Search results

Abstract

The foot and mouth disease outbreak which started in February 2001 in the UK was the most severe civil crisis that had been seen in the UK since the Second World War. The crisis has been the subject of numerous reports, but this paper examines the communication dimensions of the outbreak, in particular the work of the Communications Directorate of the lead Government department, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (now the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Within the context of the Crisis literature, this paper discusses:


the main communication activities that were undertaken;


key issues;


lessons that have been learned and applied by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.






Finally it provides an analysis of some of the main communication issues, concluding with a checklist that should be borne in mind for future large‐scale civil crises.


Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Research has identified successful transitions from middle to high school as critical for students' academic success. Identifying risks and protective factors associated with challenge or success in the early years of high school is crucial, especially for African American students who are disproportionately represented in the ranks of adolescents who underachieve in academics, receive school discipline sanctions, and drop out of high school. The present study examined risks associated with perceived discrimination and the protective function of school racial support and two aspects of African American adolescent identity (identification with academics and racial centrality). This study followed a sample of 46 low-achieving African American students through the first 2 years of high school. Findings showed that over and above the negative influence of discrimination and levels of ninth-grade classroom engagement, students' identification with academics in the ninth grade was a strong predictor of tenth-grade classroom engagement. This finding points to the promise of identification with academics as a protective factor which could help adolescents reach their academic potential.

Schools have the potential to be places where students can come to understand how and why knowledge and power are constructed (Aronowitz & Giroux, 1993). This paper provides an overview of critical literacy from a critical theory/Freirian perspective. Within it, critical literacy is posited as a necessary component of all classroom practices, one that is elemental to Dewey's (1916) view of democracy, social justice, and what it means to be literate. Features of a critical literacy approach to instruction are provided along with rationales for the necessity of its inclusion in a democratic society.

With spindoctoring, publicity seeking stunts and evidence of mal-practice, public relations is easily associated with the development of post-truth society. The elevation of bullshit as political coinage presents a challenge for the rational public debate which the public relations profession at large should have an interest in maintaining. In this introduction, we briefly highlight some of these challenges for public relations. We point to how papers in the special section tie into these challenges, by for instance, helping to understand the construction of truth, how to construct a defense for legitimate public relations and engage with publics, as well as to build a professional practice through developing and measuring communication.

We used Developmental Systems Theory as a framework for understanding the role of contextual factors in the development of purpose in urban adolescents. The sample included primarily low‐socioeconomic students of color attending urban middle schools (n = 2,629; 10–16 years of age). Longitudinal data were collected at four time points across two years. We used hierarchical linear modeling to model change in purpose. On average, purpose declined over time. We also identified several predictors of intercept and slope. For example, Black youth had a higher average purpose intercept, as well as a steeper average decline than other racial/ethnic groups. Females demonstrated a higher average purpose intercept than males, but this effect disappeared when academic achievement was added to the model.