Quality Of Public Information Research Articles

Enhancing public information quality during the Covid-19 pandemic: A cyber public relations strategy on local government initiatives

The Covid-19 pandemic has induced widespread fear, emphasizing the imperative for high-quality public information dissemination to alleviate societal anxiety. This research examined the Cyber Public Relations (Cyber PR) strategies implemented by the Communication and Informatics Office or Dinas Komunikasi dan Informatika (Diskominfo) of Jepara Regency in disseminating quality public information during the ongoing pandemic. Utilizing a qualitative case study methodology, the study focused on the efforts of Diskominfo Jepara to enhance public information quality, specifically related to Covid-19 data updates, health protocol campaigns, and the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Data collection involved in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation. The analysis employed the Cyber PR framework, assessing dimensions such as strategic, integrated, targeted, and measurable, alongside indicators like intrinsic, contextual, representational, and accessibility for scrutinizing public information quality. Findings revealed some key elements in Diskominfo Jepara's Cyber PR strategies, including the establishment of a comprehensive digital media center, active engagement with media outlets, collaborations with influencers, and the utilization of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). These strategies have been intricately developed based on situational analysis and predefined communication objectives. The research contributes significantly to the academic literature on Cyber PR in local government contexts, providing nuanced insights and enriching the reference landscape.

Disagreement about public information quality and informational price efficiency

Investors often hold differing opinions on public information quality. This paper shows that such investor disagreement provides a novel explanation for financial market dynamics around earnings announcements. We propose a rational expectations equilibrium model where investors disagree about the precision of a public signal, which separates a pre-news trading period from a post-news trading period. In equilibrium, investor disagreement about public signal precision diminishes informational price efficiency before the news, but enhances it afterward. Consequently, investor disagreement leads to a notable jump in informed trading around the news, a decline in abnormal trading volume before the news and a surge immediately after the news, and underreaction of stock price to announced earnings.

Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Epidemic Management from the Perspective of Managers: A Qualitative Study

Background: Coronavirus will not be the first and the last pandemic in the world. Problem-solving and crisis management methods are determined by the ways in which people, statesmen, and experts treat various fields. Objectives: The present qualitative study was conducted pursuing the goal to illustrate COVID-19 epidemic management learned lessons from the perspective of the managers of the educational and medical centers of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran, in 2022. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted based on a content analysis type in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and its subdivisions (hospitals and educational centers). The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and interview coding was performed manually by the researcher. To increase the study accuracy, the methods proposed by Lincoln and Goba (1998) were used with such criteria as validity, reliability, verifiability, and transferability. Results: In total, 15 managers (8 men and 7 women) in the age range of 32-70 years participated in this study and underwent deep and semi-structured interviews. Initially, 1079 semantic units and 85 subcategories were extracted. After reducing, removing, and integrating being conducted at various stages of data analysis, 3 themes and 12 categories were extracted. The present study themes are made up of "Management Challenges", "Personnel Challenges", and "Social Challenges". Conclusion: One of the factors for promoting quality in planning is benefiting from the prior learned experiences and lessons. Taking advantage of the consulting team, the intra-organizational and extra-organizational coordination, optimally benefitting from the human workforce, paving the ground for virtual training for health system staff, and elevating the quality of public information are critical in the effective management of COVID-19.

Persepsi Masyarakat Sekitar Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus Mandalika Terhadap Informasi Publik Pembangunan Sirkuit MotoGP

