Tracking Topics and Frames Regarding Sustainability Transformations during the Onset of the COVID-19 Crisis

Many researchers and politicians believe that the COVID-19 crisis may have opened a “window of opportunity” to spur sustainability transformations. Still, evidence for such a dynamic is currently lacking. Here, we propose the linkage of “big data” and “thick data” methods for monitoring debates on transformation processes by following the COVID-19 discourse on ecological sustainability in Germany. We analysed variations in the topics discussed by applying text mining techniques to a corpus with 84,500 newspaper articles published during the first COVID-19 wave. This allowed us to attain a unique and previously inaccessible “bird’s eye view” of how these topics evolved. To deepen our understanding of prominent frames, a qualitative content analysis was undertaken. Furthermore, we investigated public awareness by analysing online search behaviour. The findings show an underrepresentation of sustainability topics in the German news during the early stages of the crisis. Similarly, public awareness regarding climate change was found to be reduced. Nevertheless, by examining the newspaper data in detail, we found that the pandemic is often seen as a chance for sustainability transformations—but not without a set of challenges. Our mixed-methods approach enabled us to bridge knowledge gaps between qualitative and quantitative research by “thickening” and providing context to data-driven analyses. By monitoring whether or not the current crisis is seen as a chance for sustainability transformations, we provide insights for environmental policy in times of crisis.

Categorized and Mapping the Lexical Meaning that Describing Sexual Harassment (Obscenity/Lewd) Crimes in Malay Tabloid Press

The categorization of meanings against lexical items that have multiple meanings or that undergo an expansion of meaning often poses problems to language users. This is because language users are often confused and unsure of the true meaning of a lexical item based on the context of its use. Studies on lexical semantics have been extensively conducted but most of the studies conducted focus on the meaning of adjectives, idioms and verbs only. Studies linking word meaning to sexual crime using newspaper data are still considered new and still lacking in number. This study, which uses Prototype Theory, will utilize digital newspaper data, namely Harian Metro, which is expected to fill the existing gaps. This prototype theory is proven to help unravel the cognitive processes involved as the reader tries to understand the true meaning of the word meaning that describes this obscene sexual crime. This study also proves that the use of cognitive semantics by utilizing prototype theory as well as the concept of lexical mapping has helped the process of utterance comprehension take place. All these cognitive processes are used in helping the reader understand the true meaning of a word. This study proves that the lexical used to describe the obscene crime is easily understood by the reader but there are other features that can be used by the author to describe the obscene sexual crime. This aims to further facilitate the reader's understanding of obscene sexual crimes. Overall, the results of this study found that the lexical used is appropriate to the concept of the crime of obscenity.

With a Little Help from Their Friends: The Consequences of Populists in National Government for Policymaking in Local Government

Despite increasing research into populist parties in power, their impact on subnational institutions has been neglected. Taking a novel multilevel perspective, this article inquires into the policy consequences of populist radical right parties (specifically, the FPÖ and Lega) in local government, and the effect of their simultaneous participation in national government. The article shows the expansion of exclusionary policy that follows their concurrent presence in national and local government. The process that leads from national government entry to local policy influence is traced using interview and newspaper data. The article argues that the influence of central parties over these ‘showcase’ localities is rooted in different multilevel governance configurations. These vary cross-nationally according to two factors: the strength of mayors’ linkages with higher government levels in the different institutional settings and, due to the different extent of party nationalization, the strategic value of the municipality to the central party.

Caught in the wave

The reception of the international #MeToo movement in Portugal has been complex and controversial. Issues of injustice regarding sexual harassment and sexual violence were always central to feminist organizations in Portugal, but the salience of these issues increased when women started to share their personal stories under #MeToo, the country’s favorite soccer star was accused of rape, and after some polemic court rulings. This paper uses a Black Feminist Thought approach and content analysis of newspaper data, to trace the political process feminist movements engaged in regarding gender-based violence. It also analyzes how #MeToo movement contributed to the visibility and framing of the issues, what collective actions were pursued, and what outcomes were achieved. The fi ndings show that the globalized #MeToo movement has contributed to revitalize the Portuguese feminist movement. New, younger, and more diverse members have joined its ranks, new feminist organizations were created, new frames were applied, and several collective actions organized, mostly in protesting court decisions. This vitality led to a more inclusive and intersectionalactivism, but also to an increasing awareness of sexual harassment and sexual violence as targets of personal, collective, and institutional change.

