Suchergebnisse

The spread of Internet and the development of electronic mass media have made a significant impact on traditional mass media means. The circulation of newspapers and broadcast media ratings have been falling down. As a result, mass media journalists and researchers have started searching for ways for traditional mass media to retain its audience. They all have come to conclusion that readers, viewers and listeners should be involved into the formation of the mass media content. However, this is possible to happen only if journalists and editors devote more attention to the audience's feedback – the reflection of the public agenda. The object of this work is an overview of Lithuanian newspapers of the last three years. The goal of this work is to investigate the reflection of the audience's feedback in the Lithuanian mass media. The tasks of this work are: to distinguish direct and indirect feedback, to analyze positive and negative feedback's impact to mass media content; to explain the impact of public agenda; to analyze the conditions for a two-way communication model in the mass media; to expose the feedback as a competitive advantage; to research the content of two Lithuanian newspapers to estimate the effectiveness of feedback in Lithuanian mass media. The research findings have revealed that Lithuanian newspapers use several means of feedback. However, the latter is not published on the daily basis. Furthermore, different sources of feedback were discovered in the newspapers. Feedback was coming from mass media audience, various political institutions and media regulation organizations. In addition, it was discovered that newspapers use feedback not only to investigate the needs of audience or to generate ideas for new topics. Feedback is also used to endorse editors' point of view and is a back-up of an open criticism. Finally, the research has also demonstrated that feedback is rarely used to form the content of newspapers. Consequently, there are no favorable conditions for a two-way communication model in the Lithuanian mass media. Today's Lithuanian mass media, being apathetic to the public interest, unwilling to search for new opportunities to improve media quality, and lacking differentiating outlooks, demonstrates that feedback does not play a major role in the Lithuanian newspapers.

The spread of Internet and the development of electronic mass media have made a significant impact on traditional mass media means. The circulation of newspapers and broadcast media ratings have been falling down. As a result, mass media journalists and researchers have started searching for ways for traditional mass media to retain its audience. They all have come to conclusion that readers, viewers and listeners should be involved into the formation of the mass media content. However, this is possible to happen only if journalists and editors devote more attention to the audience's feedback – the reflection of the public agenda. The object of this work is an overview of Lithuanian newspapers of the last three years. The goal of this work is to investigate the reflection of the audience's feedback in the Lithuanian mass media. The tasks of this work are: to distinguish direct and indirect feedback, to analyze positive and negative feedback's impact to mass media content; to explain the impact of public agenda; to analyze the conditions for a two-way communication model in the mass media; to expose the feedback as a competitive advantage; to research the content of two Lithuanian newspapers to estimate the effectiveness of feedback in Lithuanian mass media. The research findings have revealed that Lithuanian newspapers use several means of feedback. However, the latter is not published on the daily basis. Furthermore, different sources of feedback were discovered in the newspapers. Feedback was coming from mass media audience, various political institutions and media regulation organizations. In addition, it was discovered that newspapers use feedback not only to investigate the needs of audience or to generate ideas for new topics. Feedback is also used to endorse editors' point of view and is a back-up of an open criticism. Finally, the research has also demonstrated that feedback is rarely used to form the content of newspapers. Consequently, there are no favorable conditions for a two-way communication model in the Lithuanian mass media. Today's Lithuanian mass media, being apathetic to the public interest, unwilling to search for new opportunities to improve media quality, and lacking differentiating outlooks, demonstrates that feedback does not play a major role in the Lithuanian newspapers.

The article attempts to show how the role of the mass media is changing in the field of politics today: it is no longer the institution that informs society or provides us with values and norms of behaviour and understanding, but itself becomes a political and ideological agent that exists in parallel with the political parties, competes with them and attempts to replace them in the political field. In modern society, the ideological expansion is only possible as media expansion. For this reason political parties or their ideologies compete today not only among themselves, but are also forced to compete with the mass media as a political power with an ideology of its own. Although it is hard to define (which is characteristic of the political structure of postmodern times), it influence on the society, its preferences in politics, and its choices of values is intensive and effective. As the mass media perceives its power and its new political and ideological opportunities, in the near future we will be forced to put up with it not only as the structure organising the flow of information, but also as an independent political agent with its own political interest, organization structure and interests directed at the processes of political decision- making, and not at the elucidation of those processes via the channels of information. In this way the mass media is changing and turning from a structure that represents the views and positions of the public into a structure that represents public interest in relation to power. It is becoming the key instrument in the organisation of political life and rendering meaning to it. At the same time the activity of the mass media arrests and paralyses the activity of the individual. People could themselves find out what the mass media provides, but at a considerably higher cost in time, energy and money. Thus the mass media deprives us of the will to learn and act independently. [.]

