Pub Date : 2024-06-14DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1410100
N. Quintas-Froufe, A. González-Neira, Carlota Fiaño-Salinas
Disinformation and fake news have become highly prevalent on social networks. As such, many platforms have tried to reduce audience exposure to false or erroneous data by implementing corporate policies to protect users. This is especially relevant in social networks aimed at young people, as is the case of TikTok. In recent years, such mediums have become more popular than news sites among young audiences. The purpose of this article is to analyze what these policies are, on what topics they are implemented and how they are being monitored and enforced by the social network TikTok during the period 2020–24. Nonetheless, it must also be mentioned that it is still too early to make a complete and comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of these policies because many of them are not yet fully implemented.
{"title":"Corporate policies to protect against disinformation for young audiences: the case of TikTok","authors":"N. Quintas-Froufe, A. González-Neira, Carlota Fiaño-Salinas","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1410100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1410100","url":null,"abstract":"Disinformation and fake news have become highly prevalent on social networks. As such, many platforms have tried to reduce audience exposure to false or erroneous data by implementing corporate policies to protect users. This is especially relevant in social networks aimed at young people, as is the case of TikTok. In recent years, such mediums have become more popular than news sites among young audiences. The purpose of this article is to analyze what these policies are, on what topics they are implemented and how they are being monitored and enforced by the social network TikTok during the period 2020–24. Nonetheless, it must also be mentioned that it is still too early to make a complete and comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of these policies because many of them are not yet fully implemented.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"98 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141342170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-13DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1419959
Katherine Cullerton, D. Patay
A consequence of corporate influence on public policy is the potential for negative impacts on population health. Consequently, it is imperative that public health advocates and scholars stay abreast of emerging corporate practices designed to influence regulatory measures aimed at safeguarding health. To identify these emerging practices, we attended a national corporate affairs conference to identify tactics and gain insights from the range of commercial actors presenting at the event.An observational design was used for the research. This involved observation of senior executives presenting at a national corporate affairs conference in Australia in 2023. The collected data was inductively and thematically analyzed by the authors.Our findings revealed that the foremost concern for corporations was maintaining a “social license to operate.” Notably, corporate actors perceived social media as a critical threat to social license as it can rapidly sway public opinion against them. Strategies identified for preserving social license included building relationships with the public and civil society, leveraging AI-driven data services to monitor and effectively respond to perceived threats, to convert dissenters into advocates, and applying the narrative of value creation and stakeholder capitalism.This study contributes valuable insights for public health advocates and scholars by shedding light on the mechanisms employed by corporations to counteract regulatory measures. These mechanisms include using stakeholder capitalist narratives to frame and reframe discussion and debate, engaging dissenters to convert them into advocates, and leveraging partnerships to camouflage actions and build social license halos. It also revealed the unprecedented power and new platforms that previously weak actors now have via social media. The observations from the conference offer a nuanced understanding of corporate strategies, enabling advocates to effectively challenge prevailing narratives that may undermine public health initiatives.
