Shaping Public Discourse Research Articles

Monstering Strasbourg Over Prisoner Voting Rights

From being subject to almost no political or legal debate in the UK for decades prisoner voting has, since the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in Hirst v. United Kingdom, become an issue which defines the UK’s relationship with the Council of Europe and which symbolises the prevailing state of public discourse on criminal justice, democracy and human rights. This contribution evaluates the media’s role in pushing prisoner voting into this spotlight. As many commentators have identified, prisoner voting engages newspaper campaigns in support of tougher sanctions within the criminal justice system and against the Human Rights Act and the UK’s commitments, more generally, under the European Convention on Human Rights. This contribution, however, cautions against attributing special significance to these campaigns in isolation. Only when the stance of particular newspapers is considered in the context of the activities of non-governmental organisations, the manoeuvring of political parties, the voice of activist groups on digital media and the position adopted by broadcasters, can their role in shaping public discourse over prisoner voting rights be appreciated. Analysed as a whole, the interactions between UK media, politicians and think-tanks on this issue explain how the rather innocuous Strasbourg judgment in Hirst came to be transformed into a monstrous example of judicial overreach. In a media environment in which such accounts go unchallenged the space for reasoned policy making on human rights issues all but disappears.

RELIGION IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC: A SECOND TOM PAINE EFFECT

Tom Paine, it turns out, may have done almost as much to shape public discourse in the early national period of the United States as he did in moving aggrieved colonists to take up arms against King George III in the Revolutionary period. As historians have documented time and again, the arguments in Paine's Common Sense (1776), especially “On Monarchy and Hereditary Succession,” worked as an elixir to transform mixed opinions about dealing with Parliamentary overreach into an unalloyed determination to throw off the king. The four books reviewed here point to the same sort of conclusion about the importance of Paine's The Age of Reason, published in two parts in 1794 and 1795 and then reprinted almost as often over the next few years as Common Sense had been at the outset of the War of Independence. With the latter work, however, Paine accomplished more through the opposition he generated than by the readers he convinced. Although a few doughty Loyalists had ventured to take on Common Sense, that opposition was as nothing compared to the groundswell of denunciation that arose in the 1790s to defuse what Americans of many stripes considered Paine's incendiary provocations. Thoroughly researched and persuasively argued monographs from Eric Schlereth, Jonathan Den Hartog, and Sam Haselby provide, in effect, an account of why The Age of Reason caused such a stir, how those who regarded its arguments as threatening damnation for individuals and poison for the republic mobilized for their own counterpurposes, and then what resulted from the ambiguous success that this mobilization achieved.

Crowded Advocacy: Framing Dynamic in the Fracking Controversy in New York

In the hydrofracturing controversy in New York advocates hotly contested notions of the problem, what should be done, by whom, and how. This controversy can be characterized as “crowded advocacy,” involving intense mobilization and counter-mobilization of advocates with competing perspectives. Extant theories about the expansion of advocacy organizations are unclear about how advocates’ interactions shape the policy arena, particularly when there is competition within and across multiple coalitions. This article contributes by asking: How do advocates’ interactive framing dynamics shape public discourse when advocacy is crowded? It assumes that advocacy in general, and framing in particular, evolves as advocates respond to each other. I find that competing “discourse coalitions” collectively influence public discourse by articulating divergent notions of (1) what constitutes credible knowledge, (2) who can speak with authority on the issues, and (3) what institutional arrangements should be activated to manage risks. The consequence is that advocates have to react to others' framing on these issues—to defend their knowledge, their credibility, and specific institutions, rather than arguing their case on the merits. The implication is that advocacy is not only the means of influence (strategy) but also creates the context of advocacy in particular ways in a crowded field.

Defogging Climate Change Communication: How Cognitive Research Can Promote Effective Climate Communication.

