Search Results (485)

This study examines the psychological and social impacts of the April 2024 Iranian combined attack on Israel—a new, globally unprecedented experience for civilians. Aware of incoming missiles and drones, Israelis followed real-time television coverage, including countdowns and visual simulations, which allowed them to anticipate the impacts of potential strikes on their homes and communities. The attack and its coverage blurred the boundaries between crisis and media spectacle, creating a rare convergence of immediate personal threat with real-time media framing. This paper explores how this unique format influenced public anxiety, news consumption, and crisis perception. The results reveal the profound psychological effects of this real-time threat monitoring, raising important questions about the media’s impact on framing crises such as live events and the corresponding effects on public mental health. Full article

Scholarly discussions around the significance of journalism for democracy and the public sphere have traditionally centered on news and political journalism. Consequently, there is a dearth of studies on the role of politics in other journalistic subfields. This paper addresses this research gap by examining the democratic contribution of cultural journalism in Sweden. Drawing on public sphere theory and agonistic democracy theory and utilizing data from a nationwide Swedish survey (N = 1804), social variations in consumption are analyzed, including the types of content that motivate people to consume cultural journalism. Results indicate that age, education, and political preferences are important correlates in relation to high consumption of cultural journalism. Furthermore, the findings indicate that societal debate is a more significant driver of cultural journalism consumption than traditional aesthetic coverage. This underscores the distinctive democratic role of cultural journalism within the media landscape and its particular contribution to the diversity of journalistic content. Full article

Background/Objectives: Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are a rapidly developing technology that captures and transmits brain signals to external sources, allowing the user control of devices such as prosthetics. BCI technology offers the potential to restore physical capabilities in the body and change how we interact and communicate with computers and each other. While BCI technology has existed for decades, recent developments have caused the technology to generate a host of ethical issues and discussions in both academic and public circles. Given that media representation has the potential to shape public perception and policy, it is necessary to evaluate the space that these issues take in public discourse. Methods: We conducted a rapid review of media articles in English discussing ethical issues of BCI technology from 2013 to 2024 as indexed by LexisNexis. Our searches yielded 675 articles, with a final sample containing 182 articles. We assessed the themes of the articles and coded them based on the ethical issues discussed, ethical frameworks, recommendations, tone, and application of technology. Results: Our results showed a marked rise in interest in media articles over time, signaling an increased focus on this topic. The majority of articles adopted a balanced or neutral tone when discussing BCIs and focused on ethical issues regarding privacy, autonomy, and regulation. Conclusions: Current discussion of ethical issues reflects growing news coverage of companies such as Neuralink, and reveals a mounting distrust of BCI technology. The growing recognition of ethical considerations in BCI highlights the importance of ethical discourse in shaping the future of the field. Full article

In this paper, we present a modular, high-performance prototype platform for real-time event extraction, designed to address key challenges in processing large volumes of unstructured data across applications like crisis management, social media monitoring and news aggregation. The prototype integrates advanced natural language processing (NLP) techniques (Term Frequency–Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), Named Entity Recognition (NER)) with data mining strategies to improve precision in relevance scoring, clustering and entity extraction. The platform is designed to handle real-time constraints in an efficient manner, by combining TF-IDF, LSI and NER into a hybrid pipeline. Unlike the transformer-based architectures that often struggle with latency, our prototype is scalable and flexible enough to support various domains like disaster management and social media monitoring. The initial quantitative and qualitative evaluations demonstrate the platform’s efficiency, accuracy, scalability, and are validated by metrics like F1-score, response time, and user satisfaction. Its design has a balance between fast computation and precise semantic analysis, and this can make it effective for applications that necessitate rapid processing. This prototype offers a robust foundation for high-frequency data processing, adaptable and scalable for real-time scenarios. In our future work, we will further explore contextual understanding, scalability through microservices and cross-platform data fusion for expanded event coverage. Full article

