"This paper aims to explore the determinants causing fake information proliferation on social media platforms and the challenges to control the diffusion of fake news phenomena. The authors applied the systematic review methodology to conduct a synthetic analysis of 37 articles published in peer-rev
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iewed journals retrieved from 13 scholarly databases. The findings of the study displayed that dissatisfaction, behavior modifications, trending practices to viral fake stories, natural inclination toward negativity and political purposes were the key determinants that led individuals to believe in fake news shared on digital media. The study also identified challenges being faced by people to control the spread of fake news on social networking websites. Key challenges included individual autonomy, the fast-paced social media ecosystem, fake accounts on social media, cutting-edge technologies, disparities and lack of media literacy." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of this report is to gain a better understanding of the pertinent dynamics and to bolster the design of programming to support the information ecosystem around elections. In aid of this, UNDP sought information through a number of channels, in a review of the relevant literature, a seri
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es of regional consultations, expert meetings and a survey [...] The various sources all conclude there remains no single panacea to the ills that information pollution brings upon elections. Rather, there is a variety of information pollution programming around elections, each with its own benefits and deficiencies. In order to support the design of a holistic information integrity strategy, this report suggests that programmes seek to address one or more of the following three concerns (1) prevention—to address the supply side of information pollution by preventing or deterring the creation of information pollution, (2) resilience—building public resilience to information pollution limiting the ability of users to be influenced or co-opted by information pollution and (3) countering—identifying and attempting to counter information pollution." (Summary, page 8-9)
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"We reviewed 555 papers published from 2016–2022 that presented misinformation to participants. We identified several trends in the literature—increasing frequency of misinformation studies over time, a wide variety of topics covered, and a significant focus on COVID-19 misinformation since 2020
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. We also identified several important shortcomings, including overrepresentation of samples from the United States and Europe and excessive emphasis on short-term consequences of brief, text-based misinformation. Most studies examined belief in misinformation as the primary outcome. While many researchers identified behavioural consequences of misinformation exposure as a pressing concern, we observed a lack of research directly investigating behaviour change." (Abstract)
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"This paper focuses on the (in)direct tools of governmental bureaucracy used to control journalistic work in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). It calls for understanding media capture not only through structural-level consequences, but also through the methods used to create an environment of inst
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ability and unsafety. To make sense of these processes, and how they are experienced and negotiated by journalists, this paper combines scholarship on the emotional labor of journalism with scholarship on processes of media capture in deeply restrictive environments. The mixed-methods approach aims first to uncover structural conditions of media capture in the KRI through a document analysis of 21 public reports published by the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate (KJS) and the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy (MC) between 2014 and 2020. Second, it aims to reveal how journalists and editors-in-chief from diverse media organizations manage and negotiate these chronic conditions of precarity and instability, through 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The results show multiple strategies that have been developed by journalists and editors to mitigate or acclimate direct and indirect bureaucratic violence (e.g., editorial support, socialization skills and networks, understanding of unspoken and unwritten rules, etc.)." (Abstract)
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"Radio-based entertainment education (EE) programs have long been a way to communicate health-related information, particularly in developing countries. To explore the effectiveness of these campaigns, we used meta-analysis to examine the results of 20 published studies on the effectiveness of healt
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h messages embedded in radio-based EE programs. The results suggest that these messages had small but significant effects in changing health related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. We also found that research methods, health issues, and exposure levels were significant moderators of these effects. These results have both theoretical and practical implications." (Abstract)
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"Research into the use of social media by Indigenous youth and their health and wellness is an emerging field. Of the twenty-six publications selected, over three quarters were published in 2015 or later. Almost half the studies in the corpus—eleven in all—took place in Canada. They were mainly
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carried out using qualitative methodologies and target young adults, i.e., young people over the age of eighteen. In general, authors use exploratory designs and present descriptive results. The semi-structured interview is the most frequent method used to characterize use in over half the cases. All of the publications in the corpus cover at least one of the four characteristics of use: time, device, platform, or activity. The three most common social media activities are communicating (sending or receiving messages from friends and family), getting informed (seeking advice on anxiety, for example), and discovering and promoting one’s culture (consulting pages or groups specific to Indigenous peoples). The examination of health themes in the corpus was guided by an Indigenous perspective on health and wellness. This is based on four facets—mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical— and is rooted in culture and territory, at both the individual and the community level. Six health themes emerge from the corpus, presented in order of frequency: identity and culture, social relations, health information, cyberbullying, racism, and other forms of violence, mental health, and lifestyle habits." (Highlights, page 1)
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"We conducted a meta-analytic study of recent (2009 to 2020) information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) research in the field of development communication. Our aim was to explore the conceptualization of participation in the context of ICTs and globalization in contemporary s
