2,299 research outputs found
Crisis Communication Patterns in Social Media during Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy was one of the deadliest and costliest of hurricanes over the
past few decades. Many states experienced significant power outage, however
many people used social media to communicate while having limited or no access
to traditional information sources. In this study, we explored the evolution of
various communication patterns using machine learning techniques and determined
user concerns that emerged over the course of Hurricane Sandy. The original
data included ~52M tweets coming from ~13M users between October 14, 2012 and
November 12, 2012. We run topic model on ~763K tweets from top 4,029 most
frequent users who tweeted about Sandy at least 100 times. We identified 250
well-defined communication patterns based on perplexity. Conversations of most
frequent and relevant users indicate the evolution of numerous storm-phase
(warning, response, and recovery) specific topics. People were also concerned
about storm location and time, media coverage, and activities of political
leaders and celebrities. We also present each relevant keyword that contributed
to one particular pattern of user concerns. Such keywords would be particularly
meaningful in targeted information spreading and effective crisis communication
in similar major disasters. Each of these words can also be helpful for
efficient hash-tagging to reach target audience as needed via social media. The
pattern recognition approach of this study can be used in identifying real time
user needs in future crises
Journalist-source relations and the deliberative system: A network performance approach to investigating journalismâs contribution to facilitating public deliberation in a globalized world
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.Journalist-source relationships and interactions are interpreted in this study as crucial
mechanisms for linking different arenas in a deliberative system. To unravel these
source networks, 106 semi-standardized interviews with journalists as well as PR
professionals from government delegations and NGOs were conducted on-site three UN
climate change conferences between 2010 and 2013, and an online survey was
administered during the conference in 2015. The analysis shows that most journalists
maintain close relationships with their home country delegation. However, journalists
experienced in climate conference coverage also maintain more direct and informal
relations to delegations from other countries and to NGOs while less experienced
journalists exhibit loose and more formally mediated relationship to these actors.
Moreover, journalists focusing on commentary rather than on event-related reporting
have the most variegated and informal networks, thus opening the deliberative system to
diverse perspectives and unknown voices more than others. Government delegations
vary strongly in their tendency to approach journalists while environmental NGOs
interact with journalists primarily to attract media attention in order to indirectly
influence decision makers in national delegations
Navigating the heavy seas of online publishing:Reflections on ten years editorship
Articulo â Journal of Urban Research celebrates its 10th anniversary! To celebrate this milestone, the current editors discuss the numerous changes and challenges related to publishing a peer-reviewed online journal. Since 2005, Articulo has progressively become more international, more professional, and more specialized than its initiators ever dreamed it could be. In ten years, the rather confidential publication has progressively become a journal read by 9,000 people every month. Our editors, who used to work side by side, now live 6,000 km apart. In the midst of often tumultuous change, what hasn't changed is our commitment to the highest quality of publication and our conviction that knowledge â especially if funded by public money â should be universally and freely accessible. Rigorous peer-review and open access are the two principles on which the journal will navigate the often rough seas of online publishing in the future
Taking the Temperature: The Future of Global Health Journalism
Examines trends in coverage of global health issues in mainstream and specialized media, challenges determining amounts and types of coverage, prospects for independent journalism funding, and implications for journalistic integrity and informing policy
A Review of Theory and Practice in Scientometrics
Scientometrics is the study of the quantitative aspects of the process of science as a communication system. It is centrally, but not only, concerned with the analysis of citations in the academic literature. In recent years it has come to play a major role in the measurement and evaluation of research performance. In this review we consider: the historical development of scientometrics, sources of citation data, citation metrics and the âlaws" of scientometrics, normalisation, journal impact factors and other journal metrics, visualising and mapping science, evaluation and policy, and future developments
Feelings in Politics: How American Foreign Policy Can Benefit from Interpersonal Communication
Misperception clouds good decision-making in international politics. American foreign policy doesnât currently allow for ample strategic communication training for the President of the United States to prevent misperception from becoming an issue in international relations. Looking at influential political theorists, itâs easy to discover that they all warn of the detriment that comes with an ineffective communicator in the highest power position in the country.
My research provides an overview of different perceptions formed by the United States and China of each other throughout the Presidency of Donald Trump and his counterpart in Beijing, President Xi Jinping. By analyzing the official press releases of each country about the foreign policy moves of the other, I was able to discover the points of weak policy where relations plummeted and where âsunshine politicsâ prevailed, allowing for further development in the relationship between the two countriesâ leaders.
When the two leaders were sticking to their agreement of having frequent meetings involving dialogue that both countries held in high precedent, perceptions were positive and relations were amicable. The opposite happened when the dialogue was infrequent and American Message-Influence foreign policy prevailed (Corman, 2008) where there was increased unilateral action towards China without dialogue
Achieving Viability for Public Service Media in Challenging Settings
In the face of challenges posed by a shifting digital media landscape, an array of international bodies continue to endorse public service media (PSM) as an essential component of democratisation. Yet how can PSM achieve viability in settings where models of media independence and credibility are unfamiliar or rejected by political leaders? The answer lies in a holistic approach that is neither media-centric nor defeatist about PSMâs place in a landscape marked by younger generationsâ widespread preference for social media platforms. There are more ways of working towards PSM than are often recognized. Wide-ranging research from media NGOs and academics demonstrates the potential of diverse, incremental approaches to embedding the values and mechanisms of PSM. These are as likely to involve regulatory and licensing institutions, unions of media practitioners, audiences, advocacy groups or social media platforms as content producers themselves. This Policy Brief considers the issues, research and policy options around achieving viability for PSM. It concludes with six recommendations that are relevant to policymakers, practitioners and media studies specialists
Contentious politics, contentious knowledges : mobilising against GM crops in India, South Africa and Brazil
Debates about science and technology are central to the future of development. No recent controversy
has highlighted this as much as the debates about genetically-modified (GM) crops. Looking at the
experiences of anti-GM activism in India, South Africa and Brazil, this paper explores how knowledge and
politics are intertwined in mobilisation processes. These interactions are fundamentally shaped by
different local and national contexts of history, politics and economics, but also influenced by global
connections. Through a documentation of the unfolding of the anti-GM campaigns in the three sites over
the past decade, the paper shows how strategic alliances have been formed â across actors and across
debates â which have allowed concerns about GM crops to be inserted into public policy debates. The
strategies and tactics used by anti-GM activist networks are explored across seven âspacesâ for citizen
engagement: formal, invited spaces; informal networking and lobbying; party political and electoral
processes; the legal process and the courts; research, practice and demonstration sites; protest and direct
action; and the media. The case studies highlight the constraints and limitations of activist mobilisation,
and how alternative knowledge framings and perspectives on science, technology and policy are often
silenced. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways forward, focusing on the need to bring
consideration of wider politics and values into deliberations about future science and technology options,
with a move beyond standard mechanisms and processes for deliberation and negotiation about science
and technology policy.
Keywords: GM crops, mobilisation, South Africa, Brazil, India
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