The diffusion of public eServices in European cities

Using a novel dataset on the diffusion of public eServices at the city level in EU 15, this paper contributes to extant empirical literature in three ways. First, it extends the coverage of public eServices beyond eGovernment, investigating four service categories: Infomobility, eProcurement, eGovernment and eHealth. Second, it provides information for both a cross-country and cross-municipality comparison. Third, on the methodological side, it also extends the literature on composite indicators at a municipal level. Cities exhibiting the highest diffusion of public eServices are found to be medium-large, highly endowed with well-educated human capital, and characterised by a lively industrial atmosphere favoured by a reasonable number and variety of production and service activities. The relative performance of the European cities helps identify plausible directions to be taken for policies aimed at favouring the diffusion of public service innovation in Europe.     

From public sphere to public screen: democracy,activism, and the "violence" of Seattle

The WTO protests in Seattle witnessed the emergence of an international citizens' movement for democratic globalization. With the tactical exploitation of television, the internet, and other technologies, Seattle also witnessed the enactment of forms of activism adapted to a wired society. In the wake of Seattle, this essay introduces the “public screen” as a necessary supplement to the metaphor of the public sphere for understanding today's political scene. While a public sphere orientation inevitably finds contemporary discourse wanting, viewing such discourse through the prism of the public screen provokes a consideration of new forms of participatory democracy. In comparison to the public sphere's privileging of rationality, embodied conversations, consensus, and civility, the public screen highlights dissemination, images, hypermediacy, publicity, distraction, and dissent. Using the Seattle WTO protests as a case study and focusing on the dynamic of violence and the media, we argue that the public screen accounts for technological and cultural changes while enabling a charting of the new conditions for rhetoric, politics, and activism.     

Accounting for losses: The great Detroit newspaper war

This article discusses different accounting treatments of investment expenditures as evidence of financial losses that justify a finding that a newspaper is failing under the Newspaper Preservation Act. It then analyzes the accounting practices used by the Detroit Free Press to show operating losses and the implications of those practices to public policy decisions.     

"公共领域"在传媒时代存在的可能性

“公共领域”的概念是哈贝马斯在《公共领域的结构转型》一文中率先提出的。哈贝马斯本人对于“公共领域”的发展持悲观态度，原因是他认为在泛传媒时代，“公共领域”的构成要素趋于瓦解。本文从具体的时代背景出发，试图论证在泛传媒时代“公共领域”的构成要素并非如哈贝马斯所说的那样会趋向瓦解。     

The European Community:

Recently the European Community formed a Single European Market, and is moving closer to some form of political union. Interest in the European Community has increased dramatically, placing increasingly heavier demands on library reference departments to acquire materials. The author located over 200 recently published reference titles in paper format treating the European Community. The most comprehensive of these items, those dealing either with the European Community as a whole or the Single Market, are reviewed. Selected items not reviewed are included in a separate list.     

"政治家办报"思想的常与变

作为党性原则的重要组成部分,"政治家办报"思想体现了党对新闻工作者的政治要求,反映着政治与新闻的特殊关系.本文从分析历史语境的角度,在还原毛泽东提出"政治家办报"的背景之基础上,考察其思想脉络和主要所指;并沿着我国社会主义改革和发展轨迹,梳清邓小平、江泽民、胡锦涛等历届党的领导人在继承"政治家办报"思想的同时,赋予其时代创新元素和不同政治承载;坚持"政治家办报"思想,为全球化语境下营造有利的国际舆论环境提供一种新的思路.     

A public value perspective for ICT enabled public sector reforms: A theoretical reflection

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical discussion of information system adoption in the public sector (often referred to as e-government) and to contribute to the debate by offering a public value perspective. The paper points to the public value paradigm as an alternative approach to studying ICT-enabled public sector reforms. This paradigm, we argue, proposes an alternative way of framing the nature of the problems faced when ICT enabled public sector reforms are initiated and studied. The public value perspective proposes a new and richer context in which to study and research these phenomena. It also calls for the redefinition of the ways we assess e-government in the context of public sector reforms. It is therefore seen as vital to evaluate the socio-political impact of ICT adoption in the public sector.     

The impact of legacy systems on digital transformation in European public administration: Lesson learned from a multi case analysis

Legacy systems have continued to pose a major challenge to digital transformation efforts in public administration. A comprehensive review of literature suggests seven levels of complexity in transforming legacy systems, including, being a stand-alone system, being part of a larger system, and data incompatibility, each depicting unique criteria and challenges. Nonetheless, very little is known as to what degree these complexities implicate the implementation of digital transformation efforts in public administration (PA). To address this gap, this research conducted an analysis on four cases of digital transformation in three European PA settings (i.e., Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK). The findings revealed complexities that pose the key challenges to systems interoperability and integrability, which are crucial in any digital transformation project. In addition, a comprehensive understanding of the systems to be transformed, the policies which they are serving, and the broader PA setting in which they are implemented were deemed central to succeeding in digital transformation efforts.     

