Elite Media Research Articles

Snyder and Habermas on the war in Ukraine: a critical discourse analysis of elite media discourse in Germany

ABSTRACT This article presents a critical qualitative study of two opinion articles, written by two eminent scholars (Jürgen Habermas and Timothy Snyder), on the German government’s hesitant arms supply for Ukraine during the first phase of the Russian war of aggression in 2022. The main aim of the article is the uncovering of the discursive practices of critique performed by two major public intellectuals. This case study thus allows insights into the simplistic representation of the Russo-Ukrainian war in German elite media discourse. The analysis focuses on actor representations and topic limitations and manipulations in the two op-eds. It is shown that both Habermas and Snyder use characteristic ways of social actor representations in their texts which exhibit their allegiances. Furthermore, both of them limit and change topics at the meso- and macro-levels of their texts in order to make their arguments sound. In closing, the critical potential of linguistic discourse analysis is shortly addressed by arguing that the context sensitive application of the categories for analyzing discourse can uncover the internal norms to which authors orient which makes them open for a critical analysis.

Elite Agenda, Media Framing, and Public Perception of European Integration in Estonia

Abstract The following desk research was conducted in the framework of the Horizon 2020 project Mediatized EU to study how media discourses have been constructed to foster or hamper the European project and how they resonated among the public, by focusing on the elite–media–public triangle. This is an in-depth longitudinal review of the existing academic literature, policy developments, and available data on the transformation of media discourses, elite views, and public opinion on the EU and Europeanization in Estonia, Estonia’s path towards European integration, and the ways in which the media has influenced public opinion throughout the last twenty years since Estonia joined the European Union.

Deconstructing media narratives of the Indo-Pacific strategy: Exploring India’s ontological security and national identity in the Times of India

India’s attempt to forge a distinct role for itself in the global order started soon after independence in 1947. Since this watershed event, India’s policymakers have gradually recast their initial strategy of nonalignment, as they realized that Nehruvian “soft” power was not adequate for creating an especially dynamic presence in an increasingly volatile international environment. In response to this realization, India embarked on a journey of transforming its diplomatic benchmarks. In 2017, to counter China’s assertiveness across the region, India joined then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s advocacy in launching the Indo-Pacific strategy. Transforming the nation’s diplomatic benchmarks while maintaining a coherent narrative of national identity was the main challenge. This paper examines the role that media narratives play in maintaining that coherent national identity. To do so, we analyzed 47 reports by the Times of India (TOI) on the Indo-Pacific strategy in order to reveal how elite media strategically framed the nation’s regional policy, thereby ensuring its ontological security—its sense of continuity and order—while conveying its global aspirations.

Nuances of Public Diplomacy: China in Chilean Op-Eds (2018-2021)

This paper explores editorials and opinion columns published in four Chilean mainstream newspapers and analyzes how China is represented within the context of Chinese economic advances in the region and the contextual narratives surrounding bilateral relations. Through a content analysis of editorials and opinion pieces of elite media between 2018 and 2021, this study allows an understanding of how China and its growing influence are perceived locally. Ultimately, despite an overall alignment with China’s public diplomacy centered around an economic-commercial dimension, there are still nuances in how China is represented in Chilean op-eds.

FOLLOW ME THROUGH INSTAGRAM: FRONT-STAGE, BACK-STAGE, AND INTIMATE-STAGE IN GIORGIA MELONI’S AND MATTEO RENZI’S PERFORMANCES OF CELEBRITY POLITICS

Over the last decade, social media became an indispensable tool for political campaigning for populist political leaders, who successfully used social media to circumvent traditional media elite and establish a seemingly direct relationship with their constituents. Based on this premises and adopting the lens of “digital populism”, our study presents a visual analysis of the portraits and candid shots posted on Instagram by two Italian populist party leaders: Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Renzi. Specifically, we explore a corpus of 424 images featuring the two leaders and posted on their respective profiles during 2020 (266 for Meloni, 158 for Renzi). Our analysis mostly focuses on a crucial semiotic feature of these images: setting. Recognizing that digital photography contributes to the mutual construction of self and space, we argue that the Renzi and Meloni strategically use setting to negotiate the inherent tension between their status as celebrity politicians and the “claim to ordinariness” typical of their populist political style. Thus, we claim that the two leaders navigate this tension by selectively posting images set “on stage” (e.g., while being interviewed during a talk show), “behind the scenes” (e.g., while working in their office), or on an “intimate stage” (e.g., on a day hike with their family). In our conclusions we reflect on the notion that populism is endemic in Italian politics, suggesting its digital manifestations take different shapes depending on political narratives that charismatic leaders construct for themselves through different mixes of celebrity and micro-celebrity practices.

