Can Fake News busters replace editors?

In the debate about how to tackle the growing phenomenon of Fake News, much attention is devoted to countermeasures such as fact-checking or better media literacy, but less to the root cause of the problem. Considerable criticism focuses on the failures of contemporary journalism and how it under-performs in digital age, but not many want to admit that it is not journalism itself that is to blame but one of its aspects: the editorial process which has suffered greatly from digital convergence. The article surmises that fact-checking is a limited tool to tackle Fake News, and that ensuring proper editorial procedures in the digital context is the way to go forward

Prediction and correlation of the salt-effect in vapor-liquid equilibrium

The feasibility of developing a method of correlation and prediction, for mixtures of two solvents containing a dissolved salt has been studied. The procedure consisted of arriving at the interaction parameters for the three binary systems (solvent 1-solvent 2, solvent 1-salt, solvent 2-salt) and using these to calculate the ternary results. Attempts to generate interaction parameters for the solvent-salt binaries by means of the Wilson equation were unsuccessful, whereas, use of the NRTL equation resulted in a very good fit of the binary data. In correlating the ternary results, it became necessary to redefine the liquid phase mole fractions and activity coefficients for the binary and ternary systems, by the assumption of full dissociation of the salt in solution. A further assumption led to a simplification of the procedure and an improvement of the results for some of the ternary systems: for certain binaries in which the activity coefficient of the solvent did not deviate from unity by more than 10%, the parameters were assumed to equal 0.0 and the binary to behave ideal. A study was made of the effect of α12 on the ternary fit. Prediction of the ternary behavior from binary data appears possible but additional experimental data is needed for the development of guidelines for the choice of the appropriate value of α for the solvent-solvent binary. For the system MeOH-H2O-LiCl the results are better than those of the Broul and Hala correlation. Good results were also obtained for MeOH-H2O-potassium acetate and MeOH-H2O-CaCl2. The Johnson and Furter equation fails to correlate the potassium acetate system. For two additional systems of questionable experimental accuracy, erroneous predictions were made. The method of correlation is easier to apply than the Broul and Hala technique. All other methods of correlation - Broul and Hala excepted - have dealt only with systems saturated with salt. The method presented here can be applied for any salt concentration. The method can be applied to either isobaric or isothermal data

The failure of a success story : reforming Georgia’s public service broadcaster

Georgia’s “Law on Broadcasting” was passed in 2004 to provide, among other things, a legal framework for the transformation of the country’s state broadcaster into the public service media provider. The law itself has been praised internationally for its progressive nature and presented as an example for other post-Soviet countries to follow. A decade later, and after a number of amendments, it is no longer seen as effective in ensuring that public service broadcasting in Georgia provides the expected quality and range of services, or can be immune to political interference. Since its birth, GPB has suffered from continuous crises and scandals, and has never been a major player in the Georgian media. There have been several attempts involving international organisations and institutions to reform and improve GPB, to elevate its status and increase its market share, but none of them ha ve succeeded. Most of those efforts have been supported by the European Commission and the OSCE, with participation from such media organisations as the BBC, which had run a series of training and monitoring programmes until 2011. A comprehensive programme of editorial, managerial and structural reform at the Georgian broadcaster developed in 2011-12 was shelved ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections, and GPB has been in a state of semi-paralysis ever since. The article examines the state of public service broadcasting in Georgia and what could be done to improve it

A short guidance how to make the 'Communication and visibility plan' operational

A practical guide for novice press and communication officers how to use a communication and visibility plan on the operational level and how to write press releases, newsletters and formulate smart messages

Communication and visibility plan (revised)

The Media Dialogue project in Kyrgyzstan has required an operational communication and visibility plan taking in the needs of the internet and social media audience but also catering for more traditional consumers. That plan follows the EU communication and visibility guidelines but makes allowances for the socio-political context of the target country. It is a radical revision of the original plan which the local staff was unable to make an effective use of and operationalise it for the benefit of the project

Needs assessment report on the state of Georgia's public service broadcaster

A comprehensive report commissioned by the European Union Delegation to Tbilisi in 2011 to assess the needs of Georgia's public service broadcaster with the view to reforming the editorial and institutional aspects of the organisation. It assesses the weaknesses and strengths of the organisation and recommends a set of measures to be taken in the future