Mass Media Coverage Research Articles

The Contagion of Mass Shootings: The Interdependence of Large-Scale Massacres and Mass Media Coverage

ABSTRACT Mass public shootings have generated significant levels of fear in the recent years, with many observers criticizing the media for fostering a moral panic, if not an actual rise in the frequency of such attacks. Scholarly research suggests that the media can potentially impact the prevalence of mass shootings in two respects: (i) some individuals may be inspired to mimic the actions of highly publicized offenders; and (ii) a more general contagion process may manifest as a temporary increase in the likelihood of shootings associated with a triggering event. In this study of mass shootings since 2000, we focus on short-term contagion, rather than imitation that can traverse years. Specifically, after highlighting the sequencing of news coverage prior and subsequent to mass shootings, we apply multivariate point process models to disentangle the correlated incidence of mass public shootings and news coverage of such events. The findings suggest that mass public shootings have a strong effect on the level of news reporting, but that news reporting on the topic has little impact, at least in the relative short-term, on the subsequent prevalence of mass shootings. Finally, the results appear to rule out the presence of strong self-excitation of mass shootings, placing clear limits on generalized short-term contagion effects. Supplementary files for this article are available online.

Productivity of New Indonesian Vocabulary in the Pandemic Time of Covid-19

The phenomenon of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused many problems, starting from the health, economic, and socio-cultural field. However, in the field of language, the outbreak of Covid-19 has actually increased the productivity of the new Indonesian vocabulary. The rapid and massive development of Covid-19 to many countries has made the public and the government panic. Covid-19 has become the central topic of mass media coverage and various new terms/vocabularies are widely used. This study aims to describe the productivity of Indonesian’s new vocabulary during the Covid-19 pandemic, its category classification, frequency of use, and the factors that cause its emergence. This research is a qualitative descriptive study. Data collection was done by observation method with note-taking technique. Data analysis used the intralingual equivalent method. The results showed that the productivity of new vocabulary during the Covid-19 pandemic was in the form of basic words, affixed words, abbreviations/acronyms, compound words, and phrases. Based on the category, the new vocabulary is in the form of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. Based on the frequency of use, the most consecutive are nominal phrases, verbal phrases, and adjective phrases. The factors causing the emergence of Indonesian’s new vocabulary were extraordinary events related to the outbreak of Covid-19, the influence of foreign languages, and community creativity.

Collegiate Athletes' Concussion Awareness, Understanding, and -Reporting Behaviors in Different Countries With Varying Concussion Publicity.

Concussions are a global public health concern, and education on the importance of self-reporting may not reach all athletes to the same degree around the world. To determine if differences were present in the concussion awareness, understanding, and -reporting behaviors of collegiate athletes' in 3 countries with varied degrees of concussion publicity. Cross-sectional survey. Collegiate sports medicine clinics. Collegiate athletes in the United States (n = 964; high publicity), Ireland (n = 302; moderate publicity), and Jordan (n = 129; low publicity). The degree of concussion publicity was categorized based on the extent of national public health awareness initiatives, care guidelines, research publications, and mass media coverage. Participants completed a 10- to 15-minute survey on concussion awareness, understanding, and -reporting behaviors. The main outcome measures were concussion education (awareness; 21 options; select all sources of concussion information), concussion knowledge (understanding; maximum score of 49), and diagnosed/nondisclosed concussion history (reporting behaviors; self-report yes/no items). A higher proportion of Jordanian athletes reported never having received concussion information previously (73.6%) than Irish (24.2%) or US athletes (9.4%). Knowledge differed among countries (P < .0001, η2 = .28), with US athletes displaying higher total knowledge scores (40.9 ± 4.5) than Jordanian (35.1 ± 5.6) and Irish (32.1 ± 3.5) athletes. Greater percentages of Irish and US athletes reported a history of a diagnosed concussion (31.8% and 29.6%, respectively) and history of concussion nondisclosure (25.2% and 15.5%, respectively) than Jordanian athletes (2.3% and 0.0% for history of a diagnosed concussion and history of concussion nondisclosure, respectively). In the United States, where concussion publicity is high, formal legislation exists, and sports medicine resources and concussion awareness and understanding were increased. More culturally appropriate concussion initiatives are needed globally to ensure that athletes around the world can identify concussive injuries and understand the dangers of continued sport participation while concussed.

