Vibrant and safe media landscape in Ghana: Reality or mirage?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Africanus Lewil Diedong
Keyword(s):  
State Agencies ◽  
General Development ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Media ◽  
Ambivalent Attitude ◽  
Culture Of Impunity

Despite widespread condemnation of assaults on journalists in Ghana and elsewhere in the past, there is increasing evidence of brutality against journalists. When perpetrators of such assaults go unpunished, it fosters a culture of impunity. The article throws searchlight on incidences of assaults on journalists and the ambivalent attitude of the public and/or state agencies towards media freedom. Incidences of assaults and intimidations of journalists in Ghana were reviewed to ignite renewed discourse on the issue, and inform measures on the safety and protection and general development of media. Theoretically, the article is framed along lines of thoughts on concepts of narrative in which there is ‘struggle over narrative’. Major lines of narratives on assaults against journalists are expressed by state functionaries, citizens and the media in competing fashions. Each narrative has ‘competing truth’, which arguably carries for each entity a force of the true and rightful position on the safety of journalists. The article concludes that persistent advocacy by Ghana Journalists Association and media partners can make a difference in influencing positive steps on assaults on journalists.

Risks to the Public

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Peter G. Neumann
Keyword(s):  
Computer Systems ◽  
Strong Sense ◽  
Risk Awareness ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Media ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Security And Reliability

Mini-editorial (PGN) 2020 was a crazy year, with all kinds of risks on display. As usual, many of the lessons noted in past issues of SEN and RISKS have been largely ignored, and failures continue to mirror events from the past that have long been discussed here. Issues such as safety, security, and reliability always seem to need more foresight than they receive. Y2K con- tinues to hit somewhere each New Year's Day, when short- term remediations that demanded periodic upgrading have been forgotten. (I suppose old COBOL code will still ex- ist in year 2100, when there may be ambiguities relating to dates that could be 21xx or 20xx (although 19xx is unlikely), and the narrow windowing xes will fail even more dramati- cally.) Election integrity continues to be a real concern, where we are caught in the crosshairs between computer systems and networks that are not meaningfully trustworthy or au- ditable, and the nontechnological risks are still pervasive from unbalanced redistricting, creative dysinformation, poli- tics, Citzens United, and foreign interference. We need non- partisan scrutiny and defense against would-be subverters to overcome potential attacks and inadvertent mistakes. In pres- ence of potential risks in every part of the process, a strong sense of risk-awareness is required by voters, election officials, and the media (both proactively and remedially, as needed).

The making and unmaking of Tarlabasi, Istanbul: an account of territorial stigmatisation

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-460
Author(s):  
Aysegul Can
Keyword(s):  
Urban Renewal ◽  
State Power ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Urban Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Face

Territorial stigmatisation has been drawing attention in the past decade as an important concept in analysing the bad reputation of run-down neighbourhoods and how this bad reputation is used and produced by state agencies. Especially, the links between territorial stigmatisation and urban policies that are followed by state-led gentrification processes have been an emerging discussion in this analysis of understanding the phenomenon of stigmatised places. This paper aims to examine the links and relationships between the concepts of territorial stigmatisation, state-led gentrification and state power in the neighbourhood of Tarlabasi in historic Istanbul. The questions this paper responds to through the analysis of Tarlabasi are: What were the motivations of agencies of power to mobilise stigmatisation of Tarlabasi during urban renewal projects? Why did territorial stigmatisation increase during processes of state-led gentrification? How did the inhabitants of Tarlabasi behave in the face of increased stigma? The paper concludes with reflections on the use of territorial stigmatisation as a tool and accelerator for urban renewal/regeneration/transformation projects as well as its use as a mechanism by which to procure consent from the public.

Covering Disasters, Natural or Otherwise: Media, Politics, and the Public Sphere in Post-Earthquake Turkey

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 141-164
Author(s):  
George Gavrilis
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Politics ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Marmara Earthquake ◽  
Relief Efforts

On 17 August 2000, the somber first anniversary of the Marmara earthquake, the mainstream Turkish media found a sole reason for celebration. Alongside lengthy reports of vigils in remembrance of the dead and protests of the state's anemic relief efforts, the media celebrated its partnership with civil society and all but declared an end to a state that was at once heavy-handed and ineffectual. Amplifying this theme, an article that compiled a list of the earthquake's “winners” and “losers” placed the media and civil society in the former category and a host of state agencies charged with disaster response in the latter one. Hürriyet, a high-circulation mainstream newspaper, described this praise as well deserved, stating that journalists had effectively “exposed all the naked truths” of the state's inability to provide for its population.

