Mass Media and the Semiotics of Popular Culture

U radu se nastoje definirati i opisati glavna obilježja popularne kulture u zapadnom društvu te njihova povezanost s masovnim medijima. S obzirom na to da postojanje i širenje suvremene popularne kulture implicira uporabu masovnih medija, nastoji se dati uvid u način na koji se obilježja popularne kulture oblikuju kao medijski sadržaj. Rad je pisan sa stajališta središnje pozicije u teorijama popularne kulture koja uvažava cjelokupnost njezinih izričaja – i onih koji zadovoljavaju niske ljudske nagone, i onih koji pružaju visoko estetsko iskustvo, i medijskoga spektakla, i istinskih umjetničkih ostvarenja. U radu se zastupa ideja društva koje je istodobni potrošač i proizvođač popularne kulture, što ne isključuje postojanje kapitalističke kulturne produkcije. Također se nastoji odgovoriti na pitanje zašto je popularno uopće popularno te zaključke potkrijepiti primjerima nekih od izričaja popularne kulture – televizije, filma, glazbe i jezika.The paper attempts to define and describe the principal characteristics of popular culture in western society, as well as its close relationship with the mass media. As the spread of contemporary popular culture implies the use of mass media, the paper attempts to provide an insight as to how characteristics of popular culture are shaped into media content. The paper represents a middle ground among the theories of popular culture and takes all of its various expressions into account – both those which appeal to baser human instincts and those which provide a highly aesthetic experience – i.e., both media spectacle and true art form. Society is viewed as both a consumer and a producer of popular culture, which does not exclude the possibility of capitalist cultural production. Finally, the paper attempts to provide an answer to the question what makes popular ‘popular’ and supports its conclusions with examples of some expressions of popular culture; for instance, television, film, music and language

ODNOSI S JAVNOŠĆU U FUNKCIJI DRUŠTVENO ODGOVORNOG POSLOVANJA

U današnje vrijeme odgovoran korporativni menadžment u sve većoj mjeri uviđa da poslovanje čiji je jedini cilj stjecanje profita, bez brige o društvu, okolini i svim interesno utjecajnim skupinama, ne može biti dugoročno održivo. Stoga društveno odgovorno poslovanje (DOP) danas postaje neizostavna strategija odgovornog i etičnog upravljanja korporacijom, što nije u proturječju s ostvarivanjem profita – sve se češće dokazuje da DOP pozitivno utječe na zadovoljstvo zaposlenika, pozitivnu percepciju kompanije u javnosti, sklonost proizvodima i uslugama kompanija koje su implementirale strategiju DOP-a, a posljedično i na povećanje dobiti. Zbog proaktivne prirode DOP-a korporativni odnosi s javnošću mogu igrati značajnu ulogu u uspostavljanju razumijevanja između korporacije i njenih javnosti, podižući svijest o potrebi etičnoga djelovanja i implementacije DOP-a te komunicirajući rezultate DOP-a javnostima. Uspjeh korporacije ovisi o odnosu koji ostvaruje s dionicima, a te je odnose moguće osnažiti definiranjem vlastite vizije, misije i vrijednosti, izgradnjom korporativne kulture, djelovanjem u skladu s njom te učenjem na temelju povratnih informacija koje kompanija dobiva od svojih javnosti. U tom segmentu poslovanja odnosi s javnošću, kao menadžerska funkcija, ispunjavaju svoju svrhu te nalaze svoju pozitivnu primjenu. U radu se kao primjer dobre prakse navodi slučaj kompanije KING ICT

Uses and Gratification Theory – Why Adolescents Use Facebook?

Due to a dynamic development of the Web 2.0 and new trends in the social media field that change on a daily basis, contemporary media research is shifting its focus to a greater extent on media users, their motivation and behavior in using social network sites in order to explain the extreme popularity of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other similar SNSs and mobile chat applications among the young. In this paper we wanted to explore the benefits of Facebook use among adolescents as well as which of their needs are gratified thereat. As the theoretical background we used the uses and gratification theory due to its user oriented approach. Furthermore, we wanted to test whether the uses and gratification concept is adequate for analyzing the motivation and behavior of SNSs users as suggested by some previous research. The survey comprising 431 adolescent Facebook users was conducted from October to December 2013 in the City of Zagreb. The results have shown that most adolescents use Facebook for socializing and communicating with their friends, discussing school activities, setting up meetings and dates with friends as well as obtaining information about social events. The use of Facebook primarily gratifies adolescents’ need for integration, social interaction, information and understanding of their social environment. The uses and gratification theory proved thereby to be an adequate background for the analysis of the results

Comparison of the traditional buckwheat cultivar of northwestern Croatia with foreign varieties