Mandalika Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on the island of Lombok was developed in 2014. One of its mega-projects is the construction of the International MotoGP Circuit, which has started to be used in November 2021. Ideally, residents around the SEZ will be the people who will benefit the most from the presence of this particular area. This goal can be reached if public information from the government regarding the project can be known and trusted by residents to increase their active participation in the future. This research was conducted in September 2020 to measure the perception of the quality of public information about the construction of the MotoGP circuit, which includes sources of information, the credibility of information, and readiness to participate in the development of the new economic and tourism center. The results showed that the primary sources of information for the community around the Mandalika SEZ area, namely four villages in the Pujut sub-district, were local community/religious leaders at 30%, social media (23%), mass media at 15%, local government 15%, and others (stories from neighbors, and 'do not know) as much as 13% and schools/campus (5%). On the information credibility, almost all respondents (82%) trust the information provided by the local government regarding the development of the Mandalika SEZ and the MotoGP circuit. Around 14% still feel doubtful, and 4% of respondents do not believe it. On the aspect of readiness to participate, half of the respondents expressed doubts (52%) that they could take a role and benefit from the presence and progress of the development of the Mandalika SEZ, especially the MotoGP circuit. As many as 18% said they were not sure. Meanwhile, those who feel confident are 22%, and 8% are very sure. The minimal role of the local government as a source of development public information has implications for the attitude of unpreparedness to participate by residents around the Mandalika SEZ.

The Quality of Public Information on Twitter: Yogyakarta And DKI Jakarta Regional Government Comparison

Twitter is considered one of the most appropriate media or platforms to realize transparency, participation, and accountability in governance. Social media adoption is also carried out by the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY). This study aimed to explain the quality of public information of the Yogyakarta Provincial Government and the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government through Twitter in 2019. The method used was descriptive qualitative by depicting a comparison of public information quality of both regional governments. The content analysis was processed with Nvivo application 12 Plus by collecting research data through Twitter accounts, online media, and literature reviews. The results showed that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government and the Yogyakarta Provincial Government actively used Twitter to convey information. The use of Twitter @humas_jogja by the Yogyakarta Provincial Government has fulfilled five public information quality variables: transparency (52%), participation (53%), trust (32%), human resource capacity (50%), and accountability (62%). Meanwhile, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government Twitter account had a transparency value (47%), participation (48%), trust (68%), human resource capacity (49%), and accountability (37%). Each provincial government had a relationship with these variables. Therefore, it could be seen that the public information on Twitter of the Yogyakarta Provincial Government and the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government had the quality. This article contributes to the government's evaluation of Twitter adoption and its relationship to the quality of public information provided to the public.

Against modernist illusions: why we need more democratic and constructivist alternatives to debunking conspiracy theories

ABSTRACT Various societal and academic actors argue that conspiracy theories should be debunked by insisting on the truthfulness of real “facts” provided by established epistemic institutions. But are academic scholars the appropriate actors to correct people’s beliefs and is that the right and most productive thing to do? Drawing on years of ethnographic research experiences in the Dutch conspiracy milieu, I explain in this paper why debunking conspiracy theories is not possible (can scholars actually know the real truth?), not professional (is taking sides in truth wars what we should do?), and not productive (providing more “correct” information won’t work as knowledge acceptance is not just a cognitive/epistemic issue). Instead of reinstalling the modernist legitimation narrative of science, I argue in this paper for an alternative that is both epistemologically stronger and sociologically more effective. Building from research and experiments with epistemic democracy in the field of science and technology studies, I propose to have “deliberative citizen knowledge platforms”, instead of elite experts groups alone, asses the quality of public information. Such societally representative bodies should enjoy more legitimacy and epistemic diversity to better deal with conspiracy theories and the broader societal conflicts over truth and knowledge they represent.

The Crisis of Expertise

A careerist expert advises a sequence of principals on their actions to match a hidden, randomly evolving state. The expert privately knows her competence. The principals learn about the state and the expert’s competence from past advice and past action outcomes, both publicly observable. I find that the equilibrium can feature a “crisis of expertise,” in which principals dismiss a competent expert’s correct advice, and rely only on public information. Notably, the crisis happens precisely when the quality of public information is low, and thus when expert knowledge is much needed. I discuss policy implications for alleviating the crisis.

