Hyphenated Identities: Voices from the Watchtower During the Cypriot Civil War

As an implication of the ethnically and nationally diverse nature of Mediterranean polities, identification-driven boundary-making strategies bear considerable relevance for their political processes, both in the contemporary context and in the historical past. By utilizing a Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), this study provides an interpretative exploration of Greek-Cypriot elite discursive framing strategies regarding Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot ethno-national identity during the Cypriot Civil War (1963–1967). The available historical interpretations of this period lead us to expect an exclusionary strategy of boundary contraction to be more prevalent than the inclusionary one of boundary expansion in the discourse of Greek-Cypriot elites. Through an examination of a sample of primary textual sources, the analysis disconfirms such an expectation, as elite figures primarily constructed broader, inclusive frames of ethno-national identity during the civil war. The relative absence of boundary contraction and the prevalence of boundary expansion indicate the applicability of Wimmer’s (2008) universalist approach to ethnic boundary-making, in contrast to the expectations that are built by the Cyprus-specific historical evidence. This study thus lays the groundwork for future research to delineate the discursive framing strategies of elite figures in Cyprus and beyond the ethno-nationally divided island.

Framing of Abortion and Church-State Relations in Russian Orthodox Online Portals

Over the past two decades, clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church have found a new outlet for morality policy discussions: news portals, blogs, and other sites that comprise a virtual public sphere of Russian Orthodox online media. One prominent issue discussed herein is abortion in Russia, a subject that has spawned debates about possible regulation and prevention measures. This article analyzes statements regarding abortion made by clerics and others serving in the Russian Orthodox Church via Russian Orthodox online portals. Using typologies for framing strategies established through research of morality policy and church-state relations in Russia, this analysis will show that rational-instrumental frames were employed more frequently than religiously based or procedural arguments, and frames expressing affinity and disillusionment with the state were utilized more often than those evoking church-state symphony or anti-government disestablishment. In addition, it will shed light on framing strategies between online portals with varying degrees of proximity to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Effects of Side-Effect Risk Framing Strategies on COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions in the United States and the United Kingdom: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Vaccination rates have stagnated in the United States and the United Kingdom leading to the continuing spread of COVID-19. Fear and concern over vaccine side-effects is one of the main drivers of hesitancy. Drawing from behavioral science and health communication theory, we conducted a randomized controlled trial among 8998 adults to determine whether the way COVID-19 vaccine side-effects are framed and presented to individuals can influence their willingness to take a vaccine. We presented participants information on a hypothetical future COVID-19 vaccine -- including information on its side-effect rate -- and then examined the effect of three side-effect framing strategies on individuals stated willingness to take this vaccine: adding a qualitative risk label next to the numerical risk, adding comparison risks, and for those presented with comparisons, framing the comparison in relative rather than absolute terms. Based on a pre-registered and published analysis plan, we found that adding a simple descriptive risk label (very low risk) next to the numerical side-effect increased participants' willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine by 3.0 percentage points (p = 0.003). Providing a comparison to motor vehicle mortality increased COVID-19 vaccine willingness by 2.4 percentage points (p = 0.051). These effects were independent and additive: participants that received both a qualitative risk label and comparison to motor-vehicle mortality were 6.1 percentage points (p < 0.001) more likely to report willingness to take a vaccine compared to those who did not receive a label or comparison. Taken together, our results reveal that despite increasingly strong vaccination hesitancy and exposure to large amounts of vaccine misinformation, low-cost side-effect framing strategies can meaningfully affect vaccination intentions at a population level.

THE DISINFECTANT DIVERSION: FRAMING STRATEGIES OF PARTISAN MEDIA IN INTERPRETING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Following the rise of Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 US presidential election, political communication scholars have turned a critical eye towards the role of conservative media outlets in the construction of an overarching meta-narrative, largely referred to in the existing literature as the “deep story” (Hochschild, 2016). The aim of the present study to extend this seminal work to analyze how mainstream, conservative, and liberal outlets rely on meta-narratives to construct meaning in their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing qualitative methods, we analyze the coverage that six American news outlets afforded the April 23rd 2020 Coronavirus Task Force news briefing, where President Trump insinuated injections of disinfectant could be a useful way to fight COVID-19. Our analysis includes 115 news articles, 41 Facebook posts and 87 television clips from these outlets. Our results reveal that both the left and right wing media systems employed overarching narratives in their coverage. The left-wing media heavily emphasized the tendency to deny or argue scientific fact among conservatives. In contrast, we observed that the right-wing media constantly used similar framing strategies in an attempt to vilify the left-wing media and liberals. Considering the existing literature (Kreiss, 2018: Poletta & Callahan, 2019), we observed many instances where right-wing pundits and journalists relied on previously established heuristics, cuing audiences to perceive the left-wing media as elitist out to discredit Trump. Our findings provide an in-depth analysis of how partisan media relies on meta-narratives to convey meaning to their audiences.

FRAMING COVID-19: HOW FACT-CHECKING CIRCULATES ON POLITICAL FACEBOOK

This abstract compiles the results of a research on how the political framing of fact-checking posts about Covid-19 may influence their circulation on Facebook. Our research is based on a dataset of 460 fact-checking posts published on politically aligned Brazilian Facebook pages/groups. We used frame analysis to discuss how these posts share fact-checking links. Our results point to the right-wing affiliated groups/pages sharing more fact-checking than left-aligned ones, but using framing strategies to subvert fact-checking content to support their beliefs.These results show that fact-checking does circulate on political Facebook groups/pages that share disinformation (and they circulate on right-wing and conservative ones), but it is used to reinforce their discourse, rather than debunk it.

Selfless or Selfish? The Impact of Message Framing and Egoistic Motivation on Narcissists’ Compliance with Preventive Health Behaviors during COVID-19

COVID-19 is one of the greatest international health crises in recent years. Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus, the World Health Organization has recommended that people comply with a set of preventive measures to reduce the infection rate (e.g., social distancing, wearing a face mask, thorough personal hygiene). Such recommendations imply certain personal restrictions, with people typically differing in the extent to which they are willing to comply with said recommendations. The present large-sampled study (N = 800) aimed to investigate whether narcissism levels and message framing strategies affect individuals’ willingness to accept personal restrictions and, consequently, comply with a set of preventive health behaviors. Results reveal that people high (vs. low) in narcissism are less likely to accept personal restrictions and to comply with preventive health behaviors. However, negative (vs. positive) message framing increases narcissists’ willingness to comply with such behaviors. This effect can be explained through an increased willingness of narcissistic participants to accept personal restrictions to protect themselves (egoistic motivation) but not through a willingness to protect vulnerable people (altruistic motivation). These findings suggest that individuals who remain uncooperative during pandemics could be more effectively addressed with adapted message framing strategies and incentives tailor-made for their distinct personalities.

Zwischen Protest und Parodie: Strukturen der »Querdenken«-Kommunikation auf Telegram (und anderswo)

The paper investigates the structure of digital communication among corona-sceptic groups on Telegram. Starting from the local group "Querdenken 753," it analyzes a communicative network that connects the anti-lockdown protests with a large number of Telegram accounts, ranging from news sources over conspirational to extremist channels. Criticizing the "mainstream" media, science and politics, the arguments and framing strategies in this network imitate but also parody how information, facts and truth are negotiated in public discourse.