Critical Political Economy and Content Analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 242-255
Author(s):  
Tabe Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Nuclear War ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Radical Reform ◽  
Commercial Media ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Many

The analysis of media content is not an integral part of the critical political economy of communication. The reasons can be understood in their historical contexts. Nonetheless, there is a case to be made that there exists an urgent need to remedy this state of affairs. Given existential threats to the planet, especially global warming and the possibility of nuclear war, it is more urgent than ever that critical political economists engage in one of the main characteristics of their subfield, praxis, and find ways to connect to citizens and stimulate them to become active in the public arena. This chapter argues that one way to do so is to produce content analyses of media coverage of current important political issues. By showing citizens evidence of the many problems with mainstream, often commercial media, citizens will be more likely to become involved in movements that aim at radical reform of media and politics.

scholarly journals Socio-Political Views of the Russian Population. Report. Preliminary Results of a Sociological Study of the Russian Population’s Socio-Political Views, Commissioned by the Analytical Department of the President of the Russian Federation. August 1995

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai P. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Market Socialism ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Government ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Boris Yeltsin

The report analyzes the public opinion on the main socio-economic and political issues at the end of the fourth year of Boris Yeltsin’s presidential term, on the eve of the Duma elections in December 1995 and the presidential elections in 1996. The poll’s data show the growing discontent of the population with the state of affairs in the country, the economic crisis, their own impoverishment, and the inability of the authorities to solve the country’s main problems. At the same time, a growing number of people lost interest in politics, lost confidence the political and economic reforms will lead to the country’s revival, democratization, and the ability to choose the best people for positions of power. Two thirds of the people said that they have become worse off than at the start of radical reforms ten years ago, while the main responsibility for the plight of the people and the country lies within the current government, which had no idea where the country’s economy was going, and had no program for overcoming the crisis. 75% believed that the government lives by its own interests; they do not care about the people. Market reforms initiated by Boris Yeltsin spurred mass negative assessments: our life before the reforms was better and more prosperous; the people were deceived, they were promised market socialism, and were drawn into the construction of capitalism; reforms were based on robbing the people, only speculators, swindlers, and officials had benefited from them. Regretting the dismantling of socialism, the population had lost belief that the ideas of socialism and communism were able to unite society again. As such an idea, the majority suggested reviving Russia as a powerful state, while calling for following a special, Russian path which implies a “strong hand” in power. The majority believed that the President and the government had already exhausted their opportunities to put an end to the crisis in Russia, and that they should be replaced with new people. The assessment of the President’s performance reached its lowest point during his administration – only 6% expressed their approval and 71% disapproved. The war in Chechnya seriously harmed the President’s popularity. More than 80% expressed negative assessments on the Kremlin’s Chechnya policies.

scholarly journals The Governmentality of Promoting Ex-Gay “Change” in the Public Sphere

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Thorn
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Jürgen Habermas ◽  
The Public ◽  
Commercial Media ◽  
Jurgen Habermas ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Gay Movement ◽  
Conservative Christians ◽  
Analyse De Discours

Background  A long-term “earned media” marketing strategy deployed by the Christian ex-gay movement backfired and now generates mostly negative media against the movement.Analysis  A governmental discourse analysis is used to examine media coverage representing conservative Christians struggling against unwanted same-sex desire. It does so in relation to Jürgen Habermas’ (2006) analysis of commercial media and Anna McCarthy’s (2007) notion of “neoliberal theatre of suffering.”Conclusion and implications  Media coverage of the ex-gay debate showcases suffering as entertainment and does not achieve the full reasoned deliberation Habermas calls for in the public sphere. Nevertheless, it has not led to a paralysis of society’s ability to debate the issue of ex-gay “change.” Competing governmental perspectives still intersect and modify each other in ways that extend beyond mere commercialism.Contexte  La stratégie de marketing à long terme adoptée par le mouvement ex-gay chrétien a échoué, et de nos jours elle reçoit généralement une couverture médiatique négative.Analyse  Une analyse de discours gouvernemental sert à examiner la couverture médiatique de chrétiens conservateurs qui essaient de réprimer leur attirance pour des personnes du même sexe. La démarche adoptée s’inspire de l’analyse des médias commerciaux effectuée par Jürgen Habermas et de l’idée de « théâtre néolibéral de la souffrance » formulée par Anna McCarthy.Conclusion et implications  Dans les médias, la couverture du débat ex-gay exploite la souffrance à des fins de divertissement, ne permettant pas une délibération raisonnable dans la sphère publique du type prôné par Habermas. Néanmoins, cette couverture n’a pas paralysé la capacité qu’a la société à débattre la question du « changement » ex-gay. Par exemple, des perspectives gouvernementales divergentes continuent à se croiser et se modifier de manières qui dépassent le simple commercialisme.   