It’s not an encyclopedia, it’s a market of agendas: Decentralized agenda networks between Wikipedia and global news media from 2015 to 2020

Many innovative forms of media entered the online mediascape and can potentially set public agendas. This study drew on peer-produced news content on Wikipedia and theorized its unprecedented agenda building power within a network of diverse media sources. Adopting the network agenda-setting model, this study collected comprehensive global news coverage and Wikipedia coverage of top US political news events from 2015 to 2020. Time series analysis found that none of the media types (Wikipedia, elite media, and non-elite media) exhibited dominant agenda-setting power, while each of them can lead the agenda in certain circumstances. Wikipedia was a critical agenda setter for other media entities, and it also reflected the public’s collective evaluation of existing news agendas from multiple sources. This article proposed a multi-agent and multidirectional network architecture to describe agenda-setting relationships. We also highlighted four unique characteristics of Wikipedia that matter for digital journalism.

The ‘Kim Jong-un Effect’ and the mainstreaming of North Korea coverage in UK Media

This article uses qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse the entire corpus of news articles published about North Korea by six major UK national newspapers from 2000 to 2020. It offers insights on how North Korea evolved from a relatively obscure subject to a mainstay in the world news section, particularly for the tabloids. Coverage grew exponentially, led by not only stories about nuclear development and missile programmes, but also by soft news items like football, and tourism. Notably, the tone of coverage shifted after Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011, leading to an explosion of stories focussed on the young leader and his family. Structural topic modelling reveals 12 key topic areas among elite and tabloid media. While elite media coverage spanned a wider range of subjects, tabloid media largely focussed on three topics: missiles, the Kim family, and football. Each theme was highly compatible with the traditions of tabloid coverage, supplying eye-catching images (missiles and Kim’s eccentric appearance), a ‘royal family’ of sorts, and sports (North Koreans’ feats during World Cup). Furthermore, qualitative analysis demonstrates that while tabloidization and sensationalistic reporting on the Kim family largely drove the increase in coverage, such stories also added colour and depth previously lacking in reportage on the enemy regime, thereby making the portrayal of North Korea more multidimensional.

What do Consumers Read About Meat? An Analysis of Media Representations of the Meat-environment Relationship Found in Popular Online News Sites in the UK.

ABSTRACT Previous scholarship suggests that elite media have tended to pay little attention to the adverse environmental impacts associated with meat consumption and production. Through content analysis of 116 articles from 2019, published on eight popular online news sites consumed by a wide range of demographics in the UK, including lower-income groups (the sector most likely to eat meat), we identify common anti-meat and pro-meat environmental narratives, solutions and recommendations, and the dominant sentiment towards both meat consumption and production. We observed a significantly greater presence of anti-meat consumption and/or production narratives than pro-meat. Over half the articles showed anti-meat consumption sentiment, with only 5% predominately in favour. 10% were against unspecified or industrial production practices, 28% were against industrial-scale farming but supported sustainable methods; and none were entirely in favour of the meat industry. These findings are reflected in the dominant recommendation, present in over 60% of articles, to eat less meat. Our results add substantially to previous media research, particularly showing the increased volume of coverage of the meat-environment nexus, varying levels of contestation around meat eating, and the division of responsibility between consumers and industry.

The ideograph of Territorial Sovereignty: Framing of China's Belt and Road Initiative by the Times of India

This study examines the use of the ideograph territorial sovereignty by the Times of India ( TOI; U.S./New Delhi editions) in its reports on China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Using McGee's ( 1980 ) notion of ideograph and Entman’s ( 1993 ) framing theory, it uncovers a discursive strategy used by elite media for swaying public opinion regarding international and domestic information flow when promoting its preferred “Indian” understanding of the BRI. This study reviews historical uses of the ideograph territorial sovereignty to establish an analysis of the TOI's use of it. Then, following framing theory and a synchronic structure, I explore the ideograph in 40 collected TOI reports by contextualizing relationships supporting and surrounding it.

