Media System Research Articles

Changing Forms of Ownership in a Democratic Corporatist Media System — How Digitalization Leads to Less Transparency and the Risk of Media Capture

Digitalization has led to a crisis in news media and an upheaval in media ownership. A research concern has been that the motives driving media owners will shift from financial and public service to overtly political and ideological. The term “media capture” has been suggested to describe how various interests may take control over news media outlets. This paper adds to the study of digitalization and media ownership in three ways. First, our analysis is based on new analytical parameters developed as part of the Euromedia Ownership Monitor. Second, we compare types of ownership across legacy news media and digital news media, as each media type runs a different risk regarding capture. Third, we focus on ownership transparency, especially that of beneficial owners. Our case study is Denmark, which is part of the democratic corporatist media system and, based on international ratings, is one of the most democratic and transparent media systems in Europe. We find that private legacy news media is mostly owned by nonprofit foundations, while legacy public service news media is owned by the State or is listed as self-owned. Regarding new digital news media, we find different ownership forms. However, only new digital news media have ownership by a sole proprietor. Regarding transparency, we find the transparency of direct and beneficial owners is more accessible in legacy news media than in new, digital news media. We find no tradition for publishing “natural persons” possible affiliations to either political or other commercial interests. This seems especially relevant, as new digital news media outlets, unlike legacy media, sometimes are owned and funded by private investors, whose main business interests lie outside the news media and whose motives for owning a news media may differ from traditional ownership thus leading to a risk of media capture by ownership.

The Moderating Influence of Government Support as the Major Environmental Context on SMEs’ Adoption of Social Media Systems—from the Technology-Organization-Environment Perspective

The Moderating Influence of Government Support as the Major Environmental Context on SMEs’ Adoption of Social Media Systems—from the Technology-Organization-Environment Perspective

Bridging the AI Divide: Human and Responsible AI in News and Media Industries

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing media and journalism, reshaping processes, content, and audience relationship. This editorial report discusses the opportunities and challenges AI brings to these industries raised by this collection of studies, emphasizing the importance of integrating ethical principles and human-centric approaches to its development. These articles examine how AI reshapes content creation, distribution, and audience interaction while addressing the ethical, political, and economic implications of its integration. Key contributions include discussions on the ethical challenges posed by AI—such as bias, transparency, and accountability—and the need for robust governance structures to foster trust and fairness in AI-driven media systems. A recurring theme in this issue is the AI divide, highlighting the disparity in access to AI technologies between the Global North and South. The special issue offers insights into how this divide exacerbates existing inequalities in media production and consumption. It also advocates for interdisciplinary approaches and collaborative efforts to ensure AI's benefits are equitably distributed across geographical and socio-economic contexts. By exploring both the opportunities and perils of AI adoption in media and news industries, this special issue serves as a comprehensive examination of the evolving relationship between AI, media, and society, offering pathways for responsible innovation and inclusive AI adoption worldwide.

Navigating constraints: news values and journalistic role performance in Chinese state media VR news

IntroductionThis study explores the intersection of virtual reality (VR) technology and journalism, with a particular focus on the application of VR in news productions by China Central Television (CCTV). The research aims to assess how VR enhances immersive storytelling, the prevailing news values it supports, and how journalistic roles are performed within these productions in China.MethodsA content analysis was conducted on 234 VR news productions by CCTV, examining the use of immersive elements, the representation of news values, and the roles of journalists in the context of VR news.ResultsThe findings indicate that, while VR enhances audience engagement through immersive experiences, its application in CCTV’s VR news remains limited in scope. The technology is primarily employed within traditional journalistic frameworks, often emphasizing the loyal-facilitator role.DiscussionThe study reveals that immersive journalism at CCTV tends to support state-aligned narratives, promoting positive news values and limiting the critical engagement typically associated with more interventionist journalistic models. By examining the news values and the nuanced performances of journalistic roles in the context of VR news, this research contributes to the broader understanding of how emerging technologies like VR are shaping journalistic practices in authoritarian media systems, offering insights into both the potential and limitations of VR in enhancing audience engagement while maintaining journalistic integrity.

