The media image(s) of right-wing populist parties in recent German history : the case of the German Freedom Party 2010-2013

The thesis addresses the media dynamics around a specific case of German right-wing populism in recent years. It examines the mainstream media’s portrayal of the right-wing populist party ‘The Freedom Party’ during its active nation-wide existence as a political party (July 2010 - November 2013). The point of departure is a theory by the German political scientist Frank Decker, which claims that a constant media bias exists in the country towards right-wing groups. This bias can be explained through the German peoples collective memory of the Third Reichs horrors (Hitlers shadow), which is deeply anchored in the German political culture. Essentially, the objective of this thesis is to test Decker’s theory and apply it to the specific case of the German Freedom Party. In order to achieve valid results, various media portals that address different parts of the German public, yet all belong to the mainstream media, have been incorporated into this study. The chosen media include the digital publications of Süddeutsche Zeitung, DER SPIEGEL, BILD and Berliner Zeitung. All relevant articles covering the Freedom Party included in the digital archives of these news publications within the above-mentioned time frame have been analyzed in the main chapter of the thesis. The analytic framework that is applied in order to test Decker’s thesis and look for possible media bias in those publications is Theun van Dijk’s concept of ‘The strategy of polarization/ the ideological square’. In substance, it contains the idea that the ideological opposition of journalists to phenomena they are describing (in this case right-wing parties in general, and the Freedom Party in particular) can be measured through a) How they construct headlines (‘surface structures’) on the phenomenon; b) Which terminology (‘lexical items’) they apply in order to describe it and c) To what degree they highlight negative characteristics of the phenomenon (‘The ideological square’). These three analytic dimensions are applied to every single digital article incorporated into the thesis. Every article is summarized and then analyzed in an in-depth-fashion, while charts visualize and summarize the degree of polarization against the party that can be identified in those media publications. In order to be able to assess the accuracy of the terminology that the media has applied to describe and image the Freedom Party, an introductory analysis of key elements of the party program is included in the main chapter as well. The dismantling of the party’s political agenda serves as a compass for the media investigation. Only if the subject of analysis is approached independently by the researcher, conceptualized in the larger context of the study (right-wing parties in Germany and their relationship with the mainstream media) and labeled according to previous research on the diversity of German right-wing parties, can it be given a fair hearing in its own terms. The investigation of the party program has identified the party as a stereotypical modern right-wing populist party whose ideology is at odds with traditional right-wing extremism in so far as it is firmly located within the democratic framework and does not pass as ‘fascist’. Hence, certain labels for the party can be ruled out as illegitimate and non-accurate. Based on this assessment, three types of terminologies and figures of thought have been conceptualized for the purpose of this study, and examined accordingly in the sources: Openly ideological opposition where ‘anti-fascist-reflexes’ are at full play (false labeling, stigmatizing that cannot be justified through the actual party program), slightly tendentious news coverage (the amplification of certain controversial elements that are included in the program, yet they are framed in an emotional fashion and evoke negative connotations) and neutral news coverage/ accurate labeling of the party’s ideology and agenda (truthfully covering key features of the actual party program). The analysis, which has been divided chronologically into four different analytic phases, and which is conducted newspaper by newspaper, ultimately shows that there no coherent image of the Freedom Party is created by Süddeutsche Zeitung, DER SPIEGEL, BILD and Berliner Zeitung within the time frame of the study. No constant deliberate opposition of the newspapers in question can be identified, yet no favorable news coverage on the Freedom Party has occurred either. In fact, even among the same editorial staff conflicting and contradictory images might were created on the party, and the imaging of the Freedom Party ranged from stigmatizing it as a quasi-fascist party that appears as ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ over describing it accurately as ‘right-wing populist’ to portraying it rather favorably as a ‘protest-party’ or simply ‘Islam-critical’. All in all, the array of opinions on this particular right-wing populist party expressed in the four newspapers is as diverse and heterogeneous as the opinions on right-wing populism in society itself. Hence, Decker’s thesis of the German media’s ‘anti-fascist-reflexes’ towards new-founded right-wing parties could not be verified through the present study

Innovative Approaches, Tools and Visualization Techniques for Analysing Land Use Structures and Dynamics of Cities and Regions (Editorial)

Geospatial analysis and visualisation can be used to gain knowledge about land use structure and its changes on different spatial scales, which in turn is key to unlock the potential for sustainable land use development. This editorial provides a frame to a set of papers of the topical collection “Innovative approaches, tools and visualization techniques for analyzing land use structures and dynamics of cities and regions”, which was initiated in conjunction with the 2017 International Land Use Symposium taken place in Dresden, Germany. It first introduces current, urging land use, development and management challenges. Further on, the editorial presents the individual contributions and reflects their affiliation to the themes “Mapping and Monitoring Approaches” and “Planning, Decision Support and Participation”. Although the objectives, methods and underlying data used in the papers of this topical collection greatly vary, as pieces of a puzzle they contribute to a better analysis and understanding of current and future land use structures and dynamics of cities and regions.Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung e.V. (3483

