"Brazilians have adopted WhatsApp as a national media and communication infrastructure over the past several years, although it is controlled by its private US-based owner, Facebook. This article explores the diverse, contentious and influential roles the app played in the country during disruptions
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to its use from 2015 to 2018. Using content analysis, we critically engage with user-generated memes and news media coverage responding to these disruptions. In these cases, Brazilians self-reflexively questioned the app’s role in their everyday lives and country, reassessing what it means to rely on a national infrastructure owned by an unaccountable global media conglomerate." (Abstract)
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"Wie wird Propaganda im Medium Fernsehen im 21. Jahrhundert gemacht und welche Strategien werden dafür verwendet? Diesen Fragen geht die vorliegende Studie nach, indem sie die mediale Berichterstattung in Russland über den Konflikt in der Ukraine im Jahr 2014 untersucht. Im Fokus stehen russische
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TV-Talkshows, welche neben den Nachrichtensendungen ein besonders effektives Mittel zur Meinungsmanipulation und Verbreitung bestimmter Informationen sind. Das Buch besteht aus drei Teilen. Der erste Teil definiert den Betriff Propaganda und führt bisherige Untersuchungen zum Krieg in der Ukraine an. Der zweite Teil dokumentiert die Ereignisse des Jahres 2014 und stellt das russische Fernsehen sowie die TV-Talkshow als Forschungsgegenstand vor. Im dritten Teil folgt eine umfassende quantitative und qualitative Untersuchung von Talkshowsendungen. Während die quantitative Analyse den Umfang der propagandistischen Einwirkung und die Reaktion des russischen Fernsehens auf die Ereignisse in der Ukraine dokumentiert, macht die Kritische Diskursanalyse deutlich, mithilfe welcher sprachlicher, akustischer und visueller Mittel in den Talkshows gearbeitet wurde, um die gegnerische Seite zu diffamieren und eigene Seite zu heroisieren." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"In late February 2022, Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine which sent shockwaves around the world. As the world responded with sanctions against Russia, Moscow increased its public relations campaign to justify its invasion and recast the narrative in the media and on the inter
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net. The Malaysian government’s initial responses were mixed, with the Prime Minister refraining from naming Russia as the aggressor but ultimately voting to support the UN resolution to condemn the invasion. Malaysian social media were abuzz with discussions on the conflict, with different groups articulating both condemnation and support for Russia. The research in this paper, using digital ethnography, examines pro-Russian sentiments and unpacks them for possible explanations for why such views prevail amongst Malaysians. Four key themes emerged from our analysis. These were: perceived Islamist solidarity, pervasive animosity towards Western hegemony, preference for neutrality and pacifism, and the delegitimization of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy." (Executive Summary)
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"Die Arbeit widmet sich der Dynamik öffentlicher Online-Deliberation. Basierend auf einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit dem klassischen Deliberationskonzept werden neben der Argumentation ausserdem Narration, Emotionsäusserungen und Humor als deliberative Kommunikationsformen diskutiert. Neben
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der Gegenargumentation werden Empathie, Konstruktivität, Reflexivität und echte Fragen als Bestandteile deliberativer Reziprozität betrachtet. Empirisch wird mittels relationaler Inhalts- und Sequenzanalyse zweier Online-Beteiligungsverfahren untersucht, inwiefern unterschiedliche Kommunikationsformen nachfolgende klassische und inklusive deliberative Reziprozität beeinflussen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Following years of government shutdowns, social media has become both freer and more influential in Chadian politics – particularly since the country entered a political transition with the death of President Idriss Déby in April 2021. While it has democratised political participation, social me
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dia has also fuelled socio political tensions. Why does it matter? Chad’s transition has entered a sensitive phase. A government crackdown in October killed dozens of protesters, putting the country on edge. In the run-up to 2024 elections, social media can enhance access to politics by provid ing a forum for open debate, but it could also drive polarisation and violence. What should be done? The government should keep social media platforms free and open, while social media companies should improve monitoring and content moderation. With donor support, civil society should offer influencers training on refraining from online hate speech, incitement and disinformation, which influencers should apply. Donors should support local, professional, independent media." (Summary)