The article attempts to show how the role of the mass media is changing in the field of politics today: it is no longer the institution that informs society or provides us with values and norms of behaviour and understanding, but itself becomes a political and ideological agent that exists in parallel with the political parties, competes with them and attempts to replace them in the political field. In modern society, the ideological expansion is only possible as media expansion. For this reason political parties or their ideologies compete today not only among themselves, but are also forced to compete with the mass media as a political power with an ideology of its own. Although it is hard to define (which is characteristic of the political structure of postmodern times), it influence on the society, its preferences in politics, and its choices of values is intensive and effective. As the mass media perceives its power and its new political and ideological opportunities, in the near future we will be forced to put up with it not only as the structure organising the flow of information, but also as an independent political agent with its own political interest, organization structure and interests directed at the processes of political decision- making, and not at the elucidation of those processes via the channels of information. In this way the mass media is changing and turning from a structure that represents the views and positions of the public into a structure that represents public interest in relation to power. It is becoming the key instrument in the organisation of political life and rendering meaning to it. At the same time the activity of the mass media arrests and paralyses the activity of the individual. People could themselves find out what the mass media provides, but at a considerably higher cost in time, energy and money. Thus the mass media deprives us of the will to learn and act independently. [.]

The article attempts to show how the role of the mass media is changing in the field of politics today: it is no longer the institution that informs society or provides us with values and norms of behaviour and understanding, but itself becomes a political and ideological agent that exists in parallel with the political parties, competes with them and attempts to replace them in the political field. In modern society, the ideological expansion is only possible as media expansion. For this reason political parties or their ideologies compete today not only among themselves, but are also forced to compete with the mass media as a political power with an ideology of its own. Although it is hard to define (which is characteristic of the political structure of postmodern times), it influence on the society, its preferences in politics, and its choices of values is intensive and effective. As the mass media perceives its power and its new political and ideological opportunities, in the near future we will be forced to put up with it not only as the structure organising the flow of information, but also as an independent political agent with its own political interest, organization structure and interests directed at the processes of political decision- making, and not at the elucidation of those processes via the channels of information. In this way the mass media is changing and turning from a structure that represents the views and positions of the public into a structure that represents public interest in relation to power. It is becoming the key instrument in the organisation of political life and rendering meaning to it. At the same time the activity of the mass media arrests and paralyses the activity of the individual. People could themselves find out what the mass media provides, but at a considerably higher cost in time, energy and money. Thus the mass media deprives us of the will to learn and act independently. [.]

The Biafra war as an event offers a variety of angles from which it could be analysed, though this topic, apart from the dimensions of genocide or humanitarian crises, has never been much in the interest of scholars. On the one hand, it could be related to the lack of real facts as many figures and stories were fabricated during the war; on the other hand, as John K. Wa'Njogu would say, any story from Africa is not interesting if it is not an exceptional and aberrational news level. However, there have been several partly related articles about mass communication, propaganda and public relations during the Biafra war, but most of them have been taking the Western point of view, at the same time misjudging the role of the Biafran leader Ojukwu and his input in forming the propaganda apparatus by using approved propaganda guidelines from the West and adapting it to local realities. According to Scot Macdonald, the Biafra war was a war of images fought in the court of public opinion, which was won by Biafra, though the war was lost in the military and political arena. Ojukwu fairly quickly recognized the importance of controlling information and the power of messages delivered via mass communication channels, while Nigerian officials had never fully grasped the importance of this coverage. Therefore, Ojukwu built a team from local and Western professional propagandists and PR specialists whose main task was to find a proper angle of propaganda that could help to win this asymmetric war. The first attempts to use political emancipation of the oppressed people, religious, pogrom and genocide angles had limited success, but the image of starving and dying children was a very new angle, which, with the help of mass communication, helped to deliver the message to a much broader public arena. [.]

