New Media, Old Inequalities: Technological Fixes, National Containers, and the Roma

Author(s): Monika Metyková / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Much has been written and discussed about the potential of new media technologies for re-invigorating European democracies in the past 25 years by policy makers, activists, and academics. One of the widely recognized roles of the media in this respect is the provision of a space for public discussion where diverse opinions and representations thrive. This chapter argues that,while in the early 1990s policy makers – at least rhetorically – recognized the potential of new media (Web 2.0, in particular) in creating such a space, the underlying rationale for much new media policy has shifted toward economic and developmental goals.

Поликодовость заголовков электронных СМИ как средство языковой игры

Author(s): Valentina Alexandrovna Toropkina / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

The report on the material of titles of Russian electronic media analyzes the polycode phenomenon as one of the specific features of the modern media text, caused by tendency to globalization. We study such manifestation of polycode phenomenon as the use of a foreign graphic in the Russian-language text headlines. The headers of Russian internet media actively involve untapped foreign-language graphical elements (Загнанные в Google, Всевидящий Glass), poligrafixation (Массовый PSYхоз, DDoSтали, SMS-ополчение), transliteration, Russian words in a foreign graphics (Загадочная русская dacha, Доктор Aibolit). These elements have great expressive potential to use them as part of the language game. Foreign-language elements are used for the transformation of precedent phenomena (Вишневый cash, SIM, SIM, откройся), are played semantically and phonetically as part of puns.

The effect of communication concerning civic participation on local identity and the struggle against depopulation

Author(s): Anne Schubert,Jens Wolling / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Modern societies across the world are confronting profound demographic changes. Amid low birth-rates and increased migration to major cities, rural areas, including small cities and towns, are grappling with a changing social structure: populations are decreasing, while the average age of the population is rising. For these places, these trends have consequences for their public image and, moreover, effects on the psychology of their residents. As the population decreases, houses become uninhabited and decay, stores close, and other important elements of public life, such as restaurants, cinemas, cafes and theatres, become endangered and finally shut down. These changes cause the appearance of the city to deteriorate, and the remaining residents grow pessimistic about the future of the place and are reluctant to make investments in, or to engage themselves in, that future.

The local press and independence in Scotland

Author(s): Jan-Philipp Wagner / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Since the Acts of the Union in 1707, Scotland has struggled to varying degrees for independence. Over the last few decades, the demand for Scottish independence grew stronger, which was epitomized in the Scottish National Party’s landslide victory in the 2011 elections to the Scottish Parliament. Once in power, the SNP, under the leadership of First Minister Alex Salmond, began to work on the fulfilment of its campaign pledge to smooth the way toward a public vote on Scottish independence (Mitchell, 2016). As a result, Scots were given the right to choose whether or not Scotland should be an independent country in the Scottish independence referendum on September 18, 2014.

“We’re holding the town’s mirror”: the self-referential discourses of the local newspaper Camden Advertiser during the controversy over a proposed Islamic School

Author(s): Caitlin Parr / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Local newspapers are a unique part of the media landscape, tasked with informing the community of events and issues in their immediate area and providing them with the knowledge they need to understand complex social issues. Despite advances in digital technologies, “newspapers remain a primary and vital component of the newsgathering infrastructure” (Clarke, 2014, p. 8). Therefore, the power of local print newspapers to build connections with and influence their communities makes them valuable sources for analysis. This chapter offers a discursive analysis of self-referential discourses utilised by the Camden Advertiser during reports on a controversial Islamic School proposal in Camden, Western Sydney, NSW, Australia. Self-referential is used here to describe the ways in which the Camden Advertiser referenced its own name, its journalists, and reflected on previously published newspaper content during the Islamic school debate.

Local public communication filling the gap for a vanishing local media. A dilemma for democracy in Sweden

Author(s): Carina Tenor,Gunnar Nygren / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In a Swedish municipality building, a former Managing Editor from commercial television channel TV4 is working as Head of Communications for the municipality, along with several colleagues, all of whom have experiences from television broadcasting. These days, the municipality invests considerable resources into creating video content to provide citizens with information, “and we know how effectively pictures talk to people’s emotions”. The municipality’s Facebook page has already been awarded a prize, and now everyone is hoping for a prize-winning website as well, with pictures and videos.

