Ourselectedthemesforarticleswere:• reportsofeducativeevents—eventswhichintendedto‘educate’

• educative—articleswhichtellpeople‘howto’docertainactivities(i.e.directlyinstructionalordidactic)

• outcome—reportingontheprogressofawater-relatedinitiativeorprogram

• politicalorregulatory—reportsonpoliticalissuesorregulationsrelatingtocopingwithdrierconditions

• miscellaneous—allotherarticleswithrelevancetowaterscarcity/drierconditions.

Thearticleswereanalysedonthebasisoftype,frequency,prominenceandclustering.

Findings

Thedatacollectedarerepresentedwithintwotableswhichsummarisethetrendswefoundaswecountedthenumberofarticlesrelatedtowaterscarcity.Table1isarawtallywhichreportsthenumberofeachcategoryofarticlerelatedtothedateofthenewspaperacrossthethreedesignatedmonths.Theshadingrefersto‘clumping’ofsomethemesacrosstime.

The educative role of a regional newspaper 281Ta

ble

1:

Raw

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of a

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gro

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them

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Dat

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3 February

22

32articlesacross

February

(7issues)

6February

11

24

10February

12

11

27

13February

22

15

17February

32

27

24February

11

2

27February

13

15


Dat

e of

th

e B

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imes

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3March

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16articlesacross

March

(9issues)

6March

11

11March

11

13March

11

2

17March

21

14

20March

21

14

24March

Noarticles

27March

11

31March

Noarticles


Dat

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3April

21

317articlesacrossApril

(7issues)

7April

11

9April

11

17April

13

15

21April

21

3

24April

21

3

28April

11

1May

11

13

3

Total

1416

196

1368

%(rounded)

20.5

23.5

289

19100


Table2showsthelocationofeachstorywithineacheditionofthenewspaper—thatis,its‘prominence’.Thetablealsoprovidesinformationonthetotalnumberofarticleswithinthedatededition,bothasrawscoresandasapercentageoftotalarticles,againprovidingsomeevidenceoftheimportanceoftheissueofwaterscarcityatthatparticularinstanceintime.

Table 2: Overview of articles relating to relative importance and prominence

Issue 2009

Number of articles †

Percentage of coverage

Story prominence (location)*

Article theme

Tuesday3February

2from27 7.4 p.9,p.12 Outcome

Friday6February

4from19 21 p.6–p.13 Varied:Political/regulatory;Outcome;

Educative;Political/regulatory

Tuesday10February

7from12 58 p.2–p.16 Varied:Miscellaneous;

Reportsofeducativeevents;Outcome;Educative;

Political/regulatory

Friday13February

5from19 26 p.2–p.11 Varied:Reportsofeducativeevents;Outcome;

Miscellaneous

Tuesday17February

7from14 50 p.1–p.12 Varied:Outcome;

Educative;Miscellaneous

Friday20February

0from20 - n/a n/a

Tuesday24February

2from17 11.8 p.9 Outcome;Miscellaneous


Issue 2009




Article theme

Friday27February

5from21 23.8 p.1–p.10 Varied:Educative;

Miscellaneous;Reportsofeducativeevents

Tuesday3March

3from18 16.6 p.7–p.15 Varied:Educative;

Miscellaneous;Outcome

Friday6March

1from22 4.5 Article1:p.12 Article1:Educative

Wednesday11March

1from28 3.6 p.9 Miscellaneous

Friday13March

2from14 14.2 p.6–p.7 Political/regulatory;

Miscellaneous

Tuesday17March

3from14 21.4 p.2–p.11 Reportsofeducativeevents

Miscellaneous;Educative

Friday20March

4from16 25 p.1–p.11 Reportsofeducativeevents;Educative;Outcome

Tuesday24March

0from22 - N/A n/a

Friday27March

1from23 4.3 p.2 Outcome

Tuesday31March

0from33 - N/A n/a

Friday3April

3from33 9 p.2–p.19 Outcome;Miscellaneous

Tuesday7April

1from25 4 p.13 Educative

Thursday9April

1from21 4.8 p.11 Political/regulatory


Issue 2009




Article theme

Friday17April

5from34 14.7 p.1–p.12 Political/regulatory;

Reportsofeducativeevents;Outcome

Tuesday21April

3from22 13.6 p.10–p.15 Educative;Reportsofeducativeevents

Friday24April

3from16 18.8 p.1–p.9 Outcome;Reportsofeducativeevents

Tuesday28April

1from28 3.6 p.10 Reportsofeducativeevents

Friday1May

3from16 18.8 p.1–p.9 Educative;Outcome;

