International Media Research Articles

Dead but Not Buried

Abstract On April 12, 1919, Paris police arrested Henri Désiré Landru, a man who had spent the last four years of war luring women into engagements and confiscating their assets. Many of them were never seen again. Landru, charged with their murders, became an international media sensation—the inspiration for popular crime stories, including books, articles, films, television and radio programs, and theatrical performances, from his execution in 1922 to 2020. This article examines these stories for the revealing ways they bring together conceptions of war and violent crime. It considers a 1926 nonfiction account of Landru by the South African journalist and military veteran William Bolitho, the film Monsieur Verdoux (1947) written by Charlie Chaplin, Claude Chabrol's film Landru (1963), and a 2006 graphic novel by Christophe Chabouté. These narratives suggest, and this article argues, that stories about Landru—and the multiple murders he committed for profit—have served, at various times and in various places, as vehicles for critiquing warfare and the societies that embrace it.

Living at work: migrant worker dormitories in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia drew attention to the extremely poor living conditions of the country’s approximately 2.5 million migrants from South and Southeast Asia working in manufacturing, construction, services, and agriculture. International media reports throughout 2020 and 2021 highlighted the overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe accommodations provided by employers, including cramped hostels, stacked containers, and rented apartments. This article addresses how migrant worker accommodation in Malaysia is utilised by the state and by employers as a spatial mechanism of control to regulate migrant labour. This case study draws on over a hundred in-depth interviews with Nepali migrant workers, recruitment agents, employers, and policy officials in Malaysia. We detail how the Malaysian government’s requirement for migrants to live in employer-provided housing forms part of intensified immigration controls implemented by the federal government. This policy effectively transforms employers into ‘landlords’, bringing migrants’ ‘private space’ under their control, thereby enabling employers’ increased surveillance of their activities. We found that employers utilised the opportunity to discipline their workforces and intensify work regimes. We therefore argue that housing has become a double-layered regulatory tool to deepen labour control among migrant populations, perpetuate a state of temporariness, and reinforce visible boundaries between citizens and non-citizens. In the process, migrants’ living quarters (spaces of social reproduction) have been subsumed into the organisation of production, serving the demands of the low-wage, highly-controlled, political economy of Malaysia.

Research on the transformation of news media industries in China and Russia in the era of intelligent media

The subject of this study is the era of smart media, which will have a significant impact on the news media ecosystem. It will lead to another industrial transformation and change in the news industry. The convergence of traditional and new media is made possible by 5G technology, cloud computing and big data technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of media analytics, digitisation and platformisation. In addition, recent years have seen a surge in the development of artificial intelligence, which has been applied to various fields such as military, healthcare, retirement, etc. The development of ChatGPT has been an important signal of intelligent change in the media industry. The news media industry is undergoing a transformation that is already well underway. The research methodology is comprehensive and includes: descriptive method, comparative data analysis, statistical analysis and content analysis. The novelty of the research is the analysis of intellectual media paradigms in China and Russia. The nature of media interaction between the two countries, as well as the trajectory of global innovative technologies are investigated. Trends related to the development of digitalisation and AI in the following areas are described in detail: digitalisation of operations, news production, development of media platforms and AI technologies, and media content digitalisation processes. A prospective analysis is made of the need for international specialists with both humanitarian and technical competences. The digital and intellectual transformation of news media can take the cooperation between the two countries to a new historical level. In addition, media cooperation between China and Russia can help stabilise the world situation and provide a favourable ecological environment for international media.

Chinese Religious Practice as Protest

This essay explores how and why protestors from the 2019 anti-ELAB (Extradition Law Amendment Bill) movement turned to popular Chinese religious practice for political dissent, and simultaneously tracks the negotiation of emerging sociocultural identities of Hong Kongers in the face of political upheaval. Attempting to pressure the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government into meeting their demands, protestors adopted a wide range of tactics that brought protest activities to previously unaffected residential districts. Although no less hectic than other months during the movement, August 2019 also produced indelible moments of nonviolent innovation that attracted international media coverage. One of the protest events from this fertile period, the Hong Kong–wide Night Assemblies for Freeing Spirits, Almsgiving, Prayers for Merit, and Removal of Evil 全港超幽佈施祈褔除惡晚會, was held on August 9, 2019, in the districts of Wong Tai Sin and Shatin and specifically centered religious practice as a creative and potent source of political expression. To better understand this intersection of religion, politics, and identity in Hong Kong, this article analyzes protestors’ ritual utterances and interview responses from the protest event's proceedings.

