Shaping Public Opinion Research Articles

Revisiting inter‐Korean events and South Koreans’ perception on unification

AbstractObjectiveThis study aims to examine how inter‐Korean events influence South Korean public opinion on unification. It seeks to understand the impact of various political events, including South‐North contacts and North Korean nuclear provocations, on South Koreans' attitudes towards unification.MethodsUsing annual survey data from the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University (IPUS), this study creates a novel time‐series dataset spanning from 2007 to 2021. We test how each of the inter‐Korean political events affects support for unification and how key individual dispositions moderate the level of support.ResultsThe empirical findings reveal that inter‐Korean summits and family reunions positively affect unification sentiment, with family reunions showing surprisingly stronger impacts than inter‐Korean summits. Regarding North Korea's provocations, nuclear tests negatively influence public support for unification, while ballistic missile launches do not significantly impact unification sentiment, likely due to public habituation.ConclusionThis study contributes to existing literature by providing new empirical insights into the relationship between inter‐Korean political events and public opinion. The findings suggest that policymakers should focus on strategic short‐term initiatives, particularly increasing inter‐Korean contacts, to foster long‐term positive sentiment towards unification. However, it's important to note that individual variables become more influential in shaping public opinion over the long term.

Intra-Executive Dynamics and Presidential Popularity in Semi-Presidential Regimes

In semi-presidential regimes presidents need to strike a balance between representing the nation and sharing power with prime ministers. The coexistence of the executives may pose challenges to the presidents, but it could also strengthen their public standing. Yet we lack information on how party-political shifts and clashes between the executives shape public opinion on presidents. Covering the period 2000–2020 and including presidents from the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Poland and Portugal, this article reveals that presidential popularity is influenced by the political weakness of the government, as both weak and strong presidents’ popularity ratings increased during minority governments, and by the constitutional strength of the presidency, as people seem to tolerate more confrontational involvement mostly from those presidents with stronger constitutional powers. The impact of cohabitation, in turn, appears to be more context-specific, sometimes benefitting the president’s public standing, while at other times harming it. The results thus suggest that being politically opposed to the government may boost the president’s political capital, but only under certain circumstances.

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.

Factors of the growing role of mass communication as a tool for shaping political consciousness in the modern world

The article is dedicated to the study of the factors contributing to the increasing influence of mass media on the formation of political consciousness in modern society. In the context of globalization and digitalization, mass media have become key instruments in shaping public opinion, political preferences, and mobilizing various forms of socio-political activity. The paper analyzes the key technological, sociocultural, political, and economic factors that directly or indirectly determine the influence of mass media on political processes and societal consciousness. Special attention is given to the role of algorithms in the selection and presentation of information, including the impact of external factors on content, as well as challenges related to the spread of disinformation and manipulative technologies. The article also explores the phenomenon of the mediatization of politics and the self-referential nature of mass media, which contribute to the formation of a specific public space and changes in political communication. The problems of global media influence, which tend to unify information flows and blur cultural and political differences between countries, are also analyzed. The conclusions emphasize the importance of ensuring transparency, independence, and diversity of mass media to support democratic processes, strengthen civil society, and prevent information manipulation in the modern world.

Understanding public opinion formation in Southeast Europe: Exploring social forces and communication dynamics

The article investigates the mechanisms through which social forces, networks, cognitive frames, and institutions shape public opinion in Southeast Europe via communication. Employing a qualitative approach, data was collected through synchronous focus groups conducted in six Southeast European countries. The findings reveal that social networks play a pivotal role in shaping public opinion, with organizational position and relationships influencing communication effectiveness. Cognitive frames significantly impact public perception, with entrenched beliefs guiding interpretation of information. Meanwhile, social institutions, such as language and communication rules, influence the clarity and accessibility of messages, thereby shaping public understanding. The research underscores the need for deeper research, ethical standards, and transparent communication to build and maintain public trust. Continuous engagement with the public and adaptability in communication strategies are essential for fostering mutual understanding and trust. This research emphasizes social forces’ complexity and overlapping nature in shaping public opinion and the strategic approaches required for effective communication in Southeast Europe.

