Finding the Moral High Ground

In contemporary society, the mass media plays a pivotal role in shaping public perceptions, particularly in the dissemination of information following significant natural disasters. This manuscript proposes to scrutinise the representation of sustainability awareness in the news reporting pertaining to the Turkey-Syria earthquake by three predominant news organisations: ABC, CNN, and Fox. In the wake of the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquakes, the role of media in shaping public perception and awareness of sustainability practices has become increasingly critical. Sentiment analysis, a computational technique that assesses the emotional tone within a body of text, provides valuable insights into how news coverage reflects and influences public perception regarding environmental and sustainability issues. This study aims to explore the representation of interpersonal discourse in news coverage following a natural cataclysm, leveraging sentiment analysis to decode the underlying narratives and emotional responses.

IntroductionThe concept of copyright or other ownership rights has been discussed in the literature as an impediment to the free flow of information within an institutional context (e.g., Rice, 2001; 2002) This impediment is often presented as a rubric of two conflicting rights: property rights (copyright) and communicative rights (free speech), which we are calling rights of inquiry, in the context of the academy, though these rights of inquiry are not limited to the academy alone but embody a public-wide plethora of rights to inquire, read, receive, discuss and debate, and share information. To illustrate the position of developing threats against these rights of inquiry, we use developments in the United States. This is done several reasons, foremost because the legal infrastruc- ture is most prone to facilitate that threat, e.g., through implementation of the WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996, and second, because the conflicting right of freedom of inquiry is also well, if not most, developed in the United States, as codified in the First Amendment to the Constitution.In the US, we have accepted free speech as a constitutional right, or at least its formulation as a right in balance with others, such as a right against which the government may not intrude, or as a private right (for instance, copyright). The lack of free speech as a constitutional right in countries other than the US, may however, account the lack of development in the legal rubric of communicative rights such as the right to speak, read, and inquire. Yet, Hugenholtz (2001), in his review of European case law, posits a cluster of reasons (natural law mystique, reluctance to fundamental rights in relationships between citizens, lack of constitutional adjudication mechanisms) for the late development of European interest in the potential copyright/free speech conflict.1 At least in the United States, with its historical development of strong speech rights, efforts to use other legal rights, public or private, to curtail those rights is an effective vehicle to control and curtail inquiry.Thus, we can ask: Can copyright and other private ownership rights over information (such as a contract) exist along side free speech rights, rights of the academy to inquire, to read, receive, and share information? Or, asked in the negative, what do threats to recent legal developments in the area of copyright and related rights pose the academy of inquiring minds, and the broader process of expression and inquiry in society? This question bridges legal and ethical grounds, and reveals a potentially uneasy relationship between the two. One approach (Watt, 2000) posits, In general, new cultural creations are more valuable in the hands of consumers than if they are retained by their creators, and so it is important to consider how such intellectual property can best be transferred between members of society in order to take full advantage of it.2 And, moreover, considering a global perspective, An international intellectual property regime, designed to facilitate the production and use of the global public good-knowledge-in a way that sustains high rates of growth and is consistent with broad notions of equity, must balance a variety of concerns, including dynamic and static efficiency and the use of the global knowledge commons.3Yet, beyond the broader notion of consumer welfare and inquiry, we focus more specifically here on the concept of the academy:Universities to date have been places where the rewards to individuals the creation of knowledge have flowed from its diffusion rather than from keeping it a secret or placing a price on it. The diffusion of knowledge is a precondition to rewards of peer recognition and reputation. It is through the many individual acts of communication of their research at conferences, classes, in conversation, through journals, on the Internet and so on that researchers build the publicness of knowledge, a publicness that travels across many sectors of society and across borders. …

