Information sources, knowledge and compliance to COVID-19 safety protocol in Borno State, Nigeria

Borno State, Nigeria has experienced active COVID-19 with quite a number of cases and mortalities. The extensive global campaign to create awareness about the pandemic and safety measures through various stakeholders appeared to have worked, especially when it became obvious that people in Borno keyed into safety protocols and observed the lockdown. They wore face masks, routinely applied hand sanitizers and handwashing in public places. It was observed, at some points however, there was obvious nonadherence to these protocols. Therefore, this study examines adherence to COVID-19 safety protocol issues in the state. Could the noncompliance be by those not aware or knowledgeable about the pandemic? Are there issues with the sources of information? The objectives of the study are to determine: the sources of information/knowledge on COVID-19; the effectiveness of the sources of information/knowledge on COVID-19; level of compliance to COVID-19 preventive/safety measures, and to identify challenges in complying with COVID-19 safety/preventive measures. The study used knowledge, attitude and practice theory employed survey method as well as convenience and purposive sampling techniques to select 2949 respondents across three LGAs in the state. The study found that people are aware and knowledgeable about the pandemic. The mass media, especially radio are the major sources of information. The noncompliance to COVID-19 safety protocol is largely due lack of fund to purchase and use face mask and hand sanitizer. It concludes that there are diverse sources of knowledge and information with poor compliance to the safety protocols in Borno State.

COVID-19 and online education: Digital inequality and other dilemmas of rural students in accessing online education during the pandemic

It is widely assumed among academicians that the COVID-19 pandemic has negative implications for the education of school students. However, institutions tried to balance that limitation by using online education, and there exist some inequalities among students. Most of the studies conducted during COVID-19 on online education focused on urban school students and their access to online education. In particular, rural school students and their online education remain an open question. Twenty in-depth interviews with rural student respondents determine the fundamental problems and challenge the rural school students’ face in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The study identifies six major problems of rural students: inadequate technology, unacquainted academic atmosphere, digital disconnect, physical well-being, the distractions inherent with the medium, and digital illiteracy. The identified constraints draw inferences to a critical concept in online learning that is digital inequality. Digital inequality refers to the disparity in the access, distribution of technology, information because of various socio-economic and cultural factors. The study also discusses the suggestions of rural students regarding the betterment of online education. The recommendations from the rural students include providing appropriate technological infrastructure, facilitating technical assistance and providing a convenient academic atmosphere. The suggestions are pointing towards the idea of digital inclusion that is vital in online education. Digital inclusion is defined as the ability of individuals or groups of people to access and use information and communication technologies. It is not only about access in a broader sense the opportunities of using innovative hardware and software technology, content and services, getting proper digital literacy pieces of training and the effective use of these services. The findings of the study will help to bridge the disparities in online education. These findings will help the academic community to identify the needs of rural children. It will help build infrastructure for online learning and give extensive support to the school children of rural communities. These findings are also vital for the communication scholars as the disparity in the distribution of information and knowledge is a prime concern for them.

Royally represented or royally shafted? Effect of positive and negative captions and ideological beliefs on readers’ evaluations of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle

We conducted a randomized controlled experiment to investigate the role of descriptive captions (positively and negatively worded) and ideological beliefs (Right Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation) on viewers’ evaluations of two popular British Royal family members namely Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton. Participants included 300 undergraduate students from Dunedin, New Zealand who were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions: (1) Pro-Kate, (2) Anti-Kate, (3) Pro-Meghan or (4) AntiMeghan captions accompanying the parallel images of these Royal members. We also included several distractor variables about other Royal family members and traditions. Outcomes were recorded as evaluations of six royal members (Charles, Diana, William, Harry, Kate, and Meghan). We found no significant effect of caption manipulation on outcome evaluations of Meghan and Kate. However, social dominance negatively correlated with Meghan and Harry whereas authoritarianism positively correlated with ratings of Charles. Our results indicate that a one-off exposure to biased media regarding celebrities may not significantly alter audience’s evaluations of them, but ideological beliefs may influence this process, nonetheless.

The rise of digital authoritarianism: Evolving threats to media and Internet freedoms in Pakistan

Digital authoritarianism poses increasing challenges within both autocratic and democratic regimes. The evolving mechanisms of digital authoritarianism surpass national boundaries. Over the past decade they have advanced the interests of authoritarian states to undermine the freedoms of media and the Internet. In competitive authoritarian regimes, like Pakistan, digital authoritarianism has paved its way under democratic disguise. Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index 2020 indicates that the country ranks at 145 out of total 178 countries. Moreover, Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2020 survey reveals Pakistan among the worst ten countries in terms of Internet and digital media freedoms. Considering these facts, hence this study examines digital authoritarianism in the journalistic context. It explores evolving threats to media and internet freedoms due to the increasing authoritarian practices of Pakistan’s state authorities in digital realm. This is significant so as to unpack how the country’s authorities restrain media and Internet freedoms in the digital age. To achieve this aim, this study uses the qualitative method of online interviews and presents findings thematically.

Testing the waters: TikTok’s potential for television news

TikTok has taken the world of mobile apps by storm. In a short period of time, it managed to become the destination of choice for most of the young users and it is currently witnessing the aging of its audience. Mass media has started to test the TikTok waters early in 2019. However, there are still very few TV news channels daring to take the risks and try to lure the TikTok audience to television news. In this article we are evaluating the field of TikTok news players and the platform’s potential to become another popular source of serious information. We are closely analyzing the top two accounts of traditional TV news on TikTok: NBC News and CBS News. As it turns out, there is room for traditional TV formats and adapted for TikTok news bits. Politics remains one of the most demanded by the audience topics. And even though young users emphasize the importance of brevity and entertainment aspect for any potential TV news videos on TikTok, our study results show that even serious and least entertaining videos can get millions of likes and views.

