scholarly journals “Wars” on COVID-19 in Slovakia, Russia, and the United States: Securitized Framing and Reframing of Political and Media Communication Around the Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta N. Lukacovic
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The United States ◽  
Frame Element ◽  
Political Factions ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
The Government

This study analyzes securitized discourses and counter narratives that surround the COVID-19 pandemic. Controversial cases of security related political communication, salient media enunciations, and social media reframing are explored through the theoretical lenses of securitization and cascading activation of framing in the contexts of Slovakia, Russia, and the United States. The first research question explores whether and how the frame element of moral evaluation factors into the conversations on the securitization of the pandemic. The analysis tracks the framing process through elite, media, and public levels of communication. The second research question focused on fairly controversial actors— “rogue actors” —such as individuals linked to far-leaning political factions or militias. The proliferation of digital media provides various actors with opportunities to join publicly visible conversations. The analysis demonstrates that the widely differing national contexts offer different trends and degrees in securitization of the pandemic during spring and summer of 2020. The studied rogue actors usually have something to say about the pandemic, and frequently make some reframing attempts based on idiosyncratic evaluations of how normatively appropriate is their government's “war” on COVID-19. In Slovakia, the rogue elite actors at first failed to have an impact but eventually managed to partially contest the dominant frame. Powerful Russian media influencers enjoy some conspiracy theories but prudently avoid direct challenges to the government's frame, and so far only marginal rogue actors openly advance dissenting frames. The polarized political and media environment in the US has shown to create a particularly fertile ground for rogue grassroots movements that utilize online platforms and social media, at times going as far as encouragement of violent acts to oppose the government and its pandemic response policy.

Lawyers as Activists

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Dorf ◽  
Michael S. Chu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Court Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
Trump Administration

Lawyers played a key role in challenging the Trump administration’s Travel Ban on entry into the United States of nationals from various majority-Muslim nations. Responding to calls from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which were amplified by social media, lawyers responded to the Travel Ban’s chaotic rollout by providing assistance to foreign travelers at airports. Their efforts led to initial court victories, which in turn led the government to soften the Ban somewhat in two superseding executive actions. The lawyers’ work also contributed to the broader resistance to the Trump administration by dramatizing its bigotry, callousness, cruelty, and lawlessness. The efficacy of the lawyers’ resistance to the Travel Ban shows that, contrary to strong claims about the limits of court action, litigation can promote social change. General lessons about lawyer activism in ordinary times are difficult to draw, however, because of the extraordinary threat Trump poses to civil rights and the rule of law.

Right-wing populism, social media and echo chambers in Western democracies

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Boulianne ◽  
Karolina Koc-Michalska ◽  
Bruce Bimber
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Echo Chamber ◽  
Right Wing Populism

Many observers are concerned that echo chamber effects in digital media are contributing to the polarization of publics and, in some places, to the rise of right-wing populism. This study employs survey data collected in France, the United Kingdom and the United States (1500 respondents in each country) from April to May 2017. Overall, we do not find evidence that online/social media explain support for right-wing populist candidates and parties. Instead, in the United States, use of online media decreases support for right-wing populism. Looking specifically at echo chamber measures, we find offline discussion with those who are similar in race, ethnicity and class positively correlates with support for populist candidates and parties in the United Kingdom and France. The findings challenge claims about the role of social media and the rise of populism.

scholarly journals Peculiarities of Modern Nationalist Messages in Online Political Communication: The Analyses of Donald Trump’s and Jair Bolsonaro’s Election Campaigns

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 350
Author(s):  
Olga V. Novoselova
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Communication Patterns ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Political Leaders

As digitalized election campaigns are a new phenomenon, there are almost no studies defining the peculiarities of modern nationalist messages in online political communication research. This article seeks to identify some communication patterns and recent innovations in delivering online nationalist messages. These patterns are regarded in conflation with nationalist and populist approaches by political leaders during their digital election campaigns. The literature review approach to making generalizations is chosen to explore the articulation of nationalist and populist messages during Donald Trump’s (The United States), and Jair Bolsonaro’s (Brazil) election campaigns. Overall, the study boils down to an analysis of the populist and nationalist signifiers in social media posts, and the degree to which their structures of meaning revolve around the vertical down/up or the horizontal in/out axis. As a result, some common traits of modern nationalist messages in online political communication are identified and future areas of research are proposed.

scholarly journals Twitter Discourse Analysis of US President Donald Trump

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Tanase Tasente
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Heads Of State

