Foregrounding Financial Accountability in Governance

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amitabh Mukhopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Social Audit ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Media ◽  
Parliamentary Supremacy ◽  
Auditor General ◽  
Participatory Performance

This chapter argues that the 21st Century is witnessing a culture of accountability in-the-making. The mores of parliamentary supremacy are giving way to assertions of popular sovereignty. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is therefore peering out of the blinds of a restricted system of parliamentary financial control to re-design public sector audit as a service meant directly for citizens at large, not only for governments and parliaments. CAG's organisation can demonstrate its relevance to citizens by developing the capacities to communicate with citizens through the media, support social audit mechanisms, conduct electronic financial audits, and inform the public discourse by means of research-oriented participatory performance audits. Wide public discussion to re-envision the institution and forge a new mandate for CAG is essential. Three recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolutions to strengthen Supreme Audit Institutions for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be pursued vigorously.

Austerity against the Homo Sovieticus

Focaal ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 (59) ◽  
pp. 51-65
Author(s):  
Daiva Repečkait
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Class Background ◽  
The Media ◽  
Economic Shock ◽  
Homo Sovieticus

This article analyzes the public discourse on the riots of 16 January 2009, in Vilnius, when protest against economic shock therapy ended in violent clashes with the police. Politicians and the media were quick to ethnicize the riots, claiming an “involvement of foreign influences” and noting that the rioters had been predominantly “Russian-speaking.” Analyzing electronic and print media, the article identifies a wider tendency, particularly among middle-class Lithuanian youth, of portraying the social class consisting of “losers of the post-soviet transition” as aggressive and primitive Others. A pseudo-ethnicity that combines Rus sian language and culture with lower-class background into a notion of homo sovieticus comes to stand for what is hindering the “clean up” of Lithuania and middleclass aspirations to form a new European identity. As such, the riots serve as a lens that illuminates the way ethnicity is flexibly utilized to shift political loyalties.

Mental Health Ontologies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Public Health Challenges ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Way

Mental health presents one of the defining public health challenges of our time. Proponents of different conceptions of what mental illness is wage war for the hearts and minds of patients, practitioners, policy-makers, and the public. Debate and fragmentation around the nature of the entities that feature in the mental health domain divide resources and reduce progress. The way mental health is publicly discussed in the media has tangible effects, in terms of stigma, access to healthcare and resources, and private expectations of recovery. This book explores in detail the sorts of statements that are made about mental health in the media and public reporting of scientific research, grounding them in the wider context of the theoretical frameworks, assumptions and metaphors that they draw from. The author shows how a holistic understanding of the way that different aspects of mental illness are interrelated can be developed from evidence-based interpretation of the latest research findings. She offers some ideas about corrective, integrative approaches to discussing mental health-related matters publicly that may reduce the opposition between conceptualisations while still aiming to reduce stigma, shame and blame. In particular, she emphasises that discourse in the media needs to be anchored to an overview of all the research results across the field and argues that this could be achieved using new technological infrastructures. The author provides an integrative account of what mental health is, together with an improved understanding of the factors driving the persistence of oppositional accounts in the public discourse. The book will be of benefit to researchers, practitioners and students in the domain of mental health.

Nutzen von Erfahrungswissen in Krisen.

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-139
Author(s):  
Janina Barth ◽  
Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Business Reporting ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
The Media ◽  
German Newspaper ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
Historical References

Abstract It appears to be almost self-evident that most people look towards past experiences for guidance during times of crisis. We would like to consider the empirical evidence for this assumption by analysing the public discourse regarding the reactions to crises, which includes general reporting, statements from politicians or discussions in the media. The outbreak of the Corona pandemic in Germany, starting in March 2020, opens the possibility to collect several preliminary findings by analysing relevant press coverage in the newspapers. Articles from different sections of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) and from the Handelsblatt were evaluated. As our main interest focuses on economic historical (not e. g. medical historical) research questions, we chose the F.A.Z. First, because its business reporting is important within the German newspaper environment in general. Second, because its reporting on the Corona pandemic was award-winning. Additionally, we focused on the Handelsblatt because the newspaper provides press coverage explicitly on financial, business, and political issues – all subjects directly affected by the Corona crisis. The analysis concluded that there was a rise in articles with historical references in general while the number of articles linked to businesses did not increase at the same time which can be linked to the absence of expert business history opinions on offer.