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"This article conducts a qualitative content analysis of content on Twitter concerning the conflict in the Jammu and Kashmir region. The tweets following the death of a popular militant, Burhan Wani, cover three different themes: (1) criticism of intellectuals; (2) Burhan Wani’s impact on the conf
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lict; and (3) tweets referring to the conflict itself. Generally, people use Twitter to make their own point of view clear to others and discredit the opposing party; at the same time, tweets reflect the antagonism between the two parties to the conflict, India and Pakistan. The sample of tweets reflects the lack of awareness among people in the region regarding the motivations of the new generation of militancy emerging in Kashmir after 1990." (Abstract)
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"Reported here are findings from a study of the frequency and content of messaging on various themes on Russian television. The goal of this approach is not necessarily to re-create Russians' viewing habits, though one might reasonably assume that more frequently mentioned topics are more likely to
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have been viewed or noticed. Rather, the frequency and distribution of topics over time reveal the extent to which state-controlled television presented a coordinated campaign. In the absence of reliable public opinion data in war-time Russia, such an approach further suggests insights about the ways that Russians were prepared for and reacted to the onset of war. Despite Russia's insistence that its invasion was motivated by longstanding concerns-genocide and fascism in Ukraine-the findings show that Russian television only paid brief attention to those concerns and quickly re-focused on other themes. Rather, the priming of the public for war began over a month prior to the invasion with the spread of "war talk" on television broadcasts." (Page 1)
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"Who constructs Africa’s global media image? That is the main focus of this longitudinal study. It looks at both the journalists and the news sources applied in the British press coverage of Africa between 1992 and 2017. Four British national newspapers (The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, a
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nd Daily Mail) and a mixed research approach (content analysis and semi-structured interviews) were used. A total sample of 7027 articles were utilized, while nine journalists were interviewed. This study discovered that the British newspapers’ coverage of Africa was dominated by Western journalists and the news sources used in the articles were a proportionate mixture of both African and Western sources, especially in the quality newspapers. It also uncovered that Africa’s global influence, in addition to other factors impact on the UK newspapers’ coverage of Africa. This study concludes that there are some positive changes in the post-colonial British press coverage of Africa, especially in their use of news sources, but there are still some elements of neo-colonialism and racism in the British newspapers’ use of journalists in reporting on Africa." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the roles of social media on youth’s political participation in the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria. It interrogates the roles played by these communication tools in the emancipation and agency of youths while revealing the double-edged implications the devices may have on
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the democratic processes and aspirants. The article employs both primary and secondary methods of data sourcing. Primary data were obtained from in-depth interviews with social media ‘influencers’ who played vital roles during the 2019 General Election in Nigeria. Further data were obtained from selected social media accounts of prominent politicians and analysed using content analysis. Secondary data were extracted from books, articles, newspapers and magazines. Also, the study was contextualised using use and gratification theory. The study concluded that social media played a vital role in the 2019 General Election in Nigeria. It revealed how social media contributed to citizens’ power and agency through debates and narratives which were instrumental in agenda-setting for the ruling class and citizens’ democratic expectations." (Abstract)
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"This publication is the first report from UNESCO and the United Nations to specifically address Holocaust denial and distortion. It details the ways in which social media is fertile ground for hate and prejudice - and proposes actions we can take in response. Based on the data of billions of Facebo
