The Effects of Tobacco Coverage in the Public Communication Environment on Young People’s Decisions to Smoke Combustible Cigarettes

In today’s complex media environment, does media coverage influence youth and young adults’ (YYA) tobacco use and intentions? We conceptualize the “public communication environment” and effect mediators, then ask whether over time variation in exogenously measured tobacco media coverage from mass and social media sources predicts daily YYA cigarette smoking intentions measured in a rolling nationally representative phone survey (N = 11,847 on 1,147 days between May 2014 and June 2017). Past week anti-tobacco and pro-tobacco content from Twitter, newspapers, broadcast news, Associated Press, and web blogs made coherent scales (thetas = 0.77 and 0.79). Opportunities for exposure to anti-tobacco content in the past week predicted lower intentions to smoke (Odds ratio [OR] = 0.95, p < .05, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.91–1.00). The effect was stronger among current smokers than among nonsmokers (interaction OR = 0.88, p < .05, 95% CI = 0.77–1.00). These findings support specific effects of anti-tobacco media coverage and illustrate a productive general approach to conceptualizing and assessing effects in the complex media environment.

The language of crisis: spatiotemporal effects of COVID-19 pandemic dynamics on health crisis communications by political leaders

In times of crisis, communication by leaders is essential for mobilizing an effective public response. During the COVID-19 pandemic, compliance with public health guidelines has been critical for the prevention of infections and deaths. We assembled a corpus of over 1500 pandemic-related speeches, containing over 4 million words, delivered by all 50 US state governors during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed the semantic, grammatical and linguistic-complexity properties of these speeches, and examined their relationships to COVID-19 case rates over space and time. We found that as COVID-19 cases rose, governors used stricter language to issue guidance, employed greater negation to defend their actions and highlight prevailing uncertainty, and used more extreme descriptive adjectives. As cases surged to their highest levels, governors used shorter words with fewer syllables. Investigating and understanding such characteristic responses to stress is important for improving effective public communication during major health crises.

Achieving a Representative Democracy in Europe

The concept of public spheres is based on the classic notion of deliberative democracy. The emergence of a European Public Sphere (EPS) at the European Union (EU) level has been widely discussed in the literature. However, the deliberative quality of this sphere is questioned because of its weak connection with citizens. This chapter explores how recent research addresses the EPS. Three categories are defined: (1) political and public communication of the EU, (2) citizen participation through technologies, and (3) the growing politicization and polarization of the European project. The methods in use, as well as remaining challenges in research, are also analyzed. This study contributes to discussions on the future of EU democracy, arguing that politicization and the interrelation of digital platforms and legacy media may enhance a true public discussion in Europe.

China's Wolf Warrior Diplomacy On Social Media In The Era Of Covid-19

International communication and diplomacy are significantly influenced by development of technology and communication. The role of diplomats as frepresentatives of the country has been redefined along with public communication activities increasement through social media. This study provides an overview of China's efforts in influencing the formation of public images and opinions through social media carried out by its diplomats. Their aim is to defend China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and challenge anyone who questions the events about the issue. This study uses qualitative methods, providing in-depth descriptions through data collection techniques based on internet-based research. This study shows that China is trying to demonstrate hard-line diplomacy called wolf warrior diplomacy. Through social media, Chinese diplomats are seen as government agents who promote national interests of their country, which in this context is related to the COVID-19 pandemic. By acknowledging the term wolf warrior diplomacy, provocative propaganda become a diplomatic tool practiced by Chinese diplomats. China's courage in taking an unconventional approach to the concepts and practices of traditional diplomacy and international communication is seen as part of China's long-term plan.

Forms of Public Communication That are Written to Build Relations Between The Audience and Governmental Institutions: A Case Study of Governmental Institutions' Electronic Sites

The electronic site is one of the latest forms of communication facilities that governmental institutions use to establish public relations with their audiences. Governmental institutions utilize a variety of services and initiatives to develop good relationships with their audiences. To bring their work and actions to the majority of the public, they use various forms of mass media. The title of this research (Forms of public communication that are written to build relations between the audience and governmental institutions: a case study of governmental institutions' electronic sites). The significance of this research has focused on all of the subjects reported on the official websites of governmental institutions, as well as the review of the subjects and all of the aspects to know how to write the subjects and to be aware of all of the activities that the institutions conduct. Thus, all organizations must maintain their main sites and be able to better guide their matters to the public, which is one of the most critical circles of contact between governmental institutions and local and international audiences. The main question of this study is to determine what type of public relations writing is used, in which area, and what governmental institutions' activities are. The study aims to demonstrate the most popular writing styles and genres for public relations, as well as to be aware of the principles of writing, and to illustrate the subjects and actions that the institution does. Knowing the details and specifics of the topics published on the institution's website is also essential. This thesis is a descriptive study using the content analysis approach, intending to analyze the subjects of the main site of the governmental institutions in Sulaimaniyah. For this reason, the Directorate of the Sulaimaniyah Appeals Court, the Passport Office of Sulaimaniyah Province, and the Sulaimaniyah Traffic Directorate have set out all matters for six months from December ١, ٢٠١٩ to January ٦, ٢٠٢٠. As a consequence, the working style is one of the methods that the three institutions have used most often, and the articles written adhere to the standards of public relations writing. The majority of their activities included (visiting, conferences, courses, gathering) the majority of their publications, and then mentioning the institution's services, which were solely focused on news.