{"title":"Inside a corporate affairs conference: the race for a social license","authors":"Katherine Cullerton, D. Patay","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1419959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1419959","url":null,"abstract":"A consequence of corporate influence on public policy is the potential for negative impacts on population health. Consequently, it is imperative that public health advocates and scholars stay abreast of emerging corporate practices designed to influence regulatory measures aimed at safeguarding health. To identify these emerging practices, we attended a national corporate affairs conference to identify tactics and gain insights from the range of commercial actors presenting at the event.An observational design was used for the research. This involved observation of senior executives presenting at a national corporate affairs conference in Australia in 2023. The collected data was inductively and thematically analyzed by the authors.Our findings revealed that the foremost concern for corporations was maintaining a “social license to operate.” Notably, corporate actors perceived social media as a critical threat to social license as it can rapidly sway public opinion against them. Strategies identified for preserving social license included building relationships with the public and civil society, leveraging AI-driven data services to monitor and effectively respond to perceived threats, to convert dissenters into advocates, and applying the narrative of value creation and stakeholder capitalism.This study contributes valuable insights for public health advocates and scholars by shedding light on the mechanisms employed by corporations to counteract regulatory measures. These mechanisms include using stakeholder capitalist narratives to frame and reframe discussion and debate, engaging dissenters to convert them into advocates, and leveraging partnerships to camouflage actions and build social license halos. It also revealed the unprecedented power and new platforms that previously weak actors now have via social media. The observations from the conference offer a nuanced understanding of corporate strategies, enabling advocates to effectively challenge prevailing narratives that may undermine public health initiatives.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"57 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141349513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-12DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1401172
Emily P. Diamond, Nikol Damato, Tiffany Smythe, David Bidwell
The choice of which individuals and entities to include as sources in newspaper articles is an important decision for journalists, in large part because they can shape how readers understand the issue and which arguments become most salient. This is particularly important for issues that are relatively new or unknown to readers. The growing topic of offshore wind in the United States is a prime example of an issue that many people are encountering for the first time via media reporting. This issue has also proven to be highly divisive, with heated oppositional arguments being promoted by different entities. This study seeks to understand which entities are being represented in media coverage of offshore wind, and the different framing strategies that various entities use in quotes about the first two large-scale projects in the United States, South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind I.We use a newspaper content analysis to identify and code the sources quoted in articles reporting on South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind I from 2013-2022, as well as the emphasis frames used by each entity.We find that coverage varies in the two cases, but developers and political officials are quoted most frequently. As these entities tend to use frames highlighting the benefits of offshore wind more frequently than the risks, those perspectives dominate news coverage. Meanwhile, perspectives of community members and impacted industries such as the fishing industry are represented less frequently in news coverage.These findings help explain the dominance of certain frames and perspectives in offshore wind, and they raise important questions about which voices are legitimized through representation in news media.
{"title":"Legitimacy through representation? Media sources and discourses of offshore wind development","authors":"Emily P. Diamond, Nikol Damato, Tiffany Smythe, David Bidwell","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1401172","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1401172","url":null,"abstract":"The choice of which individuals and entities to include as sources in newspaper articles is an important decision for journalists, in large part because they can shape how readers understand the issue and which arguments become most salient. This is particularly important for issues that are relatively new or unknown to readers. The growing topic of offshore wind in the United States is a prime example of an issue that many people are encountering for the first time via media reporting. This issue has also proven to be highly divisive, with heated oppositional arguments being promoted by different entities. This study seeks to understand which entities are being represented in media coverage of offshore wind, and the different framing strategies that various entities use in quotes about the first two large-scale projects in the United States, South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind I.We use a newspaper content analysis to identify and code the sources quoted in articles reporting on South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind I from 2013-2022, as well as the emphasis frames used by each entity.We find that coverage varies in the two cases, but developers and political officials are quoted most frequently. As these entities tend to use frames highlighting the benefits of offshore wind more frequently than the risks, those perspectives dominate news coverage. Meanwhile, perspectives of community members and impacted industries such as the fishing industry are represented less frequently in news coverage.These findings help explain the dominance of certain frames and perspectives in offshore wind, and they raise important questions about which voices are legitimized through representation in news media.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"59 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141353256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-11DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1331139
Deborah Kunze
Destigmatization is a crucial step toward achieving societal equality. Media contribute both to the stigmatization and destigmatization of various groups. Through a systematic literature review, the present study aims to develop a comprehensive overview of destigmatization in the context of media and communication. A final sample of 79 scientific publications was analyzed and synthesized. First, a systematically derived, interdisciplinary applicable definition of destigmatization is presented. Second, an overview of factors influencing destigmatization is given, categorized into four factor groups: contact, education, language and terminology, and framing. Third, the processual character of destigmatization, referring to reflexive and rule-based processes, is discussed. This systematic literature review emphasizes the responsibility and potential positive impact of media and communication for destigmatization. The findings provide a basis for adaptation and expansion by future research focusing on various stigmatized groups and settings.
