scholarly journals Mediatizing Slum Relocation in Egypt: Between Legitimization and Stigmatization

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Elmouelhi ◽  
Martin Meyer ◽  
Reham Reda ◽  
Asmaa Abdelhalim

In Egypt, the relocation of residents of informal areas of housing into “proper” living environments is presented as a major political achievement offering citizens a much-improved quality of life. Therefore, it is not surprising that, following the Arab Uprisings, the current regime is widely publicizing relocation projects as success stories on TV and social media. As a way of garnering legitimization and securing stability, this official representation is reshaping the residents’ urban life and evoking narratives of slum dwellers’ transformation into respected citizens. Tackling a new area of interdisciplinary research between urban studies and media and communication studies, this article investigates the portrayal in mainstream media channels and social media platforms of two relocation projects (Al-Asmarat in Cairo and Al-Max in Alexandria), contrasting them with the residents’ perceptions of their new homes and their efforts to produce counter-imagery. The authors argue that both the state-dominated representation of the Al-Asmarat resettlement as an ideal solution to the crisis of informal settlements, as well as the more bottom-up construction of the Al-Max community as a picturesque fishing community, do not reflect the material experience of the inhabitants—despite it being presented as such in nationwide reporting. The effective centering of the public debate around the mediatized images has thus deflected criticism and enabled urban development projects to be positioned to legitimize the current rule despite the shortcomings of their implementation.

Author(s):  
Max Z. Li ◽  
Megan S. Ryerson

Community outreach and engagement efforts are critical to an airport’s role as an ever-evolving transportation infrastructure and regional economic driver. As online social media platforms continue to grow in both popularity and influence, a new engagement channel between airports and the public is emerging. However, the motivations behind and effectiveness of these social media channels remain unclear. In this work, we address this knowledge gap by better understanding the advantages, impact, and best practices of this newly emerging engagement channel available to airports. Focusing specifically on airport YouTube channels, we first document quantitative viewership metrics, and examine common content characteristics within airport YouTube videos. We then conduct interviews and site visits with relevant airport stakeholders to identify the motivations and workflow behind these videos. Finally, we facilitate sample focus groups designed to survey public perceptions of the effectiveness and value of these videos. From our four project phases, to maximize content effectiveness and community engagement potential, we synthesize the following framework of action items, recommendations, and best practices: (C) Consistency and community; (O) Organizational structure; (M) Momentum; (B) Branding and buy-in; (A) Activity; (T) Two-way engagement; (E) Enthusiasm; and (D) Depth, or as a convenient initialism, our COMBATED framework.


First Monday ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Turner ◽  
Dima Saber

Check Global is a journalism and digital literacy development project (2019–2021) supporting countries and regions affected by conflict or state controls. In such contexts, expectations are set high for alternative journalism to accurately counter mainstream media narratives, controlled as they often are by the state; this article presents factors to be taken into consideration as a starting point for better understanding the challenges involved in developing journalism, e.g., through funded training initiatives. The article draws on interviews with prominent alternative and independent media outlets (some of them Check Global partners) from India, Latin America, Egypt and Lebanon, who therefore have operational experience of these issues. By viewing digital and social media through an anti-determinist lens, we challenge assumptions — especially prevalent following the 2011 Arab uprisings — that ‘open access’ and social media platforms can easily provide solutions to media plurality concerns. We explore factors such as the role of technology in alternative media, but also the main barriers faced by alternative media projects and outlets. This article therefore opens up a more honest discussion about the nature of alternative media projects in such contexts, and the ways in which digital literacy projects such as Check Global could support them.