Media talks Privacy: Unraveling a Decade of Privacy Discourse around the World

Our increasingly digital world has heightened concerns about privacy. Newspaper and media reporting influences and shapes public opinion, which impacts the strategic and operational decisions of a variety of stakeholders, making it crucial to understand how privacy-related issues are portrayed in the media. Leveraging time-series analysis, topic modeling, and sentiment analysis, this paper presents a comprehensive study on the coverage of privacy-related issues in newspapers from 2010 to 2022 across six regions of the world. Temporal trends in privacy coverage reveal a gradual increase in attention to privacy issues globally, with a notable surge observed in newspapers from the Global South, complementing the historically prominent Global North coverage. Topic modeling uncovers dominant themes in privacy reporting, revealing shifts in media focus from government surveillance to data breaches and tech corporations' role. Notably, the majority of privacy reporting carries a negative sentiment, emphasizing the widespread unease that pervades discussions surrounding privacy matters.

Nigerian Audience Views on Mainstream Media and Moulding of Public Opinion in the 21st Century

The mass media have been long known to shape and mould public opinion in every human society. However, with the influence of web 2.0 technologies that have affected mainstream journalism practice in the 21st century, this study investigated the extent to which mainstream media still mould public opinion in Nigeria. The paper was anchored on agenda-setting and media dependency theories as it investigated journalism’s ability to mould the views of people on issues of public concern. The survey research design was used where the multi-stage sampling technique was adopted and an online Australian Calculator was used to draw the sample size of 371, the questionnaire was deployed as the instrument for data collection. The results among other things revealed that, though social media and blogs’ usage have influenced mass media and public communication generally, mainstream journalism still moulds public opinion in Nigeria. This was revealed as respondents disclosed that in making decisions, they believe and use more information they obtained from mainstream media platforms than information they got from blogs and social media sites. Keywords: blogs, information, mainstream media, public opinion, public agenda, social media

Ritual, Media, and Alienation: Three Cases of Constructing the Image of a School Shooter in Russian Media in the Context of the Ritual of Chiral Initiation

Mass school shootings in Russia have become a symbol of deep social and cultural dysfunctions, reflecting a crisis of identity and youth alienation. The paper emphasizes the importance of exploring how the media constructs the image of a school shooter, influencing public perception and the perception of the perpetrators themselves. The media’s role in intensifying the alienation and marginalization of shooters through the ritualization and narrativization of acts of violence requires in-depth analysis. The aim of the study is to analyze the phenomenon of school shootings through the lens of the ritual of chiral initiation and to identify the sociocultural factors contributing to the construction of the shooter’s image. The analysis shows that media coverage of school shootings follows a ritualized script that reinforces the perception of the shooter as an alienated and dangerous individual, cementing his marginal status. The “Non-Return” stage in the chiral initiation ritual illustrates the shooter’s irreversible break from society and self-identity. The study underscores the need for a comprehensive analysis of the media and cultural factors shaping public opinion about school shooters. The target audience of this study includes scholars in sociology, cultural studies, and anthropology, as well as professionals involved in media studies and public safety.

Demarcation and Refugee Hate: Framing of Refugees in News and its Impact on Hate Speech in Public Comments

ABSTRACT This study analyses the interplay between media framing and hate speech in South Korean refugee-related news. As news about refugees within Korea has recently emerged in the Korean media, analyzing how news framing influences public discourse would serve as the starting point for understanding the media's role in shaping public opinions towards refugees. Using 3965 news articles and 314,769 comments on Afghan and Yemeni refugees, we employed the analysis of topic model network to identify frames. Deep neural networks detected hate comments, and Poisson regression assessed the impact of framing and its interaction with news scope on hate speech. For Afghan refugees, international news with a victim frame reduced hate comment, whereas domestically it increased them. Intruder framing generally decreased hate comments, particularly in domestic news. Similarly, for Yemeni refugees, international victim-framed news received fewer hate comments, while domestic news with the same frame increased hate comments. The intruder frame, which had no effect on domestic news, significantly increased hateful comments on international news. These results show how nuances of framing, along with news scope, affect the dynamics of hate speech in South Korea when refugees are portrayed as a domestic or as an international issue.

Analysis of communication media in emergency warning visuals; Indonesia Regional Election Bill: Theory and Understanding

This study examines the role of communication media, particularly in the dissemination of emergency content with a blue Garuda backdrop related to the Regional Election Bill (RUU Pilkada) in Indonesia. The primary focus of this research is to understand how communication, especially through social media, is utilized to mobilize users and generate public opinion communication. Using a qualitative approach, the study analyzes visual demonstration content spread through social media and applies theories of human communication and mediated communication to user perception and political engagement. The findings indicate that social media has become an extremely effective political communication tool, allowing information to spread rapidly and reach a broad audience. Emergency warning visuals shared on social media platforms are effective in capturing public attention, triggering mass mobilization, and stimulating political discussions across different segments of society. The study concludes that social media plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion and encouraging political participation concerning legislative issues such as the RUU Pilkada. The results highlight the importance of understanding communication from media communication perspectives for maintaining healthy and productive communication practices.