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ok, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram users, the report outlines what information English, French, Spanish, and German speakers encounter about the Holocaust. Almost half of all Holocaust-related content on Telegram, for example, is false, misleading, or distorted. Holocaust denial and distortion are often present alongside other types of online hate speech and misinformation such as homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, conspiracy theory and COVID-19 denial. This co-presence indicates that these issues should not necessarily be addressed in isolation." (Foreword)
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"Narrativas de desinformação - principais achados: 1. Entre alegações de fraude e apelos moralistas, a Integridade Eleitoral e os Valores Cristãos despontam como as principais pautas do segundo turno. 2. Parte da relevância dos valores cristãos se dá pelo reenquadramento de outras pautas ger
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ais da campanha permanente pela ótica e moral religiosas. 3. A pauta de Gênero e Família cresce nas plataformas durante o período do 2º turno, graças à discussão sobre aborto, comumente associada à moral religiosa. 4. A discussão sobre integridade eleitoral aumenta em momentos estratégicos, como o 7 de setembro e a votação do primeiro turno. Cresce o risco associado à pauta, com “previsões” de fraude que abrem espaço à contestação no segundo turno. 5. No Facebook e Instagram, predomina a atividade regular e institucionalizada de organizações e lideranças que trabalham com gênero e meio ambiente." (Página 2)
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"Neste relatório, o NetLab UFRJ reúne os principais resultados do monitoramento de redes de desinformação multiplataforma a partir dos aplicativos de mensageria. Analisando 115,3 mil mensagens veiculadas em grupos públicos do Whatsapp e 180,9 mil em grupos e canais públicos do Telegram, identi
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ficamos o compartilhamento de links externos, narrativas segmentadas, e tendências que podem contribuir para compreender e mitigar os efeitos da desinformação no segundo turno das eleições." (Netlab Blog)
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"Drawing on a content analysis of 263 news articles on US development assistance from 2011 to 2020 across three US media outlets, the study investigates the media's performance in covering and representing US development assistance to the public. The analysis reveals that the media focus their cover
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age of US development assistance based on geopolitical interests and high-profile stories of aid, and fail to critically and comprehensively follow up on them after their announcement. The media dominantly portrayed development assistance in terms of materialistic aid, uncritically justified as “doing good,” while attributing its de-legitimacy to the recipients’ inability and leaving the global North's dysfunctional aid system unquestioned. Such modernistic representation was further supported by the dominance of the Western voice in speaking about what development assistance is and why it matters. To promote better practices for “news about development,” the study suggests that journalism should pay critical attention to the political economy of development communication and adopt a postcolonial communication approach to decenter the hegemonic conventions of journalism grounded in Western experiences." (Abstract)
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"Este estudio aborda el modo cómo la desinformación propalada principalmente a través de las redes sociales digitales, pero también en sitios web y medios periodísticos, ha contribuido a alimentar los conflictos y cómo éstos han dado lugar a más desinformación. Asimismo desentraña los prop
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ósitos de esos mensajes (difamar, desacreditar, engañar, atemorizar, incitar al odio y a la violencia, impidiendo el conocimiento y consideración de los problemas que dan lugar a los conflictos y de las posiciones e intereses de las partes involucradas), que generan un círculo vicioso muy dañino, lo cual es especialmente evidente en el caso de los temas políticos, que han adquirido un carácter transversal ya que atraviesan los distintos temas considerados en el análisis. La investigación muestra que el déficit de una cultura democrática y la polarización política son condiciones propicias para el crecimiento de la tarea desinformadora, influyendo de manera negativa sobre la opinión pública y haciendo víctimas tanto a los ciudadanos como al propio trabajo periodístico. Incluye referencias al necesario y valioso trabajo de las entidades verificadoras y pone de relieve la necesidad de desarrollar esfuerzos mancomunados para contar con información de calidad y confiable, fundamentales para la práctica de un periodismo de paz, sacando al ciudadano de la pasividad y empoderándolo en términos informativos." (Introducción, página 7-8)
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"The Russia-Ukraine war’s ramifications for Vietnam are felt beyond the economic and diplomatic realms. It has in fact become an online hotbed of conflicting and confounding narratives that demonstrate different worldviews and political leanings among Vietnamese netizens. An examination of 28 Face