My Memories: An Interview about the Early Days of Videoconferencing

Author(s): Janice de Haaff / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the early days before smart phones, social media, and iPads, TESL teachers at AU were divided into two camps in their ideas of IT in language classes – those who were comfortable with modern technology and those who were concerned cables, cameras and screens would negatively transform the learning/teaching environment. I sat somewhere in‑between but when, shortly after a Diverse Conference (Developing Innovative Visual Educational Resources for Students Everywhere), an enthusiastic teacher at MU asked me if I was interested in bringing our classes together via videoconference, enthusiasm surpassed concern and I became part of the techie group. Both of us agreed lectures and presentations were not something we wanted in our ‘undivided’ (or divided by distance only) classroom. We intended to create a unique environment where students could interact with each other and not use this unique VC environment for Q & As after a presentation or lecture.

The Role of Videoconferencing in Language Learning – A Sociopragmatic Approach

Author(s): Andrea Koblížková,Zuzana Bezdíčková / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The authors take a sociopragmatic approach to their use of videoconferencing. The feedback from their programme reveals not only the linguistic challenges of using English as a Lingua Franca but also the socio-cultural challenges inherent in exchanges between students from different countries and cultural backgrounds as well as at different stages of linguistic and emotional development. The programme contributes to raising students’ awareness of related issues and practical workarounds. It also shows how videoconferencing can open an international window while maximising the reassurance of a familiar setting in order to minimise the shock of the new.

Developing Research Writing by Videoconference

Author(s): John Morgan / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The author outlines a detailed range of practical measures to ensure the success of using videoconferencing to develop research writing. The examples given highlight the technical challenges, but effective solutions and measures are presented. Clear parameters are listed and explained in using videoconferencing, and the importance of grounding parameters such as co-presence, visibility and audibility is stressed. The importance of establishing a community focus of support with both students and teachers can help with key issues of giving, receiving and acting on feedback. The article features detailed feedback from students on the effectiveness of the programme.

Using Videoconferencing to Develop the Research Literacy Skills of Off-campus Graduate Students

Author(s): Olga Kozar,Juliet Lum / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The authors focus on the needs of geographically disperse researchers, who are able to gain a sense of community and increase their confidence through videoconferencing. The article gives practical advice and shows how writing research groups can be set up and best supported. This chapter also presents how language educators can play a flexible role in facilitating such a programme and addresses relevant technical issues and workarounds. Key points and options relating to structure, timing and frequency are discussed in detail.

Intercultural Strategies and Development through Global Online Collaboration

Author(s): Nadezhda S. Rudenko / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The author highlights the intercultural aspects of global online communication and how videoconferencing can be an effective tool for developing intercultural skills. Key to successful programme delivery is developing strategies which promote a wide range of skills: communication, teamwork, and cross-cultural navigation. Such skills are especially relevant for today’s globalised workplaces and globalised workforce. The importance of role giving, taking and sharing and the way these influence group dynamics are discussed.

Realising aBerNo

Author(s): Miranda Katherine Capecchi / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The author provides a detailed case study and reflective account of the aBerNo project. The course, making full use of videoconferencing, covered all four language learning skills through the teaching of key academic skills. The article covers key stages in the course’s development and highlights the work expected and outcomes achieved. Many technology-related issues are discussed, as are assessment procedures. The author provides a personal insight into the workings of a carefully developed project designed to enhance both the linguistic and academic skills of high-level students.

“Yes, interesting. But who were they and what just happened?!”: Working with Disparate HE Groups via Videoconferencing

Author(s): Jo Eastlake,Martina Šindelářová Skupeňová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The authors highlight the processes and outcomes of videoconferencing using an active participation approach. Two contrasting student groups at different universities were able to participate in a varied programme of tasks using creativity to improve socio-linguistic skills. The course was task-orientated, with the learners generating or sourcing the majority of materials. A mix of the theoretical and the practical was used to underpin the programme.

Management of Videoconferencing: Challenges and Strategies

Author(s): Libor Štěpánek / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The author looks at key issues facing managers in establishing effective videoconferencing courses in higher education. The issues highlighted are of a practical nature, but ones which cannot be ignored by those in charge of managing resources, including creating the right physical space, looking at timing and intercultural questions, and making proper use of both physical and human resources. This chapter provides an overview and helpful checklist to maximise the added value and quality of courses for all stakeholders.

