Government Communication Capacity and Media Freedom

The aim of this rapid literature review is to examine the relationship between government communication services and media freedom. However, this relationship receives little mention in the literature on media development and media freedom. Hence, it is very difficult to reach a consensus on the relationship between government communication services and media freedom due to the lack of evidence. Although there is a well-developed literature on media support as part of international development assistance, it makes little reference to the role of government communication services in supporting the development of a free and independent media. Instead, the literature emphasises the watchdog role of the media in terms of fostering transparency and accountability (Deane, 2015). There is limited mention of the relationship between governments and media in the readings on the media ecosystem and open government initiatives supported by the OECD (OECD, 2016a; Ubaldi & Perez, 2018). The literature in this review comprises a mix of academic literature and policy reports produced by the OECD, the World Bank, Centre for Independent Media Assistance (CIMA) and BBC Media Action. The media eco-system includes government, public and private sector media, social media companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and citizens (OECD, 2017). This rapid literature review will focus on the influence of government communication on the government-media relationship. It does not encompass other avenues through which government is able to affect the media environment such as legislation, public policy and political culture. The role of the public media is briefly considered

‘We planned a dispute by Blackberry’: The implications of the Trade Union Bill for Union use of social media as suggested by the BA-BASSA dispute of 2009–11

The Trade Union Bill 2015–16 was expected to receive royal assent by May 2016. The Bill enshrines the Conservative Government’s plans to reform trade unions and ‘to protect essential public services against strikes’. Following the Government’s climb-down on changes to union checkoff arrangements and to the operation of union political funds and facility time, central features are the proposed changes to thresholds for industrial action in strike ballots, to the notice period for strike action and to the time limit in which industrial action can be taken. In parallel with the introduction of the Bill, the Government published an eight-week public consultation which asked whether statutory measures should be taken to tackle the intimidation of non-striking workers during industrial disputes. In the Consultation, the Government stated its intention to reform and modernise the rules relating to picketing, including the possible extension of the Code on picketing to protests linked to industrial action which may encompass the use of social media. The Consultation found little support for Government proposals and in particular the suggestion that unions give two weeks’ notice of plans for picketing and protests, including the intended use of social media and this proposal was subsequently dropped. However, the government has stated that it will update the Code of Practice on Picketing to include guidance on the use of social media. This paper draws on our research on the 2009–11 British Airways strikes to consider the Government’s aspiration to widen the definition of industrial action to include protests away from the workplace, particularly organised by, or involving, social media. It will reveal how social media was used by BASSA (British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association) during the industrial action at British Airways (BA), when it became an additional site of conflict between the union and employer. In the light of these developments, the paper will also consider the potential consequences of the inclusion of measures on unions’ use of social media in the Code of Practice

SMART Media Technologies impact on the Spiritual Experience of Hajj Pilgrims

Over the last two decades, information and communication technologies have advanced rapidly and continue to do so. Currently, the popularity and spread of SMART Media Technologies (SMT) is not only transforming the lives of tourists around the world in general, but is impacting on the experience of pilgrims on the Hajj in Saudi Arabia in particular,(Brdesee et al, 2013). Indeed, the Saudi government has undertaken a number of initiatives to encourage the use of SMT in the religious tourism industry, (Majid, 2016). Specifically, the availability of SMT services such as Hajj Apps, E-bracelets for pilgrims, free WIFI and mobile charging services in Grand Mosques (in both Mecca and Madinah), dedicated social media websites, and the ability of pilgrims to take advantage of SMART phone activities are facilitating and enhancing their technological and social experience of the Hajj (Naar, 2015; also BBC, 2016). However, arguably the introduction of ‘high-tech’ into the Hajj is arguably impacting on the nature of the pilgrims’ experience, challenging its fundamental spirituality by transforming it into something more akin to a ‘cyber experience’, an experience which competes with and jeopardies the principles of the Islamic religious journey of the Hajj with its focus on worship, simplicity and no ostentatious behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the spiritual experience of pilgrims may be influenced by the availability and use of various SMT services. The findings suggest ways in which these technological services both enhance and impact negatively on the pilgrim’s spiritual experience