Music Training and Nonmusical Abilities: Introduction

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Glenn Schellenberg ◽  
Ellen Winner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Training ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Academic Benefits ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Media ◽  
New Research

the objective of this special issue of Music Perception, which includes contributions from researchers based in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the US, is to present the best new research on associations between music training and nonmusical abilities. Scholarly interest in associations between music training and nonmusical cognitive functioning has sparked much research over the past 15–20 years. The study of how far associations between music training and cognitive abilities extend, and whether such associations are more likely for some domains of cognition than for others, has theoretical relevance for issues of transfer, modularity, and plasticity. Unlike most other areas of scientific inquiry, there is parallel interest on the part of the public, the media, and educators who want to know if nonmusical intellectual and academic benefits are a welcome by-product of sending children to music lessons. Indeed, some educators and arts advocates justify music training in schools precisely because of these presumed and desired nonmusical associations.

“Nothing but Words”? Chronicling and Storytelling in Robert Coover's The Public Burning

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
THEOPHILUS SAVVAS
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Narrative Methods ◽  
The Public ◽  
Richard Nixon ◽  
The Past ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Media ◽  
American Society

Robert Coover's 1977 novel The Public Burning is a dramatic re-presentation of the last three days of the lives of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Dubbed the “atomic spies” by the media, the Rosenbergs were accused of passing on the “secret” of the atomic bomb to the Russians. The sensational trial provoked widespread attention for its seeming encapsulation of the fault lines in American society opened up by anticommunism and the emergent Cold War. Found guilty, they were the first American nationals to be executed for espionage. This paper analyses the different narrative methods that Coover employs to re-present the past. In particular I focus on Coover's juxtaposition of a third-person, seemingly omniscient, narrator with the first-person narratological voice of then Vice President Richard Nixon. I suggest that we can best understand this not simply as providing objective and subjective versions of the event, as some critics have claimed, but rather as a distinction between history as chronicle (or what I call a synchronic method of history), and history as storytelling (or diachrony). Through this The Public Burning becomes not just a satirical critique of the specific political culture of the time, I contend, but, more fundamentally, a general exploration of the difficulties of reconstituting past events into knowledge. It is here, perhaps, where the novel's continuing relevance for today lies.

“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.

scholarly journals The role of the media in forming awareness and knowledge among members of society About Crisis 0f Virus COVID-19 (Corona) A field study at the level of the Arab world

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-36
Author(s):  
هيثم عبد الرحمن أحمد السامرائي
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Radio Programs

The study attempted to reveal the role of the media in forming awareness and knowledge among members of society about the crisis 0f virus COVID-19. It aimed to get acquainted with the role of traditional and new media in dealing with this pandemic and assess its credibility in the Arab countries to deliver the correct news and information about this crisis to the public. In this study, the researcher used the descriptive analytical method through the method of surveying the media and electronic platforms used by the public in the Arab world to communicate with state agencies to obtain various information related to the crisis 0f virus COVID-19. The researcher designed a questionnaire to collect data for this study consisting of 7 axes and includes 50 questions. The study sample reached 1060 community members, male and female, from the age of 20 to 60 years, representing 19 Arab countries. The study concluded a number of results, the most important of which are: the success of media briefings and press conferences held by Arab governments during the Corona crisis, as well as the emergence of a spokesperson in this crisis in a convincing and logical manner In addition to the success of the media in educating society about preventive and preventive measures through TV and radio programs and social media sites, The study also found that 60% of the respondents were concerned during the crisis, following up on news related to the country's efforts to combat the virus Finally, it was noted that the doctors seized the media as the first line of defines, unlike celebrities of social media who lost their credibility and pulled the rug from under their legs due to the lack of confidence among members of the public in their information and that some were a source of spreading remorse.

scholarly journals Measuring media liberalism or dirigisme degree by country

2021 ◽  
Vol 188 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 4-14
Author(s):  
Leyli Ali Allakhverdieva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Information Services ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
The Public ◽  
Radio Broadcasting ◽  
Level Of Economic Development ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Watching Tv

