scholarly journals Who let the blogs out? Media and free speech in post-coup Fiji

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Foster
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Safe Option ◽  
The Press ◽  
Journalistic Ethics

Fiji’s fourth armed seizure of government on 5 December 2006 delivered more than a new administration - it heralded the onslaught of a new media environment. With a heavy military crackdown on dissenting opinion and subsequent self-censorship of mainstream media, anonymous weblogs became a safe option for expressing anti-coup views. But because some anonymous blogs allowed racist, defamatory and provocative views to flourish, the role of the press and journalistic ethics was also seen as important. This article examines how a new—and uneasy—media combination kept freedom of expression alive in the months following the coup d’état. Cartoon: © Malcolm Evans

Truth and Privilege

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndsay Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Social History ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Over Expression ◽  
Essential Question ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Common

Truth and Privilege is a comparative study that brings together legal, constitutional and social history to explore the common law's diverging paths in two kindred places committed to freedom of expression but separated by the American Revolution. Comparing Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, Lyndsay Campbell examines the development of libel law, the defences of truth and privilege, and the place of courts as fora for disputes. She contrasts courts' centrality in struggles over expression and the interpretation of individual rights in Massachusetts with concerns about defining protective boundaries for the press and individuals through institutional design in Nova Scotia. Campbell's rich analysis acts as a lens through which to understand the role of law in shaping societal change in the nineteenth century, shedding light on the essential question we still grapple with today: what should law's role be in regulating expression we perceive as harmful?

Hyperpartisan Sports Media in Trump’s America: The Metapolitics of Breitbart Sports

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 588-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Falcous ◽  
Matthew G. Hawzen ◽  
Joshua I. Newman
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Sexual Politics ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Sports Media ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
News Website ◽  
American Society

The rise of Donald Trump has widely been seen as concurrent to the emergence of the “Alt-Right” that coalesces around intersecting themes of conservativism: White ethno-nationalist “race realism,” populism, misogyny, evangelical theocracy, border protectionism, and anti-liberalism. Media has been a key site of struggle in these developments, with attacks on mainstream media bringing into focus wider questions of truth and legitimacy in journalism. In particular, Trump’s rise has been synonymous with the heightened profile of the Breitbart News website, a purveyor of hyperpartisan, conservative political ideologies. In this article, we consider the place of Breitbart Sports within this dynamic political and media order. Our analysis of the lead-up to the 2016 Presidential election reveals the extent to which Breitbart Sports conveyed a vision of U.S. sport that promoted hard-right agendas in relation to U.S. global stewardship, veiled “race” reclamation discourses, media, immigration, social criticism, policing, sexual politics, and party politics. Breitbart Sports framing casts sport as a liberally infested cultural battleground, where conservativism is under threat. We conclude with a brief discussion about the role of new media in framing political exigencies and the role of sport in contemporary American society.

scholarly journals The right to know and freedom of expression in the Arab world in the Digital Age

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Iman Mohamed Zahra ◽  
Hosni Mohamed Nasr
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Arab States ◽  
The Right

'The right to know' represents a fundamental and vital human right. Progress and development of nations fully require information freedom and knowledge sharing. Using a qualitative analysis of a sample of information and press laws in most of Arab states, this paper aims at discussing 'the right to know' from different perspectives while highlighting the surrounding aspects and their consequences on the right of freedom of expression in those states. The paper also tends to clarify the effects of new media on the vision and practices of governments regarding 'the right to know' and the freedom of the press in the digital age. Moreover, the paper analyzes the different types of censorship the Arab states use to control the new media. Findings shed light on different aspect of 'the right to know' within the different challenges of the digital age and clarify the strong bondage of this right with the other human rights, especially freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

Freedom of Expression and Democracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 81-105
Author(s):  
Ashutosh Bhagwat ◽  
James Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Popular Government ◽  
The Press ◽  
Political Association ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter focuses on the relationship between freedom of expression and democracy from both a historical and a theoretical perspective. The term ‘freedom of expression’ includes free speech, freedom of the press, the right to petition government, and freedom of political association. Eighteenth-century proponents of popular government had long offered democratic justifications for freedom of expression. The chapter then demonstrates that freedom of political expression is a necessary component of democracy. It describes two core functions of such expression: an informing and a legitimating one. Finally, the chapter examines the concept of ‘democracy’, noting various ways in which democracies vary among themselves, as well as the implications of those variations for freedom of expression. Even before democratic forms of government took root in the modern world.

New Media and Terrorism

2014 ◽  
pp. 184-196
Author(s):  
Pauline Hope Cheong
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Video Material

Beyond the widespread coverage of terrorism-related stories on international news outlets, we are witnessing the swift spread of alternative interpretations of these stories online. These alternative narratives typically involve digital transmediation or the remix, remediation, and viral dissemination of textual, audio, and video material on multiple new and social media platforms. This chapter discusses the role of new(er) media in facilitating the transmediated spread of extremist narratives, rumors, and political parody. Drawing from recent case studies based upon multi-modal analyses of digital texts on social media networks, including blogs, vlogs, Twitter, and Jihadist sites associated with acts of terror in Asia, Middle East, and North America, the chapter illustrates how digital transmediation significantly works oftentimes to construct counter narratives to government counter insurgency operations and mainstream media presentations. In discussing these examples, the chapter demonstrates how the new media points to varied narratives and reifies notions of national security, global politics, terrorism, and the media's role in framing the “War on Terrorism.” Moreover, a critical examination of remix texts and digital mashups of popular artifacts inform a Web 2.0 understanding of how the creative communication practices of online prosumers (hybrid consumers and producers) contest dominant interests in the online ideological battlefield for hearts and minds.

