Social Media and Social Work: The Challenges of a New Ethical Space

ABSTRACT

Social media and other online technologies have transformed communication between social workers and service users, with many practitioners engaging and working with clients through social networking sites. While there are numerous ethical issues associated with online practice related to con?dentiality, dual relationships, and boundary crossing, there is lack of clarity about how to deal with such issues. This article uses a case example to develop a nuanced understanding of ethical issues and ethical behaviour in online spaces. We argue that social workers need to link their knowledge of the complex interplay between discourses that underpin daily practice like those related to power, permanency, authorship, audience, embodiment, and professionalism to social media created spaces. In doing this, social workers must retain their commitment to ethical values and critical reflective practice. We conclude with recommendations for education, research, and practice.     

Roma Press Center – 20 years of making a difference

ABSTRACT

The Roma Press Center (RPC) is the first Roma news agency in Hungary with the goal of reducing prejudice against the Roma. Their profile has been changed throughout the years, since the technological developments of the media and the political and economic changes of the country challenged their way of effectiveness. Until recently, the RPC was always about reacting to the negative stories about the Roma and balancing this image in the media. In the last 3 years, RPC changed its attitude by becoming a proactive media organisation which directly participates in shaping the public discourse about the Roma with their work. The interview with the two decisive characters of the RPC tells about this process.     

The uses of stance in media production: A study in embodied sociolinguistics

While many conversation analysts and scholars in related fields have used video recordings to study interaction, this study is one of a small but growing number that investigates video recordings of the joint activities of media professionals working with, and on, video. It examines practices of media production that are, in their involvement with the visual and verbal qualities of video, both beyond talk and deeply shaped by talk. The article draws upon video recordings of the making of a feature‐length documentary. In particular, it analyses a complex course of action where an editing team are reviewing their interview of the subject of the documentary, their footage being intercut with existing reality TV footage of that same interviewee. The central contributions that the article makes are, firstly, to the sociolinguistics of mediatisation, through the identification of the workplace concerns of the members of the editing team; secondly, showing how editing is accomplished, moment by moment, through the use of particular forms of embodied action; and, finally, how the media themselves feature in the ordering of action. While this is professional work, it sheds light on the video‐mediated practices in contemporary culture, especially those found in social media where video makers carefully consider their editing of the perspective toward themselves and others.     

“People in Stockholm are smarter than countryside folks” – Reproducing urban and rural imaginaries in film and life

This article explores the celebrated film The Hunters (Swedish title: Jägarna) within the context of the discourse of Internal Orientalism. By juxtaposing a contemporary Swedish film with historical accounts and contemporary news media, I demonstrate how the film reworks and (re)produces representations of the rural North (Norrland), constructing stereotypes enmeshed with familiar and global genre-specific stereotypes of a traditional and intransigent population positioned in rural areas and a modern and progressive population in urban areas. This paper shows how the representation in popular culture becomes enmeshed with the representation in news media and politics and how this helps obscure geography, gender, ethnicity and class by way of positioning representations of the middle class in urban spaces and white male working class in rural spaces, and by way of constructing class as a choice of lifestyle or culture.     

网络媒体与电视媒体的融合与发展

新媒体科技的发展将带来传统的媒介格局的变化。并对传统媒体造成冲击。在此,以网络媒体和电视媒体的融合和发展为例展开分析,通过探析网络媒体与电视媒体融合的形式,研究媒体融合如何改变电视媒体传统的传播模式,如何促进媒介生态系统的和谐平衡发展等问题,以证明媒体融合是媒介发展的必然趋势。     

六十年来我国媒体关于中东问题的报道

中国与中东关系60年既是短暂而急剧变动的历史,又是一个宏大的主题。本文从中国媒体对中东问题特别是巴以冲突报道的微观角度出发,从国家政策影响和媒体表现案例分析两大层面作初步考察,并提出几点建议。笔者认为,中国媒体的中东问题报道随着国内外形势变化尤其是国内政策的调整,大致可以分为前后30年两个阶段。前30年比较稳定,后30年特别是近10年,中东报道多元倾向日益明显,所体现的世界观、价值观、外交观和利益观呈现碎片化。尽管在政府意志和主流新闻管制层面上还保持着较为清晰的方向引导和政策干预,但民意、学者甚至媒体从业者本身的立场分歧日益严重和公开化,甚至反作用于主流媒体。为应对新形势下传播领域的认识和情感巨变,政府、学者和媒体人士都必须认真思考,从战略上考虑和规划未来中国与中东国家在深度交往和交融中面临的挑战。     

论大众传播媒介与犯罪的传播

大众传播媒介是把双刃剑,有利也有弊。在传媒高度发达的今天,媒体已成为犯罪传播的主要途径之一。本文详细阐述了犯罪通过媒介进行传播的表现,具体分析了大众传媒中存在大量犯罪信息的原因,并对如何规范大众传媒提出了基本设想,以期抑制犯罪的传播,从而达到预防和遏制犯罪的目的。     

从当代日本媒体社会看耻辱感文化

“耻辱感”是日本人日常行为的驱动力的基本因素之一。而当今日本社会高度发达的经济和媒体,进一步强化了这一“耻辱感”文化。日本民众的耻辱感深层心理促进了日本社区集体意识的形成,也带来了一些负面影响。     

FROM MEDIA POLITICS TO E-PROTEST

New forms of political expression are often taken as further evidence of the 'cultural turn' within contemporary societies. Taking two recent cases - the use of popular culture in the election campaigns of British political parties (and particularly the Labour Party) and the so-called 'Carnival Against Capital' of June 18th 1999 - this article argues for caution in assuming that such cultural modi vivendi necessarily require culturalist forms of explanation and analysis. Weargue that both established political parties and extra-parliamentary social movements have found new opportunities for political communication and mobilization through media and information technology (particularly the Internet). However, the resource and organizational problems they confront remain the same, as does the familiar instrumental rationality of their actions. Rather than leading us to abandon established analytical tools such as political intermediation, political opportunity structures or resource mobilization, shifting opportunities and conditions require the adaptation and extension of such concepts. In this spirit, we attempt to offer an analysis of the cultural mode adopted by parties and movements without losing sight of their broader goals and motivations.     

Informing Debate or Fuelling Dispute? Media Communication of Reconfiguration in Scotland's Rural Maternity Care

Public reaction to the UK's ongoing health sector reform often results in dilution of policy‐makers’ goals. Public participation in health service decision‐making is advocated in policy, but precisely how to do it and what role public opinion should have in formulating reform strategy is ambiguously described. Public opinion is formed through many influences, including media reporting. This paper examines how reconfiguration at a rural maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital in Wick, Scotland, was communicated in national and local media and considers potential implications of media communication on public participation in policy decision‐making. Content analysis of arguments for and against change revealed a high level of reporting of commentators against change in regional newspapers. Qualitative analysis identified emergent themes about how maternity service reconfiguration was portrayed. These included framing opposition between management and local people, and change drivers receiving superficial coverage. Findings suggest that media portrayal of the public role in change may promote an adversarial rather than a participative stance. More finely tuned understanding of the relationship between the reporting of change and public reaction should be attained as this could affect how planned social policy evolves into actual practice.