Television Reports Research Articles

Correcting Emotional Deviance: Affective Inclusion Amid Social Inequality and Power Hierarchies

ABSTRACT This article uses empirical data from a case study in Germany to introduce the concept of “affective inclusion.” Affective inclusion is understood as both an institutional and programmatic response to emotional deviance that arises in the wake of power hierarchies and social inequalities. The aim of these efforts is to incorporate individuals or groups into a dominant emotion culture, especially after their emotions have been labeled as deviant. The empirical study uses a unique combination of qualitative data and methods, including ethnographic observations during an anti-violence program for amateur soccer players and an analysis of a television report on the same workshop. The analysis addresses the social dynamics that determine the processes of affective closure and openness and examines the strategies, practices and techniques that institutional actors employ to address this phenomenon, including teaching emotional control and nudging participants into the prevailing emotion culture. In addition, the study shows how affective inclusion is intertwined with social inequality and discrimination.

“Too Much Stress” for “Too Little Reward”: COVID-19 Effects on Reporter’s Workloads and Work/Life Balance

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic challenged historic precepts for local American television news. Reporters were suddenly working from home, often alone, dealing with new health safety protocols, and covering a grim and frightening new reality. Seeking an understanding of this sudden and dramatic shift in the ways in which local television news was reported, researchers conducted in-depth interviews during summer 2021 with 20 local television reporters from large, medium, and small Nielsen designated marketing areas (DMA) across the U.S. about their experiences during the pandemic. Thematic analysis revealed changes in reporters’ workloads, burnout, and a lack of work/life balance that may lead to changes in the ways in which reporters gather and produce news and interact with their colleagues and audiences.

Ground-based response robotics for the safe operation of TV journalists in emergency zone

The article considers an approach to ensuring safe working conditions for TV journalists conducting TV reports from the emergency zone by means of ground-based response robotics. It is proposed to use a remote controlled (teleoperated) ground-based mobile service robots equipped with vision systems and professional television film-ing equipment. Remote-controlled robots developed at the Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Tech-nical Cybernetics (St. Petersburg) can be used as such robotic systems. Equipping robots with a stereoscopic vi-sion systems and a special TV camera to organize teleoperation of a mobile robot’s movement requires a broad-band communication channel, since it is necessary to transmit several video streams simultaneously. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use an image compression methods and the experience of using a network technolo-gies obtained during the development of the multiple-camera vision systems for installation on the mobile robotic systems BROKK-110D and BROKK-330 (Sweden) at the instructions of the Center for Special Risk Rescue Opera-tions «Leader» (Russia). The technical solution is presented to provide TV journalists with special remote-controlled ground-based robotics, which allows them to conduct television reports directly from the scene of hostili-ties, while being at a safe distance from the scene of events and the location of radio antennas.

Formal and Informal Communication Network Patterns in Continuing Information Fulfillment Among Urban Television Reporters

The pattern of formal and informal communication networks carried out by journalists, determines the information needs of strong and sustainable urban communities. This study used a snowball technique. Formal communication networks are carried out internally within the organization, editorial meetings are held once a day. Informal communication networks obtain information from various circles, joining related organizations. Fulfillment of information needs, starting from how journalists work in obtaining information, how to process information into news, the form of information obtained, and the extent of whistleblower awareness to obtain the information needed. Communication established in the fulfillment of strong and sustainable information needs, by journalists is carried out in the public interest, not for a specific party. And the contribution of this research is to provide guidance and ease in obtaining journalists' information, as well as in meeting the needs of strong and sustainable information in urban communities

Proactive exfiltration severity management in sewer networks: A hyperparameter optimization for two-tiered machine learning prediction

