Online Newspaper Articles Research Articles

Особенности употребления фразеологических единиц в онлайн-комментариях к англоязычным электронным газетным статьям

Особенности употребления фразеологических единиц в онлайн-комментариях к англоязычным электронным газетным статьям

Considering Ethnic Group Tensions: The Symptomatic Case of French Comedian Dieudonné

This article examines the 2014 case of French comedian Dieudonne and his purported incitement to hatred through his comedy act at the time, which hit national headlines and danced along the line of acceptable speech and making fun of the Holocaust. At the same time, Dieudonne’s comedy appealed to a faction of French society that felt relegated and ignored by the French elite, a sentiment that was furthered by a clash between one religious group that has legal protections in place to protect it from Holocaust denial, versus another group that does not have similar protections in place for Islamophobic acts. This case study demonstrates how Dieudonne tapped into these sensitive areas of cultural life by engaging the communicative genres of humour and satire to draw attention to and toy with making fun of the Holocaust, though his comedy act, Le Mur (The Wall), a silly song about the Holocaust, and an arm gesture called the ‘quenelle’. Using a textual thematic analysis of online newspaper articles collected at the time from Le Figaro and Le Monde, as well as transcripts from ten in-person, semi-structured interviews conducted in Paris with activists, journalists, politicians, a lawyer, and a comedian, what the findings point to is that while Dieudonne appealed to a disenfranchised audience as a ‘provocateur’, he also highlighted how key factions of French society are struggling with inclusivity and a lack of social cohesion in a political context where laicite, the separation of religious life and political life, is sacrosanct.

INTERACTIONAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF MALAYSIAN AND SOUTH KOREAN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON ONLINE LEARNING DURING COVID-19

Metadiscourse has been broadly studied in genres such as academic papers, textbooks, essay and speeches. In contrast, little attention has been given on the study of metadiscourse on online newspapers, and the research has been primarily unexplored. The objective of this study is to identify the interactional resources used by a Malaysian and a South Korean authors in their online newspaper articles. Interactional resources are commonly used in news writing as its elements focus on engaging and interacting with the readers. The instrument used to examine the interactional resources in the two articles retrieved from News Straits Time (Malaysia) and Hankyoreh (South Korea) is Hyland’s (2005) model of metadiscourse. Based on the findings of the study, the usage of the self-mentions’ element was absent in both articles. However, the usage of the other interactional resources such as hedges, boosters, engagement makers and attitude makers were fairly distributed throughout both articles. This is because the authors aimed to be informative on the situation of the topic; thus, they did not include their personal takes in the articles. This study also revealed that the South Korean author used more interactional resources compared to the Malaysian author. The results and findings of this study may contribute to the necessary knowledge for authors in exploring the usage of interactional resources in online newspapers. Article visualizations:

Electronic supplement analysis of multiple texts

AbstractThis paper adaptsO’Halloran’s (2010)electronic supplement analysis (ESA) to investigate debates about UK poverty in online newspaper articles and reader responses to those articles. While O’Halloran’s method was originally conceived to facilitate close reading, this paper modifies ESA for corpus-based discourse analysis by scaling it up to include multiple texts. I analyse (key-)keywords and concordances to compare seven articles from theMail Online(2010–2015) with their 2354 reader responses generated using the newspapers’ Below the Line (BTL) comments feature. The analysis provides a snapshot of the discourses BTL commenters draw upon when writing about UK poverty. Unemployment, benefits receipt, and single parenthood were repeatedly referred to in the newspaper articles and their comments, but BTL commenters also drew on personal narratives and (fictional) anecdotes to index notions of flawed consumerism, scroungers, and the deserving and undeserving poor.