This study explores the diachronic evolution of climate change discourse in China Daily and The New York Times, focusing on the linguistic strategies used to construct narratives around carbon emissions and greenhouse gases from 2013 to 2025. Utilizing Usage Fluctuation Analysis in combination with Critical Discourse Analysis, the study reveals distinct patterns in the framing of climate change reflecting the respective political, cultural, and ideological contexts of China and the United States. CD predominantly adopts a solution‐oriented narrative, emphasizing proactive actions and national responsibility, with consistent references to terms like “reduction,” “carbon neutrality,” and “net‐zero.” In contrast, NYT exhibits greater variability in its discourse, using terms like “trap,” “violate,” and “human‐caused” to evoke a sense of danger and moral accountability. The fluctuations in the UFA graphs for both media outlets highlight key political events, such as the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and China's carbon neutrality pledge, which significantly influence the discourse. This research contributes to the understanding of how media constructs the climate change agenda, offering insights into the role of media in shaping public perceptions and policy attitudes toward climate action.

This study aims to analyze online news discourse surrounding the polemic of the construction of the Pesut Mahakam Monument in Samarinda City using Teun A. van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis model. This model consists of three main aspects: text structure (macrostructure, superstructure, and microstructure), social cognition (how news is constructed by the media), and social context (how social, political, and economic factors influence news discourse). The research data were obtained from five online media sources: suaralkaltim.id, kaltimpost.id, tribunjatim.com, kaltimfaktual.co, and kompas.com.The analysis reveals that the media discourse tends to construct a narrative of criticism toward the monument's design, which is considered unclear in representing the Pesut Mahakam figure. In addition, public attention is also focused on the transparency of the project’s budget, which amounts to IDR 1.1 billion. The majority of the public and art observers tend to support the criticisms of the project, while the government emphasizes aspects of urban revitalization and artistic value.Through this analytical approach, it is found that the use of language in online news plays a significant role in shaping public opinion regarding urban icon development projects. This study also highlights the importance of public participation and budget transparency in urban development initiatives to prevent prolonged polemics in the future. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the media's role in shaping public perception and the necessity of transparency and inclusive governance in regional development planning.

Many environmental professionals are reluctant to interact with the media, often because of a negative experience and the perception that poor coverage can affect environmental programs and policies. Using a case study of media coverage related to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, water supply, this research documents that indeed, the media can influence public opinion and this can have policy and program implications. This research compared media coverage about various water customers (residential, commercial, institutional, industry) to public perceptions about who uses the most water and to actual use levels reported by the city. The results show that coverage in terms of numbers of articles, article content and language, as well as page placement, correlates with public perceptions about which customers use the most water, and that these perceptions do not well match actual use levels. A key point for this work is that although the information presented within the individual articles was largely accurate, it was the pool of coverage assessed as a whole that misrepresented water use levels. This report also provides key steps that environmental professionals can take to help improve overall coverage and help raise the potential for public perception to better match actual data.

Instructors embarking on teaching a course on women in the Islamic tradition often start out with questions such as: “How am I going to teach a course on Women and Gender Issues in Islam?” “How can I organize so much material into a one-semester format?” “How do I teach a course on women in Islam to students who may have very little exposure either to Women̓s Studies or to Islam?” Beth Baron’s review article is an excellent starting point, and indeed she points out that “the scholarly literature on women in the Middle East has increased so rapidly in the past few years that it is almost impossible to keep up with this body of material.”

<p>Although documentary films offer viewers the chance to learn about the realities and experiences of others cultures, it is also possible for filmmakers to stereotype the people they represent. In this paper, I examine Shelley Saywell’s documentary In the Name of the Family, a film about Muslim youth victims of “honour killings.” I suggest that by framing domestic violence as “honour killings” this film stereotypes and misrepresents Muslim immigrant families. Through an analysis of promotional material and scenes from the film, I argue that the film’s use of Orientalist narratives of difference between Muslim immigrants and mainstream Canadian society contributes to the impression that “honour killings” are cultural and specific to Muslim communities. I further argue that Saywell’s use of the “imperilled Muslim woman” narrative to elicit empathy and compassion from viewers perpetuates the notion that Muslim immigrant families are traditional, oppressive and unwilling to adapt to North American society. </p>

