scholarly journals Measles, Moral Regulation and the Social Construction of Risk: Media Narratives of “Anti-Vaxxers” and the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Capurro ◽  
Josh Greenberg ◽  
Eve Dubé ◽  
Michelle Driedger
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Central Character ◽  
Moral Regulation ◽  
Measles Outbreak ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
Social Construction Of Risk

This paper examines media coverage of the 2014-15 measles outbreak that began at Disneyland and spread throughout the United States and into Canada and Mexico. Specifically, it focuses on the construction of ‘anti-vaxxers’ as a central character in the outbreak’s unfolding narrative who came to represent a threat to public health and moral order. Although parents who hold strong anti-vaccine views are small in number, media representations of ‘anti-vaxxers’ as prominent figures fail to capture the broad range of views and behaviours that constitute what we today call ‘vaccine hesitancy’ and thus delimit our understanding of this increasingly complex health issue.

Acts of War: Military Metaphors in Representations of Lebanese Youth Gangs

2003 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Noble ◽  
Scott Poynting
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The United States ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Youth Gangs ◽  
Gang Rape ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Good And Evil

The media representations of the terrorist attacks of September 11 in the United States and their aftermath bear strong similarities to the media coverage of ‘Lebanese youth gangs' over the last few years — both rely significantly on the metaphor of war. This paper explores two media narratives about Lebanese youth gangs which draw on this metaphor — the first deploys a simple us/them structure which, like the dominant Western reportage of the terrorist crisis, turns on a form of moral reduction in which the forces of good and evil are relatively clear. The accumulated imagery of Lebanese gangs, drugs, crime, violence and ‘ethnic gang rape’ articulates a dangerous otherness of those of Arabic-speaking background — echoed in the coverage of the terrorist ‘attack on America'. This simple narrative, however, gives way to a second, emerging narrative about Lebanese youth gangs which also relies on the metaphor of war but acknowledges the moral duplicity of both ‘combatants' — registering the culpability of the state and its police service but distancing ‘the ordinary Australian ‘from this culpability. The second narrative, like the first, tries to recuperate a moral innocence for the ‘ordinary Australian’, but in doing so underlines a crisis in Australian multiculturalism.

An economy of false securities? An analysis of murders inside gated residential developments in the United States

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowland Atkinson ◽  
Oliver Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gated Communities ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Residential Developments ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Crime ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
Forms Of Violence

The move to gated communities has been linked to both rising affluence and anxiety. These attempts to withdraw from the perceived dangers of urban areas are also predicated on the pursuit of a neighbourhood ideal, and freedom from danger is usually central to this ideal. This paper critically reconsiders these propositions by examining news reports and media narratives surrounding the nature of homicidal violence occurring within such developments. We have analysed fifty news reports from the last decade that address murder committed inside gated communities. In our analysis of these reports we suggest that attempts to neutralise danger in high crime societies are by no means guaranteed—even via the most strenuous efforts at deploying walls, gates and guards. Building on the arguments of Low (2003) and Zedner (2003), we suggest that demands for security are not only unending but that an outward-facing orientation that positions risk outside gated neighbourhoods is a denial of the continued danger of intimate and other forms of violence within communities and households behind gates. In this context the move to enclosure is more than a pragmatic attempt to defend against threat; it appears to reflect the impotence of efforts associated with addressing deep ontological insecurities. Studies continue to record high levels of fear in gated developments, and highly gendered risks of violence continue to be a part of the social reality of the segregated neighbourhood.

American Serial Rape, 1940–2010

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Wright ◽  
Thomas Vander Ven ◽  
Clara Fesmire
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
The Social ◽  
Serial Offenders ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Serial Rape

Little is known about the social correlates of serial rape or about trends in offending across time and space in the United States. Furthermore, the limited serial rape scholarship that exists was largely generalized from small, captive samples. The current study aims to amplify our understanding of serial rape by pursuing three fundamental objectives. First, guided by theory and research we propose a new, more precise, and comprehensive conceptualization of serial rape. Next, we draw from media representations of serial rape published in five major American newspapers from 1940 to 2010 to develop an offender social profile and to identify patterns in attack style. Our analysis of a broad and diverse sample of serial offenders described in media accounts ( N = 1,037) produced the following profile estimates—age: 27 years; race/ethnicity: African American, 46%; Caucasian, 29%; Latino, 19%; Asian, 5%. Most offenders were employed in unskilled or semiskilled occupations and the most common attack strategy was the surprise approach (47%). Finally, our data allow us to estimate and interpret historical trends as depicted in media accounts. Our analysis revealed low levels of serial rape in newspaper accounts during the 1940s to 1950s, followed by a steady increase (with periodic decreases) leading to a peak in 1991. This peak is followed by a steady and dramatic decline from 1992 to 2010.