Miscellaneous

†Articlesexcludedfromcountwereclassifieds,sport-relatedstories,advertisementsandtelevisionguides*StoryprominencewasbasedonamodelsuggestedbyRiffeetal.(1998)

Table1showsthatthelargestcategoryofrelevantarticles(28%)wasrelatedtoreportingontheprogressofaninitiativeorprogram(outcometheme).Thenextmostprominenttypeofarticle(23.5%)wasthe‘educativetheme’whichassistedreaderstounderstand‘howto’accomplishsometaskorother.Thethemesof‘reportsofeducativeevents’or‘miscellaneous’’followedcloselyintermsofcommonalityandthe‘politicalorregulatory’themedarticlesrepresentedlessthan10%ofthetotalnumberofrelevantarticles.

Acrossthethreemonths,therewere32articlesrelatingtowaterscarcityanddrierconditionsinthesevenissuesinFebruary(Table1).Thisaveragesoutataboutfourtofivearticlesperedition,ortousepercentageproportion,23%ofallnewspaperarticlesacrossFebruaryrelatedtothethemeofwaterissues/scarcity(Table2)(withpeaksof58%and50%intheeditionsof10Februaryand17February).InMarch,thenumberofarticlesdroppeddramaticallyto16articlesin


the9issues—fewerthan2articlesperedition,orproportionally8%oftotalcoverage.TheotherinterestingobservationisthattwoissuesinMarchcontainnoarticlesofwaterscarcityatall.InApril,therewere17articlesacross7issues,averagingtwotothreearticlespernewspaperissue,proportionally11%ofallnewspaperarticlesrelatedtowaterissuesorscarcity.

Ifweconsiderthe‘clumping’trends,wenotice,notunsurprisingly,thateducative,outcomeandmiscellaneousthemeswereclumpedmostlyaroundFebruarywhichalsowasthemonthwhenmostarticleswereincorporatedinthenewspaper.However,therewasasimilar,butlessstrong,clumpingof‘reportsofeducativeevents’articlesinthelatterpartofApril.

Theotherdatatostudyfromthistablearethe‘prominent’articleswhichfeatureonpageone.Usinglocationasanindicationoftheimportanceofthearticle,eightofthe68articlesonwaterissues/scarcitywerefoundonthefirstpage.Fourofthesearticlesranacrossbothpagesoneandtwo,buttherestwerecontainedwithinthefirstpage.Thearticleswerefairlyevenlyspreadacrossthethemes:reportsofeducativeeventstheme(2),educativetheme(2),outcometheme(2),political/regulatorytheme(1)andmiscellaneoustheme(1).

Table3providesanexampleofoneprominentarticleineachtheme.


Table 3: Examples of articles from each theme, which had significant prominence (page one)

Date & type of article Article heading and description

Reportsofeducativeevents

Capturing rain in bucketsfulThisarticledescribesaworkshoppresentedbyaCSIROstaffmemberaspartoftheongoingprogram‘HealthySoilsWorkshops’bythefarmers’developmentgroup.Thepresenterspokeaboutwateruseefficiencyanditsincreasingimportanceinfarmingsystems.AnotherCSIROstaffmemberalsodiscussedaspectsofsoilcover,tillageandcompactionintermsofwateruseefficiencyandcropgrowth.

Educative Water use challengeThisarticledescribesachallengesetforthbythelocalwaterauthority,inwhichindividualsareaskedtoworkouthowmuchwatertheyuseperdayandtrytoreduceit.Thearticledescribeshowtocalculatewaterusageandthenprovidesexamplesofhowwaterusagecouldbereduced.Thearticlealsoprovidesinformationonthewaterrebate.

Outcome Excitement builds at BirchipThisarticlerelatestoapreviousonewhichindicatedthatLakeTchumwouldsoonbefilled.ItprovidedinformationabouttheongoingworkoftheBirchipAquaticClubtoimproveandpreparethelakeforwater.Picturesaccompaniedthearticleshowingvariousscenesoftheworkingbeeinaction.

