Terrorist Discourse: A Semiotic and Critical Discourse Analysis of ISIS Jihadi Videos

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) videos have shown unprecedented professionalism in communicating fear and enlisting members to the organization. Unfortunately, counter-media campaigns failed to have a lasting defeat for the organization’s social and cognitive impact on the public. Accordingly, the present qualitative study aims to explore how the use of the multiple communication modes in ISIS videos makes the organization’s ideology appealing and intimidating. The study employs Kress and van Leeuwen’s social semiotic framework as well as Fairclough’s and van Dijk’s model of critical discourse analysis for analyzing one of ISIS videos that resulted in a global outrage. The findings are significant for understanding how the terrorists’ communication strategies are embedded in their professional media techniques. A deep understanding of the ISIS technique has an impact on creating successful counter-media campaigns that persuade the public to resist any new wave of terrorism.

Stakeholder engagement practices and impression management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the substantiveness of stakeholder engagement by examining voluntary disclosures tied to the engagement process. The objective is to draw a portrait of stakeholder engagement practices and determine whether they genuinely contribute to informing stakeholders or whether they are simply intended to manage stakeholders’ impressions. Design/methodology/approach The authors performed an exploratory content analysis on 113 sustainability reports published in 2018 in the Global Reporting Initiative database. The authors investigated disclosures tied to consulted stakeholders, communication modes and material issues resulting from the engagement process. The authors then assessed the substantiveness of these disclosures to determine the extent of the impression management tactics deployed in the stakeholder engagement disclosures made by Canadian companies. Findings Data analysis showed that more than a third of Canadian firms tend to make generic disclosures on their stakeholders’ engagement. As well, almost half the engagement modes disclosed are unidirectional and fewer than 33% of Canadian companies disclose on relevant sustainability issues. Furthermore, only 26% of the sample seek assurance on the information disclosed. Overall, the authors note an important trend in impression management used in sustainability reporting and underscore a potentially significant sectoral effect in the tactics used. Originality/value These data provide new insight into stakeholder engagement processes and highlight the strategies used by Canadian companies to manage their stakeholders’ impressions rather than their expectations. The study also contributes to a better understanding of the underexplored stakeholder engagement process and provides regulatory organisations with deepened insights to better frame stakeholder engagement disclosures.

THE TOTAL COMMUNICATION FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH

This study aims to discuss the use of Total Communication (TC, henceforth), the combinations of communication modes, and the reasons for using TC for hearing-impaired (HI) students of English class at SLB PGRI Kamal. Teaching English to them is believed to require more strategic approaches especially when compared to students who do not have any hearing issues. The data are from four HI students at SLB PGRI Kamal and their English teacher. In collecting the data, observation, note taking and recording were used as the instruments in which during taking note and observation, the researchers used phone recorder and phone camera to anticipate the data from lost and for further analysis. The results show that there are seven communication modes that were used. Those are lip-reading, sign language, images, writing, Indonesian Alphabetic Symbol System (IAS), finger spelling, and speech. Those modes are combined depending on the needs of the users (both English teacher and HI students). Therefore, the researcher found six combinations of modes in TC. Moreover, the researchers found five reasons for using TC for HI students in the English classroom at SLB PGRI Kamal. It is because of its flexibility and effectiveness in communication. Futhermore, TC gives chances to HI students to learn to speak, write and read in English, and allow the HI students to make English sounds and identify them

Older Adults' Online and Offline Social Interactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of our social interaction has transitioned from in-person to online. This study examined older adults’ social interaction during COVID-19, online and offline. Participants were recruited from community-dwelling older adults in Central Texas. Data collection took place via the telephone during June-August 2020 (N = 200; age range: 65-92 years; Mean: 73.6; SD: 6.33). Participants used a variety of communication modes, including phone or texting (used by 99% of the participants); email (44%); in person (35%); video chat (31%); social media (24%); and postal mail (4%). Most participants (77%) used more than one communication mode. Participants discussed their preferences for and challenges of technology (i.e., smart phones) and its applications (i.e., video chat, telehealth, and social media). Participants’ self-reported experiences ranged from positive (50%), mixed (35%), to negative (15%). These findings will inform policy and community interventions to promote older adults’ social interactions during the pandemic.

Showing Legitimacy: The Strategic Employment of Visuals in the Legitimation of New Organizations

Entrepreneurs commonly engage in discursive activities to pursue the legitimacy of their new organizations. Previous studies on this pursuit have essentially been focused on verbal language and there is limited understanding of how other communication modes, such as the visual, offer specific potentials for influencing legitimation audiences. With the contemporary pervasiveness of digital documents and online environments that often employ the visual mode, this gap has become more relevant. To address it, this study is guided by the following research question: how do entrepreneurs use the visual mode of communication to legitimize their new ventures? Building on the case of a new organization, this study shows that specific features of the visual mode of communication are especially well suited to sustaining legitimation in particular ways. While previous research has mostly remained on a conceptual level, this study empirically advances the understanding of visual discursive legitimation.

The Role of Communication in the Process of Forming Market-Oriented Party (Mop): Its Importance and Approaches

This paper discusses the role of communication in the process of market-oriented political modeling. Our theoretical framework benefits from the idea of Lees-Marshment’s model, there are three types of parties that can help meet voters’ needs: product-oriented party (POP), sales-oriented party (SOP) and market-oriented party (MOP). The focus here is MOP, which means developing political policies on the ground of voters’ needs to gain from the voter “market”. The MOP approach relies heavily on effective party-voter communication, before, during and after an election. Specifically, the communication aspect in the process of the MOP approach is discussed, which covers political marketing as a social or communication process in image-building and different approaches in such communication. Various communication modes in gathering voter information are compared in terms of advantages and disadvantages, especially in trust-building and two-way (both verbal and non-verbal) communications. Lastly, a section related to political canvassing is also presented.

