Review of Populist Political Communication in Europe by T. Aalberg, F. Esser, C. Reinemann, J. Strömbäck & C. de Vreese (eds.)

Author(s): Flavia Durach / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

This edited volume explores a topic that is generally under-investigated inside the broader field of research on populism, namely its communicative aspects. The book originates from a research project funded by the European Cooperation in Scientific and Technology (COST), and includes examinations of 24 European countries, by focusing on three thematic areas: populist actors as communicators, the media and populism, and citizens and populism.

“Language Policing” and the Fight Against Social Inequality in an Anti-Capitalist Organization

Author(s): Ognjen Kojanić / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

In this paper, I focus on the sociolinguistic aspects of membership in a "Food Not Bombs" group in Athens, Georgia. I analyze the members’ metapragmatic discourse in the instances of “language policing” to describe the language ideology I refer to as situated personalism, a register that was crucial in the performance of membership, and how the members were trying to create an inclusive frame of interaction free of discrimi-nation. I discuss the paradoxical consequences of the members’ reflexive language use, due to which a cer-tain way of speaking effectively became a crucial prerequisite for group membership, contrary to the com-mitment to inclusion the members espoused.

The Poland-United States security relations in the light of asymmetry theory

Author(s): Robert Kupiecki / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2016

Asymmetry in inter-state relations occurs when one of the partners enjoys more freedom of action, resulting from a unique confluence of power factors, thus obtaining a dominant position. Still, in the process, the superior power incurs costs and risks ineffectiveness, thus having to precisely calculate its modus operandi, while the weaker state has at its disposal means to mitigate the consequences of existing power discrepancies. Asymmetry defines Polish-US relations, manifesting itself with full strength in the field of security and defense, given the discrepancies in the two countries’ potentials, different roles played in international relations and the position of the USA as the guarantor of Poland’s security. This article touches upon the effects and the dynamics of this situation, perceived as a process that is the result of certain adjustments rather than coercion. Included in it is the ability of influencing the politics of the stronger partner as well as the overvaluation of its results by the weaker side, along with the neglect of the weaker player’s interests by the dominating side. Managing this kind of relations demands maturity and loyalty on both sides. Also, necessary is the institutionalization of de-conflicting the priorities of cooperation, using international law tools and consultation mechanisms offered by multilateral forums as well as negotiating mutual relations protecting from their dissolution. Not without importance are also societal sentiments, as well as respect towards all symbolism that underlines mutual relations. Key for Polish-American cooperation, in the field of security, is an understanding of the USA’s global perspective, in which Europe is only one of its dimensions.

Recenzje

Author(s): Grażyna Piechota / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2016

Patrycja Szostok, Robert Rajczyk, Komunikowanie lokalnew Polsce. O instrumentach polityki komunikacyjnej samorządów, Wydawnictwo Gnome, Katowice 2013, ss. 175.

Балкан и Југоисточна Европа у Њујорк Тајмсу од 1998. до 2007

Author(s): Sanja Nasevski / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 159-160/2016

This work focuses on the research of media texts from the daily newspaper New York Times, which include words “Balkans”/“Balkan” and “Southeast Europe”/“Southeastern Europe”, and which were published over ten years period, from 1998 to 2007. Two columns were analyzed, “Editorials” and “Opinion”, since they are the best picture of the additude of media towards the subject or issue in question. The special focus was on the context and discourse of the stories about this region, keywords which were used and the question of different approach, depending on the words which authors used to refer to this area – Balkan or Southeast Europe. In order to give a wider picture about the sample, the media texts, this paper will start with the presentation of the New York Times, and after that the research will be presented – the general results, categories, variables and the most important conclusions.

Проблеми медијског власништва у Србији

Author(s): Irina Milutinović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 157-158/2016

Different implications of media ownership on democratic capacity of Serbian society in the beginning of the new millennium are analysed in the paper. The frame of the research is democratic and market model of media policy which was established after political changes in Serbia in 2000. The aim of the paper is to identify the main problems of media ownership in Serbia in the process of adjustment to the European media policy. In order to understand the genesis of marked problems, they are observed in the context of current trends on wider – global – media market. It can be concluded that democratic and market model of media system does not guarantee the conditions for democratic public discussion and satisfaction of public interest.

Mediji u službi državne politike

Author(s): Slobodan Vuković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2009

In this article, the author analyzes the relation between the media, the employees in the media and the politician and state officials, i.e. on several examples the author analyzes how much national interests and official statements have influence on the media reports. The author also analyzes how much those interests could have influence on wrong informations and how much that could keep crimes on secret. The word is about the example of Srebrenica on one side, and on the other side about crimes that were committed around Srebrenica, but against Serbs. The crimes against Serbs were kept on secret, but the crimes against Muslims were exaggerated. The general conclusion is that there is no pluralism of informations when the word is about the national and geostrategic interests. An example of that could be found in the Yugoslav experience, the Gulf-war, the Russia-Georgia war, etc. However, we could talk about pluralism of informations, when the word is about internal affairs in the societies in which the freedom of expression of different religious, political, philosophical, moral values and concepts exists.

The political communication as an essentially contested concept

Author(s): Aleksandar Vranješ / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2016

Referring to the thesis of 'essentially contested concepts' which, according to Walter Gallie, are concepts that, despite their proper use, cause radical and lengthy discussions and unresolvable disagreements among those who use them. In this paper we build the thesis that political communication is essentially a contested concept. To prove this assertion, first we make an overview of different approaches to the concept of 'politics' by showing how the term has changed over time and how it affected the various authors' determinations of definitions. Subsequently, referring to the term of 'communication' and finally to the definition of 'political communication', we demonstrated through the identification of the controversial elements that are commonly used in defining such concepts - that the basic thesis of this paper is true.

