American and Egyptian media coverage of the Camp David Peace Accords

This thesis is concerned with the way multi-national issues are dealt with by media. I illustrate this by the example of the media treatment of Mideast relations, concentrating on three newspapers: The Washington Post and The New York Times from the US, and Al Ahram from Egypt. The events central to the study lay within the Camp David Period of September 1977 to March 1979, with the signing of the Camp David Accords in September, 1978, and the Treaty in March, 1979 ("Camp David"). Because of the media coverage this is an ideal series of events to study methods of filtering information within newspapers. Since Camp David created as much interest in the Mideast as in the West, a comparison of different reports is fruitful. Within Chapter 5I utilise a content analytical method to discover what biases may have been present in the reporting of Camp David, widening this to deal with issues of journalism and the North/ South divide, and show that media is less an investigative tool and more an anchor for established views. A tentative conclusion is an identification of the lack of what are considered journalists' most valued qualities: objectivity and professionalism. I identify a misunderstanding in the lay-person's view of the media profession: as The Washington Post and The New York Times show, although articles may have attempted a balanced format, these media may not have been investigative internationally (though they were domestically). We have to be wary when extrapolating from only three newspapers to the wider world (though I studied other newspapers and media) but since these titles were chosen for their standing and influence, some wider conclusions may be drawn. The thesis indicates no single viewpoint of developed media; no "conspiracy" somehow politically to defraud or act directly for domestic interests. I seek a perspective on developed media in a simultaneous analysis of the Egyptian media and its milieu. What I contend is of interest is that forces acted on Al Ahram, The Washington Post and The New York Times which, though different in kind, were more similar in effect than heretofore argued. Western journalism I assess as operating within a narrower set of models than is frequently believed

Demosprudence in Comparative Perspective

This article critically examines the debate over demosprudence. It adopts a comparative - specifically South African - perspective to consider what it means for a court to act demosprudentially and why the practice may have particular value in developing democracies like South Africa. Guinier connects demosprudence to the broader concept of democratic constitutionalism developed by Reva Siegel and Robert Post. Democratic constitutionalism in turn is part of what Jack Balkin describes as a renaissance of liberal constitutional thought that has emerged in the last five years. This renaissance is characterized by three major themes: constitutional fidelity, democratic constitutionalism, and redemptive constitutionalism. All three themes are connected by the notion that ordinary citizens, social movements and political parties make claims on the Constitution, arguing what the Constitution truly means, and calling for its restoration and its redemption. This article identifies examples from the South African Constitutional Court\u27s jurisprudence that reflect a demosprudential approach and the themes identified by Balkin to argue that demosprudence is a key feature of the Court\u27s approach to adjudication and part of a self-conscious effort by the Court to develop and enforce constitutional norms through non-judicial channels and mechanisms

Palaeohydrology and archaeology in raised mires: a case study from Kilnagarnagh

This thesis concerns the palaeohydrological reconstruction of a raised mire in Kilnagamagh, Co. Offaly, Ireland in order to investigate environmental influences on human activity in mires as represented by archaeological deposits, and the mire's potential for broader palaeoenviromnental reconstruction. The results are compared against trends in other mires in Ireland, the UK and Northwest Europe. Analytical techniques used include gross peat stratigraphic and archaeological field survey, testate amoebae, plant macrofossil and colorimetric humification analyses and radiocarbon dating.A Bronze Age wooden walkway in Kilnagarnagh Bog and a series of trackways from neighbouring bogs provide the archaeological focus of this study. It is shown that trackway construction, or the lack thereof, may be viewed in part as a response to changes in the environment. Very dry or very wet situations may not warrant trackway construction; however, simple models of behaviour occurring in either wet or dry situations may be misleading as local environmental conditions may be more complex.Some models of peatland development typically suggest that external (allogenic) factors such as climate change control development. Others suggest that both external and internal (autogenic) processes combine to control development. In reconstructing environmental conditions it is important to separate these controls as this has implications for the use of peatland development as a proxy for climatic reconstruction. The timing of the most significant hydrological changes in KiInagarnagh suggests autogenic factors rather than regional climate change controlled development, with one exception; from c.850BC to around the seventh century AD mire growth was greatly retarded due to a sudden and long-term drop in the water table which may ultimately have been driven by a regional change to wetter conditions