Immigration as Emergency

Author(s):  
Leah Perry

This chapter discusses the 1980 Mariel Boatlift to show how policy and popular culture worked dialectically in matters of immigration. Media coverage was initially positive, framing President Jimmy Carter’s welcoming of Cuban refugees as an example of America’s generosity in contrast to Cuba’s Communist regime. Yet when news broke that the Mariel Boatlift included refugees who had been released from Castro’s prisons and mental health facilities—and as refugee numbers grew—the media spectacle became alarmist. News media and popular culture made it clear that the United States was under siege in an “immigrant emergency” that originated south of the border, manifested itself in gendered ways, and necessitated action. This chapter explores, in conversation with media, the proposed solution, the Immigrant Emergency Powers Act of 1982, which would have given the president unilateral powers in the face of an “immigration emergency,” and situates these developments in immigration history.

Author(s):  
James Painter

Media research has historically concentrated on the many uncertainties in climate science either as a dominant discourse in media treatments measured by various forms of quantitative and qualitative content analysis or as the presence of skepticism, in its various manifestations, in political discourse and media coverage. More research is needed to assess the drivers of such skepticism in the media, the changing nature of skeptical discourse in some countries, and important country differences as to the prevalence of skepticism in political debate and media coverage. For example, why are challenges to mainstream climate science common in some Anglophone countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia but not in other Western nations? As the revolution in news consumption via new players and platforms causes an increasingly fragmented media landscape, there are significant gaps in understanding where, why, and how skepticism appears. In particular, we do not know enough about the ways new media players depict the uncertainties around climate science and how this may differ from previous coverage in traditional and mainstream news media. We also do not know how their emphasis on visual content affects audience understanding of climate change.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharat Mehra

Abstract Fabricated or fake news has become a phenomenon of unprecedented proportions in the 21st century. Donald J. Trump, the 45th and current President of the United States, has played a major role in its pervasive adoption and spread of misinformation and disinformation since his ascendency on November 8, 2016. In today’s complex political landscape, this article introduces the gerund and present participle “trumping” in mock homage to the fake news legacy of President Trump. “Trumping” simultaneously symbolizes a seemingly contradictory act of subversive and patriotic resistance for libraries to counter his fake news rhetoric to further his political ends. It calls for rural libraries (amongst others) to embrace a multi-pronged approach of information ACTism that draws upon intersections in information literacy-fluency-advocacy in their “trumping” actions to resist the President’s unhealthy behaviors since rural communities (and others) continue to be especially susceptible to his negativity and use of fake news. This think piece is based on analysis of selected news media coverage and provides libraries out-ofthe-box strategies to lead their communities towards critical and reflective analytical political decision-making in the face of fake news bombardment emerging from a person in the highest office of the land.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1312-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason R. Silva ◽  
Joel A. Capellan

This study provides a comparative analysis of news media coverage across four types of mass public shootings: rampage, disgruntled employee, school, and lone-wolf terrorist. This research analyzes the agenda-setting function of the media and identifies differences in coverage and the salience of coverage, proportionality of coverage, changes in coverage over time, and factors influencing levels of coverage. Findings indicate school shootings and lone-wolf terrorist shootings receive disproportionate amounts of news media coverage. This suggests media coverage may be contributing to setting the public and policy agenda concerning the phenomenon. These findings have important implications for public perceptions of risk, conceptualizations of potential perpetrators, and the implementation of security measures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  

Bertijn van der Steenhoven The media coverage of fake news, a hype? This article provides insight into the intensified media attention for fake news in Dutch newspaper articles between May 2016 and April 2017 from the perspective of Vasterman’s (2005) theory of media hypes. It was found that speculations about the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States as a result of the spread of fake news caused a news wave. This news wave consists mainly of meta news and contains few news articles about the disclosure of fake news. The news production is mainly driven by meta news and by news about qualifications of the media as ‘fake news’. This article calls for further research into the media attention for fake news in other media than newspapers in the Netherlands as well as in other countries. Keywords: fake news, media hype, news wave, key event, hoax


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Bithell

SummaryPsychiatry receives less media coverage than general medicine, and the coverage it does receive is four times as likely to be negatively framed. In addition, coverage of mental health problems is often negative in tone and mental health research tends to be underrepresented in the media. As the media is likely to be a key source of information for the general public about mental health and psychiatry, this is worrying. There are opportunities, however, to change this landscape; the UK national news media are keen to cover more stories about mental health problems and to feature more psychiatrists' comments in their coverage. By engaging with the media, psychiatrists have the chance to create better-informed media narrative.


