Journalism and Media

The analysis in this study covers how power imbalance, alliance cohesion, diplomatic and media framing, and big data analytics affect scaling up in the conflict in a multipolar world. This research applies the Constructivist International Relations Theory to examine survey data of 250 international relations experts, policymakers, and analysts using Survey Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) via SMART-PLS. Power imbalance and the way the media frames the situation are found to lead to an escalation of conflicts, but strong alliance cohesion, diplomatic effort, and big data analytics can mitigate the risk of the escalation. Strategic diplomacy, media regulation, and real-time data monitoring have thus shown their capacity to prevent conflict. These contribute to conflict studies by incorporating political IR models, data science knowledge, and policy advice on global security governance. This means they can support the prediction and prevention of conflicts by means of diplomatic transparency, ethical media practice, and AI early warning systems. This study is limited by the use of self-reported data; however, the results of this study indicate that this topic is under-explored in cultural and geopolitical terms. The results help inform policymakers and security entities on ways to address conflict resolution as a matter of discretion and from a multidimensional perspective. Survey Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) via SMART-PLS is a technique used for analyzing structural relationships between measured variables and latent constructs, providing valuable insights into complex models. Survey Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) via SMART-PLS is a technique used for analyzing structural relationships between measured variables and latent constructs, providing valuable insights into complex models. Full article

In an era marked by digital transformation and political polarization, the European Union faces significant challenges in maintaining effective communication and public trust. This study examines the European Parliament’s use of Threads and X (formerly Twitter) during the 2024 European Parliament elections, analyzing the types of content published, multimedia resources employed, and engagement generated on both platforms. Using a quantitative content analysis of 171 posts from the official English-language accounts, this research identifies key differences in communication strategies across platforms. Findings reveal that X prioritizes video content, mentions, and reposts, fostering higher user engagement, whereas Threads leans toward infographics and a more informative approach. The study highlights the fragmented nature of digital political communication and underscores the necessity for the European Parliament to adapt its strategies to the dynamics of each platform. These insights contribute to a broader understanding of institutional communication in an evolving digital ecosystem and its implications for electoral mobilization and public discourse. Full article

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is the first supranational regulation aimed at improving the safety, transparency and accountability of online platforms. However, the DSA enforcement process is substantially opaque due to the scarcity of publicly available legal documents on methods, sources and results of the investigations carried out under its scope. This paper examines the transparency of the DSA enforcement process, focusing on the legal and political motivations of the progression from requests for information (RFIs) to the initiation of proceedings, using the European Commission’s investigation against X as a case study. Full article

In recent years, non-fiction journalism, regarded as a subset of literary and narrative journalism, has garnered significant attention in Chinese media. This trend underscores a notable departure from traditional journalistic norms of objectivity toward an emphasis on authenticity. Drawing upon a comprehensive analysis of 348 articles sourced from Southern People Weekly, a prominent media outlet for non-fiction journalism in China, this study examines the construction of authenticity along two distinct dimensions: voice and visibility. The voice dimension encompasses the utilization of first-person narratives by sources, the expression of authorial voice, and the orchestration of polyphony between journalists and their sources. The visibility dimension pertains to the portrayal of sources through visual imagery, the strategic presentation of journalists, and the scenic depiction of context and environment. Based on these findings, this study discusses the challenges posed by this narrative paradigm to the traditional notion of objectivity and its implications for the rising ideal of subjective journalism. Full article

Talk shows have a vital role in framing legislative issues to influence public attitudes, in a way that serves and achieves the interests of those in charge of these talk shows. The coverage of the talk show Voice of the Kingdom during the second regular session of the National Assembly reveals the spotlight on the performance of the legislative authority, which is the basis for approving, rejecting, or amending laws in Jordan. It also highlights the way talk shows address the performance of the legislative authority in exercising its legislative and oversight role and analyzes the elements on which these talk shows rely in framing legislative issues, as these treatments reflect the public’s interpretations and priorities towards the performance of the legislative authority. To achieve these objectives, the media content analysis approach was used to analyze the media frames of 37 episodes of the Voice of the Kingdom talk show during the second regular session of the 19th National Assembly, which extended from 13 November 2022 to 7 May 2023. This article reveals that the Voice of the Kingdom talk show framed the performance of the legislative authority within the framework of economic results, responsibility, and human interests. The methods of treatment were characterized by the analytical approach, while it relied on rational persuasion methods in treating the performance of the legislative authority. The results concluded that the process of framing the Voice of the Kingdom talk show for the performance of the legislative authority acquires its characteristics from the nature of the television channel’s orientations, the vision of the talk show makers, and the goals they seek to achieve, which gives the communicator an influential role in framing legislative performance. Full article

