Women's Voice in Mass Media

IN May of 1996, Women's Media Monitoring Network was set up in Beijing. The organization was established on the commemorative convention for the 10th anniversary of The Capital Female Journalists Association, aiming to open women's eyes and discover their voice in mass media. Just one year after its establishment, the Network aroused extensive attention from     

Sexual Prejudices in the Media

Under the influence of traditional social culture, today's media is still accustomed to treating women's images and the discussion of them from an angle of men-centered culture. We should remain highly sensitive toward the many phenomenons in the media of inequality between the sexes.     

The Media and Childen's Moral Development

THE China Research Center for Juveniles, the News Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS)and the Chinese Juvenile Newspaper organized a study on the influence of the media on children's moral development. The report which     

College Students’ Perceptions of Media Portrayals of Divorce

This study takes an exploratory, qualitative approach to examine college students’ perceptions about divorce in the media. Findings suggest that participants perceived both positive and negative representations of divorced families in the media they consume, highlighting the complex nature of navigating and communicating through a divorce. Specifically, college students reported on aspects of the ex-spousal relationship, how children are affected, and the contrast between life pre- and postdivorce. An inductive theme analysis revealed several positive and negative media representations of divorce. Largely, college students perceive media messages about divorce to be accurate portrayals and impactful representations.     

Hall's Encoding/ Decoding and Its Influence on Media Study

As an outstanding representative of British Cultural Studies, Stuart Hall has long been occupied as the leader of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) in its theories, thoughts and factual work. He has been concentrated on the critical topics such as culture, ideology, and identity. In the field of mass communication, major contribution of Hall lies in his attempts to connect the ideological encoding of cultural formation to the decoding position of the audiences. His thought develops the critical theories of mass communication. Given the importance of Hall's role in the contemporary cultural studies and his significant contribution to mass media research, it is worthwhile for us to probe deeper into his thought to explore valuable contents. In this essay, it mainly concerns Hall's new model of encoding/decoding and the theory of the audience.     

“I Can/Should Look Like a Media Figure”: The Association Between Direct and Indirect Media Exposure and Teens’ Sexualizing Appearance Behaviors

Prior research has examined the influence of media exposure on adolescents’ sexualized self-concept, but engagement in sexualizing appearance behaviors remains understudied, especially among a younger age group (i.e., early adolescents). This three-wave panel study among 971 nine- to 14-year-olds (M_age = 12.99, SD = 1.03) showed that discussing media content with friends (i.e., indirect media exposure) was indirectly related to sexualizing appearance behaviors through perceived attainability of the appearance ideal. Direct media exposure was not significantly related to sexualizing appearance behaviors, nor to perceived pressure or perceived attainability. Direct and indirect media exposure influenced boys and girls in similar ways, although the model showed a better fit among the girls. In addition, reward sensitivity did not moderate the examined relations.     

Friendsourcing Peer Support for Alzheimer’s Caregivers Using Facebook Social Media

ABSTRACT

This research piloted an e-health intervention that used social media to friendsource peer support for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) caregivers. Friendsourcing is a variant of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing recruits online participants who share a characteristic that makes their volunteerism meaningful when they join to achieve an outcome. Friendsourcing recruits online participants who share membership in a social network that makes their volunteerism meaningful when they join to achieve an outcome. This article introduces our friendsourcing intervention research and examines the effects on the psychological well-being of AD caregivers. After a 6-week intervention, caregivers were found to have significantly decreased burden (Z?=??2.01, p?<?.05) and perceived stress (Z?=??2.95, p?<?.01). Emotional and informational support scores were significantly increased (Z?=??2.32, p?<?.05). Qualitative data analysis of the intervention identified positive effects in new caregiving knowledge acquisition and application and reduced stress in the acceptance of the caregiving role. Joining social networks in support groups through friendsourcing was feasible for AD caregivers who were familiar with social media, and can provide another means of guiding the development of their personal support networks.     

