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Media Sources (media + source)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Conversations in conservation: revealing and dealing with language differences in environmental conflicts

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2008
Thomas J. Webb
Summary 1Applied ecology aims to translate research into policy recommendations. However, conflicts frequently develop if these recommendations propose a contentious course of action. A first step towards addressing such conflicts is to attempt to understand the values underpinning stakeholder viewpoints. 2We develop a computer-aided Content Analysis to analyse the language surrounding environmental conflicts for insights into stakeholder values. Using the conflict arising over proposals to cull hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus on several Scottish islands, we show how different stakeholder groups frame the problem in different ways. 3Stakeholder groups supporting different courses of action (culling vs. translocating hedgehogs) use different arguments, the former emphasizing conservation and biodiversity, the latter focusing on animal welfare. Our method results in a graphical representation of this failure to agree on a common way to frame the issue. 4Including texts obtained from media sources illustrates how the media can exacerbate environmental conflicts through the issues they emphasize and the vocabulary they use. 5Synthesis and applications. Our method provides a simple means to quantify levels of stakeholder disagreement concerning potentially contentious environmental issues. Our results provide a starting point for the development of a quantitative, graphical tool for managers, where repeated analysis will aid in monitoring and managing conflicts. In addition, we provide a clear example of the role of societal attitudes influencing the effective implementation of ecological advice, which should encourage ecologists to become more aware of the social environment into which policy recommendations are to be launched and to ensure that their advice does not ignore important stakeholder values. [source]

Do U.S. food processors respond to sweetener-related health information?

AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2010
Getu Hailu
This study examines the differential effects of relative prices and sweetener-related health information on the substitutability between sweeteners in the U.S. food processing sector. Results suggest that cane and corn sugar are gross complements, Allen complements, but Morishima substitutes. Furthermore, the Morishima elasticity of substitution (MES) is more responsive to changes in relative prices than to changes in health information. In addition, the MES for cane- and corn-based sweeteners is more responsive to health information from popular media sources than scientific and medical publications. [EconLit citations: D240, I180, Q110]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Hyper Talk: Sampling the Social Construction of ADHD in Everyday Language

ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001
Scot Danforth
This article examines the ways that meanings about the concept Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are socially constructed within the everyday language use of lay persons. The 224 language events referencing ADHD, including media sources, were recorded in journals by student assistants. These data reveal five patterned ways that lay persons appropriate and interpret discourses originating in medical and school communities of practice. Conclusions raise issues about the moral opportunities and responsibilities afforded and occluded by specific discourse practices. [source]

Foregrounding technology over politics?

AREA, Issue 1 2010
Media framings of federal elections in Malaysia
Mainstream and alternative media play an important role in circulating powerful narratives within and often beyond a country's borders. This article specifically examines how Malaysia's media have framed the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the country's electoral process. To this end, the authors conducted a content analysis of selected domestic mainstream and alternative media sources for two weeks before and two weeks after Malaysia's last three federal elections , 1999, 2004 and 2008 , to gauge how coverage has changed over time with shifts in the local political landscape and growing ICT access and usage. [source]