General solutions of the Maxwell’s equations for a mechano-driven media system (MEs-f-MDMS)

Abstract For engineering electromagnetism, media/objects have shapes and sizes and may move with accelerations along complex trajectories in reference to the observers in the Laboratory frame. To describe the electromagnetic behavior of a system that is made of multiple moving objects, we have developed the Maxwell’s equations for a mechano-driven media system (MEs-f-MDMS) under low-speed approximation (v << c) [Advances in Physics: X, 9 (2024) 2354767]. Through extensive studies, the MEs-f-MDMS are required for describing the electrodynamics inside a moving object, while the classical Maxwell’s equations are to describe the electrodynamics in the region that is at stationary with respect to the Laboratory frame. The full solutions of the two regions satisfy the boundary conditions. The accelerated movement of a medium is a source for generating electromagnetic wave at its vicinity, but this component was missed in classical Maxwell’s equations. In this paper, we present the strategies for solving the MEs-f-MDMS for a generate case with considering the dispersion of the medium and the related constitutive relations both in time and frequency spaces. The theory is rather general and will serve as general guidance for numerical calculations toward practical applications.

The Social and Sociological Province of Climate Change: Introduction

AbstractDespite its importance and prominence in public debates, including in many social science-related disciplines such as political science, anthropology, geography, and history, climate change has been unevenly addressed within critical sociology. In the tradition of critical theories, a critical sociology approach could contribute to climate science by discussing, for instance, what it means for societies and individuals to live together in times of ecological crisis and how this interplays with other crises and challenges of our time. As we face various transformations caused by climate change, sociology can inquire about social relations in the Anthropocene, including the critique of this concept and its alternatives, such as Capitalocene. This introductory article explores the intersection of sociology and the climate crisis, examining the sociological significance of the latter. It also discusses the importance for sociology, at both theoretical and empirical levels, to climate-related debates. It highlights the need for pluralistic approaches that can contribute to framing and addressing climate change, encompassing diagnosis, alternatives, science, and politics. The papers in this special issue seek to engage with and contribute to the abovementioned debate by covering theoretical and empirical perspectives on climate crisis, drawing attention to themes such as the relationship between critical theory and climate change, theories of modernity, the notion of (post)sustainability, just transitions, the role of media systems in fostering sustainable transformations, and the contribution of social movements to socioecological transformation, with a particular focus on the 'Global South'.

The role of platforms in the journalistic ecosystem: innovative business models of Italian media outlets

Increased dependence of the news media system on online platforms has caused a readjustment of the traditional business models that supported media enterprises until a few years ago, which in some cases has resulted in a redefinition of the boundaries of the journalistic field. To test the interplay between different strategies of relationship with platforms and a different location within the field, the paper considered four Italian news outlets. Two, Will Media Italia and Factanza, are newcomers, information projects anchored in the logic of online platforms and disseminated almost exclusively on social media. Two, The Post Internazionale and Domani, are inhabitants of the field, media outlets with greater links to the traditional logic of journalism. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with selected members of the four news media outlets, the study aims at answering two key-questions. First: what forms of revenue are the media outlets analyzed aiming for in order to maintain their economic sustainability? How do the characteristics of media outlets influence the use of different forms of advertising, even as a function of the response of the online and platform environments they inhabit, albeit with different strategies? Second-and closely related-how is it preserved, the editorial autonomy of the media outlets analyzed? That is, how do these media outlets attempt to make their business both economically sustainable and not overly dependent on forms of monetization generated by the platforms?

Study of substituents-regulated dyeing properties in non-aqueous media systems based on MD simulation and DFT

To investigate the relationship between N-acetoxyethyl group and dyeing properties of disperse dyes in D5 non-aqueous medium dyeing system, the adsorption and diffusion behaviors of three disperse dyes with different structures were studied by molecular dynamics (MD). The diffusion coefficients, the planar distribution densities of dyes in different directions, and the intermolecular interaction energies were calculated. Molecular dynamics simulation (MD) was used to calculate molecules polarity index (MPI). Meanwhile, the practical dyeing experiments also were investigated to compare with simulated results. The results showed that the adsorption and diffusion behavior of disperse dyes with different structures were significantly different. Compared with dye B257, D-1 and D-2 are more easily adsorbed and diffused into the interior of the fiber because of the introduction of polar acetoxyethyl group. Moreover, the diffusion coefficient of D-2 in the fiber was relatively low, indicating that the combination between dye and polyester fiber was stable. XY plane distribution density and MPI revealed that the introduction of acetoxyethyl was beneficial to increase the adsorption amount of dye on the fiber, which was mainly related to the high binding energy between dye molecule and polyester fiber. The results of dyeing experiments showed that the decreased solubility of disperse dyes in the D5 medium was conducive to improving the dyeing rate of disperse dyes. This was consistent with the simulated interaction between dyes and D5. This study will provide a basis for further rapid and accurate development and selection of disperse dyes with high dyeing rate in non-aqueous medium systems.