Disagreement about Public Information Quality and Informational Price Efficiency

Disagreement about Public Information Quality and Informational Price Efficiency

Telemedicine in Germany During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multi-Professional National Survey.

BackgroundIn an effort to contain the effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, health care systems worldwide implemented telemedical solutions to overcome staffing, technical, and infrastructural limitations. In Germany, a multitude of telemedical systems are already being used, while new approaches are rapidly being developed in response to the crisis. However, the extent of the current implementation within different health care settings, the user’s acceptance and perception, as well as the hindering technical and regulatory obstacles remain unclear.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to assess the current status quo of the availability and routine use of telemedical solutions, user acceptance, and the subjectively perceived burdens on telemedical approaches. Furthermore, we seek to assess the perception of public information quality among professional groups and their preferred communication channels.MethodsA national online survey was conducted on 14 consecutive days in March and April 2020, and distributed to doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals in the German language.ResultsA total of 2827 medical professionals participated in the study. Doctors accounted for 65.6% (n=1855) of the professionals, 29.5% (n=833) were nursing staff, and 4.9% (n=139) were identified as others such as therapeutic staff. A majority of participants rated the significance of telemedicine within the crisis as high (1065/2730, 39%) or neutral (n=720, 26.4%); however, there were significant differences between doctors and nurses (P=.01) as well as between the stationary sector compared to the ambulatory sector (P<.001). Telemedicine was already in routine use for 19.6% (532/2711) of German health care providers and in partial use for 40.2% (n=1090). Participants working in private practices (239/594, 40.2%) or private clinics (23/59, 39.0%) experienced less regulatory or technical obstacles compared to university hospitals (586/1190, 49.2%). A majority of doctors rated the public information quality on COVID-19 as good (942/1855, 50.8%) or very good (213/1855, 11.5%); nurses rated the quality of public information significantly lower (P<.001). Participant’s age negatively correlated with the perception of telemedicine’s significance (ρ=–0.23; P<.001).ConclusionsTelemedicine has a broad acceptance among German medical professionals. However, to establish telemedical structures within routine care, technical and regulatory burdens must be overcome.

The Media’s Representation of the Content of the Inaugural Speeches and State of the Nation by João Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola

Analyzing the political speeches, this article examines the media’s representation of the content of the inaugural and state speeches of the Nation by João Lourenço President of the Republic of Angola. The purpose of this article is to identify how João Lourenço’s speeches were represented by the media and which are the main themes of the speeches that were published in the news by the Jornal de Angola and the Jornal O País. This article was produced based on the qualitative method, the discourse analysis was done with the help of the discourse analysis technique that gave an understanding of the language and the social significance which constitute the political-social action given in João Lourenço’s political speeches. The pieces were collected through clippings and followed the prerequisites of the foundation of diversity of news as per the different threads which lead the interdiscourse, which helped to understand the communication trends in the selected corpus. The analysis shows that the most discussed topics in the Jornal de Angola and the Jornal o País, are related to Political-Ideological values, Social Challenges, Economic Challenges and Progress, ignoring in some cases key themes that João Lourenço’s government proposed to correct, such as combating corruption, impunity and nepotism. The decomposition of the speeches showed that the concerns that the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, presents, fall under the promotion of the Social State, the strengthening of the connection between the powers, the improvement of the quality of public information, the impetus to private enterprise and to the economy, the production of electricity and running water, inclusive and participatory governance, the promotion of freedom of the press, the control of illegal acts, the consolidation of democracy, the modernization of the Armed Forces, the enhancement of foreign ones, the implementation of local government combating corruption and impunity.

The effect of exogenous information on voluntary disclosure and market quality

We analyze a model in which information may be voluntarily disclosed by a firm and/or by a third party, e.g., financial analysts. Due to its strategic nature, corporate voluntary disclosure is qualitatively different from third-party disclosure. Greater analyst coverage crowds out (crowds in) corporate voluntary disclosure when analysts mostly discover information that is available (unavailable) to the firm. Nevertheless, greater analyst coverage always improves the overall quality of public information. We base this claim on two market quality measures: price efficiency, which is statistical in nature, and liquidity, which is derived in a trading stage that follows the disclosure stage.

