Coronavirus Pandemic: How National Leaders Framed Their Speeches to Fellow Citizens

Uncertainty and Certainty.

This paper reviews the historical development of charter schools and the ways in which charter schools are currently viewed by the American public. Using the tools of news framing analysis, the study also examines a sample of news reports from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Philadelphia Inquirer in order to identify dominant news frames. This process reveals two dominant frames -- Public Accountability, and Freedom, Choice, and Innovation – which are illustrated with excerpts from the news sample. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these frames for charter school reform and suggests several new directions for scholarship in this area.

Purpose: Over the past several months, the coronavirus has infected more than six million Americans and killed nearly 200,000. Governors have issued stay-at-home orders, and prosecutors have filed criminal charges against individuals for defying those orders. And yet many Americans have still refused to keep their distance from their fellow citizens, even if they had symptoms of infection. The authors explore the underlying causes for those who intend to defy these norms. Methods: Using national-level data from a March 2020 survey of 989 Americans, the authors explore intentions to defy social distancing norms by testing an interactionist theory of foundation-based moral behavior in combination with faith in President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis controls for a range of variables, including measures of low self-control and deterrence. Results: Low self-control is the strongest predictor of defiance intentions. Consistent with interactionist theory, defiance intentions are significantly higher for those holding specific faith in Trump and those endorsing binding foundations. Furthermore, the interaction of these two variables is significant and in the predicted direction. The results hold for two different measures of faith in Trump. Conclusions: Even with a strong effect for low self-control, faith in President Trump is a strong predictor of refusal to social-distance, and its effect is largest among individuals high in binding foundations.

Dr. Mark A. Wainberg (1945-2017): Provocateur, Activist, and Champion for AIDS Care and Research.

Justice without Borders: Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Patriotism. By Kok-Chor Tan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 234 pp., $70.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-521-83454-6), $25.99 paper (ISBN: 0-521-54232-4). In a recent report to the UN General Assembly, Secretary General Kofi Anan reminded world leaders of their obligation to increase overseas development aid to 0.7 percent of each state's gross national income, a target based on an agreement reached at a 2002 Millennium Goals Summit meeting (Anan 2005:16). Although world leaders voluntarily agreed to that figure, Anan's reminder is part of a larger discourse surrounding foreign aid that is based on a right to development, enshrined in various UN documents and treaties, rather than some vague notion of charity. But are leaders of developed countries really obliged to increase their levels of foreign aid? If so, what is the source of that obligation? In the current international system, state leaders have an obligation first and foremost to their own citizens. Individual citizens of developed countries tend to care more about their fellow citizens than about those in distant places, especially when it concerns policies that impact their wealth and safety. Leaders of some countries and their citizens might want to increase aid levels out of a feeling of charity or compassion for the poor around the world. Yet, proposing that leaders have an obligation to increase aid levels is a much stronger statement. To make an argument that would recognize national allegiances but also provide grounds for caring about individuals around the world is quite a challenge. Kok-Chor Tan takes up this challenge in Justice without Borders . Tan identifies himself as a cosmopolitan, but he wants to take seriously the claims of liberal nationalists and theorists of patriotism. His agenda in Justice without Borders is a conciliatory one. He believes that …

Identifying what matters: Science education, science communication, and democracy

Faith in Trump, Moral Foundations, and Social Distancing Defiance During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has generated renewed public debate about different forms of masking. In this article I analyze news frames that circulated in English- language Canadian news outlets throughout 2020, performing an informal discourse analysis of coverage of Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, alongside coverage of two anti-mask protests held in Aylmer, Ontario. In the case of Bill 21, I argue that the predominant frame that shaped coverage was one of hypocrisy, which foregrounded the discriminatory nature of the legislation but obscured the Christian cultural politics otherwise embedded in the law. In the case of the Aylmer marches, I argue that news coverage centered on the role of the religious outlier, particularly through attention to outspoken Church of God Restoration pastor Rev. Henry Hildebrandt. This frame amplified Hildebrandt’s political statements but downplayed the more quotidian role of conservative Christianity in shaping some anti-mask sentiment. In both cases I argue that attending to the Christian cultural politics which were obscured by dominant news frames can help us better understand the persistent role of religion in shaping public discourse.