Authentication and Billing for Dynamic Wireless EV Charging in an Internet of Electric Vehicles

Dynamic wireless charging (DWC) is a promising technology to charge Electric Vehicles (EV) using on-road charging segments (CS), also known as DWC pads. In order to ensure effective utilization of this on-the-road charging service, communication and coordination need to be established between the EVs and the different network entities, thereby forming an Internet of Electric Vehicles (IoEV). In an IoEV, EVs can utilize different V2X communication modes to enable charging scheduling, load management, and reliable authentication and billing services. Yet, designing an authentication scheme for dynamic EV charging presents significant challenges given the mobility of the EVs and the short contact time between the EVs and the charging segments. Accordingly, this work proposes a fast, secure and lightweight authentication scheme that allows only authentic EVs with valid credentials to charge their batteries while ensuring secure and fair payments. The presented scheme starts with a key pre-distribution phase between the charging service company (CSC) and the charging pad owner (PO), followed by a hash chain and digital signature-based registration and authentication phase between the EV and the CSC, before the EV reaches the beginning of the charging lane. These preliminary authentication phases allow the authentication between the EVs and the charging segments to be performed using simple hash key verification operations prior to charging activation, which reduces the computational cost of the EVs and the CS. Symmetric and asymmetric key cryptography are utilized to secure the communication between the different network entities. Analysis of the computational and transmission time requirements of the proposed authentication scheme shows that, for an EV traveling at 60 km/h to start charging at the beginning of the charging lane, the authentication process must be initiated at least 1.35 m ahead of the starting point of the lane as it requires ≃81 ms to be completed.

COVID-19 information dissemination in Uganda: Perspectives from sub-national health workers

Background In many places, health workers at the sub-national level are on the frontlines of disseminating information about coronavirus (COVID-19) to communities. To ensure communities are receiving timely and accurate information, it is vital health workers are kept abreast of the most recent recommendations, and guidance. Methods An electronic survey was implemented to provide insights about the dissemination and utilisation of information and evidence related to the COVID-19 pandemic by health workers engaged at sub-national levels of the Ugandan health system. The aim of this survey was to provide insights about the dissemination and utilisation of information and evidence related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by individuals engaged at sub-national levels of the health system. Results Mass media and public health campaigns and outreach activities were deemed the most suitable means to reach communities with COVID-19 information. Given the reported disruption to public outreach campaigns, this is a particularly important consideration for the provision of information to communities. All materials should be adapted to the local context. The need for information on homecare of COVID-19 patients was highlighted, along with the need for updated local statistics as to COVID-19 cases to be relayed for health workers at sub-national levels. Conclusions Understanding the sources of information used by health workers can facilitate the transfer of relevant and timely information, which in turn increases the use of such information by the Ugandan population. It is vital that these issues are continued to be monitored, and communication modes and content are actively responsive to the time- and place-specific needs of health workers and community members.

Communication Modes Used for Information Sharing in Construction Projects of Pakistan

The construction industry is characterized as complex, fragmented, dynamic, and involves many parties. Therefore effective communication for information sharing is essential to overcome these challenges. A comprehensive review of previously published literature and questionnaire survey was done to collect this study's data. 161 responses collected from contractors, consultants, and clients were analyzed statistically. The results of the analysis reveal that the practitioners prefer to use Email, Drawings (CAD), Phone Calls, WhatsApp, and Site Meetings for communication. However, they mention that in comparison, Letters (Written Documents and Reports), Stakeholder meetings, Drawing (CAD), Site Meetings, and Phone Calls are more effective communication tools. Based on the discussion, it is summarized that important modes of communication are Drawing (CAD), Phone Calls, Site Meetings, Emails, and WhatsApp, which help in proper understanding and fast mode of communicating the messages. The respondents suggested that the government introduce and enforce the law to adopt modern communication modes for improved communication systems. Also, the practitioner should be motivated to work with virtual environments such as BIM for achieving successful projects.

Country Communication Regime as a Socio-Political Phenomenon

The article examines a new scientific category of communication regime, analyses its scope, socio-political significance and features. The author describes communication regime as a controlled (with varying degree of controllability), institutionalized (with varying degree of institutionalization), conventional (with varying degree of conventionality) system of norms, rules, principles, traditions, structures, and actors that regulates information and communication processes. The immanent components of the communication regimes are communications (the process and the result of establishing two- or multilateral contacts) and information (the messages transmitted in the process of communication or in a one-way, unidirectional process of informing). The social essence of the communication regime lies in the ordering of communication and information, and the political essence in ensuring the reproduction of the current government, which together allows the system to preserve itself. The social essence of the communication regime lies in the harmonisation of communication and information, the political essence is in ensuring the reproduction of the current government, which in aggregate allows the system to preserve itself. The construction of communication regimes occurs by: (1) institutionalizing the ideas of the subjects of power about the ideal model of organizing information and communication processes in society; (2) consociations regarding the historically established norms and traditions of communication; (3) taking into account the interests of large and significant social groups; (4) adaptation of the current regime to new communication practices. Communication modes have complex subject-object relationships in which objects can become subjects and change the current regime. The author reveals the paradoxes and contradictions of communication modes, the underestimation of which can lead to social and political destabilization. A model for a comprehensive analysis of country communication regimes is proposed, developed by the author under the influence of systemic, institutional approaches, the ideas of constructivists, and taking into account the possibilities of the empirical level of research, fixation and pooling of scientific facts.