Lifting the lid

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Police Brutality ◽  
Hot Press ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

This chapter examines the development of investigative journalism from the early 1970s onwards. It looks at the ground-breaking Sweepstakes éxpose of 1973, how the early investigations into corruption in local government were frustrated, and the infamous Heavy Gang investigation into police brutality by the Irish Times. It also looks extensively at how a new generation of journalists sought to instil transparency and accountability into Irish public life through the development of periodicals such as Hibernia, Magill, Hot Press and In Dublin. In time the journalists who cut their teeth on these periodicals would migrate to mainstream media – bringing their investigative zeal with them.

Reconciling Results on Racial Differences in Police Shootings

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 228-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland G. Fryer
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
First Century ◽  
Police Brutality ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
Police Use Of Force ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
The Social

Police use of force, particularly lethal force, is one of the most divisive issues of the twenty-first century. To understand the nexus of race, criminal justice, and police brutality, academics and journalists have begun to amass impressive datasets on officer-involved-shootings (OIS). I compare the data and methods of three investigative journalism articles and two publications in the social sciences on a set of five rubrics and conclude that the stark differences between their findings are due to differences in what qualifies for a valid research design and not underlying differences in the datasets.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment of Portuguese Local Governments (2009 to 2017)

2020 ◽  
pp. 80-104
Author(s):  
Paula Gomes dos Santos ◽  
Carla Martinho
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

Public governance must ensure financial sustainability. This investigation aims to assess Portuguese local governments financial sustainability as the ability to service the upcoming obligations in commercial transactions (under the Late Payment Directive framework) and to study if accounting information enables public local governance with greater transparency and accountability about their financial sustainability. The study will focus on the 308 Portuguese local governments from 2009 to 2017. The number of local governments with average payment periods (PMPs) within 30 days had an increasing tendency. However, their adjusted average payment periods greatly exceed the 30 days, which means limited financial sustainability. In 2017, only 29% of the local governments have an adjusted PMP within 30 days against the 63% if it is used the officials PMPs. Therefore, accounting information does not enable public governance with greater transparency and accountability about Portuguese local government financial sustainability.

E-Government as an Anti-Corruption Tool: Experience from Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-39
Author(s):  
Dyah Setyaningrum
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Arbitrary Action ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

Objective - Transparency is promoted as one of the most important measures against corruption. E-government provides greater access to information that can subsequently increase transparency, accountability, and be used as an effective anti-corruption tool. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between e-government and corruption. Methodology/Technique - To gain more insight, we also investigate the effect of e-procurement as one of the e-government initiatives for tackling corruption. We use observations from local government (districts and cities) in Indonesia during the period 2012–2015. Findings - The results show that e-government implementation is associated with lower corruption. E-government reduces corruption by removing discretion, thereby curbing the opportunities for arbitrary action that often result in corruption. Novelty - Moreover, the results also show that adopting e-procurement increases transparency and accountability through increased competition among bidders and enables real-time access to information, which ultimately reduces corruption in public procurement. Type of Paper: Empirical Keywords: accountability, corruption, e-government, e-procurement, transparency JEL Classification: M10, M48.

scholarly journals Temporal dynamics of political trust in China: A cohort analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiebing Wu ◽  
Yong Li ◽  
Chengcheng Song
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Cohort Analysis ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Cohort Effect ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey ◽  
New Generation

This article focuses on the changing trends in political trust in China. Based on data drawn from the Asian Barometer Survey for 2002, 2008, and 2011, as well as the Chinese General Social Survey for 2010 and 2012, we find a declining trend in the level of political trust in China, whether it be trust in the central government, trust in the local government, or the central–local government trust gap. Additionally, the results of our analysis show a strong cohort effect on the erosion of political trust. This study provides solid empirical evidence of declining political trust in China and increases our understanding of the changing dynamics of political trust. By analysing changes in citizens’ values and in the political expectations of the new generation, this article sheds light on the antecedents of political trust in China, which is gradually changing across different generations.

scholarly journals “Poetic” publics: Agency and rhetorics of “netroots” activism in post-earthquake L’Aquila

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Pietrucci
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The People ◽  
Media Portrayal ◽  
The World ◽  
Disaster Situation ◽  
Post Disaster ◽  
The Web

In this essay, I analyze the rise of post-earthquake activism in L’Aquila as an exemplification of counterpublics’ transformation into social movements endowed with “poetic” agency. Engendering “poetic agency,” for a counterpublic and for a social movement alike, denotes being able to bring forth change in the world and  being able to generate change in a creative, “poetic” way. In this sense, poetic assumes a connotation that opposes  the Habermasian perspective of a public sphere in which only a  rational-critical discourse can be engendered as check on the State. In the case of L’Aquila, I contend that the post-earthquake social movements’ capability of effecting  change in public life through poiesis has been enhanced by the possibilities of the Web 2.0 and by the activists’ acknowledgement of new ways of political participation in a world of spectacularized politics. In this instance, strategies such as the exploitation of alternative “public screens” on the web and the use of “minor rhetorics” to contrast the mainstream media portrayal of the post-disaster situation worked together in a creative and spontaneous effort to improve the condition of the people living in the area affected by the quake.