This study examines the transformation of masculine representation across television and digital platforms in Indonesian reality shows. We identified distinct patterns of masculine representation emerging across platforms through a mixed-method analysis of 240 h of television programming, 1100 digital media items, and survey data from 1000 respondents. Our study reveals a significant decline in traditional masculine representations from 85% to 30% between 2019 and 2024, accompanied by the rise of “platform-specific masculinities”. The research identifies three primary categories: traditional (dominated by competitive achievement), emotional (characterized by interpersonal connection), and creativity (marked by innovative self-expression). Digital platforms demonstrate higher engagement rates for emotional (380 k interactions) and creative content (320 k interactions) compared to traditional representations (180 k interactions), particularly among younger audiences (18–24). While television maintains predominantly traditional representations (65%), digital platforms, especially TikTok, show higher proportions of emotional (42%) and creative (45%) expressions. These findings contribute to understanding how platform characteristics influence gender representation and suggest implications for media production in Southeast Asia. Full article

Over the past decade in Greece, over 130 regional newspapers are no longer being printed and therefore have ceased their publication. As a consequence, publishers/owners, journalists, and editors have expressed their concerns about the future of local newspapers and have become increasingly pessimistic regarding the business future of the Greek regional press. This study strongly focuses on the various challenges and complex difficulties they have to face and overcome in order to retain their validity and credibility, seeing that the viability of their business is declining significantly. Along with its scientifically substantiated research, which are conducted through a questionnaire, a sample of 176 employees (publishers/owners, journalists, and editors) is examined out of the total of 199 local newspapers that are being legally printed today in the country (111 daily and 88 weekly releases). The main point of emphasis is to showcase and highlight the personal experiences and opinions of the people that are working in the industry, justifying and analyzing the dangers and risks that are threatening the future of local print media. The presentation and the evaluation of its results show negative and frustrating insights that can potentially lead to an uncertain future in the coming years. By combining both the negative responses of the participants and their low level of satisfaction regarding the government’s efforts and support measures, a clear conclusion is drawn that the Greek regional press is fighting for its survival. It seems probable that, in the upcoming future, even more regional newspapers will suspend their circulation. Full article

This study examined the relationship between climate change advocacy on TikTok and knowledge, attitude, and adaptation practices among TikTok users in Nigeria. This study employed quantitative methods, using content analysis and cross-sectional survey approaches to generate data. An API tool was used to scrape 342 TikTok videos, out of which 16 videos with comprehensive information about climate change were purposively selected, and 381 survey participants were purposively selected from 23.84 million TikTok users in Nigeria. The data were presented in simple frequency tables, while the Pearson’s Correlation analysis was conducted on the survey data acquired to draw inferences. The results of the content analysis suggest that users in Nigeria have contributed a little in providing comprehensive climate advocacy content on TikTok; most of available videos emanated from official sources and projected the anthropogenic nature of the climate crisis but denoted a pessimistic and alarming tone, which may induce despair and outright disregard for the messages. The survey results depict limited exposure to climate change content on TikTok, even though the knowledge of climate change was adequate. More so, polarised perceptions and attitudes, and maladaptive practices in tree planting as well as plastic and household wastes management were observed. The correlation coefficients show a negative and statistically non-significant correlation between exposure to climate advocacy on TikTok and knowledge, attitude, and adaptation practices, but there is a positive but insignificant relationship between the perception of climate change advocacy on TikTok and adaptation practices. These findings suggest the need for more intentional policies that will drive positive attitudinal changes and adaptation practices among young people in Nigeria. Full article

Every year, more than 700,000 people die by suicide worldwide, a quarter of whom are between 15 and 29 years of age. In Spain, suicide has surpassed road traffic accidents as the leading non-natural cause of death in this age group. Although its overall incidence remains low, the number of suicide attempts continues to rise, indicating an upward trend. Despite being recognized as a significant public health issue, the media often refrains from reporting on suicide to prevent the Werther effect, thereby avoiding the potential propagation of suicidal behavior. This is a form of self-censorship in the exercise of freedom of information, a right recognized by the Spanish Constitution, which also undermines the right of citizens to receive such content. The Spanish Constitutional Court has determined that public interest is a mandatory requirement to endorse the legitimacy of a news item in case of a clash with any of the rights that legally limit freedom of information. This article aims to analyze whether, in those exceptional cases in which the rule of silence is broken, the information on suicide in young people is in line with the jurisprudential concept of public interest, above privacy, honor or self-image and, especially, above the protection of children and adolescents. As a research method, this study analyzes a selection of news articles on suicides of minors, published in Spanish digital newspapers and compiled into a self-developed database. These articles are examined through the lens of the Spanish Constitutional Court’s doctrine on freedom of information. The findings indicate that public interest is unequivocally justified when news coverage focuses on aggregated data regarding suicide or suicide attempts among minors. However, when reporting on the suicide of an individual minor, the justification from the perspective of freedom of information depends on the specifics of each case, requiring a careful balance between public interest and the protection of fundamental rights. Full article