Male circumcision uptake and its predictors among sexually active men aged 15\u201359\u2009years living in the highest HIV prevalence region of Ethiopia: evidence from 2016 Ethiopia demographic and health survey

BackgroundPieces of evidence showed that the Gambella region of Ethiopia has remained HIV hotspot area for successive years. However, the magnitude of male circumcision uptake and its associated factors are not well studied in this region. Hence, the aim of the current study is to assess the magnitude of male circumcision uptake and its predictors among sexually active men in the region using the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey Data.MethodData on 868 sexually active men residing in the Gambella region were extracted from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and health Survey. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were respectively used to summarize descriptive data and measure the statistical associations. Adjusted odds ratio and confidence intervals were respectively used to measure statistical associations between variables and their statistical significances.ResultsThe current study revealed that the overall prevalence of male circumcision uptake in the Gambella region was 61.2% (95% CI: 57.96,64.44). The results of multivariable logistic regression revealed that being Muslim (AOR = 9.54, 95% CI: 6.765.13.88), being Orthodox Christian (AOR = 8.5, 95%CI: 5.00–14.45), being from Poor household (AOR = 0.11, 95%CI: 0.06, 0.22), being from medium-income household (AOR = .33, 95%CI: 0.15, 0.73), listening to radio (AOR = .29, 95%CI: .16, .54), having comprehensive HIV knowledge (AOR = .44, 95%CI: .27, .71) and ever been tested for HIV (AOR = .27, 95%CI: .16,.46) were independently associated with male circumcision uptake.ConclusionDespite all efforts made by different stakeholders to promote the provision of male circumcision in the Gambella region, its magnitude of uptake is still unacceptably low. The federal HIV prevention and Control Office and other stakeholders working on HIV prevention and control should give due emphasis to promoting HIV-related knowledge through community-based education and through religious leaders. Integrating and streamlining HIV-related education in the academic curricula, and expanding mass media coverage should also be given due consideration by the federal government and other stakeholders. The stakeholders should also give emphasis to strengthening and empowering poor sexually active men residing in the Gambella region.

Analisis Framing Pemberitaan Kebijakan Pemerintah Terkait Ketenagakerjaan sebagai Dampak Covid 19 di Kompas.com dan Malaysiakini

Abstract In the beginning of 2020 the mass media coverage was adorned with information about covid-19 outbreaks. The spread of covid-19 has crossed continents and even the rest of the world, making this period called as pandemic because it has infected 4.9 million people. The magnitude of this incident made the media including Kompas.com and Malaysiakini.com continue to convey information not only about health issues, but also other impacts in various fields such as law, politics, security and other social issues such as the economy and employment. This online news portal from Indonesia and Malaysia always reports on the development of covid-19 outbreaks in their respective countries. So much news was uploaded by the two online media that researcher only chose one news related to labor policy as the impact of covid-19 outbreaks. Using the theory of reality construction from Peter L. Berger, researcher analyzed the news framing using Robert N Enmant's model. The results showed an imbalance between the two online news portals because it only represented one party, where Kompas.com fetched news about wages from the point of view of the business world while Malaysiakini framed the appeal for the suspension of Eid Al-fitr leave that delivered by Mufti P Pinang as an opinion leader who respected by the Malaysian society. Keywords: Framing Analysis, Policy, Labor, Pandemic, Online Media.

Communicating Political Positions on European Issues: A Comparison of Parties and Newspapers in Seven Countries

This article starts from the observation that most voters know relatively little about positions and plans of political parties, especially when European Union politics is concerned. One reason for this could be that the main sources for political information, party communication and mass media coverage, provide voters only little concrete information about positions and plans of political parties. We ask how concretely, respectively vaguely, political parties and mass media communicate political positions prior to the 2014 European Parliament elections. We conducted a quantitative content analysis of all European Union–related press releases from 46 national political parties and of all European Union–related articles of 14 national quality newspapers from 7 European countries 12 weeks before the 2014 European Parliament elections. Our analysis shows that press releases as well as media coverage contain more concrete political positions on European Union issues than vague political statements. Other than expected, newspaper coverage provided the public with less concrete information than political actors did. Nevertheless, countries vary with regard to the extent to which party communication or newspaper coverage contain vague statements. We cannot find empirical support that the communication of concrete political positions depends on a party’s “extremity” of issue position or on the type of issue.

Human Resources: Overview of the Company's reputation from weaknesses, strengths and challenges in a crisis

This article discusses the human resources of the company reputation review of the weaknesses, strengths, and challenges in the crisis. A company that has a good reputation will be more attractive to qualified prospective employees, get free mass media coverage so it doesn't require large advertising costs, and get other benefits that contribute to company profits. Steps are needed to be taken to overcome the crisis by analyzing the crisis in depth, systematically, informatively, and descriptively of the crisis that occurred through a neatly prepared report. HR development is generally more focused on the long-term needs of the organization. The results are indirect and can be measured in the long term.