Effective management of aging sewer pipelines requires accurate analysis of sewer pipeline exfiltration. Previous research studies have not paid attention to proposing an index to represent the exfiltration severity. To this end, this study introduces a novel Exfiltration Severity Index (ESI) by considering the frequency and severity of defects captured from Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) reports. To address the need for a proactive tool that automates the exfiltration estimation and reduces dependence on CCTV reports, we leverage Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) models to predict sewer exfiltration occurrence and severity. In this regard, our proposed methodology comprises a series of steps that start by computing the ESI of pipeline segments considering the frequency, type, and severity of defects. After that, physical, environmental, and climatic factors influencing pipeline exfiltration are gathered and aggregated to build predictive models. We compare the performance of six ML models and two DL models, developed in two tiers to predict exfiltration occurrence and severity, respectively. The hyperparameters of each model are optimized using GridSearchCV to enhance prediction accuracy. Among the eight algorithms, the light gradient-boosting machine performs best, with 71% and 85% accuracy in the first and second tiers, respectively. Furthermore, our study investigates the influence of various factors on pipeline exfiltration and reveals that pipe diameter and population have the most significant impact on exfiltration occurrence and severity. Our method provides a valuable tool for managing sewer pipeline exfiltration and can be utilized to prioritize sewer network maintenance and repair efforts.

The Impact of Changing Work Practices in Journalism in Ireland

Journalists are working in an ever-changing environment (where precarity has become commonplace). Reporters are increasingly required to multi-task, as news has become ubiquitous. This includes writing and editing copy, posting content online and on social media, sourcing images, recording and editing audio and recording pieces to camera: the traditional television, radio and print reporter all rolled into one. Yet, additional duties are not matched by increased pay; in some instances resources have been cut, and management cite reduced advertising revenue as the main reason. This research examined the impact of those changes to work practices on journalists, the media industry, and on wider society in Ireland, where multi-tasking has become more prevalent in the past 10 to 15 years and the pressures faced by journalists have intensified in the aftermath of COVID-19. Twelve journalists working in the media in Ireland were interviewed as part of this research. Their perceptions on the main influences on their work practices were explored. The findings of this research argue that due to the relentless drive for profit maximization, the result is that insufficient time and resources are made available to run newsrooms adequately and this is particularly prevalent in the regional press. This means ‘desk’ journalism is prioritized over ‘field’ reporting, while the battle between accuracy and immediacy is placing journalists under immense pressure and this also affects the quality of content produced and disseminated. Also, there is insufficient focus by media organizations on time intensive journalism i.e., investigative journalism—which potentially impacts everyone’s lives—and this influences how ordinary citizens understand the world around them. This research argues that the ability of journalism to hold the powerful to account is diminishing. Journalism, in its current trajectory, does not fulfil its Fourth Estate or ‘watchdog’ function, and critically, this influences people’s understanding of society, as this research outlines.

The inhumanity of people living in Slovak Roma settlements: on the creation of the focal images

Abstract This text deals with convergence and divergence in relation to the formation of images of inhumanity in Slovak Roma settlements. Slovak media, social networks, and television reports often contain negative images emphasizing the Roma’s backwardness, irrationality, superstition, and cruelty, and aiming to highlight their inhumanity. This approach has become prevalent even among official state authorities such as the police of the Slovak Republic, shaping the perception of the Roma as monsters. It represents a mobilization strategy that connects and disconnects various disciplinary apparatuses, forming concrete images of monsters. By examining moments of convergence and divergence, which mainly focus on the killing and consumption of canines, the text clarifies the social and material ordering that contributes to the particular arrangement of significance used by the Slovak media and other officials.

TEXT IN THE MODERN PARADIGM OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: CATEGORIZATION AND PRAGMATICS

The article analyzes the text in the modern paradigm of scientific knowledge from the perspective of categorization and pragmatics. A look at the text in a categorical dimension attests to a change in definitions, an expansion of the interpretation of the concept. It is noted that linguists differentiate text and discourse, study the text in semantic, grammatical, pragmatic- communicative and structural planes, study the categorical organization of the text. Focused on what, in addition to written texts, oral texts also attract the attention of scholars. The analysis of the text as an object of linguistic research in a pragmatic dimension is presented on the material of an oral text – a football television report. Football live television reporting appears as a process and product of oral communication addressed to a multi-million audience of game fans. The features of the football television report as a text are explained through a system of text categories with units of a lower hierarchy (according to the concept of A. Yeshchenko) in three dimensions: from the perspective of semantics, from the perspective of communicativeness, at the level of pragmatics. Summarized that, the correlation of text categories of different dimensions serves as a text-constitutive factor.

