scholarly journals Noises in communication: “double bind” during the epidemic of COVID-19 in Serbia

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-608
Author(s):  
Mladen Stajic ◽  
Bojan Zikic ◽  
Marko Pisev
Keyword(s):  
Public Perception ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Double Bind ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Restrictive Measures

In this paper, through the application of the concept of double bind, formulated by the British anthropologist Gregory Bateson and his associates, the communicative contradiction of messages and instructions related to behavior in circumstances of epidemiological danger, announced by the government officials, doctors and the Crisis Staff during the corona virus epidemic in Serbia will be considered, as well as the consequences of such communication dissonance on the public perception of preventive and restrictive measures. The concept of double bind, which implies communication during which an individual or group from the position of authority continuously receives two or more conflicting messages that are mutually exclusive, without the possibility of feedback and resolving contradictions, is applicable to any type of cultural communication where it is important, although difficult, to correctly distinguish the obtained information. During the COVID-19 epidemic in Serbia, public messages concerning the degree of danger posed by the virus, contagion and mortality, vulnerable groups, the possibility of acquiring collective immunity, effective prevention measures, etc., were often accompanied by contradictory statements from policy makers or their actions, behavior and non-verbal communication that were contrary to what was verbally communicated and recommended. Since the communication was mostly oneway during the epidemic, because information was announced from the position of authority, through the media and at press conferences that were suspended for a certain period, without the possibility of clarifying the dilemmas, the collective dissatisfaction of recipients caused by misunderstandings and contradictions often manifested itself through humor, satire, refusal of obedience, protests, etc. This paper will consider the way in which double bind can represent a form of control and a shift of responsibility not only at the individual or family level, but also at the level of the society as a whole.

How to Tell the Truth without Outraging the Press?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese News Media

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 

scholarly journals Risk Perception of COVID−19 Community Transmission among the Spanish Population

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 8967
Author(s):  
José Miguel Mansilla Domínguez ◽  
Isabel Font Jiménez ◽  
Angel Belzunegui Eraso ◽  
David Peña Otero ◽  
David Díaz Pérez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Spanish Population ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Perception Of Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Set Up

On 11 March 2020 the SARS-CoV−2 virus was officially declared a pandemic and measures were set up in various countries to avoid its spread among the population. This paper aims to analyse the perception of risk of COVID−19 infection in the Spanish population. A cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted with a total of 16,372 Spanish participants. An online survey was used to gather data for 5 consecutive days over the compulsory lockdown period which was established after the state of emergency was declared. There is an association between socio-demographic variables and risk perception, and a very strong relationship between this perception and contact and direct experience with the virus in a family, social or professional setting. We also found that compared to working from home, working outside the home increased the perception of risk of infection and the perception of worsening health. Understanding the public perception of the risk of COVID−19 infection is fundamental for establishing effective prevention measures.

When it is Us Too? How Russian and Japanese media framed sexual harassment towards their journalists

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-221
Author(s):  
Kateryna Kasianenko
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
News Media ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Individual Aspect ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

This study analyses articles of three Russian and four Japanese newspapers covering the cases of journalists facing sexual harassment from their news sources. It aims to assess the ability of the news media of the two countries to expand the coverage of these cases to a larger debate on the position of women through framing analysis of 431 articles. The study reveals that most of the examined articles emphasized the individual aspect of sexual harassment, confining the understanding of sexual harassment to the private sphere. In both countries, work culture of government organizations was linked to the issue of sexual harassment while reflections on the institutional context of media industry were minimal. In Russia, representation of the issue as a conflict between the media and the government was prominent. This was reflected in the unprecedented boycott of the State Duma by Russian journalists. In Japan, the establishment of an informal network of women working in the media industry was a positive development. However, overall findings suggest that the newspapers’ potential to become a forum where the problem of sexual harassment could be debated in relation to broader issues, was not realized to its fullest.

The Losing Media? An Empirical Study of Defamation Litigation in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 230 ◽  
pp. 371-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin He ◽  
Fen Lin
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
News Media ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government

AbstractFollowing a well-established research tradition on court decisions, this study analyses 524 defamation cases in China from 1993 to 2013, explores the media's success possibilities, and investigates the role of party capacity, political influence and the medium effect. Contrary to the existing assertions, we find that the media are not necessarily losing. On average, from 1993 to 2013, the success rate of news media in Chinese defamation courts was 42 per cent, and this rate has been increasing since 2005. We also find that government officials and Party organs had consistent advantages in court, while ordinary plaintiffs, magazines and websites had less success. The medium of the media (i.e. print, broadcast, internet) makes a difference, as do the government policies governing the media. In addition, local protectionism exists, but it is less rampant than expected. These findings compel us to rethink the dynamics among the media, the courts and the state, and their implications on China's institutional resilience.