The author measures the degree of of the public regulation of the information services provision via media (media liberalism degree), namely via printed media, and television and radio broadcasting. The methodology of measurement of media liberalism degree (media freedom subindex) is part of the index of liberalism (or dirigisme in opposite) of information services, prepared according to Professor N. Muzaffarli’s assessment of the degree of the government intervention in the economy. In order to measure the media freedom subindex, the following indicators are used: the VAT index on printed publications, the VAT index on television and radio broadcasting, the index of license fee for watching TV, the VAT index of license fee for watching TV, the index of penalty for late VAT payment, the corporate tax index, the ratio of private and the state TV channels subindex. Measuring those indices in the studied group of countries made it possible to establish that: 1) Azerbaijan and Georgia are the most liberal countries with regard to the VAT index on printed publications, Bulgaria is the most dirigiste country; 2) the minimal VAT index on television and radio broadcasting is observed in Malta, the maximal - in Hungary; 3) in most countries the index of license fee for watching TV is lowest, with Austria having the highest indicator; 4) in Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Georgia and Armenia there is no concept of license fee for watching TV, respectively there is no related VAT; in the UK, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden this type of tax is not levied either; 5) the most liberal country in terms of the index of penalty for late VAT payment is Hungary, whereas Slovenia is the most dirigiste; 6) the most liberal country with regard to the corporate tax index is Hungary, while the most dirigiste is Malta; 7) in most countries the ratio of the private and state-owned TV channels subindex is equal to zero (there are no local public TV channels), with France being the most dirigiste country in terms of the subindex mentioned above. It can be noted that the most liberal media belong to Cyprus, the most dirigiste - to France. In most of the researched countries the media are more liberal than the relative center shows. It has been found that most countries with a higher level of economic development adhere to less dirigiste media policies, and vice versa. Also, there are countries that do not lend themselves to this pattern, for example, Ireland.

scholarly journals The brain seduction: the public perception of neuroscience

2009 ◽  
Vol 08 (04) ◽  
pp. L01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donato Ramani
Keyword(s):  
Public Perception ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Present Letter ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Brain

The increasing number of magazine covers dedicated to brain studies and the success of magazines and scientific journals entirely dedicated to brain and mind indicate a strong interest on these themes. This interest is clearly surpassing the boundaries of scientific and medical researches and applications and underlines an engagement of the general public, too. This phenomenon appears to be enhanced by the increasing number of basic researches focusing on non-health-related fMRI studies, investigating aspects of personality as emotions, will, personal values and beliefs, self-identity and behaviour. The broad coverage by the media raises some central questions related to the complexity of researches, the intrinsic limits of these technologies, the results’ interpretative boundaries, factors which are crucial to properly understand the studies’ value. In case of an incomplete communication, if those fundamental interpretative elements are not well understood, we could register a misinterpretation in the public perception of the studies that opens new compelling questions. As already observed in the past debates on science and technologies applications, in this case, too, we assist to a communicative problem that set against scientific community on one side and media, on the other. Focusing our attention, in particular, on the debate on fMRI, taken as a good model, in the present letter we will investigate the most interesting aspects of the current discussion on neuroscience and neuroscience public perception. This analysis was performed as one of the bid - brains in dialogue - activities (www.neuromedia.eu). bid is a three year project supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Program and coordinated by Sissa, the International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste, aimed at fostering dialogue between science and society on the new challenges coming from neuroscience.

scholarly journals The Mass Media Freedom in a State of Emergency: Infodemic vs. COVID-19 Pandemic

SEEU Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Aneta Stojanovska-Stefanova ◽  
Hristina Runcheva Tasev
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
The Public ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Media System ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Times ◽  
Effective Public Health

AbstractInformation, as well as freedom of expression and freedom of the media are essential for democratic society and fundamental characteristic of modern states. The year 2020 will be remembered as a year of pandemic caused from Covid-19 (coronavirus) and a year of response to unexpected challenge that the spread of the virus caused. In the times of pandemic and any type of crisis, the media always plays a key role in informing the public all over the Globe. This paper aims to make theoretical descriptive research and analysis of the influence of coronavirus on news consumption, the role of media in communication and presentation of important developments during pandemic. The authors present an overview of the media system and the latest developments in the EU in preventing fake news related to the pandemic. We conclude that media plays key role in informing the citizens during pandemic and therefore they have increased responsibility in providing reliable information. At the same time, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the media have been challenged with parallel outbreaks of disinformation and misinformation about the virus, ranging from fake coronavirus cures, false claims and harmful health advice to wild conspiracy theories. Disinformation can in turn speed up the spread of disease, hinder effective public health responses, as well as create confusion, fear and distrust. We highlight the fundamental function of creating awareness regarding the topic based on facts, and the need of media for preventing panic and fostering people's understanding by ‘checking the source and information twice’.

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