It is a truism, but unfortunately not true: policy-relevant climate information should be communicated such that non-scientists can understand. Through their assessment reports, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) periodically assesses global climate research, and creates “Summaries for Policymakers” (SPM) which constitute a synopsis of the most policy-relevant findings. The SPMs' main principles include being “audience-appropriate” and “policy-relevant but not policy-prescriptive” (IPCC, 1998). To do justice to these principles, the communicated climate science must deliver an optimal basis for decision-making by non-scientists. However, SPMs are written in a highly scientific style. In a recent linguistic analysis, SPMs' readability proved to be extremely low, scoring even below scientific publications (Barkemeyer et al., 2015). There is, however, reason to believe that more effective climate communication is possible. Recent research has shown that despite a long-held skepticism (e.g., Sterman, 2008), accessible presentation formats can increase understanding of the dynamically complex determinants of climate change (Fischer et al., 2015). Importantly, the communication of highly scientific topics such as climate change or health is generally either intended to promote predefined behavior change in the recipient (e.g., anti- smoking-campaigns; messages that aim at the reduction of red meat consumption), or may induce premature closure around specific strategies by unintentionally shaping public discourse and opinion (Amelung and Funke, 2015). Because SPMs should not be policy-prescriptive, however, they should enable informed decision-making without promoting specific response strategies or unintentionally and prematurely narrowing down public debates. This article therefore is concerned with how to improve understanding—the accuracy of the recipient's reasoning—to allow for informed decision-making. A central aspect of improved communication is to reduce the amount of detail covered in the SPMs to a cognitively manageable degree, and to ensure that key information is conveyed. We selectively review cognitive process theories and findings derived from the area of health communication meant as starting points for empirical research toward more effective climate communication.

Figurative Framing: Shaping Public Discourse Through Metaphor, Hyperbole, and Irony

Framing is an important concept in communication, yet many framing studies set out to develop frames relevant to only one issue. We expand framing theory by introducing figurative framing. We posit that figurative language types like metaphor, hyperbole and irony are important in shaping public discourse, because these figures contain important linguistic and conceptual content about the issue under discussion. We first explicate the role of each individual figure (metaphor, hyperbole, and irony) in the framing of important societal issues. Then, we focus on complex figurative frames (combinations of metaphor, hyperbole, and/or irony). The article concludes with a research agenda, connecting figurative framing to the four key processes in framing research (frame building, frame setting, individual-level effects, and feedback loop).

The model minority stereotype in Arizona’s anti-immigrant climate: SB 1070 and discordant reactions from Asian Indian migrant organizations

This research explores the discordant reactions of local Asian Indian migrant organizations to the passage of Arizona Senate Bill 1070. The objective is to illustrate how migrants from India to Arizona negotiate their identities in the context of this anti-immigrant climate. The research draws insight largely from local records and publications of Asian Indian migrant organizations, including monthly newsletters, board meeting minutes, and other materials found on organizational websites. The analysis chronicles how various Asian Indian migrant organizations shape public discourse about migrant identity, belonging, and citizenship through their reactions to Arizona Senate Bill 1070. The place-based approach provides a way to re-think traditional migration theories and explore the role of racialization in better understanding the consequences of migration from India to the U.S.

Challenger Networks of Food Policy on the Internet

In times of genetically modified food, globalized production and distribution chains, food safety is a major issue in public policy. Although industrial actors have traditionally had remarkable influence on political decision-making in this area, challenger organizations from civil society have gained influence by mobilizing support and shaping public discourse on the Internet. The authors' study analyzes online issue networks concerning food safety in order to assess the actor constellations and coalitions that may serve as an opportunity structure for the mobilization of the issue. By comparing the US, the UK, Germany, and Switzerland, the authors investigate the differences in policy settings between pluralist and corporatist democracies. They find that the mobilization structures related to food safety issues are actively promoted by the challengers themselves. In countries where challengers do not find support within national politics, the challengers' online communication refers to mass media as witnesses to legitimize their concern in public debates.

Reprivatized Womanhood: Changes in Mainstream Media's Framing of Urban Women's Issues in China, 1995–2012

After waves of women's liberation movements, the reform era has witnessed a puzzling stagnation, if not decline, in women's status in China. Among the existing literature on the changing public gender discourse in postsocialist China, few studies have substantially engaged with feminist critiques of the “separate spheres” as an analytical framework. In this study the authors performed content analyses on 202 articles drawn from 3 Chinese mainstream magazines between 1995 and 2012 to describe changes in media's framing of urban women's issues. Over time, topics on marriage and private relationships became increasingly predominant, while concerns over gender discrimination diminished in the mainstream media. The results provide evidence for a revitalization of traditional gender values attributing women to “private” spheres and reveal the media's repeated use of individualistic approaches to structural problems, suggesting an alliance between patriarchal and neoliberal ideologies in shaping public gender discourse while concealing structural inequalities in urban China.