Not All Protests are Created Equal to be News: Does Mobile Digital Connectivity Level the Playing Field in the Hybrid Media System?

This study investigates how digital connectivity may influence news coverage of protests globally. Scholars argue that the arrival of the digital age did not overthrow legacy media but built a hybrid media system where old and new media logics work together. Although some recent studies highlighted that mobile internet access enabled protestors to gain media attention internationally, evidence also suggests that regimes were increasingly capable of controlling media environments to shape news coverage of conflicts. It remains unclear if connectivity allows citizens to bypass limitations in free speech to increase protest visibility on a global scale. Leveraging the latest global coverage of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project data and data from other well-established projects, this study consolidated a dataset of 162 countries between 2018 and 2021 on connectivity, protests, and media attention. Multilevel negative binomial regressions results showed that new and old media logics both explained media attention on protests. Higher mobile ownership and broader network coverage in a country predicted more media attention, but not social media penetration. Larger and richer countries, and protests that were more violent and fatal also received more coverage. Nevertheless, the effects of connectivity were constrained by the level of freedom of expression in a country. Country-level interactions showed lower freedom of expression and significantly attenuated the effect of connectivity on media attention. This study demonstrated the dynamics in the hybrid media system. While connectivity enabled more protest information to flow, states could have found methods to curb it from getting viral, thus living with it at a manageable level.

Blue Light Controlled Supramolecular Soft Robotics of Phenylazothiazole Amphiphiles for Rapid Macroscopic Actuations.

Nature preprograms sophisticated processes in operating molecular machines at the nanoscale, amplifying the molecular motion across multiple length-scales, and controlling movements in living organisms. Supramolecular soft robotics serve as a new alternative to hard robotics, are able to transform and amplify collective motions of the supramolecularly assembled molecular machines in attaining macroscopic motions, upon photoirradiation. By taking advantage of oriented supramolecular macroscopic soft scaffold, here the first rapid macroscopic movements of supramolecular robotic materials driven by visible light are presented. Head-tail amphiphilic structure is designed with the phenylazothiazole motif as the photoswitching core. Unidirectionally aligned nanostructures of the amphiphilic phenylazothiazoles are controlled by non-invasive blue light irradiation and bends toward the light source, demonstrating a fast macroscopic actuation of supramolecular robotic systems (up to 17°s-1) in aqueous media. Through meticulous X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy analyzes, macroscopic actuation mechanism is illustrated in a tight relation to molecular geometric transformations upon photoisomerization. By elucidating the key macroscopic actuation parameters, this paves the way for the next generation design of supramolecular soft robotic systems with enhanced biomimetic actuating functions.

So problematic and so tied to the media: analyzing the misinformation concern in six European countries

PurposeThis paper addresses the social issue of misinformation in six European countries by investigating how intangible factors associated with the collective evaluation of political-institutional behaviors and judgments regarding media practices and uses of online communication channels are related to citizens’ concerns about misinformation.Design/methodology/approachBased on a quantitative approach (data analysis), the study relies on data from the Eurobarometer 98.2 (2023), the official public opinion survey of European institutions. The analysis encompasses six European countries representing the pluralist-polarized (Spain, Italy and Greece) and democratic-corporatist models (Germany, Denmark and Sweden). With a multiple linear regression model, the research explores how independent variables help explain citizens' concerns regarding misinformation in each country.FindingsThe paper emphasizes three main findings: (1) for citizens in five out of six countries, the main factor associated with an increased misinformation concern is the distrust of political information on social network sites. (2) for citizens, how they evaluate the performance of traditional media relates to misinformation concerns and (3) this holds for countries categorized in pluralist-polarized and democratic-corporatist media system models.Practical implicationsMedia managers and policymakers can leverage the insights from this research to address the social concern of misinformation.Originality/valueThis article adds value to existing misinformation studies by underscoring the significance of understanding how citizens’ assessments of political-institutional behaviors, journalism practices and the political use of online communication channels interconnect with the misinformation concern in both pluralist-polarized and democratic-corporatist models.