This study examines the framing of African technological innovations in Western media over the past two decades (2003–2023), focusing on four case studies: M-Pesa, LifeBank, FarmDrive, and NigeriaSat-1. Using a qualitative research design that integrates content analysis and framing theory, we analyze how major media outlets, including the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Reuters, and The New York Times, represent African innovations. The analysis reveals that media coverage tends to frame these innovations primarily through a humanitarian lens, emphasizing their role in addressing poverty, healthcare, and food security challenges. While highlighting the social impact of these technologies, this narrative often overlooks their broader potential for global scalability and industry disruption. To complement the content analysis, we conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with tech entrepreneurs, media professionals, and scholars from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, investigating their perspectives on how Western media coverage impacts investment and collaboration in African technological sectors. The interview findings confirm that such media portrayals hinder international investment and partnership opportunities by reinforcing the narrative that African technologies are primarily crisis management tools, rather than innovative solutions with global market potential. This article argues for a shift in this narrative, recommending policies that include strategic media advocacy, enhanced public relations, and increased investment in Research and Development. Full article

Climate change and environmental pollution pose urgent global challenges that critically affect economic and social development. Corporate green innovation has emerged as a pivotal driver of coordinated environmental and economic progress. However, the existing research has predominantly focused on the effects of media coverage pertaining to corporations themselves in regard to corporate decisions, providing limited insight into the effects of media coverage on environmental protection. Thus, this study aims to investigate the governance effect of the media and its influence on corporate green innovation. Utilizing fixed-effect models, which involves analyzing data from various secondary sources, this study focused on Chinese manufacturing companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2019. The results revealed that media coverage of environmental protection had a positive impact on corporate green innovation. In addition, this study found that industry turbulence enhanced the connection between media coverage of environmental protection and green innovation, whereas factor market development and managers’ overseas experience weakened this relationship. Recognizing the role that the media plays in promoting green innovation can empower companies to effectively address environmental challenges and contribute meaningfully to sustainable development. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between news media and public opinion on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Myanmar since media liberalization in 2011, using first-level agenda-setting theory. A mixed-method approach was employed: a quantitative content analysis of 217 articles from ELEVEN and The Irrawaddy, identifying 1436 distinct frames on ten BRI-related issues, and a survey of 385 respondents to assess public opinion. Spearman’s rank-order correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between media coverage and public opinion. A strong positive correlation (rho = 0.87, p < 0.05) was found between increased media coverage and public opinion alignment regarding BRI-related issues. The findings highlight the significant influence of the media on the public perception of BRI projects in Myanmar, and contribute to media effects and agenda-setting theory, offering insights for stakeholders investigating the interplay between the media, public opinion, and international development. Further research is needed to explore the media’s agenda-setting role in BRI project policy decisions in Myanmar. Full article

Rainstorm disasters have wide-ranging impacts on communities, but traditional information collection methods are often hampered by high labor costs and limited coverage. Social media platforms such as Weibo provide new opportunities for monitoring and analyzing disaster-related information in real-time. In this paper, we present ETEN_BERT_QA, a novel model for extracting event arguments from Weibo rainstorm disaster texts. The model incorporates the event text enhancement network (ETEN) to enhance the extraction process by improving the semantic representation of event information in combination with event trigger words. To support our approach, we constructed RainEE, a dataset dedicated to rainstorm disaster event extraction, and implemented a two-step process, as follows: (1) event detection, which identifies trigger words and classifies them into event types, and (2) event argument extraction, which identifies event arguments and classifies them into argument roles. Our ETEN_BERT_QA model combines ETEN with a BERT-based question-answering mechanism to further improve the understanding of the event text. Experimental evaluations on the RainEE and DuEE datasets show that ETEN_BERT_QA significantly outperforms the baseline model in terms of accuracy and the number of event argument extractions, validating its effectiveness in analyzing rainstorm disaster-related Weibo texts. Full article