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM AND RADICALISATION OF MUSLIMS IN MALAYSIA:

This study discusses the reasons behind the rise of religious extremism in Malaysia within the framework of international politics and the world order by highlighting the ties of Malay Muslims with the Mujahidin, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) over the last four decades. For that purpose, a qualitative analytical approach is used, referencing secondary sources such as academic journal articles and scholarly books. In understanding the situation, online newspaper articles were also considered as secondary sources to extract the data to understand the destructive situation in Malaysia, which has gradually become a fertile ground for the sowing of radical ideas. The paper highlights that since the 1970s, religious extremism and radicalism have intensified due to the Cold War politics, the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and, later, foreign invasions of Muslim nation-states, giving rise to many local religious extremist groups with their relations to international extremist groups. Analysis of the secondary sources reveals the existence of a radical understanding of Islam by a substantial portion of the population, thus suggesting that the authorities should pay attention to extremist influences on the moderate nature of social relations in multi-ethnic and multi-religious Malaysia. At the same time, the paper argues that this negative transformation cannot be explained by external factors alone, as the internal factors have played an important role in the radicalisation of Malay society. The paper concludes with several practical recommendations such as improvisation of religious education that emphasises on peaceful cohesion, and discontinuation of foreign intervention policies and overgeneralisations. These recommendations are to regulate the escalation of extremism and radical understanding of Islam in Malaysia, which considerably threatens national security and citizens’ wellbeing.
 
 Keywords: Al Qaeda, ISIS, Islamic radicalism in Malaysia, mujahidin, religious extremism.
 
 Cite as: Jaafar, M. I., & Akhmetova, E. (2020). Religious extremism and radicalisation of Muslims in Malaysia: The Malay ties with the Mujahidin, Al Qaeda and ISIS. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(1), 104-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss1pp104-123

Being Negative to be Popular: Style in Online Comments at the Mail Online

Language users may make stylistic choices to signal group membership (Rampton 2002). The use of an aggregate of common linguistic features that are distinct from those of other groups of language users can be a sign of shared values in a linguistic ‘community of practice’ (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 1992). New members of such a community display their knowledge of the group’s practices, and thus their desire to be accepted as members of the community, by mimicking the language of more established members. The purpose of this research is to uncover stylistic features of a relatively new genre of text, online newspaper comments. This research argues that comments posted by readers of online newspapers provide us with the opportunity to both identify some shared stylistic features of a community of practice and to see how other readers evaluate the use of those features by deciding whether or not to approve or disapprove of the comments made. The top-rated comments from Mail Online newspaper articles with more than one thousand comments were collected over a period of one week, leading to a dataset of 65 comments that were analysed qualitatively using discourse analytic tools. The high number of approving votes for these comments suggests that other readers approve of their content and stylistic delivery. Previous studies (Anderson et al. 2014; Blom et al. 2014; Reagle 2015; Santana 2011) have suggested that online comments tend to be negative, but have said little about how the comments are realised or why there is a tendency to be negative. Based on the results of this analysis I argue that, through the use of common language choices (similar grammatical structures, little or no epistemic modality, implicature), commentators aim to accrue upvotes to validate themselves as core members of the Mail Online commentator community of practice.

Understandings of Impoliteness in the Greek Context

Interest in non-academic ways of understanding of im/politeness has so far been evident primarily in analyses of the sequential development of real-life interactions. However, understandings of im/politeness can be found in other sources such as related articles in on-line newspapers and their ensuing comments. The main aim of this paper is to contribute to this rather neglected area in im/politeness research, thus placing emphasis on the underexplored societal rather than individual level of im/politeness. The data to be investigated comes from two on-line articles and the comments they received. The articles appeared in a popular Greek free press on-line newspaper, LIFO, in 2014 and 2017 and were written by the same journalist. Both articles and ensuing comments express lay understandings of impoliteness and are discussed in the paper in terms of van Dijk’s (1998, 2006a, b) ideological discourse analysis and ‘ideological square’ that revolves around positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation. In exploring understandings of impoliteness in this context, we identified two emerging social identities, those of ‘polite’ and ‘impolite citizen’, dynamically co-constructed as binary opposites by the journalist and posters involved. Despite the fact that on-line newspaper articles and their accompanying comments reflect stereotypical thinking, they also depict pervasive views and are worth exploring because they concern the societal level of im/politeness.

