scholarly journals Lithuanian Online News Media Role in the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 99-134
Author(s):  
Ugnė Kotryna Aleksandravičiūtė ◽  
Unė Dabužinskaitė ◽  
Adelė Daškevičiūtė ◽  
Lukas Juozapaitis ◽  
Milda Mockūnaitė ◽  
...  

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Strategic Analysis Model outlines areas where the role of the media is important during a pandemic, so these areas may be selected to examine how the Lithuanian media perform their public information function during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study of the content of the Lithuanian media clarifies whether the media take into account the areas that, according to the WEF strategic analysis model, the media has an impact during the COVID-19 outbreak. This should provide new insights into the priorities and communication strategies of the Lithuanian media, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of the article is to present three Lithuanian online newspapers quantitative and qualitative research and, in the context of the WEF Strategic Analysis model and, based on the data obtained, to assess the role of the Lithuanian media during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been established that during the pandemic, Lithuanian online media pay sufficient attention to the topic of general governance: good and bad cases of health crisis management are shown to the public. However, during the research it became clear that international news on the topic of global governance dominates in Lithuanian news media: the media pay more attention to events in the international arena, and the challenges of Lithuania‘s internal management account for only a fifth of all information in the researched online newspapers. The article was prepared by Vilnius University journalism master students (2020).

Author(s):  
Andree Affeich

The objective of this study is to examine the role of ideology in translating news media, and the representation of language in the media. The framing approach and the framing of realities through the process of translation will be examined whereby ‘changes’ are made for ideological purposes in response to the attempts of the group of receptors and to ‘the norms’ of those receptors. The impact of language ideology on translation and the way in which translation serves cultural, political, religious or literary concepts continues to grow nowadays. Ideology is affecting the translation of the source texts in many types of discourses, among them the journalistic discourse which constitutes the subject of this study. How does ideology work? How is ideology conveyed through the translation of news media? What is its role and impact on the target texts? How does ideology influence the choices of translators? These are some of the questions which will be dealt with throughout this paper. The representation of language in media will be also studied with a particular attention to be given to the use of lexical choices that show how ideology appears in the source texts and the target texts, and to the validity and legitimacy of language which carries an ideological stamp. For the purpose of this study, a corpus of online news articles in English highlighting the war in Syria will be used in parallel with the translation of this corpus into Arabic by two opposite media outlets: the pro-regime and the anti-regime.


Author(s):  
Nik Norma Nik Hasan

In this presentation I argue that the media are important tools of national development. One way to propel the SDGs into the public sphere and planes of national discourse is through the media because  of its ability to hold government accountable to the people. Subsequently, the role of the media in development will be: to serve as nation builders, partners with government, agents of empowerment as well as watchdogs and guardians of transparency. This study used the News Framing theory to examine how Malaysian online newspapers framed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which also aligns with the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020). Previous research already shows that Malaysians exhibit an intensive online news consumption behavior. This suggests that the Malaysian online newspapers can assign importance to developmental issues and raise them to the planes of national discourse. The significant themes from the findings appeared in five broad themes: economy, education, environment, infrastructure and poverty. These themes intermingled with all the 17SDGs and 11MP. Salience was attributed to Malaysian development agendas through routinely used key words and phrases, news elements and news sources. This suggests that the sampled Malaysian online newspapers served a watchdog role.


Author(s):  
Siti Aeisha Joharry ◽  
Nor Diyana Saupi

The International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which was not ratified in Malaysia, created a heated public discourse in the media. This cross-linguistic comparative study investigates the representation of ICERD in Malaysian news reports of two online sources in Malaysia – the widely read English portal: The Star Online, and its Malay equivalent: Berita Harian. A corpus-assisted discourse analysis was conducted to examine how news on ‘ICERD’ were reported in both English and Malay online newspapers. Initial comparative analysis of both newspapers revealed that the search term co-occurs statistically more frequently with the verb ‘ratify’ and its equivalent: ‘meratifikasi’. Patterns indicate that ‘ICERD’ was mostly referring to the act of sanctioning the agreement –particularly to ‘not ratify’ or ‘tidak akan meratifikasi’, which is concurrent with the timeframe of events. Interestingly, different patterns can be found in Berita Harian (e.g. the expression of ‘thanks’ or gratitude of not ratifying ICERD) that are not as revealing in The Star Online reports. Some inconsistencies were also reported between the two newspapers, e.g. referring to different ministers’ speech about the initial plan to ratify ICERD alongside five (The Star Online) or six (Berita Harian) other treaties in the following year.  


Author(s):  
Julia Partheymüller

It is widely believed that the news media have a strong influence on defining what are the most important problems facing the country during election campaigns. Yet, recent research has pointed to several factors that may limit the mass media’s agenda-setting power. Linking news media content to rolling cross-section survey data, the chapter examines the role of three such limiting factors in the context of the 2009 and the 2013 German federal elections: (1) rapid memory decay on the part of voters, (2) advertising by the political parties, and (3) the fragmentation of the media landscape. The results show that the mass media may serve as a powerful agenda setter, but also demonstrate that the media’s influence is strictly limited by voters’ cognitive capacities and the structure of the campaign information environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Brosius ◽  
Erika J van Elsas ◽  
Claes H de Vreese

Over the past decade, the European Union has lost the trust of many citizens. This article investigates whether and how media information, in particular visibility and tonality, impact trust in the European Union among citizens. Combining content analysis and Eurobarometer survey data from 10 countries between 2004 and 2015, we study both direct and moderating media effects. Media tone and visibility have limited direct effects on trust in the European Union, but they moderate the relation between trust in national institutions and trust in the European Union. This relation is amplified when the European Union is more visible in the media and when media tone is more positive towards the European Union, whereas it is dampened when media tone is more negative. The findings highlight the role of news media in the crisis of trust in the European Union.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veera Kangaspunta