Advocacy of the Sustainable Development Goals in Jordanian academic libraries

IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110383
Author(s):  
Faten Hamad ◽  
Maha Al-Fadel
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
The Public ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Study Support

In view of the increased importance of the Sustainable Development Goals and the limited number of public libraries in Jordan, it is important to investigate the role and practices of academic libraries in promoting knowledge and skills to support the Sustainable Development Goals in Jordan. It is also important to explore the challenges that might hinder the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals. The results of this study support the fact that academic libraries can significantly contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals ( M = 3.53) by providing access to relevant and up-to-date information ( M = 4.16) and giving training on information literacy ( M = 4.03). Access to information contributes to the quality of life of society ( M = 4.41). This article provides insights for academic librarians and decision-makers into disseminating measures for promoting knowledge and skills related to the Sustainable Development Goals among students and the public community in Jordan. The study recommends some relevant strategies, such as the collaboration of academic libraries with governmental and health institutions to support the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in Jordan.

scholarly journals The Financing Framework for Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies: The Case of Uruguay

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gambetta ◽  
Paula Azadian ◽  
Victoria Hourcade ◽  
María Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Development Goals

This paper explores the financing framework for sustainable development in Uruguay, an emerging economy, and examines whether available financing instruments contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in which significant progress is still required in this country. Reports, policy documents and academic literature were reviewed to determine the types of sustainable development financing instruments available, and to analyse the challenges facing emerging economies in this regard. In addition, the financing programmes available from the public sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the financial sector and multilateral credit agencies were examined. The results obtained show that the main financing sources for sustainable development are located within the public sector due to the absence of a developed financial market, and that the existing financial instruments do not address the SDGs where most attention is required. The latter circumstances make it challenging to achieve these SDGs in Uruguay. The study findings highlight the need for greater coordination among all parties to make efficient use of the scarce resources available to an emerging economy and thus enable it to meet its SDGs.

scholarly journals Introducing an Organizational Perspective in SDG Implementation in the Public Sector in Spain: The Case of the Former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 9959
Author(s):  
Miguel Soberón ◽  
Teresa Sánchez-Chaparro ◽  
Julia Urquijo ◽  
David Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Prioritization Process ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Organizational Perspective ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Study Methodology

The public sector has an indisputable role in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the interrelated nature of the SDGs represents a challenge for the public sector, which has in the last few decades undergone a process of specialization, decentralization and fragmentation. Hence, the establishment of coordination mechanisms within the public sector are needed to ensure implementation. This article introduces an organizational perspective in a participative SDG prioritization process carried out by a public organization: the former Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA). A case study methodology is used to identify internal collaboration needs in order to address the SDGs and to analyze the driving and restraining forces operating within the organization so that the required organizational changes can be initiated. Our findings reveal that the organizational perspective is key in supporting SDG implementation and boosting the transformative capacity that underpins the 2030 Agenda. Public organizations must combine different coordination approaches, according to the demands that each specific SDG target makes upon the organization. Furthermore, engaging internal agents in participative processes for the development of the implementation is essential to reproducing the dynamics of internal collaboration that will be needed in future stages of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda.

Mass Communication and Policy Gatekeeping

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard T. Craig
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Media Audiences ◽  
The Public ◽  
Content Selection ◽  
Private Citizens ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
Flow Of Information

Who filters through information and determines what information is shared with media audiences? Who filters through information and determines what information will not be shared with media audiences? Ultimately, who controls the flow of information in the media? At times commentary pertaining to media content references media as an omnipotent individual entity selecting the content transmitted to the public, reminiscent of a Wizard of Oz manner of the all-powerful being behind the curtain. Overlooked in this perception is the reality that in mass media, there are various individuals in positions of power making decisions about the information accessed by audiences of various forms of media. These individuals are considered gatekeepers: wherein the media functions as a gate permitting some matters to be publicized and included into the public discourse while restricting other matters from making it to the public conscience. Media gatekeepers (i.e., journalists, editors) possess the power to control the gate by determining the content delivered to audiences, opening and closing the gate of information. Gatekeepers wield power over those on the other side of the gate, those seeking to be informed (audiences), as well as those seeking to inform (politics, activists, academics, etc.). The earliest intellectual explanation of gatekeeping is traced to Kurt Lewin, describing gatekeeping as a means to analyze real-world problems and observing the effects of cultural values and subjective attitudes on those problems like the distribution of food in Lewins’s seminal study, and later modified by David Manning White to examine the dissemination of information via media. In an ideal situation, the gatekeepers would be taking on the challenge of weighing the evidence of importance in social problems when selecting among the options of content and information to exhibit. Yet, decisions concerning content selection are not void of subjective viewpoints and encompass values, beliefs, and ideals of gatekeepers. The subjective attitudes of gatekeepers influence their perspective of what qualifies as newsworthy information. Hence, those in the position to determine the content transmitted through media exercise the power to shape social reality for media audiences. In the evolution of media gatekeeping theory three models have resulted from the scholarship: (1) examination of the one-way flow of information passing through a series of gates before reaching audiences, (2) the process of newsroom personnel interacting with people outside of the newsroom, and (3) the direct communication of private citizens and public officials. In traditional media and newer forms of social media, gatekeeping examination revolves around analysis of these media organizations’ news routines and narratives. Gatekeeping analysis observes human behavior and motives in order to make conceptualizations about the social world.

