scholarly journals De-contextualisation fuels controversy: the double-edged sword of humour in a hybrid media environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Sara Ödmark
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Young Women ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Media

Humour has a unique way of delineating social boundaries, and comedy can function as a double-edged sword; it can strengthen bonds and bring people together, or divide through provocation and violation of social norms. As a consequence, humour controversies are telling events that contain the possibility of highlighting cultural and political sensibilities – even more in the current political landscape, with increasing media fragmentation. This study analysed four humour functions through the theoretical lens of media framing, via three cases of humorous content that caused controversies in the Swedish news media. These cases were one divisive radio roast of a politician, one TV satire segment that was received as racist, and one audio podcast with young women who challenged a Swedish political consensus climate. Framing is the power of media to select and highlight certain aspects of issues, and by extension, shape public opinion. By subjecting the media coverage of these three controversies to a qualitative content analysis, the framing was examined and discussed in the light of four humour functions: identification, clarification, enforcement, and differentiation (Meyer 2000). Furthermore, the study examined the media context and the role it played in the framing of the controversies. One main finding was that the most uniting humour function of identification could be transformed into the most dividing humour function of differentiation through a shift in media context.

(Mis)representing terrorist threats: Media framing of Bill C-51

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca I M Foley
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Research Software ◽  
News Sources ◽  
The Media

On Friday, 30 January 2015, Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, introduced Bill C-51, also known as the Anti-Terrorism Act in Canada’s House of Commons. This article delineates research into the media coverage of Bill C-51 in the month after its introduction, prior to its legislation. A qualitative content analysis of 23 articles from five Canadian news sources ( National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Tyee, and rabble.ca) was conducted. Data were coded and analysed using the qualitative research software NVivo 10. Themes that arose from the data include: terrorism and our need for protection; production and reinforcement of fear; oversight, accountability, and abuses of power; and dystopic future and ‘big’ government. Findings show that the differences between alternative and commercial news sources were not as evident as much of the literature regarding the differences between the types of media would hypothesize.

Young adults know that their issues are not represented in the news: Israeli young adults and mainstream news media

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Nuriely ◽  
Moti Gigi ◽  
Yuval Gozansky
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Online News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Media

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the ways socio-economic issues are represented in mainstream news media and how it is consumed, understood and interpreted by Israeli young adults (YAs). It examines how mainstream media uses neo-liberal discourse, and the ways YAs internalize this ethic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome its limitations. Design/methodology/approach This was a mixed methods study. First, it undertook content analysis of the most popular Israeli mainstream news media among YAs: the online news site Ynet and the TV Channel 2 news. Second, the authors undertook semi-structured in-depth interviews with 29 Israeli YAs. The analysis is based on an online survey of 600 young Israelis, aged 18–35 years. Findings Most YAs did not perceive mainstream media as enabling a reliable understanding of the issues important to them. The content analysis revealed that self-representation of YAs is rare, and that their issues were explained, and even resolved, by older adults. Furthermore, most of YAs' problems in mainstream news media were presented using a neo-liberal perspective. Finally, from the interviews, the authors learned that YAs did not find information that could help them deal with their most pressing economic and social issue, in the content offered by mainstream media. For most of them, social media overcomes these shortcomings. Originality/value Contrary to research that has explored YAs’ consumerism of new media outlets, this article explores how YAs in Israel are constructed in the media, as well as the way in which YAs understand mainstream and new social media coverage of the issues most important to them. Using media content analysis and interviews, the authors found that Young Adults tend to be ambivalent toward media coverage. They understand the lack of media information: most of them know that they do not learn enough from the media. This acknowledgment accompanies their tendency to internalize the neo-liberal logic and conservative Israeli national culture, in which class and economic redistribution are largely overlooked. Mainstream news media uses neo-liberal discourse, and young adults internalize this logic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome the limitations this discourse offers. They do so by turning to social media, mainly Facebook. Consequently, their behavior maintains the logic of the market, while also developing new social relations, enabled by social media.