Assessments of Controversial Representations of Religion and Religious Symbols as handled in the International Press: A Qualitative Study (Arabic)

This study uses qualitative methods to assess the analytical perspectives of the media elite; namely members of the academic and professional communities, as they relate to controversial representations of religion and religious symbols in the international press. Bearing in mind cultural, political, and social analysis, this paper unpacks the dialectical relationship between freedom of the press and the respect for religious sanctity. The study included 33 media academics and professionals who were divided geographically by region; namely: Arab, Western, and Eastern (Russian, including Republic of Tatarstan, and Uzbekistan). Interviews were conducted between December 2020 and March 2021. Results indicate that 60% of interviewees prefer legal avenues to resolve issues related to controversial religious representations in the media, while approximately 30% of the study sample believed that laws alone are not sufficient, and that awareness campaigns are necessary to correct and clarify religious misconceptions. They further articulated that differentiation between freedom of expression and what has been characterized as abuse of the sanctity of religion must be made, with the support of existing social structures such as the family, educational institutions, and community organizations.

Understanding African views of China: analyses of student attitudes and elite media reportage in Kenya

ABSTRACT There are few questions of greater significance in African international relations than China's actions in and engagement with other states. Chinese infrastructure, businesses, and people have blanketed the continent and revolutionized lifestyles, transportation, and political economies. The advantages and detractions of such developments, in turn, have shaped local attitudes. African attitudes towards China, nevertheless, remain largely the subject of conjecture. This article explores the contemporary attitudes of Kenyan university students to China through surveys and contributes empirical data to the literature. Combined with a comparative textual analysis of the main Kenyan newspaper, the article sheds light on largely unknown—but generally assumed—attitudes of Kenyans towards China. The findings question a stereotype of China in Kenya and, by extension, the actions and reactions of other Africans and African states towards it. They also uncover nuanced attitudes that confound the mostly negative Western narrative about China in Africa. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as debt, perceived racism and unfair labour practices, Kenyan university students' attitudes and discourse in the elite media have become less positive. There is, in addition, the broad perception that it is Kenya's leadership that benefits from the relationship and not so much its ordinary citizens.

Elite Media Trends towards the Extent of Commitment of Kurdish Websites to the Ethics of the Profession in the Kurdistan Region An Analytical Study

The present study’s aim is to investigate knowledge and determine media directions about the dependence of the Kurdish websites on professional ethics, performed in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The samples were included in the present study are both websites from Rudaw and NRT, especially political and social news which were used as a study sampling. This study is a descriptive study in which analytical content methods were applied. The importance of the present study is that in the view scientific and academic views about all media departments of Colleges and Institutions. The scientific researchers who work on Professional ethics and modern media had been investigated poorly. On one hand, depending on the roles and influence of the electronic media about the level and the status of Kurdish media. One the other hand, the view and directions of the professional media staff along with these websites’ dependence on the professional ethics. Also, scientific attempt should be improved to determine the volume of the problem and seek the comparable solution of the same problem. The results of the scientific researches sometimes have positive impact on the media elements according to the practical and professional levels. If the results of the scientific research were taken in a valuable manner, the completed roles were achieved for journalism aspects of websites. The present study concluded that, the directions of the sampling method showed its independency toward the political and social cases along with some notes limited ratios of its dependency in some subjects and cases. More than half of the news samples of the study only showed one side expression, as in the majority of the news samples, the expressions were mixed with the news. Thus, these websites’ investigation is not as professional as needed.