The 7 October Hamas Attack

On 7 October 2023, Palestinian militants led by Hamas launched a complex coordinated attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, triggering an Israeli ground invasion combined with an aerial bombing campaign. The Hamas fighters killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, while the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip exceeded 31,600 in mid-March 2024. The Hamas attack not only shocked the whole world but also caught most people by surprise. Probably only a few could have imagined that the Palestinian organisation that controls the Gaza Strip could carry out such an attack on Israel. Following 7 October, several questions arose. Why Israeli intelligence could not predict the attack, and why did security and defence forces not react in time? The Israeli Government promised a full investigation once the Gaza ground offensive launched in response to the attack was over. But even without knowing more details of the events, we might still be able to provide a preliminary assessment of the surrounding Israeli intelligence failures based on the reports and accounts made public in the international media. Three months after the attack, the publicly available information showed that the Israel Defense Forces were unprepared and there was no battle plan in place in case Hamas militants broke out of the Gaza Strip with large forces. Clarifying what happened will be crucial not only to learn from the mistakes, but also because other actors or adversaries can learn from Hamas and copy its tactics.

Twins Seven-Seven: The Glocal Framing of an International Artist in Memorial Pages

On 16 June 2011, the foremost Nigerian visual artist, Taiwo Osuntoki, popularly referred to as Twins Seven-Seven, passed away. His passing, as is common with personalities of that nature, elicited some interesting memorials across the world. Family members, close friends, admirers, art collectors and colleagues in the art community in Nigeria and across the globe flooded the art space with glowing tributes, lauding an iconic figure whose works were known to reflect the embodiment of Yoruba folklore, mythology, spiritual, ghostly and invisible worlds. This article draws on a descriptive analysis of memorials in selected local and international print media and academic outlets (journals). The intention is primarily to identify and examine some of the memorials and then engage them in ways that help to understand how Twins Seven-Seven’s image was conceived in global as well as local contexts. Given his complex and multipersonality, we ask how memorials shape the meanings that could be associated with Twins Seven-Seven’s life generally. Lastly, the paper is a fitting tribute to one of Africa’s greatest postcolonial artists, whose passing now marks more than a decade.

International Media Coverage of Domestic Legal News: The Case of the Dispute over the Presidential Pardon Power in Poland

International Media Coverage of Domestic Legal News: The Case of the Dispute over the Presidential Pardon Power in Poland

The aesthetics and imaginaries of Uyghur heritage, Chinese Tourism, and the Xinjiang dance craze

ABSTRACT In parks and town squares across China in 2023, amateur dance enthusiasts engaged in a nationwide ‘Xinjiang dance’ craze, a phenomenon reflected and amplified on social media. For outside observers this might seem a bizarre development following the Chinese media discourses of terrorism, and the intense securitisation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which so recently preceded it, but it aligned neatly with new initiatives across Chinese government, media and heritage to promote the region’s burgeoning tourism industry, to fundamentally shift perceptions of the region in the national imagination, and to counter revelations of mass incarceration and cultural erasure in international media. This article highlights the ways that Uyghur heritage, music and dance have been harnessed in government projects to remodel the region’s history and situate its peoples more firmly within the sphere of the Chinese nation, thinking through the ways in which the aesthetic formations and imaginaries of Uyghur heritage articulate the links between tourism and territory, colonialism and desire.