The TV reporter as a „professional of the sight”

A fundamental criterion in producing the television report is the on site participation of the author of the event. The complexity, breadth, depth, truthfulness, balance, impartiality of the reflection, but also the understanding of this event depend to the greatest extent on the degree of documentation of the reporter, of his capacity, skills and talent to see the actions, characters, actors in all spatial, temporal, cognitive-emotional and spectacular dimensions of the reality, presented in TV media. The dichotomy of reflecting the objective reality through a subjective approach to the event by the television reporter, based on the rigors of journalistic professionalism, would be resolved in favor of the interests of the widest possible audience.

How official TV news affect public inflation expectations? Evidence from the Chinese national broadcaster China Central Television

AbstractA burgeoning literature supports the effect of media coverage on public inflation expectations but ignores televised reports, particularly official TV news. Using bootstrap Granger non‐causality tests, this study demonstrates time‐varying causalities from the Chinese national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reports to households' inflation expectations during 2014Q1–2015Q4 and 2017Q1–2018Q4 with positive effects. This indicates that official TV news leads inflation expectations. Furthermore, positive causalities from CCTV reports to the expectation heterogeneity also exist, thus meaning that more official reports may exacerbate the disagreement among households' expectations, thereby contributing to the macroeconomic instability. The content conflict is a possible reason for the positive effect of CCTV reports on the inflation expectation disagreement of households.

The overdose epidemic: a study protocol to determine whether people who use drugs can influence or shape public opinion via mass media

BackgroundWe are currently witnessing an ongoing drug overdose death epidemic in many nations linked to the distribution of illegally manufactured potent synthetic opioids. While many health policy makers and researchers have focused on the root causes and possible solutions to the current crisis, there has been little focus on the power of advocacy and community action by people who use drugs (PWUDs). Specifically, there has been no research on the role of PWUDs in engaging and influencing mass media opinion.MethodsBy relying on one of the longest and largest peer-run drug user advocacy groups in the world, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), newspaper articles, television reports, and magazines that VANDU or its members have been directly involved in will be identified via two data bases (the Canadian Newsstream & Google News). The news articles and videos related to the health of PWUDs and issues affecting PWUDs from 1997 to the end of 2020 will be analyzed qualitatively using Nvivo software.DiscussionAs our communities are entering another phase of the drug overdose epidemic, acknowledging and partnering with PWUDs could play an integral part in advancing the goals of harm reduction, treatment, and human rights.

The emergence of COVID-19 in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Community knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Kinshasa.

BackgroundThe first COVID-19 case in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was reported on 10 March 2020 in Kinshasa, prompting the government to promote internationally agreed non-pharmacological interventions for infection prevention and control. Public compliance to these measures is critical and depends on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of communities regarding COVID-19, for which there was no data. This study aimed to bridge that gap.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Kinshasa in June 2020, during the emergency state, following a four-stage sampling process. Master’s students from the Kinshasa School of Public Health conducted the survey. Descriptive and regression analyses were performed.ResultsThe study enrolled 726 women and 600 men (mean age: 43; SD 16-85). Nearly everyone heard about COVID-19 (mainly through television, radio, and street reports), but only 17% were highly knowledgeable about its transmission modes, signs and symptoms, and preventive measures. More than 80% of participants believed in the disease’s seriousness; however, only 21% found the total lockdown acceptable. Nonetheless, 86% reported regular hand cleaning and mask-wearing followed by physical distancing (72%). Poorer, younger, and non-Catholic participants were overall markedly less knowledgeable and had comparatively lower levels of health-protective attitudes, acceptance, and practices. The education level and household size did not matter. Female participants tended to show fewer enabling attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 prevention measures compared to men.ConclusionAdequate public health information to improve the population’s KAP related to COVID-19 is critical and must be designed with and delivered to the community—considering the specific needs of diverse sub-groups and contexts. Studies in Kinshasa and similar settings are necessary to understand the barriers to and enablers of acquiring, applying, and maintaining the optimal population’s KAP for COVID-19 prevention and control.

