Explaining Public Support for the Use of Military Force: The Impact of Reference Point Framing and Prospective Decision Making

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Perla
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Support ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article examines the determinants of public support for the use of military force. It puts forward a Framing Theory of Policy Objectives (FTPO), which contends that public support for military engagements depends on the public's perception of the policy's objective. However, it is difficult for the public to judge a policy's objective because they cannot directly observe a policy's true intention and influential political actors offer competing frames to define it. This framing contestation, carried out through the media, sets the public's decision-making reference point and determines whether the policy is perceived as seeking to avoid losses or to achieve gains. The FTPO predicts that support will increase when the public perceives policies as seeking to prevent losses and decrease when the public judges policies to be seeking gains. I operationalize and test the theory using content analysis of national news coverage and opinion polls of U.S. intervention in Central America during the 1980s. These framing effects are found to hold regardless of positive or negative valence of media coverage.

scholarly journals Pussy Riot as agent provocateur: conspiracy theories and the media construction of nation in Putin's Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya Yablokov
Keyword(s):  
Public Support ◽  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Pussy Riot ◽  
Media Construction ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

This article studies the impact of conspiracy theories on post-Soviet Russian nation-building through the analysis of how the Pussy Riot trial was constructed by the Russian media. Conspiracy theory as a phenomenon is defined as a populist tool for relocation of power among different political actors, which creates identities and boosts social cohesion. This interpretation of conspiracy theories helps investigate how the media constructed the image of Pussy Riot and their supporters as a conspiring subversive minority, which threatened the Russian nation. The ability of conspiracy theory for swift social mobilization helped the authorities to strengthen the public support of its policies and model the Russian nation as ethnically and religiously homogeneous.

Priming religion: The effects of religious issues in the news coverage on public attitudes towards European integration

2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Hinrichsen ◽  
Hajo Boomgaarden ◽  
Claes de Vreese ◽  
Wouter van der Brug ◽  
Sara Binzer Hobolt
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Media Priming ◽  
Religious Issues ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

AbstractReligion can affect public support for the European Union (EU). However, specifying the circumstances under which religion may become a stronger predictor of EU-support has so far been neglected. This article shows that the media play a role in this process and it is investigated to what extent the presence or absence of references to religious issues in EU news coverage primes people's religious attitudes to contribute to their evaluation of the EU. For this purpose, a content analysis of the amount of religious news items in EU coverage in German and Dutch newspapers between 1997 and 2007 was conducted. Two points in time were chosen — 1998, when only a small amount of religious news items appeared in EU coverage, and 2005, when religious items reached a peak. Eurobarometer data were used to test the media priming proposition. The findings show that an increasing religious dimension in media coverage about the EU primes a linkage between religious and political considerations and thus influences the strength of the impact of religion on attitudes towards the EU.

Transnational Protest and The Public Sphere

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Beyeler ◽  
Hanspeter Kriesi
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

This article explores the impact of protests against economic globalization in the public sphere. The focus is on two periodical events targeted by transnational protests: the ministerial conferences of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Based on a selection of seven quality newspapers published in different parts of the world, we trace media attention, support of the activists, as well as the broader public debate on economic globalization. We find that starting with Seattle, protest events received extensive media coverage. Media support of the street activists, especially in the case of the anti-WEF protests, is however rather low. Nevertheless, despite the low levels of support that street protesters received, many of their issues obtain wide public support.

scholarly journals CONQUERING MEDIA COVERAGE: The use of battle metaphors in hospital foundation communications and it's impact on news coverage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Hospital Staff ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Multimodal Discourse ◽  
Patient Families ◽  
The Media ◽  
Setting Theory ◽  
The Impact