The Biafra war as an event offers a variety of angles from which it could be analysed, though this topic, apart from the dimensions of genocide or humanitarian crises, has never been much in the interest of scholars. On the one hand, it could be related to the lack of real facts as many figures and stories were fabricated during the war; on the other hand, as John K. Wa'Njogu would say, any story from Africa is not interesting if it is not an exceptional and aberrational news level. However, there have been several partly related articles about mass communication, propaganda and public relations during the Biafra war, but most of them have been taking the Western point of view, at the same time misjudging the role of the Biafran leader Ojukwu and his input in forming the propaganda apparatus by using approved propaganda guidelines from the West and adapting it to local realities. According to Scot Macdonald, the Biafra war was a war of images fought in the court of public opinion, which was won by Biafra, though the war was lost in the military and political arena. Ojukwu fairly quickly recognized the importance of controlling information and the power of messages delivered via mass communication channels, while Nigerian officials had never fully grasped the importance of this coverage. Therefore, Ojukwu built a team from local and Western professional propagandists and PR specialists whose main task was to find a proper angle of propaganda that could help to win this asymmetric war. The first attempts to use political emancipation of the oppressed people, religious, pogrom and genocide angles had limited success, but the image of starving and dying children was a very new angle, which, with the help of mass communication, helped to deliver the message to a much broader public arena. [.]

The Biafra war as an event offers a variety of angles from which it could be analysed, though this topic, apart from the dimensions of genocide or humanitarian crises, has never been much in the interest of scholars. On the one hand, it could be related to the lack of real facts as many figures and stories were fabricated during the war; on the other hand, as John K. Wa'Njogu would say, any story from Africa is not interesting if it is not an exceptional and aberrational news level. However, there have been several partly related articles about mass communication, propaganda and public relations during the Biafra war, but most of them have been taking the Western point of view, at the same time misjudging the role of the Biafran leader Ojukwu and his input in forming the propaganda apparatus by using approved propaganda guidelines from the West and adapting it to local realities. According to Scot Macdonald, the Biafra war was a war of images fought in the court of public opinion, which was won by Biafra, though the war was lost in the military and political arena. Ojukwu fairly quickly recognized the importance of controlling information and the power of messages delivered via mass communication channels, while Nigerian officials had never fully grasped the importance of this coverage. Therefore, Ojukwu built a team from local and Western professional propagandists and PR specialists whose main task was to find a proper angle of propaganda that could help to win this asymmetric war. The first attempts to use political emancipation of the oppressed people, religious, pogrom and genocide angles had limited success, but the image of starving and dying children was a very new angle, which, with the help of mass communication, helped to deliver the message to a much broader public arena. [.]

The Biafra war as an event offers a variety of angles from which it could be analysed, though this topic, apart from the dimensions of genocide or humanitarian crises, has never been much in the interest of scholars. On the one hand, it could be related to the lack of real facts as many figures and stories were fabricated during the war; on the other hand, as John K. Wa'Njogu would say, any story from Africa is not interesting if it is not an exceptional and aberrational news level. However, there have been several partly related articles about mass communication, propaganda and public relations during the Biafra war, but most of them have been taking the Western point of view, at the same time misjudging the role of the Biafran leader Ojukwu and his input in forming the propaganda apparatus by using approved propaganda guidelines from the West and adapting it to local realities. According to Scot Macdonald, the Biafra war was a war of images fought in the court of public opinion, which was won by Biafra, though the war was lost in the military and political arena. Ojukwu fairly quickly recognized the importance of controlling information and the power of messages delivered via mass communication channels, while Nigerian officials had never fully grasped the importance of this coverage. Therefore, Ojukwu built a team from local and Western professional propagandists and PR specialists whose main task was to find a proper angle of propaganda that could help to win this asymmetric war. The first attempts to use political emancipation of the oppressed people, religious, pogrom and genocide angles had limited success, but the image of starving and dying children was a very new angle, which, with the help of mass communication, helped to deliver the message to a much broader public arena. [.]