In this article, I analyse the literary and linguistic phenomenon of free direct speech and the embodied voice in Marguerite Duras’s novel Les yeux bleus cheveux noirs (1986). Free direct speech (FDS) is a mode of representing characters’ speech in fictional prose: it consists of a direct quotation free from both introductory verbs and typographical markers. Literary scholarship on reported discourse has tended to privilege the study of represented thought and interior dialogue, and for this reason FDS has not been examined in a rigorous manner. I argue that in the novel under discussion, FDS as a narrative technique creates a strong illusion of a speaking voice and of the speech event itself. I focus on the speaking voice as an acoustic, embodied, and multimodal phenomenon in Duras’s distinctive dialogue. I refer to these dialogic sequences, which combine different modes of speech representation, as hybrid dialogues. This dialogic narration creates an intersubjective space in which social interaction and nonverbal communication are intertwined. In the novel, scenes of dialogue are framed by descriptions of body language and paralinguistic cues. Therefore, I propose that, in addition to FDS, the novel draws on multimodal and multisensory corporeality in its storytelling. The theoretical framework of the article consists of narrative theory and research on fictional dialogue, and in particular stylistics and enunciative linguistics.

Micro- and nano-plastic pollution poses a significant environmental and health challenge. This chapter explores the potential of public awareness campaigns and behavior change strategies in mitigating this issue. It delves into the critical role of social media and influencers in fostering sustainable practices. The chapter examines effective communication channels, messaging strategies, and audience segmentation to optimize campaign impact. It also analyzes the influence of influencers on shaping public perceptions and driving behavioral shifts. By understanding the dynamics of social media and influencer marketing, policymakers, environmental organizations, and businesses can develop targeted interventions to reduce plastic pollution and promote sustainable lifestyles. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on effective communication strategies for environmental challenges.

Long coronavirus disease (COVID) is a complex and multifaceted health condition with a range of severe symptoms that can last for weeks or even months after the acute phase of the illness has passed. Employing social network analysis (SNA) can rapidly provide significant health information to communities related to long COVID. This study aimed to identify the key themes, most influential users, and overall sentiments in the Twitter discourse on long COVID. Data were collected from a Twitter search with the specific keywords "long COVID" from December 1, 2022, to February 22, 2023, using NodeXL Pro. Visualizations, including network graphs and key influencers, were created using Gephi, and sentiment analysis was conducted with Azure Machine. In total, 119,185 tweets from 94325 users were related to long COVID. Top influencers include medical professionals, researchers, journalists, and public figures, with news media platforms as primary information sources; the most common hashtag was #longCOVID, indicating that it is a significant issue of concern among the Twitter community. In the sentiment analysis, most tweets were negative. The study highlights the importance of critically evaluating information shared by influential users and seeking out multiple sources of information when making health-related decisions. In addition, it emphasizes the value of examining social media conversations to understand public discourse on long COVID and suggests that future researchers could explore the role of social media in shaping public perceptions and behaviors related to health issues. Strategies for enhancing scientific journal engagement and influence in online discussions are discussed as well.

Since the publication of J.L. Austin's How to Do Things with Words in 1962, cultural and literary scholars have worked to connect his “performative” language theory to the vital, often gender and sexuality-based, field that has since become known as “performance studies.” Little has been written, however, about the author whose marriages are ubiquitously performative: the philosopher's “namesake,” Jane Austen. In Philosophy the Day After Tomorrow (2005), Stanley Cavell broke news to literary scholars in writing about Austin and Austen, focusing on the moral perfectionism of Emma. By contrast this article follows the spirit of linguistic conformity and play in Austen's earlier major fiction, Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility. Precisely because Northanger Abbey does not unveil the “transparent mind” of free indirect speech or achieve what D.A. Miller calls final “Austen Style,” the author argues for its engagement with the contestable social and linguistic environment of making “sense.” Not until Austin's bracingly unconventional lectures were collected as a series of extraordinary books in the mid-twentieth century – a list that also includes his collection Philosophical Papers and the Austen-inspired Sense and Sensibilia – did Jane Austen's novels receive a philosophical counterpart adequate to her works' philosophical energies.