‘The Anarchists' World Cup’: Respectable Protest and Media Panics

In 2005 225,000 people marched through Edinburgh enjoining the G8 to ‘Make Poverty History’. The coalition's own assessment of their campaign highlighted the importance of media by focusing on the extent of media coverage. Media outlets, however, have their own agendas. Detailed analysis of newspaper coverage preceding the G8 Summit suggests a disjuncture between campaign objectives and media frames. This paper explores how far newspaper accounts of G8-related protests were ‘framed’ in terms of social movement aims, and how far in terms of anticipated violence. Our findings lead us to caution against an uncritical equation of ‘coverage’ and ‘success’, offering a more nuanced account of the interplay between social movements and media.     

Friend or Foe? The Media Coverage of Chicago’s Public Housing Transformation

Social movement theory highlights media coverage as a powerful resource for non-institutional actors, but it remains unclear how successful they are in gaining media standing relative to their institutionalized opponents. This study applies Gamson’s concept of media standing to Chicago’s Plan for Transformation, an effort to reform the city’s public housing system. Theory expects institutionalized elites to capture a greater share of coverage, allowing them to frame the rhetoric. I perform a content analysis of 2,151 quotes drawn from 554 articles published in the Chicago Tribune from 1997–2009. Results indicate that bureaucratic actors achieve greater media standing then grassroots counterparts, but neighborhood opposition was not ignored. Negative binomial regression models indicate that coverage of the case was driven by conflict, dialogue, and a need for journalists to balance their stories. Institutionalized actors have an easier time achieving media standing, but the opinions they are allowed to express are limited.     

Teaching Note—Tweeting Macro Practice: Social Media in the Social Work Classroom

ABSTRACT

Despite its ubiquity, social work educators are just beginning to harness social media in teaching. In this teaching note, we discuss our use of Twitter in a bachelor’s-level macro Human Behavior in the Social Environment course. We present results from a survey of 45 students designed to assess their perceptions of Twitter use in the classroom and, in particular, as a macro social work learning tool. Students appreciated using social media in the course and reported that Twitter was a valuable professional social work tool. We explore how social work educators can provide an innovative classroom experience that incorporates ethical and professional use of social media and demonstrate how we used Twitter to apply macro practice competencies.     

Media and the Israeli disability rights legislation: progress or mixed and contradictory images?

This article reviews and analyzes disability rights conceptualization and policy as reflected in the Israeli media after the enactment of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law of 1998. Media coverage is examined through review of studies conducted on the subject in Israel. A comprehensive review of the research literature reveals a discrepancy between the purposes of anti‐discrimination legislation and policy and media reflections of disability, in which portrayal is primarily via a deviance lens. The discussion is based on the analysis of universal genesis of negative perceptions of disability, as well as on particularized culture bound meaning of disability within the Israeli symbolic framework.     

Media Bias in Interviewers’ Nonverbal Behavior: Potential Remedies,Attitude Similarity and Meta-analysis

Previous research demonstrated that viewers’ judgments of an interviewee are influenced by the nonverbal behavior of the interviewer. In studies of this media bias effect, judges view a short political interview with a friendly or a hostile interviewer, and then rate their impressions of the interviewee, whose behavior remains identical in all conditions. The present research utilizes the same design and materials to explore potential cognitive remedies, to investigate the effect of attitude similarity on media bias, and to meta-analyze seven replications of the media bias effect. In Study 1, a cognitive remedy in the form of an instruction to ignore the interviewer neutralized and even reversed the media bias effect. In Study 2, insertion of a brief segment depicting a “beaming” and relaxed interviewee also reversed the media bias effect. Study 3 demonstrated that negative ratings of the interviewee due to interviewer’s hostility were intensified when respondents considered the interviewee as “one of them” politically, and disappeared when he was perceived as “one of us”. Study 4 demonstrated the consistency of the media bias effect by meta-analyzing seven replications in different countries. Implications for nonverbal research and for media research concerning the consistency of the media bias effect and its amenability to remedy are discussed.     

