scholarly journals Creating the Conditions for Communication in the Public Good

2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Raboy

Abstract: Contemporary media in all their guises support and sustain an unprecedented platform for communication and public discussion — for those who are able to participate. Creating an environment in which media can flourish is the domain of public policy. The media policy framework and the possibilities that it provides are terribly misunderstood. That does not mean that media policy should be cast aside. Using a range of historical and contemporary issues and examples, this article explores how people and their public institutions can create the conditions that enable media and communication technologies to serve the public good. Résumé : Les médias contemporains sous toutes leurs formes favorisent le maintien d’une plate-forme inédite pour la communication et les débats publics-accessible à ceux et celles qui sont en mesure d’y participer. La création d’un environnement au sein duquel les médias pourront prospérer relève des politiques publiques. Le cadre politique médiatique et les possibilités qu’il recèle sont extrêmement mal interprétés. Ce qui ne signifie pas pour autant qu’il faille le mettre au rancart. S’appuyant sur une gamme d’enjeux et d’exemples historiques et contemporains, cet article explore comment les gens et les institutions publiques peuvent créer les conditions grâce auxquelles les technologies médiatiques et de communication serviront les intérêts du public.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-119
Author(s):  
Karol Franczak

Abstract One of the main goals of contemporary media, along with the experts and professionals, who speak in them, has been to explain complex issues and provide the audience with clear descriptions of social reality. This is mostly achieved by the production of ideologically useful interpretative schemes that facilitate understanding of the issues present on the media agenda. An important strategy of shaping the public opinion in the way in which public affairs and the activity of social life participants is framed. Analyses of such practices have been conducted for over thirty years within various research approaches collectively referred to as framing analysis. This research provides several arguments helping one to develop a more critical perspective on the representations of social phenomena dominant in the media and discourses of symbolic elites (e.g. opinion writers, academics, experts, journalists, politicians), along with the analyses of the origin of such phenomena, moral judgements and preferred "corrective policies". One of the phenomena defined by the media in Europe as the most important one for the past several years, is the so-called "New Right". The aim of the paper is to analyse the interpretative schemes used by the journalists of four Polish opinion-forming weeklies and to describe the activity of its German manifestation – the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (Pegida) social movement and the Alternative for Germany party (AfD).


2020 ◽  

On 11 and 12 September 2018, the fourth symposium of the “Wissenschaftliche Vereinigung für das gesamte Regulierungsrecht” [“Scientific Association for the Entirety of Regulatory Law”] took place at the University of Regensburg. The topic was: “New challenges for the public good – consequences for competition law and regulation”. The basic idea of the conference concept was, on the one hand, to consider which new challenges for the public good exist in the classical network economies of the telecommunications, energy and railway regulations, and on the other hand, to focus on adjacent sectors – such as the media and communications industries – and finally go beyond the sectors considered so far. The conference was divided into the following thematic blocks: “basic papers”, “classic sectors in transition”, “new sectors in the internet age” and “new challenges beyond the sectors”. The fourth volume of the series contains the lectures given at the symposium. With contributions by Markus Ludwigs, Heike Schweitzer, Thomas Fetzer, Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof, Karten Otte, Karl-Eberhard Hain, Ralf Müller-Terpitz, Rupprecht Podszun, Thosten Kingreen, Julia Barth, Anna Kellner, Fabian Toros and Florian Sackmann


Vojno delo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
Nenad Perić ◽  
Miroslav Mitrović

The paper elaborates the concept and significance of media policy and implements it to the Serbian Armed Forces. The importance of the media in the security sector at national and international level is analyzed and the need for good media representation of the Serbian Armed Forces is emphasized in order to support the public for important decisions concerning military and security issues. The concept of strategic communications and their relationship with the media policy that the Armed Forces should develop as one of the instruments of soft power, which is of interest not only to this system, but also to the state and society, has been presented. Moreover, the main elements are presented, whose fulfillment would create conditions for the establishment and conduct of an adequate media policy as an instrument of soft power.


Author(s):  
Ufuoma Akpojivi

Media freedom is pivotal to the sustenance and consolidation of democracy, as the quality of democracy in any society depends on the level of freedom accorded the media and the plurality of views entertained (Diamond, 2008). The ability of the mass media to carry out their traditional functions of educating, entertaining and enlightening the public about their democratic rights, and holding governments accountable, will subsequently lead to the establishment of a strong democratic institution. Hence there is need to protect media freedom in any democratic society (Baker, 2007; Norris, 2008). The Nigerian media environment, however, is characterised by a series of laws such as sedition law, official secret act, amongst others, which have directly and indirectly hindered the freedom of the mass media and their responsibility of promoting and advancing democracy. This is made worse by the incomprehensive nature of the 1999 Constitution. Using interviews and policy analysis, this chapter critically examines the policy framework of media freedom in Nigeria and its impact on the operation of the mass media. The ability of the media to live up to their responsibility of promoting and advancing the democratisation process in Nigeria within the available framework is also examined.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1and2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. G. K. Sahu ◽  
Shah Alam