Public information, education and welfare

We study investments in education made by a continuum of individuals under imperfect information on returns. In the model, the wage accruing to single units of human capital is bargained in the labour market. In addition, this wage depends positively on a stochastic fundamental and, negatively, on the aggregate supply of human capital. At the time of investment, any agent observes a public and a private signal of the fundamental. We show that an increase in the precision of the public signal has an ambiguous impact on the expected social welfare. On the one hand, social welfare improves as schooling decisions become closer to those decisions that would be made under perfect information. On the other hand, social welfare deteriorates as externalities and coordination failures become more severe. The key result of our analysis is that an increase in the quality of public information turns out to be welfare improving, unless the distortions on the labour market are particularly strong.

Derecho de acceso a la información entre la Constitución y la realidad

Este artículo explora la brecha entre la enunciación constitucional del derecho de acceso a la información pública y el ejercicio efectivo del mismo a través de los portales de transparencia de las autoridades mexicanas. Busca evidenciar la necesidad de transitar de los portales de transparencia para sólo cumplir con las leyes (de jure) a herramientas de una política de transparencia proactiva que permitan la interacción entre la autoridad y las personas para el cabal ejercicio de sus derechos (de facto). Para ello se pregunta cuál es el objetivo de un portal de transparencia y qué características debiera tener la información en él presentada. Al efecto se hace una revisión de la literatura respecto de la calidad de la información pública en portales de transparencia, se analiza la situación de México para reflexionar sobre las áreas de oportunidad que potencien el uso de los portales de acceso a la información, la libertad de expresión y su ejercicio efectivo.

The Effect of Exogenous Information on Voluntary Disclosure and Market Quality

We analyze a model in which information may be voluntarily disclosed by a firm and/or by a third party, e.g., financial analysts. Due to its strategic nature, corporate voluntary disclosure is qualitatively different from third-party disclosure. Greater analyst coverage crowds out (crowds in) corporate voluntary disclosure when analysts mostly discover information that is available (unavailable) to the firm. Nevertheless, greater analyst coverage always improves the overall quality of public information. We base this claim on two market quality measures: price efficiency, which is statistical in nature, and liquidity, which is derived in a trading stage that follows the disclosure stage.

Quality of prostate cancer screening information on the websites of nationally recognized cancer centers and health organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to survey the accessibility and quality of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening information from National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center and public health organization Web sites. Methods and materialsWe surveyed the December 1, 2016, version of all 63 NCI-designated cancer center public Web sites and 5 major online clearinghouses from allied public/private organizations (cancer.gov, cancer.org, PCF.org, USPSTF.org, and CDC.gov). Web sites were analyzed according to a 50-item list of validated health care information quality measures. Web sites were graded by 2 blinded reviewers. Interrater agreement was confirmed by Cohen kappa coefficient. ResultsNinety percent of Web sites addressed PSA screening. Cancer center sites covered 45% of topics surveyed, whereas organization Web sites addressed 70%. All organizational Web pages addressed the possibility of false-positive screening results; 41% of cancer center Web pages did not. Forty percent of cancer center Web pages also did not discuss next steps if a PSA test was positive. Only 6% of cancer center Web pages were rated by our reviewers as "superior" (eg, addressing >75% of the surveyed topics) versus 20% of organizational Web pages. Interrater agreement between our reviewers was high (kappa coefficient = 0.602). ConclusionNCI-designated cancer center Web sites publish lower quality public information about PSA screening than sites run by major allied organizations. Nonetheless, information and communication deficiencies were observed across all surveyed sites. In an age of increasing patient consumerism, prospective prostate cancer patients would benefit from improved online PSA screening information from provider and advocacy organizations. Validated cancer patient Web educational standards remain an important, understudied priority.

