John B. Sutcliffe

Women and Crisis Reporting Television News Coverage of Political Crises in the Caribbean

This article examines U.S. network television news coverage of seven political/military crises occurring in the Caribbean Basin. It first documents the extent to which women are involved in covering these crises. In line with existing research, women are found to be underrepresented in all major aspects of on-air media coverage. The article then explores the impact of this under representation on the actual content of media reporting. There is, at the very least, a possibility that those doing the reporting affect the content of the report, as well as who is chosen as a news source, either on-camera and/or quoted. The article examines this question using the technique of “paired comparisons”;specifically, it compares news stories dealing with four of the crises filed from the same location, on the same day, by male and female reporters representing at least two networks. The major finding of this research is that while there are subtle differences in the way in which male and female reporters frame stories, there is a broad consistency in male and female reporting. It is the case, however, that female anchors and reporters are slightly more likely to use female sources in their stories.

Multi-level Governance in a Canadian Setting: The Reform of the Detroit River Border Crossing

This article examines the policy-making process surrounding the reform of the Detroit River border crossing linking Canada and the United States. In particular, the paper examines the debate over the construction of a Canadian access road to a new border crossing and focuses on the role played by one municipal government in this aspect of the policy-making process. The article argues that a multi-level governance perspective is useful in drawing attention to the large number of actors from both the public and private sectors and from different territorial levels interested and engaged in the decision-making process. The decision making has been remarkably open to these actors and has involved fluid patterns of both co-operation and disagreement. This conclusion does not, however, suggest that federalism is irrelevant. Instead, it draws attention to the extent to which multi-level governance perspectives build on federalisms central focus on the relationship between the federal and provincial governments.

Neoliberalism in a Small Canadian City? Windsor City Council and the Reform of the Detroit River Border Crossing

This article examines the idea of the neoliberal city. Using the reform of the Detroit River international border crossing between Canada and the United States as a case study, the article explores the extent to which a small- to medium-sized Canadian municipality is capable of developing policy positions that challenge neoliberalism. The conclusion is mixed. Windsor City Council is not advancing policies that present a fundamental challenge to the economic status quo. It does not, for example, challenge the rationale that a new border crossing will facilitate freer trade. Nevertheless, neither are the municipal councils positions completely in line with arguments that municipal governments have no room to advance positions in opposition to major economic interests. The council is advancing policy positions opposed by major local, regional and international business interests. There is, therefore, some evidence of the possibility of local agency within the geography of neoliberalism.

Local Government in a Multi-level Setting: Lessons From England and Ontario

Abstract This article analyses the current and future place of local authorities in the European Union through a comparative study of local authorities in Canada. Specifically, the article compares English local government in the EU with the relationship between local government in Ontario and the Canadian federal government. The article concludes that English local government is unlikely to receive a substantially different formal treaty-basis within the EU as a result of the ongoing constitutional treaty debate. The Canadian experience, however, demonstrates the importance of the federal–local relationship, even in the absence of formal constitutional revision. It also indicates that there is acceptance of the necessity of a federal–local relationship as a means of tackling major policy problems facing Canada. Similarly, English local governments will continue to be affected by developments at the EU level and will continue to be involved in attempts to influence policy making at that level. In neither the Canadian nor the EU case, however, should the place of local authorities be exaggerated. They are junior partners in policy making.

On the Boundary: Local Authorities, Intergovernmental Relations and the Governance of Border Infrastructure in the Detroit–Windsor Region

A growing and diverse academic literature exists on the functional, cultural and political linkages between border communities. These examinations of borderland communities seek to explain why and how linkages develop and assess the strength and implications of these relationships. In North America, Detroit–Windsor is the quintessential metropolitan border region along the Canada–US border. It is a community that shares many problems and policy concerns as well as strong functional linkages. One of these concerns is the reform of the Detroit River border crossing. This is the busiest land border crossing in North America and it is central to the regional economy as well as the wider North American economy. Over the past decade, the senior governments have debated reform of border infrastructure and the access routes to planned and existing crossings. One of the central considerations in this set of reforms has been the construction of a new crossing to reduce waiting times and increase infrastructural redundancy at this key choke point. Any new crossing will have a major impact on the local communities and various local actors on both sides of the border have sought to participate in the policy debate and influence the decision-making process. This article examines the extent to which local actors in Detroit and Windsor have interacted and sought to co-ordinate their policy positions and strategies within the border reform debate. The article focuses on the extent of the interaction among municipal governments and community groups in an effort to map and understand functional and political relationships between local actors in this dynamic border space.

Subnational Lobbying and Structural Funds: a French-Scottish Comparison

Abstract This article examines subnational actors’ engagement with the European Unions structural funds, and whether these actors are significant in this policy sector. It examines this question by comparing one French regional council with one set of Scottish local authorities. It concludes that there are considerable similarities between the subnational actors studied, in spite of differences in their location and the constitutional structure within which they are located. The subnational actors have unilaterally developed a capacity for engaging in the policy sector. In both cases, however, this engagement is not evidence of a ‘by-passing’ of the central government. Instead, the subnational authorities have worked alongside central government departments to achieve their goals.

Framing the ‘White Widow’: Using intersectionality to uncover complex representations of female terrorism in news media

Following 21 September 2013, news media in the UK offered extensive and elaborate coverage of the Westgate Mall Massacre in Nairobi, Kenya. This act of terrorism, perpetrated by Al-Shabaab, left over 60 people dead. What news media considered particularly captivating was not the devastation of the attack, but the suspected involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite. She remained at the center of news media in Britain for several months after the attack, dubbed the ‘White Widow’. In this article, the authors employ an intersectional approach to explore the ways that race, religion, nationality, age, class, and gender converge in mediated representations of Lewthwaite. They argue that the application of intersectionality results in a more holistic understanding of the content and discursive impact of news narratives about female terrorists and find that news media both vilify and normalize Lewthwaite, representing her participation in terrorism through complex constellations of identity.