Look at this! Radical right-wing populist information sharing practices on Twitter in Portugal, Spain, and Brazil

Politicians communicate on social media not only by direct utterances, but also by where they choose to direct followers’ attention using strategic interaction, audiovisual content and outlinks, i.e. their information sharing practices. Political communication research has focused on the former, but the latter is a relevant way to foster advantageous informational environments and interact with media systems. This is especially important for radical right-wing populists, due to their reliance on social media and adjacency to disinformation. Portugal, Spain, and Brazil provide important research cases due to media system characteristics and the different positions within the political system of the relevant leaders, which generates different opportunity structures. This article approaches relevant radical right-wing populist leaders’ information sharing practices by analysing the non-textual content of tweets ( n = 6087), emphasizing how they reflect relations with local media systems.

Sentiment Analysis of Arabic Tweets: Detecting Revilement

Social media systems play an necessary function in shaping public opinion and reflecting societal sentiments. This study focuses on sentiment analysis in Arabic tweets with a particular focus on offensive or offensive content. The aim of this research is to boost a dependable sentiment evaluation model that can accurately classify Arabic tweets as positive or negative, with a particular focus on identifying offensive language. A multinomial Naive Bayes classifier is trained on pre-processed data to perform sentiment classification. The classifier is fine-tuned to differentiate between positive and negative emotions, with a particular focus on identifying offensive or swearing language. The model is evaluated the usage of a complete set of metrics along with precision, precision, recall, and F1score. Experimental consequences point out promising overall performance of the developed sentiment evaluation model. The model achieved an accuracy of 93%, effectively classifying Arabic tweets into effective and bad sentiments. The precision, recall, and F1-score metrics similarly validate the model's capacity to precisely become aware of revilement and offensive language. These outcomes spotlight the conceivable of the proposed strategy in successfully examining Arabic tweets for sentiment and offensive content, contributing to higher grasp on line behaviors and sentiments in the context of revilement.

Digital media ecosystem: a dimensional analysis according to the criteria of specialists

Digital marketing plays an important role in achieving organizations' strategies. This article aims to identify the elements and resources capable of configuring a digital media system that increases the effectiveness of commercial strategies. The present study was a non-experimental cross-sectional study. The empirical method used was data collection with an instrument structured by 5-option Likert scales. The survey was applied to 273 specialists. The statistical procedure used to measure the quality of the model was reliability analysis and factor analysis. The elements most recommended by experts in each digital channel were defined. It is concluded that a digital media ecosystem is formed by social networks, paid advertising, mobile marketing, organic positioning, social media, email marketing, and websites.

Alignment, negation, and androcentricity: representation of bride price by Chinese state media

ABSTRACT Bride price in China, the groom-to-bride monetary transfer, generally falls into realms of sociology and cultural studies, with the media perspective less explored, particularly when it concerns the state media which steers China's media system. In light of this, this study collected state media Weibo posts and made a content analysis of the representation of bride price with Wodak's discourse-historical approach. The social underpinnings and implications of such representation are also examined. Results reveal a general negation of the practice. It is linked to crimes and categorized as an outmoded custom that burdens men, and low/no bride price is advocated. These representations, although in alignment with Beijing's anti-high-bride-price agenda, remain androcentric. The study helps unravel the interplay among state power, gender ideology, and media representation in contemporary China, and offers insights on how patriarchy is perpetuated in official discourse. It also illuminates how government agendas are legitimized and strengthened in everyday texts on social media in the Chinese sociopolitical matrix.

Aggregation behavior, interaction forces and physico-chemical parameters of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride in aqueous solution of bovine serum albumin: Impacts of short-chain alcohols and temperature

To better understand the molecular interactions between cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and bovine serum albumin (BSA), we report the alteration of the physicochemical characteristics of CTAC in aqueous BSA solutions in the presence of different alcohols. The analyses were performed using the conductivity method at temperatures ranging from 298.15 to 323.15 K, with 5 K intervals. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of the BSA + CTAC systems were found to change with variations in alcohol types, solvent compositions, and temperatures. The CMC values grew with the rising of alcohol contents. The negative free energy changes (∆Gm0) indicated the spontaneous association of the systems in all solvents media. The magnitudes of ∆Hm0 and ∆Sm0, determined from the micellization of the systems, indicated the presence of electrostatic, ion-dipole, and hydrophobic forces. The thermodynamics of transfer (free energy (∆Gm,tr0), enthalpy (∆Hm,tr0), entropy (∆Sm,tr0)), and compensation parameters (∆Hm0,∗ and Tc)—were also calculated, which provided significant insights into the potential interactions between CTAC and BSA in the presence of various alcohol additives. Furthermore, molecular docking studies suggested the binding of CTAC to different BSA binding sites with varying affinities.

