title: A Thematic Analysis of Mental Illness in New Zealand News Articles

authors: Fernandez, Brett

subjects: qualitative research

abstract: Mental illness is one of the main reasons for disability in the western world with one in five individuals being classed as mentally ill during some time in their life.  As a concept, mental illness has a strong presence in the consciousness of society. However, conceptualising mental illness has always been complicated. It is not surprising that certain stereotypic/misinformed views have prevailed in society and media due to the complicated nature of mental illness. Media, especially news media, are one of the main sources of information about mental illness for the public. Opinions and understandings of mental illness are actively shaped by the mass media like news articles.  This thesis includes a thematic analysis of the portrayal of mental illness in thirty New Zealand news articles taken from six major national papers. A literature review on the portrayal of mental illness in media with a specific focus on news articles was conducted. Inductive thematic analysis was used to code the data in news articles where no a priori, explicit theory was employed. The three major themes I identified were: things that compromise mental health (and/or physical health); characteristics of (people with) mental health problems; ways of helping people and communities affected by mental illness. Various sub-themes of each of these major themes were identified and discussed. The implications of these findings were outlined in the light of previous research on this topic.

text: A Thematic Analysis of Mental Illness in New Zealand News Articles Mental illness is one of the main reasons for disability in the western world with one in five individuals being classed as mentally ill during some time in their life.  As a concept, mental illness has a strong presence in the consciousness of society. However, conceptualising mental illness has always been complicated. It is not surprising that certain stereotypic/misinformed views have prevailed in society and media due to the complicated nature of mental illness. Media, especially news media, are one of the main sources of information about mental illness for the public. Opinions and understandings of mental illness are actively shaped by the mass media like news articles.  This thesis includes a thematic analysis of the portrayal of mental illness in thirty New Zealand news articles taken from six major national papers. A literature review on the portrayal of mental illness in media with a specific focus on news articles was conducted. Inductive thematic analysis was used to code the data in news articles where no a priori, explicit theory was employed. The three major themes I identified were: things that compromise mental health (and/or physical health); characteristics of (people with) mental health problems; ways of helping people and communities affected by mental illness. Various sub-themes of each of these major themes were identified and discussed. The implications of these findings were outlined in the light of previous research on this topic.

year: 2014

title: Beyond corporate environmental management to a consideration of nature in visionary small enterprise

authors: Kearins, Kate

subjects: business

abstract: This article examines the potential for visionary small-enterprise to operate with a fundamentally different conception of nature from the environmental management mode offered within the business case for sustainable development. Corporate environmental management is critiqued for not offering any fundamental reassessment of the business–nature relationship, which would be required to achieve ecological sustainability. Three contrasting cases of visionary small-enterprise in New Zealand are described in terms of the entrepreneurs’ expressed understandings of nature and constructions of the business–nature relationship. The entrepreneurs in this study readily made connections between nature and their businesses and were aware of value judgments they made either in favor of nature, or with some regret against it where supporting infrastructure was absent, or economic rationalities prevailed. A nature-centered and not overly growth-focused outlook appears an essential element of business aligned with the new ecological paradigm.

text: Beyond corporate environmental management to a consideration of nature in visionary small enterprise This article examines the potential for visionary small-enterprise to operate with a fundamentally different conception of nature from the environmental management mode offered within the business case for sustainable development. Corporate environmental management is critiqued for not offering any fundamental reassessment of the business–nature relationship, which would be required to achieve ecological sustainability. Three contrasting cases of visionary small-enterprise in New Zealand are described in terms of the entrepreneurs’ expressed understandings of nature and constructions of the business–nature relationship. The entrepreneurs in this study readily made connections between nature and their businesses and were aware of value judgments they made either in favor of nature, or with some regret against it where supporting infrastructure was absent, or economic rationalities prevailed. A nature-centered and not overly growth-focused outlook appears an essential element of business aligned with the new ecological paradigm.

year: 2010

title: A core phyllosphere microbiome exists across distant populations of a tree species indigenous to New Zealand

authors: Noble, Anya S.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: The phyllosphere microbiome is increasingly recognised as an influential component of plant physiology, yet it remains unclear whether stable host-microbe associations generally exist in the phyllosphere. Leptospermum scoparium (mānuka) is a tea tree indigenous to New Zealand, and honey derived from mānuka is widely known to possess unique antimicrobial properties. However, the host physiological traits associated with these antimicrobial properties vary widely, and the specific cause of such variation has eluded scientists despite decades of research. Notably, the mānuka phyllosphere microbiome remains uncharacterised, and its potential role in mediating host physiology has not been considered. Working within the prevailing core microbiome conceptual framework, we hypothesise that the phyllosphere microbiome of mānuka exhibits specific host association patterns congruent with those of a microbial community under host selective pressure (null hypothesis: the mānuka phyllosphere microbiome is recruited stochastically from the surrounding environment). To examine our hypothesis, we characterised the phyllosphere and associated soil microbiomes of five distinct and geographically distant mānuka populations across the North Island of New Zealand. We identified a habitat-specific and relatively abundant core microbiome in the mānuka phyllosphere, which was persistent across all samples. In contrast, non-core phyllosphere microorganisms exhibited significant variation across individual host trees and populations that was strongly driven by environmental and spatial factors. Our results demonstrate the existence of a dominant and ubiquitous core microbiome in the phyllosphere of mānuka, supporting our hypothesis that phyllosphere microorganisms of mānuka exhibit specific host association and potentially mediate physiological traits of this nationally and culturally treasured indigenous plant. In addition, our results illustrate biogeographical patterns in mānuka phyllosphere microbiomes and offer insight into factors contributing to phyllosphere microbiome assembly.

text: A core phyllosphere microbiome exists across distant populations of a tree species indigenous to New Zealand The phyllosphere microbiome is increasingly recognised as an influential component of plant physiology, yet it remains unclear whether stable host-microbe associations generally exist in the phyllosphere. Leptospermum scoparium (mānuka) is a tea tree indigenous to New Zealand, and honey derived from mānuka is widely known to possess unique antimicrobial properties. However, the host physiological traits associated with these antimicrobial properties vary widely, and the specific cause of such variation has eluded scientists despite decades of research. Notably, the mānuka phyllosphere microbiome remains uncharacterised, and its potential role in mediating host physiology has not been considered. Working within the prevailing core microbiome conceptual framework, we hypothesise that the phyllosphere microbiome of mānuka exhibits specific host association patterns congruent with those of a microbial community under host selective pressure (null hypothesis: the mānuka phyllosphere microbiome is recruited stochastically from the surrounding environment). To examine our hypothesis, we characterised the phyllosphere and associated soil microbiomes of five distinct and geographically distant mānuka populations across the North Island of New Zealand. We identified a habitat-specific and relatively abundant core microbiome in the mānuka phyllosphere, which was persistent across all samples. In contrast, non-core phyllosphere microorganisms exhibited significant variation across individual host trees and populations that was strongly driven by environmental and spatial factors. Our results demonstrate the existence of a dominant and ubiquitous core microbiome in the phyllosphere of mānuka, supporting our hypothesis that phyllosphere microorganisms of mānuka exhibit specific host association and potentially mediate physiological traits of this nationally and culturally treasured indigenous plant. In addition, our results illustrate biogeographical patterns in mānuka phyllosphere microbiomes and offer insight into factors contributing to phyllosphere microbiome assembly.

year: 2020