Farmers’ perceptions of integrated pest management (IPM) and determinants of adoption in vegetable production in Bangladesh

Identifying determinants of integrated pest management (IPM) adoption is crucial for promoting the use of more ecologically benign pest control tactics in the agricultural sector. The present study examined farmers’ perception of IPM and determinants of IPM adoption in vegetables production in Bangladesh. A total of 350 vegetable farmers were surveyed. Approximately one-third of the farmers agreed that the implementation of IPM is beneficial for farmers’ health. Overall knowledge regarding various IPM practices was low. The adoption of IPM was positively associated with farmers’ education, spouses’ education, large farm size, mass media coverage, and high perception of pesticide applications cost. Marginal effect analysis showed that mass media coverage can increase the likelihood of being in medium and high adopter group by 9.2 and 3%, respectively. Increased investment in extension services is recommended to increase awareness and adoption of IPM. Moreover, modifying the current extension approach by targeting not just the primary farmers, but also members of their families can help adoption of IPM.

Mass Media Reporting and Illicit Harvesting of Russian Crab: Implications for Sustainable Fishery

Existing methods of combating the shadow economy do not always give reliable results. This is particularly true for the illegal use of renewable natural resources. In some parts of the Northwest Pacific basin, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has become an issue of growing concern for the sustainability of resource management, ecology, and the social environment. Many factors combine to produce these harmful phenomena. The complex legal rights for shared natural marine resources, the weak capacity of state institutions, and the lack of international cooperation between exporters and importers are all relevant. These factors can be eliminated by supplementing the “traditional” analysis of the shadow economy with new data mined from the media. For the crab harvesting regions of Russia, long-lasting benefits can be achieved through improvements in governance, accountability, and public awareness, or more specifically, through extensive mass media coverage of relevant topics. We argue that in the Russian Pacific, levels of illegal crab harvesting and smuggling correlates closely to the frequency of media references. The results suggest possible applications of mass media analysis: developing additional metrics for the dynamics of shadow economies; and the formulation of effective policy recommendations for sustainable fishing.

Initial mass media coverage of the 2nd edition of the physical activity guidelines for Americans.

The 2nd edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans was released in November of 2018. This document contained specific guidelines for young children, children and adolescents, adults, older adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and adults living with chronic conditions and disabilities as well as safety recommendations. Given the complexity of the recommendations, the aim of this study was to assess which of the guidelines were covered by both print and broadcast media in the three months following the release of the guidelines. LexisNexis was searched for print media as well as transcripts of broadcast media. YouTube was used to search for broadcast television news stories. All retrieved stories (n=34) were coded independently by two raters on which of the elements of the guidelines were covered. On average, stories covered less than half of the guidelines. Most stories reported aerobic guidelines for adults, children and adolescents and young children. Muscle strengthening and vigorous exercise were covered less frequently. No stories mentioned guidelines for pregnant or postpartum women or adults with disabilities. Print (M=6.4, sd=2.7) covered more recommendations than broadcast media (M=4.0, sd=1.9, p<.01). Coordinated national efforts are needed to ensure that Americans are aware of the new and complete guidelines.

What drives science media use? Predictors of media use for information about science and research in digital information environments.

This study analyzes the predictors of media use for information about science and research by drawing on the theory of planned behavior and audience orientations. It uses data from a representative survey in Switzerland. We find that both audience orientations and motivations explained the use of media to access science information. People with positive attitudes toward science were more likely to use all kinds of media to access information about science. Positive evaluations of mass media coverage predicted print media and website, television and radio use positively but social media use negatively. Thus, social media could be a way to reach people who do not appreciate the coverage of the traditional mass media as much as others but who are still positive toward science. However, people who use social media may possess lesser knowledge to assess to what extent such science information is trustworthy and correct.

COVID-19, supply chain disruption and China’s hog market: a dynamic analysis

PurposeThe authors explicitly evaluate the dynamic impact of five most concerned supply chain disruption scenarios, including: (1) a short-term shortage and price jump of corn supply in hog farms; (2) a shortage of market hogs to packing facilities; (3) disruption in breeding stock adjustments; (4) disruption in pork import; and (5) a combination of scenario (1)–(4).Design/methodology/approachThe agricultural supply chain experienced tremendous disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. To evaluate the impact of disruptions, the authors employ a system dynamics model of hog market to simulate and project the impact of COVID-19 on China hog production and pork consumption. In the model the authors explicitly characterize the cyclical pattern of hog market. The hog cycle model is calibrated using market data from 2018–2019 to represent the market situation during an ongoing African swine fever.FindingsThe authors find that the impacts of supply chain disruption are generally short-lived. Market hog transportation disruption has immediate impact on price and consumption. But the impact is smoothed out in six months. Delay in import shipment temporarily reduces consumption and raises hog price. A temporary increase of corn price or delay in breeding stock acquisition does not produce significant impact on national hog market as a whole, despite mass media coverage on certain severely affected regions.Originality/valueThis is the first evaluation of short-term supply chain disruption on China hog market from COVID-19. The authors employ a system dynamics model of hog markets with an international trade component. The model allows for monthly time step analysis and projection of the COVID-19 impact over a five-year period. The results and discussion have far-reaching implications for agricultural markets around the world.