The aim of this article is to approach one specific environmental topic and the public debate around this topic from a user-oriented perspective – through online news comments. The article analyses online news and comments sections from three Finnish online newspapers concerning the mining accident of Talvivaara company in November 2012. Discourse and discursive legitimation strategies are used as analytical tools with the focus of critical discourse analysis. The study aims to solve what kind of discourses the public debate contains and how these discourses are connected to certain legitimation strategies. In addition, the article also continues the conceptual deliberation about the concept of the public as a group of people participating in public discussion. The study shows that Talvivaara news and news comments consist four main strategies, authorization, rationalization, moral evaluations and mythopoiesis, used for legitimation, relegitimation and delegitimation. However, the parties differ in the way they utilize these strategies and different discourses. Consequently, online news commenting appears as a unique part of the public debate about the topic, rather than remaining marginal flaming. The users tend to absorb the role of the public as a part of the public showdown about the shared issue.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 330-339
Author(s):  
Abdul-Karim Ziani ◽  
Mokhtar Elareshi ◽  
Khalid Al-Jaber

Abstract Many critical questions concerning the relationship between the news media and political knowledge involve the extent to which the media facilitate learning about news, war and politics. Political awareness - via the news media - affects virtually every aspect of citizens’ political attitudes and behaviours. This paper examines how Libyan elites adopt the news media to access news and information regarding the current Libyan war and politics and how they use political communication and new media to build/spread political awareness. With the expansion of private and state-owned television in Libya, concern has grown that these new TV services will survive in providing information about citizens’ interests, including the new, developing political scene. A total of 134 highly educated Libyan professionals completed an online survey, reporting their perceptions of issues covered by national TV services. This account centres on how those elites consume the media and what level of trust they have in the media and in information and what the role of the media in their country should be. The results show that most respondents, especially those who live outside the country, prefer using different Libyan news platforms. However, 50 per cent of these do not trust these channels as a source of information regarding the civil war, associated conflicts and politics in general. They have grown weary of coverage that represents the interests of those who run or own the services and consequently place little trust in the media. Spreading ‘lies as facts’ has affected the credibility of these services. Politically, these respondents wish the media to discuss solutions and act as a force for good, not for division. They also differed in the number and variety of national news sources that they reportedly used. This paper also highlights the role of social media, mobile telephony and the Internet, as well as the rapidly proliferating private and national media. These findings are also discussed in relation to the growing impact of online sources in Libyan society, social and political change and the emergence of new media platforms as new sources of information.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-212
Author(s):  
Patrick Craddock

Media, Information and Development in Papua New Guinea is one of the most interesting books I have on Pacific media. It is a collection of different writers, some of whom are current or former journalists. Several of the authors have direct media links as staff working with the Divine Word University in Madang, a private Christian institution. For the uninitiated, the opening chapter gives an outline of the media landscape in PNG. Other chapters explore media ownership, journalism education and the role of media national development. 


Journalism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu ◽  
Catherine M Hooker ◽  
Homero Gil de Zúñiga

This article explores the role of trust in professional and alternative media as (a) antecedents of citizen news production, and (b) moderators of the effect of citizen news production on political participation. Using two-wave panel survey data collected in the United States between December 2013 and March 2014, results show that trust in citizen media predicts people’s tendency to create news. In turn, citizen news production is a positive predictor of both offline and online participation. More importantly, trust in the media moderates the effect of citizen news production over online political participation. Overall, this article highlights the importance of trust in the media with respect to citizen news production and how it matters for democracy. Thus, this study casts a much-needed light on how media trust and citizen journalism intertwine in explaining a more engaged and participatory citizenry.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Nuriely ◽  
Moti Gigi ◽  
Yuval Gozansky

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the ways socio-economic issues are represented in mainstream news media and how it is consumed, understood and interpreted by Israeli young adults (YAs). It examines how mainstream media uses neo-liberal discourse, and the ways YAs internalize this ethic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome its limitations. Design/methodology/approach This was a mixed methods study. First, it undertook content analysis of the most popular Israeli mainstream news media among YAs: the online news site Ynet and the TV Channel 2 news. Second, the authors undertook semi-structured in-depth interviews with 29 Israeli YAs. The analysis is based on an online survey of 600 young Israelis, aged 18–35 years. Findings Most YAs did not perceive mainstream media as enabling a reliable understanding of the issues important to them. The content analysis revealed that self-representation of YAs is rare, and that their issues were explained, and even resolved, by older adults. Furthermore, most of YAs' problems in mainstream news media were presented using a neo-liberal perspective. Finally, from the interviews, the authors learned that YAs did not find information that could help them deal with their most pressing economic and social issue, in the content offered by mainstream media. For most of them, social media overcomes these shortcomings. Originality/value Contrary to research that has explored YAs’ consumerism of new media outlets, this article explores how YAs in Israel are constructed in the media, as well as the way in which YAs understand mainstream and new social media coverage of the issues most important to them. Using media content analysis and interviews, the authors found that Young Adults tend to be ambivalent toward media coverage. They understand the lack of media information: most of them know that they do not learn enough from the media. This acknowledgment accompanies their tendency to internalize the neo-liberal logic and conservative Israeli national culture, in which class and economic redistribution are largely overlooked. Mainstream news media uses neo-liberal discourse, and young adults internalize this logic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome the limitations this discourse offers. They do so by turning to social media, mainly Facebook. Consequently, their behavior maintains the logic of the market, while also developing new social relations, enabled by social media.


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