Racial bias in perceptions of disease and policy

Narratives about Africa as dark, depraved, and diseased justified the exploitation of African land and people. Today, these narratives may still have a hold on people’s fears about disease. We test this in three (pre-COVID-19) experiments ( N = 1,803). Across studies, we find that participants report greater worry about a pandemic originating in Africa (vs. elsewhere). In turn, they report greater support for travel bans and for loosening abortion restrictions. We then document these narratives in an archival study of newspaper articles of the 2015–2016 Zika pandemic ( N = 1,475). We find that articles were more negative—for example, they included more death-related words—if they mentioned Africa. Finally, we replicate the experimental results within the COVID-19 context, using a representative sample ( N = 1,200). Taken together, the studies make clear that reactions to pandemics are biased, and in a way consistent with historical narratives about race and Africa.

The more, the better? Effects of transparency tools and moderators on the perceived credibility of news articles

Transparency is often discussed as a way to increase the public’s perception of journalism. While its adoption by newsrooms is relatively well studied, only a few studies have investigated its effects on news users’ credibility judgments. We build on research about transparency effects and report the results of two online experiments (total N = 2262), one with a local and one with a national newspaper frame. Our results suggest that transparency does not affect the perceived message and source credibility newspaper articles and that moderating factors such as cognitive involvement and media skepticism are more important predictors of credibility assessments.

L’apposition en français et en slovène

This article first gives an overview of the different uses of French apposition and then focuses on nominal appositions, a kind of supplementive clause introduced by a nominal group (NG) without an article. Only translations of initial nominal appositions are examined, i.e. those which are placed at the beginning of the sentence and where the content of the initial structure is expressed by an apposition or NG as the subject. In this context, word order and the use of commas are discussed, which are often of importance for Slovenian language users. Based on the FraSloK corpus, the following conclusions can be drawn: (a) sentence-initial position is maintained much more often in novels than in newspaper articles; (b) the expression of the content of initial structures with an apposition and an NG, which functions as a subject, is fairly evenly represented in more than half of the cases from newspaper articles, while in novels the subject function is prominent; (c) apart from the change in sentence position, Slovenian apposition corresponds to the source structure, and when its content is expressed by an NG with subject function, there are changes at different levels compared to French; (d) the (non-)use of the comma cannot be satisfactorily justified on the basis of the present corpus, but the examples suggest that it is based on translators’ personal choices and also depends on the possibilities of expression in the target language. Suggestions have already been made to change the rules and usage examples, which are not tenable in our cases, and would require further consideration.

Podróże Jarosława Iwaszkiewicza w kontekście etnokulturowym (dyskurs polsko-rosyjski). Na materiale „Dzienników” pisarza

Travels were an important part of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s life. One of the destinations he chose was the Soviet Union. These trips were usually of an official character, and less often – private. The writer meticulously noted down his impressions in his private Dzienniki [Diaries], and sometimes shared them with the Polish reader in columns and newspaper articles. The author of Panny z Wilka [The Maids from Wilko] masterfully immortalised the realities prevailing in the Soviet Union. Iwaszkiewicz’s view of Russia, and St Petersburg in particular, is not the account of an ordinary tourist, because the writer perceived the world through the prism of literature, constantly confronting reality with literary images. This makes Dzienniki extremely interesting material for analysis. This article takes a journey across Russia, in the footsteps of Iwaszkiewicz, focuses on literary allusions, admiration of nature and architecture, and pays special attention to the absurdities of the communist state.

Creating a “Lapp” Character

This article explores the ways in which the Sámi were represented in the early years of established theatre in Finland, starting with the Finnish Theatre (Suomalainen Teatteri) in 1872 and its successor the Finnish National Theatre (Suomen kansallisteatteri), 1902. Particular attention is paid to the role of costumes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, their designs often involving the consultation of ethnographers, archaeologists, historians and visual artists. The widest archival evidence for this study consists of theatre photographs and plays, supported by contemporary publications and newspaper articles. Textual sources were augmented by the study of Sámi garments. By identifying and analysing the relevant plays, related stage photographs and newspaper reviews, it becomes clear that recurrent ways developed for representing Sámi people on the stage. This development of “Lapp” characters was established through costume in conspicuous ways, with the exaggeration of particular features of Sámi dress leading to a recognizable trope of the “Lapp” costume.