scholarly journals Nigeria media framing of coronavirus pandemic and audience response

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekwutosi Sanita Nwakpu ◽  
Valentine Okwudilichukwu Ezema ◽  
Jude Nwakpoke Ogbodo
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Audience Response ◽  
The Sun ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The Media ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
The Masses ◽  
The Guardian

Background: Part of the role of the media is to report any issue affecting the society to the masses. Coronavirus has become an issue of transnational concern. The importance of the media in the coverage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Nigeria and its implications among Nigerian populace cannot be overestimated. This study evaluates how Nigerian media depict the coronavirus pandemic and how the depictions shape people’s perception and response to the pandemic. Methods: The study employed a quantitative design (newspaper content analysis and questionnaire). The content analysis examines the nature of media coverage of coronavirus in Nigeria and China using four major national newspapers (The Sun, The Vanguard, The Guardian and The Punch). The period of study ranged from January 2020 to March 2020. A total of 1070newspaper items on coronavirus outbreak were identified across the four newspapers and content-analysed. Results: The finding shows that the coverage of the pandemic was dominated by straight news reports accounting for 763 or (71.3%) of all analysed items. This was followed by opinions 169(15.8%), features 120 (11.2%) and editorials 18 (1.7%) respectively. The Punch 309 (28.9%)reported the outbreak more frequently than The Sun 266 (24.9%), The Guardian 258 (24.1%), and Vanguard 237 (22.1%). Finding further suggests that the framing pattern adopted by the newspapers helped Nigerians to take precautionary measures. Conclusion: Continuous reportage of COVID-19 has proved effective in creating awareness about safety and preventive measures thereby helping to ‘flatten the curve’ and contain the spread of the virus. However, the newspapers should avoid creating fear/panic in reporting the pandemic.

Journalistic Depictions of Uncertainty about Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Painter
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Many

Media research has historically concentrated on the many uncertainties in climate science either as a dominant discourse in media treatments measured by various forms of quantitative and qualitative content analysis or as the presence of skepticism, in its various manifestations, in political discourse and media coverage. More research is needed to assess the drivers of such skepticism in the media, the changing nature of skeptical discourse in some countries, and important country differences as to the prevalence of skepticism in political debate and media coverage. For example, why are challenges to mainstream climate science common in some Anglophone countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia but not in other Western nations? As the revolution in news consumption via new players and platforms causes an increasingly fragmented media landscape, there are significant gaps in understanding where, why, and how skepticism appears. In particular, we do not know enough about the ways new media players depict the uncertainties around climate science and how this may differ from previous coverage in traditional and mainstream news media. We also do not know how their emphasis on visual content affects audience understanding of climate change.

scholarly journals Cascading corruption news: explaining the bias of media attention to Brazil’s political scandals

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-143
Author(s):  
Mads Damgaard
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Present Article ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Information Cascade ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Scandals ◽  
Harmful Effects

Abstract Through a content analysis of 8,800 news items and six months of front pages of three Brazilian newspapers, all dealing with corruption and political transgression, the present article documents the remarkable bias of media coverage toward corruption scandals. Said bias is examined as an informational phenomenon, arising from key systemic and commercial factors of Brazil’s news media: an information cascade of news on corruption formed, destabilizing the governing coalition and legitimizing the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff. As this process gained momentum, questions of accountability were disregarded by the media, with harmful effects for democracy.

Media framing of immigrants in Central Europe in the period surrounding the refugee crisis: Security, negativity, and political sources

2022 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Kovář
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Political Sources ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Cultural Frames

Abstract This article investigates how all the main quality and tabloid newspapers and the television newscasts of the main broadcasters in Czechia and Slovakia framed immigrants, what the tone of the employed frames was, and who the main framing actors were before and during the EU refugee crisis (2013–2016). Using quantitative content analysis (N = 7,910), we show that security and cultural frames are most commonly employed while the victimization frame is much less common. Whereas tabloids use the security and cultural frames more often, the victimization, economic and administrative frames are more often invoked in quality media. We also show that the framing of immigrants is predominantly negative, and that the security and cultural are the most negatively valenced frames. Finally, we document a dominance of political actors and the practical invisibility of immigrants and refugees in the media coverage.