Battle terminology such as “fight,” “conquer,” and “hero” and imagery that compares doctors and patients to superheroes, soldiers and athletes have become increasingly prevalent in hospital foundation communications. The use of these metaphors has been highly controversial. While some audiences have praised foundation campaigns that use this type of messaging for emphasizing the strength of patients and hospital staff, encouraging patient families, and motivating patients to be resilient, others argue that these campaigns marginalize those who are unable to overcome their health conditions, positioning them as failures or losers. While the use of battle metaphors in hospital communications has been a heated topic in online discussion, little is known about the impact of this language on the media coverage and financial support that they generate for hospitals. This paper presents a multimodal discourse analysis of the communications of six hospital foundations in Toronto, Canada followed by a quantitative and sentiment analysis of the media coverage each foundation has received within the last fiscal year. The aim of this paper is to determine if there is a relationship between the use of battle metaphors in hospital foundation communications and the amount and sentiment of media coverage. According to agenda setting theory, media coverage has a palpable impact on public action. Therefore, the findings of this research may assist hospital foundations in developing useful communications practices they can employ to increase media exposure and, consequently, attract more donations to support their institutions.

scholarly journals Simulating public interest: the issue of the public voice in the fee-for-carriage debate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Williams
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Hearings ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
Severe Degree ◽  
The Impact

"One of the most fractious Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, or the Commission) policy hearings on record has recently come to a close. This was no run-of-the-mill, watch-the-paint-dry policy hearing. Tempers and passions flared as two industry titans, over-the-air (OTA) broadcasters, such as CTV and Canwest Global, and broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) such as Shaw Communications, Bell Canada and Rogers Inc. fought the battle of their lives over an issue called fee-for-carriage (FFC). The media covered the issues day in and day out. Canadians bombarded the CRTC with dose to 200,000 comments and the Government of Canada forced the CRTC to hold an additional hearing just to address the impact the decision could have on the public. With extensive media coverage and uncharacteristically active public participation, could this public policy process be deemed 'democracy in action'? This paper will argue that this is not the case. Through a discourse analysis of the debate within two distinctly differentiated public spheres -- 1) the battling media campaigns and 2) the CRTC public hearings in November and December of 2009 -- this paper will show that the public's ability to define its own interest, using its own voice, is tarnished to such a severe degree that this policy process fails"--From Introduction (page 3).

scholarly journals Under The Spotlight: The Impact of Media Attention on Protest Policing

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Wisler ◽  
Marco Giugni
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Protest Policing ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Impact

Explanations of protest policing have neglected the "spotlight of the media." Based on data on repression and its media coverage in four Swiss cities from 1965 to 1994, our findings suggest that the mass media do have an impact on levels and forms of repression, along with political opportunity dimensions and levels of disruption. We identify two mechanisms. First, we show that the symbolic battles waged by protest groups and their outcomes affect the level of repression these groups face. More specifically, depending on whether the civil-rights or the law-and-order scenario wins in the public sphere, the police adopt different postures when facing disorders. Second, the police are also shown to be vulnerable to an increase of media attention during a protest campaign. When protest becomes a blind spot in the public sphere, repression increases.

scholarly journals The Impact of Media on Spill Response Effectiveness

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabelle Nicolas-Kopec
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Media Impact ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Over recent years, there have been numerous studies and papers on media coverage and subsequent politics of oil spills. However, there has been limited focus on how media can impact the effectiveness of a spill response. Using ITOPF's case study database, spanning 50 years of incidents, it has been consistently observed that, regardless of the quality of the cleanup strategy put in place, the media may affect the response both positively and negatively on the effectiveness of the clean-up response. This paper presents a framework, supported by case studies, for assessing the media impact on three aspects of a response: (1) the strategy; (2) the logistics; and (3) the claims/damage assessment. The media's influence on response strategy is visible throughout the preparedness, clean-up, and post spill phases of the incident. Impacts on logistics are focussed primarily on the involvement of the public in the clean-up itself, with some effects positively supporting the response, while others cause disruption; potentially impacting the safety of responders. As for claims and damage assessment aspects of a response, the impact of media can often be observed long after the initial reporting. This contrasts with the relatively immediate media effects on strategy and logistics. While it is sometimes too late to counteract perceptions of damage or claim inflation due to media coverage, numerous case studies have also demonstrated how pressure from the media increases the accountability of the stakeholders involved in the response and the level of awareness of compensation available to claimants. The objective of this paper is to provide a framework that is useful for responders to understand and prepare for the potential media influence on the effectiveness of a response.

