DID KATRINA RECALIBRATE ATTITUDES TOWARD POVERTY AND INEQUALITY?: A Test of the “Dirty Little Secret” Hypothesis

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Grusky ◽  
Emily Ryo

We test the popular claim that poverty and inequality were “dirty little secrets” until the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina exposed them to a wider public. If this account were on the mark, it would suggest that the absence of major antipoverty initiatives in the United States is partly attributable to public ignorance and apathy coupled with the narrowly rational decision on the part of policymakers to attend to other issues about which the public evidently cares more. Using the 2004 Maxwell Poll, we find strikingly high levels of awareness and activism on poverty and inequality issues even prior to Katrina, clearly belying the “dirty little secret” account. The follow-up Maxwell Poll, which was administered in 2005 immediately after Katrina, revealed only a slight increase in public awareness of poverty and inequality. The Katrina effect was evidently dampened because (1) the large number of preexisting poverty activists reduced the size of the residual population “at risk” for conversion to antipoverty activism, and (2) the remaining non-activists were ardently opposed to poverty activism and hence unlikely to be receptive to the liberal message coming out of Katrina.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1312-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason R. Silva ◽  
Joel A. Capellan

This study provides a comparative analysis of news media coverage across four types of mass public shootings: rampage, disgruntled employee, school, and lone-wolf terrorist. This research analyzes the agenda-setting function of the media and identifies differences in coverage and the salience of coverage, proportionality of coverage, changes in coverage over time, and factors influencing levels of coverage. Findings indicate school shootings and lone-wolf terrorist shootings receive disproportionate amounts of news media coverage. This suggests media coverage may be contributing to setting the public and policy agenda concerning the phenomenon. These findings have important implications for public perceptions of risk, conceptualizations of potential perpetrators, and the implementation of security measures.


DNA Barcodes ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Madelaine Naaum ◽  
Robert Hanner

AbstractSeafood authenticity is a global concern. As seafood consumption increases, so does public awareness of the associated nutritional and environmental issues related to seafood mislabeling. Cases of substitution continue to be observed, even after the adoption of DNA barcoding as a regulatory tool by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 2011. Although media coverage of these cases has highlighted the incidence of fraud in Canada, more in-depth engagement of the public is lacking. By partnering with community members to conduct research, knowledge about the incidence and impact of seafood mislabeling can be directly communicated to consumers. In this study high school students and educators participated in a market survey using DNA barcoding to identify seafood. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency Fish List was used to determine if mislabeling had occurred. Twenty-three percent of samples surveyed were mislabeled, suggesting that the incidence of retail seafood mislabeling continues to be significant in Canada. Continued involvement of the public in market surveys will help to monitor trends in seafood mislabeling, and may help to increase awareness of potential seafood fraud.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-214
Author(s):  
Saqib Riaz

Abstract The relations between the United States of America and Pakistan have a significant impact on the world’s politics as well as in shaping the future of the globe. However, the relations between the two countries have been passing through a lot of ups and downs during the last seven decades. Media have a pivotal role in framing and shaping this ‘love and hate’ relationship. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coverage of the United States-Pakistan relations by the American newspapers because the media coverage shapes the public opinion. Two major newspapers of the United States were content analyzed for a period of one year with the help of Lexis and Nexis and the coverage of Pakistan was measured and analyzed qualitatively as well as quantitatively. The results of the study revealed that the American newspapers portrayed a highly negative image of Pakistan and most of the coverage about the bilateral relations was found as negative.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky ◽  
Asheley Landrum ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics “scientist” labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 624
Author(s):  
Vanessa Matos Santos ◽  
Victor Pereira Albergaria

Esta pesquisa consiste no estudo de caso entre as coberturas da morte do ator mexicano Roberto Gómez Bolaños, o “Chespirito”, feitas pelo canal FOROtv, pertencente ao conglomerado de mídias mexicano Televisa, e pelo Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. O aspecto cultural merece especial destaque e, por meio da problematização das distinções existentes entre a morte (substantivo) e o morrer (verbo), o presente estudo demonstra que as coberturas da mídia nestes casos se fazem a partir da relevância da personagem para a identidade do público. Conclui-se, por meio do estudo de caso, que ocorreu o ofuscamento do sujeito (Roberto Bolaños) em detrimento da personagem (Chespirito). A cobertura sobre o morrer de Chespirito serviu, na verdade, para reafirmar sua vida e presença na mídia.     PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Morte; Morrer; Roberto Bolaños; Chespirito; Cobertura de mídia; Televisão.     ABSTRACT This research is the case study of the coverage of the death of Mexican actor Roberto Gómez Bolaños "Chespirito" made by FOROtv, news channel belonging to the Mexican media conglomerate Televisa, and the Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. The cultural aspect deserves special attention, and through the questioning of existing distinctions between death (noun) and the die (verb), this study shows that media coverage in these cases are made from the importance of the character to the identity of the public. So, through the case study, the conclusion is that ocurred the obscuring of the subject (Roberto Bolaños) at the expense of the character (Chespirito). The coverage of the death of Chespirito served actually to reaffirm his life and presence in the media.   KEYWORDS: Death; Dying; Roberto Bolaños; Chespirito; Media coverage; Television.     RESUMEN Esta investigación es el estudio de caso de la cobertura de la muerte del actor mexicano Chespirito, el "Power Board", realizado por el canal FOROtv perteneciente al conglomerado de medios Televisa de México, y el Sistema Brasileño de Televisión. El aspecto cultural merece una atención especial y, a través de preguntas de las diferencias existentes entre la muerte (sustantivo) y la matriz (verbo), este estudio muestra que la cobertura de los medios de comunicación en estos casos se hace de la importancia del carácter de la identidad el público. En conclusión, a través del estudio de caso, que se oscurece el sujeto (Roberto Bolaños) a expensas de carácter (Chespirito). La cobertura de la muerte de Chespirito sirve en realidad para reafirmar su vida y su presencia en los medios de comunicación.   PALABRAS CLAVE: Muerte; morir; Roberto Bolaños; Chespirito; la cobertura de los medios de comunicación; Televisión.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janani Umamaheswar