Information Induced Liquidity Crises

In a general equilibrium economy with uninsurable aggregate liquidity shocks, we show that public information may trigger allocative inefficiency and liquidity crises. Entrepreneurs do not internalize the negative impact of their investment decisions on the equilibrium risk of liquidity shortage. A more informative public signal decreases the risk of a liquidity shock, but increases the risk of capital rationing conditional on a liquidity shock. In equilibrium, information quality has a non-monotonic effect on expected returns on investment and social welfare. An increase in the quality of public information has redistributive effects on welfare as entrepreneurs gain and financiers lose. Investment restrictions and targeted disclosure of information achieve constrained efficiency as competitive market equilibrium.

Quality of Information Addressing Prostate Specific Antigen Screening on NCI Cancer Center and Public Health Organization Websites

To survey accessibility and quality of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening information from National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center and public health organization websites. We surveyed the December 1, 2016 version of all 63 NCI-designated cancer center public websites and 5 major online clearinghouses from allied public/private organizations (Cancer.gov, Cancer.org, PCF.org, USPSTF.org, and CDC.gov). Websites were analyzed according to a 50-item list of validated healthcare information quality measures. Websites were graded by two blinded reviewers. Inter-rater agreement was confirmed by Cohen’s kappa coefficient. Ninety percent of websites addressed PSA screening. Cancer center sites covered 45% of topics surveyed, while organization websites addressed 70%. All organizational webpages addressed the possibility of false positive screening results; 41% of cancer center webpages did not. Forty percent of cancer center webpages also did not discuss next steps if a PSA test was positive. Only 6% of cancer center webpages were rated by our reviewers as “superior” (e.g. addressing > 75% of the surveyed topics), versus 20% of organizational webpages. Inter-rater agreement between our reviewers was high (kappa coefficient = 0.602). NCI-designated cancer center websites publish lower quality public information about PSA screening than sites run by major allied organizations. Nonetheless, information and communication deficiencies were observed across all surveyed sites. In an age of increasing patient consumerism, prospective prostate cancer patients would benefit from improved online PSA screening information from provider and advocacy organizations. Validated cancer patient web educational standards remain an important, understudied priority.

Financial innovation and risk: the role of information

Financial innovation has increased diversification opportunities and lowered investment costs, but has not reduced the relative cost of active (informed) investment strategies relative to passive (less informed) strategies. What are the consequences? I study an economy with linear production technologies, some more risky than others. Investors can use low quality public information or collect high quality, but costly, private information. Information helps to avoid excessively risky investments. Financial innovation decreases incentives to collect private information and deteriorates the quality of public information, so that the economy invests more often in excessively risky technologies. This changes the business cycle properties and can reduce welfare by increasing the likelihood of “liquidation crises”.

Information Environment and the Geography of Firms and Investors

We develop a model linking stock ownership and returns to the distribution of private information and quality of public information. Supporting the model, we find that the firm’s information environment affects investors’ propensity to hold and trade its stocks, but its effects hinge on investors’ access to private information. Nearby investors with potential access decrease their holdings when private information becomes more dispersed and public information quality improves, whereas distant investors display opposite patterns. Tests exploiting exogenous shocks to firms’ information environments indicate these relations are causal. Moreover, firms’ information environments and proximity to potential investors jointly explain stock returns.

Superman in the Dark: Trading Behavior of the Chinese National Social Security Fund

In this paper we analyze the trading behavior of the China National Social Security Fund (CNSSF). We show that the CNSSF adopts a rebalancing strategy that maintains both portfolio liquidity and growth opportunities. Further, we find direct and indirect evidence that the CNSSF provides liquidity for distressed mutual funds. This liquidity provision can be primarily explained by public information quality. Most notably, CNSSF can profit by assisting distressed mutual funds, especially if such liquidity provision relates to private information.