Stirring the Hornet’s Nest: a Study of Student’s Awareness, Perception and Tolerance of Homosexuality in a Ghanaian University

Abstract Homosexuality has been and continues to be a contentious subject in many quarters across many disciplines. It has generated many debates around political, religious, socio-cultural as well as medical domains. This study sought to contribute to debates on the issue by examining the views of students in a Ghanaian public University. The main objectives of the study were to ascertain student’s level of awareness of homosexuality, analyze their perceptions and gauge their degree of tolerance of the practice. An exploratory design was employed for the study. A sample of 200 undergraduate students of the University for Development studies were selected with a multistage sample procedure. Data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The main findings of the study were that the levels of awareness among students were very high, their perceptions largely negative; so was their level of tolerance. Generally students found the practice abominable, illegal and intolerable. The study concluded that students’ perceptions go a long way in shaping public discourse and influence the general attitude of the larger population toward homosexuality. As such, great care should be taken to ensure that homophobic tendencies do not result into a national security crisis. Key recommendations are that state authorities must ensure that the law criminalizing homosexuality must be clearly articulated. Also, a national dialogue should be embarked upon with the view to taking a common, humane and culturally acceptable position on the practice of homosexuality, mindful of cultural, religious as well as human rights considerations. Key Words : Homosexuality, Students, Awareness, Perception, Tolerance, Culture, University

The Return of ‘Englishness’ inBritish Political Culture – The End of the Unions?

AbstractThis article approaches the interpretation of elite and popular attitudes towards theUnitedKingdom's membership of theEuropeanUnion through analysis of some of the rival perspectives on the national identity of theEnglish that have become increasingly salient during the last two decades. It highlights their role as sources of some of the most influential ideas about nationhood, governance and state now shaping public discourse on theUK's membership of theEU. These include radical‐democratic, restorationist andAnglo‐British forms of patriotic discourse, which have prompted and responded to the growing prevalence of England as ‘an imagined community’ – a trend which has rendered other circles of attachment to theUKand Europe more tenuous and distant. A central conclusion of the article is that these emerging perspectives have spawned webs of belief that connect new and old ideas of nationhood to the political judgements that different actors are making about theEU.

Voices in the crisis: The role of media elites in interpreting Ireland’s banking collapse

This article focuses on the experts chosen as sources in radio news coverage at the start of Ireland’s financial crisis in 2008. The study examines which source categories were afforded opportunities to discuss this major international news story at the start of the European financial crisis. Access to these news programmes allows guests to shape public discourse, while the range of voices influences the character of wider policy debate. We find an elite-orientated coverage with official sources having strongest access in the 3-month period after the announcement of the controversial bank guarantee. While there was a marked business elite focus in sources selected, we also find strong evidence of ‘interpretative journalism’ in the presence of reporters as programme guests. There was a very clear gender bias. The results raise important issues about the nature of democratic debate in a mediated political environment as the selection of a narrow range of voices limits alternative perspectives in public debate.

A Living Wage -- Not a Minimum Wage

A Living Wage -- Not a Minimum Wage

MP63-02 MEDIA COVERAGE ANALYSIS OF THE UPDATED USPSTF AND AUA PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING GUIDELINES