Obična heljda (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) posljednjih godina privukla je veliku pozornost zbog visoke prehrambene vrijednosti i ljekovitih svojstava. Ova kultura ima dugu povijest uzgoja u sjeverozapadnoj Hrvatskoj, a posebno je interesantna u sustavu ekološkog uzgoja. Posljednjih godina raste interes za proizvodnjom i konzumiranjem heljde, no problem predstavlja nedostatak odgovarajućeg sjemenskog materijala. Naime na sortnoj listi Republike Hrvatske nema niti jedne upisane sorte heljde, te se sadašnja proizvodnja temelji uglavnom na sjemenu tradicijskih kultivara (lokalnih populacija) te na uvozu stranih (uglavnom slovenskih) sorata od strane vlasnika OPG-ova. Cilj ovog rada je informirati stručnu javnost o utjecaju načina proizvodnje i roka sjetve na morfološka i agronomska svojstva tradicijskog kultivara heljde Varaždinska. Na osnovu rezultata ovog istraživanja nije utvrđena značajna razlika tradicijskog kultivara u odnosu na strane sorte ni u jednom od mjerenih morfoloških (visina biljke, broj grana po biljci i broj cvatova po biljci) i agronomskih (masa zrna po biljci i masa 1000 zrna) svojstava. Način proizvodnje (konvencionalni, ekološki) također nije značajno utjecao na prosječne vrijednosti mjerenih morfoloških i agronomskih svojstava, iako je utvrđena veća vrijednost morfoloških svojstava u ekološkoj proizvodnji.Due to its high nutritional value and medicinal properties buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) has attracted increasing attention in recent years. This crop has a long history of cultivation in northwestern Croatia. There is special interest in growing buckwheat in organic cropping system. In recent years, interest on the production and consumption of buckwheat is growing, but the problem is the lack of appropriate seed material. Not a single variety of buckwheat is registered on the variety list of the Republic of Croatia, and the current production is based mainly on seeds of traditional cultivars (local populations) and on the import of foreign (mostly Slovenian) varieties by family farm owners. The aim of this paper is to inform the professional public about the impact of cropping systems and sowing dates on the morphological and agronomic traits of the traditional buckwheat cultivar Varaždinska. Based on the results of this research, no significant difference was found between the traditional cultivar in relation to foreign varieties in any of the measured morphological (plant height, number of branches per plant and number of inflorescences per plant) and agronomic (grain weight per plant and 1000 grain weight) traits. The cropping systems (conventional, organic) also did not significantly affect the average values of the measured morphological and agronomic traits, although a higher value of morphological traits in organic cropping system was found

Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic changes during the deposition of Upper Jurassic bauxites and their immediate cover: case study of the Rovinj bauxite pit, Istria, Croatia

The aim of this study was the reconstruction of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes which occurred during the deposition of Upper Jurassic bauxite, and their cover beds, which comprise a cyclic alternation of clays, limestones, and black pebble breccias. Clay and bulk mineralogy, geochemistry and micromorphology of bauxites and clays was studied using XRPD, SEM-EDS, ICP-MS, XRF, AAS and petrography. The bauxite is composed from haematite, boehmite and kaolinite with variable amounts of 14 Å clay, illite and titanium oxides. The composition of major oxides is consistent with the mineralogical composition and is uniform throughout the profile. The values of rare earth elements and variations in the trace element values displayed differences throughout the bauxite profile, distinguishing two bauxite sections, both capped by two clay illuviation rich horizons. The upper section has numerous erosional features and clastic bauxite beds, which when coupled with its different trace elemental fingerprint indicates its deposition over the older pelitomorphic section. This change is likely a consequence of a paleoclimatic shift towards a more seasonal climate during the formation of the younger part of the bauxite. This can be related to the oscillating transgression succeeding the bauxite formation, which is recorded in the cyclical beds covering the bauxite. The clays from the cover beds are composed from dioctahedral vermiculite, kaolinite, illite and a mixed-layer clay mineral (MLCM) consisting of illite and dioctahedral 14 Å phyllosilicate. The increase in illite and MLCM over kaolinite and the increase in Sr/Ba ratio along the profile, indicate a change from a lacustrine towards a marine environment. The iron speciation data supports this, as it recorded the redox changes which indicate a transition from a closed lacustrine environment to an open marine environment. Overall, the study of both bauxites and their cover, allowed a detailed reconstruction of a late Kimmeridgian transgression that followed a terrestrial phase in this part of the Adriatic carbonate platform. This work has been fully supported by Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP-2019-04-8054 – Wian- Lab (Western Istrian Anticline as an Ideal Natural Laboratory for the Study of the Regional Unconformities in Carbonate Rocks)

Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic changes during the deposition of Upper Jurassic bauxites and their immediate cover: case study of the Rovinj bauxite pit, Istria, Croatia

The aim of this study was the reconstruction of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes which occurred during the deposition of Upper Jurassic bauxite, and their cover beds, which comprise a cyclic alternation of clays, limestones, and black pebble breccias. Clay and bulk mineralogy, geochemistry and micromorphology of bauxites and clays was studied using XRPD, SEM-EDS, ICP-MS, XRF, AAS and petrography. The bauxite is composed from haematite, boehmite and kaolinite with variable amounts of 14 Å clay, illite and titanium oxides. The composition of major oxides is consistent with the mineralogical composition and is uniform throughout the profile. The values of rare earth elements and variations in the trace element values displayed differences throughout the bauxite profile, distinguishing two bauxite sections, both capped by two clay illuviation rich horizons. The upper section has numerous erosional features and clastic bauxite beds, which when coupled with its different trace elemental fingerprint indicates its deposition over the older pelitomorphic section. This change is likely a consequence of a paleoclimatic shift towards a more seasonal climate during the formation of the younger part of the bauxite. This can be related to the oscillating transgression succeeding the bauxite formation, which is recorded in the cyclical beds covering the bauxite. The clays from the cover beds are composed from dioctahedral vermiculite, kaolinite, illite and a mixed-layer clay mineral (MLCM) consisting of illite and dioctahedral 14 Å phyllosilicate. The increase in illite and MLCM over kaolinite and the increase in Sr/Ba ratio along the profile, indicate a change from a lacustrine towards a marine environment. The iron speciation data supports this, as it recorded the redox changes which indicate a transition from a closed lacustrine environment to an open marine environment. Overall, the study of both bauxites and their cover, allowed a detailed reconstruction of a late Kimmeridgian transgression that followed a terrestrial phase in this part of the Adriatic carbonate platform. This work has been fully supported by Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP-2019-04-8054 – Wian- Lab (Western Istrian Anticline as an Ideal Natural Laboratory for the Study of the Regional Unconformities in Carbonate Rocks)