This research critically assesses the press coverage of Jeremy Corbyn during his leadership bid and subsequent first months as the leader of the UK's Labour party. A content analysis (n=812) found that the British press offered a distorted and overly antagonistic view of the long-serving MP. Corbyn is often denied a voice and news organisations tended to prize anti-Corbyn sources over favourable ones. Much of the coverage is decidedly scornful and ridicules the leader of the opposition. This analysis also tests a set of normative conceptions of the media in a democracy. In view of this, our research contends that the British press acted more as an attackdog than a watchdog when it comes to the reporting of Corbyn. We conclude that the transgression from traditional monitorial practices to snarling attacks is unhealthy for democracy, and it furthermore raises serious ethical questions for UK journalism and its role in society.the press may well claim to be independent and to fulfil an important watchdog function. What the claim overlooks, however, is the very large fact that it is the Left at which the watchdogs generally bark with most ferocity, and what they are above all protecting is the status quo. (Miliband, 1969: 199)
Abstract. The Canadian government and military struggled to control its media framing of the war in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2009. This content analysis (n=900) critically investigates the mediated dynamic of framing Canada's military mission in Afghanistan. This study found that while journalists overwhelmingly indexed their stories to elite sources, they frequently impeached the frames sponsored by government and military leaders. Journalists used elite criteria to fact check the frames of military and government leaders. Most of the coverage was episodic and event-oriented rather than thematic and contextual. While Canadian journalists challenged official claims of improving security, for instance, their coverage lacked context and critical appraisal of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan, raising questions about journalism's normative role in Canadian democracy.Résumé. Le gouvernement canadien et les militaires se sont efforcés de contrôler la présentation de la guerre en Afghanistan par les médias entre 2006 et 2009. Cette analyse de la couverture médiatique (n = 900) examine de façon critique la dynamique médiatisée de l'encadrement de la mission militaire du Canada en Afghanistan. Cette étude a révélé que tandis que les journalistes ont dans leur grande majorité fondé leurs reportages sur des sources d'élite, ils ont fréquemment boudé les cadres soutenus par le gouvernement et les chefs militaires. Les journalistes ont privilégié des critères d'élite pour vérifier factuellement les cadres des dirigeants militaires et gou-vernementaux. La couverture était en grande partie épisodique et axée sur les événements plutôt que d'ordre thématique ou contextuel. Alors que les journalistes canadiens ont remis en question des allégations officielles concernant l'amélioration de la sécurité, par exemple, leur couverture a manqué de contexte et d'appréciation critique de la mission militaire du Canada, soulevant des interrogatifs sur le rôle normatif du journalisme dans le cadre de la démocratie canadienne.
We expand on ongoing debates about the role of economic losses and benefits for a clean energy transition. Rather than focusing on the potential economic benefits of alternative industries and energy sources, we highlight the role of economic optimism people display towards the fossil fuel industry. We argue that people's confidence in the fossil fuel industry to remain an important economic driver in the future can undermine support for climate policies because people do not perceive a need to turn to alternative industries for economic prosperity. Instead, they continue to support the status-quo. We test our argument using survey level data collected in the spring of 2019 in the Canadian province of Alberta, an ideal case due to the province's economic dependence on the fossil fuel industry. The results support our argument, highlighting the need for policymakers to develop communication strategies on future economic benefits of energy transition.
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