TEPS의 개정 배경과 기초연구

Since the first administration of the TEPS in 1999, there have been many important changes in the field of language teaching and assessment. The emergence of new information and communication technology has drastically changed the ways we communicate. This has made it necessary to re-conceptualize the construct of English language proficiency. To respond to such needs and to TEPS test takers’ feedback that had accumulated for more than 15 years, a series of research projects was undertaken to revise the TEPS during the years of 2016-2018. Major changes included a reduction in the number of items and testing time and the addition of new item types (e.g., testlets) and more authentic passage formats (e.g., e-mails, instant messages, online newspaper articles). This paper introduces the background to how the decision to revise the TEPS came to be made and describes the rationale behind the revision of the TEPS test blueprint and specification.

Constructing legitimation in Scottish newspapers: The case of the independence referendum

This study is concerned with the use of epistemic legitimising strategies in online newspaper articles dealing with the Scottish referendum. In this sense, we seek to explore cases of epistemic stance that indicate epistemological positioning and persuade readers of the veracity of propositions. Our study covers Scottish journal articles published online within 5 days prior to results day. In this article, we are interested in the way the Scottish newspapers deal with the topic of the independence referendum and the degree of commitment in journalists’ choice of linguistic strategies. We analysed the newspaper articles manually but corpus tools were also used in order to verify initial findings and for statistical purposes. The results of the use of epistemic stance devices in the different categories were contrasted and our conclusions showed the preferred legitimising strategies used by journalists in the Scottish newspapers.

On the Creation of Risk: Framing of Microplastics Risks in Science and Media

AbstractThe public is concerned about plastic pollution, while clear‐cut scientific evidence for an environmental risk of microplastics is absent. This contrast between incomplete scientific knowledge and public risk perception is an interesting case for investigating how “environmental risk” is transformed in science communication. This study examines how microplastics risks are framed in peer‐reviewed publications and online newspaper articles, respectively. It also analyzes if the contents conveyed by the frames used in science and the media are consistent. The results show that most scientific studies (67%) frame microplastics risks as hypothetical or uncertain, while 24% present them as established. In contrast, most media articles reporting on microplastic impacts (93%) imply that risks of microplastics exist and harmful consequences are highly probable. The creation of simple narratives (journalists) and the emphasis on potentially negative impacts (scientists) contribute to this inconsistency. The transformation of an uncertain risk into an actual risk is further caused by two inconsistent risk conceptions, namely risk being the probability of a negative outcome (environmental scientists) or being the uncertainty of a negative outcome itself (public). Although the latter differs from the risks identified “objectively” by scientific methods, it allows understanding the risk perception of the public and decision‐makers.

The media’s coverage of ‘Closing the Gap’ in Australian education

ABSTRACT Since 2007, ‘Closing the Gap’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people has been an ambition of Australian state and federal governments in areas including education, employment, and health. This paper examines media responses to government policies aimed at closing the achievement gap in schools. The paper analyses print and online newspaper articles in national and capital city/state-based newspapers that reported on the implementation and success of Closing the Gap policies in Australia’s schools. The paper argues that media narratives are often based on NAPLAN results, data sourced from the MySchool website, or newspaper-created metrics that support their own narrative. This paper highlights the narratives being purported to readers via the selective nature of newspaper data, and subsequently how these narratives attempt to influence the public discourse.

Young men's body dissatisfaction: A qualitative analysis of anonymous online accounts.

Associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, body dissatisfaction in young men requires close examination. This study explores online accounts relating to male body image, including young men's personal disclosures within one online newspaper article, and posts responding to this topic. Discursively informed thematic analysis indicated that non-disclosure was considered a problematic social expectation by the young men featured in the article. Also, reader posts variously constructed body dissatisfaction as a symptom of adolescence, a lack of self-care and an incapacity to capitalise on compensatory qualities. Our analysis suggests young men may welcome safe opportunities to critically discuss prevailing body image ideals.

