Off and Online Journalism and Corruption

This book provides a new theoretical framework of determinants that interact together in five hierarchical levels to restrain or produce corruption. The theory suggests a multilevel analysis that tests hypotheses regarding the relations of journalism and corruption within each level and across levels in international comparative research designs. Corruption as the abuse of power for private gain is built into the journalistic, economic, political, and cultural structures of any society and is affected by its interaction within the international system. The important questions of how differences in corruption across countries can be explained or what makes it more or less in a particular society and how press freedom and social media contribute to the fight against corruption are still unanswered. This book represents a significant contribution on the way to answer these critical questions. It discusses a variety of journalism-corruption experiences that provide a wealth of results and analyses. The cases it examines extend from Cuba to Algeria, India, Saudi Arabia, Sub-Saharan African, Gulf Cooperation Countries, Arab World, and Japan. The primary contribution of this book is both theoretical and empirical. Its details as well as the general theoretical frameworks make it a useful book for scholars, academics, undergraduate and graduate students, journalists, and policy makers

The use of social media by organisations when engaging with their online community: the collective storytelling phenomenon

The pervasive nature and use of social media has transformed society and this transformation has attracted significant attention from both industry and academia. The organisational implementation and use of social media are plagued with many challenges, leaving managers frustrated at not achieving the desired results. This emergent and complex nature of the social media phenomenon requires researchers to consider novel approaches when conducting social media research. As the number of Information Systems (IS) researchers conducting research on the social media phenomenon increases, so too does the need to develop relevant and rigorous social media theories. This challenge must be addressed by IS researchers who are contemplating, or are busy conducting research on the social media phenomenon. My PhD thesis responds to the call made by academics and practice for the development of relevant and rigorous social media theories, with the aim of providing a better explanation than what is currently found in the social media literature on social media use within an organisational context. Owing to the emergent nature of the social media phenomenon, the grounded theory method (GTM) is used to develop a substantive theory that increases understanding of this particular phenomenon. Two organisations are selected as the case studies. Both are industry leaders in South Africa, with one being a prominent retailer with a very visible social media presence and the other, being a leading university in South Africa, which is actively growing its social media presence. The results show that organisations enter into a collective storytelling process with their online community. Risk to reputation and the need for online community engagement are identified as reasons for this. Organisations using social media need to be aware of the following conditions that impact on social media use: (1) the social media landscape, (2) the characteristics of social media for use, (3) the relationship between content and social media, (4) content quality, (5) the online community-organisation power dynamic, and (6) the provision of a seamless online experience for the community. Challenges during the collective storytelling process lead to organisations experiencing social media use failures. To overcome these failures, organisations implement education interventions. An evolving supportive social media strategy that provides formal guidelines for social media use ultimately leads to a reduction in the organisational risk to reputation and an improvement in online community engagement, initially identified as the reasons why organisations decide to use social media. The main theoretical contribution is the development of a holistic theoretical framework using the GTM to better explain social media use within organisations when engaging with their online community

How is the makeup market in Tunisia changing? Recommendations to the main market players on how to grow and improve the customers´ online experience

The present Work Project addresses the following question: How is the makeup market in Tunisia changing? We approached this challenge by conducting a primary and secondary research. Insights are organized in two sequential parts : first, the analysis from different perspectives of the changes in the Tunisian makeup industry and the drivers of these changes ; second, recommendations to the makeup brands, distributors and retailers operating in the market on how to grow and improve the costumers’ online experience. The main recommendations involve a new strategy for the luxury and premium brands

Networking and Revolution: How Social Media Has Shaped the Arab Spring

In the Spring of 2011, a tremor swept through North Africa and the Middle East. What began in Tunisia as one man\u27s self-immolation in protest of the government sparked demonstrations throughout the region. Shouting and demonstrating soon escalated into full out revolution. While countries involved have had varying experiences and levels of success, one thing is clear: social media was a powerful tool in this historic moment. Facebook currently has one billion users -- or one in seven people. Twitter has 400 million users, Instagram is home to 100 million users, and YouTube has one billion unique visitors per month. Twenty-five percent of views are via mobile devices. A staggering 70 percent of YouTube traffic is from outside the United States. In 2011, the year that marked the beginning of the Arab Spring, YouTube traffic from mobile devices tripled and the site had one trillion views -- or 140 views per every human on earth. In considering these statistics, this study tracks the use and importance of the Social Media and information and communication technology (ICT) in aiding revolutions. Whether citizen journalism in Tunisia, Facebook pages in Egypt and Yemen, or Social Media attention toward Libya -- Arab Spring countries have seen a drastic impact in the speed, success, and spreading throughout the region of revolutions. After analyzing Social Media\u27s presence in the Arab Spring, it is hard to imagine the uprisings without this tool

Commodifying the followers or challenging the mainstream? The two-sided potential of curvy fashion bloggers