Political/regulatory Tchum Lake back in businessThisarticlediscussesthesupplyofchannelwatertotwolocallakes(TchumLakeandGreenLake).Bothlakesareusedforrecreationalpurposes.Thewaterauthorityindicatedthattheentitlementwouldnotberequiredfortownsorruralcustomers.TheTchumLakeAquaticClubcommitteepresidentprovidedcommentonthebenefitstothecommunity.

Miscellaneous Water, water everywhereThisarticlereportsonameetingoftheDonaldHistoryandNaturalHistorySocietywheremembersgaveapresentationofhistoricaltimeswhenthedistricthadplentyofwater.AphotographoffloodsinaDonaldstreetillustratesthearticle.


Thesearticlesarevariedinnature,withthetwoarticlesaboutLakeTchum,asmallrecreationallakejustoutsideBirchip,oneofthetownsintheregion,illustratingtheimportanceofvisiblebodiesofwatertothecommunities.

Discussion

Table1clearlyshowsthataroundaquarteroftheitemsareaboutreportingonoutcomes,andaboutaquarteraredirectlyeducative,providinginformationforreaderstoacton.Thesetypesofarticlemaybeconsideredto‘keepupmorale’,importantinaregionheavilyaffectedbydrought.Thereportingofanoutcomeforanyprojectoractionwouldbeconsideredapositivethingandcouldproduceanoptimisticresponsefromthereadership.Similarly,aneducativearticlecouldalsoprovideasenseofefficacyasitimpliesthepossibilityfor‘action’oramovementinapositivedirection.Reportsofeducativeeventsarticlesfeatureforone-fifthofthetime.Thesemaybeseenasattemptstoalertthecommunitytofurtherlearningopportunitiesintheimportantareaofcopingwithlesswaterandtospreadtheeffectsoftheseeventsbeyondtheaudiencewhoattendedtheevent.Thisisimportantasastrategyingettinginformationtothe‘hardtoreach’peoplethose,wehadbeentold,whowereunlikelytoattendcommunityevents(Smith&Campbell2009:539).Therelativelysmallproportionofarticlesaboutthepolitical/regulatoryenvironmentcouldsuggestthatthenewspaperassumesreaders’familiaritywiththeregulatoryenvironment,orsimplyalackofnewsontheissue.

WhilewaterscarcityisadominantproblemofthecommunitiesthatmakeupthereadershipoftheBuloke Times,itwouldappearthatthenewspaper’sauthorsgiveitsomeprominence,butdonotmakeittheoverwhelmingcontent.ThemonthofFebruary,inparticular,wasdominatedbywaterscarcityarticlesandperhapsthiscouldbeattributedtothefactthatFebruaryistraditionallythedriest


monthandwouldconstituteatimeofmajorconcernforthelocalcommunities.ThesocialimpactofdrynesswouldalsobefeltmostinFebruarywhentheheatcouldnotbealleviatedthroughtheuseofmorewater.Thefollowingmonthsseeasignificantdropinthenumberofarticles,with,inApril,theunusualsituationwheretwonewspaperissuescontainednoarticlesaboutwaterscarcity(noneinatotalof55articles).

Whenwelookatthe‘clumping’ofthemes,itisnotsignificantthatthreethemeswereclumpedinFebruary,sincethismonthhadthehighestpercentageofcontentofwaterissues/scarcityarticles.Therewas,however,aminorclumpingofthe‘reportsofeducativeevents’themeacrossfourissuesinApril.Nearlyhalfofallofthereportsofeducativeeventsthemedarticlesacrossthethreemonthsoccurredinthosefourissues.Itispossiblethatthesearticles,andtheeventswhichtheyreport,weretimedtocoincidewiththesowingseason,encouragingfarmerstothinkaboutthecropvarieties,fertiliseruseandsowingtechniques.

Lookingattheprominenceoftheissue,onlyeightofthe68articlesonwaterscarcitywereonthefrontpage,around12%.Ofthetotalnumberofarticlespublishedacrossthethreemonths(N=534),thisrepresentsabout1%.Itseemsatfirstglancesurprisingthatsuchaprominentworld-wideissue,waterscarcity,isnotfeaturedmorestrongly,particularlyasitwasatthetimehavingsuchdevastatingeffectsonthelocalcommunity.OnepossibleexplanationisthatthisregionofVictoriaisconsidereddrylandcountry—waterhasalwaysbeenscarce.Anotherexplanationisthe‘fatigue’inthecommunitywiththeissue;itwasperhapsjudgedthatpeoplewishedtoreadaboutothermatterswhichweremorepositive,particularlyonthefrontpageofthenewspaper.

