How Media Shapes the Public Discourse and Influences Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Alonzo L. Plough
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
Modern Media ◽  
Multiple Media ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Many

This chapter describes the multiple roles of modern media in determining not only what consumers know, but also how and what they think. The exponential growth of ideologically driven cable channels and social media, dovetailing with cutbacks in newspaper staffing and coverage, point to the many ways that the power and reach of media are shifting even as they continue to reshape American society and norms. In this environment, multiple media compete for viewers, readers, and listeners who will click on their websites, buy their products, sign their petitions, and often accept their spin, especially if it reinforces personal perspectives. Thoughtful information about complex public health issues is easily lost in that context, leading too many people to base their decision-making on incomplete, biased, and even inaccurate information. For the news media to help build a Culture of Health, people need to understand how it works, what it does, and how it can be used for widespread benefit.

scholarly journals A “Scientist” on the Radio: Understanding the Framing of STEM to the Public

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
G. Michael Bowen ◽  
Richard Zurawski ◽  
Anthony Bartley
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
News Media ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Radio Station ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Factual Content ◽  
The Many ◽  
Radio Broadcast

News media presentations of STEM (and particularly science) in various formats have been critiqued for the many ways by which they misrepresent both the facts of the discipline and the practices of the discipline and the researchers in them. Another issue is that the material is presented in a format – basically a one-way transmission – with usually little opportunity for questions by the recipients (i.e., readers, listeners, viewers, etc.) to be addressed when they don’t understand something. One news media format which might allow this dialogic activity is the radio call-in show format which is structured so that the public can ask questions of a “scientist” with the opportunity for follow-up questions to address what are discontinuities in the listener’s understanding. In this paper we document the processes by which listener interests ultimately end up discussed in the radio broadcast and what influences the “science” that is presented on-air. Our analysis reports the ways in which the STEM topics and content are mediated by radio station personnel, often times distorting the factual content available to the public and misrepresenting the practices of the research fields, as they engage in information management practices which are typical of opinion-driven shows (such as those on the topics of politics or sports) which are designed to create controversy and drama to increase ratings.

scholarly journals Public Discourses on (Sectoral) Energy Policy in Switzerland

2021 ◽  
pp. 313-343
Author(s):  
Lena Maria Schaffer ◽  
Alessio Levis
Keyword(s):  
Energy Policy ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Transition Policy

AbstractEnergy transitions are based upon policy choices of sovereign nation states. Hence, politics plays a role in determining which policies governments implement and which sectors are targeted. Our chapter looks at the evolution of public discourse on energy policy as one important factor reflecting policy discussion and contestation within the political arena. Our descriptive and explorative analysis of the early public discourse in Swiss energy policy between 1997 and 2011 contributes to three main issues. First, it makes a case for the disaggregation of energy policy and its public perception to add to our understanding of energy transition pathways. We argue that looking at sectoral discourses as well as sectoral policy outputs allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the idiosyncrasies of Swiss energy policy regarding temporal as well as sectoral variation. Second, an increased politicization of energy policy may affect future policy choice, and thus any account on energy transition policy needs to scrutinize potential feedback effects from policies that manifest via policy discourse. Third, and on a more methodological stance, we argue that our approach to use news media as a representation of the public discourse via structural topic models can help to explore and explain the evolving national policy priorities regarding energy transition.

scholarly journals How to translate artificial intelligence? Myths and justifications in public discourse

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 205395172091996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Roberge ◽  
Marius Senneville ◽  
Kevin Morin
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Expectations ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gradual Introduction ◽  
Congressional Hearing ◽  
The Many

Automated technologies populating today’s online world rely on social expectations about how “smart” they appear to be. Algorithmic processing, as well as bias and missteps in the course of their development, all come to shape a cultural realm that in turn determines what they come to be about. It is our contention that a robust analytical frame could be derived from culturally driven Science and Technology Studies while focusing on Callon’s concept of translation. Excitement and apprehensions must find a specific language to move past a state of latency. Translations are thus contextual and highly performative, transforming justifications into legitimate claims, translators into discursive entrepreneurs, and power relations into new forms of governance and governmentality. In this piece, we discuss three cases in which artificial intelligence was deciphered to the public: (i) the Montreal Declaration for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence, held as a prime example of how stakeholders manage to establish the terms of the debate on ethical artificial intelligence while avoiding substantive commitment; (ii) Mark Zuckerberg’s 2018 congressional hearing, where he construed machine learning as the solution to the many problems the platform might encounter; and (iii) the normative renegotiations surrounding the gradual introduction of “killer robots” in military engagements. Of interest are not only the rational arguments put forward, but also the rhetorical maneuvers deployed. Through the examination of the ramifications of these translations, we intend to show how they are constructed in face of and in relation to forms of criticisms, thus revealing the highly cybernetic deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.