Concentrating on different types of persuasion strategies used by medical experts and political figures, the present study aims to examine persuasion strategies in medical vs. political discourse. Four corpora of speeches and interviews of four different groups of politicians and health professionals related to COVID-19 were selected. Two corpora belonged to Iranian figures, and two corpora represented Western figures. Then, using a framework which encompasses textual and interpersonal markers, the persuasive properties of the four corpora were investigated. The results indicated that logical markers emerge as the most frequent elements in textual subcategories of the persuasive metadiscourse observed in all four corpora. Moreover, in the case of the interpersonal subcategories, it was found that although hedges have a key role in the persuasive qualities of the texts, certainty markers appear to be largely absent within this corpus, which could suggest that the speakers are reluctant to take a stance while discussing a divisive and new issue such as COVID-19. The results provide insights into how the public’s understanding of the situation can be shaped and shifted in times of crisis, using persuasive devices by public figures. Full article

This study analyses the emotional communication strategies employed by far-right party leaders on TikTok during the 2024 European elections, focusing on their appeal to voters. Combining quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 472 videos from 27 leaders in 24 countries, the research examines the dominant emotions, themes, stylistic resources, and their impact on engagement. The results reveal a dual strategy that combines positive emotions such as hope and ambition, which generate the highest levels of engagement, with negative emotions such as fear and uncertainty, which emphasise crisis narratives. Leaders who balance optimism with polarising narratives show greater resonance, particularly with audiences. The findings underscore the growing role of TikTok in far-right political communication and demonstrate its effectiveness in mobilising emotional engagement among young people. Despite limitations, the study highlights the sophistication of emotional strategies in digital political communication and provides insights into how far-right leaders use TikTok to influence voter behaviour. Full article

This article aims to describe the value priorities of Kazakhstani student youth and explore their relationship with traditions, the culture of ethnic groups in Kazakhstan, state ideological attitudes, and the influence of external cultures. This paper addresses the impact of the multinational environment and globalization on the formation of values among students in Kazakhstan. This article analyzes empirical data collected through a mixed-methods questionnaire, developed in accordance with the well-known value measurement methodologies of M. Rokeach and Sh. Schwartz. The results show that although traditional values remain significant, the growing exposure of young people to global influences and socio-political changes indicates a dynamic evolution of their value system, reflecting both continuity and changes in the cultural landscape of Kazakhstan. The key value for Kazakhstani students is family, which suggests sufficient harmony in the life models chosen by these students. The significance of this study lies in its potential to contribute to the establishment of a system of relations in which different cultures can engage in dialogue, preserve their historical trajectories, and maintain mutual respect among representatives of diverse ethnicities and social groups. This study also holds implications for the development of legislative mechanisms aimed at respecting Kazakhstan’s national interests in international communication. Full article

This study explores the adoption of AI in the UAE’s creative industries through interviews with nine professionals, primarily Emiratis, from journalism, filmmaking, content creation, and heritage sectors. Their insights shed light on the intricate relationship between technological progress, job stability, and the preservation of cultural integrity. One of the key observations was the dual nature of AI’s impact: while it undeniably enhances operational efficiency and reduces expenses, there are valid concerns regarding the authenticity and quality of AI-generated content and its potential impact on the development and utilization of professional skills within these industries. Despite the UAE government’s strategic initiatives to promote AI adoption, the findings revealed a notable absence of clear guidelines, placing the onus on individuals to proactively navigate the landscape of AI integration. This research challenges the prevailing narratives that often depict the Global South as passive consumers of technology as it highlights the participants’ acute awareness of the inherent biases present in AI technologies, particularly in the representation of their local culture. Full article

This study explores the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in social media journalism. We apply a labour process approach to examine why German newspaper editors adopt AI publishing and how it influences journalistic work. Automated publishing services (APSs) are used in newsrooms to select, edit, and publish content on social media platforms. In-depth interviews with German news editors revealed that the reasons for implementing APSs include economic dependence on platforms, the centralisation of news roles, and the intensification of work. Furthermore, resistance to fully automated social media publishing in some newsrooms has resulted in semi- or hybrid-automated approaches. Resistance is primarily expressed through concerns over the loss of editorial control, content diversity, and the quality of user engagement. Full article