2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-172
Author(s):  
Kateřina Turková ◽  
Veronika Macková ◽  
Alice Němcová Tejkalová

Social media platforms allow athletes to share information with the public. This opportunity is arguably more important for female athletes who traditionally receive less space in the mainstream media than their male counterparts. This article focuses on the social media self-presentation of six successful, internationally recognized, professional Czech female athletes and their fans’ reactions. By using qualitative and quantitative content analyses, it was revealed that throughout the season, the selected athletes presented themselves as powerful professionals, while their off-season posting tended to be more personal and, for the most part, more feminine. Contrary to previous research, fans did not frequently respond with explicitly sexual or negative comments. Moreover, they supported and admired the athletes, and in most cases, reacted positively. A higher sensitivity was indicated in relation to the sportswomen’s personal relationships and opinions. This leads us to the conclusion that social media enables professional female athletes to present themselves more freely than traditional media and be positively received by the public.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Resky Eka Rachmandani ◽  
Eko Priyo Purnomo ◽  
Aulia Nur Kasiwi

In this era of the 21st century, political parties have many ways to develop a campaign, including on social media as a new medium to do a campaign. Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P) has its own strategy toward social media to achieve their power in society. This research aims to discover the level of electability of PDI-P through Instagram, one of social media platforms being used to make social interaction with the public. Starting from Instagram, this research has decided three criteria: basic of election mode, media channels, and technological access to political party that can be seen by public. The analysis is conducted to a variety of large and small media outlets that analyze and explore things beyond political parties. This research uses Nvivo12 Plus as network analysis tools to identify and analyze data from Instagram related to PDI-P strategy. The results of this study show that social media has a significant role in pursuing and maintaining the power of political parties to stay strong in society’s life. This research also develops a novelty, based on the results, that social media has a strong power to build a strategy and accept plurality in society’s behavior, instead of building a strong branding of the political party itself and stand out as candidates.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (24) ◽  
pp. 18-29
Author(s):  
Gideon Satria Putra Sugiyanto ◽  
Annisa Sabrina Nur Arrasy ◽  
Sweeta Melanie

The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on in Indonesia for more than a year since the beginning of 2020. This pandemic has certainly had many negative impacts, both macro, and micro. The Indonesian government has made a lot of efforts to tackle this pandemic both operationally and in socialization to reduce the further spread of vaccine efforts throughout Indonesia. But unfortunately, there is the challenge of spreading fake news related to the COVID-19 vaccine that is troubling the public. The spread of fake news happened quite quickly with digital communication using social media. Research using qualitative methods examines the condition of socialization communication related to the COVID-19 vaccine, fake news, and efforts to overcome it through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The results of the study show that there has been a lot of communication and socialization carried out by the government regarding the COVID-19 vaccine but it has not been structured in one source and there is still minimal anticipation of fake news. As a result, a lot of fake news has spread widely in the community regarding COVID-19, starting from issues related to health and beyond health or safety. Efforts that can be made to minimize the spread of fake news and its dangers include collaboration with various stakeholders, mass and periodic socialization and education on various social media channels, strict penalties for spreading fake news, providing social media platforms or channels to file complaints, create educational content and creative counter-narrative.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laila Fariha Zein ◽  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan

In today’s world, it is easier and easier to stay connected with people who are halfway across the world. Social media and a globalizing economy have created new methods of business, trade and socialization resulting in vast amounts of communication and effecting global commerce. Like her or hate her, Kimberly Noel Kardashian West as known as Kim Kardashian has capitalized on social media platforms and the globalizing economy. Kim is known for two things: famous for doing nothing and infamous for a sex tape. But Kim has not let those things define her. With over 105 million Instagram followers and 57 million Twitter followers, Kim has become a major global influence. Kim has travelled around the world, utilizing the success she has had on social media to teach make-up master classes with professional make-up artist, Mario Dedivanovic. She owns or has licensed several different businesses including: an emoji app, a personal app, a gaming app, a cosmetics line, and a fragrance line. Not to be forgotten, the Kardashian family show, ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ has been on the air for ten years with Kim at the forefront. Kim also has three books: ‘Kardashian Konfidential’, ‘Dollhouse’, and ‘Selfish’. With her rising social media following, Kim has used the platforms to show her support for politicians and causes, particularly, recognition of the Armenian genocide. Kim also recently spoke at the Forbes’ women’s summit. Following the summit, Kim tweeted out her support for a recent movement on Twitter, #freeCyntoiaBrown which advocated for a young woman who claimed to have shot and killed the man who held her captive as a teenage sex slave in self-defense. Kim had her own personal lawyers help out Cyntoia on her case. Kim has also moved beyond advocating for issues within the confines of the United States. As mentioned earlier, she is known for advocating for recognition of the Armenian genocide. In the last two years, her show has made it a point to address the Armenian situation as it was then and as it is now. Kim has been recognized as a global influencer by others across the wordl. We believe Kim has become the same as political leaders when it comes to influencing the public. Kim’s story reveals that the new reality creates a perfect opportunity for mass disturbances or for initiating mass support or mass disapproval. Although Kim is typically viewed for her significance to pop culture, Kim’s business and social media following have placed her deep into the mix of international commerce. As her businesses continue to grow and thrive, we may see more of her influence on international issues and an increase in the commerce from which her businesses benefit.


