The Future of Journalism—Who to Believe?

This work collates the opinions of European professionals and internet users concerning the changing reality facing the world of journalism following the explosion of digital media. Our research shows the results of analytical surveys conducted between October 2013 and January 2014 among 54 professionals of renowned prestige, and 500 regular users of the digital media in the five most populated countries in the European Union: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, all states affected to a greater or lesser extent by the crisis of the printed press. The surveys cover a wide range of topics, from the impact of social networks, the quality of the digital media, the willingness of citizens to pay for content and the degree of interactivity in the digital media for the future of journalism. Professionals and users agree that the news in 2020 will be better and more interactive than now. With regard to other matters, there is more disagreement. Professionals are much more critical than users when it comes to evaluating the quality of the news. The professionals’ survey was more qualitative, and, in their opinion, overcoming the crisis in the written press implies, among other measures, promoting analysis, prioritising quality over quantity and offering “niche” specialisation.     

Who pays the piper? The political economy of freedom of information

If freedom of information is fundamental to contemporary democracy, why have democratic countries differed so markedly in their willingness to pass laws enshrining formal rights of access to government files? This article demonstrates that an analysis grounded in comparative political economy can provide a compelling answer to this question. Specifically, it demonstrates that the more highly coordinated a country's economy, the less transparent it is likely to be. Through a comparison of the United States and Germany, this article argues that in coordinated market economies, ongoing negotiations between the state and the peak representative bodies provide privileged access to information about the government, and indeed privileged channels of influence over government action. Public access to official files threatens this privileged access. In less coordinated economies, however, firms lack this privileged access; they are likely to favor access laws as a partial substitute, especially since such laws are more consistent with the highly fragmented and competitive environment in which they operate. By further comparing Sweden and the United Kingdom, it also demonstrates the limits of this explanation, suggesting that historical sequences and classic political variables should also be taken into account.     

The meaning of “power”

This investigation attempted to (a) determine how individuals in positions of status and authority respond to the concept of power, and (b) develop an instrument that could be used to measure an individual's power orientation. The inquiry represented a preliminary step toward explorations of the theoretical proposition that there is a relationship between power orientation and overt communication behavior. The responses of over 500 individuals in supervisory positions in business, industry, government, and law enforcement to items reflecting thirty‐seven possible “meanings” of power were factor analyzed. The following six power orientations explain much of the variance in the way individuals are oriented toward the concept of powers (a) power as good; (b) power as resource dependency; (c) pofer as instinctive drive; (d) power as political; (e) power as charisma; and (f) power as control and autonomy. A forty‐item Power Orientation Scale was developed to measure these orientations.     

The Power of “Open”

ABSTRACT

In a vision session at the 31st NASIG Annual Conference, Heather Joseph provided an assessment of the Open Access movement addressing how far it has come since its inception, how well it has met its original goals, what has and has not worked well, and what is not happening at all. She talked about the importance of open (in all senses—open access, open education, and open data) as a public good, and shared feedback from a recent strategic review of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition and the Open Access movement. Joseph also explored the implications of using open as an enabling strategy for researchers, scholarly publishers, policymakers, and the larger academic community, and emphasized the importance of deliberately considering what outcomes open can help each community achieve—rather than thinking about open as an end to itself.     

The “energy”; of form

Using Kenneth Burke's schema of the four kinds of form and examples from contemporary political discourse, this paper examines three kinds of energy (dynamos, energeia, ergon) during the formal process.     

“The total woman:”; The rhetoric of completion

The success of Marabel Morgan's Total Woman indicate its rhetorical effectiveness despite its substantive flaws. This article argues that the book's strong appeal to readers stems from: (1) its promise of fulfillment if woman expiate the guilt they bear for marital discord by self sacrifice; (2) its reinforcement of readers perceptions of themselves and their husbands; and (3) its emphasis on the power of “Total Women”; and its encouragement of sexual fantasy and play. These strategies produce a persuasive message which plays on readers’ concerns for their marriages, offers an alternative to the self consciousness urged by feminists and permits women to fulfill comfortable stereotypes yet experience the power and sexual freedom promised by liberationists. For readers with troubled marriages Morgan provides an alluringly simple, emotionally attractive answer to complex questions. Her message is rhetorically effective even if intellectually weak and psychologically misleading.     

Reevaluating “The End of Mass Communication?”

It is hard to imagine a more challenging arena for communication research than that presented by new media and their impact on our society. We have witnessed the fastest evolution in communication technology in human history and, along with it, the evolution of communication conceptions and theories used to assess its impact. More than a decade has passed since Chaffee and Metzger first published their intriguing article “The End of Mass Communication?” and suggested that the new media will change the notions of mass communication and, as a result, the theories used in communication research. Today, we know more about new media and its effect on communication, society, and communication theories. The present article, therefore, sets out to reassess Chaffee and Metzger's claim by describing the development of several core theories of communication research, namely the agenda-setting theory and the notions of media audiences and the Digital Divide, in light of the new media. Our review shows that the role played by communication technologies in social, cultural, political, and economic processes is as central and influential in the new media era as it was in traditional media environment and that, although theories may change to accommodate the changes of the new media environment, researchers are still dealing with the “old” issues of power and resistance, and structure and ownership.     

A Review of “The Development Economics Reader”

The concept of business information literacy is explored through content analysis of scholarly literature and interviews with business information professionals in academic and corporate contexts. The business school librarian was found to prioritize library instruction whereas the conversion of information to competitive intelligence is important for the corporate librarian. The findings are also found to be part of wider debates surrounding information literacy and higher education.     

The Establishment of “Rural Bookrooms” in China

In July 2006, the General Administration of Press and Publication of the People’s Public of China hosted a forum entitled “The Support by the National Press and Publishing Industry and the Construction of a New Socialist Country”. Since then, the construction work of Rural Bookrooms has been carried out and thousands of the “Benefit-for-Peasant Libraries”, “Rural Bookrooms” and “New Countryside Libraries”, etc., has been built up in different parts of rural areas and in peasants’ residential sites in urban areas to meet the demand of a large number of the farmers for reading and improve their scientific and cultural quality. Up to now, the building of Rural Bookrooms has become one main part of the cultural construction in China on a countrywide basis. It will be historically significant in improving the peasants’ scientific and cultural development, narrowing the gap between rural and urban areas, maintaining the peasants’ basis right of cultural learning and promoting the modernization of China as a country.     

The FCC's disposition of “fairness doctrine” complaints

How the FCC actually handles “Fairness Doctrine”; complaints was the topic of Bradley Canon's 1967 Ph.D. dissertation, completed in the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Canon currently is assistant professor of political science at the University of Kentucky.