Public discourses and Engagement on Governance of Covid-19 in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Numerous studies have emerged so far on Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) across different disciplines. There is virtually no facet of human experience and relationships that have not been studied. In Nigeria, these studies include knowledge and attitude, risk perception, public perception of Covid-19 management, e-learning, palliatives, precautionary behaviours etc.,, Studies have also been carried out on public framing of Covid-19 discourses in Nigeria; these have explored both offline and online messaging and issues from the perspectives of citizens towards government’s policy responses such as palliative distributions, social distancing and lockdown. The investigators of these thematic concerns deployed different methodological tools in their studies. These tools include policy evaluations, content analysis, sentiment analysis, discourse analysis, survey questionnaires, focus group discussions, in depth-interviews as well as machine learning., These studies nearly always focus on the national government policy response, with little or no focus on the constituent states. In many of the studies, the researchers work with newspaper articles for analysis of public opinions while others use social media generated contents such as tweets) as sources for analysis of sentiments and opinions. Although there are others who rely on the use of survey questionnaires and other tools outlined above; the limitations of these approaches necessitated the research plan adopted by this study. Most of the social media users in Nigeria are domiciled in cities and their demography comprises the middle class (socio-economic) who are more likely to be literate with access to internet technologies. Hence, the opinions of a majority of the population who are most likely rural dwellers with limited access to internet technologies are very often excluded. This is not in any way to disparage social media content analysis findings; because the opinions expressed by opinion leaders usually represent the larger subset of opinions prevalent in the society. Analysing public perception using questionnaires is also fraught with its challenges, as well as reliance on newspaper articles. A lot of the newspapers and news media organisations in Nigeria are politically hinged; some of them have active politicians and their associates as their proprietors. Getting unbiased opinions from these sources might be difficult. The news articles are also most likely to reflect and amplify official positions through press releases and interviews which usually privilege elite actors. These gaps motivated this collaboration between Ekiti State Government and the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London to embark on research that will primarily assess public perceptions of government leadership response to Covid-19 in Ekiti State. The timeframe of the study covers the first phase of the pandemic in Ekiti State (March/April to August 2020).

Research note: Lies and presidential debates: How political misinformation spread across media streams during the 2020 election

When U.S. presidential candidates misrepresent the facts, their claims get discussed across media streams, creating a lasting public impression. We show this through a public performance: the 2020 presidential debates. For every five newspaper articles related to the presidential candidates, President Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr., there was one mention of a misinformation-related topic advanced during the debates. Personal attacks on Biden and election integrity were the most prevalent topics across social media, newspapers, and TV. These two topics also surfaced regularly in voters’ recollections of the candidates, suggesting their impression lasted through the presidential election.

The first Saratov professor of psychology A. A. Krogius: On the 150th anniversary of the scientist

The article is devoted to the 150th anniversary of the outstanding scientist of the XX century A. A. Krogius (1871–1933), who was at the origin of Russian experimental psychology and pedology in the early 1900s, the founder of Russian typhlopsychology. Krogius was a European-famous psychologist and worked for 12 years (1919–1931) at the Saratov University, becoming the first professor of psychology in Saratov. The article considers the features of the appearance of a successful petersburgian Krogius in provincial Saratov in 1919, presents the specifics of his work at the Saratov University, analyzes the discrepancies that appeared in the Saratov period of the scientist’s life between the principles of Soviet psychology that were being formed at that time and the methodology of Krogius’ research. Using the example of his fate and the biographical method, as well as the psychological analysis of documentary sources, newspaper articles, letters, diary entries, the author showed the peculiarities of development in the 1920s and 1930s both Russian and regional Saratov psychology, associated with the rejection of the previous scientific traditions formed in domestic psychology as part of European and world science, and the process of formation of a new Soviet psychology, sometimes associated with the destruction of the specific destinies of its participants.