Комунікаційні стратегії в державному управлінні: стан реалізації та проблеми

The article defines the current state of implementation of communication strategies by public administration bodies in Ukraine and identifies systemic problems. An analysis of the positive aspects and shortcomings in the development and implementation of communication strategies in the field of public administration is provided, as well as the requirements and factors that have a more significant impact on the content of communication processes in public administration are determined. The favorable perception of the public sphere was influenced not only by the information space formed by the Ukrainian mass media and officials, but also by the informational messages of Russian propaganda. The author provides suggestions for improving the communication strategy in the public sphere. It was established that when developing communication strategies, public authorities should ensure the reduction of uncertainty and the risk of failure when making strategic management decisions. It was determined that the essence of the interaction of public authorities with target audiences is to ensure an effective state policy and adaptation of state reforms to possible future changes in the external environment. Achieving these tasks is possible by: increasing citizens’ trust in state institutions and improving their image; raising citizens’ awareness of the processes taking place in state institutions; ensuring active participation of citizens in the processes of making management decisions and establishing feedback; establishing cooperation with national and international mass media, it is emphasized that this is impossible without improving the public sector, strengthening the presence of public institutions at the international level, optimizing internal communication and information exchange in public institutions. The development of relations with the public as a new social institution for Ukrainian society, bodies of public authority and local self-government, that is, the creation of conditions for ensuring communication with the community and significant participation of the community in solving local problems, defining the conceptual apparatus, principles and rules of institutional analysis, and as well as identifying the rules used by local self-government bodies. Keywords: communications in public administration, information, strategic communications, communication risks, communication channels, communication policy, communication infrastructure.

Discourse of Foreign Digital Media: Analysis of the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election Coverage

This study examines the complex dynamics of communication in the changing field of journalism influenced by the use of media. It specifically focuses on how thoughts and perceptions are expressed in this evolving landscape. Information and communication technologies significantly influence journalism by rapidly disseminating news, updates, and societal impacts. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, the study aims to reveal systematic language usages and uncover latent meanings beyond news texts. Focused on the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election, news texts from four prominent international newslets Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, and Euronews are analyzed. The comprehensive analysis of international media coverage investigates the interplay of linguistic and thematic choices in shaping narratives. With a dual focus on macro and micro levels of discourse, the study uncovers diverse approaches among foreign media outlets. Each outlet adopts a distinctive thematic approach at the macro level, emphasizing key figures and sociopolitical contexts. Al Jazeera spotlights competition, BBC underscores post-election polarization, CNN focuses on Erdogan's victory, and Euronews provides insights into national challenges. Visual elements, like photographs, contribute significantly to framing events, offering nuanced political messaging. Micro-level analysis explores linguistic choices, syntax, and rhetoric, emphasizing the active voice to underscore leaders' agency. Deliberate use of the passive voice in presenting election results maintains a neutral tone. The way sentences are structured and the cause-and-effect connections help readers understand political developments by providing context. The study underscores the importance of media literacy in decoding political event representations, emphasizing the multifaceted complexities of media discourse.

Study on China's National Image in International and Chinese Media: An Ecological Discourse Analysis Approach

Study on China's National Image in International and Chinese Media: An Ecological Discourse Analysis Approach

Activity of international media in Tajikistan

This article informs about the activities of international media in the information space of Tajikistan, including the history, beginning of radio "Ozodi"( Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), their goals and tasks, the nature of the propaganda of foreign media in Tajikistan, the conditions of their activity in modern times, the lack of observance of the balance of positions and opinions,and so on. The authors, with specific examples (the case related to the license of the BBC radio by the employees of the Radio "Ozodi"), clearly prove the importance of the presence of international foreign media in the information space of the region, especially Tajikistan, from the point of view of those who, by any means, maintain it. The activity of international media in the information space of another country as an internal media is one of the conditions imposed by superpower countries and human rights organizations. From the study and review of the history of establishment, formation and activity of international media, their goals and duties, it is clear that in the information space of Tajikistan, serious attention is shown to the existence and operation of international media by interested countries and organizations. The reviewed examples testify to this. In the opinion of the authors, if at first glance, making the same issue the subject of the report several times on the radio "Ozodi" appears as a sign of professional solidarity and creative competition, but a little deeper thinking reveals the truth of the interest of this international media. Because, as it is clear from the content of the reports, this media, with such a way of coverage, thinks that such actions of the authorities should be prevented by all possible means, so that there is no interference in the activities of the international media. The authors have strengthened their opinions based on the researchers' thoughts and opinions.