scholarly journals Fascism-lite in America (or The Social Ideal of Donald Trump)

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan McGaughey
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Citizens United ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Supreme Court

Abstract What explains the election of the 45th President of the United States? Many commentators have said that Trump is a fascist. This builds on grave concerns, since Citizens United, that democracy is being corrupted. This article suggests the long term cause, and the shape of ideology is more complex. In 1971, an extraordinary memorandum of Lewis Powell for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged that ‘[b]usiness interests’ should ‘press vigorously in all political arenas for support’. Richard Nixon appointed Powell to the Supreme Court, and a few years later, despite powerful dissent, a majority in Buckley v. Valeo held that candidates may spend unlimited funds on their own political campaigns, a decision of which Donald Trump, and others, have taken full advantage. Citizens United compounded the problems, but Buckley v. Valeo was the ‘Trump for President’ case. This provided a platform from which Trump could propel himself into extensive media coverage. The 2016 election was inseparable from the social ideal pursued by a majority of the Supreme Court since 1976. No modern judiciary had engaged in a more sustained assault on democracy and human rights. Properly understood, ‘fascism’ is a contrasting, hybrid political ideology. It mixes liberalism’s dislike of state intervention, social conservatism’s embrace of welfare provision for insiders (not ‘outsiders’), and collectivism’s view that associations are key actors in a class conflict. Although out of control, Trump is closely linked to neo-conservative politics. It is too hostile to insider welfare to be called ‘fascist’. Its political ideology is weaker. If we had to give it a name, the social ideal of Donald Trump is ‘fascism-lite’.

Poor Kids versus Bad Teachers: Vergara v. California and the Social Construction of Teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Jeanne M. Powers ◽  
Kathryn P. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Spectacle ◽  
The Public ◽  
Print News ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
The Social

Background In the past decade, the laws governing teachers’ employment have been at the center of legal and political conflicts across the United States. Vergara v. California challenged five California state statutes that provide employment protections for teachers. In June 2014, a California lower court declared the statutes unconstitutional because they exposed students to “grossly ineffective teachers.” Purpose The purpose of the article is to document and analyze how Vergara was presented in the print news media. It is important to understand how the print news media presents education policy debates to the public, because the print news media shapes the general public's understanding of education and other public policy debates by providing frames and themes for interpreting the issues in question and people associated with them. Research Design Using the social construction of target populations and political spectacle as conceptual lenses, we conducted a content analysis of print news media articles on the Vergara case published between June 2012 and November 2014. We provide a descriptive overview of the full corpus of articles published during this period and a thematic analysis of the 65 unique news articles published in the aftermath of the decision. The latter focuses on news articles because they are intended to provide more objective coverage of the case than opinions or editorials. Findings In the print news media coverage, the word “teacher” was often paired with a negative qualifier, which suggests that Vergara was an effort to change the relatively advantaged social construction of teachers. Similarly, metaphors and the illusion of rationality associated with political spectacle were used in ways that bolstered the plaintiffs’ claims. While Vergara consumed a substantial amount of philanthropic and public dollars, ultimately it did not change the policies that govern teachers’ employment in California. Vergara may have been more successful in shaping the general public's perceptions of teachers and the conditions of teachers’ employment in the period following the trial.

scholarly journals ‘Team GB’ or ‘Team Scotland’? Media representations of ‘Britishness’ and ‘Scottishness’ at London 2012 and Glasgow 2014

Journalism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1450-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Black ◽  
Stuart Whigham
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
London 2012 ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
Or Team ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Commonwealth Games ◽  
Discursive Constructions ◽  
British Nationalism