scholarly journals Public perspectives and media reporting of wolf reintroduction in Colorado

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Niemiec ◽  
Richard E.W. Berl ◽  
Mireille Gonzalez ◽  
Tara Teel ◽  
Cassiopeia Camara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The State ◽  
Management Options ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gray Wolves ◽  
The Media ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Many

In the state of Colorado, a citizen ballot initiative to reintroduce gray wolves (Canis Lupus) is eliciting polarization and conflict among multiple stakeholder and interest groups. Given this complex social landscape, we examined the social context surrounding wolf reintroduction in Colorado as of 2019. We used an online survey of 734 Coloradans representative in terms of age and gender, and we sampled from different regions across the state, to examine public beliefs and attitudes related to wolf reintroduction and various wolf management options. We also conducted a content analysis of media coverage on potential wolf reintroduction in 10 major daily Colorado newspapers from January 2019, when the signature-gathering effort for the wolf reintroduction initiative began, through the end of January 2020, when the initiative was officially added to the ballot. Our findings suggest a high degree of social tolerance or desire for wolf reintroduction in Colorado across geographies, stakeholder groups, and demographics. However, we also find that a portion of the public believes that wolves would negatively impact their livelihoods, primarily because of concerns over the safety of people and pets, loss of hunting opportunities, and potential wolf predation on livestock. These concerns—particularly those related to livestock losses—are strongly reflected in the media. We find that media coverage has focused only on a few of the many perceived positive and negative impacts of wolf reintroduction identified among the public. Our findings highlight the need to account for this diversity of perspectives in future decisions and to conduct public outreach regarding likely impacts of wolf reintroduction.

Risk Perception Shadows

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 6-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Stoffle ◽  
Michael Traugott ◽  
Camilla Harshbarger ◽  
Florence Jensen ◽  
Michael Evans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Nuclear War ◽  
The Public ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Effects Of Radiation ◽  
The Many

The effects of radiation on humans are not clearly understood or agreed upon by scientists. Thus in any situation involving potential risk from radiation, the scientific assessment of facts—"probabilistic risk assessment"—is almost always disputed among experts. The public's assessment of risk—" risk perception"—is made even more complex by the many types of radiation and the fact that radiation is closely associated with controversial issues such as the potential of nuclear war and waste disposal problems. Given this milieu, the public has few firm standards against which to test their own perceptions of what radiation will or will not do to them and what can or cannot be done. to protect them from radioactivity. It is argued here that two factors—previous experience with analogous projects, and existing levels of trust in companies and agencies associated with radio activity—are important informing the public's radio activity—related risk perception

The weakest link?

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Eagar
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Policy ◽  
Weakest Link ◽  
Management Group ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
The Many

THE EXTRAORDINARY COVERAGE of complaints of poor and dangerous patient care at Macarthur Health Service (Campbelltown and Camden Hospitals) has all the hallmarks of a pulp novel ? relentless and emotional media coverage, tragic personal stories, political intrigue at high levels and eloquent legal argument. Never before has New South Wales experienced such an event, nor most other jurisdictions for that matter. Perhaps only the coverage of King Edward Hospital in Perth comes close. Clinicians at the two hospitals have been variously portrayed as everything from doctors and nurses who were happy to turn their backs on dying patients through to one of the many victims of a fundamental political, policy and structural failure to distribute health care resources in proportion to need. In the same vein, the local hospital- management group has been portrayed as either an incompetent and corrupt group who engaged in cover-ups, shredding documents and targeting anyone who raised concerns, or as a caring but embattled group who were doing their best to manage a continuously increasing gap between demand and supply. Likewise, the nurses who publicly raised the allegations have been variously portrayed as either whistleblowers acting solely in the public interest, who were punished and sacked for bringing the truth to light, or as vexatious troublemakers seeking revenge on hospital managers who had previously disciplined them for bullying, harassment and/or poor clinical care. And, as usual, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 232-242
Author(s):  
Jan-Melissa Schramm
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
The Public ◽  
Dramatic Form ◽  
Dramatic Writing ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One

This chapter suggests that all the works discussed in this study—both canonical and minor, composed in verse or in prose—ask profound questions about the nature of the tragic mode and its relation to Christian thought. The nineteenth-century dramatic imagination is deeply political, staging memorable protests against the rhetoric of utilitarianism in political economy, Calvinism in religion, and the unjustifiable sacrifice of the one for the welfare of the many in ethics and anthropology. In contradistinction to the many studies which sideline dramatic writing in the long nineteenth century, this chapter concludes that dramatic form retains its value in this period as a significant vehicle for comment upon far-reaching questions of justice and ethics. Ultimately, theology raised too many important questions to be permanently excluded from the public stage—and the theatre was too valuable a forum to ignore religious experience.