News Reports on Indonesia’s Post-election 2024 from Selected National and International Newspaper: A Pragmatic Analysis

The Indonesia’s presidential election 2024, as one of the largest democratic nations, gained wide attention from both national and international media. This research carries out a pragmatic analysis of news report on the post-presidential election of Indonesia 2024 from selected national and international newspapers using Austin (1962) and Searle’s (1969) Speech Act Theory. 30 utterances were purposively taken from three newspapers (The Jakarta Post, The Guardian, and The New York Times). By implementing qualitative research method, this research analysis discussed three aspects of Speech Acts: locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary. The result of the analysis showed that there was obvious finding on the reporting style of newspapers on the election outcome. Based on the analysis, assertive statements were dominantly found as it is in line with the nature of newspaper style; present factual information impartially, aiding in neutral and concise reporting. Directive statements wielded figures’ influence and attitudes toward ongoing issues. Commissive speech acts conveyed promises, pledges, and accusations persuasively, while declarative ones declared figures’ initiatives and actions on issues. Expressive speech acts reflected collective societal feelings, particularly regarding election outcomes.

Framing Migrant News in the International Media: Media Representation of Ukrainian Migrants

Bu çalışmada, sığınmacılar ile ilgili haberlerde kullanılan haber çerçevelerinin medyanın ideolojik farklılıkları ve bağlı oldukları ülkelerin göç politikası ekseninde kamuoyu üzerinde belirleyici etki yaratıp yaratmadığını ortaya koymak amacıyla Türkiye, Almanya ve İngiltere merkezli yayın yapan günlük gazetelerin internet haber sitelerinde yer alan Ukraynalı sığınmacılar ile ilgili haberler haber çerçeveleme teorisi temelinde içerik analizi tekniği ile incelenmiştir. Bu kapsamda Türkiye’nin dünyadaki sığınmacılara en çok ev sahipliği yapan ülke olması, Almanya’nın diğer AB’ye üye ülkelere göre sığınmacıları daha fazla kabul etmesi, İngiltere’nin de sığınmacılara kapısını açma konusunda direnç göstermesi araştırma evreni seçiminde belirleyici rol oynarken, örneklem seçiminde gazetelerin ideolojik yaklaşımları baz alınarak Türkiye’den muhafazakâr sağ ideolojiyi temsil eden Sabah ve sol ideolojiyi savunan Sözcü gazeteleri, Almanya’dan sağ ideolojiyi temsil eden Bild ve sol ideolojiyi savunan Zeit gazeteleri, İngiltere’den ise sağ görüşü savunan Express ve sol ideolojiyi temsil eden The Guardian gazetelerinin internet siteleri tercih edilmiştir. Bu gazetelerin internet sitelerinde Mart 2022 ve Şubat 2023 tarihleri arasında yayınlanan 835 haber hem niceliksel hem de niteliksel olarak değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular analiz edilen gazetelerdeki Ukraynalı sığınmacılar ile ilgili haberlerde gazetelerin ideolojik bakış açılarının ve bağlı oldukları ülkelerin göç politikalarının farklı olmasına rağmen mağduriyet, yerleşim, insan ilgi, sorumluluk gibi daha çok olumlu ve sığınmacıları haklı çıkaran çerçevelerin baskın olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of 2019-2020 Iraqi Protests as Represented in Selected Local and International Newspapers

In addition to capturing the hearts and minds of Iraqis, the protest movement that ousted Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi—who held office from October 2018 to May 2020—also attracted the attention of both domestic and international media. The purpose of the study is to find out if the four selected newspapers employ language that supports their ideological agendas. It also aims to look at the ways in which local Iraqi newspapers and international newspapers discussed the same protest events that began on October 1, 2019. Over 30,000 people were injured, 3,000 people were arrested, and an estimated 1,000 people died as a result of the demonstrations, marches, civil disobedience, sit-ins, rioting, and online activism that took place during these events. According to the study, the national newspapers Al-Sabaah and Al-Mada regularly overstated the violent activities of protesters. Al-Sabaah appeared to rely on official information at the expense of speaking for protestors, but Al-Mada did not. Furthermore, it omitted information regarding all parties involved. By using particular sources and referencing them directly, exposing the black and white aspects of both sides involved in the dispute, and adopting the side of the protestors and portraying them favorably, The Telegraph and The New York Times, on the other hand, adhered to nonviolent journalism.