Media discourse in a hyper connected society: a comparison between media frame and Twitter discourse during media strike

Info ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong Eun Cho ◽  
Dong-Hee Shin
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Semantic Network ◽  
News Frames ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of news frames associated with traditional media and with Twitter discourse on social issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using semantic network analysis, it identifies the role of new alternative channels as well as discussing ways of understanding and consuming news content in the changing media environment. Additionally, it focuses on the dominant Twitter communicators who rank high in betweenness centrality. Findings – The results confirmed that traditional news media tend to superficially describe main events and media strikes without comment. They tended to consciously or unconsciously favor media corporations by engendering anxiety and conflict or by restraining reports on the rationales of the strike. Twitter discourse, on the contrary, positively represents the striker's arguments and frequently reveals support of the strike. Research limitations/implications – The data set of this study was specialized, not generalized. However, the findings extend literature relating to the role of journalism and alternative channel. For example, this study indicated that the change of media environment has reinforced partiality of news, including both traditional and alternative channels. Practical implications – The findings imply that the advent of new media does not purely represent a laymen's voice and rather tends to strengthen the partiality of media, including both traditional and new media, beyond selective exposure on content of the receiver. Originality/value – By clarifying the influence of alternative channels, this study suggests the counterpart of traditional journalism in the near future.

The online audience as gatekeeper: The influence of reader metrics on news editorial selection

Journalism ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1094-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Tien Vu
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Web Metrics

This study provides a snapshot of the hierarchy-of-influences model in the new media environment through examining the effects of audience web metrics on editors. Surveying 318 gatekeepers, the study found that audience metrics influence editors in gatekeeping. Editors’ likelihood to monitor web metrics is affected by their journalism training. Gatekeepers who attach the importance of high readership to economic benefits are more likely to have different news decisions based on web metrics. The study suggests a revision of the hierarchy-of-influences model with more emphasis being placed on the role of the audience.

Restrictions on free speech are rising globally

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Citizen Journalism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
The Press ◽  
Verification Tools ◽  
Global Law

Significance The arrest is part of a global crackdown on freedom of expression since the Arab uprisings, which has led to unprecedented numbers of journalists, bloggers and cyber activists being killed or imprisoned. The attack on satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo's offices on January 6, in which two cartoonists were among the 11 slain, highlighted the increasing antipathy towards the press and civil society, both from certain governments and non-state actors. Impacts Pressure will grow to hold social media networks and other internet intermediaries responsible for censoring violent and extremist content. The rise of Islamist extremist attacks on Western journalists will increase opaqueness and reliance on citizen journalism and propaganda. Greater reliance on citizens to generate content may spur investment into authentication and verification tools. The resurgence of calls for a global law prohibiting 'defamation of religions' will hinder addressing discrimination and intolerance. It will provide cover to countries with blasphemy laws that are used to restrict free expression and dissent.

scholarly journals Politics and Ethnicity: Framing Racial Discrimination in Singapore

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
James Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The City

Racial discrimination is a global phenomenon that the United Nations seeks to eradicate. In contemporary Singapore, research shows that the basis for racial discrimination is anchored in the role of ethnic identity and how it frames the formulation of policies related to education, employment, housing, immigration and politics. These policies have been formulated and implemented by the People's Action Party (PAP) government that has been in power for over 50 years. When confronted with its racially based policies, the PAP government insists that it follows a tolerant approach towards different races and that it promotes the idea of multiculturalism and meritocracy as a racial equalizer. However, ethnic minorities in Singapore complain they are being discriminated against daily on the basis of their race or religion. They argue that their views are often not given airing in the local mainstream media and they are further prevented from discussing these issues openly due to legislation restricting freedom of expression and assembly on these matters. Given this background, the first visit of a UN Rapporteur on racism to Singapore, at the invitation of the PAP government in April 2010, allowed the city-state's race-based policies to be put in an international spotlight. This study examines the visit of the UN Rapporteur, his initial findings, government and civil society responses, and the significance of this first UN mission. The paper locates its research on racial discrimination in the context of Singapore's political framework and the United Nations' efforts to eradicate racism. It argues that ultimately, policy changes in Singapore can only take place as a result of politically challenging the PAP government.

scholarly journals The Role of The Press Council in Enforcement of The Press Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Indrianti Azhar Firdausi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Legal Entity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Mass Media

This study aims to examine the role of the press council in enforcing the press law and journalistic code of ethics where digital developments are currently very developed, especially media that utilize new media platforms. Not all online mass media are legal entities and not all news that is conveyed through online media follows a journalistic code of ethics, giving rise to overlapping perceptions and activities due to the lack of understanding of journalists and the public in the midst of easy access to information. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach with a case study method, data collection is collected through observation and documentation sourced from literature and document studies that examine the phenomenon of digitalization dynamics around press laws and journalistic codes of ethics. There are a number of efforts from the press council, including enforcing the press law on online mass media by carrying out a number of verification processes including administrative verification, factual verification and content verification. The third verification cannot be carried out because of the constraints of human resources and budget. A mass media that receives a report will be handled and mediated by the press council if the mass media is already a legal entity. Meanwhile, the enforcement of the press code of ethics is carried out by first classifying journalism activities based on whether the mass media is a legal entity or not, then screening complaints of violations of the code of ethics, and reprimanding the problematic mass media to apologize and clarify the misinformation that has been published.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document