The Strategic Use of Scandals

SUMMARYScandals are pervasive in many areas of society. We propose a characterization of scandals that explicitly considers their potential benefits to transgressors. Although scandals are frequently considered to be undesirable to the targets or transgressors implicated, we develop four rationales by which a scandal can actually be beneficial to them. First, a scandal can propel an individual, organization or cause into the limelight and generate low‐cost publicity that can serve the target’s interest, e.g., by increasing the visibility and salience of a particular issue or providing them a platform to spin the scandal with the megaphone of mass media coverage. Second, a scandal target can choose to play the role of altruistic or self‐seeking scapegoat. Third, a scandal target can use a scandal as a smokescreen to divert attention from other more serious issues. Fourth, a scandal can serve as a way to disadvantage competitors or rivals. For each rationale, we suggest some conditions of its success. Anecdotal evidence and real‐world examples are also provided to illustrate and support these rationales.

Dictionaries, Supervised Learning, and Media Coverage of Public Policy

ABSTRACT There are many different approaches to automated content analysis. This paper focuses on dictionaries and supervised learning; in addition to comparing the effectiveness of the two, we argue for the advantages of using them in combination. We do so in a research area in which we have an independent objective referent: government spending. With an eye toward capturing the accuracy of media coverage on public policy, we apply both hierarchical dictionary counts and supervised learning to measure mass media coverage of change in US defense spending. Both approaches appear to do well at capturing a media “policy signal” in the area, which provides an important test of convergent validity. While the results highlight the value of both dictionary and machine learning methods used independently, they also illustrate ways in which the two can be used in combination.

Loud and silent epidemics in the third millennium: tuning-up the volume

The media play a key role in promoting public health and influencing debate regarding health issues; however, some topics seem to generate a stronger response in the public, and this may be related to how the media construct and deliver their messages. Mass media coverage of COVID-19 epidemic has been exceptional with more than 180,000 articles published each day in 70 languages from March 8 to April 8, 2020. One may well wonder if this massive media attention ever happened in the past and if it has been finally proven to be beneficial or even just appropriate. Surgical site and implant-related infections represent a substantial part of health care-associated infections; with an estimated overall incidence of 6% post-surgical infection, approximately 18 million new surgical site infections are expected each year globally, with 5 to 10% mortality rate and an astounding economic and social cost. In the current mediatic era, orthopaedic surgeons need to refocus some of their time and energies from surgery to communication and constructive research. Only raising mediatic awareness on surgical site and implant-related infections may tune up the volume of silent epidemics to a level that can become audible by governing institutions.

News coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic: Missed opportunities to promote health sustaining behaviors.

BackgroundGiven that individuals may make health decisions based on mass media coverage, and given that such decisions have broad consequences in the case of highly contagious infectious disease, it is imperative that public health practitioners are aware of mass media coverage on emerging health threats such as COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to examine the content of news segments covering COVID-19 posted on-line.MethodsUsing the Google Videos function on a cleared browser, all videos identified from January and February, 2020 were archived by URL for analysis. After applying exclusion criteria, a total of 401 remained, comprising the sample. Content categories derived from trusted sources were applied to assess the content of broadcast news segments pertaining to COVID-19 on Google Videos.ResultsThe most common topic mentioned across all videos was death and the death rate (43.6%) and many connoted anxieties surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak (37.4%). Critically important information about the prevention of COVID-19 spread received little attention. For example, only 3.0% of videos discussed coughing into or blowing one's nose into a tissue and throwing the tissue away, 6.2% talked about wearing a facemask when caring for the ill, and 8.8% covered disinfecting highly touched objects and surfaces. International videos more often presented captions and English subtitles (with and without narration) (7.8% vs. 0.9%, p = 0.018) and even more frequently discussed death and the death rate associated with COVID-19 (56.9% vs. 41.7%, p = 0.04).ConclusionCoupled with the resultant increase in negative emotion, the majority of videos missed an opportunity to reframe messages to encourage and promote coping strategies and health sustaining behaviors. Future videos should avoid contributing to negative emotion.