A Computer Scientist's Reactions to NPfIT

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Randell
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Expert Review ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Large Patient ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
The Media ◽  
Principal Points ◽  
The Government

This paper contains a set of personal views relating to NHS Connecting for Health's National Programme for IT (NPfIT), and in particular its Care Records Service, written from the point of view of a computer scientist, not a medical informatics expert. The principal points made are as follows: Centralisation: Pulling lots of data together (for individual patients and then for large patient populations) harms safety and privacy – it is one byproduct of excessive use of identification when in fact all that is usually needed is authentication. Large centralized data storage facilities can be useful for reliability, but risk exchanging lots of small failures for a lesser number of much larger failures. A much more decentralised approach to electronic patient record (EPR) data and its storage should be investigated. Evolutionary acquisition: Specifying, implementing, deploying and evaluating a sequence of ever more complete IT systems is the best way of ending up with well-accepted and well-trusted systems – especially when this process is controlled by the stakeholders who are most directly involved, rather than by some distant central bureaucracy. Thus authority as well as responsibility should be left with hospital and general practitioner trusts to acquire IT systems that suit their environments and priorities – subject to adherence to minimal interoperability constraints – and to use centralized services (e.g., for system support and back-up) as if and when they choose. Socio-technical issues: Ill-chosen imposed medical IT systems impede patient care, are resisted, result in lots of accidental faults, and lose user support and trust. All these points are attested to by rigorous studies involving expertise from the social sciences (psychology, ethnography, etc.) as well as by technical (medical and computer) experts – much more attention needs to be paid to such studies, and more such studies encouraged. Constructive reviews: A constructive expert review, working closely with Connecting for Health, could be very helpful, but should be evidently independent and open and thus essentially different in nature to past and current inquiries. A review of this nature could not just recommend appropriate changes of plan, and speed progress. It could also contribute to the vital task of helping to restore the trust and confidence of the public and the media in the programme and in the government officials involved.

scholarly journals Covid Economic Policy and Media Response: an Analysis of Culture and Media Content

2020 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 07004
Author(s):  
Amirudin Amirudin ◽  
Agus Subiyanto
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Basic Needs ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Economic Strategy ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This study explores the media's response to Indonesia's economic strategy in overcoming the impact of Covid-19 based on the assumption with the worst scenario, Indonesia will deal with an economic slowdown of minus 0.4%. Most research shows the public response to the implementation of economic strategies gives a positive perception, but not necessarily with the media response. This research was conducted from 1 April to 30 April 2020, designed using content and culture analysis methods to reveal how the media responds to national economic policies with data sources from the news media. The unit of analysis in this research is news and opinions from media people (newspeople). Analysis was carried out with a taxonomic model to the national media Kompas, Detik, and Tempo to find patterns of media response. The study found that media response patterns manifested in 3 patterns: (a) supportive, (b) neutral, and (c) resistant. In general, the supporting pattern is the most prominent in the three media. This pattern is dominant because the media considers the best attitude in a crisis situation is the concern of the state. The media sees this form of concern as reflected in the economic strategy adopted to deal with the impact of Covid-19. To maintain positive media perceptions, researchers recommend that the government needs to continue to protect and mitigate vulnerable groups that are experiencing economic damage by implementing two strategies: (a) basic needs access or meeting basic needs, and (b) sustainability livelihood access or providing opportunities for vulnerable groups to have sustainable livelihoods.

scholarly journals Defamation Laws and Practice in the Age of Internet in Albania

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Leka
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Judicial Corruption ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One

The picture of recent legal developments concerning defamation in Albania is mixed. On the one hand, several criminal defamation and insult statuteshave been abolishedsince 2012, following strong lobbying of human rights organizations. On the other, the application of criminal defamation laws has not stopped, while government officials and other high profile persons have discovered the power of civil defamation claims. Faced with intense criticism, the government has tried to re-introduce the abolished criminal defamation laws and has faced the same strong opposition and international outcry. In the meantime, defamation claims or threats thereof are routinely being used against the media or against the political opponent for the only purposes of creating tension and diffusing the attention of the public. The vagueness of the laws and the inconsistencies of judicial interpretation, helped in no little measure by judicial corruption and the political control of the judiciary, have widened the gap between constitutional and international guarantees of the freedom of speech and the actual enforcement of those guarantees. This article will briefly expose the history of defamation laws in Albania, the difficulties of their application, and the status of affairs concerning defamation laws and claims.