You have accessJournal of UrologyProstate Cancer: Detection & Screening III1 Apr 2014MP63-02 MEDIA COVERAGE ANALYSIS OF THE UPDATED USPSTF AND AUA PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING GUIDELINES Kevin Koo and Ronald Yap Kevin KooKevin Koo More articles by this author and Ronald YapRonald Yap More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2014.02.1939AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Recent changes to prostate cancer screening guidelines by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the American Urological Association (AUA) gained national media attention. This study investigates coverage of 3 news events: preliminary USPSTF guidelines (October, 2011); final USPSTF guidelines (May, 2012); and updated AUA guidelines (May, 2013). METHODS The LexisNexis and ProQuest newspaper databases were queried for English-language articles containing the words "prostate" and "PSA" published in U.S. newspapers within 30 days of each news event. Opinion pieces, duplicated entries, and articles not primarily about the guidelines were excluded. A content analysis was performed by coding articles using a standardized abstraction instrument for the following themes: consequences of screening; specific studies or evidence; accuracy of guideline description; costs; financial impact; and references to current AUA guidelines. Headline bias and the types of quoted sources were assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata. RESULTS Of 92 unique articles retrieved, 45 met inclusion criteria. 24 articles were about the 2011 USPSTF preliminary guidelines, 17 about the 2012 final guidelines, and 4 about the 2013 AUA guidelines. Mean number of sources per article was 3.6 (SD=1.8). The most frequently interviewed sources were physicians (89% of articles), followed by USPSTF members (49%), non-profit leaders (47%), and patients or patient advocates (31%). 36 articles (76%) quoted at least one urologist. Over 80% of articles discussed potential adverse consequences of screening, but fewer than half accurately summarized the new guidelines or the scientific evidence behind them. Significantly more articles in 2012 versus 2011 mentioned test-related costs, cited urologists' financial gains from screening, or had headlines opposing testing (p<0.05). Of articles that cited the AUA's initial opposition to USPSTF recommendations, only 29% described AUA guidelines in any form. CONCLUSIONS Both USPSTF announcements on prostate cancer screening were more extensively covered by media outlets than the updated AUA guidelines. While urologists were commonly interviewed as sources, articles frequently emphasized the negative aspects of screening, rather than reviewing nuances of the guidelines or current evidence. This study adds to our understanding of the media's influence in shaping patient perception and public discourse on men's health issues. © 2014FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 191Issue 4SApril 2014Page: e709 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2014MetricsAuthor Information Kevin Koo More articles by this author Ronald Yap More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

Media Initiatives as Information Provider and Society’s Watchdog on Peace Building in Kenya

Media has power to shape public discourse globally in its information. In its reportage it plays a multiplicity of initiatives that at times may be objective or other times subjective. This is as a result of various contexts in which the media professionals find themselves in. Media therefore can be used for good and evil purposes. This paper is based on a study conducted in Uasin Gishu County in Kenya, whose objectives were to investigate how media consider peace building while effecting their initiative as information provider, interpreter and watchdog. The study population comprised editors and journalists from media houses, opinion leaders, religious organizations and media analysts drawn from the academia, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Kenya National Council for Human Rights. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 210 respondents drawn from the target population of 420. Data collection was done through questionnaires, interview schedules, focus group discussions, participant observations and analysis of documentary records. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. From the study findings, it was revealed that the media as an information provider was highly significant just as being a watchdog and diplomatic initiatives. Within the context of information provision, interpretation and as a watchdog for society, the media influences society in many dimensions. As gatekeepers, they decide what information gets to the public; as watchdog and they represent the interests of the people against powerful interests. In economic development, the media provide the enabling environment for businesses and investments to flourish. In addition, they assist in empowering economically disadvantaged groups in the society; at the same time contribute to societal economic growth. In social development, the media can help fight corruption, prevent communal conflicts and provide useful information on disasters. The media are particularly useful for public health campaigns, especially against children diseases, communicable diseases, and in favour of a healthy environment. Keywords: Effects, Media Initiatives, Information Provider, Society, Watchdog, Peace Building, Kenya

First Amendment institutions

Addressing a host of hot-button issues, from the barring of Christian student groups and military recruiters from law schools and universities to churches' immunity from civil rights legislation in hiring and firing ministers, Paul Horwitz proposes a radical reformation of Amendment law. Arguing that rigidly doctrinal approaches can't account for messy, real-world situations, he suggests that the courts loosen their reins and let those with a stake in Amendment freedoms do more of the work of enforcing them. Universities, the press, libraries, churches, and various other and associations are a fundamental part of the infrastructure of public discourse. Rather than subject them to ill-fitting, top-down rules and legal categories, courts should make them partners in shaping public discourse and Amendment law, giving these substantial autonomy to regulate their own affairs. Self-regulation and public criticism should be the key restraints on these institutions, not judicial fiat. Horwitz suggests that this approach would help the law enhance the contribution of our First Amendment institutions to social and political life. It would also move us toward a conception of the state as a participating member of our social framework, rather than a reigning and often overbearing sovereign. Amendment Institutions offers a new vantage point from which to evaluate ongoing debates over topics ranging from campaign finance reform to campus hate speech and affirmative action in higher education. This book promises to promote--and provoke--important new discussions about the shape and future of the Amendment.

