title: The gendering of sports news: An investigation into the production, content and reception of sports photographs of athletes in New Zealand newspapers.

authors: Scott-Chapman, Susan

subjects: gender

abstract: This study investigates the selection, content, meaning and reception of photographs of sportswomen featured in New Zealand newspapers, in order to establish the relationship between media representations and cultural understandings of sportswomen and women’s sport. The study adopts a feminist cultural studies perspective and questions how photographs of sportswomen are constructed and perceived through dominant discourses of gender, sport and nationalism by media decision-makers and audiences alike, within contexts that are shaped by gender power relations and hierarchies.

The first component of this tripartite study comprises two periods of participant observation and interviews conducted at a New Zealand media organization. The insights gained reveal how discourses of (sports) journalism impact on the choices media workers make about what constitutes sports news. Media practices, newsroom dynamics, organizational protocols, freedoms and constraints, and taken-for-granted work routines were all found to inform media workers’ decision making. Thus, journalistic discourses play a decisive role in constructing perceptions of newsworthiness that privilege a few professional men’s sports whilst marginalizing women’s sports and sportswomen, who are frequently stereotyped in representations where physical appearance and aesthetic beauty are emphasized rather than athleticism. 
The second component of this research comprises a systematic analysis of 2,787 sports photographs featured in four New Zealand newspapers during two distinct sample periods. The three main themes that emerged demonstrate that: 
◙	Sports media reinforce an articulation of sport and masculinity; 
◙	When sportswomen are featured, the media reinforce an articulation of sportswomen and femininity; and
◙	When major international sporting events occur, dominant discourses affirming an articulation of sports are momentarily disrupted, as the articulation of sport and nationalism creates space for greater coverage of sportswomen. 
However, despite the increased focus on sportswomen during the context of a major international sporting event, the content of photographs continues to reinforce discourses of femininity, emphasizing potential or actual medal winners and/or their physical attractiveness as sportswomen. A number of representative photographs of sportswomen are subjected to further in-depth evaluation using Peircean semiotic analysis, to establish how sports photographs convey gender differences. This analysis demonstrates how media draw attention to gender by using close-up photographs of sportswomen in tight fitting, body-hugging sportswear that is culturally defined as gender appropriate for women, which accentuates their physical attractiveness and femininity.
The third component of this study involves in-depth interviews with seven elite New Zealand sportswomen, who describe their engagement with sports photographs and the challenges faced in determining what it means to be an athlete and a woman. Participants’ comments highlight how they often perceive photographs of themselves negatively, and in relation to the powerful discursive messages media convey about athleticism and gender, which associate sport with men and masculinity. Moreover, these media messages further result in sportswomen featuring in ambivalent and ambiguous ways, due to perceived contradictions in the articulation of sports with women and femininity. 
Conclusions are drawn on the powerful role discourses of sport play in media workers’ and audiences’ perceptions of sports newsworthiness, which are predominantly gender-based and gender-biased. Although discourses of nationalism encourage greater attention to medal winning sportswomen during major international sporting events, this focus continues to be constrained within discourses of femininity, and thus highlights those sports deemed appropriate for women, with emphasis given to sportswomen who embody idealized modes of femininity. Moreover, the findings of this research highlight the necessity for sports media studies to incorporate the voices of media workers and audiences, as their actions, reactions and perceptions reveal the real issues that they experience and what is important to them in producing and consuming sports news. This study therefore takes a step forward in highlighting crucial questions about the role of gender in shaping sporting representations as they are constructed and consumed in New Zealand.

text: The gendering of sports news: An investigation into the production, content and reception of sports photographs of athletes in New Zealand newspapers. This study investigates the selection, content, meaning and reception of photographs of sportswomen featured in New Zealand newspapers, in order to establish the relationship between media representations and cultural understandings of sportswomen and women’s sport. The study adopts a feminist cultural studies perspective and questions how photographs of sportswomen are constructed and perceived through dominant discourses of gender, sport and nationalism by media decision-makers and audiences alike, within contexts that are shaped by gender power relations and hierarchies.