Global media narratives refer to how international news outlets frame and present stories, shaping public perception and discourse on significant events like the COP15 UN Biodiversity Summit. This includes the themes, tones, and emphases used by different media sources to convey the importance, implications, and outcomes of such global events. This study explores global media coverage and narratives during the COP15 summit in December 2022, aiming to analyze dominant themes presented by international media, identify differences in reporting approaches among major outlets, and evaluate the influence of these narratives on public awareness and policy discourse regarding biodiversity. Using content analysis, the research studies news from various outlets to identify and quantify key themes such as ecological urgency, economic implications, policy negotiations, and scientific discoveries. Comparative analysis highlights variations in coverage focus, tone, and depth, revealing how regional contexts and media ownership influence reporting styles. Findings indicate that while some media outlets prioritize policy negotiations and economic implications, others emphasize ecological urgency and scientific findings, leading to varied public and policy responses. This research underscores the critical role of media in shaping public understanding and influencing policy debates on biodiversity. By providing insights into effective reporting practices, the study aims to enhance the quality of environmental journalism and foster informed public and policy engagement with biodiversity issues, contributing to the broader discourse on environmental communication and the power of media narratives in addressing global environmental challenges.

In the decade following 9/11, numerous studies have confirmed that anti-Muslim prejudice, commonly referred to as Islamophobia, has become a prominent feature of many societies. As a result, Muslims have been demonised and subjected to discrimination in various ways. While the role of sensationalist media and Far Right groups in perpetuating Islamophobia has been widely commented on, not enough attention has been given to the role played by mainstream politicians in fostering Islamophobia. In this article, I examine how British Cabinet ministers of the Labour Government represented Muslims and Islam in speeches given between 2001 and 2007. Using discourse analysis, I deconstruct the representations of Islam and Muslims in 111 speeches made by these influential ministers. I also consider the discourse surrounding related issues such as multiculturalism, Britishness, integration and terrorism. I argue that Islamophobia based on generalisations, assumptions and stereotypes of Islam and Muslims were present in the speeches. Thus, this article calls for an awareness of the way in which mainstream politicians in Britain have been involved in stigmatising Islam and Muslims, and perpetuating Islamophobia.

This chapter continues to examine divergent perspectives on “Islam in America” but with greater attention to black Muslim attitudes and thought. It explores differences between broadly inclusive perspectives that entail both inclusive and exclusive definitions of Muslim identity, often embraced by black Muslims in contrast to consistently narrow definitions of Muslim identity, identified by Haddad in the introduction, in reference to immigrant Muslims and the “immigrant milieu.” It also examines black Muslim attitudes toward pop culture, key Islamic principles like flight, and other debated issues in Islam. The ultimate goal of this chapter is to provide a brief but revealing glimpse of black Muslim attitudes and thought that informs and sets the stage for a discussion (in chapter 5) of the behavior of several key figures and movements associated with contemporary Islam among blacks in the United States.

Why did Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) unleash a storm of protest and accusations of blasphemy on its release, what Giselinde Kuipers calls a “humour scandal,’’ while Chris Morris’s satire about British Jihadi terrorists, Four Lions (2010), barely raised an eyebrow? A focus on a media representation of Muslims that did not cause an outcry—even though one was eagerly anticipated—and on one of Christianity that did offers a fresh perspective on the ongoing de- bate on blasphemy and free speech, Islamism and islamophobia. This article’s contention is that both films offer similar, liberal humanist messages and an inclusive brand of humour, and that their receptions complicate the idea of Muslim extremists versus the liberal west, show- ing us that such an imaginary is itself a religious one.