The power of NEWS

International Encyclopedia of Communication

Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions-both big and small-have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice-the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish-becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice-from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs-has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

The Paradox of Choice : Why More is Less (Mengapa Lebih Itu Justru Kurang)

Digital media, while opening a vast array of avenues for lay people to effectively engage with news, information and debates about important science and health issues, have become a fertile land for various stakeholders to spread misinformation and disinformation, stimulate uncivil discussions and engender ill-informed, dangerous public decisions. Recent developments of the Covid-19 infodemic might just be the tipping point of a process that has been long simmering in controversial areas of health and science (e.g., climate-change denial, anti-vaccination, anti-5G, Flat Earth doctrines). We bring together a wide range of fresh data and perspectives from four continents to help media scholars, journalists, science communicators, scientists, health professionals and policy-makers to better undersand these developments and what can be done to mitigate their impacts on public engagement with health and science controversies.

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Digital mis/disinformation and public engagment with health and science controversies: Fresh perspectives from Covid-19

Vaccines for COVID-19 are currently available for the public in Israel. The compliance with vaccination has differed between sectors in Israel and the uptake has been substantially lower in the Arab compared with the Jewish population. To assess ethnic and socio-demographic factors in Israel associated with attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines prior to their introduction. A national cross-sectional survey was carried out In Israel during October 2020 using an internet panel of around 100,000 people, supplemented by snowball sampling. A sample of 957 adults aged 30 and over were recruited of whom 606 were Jews (49% males) and 351 were Arabs (38% males). The sample of Arabs was younger than for the Jewish respondents. Among the men, 27.3% of the Jewish and 23.1% of the Arab respondents wanted to be vaccinated immediately, compared with only 13.6% of Jewish women and 12.0% of Arab women. An affirmative answer to the question as to whether they would refuse the vaccine at any stage was given by 7.7% of Jewish men and 29.9% of Arab men, and 17.2% of Jewish women and 41.0% of Arab women. Higher education was associated with less vaccine hesitancy. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the ethnic and gender differences persisted after controlling for age and education. Other factors associated with vaccine hesitancy were the belief that the government restrictions were too lenient and the frequency of socializing prior to the pandemic. The study revealed a relatively high percentage reported would be reluctant to get vaccinated, prior to the introduction of the vaccine. This was more marked so for Arabs then Jews, and more so for women within the ethnic groups. While this was not a true random sample, the findings are consistent with the large ethnic differences in compliance with the vaccine, currently encountered and reinforce the policy implications for developing effective communication to increase vaccine adherence. Government policies directed at controlling the pandemic should include sector-specific information campaigns, which are tailored to ensure community engagement, using targeted messages to the suspected vaccine hesitant groups. Government ministries, health service providers and local authorities should join hands with civil society organizations to promote vaccine promotion campaigns.

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A study of ethnic, gender and educational differences in attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines in Israel - implications for vaccination implementation policies.

The study of the quality press and the use of sources is relevant to understand the role of journalists in scientific controversies. The objective was to examine media sourcing patterns, using the case of vaccines as a backdrop. Articles were retrieved from the national quality press in Spain. Content analysis was undertaken on the sources and on other variables such as tone, frames and journalistic genre. The software myNews and NVivo were used for data collection and coding, while SPSS and Excel were used for statistical analysis. Findings indicate that sources related to the government, professional associations and scientific companies are the most frequently used, confirming the central role of government institutions as journalistic sources. These were followed by university scientists, scientific journals and clinicians. On the other hand, NGOs and patients groups were included in fewer than 5% of the articles. More than 30% included none or just one source expressing unbalanced perspectives. Frequent use of certain source types, particularly governmental, may indicate state structures of power. The study provides a better understanding of journalistic routines in the coverage of vaccines, including fresh perspectives in the current COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8136/pdf

Vaccine Hesitancy in the Age of Coronavirus and Fake News: Analysis of Journalistic Sources in the Spanish Quality Press.

The communication of the Coronavirus crisis in Spain has two unexpected components: the rise of the information on social networks, especially WhatsApp, and the consolidation of TV programs on mystery and esotericism Both have emerged to “tell the truth” in opposition to official sources and public media For a country with a long history of treating science and the media as properties of the state, this very radical development has surprised communication scholars

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Coronavirus in Spain: Fear of ‘Official’ fake news boosts WhatsApp and alternative sources

Fundamentos de periodismo científico y divulgación mediática

The syntheses and crystal structures of two new fluoromanganese(III) complexes are reported; [MnF3(H2O)(2,2′-bipy)] 1 and 4,4′-bipyH2[MnF4(H2O)2]·2H2O 2, where 2,2′-bipy and 4,4′-bipy are 2,2′-bipyridyl and 4,4′-bipyridyl, respectively. Compound 1: monoclinic, space group P21/n, a = 1973.7(4), b = 749.0(2), c = 903.1(3) pm, β = 95.22(3)°, Z = 4, R1 = 0.051. Compound 2: monoclinic, space group P21, a = 516.4(2), b = 1851.9(4), c = 986.3(3) pm, β = 99.07(2)°, Z = 2, R1 = 0.028. The manganese co-ordination environment was found to be octahedral in both compounds, but strongly distorted by the Jahn–Teller effect as a result of the high-spin d4 configuration of Mn3+. A very extensive intermolecular hydrogen-bond framework is present in both compounds. For compound 1 the octahedra are linked through hydrogen bridges resulting in octahedral manganese chains. For compound 2, the octahedra [MnF4(H2O)2]– are associated via hydrogen bonds into chains, which in turn are connected by interchain hydrogen bridges. The polarized optical spectra of single crystals are presented and explained in terms of intraconfigurational d4 transitions split by ligand fields of nearly Cs and D4h symmetries for compounds 1 and 2, respectively. The results are compared with those available for other MnIII fluorides.

Synthesis, structure and polarized optical spectroscopy of two new fluoromanganese(III) complexes†

En 2016 se produjeron dos acontecimientos que nos han modificado la vision del poder, del periodismo y de las relaciones periodismo-poder. Uno fue el referendum de salida del Reino Unido de la UE (Brexit); y el otro la eleccion de Donald Trump como presidente de EEUU. Ambos conmocionaron a politologos y sociologos pero, sobre todo, a los periodistas: ?como explicamos en las facultades que habia ganado Trump quien tenia a todos los medios influyentes en su contra -desde el New York Times al Washington Post, el Huffington Post, CNN,NBC, ABC, MSNBC, Usa Today, Atlantic Magazine…? Pocas veces medios de derecha, izquierda y centro se habian unido en una campana anti-alguien como en el caso de Trump; y, sin embargo, ese “enemigo” gano. “?Ya no influyen los medios influyentes?”, se preguntaban los columnistas.

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Carlos Elías

Papers

Vaccine Hesitancy in the Age of Coronavirus and Fake News: Analysis of Journalistic Sources in the Spanish Quality Press.

Coronavirus in Spain: Fear of ‘Official’ fake news boosts WhatsApp and alternative sources

Fundamentos de periodismo científico y divulgación mediática

Synthesis, structure and polarized optical spectroscopy of two new fluoromanganese(III) complexes†

Fakenews, poder y periodismo en la era de la posverdad y hechos alternativos