Conflicts of interest and incentives to bias: A microeconomic critique of Google’s tangled position on the Web

Media scholars have studied and critiqued search engines – and in particular the dominant commercial actor, Google – for over a decade. Several conceptual and methodological problems, such as a lack of technological transparency, have made a detailed analysis of concrete power relations and their effects difficult. This paper argues that a microeconomic approach can aid media scholars in examining the complex interactions that underpin the dynamics of information visibility unfolding around the Google search engine. Using the concept of a ‘three-sided market’, we characterize the business model built around google.com as the foundation of the company’s success. We then argue that the combination of search and advertising services, and in particular advertising network services, creates powerful incentives to orient the results page in self-serving ways, leading to fundamental conflicts of interest exacerbated by Google’s dominant position in both markets. Based on search engines’ mass media-like capacity to shape public discourse, we consider the identification of economic forces both as a prerequisite for a robust critique of the current situation and as a starting point for thinking about regulatory measures.

Where Do They Get These Ideas? Changing Ideas of Cults in the Mirror of Popular Culture

Scholars of new religious movements (NRMs) have spent considerable energy studying the role of news media in constructing public narratives about religious innovation. This article proposes that similar attention be paid to popular culture. It is argued that fictional media has a unique ability to shape public discourse about NRMs precisely because it is free to present any narrative its authors desire. Furthermore, a diachronic study of television and films over the last half-century reveals an ongoing public conversation about NRMs.

Representations of MDR and XDR-TB in South African newspapers

The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis has brought with it diverse perspectives concerning the way in which the disease should be managed. The media is an important source of these perspectives, as they perform the dual role of reflecting and shaping public discourse. In this study, we are interested in how the media presents multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in South Africa, where both variants are a growing public health concern. We examined newspaper content from 310 South African newspaper articles from February 2004 to July 2009 that discussed MDR-TB and XDR-TB. Newspaper articles were collected from the Dow Jones Factiva database and imported into QDA Miner v3.2.1 for analysis. Using Attride-Stirling’s thematic network analysis method, articles were analyzed according to themes, sub-themes, and thematic networks. This analysis identified two main dimensions: causes of MDR/XDR-TB and treatment approaches/solutions. Causes of MDR/XDR-TB revolved around three main global themes: i) patient-centred causes (32.6%); ii) lack of infection control procedures (18.7%); and iii) health systems failures (19.4%). Treatment approaches or solutions to tackling MDR/XDR-TB focused on i) patient targeted solutions (38.4%); ii) improving infection control (12.3%); iii) systems restructuring (10.6%); and iv) new diagnostic and therapeutic options (10%). Our analysis identifies a trend in the South African media to identify a broad range of causes of MDR/XDR-TB, while emphasizing that treatment approaches should be directed primarily at the individual. Of particular importance is the fact that such a perspective runs contrary to the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations for approaching the TB epidemic, in particular by insufficiently addressing systemic and social drivers of the epidemic. Due to the media's potential influence on policy formation, how the media presents issues – especially issues pertaining to emerging public health concerns – should warrant more attention.

Green dreams or pipe dreams?: Media framing of the U.S. biofuels movement

Using a frame analytic approach, we identify and analyze the media’s portrayal of the recent movement to increase U.S. biofuels’ investment and development. Using a dataset comprised of New York Times articles, we examine the contested terrain of biofuels discourse as some media coverage frames biofuels as beneficial, while other reporting constructs and packages counter-claims intended to resist development and portray biofuels as problematic. We focus on both the content of frames and strategies used by media claims-makers to assemble frames. We find that the media constructed three distinct frames in their efforts to shape public discourse: economic development, environment, and national security. These frames were constructed primarily by situating them within a larger political and economic context to gain public legitimacy. In this paper we will show how, in their efforts to construct meaning around biofuels, the media draw on frames that are coded with symbolic meanings that widely resonate with dominant cultural values.

Official/ Unofficial: Information Management and Social Association

This paper explores the debates around civil society and corporatism as ways of understanding changes in social association, including non-governmental organisations and protest groups, and information management in relation to the development of the Internet. Both concepts have been used to examine the changes that have taken place since the implementation of the Open Door Policy and more recently the development of the Internet, and have shed light on the way in which new forms of social association operate, and on their relationship to the government. However, both concepts tend to be deterministic and reductionist positions. Instead, I use a centre-margin analysis based on medium theory to explore the relationship between the state and society as a way of shedding light on the interaction between the government and NGOs and on how the state manages the flow of information in order to shape public discourse.