What Gets Covered? An Examination of Media Coverage of the Environmental Movement in Canada

This article analyzes press releases from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace (GP) to assess how their tactics and frames affect the amount of coverage they receive in The Globe and Mail and National Post from 2000 to 2010. While it is clear that some tactics are more likely to garner media coverage, the full range of tactics and frames are not effective for all groups. For example, calling to the public to engage in a social issue leads to increased media coverage for GP but not WWF. And, using research does not affect media coverage for WWF, but decreases coverage for GP. This study demonstrates that the effect of tactical choices on media coverage is contingent on the identity of the group using them.     

Elite athletes or superstars? Media representation of para-athletes at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

This article offers a discourse analysis of media representations of para-athletes before, during and post the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in print and online sources, drawing on the lens of critical disability theory. We consider the importance of the media–sport cultural complex in influencing public attitudes towards disability. We conclude that whilst the importance of discursive change cannot be underestimated at the level of the media agenda, change at the level of lived experience will only flow from carefully designed and executed political and policy initiatives rather than directly from changes in the media presentation or visibility of individual athletes.     

Online or Offline? Nonprofits’ Choice and Use of Social Media in Hong Kong

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Nonprofits are strategically using social media to disseminate information, engage with community, and mobilize...     

Framing the Women’s March on Washington: Media coverage and organizational messaging alignment

Half a million citizens participated in the Women’s March on Washington the day after President Trump’s inauguration, starting a political movement. The march communicated key messages to the public directly and via the media. This study explores how media coverage framed those key messages through content analysis. Media frames mentioned all key messages, emphasizing solidarity and activation at the grassroots, and in a way that both supported and challenged organizational messages. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Can Social Media Use Produce Enduring Social Ties? Affordances and the Case of Katrina Bloggers

Can previously unacquainted, grieving individuals who use social media to organize and participate in decentralized mobilizations build strong, lasting social ties? If so, how? What is it about particular social media technologies and platforms that might explain the strength and longevity of their social ties? Drawing on a case study of New Orleans bloggers who took part in a variety of contentious and non-contentious mobilizations after hurricane Katrina, we find that people who mobilize through social media like blogs can form strong and lasting social ties. We argue that this is partly because of the types of communication and interaction that blogs afford. We identify two types of affordances, mechanical and cultural, as distinct qualities of social media like blogs, and illustrate how they enable the building of strong, digitally mediated social ties among grieving people.     

An Exploratory Study of Gambling Operators’ Use of Social Media and the Latent Messages Conveyed

Advertisements for gambling products have historically been restricted due to their potential to normalize gambling and contribute to excessive gambling behaviours among vulnerable populations. However, social media enables gambling operators to promote products and brands with fewer constraints than in traditional forms of media. This study investigated how social media is used by gambling operators to promote gambling activities including an analysis of the latent messages that are conveyed. A representative sample of major land-based and online gambling venues and operators, including casinos, clubs, hotels, lottery and wagering operators (n = 101), was obtained. Websites and social media profiles of gambling operators were audited to investigate the types of social media used, content of promotions, and prevalence of responsible gambling messaging. The results showed that Facebook and Twitter were the dominant platforms used, most commonly by casinos and online wagering operators. A key finding was that online gambling operators included gambling content in conjunction with related news and events, as well as unrelated content, as way of normalizing gambling within a broader social context. Unlike land-based gambling promotions, responsible gambling information tended not to feature in operators’ posts and profiles. The key messages propagated in social media gambling promotions were positively framed, and tended to encourage gambling using a range of cross-promotional tactics to emphasize the winning aspect of gambling. The implications of freely accessible and pervasive gambling promotions via social media are discussed with respect to the general community as well as vulnerable populations.