scholarly journals Queensland's broad-scale land-clearing policy debate, 1998–2006: An analysis of evidence-based arguments in news media content

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Laurent ◽  
Lee Duffield

AbstractThis article outlines the methodology and key findings of a media content analysis of news reporting in the Courier-Mail and Queensland Country Life on the issue of broad-scale land-clearing (BSLC) in Queensland during the period 1998–2006. The case study identifies and examines evidence-based arguments made by stakeholders in the public policy debate surrounding BSLC, including elected officials and judges, interest groups, government agencies, scientists, business owners and individuals, such as academics. In both newspapers, it was noted that throughout the period under review, arguments made on environmental grounds in favour of the policy goal of maximum immediate conservation tended to be concerned with establishing an accurate definition of the BSLC problem. However, reporting of arguments made on political and economic grounds reflected stark differences between the two newspapers. The findings of this study support observations that some participants in a contest over new policy may dispute (persistently, and regardless of previous developments) the validity of: (1) definitions of a problem; (2) proposed policy solutions; (3) matters of detail or technical application; and (4) the enactment and implementation of legislation.

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-413
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Ugolini ◽  
Dario Fanara

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the social role of European journalists as they cover the issue of terrorism, which is a potential threat to European society itself. For this purpose, the paper presents the results of a qualitative media content analysis related to the news coverage of the aftermath of three major terrorist attacks. Specifically, the research focuses on the values involved in the coverage of the event rather than on the strict report of what happened. The authors observe that both liberal/‘trustee’ and polarized pluralist/‘advocacy’ models engender a double paradox concerning the interest of citizens in being informed or being protected by news media. Nonetheless, the liberal value of responsibility emerges as fundamental, in order to face and resolve this paradox.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000486742096980
Author(s):  
Mark Sinyor ◽  
Marissa Williams ◽  
Rabia Zaheer ◽  
Raisa Loureiro ◽  
Jane Pirkis ◽  
...  

Objective: A growing body of research has established that specific elements of suicide-related news reporting can be associated with increased or decreased subsequent suicide rates. This has not been systematically investigated for social media. The aim of this study was to identify associations between specific social media content and suicide deaths. Methods: Suicide-related tweets ( n = 787) geolocated to Toronto, Canada and originating from the highest level influencers over a 1-year period (July 2015 to June 2016) were coded for general, putatively harmful and putatively protective content. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine whether tweet characteristics were associated with increases or decreases in suicide deaths in Toronto in the 7 days after posting, compared with a 7-day control window. Results: Elements independently associated with increased subsequent suicide counts were tweets about the suicide of a local newspaper reporter (OR = 5.27, 95% CI = [1.27, 21.99]), ‘other’ social causes of suicide (e.g. cultural, relational, legal problems; OR = 2.39, 95% CI = [1.17, 4.86]), advocacy efforts (OR = 2.34, 95% CI = [1.48, 3.70]) and suicide death (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = [1.07, 2.15]). Elements most strongly independently associated with decreased subsequent suicides were tweets about murder suicides (OR = 0.02, 95% CI = [0.002, 0.17]) and suicide in first responders (OR = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.05, 0.52]). Conclusions: These findings largely comport with the theory of suicide contagion and associations observed with traditional news media. They specifically suggest that tweets describing suicide deaths and/or sensationalized news stories may be harmful while those that present suicide as undesirable, tragic and/or preventable may be helpful. These results suggest that social media is both an important exposure and potential avenue for intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Seungeun Lee

PurposeThe aims of this paper are to explore the rise of cyberhate on the Zoom video conferencing platform at the outset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to examine victimized cases of Zoombombing where it was used as a cyberhate tool. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted our lives and modes of working and studying, but also created new environments for cybercriminals to engage in cybercrime, cyberhate and hacking by exploiting tools such as Zoom. This new phenomenon called “Zoombombing” was first reported in mid-March 2020, when the social distancing and stay-at-home policies in the United States were nationally introduced.Design/methodology/approachThis research conducted a news media content analysis on cases of Zoombombing. To conduct this analysis empirically, a dataset with all of the reported Zoombombing cases from March to April 2020 was created. Google Trends, news media and tweets were used to analyze Zoombombing as a form of cyberhate, particularly digital racism.FindingsThe results reveal prevalent Zoom-mediated racism toward Asian Americans, African Americans and Jewish Americans. This study understands Zoombombing from a sociopolitical/cultural perspective through news reporting of victimized cases and explores various ways that Zoombombing shapes, mediates, transforms and escalates racism.Originality/valueThis study is one of the very first studies to analyze Zoombombing in a way that builds upon an emerging body of literature on cyberhate. This paper considers Zoom as a space where curious young people, cybercriminals, extremists and hackers impose their ideologies and beliefs upon newly established online learning and working environments and engage in a struggle for identity recognition in the midst of increasingly accessible vulnerable software and cyberspace.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-349
Author(s):  
Alexandra C Gunn ◽  
Nicola Surtees