Thefront-pagearticlesprovide,however,anotherinterestinginsight.Fouroftheseeightfront-pagearticleswerepredominantlyabout


aparticularfarmers’developmentgroupanditsactivities.Thisisastronglocalsubscription-basedorganisationwhichprovidesinformationandsupporttolocalfarmersthroughactivitiesforitsmembersbutalsoforthewidercommunity(Smith&Campbell2009:531).PreviousresearchbyOlienetal.(1995)statedthatanalysisofthecontentofalocalnewspapercanillustratewhoholdspowerwithinthecommunityandthedegreetowhichpowerisconcentratedwithindifferentgroups.WhenconsideringtheBuloke Times,wecanseethatthepaperdoesinfactfavourthislocalorganisationandplacesitsarticlestothefrontofthepaper.Thisnotonlyensuresthatreadersseethearticlesasbeingofgreaterimportance,butalsoensuresthatthelocalorganisationisconsideredtheprimarysourceofcredibleinformation.Thenewspaperappearstobefavouringoneparticularlocalgroupandmaybeinfluencingthewaythecommunityseesthatgroupaswellasreflectingthetraditionallocalpowerstructures.

Conclusion

Throughconsiderationofthedataandtheiranalysis,wecanattempttoanswerouroriginalresearchquestion:toinvestigatehowthepapercoveredtheissueofdroughtandcopingwithit,andwhatcontributionthenewspapermightmaketopeople’slearningabouttheissue.

Ingeneral,acrossthethreemonthsofthecollectionofthearticles,whilethepercentagecontentdidvary,itwouldbeaccuratetosaythatwaterscarcityandrelatedaspectsweresignificantforthereadersoftheBuloke Times.Wecanalsoaddthatthenewspaperwasmirroringtheconcernsandvaluesofthecommunity(Holder&Treno1997).

Inourdiscussion,weidentifiedseveralfactorsrelatingtothenewspaperanditsroleinthecommunity.Initscontent,webelievethatthenewspaperisreflectingthevaluethecommunityplaceson


theissueofwaterscarcity.Itscoveragewasintenseinthemonthwhenwaterscarcitywouldbeexpectedtobeoneofthedominantlocalissues,butfellawayagainastimeprogressed.Thearticlestendedtofocusonpositivestoriesratherthannegativeones,reflectingthecommunity’sneedforimprovementsinmorale.

Theotherfactorindicatedbytheresearchwastheissueofpower.Asdiscussedearlier,someresearchers(e.g.Cohen2000)maintainthatlocaljournalistsoftenframearticlesinwaysthatreflecttraditionalpowerstructures.Mosco(1998)statedthat‘[c]ommunitymediacan…highlightthestrengthofparticulargroupswithinthecommunityaswellasdisenfranchiseothers’.Thenumberofarticlesrelatingtothefarmers’developmentgroupanditsactivitieswasfargreaterthananyothersinglegroup.Itisunclearwhichgroupsmayhavebeendisenfranchisedbutcertainlyothergroupsinthecommunity,suchasLandcaregroups,didnotreceivethesamepublicity.Notonlydidthenewspaperhighlightparticulargroups,butthroughconsistentcoveragemayinfacthaveacted‘asbrokersofpower,negotiatingwhoistobeempoweredandwhoisnot’(Olienetal.1995).Bypromotingtheactivitiesofthegroup,thenewspapermayhavebeenenhancingitsstatuswithinthecommunity,andassistinginthedevelopmentofthegroup,perhaps,butnotnecessarily,tothedetrimentofotherorganisations.

Whatcontributionmightthenewspapermaketopeople’slearningabouttheissue,andeventochangingbehaviour?Bylookingatthegroupingofthearticlesonwaterscarcity,wecanseethatthenewspaperhastakenonasignificantroleof‘informer’.Alargepercentageofthearticleswereeducative,providinginformationonoutcomesofprojectsoflocalinterest,reportingontheactivitiesofcommunitygroupsandalsoprovidinginstanceswherethenewspaperprovidesthe‘mouthpiece’forbodiesorindividualstoinstructthereader.However,betterinformationdoesnotnecessarilyleadtobehaviourchange(Marxetal.2008).Ourbroaderresearchinthe


communityindicatedthattherewasdifferentialaccesstoseveraltypesoflearningactivityamonggroupsandindividualsinthecommunity(Smith&Campbell2009),soclearlyanyeducativeoutletishelpfulinaddingtothemixofavailablelearningactivities.