ФОРМАТ ТОК-ШОУ ЛАРРИ КИНГА НА РОССИЙСКОМ ТЕЛЕВИДЕНИИ: ПРЕЕМСТВЕННОСТЬ И ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЯ

The article deals with the talk show format transformation of American TV host Larry King on Russian television. The object of the study was the program collection «Larry King Live», «Television Encounter» by U. Ott, «Rush Hour» by V. Listyev and «Pozner» by V. Pozner. The following parameters for comparing the programs were chosen: the style of the presenter, the choice of the subject of communication and its strategy and tactics, the time of broadcasting, duration, periodicity of the programs, and the degree of audience participation in them. The level of programs personalization, studio design and the use of additional locations, camerawork, entertainment techniques, etc. were also taken into account. According to the authors, over the period since the late 1980s dialog talk shows have been significantly modified under the influence of the specifics of the Russian media system, the changing demands of the target audience, and the country’s ethnic and cultural peculiarities. The authors see the transformation of the dialogical talk show genre in the Russian mediaspace as follows: the expansion of the thematic palette and its linkage to the current socio-political agenda, the complication of the compositional structure of the programs and the discussion drama, the expansion of the range of strategies and tactics of communication between the host and the guest, the techniques of entertainment and emotionality, the strengthening of psychologism and the enrichment of camerawork techniques. The role of the talk show host is also changing – he is becoming an increasingly important participant in the discussion, actively intervening in the course of the conversation and expressing his personal opinion. At the same time, there is a tendency to reduce the role of the audience in the program.

“It’s not your fault!”: Aging and the dilemmas of literacy in a digital world

“It’s not your fault!”: Aging and the dilemmas of literacy in a digital world As the world becomes increasingly digitally focused, Kim Sawchuk, Director of engAGE: Centre for Research on Aging, Concordia University, examines what this shift means for older adults trying to navigate media literacy. In an increasingly digital world, media literacy has become a critical life skill. Yet, having the skills to engage in this world can be challenging. In a recent workshop on navigating digital ecosystems, older participants spoke eloquently of the joys, frustrations, and threats they encountered in their daily digital lives. They recounted the difficulties they face in acquiring and maintaining the knowledge and skills needed to access this digital world safely and securely in media systems that are changing at a rapid pace.

The Construction of a Hybrid Media Storm: A Belgian Case Study

ABSTRACT In today's hybrid media system, amplified news events rage not only in “older” media such as legacy media but also on “newer” digital platforms such as online alternative news media outlets and social media. However, the role of both legacy news media and digital platforms in constructing events has been little explored. This study examines a hybrid media storm surrounding a Belgian political scandal in 2021. Based on a quantitative content analysis of 1,436 print and online articles from six Flemish newspapers and the public broadcaster’s website, 204 articles from three right-leaning alternative media, and 801 tweets between 1 February and 31 October 2021, the study reveals that digital platforms allow actors with little or no voice in legacy news media to influence the narrative of events on those platforms by actively promoting specific frames. Right-leaning alternative media's coverage, although less pluralistic than legacy media, still offers a broader frame repertoire than Twitter where the framing is one-sided. The case study shows that right-leaning alternative media and Twitter do not necessarily broaden the range of views, but are often a crucial factor in the amplification of specific frames at the expense of others.

Hashtivism as media discourse: analysing pioneer environmental action in Public Service Media through transmedia formula

Various studies have analysed the news media’s participation in debates generated in the public digital sphere represented by social media, particularly X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Some of these debates have gained strength and become authentic movements linked to certain social struggles, such as feminism. Similarly, the so-called ‘environmental hashtivism’ or ‘eco-hashtivism’ is acquiring increasing importance in the context of this digital sphere. In view of this, the focus of this article is the distinctive area of public radio and television channels in Europe to examine the transmedia action #EKIN_klima, developed by the Basque public audiovisual corporation Euskal Irrati Telebista (EITB). The study of this pioneering initiative allows us to understand just how the eco-activism actions of the public news media can help to reposition it within the hybrid media system and contribute to the modernisation of its social function, along the lines of other actions, such as those carried out by the BBC against disinformation. In this way, it has been noted that the environmental issue is not only something to be included in the news media agenda, but also an opportunity for the public news media to legitimise its social and innovative character through transmedia branding actions.