Toward a measurement tool for the monitoring of media diversity and pluralism in South Africa: A public-centred approach

Abstract

This article responds to recent debates within South African media politics regarding the diversity and transformation of the print sector in the country, by suggesting a necessary refocus of previously used methods of measuring media diversity and proposing a more audience-centred approach. This audience-centred method is discussed with regard to meeting the demands of the normative understanding of media diversity, where the media are viewed as central to an individual's formulation of opinions and ideas, thus rendering the media – and particularly the news media – vital in fostering an enabled and informed citizenry. The argument proposes a bottom-up instead of a top-down methodology for measuring media diversity, by placing the primary focus on the public as the starting point, rather than the end point of the analysis, and validating this position through the normative view of the media's role in assisting citizens to formulate personal views. The article concludes by listing four key areas in which current debates on media diversity in South Africa should be realigned and refocused, including at a parliamentary level.     

Helping the Homeless: The Role of Empathy,Race and Deservingness in Motivating Policy Support and Charitable Giving

Political Behavior - What will motivate citizens to support efforts to help those in need? Charitable organizations seeking support for their cause will often use the story of a specific individual...     

Dominance of pre-analytical over analytical variation for measurement of methadone and its main metabolite in postmortem femoral blood

On the basis of simultaneously sampled postmortem blood specimens from the left and right femoral veins the pre-analytical variation of methadone measurements was evaluated and compared to the analytical variation. The material consisted of a series of 27 duplicate samples from routine autopsy cases comprising mainly drug addicts. A chiral LC-MS/MS method was used for measurement of the R- and S-enantiomers of methadone and its main metabolite 2-ethyl-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolinium (EDDP). The analytical CV% was determined to be in the range 3-4% for methadone enantiomers and 4-6% for EDDP enantiomers. The total measurement uncertainty (CV(T)) was estimated from the pre-analytical variation (CV(PA)), analytical variation proper (CV(A)), and variation related to calibration (traceability) (CV(Cal)) according to the relationship CV(T) = [CV(2)(PA) + CV(2)(A) + CV(2)(cal)](0.5). Uncertainty related to calibration concerned a component related to the purity of drug reference compound and a contribution from the production of calibrator solutions (CV(Cal)<1%). Pre-analytical sampling variation was estimated from the duplicate measurements of blood samples after subtraction of the analytical component. The pre-analytical variation amounted to a CV% of 19-21% for R- and S-methadone and 30-38% for R- and S-EDDP, i.e. considerably larger than the other components. Due to the squared addition principle, the resulting total uncertainty (CV(T)) became largely identical to the CV(PA), i.e. 19-21% for R- and S-methadone and 31-38% for R- and S-EDDP enantiomers. Accordingly, CV(T) exceeded CV(A) by a factor 5 or more. Dominance of the pre-analytical component of variation may also be likely for other compounds measured in postmortem blood samples. Thus, the width of the 95%-uncertainty interval (+/-2CV(T)) for a postmortem measurement is largely determined by the pre-analytical component of variation. This should be kept in mind when judging on the uncertainty of postmortem measurement results.     

Magnetic law: Designing environmental enforcement laws to encourage us to go further

The European Union has some of the world's most ambitious and highly developed environmental laws on its books, but their effectiveness is severely compromised by non-compliance. With the UNECE Aarhus Convention (1998), Europe launched an innovative legal experiment, democratizing environmental enforcement by conferring third party citizens and environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) with legal rights of access to environmental information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. Based on some 2000 surveys and over 150 interviews with stakeholders from three Member States – France, Ireland, and the Netherlands – we adopt a holistic, 360° perspective, capturing the views of regulated parties, NGOs, and the general public on this private governance experiment. Our data provide important new insights into the practical effectiveness of Europe's laws enabling private environmental enforcement, its (intended and unintended) effects on farmers' compliance decisions in the vital area of nature conservation, and how law might be used to stimulate pro-environmental predispositions.     

Evidence of Russia's Bush Doctrine in the CIS1

Abstract

The article discusses the emergence of a Russian version of the Bush doctrine in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russian officials’ conceptual stretching of the strategic culture embodied in the National Security Concept (NSC) and the Military Doctrine (MD) from 2000 onwards. While these documents seem to cherish multilateralism and United Nations (UN) primacy in questions of global and regional security, terrorist attacks on Russia proper have engendered a more assertive approach to regional security issues in the Caucasus and Central Asia and brought Russian officials to consider unilateral pre-emptive strikes against terrorist bases. In the case of the Caucasus, Russia has been striking against terrorist bases on Georgian territory and contributed to constructing a failed state, whereas in the Central Asian case, Russia has sought to revitalise the defunct CIS security framework and pledge assistance to ‘allies’ in the fight against terrorism. The article argues that the war against terrorism has given Russia a new footing in the CIS. The issue of security is more salient, as is the reliance on military force to facilitate it.     

Pathways into Terrorism: Understanding Entry into and Support for Terrorism in Asia

ABSTRACT

How do individuals join Islamist extremist groups? Why do individuals support such groups? What factors contribute to a decision to join? What are the pathways into Islamist extremist groups? Drawing on examples from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, the articles in this special issue address these critically important questions drawing on original fieldwork, new datasets and large scale national survey research. These articles explore the experiences and perceptions of men and women, South and Southeast Asians, living in majority Muslim and non-Muslim nations. Collectively, they illustrate the importance of social bonds&kinship ties, friendship, teacher-student ties and online relationships in creating a powerful sense of community that fosters a sense of belonging and eventual commitment. The goal of this special issue is to highlight the contributions that Asian cases can make to the often Middle Eastern and European-centric discourses on radicalization, joining and support for militancy.