The “Black Lives Matter” movement, centered on fighting racial injustice and inequality (particularly in the criminal justice system), has garnered a great deal of media attention in recent years. Given the relatively recent emergence of the movement, there exists very little scholarly research on media portrayals of the movement. In this article, I report findings from a qualitative examination of major newspaper portrayals of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement between April and August 2016, before the particularly divisive 2016 presidential election. Inductive textual analyses of 131 newspaper articles indicate that, although the movement’s goals were represented positively and from the perspective of members of the movement, the newspapers politicized and sensationalized the movement, and they focused far more on supposed negative consequences of the movement. I discuss these findings by drawing on the “protest paradigm” and the “public nuisance paradigm” in media coverage of social protest movements, arguing that the latter is particularly useful for interpreting portrayals of Black Lives Matter in the prevailing US political climate.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-117
Author(s):  
Donald E. Cook ◽  
Conrad L. Andringa ◽  
Karl W. Hess ◽  
Leonard L. Kishner ◽  
Samuel R. Leavitt ◽  
...  

The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that it is necessary to reaffirm its support for the concept of school health education, from kindergarten through grade 12, for all schoolchildren in the United States. A basic concept of pediatrics is prevention, and health education is a basic element in the delivery of comprehensive health care. The public is continually bombarded by the media about the high cost of medical care and the overutilization and incorrect use of medical facilities. The media also writes about the problems of increasing promiscuity and illegitimacy; the money wasted on quackery; practices that are detrimental to the health of people in the United States; and the lag in the dissemination of new health information and facts to the public. The Committee on School Health believes that community health education programs, of which school health education programs from kindergarten through grade 12 are an integral part, are one of the most viable methods to help alleviate these and similar problems. Therefore, the Committee on School Health makes the following recommendations and urges action for them at state and local levels. 1. Health education is a basic education subject, and it should be taught as such. Health education is compatible with other traditional subjects and can enhance the contribution that other basic subjects make to general life experience, understanding, and skills. 2. Planned, integrated programs of comprehensive health education should be required for students from kindergarten through grade 12. Instruction should be given by teachers qualified to teach health education.


MEDIASI ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Shania Shaufa ◽  
Thalitha Sacharissa Rosyidiani

This article explains about online media iNews.id in implementing gatekeeping function. This study aims to find out how gatekeeping efforts iNews.id in the production process on the issue of preaching restrictions on worship in mosques during Ramadan in 2020. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the current media situation, especially in the midst of a crisis, encourages the public to become heavily dependent on media coverage. With a qualitative approach, researchers analyzed five levels of influence on the gatekeeping process in online media iNews.id. The results of this study show that factors that influence the way iNews.id in the production process of preaching restrictions on worship in mosques due to the Covid-19 pandemic are the individual level of media workers, the level of media routine, the organizational level, the extramedia level, and the social system level. The conclusions of this study state the most dominant levels is the organization level and the media routine level in the iNews.id.


2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Jeanne M. Powers ◽  
Kathryn P. Chapman

Background In the past decade, the laws governing teachers’ employment have been at the center of legal and political conflicts across the United States. Vergara v. California challenged five California state statutes that provide employment protections for teachers. In June 2014, a California lower court declared the statutes unconstitutional because they exposed students to “grossly ineffective teachers.” Purpose The purpose of the article is to document and analyze how Vergara was presented in the print news media. It is important to understand how the print news media presents education policy debates to the public, because the print news media shapes the general public's understanding of education and other public policy debates by providing frames and themes for interpreting the issues in question and people associated with them. Research Design Using the social construction of target populations and political spectacle as conceptual lenses, we conducted a content analysis of print news media articles on the Vergara case published between June 2012 and November 2014. We provide a descriptive overview of the full corpus of articles published during this period and a thematic analysis of the 65 unique news articles published in the aftermath of the decision. The latter focuses on news articles because they are intended to provide more objective coverage of the case than opinions or editorials. Findings In the print news media coverage, the word “teacher” was often paired with a negative qualifier, which suggests that Vergara was an effort to change the relatively advantaged social construction of teachers. Similarly, metaphors and the illusion of rationality associated with political spectacle were used in ways that bolstered the plaintiffs’ claims. While Vergara consumed a substantial amount of philanthropic and public dollars, ultimately it did not change the policies that govern teachers’ employment in California. Vergara may have been more successful in shaping the general public's perceptions of teachers and the conditions of teachers’ employment in the period following the trial.


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