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    "Gone by lunchtime" : social policy, breakfast radio and the 2005 New Zealand election campaign : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Public Policy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2006) Belgrave, David
    New Zealand's 2005 election was fought largely on ideological and social policy differences between the country's two largest political parties. The campaign was closely fought with opinion polls putting either the New Zealand Labour Party or the New Zealand National Party ahead at various times. Election campaigns are an important opportunity for policy debate as public interest in politics and the direction of policy is usually much higher than at other times. Parties attempt to convince voters that their policy programmes are sound and that their leaders are both capable and responsible. The media play an important role in allowing politicians to communicate their policies and personalities to the voter. In addition to direct political communication the media play an important role in debating politics and policy which becomes all the more important during an election campaign. Auckland has a saturated radio market with a large number of heterogeneous stations attempting to service niche demographics. Almost all of these have some news content. Using data collected from four Auckland breakfast radio shows this thesis attempts to explain the policy detail, ideology and personality-based appeals made by politicians on social policy in their attempt to sell their policy programme to the voter, while also exploring how this debate was covered by the breakfast radio shows. Both Labour and National Party politicians concentrated on policy detail and ideologically-based appeals when debating social policies. For both major parties those ideological appeals were, to some extent, contradictory to the targeting of their policies to middle-income voters. Meanwhile the analysis of this debate differed greatly from station to station, but on all stations examining social policies came second to reporting on the contest between to two parties to gain the Treasury Benches.
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    A little birdie told me : Twitter and the 2014 New Zealand general election : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Politics at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Beveridge, Matthew James Peter
    This thesis examines the use of Twitter by ten New Zealand political parties, their leaders, and their candidates during the campaign period immediately preceding the 2014 General Election. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, the thesis not only demonstrates that Twitter was a platform used by all ten parties as part of their respective campaign strategies, but also argues that the ways in which Twitter was used was strongly influenced by each party’s organisational structure, resources, and, to a lesser extent, culture of professionalism among its field of candidates. This thesis is not concerned with measuring the effectiveness of Twitter in achieving the goals set for it by various political parties, aiming instead to explain the variance of Twitter use during one recent election campaign period.
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    Blogs, political discussion and the 2005 New Zealand general election : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Communication at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2009) Hopkins, Kane
    Communication technologies have altered the way people engage in political discourse. In recent years the internet has played a significant role in changing the way people receive political information, news and opinion. Perhaps the most significant difference as a result of advancements in communication and internet technology is how people participate in discussions and deliberate issues that are important to them. The 2005 New Zealand General Election fell at a time when functionality and access to fast and affordable internet allowed people to develop their own information channels and also determine how, where and to what level they participated in debate and commentary on election issues. The aim of this thesis is to examine how blogs were used to discuss political issues during the 2005 New Zealand General Election campaign period through the use of three inter-related methodologies. The methodologies used in the research are content analysis, interviews and a case study. Four blogs and the comments sections are analysed by way of content analysis for adherence to the rules of communicative interaction within the public sphere. Interviews were conducted with a number of people who blogged during the 2005 election campaign, to develop an understanding of their experiences and perceptions of the role blogging played in the election. A case study of politician and blogger Rodney Hide examines the role blogs play as a communication tool for politicians and the how they change the relationship between politician and voter. An explosion of academic literature in recent years has looked at the participative and deliberative nature of the internet and blogs as having opened new spaces and what implications that may have for democracy. Jurgen Habermas' seminal book, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, provides the theoretical basis for this thesis and the foundation for academic writing in this area. Habermas developed the normative notion of the public sphere as a part of social life where citizens exchanged views and opinions on matters of importance to the common good, so that wider public opinion can be formed.