Werecognisethelimitationsoftheresearchundertakenonthenewspapercollection.Howcontentisinterpretedorwhoseperspectiveor‘partyline’isbeingconsidered,cannotformpartofthispaper,apartfromrecognisingthroughtheanalysiswhetherparticulargroupswerebeingprivilegedinsomeway.Thecontentanalysisasperformedinthisstudycannotmakestatementsabouttheeffectsofthearticlesontheaudience(Wimmer&Dominick:139).Forthatinformation,wewouldneedtosurveythereadershiporundertakeinterviewswithindividualandgroupswithinthecommunitythatfocusspecificallyuponthewaysinwhichtheyusethenewspapertolearn.Differentmembersofthecommunitywouldbelikelytoprocesstheinformationdifferently(Flemingetal.2006).However,astrengthoftheresearchisthepriorfieldworkundertakeninthecommunitysothatinourinterpretationweareabletodrawupontheunderstandingsofthecommunityanditsconcernsgainedthroughthatresearch.Forexample,inthepriorfieldwork,wefoundthatmostofthoseinterviewedtendedtoholdthefarmers’developmentgroupasthesinglemostexpertsourceofinformationforfarmers.Thiswasconfirmedthroughthenewspaperanalysis,wherearticlesfromthisgroupwereplacedclosesttothefrontofthenewspaper.

Intermsofourclassificationofthetotalityoflearningstrategiesaboutwaterscarcityandbeingdrierinthecasestudy(Smith&Campbell2009:537),learningfromnewspapersfallswithinthecategory,‘Individuallearningthroughthereceiptofprovidedinformation’.However,learningfromnewspapersbothfeedsintoandfeedsuponmostoftheothercategories:forexample,theBuloke Times’articlesinthetheme‘reportsofeducativeevents’reportuponlearningeventsfromthecategories‘communityactivity’and‘farmers’


developmentgroups’.Hencethelearningopportunitiescouldbesaidtoworkinaniterativemanner.Thiscouldbeseengenerallyasproductive,althoughitcouldalsoreinforceexclusionasdiscussedabove.

Itispossibletoidentifysomecontributionsofthissmallresearchproject.Toourknowledgethisisthefirstpaperwhichusesnewspapercontentanalysistoexploretheissueofhowadrought-strickencommunitycopeswiththedrought.Moregenerally,webelieveourcategorisationoflearning-relatedcontentinnewspapersisunique,andcouldbeappliedtotheeducativeroleofalocalnewspaperaboutotherissuesofcommunityconcern,notjustdrought.Webelievethatthestructuredapproachdevelopedinthispapercouldbeofusetolocalnewspapersinenablingthemtoreflectontheireducativerole,andtocommunitygroupsandotherorganisationswhoseektoeducatemembersoftheircommunitiesmoreeffectivelyonissuesofconcern.


Appendix—Expanded Table 2: Overview of articles relating to relative importance and prominenceIssue 2009 Number

of articles †



Article theme

Tuesday3February

2from27 7.4 Article1:p.9Article2:p.13

Article1:OutcomeArticle2:Outcome

Friday6February

4from19 21 Article1:p.6Article2:p.6Article3:p.9Article4:p.13

Article1:Political/regul’yArticle2:OutcomeArticle3:EducativeArticle4:Political/regul’y

Tuesday10February

7from12 58 Article1:p.2Article2:p.9Article3:p.10Article4:p.10Article5:p.10Article6:p.12Article7:p.16

Article1:MiscellaneousArticle2:MiscellaneousArticle3:ReportsofeducativeeventsArticle4:OutcomeArticle5:EducativeArticle6:EducativeArticle7:Political/regul’y

Friday13February

5from19 26 Article1:p.2Article2:p.?Article3:p.?Article4:p.7Article5:p.11

Article1:ReportsofeducativeeventsArticle2:OutcomeArticle3:MiscellaneousArticle4:ReportsofeducativeeventsArticle5:Outcome

Tuesday17February

7from14 50 Article1:pp.1–2Article2:pp.1–2Article3:p.3Article4:p.3Article5:p.8Article6:p.9Article7:p.12

Article1:OutcomeArticle2:EducativeArticle3:MiscellaneousArticle4:MiscellaneousArticle5:OutcomeArticle6:EducativeArticle7:Educative

