"Policy discourse about disinformation focuses heavily on the technological dimensions of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. Unfortunately, this myopic focus on technology has led to insufficient attention being paid to the underlying human factors driving the success of state-sponsored disin
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formation campaigns. Academic research on disinformation strongly suggests that belief in false or misleading information is driven more by individual emotional and cognitive responses — amplified by macro social, political and cultural trends — than specific information technologies. Thus, attention given to countering the distribution and promulgation of disinformation through specific technological platforms, at the expense of understanding the human factors at play, hampers the ability of public diplomacy efforts countering it. This article addresses this lacuna by reviewing the underlying psychology of three common types of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns and identifying lessons for designing effective public diplomacy counter-strategies in the future." (Abstract)
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"Climate and Sustainability Communication builds upon traditional approaches to understanding the role of mass media in shaping social issues by amplifying diverse perspectives of opinion leaders, as well as voices of those affected by climate and sustainability issues. From South Korea and China, t
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o the United States and Zambia, the studies reported in this book—compiled using a variety of formal research methods, including content analysis, interview, and survey—emphasize cultural orientation and global implications of climate and sustainability concerns and issues. The contributors explore the cultures, geographies, and media systems underpinning climate and sustainability campaigns emerging around the world, how we theorize about them, and the ways in which media are used to communicate about them. The way in which complex problems and opportunities associated with globalization and power inequities interplay with climate and sustainability communication requires creative, interdisciplinary, approaches. This book opens new conversations for integrating scholarly arenas of mass media communication, science and environmental communication, political communication, and health communication, as well as their respective theory and research method sets." (Publisher description)
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"The percentage of Pakistanis using the Internet increased by 37.5% between 2009 and 2013, though overall internet penetration remains very low with only 11% of the population having access to the Internet". (Page 9) "Heavy internet users in Pakistan are very young (72% under 30 years of age), large
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ly male (59%), and highly educated (72% with at least some university schooling). Light users are much more likely to be over thirty years of age (42% for light compared to 18% for heavy users), women (47% for light vs. 36% for heavy users), but more highly educated (38% of light users have graduate degree vs. 31% for heavy users) [...] Television news is by far the most popular source of information among Pakistani Internet users, with 80% of survey respondents selecting this communication channel as one of their three top sources of information. After television news, social networking sites are the most commonly cited source of information used by Pakistani Internet users with 55% of respondents selecting it as one of their top three sources." (Executive summary)
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"Almost half (49%) of all Russians believe that information on the Internet needs to be censored; a plurality (42%) of Russians believe foreign countries are using the Internet against Russia and its interests. About one-quarter of Russians think the Internet threatens political stability (24%); abo
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ut four out of five Russians (81%) stated a negative feeling toward calls to protest against the government and change political leadership; the Russian government and the Russian security service were virtually tied in the percentage of Russians (42% and 41% respectively) that cited these organizations as trusted regulators of the Internet; 51% of Russian believe the primary motivation of government legislation creating a blacklist of websites is the maintenance of political stability versus 13% who believe the primarily motivation was limiting democratic freedoms." (Website CGCS)
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"The data in this report was collected between December 20, 2014 and February 2, 2015 and represents the views of 1161 respondents from that time. The goal of the project is to understand how people in Turkey perceive and value the debate over Internet freedoms in Turkey and how they employ the Inte
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rnet and social media as alternative information resources within a heavily censored mass media environment." (Page 2)
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"Using Entman’s work on mediated public diplomacy, the authors conducted an Arabic-language online survey of news consumers on Arab websites, including one US-funded media outlet. They examined factors leading to gaps in exposure and perceptions of credibility for three Arab news outlets. Specific
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ally, they examined variables that differentiated between exposure to and perceived credibility regarding the three satellite news media – al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, and al-Hurra. Results showed that issue importance and attitudes toward the United States were significant predictors of exposure gaps between the US-funded network and other Arab media. Exposure gaps were also powerful predictors of perceived credibility." (Abstract)
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"Many have attributed anti-American sentiment within Arab countries to a highly negative information environment propagated by transnational Arab satellite TV news channels such as Al-Jazeera. However, theoretical models and empirical evidence evaluating the linkages between media exposure and opini
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on about the United States remains scant. Drawing on theories of media effects, identity, and public opinion, this article develops a theoretical framework explicating how the influence of transnational Arab TV on opinion formation is contingent on competing political identities within the region. Employing 5 years of survey data collected across six Arab countries, we empirically test several propositions about the relationship between Arab TV exposure and public opinion about the United States generated by our theoretical framework. Our results demonstrate significant associations between transnational Arab TV exposure and anti-American sentiment, but also show these associations vary substantially by channel and political identification. The theoretical and policy implications of the study are discussed." (Abstract)
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