Disentangling media effects: The impact of short-term and long-term news coverage on Belgian emergency assistance

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen Joly

Whether and how media are able to influence policy and the political decision-making process is still the topic of much debate. However, if news media are indeed able to influence policy, they are commonly believed to do so indirectly through their agenda-setting function – by getting issues onto the political agenda after sudden peaks of attention. Yet, despite the assertion of agenda-setting theory that policy changes occur mainly through steady advocacy of policy alternatives, little attention has been paid to the long-term effects of media exposure. The analysis of emergency assistance in Belgium from 2000–2008 shows that short-term and long-term media attention to specific countries affect decision-making in quite different ways. This study reveals different ways in which media attention can impact policymaking, as short-term attention mainly determines which countries receive assistance, while long-term attention affects the amount of assistance granted.

Author(s):  
Marcus Maurer

Political agenda setting is the part of agenda-setting research that refers to the influence of the media agenda on the agenda of political actors. More precisely, the central question of political agenda-setting research is whether political actors adopt the issue agenda of the news media in various aspects ranging from communicating about issues that are prominently discussed in the news media to prioritizing issues from the news media agenda in political decision making. Although such effects have been studied under different labels (agenda building, policy agenda setting) for several decades, research in this field has recently increased significantly based on a new theoretical model introducing the term political agenda setting. Studies based on that model usually find effects of media coverage on the attention political actors pay to various issues, but at the same time point to a number of contingent conditions. First, as found in research on public agenda setting, there is an influence of characteristics of news media (e.g., television news vs. print media) and issues (e.g., obtrusive vs. unobtrusive issues). Second, there is an influence of characteristics of the political context (e.g., government vs. oppositional parties) and characteristics of individual politicians (e.g., generalists vs. specialists). Third, the findings of studies on the political agenda-setting effect differ, depending on which aspects of the political agenda are under examination (e.g., social media messages vs. political decision making).


Author(s):  
Jonathan Klüser ◽  
Marco Radojevic

Research on policy agendas and agenda-setting has developed into an important subdiscipline of comparative politics, which seeks to understand how political actors allocate scarce attention. The theoretical origins of the field describe agenda-setting as a “conflict of conflicts,” that is the political struggle over the question of which issues receive attention. Modern scholars have expanded on these ideas and turned them into important theoretical models of the agenda-setting process. The most influential of these models are Kingdon’s multiple streams approach and Baumgartner and Jones’ punctuated equilibrium theory. The former analyses the emergence of issues in the separate streams of policies, politics, and problems, whose coupling is necessary for any issue in order to be considered for political decision-making. In contrast, the latter stresses the importance of negative and positive feedback mechanisms in order to explain long periods of incremental policy change and sudden radical changes, which characterize the policy process. Inspired by the second approach is the Comparative Agendas Project, which is a comprehensive and comparative data collection effort about policy agendas using a unified taxonomy. These data enable scholars to research the entire political process from media inputs via government throughput to legislative output. Studying governmental agendas, it is paramount to stress that—against common wisdom—political ideology does not play a decisive role in the agenda-setting process. Rather, both leftist and rightist governments seek to portray themselves as potent problem-solvers and respond to problematic societal condition in order to prove their competence. Looking at the media as one potentially powerful political agenda-setter, it turns out that newspapers and television channels’ power to steer the political agenda hinges on a variety of conditions. Generally, media outlets are most successful in setting the agenda if they report on issues that otherwise would not have been brought to the public’s attention. But even then, the media’s role appears to be restricted to narrowing down the issue menu from which politicians can choose when setting their agenda. The study of political agendas is by no means limited to these areas, as shown by the hundreds of articles that have been published in major political science journals over the past decades. While the agenda approach has not yet developed into a theory of politics, it has certainly become a major subdiscipline of comparative politics, which has helped make sense of the political world.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Ganz

The metaphor of the organization as a ``garbage can'' is intended as a playful insult. The Garbage Can Model concludes that ``organized anarchies,'' organizations characterized by unclear technology, problematic preferences, and fluid participation, make bad and unreliable decisions. However, management theorists in the 1970s and 1980s also saw a glimmer of hope through the Garbage Can Model's gloomy predictions. Moch and Pondy (1977), for example, propose that garbage can decision making could be robust to environmental ruggedness, ``the organizational equivalent of an all-terrain vehicle'' (360). In this paper, I explore the hypothesis that garbage cans can be adaptively rational organizational design. Using an agent-based computational model, I demonstrate how preference conflict and fluid participation in decision making promote effective search in uncertain task environments. I show that the political gridlock and unstable outcomes that emerge as a result of garbage can decision making -- the very features of garbage cans that make them perceived to be dysfunctional -- can facilitate short-term exploitation and long-term exploration of uncertain technical landscapes. In the medium-term, however, conflict stands in the way of the speedy ascent of local performance peaks, leading to degraded performance.


