Facebook: An Emerging Arena for Politics of Self-Determination in northern Cyprus?

ABSTRACT

The present article aims to expand scholarship on the political role of social media by focusing on the case of Facebook and the self-determination claims of Turkish Cypriots vis-à-vis Turkey. Drawing upon a virtual ethnography of relevant Facebook sites and groups, this article scrutinises whether social media offer an innovative public platform for the politics of self-determination or on-line claims are in reality formed and negotiated in the same manner as the offline ones. The article concludes that Turkish Cypriots’ Facebook activism may very well be for strengthening their community, shielding their distinct characteristics from mainland Turkey and raising their self-esteem, rather than indicating demands for complete autonomy in the traditional political sense of the word and/or statehood.     

News media reporting on civil litigation and its influence on civil justice decision making

The news media have the potential to act as a powerful influence on the civil litigation system, influencing decision making in particular cases and on the system more generally as media reports influence the decision making of various participants in the system. This paper reviews the research that has examined the relationship between news media reporting and civil litigation and proposes a framework that integrates this work and provides guidance for future research efforts. Specifically, we discuss the nature of media reporting on civil litigation, perceptions of the civil litigation system held by the public and legal actors, and the potential influence of news reporting about civil litigation on the decision making of jurors, judges, civil litigants, and policymakers. Overall, the research suggests that news reporting of civil litigation presents a systematically distorted picture of civil litigation and that this reporting can influence perceptions and outcomes of civil litigation in various ways. However, there are many gaps in the existing research that need to be filled. The proposed organizational scheme helps to identify ways that future research can provide links between the findings of existing research and to identify ways in which this research can be extended to new areas.     

新闻从业者的媒介角色认知--兼论舆论监督的记者主体作用

调查表明,在上海这个国内经济活动最为活跃、舆论监督却乏善可陈的城市,"以天下为己任"的道德传统,依然是今天的新闻从业者个人价值体系中的重要底色。对于大多数新闻从业者来说,选择从事新闻工作,更多地是出于对大众传播媒介所能够担负起重要的社会道义责任的向往,同时也出于自身的兴趣爱好。至于对名利的追逐,显然并不是选择新闻业的首要因素。这一点,正是记者作为正在走向专业化的个体,在新闻媒介实行舆论监督当中发挥作用的重要思想基础。     

在出版传播实践中推动“文化入侨”——探索为密切海内外同胞关系服务的有效途径

推动“文化人侨”，增强海外同胞对中华传统文化的认同感和归属感，对于密切海内外同胞关系具有重要意义。通过出版传播推动“文化入侨”是密切海内外同胞关系的重要方式。以中国致公出版社为平台，中国致公党在出版传播实践中推动“文化入侨”大有可为。     

论警察与媒体的通融

构筑警方与媒体的和谐是我们的应有之义。改善和发展警察公共关系需要借助媒体的力量,良好的媒体关系有助于提升警察形象。媒体是警察与公众联系的桥梁和纽带,警方借助媒体发布正面的信息从而争取公众对警察工作的支持,使“执法者”与服务对象融为一体,共同维护治安、打击犯罪。     

网络传媒下公共治理的危机及其对策

随着互联网技术的发展和普及,公共治理日益显现在大众的视域内。网络传媒的任意性、霸权性和非理性会导致公共治理失序、失范和失真,对我国政府形象和执政理念形成强烈的冲击。在此背景下,我们要不断加强网络传媒与公共治理者的互动和交流,建立政府公共服务网,规范和引导网络话语,以期更好地化解网络传媒力量日益强大背景下我国公共治理的危机。     

去偏求和:透视美国媒体近年来对华报道的定势因素

受多种原因的影响,美国的媒体报道尤其是针对中国的报道往往有失偏颇,甚至可以说是荒谬的偏见。本文通过分析美国媒体的荒谬报道及其背后的文化定势机制,提示美国媒体必须抛弃偏见,彻底摒弃几百年来的文化定势,在理解和和谐中谋求世界各国的共同发展。     

Committee autonomy in parliamentary systems – coalition logic or congressional rationales?

Large-n comparative research on committee structures in legislatures is rare. This paper uses newly collected data to analyse committee structures across 30 legislatures of parliamentary systems which possess strong parliamentary party groups. It seeks to explain committee autonomy which reflects the degree to which committees are able to carry out their tasks independently. The variation in autonomy is accounted for by contrasting the ‘keeping tabs on coalition partners’ perspective with the congressional theories of legislative organisation (referred to as distributional, informational, and partisan theories). The results support the informational and the keeping tabs perspective. More autonomous committees tend to be found in legislatures with a relatively high workload and frequent coalition governments. For the ongoing discussion about the applicability of the congressional theories outside the US, this study provides support for the usefulness of the US theories in parliamentary systems of government.