"Holding the greatest area of rainforest in the world, Brazil has seen the adoption of a far-right anti-environmental agenda under the administration of Jair Bolsonaro. This agenda was backed by a transnational infrastructure of right-wing media outlets on online platforms, including the conservativ
...
e YouTube channel Brasil Paralelo. Our research attempted to understand how environmental conspiracies in Brasil Paralelo’s documentary Cortina de Fumaça (in English, smokescreen) took advantage of both digital platform affordances and political alignment with the far-right government to gain social adherence and relevance. By carrying out topic modeling on more than 13,000 comments and network analysis of 982 recommended videos on YouTube, we aimed to analyze the following: (1) which narratives fostered in the documentary have reverberated among the audience that published comments on its YouTube page and (2) what type of video does YouTube recommend for users who watched Cortina de Fumaça. Our results show that far-right anti-environmental discourse is instrumentalized as yet another component of modern culture wars, where environmental conspiracies are placed side by side with other conspiratorial claims regarding politics, gender, religion, and other ideological subjects." (Abstract)
more
"Die digitale Transformation der Öffentlichkeit führte zu einem Aufschwung von alternativen Nachrichtenmedien im Netz, die den professionellen Informationsjournalismus konkurrieren. Als Gegenöffentlichkeiten stehen sie in Opposition zur hegemonialen Öffentlichkeit aus Politik und Medien. Lisa Sc
...
hwaiger nimmt eine Bestandsaufnahme alternativer Nachrichtenmedien im deutschsprachigen Raum vor und ordnet diese typologisch ein. Mit einem netzwerkanalytischen Ansatz untersucht sie die Relationen zwischen Alternativ- und Mainstreammedien in der Twitter-Sphäre und liefert neue Erkenntnisse zu einem gesellschaftlich hochrelevanten Thema." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more
"Going more specific into members’ engagement with GFMD, the survey found that the top three reasons organisations participate in GFMD were for information and knowledge exchange (n = 10), policy and decision making support (n = 8), and to build networks (n = 7). Members also indicated that the re
...
sources form GFMD they use the most include the #MediaDev Insider Newsletter (n = 67), GFMD website (n = 66), and mailing lists (n = 60). To a lesser extent, members engage with GFMD’s social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin) (n = 43), conference sessions organised by GFMD (n = 43), and GFMD working groups and joint initiatives (n = 41). Notably, respondents did not indicate using the policy related resources even though it was selected as one of the top three reasons for participating in GFMD." (Summary of results, page 3)
more
"This report presents the results of the network analysis of GFMD members. This analysis specifically studied the communication channels used and the quality of relationships among members. The quality of relationships was assessed using measures of social capital. The report also provides recommend
...
ations for strengthening the network. The contents of this report provide a quantitative baseline of the media development sector as of 2014-2015." (Executive summary)
more
"The article analyzes web-based networks of Palestinian communities in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Australia, United States, Canada, Spain, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The findings show a thematic and demographic shift from organizations of Palestinian communities abroad to a transnational so
...
lidarity network focused on Palestinian rights and the Boycott movement. Although Palestinian Territories function as the network’s strong center of gravity, analysis of the references reveals that diaspora and non-diaspora actors operate as two distinct but intertwined networks: while diaspora actors are unique in putting emphasis on community as activity type and on diaspora and the right of return as primary cause, non-diaspora actors are mainly dedicated to solidarity as activity and Palestinian rights and the boycott movement as primary cause. Despite this, ties between diaspora and non-diaspora actors are stronger than among diaspora actors, which indicates that part of the dynamics of Palestinian communities is manifest not only between diaspora communities, but mostly between diaspora communities and civil society organizations in their host societies." (Abstract)
more
"Hindu nationalists defend the advent of a Hindu state in India, while projecting the universal appeal of their ideology. Their very territorialised yet universal claims have been finding particular resonance among migrant populations, particularly in North America. This study strives to go beyond c
...
ontent analyses that foreground voices to focus on the network structure in order to highlight the new transnational practices of nationalism. Two main points emerge from this in-depth scrutiny. On the one hand, Hindu nationalist organisations have transferred their online activities mainly to the USA, where the Indian diaspora is 3.2 million strong and constitute therefore a prime example of long-distance transnationalist nationalism. On the other hand, the morphological discrepancies between the online and the offline networks point to new strategies of discretion developed to evade the gaze of authorities in countries of residence. The recourse to such cartographies thus becomes crucial not only in understanding what sectarian or illegal movements do but also what they seek to hide." (Abstract)
more