Disability activism in the new media ecology: campaigning strategies in the digital era

This article examines the changing nature of disability activism through the influence of social media. As disabled people in the UK have been subjected to acute austerity, this has coincided with a new era of disability activism channelled through increased social media participation. Drawing on the analysis of one group's online activities and a qualitative content analysis of disability protest coverage in traditional news media during the 2012 Paralympic Games, this article positions this shift in the broader framework of ‘new media ecology’ (Hoskins and O’Loughlin, 2010). We explore how emerging structures of disability activism have begun to offer a more visible profile to challenge government policy and negative stereotypes of disabled people. This highlights the usefulness of campaigning strategies for generating favourable news coverage for disability protest

Philanthropy in the News

Over the last two decades, the quantity of news coverage of foundations has gradually risen, but its quality remains highly superficial, according to this report by Philanthropy Awareness Initiative and University of Minnesota professor David Fan. In fact, nearly 99% of more than 40,000 stories since 1990 have been transactional in their content -- focused on grants made and dollars out the door, not on benefits achieved

The Appeal of Protest Rhetoric: How Moral Entrepreneurs Recruit the Media into Moral Struggles

Whenever the news media feature brand-related moral struggles over issues such as ethicality, fairness, or sustainability, brands often find themselves in the position of the culprit. However, brands may also take the opposite position, that of a moral entrepreneur that proactively raises and addresses moral issues that matter to society. In this chapter, we present a case study of the Austrian shoe manufacturer Waldviertler, which staged a protest campaign against Austria’s financial market authorities (FMA) in the wake of the authorities demanding that the company closes its alternative (and illegal) consumer investment model after 10 years of operation. In response to this demand, the company organized protest marches, online petitions, and press conferences to reclaim the moral high ground for its financing model as a way out of the crunch following the global credit crisis and as a way to fight unfair administrative burdens. We present an interpretive analysis of brand communication material and media coverage that reveals how this brand used protest rhetoric on three levels – logos, ethos, and pathos – to reverse moral standards, to embody a rebel ethos, and to cultivate moral indignation. We also show how the media responded to protest rhetoric both with thematic coverage of context, trends, and general evidence, and with episodic coverage focusing on dramatic actions and the company owner’s charisma. We close with a discussion of how protestainment, the stylization of a leader figure, and marketplace sentiments can ensure sustained media coverage of moral struggles

Communication perspectives on social networking and citizen journalism challenges to traditional newspapers

Communication perspectives are presented on the challenges posed to traditional newspapers by social media and citizen journalism, with special reference to the United States. This is an important topic given the critical role investigative reporting, long the domain of newspapers, plays in fostering democratic practices. New Media and social networking technology are evaluated in terms of their impact on the newspaper enterprise. Alternative scenarios for future developments are examined as are the implications for social values and the role of an informed citizenry in democratic society. Strategic management issues are analyzed, and the possibility is considered that social media can fulfill much of the democracy-enhancing role served traditionally by newspapers. --Newspapers,news industry,social media,social networks,democracy,journalism

50 years of Galtung and Ruge : reflections on their model of news values and its relevance for the study of journalism and communication today

In 1965, Galtung and Ruge initiated a rich strand of academic research on the notion of news values and the practice of gatekeeping in a context of international news reporting. Since its publication, many scholars have criticized, revisited, and put their findings to the test, often leading to somehow conflicting conclusions. In general, some studies tend to confirm their findings while others have uttered methodological concerns or came up with new or additional sets of news factors, hence arguing for a further specification of the model. In recent years, scholars also pointed towards the increasing impact of digital media on journalistic practices of news selection. Likewise, new perspectives on global journalism were introduced into the debate. In this article, we bring together these different perspectives in order to inform a broad discussion on Galtung and Ruge’s legacy for the field of communication sciences in general and studies on journalism and international news selection in particular. We first assess how Galtung and Ruge’s hypotheses hold up in an era of unlimited data. Second, we reflect on the need to integrate changing societal and cultural contexts of news selection, production and reception to understand news values today. Third, with contemporary journalistic practices and research in mind, we suggest an agenda for the study of news values in an era of global journalism

Regulation and media monopoly: A case study of broadcast regulation in Pakistan

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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