Abstract
 Background.
 With the outbreak of the deadly COVID -19 worldwide, children are at the risk of child abuse due to rising unemployment rates and school closures. The corona virus pandemic has caused a lot of stress especially to parents and guardians who have lost their jobs and such stress has heightened and increased family violence especially abuse against children.
 Methods
 A sample of 26 Child welfare professionals (64% female and 36% male ) practicing in Uganda completed a web survey regarding the COVID-19 experiences especially in connection to child welfare service delivery and well being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Results 
 This study identified the impact of corona virus pandemic on the life of children associated with child abuse and their coping measures. The fact that COVID-19 will continue to spread rapidly worldwide has caused immense consequences in regard to children’s safety and well-being. The major consequence of the pandemic is the risk of increased child maltreatment perpetuated by parents who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. This study identified parental job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic as the main cause for child maltreatment and physical abuse. Nevertheless, the findings support cognitive reframing as a measure to control physical abuse by parents. The financial hardships caused by COVID-19 pandemic will continue to negatively impact children’s safety and well-being. The consequences of COVID-19 pandemic are evident that the risk of child maltreatment increases as stress accumulates.
 Conclusion
 In conclusion, as world leaders and scientists make efforts to tackle the public health and economic threat resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; further research on the impact of COVID-19 on family existence and functioning will be significant in establishing empirically based policies, interventions and different practices to support victims of child maltreatment and physical abuse.

European debt crisis in the news. A frame analysis of Flemish newspaper coverage European debt crisis in the news. A frame analysis of Flemish newspaper coverage This research examines the news frames used in the news coverage about the European debt crisis. The mainstream media are the main source of information for the European citizens concerning this crisis in the Eurozone. Therefore, it is interesting to research the news coverage through an in-depth content analysis. First, we conducted an inductive analysis to recognize the dominant news frames about this issue. Three dominant frames were identified: conflict, disease and natural disaster. Secondly, we executed a deductive analysis to measure the frequency of these frames. The conflict frame appeared the most, followed by the disease frame and the natural disaster frame. In this article we studied the news coverage in Flemish newspapers. However, this research is the first part of a larger study that will analyze more EU member states.

Science, the UICC and global cancer control.

The article considers the USA role and place in the global manufacturing and trade. Key aspects of the world economy transformation in the context of globalization, internationalization and liberalization are studied. As shows, USA and China are the two largest economies in the world. United States is the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP and second largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It holds a 15.4 percent share of global GDP in PPP (2016). China is the world’s largest economy by PPP, accounting for 17.8 percent of global GDP. The USA share of world GDP declined by a total of 3.8 percentage points between 2006 and 2016. At the same time, the United States possesses great economic strength. It is also the world leader in innovation. China’s success has mostly been in lowerend innovation. This country has been less successful in higher-end innovation, where USA currently maintain a lead. The United States holds a leading position in aerospace, instrument making, cloud computing, ICT, robotics-related technologies, nanomaterials, biopharmaceutical and other high-tech industries and China significantly lags behind. Special attention is paid to the U.S. foreign trade. It is shown that the USA is one of the world’s largest importer and exporter of goods and services. It accounts for 10.5 percent of global goods and services exports in 2016 (second place after China) and 13.3 percent of global imports (first place). Despite the world’s second place after China in some economic indexes such as gross domestic product (at PPP), size of manufacturingand merchandise trade, USA ranks first in the world in terms of quality indicators of economic development. It remains the most powerful economy in the world. The author’s conclusion is that, the loss of US world leadership in terms of output indicators has not yet become a global problem for other countries and world economy in the whole.

ABSTRACTBackgroundIt is crucial that world leaders mount effective public health measures in response to COVID-19. Twitter may represent a powerful tool to help achieve this. Here, we explore the role of Twitter as used by Group of Seven (G7) world leaders in response to COVID-19.MethodsThis was a qualitative study with content analysis. Inclusion criteria were as follows: viral tweets from G7 world leaders, attracting a minimum of 500 ‘likes’; keywords ‘COVID-19’ or ‘coronavirus’; search dates 17 November 2019 to 17 March 2020. We performed content analysis to categorize tweets into appropriate themes and analyzed associated Twitter data.ResultsEight out of nine (88.9%) G7 world leaders had verified and active Twitter accounts, with a total following of 85.7 million users. Out of a total 203 viral tweets, 166 (82.8%) were classified as ‘Informative’, of which 48 (28.6%) had weblinks to government-based sources, while 19 (9.4%) were ‘Morale-boosting’ and 14 (6.9%) were ‘Political’. Numbers of followers and viral tweets were not strictly related.ConclusionsTwitter may represent a powerful tool for world leaders to rapidly communicate public health information with citizens. We would urge general caution when using Twitter for health information, with a preference for tweets containing official government-based information sources.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, Economic Consequences and Strategies for Ameliorting Macroeconomic Shocks in Nigeria’s Economy

Apocalypse perhaps.