The article is devoted to the questions about mass media as non-governmental actors of world politics. The author notes the main activities of mass media in world politics, researches the state information policy, models of the relations of the state with mass media. The role of political censorship and propaganda in interaction with the international public opinion is considered especially.
AbstractThe mass media are no doubt a political resource. In a plural and deeply divided society like Nigeria, its role is even more imperative in achieving national cohesion, integration, and stability. The snag however in Nigeria is that the mass media – both publicly and privately owned – are more or less ethnic jingoist. This research note takes a cursory look at the mass media and ethnicity in Nigerian politics, and infers that in the interest of the polity, media practitioners need to imbibe the ethics of their profession.
Summarizes, under 12 general propositions, the findings from a series of field studies by the Disaster Research Center about the operations of the local mass media in disasters in the USA. The topics covered range from the disaster planning undertaken by mass media organizations, to the content of the news reported, and about differences among the electronic and print media involved, to the input of citizens into stories about disasters. Additionally, raises questions about the extent to which the findings can be extrapolated to other than US society.
The use of mass media to shape public opinion, disseminate public information, and transform political culture, has grown tremendously in developing countries during the last two decades. Many of these countries have raised the slogan of "creationg a new man," that is, one with skills, attitudes, and values that are conducive to development. In this respect, they have relied on mass media as a major purveyor of modern influences and as one of the most effective agents of political resocialization.
Abstract The concept of 'sharp power' has recently emerged as a reaction to the assertiveness of authoritarian regimes. It serves to underline the complexity of challenges which are posed by authoritarian regimes, referring to diverse front lines in the overall 'battle', be they culture, education, or the media. The latter, according to Dmitri Trenin, "has become such a crowded battlefield". This paper attempts to fill in the information gap regarding Russia's 'sharp power' manifestations in Lithuania's mass media and focuses on NATO related messages in particular. The paper presupposes that messages which evoke an air of support for Russia's foreign and security policy tend to pass through to Lithuania's mass media, and argues that, as a result of the insufficient activity by Lithuania's mass media in terms of forming an independent perception of Russia vis-à-vis NATO, the preconditions for possible manifestations of Russia's use of sharp power are therefore created. The article is organised into four parts. The first section sets out a theoretical framework for the analysis which focuses on the concept of sharp power. Then the research methodology is outlined. The third section presents features of the informational environment of Lithuania in 2016 and 2019. The final, and most elaborated, section investigates messages which apparently serve to support Russia's foreign and security policy in terms of the NATO's topic in Lithuania's mass media based on the aforementioned criteria.
Alienation, defined as a rejection of soc instit's & processes, plays an important role in sociol'al res & theory. A measure of the degree of alienation is examined re MM exposure, interest in sensational content, & gratifications obtained from the media. 2 hyp's are suggested: (1) the alienated person will spend more time using the MM in order to compensate for a lack of satisfaction with more personal COMM; (2) within a given medium, the alienated person will select content that agrees with his image of a hostile & unpredictable world, such as news of accidents & violence & glamorous personages. He will be little interested in gov'al news or any content that depends on empathy with abstract instit's. These hyp's were tested in personal interviews with 180 adults from Madison, Wise. The interviewing method is explained & the results, presented in 4 tables, show little evidence of a positive r between alienation & time spent using the MM, & indicate that alienation is associated with lower interest in 'nonsensational' headlines, but the hypothesis of a positive association of alienation & interest in `sensational' headlines was not supported. The data also indicate that the more alienated the R, the less likely he was to think informational reasons applied to him, & the more likely was his acceptance of vicarious reasons as gratifications connected with his newspaper reading. Both alienation & educ were found to be clear, though not strong, predictors of gratifications attributed to reading newspapers. M. Maxfield.