We are living in a mediated world where every aspect of human life is getting affected by images of media. Consciously or unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly our attitudes, values and belief systems are getting increasingly influenced by media. Some media critics expressed serious concern over the influence of the media in our everyday life. In the contemporary media saturated world, the agenda of the media becoming the public agenda. It is in this context, the news media play an important role in shaping public opinion and creating consciousness on different issues. Keeping in view of the importance of the news media in the contemporary society, the paper makes an attempt to ascertain the agenda setting role of the press towards women’s issues. For the purpose two mainstream dailies- one from the English and the other from the Urdu language newspapers purposively taken and their contents related to women’s issues have been subjected to detailed analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13(49) (1) ◽  
pp. 151-166
Author(s):  
Robert Szwed

The free circulation of information in an open and unfettered public sphere is one of the foundations of well-functioning democracies. For theirs proper functioning, access to reliable information is necessary, which — reaching citizens — allows them to make the right decisions and control power. Many factors should be taken into account when analysing the information production process in new and traditional media: publishers-media owners, advertisers-business, communication technologies, public relations institutions, and now algorithms. An important element are also consumers and prosumers of media content, who try to participate in the media flow of information in a more competent or less competent way. The emergence of communication platforms that redistribute information has revolutionized the relationship between the elite, the media, and the public. More importantly, it contributed to the crisis of the public sphere, trust, and defragmentation of societies. Confused citizens are bombarded with information whose sources they cannot assess and disinformation, fake news, and post-truth have permanently entered the popular dictionary, replacing „unfashionable” propaganda and censorship. The aim of the article will be to analyse the current state of the media sphere through the prism of the weaknesses of traditional journalism, insufficient competences of recipients and uncontrolled flow of information controlled by the attention management industry.


2020 ◽  
pp. 183-192
Author(s):  
Carmen-María Robles-López

In 2006 the World Bank studied which were the primary engines of nations’ wealth and concluded that it depends to a large extent on the legitimacy of their public institutions. This research explores legitimacy as an intangible good of the public sector, considering legitimacy as a judgment on the actions of organizations according to social values ​​and norms (Suchman, 1995; Deephouse, 1996; Tyler, 2006; Bitektine, 2011). Related to this concept, we address the concepts of online legitimacy and media legitimacy. Four dimensions of legitimacy are studied: procedural, consequential, structural, and personal. The objective of this work is to explore the evolution of the degree of congruence of the judgments of legitimacy that are formulated about a public institution and their leaders, media, and citizens. The selected case study is the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports and its ministers José Ignacio Wert and Iñigo Méndez de Vigo (2011-2015). The methodological design used for the empirical observation is triangular, enabling a quantitative content analysis to contrast the three observation points from a physical and online perspective. The data enable an evaluation of the evolution over time of the congruence between the statements of the person who directs a public organization and their consequences regarding the trust of citizens. The results reveal the aspects of legitimacy that must be considered in communication practices to avoid disconnecting the organization from the media and citizens. Resumen En 2006 el Banco Mundial estudió cuáles fueron los motores primordiales de riqueza de las naciones y concluyó que la riqueza de los países depende en una gran parte de la legitimidad de sus instituciones públicas. Esta investigación explora la legitimidad como un bien intangible del sector público, considerando la legitimidad como un juicio sobre las acciones de las organizaciones de acuerdo a valores y normas sociales (Suchman, 1995; Deephouse, 1996; Tyler, 2006; Bitektine, 2011). Relacionados a este concepto, aborda los conceptos de legitimidad online y legitimidad mediática. Se estudian cuatro dimensiones de la legitimidad: procedimental, consiguiente, estructural y personal. El objetivo de este trabajo es explorar la evolución del grado de congruencia de los juicios de legitimidad que formulan sobre una institución pública y su líder, la propia organización, los medios y los ciudadanos. El caso de estudio seleccionado es el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte y sus ministros José Ignacio Wert e Iñigo Méndez de Vigo (2011-2015). El diseño metodológico empleado para la observación empírica es triangular y se trata de un análisis de contenido cuantitativo para contrastar los tres puntos de observación desde una perspectiva tradicional y online. Los datos permitirán evaluar la evolución en el tiempo de la congruencia entre el discurso de la persona que dirige una organización pública y sus consecuencias en la confianza de los ciudadanos. A la luz de los resultados se muestran los aspectos de la legitimidad que hay que considerar en las prácticas de comunicación para evitar la desconexión de la organización con los medios y con los ciudadanos.


Author(s):  
Michael Morell

This essay assesses the motivation of leakers, the damage from leaks, and the responsibilities of journalists and the Intelligence Community. The essay argues that leaks generally have nothing to do with government wrongdoing, leakers are rarely motivated by a belief that the public needs to know about government wrongdoing, though leakers often claim to be, and the damage to the security and economy of the country from leaks is tremendous. News organizations should take seriously the potential damage from publication of classified information and should weigh the public good against that potential damage to national security. The Intelligence Community should build relationships with the media based on honesty and trust, so they will be seen as acting in good faith when they ask the media not to publish classified information for security reasons. All leakers should be prosecuted, so there can be an assessment of whether those who claim they acted for the public good actually did so.


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