Suchergebnisse

Mass media produce various communicational products in the form of messages coded in the symbolic language of writing, sound or image, which they distribute through the open public space for unknown users. Unlike the traditional theories, which directed their attention above all to the social effects of media products, the systemic theory inquires into the very process of their production, deeming that precisely the latter is the real reality of mass media: the factual operations which are performed systemically, through application of the binary code of information/non-information, and according to the internal rules of its structure. The real reality, however, is inaccessible to the observer. Consequently, he can gain knowledge of it only in such a way as to construct from the forms in which it appears to him an observed reality as his own perception thereof. The systemic theory suggests that its construction of mass media reality is most congruous with their real reality. Keeping in mind that each observer performs his construction of reality of the thing observed in accordance with his own knowledge and understanding, the author asks himself: where is the evidence of the trustworthiness of such constructions? Adapted from the source document.

This article examines the relationship between media & the partisan ministerial staff of the Government Office. The main objective of the article is to make a contribution to the knowledge about & comprehension of how medialization has affected the work of the partisan ministerial staff. The article is empirically based on four focus groups, with respectively ministers, secretaries of state, political advisors & press secretaries working under the third Persson government (2002-2006). The article demonstrates that media management is an area that The Government Office was not originally adapted for. Therefore media & communication do not enter into the existing routines & formal decision-making processes of the organization. As a result, media challenge both the process behind the government's collective decision-making & the up-holding of the impression that the government decides collectively. Thus, there is a need for complementary routines for the contacts between the partisan staff & the civil servants. Adapted from the source document.

With the production of their own media material, the ethnic minorities assume responsibility for opposing the predominant media discourses of the majority culture, and fight for their own distinctiveness and (self)representation within the Croatian media sphere. The ethnic-minority media serve not only the purpose of preserving the socio-cultural values and special features of the minority identity, but also of providing information both to a particular community on the intra-ethnic level and to the majority of the Croatian society regarding the situation, the needs and the rights of the minorities themselves. Thus they represent and convey their interests to the general public. This paper aims to investigate how ethnic minorities are represented in the media and to what extent the ethnic-minority media are represented in the media arena of the Republic of Croatia. The author focuses especially on the city of Zagreb and the minorities which have organized ethnic-minority Councils there. An introductory discussion on the role and influence of the media is followed by an overview of the analysis of ways of reporting on ethnic minorities in the mainstream media of the majority, based on the results of research carried out so far. Furthermore, the paper includes a discussion on the minority media, comprising a tabular outline of print media and digital media (from the Internet domain) of the ethnic-minority communities in the Republic of Croatia. Finally, the author provides an analysis of such a state of affairs regarding the media, and some concluding remarks. Adapted from the source document.

With the production of their own media material, the ethnic minorities assume responsibility for opposing the predominant media discourses of the majority culture, and fight for their own distinctiveness and (self)representation within the Croatian media sphere. The ethnic-minority media serve not only the purpose of preserving the socio-cultural values and special features of the minority identity, but also of providing information both to a particular community on the intra-ethnic level and to the majority of the Croatian society regarding the situation, the needs and the rights of the minorities themselves. Thus they represent and convey their interests to the general public. This paper aims to investigate how ethnic minorities are represented in the media and to what extent the ethnic-minority media are represented in the media arena of the Republic of Croatia. The author focuses especially on the city of Zagreb and the minorities which have organized ethnic-minority Councils there. An introductory discussion on the role and influence of the media is followed by an overview of the analysis of ways of reporting on ethnic minorities in the mainstream media of the majority, based on the results of research carried out so far. Furthermore, the paper includes a discussion on the minority media, comprising a tabular outline of print media and digital media (from the Internet domain) of the ethnic-minority communities in the Republic of Croatia. Finally, the author provides an analysis of such a state of affairs regarding the media, and some concluding remarks. Adapted from the source document.

This article analyses the phenomena of spectacularisation, tabloidisation and celebrity culture and their appearance in politics and political arena. It looks at models of the media construction of social reality within the concept of the society of the spectacle. The author argues that celebrity culture as a part of media spectacle is not void of ideologies, but rather the opposite: it is led by market-based ideologies, by desire of commercial sectors in media and advertising to make profit and by commercialisation of politics. Thus, the phenomena that are central to this article are the evidence of the prevailing form of hegemony, which characterises liberal democracy and neoliberal consumerism. Adapted from the source document.

By affecting conceptualizations of crime, media depictions of crime play a crucial part in the way criminal policy is shaped. An analysis of Swedish newspaper articles suggest that crime today is depicted in a more exclusionary way than a few decades ago. This is particularly true for the culprit, whose actions are accounted for in an individualized way. Crime victims are described in a manner that invites identification. During the 1980s, media depictions change from structural accounts of the crime to individualized accounts of the culprit and the criminal deed, often in terms of the psychology of the culprit However, it is not until around 1990 that the media depiction of the crime victim change, with fairly neutral descriptions being replaced by more detailed and personal images. In contemporary media stories, crime and criminality are seen as external threats to society. The culprit is depicted as an intruder, and often also as disordered or irrational. The victim, on the other hand, is depicted as a human being just as you and I, with a particular personality. The consumer of these media stories is primarily encouraged to identify with the victim and those close to him or her. Adapted from the source document.

Departing from the criticisms that have been raised towards the volume Comparing Media Systems (Hallin and Mancini, 2004) I'll try to discuss which consequences the adoption of the "concept" of system may imply for media studies, what its advantages are and what risks. The first part of the article is devoted to discussing how and when the notion of "system" has been used in political science starting from the work of Easton, Almond and Powell and many others. I'll try to highlight which are the main points of strength and weakness and which definitions have been used. Then I'll move to the field of communication studies: here I'll show how there has been a shift from the study of the effects of the message towards a more general approach linking the media to the surrounding context. I will focus mainly on the work of Blumler and Gurvitch who have been among the first scholars to use such a concept in political communication comparative research. Particular attention will be devoted to the discussion of the notion of "system" as deriving from system theory and functionalist approach. The last part of the text is devoted to discussing similarities and differences in the use that political scientists and media scholars have made of the concept of "system". Adapted from the source document.

Packaging politics has recently become a major topic of political communication research, studies, & debates. The author presents the definitions & views of this phenomenon & looks into its fundamental features & effects. By using this theoretical framework as his starting point, the author analyzes the extent of packaging politics in the electoral campaign of the HDZ & the SDP, the two biggest parties in Croatia in 2003, by focusing on the six ways of packaging politics in a campaign: the use of television, the cooperation of parties with spin doctors & media consultants, the media presentation of politicians' contacts with celebrities, the construction & promotion of political leaders' image, the attitudes to certain social issues & problems, & the attacks on the opponents. In his survey, the author uses the results of the content analysis of the samples of TV spots used in the campaign of 2003 as well as the results of the poll carried out on the eve of the elections on a representative sample of adult Croatian citizens. The results show that in this campaign the leading Croatian parties tried to win the voters' support by packaging politics, which was particularly noticeable in the intensive use of television & the promotion of the images of these parties' presidents. This & other methods of packaging politics were more expertly & deftly used by the winning party -- the HDZ -- than by its biggest rival, the SDP. The author points out how this evident packaging of politics affected the quality of the political discourse in that electoral campaign. That is why the campaign partly lost its primary function to provide a venue for an informed & public debate on key issues & problems of social development. 1 Table, 2 Figures, 18 References. Adapted from the source document.