Faith Manifest: Spiritual and Mindfulness Tourism in Chiang Mai, Thailand

From books to movies, the media is now flush with spiritual and wellness tourist-related images, films, and fiction (which are primarily produced in the West) about Southeast Asia. Combined with the positive effects of spiritual practices, greater numbers of tourists are travelling to Southeast Asia for mindfulness, yoga, and other spiritual pursuits. Influenced by popular mass media coverage, such as Hollywood movies and literary bestsellers like Eat Pray Love (2006) and tourism imaginaries about particular peoples and places, spiritual tourists are visiting Southeast Asia in increasing numbers. They travel to learn about and practice mindfulness, so as to recharge their batteries, achieve spiritual fulfillment, enhance their spiritual well-being, and find a true self. However, there is a notable lack of scholarly work around the nature and outcomes of spiritual tourism in the region. Owing to its Buddhist temples, cultural heritage, religious history, infrastructure, and perceived safety, Chiang Mai in Thailand, in particular, has become a major spiritual tourism destination. Based on participant observation including informal conversations, and 10 semi-structured interviews in Chiang Mai during two summers in 2016 and 2018, our research explored why Western tourists travel to Chiang Mai to engage in mindfulness practices regardless of their religious affiliation. We explored their faith in their spiritual practice in Chiang Mai. Rather than the faith implied in religion, this faith refers to trust or confidence in something. Interestingly, none of the informants identified themselves as Buddhist even though many had practiced Buddhist mindfulness for years. They had faith that mindfulness would resolve problems, such as depression and anxiety, following life events such as divorces, deaths in family, drug abuse, or at least help free them from worries. They noted that mindfulness practices were a constructive means of dealing with negative life events. This study found that the informants sought to embed mindfulness and other spiritual practices into the fabric of their everyday life. Their faith in mindfulness led them to a destination where Buddhist heritage, history, and culture are concentrated but also consumed. Whilst discussing the preliminary findings through a critical lens, the research recommends future research pathways.

The Social Construction of Digital Multimedia and the Policy of Mass Media Coverage in the Creation of Hyper-Reality Politics in Indonesia and Malaysia

The Social Construction of Digital Multimedia and the Policy of Mass Media Coverage in the Creation of Hyper-Reality Politics in Indonesia and Malaysia

Determinants of Crop Land Management Practices: The Case of North Gondar Zone, North West Ethiopia

Land management problems like soil erosion; overgrazing and deforestation have steadily increased in Ethiopia including the study area North Gondar Zone. Thus, the main objective of this study is to assess the determinants of crop land management practices in north Gondar zone. Both qualitative and quantitative types of data were collected from primary and secondary sources. In this study, to get representative sample from different agro ecologies a stratified simple random sampling technique was employed to select sample household heads. Finally, a total of 120 household heads were drawn through simple random sampling technique proportionally to size form the sample kebeles. To analyze the determinants of land management practices multinomial logit model was used. The findings of this study indicated that from the total variables included in the model only six variables are found to significantly affect the choice of crop land management strategies. The significant variables include age of the household head, education level, access to mass media, amount of income, farm distance and the frequency of extension contact. Thus, any concerned bodies should strengthen rural households’ mass media coverage and advisory services.

Consumption Change Detection for Urban Planning: Monitoring and Segmenting Water Customers During Drought

AbstractDemand management is a powerful way for water utilities to address the challenges of population growth and climate change. Although active conservation efforts have been studied extensively, recent evidence suggests households respond to many external events beyond a utility's control, including political responses to extreme climatic episodes and corresponding mass media coverage. Despite their importance, these external factors are difficult to analyze in a controlled setting, and few tools exist to evaluate their influence on customers. Here, we present a consumption change detection (CCD) method that offers new insights into how climate‐related mass media and policy events affect conservation by pinpointing the timing and magnitude of customer‐level water use shifts. We use CCD to monitor and segment the responses of residential water customers to policy and media events in Costa Mesa, California, during the severe 2012–2016 drought. Our results show consumption reductions among 75% of customers. Of these, 80% reduced water use before mandatory restrictions were imposed, coincident with intensifying state policy responses and spikes in media coverage that affected all customer types during 2014. Analysis of standardized drought consumption trajectories indicates that 16% of conserving customers increased consumption in 2015–2016. Conservation and rebound were both more likely among affluent and educated customers, suggesting that CCD can identify engaged and informed water savers who make suitable targets for water‐efficient retrofit incentive schemes. This study demonstrates CCD's potential as a novel demand analysis tool in an interconnected world where external social, political, and climatic stressors can exert an important influence on customer behavior.