Elite Media Trends Towards the Extent of Commitment of Kurdish Websites to the Ethics of the Profession in the Kurdistan Region - A field Study

The study aims to explain and identify the trends of the Kurdish media elite with regard to the level of commitment of Kurdish websites to professional ethics in the Kurdistan Region. This study is a descriptive study in which the survey method was used. The community of this study is consists of the media elite in the Kurdistan Region, whether it is the lecturers in the media departments in the universities and institutes of the region, or the experienced media professionals who are in charge of managing media institutions. The most prominent results of the study are: The majority of the study sample agrees that the content of Kurdish websites is a mixture of adherence to the principles of professional ethics, especially in presenting all the information related to the event and avoiding intentional exaggeration, and also non-compliance with these principles, especially in their lack of commitment to the sources of information contained in the news.

دور وسائل الإعلام التركية في تشكيل اتجاهات الرأي العام التركي نحو محاولة انقلاب 15 تموز 201

The present study aims to illuminate the assessment of the Turkish elite of the role of the Turkish media in forming the attitudes of public opinion vis a vis the attempted military coup of 15 July 2016. The authors utilized the survey method of a nominal sample of 315 individuals, equally distributed among the three foremost categories of the Turkish elite, namely: the political academic, and media elite. The foremost findings of the study are that the orientation of the coverage of the Turkish media of the events of the attempt military coup of 15 July, based on the perception and assessment of the Turkish elite, was positive to a high degree; it refuted the news and the inciting information given to foreign media revealed the bloodiness of the rebels who opened fire on innocent civilians, and adopted a media discourse supportive of the national will and the safeguarding of democracy. The Turkish media also urged Turkish political parties to adopt a united stand toward the coup, in a manner different from its positions toward the military coups that took place previously in Turkey. Moreover, it is the view of the elite that the Turkish media contributed to forming the attitudes of Turkish public opinion that are strongly opposed to the annulment of democracy. This helped abort the coup attempt, and this evidenced and proved the strong influence of the Turkish media on society.

Public “agendamelding” in the United States: assessing the relative influence of different types of online news on partisan agendas from 2015 to 2020

ABSTRACT Using Gallup survey data and online news from 2015 to 2020, this study explored the degree to which audiences “meld” agendas from a wide array of news sources for the five most popular issues in the U.S.: the government and politicians, immigration, the economy, race relations, and healthcare. Overall, audiences of varying ideology had agendas that were congruent. Media agendas also appeared congruent, except on the issue of the economy. Conservative news media had a strong influence on audience issue salience. Horizontal (all partisan) and vertical (nonpartisan) media were in a virtual tie for influence among audiences. Despite an erosion in media trust, conservatives were receptive to issue salience from news media of all types, including liberal media. Liberals did not mirror elite media issue saliences, but were influenced by all other types of media, including conservative media. Moderates were influenced by the entire media landscape, to a somewhat even degree. Four out of the five issues studied here showed varying news media influence with no one media group nor ideology owning the agendas of an issue. The exception observed here was the issue of healthcare, which was influenced exclusively by liberal media for all three ideological groups.

A frame analysis of political-media discourse on the Belt and Road Initiative: evidence from China, Australia, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States

The article seeks to unpack the increasingly polarised discussion on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and provide a holistic understanding of it by identifying the diverging interpretations in the form of frames and analysing the competing framing practices of actors figuring prominently in the debate. To that end, this study leverages conceptual insights from cultural framing and content-analyses a purpose-built corpus of political and media communications on the BRI gathered from China, India, the US, Japan, the UK and Australia. It first identifies, reconstructs and juxtaposes 14 culturally-embedded frames along five dimensions: China’s intensions (Ploy, Zero-sum game, Equality), the BRI’s implications for other countries (Bane, Lopsided, Boon), compliance with high standards (Below par, Qualified yes, Up to par), outcomes (Bumpy ride, Catchall, Off with a bang), and linkage to the past (Old wine in new bottles, Historical legacy). A subsequent deductive analysis, along the lines of the 14 frames, sheds light on the core claims constituting China’s discursive legitimation of the BRI, the salient difference between Chinese officials and foreign political-media elites, the continuity or change in the position on the BRI taken by foreign governments and their justifications, and the increasing critical coverage by foreign elite media.