Macroscoping the Sun of Socialism: Distant Readings of Temporality in Finnish Labour Newspapers, 1895–1917

This chapter examines the socialist perception of time in the Grand Duchy of Finland at the turn of 20th century focusing on the way working people experienced the present. Three distant reading methods are used on newspaper data to extract information on the socialist temporality: relative word frequencies over time, collocates, and key collocates. The point of historical distant reading methods is explained by using a simple theoretical model illuminating the scholar’s intellectual journey from original sources to historical wisdom. The results show that the General Strike of 1905 increased newspaper references to the present within the labour movement. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that socialist newspapers portrayed the present as negative, systematic and changeable and with an extraordinary level of negativity as compared to competing political languages. The study broadens the understanding of socialist temporality in general and Finnish socialism’s most important symbol, the rising sun, in particular. The sun’s meaning has been connected to freedom in the future, but simultaneously the sun highlighted the shackles of capitalism in the present.

Use of Unofficial Newspaper Data for COVID-19 Death Surveillance

Objective. To highlight the critical importance of unofficially reported newspaper-based deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–like illness (CLI) together with officially confirmed death counts to support improvements in COVID-19 death surveillance.Methods. Both hospital-based official COVID-19 and unofficial CLI death counts were collected from daily newspapers between March 8 and August 22, 2020. We performed both exploratory and time-series analyses to understand the influence of combining newspaper-based CLI death counts with confirmed hospital death counts on the trends and forecasting of COVID-19 death counts. An autoregressive integrated moving average–based approach was used to forecast the number of weekly death counts for six weeks ahead.Results. Between March 8 and August 22, 2020, 2,156 CLI deaths were recorded based on newspaper reporting for a count that was 55% of the officially confirmed death count (n = 3,907). This shows that newspaper reports tend to cover a significant number of COVID-19 related deaths. Our forecast also indicates an approximate total of 406 CLI expected for the six weeks ahead, which could contribute to a total of 2,413 deaths including 2,007 confirmed deaths expected from August 23 to October 3, 2020.Conclusions. Analyzing existing trends in and forecasting the expected number of newspaper-based CLI deaths indicates yet-unreported COVID-19 death counts, which could be a critical source to estimate provisional COVID-19 death counts and mortality surveillance.Public Health Implications. Considering unofficial newspaper-based CLI death counts is essential to identify COVID-19 death severity and surveillance needs to advance public health research efforts to prepare appropriate response strategies for low- and middle-income countries.

Use of Unofficial Newspaper Data for COVID-19 Death Surveillance

Objective. To highlight the critical importance of unofficially reported newspaper-based deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) like illness (CLI) together with officially confirmed death counts to support improvements in COVID 19 death surveillance. Methods. Both hospital-based official COVID 19 and unofficial CLI death counts were collected from daily newspapers between March 8 and August 22, 2020. We performed both exploratory and time-series analyses to understand the influence of combining newspaper-based CLI death counts with confirmed hospital death counts on the trends and forecasting of COVID-19 death counts. An autoregressive integrated moving average based approach was used to forecast the number of weekly death counts for six weeks ahead. Results. Between March 8 and August 22, 2020, 2,156 CLI deaths were recorded based on newspaper reporting for a count that was 55% of the officially confirmed death count (n = 3,907). This shows that newspaper reports tend to cover a significant number of COVID-19 related deaths. Our forecast also indicates an approximate total of 406 CLI expected for the six weeks ahead, which could contribute to a total of 2,413 deaths including 2,007 confirmed deaths expected from August 23 to October 3, 2020. Conclusions. Analyzing existing trends in and forecasting the expected number of newspaper based CLI deaths indicates yet-unreported COVID-19 death counts, which could be a critical source to estimate provisional COVID 19 death counts and mortality surveillance. Public Health Implications. Considering unofficial newspaper-based CLI death counts is essential to identify COVID-19 death severity and surveillance needs to advance public health research efforts to prepare appropriate response strategies for low- and middle-income countries.