An Evaluation of the Knight International Journalism Fellowships

Reviews the achievements of 2007-10 fellows, including government policy changes in response to reporting, networks and educational institutions created, and new funding leveraged; the projects' sustainability and attainment of goals; and lessons learned

Preparing for a Northwest Passage: A Workshop on the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic

Preparing for a Northwest Passage: A Workshop on the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic (March 25 - 27, 2018 -- The University of New Hampshire) paired two of NSF\u27s 10 Big Ideas: Navigating the New Arctic and Growing Convergence Research at NSF. During this event, participants assessed economic, environmental, and social impacts of Arctic change on New England and established convergence research initiatives to prepare for, adapt to, and respond to these effects. Shipping routes through an ice-free Northwest Passage in combination with modifications to ocean circulation and regional climate patterns linked to Arctic ice melt will affect trade, fisheries, tourism, coastal ecology, air and water quality, animal migration, and demographics not only in the Arctic but also in lower latitude coastal regions such as New England. With profound changes on the horizon, this is a critical opportunity for New England to prepare for uncertain yet inevitable economic and environmental impacts of Arctic change

When Anonymous Controlling Professional Media: A Marginal Voice in Press Freedom Country

The emergence of citizen journalism get a skeptical response from professional journalists based on several reasons such as un-institutional, subjective and nonprofessional (O¨rnebring, 2013; Allan, 2009; Moyo, 2009). This study explores how mainstream media play dominant role in producing fact by excluding citizen journalist apart from their system. The object of the study is ‘Discourse’ about the banned of a controversial article1 written by an anonymous2 citizen journalist named Jilbab Hitam (here in after referred to as the ‘JH’)3 in kompasiana.com4. The issues widespread quickly in cyberspace produce pros cons among internet user including professional journalists, NGO, etc. This research employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on articles and twitter conversations relevant to the issue. The results of the study show how anonymity becomes dominant Discourse submerging other important issue such us media manipulation and media corruption. Negative representation of anonymity – hoax, liar, provocative – might tend to hamper struggling of internet user freedom of expression

Studies on community-based environmental monitoring, sustained civic engagement and new opportunities in journalism

In the presented work, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, like sensors and their applications, have been investigated from a socio-technical perspective focusing on civic purposes of the technologies’ use. The aim of the work is to gain a better understanding of civic IoT and its transformative potential for society. Therefore, the overarching research question is: What are the societal implications of the technological object civic IoT? Three application areas identified as highly relevant have been studied: community-based environmental monitoring, sustained engagement of civic tech initiatives, and the “Journalism of Things.” In the first study, the civic IoT initiative Luftdaten.info dedicated to the community-based monitoring of particulate matter in the air was examined. The initiative is organized within limits of technical equipment, resources, and academic knowledge. The case study comprises a media content analysis, a web application analysis, and two expert interviews. The data illustrates that the local air pollution topic is a discursive long-term process striving towards a more sustainable city and community. The findings show that the information provided by Luftdaten motivates certain people to become aware and engaged for their local environment, and some to change their behavior. I found that the initiative itself is managed in a sustainable way being inclusive and resource-saving. The media content analysis shows that events around the emergence of the Luftdaten initiative had a certain influence on the local media agenda. Finally, a data map comparison shows how easily misunderstandings in the representation of monitoring data can occur when taking different decisions during the data analysis and visualization of almost identical datasets. In the second study, two long-lasting civic tech initiatives of global scale were investigated to understand what makes them sustain over time. We conducted two mixed-method case studies of the initiative Luftdaten.info from Germany and the initiative Safecast from Japan. We combined social network analysis and qualitative content analysis of Twitter data with insights from expert interviews. Drawing on our findings, we identified a set of key factors that help the studied civic tech initiatives to grow and last. Contributing to Digital Civics in HCI, we argue that the civic tech initiatives’ scaling and sustaining are configured through the entanglement of (1) civic data both captured and owned by the citizens for the citizens, (2) the use of open and accessible technology, and (3) the initiatives’ public narrative, giving them a voice on the environmental issue. In the third study, Journalism of Things (JoT) as a new paradigm in digital journalism was investigated. Three case studies on recent award-winning journalism projects in Germany were conducted with the analytical lenses of boundary work and objects of journalism. The study comprises interviews with journalists, media content analyses, and observations of virtual public events. The findings suggest four typical phases in JoT projects: formation, data work, presentation, and ramification. Blurred boundaries of journalism towards science and activism become apparent when co-creative JoT teams apply scientific methods and technology design while mobilizing communities. Findings further show that things (or objects) of JoT have implications on the configuration for collaborative arrangements and audience relations. By creating and disseminating new local knowledge on matters of common concern, JoT is also contributing to empowering both journalism and citizens. This dissertation is a cumulative work comprising three peer-reviewed scientific publications

Medium as King: Social Media & the Political Campaign

There is a growing need for a greater understanding of the intersection between great content, effective targeting and proper media usage in mediated communication and especially in American politics. As more campaigns move their efforts online in an attempt to reach a rapidly growing digital constituency, more content will continue to be less visible. The major quest for this study will be to challenge the long-standing idea that “content is king” which Bill Gates termed at the inception of the internet. A theoretical background of Marshall McLuhan and Kathleen Hall Jamieson will not only allow us to answer this question, but then will also allow for future researchers to build upon these concepts. This study will aim to demonstrate how the Ted Cruz presidential campaign of 2016, prior to his departure from the race, was an excellent example of the sweet spot in content creation, voter targeting and medium implementation

Global Risks 2012, Seventh Edition

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks 2012 report is based on a survey of 469 experts from industry, government, academia and civil society that examines 50 global risks across five categories. The report emphasizes the singular effect of a particular constellation of global risks rather than focusing on a single existential risk. Three distinct constellations of risks that present a very serious threat to our future prosperity and security emerged from a review of this year's set of risks. Includes a special review of the important lessons learned from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear crisis at Fukushima, Japan. It focuses on therole of leadership, challenges to effective communication in this information age and resilient business models in response to crises of unforeseen magnitude

Measuring objective and subjective well-being: dimensions and data sources

AbstractWell-being is an important value for people's lives, and it could be considered as an index of societal progress. Researchers have suggested two main approaches for the overall measurement of well-being, the objective and the subjective well-being. Both approaches, as well as their relevant dimensions, have been traditionally captured with surveys. During the last decades, new data sources have been suggested as an alternative or complement to traditional data. This paper aims to present the theoretical background of well-being, by distinguishing between objective and subjective approaches, their relevant dimensions, the new data sources used for their measurement and relevant studies. We also intend to shed light on still barely unexplored dimensions and data sources that could potentially contribute as a key for public policing and social development

The Values and Limits of Altmetrics

Altmetrics are tools for measuring the impact of research beyond scientific communities. In general, they measure online mentions of scholarly outputs, such as on online social networks, blogs, and news sites. Some stakeholders in higher education have championed altmetrics as a new way to understand research impact and as an alternative or supplement to bibliometrics. Contrastingly, others have criticized altmetrics for being ill conceived and limited in their use. This chapter explores the values and limits of altmetrics, including their role in evaluating, promoting, and disseminating research