The Biafra war as an event offers a variety of angles from which it could be analysed, though this topic, apart from the dimensions of genocide or humanitarian crises, has never been much in the interest of scholars. On the one hand, it could be related to the lack of real facts as many figures and stories were fabricated during the war; on the other hand, as John K. Wa'Njogu would say, any story from Africa is not interesting if it is not an exceptional and aberrational news level. However, there have been several partly related articles about mass communication, propaganda and public relations during the Biafra war, but most of them have been taking the Western point of view, at the same time misjudging the role of the Biafran leader Ojukwu and his input in forming the propaganda apparatus by using approved propaganda guidelines from the West and adapting it to local realities. According to Scot Macdonald, the Biafra war was a war of images fought in the court of public opinion, which was won by Biafra, though the war was lost in the military and political arena. Ojukwu fairly quickly recognized the importance of controlling information and the power of messages delivered via mass communication channels, while Nigerian officials had never fully grasped the importance of this coverage. Therefore, Ojukwu built a team from local and Western professional propagandists and PR specialists whose main task was to find a proper angle of propaganda that could help to win this asymmetric war. The first attempts to use political emancipation of the oppressed people, religious, pogrom and genocide angles had limited success, but the image of starving and dying children was a very new angle, which, with the help of mass communication, helped to deliver the message to a much broader public arena. [.]

This article discusses one of the most relevant contemporary criminological problems – crime fears. The issue of crime fears emerged four decades ago and became of big importance to political, professional and public discourses. Many practitioners consider the problem of crime fears not less significant than crime problem itself. The article discusses the gravity of this topic in modern society, provides major theoretical models of fear of crime, analyses what function do fears take in political discourse and explains their interaction with mass media, which are one of the main disseminators of criminal fears in contemporary society. Simultaneously, it is important to emphasize that media's crime fear discourse and narratives are not autonomous, since "the fear of crime feedback loop" includes different social agents that enable its functioning. Thus, we may discuss a certain relation between mass media and crime fears, but not the direct causality between the two.

This article discusses one of the most relevant contemporary criminological problems – crime fears. The issue of crime fears emerged four decades ago and became of big importance to political, professional and public discourses. Many practitioners consider the problem of crime fears not less significant than crime problem itself. The article discusses the gravity of this topic in modern society, provides major theoretical models of fear of crime, analyses what function do fears take in political discourse and explains their interaction with mass media, which are one of the main disseminators of criminal fears in contemporary society. Simultaneously, it is important to emphasize that media's crime fear discourse and narratives are not autonomous, since "the fear of crime feedback loop" includes different social agents that enable its functioning. Thus, we may discuss a certain relation between mass media and crime fears, but not the direct causality between the two.

After the collapse of Soviet system, mass-media in Lithuania became the concomitant element of democracy. However, with the great reliance by society upon and with the enlarged influence of mass-media, it could become not only the scene where formation of cultural and social values of society take place, but, failing to establish an efficient supervision, an autocratic former of public opinion as well. The authority, carried by mass-media, enables it to create different images, which, if the audience fails to be critical, could be treated as real. Means of mass-media form agenda setting by paying greater attention to some of the topics and leaving the other ones behind, however, the elite of the society always has been one of the subjects of mass-media. The relation between mass-media and elite has not been broadly explored yet, therefore the main purpose of this paper is to analyze how the image of elite in Lithuanian mass-media is formed. The research is based on content analysis of national daily newspapers "Lietuvos Rytas" and "Vakaro zinios" published during December 2003. The investigation revealed, that "Vakaro zinios", which represents the yellow-press, openly divides society into "elite" and "the masses" and uses this division actively in it's pages. This contraposition is extremely emphasized and highlighted by the huge and expressive headlines, comments on photoprints. "Lietuvos rytas", which aims at representing the solid mass-media, also shows existing confrontation between social segments, however it avoids emphasizing this by giving clearly expressed titles to these segments. During the second research the image of elite was explored in "Stilius", a weekly supplement of "Lietuvos rytas", which in several years became the publication, reflecting in chronological order the lifestyle of Lithuanian elite. The investigation of photoreporting of public events in 1998-2005 "Stilius" revealed an active process of formation of the image of elite. "Stilius" brought elite into publicity, introduced the lifestyle of elite to society, sorted and presented persons, belonging to elite, to society. There was no publication in Lithuania before "Stilius", which would show so visually and clearly who forms the elite, what persons belong to it, how they are different. The portrayal of their luxurious lifestyle became one of the features, representing elite. In summary, could be proposed that Lithuanian mass-media, carrying great reliance of society and using it's influence, actively forms the image of Lithuanian elite, using it to catch the attention of audience. The image of elite, created by mass-media, in case of social tension, could influence the hostility of lower segments of society for the elite.