scholarly journals Rights and Representation: Media Narratives about Disabled People and Their Service Animals in Canadian Print News

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-76
Author(s):  
Lana Kerzner ◽  
Chelsea Temple Jones ◽  
Beth Haller ◽  
Arthur Blaser
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
The Many ◽  
Media Narratives

Canadian news coverage is reflecting and shaping an evolution of thought about how we must publicly account for animals’ roles in the disability rights movement. Through a textual analysis of 26 news media articles published between 2012 and 2017, this research demonstrates that the media play a key role in reporting on discrimination, yet media narratives about service animals and their owners too often fail to capture the complexity of policies and laws that govern their lives. In Canada, there is widespread public confusion about the rights of disabled people and their service animals. This incertitude is relevant to both disability and animal oppression. This research identifies nine frames within the media narratives, as well as evaluating perspectives from critical animal studies in the news articles. These frames, which emerge in the media reports, in their descriptions of human and (less often) animal rights, illustrate public confusion surrounding these rights. The confusion is inevitable given the many laws in Canada that govern service animals. Thus, to give context to the news coverage, this article also surveys the legal protections for disabled people who use service animals in Canada, and suggests that until the news media understand the legalities surrounding service animals, they will not be well equipped to fulfil their role of informing the public. This is a lost opportunity in light of the media’s potential role as a pivotal tool to educate the public about disability and animal rights.

Can Indian journalism survive the onslaught of social media?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha M Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Online Networks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Effective Use

In recent times, researchers have examined the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s use of social media to directly connect with his followers, while largely shunning the mainstream media. This strategy of direct communication with their constituents has been adopted by other political parties too, with opposition party leaders hosting ‘Facebook Live’ sessions and tweeting their messages. A large proportion of Indian voters, who increasingly own mobile phones, are enjoying being part of the ‘like’ and ‘share’ online networks. What does this effective use of social media by Indian political parties mean for the public discourse in India? This article presents the view that this phenomenon is more than Modi’s ‘selfie nationalism’ or his attempt to marginalize the news media. The article argues that there is a structural shift in the Indian public sphere, which might prove to be the greatest challenge to Indian journalism.

Synthetic Biology between Self-Regulation and Public Discourse: Ethical Issues and the Many Roles of the Ethicist

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARDAR ARNASON
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
The Public ◽  
Biology I ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
The Many

Abstract:This article discusses the roles of ethicists in the governance of synthetic biology. I am particularly concerned with the idea of self-regulation of bioscience and its relationship to public discourse about ethical issues in bioscience. I will look at the role of philosophical ethicists at different levels and loci, from the “embedded ethicist” in the laboratory or research project, to ethicists’ impact on policy and public discourse. In a democratic society, the development of governance frameworks for emerging technologies, such as synthetic biology, needs to be guided by a well-informed public discourse. In the case of synthetic biology, the public discourse has to go further than merely considering technical issues of biosafety and biosecurity, or risk management, to consider more philosophical issues concerning the meaning and value of “life” between the natural and the synthetic. I argue that ethicists have moral expertise to bring to the public arena, which consists not only in guiding the debate but also in evaluating arguments and moral positions and making normative judgments. When ethicists make normative claims or moral judgments, they must be transparent about their theoretical positions and basic moral standpoints.

scholarly journals The AI doctor will see you now: assessing the framing of AI in news coverage

AI & Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes Bunz ◽  
Marco Braghieri
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Hippocratic Oath ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Medical Expert ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Development