Geospatial Modeling Approaches to Historical Settlement and Landscape Analysis

Landscapes and human settlements evolve over long periods of time. Land change, as one of the drivers of the ecological crisis in the Anthropocene, therefore, needs to be studied with a long-term perspective. Over the past decades, a substantial body of research has accumulated in the field of land change science. The quantitative geospatial analysis of land change, however, still faces many challenges; be that methodological or data accessibility related. This editorial introduces several scientific contributions to an open-access Special Issue on historical settlement and landscape analysis. The featured articles cover all phases of the analysis process in this field: from the exploration and geocoding of data sources and the acquisition and processing of data to the adequate visualization and application of the retrieved historical geoinformation for knowledge generation. The data used in this research include archival maps, cadastral and master plans, crowdsourced data, airborne LiDAR and satellite-based data products. From a geographical perspective, the issue covers urban and rural regions in Central Europe and North America as well as regions subject to highly dynamic urbanization in East Asia. In the view of global environmental challenges, both the need for long-term studies on land change within Earth system research and the current advancement in AI methods for the retrieval, processing and integration of historical geoinformation will further fuel this field of research

Mapping Long-Term Dynamics of Population and Dwellings Based on a Multi-Temporal Analysis of Urban Morphologies

Information on the distribution and dynamics of dwellings and their inhabitants is essential to support decision-making in various fields such as energy provision, land use planning, risk assessment and disaster management. However, as various different of approaches to estimate the current distribution of population and dwellings exists, further evidence on past dynamics is needed for a better understanding of urban processes. This article therefore addresses the question of whether and how accurately historical distributions of dwellings and inhabitants can be reconstructed with commonly available geodata from national mapping and cadastral agencies. For this purpose, an approach for the automatic derivation of such information is presented. The data basis is constituted by a current digital landscape model and a 3D building model combined with historical land use information automatically extracted from historical topographic maps. For this purpose, methods of image processing, machine learning, change detection and dasymetric mapping are applied. The results for a study area in Germany show that it is possible to automatically derive decadal historical patterns of population and dwellings from 1950 to 2011 at the level of a 100 m grid with slight underestimations and acceptable standard deviations. By a differentiated analysis we were able to quantify the errors for different urban structure types

Geospatial Modeling Approaches to Historical Settlement and Landscape Analysis

Landscapes and human settlements evolve over long periods of time. Land change, as one of the drivers of the ecological crisis in the Anthropocene, therefore, needs to be studied with a long-term perspective. Over the past decades, a substantial body of research has accumulated in the field of land change science. The quantitative geospatial analysis of land change, however, still faces many challenges; be that methodological or data accessibility related. This editorial introduces several scientific contributions to an open-access Special Issue on historical settlement and landscape analysis. The featured articles cover all phases of the analysis process in this field: from the exploration and geocoding of data sources and the acquisition and processing of data to the adequate visualization and application of the retrieved historical geoinformation for knowledge generation. The data used in this research include archival maps, cadastral and master plans, crowdsourced data, airborne LiDAR and satellite-based data products. From a geographical perspective, the issue covers urban and rural regions in Central Europe and North America as well as regions subject to highly dynamic urbanization in East Asia. In the view of global environmental challenges, both the need for long-term studies on land change within Earth system research and the current advancement in AI methods for the retrieval, processing and integration of historical geoinformation will further fuel this field of research

Longitudinal relationship between B-type natriuretic peptide and anxiety in coronary heart disease patients with depression

Objective: Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) suffer from physical limitations, but also from psychological distress. Natriuretic peptides may be involved in the neurobiological processes that modulate psychological adaptation, as they are increased in heart disease and seem to have an anxiolytic-like function. Longitudinal data on this association are scarce. Methods: To assess the relationship between NT-proBNP and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), we used secondary data from a multicenter trial from baseline to 24 months. Patients (N = 308, 80.8% male, mean age 60.1 years) had stable CHD and moderate levels of depression (HADS >= 8). Results: Multiple linear regression adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and physical functioning revealed NT-proBNP as a significant predictor for anxiety at baseline, 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months (all p < .05). Linear mixed model analysis with the six anxiety measures as level-1 variable and NT-proBNP as fixed factor revealed a significant time*NT-proBNP interaction (t(1535.99) = -2.669, p = .01) as well as a significant time*NT-proBNP*sex-interaction (1(1535.99) = 3.277, p = .001), when NT-proBNP was dichotomized into lowest vs. the three highest quartiles. Conclusion: Our results indicate a stable negative association of baseline NT-proBNP with anxiety over two years. In men and women, different pathways modulating this relationship appear to be in effect. Female patients with very low NT-proBNP levels, despite their cardiac disease, show persistently higher levels of anxiety compared to women with higher levels of NT-proBNP and compared to men