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cholarly discourse. We found that most studies published during this period evinced a technological deterministic discourse regarding the process of social change, privileging modernization and neoliberal modes of development. In such contexts, participation has often been conceptualized in terms of invitations to ‘access’ (first-level of participation) and ‘empowerment’ (second-level of participation) at the local level. Despite increasing concern regarding global digital inequalities, research that approaches participation in terms of claims to ‘social justice’ (third-level of participation) associated with global forces has been limited. We found, however, that research emerging from the communication and media disciplines have shown skepticism regarding the dominant trends. The paper concludes with a discussion of future directions in ICT4D for scholars across disciplines." (Abstract)
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"Media development assistance and media systems research are intricately connected: by describing, assessing, and attempting to change them, media development actors produce knowledge about media systems and directly impact them. This research review explores the intersections of academic media syst
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ems research and practices of describing and assessing media landscapes in the media development sector and suggests how both could learn from each other. In what follows, the most important publications on media systems since the Cold War era will be reviewed, tracing the ongoing process of refining concepts and definitions. Alongside a geographical broadening of the research scope, models as well as methodological approaches have been questioned and reinvented. The review places a special focus on the peculiarities of researching media systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Referring to academic as well as grey literature, it suggests points of departure for meaningfully linking academic knowledge and practitioners’ knowledge about media systems, concluding with recommendations for informed practice." (Abstract)
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"Die Beiträge sind im Format der Rezension geschrieben und erlauben so, auch ohne Vorkenntnis, einen unmittelbaren Einstieg in einen Diskussionszusammenhang. Neben der Skizze des Argumentationsgangs stellen die Beiträge das Werk in seinen Forschungskontext und würdigen es kritisch und mit Blick a
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uf ergänzende Literatur. Entgegen der Tradition der inzwischen zum Publikationsgenre avancierten Schlüsselwerke-Bände wurden nicht nur Einzelrezensionen, sondern auch Sammelrezensionen und einige, sich von der Sammelrezension nur durch den Umfang unterscheidende Themenessays aufgenommen." (Vorwort, Seite 13)
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"Digital infrastructure increasingly enables the extraction, exploitation, processing and analysis of personal and behavioural data. Data analytics have not just become the core of the digital economy but also constitute a growing feature of the public sector. Wide areas of public administration are
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now based on, or at least informed by, the aggregation of data for the purpose of profiling, categorising, sorting, rating, ranking and segmenting populations, and then treating them distinctly. Scoring systems and other forms of predictive analytics are prime means to assess citizens yet these systems are applied mostly without the knowledge of those being analysed and the exact mechanisms of data analytics remain obscure. Citizens are classified according to criteria that are not transparent, with consequences they do not know about, and without an open way of redress. As citizens are continuously profiled and evaluated, there is a power shift from citizens to the state. All this raises fundamental questions regarding the quality of democracy in a context of datafied administration and governance. Whereas a democracy requires that the people adopt the role of the sovereign, in a datafied society this sovereign does not have much knowledge, understanding, or say in how it is treated. Key questions arise: What are avenues for people to participate in decisions about the use of predictive analytics by public institutions? How can they intervene into an increasingly automated state? How can the datafied society be democratised? To investigate these questions, this report addresses six themes: 1. Institutional dynamics; 2. Initiatives of civic engagement; 3. Oversight and advisory bodies; 4. Civil society strategies; 5. Alternative Imaginaries and Infrastructures; 6. Data literacy." (Executive summary)
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"As part of the process to develop food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) for Ghana, this rapid evidence review examined the nature, extent, sources, and medium of food and nutrition information dissemination and promotion in Ghana. PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and Open Access Theses Dissertatio
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ns (OATD) databases were searched systematically using keywords to identify relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature. The review included 31 documents, after excluding 1,302 documents for ineligibility (based on irrelevant title, abstract, and duplicates). Limited reporting of undernutrition was found in print and electronic media. Unhealthy foods, including sugar-sweetened beverages, snacks, yogurt, instant noodles, candy/chocolate, and ice cream were frequently advertised through various communication media. Children are highly exposed to food advertisements, which target them. Promotional characters, animation, billboards, and front-of-store displays; product-branded books, and toys are common strategies for food marketing and advertisement in Ghana. The most frequently reported sources of health and nutrition information were television, radio, social media, health professionals, families, and friends. Children and adults experienced changes in food preferences and choices as a result of exposure to food advertised on television. The commonly used traditional media were radio and television; printed newspaper use has declined tremendously in the past decade. Social media use (particularly WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube) is highest in urban areas, and is growing rapidly; young adults are the most active users of social media platforms. Experts recommend regulation as a mitigation for nutrition miscommunication and inaccurate promotion. The current review highlights the need for regulation of food marketing, and advertisement to safeguard a healthy food environment in Ghana." (Abstract)
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"This paper presents an analytical review of the technological affordances of digital platforms in SSA. We adopted a systematic literature review methodology that entailed gathering evidence from relevant literature and digital platforms in three countries in SSA (South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya).