Gender equality for sustainable development: Аnalysis of local journalists’ role in Bangladesh

Gender discrimination turns women and girls into a part of a marginalized community. As a traditional value-centric and gender biased society, people in Bangladesh undervalue the contribution of women in family and community. Goal five of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), nevertheless, calls directly for achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls. Some analysts also intend that gender equality is connected with achieving all the 17 goals of SDGs. As such, promoting gender equality through media portrayal is a key to the sustainable development of Bangladesh. Different literature also focused on media professionals’ responsibilities for eliminating gender-based discrimination. However, media mainly give more concentration on the central or core level issues of society. Thus, the representation of local or peripheral gender issues in media remains poor. Media professionals, local journalists in particular, could play a significant role in promoting local gender equality issues. Under the given context this study aims to analyze to what extent the local journalists play roles in achieving gender equality for sustainable development. Incorporating a multi-level social ecological framework, this study adopted both the quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Employing convenience sampling, 32 local journalists from different media in Chittagong city, a Southeastern coastal city of Bangladesh, were surveyed. In addition, five in-depth interviews from gender and media analysts were taken using purposive sampling. The findings of the study demonstrated that based on journalistic principles a significant portion of local journalists plays a positive role to promote local gender issues from the individual level to the policy level. Thus, they accelerate the course of achieving sustainable development goals. This study also suggests guidelines for the policymakers to use local journalists for promoting gender equality at the local level.

The what, how and why of fake news: An overview

This article examines the nature of the origin, definitions and functional principles of so-called fake news – reports that are deliberately false in nature which can create a stir in society around a non-existent informational case born ofthesamenews source.Incombinationwithviraltechnologiesandmechanisms of distribution in the media and social networks, fake news in modern political campaigns is becoming a dangerous tool for influencing mass consciousness of societies. The main task of fake news in modern political campaigns and processes is interception of the political agenda, with its subsequent closure to the news feed generated by the fake news itself, as well as creation of general excitement around the given news story. This present article seeks to review and analyse the academic debates on the what (definition), how (operationalization) and why (motivation) questions pertaining to the fake news phenomena. These aspects are then combined to generate the beginnings of creating a conceptual taxonomy to understand this highly topical and emotive concept.

Information support of the eurasian integration: the image of the EAEU in the mainstream media of the member states

Mass media, as the main tool for information support of integration processes of any regional economic association, are designed to ensure the internal stability of the Eurasian Economic Union, without which it is impossible to strengthen its position on the international stage. In this article, through the analysis of news content of the mainstream broadcasters and print and online media of the member states, it was identified, which thematical components of the image of the Eurasian Economic Union, affecting the perception of the young regional association by population, and to what extent they are currently available to mass audience in Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The study showed that the information support of the Eurasian integration, unregulated for five years and transferred to the management of the media themselves, led to that the main topics as of Q4 2019 were: meetings of the leaders of the EAEU states, legislative regulation, as well as the prospects for the development of the relations between the Union countries. At the same time, the vast majority of materials are depersonalized information, rather than personalized materials that illustrate the benefits of integration for the public. All this leads to the formation of information apathy to the integration issues both in society and on the part of the journalists themselves.

Reporting under fear and threats: the deadly cost of being a journalist in Pakistan and India

The journalists’ right to perform their watchdog role and to do their routine jobs without fear of being killed, kidnapped, harassed, and attacked is a topic of utmost importance for freedom of the media and freedom of expression. However, in the past decade, journalists’ killings across the globe indicate that journalism is no more a safe profession. Noticeably, the Asia-Pacific region is the third worst violator of media freedom in the world. While the level of media freedom and journalists’ safety is not better in the Middle East and the North African regions, the Asia-Pacific region stands out because it is home to the two of the top ten worst countries for journalists’ killings over the past 25 years, namely: Pakistan and India. Therefore, drawing on the system theory, this study aims to investigate the journalists’ lived experiences of diverse safety risks in Pakistan and India. To accomplish this aim, this study uses the qualitative methods of document reviews and in-depth interviews. Besides, this study uses thematic analysis to analyse the gathered data. The analyses of journalists’ lived experiences of safety risks reveal a stark systemic failure to protect them and safeguard their right to freedom of expression in these two countries.

old war, new battleground: deconstructing the potency of social media for community engagement in nigeria’s human rights advocacy efforts

Although the need to guarantee human rights has been long acknowledged, efforts towards their full realization seem limited to the sole reliance on the conventional top-down approach to development. However, current development discourse emphasizes the centrality of people’s involvement in social development, such as human rights promotion, and the social media seem to hold considerable prospects in the actualization of this goal. Using a survey of 1,000 respondents drawn from states across Nigeria, this study investigates how new media technologies, such as social media, are shifting focus from the sole reliance on the mainstream media and influencing public involvement in human rights promotion in Nigeria. Findings showed that the social media have engendered community-wide engagements of people in efforts aimed at reducing cases of human rights violation in Nigeria, as people do not only get exposed to human rights issues on the social media, but also participate in their discussion and promotion. Overall, using the social media for human rights advocacy was significantly associated with respondents’ gender (.528**), education (.674**), perception (.753**), and social media exposure (.421**). Hence, there is the need for stakeholders to leverage the potentials of the social media in the promotion of people’s fundamental rights.