Improper use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 has been linked to 17,000 preventable deaths. This content analysis study investigates the emergence of this conspiracy theory, the role of the news media in perpetuating and disseminating it, and whether coverage differed by outlet political alignment. We searched Nexis for relevant media from 17–31 March 2020. A total of 128 media pieces were coded qualitatively and thematically analysed. The news media amplified the voices of right-wing political elites and used a variety of manipulative tactics in reporting on hydroxychloroquine. Powerful ingroup/outgroup mechanisms polarised the American public and created a schism between Trump supporters and the public health apparatus that reflected the political asymmetry in reporting on hydroxychloroquine. The widespread use of optimistic framings and anecdotal evidence contributed to public misunderstandings of the evidence. Therefore, strategic and interventionist public health efforts are required to combat misinformation. This study informs discussions of how politicised media coverage catalyses conspiracism. Full article

Background: The “copycat effect” is a psychological phenomenon in which a person’s actions influence the behavior of others, leading to imitations of behaviors, events, or ideas. It is often observed in contexts such as crimes, suicides, or violent behaviors, where media coverage of an event can trigger similar reactions in other people. Usually, many studies associate the copycat phenomenon with homicide or serial crimes. Little attention is paid to the phenomenon of emulation in suicide and, therefore, to the copycat phenomenon in this context. Methods: In our study, a systematic review of the literature was carried out using keywords related to copycat and suicide. Subsequently, each study was read and analyzed. Results: The results were compared with each other and demonstrated how it is essential to mitigate the resonance of suicidal events, especially through the media and social networks. In particular, this risk of emulation is greater among young people who are exposed to a continuous external source of information through news from the web in an incessant and constant way. This risk increases most immediately after the publicity of the suicidal event in a limited period of time. Conclusions: Unfortunately, little attention is given to the analysis of the copycat phenomenon, which causes an underestimation of the data related to suicide emulation, especially from the preventive perspective of a phenomenon that is still widespread. Full article

This article examines how media outlets create a “border spectacle” (De Genova 2013) in schools, which contributes to the criminalization and deportability of undocumented immigrant students. Using content analysis, we studied n = 30 news articles that covered an incident in 2017 where two undocumented young men were accused of sexual assault and rape of a young woman in the school they all attended. This paper builds on the “school-to-deportation pipeline” by suggesting that, in addition to the zero-tolerance behavioral policies established by schools and teacher’s racist behaviors, the media coverage of alleged criminal acts also play a role in the expulsion and criminalization of undocumented students. The analysis of the news articles highlights four types of media frames employed to criminalize the young men involved in the case prior to these allegations being addressed by a court of law: (1) immigrant youth as sexual predators; (2) immigration as a correlation to a criminal act; (3) parents as the real victims of the case; and (4) sexual assault victims as collateral damage. Each of these media frames are built on xenophobic tropes that have historically facilitated the marginalization of Black and Latinx people, but in this case, it specifically targets undocumented young men. Collectively, the four media frames exemplify how media create a “border spectacle” in schools, manufacturing a moral hysteria to further marginalize and criminalize undocumented youth. We argue that, as a result of schools becoming border spectacles, undocumented young people’s fear of feeling targeted based on their “illegality” is intensified, and their sense of inclusion is hindered in an often thought to be safe and inclusive space for undocumented young people. Full article

Many countries ban direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs due to potential health and financial risks. However, the internet and social media now offer new ways for pharmaceutical companies to share information and promote products. Covert marketing—indirectly promoting products through news media—has emerged as an alternative. This study explores the digital news landscape for prescription drugs in Latin America, a region that prohibits DTCA. Through content analysis, it examines prescription drug coverage in both traditional and digital news media published between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2019, as well as its spread via social media platforms in the region’s six largest economies. The findings show that over 62% of news posts lacked neutrality, with articles on new treatments 74% less likely to be neutral, 64% less likely to mention adverse effects, and over eight times more likely to be promotional. Brazilian news had the highest social media sharing rate, with an emphasis on regulatory topics. Overall, digital news in Latin America leans toward promotional content rather than balanced reporting on drug risks and benefits. To support responsible journalism and reduce corporate influence, stronger pharmacovigilance and adherence to professional guidelines prioritizing accuracy, independence, and integrity are needed. Full article

