Around the Bloc: Hungary’s ‘Crackdown’ on Critical Media Sparks Protests
The closure of Hungary’s largest newspaper, Nepszabadsag, has fueled concerns the government is silencing its critics.
More...We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
The closure of Hungary’s largest newspaper, Nepszabadsag, has fueled concerns the government is silencing its critics.
More...
Chary Annamuradov’s last living brother was kidnapped and beaten to death last month; three others had already died suspicious deaths.
More...
Independence of media outlets diminishes in Hungary, as power struggles between media barons reveal Orban's strategy of supporting loyal oligarchs.
More...
Media outlets in Central and Eastern Europe make a poor showing in international journalism watchdog reports, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
More...Interview with Juraj Vojtek
This interview has been done at the occasion of The Grant Prize delivered by The Lewis Carroll Society of North America to the Slovak edition of Lewis Carroll’s books Alica v krajine zázrakov and Za zrkadlom a s čím sa tam Alica stretla, in English Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, which were published by Slovart, illustrated by Dušan Kállay, and co-translated by Viera Vojtková a Juraj Vojtek. It presents two main events organised by the Society at the 150th anniversary of publication of the book in England – the introduction of a three volume set (LINDSETH, J. A. (ed.): Alice In a World of Wonderlands. The Translations of Lewis Carroll´s Masterpiece. New Castle, Delaware : Oak Knoll Press and The Lewis Carroll Society of North America, 2015. 2656 p.), and the exhibition of Lewis Carroll’s masterpieces translated into more than 200 languages of the world. It serves to one of the awarded creators of the book, to Full Prof. Juraj Vojtek, as a starting point to give a thought on such questions as what is a translation, what are its limits and what is its place in communication, from the viewpoint of a practical translator.
More...
The article focuses on man’s identity in the environment of digital games. Special attention is given to clarifying one of Roger Caillois’s game principles (mimicry) and its application into the process of creating digital games. The author defines corresponding terminological axis and works with an assumption that the reflection on identity transformation related to digital ‘mimicry games’ remains a subject of discourse analysis in the dimension of digital game studies. One of the aims of the article is thus to define the term “game” from the position of game studies, taking into account its multidisciplinary character. The analysed game principle mimicry is specified in greater detail; the existence of direct connection between ‘mimicry games’ and simulated, interactive or fantasy games represents an important base for further inquiry and is placed in the centre of the author’s attention. Based on the defined theoretical outlines, the author has an opportunity to apply the acquired information directly on specific games that may be classified as digital ‘mimicry games’. The primary goal of the article is therefore to address the given phenomenon by explaining its presence and meaning in the context of various digital games.
More...
Television news – and journalistic information included in it – may be rightfully seen as one of the main constitutional elements of journalism. Considering contemporary conditions of the globalised information society, diversity of information sources and pluralism related to information dissemination, we have to focus mainly on media content associated with journalistic products. The text aims to deal with news values – more specifically, with their occurrence and application in the context of evening (main) TV news programmes which are broadcast by Slovak nationwide broadcasters. The theoretical part of the article discusses related media theories and basic normative demands that are linked to creative journalistic work. The authors also place emphasis on various definitions of news values and discuss them from the viewpoints of journalism and newsmaking development and also in terms of technological improvements related to contemporary mass media communication. Besides offering an overview on the theoretical outlines of the given topic, the authors aim to present results of own research. The inquiry was conducted in order to address the issue of news values associated with TV news contents created by selected commercial and public broadcasters. The research is based on the method of quantitative content analysis. In total 1120 TV news contributions were analysed during three deliberately selected weeks – their overall length reached 32 hours 32 minutes and 34 seconds. The research results helped the authors to better understand the current trends in news-making – i.e. the implementation of news values as well as quality, balance and relevance of the news content mediated through evening TV news programmes.
More...
Currently the themes of innovation and social networks appear in the content of press articles. Living in an Internet society where the users are increasingly involved in the innovation process, thus acting upon the notion of “Bottom–Up innovation”, as coined by Eric von Hippel (1998, 2005, 2013), indicates it is worthwhile to analyse the place of these terms in respect to our daily lives as well as their evolution over time. Are the terms innovation and social networks important in public debates? Which principles define the model of Swiss Innovation, often compared to that of Silicon Valley? As Switzerland’s position improves within the global innovation rankings over time, is it possible to observe in parallel increased occurrences of these themes in the press? Could the two notions of innovation and social networks be interlinked? Are there any enterprises, which appear through the media press, as particularly present in the fields of innovation and/or social networks?