Author(s):  
Meghan Lynch ◽  
Irena Knezevic ◽  
Kennedy Laborde Ryan

To date, most qualitative knowledge about individual eating patterns and the food environment has been derived from traditional data collection methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and observations. However, there currently exists a large source of nutrition-related data in social media discussions that have the potential to provide opportunities to improve dietetic research and practice. Qualitative social media discussion analysis offers a new tool for dietetic researchers and practitioners to gather insights into how the public discusses various nutrition-related topics. We first consider how social media discussion data come with significant advantages including low-cost access to timely ways to gather insights from the public, while also cautioning that social media data have limitations (e.g., difficulty verifying demographic information). We then outline 3 types of social media discussion platforms in particular: (i) online news article comment sections, (ii) food and nutrition blogs, and (iii) discussion forums. We discuss how each different type of social media offers unique insights and provide a specific example from our own research using each platform. We contend that social media discussions can contribute positively to dietetic research and practice.


Epidemiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Mst. Marium Begum ◽  
Osman Ulvi ◽  
Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic ◽  
Mallory R. Walsh ◽  
Hasan Tarek ◽  
...  

Background: Chikungunya is a vector-borne disease, mostly present in tropical and subtropical regions. The virus is spread by Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitos and symptoms include high fever to severe joint pain. Dhaka, Bangladesh, suffered an outbreak of chikungunya in 2017 lasting from April to September. With the goal of reducing cases, social media was at the forefront during this outbreak and educated the public about symptoms, prevention, and control of the virus. Popular web-based sources such as the top dailies in Bangladesh, local news outlets, and Facebook spread awareness of the outbreak. Objective: This study sought to investigate the role of social and mainstream media during the chikungunya epidemic. The study objective was to determine if social media can improve awareness of and practice associated with reducing cases of chikungunya. Methods: We collected chikungunya-related information circulated from the top nine television channels in Dhaka, Bangladesh, airing from 1st April–20th August 2017. All the news published in the top six dailies in Bangladesh were also compiled. The 50 most viewed chikungunya-related Bengali videos were manually coded and analyzed. Other social media outlets, such as Facebook, were also analyzed to determine the number of chikungunya-related posts and responses to these posts. Results: Our study showed that media outlets were associated with reducing cases of chikungunya, indicating that media has the potential to impact future outbreaks of these alpha viruses. Each media outlet (e.g., web, television) had an impact on the human response to an individual’s healthcare during this outbreak. Conclusions: To prevent future outbreaks of chikungunya, media outlets and social media can be used to educate the public regarding prevention strategies such as encouraging safe travel, removing stagnant water sources, and assisting with tracking cases globally to determine where future outbreaks may occur.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Burge ◽  
Miles D. Williams

Social media is altering how some religious leaders communicate with their followers and with the public. This has the potential to challenge theories of religious communication that have been developed through the study of traditional modes such as sermons. This study examines how leaders in U.S. evangelicalism take advantage of the public platform provided by Twitter. Using over 85,000 tweets from 88 prominent evangelical leaders, we find that these leaders often use their social media platforms as a natural extension of their current modes of communication. More specifically, evangelical leaders use their account to encourage and inspire their followers, while also conveying information about upcoming personal projects such as tours and book releases. In a small number of cases, evangelical leaders do make reference to political issues, but those individuals are ones who have already built a brand based on political commentary. Speaking broadly, the usage of political language by evangelical leaders is rare. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this analysis advances theories of religion and communication.KeywordsTwitter – social media – evangelicals – leaders


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