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Three research questions focusing on (i) critical issues of discussion on digital platforms in SSA and their distribution; (ii) understanding the technological affordances of digital platforms in SSA; and (iii) assessing the extent to which the technological affordances digital platforms can address the challenges of the informal sector in SSA drove the investigation. The study developed an affordances criteria framework, the first of its kind, to evaluate digital platforms affordances in SSA. Our findings revealed the key topics that have gained researchers' attention so far and digital platforms distribution in SSA. We also found that most digital platforms in SSA currently lack affordances that support multimodal interface and native language contents, limiting their accessibility to persons with minimal digital literacy. Most platforms also lack support for public/private partnerships. The lack of critical affordances that match the profile of the informal sector in SSA makes existing digital platforms incapable of addressing many critical challenges of the informal sector. These challenges include low literacy levels, minimal/lack of government support, lack of electricity or expensive power supply, expensive internet connectivity, and health and safety issues. However, existing digital platforms can reasonably address the absence of social protection, lack of formalization, and poor operational infrastructure." (Abstract)
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"A wealth of interventions have been devised to reduce belief in fake news or the tendency to share such news. By contrast, interventions aimed at increasing trust in reliable news sources have received less attention. In this article, we show that, given the very limited prevalence of misinformatio
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n (including fake news), interventions aimed at reducing acceptance or spread of such news are bound to have very small effects on the overall quality of the information environment, especially compared to interventions aimed at increasing trust in reliable news sources. To make this argument, we simulate the effect that such interventions have on a global information score, which increases when people accept reliable information and decreases when people accept misinformation." (Abstract)
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"This report takes stock of the early behavioural sciences literature on COVID-19 misinformation. Specifically, it addresses the following three main questions: (1) Who was most likely to believe or share COVID-19 misinformation? (2) What were the consequences of being exposed to or believing COVID-
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19 misinformation? (3) Which behavioural policy interventions were effective in countering COVID-19 misinformation? In addition to addressing these core questions, the report also provides a snapshot of the narratives of COVID-19 misinformation and the prevalence and spread of this misinformation. The report provides insights into policies that can help foster societal resilience against misinformation beyond the specific case of COVID-19, thereby contributing to policy preparation for future crises." (Abstract, page 1)
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"The FIRN meta-research aggregates and examines feminist research from the global South focused on questions around unequal access to online participation, the implications and impact of datafication, online gender-based violence, and gendered digital economies in the global South [...] While the re
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port shows how feminist theory and methodologies circulate differently in different parts of the world and communities of practice, it's also testament to a shared political conviction to challenge the status quo and work towards a more feminist internet." (Foreword, page i-iii)
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"Konstruktiver Journalismus unterscheidet sich vom traditionellen Journalismus dadurch, dass Nachrichten nicht nur mit negativer und konfliktbasierter Konnotation präsentiert, sondern konstruktive Auswege aufgezeigt werden. Er zeichnet sich durch spezifische Elemente in der Berichterstattung aus: L
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ösungs- und Zukunftsorientierung, Diversität, Empowerment, Kontextorientierung und Co-Kreation. Eine aktuelle Studie belegt, dass die (Gestaltungs-) Elemente des konstruktiven Journalismus vom Publikum je nach Lebensalter, Bildung und Nachrichteninteresse unterschiedlich bewertet werden. Auch strukturelle und Kontextbedingungen, wie etwa die wahrgenommene oder tatsächliche Pressefreiheit und Unabhängigkeit des Journalismus, nehmen Einfluss darauf, wie sehr die Rezipientinnen und Rezipienten solche Inhalte als hilfreich bewerten und sich in der Folge möglicherweise gesellschaftlich engagieren. Dies gelingt, wenn das Publikum sich als Teil einer (globalen) Gemeinschaft wahrnimmt und in der Folge eher bereit ist, gemeinschaftliche Interessen zu verfolgen. Neben lösungsorientierten Elementen in den Nachrichten hat auch das Involvement, mit dem eine Nachricht rezipiert wird, signifikante (positive) Effekte auf das Vertrauen in die Nachrichten. In einer weiteren Studie wurde gezeigt, dass das Nachrichtenthema ebenfalls eine signifikante Rolle dabei spielt, wie ausgeprägt der positive Einfluss von lösungs- versus problemorientierten Fotos auf das Interesse an der Thematik, die wahrgenommene Selbstwirksamkeit und die Bereitschaft, sich zu engagieren, war." (https://www.ard-media.de/media-perspektiven)