scholarly journals When is a journalist not a journalist? Negotiating a new form of advocacy journalism within the environmental movement

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Vine
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Advocacy Journalism ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Contemporary Context

Commentary: A New Zealand broadcast journalist of 25 years’ experience comes under fire from former colleagues after joining the environmental campaigning organisation Greenpeace. The ensuing criticism provides insight into how the mainstream media views itself and how sensitive it might be to any perceived threat to its credibility. It opens up an argument about what constitutes a ‘journalist’ in a contemporary context.  A troubling epoch for journalists facing tight newsroom budgets, news trivialisation, fragmented media spheres and dwindling public confidence in the profession. This commentary examines the argument for new terminology to describe the kind of investigative journalism which might be practised within non-government organisations (NGOs) for a mainly digital audience. It also challenges views on objectivity and bias, positing whether advocacy journalism with strict ethical guidelines produced from within an organisation with a known agenda, may serve the public interest more ably than a fragmented mainstream journalism compromised by less obvious biases.

Egypt’s military will entrench control of public life

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Notable Change ◽  
Supreme Council ◽  
Civilian Authority

Significance The most notable change institutionalises the control by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) over officers’ participation in elections; another extends the military’s reach into local government. These represent a further step in the construction of a parallel state run by the armed forces, and the reduction of civilian authority in all areas. Impacts Elections to the reinstated Senate scheduled for August will result in a major win for pro-Sisi candidates. Local governance and education at all levels will experience greater interference from the armed forces. Activities of international organisations and businesses across Egypt will be increasingly subject to monitoring by military authorities.

scholarly journals How to feed The Ferret: Understanding subscribers in the search for a sustainable model of investigative journalism

Journalism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 1320-1337
Author(s):  
John Price
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Online News ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
New Business ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
New Business Models

The Ferret was founded in Scotland in 2015 as a co-operative. Drawing funding from a variety of sources – including grants, crowdfunding, training and events – the organisation relies heavily on subscriptions for its core business model. The Ferret is one of a number of recent digital start-ups seeking to explore new ways of funding and sustaining investigative journalism against a backdrop of declining levels of such journalism from the mainstream media. Despite this, to date there has been very little detailed, empirical work into subscription or membership models of funding journalism. This article begins to address this by presenting the results of an online survey of The Ferret’s subscribers. The findings are discussed in the context of recent work from international scholars about paying for online news and new business models for public interest journalism. The results suggest that subscribers tend to be middle aged or older, to the left of the political spectrum and motivated mainly by a desire to support the production of investigative journalism – rather than gain exclusive access to its content. The article concludes by arguing that recruiting such people offers a potentially sustainable membership model for investigative journalism platforms, whereby journalism for the benefit of society is funded by the few.

A Hashtag Revolution in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 120 (826) ◽  
pp. 183-188
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Obadare
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Police Brutality ◽  
New Generation

Exploding in October 2020 and reverberating internationally, protests against police brutality under the hashtag #EndSARS exposed enduring patterns and emergent trends in Nigerian politics and society. This article examines various elements of the protests to advance hypotheses about the culture of social media, the weakening of old forms of solidarity, and the rise of a new generation of activists steeped in new rules and technologies of civic engagement. #EndSARS marks the possible ascent of an inorganic civil society with profound implications for Nigerian democracy.

2002 Draft III: Judiciary, Rights and Substantive Provisions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Elliot Bulmer
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The Third ◽  
Constitutional Level ◽  
The World ◽  
State Relations

This chapter, the third of three chapters examining the SNP’s 2002 constitutional text, addresses the judiciary, rights, and substantive provisions of the constitution. As well as examining provisions relating to the appointment and tenure of judges and the processes of judicial review, this chapter includes the draft constitution’s treatment of: nationalism and national identity, statehood, citizenship, religion-state relations, socio-economic rights, ‘fourth branch’ institutions, standards in public life, and local government. It argues that the draft constitution, as a supreme and rigid constitution enforced by judicial review, might be radical and contentious in a UK context, but would be a tried and tested model in the rest of the world, including in most other Westminster-derived polities. It also argues that the text envisages a ‘liberal-procedural’ constitution, in which the constitution acts as a relatively non-prescriptive framework for the conduct of democratic politics, allowing many unsettled issues of identity to be resolved at the sub-constitutional level.

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