Sense or Sensibility? Netizens’ Choice of Social Media Comments in an Authoritarian Regime

Abstract While the Internet in China is subjected to heavy state regulations, Chinese netizens can still access online comments that deviate from official discourse on many issues. To prevent online discussions from getting out of hand, the Chinese government uses soft propaganda such as online comments to channel public opinions. Which type of online comments appeal to Chinese netizens? Using a survey experimental design, we examine the appeal of 4 distinct types of online comments on certain policies. We find that our survey respondents spend significantly more time in consuming emotional comments that deviate from official discourse. When it comes to the effect on attitude, however, we find that deviating-emotional comments are no more persuasive than deviating-informational comments. Our results call into question the effectiveness of China’s state propaganda in channeling online public opinions while highlighting the importance of alternative information in shaping public opinions in an authoritarian context.

Are pro-immigrant messages ineffective? Moralization as a rhetorical strategy for mainstream parties

Abstract This study contributes to understanding mainstream parties' room for maneuver in the immigration domain by exploring the impact of moralization as a rhetorical strategy. Research has found anti-immigrant messages to be more effective than pro-immigrant messages in shaping public opinion. However, a pre-registered survey experiment with Danish respondents reveals that moral rhetoric enhances policy support for pro-immigrant communication, rendering it as effective as anti-immigrant messages. Partisan-motivated reasoning influences reactions to all messages except the non-moral anti-immigrant message, suggesting that when appealing to out-party supporters, mainstream parties still meet least resistance with an exclusive platform.

The Image of the US Army in American movies: The Soft Power of American Cinema

The formation of the army's image has acquired newfound significance in our time. Paradoxically, alongside the spread of humanist ideology, the number of violent conflicts worldwide is increasing. These stimulates the need for propaganda aimed at shaping the image of the army and enhancing the attractiveness of service. As one of the world's largest military forces, the US army has engaged in a diverse array of conflicts with over 750 military bases in approximately 80 countries (Kohli 2020). A diverse range of tools is employed to shape the image of the US army, including media, recruitment campaigns, social media, public events, etc. Among these tools, movies have their specific role. While traditionally intended for entertainment, movies have been used for over a century as a means to shape public opinion. This article delves into the main attributes of the US Army as a social institution, analyzing its four fundamental characteristics: the Militia Tradition, Mobilization Miracles, Man-Mindedness, Maritime Influence, the weapon and the enemy as distinctive attributes. Additionally, it features the seven core values of the US Army: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. The article provides a detailed analysis of how various components of movie production tools communicate the attributes and core values of the US Army and contribute to shaping its image, examining a high-viewership movie “Interceptor” (2022). The goal of the study was to find out the image of the US Army that “Interceptor” projects and to identify the verbal and visual communicative means it uses for this purpose. The content analysis made it possible to distinguish verbal and visual elements of the movie, encompassing human voice, mise-en-scène, as well as film editing techniques, to identify and highlight the messages and ideas conveyed about the attributes of the US Army.

Transformation Of Political Participation In The Digital Age, The Role Of Social Media In Shaping Public Opinion And Mass Mobilization

In the digital era, social media has become a significant tool in redefining how society participates in the political process. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram enable individuals and groups to voice their opinions, organize movements, and influence public policy more directly and swiftly compared to traditional media. This study aims to examine the transformation of political participation in the digital age, focusing on the role of social media in shaping public opinion and mass mobilization. The research method used in this study is a literature review. The research finds that social media has the power to expand the reach of political participation, especially among younger generations and marginalized groups who were previously difficult to engage through traditional political channels. However, this study also highlights several challenges that arise, including the spread of misinformation, opinion polarization, and the risk of political manipulation through social media algorithms. In conclusion, social media has great potential to transform political participation, but it also requires a cautious approach in managing its negative impacts. Further research is needed to understand how policies can be adapted to this new reality to ensure more inclusive and healthy political participation in the digital age.

Komunikasi Politik: Definisi dan Konsep

In a modern era filled with information upheavals and complex political dynamics, a profound understanding of political communication becomes increasingly crucial. This article outlines a brief introduction to the significance of political communication in shaping public opinion and political decisions. Its aim is to delve into the fundamental concepts and implications of political communication in contemporary society. Descriptive qualitative methods are employed to explore and analyze relevant literature and research. The research findings indicate that political communication plays a central role in shaping the political dynamics of a nation, while a deep understanding of political concepts helps address complex challenges in the political process. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of conducting effective political communication and possessing a strong grasp of political concepts to strengthen democracy and build public trust in the future.

