Interpretive communities of resistance: Emerging counterpublics of immigration alarmism on social media

Debates over immigration have become a defining political cleavage closely related to moral values, perceptions of threat, and the rise of online anti-immigration networks and agitation. Based on in-depth interviews with immigration alarmists, this article discusses how the participants’ anti-immigration position is sanctioned in their everyday social networks and how they find alternative networks online for information, community, and support. This online community takes the form of an emerging counterpublic, characterized by active curation and different levels of participation aimed at optimizing the trade-offs between gaining visibility (moderation and mobilization) and creating an alternative moral community (a “safe space” for peers). Combining notions of interpretative communities of resistance with the theory of counterpublics, the study provides insight into the internal life and values of emerging anti-immigration online communities.Interpretive communities of resistance: Emerging counterpublics of immigration alarmism on social mediapublishedVersio

Contesting the Mainstream:Understanding Alternative News Media and Its Contribution to Diversity

In this introduction to the special issue Contesting the Mainstream: Understanding Alternative News Media, we discuss how and to what extent alternative news media contribute to news diversity. We elaborate on the concept of diversity, the democratic role of media, and the normative implications of alternative media in the wider media sphere. Based on the articles published in this special issue, that offer new and revealing empirical insights into a wide range of alternative media sites and their practices, from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America, and Latin America, we argue that it becomes increasingly clear that awareness about normative positions within alternative media research is imperative. This is because an appreciation of the normative purpose of alternative media guides our ability to understand their role in society. The necessity for thinking through such positions is particularly exemplified by the most radical alternative media actors, and how they are debated and studied in different political systems

Norge etter 22. juli

"At the time of this book’s publication, almost seven years have passed since the dramatic and brutal terror attacks at Norway’s Government Headquarters in Oslo and the island of Utøya on 22 July 2011. How have we coped during this time? Which values have been important? Have we managed to protect the ideals of democracy, openness and humanity? And not least: Who is this ""we"" that we are referring to? This scholarly anthology includes articles from researchers associated with the project NECORE (Negotiating Values: Collective Identities and Resilience after 22 July) and other researchers whose work is closely associated with the project. They give us insights, opinions and sharp perspectives on not just 22 July, but also about Norway today, about values, identities and resilience in Norwegian society in the wake of the terror attacks. An important backdrop for the book and the project is the assertion that, as the events themselves recede into the past, it is even more important to focus on what the terror events have led to and how we can learn from them. In a world where terrorism has become an all too common part of political reality, it is crucial that we understand how we ought to think about terror, and how we as a society encounter it.

Reinventing ‘Many Voices’: MacBride and a Digital New World Information and Communication Order

The MacBride Commission Report was arguably one of the most significant multilateral interventions in the history of international communication. This article charts its emergence at the time of deeply contested Cold War politics, coinciding with the rise of the southern voices in the global arena, led by the non-aligned nations. Thirty-five years after the report's publication, has the global media evolved into a more democratic system, demonstrating greater diversity of views and viewpoints? Despite the still formidable power of US-led western media, the article suggests that the globalisation and digitisation of communication has contributed to a multi-layered and more complex global media scene, demonstrating the “rise of the rest”

Hvor mye medivold er for mye?

Etter Irak-krigen har debatten gått blant internasjonale journalister, politikere og medieforskere: Hvor voldelige bilder skal mediene vise fra slagmarken

Patient narratives: Health journalists’ reflections, dilemmas and criticism of a compelling journalistic tool

Media stories of health and illness are omnipresent. The plethora of available health stories not only inform and educate, they invite us to engage, identify and act, thereby priming basic feelings of fear, hope, identification and a sense of justice. In recent decades, the patient narrative based on the personal experience of individual patients, has come to represent a recognizable genre across hybrid media and popular culture. Patient nar - ratives are rhetorically powerful, but the patients themselves may be in a vulnerable state and in need of particular carefulness. For the 12 health reporters and editors interviewed for this chapter, exposing individual patient stories raises different ethical challenges than using professional sources, potentially altering the balance between professional empathy, involvement and distance. The chapter illuminates the professional dilemmas, ethical considerations and critical reflections that the health reporters experience in their use of personal patient stories as cases and journalistic tools

Disruptive Media Events: Balancing Editorial Control and Open Dissent in the Aftermath of Terror

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HVORDAN SELGE DEN AMERIKANSKE DRØMMEN TIL ARABEREN I GATA?