Author(s):  
Hiroki Inagaki ◽  
Daisuke Doyo

This study used control theory to model sales planning, long-term planning, rolling planning, materials planning, short-term planning, manufacturing, delivery and sale, and investigated how factors required for decision-making in each planning phase impact the overall planning through simulations. To find the degree of impact each phase has on the overall plan, the investigation method involved used each factor of planning as a variable in the control model. And the differences in results between impacts, when simulated by individually making them into constants and when simulated as a variable, were calculated. The findings of this study are considered to contribute to enhance corporate competitiveness by enabling appropriate planning, production equipment and technologies for production activities which actually produce profit.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Hardy ◽  
Julie Sevenans

The political agenda-setting effect of media storms. A story-level analysis The political agenda-setting effect of media storms. A story-level analysis This paper studies the political agenda-setting effect of media storms. Over an eight-year period (2001-2008), it examines the extent to which media storms in Belgium (Flanders) led to action in the Belgian federal Parliament. It then compares the agenda-setting effect of those media storms with the effect of a random sample of general (‘non-storm’) news coverage. Quantitative story-level analyses show that media storms, more than non-storms, lead to political reaction. In particular, they generate more consequential types of political reaction such as mentions by the Prime Minister or bills. However, an in-depth look at those instances where media storms led to the initiation of a bill, nuances these findings, in the sense that media storms not often lead to ‘new’ bills; rather, they accelerate or highlight the existing legislative process. Politicians strategically use media storms as a ‘window of opportunity’ to get their bills on the political agenda.


Stroke ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Halm ◽  
Colin Nelson ◽  
Jasmin Tiro ◽  
Karen Sepucha ◽  
Kim Batchelor ◽  
...  

Introduction: Patients (Pts) with asymptomatic (ASX) carotid stenosis have 3 treatment (Rx) options (surgery[CEA], stenting[CAS], and medical therapy alone[Med],) each with its own risks and benefits (R/Bs). In prior work, many ASX Pts who had CEA did not understand the disease (Dz), their Rx options, and associated R/Bs. Decision aids (DAs) have been shown in other conditions to foster more informed Rx choices. Objective: To develop and assess the impact of a DA on knowledge of Dz, Rx options, and DA satisfaction. Methods: We created a multimedia, web-based DA to explain ASX carotid Dz, Rx options, and associated R/Bs. The DA was refined and vetted by experts in neurology, vascular/neuro-surgery, internal medicine, decision making, and patient education. The DA included: text, anatomic graphics, pictographs of short term and long R/Bs of CEA v. Med, and Pt and MD video testimonials. We tested it in an online Pt panel in those: 55+ yrs with ≥ 1 risk factor for carotid Dz (HTN, DM, CHOL, CAD, PVD). Post-viewing knowledge of key educational messages incl. Rx options, associated R/Bs, and DA satisfaction were assessed with validated instruments. Results: Overall, 1778 of 1843 completed viewing the 40 minute DA (96%). Mean age was 67 yrs, 51% female, 91% White, and 24% ≤high school degree. Pts correctly answered 68% of the 19 knowledge items. The DA was well-liked with mean score of 4.4 (out of 5) on a 10 item DA satisfaction score and 4.3 (out of 5) on a 7 item DA helpfulness score. Pts correctly grasped most gist messages including that: not everyone needed CEA (99%), there was no best Rx it depends on the Pt (92%), they had time to make a decision (86%), CEA can cause stroke (92%), CEA can cause death (91%), and carotid Dz can cause stroke (83%). They had trouble understanding the time trade of CEA v. Med-only 55% correctly said CEA was riskier in the short term, and 50% that Med was riskier in the long term. Overall, 74% said they would choose Med. Pts who were younger, female, White, higher education, or with family/friends with stroke or CAD had higher knowledge scores. Conclusions: A web-based DA was effective in conveying most gist messages regarding making an informed decision in ASX carotid Dz. The next step is testing the impact of the DA in Pts facing a real decision about revascularization.