International developments: The North Carolina foreign language center: A public library service

The North Carolina Foreign Language Center is a centralized multilingual public library which serves all residents of North Carolina. Local library patrons have direct access to its materials and services. Residents elsewhere can borrow materials and use its reference capabilities via InterLibrary Loan. The NCFLC is funded by the North Carolina State Library using L.S.C.A. funds. The NCFLC can serve as a model for other states with a low population density of non‐English or limited‐English speaking people. By making foreign language resources available through one library, North Carolina provides a wide selection of such materials and can afford the services of a full‐time librarian to manage the collection.     

The framework programs of the European Union: The organizational form of European scientific-technological cooperation

This paper elucidates the formation stages of the scientific-technical policy of the European Union, which is carried out according to medium-term framework programs and its major characteristics. It considers the history of creating and implementing the Framework Programs of the EU as the largest competitive scientific-technological programs in the world aimed at strengthening the European scientific-technical basis and supporting the competitive capacity of European industry in the world market. The dynamics of the development of scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and the European Union are analyzed.     

The role of British newspapers in framing the public perception and experience of European radio 1930 to 1939

This article analyses how British newspapers in the 1930s created a particular frame or view of radio as an international medium. This frame was created around the idea of a duality, of radio being defined by both national and foreign broadcasts. By analysing coverage provided by the main national newspapers at this time, in relation to their specific radio coverage, such as programme listing and highlights, this paper delineates the form the frame took, what was included and was absent. Such a frame provides an understanding of how the newspapers viewed and valued radio in a period when international broadcasts were seen as an important part of what radio could offer.     

Apocalypticism in secular public discourse: A proposed theory

Scholars have long studied biblical apocalyptic texts and later religious texts in the same genre, considering their distinctive features and their effects. Literary theorists have found apocalyptic strains in secular literature and studied the literary texts as apocalyptic. Studying speeches as apocalyptic illuminates the rhetorical effects of the speeches and underscores the narrative elements of apocalyptic discourse that have been merely taken for granted.     

Freedom of information legislation and its impact on press freedom: A cross-national study

This empirical study examines the effect of the Freedom of Information legislation on press freedom by analyzing cross-sectional data at the national level of aggregate indicators across 191 countries in 2010. The prediction by two-stage least square regression found that the impact of the legislation on press freedom is determined by control of corruption, the type of political regime (democratic or authoritarian regime), and the level of national economy. For recent adopters of the legislation, it could be no more than a legislative luxury. As the legislative effect on press freedom is mostly limited to less corrupt, advanced industrial democracies, the workings of the legislation require political and economic prerequisites.     

Tsunami early warnings via Twitter in government: Net-savvy citizens' co-production of time-critical public information services

Governments aim to mitigate natural hazards' impacts through a disaster early warning system. Drawing on citizen co-production theory and resilient information infrastructures framework, we empirically examined government use of Twitter Tsunami Early Warning Civic Network and citizens' roles in co-providing timely and actionable information. The Indonesian government issued its tsunami early warning Tweet, which was “re-tweeted” without delay by its followers to their own followers to warn tsunami hazards during the 2012 earthquake. Within 15 min it reached over 4 million Twitter users. Based on our case study and social network analysis of Twitter information flows and exchanges within the network, we found that the speed and enormous reach of the government's Twitter tsunami early warnings would be significantly less without citizens' direct participation in re-tweeting, hence influencing greater control of the network. We present evidence for net-savvy citizens' co-production effects on increased government efficiency in providing time-critical public information services.     

我国首家地市外文报纸的诞生与发展——《威海日报》韩文专刊分析

本文对《威海日报》韩文专刊的概况进行了总体介绍和简要的内容分析.     

The first amendment,freedom of the press,and the issue of “harm”: A conundrum for publishers

Does strict adherence to the principles of the First Amendment and opposition to any forms of censorship inflict “harm” on women and American society? In this article, the author surveys the published literature, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and substantive issues raised by “tabsolutist” defenders of the First Amendment as well as by feminists opposed to pornography. He argues that the “Mill-Paul hypothesis” should be adopted by society to confront the censorship morass that has deeply divided American society. Namely, if an image or a printed work causes harm to anyone, it should be prosecuted under existing legal codes.     

Deregulation and public perceptions of television: A longitudinal study

The deregulation of television and resulting implications for programming and the public interest have been the focus of considerable debate. This study investigated perceptions of issues related to current policy, perceptions of the effectiveness of television in meeting informational needs, and whether perceptions have changed since deregulation. Significant differences were found between pre‐ and post‐deregulation attitudes toward policy‐related issues and the quantity of commercials on television. Perceptions of the amount of news broadcast, coverage of local issues, and the extent to which programming meets local needs revealed no significant change since deregulation. The results revealed strong public support for the requirement that broadcasters cover more than one side of controversial issues.     

Electronic services in the public sector: A conceptual framework

Electronic services provided by governmental organizations, here referred to as public e-services, are frequently discussed in the e-government literature. There is, however, little consensus on the meaning of the concepts used to describe and discuss these e-services, and hence, the literature is full of synonymous terms and concepts. This paper is conceptual and presents efforts to understand e-services in the public sector domain by unpacking the public e-service concept into three dimensions; as being (1) a service, (2) electronic, and (3) public (as contrasted to being private). Based on a hermeneutic analysis, these dimensions are discussed in a number of combinations, illustrating that a multi-dimensional take on public e-services must be adopted in order to capture the complexity of governmentally supplied e-services and contribute to theory development, as well as practical utility.