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book pages/groups active in trending pro-Russia narratives finds an ‘echo chamber’ that is on a constant lookout for Russian, Western and even Chinese news sources that peddle and amplify pro-Russia and anti-Western voices. The most salient pro-Russia narratives in Vietnam’s cyberspace revolve around justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, echoing anti-America and anti-imperialist worldviews, and lionising Russia while demonising Ukraine. These online groups have likely carved out a niche for the conservative segment of the Vietnamese state to shape a propaganda environment where there is space for pro-Russia and anti-Russia narratives, so that pro-Ukraine sentiments will not become predominant in the public discourse. Pro-Russia narratives in Vietnam’s cyberspace are the result of cross-pollination between sentimental attachment since the Soviet era, psychological bias towards Russia embedded in Vietnam’s education and propaganda system, and the overriding imperative to preserve the Vietnamese state’s political and ideological interests." (Executive summary)
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"In an effort to help prevent violent extremism in Central Asia, the Research Centre for Religious Studies of Kyrgyzstan conducted an analysis of values, narratives, and online messages created and distributed by banned extremist groups in five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmeni
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stan, and Uzbekistan. The study included over 1.6 million messages containing religious rhetoric and provides insight into the meanings of the messages and the channels for dissemination, as well as the impact of the messages on the target audience. This was followed by a field study of 4,005 respondents in the 18-35 age range. In addition, the survey also sought to identify the media preferences of young people in the region. Using the findings, the Centre developed communication strategies for each country that recommended how media, NGOs, state authorities, and religious leaders could, with a focus on young people, contribute to promoting peace. Although less than 1% of the analyzed messages containing religious rhetoric had what would be considered dangerous content, those particular messages often resonated with users’ values and interests, especially young people. The messages promoting violence used specific, complex terms that were geared to people who were already followers of radical ideas rather than the average user. The intent of the messages was to deepen the commitment of followers rather than recruit new followers. Administrators of violent extremist channels have developed multi-channel access strategies for potential recipients (through various platforms, chat rooms, personal messages, and reposts), thwarting the blocking measures used by Central Asian governments. The messaging by extremist groups promotes: purity of faith, mutual support to fellow believers, fighting against infidels and apostates, rejection of secular power and its decisions, ambition to create a caliphate, and anti-Semitism. The main target audience of distributors of extremist content is young people aged 18-30 who are dissatisfied with the current political environment and who share a strong sense of injustice. Those aged 18-21 showing the strongest support for the influence of religion on politics. Level of education is also a risk factor: young people with less education tend to engage more with the content." (Publisher description)
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"This study was launched with the aim to deepen our understanding of how women related topics are debated in social media in Iraq. It is based on a social media monitoring exercise conducted between April 2019 and November 2020 across two topics of interest: the kidnapping of women rights’ activis
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t Mary Mohammed and the current push for comprehensives domestic violence legislation." (Introduction, page 4)
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"This doctoral dissertation analyzes participation in alternative media, taking the reader to the Russia of the late 2010s. Bringing together discourse theory, media and communication studies and political theory, it approaches participation in media production through the lens of performativity. Th