State–Press Relationship in Post-1997 Hong Kong: Constant Negotiation amidst Self-Restraint

2007 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 949-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma Ngok
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Professional Ethics ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Moral Force ◽  
The Press ◽  
Negative News ◽  
Multiple Pressures ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government

AbstractTen years after the handover, Hong Kong's media faced multiple pressures. There were few cases of outright prosecution of the media, but there were subtle political and economic pressures. Co-optation of media bosses, fear of losing advertising revenue and media takeovers by pro-Beijing figures brought some of the media into line. This brought editorial shift and self-censorship, as the media systematically shied away from stories that might antagonize Beijing, underplayed negative news for the government and gave the democrats less favourable coverage. Interviews with journalists showed little evidence of ostensible intervention from government officials or media bosses, but newsroom socialization and editorial gatekeeping are effective constraints. The constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press and the moral force of professional ethics lent the media the room to defend and negotiate their freedom, but the pervasive fear induced by the political environment invariably overpowered the resistance and constrained press freedom in Hong Kong.

scholarly journals Supporting Individual and Society as One of the Principles of Citizenship Rights in Islamic Republic of Iran

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Mohammad Saeed Shafiei ◽  
Meysam Nematollahi
Keyword(s):  
Political Rights ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamic Republic Of Iran ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
International Conventions

Citizenship rights is an obvious issue and one must defend the rights of citizens; but at the same time, we must consider the social realities of a society. When one speaks of the rights of citizens in a society, it does not mean to abide it and this right must be respected especially by government officials. To achieve this objective, the emphasis on understanding, implementation, and observance of citizenship rights should become as a culture and the government should do its supportive measures and efforts fairly and accurately so that social anomalies that are rooted in the lack of abiding citizenship rights, do not spread in the society. Therefore, it should be said that citizens, society, and the government are the three vertices if citizenship rights triangle, as the existence of all vertices is necessary. In this article, we discuss the concepts of citizenship rights and evaluate and assess the supporting principles of the individual and society which are considered as the government’s duties. The reason for studying this issue is to find out why to support individual and society rights? Is this support a citizenship right? The aim of this study is to review citizenship rights including socio-political rights, economic rights and social welfare, judicial and cultural rights as well as supporting principles of the individual and society. To do this study, articles, and various books were studied and fundamentals of supporting the individual and society were developed and extracted. This review showed that supporting individual and community are including citizenship rights, and has been emphasized in all laws and international conventions.

scholarly journals Does Conscience Have to be Free? A Multiple Crossroads of Religious, Political, and Diplomatic Arguments: 1868-1874

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Kōichirō Matsuda
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
The Government ◽  
Religious Sects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
New Generation

This article will focus on the conundrum of building the political legitimacy while institutionalizing religious freedom which the newly established goisshin 御一新 government confronted. Liberation of "evil sects", which not only meant Christianity but also other religious sects such as fujufuse-ha of Nichiren school, was an issue which the Meiji state wanted to dodge. Western states demanded the lifting of the ban on Christianity but Japanese political leaders were vigilant against the idea. Reluctantly the Meiji state lifted the ban on Christianity in 1873 but they had started the institutionalization of Shinto as the state religion in advance. The government officials viewed that Christian faith and churches in Western countries were devised to prevent public mind from dissolution. They strived to establish an alternative version of religious authority in Japan instead of introducing the principle of conscientious freedom. However, on the other hand, a new generation of intellectuals raised the protection of the individual right of religious freedom as an urgent issue. I will analyze the diplomatic negotiations between the Western countries and the Meiji government officials, reports on the Western religious and educational systems in the Iwakura Mission records, voices of Buddhist and Shinto groups, and publications by leading intellectuals such as Nakamura Masao and Katō Hiroyuki so as to build a picture of how the concept of conscientious liberty was treated in such entangled contexts.

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