Psibernetika ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Devina Calista ◽  
Garvin Garvin

<p><em>Child abuse by parents is common in households. The impact of violence on children will bring short-term effects and long-term effects that can be attributed to their various emotional, behavioral and social problems in the future; especially in late adolescence that will enter adulthood. Resilience factors increase the likelihood that adolescents who are victims of childhood violence recover from their past experiences</em><em>,</em><em> become more powerful individuals and have a better life. The purpose of this study was to determine the source of resilience in late adolescents who experienced violence from parents in their childhood. This research uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews as a method of data collection. The result shows that the three research participants have the aspects of "I Have", "I Am", and "I Can"; a participant has "I Can" aspects as a source of resilience, and one other subject has no source of resilience. The study concluded that parental affection and acceptance of the past experience have role to the three sources of resilience (I Have, I Am, and I Can)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>Keyword : </em></strong><em>Resilience, adolescence, violence, parents</em></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7007
Author(s):  
Habtamu Nebere ◽  
Degefa Tolossa ◽  
Amare Bantider

In Ethiopia, the practice of land management started three decades ago in order to address the problem of land degradation and to further boost agricultural production. However, the impact of land management practices in curbing land degradation problems and improving the productivity of the agricultural sector is insignificant. Various empirical works have previously identified the determinants of the adoption rate of land management practices. However, the sustainability of land management practices after adoption, and the various factors that control the sustainability of implemented land management practices, are not well addressed. This study analyzed the factors affecting the sustainability of land management practices after implementation in Mecha Woreda, northwestern Ethiopia. The study used 378 sample respondents, selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the qualitative data were qualitatively and concurrently analyzed with the quantitative data. The sustained supply of fodder from the implemented land management practices, as well as improved cattle breed, increases the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. While lack of agreement in the community, lack of enforcing community bylaws, open cattle grazing, lack of benefits of implemented land management practices, acting as barrier for farming practices, poor participation of household heads during planning and decision-making processes, as well as the lack of short-term benefits, reduce the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. Thus, it is better to allow for the full participation of household heads in planning and decision-making processes to bring practical and visible results in land management practices. In addition, recognizing short-term benefits to compensate the land lost in constructing land management structures must be the strategy in land management practices. Finally, reducing the number of cattle and practicing stall feeding is helpful both for the sustainability of land management practices and the productivity of cattle. In line with this, fast-growing fodder grass species have to be introduced for household heads to grow on land management structures and communal grazing fields for stall feeding.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0160323X2110120
Author(s):  
Hai (David) Guo ◽  
Can Chen

Early in the pandemic, Florida municipal managers indicated that forecasting the impact on local revenues was one of their top priorities in responding to the pandemic, yet such a tool has not been widely available. This study offers simple and straightforward fiscal planning guides for assessing the short-term and long-term impacts of the COVID 19 recession on local government revenues by estimating the revenue declines among 411 Florida municipalities from FY 2021 to FY 2023. The forecast results predict revenues will be reduced by $5.11 billion from 2019 pre-pandemic levels for Florida cities in fiscal years 2021 through 2023. The decline is forecast to be 3.54 percent in FY 2021, 4.02 percent in FY 2022, and 3.29 percent in FY 2023. The revenue structure matters for estimating the revenue decline.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019
Author(s):  
Barbara Frączek ◽  
Aleksandra Pięta ◽  
Adrian Burda ◽  
Paulina Mazur-Kurach ◽  
Florentyna Tyrała

The aim of this meta-analysis was to review the impact of a Paleolithic diet (PD) on selected health indicators (body composition, lipid profile, blood pressure, and carbohydrate metabolism) in the short and long term of nutrition intervention in healthy and unhealthy adults. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of 21 full-text original human studies was conducted. Both the PD and a variety of healthy diets (control diets (CDs)) caused reduction in anthropometric parameters, both in the short and long term. For many indicators, such as weight (body mass (BM)), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC), impact was stronger and especially found in the short term. All diets caused a decrease in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), albeit the impact of PD was stronger. Among long-term studies, only PD cased a decline in TC and LDL-C. Impact on blood pressure was observed mainly in the short term. PD caused a decrease in fasting plasma (fP) glucose, fP insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the short run, contrary to CD. In the long term, only PD caused a decrease in fP glucose and fP insulin. Lower positive impact of PD on performance was observed in the group without exercise. Positive effects of the PD on health and the lack of experiments among professional athletes require longer-term interventions to determine the effect of the Paleo diet on athletic performance.


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