The first component of this tripartite study comprises two periods of participant observation and interviews conducted at a New Zealand media organization. The insights gained reveal how discourses of (sports) journalism impact on the choices media workers make about what constitutes sports news. Media practices, newsroom dynamics, organizational protocols, freedoms and constraints, and taken-for-granted work routines were all found to inform media workers’ decision making. Thus, journalistic discourses play a decisive role in constructing perceptions of newsworthiness that privilege a few professional men’s sports whilst marginalizing women’s sports and sportswomen, who are frequently stereotyped in representations where physical appearance and aesthetic beauty are emphasized rather than athleticism. 
The second component of this research comprises a systematic analysis of 2,787 sports photographs featured in four New Zealand newspapers during two distinct sample periods. The three main themes that emerged demonstrate that: 
◙	Sports media reinforce an articulation of sport and masculinity; 
◙	When sportswomen are featured, the media reinforce an articulation of sportswomen and femininity; and
◙	When major international sporting events occur, dominant discourses affirming an articulation of sports are momentarily disrupted, as the articulation of sport and nationalism creates space for greater coverage of sportswomen. 
However, despite the increased focus on sportswomen during the context of a major international sporting event, the content of photographs continues to reinforce discourses of femininity, emphasizing potential or actual medal winners and/or their physical attractiveness as sportswomen. A number of representative photographs of sportswomen are subjected to further in-depth evaluation using Peircean semiotic analysis, to establish how sports photographs convey gender differences. This analysis demonstrates how media draw attention to gender by using close-up photographs of sportswomen in tight fitting, body-hugging sportswear that is culturally defined as gender appropriate for women, which accentuates their physical attractiveness and femininity.
The third component of this study involves in-depth interviews with seven elite New Zealand sportswomen, who describe their engagement with sports photographs and the challenges faced in determining what it means to be an athlete and a woman. Participants’ comments highlight how they often perceive photographs of themselves negatively, and in relation to the powerful discursive messages media convey about athleticism and gender, which associate sport with men and masculinity. Moreover, these media messages further result in sportswomen featuring in ambivalent and ambiguous ways, due to perceived contradictions in the articulation of sports with women and femininity. 
Conclusions are drawn on the powerful role discourses of sport play in media workers’ and audiences’ perceptions of sports newsworthiness, which are predominantly gender-based and gender-biased. Although discourses of nationalism encourage greater attention to medal winning sportswomen during major international sporting events, this focus continues to be constrained within discourses of femininity, and thus highlights those sports deemed appropriate for women, with emphasis given to sportswomen who embody idealized modes of femininity. Moreover, the findings of this research highlight the necessity for sports media studies to incorporate the voices of media workers and audiences, as their actions, reactions and perceptions reveal the real issues that they experience and what is important to them in producing and consuming sports news. This study therefore takes a step forward in highlighting crucial questions about the role of gender in shaping sporting representations as they are constructed and consumed in New Zealand.

year: 2012

title: Rotationally moulded polyethylene reinforced with alkali treated hemp fibre

authors: Oliveira, Maria A.S.

subjects: Rotational moulding

abstract: The increasing demand for rotationally moulded products highlights the necessity to develop cost-effective and sustainable materials to expand the application of such products. Natural fibres are a potential reinforcement for rotationally moulded products due to their high specific strength and stiffness. However, few attempts have been reported using natural fibres in rotational moulding. The most-reported challenges in incorporating natural fibres in this process are poor adhesion between fibre and matrix, fibre agglomeration and porosity, which require improvement. Accordingly, this research proposes methods to address these issues to increase rotationally moulded composites' tensile properties.  
Initially, hemp fibres were alkali-treated to improve the fibre-matrix interface along with the coupling agent, maleic anhydride polyethylene (MAPE). The effect of alkali treatment on hemp fibre was assessed by single fibre tensile testing, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). 
Subsequently, materials were melt-compounded and chopped into pellets of different sizes to produce rotationally moulded composites with increased fibre length and uniform fibre distribution. The porosity within the final composites was assessed using optical microscopy, Archimedes density tests and micro-CT. To mitigate porosity within these composites, additives including mineral oil, stearic acid and recycled carbon fibre were tested. Fibre orientation in optical microscopy cross-sectional images of composites produced with pellets of aspect ratio larger than 1 were assessed using ImageJ. 
The results showed that the alkali treatment removed the non-cellulosic components from hemp fibre, improving fibre separation, fibre resistance to thermal degradation, and fibre-matrix adhesion along with MAPE. In addition, composite pellets of up to 1.5 mm size were found suitable to produce rotationally moulded composites with increased fibre length and moderate porosity, with the addition of 3 wt.% of stearic acid.  It was also observed that using pellets with an aspect ratio higher than 1 improved fibre orientation parallel to the composite mould wall, resulting in higher tensile properties than pure polyethylene. 
Finally, the addition of recycled carbon fibre improved the melting of composite pellets of hemp-PE which reduced the void size in the final hybrid composites. This reduction in composite porosity, combined with the high stiffness of RCF, resulted in higher tensile properties with increasing RCF content. In conclusion, this research showed innovative methods and materials to produce reinforced rotationally moulded polyethylene composites with superior strength and stiffness, and moderate porosity.

