Sonic Oppression,Echoes of Resistance and the Changing Soundscapes of Rio’s Favelas in the Build-Up to the Olympics

This article aims to explore the ways in which the transformations that Rio de Janeiro experienced prior to hosting the Olympics echo in the soundscapes of Favela da Maré. Here, we draw from an (auto)ethnographic approach, and combine theoretical perspectives from sound studies, auditory culture, and studies of activist media. Our research indicates that some of the authorities’ oppressive impositions on favela residents’ daily lives manifest precisely through the suppression of sounds. We would like to argue that activist media in Latin America can be better understood if situated in a complex set of daily rhythms.     

The Stubborn Pervasiveness of Television News in the Digital Age and the Field’s Attention to the Medium, 2010–2014

A secondary analysis of 2010–2014 World Values Survey (WVS) data (N = 81,229) is performed across 56 countries to assess frequency of exposure to television news versus the Internet and mobile phone as information sources. A large majority of the comparisons (105/112; 93.75%) reveal television to be used more frequently than Internet or mobile phones (p < 1.0E-09). A content analysis of works published in 9 communication journals from 2010 to 2014 indicates a precipitous decline in the attention political communication scholars are giving to television. Meanwhile, there is substantial growth in the focus on new media.     

Measuring Issue-specific and Generic Frames in the Media’s Coverage of the Steroids Issue in Baseball

This study explored frames in the coverage of the steroids issue in baseball through a content analysis of traditional and new media. Using issue-specific and generic frames, it proposed a hybrid measurement tool that combines both approaches. Findings of the principal component analysis indicate the media framed the steroids issue primarily in terms of conflict and policy. Significant differences emerged between traditional and new media, on the one hand, and between the news and sports media, on the other. Besides these frames, the media also presented the steroids story as a public opinion and morality issue, using organizational officials, the public, and the media to convey these frames.     

From the Periphery to Center Stage: The Effects and Exploitation of the Other in Titus Andronicus and Assassin’s Creed III

Aaron the Moor from Titus Andronicus and Ratonhnhaké:ton from Assassin’s Creed III are each aiding in a war against an international superpower, and both characters are plotting ways to advance and improve their respective culture. Aaron is seen as the villain and the antagonist, whereas Ratonhnhaké:ton is seen as an individual who fights for freedom. However, once both characters’ usefulness is exhausted, they are easily characterized as the Other and lose whatever benefits they may have earned. They are tossed aside by the factions they are trying to help. Even though Assassin’s Creed III is a video game, the same issues of colonialism and imperialism can be investigated in this 21st-century genre as in Shakespeare’s play.     

Two Stangengläser from the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague: Decorative techniques,material analyses,and conservation

Abstract

The two Stangengläser, tall cylindrical vessels from the beginning of the seventeenth century, are described in detail. The severely damaged Stangengläser, decorated with diamond-point engraving and cold-painting, were challenging to treat. Research preceding the conservation revealed differences in decorating techniques. Samples of the paint layers were analyzed using micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Two layers of resinous varnish with a middle layer of paint containing a plant gum were found on the Stangenglas with Allegory of Caritas and Zierotin coat of arms. In the plain paint layer of the Stangenglas with dancing couples, egg white was identified as the binder. The glasses, analyzed using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, had similar potash–lime–silica compositions, which seems to be characteristic for glass from Bohemian lands. Results of analysis contributed to the discussion about the possible provenance of the Stangengläser, the glassworks at Wilhelmberg, South Bohemia.     

Deterioration of building materials and artworks in the ‘Santa Maria della Stella’ church,Saluzzo (Italy): Causes of decay and possible remedies

An in-depth scientific survey revealed the deterioration mechanisms affecting the ‘Santa Maria della Stella’ church in Saluzzo, Italy, where various salt crystallization processes are strongly damaging the building materials and artworks. Rainwater seepage permeates the vault and interior, causing: (1) epsomite growth as interstitial columnar crystals (resulting in pictorial coating detachment) or superficial, powdery efflorescence; (2) formation of nesquehonite/hydromagnesite crusts on wall paintings; and (3) nitratine growth causing pigment staining and detachment. These processes involve selective Mg²⁺ mobilization from magnesian-lime mortars and bacterial-induced formation of nitrates from guano, with consequent precipitation of degrading salts. The study confirms how characterization of all deterioration agents is fundamental to planning a viable cultural heritage conservation and restoration programme.     

Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model and the circulation of journalism in the digital landscape

ABSTRACT

Notions of circuitry are central to Stuart Hall’s conceptualization of how communities, cultures, and media constitute each other. This is very explicit in his encoding/decoding model from 1973. Hall here reserves the term “circulation” for a delimited process within a broader argument for a circular movement, or a “reproduction” of culture through media. In this broader view, however, Hall sees circulation as both technological and hermeneutical processes through which meaning and/or ideology move into and out of discursive form. The encoding/decoding text(s) refer on several occasions to “current affairs” but later applications of this model have somewhat neglected the sphere of journalism. This paper consequently situates Hall’s notions of circulation in relation to new modes of circulating journalism on participatory digital platforms. Given the status of Hall’s model, the overall goal of this re-reading is twofold: seeing Hall through contemporary issues puts into perspective key aspects of Hall’s thinking, while Hall’s framework in turn helps illuminate important characteristics of how journalism is ascribed meaning in a digital landscape. The paper ultimately argues that while Hall’s insistence on seeing the circulation of journalism within a broader circuit of culture is as important as ever, some of his main tenets and assumptions need to be rethought and supplemented in light of newer developments.     

Issues Related to the Restoration of Mirrors of the Wooden paliotto della chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso all’Albergheria,Sicily (Italy)

In this work, the decision-making process involved in the restoration of the eighteenth century paliotto ligneo (wooden altar frontal) della chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso all’Albergheria of Palermo is presented. Earlier research concerning mirror restoration was based on only a few case studies and the proposed techniques were not suitable for the artwork here. As a consequence, it was necessary to re-examine theories and protocols of modern restoration to plan an appropriate intervention of the altar frontal. Since in this artwork the role of mirrors is not to give back images, as usual, but rather to create special light effects and play of lights, this work aims to find an approach to the restoration of the altar frontal and its decorations that allows a homogeneous overview of the piece. Thus, the mirrors were not substituted or re-created. Only a visual integration of the damaged ancient mirrors was proposed, with the use of metallic-polymeric films, permitting a completely reversible restoration.     

A Marriage of Friends or Foes? Radio,Newspapers, and the Facsimile in the 1930s

The 1930s represent a contentious period between the radio and newspaper industries. In the middle of the press-radio war, a new technology, the broadcast radio facsimile, emerged with the potential to bring together the warring industries. Although the radio facsimile was short lived, its story, seen through the lens of the press-radio war, provides an interesting look at the forces shaping a new technology.

Envisioned as a technology that would allow subscribers to receive the newspaper via a radio receiver, the facsimile presented an interesting dilemma: Who would control the creation and dissemination of news—the newspaper or radio industry? This article explores this question through an examination of industry narratives about the facsimile. In analyzing the discourses, this study focuses on how the newspaper and radio industries envisioned the future of the facsimile. Was the facsimile viewed as a means for cooperation or as a point of contention?     

Suffering in Silence: The Resilience of Pakistan’s Female Journalists to Combat Sexual Harassment,Threats and Discrimination

ABSTRACT

Pakistan’s journalists confront severe safety risks across the country and impunity to crimes against them allows the perpetrators to go unpunished. Now the country is recognized as one of the deadliest places for working journalists in the world. Given this situation, the Pakistani female journalists are more vulnerable because they are not only prone to safety risks and sexual harassment, but also they face gender discrimination when it comes to their recruitment and equal pay-scale. In the past decade, there has been an alarming increase in attacks on female journalists and incidents of their sexual harassment in Pakistan. Notwithstanding the growing plague of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the country, the resilience of female journalists to work within a threatening and prejudiced environment has not yet fully explored and analysed. Therefore, drawing on the postcolonial feminist theory, this study aims to investigate the Pakistani female journalists’ lived experiences of sexual harassment, threats and discrimination. The study also analyses the impacts of sexual harassment, threats and gender discrimination on the country’s female journalists. To achieve the aforementioned aims, this study uses the qualitative methods of in-depth interviews and focus groups discussion, and offers a thematic analysis of qualitative data.     

The development of recordkeeping systems in the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1870s–1960s

¹ 1. Use of the term ‘recordkeeping’ should not be taken as an endorsement of the Records Continuum as elaborated by Frank Upward and his collaborators. View all notesThis essay demonstrates that initiatives in the imperial periphery, not least in Western Australia, played a significant role in the development of recordkeeping systems in the British Empire and Commonwealth. Local circumstances, including the adequacy of local revenues and the availability of skilled staff, played their part in shaping the systems. Nonetheless, there are overarching patterns. The need to maintain security provided a potent driver for the creation of confidential registries. The need to carry out basic functions influenced the design of recordkeeping systems far more than any shared ‘imperial imaginary’. The diverging work patterns of colonial capitals and of district administrations tended to produce distinct recordkeeping systems. The development of integrated registry systems may have played a part in the development of the Secretariat as an institution of colonial government.     

Different Paths,Different Voices: The Historical Contexts of Women’s and Minorities’ Access to Broadcasting

This essay extends Susan Carter’s (2004) models of women’s access to broadcasting to include racial and ethnic minorities. It investigates the different historical contexts of female and minority access to commercial broadcasting, and argues that women and minorities have rooted their media access in different models. The intersection of race and gender, combined with an evolving cultural, political, and regulatory environment, has had a powerful influence on which of the three access models were used by women and people of color.