From the "Fareej" to Metropolis" Qatar Social Capital Sirvey II

Qatar faces a social and economic transformation today linked to its unique demographic composition. Understanding social interactions within and across its diverse subgroups is critical for understanding and managing this transformation. In its second wave of "From Fareej to Metropolis: A Social Capital Survey of Qatar II", we set out to describe those interactions and to compare them to the findings from the 2011 first wave survey. To achieve this goal, we draw on the concept of social capital, which refers to the sum of correlation indicators between the members of the same community, whether at the level of family and personal relationships, between different groups in the community, or the trust in institutions and public services. 2 Numerous studies support the hypothesis that there is a link between the increase of social capital in a certain community and its prosperity, including the work by Robert Putnam3 on Italian south and north provinces, in which he makes a link between the prosperity of the north and the increase of social capital indicators therein. This executive report presents a comparison between selected findings from the 2011 and 2015 waves of "From Fareej to Metropolis: A Social Capital Survey of Qatar.” The report is organized according to the various social capital literatures into bridging, bonding, and institutional social capital. 4 Bonding indicators examine the relationship between members of the same group and family and personal relationships, while bridging social capital indicators explore the relationship and communication between various groups. Finally, the third section presents the results of the institutional social capital indicators, which examine the attitudes of Qataris and white-collar expats towards government services, media sources, and their participation in charity and volunteer work. The report concludes that social capital in Qatar is still high in terms of within-group bonding relationships. It also indicates a significant increase in the indicators of trust among Qataris and white-collar workers in particular, while the percentage remained stable for the blue-collar workers as compared to the previous wave of the study. Last section of the study notes a rise in confidence among Qataris and white-collar workers in government agencies and services, and in unofficial sources of information such as majlis, the internet, and friends. It is also noted that there is no significant increase in the percentage of people participating in civil society institutions between the two waves of the study

Public health social media communications and consumer neuroscience

Consumer neuroscience is an emerging discipline. Potential exists for neurological quantitative research techniques to be used for the development and analysis of public health messages due to limited numbers of successful campaigns. In some instances, highly successful public health marketing campaigns have been designed to address something greater than financial gain and have achieved exceptional reach. This results in increased public awareness using social amplification platforms. Examples of these include action-oriented social media campaigns that ask individuals to act, share, pledge or challenge on behalf of a health or social cause. Neurological and physiological techniques include functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetoencephalography, electroencephalography, eye tracking, galvanic skin response, heart rate, facial recognition and implicit association testing. Due to nonconscious decision-making processes these techniques have the potential to identify driving forces behind individuals' decision to become involved in health and social cause marketing campaigns that are unable to be identified with qualitative research methods. In 2014/2015 the Australian Government spent $23.3 million Australian dollars (AUD) on health and social service marketing campaigns, with$19.4 million AUD on health communications, and $3.9 million AUD on social services. These figures are considered conservative as expenditure on marketing campaigns below$250 thousand AUD is excluded. Thus, using consumer neuroscience to inform the design of future public health and social cause communications, which may help to save a life, while reducing expenditure on unsuccessful campaigns, requires greater understanding of the effectiveness of a positive action orientation vs. a fear and shock approach

Get yourself connected: conceptualising the role of digital technologies in Norwegian career guidance

This report outlines the role of digital technologies in the provision of career guidance. It was commissioned by the c ommittee on career guidance which is advising the Norwegian Government following a review of the countries skills system by the OECD. In this report we argue that career guidance and online career guidance in particular can support the development of Norwa y’s skills system to help meet the economic challenges that it faces.The expert committee advising Norway’s Career Guidance Initiativ

Representations of the Affordable Care Act in Oklahoma Government Press Releases 2010 to 2015