Ethnocultural Themes in the Media: Typological Review

The relevance of the study is due to the ethnocultural diversity of the Russian Federation, which is reflected in the media, the action of the Strategy of the State National Policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, which, along with the existing directions, provides information support for state national policy, and the fact that thematically 2022 is the Year of folk art and intangible cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia. The article presents the results of qualitative analysis of media materials representing the traditional culture of the peoples of the Russian Federation. The empirical basis of the study is materials of all types of federal media for the period from 2013 to the present: periodical printing, television, radio, news agencies. On the basis of typological, institutional, functional analysis, the components of ethnoculture reflected in traditional media (traditions, customs, holidays, national cuisine, national costume, crafts and crafts) were identified, methods of representing the unique culture of the peoples of Russia (genres and formats, inclusion of information about the ethnoculture of the peoples of Russia in media materials with a different main theme). The functioning of ethnocultural topics is emphasized in television programs, the content of which is aimed at the development of domestic tourism, as well as in television reports on political topics. The article emphasizes that ethnoculture is an integral part of the life of the ethnos, which determines its philosophy and mental features. Media reflecting the specifics of the traditional culture of peoples are a tool for disseminating knowledge about their history and culture, a resource for fixing and storing information about the ethnocultural diversity of our country. Based on the definition of guardians of intangible culture, laid down in the Draft Law “On Intangible Ethno-Cultural Heritage of the Russian Federation”, this category is legitimate to include the institution of the media, which is of great importance in the formation of ethnographic literacy of the population and ensuring interethnic harmony. The topic is promising in the aspect of studying the media representation of the traditional culture of the peoples of the Russian Federation directly in the Year of Folk Art and the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Peoples and the subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis of the reflection of ethnoculture in the media.

Presentation of the Sacred Heritage of Boikos by Means of Audiovisual Art

The purpose of the study is to analyze the coverage of the Boiko church heritage in live-action films and documentary films, in mass media and in photographs. To determine the role of audio-visual art in the coverage of sacred objects of Boikivshchyna and to prove the necessity to preserve works of sacred heritage by means of photo art. The researh methodology consists in the application of the following methods: theoretical – the analysis of television plots and documentaries providing information about the church art of Boikivshchyna, synchronous and comparative method for deeper analysis of film adaptations of M. Gogol’s work, generalization of media influence on the formation of public opinion. Scientific novelty. For the first time the reflection of audiovisual means has been analyzed and a detailed analysis of documentaries, film adaptations, television reports and photo exhibitions representing the church art of the Boikos has been made. The factors influencing the importance of the popularization of sacred heritage have been defined. Conclusions. In the article, we have analyzed the coverage of the church heritage of Boikos in live-action films and documentary films, in mass media and in photographs. With the help of the analysis of television plots and documentaries, the role of audiovisual art in the coverage of sacred objects has been defined. The factors influencing the preservation of works of church heritage have been studied and generalized in detail.

Review: Pennhurst and the Struggle for Disability Rights, edited by Dennis B. Downey and James W. Conroy

Review: <i>Pennhurst and the Struggle for Disability Rights</i>, edited by Dennis B. Downey and James W. Conroy

Touch in Disaster Reporting: Television Coverage before Hurricane Maria

ABSTRACT This study examines the use of interpersonal touch by television reporters in their interactions with sources — mainly residents and government officials — before Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. We used a qualitative approach, which allowed four functions to emerge inductively but aligned with concepts from haptics and journalistic roles research. The functions — engagement and participation, empathy and caring, easing tension, and collective empowerment are described in relation to the literature on touch across cultures. Implications for the emotional turn in journalism are discussed.

Relationship between sense of control, psychological burden, sources of information and adherence to anti-COVID-19 rules.