“We've toiled without end”: Publicity, Crisis, and the Suicide “Epidemic” in Greece

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 1007-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Davis
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Suicide Rate ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
International Media ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Many ◽  
Historical Difference

AbstractThis paper addresses the rising suicide rate in Greece since the economic crisis began in 2008. By 2011, Greek and international media were reporting the Greek suicide rate as the fastest rising in Europe; dozens of “spectacular” public suicides were taken as symptoms of an “epidemic.” In this paper, I explore different accounts of this “epidemic”: statistical studies and press reports on suicide since the crisis; notes written by people who committed or attempted suicide in public during the crisis; and narratives of suicidality from psychiatric patients before the crisis, in dialogue with local psychiatric epidemiologies. These accounts summon three axes of comparison around suicide in Greece: historical difference, defined by the economic crisis and the time before; locale, contrasting the public sphere of media coverage and consumption with a particular region distinguished by its “suicidogenic” features; and evidence, moving from the public discourse on suicide to clinical ethnographic research that I conducted in northeastern Greece a decade ago. I show that each way of accounting for suicide challenges the epistemologies and evidence at work in the others; the tensions and the interactions among them are signs of indeterminacy in suicide itself, taken as an object of inquiry. In the public discourse on the Greek crisis, the many meanings of suicide have been condensed and fixed as a politics of protest. Yet, I argue, comparison among epistemologies of suicide and recognition of its indeterminacy generate a space for thinking about suicide beyond the publicity of the crisis.

Assessments of User Comments With “Alternative Views” as a Function of Media Trust

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Marlene Kunst
Keyword(s):  
Online Discussions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Argument Quality ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
User Comments ◽  
Media Trust ◽  
Heuristic Information Processing

Abstract. Comments sections under news articles have become popular spaces for audience members to oppose the mainstream media’s perspective on political issues by expressing alternative views. This kind of challenge to mainstream discourses is a necessary element of proper deliberation. However, due to heuristic information processing and the public concern about disinformation online, readers of comments sections may be inherently skeptical about user comments that counter the views of mainstream media. Consequently, commenters with alternative views may participate in discussions from a position of disadvantage because their contributions are scrutinized particularly critically. Nevertheless, this effect has hitherto not been empirically established. To address this gap, a multifactorial, between-subjects experimental study ( N = 166) was conducted that investigated how participants assess the credibility and argument quality of media-dissonant user comments relative to media-congruent user comments. The findings revealed that media-dissonant user comments are, indeed, disadvantaged in online discussions, as they are assessed as less credible and more poorly argued than media-congruent user comments. Moreover, the findings showed that the higher the participants’ level of media trust, the worse the assessment of media-dissonant user comments relative to media-congruent user comments. Normative implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

“All in a Garden Green”: Shakespeare's Staging of Garden Imagery

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-252
Author(s):  
Deborah Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Literary Tradition ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Audience Interaction ◽  
The Many ◽  
Green World

This essay draws attention to the surprising lack of scholarship on the staging of garden scenes in Shakespeare's oeuvre. In particular, it explores how garden scenes promote collaborative acts of audience agency and present new renditions of the familiar early modern contrast between the public and the private. Too often the mention of Shakespeare's gardens calls to mind literal rather than literary interpretations: the work of garden enthusiasts like Henry Ellacombe, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, and Caroline Spurgeon, who present their copious gatherings of plant and flower references as proof that Shakespeare was a garden lover, or the many “Shakespeare Gardens” around the world, bringing to life such lists of plant references. This essay instead seeks to locate Shakespeare's garden imagery within a literary tradition more complex than these literalizations of Shakespeare's “flowers” would suggest. To stage a garden during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries signified much more than a personal affinity for the green world; it served as a way of engaging time-honored literary comparisons between poetic forms, methods of audience interaction, and types of media. Through its metaphoric evocation of the commonplace tradition, in which flowers double as textual cuttings to be picked, revised, judged, and displayed, the staged garden offered a way to dramatize the tensions produced by creative practices involving collaborative composition and audience agency.

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