Virtual-Digital Self of Public Human

The purpose of the article is distinguishing between "internal" and "external" public human through comprehending the phenomenon of Self in its virtual-digital essence as a popular demonstrative-project space "BETWEEN" aggression and harmony. Theoretical basis of the work is based on the study of the phenomenon of modern human aggression in the virtual-digital space and the "project space" of the living environment through understanding the nature of the human "I". The penetration limits of the Self of the public human into the "project space" are comprehended and the nature of the self-realization and self-search models of human through the "transcendent ego" is revealed. Originality is demonstrated through comprehending the Self phenomenon of the public human, which forms new anthropological research direction and represents a conceptual paradigm of relationship of "human I – publicity – human We – the living space of the Other". Conclusions. The Self of the public human as the space "BETWEEN" does not completely "dissolve" in a separate ontological basis, but is the basis for the formation of his/her "I", while only participation in the existence of others reveals the meaning of his/her own existence. Such interaction requires significant human efforts – skills and competencies of public communication, which are able to create a successful self-identification of a public human without aggression and conflict.

Audiovisual Translation at the Service of the EU Public Communication 2.0

Communication is becoming more and more (audio)visual, social and mobile. This is true not only of the entertainment industry but also of commercial advertising and institutional public communication. Consequently, the audiovisual translation industry is flourishing. Although a growing array of products outside the field of entertainment are being localised and/or made accessible, they have received scant attention so far, whether in academic or professional circles. This is notably the case of the institutional video subgenre. This practice report will first address the importance of using increasingly multilingual and multimodal audiovisual products in EU external communication – a tool for reaching out to more citizens on social media and boosting their active participation at a time when populism and Euroscepticism are on the rise. The focus will then shift to the audiovisual communication of the Council of the EU. Through a case study which aims to investigate the internal localisation in all EU official languages of the “#Europeans” series of videos – produced for the 2019 EU elections – the rest of the paper will then outline the main features of the institutional audiovisual translation subgenre. It will also identify some opportunities for improvement: a more integrated and interdisciplinary approach which – together with reinforced collaboration with academia – could lead to a real multilingual creative process right from the initial steps of the audiovisual production process.

A comunicação pública digital da Câmara Municipal de Itapevi no Facebook e as possibilidades de letramento político / The digital public communication of the Municipality of Itapevi on Facebook and the possibilities of political literacy

The following study seeks to understand how the Facebook page of the City Council of Itapevi, Brazil, made political literacy possible through political education, discussions on the political agenda, and mobilization in its communication on the social network. The corpus of the analysis brings together 683 publications made in 2019, a period in which the page showed an increase in audience compared to the previous year (2018). The quantitative research, though with a qualitative look, identified posts that made political knowledge possible to the citizen, as well as interviews to understand the use of the social network by the institution. An appropriate analysis to understand the use of the network by the public body, since the latest survey by DataSenado shows that 74% of Brazilians have or have had a social network - Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, or Twitter. A significant number, especially when compared to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), from 2019, indicates that two-thirds of the country's population (69.8%) have an internet connection. These numbers drive the research of communicologists and political scientists, who seek to understand how this communication network is being part of people's daily lives. Mainly taking into account that the internet, and especially social networks, are becoming a space where different people connect, share content and participate in the political debate a few clicks away. The internet's expansion in Brazil and the number of people connected to networks made different public bodies create profiles on social networks to interact with people. A new channel that aims to establish a rapprochement with this digital audience, ensure transparency in management and encourage the participation of everyone in the decision-making process. As occurred at the City Council of Itapevi (CMI, in Portuguese). However, to guarantee a minimum of success in this digital endeavor, the information available on the networks must be of public interest and its content must be accessible, allowing citizens to understand how public authorities work and to know the process of choosing representatives. A knowledge that can be shared with the citizen through political literacy, as highlighted by Cosson (2016: 51): “these are knowledge related to the functioning of the State, with an emphasis on democratic mechanisms, which involves, on one hand, a knowledge about elections, parties and institutions, and on the other hand, the rights and duties of the citizen”. Therefore, the article was divided into four parts, in addition to the final considerations. The first seeks to clarify the difference between public and political communication; the second addresses how Facebook has supported CMI's communication strategy. Furthermore, there is a literature review on political literacy. Finally, the objective of this study: an analysis of the possibility of political literacy through publications made on the CMI profile on Facebook, in 2019, which concludes that the page is a virtual space for debate and public expression in the city, with growth potential for the promotion of citizenship and political knowledge. The study is based on publications in the areas of public communication (Matos, 2000; Marques, 2009; Correia, 2010), social networks (Recuero, 2009; Ferrari, 2004, Silva, 2020), and political literacy (Cosson, 2020; Biesta, 2009).

Keterlibatan Warga Terhadap Akun Twitter Pemerintah Provinsi Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Jawa Barat : Analisa Data Mining

This article focuses on citizen engagement analysis on local government twitter through data mining analysis. Based on the concept of measuring citizen engagement from Haro-de-Rosario in 2018, this article analyzes three official twitter accounts of the Central Java provincial government, East Java province and West Java province. Data were collected by data mining with Scrape Storm software with measurement dimensions consisting of love, reply, retweet, tweet, and followers. The measurement results reveal that the level of citizen engagement varies widely, the highest value of citizen engagement is the account of the province of East Java (0.00068), and the second rank is the province of Central Java with a value of 0.00031 and the third rank is the province of West Java with a value of 0.00023. The design of public communication policies on social media should consider aspects of the level of citizen engagement as a benchmark for government efforts to increase public participation interest in managing local government.