More...
Using translation to illustrate and justify some of the changes we are facing today, I will follow a three-step move: -What are the biases towards purely technological interpretations of the “medium” Technology is changing our perception of time and space; in particular, the power of instant seems to override any other feelings of long-term perspective and continuity. -Crowd is also changing, from the lonely crowd to the crowdsourcing: it takes nowadays the public sphere in different ways. This metamorphosis can be traced in translation: for a long time, translation has been denied as a need, an effort, a profession, a discipline. Today, because of the new work environment, translation becomes a desire, more easily accessible and practised by non-professionals. The evolution is technical, economic and social. It is also textual. -An historical overview sheds light on the impact of media technology in translation. In fact, certain concepts are under the influence of the materiality of the work. Among those concepts, “text” draws our attention: it has often been characterised by only linguistic features; today, it intertwines quite a number of different types of signs. The multimodal text challenges certain current concepts of Translation Studies.
More...
This article examines the premise that with the prevailing ubiquitous computing and constant connectivity the line between life online and life off-line and the boundary between physical and digital identity are becoming blurred. This means that the conception of identity in the digital culture transforms into the new transmediated identity which is in the continuous process of formation between the digital and the physical – the virtual and the real. Thus the transmediated identity unfolds in multiple media forms and manifests itself as integrated, dispersed, episodic, and interactive.
More...
The article presents a review of the Scientific Conference “Cultural Maps: Philosophical and Sociological Perspectives”. The process of the conference, the main ideas of speakers and some thoughts of discussions are reflected in the present text. Theoretical and applied aspects of humanities and social sciences intertwined in the wide spectrum themes examined in the conference. Fundamental concepts of “culture” and “nature”, Lithuanian and European identity, subculture of black metal music, welfare state models, cartography of scientific disciplines, interconnection of Baroque and postmodernism, contemporary mediated culture, creative industries and other issues were explored by the participants of the conference. Religious, political, economical, social and technological aspects of contemporary culture and society were discussed as well.
More...
This paper examines a new doctrine for communication. It argues that effective communications are as important to our well being and happiness as the food we put into our bodies. ‘It can either be healthy (and nourishing) or toxic (and destructive),’ notes the Zen master and Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. To examine this theory I decided to test my students. Use was made of a non-proportional stratified sample of younger adults, a total of 200 students who were involved in the survey study. Research is also based on an analysis of a qualitative research programme (a qualitative study) which involved 200 questionnaire texts that were set using two methods: critical discourse analysis and context. The results of my research show that students stressed that they were not using traditional forms of media, that the younger reader wants dialogue with the author or journalist, and that they tend to favour relationship-based communications which are offered by social media. My conclusions show that social media is regarded as ‘an anti-loneliness tool‘, and that it encourages a dialogue between the transmitter and the reader and allows a dialogue between them both. Language acts here as a relationship-building resource and shows a level of interaction between text and participants. This shows that, via social media, the internet provides a special form of communication which compensates the audience as might a gourmet restaurant.
More...
The local media market in Poland developed in very particular conditions, conditions which Nowak (1979,1981) described as a “social void”. As a result, it might be presumed that it was more likely that the new forms of society (including local media) were formed on the basis of the “bounding” type of social capital rather than the “bridging” type. This might be one of the reasons why tight and coplex relationships between the local media and the other social actors still exist. On the basis of my own qualitative research (case studies conducted in four small towns in Poland), this article shows how complex the local relations are and describes the involvement of local journalists and local media owners in these networks of relations which might often be a cause of condlicts of interest (individual or institutional) or media bias.
More...
As the social media increasingly proliferate and shape media consumption in the present-day world, journalists growingly turn to them in search of direct access to their audiences. Under conditions of restricted media freedom, such access suggests a great asset both to journalists who can engage into an open discussion with a wider public and to the very public. In Ukraine, both trends had been vivid in recent years proceding the Euromaidan: on the one hand, media freedom had been deteriorating, but on the other hand, journalists had been utilizing social media more actively. The article examines how Ukrainian journalists communicated with their audiences via Facebook. In particular, it analyzes patterns of interaction during the 2012 parlimentary election campaign. The results of the study show a substantial level of confusion among Ukrainian journalists regarding the role of public debate on Facebook in 2012-2013. While journalists tended to dismiss users’ comments as mostly irrelevant, the did consider themselves to be providers of important information or viewpoints for the formation of public opinion. Although such interaction between journalists and other users does not satisfy the normative criteria of the public sphere, analysis of content and interviews with journalists showed that Facebook did suggest an evolving alternative public space in Ukraine, in contrast to the ever more controlled space of mainstream media during the presidency of Yanukovych.