Etter 11. september prøver usa å gjenopprette sitt image i den arabiske verden. Merkevaren “Amerika” skal selges gjennom Al-Jazeera og arabiske medier. Budskapet er “frihet”. Men noe har gått galt

Disruptive Media Events: Managing mediated dissent in the aftermath of terror

Terror attacks force democratic societies to mobilize, reinforce and rethink core values, including media freedom and freedom of speech. The present article analyzes how one traumatic event—the 2011 Oslo terror—challenged editorial practices related to editorial control and open debate in major Norwegian media organizations. Meeting the call for more research on disruptive media events in a hybrid media landscape, it illuminates how professional media balance critical debate with strategies for societal recovery in contemporary post-crisis contexts. Based on in-depth interviews with debate editors, the article documents how terror profoundly challenges editorial practices, routines and norms in media organizations with debates in multiple formats and platforms. In their online comment sections, the media organizations all moved towards a more interventionist policy introducing multiple new control measures. In the traditional op-ed formats, however, they selectively expanded the range of voices and included actors deemed too extreme prior to the attacks. Theoretically the article contributes to the literature on disruptive (key) events, editorial strategies during crisis, editorial control in contemporary media systems and editorial approaches to mediated deviance.acceptedVersio

Courting, criticism, censorship and bombs : a study of the relation between the Al Jazeera Channel and the US administration during the war in Iraq 2003

SAMMENDRAG: Oppgaven drøfter forholdet mellom den amerikanske administrasjonen og Al Jazeera Channel under krigen i Irak 2003. Etter 11. september 2001 har forholdet mellom de amerikanske myndighetene og den arabiske satellittkanalen variert fra smisk og smiger, til kritikk, sensurpress og bombing av Al Jazeeras kontorer i felten. Dette motsetningsfylte forholdet drøftes ved hjelp av en kombinasjon av kvalitative og kvantitative metoder (metodetriangulering), med hovedvekt på intervjuer med Al Jazeera-ansatte og representanter for den amerikanske administrasjonen. Analysen er strukturert rundt tre aspekter ved relasjonen: 1) Hvordan Al Jazeeras dekning utfordret den offisielle amerikanske versjonen av krigen i Irak og den amerikanske reaksjonen på den arabiske krigsdekningen, 2) Forholdet mellom de Al Jazeera-ansatte og de amerikanske representantene på bakkenivå, og 3) I hvilken grad den amerikanske satsningen på å vinne araberen i gata gjennom Al Jazeera var vellykket. Oppgaven viser hvordan amerikanske myndigheter kritiserte Al Jazeera og la politisk press på myndighetene i Qatar for å dempe kanalens kritiske dekning. Dette ble tolket som et forsøk på å begrense Al Jazeeras ytringsfrihet og ble dermed som et symbol på USAs selektive tolkning av internasjonale menneskerettigheter. I tillegg ignorerte den amerikanske administrasjonen i stor grad de internasjonale prinsippene om å beskytte journalister i krig. Den amerikanske brutaliteten gikk spesielt utover sikkerheten til de uavhengige journalistene inne i Irak, blant dem Al Jazeeras team i krigssonen. Det sterkeste symbolet på denne amerikanske brutaliteten var angrepet på Al Jazeeras Bagdad-kontor. Disse negative hendelsene underminerte de mer positive sidene ved forholdet mellom amerikanske myndigheter og satellittkanalen, i en tid der amerikanerne forsøker å gå i dialog med den arabiske opinionen via de arabiske satellittkanalene. Oppgavens hovedfunn er at så lenge de negative sidene ved forholdet får dominere partenes forhold til hverandre, vil USA tape mediekrigen i den arabiske verden