scholarly journals The Role of the Media in the Propagation of the Terrorist Agenda

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Goodman ◽  
Shane Warren ◽  
Robyn Jolly ◽  
Maggie Norton
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Kenneth Burke ◽  
The Public ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
The Media ◽  
High Level

The thesis of this paper is that jihadists are using terror as a propaganda weapon to create a high level of fear among the public around the world, a level above the actual threat. We believe the media and national leaders enhance the effectiveness of the jihadists' propaganda in the ways they present terror attacks. Previous research indicates that horrific events, whether created by humans or the result of nature, leave a lasting psychological impact on the victims. We show a psychological link by victims of the Mumbai attack seven years ago and the Paris attacks in November of 2015. We argue that the psychological impact may be caused when the cultural signifiers of terror result in a meaning abyss because most people do not have signifieds that readily link to brutal terrorists' signifiers. What Derrida described as the abyss occurs when acts of brutality create panic and chaos because most people do not know assign signifieds-- i.e., meanings-- to the brutality. Kenneth Burke critiqued Mein Kampf by explaining how Adolph Hitler had used god terms and evil terms to create ideological agreement with Hitler's concept that the Aryan race was being undermined by a Jewish conspiracy. We examine how the news media coverage of nine terrorist attacks invoked god terms and evil terms in their description of the terror created by the jihadists. Further, we looked for chaos terms, which are terms that describe such inhumane acts of terror that people do not have existing signifieds to translate those acts into meaning. Not only did we find that chaos terms in the news coverage, as well as the god terms and evil terms, but we also found chaos terms used by world leaders. We draw the conclusion that both the media and world leaders contribute to the propaganda impact of jihadists attacks by using chaos terms.

scholarly journals Out of an Abundance of Caution: COVID-19 and Health Risk Frames in Canadian News Media

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Rebecca Wallace ◽  
Andrea Lawlor ◽  
Erin Tolley
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Online News ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Media

Abstract Although Canada's first documented case of COVID-19 appeared in mid-January 2020, it was not until March that messaging about the need to contain the virus heightened. In this research note, we document the use of the media's construction of risk through framing in the early stages of the pandemic. We analyze three dimensions of the health risk narratives related to COVID-19 that dominated Canadians’ concerns about the virus. To capture these narratives, we examine print and online news coverage from two nationally distributed media sources. We assess these frames alongside epidemiological data and find there is a clear link between media coverage, epidemiological data and risk frames in the early stages of the pandemic. It appears that the media relied on health expertise and political sources to guide their coverage and was responsive to the public health data presented to Canadians.

Snowballing or wilting? What affects public support for varying models of basic income?

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-236
Author(s):  
Joe Chrisp ◽  
Ville-Veikko Pulkka ◽  
Leire Rincón García
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Levels Of Support

AbstractRecently, the idea of a universal basic income has received unprecedented attention from policymakers, the media and the wider public. This has inspired a plethora of surveys that seek to measure the extent of public support for the policy, many of which suggest basic income is surprisingly popular. However, in a review of past surveys, with a focus on the UK and Finland, we find that overall levels of support for basic income can vary considerably. We highlight the importance of survey design and, by employing new survey data in each country, compare the levels and determinants of support for varied models of basic income. Our results point to the importance of the multi-dimensionality of basic income and the fragility of public support for the idea. The findings suggest that the ability of political actors to mobilise the public in favour of basic income will eventually depend on the precise model they wish to implement.

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