Между цыганами и ромами: стереотипы и дискриминация в украинских интернет-СМИ

The purpose of this article is to define the features of discrimination against the Roma people in the Ukrainian online newspapers illustrated by the case of one news break –Loschynivka village (Odessa region, Ukraine) decided to forcibly evict Roma people from the village, before that there were destruction of the Roma homes by the local population. The necessity of such work was entailed by frequent use of hate speech and discrimination of the Roma community in Ukraine. This problem is particularly acute in the western region, home to most of the Roma. Special attention is paid to methods of media manipulation and their implementation. A sample of online newspaper articles, dedicated to this case, was made and titles were analyzed. We can say that rejection of the exonym of Gypsies in favor of ethnonym Roma is indicator of positive changes at the language level. Despite this, the Internet media depict the Roma primarily as representatives of the criminal world: thieves, killers, drug dealers. Generalization of negative features from representatives of the group leads to the criminalization of the entire nationality. Such news are of an evaluative character, journalists exploit the fears of people to become victims of a crime. Sometimes such suggestions occur through the use of selective opinions contained within Facebook leaders’ posts. Some representative feedback under the articles has been also analyzed. Consideration of the online newspapers in terms of hate speech and ethnic stereotypes functioning can be an effective way to formulate linguistic expertise criteria and implementation of language of tolerance.

Constructions of Decision Making for Risk-Reducing Mastectomy

This research article explores constructions of the decision-making process for risk-reducing mastectomy and considers the consequent role and responsibility of clinical psychologists. Using a Foucauldian discourse analysis approach, three online newspaper articles, five online forums, and four semi-structured interviews were analyzed. Seven discursive constructions are identified and discussed within three broader discourses of mental illness, risk, and embodied selves. Primary conclusions highlight the role for clinical psychologists and health professionals to incorporate the multiple social and political factors involved in discourses that shape decision making. The role of power is critically considered and there is a need for further analysis of "talk" among health professionals.

Understanding public opinion change of HPV vaccination controversy

Purpose Although Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the most commonly diagnosed sexually transmitted infection in the USA, much controversy exists with respect to HPV vaccination, especially among parents of adolescents. Previous research has shown that exemplars in the media influence public opinion estimates about controversial social issues. However, little is known about the underlying psychological processes of how exemplars influence public opinion formation. The purpose of this paper is to systematically explore such psychological processes based on the projection theory. To this end, the important yet controversial public health issue, the mandatory HPV vaccination, was chosen. Design/methodology/approach A two-factor (exemplar vs proportion), between-subject experiment was conducted using online newspaper articles as main stimuli. A total of 138 participants completed the study. The analytical framework comprised the Sobel test with the Bootstrap method and a series of Ordinary Least Square hierarchical regression analyses. Findings The higher the proportion of exemplars against the HPV vaccination in a news article was, the greater the number of individuals who became opposed to it was. And the high personal opposition translated into negative public opinion change estimation. Originality/value The findings indicate that news exemplars may influence individuals’ personal opinion formation, and, in turn, contribute to their estimations of future public opinion climate, as suggested by the projection theory. Theoretical, methodological and practical implications for journalists, health educators and policy makers are discussed.

Muslim Immigration, Critical Events, and the Seeds of Majority Members' Support for Radical Responses: An Interactionist Perspective.

This article uses an interactionist perspective to understand the role of media framings of critical events in catalyzing Western citizens' support for radical responses to Muslim immigration (e.g., armed self-defense). A multi-method series of three studies tested this perspective in the context of the 2015/2016 Cologne New Year's Eve sexual assaults on women. Study 1, a content analysis of 163 online newspaper articles, revealed that mass media attributed the assaults to the suspects' Muslim culture. Study 2, a correlational study ( N = 487) conducted at the peak of the media coverage, confirmed that the degree to which participants accepted the veracity of the culture-focused media representation strengthened the relation between their feelings of symbolic threat as a result of Muslim immigration and their approval of radical responses. Study 3, an experiment with pre-registered hypotheses ( N = 91), replicated and extended these interaction effects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