{"title":"Systematizing destigmatization in the context of media and communication: a systematic literature review","authors":"Deborah Kunze","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1331139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1331139","url":null,"abstract":"Destigmatization is a crucial step toward achieving societal equality. Media contribute both to the stigmatization and destigmatization of various groups. Through a systematic literature review, the present study aims to develop a comprehensive overview of destigmatization in the context of media and communication. A final sample of 79 scientific publications was analyzed and synthesized. First, a systematically derived, interdisciplinary applicable definition of destigmatization is presented. Second, an overview of factors influencing destigmatization is given, categorized into four factor groups: contact, education, language and terminology, and framing. Third, the processual character of destigmatization, referring to reflexive and rule-based processes, is discussed. This systematic literature review emphasizes the responsibility and potential positive impact of media and communication for destigmatization. The findings provide a basis for adaptation and expansion by future research focusing on various stigmatized groups and settings.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"64 25","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141358115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-10DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1424096
Raquel Seijas Costa, Daniel Barredo Ibáñez, Nereida Cea Esteruelas
Within the European Union, the pluralist polarized journalistic model suggests the presence of journalistic cultures rooted in the connections between political parties and media organizations. In this classical framework, the state exerts significant intervention to influence a media system characterized by lower levels of professionalization. In this regard, Spain serves as a well-examined example of a pluralist polarized Western democracy. Our study entails a systematic review based on two distinct dimensions. Firstly, we scrutinized all legal documents pertaining to media regulation in Spain published between the Spanish transition and the present 1977–2024. From this perspective, we propose a chronological evolution to categorize this extensive collection of norms. Secondly, we complement our primary source assessment with an examination of secondary sources to validate the proposed evolution. Our findings indicate that the Spanish media regulation is evolving due to two pivotal factors: the influence of the European Union and the preservation of the narrative established during the transition to democracy. While contemporary communication grapples with issues such as the rise of artificial intelligence, journalistic instability, algorithmic communication, and fragmented user consumption, these areas are only addressed peripherally within the Spanish media normative context.
{"title":"Evolutionary regulatory dynamics in a pluralist and polarized journalism landscape: a case study of the normative framework in Spanish media","authors":"Raquel Seijas Costa, Daniel Barredo Ibáñez, Nereida Cea Esteruelas","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1424096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1424096","url":null,"abstract":"Within the European Union, the pluralist polarized journalistic model suggests the presence of journalistic cultures rooted in the connections between political parties and media organizations. In this classical framework, the state exerts significant intervention to influence a media system characterized by lower levels of professionalization. In this regard, Spain serves as a well-examined example of a pluralist polarized Western democracy. Our study entails a systematic review based on two distinct dimensions. Firstly, we scrutinized all legal documents pertaining to media regulation in Spain published between the Spanish transition and the present 1977–2024. From this perspective, we propose a chronological evolution to categorize this extensive collection of norms. Secondly, we complement our primary source assessment with an examination of secondary sources to validate the proposed evolution. Our findings indicate that the Spanish media regulation is evolving due to two pivotal factors: the influence of the European Union and the preservation of the narrative established during the transition to democracy. While contemporary communication grapples with issues such as the rise of artificial intelligence, journalistic instability, algorithmic communication, and fragmented user consumption, these areas are only addressed peripherally within the Spanish media normative context.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"113 33","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141361175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-10DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1401576
Elisabet Serrat, A. Amadó, Stéphanie Durrleman, Alaitz Intxaustegi, F. Sidera
While children with typical language development may capitalize on general language skills to grasp the content of others’ minds, those with challenges in mind-reading could rather rely more specifically on complementation structures. However, most studies investigating mind-reading have focused on first-order false-belief reasoning, while much less is known about second-order false-belief, particularly for children that may present language difficulties, such as children with hearing impairment. This study aims to explore the link between language development and second-order false-belief in hearing-impaired children compared to their hearing counterparts. It seeks to ascertain whether mastering second-order false-belief requires the comprehension of complements or other language skills in hearing-impaired children, and if a distinct pattern emerges in their hearing peers. Children with hearing-impairment (n = 22) and a chronological age-matched control group (n = 25), ages 8–12, were administered a second-order false-belief task (carefully avoiding use of complements and highly visual). Alongside this, they completed assessments of expressive vocabulary, receptive and expressive syntax, recalling sentences, and a recursive sentential complements task. Correlational analysis revealed that in the control group only productive syntax was related to performance on the second-order false-belief task, while in the hearing-impaired group, expressive vocabulary, recalling sentences and sentential complements were related to second-order false-belief performance. These results show that vocabulary, recursive complements and expressive syntax are particularly important aspects for second-order false-belief success in children with hearing-impairment as compared to their hearing peers. These results shed light on how language and second-order false-belief understanding are related in their development.