text: Rotationally moulded polyethylene reinforced with alkali treated hemp fibre The increasing demand for rotationally moulded products highlights the necessity to develop cost-effective and sustainable materials to expand the application of such products. Natural fibres are a potential reinforcement for rotationally moulded products due to their high specific strength and stiffness. However, few attempts have been reported using natural fibres in rotational moulding. The most-reported challenges in incorporating natural fibres in this process are poor adhesion between fibre and matrix, fibre agglomeration and porosity, which require improvement. Accordingly, this research proposes methods to address these issues to increase rotationally moulded composites' tensile properties.  
Initially, hemp fibres were alkali-treated to improve the fibre-matrix interface along with the coupling agent, maleic anhydride polyethylene (MAPE). The effect of alkali treatment on hemp fibre was assessed by single fibre tensile testing, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). 
Subsequently, materials were melt-compounded and chopped into pellets of different sizes to produce rotationally moulded composites with increased fibre length and uniform fibre distribution. The porosity within the final composites was assessed using optical microscopy, Archimedes density tests and micro-CT. To mitigate porosity within these composites, additives including mineral oil, stearic acid and recycled carbon fibre were tested. Fibre orientation in optical microscopy cross-sectional images of composites produced with pellets of aspect ratio larger than 1 were assessed using ImageJ. 
The results showed that the alkali treatment removed the non-cellulosic components from hemp fibre, improving fibre separation, fibre resistance to thermal degradation, and fibre-matrix adhesion along with MAPE. In addition, composite pellets of up to 1.5 mm size were found suitable to produce rotationally moulded composites with increased fibre length and moderate porosity, with the addition of 3 wt.% of stearic acid.  It was also observed that using pellets with an aspect ratio higher than 1 improved fibre orientation parallel to the composite mould wall, resulting in higher tensile properties than pure polyethylene. 
Finally, the addition of recycled carbon fibre improved the melting of composite pellets of hemp-PE which reduced the void size in the final hybrid composites. This reduction in composite porosity, combined with the high stiffness of RCF, resulted in higher tensile properties with increasing RCF content. In conclusion, this research showed innovative methods and materials to produce reinforced rotationally moulded polyethylene composites with superior strength and stiffness, and moderate porosity.

year: 2022

title: A pedagogical framework for embedding computational thinking in authentic technology practice

authors: Fox-Turnbull, Wendy

subjects: authentic technology practice

abstract: Computational thinking is an aspect of digital technologies in the New Zealand Curriculum that teaches children to approach problems systematically, using logical and analytical reasoning.  This paper presents a study undertaken in a small-town primary school in New Zealand with a high population of Māori students. The study drew on four aspects from Kotsopoulos et al.’s framework of pedagogical experiences: unplugged, tinkering, making, remixing to investigate pedagogical strategies that facilitate the successful embedding of computational thinking within authentic technological practice. The research aimed to identify learning pedagogies that support young learners in their understanding of computational thinking through designing and developing digital technologies. The qualitative methodologies were informed by the three pedagogical principles from Bishop and Berryman to guide the research design and frame learning support for students. Key themes that emerged from the data included the values of local context, self-autonomy, classroom organisation, use of physical and digital manipulatives. Finally, the paper presents a model for the pedagogical delivery of computational thinking when embedded in technological practice in primary schools, drawing from and adding to Kotsopoulos and colleague’s pedagogical framework. The most significant modification situates the existing model within authentic technology practice, providing context for learning. The model shows an adjustment from ‘Making’ to ‘Designing and Making’, thus strengthening the position of digital technologies within the Technology learning area.  The model also signals that authentic technological within a primary classroom practice is heavily impacted by ‘the pragmatics of delivery’ through a range of pedagogical and organisational strategies developed to ensure the needs of all students are met and to support them through their learning journey in computational thinking. The last significant modification of Kotsopoulos and colleagues’ model is the removal of ‘remixing’ because the primary aged students in this study did not reach the level of sophistication required for remixing. The aim of the framework is to assist teachers and teacher educators to design and develop successful teaching and learning strategies for implementing computational thinking into authentic technology practice in primary schools.

text: A pedagogical framework for embedding computational thinking in authentic technology practice Computational thinking is an aspect of digital technologies in the New Zealand Curriculum that teaches children to approach problems systematically, using logical and analytical reasoning.  This paper presents a study undertaken in a small-town primary school in New Zealand with a high population of Māori students. The study drew on four aspects from Kotsopoulos et al.’s framework of pedagogical experiences: unplugged, tinkering, making, remixing to investigate pedagogical strategies that facilitate the successful embedding of computational thinking within authentic technological practice. The research aimed to identify learning pedagogies that support young learners in their understanding of computational thinking through designing and developing digital technologies. The qualitative methodologies were informed by the three pedagogical principles from Bishop and Berryman to guide the research design and frame learning support for students. Key themes that emerged from the data included the values of local context, self-autonomy, classroom organisation, use of physical and digital manipulatives. Finally, the paper presents a model for the pedagogical delivery of computational thinking when embedded in technological practice in primary schools, drawing from and adding to Kotsopoulos and colleague’s pedagogical framework. The most significant modification situates the existing model within authentic technology practice, providing context for learning. The model shows an adjustment from ‘Making’ to ‘Designing and Making’, thus strengthening the position of digital technologies within the Technology learning area.  The model also signals that authentic technological within a primary classroom practice is heavily impacted by ‘the pragmatics of delivery’ through a range of pedagogical and organisational strategies developed to ensure the needs of all students are met and to support them through their learning journey in computational thinking. The last significant modification of Kotsopoulos and colleagues’ model is the removal of ‘remixing’ because the primary aged students in this study did not reach the level of sophistication required for remixing. The aim of the framework is to assist teachers and teacher educators to design and develop successful teaching and learning strategies for implementing computational thinking into authentic technology practice in primary schools.

year: 2025