14. The Greek Crisis: The Internet as the Historians Tool

It has been rightly observed that it will take decades for historians to actually make sense of what happened in world history in 2011. Ultimately, the recentness of any event will determine when a process can be historically analyzed. Even more, there is a lot of discussion on the relationship between history and the Internet, and on histories 'impact' capacity, i.e. its ability to connect with the developments in the wider society. Historians, unlike other disciplines have not utilized the net to service historical study. This research examined the foreign response to the Greek Debt Crisis through looking at the net as a primary source of historical information; looking at the net as a tool in generating further historical information (similar to Oral History). This was achieved through analyzing blogs, online newspaper articles, embassy websites, online journals and other websites that the Internet had to offer. The findings of the research facilitated the creation of multiple timelines based on threats, projections, and a general history. In addition, the research also served as a methodological experiment. Fundamentally, the research concluded that the Internet could be used as a primary source as well as a supplementary source in dealing with a recent event. Moreover it pushed the boundaries of historical distance in historiography.

Public reaction to the UK government strategy on childhood obesity in England: A qualitative and quantitative summary of online reaction to media reports

This work aimed to summarise public real-time reaction to the publication of the UK government childhood obesity strategy by applying a novel research design method. We used a netnographic technique to carry out thematic analysis of user-generated comments to online newspaper articles related to the strategy. We examined likes/dislikes associated with comments as a proxy of agreement of the wider community with identified themes. To examine media influence on the comments we carried out thematic analysis of online media headlines published about the strategy, and compared these themes with themes identified from comments.Three newspaper articles and 1704 associated comments were included. Three parent themes were identified: paternalism/libertarianism, lobbyist influence and, anecdotal solutions. The comments were largely negative (94%). Commenters were split as to individual responsibilities and the role of the government, some felt that lobbyist influence had won out over the nation’s health and others offered non-evidence based solutions. The ten most liked and disliked comments reflected themes identified in our main analysis. There was parity between themes that emerged from comments and from headlines. This summary of public reaction to the obesity strategy publication may aid translation of public views and receptiveness into practice and inform subsequent government action and policy. Furthermore, the process applied herein may provide a means of informal public engagement.

User comments about research findings: How conflictual information in online science journalistic articles influences laypeople’s understanding of scientific tentativeness

AbstractThis study investigated whether conflictual information about novel medical findings in online newspaper articles affected laypeople’s perception of tentativeness, their attitude toward, and fear of, the medical procedure in question. For this purpose, we rated the user comments from all available online newspaper articles about Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). Multilevel regressions revealed that higher levels of conflictual information in the articles were associated with higher levels of expressed tentativeness and a more negative attitude toward DBS expressed in the user comments. No significant relationship with expressed fear of DBS was found. We conclude that journalistic preparation and style is directly associated with readers’ perception of tentativeness and opinion formation and discuss suggestions for journalistic presentation of scientific information.

The Availability of Information on Induced Lactation in Malaysia.

Induced lactation is a method of stimulating the production of breast milk in women who have not gone through the process of pregnancy. Recent advances in technology have given such women the opportunity to breastfeed adopted children. Previous studies conducted in Western countries have explored the breastfeeding of adopted children, as well as the experiences, successes and challenges of this process. However, research on procedures for breastfeeding adopted children is lacking in Malaysia. The authors have therefore reviewed literature related to induced lactation in Malaysia to fill this gap. Of the 30 related articles identified, 19 described the breastfeeding practices and experiences of adoptive mothers in Malaysia. Out of 19 articles, there were four journal articles, five circulars and regulations, two books, two post-graduate theses, four blogs posts and forum discussions, and two online newspaper articles. Medical information relating to induced lactation procedures was also reviewed, showing that there was a lack of scientific studies focusing on induced lactation practices among adoptive mothers. Information on religious, specifically Islamic, perspectives on breastfeeding and child adoption laws was gathered from websites, social networks, blogs, magazines and online news sources. In consideration of recent advancements in medical technology and the dire need among Malaysians, it is crucial that evidence-based, accurate and reliable information on induced lactation is made available to professionals and other individuals in this country.