Attending to current affairs and news within schools’ curricula is a potential pedagogical strategy that holds promise for addressing children’s knowledge, perspectives and agency in the world. However, our research suggests teachers’ good intentions may be compromised by tension between the details of news media content and the curriculum as enacted and planned. We report here on a study investigating two children’s news media publications designed to support Aotearoa New Zealand’s school curriculum. Our research enquires into content produced as children’s news and associated discourses about Aotearoa New Zealand, Aotearoa New Zealand life and the world. A dominant category of news reporting in the texts was sport (national and international). Analysis of this category identified particular discourses and constructions of New Zealand, New Zealanders and ‘others’ within the texts. Individual and collective sporting heroism was a dominant discourse in both the news items and children’s published responses. Furthermore, a construction of Aotearoa New Zealand as a relatively safe and non-corrupt place to live was also observed. Questions of what is important to know, how children are engaging with such valued knowledge and implications for teaching and teachers’ practices are raised from this research. Importantly, we ask: is this preoccupation with sports and heroism within children’s news made at the expense of opportunities to engage with children about a fuller range of real-world issues, including ‘difficult knowledge’, that potentially impact upon their lives?


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-309
Author(s):  
Kevin P. Duffy ◽  
Hugh C. Cipparone ◽  
Eileen S. Johnson ◽  
Laura N. Rickard ◽  
Kate Beard ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claes De Vreese ◽  
Rachid Azrout ◽  
Judith Moeller

The 2014 European Parliament (EP) elections were held after a period where public opinion about the EU changed significantly. In this paper we investigate evaluations of the performance of the European Union, as this dimension of EU attitudes is particularly relevant ahead of elections. We look at public opinion developments since 2009 and then zoom in on the role played by the news media in shaping public opinion about EU performance by linking citizens’ evaluations across time to the news media content they were exposed to. The article relies on original multiple wave survey panel data and a systematic media content analysis in the Netherlands. It shows how public opinion has changed, how it changes around EP elections, and how exposure to media coverage can help improve citizens’ evaluations of EU performance.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Michail Niarchos ◽  
Marina Eirini Stamatiadou ◽  
Charalampos Dimoulas ◽  
Andreas Veglis ◽  
Andreas Symeonidis

Nowadays, news coverage implies the existence of video footage and sound, from which arises the need for fast reflexes by media organizations. Social media and mobile journalists assist in fulfilling this requirement, but quick on-site presence is not always feasible. In the past few years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and specifically drones, have evolved to accessible recreational and business tools. Drones could help journalists and news organizations capture and share breaking news stories. Media corporations and individual professionals are waiting for the appropriate flight regulation and data handling framework to enable their usage to become widespread. Drone journalism services upgrade the usage of drones in day-to-day news reporting operations, offering multiple benefits. This paper proposes a system for operating an individual drone or a set of drones, aiming to mediate real-time breaking news coverage. Apart from the definition of the system requirements and the architecture design of the whole system, the current work focuses on data retrieval and the semantics preprocessing framework that will be the basis of the final implementation. The ultimate goal of this project is to implement a whole system that will utilize data retrieved from news media organizations, social media, and mobile journalists to provide alerts, geolocation inference, and flight planning.


Oryx ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
William. M. Adams ◽  
Chris Sandbrook

AbstractA growing literature argues for evidence-based conservation. This concept reflects a wider approach to policy-making and follows thinking in medicine, in which rigorous, objective analysis of evidence has contributed to widespread improvements in medical outcomes. Clearly, conservation decisions should be informed by the best information available. However, we identify issues relating to the type and sources of evidence commonly used and the way evidence-based conservation studies frame policy debate. In this paper we discuss two issues; firstly, we ask ‘what counts as evidence?’ (what is meant by evidence, and what kind of evidence is given credibility). We conclude that evidence-based conservation should adopt a broad definition of evidence to give meaningful space for qualitative data, and local and indigenous knowledge. Secondly, we ask ‘how does evidence count?’ (the relationship between evidence and the policy-making process). We conclude that there should be greater recognition that policy-making is a complex and messy process, and that the role of evidence in policy making can never be neutral. In the light of these issues we suggest some changes to build on developing practice under the title evidence-informed conservation. The change in terminology is subtle, yet it has profound implications in that it calls for a re-positioning and re-understanding of conservation science as one source of information among many for decision-makers.


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