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed, expanding healthcare access to all uninsured U.S. citizens. Specific provisions included expanding Medicaid coverage to individuals with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) and providing federal subsidies to purchase private health insurance to individuals with incomes between 100% and 400% of the FPL. Despite Oklahoma’s 18% medically uninsured rate, Oklahoma legislators opted to deny expansion and its associated federal funds to expand healthcare services within Oklahoma. This decision by lawmakers to deny healthcare expansion, juxtaposed next to Oklahoma’s historically unhealthy population, suggests the need to examine Oklahoma’s political representation of underinsured citizens through government press releases. Accordingly, I use discourse analysis to review press releases retrieved from government websites between 2010 and 2015. I use these press releases to determine how government media and individual legislators use political, economic, or social themes to garner support for or against ACA expansion and associated healthcare reforms. I then relate this information to the voting patterns, distribution of underinsured constituencies, and the overall health status of Oklahoma. This analysis shows government media and Oklahoma legislators discuss healthcare reform to address constituency needs and interests concerning healthcare reform in Oklahoma between 2010-2015. This study may be used to encourage legislative and constituency awareness of healthcare issues in Oklahoma. It also reveals important information for constituencies about how media and legislators tailor their political discussions to garner support for political positions that may or may not represent Oklahoma’s best interests. The context of this research rests in both health and political geographies, as the issue of healthcare policy is specific to place and maintains a mutually constitutive relationship between its development, government, and the people.Geograph

What makes advocacy work? Stakeholders’ voices and insights from prioritisation of maternal and child health programme in Nigeria

Background The Nigerian government introduced and implemented a health programme to improve maternal and child health (MCH) called Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment programme for MCH (SURE-P/MCH). It ran from 2012 and ended abruptly in 2015 and was followed by increased advocacy for sustaining the MCH (antenatal, delivery, postnatal and immunization) services as a policy priority. Advocacy is important in allowing social voice, facilitating prioritization, and bringing different forces/actors together. Therefore, the study set out to understand how advocacy works - through understanding what effective advocacy implementation processes comprise and what mechanisms are triggered by which contexts to produce the intended outcomes. Methods The study used a Realist Evaluation design through a mixed quantitative and qualitative methods case study approach. The programme theory (PT) was developed from three substantive social theories (power politics, media influence communication theory, and the three-streams theory of agenda-setting), data and programme design documentation, and subsequently tested. We report information from 22 key informant interviews including national and State policy and law makers, policy implementers, CSOs, Development partners, NGOs, health professional groups, and media practitioners and review of relevant documents on advocacy events post-SURE-P. Results Key advocacy organizations and individuals including health professional groups, the media, civil society organizations, powerful individuals, and policymakers were involved in advocacy activities. The nature of their engagement included organizing workshops, symposiums, town hall meetings, individual meetings, press conferences, demonstrations, and engagements with media. Effective advocacy mechanism involved alliance brokering to increase influence, the media supporting and engaging in advocacy, and the use of champions, influencers, and spouses (Leadership and Elite Gendered Power Dynamics). The key contextual influences which determined the effectiveness of advocacy measures for MCH included the political cycle, availability of evidence on the issue, networking with powerful and interested champions, and alliance building in advocacy. All these enhanced the entrenchment of MCH on the political and financial agenda at the State and Federal levels. Conclusions Our result suggest that advocacy can be a useful tool to bring together different forces by allowing expression of voices and ensuring accountability of different actors including policymakers. In the context of poor health outcomes, interest from policymakers and politicians in MCH, combined with advocacy from key policy actors armed with evidence, can improve prioritization and sustained implementation of MCH services

Incentives for the adoption of e-government by Greek municipalities

Purpose: The research aims to identify the incentives that play an important role in the evolution of e-government in Greece at local scale and its actual development level. It also investigates the factors and the perceived barriers that affect the development of local egovernment in Greek Municipalities, as well as the benefits they derive from it. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on a survey that was conducted through a questionnaire to all 325 Municipalities of the country and includes data from 109 Municipalities that participated in the quantitative approach. Findings: While e-government is spread at a relatively satisfactory level, it appears that only a few Municipalities are performing well. Results highlight also the two main incentives that motivate Municipalities to adopt e-government: The first is the improvement of the efficiency of information exchange with the external environment and the second is managing internal issues-relationships in conjunction with the existence of prominent IT departments. Amongst the main factors that affect e-government adoption by Local authorities, budgetary constraints stand out, while the lack of personnel specialized in Information Technologies is identified as common obstacle. Practical Implications: Findings suggest that an integrated approach to e-government is needed in order to enable organizations to minimize failures and to overcome barriers and counter risks. The capacity to align e-government applications with the increasing and evolving needs and requirements of the citizens is the key to optimizing the benefits of eGovernment at local scale. Originality/Value: There is no similar empirical research in the context of Greece; hence, it seems important to increase the knowledge about the drivers of e-government adoption, especially in the public sector at the local scale.peer-reviewe