Look Who's Talking! Islamic Discourse in the Chechen Wars

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Radnitz
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Television News ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Print Journalism ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Broadcasts ◽  
Psychological Warfare ◽  
The Media ◽  
Radio Free Europe ◽  
Chechen Wars

In any contemporary conflict, the war of ideas may be just as important as the war on the battlefield. Throughout history, propaganda has been used as a tool of psychological warfare. The prevalence of technology makes the mass media an ever more vital tool in spreading one's message, both to combatants and throughout the world. The case of the Chechen wars demonstrates the importance both sides placed on publicity in the course of fighting. In addition to the use of print journalism, the Chechen wars witnessed the employment of television news broadcasts, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Internet as a means to spread messages. Given the importance of the media, the public and private discourse by the combatants has been seen as crucial to their cause. The language of Islam carries a set of widely shared symbols, many related to war, that can be used to manipulate public opinion. This article will analyze how Islamic language was used in the two Russian invasions of Chechnya in the 1990s (1994–1996, 1999–2002). It analyzes three pairs of variables: Russian and Chechen public discourse, especially regarding the language of Islam; Chechen public and Chechen private discourse; and the discourse of both sides in the first war compared to the second war.

“Tanked up Yobs” and “Self-Pity City”. Deconstructing the Myths of the Hillsborough Disaster

STADION ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-75
Author(s):  
Alan McDougall
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
British History ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Grassroots Activism ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Government Legislation

On 15 April 1989, Liverpool FC played Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in northern England. Catastrophic errors by the police and other organisations led to the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters, crushed against the perimeter fences on the Leppings Lane terrace. Though the horrific facts of the disaster were quickly and widely known, they were lost beneath another narrative, promoted by the police, numerous politicians, and large sections of the media. This narrative blamed the disaster on “tanked up yobs”: drunk and aggressive Liverpool supporters, who turned up late and forced their way into the ground. Over the subsequent years and decades, as Hillsborough campaigners vainly sought justice for the disaster’s victims in a series of trials and inquests, the destructive allegation remained in the public realm. It was reinforced by establishment dismissal of Liverpool as a “self-pity city”, home to a community incapable of accepting official verdicts or of leaving the past in the past. This essay uncovers the history of the myths of the Hillsborough disaster. It first shows how these myths were established - how false narratives, with powerful backers, shifted responsibility for the disaster from the police to supporters, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It then examines how these myths were embedded in public discourse - how Liverpool was demonised as an aggressively sentimental city where people refused to admit to “killing their own”. It finally analyses how these myths were overturned through research, media mobilisation, and grassroots activism, a process that culminated in the 2016 inquest verdict, which ruled that the 96 Hillsborough victims were unlawfully killed. In doing so, the essay shows how Hillsborough became a key event in modern British history, influencing everything from stadium design to government legislation.

Fear Control in Media Discourse

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-219
Author(s):  
Davor Marko
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Public Language ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
And Control

This article deals with how fear is misused in media discourse. Pursuing the claim that it is impossible to eliminate fear from the public sphere, this paper argues that fear control is a technique widely used by certain interest groups to generate and spread uncertainty among people in order to create an atmosphere in which their goals are easily reachable. This paper will discuss the concepts of discourse, hegemony, and power relations in order to show how public language (both written and spoken) in media discourse reflects, creates, and maintains power relations. In this sense, fear, which is a crucial “energizing fuel” of such public language, could be considered and further elaborated as both a contextual variable and as a tool for facilitating power relations by applying various techniques. Aiming to show how media use and control the nature and level of fear in public discourse, I will discuss two techniques – the commercialization of fear and the method of “othering.” While commercialization implies the mass (re)production and (re)appropriation of fear in a public space, “othering” has been applied when the object of reporting is an out-group individual or community and self-group is using the media as a tool for their negative portrayal, thus creating boundaries and provoking discrimination and violence. The case of Serbia will be used to indicate how techniques of “othering,” linked with the regime’s propaganda, may contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of fear, and make a people seek protection and become easy prey for manipulation.

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