BackgroundAdherence to anti-COVID-19 rules is important to slow down the pandemic spread. The present study investigated potential predictors of the adherence.MethodsData of 1.247 participants from Germany (age: M (SD) = 22.99 (6.18)) were assessed via online surveys in autumn and winter 2020. The focus of the data collection was on adherence to anti-COVID-19 rules, sense of control, psychological burden, and sources of COVID-19 information.ResultsIn moderated mediation analyses, the positive relationship between sense of control and adherence to anti-COVID-19 rules was significantly mediated by the level of psychological burden experienced by the COVID-19 situation. The source of COVID-19 information significantly moderated the negative association between burden and adherence. Specifically, the higher the use of social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) and the lower the use of official governmental sites and of television reports, the closer the link between high burden and low adherence.LimitationsDue to the cross-sectional study design, the present findings allow only hypothetical assumptions of causality.ConclusionsThe present results disclose potential mechanisms that could contribute to the adherence to anti-COVID-19 rules. They emphasize the role of the COVID-19 information source for the adherence level. Potential ways of how the level of adherence could be enhanced are discussed.

Race and Local Television News: The Emergence of Black Journalists in New Orleans

WDSU-TV, the first New Orleans broadcast station in the city to hire a Black reporter and thus racially integrate, claimed that its liberal-leaning owner, Edgar Stern Jr., independently decided to hire Bill Rouselle in 1968, rather than being influenced to do so by federal entities and other factors. Through archival materials, newspaper content, federal reports, and exclusive in-depth interviews of journalists of the period, this study argues to the contrary: federal instigation, a decline in the local white population, and competition among New Orleans TV stations preceded integration at WDSU. While WDSU’s editorials advocated for integration in the early 1960s, years elapsed before the station integrated. Management hired Rouselle because it wanted to televise an African American face, not Black voices. Nevertheless, local Black television reporters instilled hope and pride in the city’s Black community.

Weaponized News: Russian Television, Strategic Narratives and Conflict Reporting

Da president Vladimir Putin kom til makten i Russland på tidlig 2000-tallet, var en viktig del av hans statsbygging å skaffe seg kontroll over medielandskapet hjemme. Evnen til å forme egne innbyggeres oppfatning av virkeligheten har stått sentralt siden, og utover 2010-tallet har dette også inkludert et internasjonalt publikum. Irina Grigor gir oss i sin doktorgradsavhandling i kommunikasjon fra Universitetet i Helsinki, et nærmere innblikk i russisk bruk av media og strategiske narrativer, med et særlig fokus på bruk av visuelle virkemidler i russiske medier i ulike case i løpet av perioden 2012–2016. Since President Putin came to power in the early 2000s, he has increasingly seized control of the domestic media landscape. In addition to Moscow's focus on shaping Russian domestic opinion, there have been similar control attempts aimed at an international audience. In her doctoral dissertation in communications from the University of Helsinki, Irina Grigor provides valuable insights into Russia's use of the media and strategic narratives. Using a case-study approach, Grigor devotes particular attention to the application of visual tools by the Russian media in the 2012–2016 period.

Image of Lithuanian Communists who Broke away from Moscow in the TV Show “Panorama” of the Lithuanian Television in January-March 1990

The transformation of communist societies into democratic ones in Europe in 1988-1990 is a massive and complicated phenomenon. Claiming that they were implementing democracy, the local communist regimes had been trying to maintain their influence in the states, for which they had a lot of resources, including the media. In terms of political communication, the mass media claimed not even the position of an individual actor next to politicians or the audience, but a puppet group of politicians. The liberating society began to look at non-communist political alternatives, while the communists were trying to maintain a monopoly. This also happened in 1990 in Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union. Hence the question arises, as the first democratic elections after the Second World War had approached, how did the media describe the Lithuanian Communist Party that seized power? Consecutive newspaper archives have survived to this day, therefore we can clearly see how the press has reflected the news of the political field. But what and how was streaming media TV broadcasting? Often these were working at the time say “I don’t remember anything” or tell generalized narratives. In addition, there is an argument that there are little remains left of the programs, which cannot provide a full context of what and how television had been showing. Based on the thesis of television theory and practice that a television report or other production is created based on a text, the texts of the program “Panorama” stored in the Central State Archive of Lithuania are used to prepare the article. The purpose of this article is to show how the journalists reflected the events related to the Lithuanian Communist Party in the main informational television show, what attitudes of the audience could be formed on this political force during the election campaign. The article publishes an analysis of the texts of the TV show “Panorama” related to the Lithuanian Communist Party, its leader Algirdas Brazauskas and the party’s activities.