Videoconferencing (VC) Quick Guide

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This quick guide is a compilation of two videoconferencing booklets created for the Invite and Compact projects in 2008 and 2011, respectively. The aim of this guide is to inspire novice videoconference practitioners to deal with basic videoconferencing situations and challenges in an effective way.

CONCLUSION

Author(s): Not Specified Author / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The case studies of Latvia and Sweden offer a test case for analysing China’s influence in the Nordic-Baltic information environment. Although limited in scope, the findings can provide valuable insight into China’s potential to influence public discourse in the specific countries of the region. Both case studies illustrate the main channels of the CCP’s communication efforts and demonstrate how tactics differ depending on the nature of relationship and reaction to China’s perceived ‘red’ lines by the country of analysis. China’s communication efforts towards Latvia thus far can be characterised as non-confrontational, focusing on prospective cooperation between the two countries. In instances of criticism levelled against China, it is not confronted publicly. By contrast, Sweden has experienced a more confrontational side of China’s public communication, with Chinese diplomats publicly reacting to Swedish criticism regarding human rights abuses and aggressive foreign policy.

How Does Russia Target the Physical Domain to Achieve Its Strategic Goals in Georgia?

Author(s): Ketevan Chachava / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The choice of Georgian citizens is evident: the majority wants Georgia to join the European Union (EU) and NATO. This aspiration is even reflected and enshrined in the constitution of Georgia, which states that Georgia’s accession to the EU and NATO is an overarching priority for the country. However, Georgia’s road to European integration has not been easy. Russia, which considers the post-Soviet space to be its own ‘backyard’ where it should exercise control, has repeatedly sought to undermine Georgia’s European integration process. To that end, Russia has exerted an influence upon Georgia’s information environment through several approaches, including by targeting the physical domain through cyber-attacks, the occupation of 20 per cent of Georgia’s internationally recognised territory, and the application of active measures through influence networks, among others. As a tool for influencing Georgia’s information environment, disinformation has historically been deployed by the Kremlin and gained newfound relevance since the Russo-Georgia War in 2008. Disinformation is often used to manipulate Georgian identity to imply closeness to Russia or to appeal to identity politics in order to amplify the position of those social groups that promote Russia’s interests. In this regard, physical social networks and interconnectivity become crucial.

How to Respond to Information Operations While Preserving Commitment to Free Speech and the Free Flow of Ideas?

Author(s): Anna Keshelashvili,Tinatin Tsomaia / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The developments following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which took place during the writing of this chapter, have once more highlighted the problem of societal polarisation, information manipulation, and the influence of new information technologies on societies’ political decision-making and real-time behaviour. The 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, ‘the most recognized symbol of democratic governance in the world’, brought to fore questions around the collective responsibility of citizens, politicians, and tech giants to better understand, protect, and exercise freedom of speech in a time of disinformation. For example: What constitutes ‘harmful’ online content? Where does the border lie between online content that is protected by the right to freedom of expression and online content that should, or needs to, be regulated? Should tech giants be liable for the information they host? Do they have different obligations to society than other private companies do?

Zaključci i preporuke

Author(s): Not Specified Author / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Poglavlje 10: Informaciono društvo i mediji

Author(s): Chiara Gaia Iascone / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Poglavlje 10 sadrži pravila koja omogućuju efikasno funkcionisanje zajedničkog tržišta u području telekomunikacionih usluga i mreža, kao i njihovu promociju, razvoj i širu dostupnost. Cilj EU je da korisnicima osigura usluge po povoljnim cijenama (mobilna i fiksna telefonija, pristup internetu, besplatni hitni pozivi i dr.) uz stimulaciju tržišne utakmice i smanjenje dominacije monopola koji se i dalje održavaju za određene usluge (npr. pristup internetu velike brzine). Jedan od prioriteta EU je inkluzija informatičkog društva, radi smanjenja digitalne podijeljenosti na različitim nivoima. U području audiovizuelne politike odnosno medija, naglasak je na zaštiti maloljetnika od neprimjerenih programskih sadržaja i oglašavanja, kao i na pravilima o televizijskoj trgovini i oglašavanju.