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e conceptualization of participation as a performance helps explore the material, embodied and spatial enactments of discourses that sustain the fragile and unstable process of production. The data of this study comprise several months of participant observations, interviews with media producers, and textual analysis of media content. The research employs a case-study method and focuses on media that explicitly delegate their participants the right to co-decide on matters of content production and internal organizing process. The three cases under study are Russia’s oldest anarchist medium Avtonom, the student medium DOXA, and the web-based zine Discours. Data analysis integrates qualitative content analysis and a discourse-theoretical approach, informed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory alongside its subsequent developments within the Essex School. The study looks into the distribution of power in alternative media amidst an internal diversity, material constraints, and an antagonistic relationship with the state. The analysis constructs a model of participation, which shows its embeddedness into multiple and partially overlapping communities. A vibrant sociality and the potential for a further expansion of the media communities emerge as two of the key conditions of the participatory process. Furthermore, participation is supported by an ongoing performance of a multiplicity of identities, in which the more elitist articulations of journalism are intertwined with some empowering and counterhegemonic notions of media production, media producers, and the audience. Retaining a critical-explanatory focus, the dissertation explores the limits of power-sharing, such as the persistence of journalistic professionalism, the scarce resources of the media and vulnerability inflicted by the state. The static representation of the state as the major confronting force reveals the paradoxical nature of social antagonism: while mobilizing the limited resources, it also reduces participatory intensities and triggers a politics of trust that restricts access to media production. This dissertation offers a number of theoretical and empirical contributions to several fields. Some of its key insights relate to participation beyond institutional politics, the hybridity of mainstream and alternative media, the interconnection of discourse, materiality and affect, and an empirical applicability of discourse theory." (Abstract)
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"Die Medieninhaltsanalysen in Kapitel 2 zeigen, dass Entwicklungspolitik absolut und anteilig betrachtet in den Medien nur eine geringe Rolle spielt. Während der ersten Monate der Corona-Pandemie Anfang 2020 ging die Aufmerksamkeit, die TV-Nachrichten und Beiträge in Printmedien auf das Themenfeld
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richteten, weiter zurück. Auf Twitter konnte dieser negative Trend allerdings nicht beobachtet werden. Insgesamt legen die Ergebnisse nahe, dass die mediale Berichterstattung nicht dazu führen dürfte, dass die Bevölkerung dem Thema Entwicklungspolitik große Aufmerksamkeit schenkt. Die Themenfelder, an die entwicklungspolitische Inhalte anknüpfen, variieren zwischen den untersuchten Mediengattungen. Flucht und Migration spielen jedoch in allen drei Gattungen (TV, Print, Twitter) eine wichtige Rolle. In TV-Nachrichten der öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender und in Zeitungsartikeln wird Entwicklungspolitik häufig im Zusammenhang mit Krieg und Konflikt erwähnt. Auf Twitter tritt Entwicklungspolitik häufig mit Bezug zu Klimawandel und Epidemien auf. Dabei befasst sich die Berichterstattung in TV-Nachrichten und Printmedien hauptsächlich mit staatlichen und internationalen politischen Akteuren. Akteure aus dem zivilgesellschaftlichen Bereich sind hingegen stärker auf Twitter präsent. Die Tonalität der Berichterstattung über Entwicklungspolitik fällt in der regionalen Presse positiver aus als in der überregionalen. Letztere berichtet in der Tendenz eher neutral. Auf Twitter wird hingegen mit positiverer Tonalität über das Themenfeld kommuniziert." (Zusammenfassung, Seite vii-viii)
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"At the global average level, mainstream news media are currently at the midway point to gender parity in subjects and sources. Between 2015 and 2020, the needle edged one point forward to 25% in the proportion of subjects and sources who are women. The single point improvement is the first since 20
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10 and is most visible in broadcast news media. Despite their three-point decline in the proportion of women subjects and sources since 2015, North American news media remain the best performers worldwide. European news media have made the most significant progress on this indicator since 1995 and Pacific region media in the past five years. Only Africa’s media have stagnated as the rest of the regions have improved by three to 12 points across the quarter century. The proportion of women as subjects and sources in digital news stories also incr eased one point overall from 2015 to 2020, with a three-point improvement on news websites and a three-point decline in news media tweets. The overwhelming majority of science/health news was related to Covid-19, the limelight story of 2020. The meteoric climb in this major topic’s news value due to the pandemic has been accompanied by a fall in women’s voice and visibility in the stories. While the news share of science/health stories was significantly higher in 2020 compared to earlier periods (from 10% in 2005 to 17% currently), women’s presence in this topic declined by five points after a steady rise between 2000 and 2015." (Executive summary, page 4)
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