AbstractOne of the sectors for which Artificial Intelligence applications have been considered as exceptionally promising is the healthcare sector. As a public-facing sector, the introduction of AI applications has been subject to extended news coverage. This article conducts a quantitative and qualitative data analysis of English news media articles covering AI systems that allow the automation of tasks that so far needed to be done by a medical expert such as a doctor or a nurse thereby redistributing their agency. We investigated in this article one particular framing of AI systems and their agency: the framing that positions AI systems as (1a) replacing and (1b) outperforming the human medical expert, and in which (2) AI systems are personified and/or addressed as a person. The analysis of our data set consisting of 365 articles written between the years 1980 and 2019 will show that there is a tendency to present AI systems as outperforming human expertise. These findings are important given the central role of news coverage in explaining AI and given the fact that the popular frame of ‘outperforming’ might place AI systems above critique and concern including the Hippocratic oath. Our data also showed that the addressing of an AI system as a person is a trend that has been advanced only recently and is a new development in the public discourse about AI.

Reframing sociotechnical imaginaries: The case of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110135
Author(s):  
Paulo Nuno Vicente ◽  
Sara Dias-Trindade
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Public Performance ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Sociotechnical Imaginaries ◽  
World Economic

In recent years, a Fourth Industrial Revolution emerged in public discourse as a narrative of exceptional societal disruption. At the core of this conceptual construct, led by the World Economic Forum, rests a sociotechnical imaginary of future essentialism, based on the revolutionary potential of digital, biological and physical innovations. This article addresses the lack of studies assessing the dynamics between the institutionalisation and the public performance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution concept through news media. We present the results of a quantitative content analysis of how the topic has been covered (frames, sources, tone) by the Portuguese national circulation press (2013–2020). This exploratory case study informs a proposal for an epistemic and methodological articulation between the theoretical frameworks of sociotechnical imaginaries and of media framing.

scholarly journals INTERDISCURSIVITY, INTERTEXTUALITY AND PRECEDENT TEXTS IN THE WEBSITE FORUM MEDIALECT

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-78
Author(s):  
Oksana CHERVENKO ◽  
Snezhan VELIKOVA
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Language Usage ◽  
Communicative Behavior ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
The Public ◽  
Internet Media ◽  
Linguistic Behavior

is article analyzes the phenomena of interdiscursivity, intertextuality, precedent texts and their functions in the websites forum medialect, which could be described as an online space, where specific language usage related to internet communication is manifested. The main purpose is, firstly, to comment on these functions and, secondly, to analyze their relationship to participants’ linguistic behavior established around a specific news media in the public discourse. By presenting specific solutions, the article discusses the categories of intertextuality, interdiscursivity, precedent texts, and medialect. The illustrations for the analysis are taken from predominantly news-oriented online journalistic websites, and the article analyzes the speech behavior of the participants in the comment section medialect. Based on specific examples, the article draws conclusions about the role of the internet media in the use of the three phenomena and of the manifestations of the cooperative and masking functions performed by intertextuality, interdiscursivity and precedent texts included in the linguistic range of the commentators. The roles of the three categories in the formation of thecommunicative act and its outcome are commented in terms of topics that are sensitive for both journalists and the commentators of their articles. These are mainly topics that attract multiple comments due to their significance for a group of users or for the whole society, such as ethnic minorities, migration, corruption, political practices, political actors, etc. Furthermore, they manage to provoke the activity, dexterity, originality of the ones taking part in the communicative acts and thus to create favorable conditions to observe web specific linguistic practices; to track specific language usage and the communicative behavior of the addressers in the public space, observable in the internet media.

scholarly journals THE END OF THE HONEYMOON: PENAL DISCOURSE AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PRISONERS IN THE AFTERMATH OF SOUTH AFRICA’S SECOND DEMOCRATIC ELECTION − PART 1

Obiter ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Allister Peté
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Penal System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gang Activity ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Democratic Election ◽  
The Many

The years immediately following South Africa’s second democratic election, held in June 1999, were significant in that they marked the end of the “honeymoon” period which followed the country’s transition from apartheid to democracy in 1994. This article focuses on the public discourse surrounding imprisonment in South Africa during this important “post-honeymoon” period. The article traces the continued systematic violation of the basic human rights of many of those confined in South African prisons throughout the period. Part One of the article deals with the many public debates surrounding chronic prison overcrowding and its effects, whereas Part Two deals with a host of evils which beset the South African penal system at this time, including very poor conditions of detention, high levels of gang activity, the spread of HIV/AIDS, the escape of dangerous criminals from different prisons in the country, and instances of corruption and other criminal activity amongst prisoners and staff.

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