{"title":"Expressive syntax matters for second-order false belief: a study with hearing-impaired children","authors":"Elisabet Serrat, A. Amadó, Stéphanie Durrleman, Alaitz Intxaustegi, F. Sidera","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1401576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1401576","url":null,"abstract":"While children with typical language development may capitalize on general language skills to grasp the content of others’ minds, those with challenges in mind-reading could rather rely more specifically on complementation structures. However, most studies investigating mind-reading have focused on first-order false-belief reasoning, while much less is known about second-order false-belief, particularly for children that may present language difficulties, such as children with hearing impairment. This study aims to explore the link between language development and second-order false-belief in hearing-impaired children compared to their hearing counterparts. It seeks to ascertain whether mastering second-order false-belief requires the comprehension of complements or other language skills in hearing-impaired children, and if a distinct pattern emerges in their hearing peers. Children with hearing-impairment (n = 22) and a chronological age-matched control group (n = 25), ages 8–12, were administered a second-order false-belief task (carefully avoiding use of complements and highly visual). Alongside this, they completed assessments of expressive vocabulary, receptive and expressive syntax, recalling sentences, and a recursive sentential complements task. Correlational analysis revealed that in the control group only productive syntax was related to performance on the second-order false-belief task, while in the hearing-impaired group, expressive vocabulary, recalling sentences and sentential complements were related to second-order false-belief performance. These results show that vocabulary, recursive complements and expressive syntax are particularly important aspects for second-order false-belief success in children with hearing-impairment as compared to their hearing peers. These results shed light on how language and second-order false-belief understanding are related in their development.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":" 45","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141365823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-10DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1293401
Bahareh Yousefzadeh, G. Libben, S. Segalowitz
Compound words exhibit properties of both single words and phrases, raising the question of the extent to which compounds are processed as single units or as word combinations. Most studies have addressed this in Germanic languages (English, German and Dutch) which have the similar compound structure of modifier-head ordering. To see whether this limits our understanding of compound word processing and to examine compound decomposition in another language, we presented Persian stimuli auditorily in a paradigm involving typing out stimuli. We examined the effects of semantic transparency, modifier-head ordering and the potential differences between attached compounds written without spaces and those with a space between the constituents. We report the inter-keystroke-interval times, yielding letter-by-letter production of compound structures produced by 31 native speakers of Persian. Results analyzed in a linear mixed-model regression analysis suggested that, for all compounds, typing speed is slowed at the boundary between the constituents of Persian compound words. These effects, which we interpret to be evidence of morphological decomposition, were present for both semantically transparent and opaque compounds, for both head-initial and head-final compounds, and for both attached and spaced compounds. We observed greater morphological decomposition effects in semantically transparent (versus opaque) compounds. We also observed that the way transparency influences the degree of decomposition is moderated by headedness. Thus, this first report for the written production of compound words confirms previous observations of significant decomposition at morphological boundaries in English compounds, but with variation specific to Persian.