This article critically reflects upon media coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, scrutinising the emergent discursive constructions of ‘Britishness’ and ‘Scottishness’ through an examination of both London-based (English) and Scotland-based publications. Drawing upon Dayan and Katz’s portrayal of ‘media events’, the article explores how both events presented competing sites of symbolic struggle during a period of constitutional and political turmoil. Consideration is given to the existence of a ‘hegemonic Britishness’ in print media narratives of these events, as evident in the emergent connotations associated with ‘British nationalism’ and ‘Scottish separatism’.

scholarly journals Determinants of the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Spectrum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Piltch-Loeb ◽  
Diana Silver ◽  
Yeerae Kim ◽  
Hope Norris ◽  
Elizabeth McNeill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
United States Population ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wait And See ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
The Relationship

Polls report nearly one-third of the United States population is skeptical or opposed to getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Most of these polls, as well as the scientific research that has been conducted on vaccine hesitancy, was done prior to vaccine eligibility opening to all adults. Now that COVID-19 vaccines are widely available, further research is needed to understand the factors contributing to vaccine intentions across the vaccine hesitancy spectrum. This study conducted an online survey using the Social Science Research Solution (SSRS) Opinion Panel web panelists, representative of U.S. adults age 18 and older who use the internet, with an oversample of rural-dwelling and minority populations between April 8 and April 22, 2021- as vaccine eligibility opened to the country. We examined the relationship between COVID-19 exposure and socio-demographics with vaccine intentions [eager-to-take, wait-and-see, undecided, refuse] among the unvaccinated using multinomial logistic regressions [ref: fully/partially vaccinated]. Results showed vaccine intentions varied by demographic characteristics and risk exposures during the period that eligibility for the vaccine was extended to all adults.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV2, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Community Perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272199545
Author(s):  
Nikki Keene Woods ◽  
Inneké Vargas ◽  
Melody McCray-Miller ◽  
Amy Drassen Ham ◽  
Amy K. Chesser
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Collaborative Group ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Community Perceptions ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Basic Level ◽  
Question Survey

The purpose of this study was to describe knowledge and beliefs about SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19 and explore the gaps between current media coverage of health risks and what the general public knows about the virus and its outcome. A 37-question survey was developed and administered to a community collaborative group in a Midwestern state in the United States. Fifty-three participants completed the survey. When asked where participants found their information, a majority reported the internet (33.9%, n = 18/53) and radio and/or tv (28.3%, n = 15/53). Most participants showed a basic level of COVID-19 knowledge, but few could identify the 3 most frequent symptoms of COVID-19 (7.5%, n = 4/53). The results from this study highlight the continued need for increased public health communication. Educational efforts should focus on social media and internet outlets to address COVID-19 misinformation, strategies to address vaccine hesitancy, and the associated communication gap to help address related health disparities.

scholarly journals Challenging Disregard: Advocacy Journalism and the Campaign for Domestic Worker Legislation in Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Mary Austin
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Advocacy Journalism ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Media Narratives

<p>This article examines a recent ILO funded project designed to engage more Indonesian journalists and media organizations in advocacy journalism on behalf of domestic worker legislation. Applying Ann Stoler’s notion of ‘disregard’ in the context of post-Suharto<br />democratization, I illustrate how established newsroom practices and patterns of reporting helped maintain distinctions between ‘home’ and overseas domestic workers which impeded progress towards comprehensive legislation. Indonesia’s endorsement of the adoption of ILO Convention 189 in June 2011 opened up political opportunities, provided a framework for re-scripting media narratives and encouraged journalists to give more space to domestic workers’ voices. At the same time, increased media coverage enabled those opposed to legislation to reiterate a gendered disregard for the social and economic value of domestic work.</p>

Moral Regulation and Media Representations of the Female Body

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Cossins
Keyword(s):  
Female Body ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Moral Regulation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
Multiple Media ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Media Formats

The literature on sexualization is replete with controversial debates surrounding the sexualization of the female body in multiple media formats and how various scholars have sought to understand the social significance of this phenomenon. These debates not only focus on the sheer extent of the sexualization of the female body compared to the male body but also on the types of sexualization in terms of the use of the female body for commercial purposes. Debates range from those with a protectionist theme focused on protecting young women and girls from the damaging effects of sexualization, to those that advocate the imposition of a stricter moral standard for female dress and behavior to feminist debates about the agency of women and girls who freely choose to sexualize their bodies.

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