The role of education in shaping public opinion in Albania

Abstract Numerous research studies have associated the two variables - the educational level and public opinion creation. Various sociological and political studies interchangeably demonstrate how the creation of attitudes, affected by the function of the media and education, shapes public opinion on significant issues involving the lives of communities and individuals. Education promotes changing of attitudes and behavior, including the ability to accept new arguments and reflect on one’s own experiences. This process can be prompted by exposure of new arguments and the ability to critically reflect on the available piece of information. In the history of Albania, there has been limited civic engagement regarding numerous issues. In this sense, main objective of this manuscript is the analysis and the way how education has shaped public opinion in Albania.

ЛИНГВОПРАГМАТИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТ ИЗУЧЕНИЯ МЕДИАТЕКСТА

The study delves into the linguopragmatic aspects of media texts, emphasizing their significance in shaping public opinion and cultural norms. Media texts are dynamic communication forms that convey messages within specific media formats and genres, necessitating precise semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic accuracy. This article explores key approaches to the linguopragmatic analysis of media texts, identifying their unique characteristics and practical applications. The methods employed include linguistic analysis, discourse analysis, cognitive analysis, and psycholinguistic analysis, aimed at uncovering the interaction between language elements and social contexts. The findings highlight the importance of headlines, rhetorical devices, and interactive elements in engaging audiences and enhancing the pragmatic effect of media texts. The study also underscores the emotional and cognitive impact of media texts on audiences, influencing their perceptions and behaviors. Future research may focus on detailed analysis of specific media text types and their interaction with diverse social and cultural contexts.

Monuments in the City of Zagreb as a Reflection of Croatian Society in Space and Time

This paper presents a sociological analysis of the monumental heritage of the City of Zagreb. Monuments are understood and described as „carriers of symbols” through which the ruling elites in a certain time and space endeavor to shape public opinion. A special focus has been given to the analysis of the temporal and spatial dimensions of monument management. The spatial dimension refers to the characteristics of a particular monument and the broader context of the space, that is, the environment in which it was placed. The temporal dimension refers to the management of monumental heritage by the ruling elites, which change in the process of elite circulation. The process of elite circulation is accompanied with efforts for imposing a historical narrative, which is necessarily a selective process in which certain parts of the collective memory are forgotten and others highlighted. Finally, this paper offers a temporal, that is, historical, context of the installation and meaning of the monumental heritage in the City of Zagreb, both for the people of Zagreb and for the entire Croatian nation.

Relationship between Media Coverage and Public Opinion during Political Campaigns in South Africa

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between media coverage and public opinion during political campaigns in South Africa. Materials and Methods: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study indicated that media coverage significantly influences public opinion by shaping perceptions, framing issues, and highlighting particular aspects of candidates and policies. During political campaigns, the media serves as a primary source of information for the electorate, often determining the salience of issues and the prominence of candidates. Extensive and favorable media coverage can enhance a candidate's visibility and credibility, potentially swaying undecided voters and reinforcing the views of supporters. Conversely, negative coverage can damage a candidate's public image and diminish their support base. The framing of news stories, the selection of topics, and the tone of coverage play critical roles in this process. For instance, media emphasis on certain campaign issues can lead to a phenomenon known as agenda-setting, where the public perceives these issues as more important. Additionally, the portrayal of candidates through specific narratives can influence voter perceptions, contributing to the formation of public opinion. The interplay between media coverage and public opinion underscores the media's power in shaping political landscapes and affecting electoral outcomes. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Agenda-setting theory, framing theory and spiral of silence theory may be used to anchor future studies on assessing the relationship between media coverage and public opinion during political campaigns in South Africa. From a practical standpoint, political campaigns must adopt strategic media engagement to shape public opinion effectively. In terms of policy, there is a pressing need for regulations that promote accountability and transparency in media coverage during political campaigns.

Ethical Aspects of Content Creation

In the digital age, technology is integral to daily life, significantly impacting areas such as art, entertainment, healthcare and education. This paper explores the ethical aspects of digital content creation, focusing on the responsibilities of creators in shaping public opinion and behaviour. Key issues addressed include misinformation, digital harassment, privacy breaches, and the commercialisation of personal experiences. By reviewing existing literature and emphasising the importance of ethical digital practices, this study aims to contribute to a more responsible and ethical digital landscape. The main research question investigates whether ethical principles should guide digital content creation and dissemination.