International students’ education for global peace: Insights from master students of international media studies at the Deutsche Welle Academy, Germany

This study examines international students’ education for global peace. Students who leave their home countries for educational tourism abroad encounter several challenges: a language barrier, cultural, ethical, and different educational systems, amongst others. Studies have shown that many international students face many challenges because of the need to interact in their new environment; these include communication problems (language), culture shock, the adaptation of value changes, and adjustment to new or completely different ethical principles, amongst others. Hence, this study investigates how 27 international students from 5 continents and 23 countries at the Master's Programme “International Media Studies” (IMS) at the Deutsche Welle Academy in Bonn, Germany, who graduated in 2016, communicated, collaborated, and peacefully coexisted during their two years of studies. Based on the mixed research method and the instrument of the questionnaire, the study is anchored on the symbolic interactionism theory. Findings show that American and African students were the fastest to adjust to an international setting. Findings also reveal that American students are the most optimistic about the IMS programme helping to promote global peace, while African and European students are less optimistic. The study recommends that African and Asian international students should learn more about the culture of the host country when they travel abroad for studies, especially on issues of politeness, patience, and tolerance, and international students, in general, should understand the ethical issues surrounding giving tips when they travel abroad for studies.

The Concept of Conflict Semantic Explication Within the Functional Terminological Field (Based on the Analysis of Russian and International Media Sourses)

The study attempts to carry out an objective analysis of conflict as the main component of social dynamics in an interdisciplinary manner and within the paradigm of intercultural comparative research. In order to achieve this goal, an experimental study of the ways to conceptualize conflict in the functional field of media discourse was conducted. The object of the study is the content of the websites of twelve leading newspaper publications from five countries during the period of 2020–2022: Russia, Great Britain, the USA, India and China. The choice of media sources is predetermined by their leading role in the national media markets (top 10 national newspapers), as well as by similar characteristics: socio-political course, mass audience, and daily issuing. To study the degree of conflict manifestation, we used the Integrum media monitoring and analytical system which contains full-text electronic archives of more than 120,000 publications, including those selected for the study. To understand the dynamics of publicational activity, the total number of conflict-related texts for every year between 2020 and 2022 for each media source the quantitative analysis based on the detection of conflict attributes was performed. The share of conflict-related media texts in the overall agenda was revealed. The further analysis of semantic features combined within the most significant thematic categories shed light on the specificity of conceptual pattern typical of the countries under investigation.

Journalism and Translation: Practices, Strategies, and Values in News Agencies

Information transmitted between cultures through news agencies, are not only translated in meaning between languages, but are also reconfigured, edited, synthes ized and transformed for the consumption of a new group of readers. In the world of global media, the definition of translation is being challenged and the boundaries of what we might call translation have been reformulated. By investigating mechanisms of news translation, we seek through our research paper to collect a number of foundations proposed by many greatest thinkers in this field. Today, the so-called global communication strategies, does exist. Studies of globalization, media studies, sociology and translation have vast areas of common interest. The question of global information flows is related to the ways in which the media build news stories, and the transmission of these laters often involves moving, not only across space, but also across linguistic and cultural boundaries, which makes the collision between international media and translation, occurs.

Consuming Royalty

Consuming Royalty

Is this War?

Abstract Media discourse around particular subjects comes to shape people’s understanding of that topic. In particular, the words used to describe situations of violence and conflict may colour public perceptions. This paper identifies the main words used to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict by three international media outlets, Al Jazeera, Euronews and CGTN, from February to May 2022. Following the methodology of corpus-assisted discourse studies, it analyses the nouns used and their most frequent collocates, showing how these reveal the different ways the war was represented in these three media. The results are discussed in the light of differing theories concerning Chinese and Western stances to the conflict, illustrating media roles in the shaping and reproduction of dominant discourses.