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"This article is aligned with the recommendations of the main international organizations that fight against disinformation and infodemic, providing a review work that can be useful for researchers, professionals and scholars of the subject. Review articles like this one also help to establish futur
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e interdisciplinary developments, as they put the status quo of the question on the table, from which interdisciplinary research teams have a common basis. It was found that in the period studied, the most productive authors at a quantitative level were Magallón-Rosa with 6 papers, Ufarte-Ruiz with 4 and GarcÃa-M arÃn with 3 papers. Likewise, studies by Palau-Sampio (2018), Vizoso and Vázquez-Herrero (2019) and RodrÃguez-Pérez (2020) are noteworthy for their analysis of disinformation in the Ibero-American area; the work of SalaverrÃa et al. (2020) is fundamental for its analysis of the typologies of hoaxes; and the work of López-Borrull with collaborators is noteworthy for its proposals on curation." (Conclusion, page 662)
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"This systematic review examines the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community engagement interventions on outcomes related to childhood immunisation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and identifies contextual, design and implementation features that may be associated with effectiv
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eness. We identified 61 quantitative and mixed methods impact evaluations and 47 associated qualitative studies related to community engagement interventions for inclusion in the review. For cost-effectiveness analysis 14 of the 61 studies had the needed combination of cost and effectiveness data. The 61 included impact evaluations were concentrated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and spread across 19 LMICs. The review found that community engagement interventions had a small but significant, positive effect on all primary immunisation outcomes related to coverage and their timeliness. The findings are robust to exclusion of studies assessed as high risk of bias. Qualitative evidence indicates appropriate intervention design, including building in community engagement features; addressing common contextual barriers of immunisation and leveraging facilitators; and accounting for existing implementation constraints and practicalities on the ground are consistently cited as reasons for intervention success." (Abstract)
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"We aimed to synthesize the existing research on misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines spread on social media platforms and its effects. The secondary aim was to gain insight and gather knowledge about whether misinformation about autism and COVID-19 vaccines is being spread on social media platfor
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ms [...] The search yielded 757 records, with 45 articles selected for this review. We identified 3 main themes of misinformation: medical misinformation, vaccine development, and conspiracies. Twitter was the most studied social media platform, followed by Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. A vast majority of studies were from industrialized Western countries. We identified 19 studies in which the effect of social media misinformation on vaccine hesitancy was measured or discussed. These studies implied that the misinformation spread on social media had a negative effect on vaccine hesitancy and uptake." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of the current paper is to provide an overview and describe methods in this emerging field, present use cases, describe a future agenda, and raise central questions to be addressed in future digital health research for behavior change. Digital media for behavior change employs three mai
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n methods: (1) digital media interventions, (2) formative research using digital media, and (3) digital media used to conduct evaluations. We examine use cases across several content areas including healthy weight management, tobacco control, and vaccination uptake, to describe and illustrate the methods and potential impact of this emerging field of study. In the discussion, we note that digital media interventions need to explore the full range of functionality of digital devices and their near-constant role in personal self-management and day-to-day living to maximize opportunities for behavior change. Future experimental research should rigorously examine the effects of variable levels of engagement with, and frequency and intensity of exposure to, multiple forms of digital media for behavior change." (Abstract)
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