{"title":"Persian compounds in the mental lexicon","authors":"Bahareh Yousefzadeh, G. Libben, S. Segalowitz","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1293401","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1293401","url":null,"abstract":"Compound words exhibit properties of both single words and phrases, raising the question of the extent to which compounds are processed as single units or as word combinations. Most studies have addressed this in Germanic languages (English, German and Dutch) which have the similar compound structure of modifier-head ordering. To see whether this limits our understanding of compound word processing and to examine compound decomposition in another language, we presented Persian stimuli auditorily in a paradigm involving typing out stimuli. We examined the effects of semantic transparency, modifier-head ordering and the potential differences between attached compounds written without spaces and those with a space between the constituents. We report the inter-keystroke-interval times, yielding letter-by-letter production of compound structures produced by 31 native speakers of Persian. Results analyzed in a linear mixed-model regression analysis suggested that, for all compounds, typing speed is slowed at the boundary between the constituents of Persian compound words. These effects, which we interpret to be evidence of morphological decomposition, were present for both semantically transparent and opaque compounds, for both head-initial and head-final compounds, and for both attached and spaced compounds. We observed greater morphological decomposition effects in semantically transparent (versus opaque) compounds. We also observed that the way transparency influences the degree of decomposition is moderated by headedness. Thus, this first report for the written production of compound words confirms previous observations of significant decomposition at morphological boundaries in English compounds, but with variation specific to Persian.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":" 64","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141365813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-05DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1371142
Sarah D. McCrackin, Jelena Ristic
Clear and compassionate communication is tantamount to quality of care and patient wellbeing. Yet, much of communication in healthcare occurs with lower faces visually hidden behind opaque face masks. Visual occlusion of the face by masks impairs both verbal and nonverbal communication, including recognition of basic emotions, perceptions of trustworthiness, emotional understanding, and empathic responding. This piece presents a brief overview of the new COVID-19 inspired literature which shows that visual face occlusion creates significant communication barriers which can be reduced by wearing transparent instead of opaque masks.
{"title":"Improving masked communication: the case for transparent masks","authors":"Sarah D. McCrackin, Jelena Ristic","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1371142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1371142","url":null,"abstract":"Clear and compassionate communication is tantamount to quality of care and patient wellbeing. Yet, much of communication in healthcare occurs with lower faces visually hidden behind opaque face masks. Visual occlusion of the face by masks impairs both verbal and nonverbal communication, including recognition of basic emotions, perceptions of trustworthiness, emotional understanding, and empathic responding. This piece presents a brief overview of the new COVID-19 inspired literature which shows that visual face occlusion creates significant communication barriers which can be reduced by wearing transparent instead of opaque masks.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"43 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141384720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-24DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1356702
Anna Wilson, Irina Pavlova, Elinor Payne, I. Burenko, Peter Uhrig
There is a need to develop new interdisciplinary approaches suitable for a more complete analysis of multimodal data. Such approaches need to go beyond case studies and leverage technology to allow for statistically valid analysis of the data. Our study addresses this need by engaging with the research question of how humans communicate about the future for persuasive and manipulative purposes, and how they do this multimodally. It introduces a new methodology for computer-assisted multimodal analysis of video data. The study also introduces the resulting dataset, featuring annotations for speech (textual and acoustic modalities) and gesticulation and corporal behaviour (visual modality). To analyse and annotate the data and develop the methodology, the study engages with 23 26-min episodes of the show ‘SophieCo Visionaries’, broadcast by RT (formerly ‘Russia Today’).