scholarly journals The ethics of news media reporting on coronavirus humor

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Miczo
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Online News ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Media Reporting ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Media

Abstract This essay explores the news media’s portrayal of humor during the early phase of COVID-19-related lockdowns. Examining a collection of online news articles reveals the media tended to frame the issue as an ethical one (e.g., “is it okay to laugh at the coronavirus?”). After reviewing work on humor ethics, a qualitative content analysis of 20 news media articles is presented. Three issues from the news stories are identified, allowing comparison of the media’s claims against the ethical principles articulated. The essay concludes with a consideration of how news media’s coverage of humor fits within a broader pandemic narrative.

scholarly journals #Notallcops: Exploring ‘Rotten Apple’ Narratives In Media Reporting of Lush’s 2018 ‘Spycops’ Undercover Policing Campaign

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 177-194
Author(s):  
Nathan Stephens Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Media Reporting ◽  
Institutional Accountability ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
High Street ◽  
Viral Nature ◽  
The Media

This article examines the media framing of the 2018 ‘paid to lie’ campaign of Lush, a high-street ethical cosmetics firm. The viral nature of Lush’s intervention into the undercover policing of activism in the United Kingdom highlights the significance of media reporting in the construction of narratives surrounding policing and activism. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken of articles published online in the immediate aftermath of the campaign launch. Based on this analysis, this article argues that the intensely polarised debate following Lush’s ‘paid to lie’ campaign is representative of a wider discursive framing battle that continues to persist today. Within this battle, the state and police establishment promote ‘rotten apple’ explanations of the undercover policing scandal that seek to individualise blame and shirk institutional accountability (Punch 2003). This is significant, as identifying systemic dimensions of the ‘spycops’ scandal is a key focus for activists involved in the ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry (Schlembach 2016).

scholarly journals Media framing of democratisation conflicts in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa

Sociologija ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-537
Author(s):  
Nebojsa Vladisavljevic ◽  
Katrin Voltmer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Media ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Distribution Of Power

This paper presents an overview of the main findings from a quantitative content analysis covering different types of democratisation conflicts (i.e., conflicts over citizenship, elections, transitional justice and distribution of power) in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa. The key findings from the content analysis are organised around several themes: causes of democratisation conflicts, portrayal of conflict parties, preferred solutions to conflicts, perceptions of democracy, role of the media, authoritarian past, and tone of reporting and polarisation. The main finding is that cross-national variations depend on several factors: specific country contexts (and contexts of broader regions from which they come from, including the Arab Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and post-communist Europe); regime type and the stage of democratisation; and type of democratisation conflict (which reflects the main arenas of political contestation). Across all countries, the quality of media coverage is limited by bias, emotionalisation and - most importantly - polarisation. In particular, conflicts over the distribution of power trigger sharp polarisation, whereas elections - contrary to existing literature - seem to force media towards a more restrained style of reporting. The sample involves 5162 newspaper articles and news stories from the four countries.

scholarly journals Framing in Russian TV News: How to Shape Reality?

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 01098
Author(s):  
Galina Lukyanova
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Political Event ◽  
International Intervention ◽  
Tv News ◽  
The Media ◽  
Points Of View

In a democratic society, the mass media play an enormous role, as they broadcast various points of view that exist in the society. By using various media effects, authors of information messages influence the formation of certain attitude to a particular political event reflected in the media, thus contributing to the legitimation or de-legitimation of political power. The purpose of this study is to examine the news on Russian federal television channels in order to identify frames that play a role in the process of political power legitimation. Qualitative content analysis shows that media framing is actively used by leading state TV channels as a technology for legitimizing the power. The most frequently used frames are “the Great Power,” “Ineptitude of Other Countries,” “Confrontation / Opposition,” “International Intervention,” and “the Strong Leader.”

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