The expansion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across different stages of production and distribution in journalism is opening a debate on its applications within newsrooms and in business models. This research studies how different media outlets, media groups and institutions are beginning to create internal regulations for the use of AI, both from a technical and an ethical perspective. To do so, an international sample (N = 45) of editorial stylebooks and internal self-regulatory guidelines published between 2023 and early 2025 have been compiled—all links are openly available here—and put through a process of content analysis. The results indicate that the self-regulatory guidelines emerge from an individual initiative of the media themselves, with a focus on limiting the use of generative AI, particularly in text creation. The guidelines emphasize ethical commitments such as transparency, content verification, and respect for data and copyright while underlining the importance of human oversight. Key objectives include avoiding bias, ensuring information quality, and strengthening audience trust. Despite progress, regulation remains in its early stages and requires continuous adaptation to keep pace with technological advancements. Full article

This study investigates how born-digital memes about high-profile events can serve as rich archival resources for understanding contemporary cultural phenomena and public sentiment by using a linked-data framework. Using a mixed-method approach, this study analyzes memes from a high-profile trial through web scraping and linked-data structures to map themes, sentiments, and cultural references. The linked-data frame includes data collection and integration, semantic web technologies, ontology development, and API data access. The findings point to dominant narratives and shifting sentiment, which further illustrate how such memes reflect and contribute to the polarization of the societal discourse concerning the event. This research is relevant for understanding digital culture, exploring the archival potential of born-digital materials, and assessing the dynamics of public opinion in widely publicized cases. By showing the efficiency of linked data methodologies in the analysis of born-digital discourse, we add valuable insights to both digital humanities and social sciences, offering a new approach of studying ephemeral online content as cultural artifacts. Full article

Research shows that gender transformation policies and programmes within the media industry have done little to curtail sexism and patriarchal values in news reporting. This study’s term ‘patriarchy’ refers to the systemic structures of masculine dominance entrenched in societal, cultural, and institutional norms. This systemic understanding is complemented by exploring individual acts that perpetuate sexism, understood as both explicit and implicit forms of discrimination based on gender. Within newsrooms, where considerable studies have been conducted, data show alarming evidence of extensive sexism and patriarchal values, which are often nuanced and embedded into daily operations. Significantly, the current body of research argues that the problems experienced within the newsroom manifest a societal issue. However, there is a need for more research that turns the spotlight specifically on how newsmakers interact with women reporters in the field. This paper investigates how sexism and gender-based power imbalances affect female journalists’ professional experiences and roles in South Africa. The paper uses qualitative methods to explore how gender inequality and male dominance influence female journalists’ roles, opportunities, and treatment within the profession. This paper contributes to the current discourse by arguing that deeply ingrained societal and cultural patriarchal norms significantly shape and restrict the professional lives of women reporters. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with eleven (n = 11) reporters drawn from various SABC radio reporters across the nine provinces in South Africa. The study’s findings detailed multiple layers of discrimination and harassment experienced by reporters when engaging with newsmakers. Evidenced in the research is how entrenched societal and cultural values limit and influence the productivity of the reporters and impede their freedom to tell stories effectively. Besides the documented glass ceilings that stunt the upward progression of female reporters, the study posits the existence of invisible walls that hinder their transversal advancement within their designated scope of reporting. Full article

Social media has transformed political communication’s landscape, reshaping how politicians engage with the public and express their views. The tension between freedom of expression and the need for responsible governance and politicians became more visible. This article examines the nuances of politicians’ freedom of expression on social media, emphasizing the importance of the right to receive information and participate in public debate. Furthermore, it explores the idea of social media profiles as public forums, examines the level of protection afforded to public officials in public discourse, and compares the content moderation frameworks in the United States and the European Union. Full article

The main objective of this work is to identify the different strategies used by the Mapuche indigenous social movement, especially from the mid-1990s to the present day, to publicize their demands and claims. The study considered three methodological strategies, namely, the analysis of a corpus of news, the making of individual and group interviews, and the documentation of a review and analysis. Among the main findings is the identification of two strategies. The first aimed to intervene in the agenda of the hegemonic media in Chile and the second aimed to create their own media as an alternative media agenda. The central concern of the research is to understand how the Mapuche movement, through the use of certain media strategies, manages to break through the hegemonic agenda in Chile towards an against-agenda that allows them to make their demands and claims visible. Thus, the problem also consists of knowing what the strategies most used by the Mapuche movement are. Is it possible to establish an against-agenda? And what are the characteristics of the latter? Finally, the paper argues for the dependence of the against-agenda on the underlying socio-political conditions. This work will allow us to analyze other experiences of indigenous or non-indigenous social movements that often use the media in different ways, especially through the intervention of hegemonic agendas and the use of alternative media. Full article