Twitter has become a very powerful channel of political communication in recent years, many times overtaking, along with Facebook, traditional channels of mass communication, such as: TV, radio or newspapers. More then 500 million tweets are sent every day (5,787 tweets every second), and 326 million people use Twitter every month, even if there are 1.3 billion Twitter accounts. From the perspective of political communication, Twitter is ahead of Facebook, according to a study conducted in 2018 by Twiplomacy, which shows that 187 governments and heads of state maintain an official presence on Twitter. This mechanism of mass communication has benefited the politicians, especially those in the United States of America, who have generated a unique phenomenon in political communication: creating a map on polarization in the online environment.. This study focused on analyzing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that facilitate Twitter Communication of Donald Trump, the President of United States of America (number of followers, types of tweets, engagement rate and interaction rate etc.) and analyzing Donald Trump's Twitter speech and identify the most commonly used expressions in Social Media during the term of President.  The monitoring period is 22.01.2019 - 16.08.2019.

scholarly journals Tinjauan Filosofis Egoisme dalam Komunikasi Politik di Era Pandemi Covid-19: Tantangan Kampanye Daring Pilkada Serentak Tahun 2020 di Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Eric Fernardo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Signal Interference ◽  
Information Channel ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
The Government

Indonesia has held simultaneous regional elections on 9th December 2020. In contrast to previous years, when the campaign became a moment for citizens to gather with their prospective leaders, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the limitation of face-to-face meetings in order to implement Covid-19 health protocols. The government through the General Elections Commission (KPU) has issued General Election Commission Regulation (PKPU) 13/2020 which has explicitly encouraged candidate to use digital media in political campaigns. This is an effort to encourage candidates to take advantage of the digital space in campaigning. Currently, the candidates already have social media, but its use has not become the main information channel in political communication. During this campaign period, the candidates have used social media as a channel of political communication, but the social media used is limited to conveying invitations or information that the candidate has attended an activity, so social media has not become the main information channel in campaigning. The lack of organizing an online campaign by this candidate viewed from a philosophical perspective of egoism, based on the idea that the public or prospective voters are more focused on themselves. Participating in a online campaign for prospective voters requires extra sacrifices such as paying for internet quota fees, it is more troublesome because prospective voters have to learn to operate a online video application, and there are no direct benefits. The challenges faced in implementing an online campaign include, firstly, because it is preferred by the community, it is believed that the community prefers to meet face-to-face with the prospective leader directly because it provides direct benefits to the community, secondly, it is right on target because an online election campaign will not attract people, new voters because it will only be followed by voters who firmly support the candidate. Thirdly, because of the lack of creativity from the campaign team due to the lack of innovation from the candidates for not building a team that campaigns boldly, in addition to innovation, infrastructure problems that the evaluation of signal interference and the uneven distribution of digital infrastructure in the regions have hampered the implementation of bold campaigns.

scholarly journals Citizens’ Adherence to COVID-19 Mitigation Recommendations by the Government: A 3-Country Comparative Evaluation Using Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey Data

10.2196/20634 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e20634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abrar Al-Hasan ◽  
Dobin Yim ◽  
Jiban Khuntia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Comparative Evaluation ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ordered Probit ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Government

Background Social distancing is an effective preventative policy for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that is enforced by governments worldwide. However, significant variations are observed in following the policy across individuals and countries. Arguably, differences in citizens’ adherence actions will be influenced by their perceptions about government’s plans and the information available to guide their behaviors—more so in the digital age in the realm of mass influence of social media on citizens. Insights into the underlying factors and dynamics involved with citizens’ adherence process will inform the policy makers to follow appropriate communication and messaging approaches to influence citizens’ willingness to adhere to the recommendations. Objective The aim of this study is a comparative evaluation of citizens’ adherence process to COVID-19–relevant recommendations by the government. The focus is on how three different countries’ (United States, Kuwait, and South Korea) citizens, randomly sampled, respond to governments’ pandemic guidance efforts. We draw insights into two categories of perceived government roles in managing the pandemic: (1) citizens’ perceptions of government’s role in responding to the pandemic and (2) citizens’ perceptions of government’s business reopening efforts. Undoubtedly, the internet and social media have burgeoned, with differing effects on shaping individuals’ views and assessments of the COVID-19 situation; we argue and test for the effects of information sources, social media use, and knowledge on the adherence actions. Methods We randomly sampled web-based survey data collected by a global firm in May 2020 from citizens of the United States, Kuwait, and South Korea. A nonlinear ordered probit regression, controlling for several counterfactuals, was used for analysis. The focal estimated effects of the study were compared across countries using the weighted distance between the parameter estimates. Results The total sample size was 482 respondents, of which 207 (43%) lived in the United States, 181 (38%) lived in Kuwait, and 94 (20%) lived in South Korea. The ordered probit estimation results suggest that overall, perception of government response efforts positively influenced self-adherence (P<.001) and others’ adherence (P<.001) to social distancing and sheltering. Perception of government business reopening efforts positively influenced others’ adherence (P<.001). A higher intensity of general health information source for COVID-19 had a positive effect on self-adherence (P=.003). A higher intensity of social media source use for COVID-19 positively influenced others’ adherence (P=.002). A higher intensity of knowledge on COVID-19 positively influenced self-adherence (P=.008) and negatively influenced others’ adherence (P<.001). There were country-level variations—broadly, the United States and Kuwait had better effects than South Korea. Conclusions As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to grow and governmental restrictions are ongoing, it is critical to understand people’s frustration to reduce panic and promote social distancing to facilitate the control of the pandemic. This study finds that the government plays a central role in terms of adherence to restrictions. Governments need to enhance their efforts on publicizing information on the pandemic, as well as employ strategies for improved communication management to citizens through social media as well as mainstream information sources.

