Comparing international coverage of 9/11 : towards an interdisciplinary explanation of the construction of news

This article presents an interdisciplinary model attempting to explain how news is constructed by relying on the contributions of different fields of study: News Sociology, Political Communications, International Communications, International Relations. It is a first step towards developing a holistic theoretical approach to what shapes the news, which bridges current micro to macro approaches. More precisely the model explains news variation across different media organization and countries by focusing on the different way the sense of newsworthiness of journalists is affected by three main variables: national interest, national journalistic culture, and editorial policy of each media organization. The model is developed on the basis of an investigation into what shaped the media coverage of 9/11 in eight elite newspapers across the US, France, Italy and Pakistan

Scheduling science on television: A comparative analysis of the representations of science in 11 European countries

While science-in-the-media is a useful vehicle for understanding the media, few scholars have used it that way: instead, they look at science-in-the-media as a way of understanding science-in-the-media and often end up attributing characteristics to science-in-the-media that are simply characteristics of the media, rather than of the science they see there. This point of view was argued by Jane Gregory and Steve Miller in 1998 in Science in Public. Science, they concluded, is not a special case in the mass media, understanding science-in-the-media is mostly about understanding the media (Gregory and Miller, 1998: 105). More than a decade later, research that looks for patterns or even determinants of science-in-the-media, be it in press or electronic media, is still very rare. There is interest in explaining the media’s selection of science content from a media perspective. Instead, the search for, and analysis of, several kinds of distortions in media representations of science have been leading topics of science-in-the-media research since its beginning in the USA at the end of the 1960s and remain influential today (see Lewenstein, 1994; Weigold, 2001; Kohring, 2005 for summaries). Only a relatively small amount of research has been conducted seeking to identify factors relevant to understanding how science is treated by the mass media in general and by television in particular. The current study addresses the lack of research in this area. Our research seeks to explore which constraints national media systems place on the volume and structure of science programming in television. In simpler terms, the main question this study is trying to address is why science-in-TV in Europe appears as it does. We seek to link research focussing on the detailed analysis of science representations on television (Silverstone, 1984; Collins, 1987; Hornig, 1990; Leon, 2008), and media research focussing on the historical genesis and current political regulation of national media systems (see for instance Hallin and Mancini, 2004; Napoli, 2004; Open Society Institute, 2005, 2008). The former studies provide deeper insights into the selection and reconstruction of scientific subject matters, which reflect and – at the same time – reinforce popular images of science. But their studies do not give much attention to production constraints or other relevant factors which could provide an insight into why media treat science as they do. The latter scholars inter alia shed light on distinct media policies in Europe which significantly influence national channel patterns. However, they do not refer to clearly defined content categories but to fairly rough distinctions such as information versus entertainment or fictional versus factual. Accordingly, we know more about historical roots and current practices of media regulation across Europe than we do about the effects of these different regimes on the provision of specific content in European societies

CRAFT (Cerclage after full dilatation caesarean section): protocol of a mixed methods study investigating the role of previous in-labour caesarean section in preterm birth risk

BACKGROUND: Full dilatation caesarean sections are associated with recurrent early spontaneous preterm birth and late miscarriage. The risk following first stage caesarean sections, are less well defined, but appears to be increased in late-first stage of labour. The mechanism for this increased risk of late miscarriage and early spontaneous preterm birth in these women is unknown and there are uncertainties with regards to clinical management. Current predictive models of preterm birth (based on transvaginal ultrasound and quantitative fetal fibronectin) have not been validated in these women and it is unknown whether the threshold to define a short cervix (≤25 mm) is reliable in predicting the risk of preterm birth. In addition the efficacy of standard treatments or whether benefit may be derived from prophylactic interventions such as a cervical cerclage is unknown. METHODS: There are three distinct components to the CRAFT project (CRAFT-OBS, CRAFT-RCT and CRAFT-IMG). CRAFT-OBS: Observational Study; To evaluate subsequent pregnancy risk of preterm birth in women with a prior caesarean section in established labour. This prospective study of cervical length and quantitative fetal fibronectin data will establish a predictive model of preterm birth. CRAFT-RCT: Randomised controlled trial arm; To assess treatment for short cervix in women at high risk of preterm birth following a fully dilated caesarean section. CRAFT-IMG: Imaging sub-study; To evaluate the use of MRI and transvaginal ultrasound imaging of micro and macrostructural cervical features which may predispose to preterm birth in women with a previous fully dilated caesarean section, such as scar position and niche. DISCUSSION: The CRAFT project will quantify the risk of preterm birth or late miscarriage in women with previous in-labour caesarean section, define the best management and shed light on pathological mechanisms so as to improve the care we offer to women and their babies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CRAFT was prospectively registered on 25th November 2019 with the ISRCTN registry ( https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15068651 )