After the collapse of Soviet system, mass-media in Lithuania became the concomitant element of democracy. However, with the great reliance by society upon and with the enlarged influence of mass-media, it could become not only the scene where formation of cultural and social values of society take place, but, failing to establish an efficient supervision, an autocratic former of public opinion as well. The authority, carried by mass-media, enables it to create different images, which, if the audience fails to be critical, could be treated as real. Means of mass-media form agenda setting by paying greater attention to some of the topics and leaving the other ones behind, however, the elite of the society always has been one of the subjects of mass-media. The relation between mass-media and elite has not been broadly explored yet, therefore the main purpose of this paper is to analyze how the image of elite in Lithuanian mass-media is formed. The research is based on content analysis of national daily newspapers "Lietuvos Rytas" and "Vakaro zinios" published during December 2003. The investigation revealed, that "Vakaro zinios", which represents the yellow-press, openly divides society into "elite" and "the masses" and uses this division actively in it's pages. This contraposition is extremely emphasized and highlighted by the huge and expressive headlines, comments on photoprints. "Lietuvos rytas", which aims at representing the solid mass-media, also shows existing confrontation between social segments, however it avoids emphasizing this by giving clearly expressed titles to these segments. During the second research the image of elite was explored in "Stilius", a weekly supplement of "Lietuvos rytas", which in several years became the publication, reflecting in chronological order the lifestyle of Lithuanian elite. The investigation of photoreporting of public events in 1998-2005 "Stilius" revealed an active process of formation of the image of elite. "Stilius" brought elite into publicity, introduced the lifestyle of elite to society, sorted and presented persons, belonging to elite, to society. There was no publication in Lithuania before "Stilius", which would show so visually and clearly who forms the elite, what persons belong to it, how they are different. The portrayal of their luxurious lifestyle became one of the features, representing elite. In summary, could be proposed that Lithuanian mass-media, carrying great reliance of society and using it's influence, actively forms the image of Lithuanian elite, using it to catch the attention of audience. The image of elite, created by mass-media, in case of social tension, could influence the hostility of lower segments of society for the elite.

After the collapse of Soviet system, mass-media in Lithuania became the concomitant element of democracy. However, with the great reliance by society upon and with the enlarged influence of mass-media, it could become not only the scene where formation of cultural and social values of society take place, but, failing to establish an efficient supervision, an autocratic former of public opinion as well. The authority, carried by mass-media, enables it to create different images, which, if the audience fails to be critical, could be treated as real. Means of mass-media form agenda setting by paying greater attention to some of the topics and leaving the other ones behind, however, the elite of the society always has been one of the subjects of mass-media. The relation between mass-media and elite has not been broadly explored yet, therefore the main purpose of this paper is to analyze how the image of elite in Lithuanian mass-media is formed. The research is based on content analysis of national daily newspapers "Lietuvos Rytas" and "Vakaro zinios" published during December 2003. The investigation revealed, that "Vakaro zinios", which represents the yellow-press, openly divides society into "elite" and "the masses" and uses this division actively in it's pages. This contraposition is extremely emphasized and highlighted by the huge and expressive headlines, comments on photoprints. "Lietuvos rytas", which aims at representing the solid mass-media, also shows existing confrontation between social segments, however it avoids emphasizing this by giving clearly expressed titles to these segments. During the second research the image of elite was explored in "Stilius", a weekly supplement of "Lietuvos rytas", which in several years became the publication, reflecting in chronological order the lifestyle of Lithuanian elite. The investigation of photoreporting of public events in 1998-2005 "Stilius" revealed an active process of formation of the image of elite. "Stilius" brought elite into publicity, introduced the lifestyle of elite to society, sorted and presented persons, belonging to elite, to society. There was no publication in Lithuania before "Stilius", which would show so visually and clearly who forms the elite, what persons belong to it, how they are different. The portrayal of their luxurious lifestyle became one of the features, representing elite. In summary, could be proposed that Lithuanian mass-media, carrying great reliance of society and using it's influence, actively forms the image of Lithuanian elite, using it to catch the attention of audience. The image of elite, created by mass-media, in case of social tension, could influence the hostility of lower segments of society for the elite.