Digital influencers and fashion blogging are the subject of a growing interest as a pattern of both production and consumption of digital culture. This essay examines the process of co-evolution of digital influencers and audiences by taking into consideration the work of female curvy fashion bloggers. It is argued that, although plus-size social media influencers may play a counter-hegemonic role by conveying alternative narratives regarding body and beauty, many curvy blogs are not significantly different to "standard" female outfit blogs, in which an audience is commodified as a source of material income and symbolic capital. Digital influencers, therefore, work as examples of co-opted audiences able to enhance further processes of co-option. The article also studies the social media influencers' relationships with their audiences, focusing attention on the manner through which the blogger produces, develops and maintains this relationship. Cultural studies and political economy perspectives on public are discussed to contextualize the analysis of curvy blogs, as fashion studies have so far shown a limited interest in audience as an issue. The qualitative empirical material of the essay, made of 15 semi-structured interviews with female curvy bloggers and the content analysis of 40 curvy blogs, is analysed according to a grounded theory framework. Three main theoretical dimensions are discussed: the blogger's career, success and professionalization, their faceted role in the process of audience shaping and the (reframed) narratives of beauty and body they spread. Drawing on a typology of curvy bloggers, the antinomy between "commodifying the audience" and "challenging the mainstream" is presented as a misleading way of interpreting the phenomenon, as the commercialisation of attention and the engagement of followers work as powerful and connected poles of a continuum

The Production and Consumption Practices of Online Journalism in Digital Taiwan.

This thesis is an ethnographic study which investigates the production and consumption practices of online journalism in Taiwan. Two key questions are asked: how is online journalism practised in the domain of production and consumption and how is online news culture shaped or constituted through these practices? Distinct from existing studies of online news, I argue that online journalism should be studied as an emerging cultural form, rather than a subordinate of any existing forms of news media. My ethnographic study focuses on the practice aspect of online news consumption and production. It includes observation of, and interviews with, both professional news-workers in the online newsroom and online news consumers in private spaces. The analysis of this data reveals that online journalism has formed a 'convergence news culture'. This convergence culture in online journalism does not only involve an integration of different media formats and organizations, but also involves a convergence of different practices conducted by dispersed participants relating to online news media. In showing how the convergence culture of online journalism is constituted and shaped, I frame the analysis of online journalism through three interrelated aspects: online news production, consumption and online participatory journalism. My key finding suggests that online media, influenced by the convergence of different practices, shapes and expands the producer/consumer relationship. This relationship, therefore, cannot be captured by the conventional dichotomy of information provider - recipient. Both professional news-workers, and consumers/citizens who are involved with the practices of grassroots/citizen journalism, contribute to the circulation of online news information via their various practices of online news media. A significant influence of convergence news culture and the changing relationship is that consumers' or citizens' online news practices have challenged the traditional mainstream definition of what journalism is, as well as provided different 'public knowledge' and perspectives to facilitate public discussions in a new, emergent online public sphere

What makes a fashion blogger on Instagram? The Romanian case study

Fashion bloggers on Instagram can be considered as opinion leaders and trendsetters, 'authentic' content creators and collaborative personas. The article focuses on the Romanian fashion sphere case study to explore the ways in which fashion bloggers build their online personas. We conducted a content analysis of seven of the top Romanian fashion bloggers' accounts (by number of followers) focusing on their activity on posts and Stories over a period of two months (March-April 2017). The results present a classification of main posting categories for Instagram Feed posts, as well as trends and recurrences across Romanian fashion bloggers. The analysis reveals an intense collaboration and establishment of fashion partnerships through a continuous process of tagging one another, as well as attention to creating genuine, 'authentic' content that fosters intimacy with their followers

Framing Modesty Through Muslim Female Fashion Influencers

This study examined how Muslim female fashion Instagram influencers framed the changing notion of modesty throughout their posted content. Posts that used framing theory were purposively selected from six top Arab Gulf influencers from July 1 through December 31, 2019. The captions were studied, categorized into type of framing used (story and spin) and repeated themes were noted. Results demonstrated that these influencers spoke positively of regional modesty trends, especially regarding the range of abaya, hijab and modest wear colors and designs available on the market. This was generalizable across all Gulf influencers, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, as the top influencer in the region shared limited content on framing modesty

The Narrative Subject: Storytelling in the Age of the Internet

This open access book considers the stories of adolescents and young adults from different regions of the world who use digital media as instruments and stages for storytelling, or who make themselves the subject of storytelling. These narratives discuss interconnectedness, self-staging, and managing boundaries. From the perspective of media and cultural research, they can be read as responses to the challenges of contemporary society. Providing empirical evidence and thought-provoking explanations, this book will be useful to students and scholars who wish to uncover how ongoing processes of cultural transformation are reflected in the thoughts and feelings of the internet generation.Welche Geschichten erzählen Menschen, die die digitalen Medien als Instrumente, Bühnen und Gegenstand des Erzählens nutzen? Diese Studie, in die Netzakteur*innen und Blogger*innen einbezogen waren, zeigt: Es sind Geschichten, die u.a. von Vernetzung, Verwandlung, Grenzmanagement und Aufbruch erzählen. Als narrative Zeitsignaturen verweisen sie auf Fragen, Bedürfnisse, Ängste und Sehnsüchte, mit denen sich Kinder, Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene in verschiedenen Regionen der Welt angesichts des weltweiten gesellschaftlich-kulturellen Wandels konfrontiert sehen. Die in dem Buch angestellten kulturwissenschaftlichen Reflexion berücksichtigen die Einflüsse von Kultur und digitaler Technik auf heutiges Geschichtenerzählen