{"title":"World futures through RT’s eyes: multimodal dataset and interdisciplinary methodology","authors":"Anna Wilson, Irina Pavlova, Elinor Payne, I. Burenko, Peter Uhrig","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1356702","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1356702","url":null,"abstract":"There is a need to develop new interdisciplinary approaches suitable for a more complete analysis of multimodal data. Such approaches need to go beyond case studies and leverage technology to allow for statistically valid analysis of the data. Our study addresses this need by engaging with the research question of how humans communicate about the future for persuasive and manipulative purposes, and how they do this multimodally. It introduces a new methodology for computer-assisted multimodal analysis of video data. The study also introduces the resulting dataset, featuring annotations for speech (textual and acoustic modalities) and gesticulation and corporal behaviour (visual modality). To analyse and annotate the data and develop the methodology, the study engages with 23 26-min episodes of the show ‘SophieCo Visionaries’, broadcast by RT (formerly ‘Russia Today’).","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"94 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140665186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-23DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1376085
Brian Hughes
Conspiracy theories are a means by which people make sense of vastly complex webs of cause and effect, contingency, and random chance. Impersonal operations of a political economy thus become personified in the figure of sinister puppet masters controlling the world. Overdetermined historical events become narrativized as plots executed with clockwork timing and perfect secrecy. This study proposes a model for the motives and mechanisms by which complex and ambiguous systems are made fodder for paranoid interpretation in the form of a conspiracy theory. By employing an exegetical close-reading methodology and psychoanalytic interpretation, three meta-conspiracies are identified as symptoms of the process described above: antisemitic theories of globalization, the “Deep State” as seen from the political Left, and vulgar UFOlogy. This study will argue that the impenetrable complexity of our globalized, financialized, hypermediated world agitates our experience of the Symbolic order, that is, the realm of language, logic, law, which acts as the scaffolding to the individual’s psychic sense of place in society. Lacan associates entry into the Symbolic order with the reconciliation of the Oedipal conflict and the Symbolic itself with the figure of the Father. However, the complexity and ambiguity of the Symbolic in our contemporary world produce a crisis in this dynamic, which some have described as a “decline in Symbolic efficiency.” This is particularly acute around events, which give rise to conspiracy theories. The will of the Father becomes unknowable, and the order upon which he insists appears dark and chaotic. Conspiracy therefore refers to turning away from this chaotic order and a “dark return” to the pre-symbolic maternal state, via the recession of the Symbolic into the Real, as a chaotic totalized presence (the conspiracy) stretching to occupy every corner of reality.
{"title":"Oedipus and the cabal: conspiracy theories and the decline of symbolic efficiency","authors":"Brian Hughes","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1376085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1376085","url":null,"abstract":"Conspiracy theories are a means by which people make sense of vastly complex webs of cause and effect, contingency, and random chance. Impersonal operations of a political economy thus become personified in the figure of sinister puppet masters controlling the world. Overdetermined historical events become narrativized as plots executed with clockwork timing and perfect secrecy. This study proposes a model for the motives and mechanisms by which complex and ambiguous systems are made fodder for paranoid interpretation in the form of a conspiracy theory. By employing an exegetical close-reading methodology and psychoanalytic interpretation, three meta-conspiracies are identified as symptoms of the process described above: antisemitic theories of globalization, the “Deep State” as seen from the political Left, and vulgar UFOlogy. This study will argue that the impenetrable complexity of our globalized, financialized, hypermediated world agitates our experience of the Symbolic order, that is, the realm of language, logic, law, which acts as the scaffolding to the individual’s psychic sense of place in society. Lacan associates entry into the Symbolic order with the reconciliation of the Oedipal conflict and the Symbolic itself with the figure of the Father. However, the complexity and ambiguity of the Symbolic in our contemporary world produce a crisis in this dynamic, which some have described as a “decline in Symbolic efficiency.” This is particularly acute around events, which give rise to conspiracy theories. The will of the Father becomes unknowable, and the order upon which he insists appears dark and chaotic. Conspiracy therefore refers to turning away from this chaotic order and a “dark return” to the pre-symbolic maternal state, via the recession of the Symbolic into the Real, as a chaotic totalized presence (the conspiracy) stretching to occupy every corner of reality.","PeriodicalId":507157,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":"118 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140669641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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