The media use of diaspora in a conflict situation : A case study of Venezuelans in Finland

Many Venezuelan emigrants have an emotional connection and/or they have family members and friends in the country of origin, and that is why they seek to find reliable information on the conflict situation in Venezuela. Therefore, they keep in touch with family members, read mainstream news and use different social media platforms. Thus, what kind of impact the conflict has on the media use and how events reported in the media are interpreted is investigated in this study of Venezuelan diaspora in Finland by using social media ethnography. There are internal and external factors behind the media use. External factors come from societies of the host and origin countries. Internal factors rise from family connections and identity construction concerning personal national identity or political activism.Peer reviewe

Bad news from Fallujah

This study uses the thematic analysis developed by the Glasgow University Media Group to explore how the US, UK and German national press covered the US/Coalition assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah in November 2004. The study relies on quantitative and qualitative full text content analyses to assess 428 news, editorial and commentary items. The article suggests that, while government and military officials of the US/Coalition had argued the military ‘operation’ was necessary to secure Iraq and defeat an ‘insurgency’, organisations and actors from Iraqi society refer to the ‘operation’ as ‘collective punishment’ and a ‘massacre’ that targeted the Iraqi population. The article investigates how the press represented each of these perspectives. The findings suggest that the press overemphasised the US/Coalition perspective despite striking counter evidence. Critical aspects of coverage largely focused on tactical elements of the military dimension of the event. The article concludes that such findings are in accord with hegemonic models of media performance

BLAST Ring Image Generator (BRIG): simple prokaryote genome comparisons

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Visualisation of genome comparisons is invaluable for helping to determine genotypic differences between closely related prokaryotes. New visualisation and abstraction methods are required in order to improve the validation, interpretation and communication of genome sequence information; especially with the increasing amount of data arising from next-generation sequencing projects. Visualising a prokaryote genome as a circular image has become a powerful means of displaying informative comparisons of one genome to a number of others. Several programs, imaging libraries and internet resources already exist for this purpose, however, most are either limited in the number of comparisons they can show, are unable to adequately utilise draft genome sequence data, or require a knowledge of command-line scripting for implementation. Currently, there is no freely available desktop application that enables users to rapidly visualise comparisons between hundreds of draft or complete genomes in a single image.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>BLAST Ring Image Generator (BRIG) can generate images that show multiple prokaryote genome comparisons, without an arbitrary limit on the number of genomes compared. The output image shows similarity between a central reference sequence and other sequences as a set of concentric rings, where BLAST matches are coloured on a sliding scale indicating a defined percentage identity. Images can also include draft genome assembly information to show read coverage, assembly breakpoints and collapsed repeats. In addition, BRIG supports the mapping of unassembled sequencing reads against one or more central reference sequences. Many types of custom data and annotations can be shown using BRIG, making it a versatile approach for visualising a range of genomic comparison data. BRIG is readily accessible to any user, as it assumes no specialist computational knowledge and will perform all required file parsing and BLAST comparisons automatically.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is a clear need for a user-friendly program that can produce genome comparisons for a large number of prokaryote genomes with an emphasis on rapidly utilising unfinished or unassembled genome data. Here we present BRIG, a cross-platform application that enables the interactive generation of comparative genomic images via a simple graphical-user interface. BRIG is freely available for all operating systems at <url>http://sourceforge.net/projects/brig/</url>.</p

Media events, spectacles and risky globalization: a critical review and possible avenues for future research

We review the research conducted to date on media events and media spectacles. We posit that the main phenomena challenging the current conceptualizations of media event and media spectacle are (1) the understanding of risk, (2) the context of disasters and (3) globalization and the mediation of news in the context of transnational and transitional societies. We suggest that more research on disruptive events is needed. In the context of the new media landscape in particular, the ritual researcher may need to take into account the concepts of temporality and unpredictability as inherent features of media events and rituals – the traumatic events researcher may benefit from the concept of global risk society. Finally, we argue that more research needs to be carried out on transitional societies, as we need to learn more about the role of mediation, events and spectacles in democratization processes and in contemporary revolutions. Overall, our findings indicate that in the context of global risk society, constant disruptions and unplanned events, together with the changes in news transmission, need to be taken as a starting point also in the research frames used to understand the mediation of events in contemporary society