More...
This study examines the impact of social media activism in the form of a boycott case through the analysis of online and mass media news articles. The article reviews a conflict between a supermarket chain and its Estonian customers in April 2010, and focuses on definition hegemony (the process by which the crisis is defined), the reaction of journslists and consumers to the case, and its impact on a company’s crisis communication. It examines the role of social media in formenting a crisis and keeping it active. The analysis of social media and mass media texts, as well as press releases, suggest that citizens have power over corporations because of their ability to raise questions, be critical of company behaviour, and in defining the crisis narrative. The findings indicate that who is able to define the crisis can significantly affect its course.
More...
Departing from the cultural studies semiotic approach, this chapter seeks to analytically reviews shifts in roles of media users given increasingly participation-oriented media tools. Drawing upon the re-interpretation of Stuart Hall’s seminal encoding/decoding model of communication, the author proposes a theoretical concept of internet meme perceived as multiparticipant popular online content combining modalities of traditional (vertical and cultutre industry-orginated) and new (horizontal and peer-reproduced) modalities of media production and consumption. The author problematizes this concept by recontextualizing several aspects of Hall’s theory: 1) theoretical appropration of four stages of Hall’s “chain of discourse” (messages’ production, circulation, use, reproduction) to a new – highly converged – media environment; 2) ambiguous status of internet meme’s authorship; 3) new contexts for analyzing internet memes, including: online pop-culture modalities, different strategies of “old” and “new” culture industries, Intellectual Property Rights policies.
More...
This article tries to diagnose possibilities and limitations of the online media as a digital agora – a virtual space for citizens’ deliberation which could potentially strenghten and enhance democracy in Poland, as well as in other Central European countries. Considering the key features of the public sphere indicated by Habermas (inclusiveness, rationally, autonomy, lack of hierarchy), the analysis focuses on three problem areas. The first one includes the impact of digital exclusion upon avaiability of the digital public sphere for citizens. The second part of the study is devoted to rationalitly and interactivity of online discourse. The last part of the analysis adresses the impact of the relative anonymity of online communication on the equality and autonomy of citizens’ deliberation on the internet.
More...
Media literacy is defined as a set of competencies that helps people critically analyze, understand and create media messages. Teaching children to become media literate emerged as a new field of education in second half of the 20th century. While the pioneering work of Dewey, Freinet, Gerbner, Hall and Whannel (as cited by Cappello et at., 2011) was influential in the developement of media literacy, this article argues for the importance positioning media literacy in a broader theoretical context. Therefore, this article presents an analysis of media literacy education by relying on two of the founders of modern social though: Rousseau and Mill. The article demonstrates how Rousseau’s treatise is as timely as ever when it comes to understanding the importance of media literacy education not only in school curricula, but also in many other aspects of social life.
More...
This article presents an analysis of the process of sacralization of history in the media discourse. Certain events and figures from the past are incorporated into the sphere of sacrum which excludes and discussion and maintains the domination of one narration of history. The process of sacralization may take places directly and indirectly. The first relies on direct inclusion to the discourse of certain words, wchich are associated with religion. The indirect sacralization takes place when episodes from the past are changed into universal stories of fight between the good and the evil. The analysis is performed on printed media discourses concerning three events from Poland’s contemporary history: the 1920 Warsaw Battle of Warsaw, the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and the post-war armed underground.
More...
PR increases the refl exivity of organizations, thereby providing a central opportunity or learning. While this consideration is implicitly contained in many definitions and theories relating to PR, organizational learning has until now remained a ?hidden topic? in international PR research. This is all the more surprising when we consider that learning is relevant to PR on two counts at least: first, the aforementioned role of PR as a central learning opportunity within an organization. PR identifies stakeholder demands and develops strategies to help ensure the legitimacy of the organization. This will be referred to as legitimation-based learning. Second, PR learns with respect to its own methods and skills. This will be referred to as method-based learning. This article will present a theoretical framework for legitimation-based and method-based learning. Then, the initial results of an online survey (N = 121) that examines selected issues relating to this approach will be presented.
More...