scholarly journals A comparative analysis of security issues in the new social media in the US-Israel election campaign

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Waseem Mansour
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Twitter Account ◽  
Use Of Social Media

This article presents the history of the use of social media in the election campaigns of politicians from the United States and Israel as a modern phenomenon in the current era due to technological changes in the global media. My article answers the research question: is there a difference in the strategy of using Twitter between Netanyahu and Obama, and what is this difference? It should be noted that many articles have dealt with social networks and the political use of social networks, but as far as I know, the topic of comparison and attempt to find differences in political campaigns between two leaders from the United States and Israel has not yet been investigated, and this is the goal of the article, I will focus on presenting data and information examining the allegations appearing in the official Twitter account of former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding security issues and the Iranian threat expressed in his Twitter tweets, so that he presents himself as “responsible for Israel and its citizens.” So he constantly presents the issue of national security as a winning card against his opponents in order to win the support of the far right electorate in Israel. Compared to the tweets of Obama the first president of the United States who used social media and especially presidential Twitter to win in support of the American electorate in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and to win their economic and social contribution.

scholarly journals The Normative World of Memes: Political Communication Strategies in the United States and Ecuador

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-51
Author(s):  
Marco López-Paredes ◽  
Andrea Carrillo-Andrade
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Values ◽  
Public Discussion ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
The Media ◽  
Convergence Model

The media convergence model presents an environment in which everyone produces information without intermediates or filters. A subsequent insight shows that users (prosumers) —gathered in networked communities—also shape messages’ flow. Social media play a substantial role. This information is loaded with public values and ideologies that shape a normative world: social media has become a fundamental platform where users interact and promote public values. Memetics facilitates this phenomenon. Memes have three main characteristics: (1) Diffuse at the micro-level but shape the macrostructure of society; (2) Are based on popular culture; (3) Travel through competition and selection. In this context, this paper examineshow citizens from Ecuador and the United States reappropriate memes during a public discussion? The investigation is based on multimodal analysis and compares the most popular memes among the United States and Ecuador produced during the candidate debate (Trump vs. Biden [2020] and Lasso vs. Arauz [2021]). The findings suggest that, during a public discussion, it is common to use humor based on popular culture to question authority. Furthermore, a message becomes a meme when it evidences the gap between reality and expectations (normativity). Normativity depends on the context: Americans complain about the expectations of a debate; Ecuadorians, about discourtesy and violence.

New Data Sources and Presidential Campaigns

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110216
Author(s):  
Efe Sevin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Presidential Campaigns ◽  
Political Advertisements ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Social media has an undeniable role in presidential campaigns. Starting with Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008, on one hand, scholars and practitioners have embraced the potential and importance of these platforms. The 2016 presidential elections, on the other hand, raised concerns about social media’s role in democratic processes as debates about how the platforms can sow misinformation have become mainstream. I argue that there has been a positive outcome of such debates: new data sources. Understanding their role—and their probable potential to do “harm”—social media platforms have worked toward increasing transparency in the political advertisements they carry. From Snapchat to Facebook, transparency reports share detailed information on how political groups, including presidential nominees, have utilized their platforms, targeted audiences, and disseminated calls-to-action. In this article, I argue that these transparency attempts will be invaluable data resources for political communication scholars to better explain how voter choice and candidate positioning work within digital media ecology. I answer four sample research questions about 2020 Presidential Elections in the United States to demonstrate the potential of these data sets in shedding light on how issues, identities, and time-relevant variables change political advertising in presidential campaigns.

Archiving and Preserving Social Media at the Library of Congress: Institutional and Cultural Challenges to Build a Twitter Archive

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Fondren ◽  
Meghan Menard McCune
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Library Of Congress ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
The Social ◽  
Printed Materials

AbstractInstitutional archiving of media is neither new nor strange. The United States Library of Congress has been preserving printed materials, newspapers, photographs, film, and even websites for decades—if not centuries. After seven years, in later 2017, the initiative to build a Twitter Archive came to a halt. Through a textual analysis of policy papers, preservation theories and press releases, this study illustrates the social, cultural, and symbolic challenges of institutional archiving of digital media.

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