The rise and widespread use of generative AI technologies, including ChatGPT, Claude, Synthesia, DALL-E, Gemini, Meta AI, and others, have raised fresh concerns in journalism practice. While the development represents a source of hope and optimism for some practitioners, including journalists and editors, others express a cautious outlook given the possibilities of its misuse. By leveraging the Google News aggregator service, this research conducts a content and thematic analysis of Africa-focused journalistic articles that touch on the impacts of artificial intelligence technology in journalism practice. Findings indicate that, while the coverage is predominantly positive, the tone of the articles reflects a news industry cautiously navigating the integration of AI. Ethical concerns regarding AI use in journalism were frequently highlighted, which indicates significant apprehension on the part of the news outlets. A close assessment of views presented in a smaller portion of the reviewed articles revealed a sense of unease around the conversation of power in the hands of tech giants. The impact of AI on the financial stability of media outlets was framed as minimal at present, suggesting a neutral, wait-and-see position of news outlets. Our analysis of predominantly quoted sources in the articles revealed that industry professionals and technology experts emerge as the most vocal voices shaping the narrative around AI’s practical applications and technical capabilities in the continent. Full article

This paper presents the findings of a large-scale study on antibiotic resistance in bacteria found in farm animal feces across Russia. The study included 6578 samples of farm animal manure from 13 regions in Russia, with the help of citizen scientists. Molecular and microbiological methods were used to analyze 1111 samples of E. coli. The microbiological analysis focused on culturing the microorganisms present in the fecal samples on selective media for E. coli and evaluating the sensitivity of the bacteria to different antibiotics, including ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, cefotaxime, and ciprofloxacin. The molecular analysis involved isolating the genomic DNA of the bacteria and conducting PCR assays to detect the vanA, vanB, and mcr-1 antibiotic resistance genes. The results demonstrated significant differences in antibiotic sensitivity of the samples that are morphologically identical to E. coli from different regions. For example, 98.0% and 82.5% of E. coli and other fecal bacterial isolates from the Omsk and Vologda regions lacked antibiotic resistance genes, while 97.7% of samples from the Voronezh region possessed three resistance genes simultaneously. The phenotypic antibiotic sensitivity test also revealed regional differences. For instance, 98.1% of fecal bacterial samples from cattle in the Udmurt Republic were sensitive to all five antibiotics tested, whereas 92.8% of samples from the Voronezh region showed resistance to all five antibiotics. The high level of antibiotic resistance observed may be attributed to their use in farming practices. The distinctive feature of our research is that comprehensive geographical coverage was achieved by using a citizen science platform. Citizen scientists, specifically students from colleges and universities, were responsible for the collection and initial analysis of samples. The project attracted 3096 student participants, enabling the collection and analysis of a significant number of samples from various locations in Russia. Full article

The role of the media is key in mediating civil society and its political representatives in EU institutions. In this context, this paper aims to describe the representation of the European Commission, one of the EU’s most important institutions, and its leaders by two leading Spanish newspapers. In order to address this objective, an automated content analysis was carried out on 13,340 news items published between 6 June 1976 and 15 February 2024 in El País (social democratic media) and ABC (conservative, monarchist media). The sample was subjected to a sentiment analysis as well as topic modeling. The latter method made it possible to identify five predominant issues on the agenda: Economy, Foreign Affairs, Internal Politics, Spanish Politics, and the Future of the EU. The average sentiment, which is close to neutral, has tended slightly toward the negative over the years, although the current president, Ursula von der Leyen, has the highest rating of all the leaders studied. Both El País and ABC provide more negative coverage of the EU when leaders of their ideological opposition govern, a phenomenon that can weaken the European model and encourage political drifts with consequences that are difficult to predict in the medium term. Full article