Friday20February

0from20 - n/a n/a

Tuesday24February


Article1:OutcomeArticle2:Miscellaneous


Issue 2009 Number of articles

†



Article theme

Friday27February

5from21 23.8 Article1:p.1Article2:p.4Article3:p.6Article4:p.7Article5:p.10

Article1:EducativeArticle2:MiscellaneousArticle3:EducativeArticle4:EducativeArticle5:Reportsofeducativeevents

Tuesday3March

3from18 16.6 Article1:p.7Article2:p.7Article3:p.15

Article1:EducativeArticle2:MiscellaneousArticle3:Outcome

Friday6March

1from22 4.5 Article1:p.12 Article1:Educative

Wednesday11March

1from28 3.6 Article1:p.9 Article1:Miscellaneous

Friday13March


Article1:Political/regul’yArticle2:Miscellaneous

Tuesday17March

3from14 21.4 Article1:p.2Article2:p.10Article3:p.11Article4:p.11

Article1:Reportsofeducativeevents

Article2:MiscellaneousArticle3:EducativeArticle4:Educative

Friday20March

4from16 25 Article1:pp.1–2Article2:p.3Article3:p.9Article4:p.11

Article1:ReportsofeducativeeventsArticle2:EducativeArticle3:OutcomeArticle4:Reportsofeducativeevents

Tuesday24March

0from22 - n/a n/a

Friday27March

1from23 4.3 Article1:p.2 Article1:Outcome

Tuesday31March

0from33 - n/a n/a

Friday3April

3from33 9 Article1:p.2Article2:p.6Article3:p.19

Article1:OutcomeArticle2:MiscellaneousArticle3:Outcome


Issue 2009 Number of articles

†



Article theme

Tuesday7April

1from25 4 Article1:p.13 Article1:Educative

Thursday9April

1from21 4.8 Article1:p.11 Article1:Political/regul’y

Friday17April

5from34 14.7 Article1:pp.1–2Article2:p.1Article3:p.2Article4:p.10Article5:p.12

Article1:Political/regul’yArticle2:ReportsofeducativeeventsArticle3:OutcomeArticle4:OutcomeArticle5:Outcome

Tuesday21April


Article1:EducativeArticle2:Reportsofeducativeevents

Article3:Reportsofeducativeevents

Friday24April


Article1:OutcomeArticle2:Reportsofeducativeevents

Article3:Reportsofducativeevents

Tuesday28April

1from28 3.6 Article1:p.10 Article1:Reportsofeducativeevents

Friday1May


Article1:EducativeArticle2:OutcomeArticle3:Miscellaneous

†Articlesexcludedfromcountwereclassifieds,sport-relatedstories,advertisementsandtelevisionguides

*StoryprominencewasbasedonamodelsuggestedbyRiffeetal.(1998)


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About the authors

Coral Campbell is a senior lecturer in Deakin University, and has worked in the fields of science research, school education and higher education. Her current research relates to how people learn in the rural and regional areas and many of her research projects are related to this focus in country areas of Victoria, Australia. In particular, Coral has strong research interests in science education in individuals from birth to adolescents and the systems which support learning science enthusiastically.

Contact details

Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216Tel: +61 3 5227 1485 Fax: +61 3 5227 2260Email: [email protected]

Professor Erica Smith has been researching vocational education and training (VET) and adult education for fifteen years. Prior to that, her careers included community work and human resource management. She has lived in rural and regional Australia, in two States, for almost 20 years. Her major research interests are VET policy, workplace training, apprentices and traineeships, VET practitioners, and young people’s movements between work and education.

Contact details

University of Ballarat, P.O. Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria 3353Tel: 61+ 3 5327 9665 Fax: 61+ 3 5327 9602Email: [email protected]


Emma Siesmaa, PhD Scholar and Research Assistant, is currently undertaking her doctorate within the School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences. Her thesis is investigating the impact of sport injuries and injury risk perceptions on children’s participation in sport, attracting an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship and funding from Sport and Recreation Victoria. Emma has also extended her research into the field of Education and worked, more specifically, within various projects exploring issues in Vocational Education and Training.

Contact details

University of Ballarat, P.O. Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria, 3353Tel: 61+ 3 5327 6140Email: [email protected]

Documents

The educative role of a regional newspaper: Learning to be ... · The educative role of a regional newspaper: Learning to be drier Coral Campbell Deakin University Erica Smith and