More Voices Than Ever? Quantifying Media Bias in Networks

Social media, such as blogs, are often seen as democratic entities that allow more voices to be heard than the conventional mass or elite media. Some also feel that social media exhibits a balancing force against the arguably slanted elite media. A systematic comparison between social and mainstream media is necessary but challenging due to the scale and dynamic nature of modern communication. Here we propose empirical measures to quantify the extent and dynamics of social (blog) and mainstream (news) media bias. We focus on a particular form of bias--coverage quantity--as applied to stories about the 111th US Congress. We compare observed coverage of Members of Congress against a null model of unbiased coverage, testing for biases with respect to political party, popular front runners, regions of the country, and more. Our measures suggest distinct characteristics in news and blog media. A simple generative model, in agreement with data, reveals differences in the process of coverage selection between the two media.

Intermedia Agenda Setting and Grassroots Collectives: Assessing Global Media’s Influence on Greek News Outlets

This study focuses on a variety of grassroots collectives that emerged during the Greek economic crisis and aims to record activists’ own perceptions regarding the way that domestic media reacted after these collectives featured on the front pages of global news outlets. Drawing on 10 in depth interviews with activists participating in five grassroots collectives, this study brings together social movement and communications theoretical frameworks. Interviewees were asked about their perceptions regarding the role that global elite media coverage may have played in the salience of their endeavors in domestic media. Subsequently, we tested their personal testimonies by implementing a time series analysis on three Greek newspapers for a period of seven days before and after a front page publication in global elite media. Findings suggest that there is a big discrepancy between the perceived and the actual impact of global elite media on the agenda of domestic newspapers. To this end, further research should be undertaken to specify the exact characteristics that influence which grassroots collective will gain prominence in the public realm.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN INDONESIA: RESTRICTIONS ACCESS AT ANNOUNCEMENT RESULTS OF 2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The penetration of technology as a driving force for movement and a hub between humans and machines fundamentally shifts the way humans think, interact and move. One of the benchmarks for highly increasing digital activity in Indonesia nowadays is the massive use of the internet, including social media. On the other hand, the increasing use of social media also becomes a challenge in popularizing the political participation of the public. One example of a case that illustrates this phenomenon is the limitation of access to social media in the 2019 Presidential Election (Pilpres). The public experienced difficulties in accessing social media, after the announcement of the vote recapitulation of the 2019 Presidential Election. It can be seen as a challenge to the freedom of speech in Indonesia or the other hand could be seen as a preventive measure to prevent the escalation of riots. As library research, this paper discusses in more detail the relationship between the role of social media, and government policies, in the framework of political participation. The concept of social media’s role in political participation, especially in creating online public opinion by Robles-Moralez & Cordoba-Hernandez, is used to help analyze social media as a catalyst in increasing public engagement in elections. It can be concluded that social media plays a role as “dismediation” agent and disrupt power plays between conventional elite media in delivering information from government to citizen vice versa.
 
 
 
 

Media elite attitudes towards new media ethics: A field study: اتجاهات الصفوة الإعلامية نحو أخلاقيات الإعلام الجديد: دراسة ميدانية

The study sought to identify the understanding and understanding of media elites with concepts of media ethics New and their attitudes towards it through their practice of applied media work. This study aims to: A number of objectives were to identify the awareness of the media elite and the media establishment and its employees with the concept of new media ethics and the media code of ethics and their commitment to it, and identifying the obstacles to applying new media ethics on the website and accounts Social communication for the media organization. The study adopted the descriptive approach, through Survey of ethical practices in the media profession for workers in the new media and the most important conclusion Professional ethics to be based on. A survey of the ethical aspects of charters Media honor in the framework of social responsibility theory ‏The study used the questionnaire tool Collecting information from the study sample that consisted of (292) male media elites and females. The researcher reached a number of important results as follows: Most of the media elite They support the commitment of the media to sign a professional code of honor, and (58%) of the media elite They affirm the commitment of their media organization to the ethics of media work and (40%) affirm their commitment Workers with ethics in media work, and (55%) of the media elite were subjected to being prevented from publishing media material.‏The study recommended the necessity to define and accurately classify the code of ethics for media professionals The necessity to work according to the requirements of media ethics, and to monitor and control new media in accordance with The specified standards, and recommends the necessity of respecting the foundations of Saudi culture; Because the media arises and develops in Frame of reference for the country in which it appears.