Author(s):  
Jaclyn Schildkraut ◽  
Glenn W. Muschert

Mass shootings in the United States continue to be a cause for national concern both for the public and politicians alike. A key component in this pervasive discourse is the news media, which, since most people never will directly experience a mass shooting or other episodic violent crime, acts as the main source for information about these and other crime events. The present study analyzes the media coverage and framing patterns of 12 years of public mass shootings following the 1999 attack at Columbine High School. A two-dimensional analytic model is used to examine framing at both the spatial and temporal levels. The findings indicate that while the framing across the time dimension remains consistent with previous research, the use of the space frames departs from previous research, indicating a shift in the coverage. These findings and their associated implications for policy responses to mass shootings also are considered.


Author(s):  
Amit Kumar

The face of a news room in India has been changed radically with the ever growing popularity of social media, where it sets agenda for the news organizations to follow. The #Lalitgate is a classical example, where the Ex IPL Commissioner, Lalit Modi, who has gained a notorious image due to his controversies, broke news on twitter, from there it has been picked up by 24x7 news channels, subsequently online portals do a piece on it, again there is a prime time discussion on that news, followed by a morning coverage by the news papers. As a person gain ability to create sensationalism, he utilizes the ability of social media to create some dialogues, with a larger worldwide audience, which was earlier not possible due to the monologue approach of traditional media. The ability of that piece of information to get retweeted by followers allows it to trend high on twitter. As the number become astonishing some time, it automatically qualifies for the attention of the editors of media organizations and eventually sets the agenda of the day. The social media platforms; Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp etc. have become the essential tool of news gathering of a modern news room. Twitter with its 302 million followers worldwide, eventually became a credible online source of news gathering as the tweets are usually came through a first person, citing his/her views or, opinion on a subject matter. This research paper aims to critically analyze the role of twitter as an agenda setting tool in #Lalitgate, where, the cricket administrator turned whistleblower, Lalit Modi, used twitter effectively for his revelations, and he not only trolled successfully on twitter but news media as well. The scope of this paper is limited to the media coverage by English medium news channels and papers only.


2020 ◽  
pp. 216747952092218
Author(s):  
Katherine L. Lavelle

While public discussion about mental illness has become increasingly common in the United States, previous research has found that having a mental illness diagnosis is assumed to be incompatible with elite athletic success. As explored in hegemonic masculinity scholarship, to be successful, professional male athletes attempt to physically dominate opponents. In 2018, National Basketball Association (NBA) star Kevin Love disclosed having a panic attack during a game as well as living with depression and anxiety. While Love was not the only NBA player to publicly come forward to discuss their mental health experiences, Love is a successful White player in a league where 73.9% of players self-identify as Black or African American. His social location connects his public health discussion to existing scholarship on whiteness, hegemonic masculinity, and mental illness. Love was praised for his willingness to speak about his personal experiences and provide support for others. However, through a critical discourse analysis of sports media coverage of Love’s disclosure and subsequent mental health advocacy, this study reveals that his public discussion was constructed in terms of his identity as a White athlete and constrained by expectations of hegemonic masculinity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela S. Lee ◽  
Ronald Weitzer ◽  
Daniel E. Martínez

Recent police killings of citizens in the United States have attracted massive coverage in the media, large-scale public protests, and demands for reform of police departments throughout the country. This study is based on a content analysis of newspaper coverage of recent high-profile incidents that resulted in a citizen’s death in Ferguson, North Charleston, and Baltimore. We identify both incident-specific content as well as more general patterns that transcend the three cases. News media coverage of similar incidents in past decades tended to be episodic and favored the police perspective. Our findings point to some important departures from this paradigm. Reporting in our three cases was more likely to draw connections between discrete incidents, to attach blame to the police, and to raise questions about the systemic causes of police misconduct. These findings may be corroborated in future studies of news media representations of high-profile policing incidents elsewhere.


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