Both Sides of the Story: Communication Ethics in Mediatized Worlds

Current transformations in the media landscape are challenging contemporary communication and media ethics in at least 2 ways. First, digitization of the media creates new ethical problems that stimulate calls for a redefinition of the norms and values of public communication. Second, new instruments of web-based media observation introduce new possibilities for media (self-)regulation and accountability, thus complementing the initiatives of traditional institutions like press councils. The article retraces those conflicting developments by reference to 2 comparative studies, representing the diverging traditions of conventional communication ethics and media accountability research. In bridging over the conceptual gap between the 2 forms of research, the article develops new perspectives for ethical reflection in the mediatized worlds of the digital ag

Elite Tweets: Analysing the Twitter Communication Patterns of Labour Party Peers in the House of Lords

The micro-blogging platform Twitter has gained notoriety for its status as both a communication channel between private individuals, and as a public forum monitored by journalists, the public, and the state. Its potential application for political communication has not gone unnoticed; politicians have used Twitter to attract voters, interact with constituencies and advance issue-based campaigns. This article reports on the preliminary results of the research team’s work with 21 peers sitting on the Labour frontbench. It is based on the monitoring and archival of the peers’ activity on Twitter for a period of 100 days from 16th May to 28th September 2012. Using a sample of more than 4,363 tweets and a mixed methodology combining semantic analysis, social network analysis and quantitative analysis, this paper explores the peers’ patterns of usage and communication on Twitter. Key findings are that as a tweeting community their behavior is consistent with others, however there is evidence that a coherent strategy is lacking. Labour peers tend to work in ego networks of self-interest as opposed to working together to promote party polic

The Necessity and Importance of Incorporating Media and Information Literacy into Holistic Metaliteracy

Digitalization and the emergence of the Internet have resulted in escalating access to information and communication. Given the circumstances that soaring access to information amounts to the intensification of misinformation and disinformation, a set of critical skills to navigate and critically assess the information is necessary. This paper outlines the significance of these skills, and provides a perspective on metaliteracy as a supplement to media and information literacy, and argues that the ability to conceptualize, access, comprehend, analyze, and use information is crucial in achieving inclusive, pluralistic, and participatory knowledge societies

Efectos de la ruptura digital en prácticas de medios populares en Brasil

This article discusses the digital disruption in popular media practices in Brazil. It is based on interviews conducted from 2014 to 2016 with 55 communicators attached to 20 social movements and community associations all over the country. The results show a prevalence of analogical media that coexist with different grades of appropriation of digital technologies. The lack of resources explains part of this coexistence, so socioeconomic conditions still represent a barrier for the development of popular media. But there are also practical and strategical reasons that justify these choices. Mainly, it is important to observe how digital disruption is a long standing process that transforms practices both in the level of technical options but also in the sense of developing media for social change.Este artículo analiza los efectos de la ruptura digital en las prácticas de medios populares en Brasil. Se basa en entrevistas realizadas entre 2014 y 2016 con 55 comunicadores vinculados a 20 movimientos sociales y asociaciones comunitarias en todo el país. Los resultados muestran una prevalencia de medios analógicos que coexisten con diferentes grados de apropiación de tecnologías digitales. La falta de recursos explica parte de esta convivencia, ya que las condiciones socioeconómicas aún representan una barrera para el desarrollo de los medios populares. Pero también hay razones prácticas y estratégicas que justifican las elecciones. Principalmente, es importante observar cómo la disrupción digital es un proceso a largo plazo que transforma las prácticas tanto en el nivel de opciones técnicas como en el sentido de desarrollar medios para el cambio social

Policy framework and systems management of global climate change

Climate change is representative of a general class of environmental issues where decisions have to be taken under controversies. The policy framework for these kinds of decisions is defined by three important traits: scientific ignorance, mediatization and the need for innovation. Scientific ignorance is an issue here because decisions must be taken before the end of scientific controversies about the predictability of future climate. Mediatization is key because agents can't have a sensible experience of the global climate change, and some interest-holders (future generations, distant countries) cannot participate directly in the decision. Third, the need for innovation is crucial because today's technology offers the only alternative between fossil fuels and nuclear power as a main primary energy source.In the case of climate change, the institutional context is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The making of global environmental policy is framed not upon a hypothetical code of international law (there is no such a thing), but upon a body of doctrine arising from consistent reference to a given set of principles. The key principles are sustainability (satisfying the need of present generations without preventing future generations to satisfy theirs), precaution (ignorance is not an excuse for inaction), the common but differentiated responsibility (developed countries take the lead in action against climate change), and economic efficiency (which lead to prefer flexible instruments over blind regulation).Given the scientific controversies and the fuzziness of guiding principles, no clear-cut demonstration could justify the choice of a theoretically optimum course of action, even in the short term. Historically, climate negotiations can be seen as an oscillation between two regulation modes. On one side is coordinated policies and measures, where countries adopt an uniform international rate of carbon tax. On the other side is emission trading, where a defined emission reduction target is allocated to each country.changement climatique; Protocole de Kyoto

Citizen Journalist to Activist: the Language Behind Black Lives Matter

This study explores the discourse surrounding an event in the social movement, Black Lives Matter, to gain insights into how digital literacy practices influence and mediate participation in the 21st century civil rights movement for a new generation of activist. This study examines three points of engagement, (1) the experience of the event as it is initially interpreted and shared online, (2) the intermingling of consciousness through social media, and (3) the post social media interpretation and action. Data was collected from Twitter analyzed using discourse analysis

Shakespeare and media ecology: beyond historicism and presentism

This article proposes media ecology-a combination of media studies and performance studies with literary and cultural history-as a research perspective for Shakespeare studies. In contrast to a hermeneutics of renewal-as evinced in both New Historicism and what has been called presentism-media ecology combines a sense of historical alterity with an awareness of the continuing transformations of Shakespeare in changing media settings: from manuscripts and printed texts to theatrical performances, music, opera, cinema, and new media. As an example, the article focuses on the masque in The Tempest, which poses obvious difficulties for a hermeneutics of renewal and is often cut from performance. Productions and adaptations frequently extend the spectacular qualities of the masque to The Tempest as a whole and ignore the skepticism about theatrical illusion that is voiced by Prospero in the play. In the case of The Tempest, cultural productions ranging from theatrical performances to the closing ceremony of the London Olympics of 20 12 are difficult to conceptualize in the framework of adaptation studies (which relies on the precedence of an original over its derivations). The article argues that media ecology can help scholars map out such connections and differences between performances and cultural phenomena relating to Shakespeare as cannot be fully grasped either in a historicist or presentist perspective