The EU’s Voice beyond its Borders: The European Union’s External Commu-nication

Author(s): Luminița Şoproni,Ioan Horga / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2016

The EU’s developing global role demands a new approach to communications outside the Union. Besides communicating its policies to its citizens in order to enhance their trust in the idea of the United Europe, it is also extremely important to provide information regarding its policies and ac-tions beyond its borders, to non-member countries and also to various international entities and or-ganizations. This approach is necessary because the strength of an organization’ (in our case the European Union’s) external reputation depends not only on the core values embedded in its domes-tic culture, but also on the way how it communicates them to various target publics. The paper anal-yses the external communication of the European Union (lines of action, actors involved, and communication realized through different policies) and how it affects the external image of the region, demonstrating the need for a coherent communication strategy that combines the interests of Member States with those of the European institutions and the needs of internal public with those of external public.

Sprawozdanie z Międzynarodowej Konferencji Naukowej: Media – Biznes – Kultura, Instytut Filozofii, Socjologii i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, 12–13 X 2017

Author(s): Rafał Leśniczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2017

The Network Matters: Social Media Networks and Political Expression

Author(s): Timothy Macafee / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

Political engagement on social media is an important way for many individuals to express their political opinions and beliefs. Research has not fully explained the mechanism by which individuals use social media for political purposes. The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election provided a useful context to understand this mechanism. Thus, the study uses a representative survey sample of U.S. adults to examine the importance of the social media network on individuals’ political expression on these sites. After controlling for a host of demographic and attention to news media variables, the results suggest the more individuals’ social media network expresses themselves politically on social media, the more likely individuals express themselves too.

Lobiranje – instrument savremene politike

Author(s): Elma Kovačević-Bajtal / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 03+04/2015

Albeit not a new phenomenon, lobbying is increasingly used in practice and is demonstrated as an inevitable method of exerting argumentative influence on decision-makers. However, from the standpoint of political practice, it is apparent that the job of professional lobbyists is not solely influencing decision-makers, but that it is a complex task preceded by continually informing and communicating with those represented by the lobbyists, as well as negotiating with decision-makers. Political lobbying takes place at the domestic and international level. With regard to contemporary international lobbying, the term generally refers to lobbying activities in Brussels and Washington. The United States are considered the cradle of lobbying, but lobbying is becoming a more independent and increasingly sought-after profession in the world as well. The general public often equals lobbying to corruption. In order to avoid such a comparison and the negative connotations to the lobbying activity, and in order to adequately act in the event of abuse of lobbying activities, individual states have enacted and adopted a law on lobbying.

ANALIZA INTERAKCYJNA JAKO NARZĘDZIE OPISU DYSKURSU MEDIALNEGO

Author(s): Edyta Pałuszyńska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 20/2013

The author presents the way interactive analysis can be used as a means (mode, tool) of discriminate various types of discourse. As he understands the interaction as the coordination of the interlocutors, their cooperation and mutual adjustment in the process of dialog construction. The aim of the article is to describe the most important interactional conditionings in the political discourse in the mass media. According to the author’s research, these include the public character of the interaction, the social roles of the interlocutors and the mass character of communication.

Legal Limitations of Freedom of Expression in Media

Author(s): Mileva Pavlović / Language(s): English Issue: 21/2017

The paper will base on an attempt to bring the formal statement “there is no definition of freedom” to the realm of legal recognition and the disclosure of its legal concerns. Aware of the fact that a requirement of defining freedom can be overly unsound, just like an attempt to define a human being, we are drawn by the idea of summarizing these two requirements and putting them in the same plane. We could start from the attempt to recognize terms “human being” and “freedom” as synonyms, but we would bring ourselves to the blind side. Randomly speaking, terms “freedom” and “definition” are mutually exclusive and, to a light-minded opserver, this attempt can seem allogical in it’s essence and, at the very least, without logical connection between the terms and thus futile. But if we recognize the term “freedom” as the very possibility of autonomus and independent action, then the self-determination of a human being to be free can connotate an unconstrained and un-imprisioned human being. It has been established that the state of freedom is a birth wright of every selfconscious and reason-endowed human being, but also that every relation of an individual with a society is burdened with a certain degree of loss of the very same freedom. Following this path, we take upon ourselves the not-so-easy-task task to talk about the legal restrictions on freedom of expression in the public and the media as one of many aspects of freedom.

Politička instrumentalizacija i ekonomsko discipliniranje medija kao mehanizam ugrožavanja javnog interesa u bh. društvu

Author(s): Lejla Turčilo,Belma Buljubašić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 3-4/2017

The article examines the social role of the media in the modern age, looking for an answer to the question: to what extent are today’s media constrained in performing their primary functions (primarily information and education) by political and economic pressures, and to what extent they are active participants as opposed to just means for promotion of interests of other social reality actors. By using the theory of instrumentalization and applying it to the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by presenting the results of empirical research conducted through interviews with key actors on the media scene in BiH, authors elaborate the thesis that BiH media represent a typical example of political instrumentalization and economic “disciplining” and, as such, are significantly constrained by political and economic pressures. This results in demotion of public interest from the top of the list of values which should be guiding the media.

Тоталитаризам као облик медијске конструкције стварности

Author(s): Vesna R. Stanković Pejnović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2018

The relationship between totalitarian propaganda and new media testifies to the double bond between technology and social rule and technosphere and total control. Speaking about the new totalitarianism, the emphasis is not placed in the way of political rule “the people”, rather than a radical change of the system of power over life of individual and mass. An important role in shaping of the media is based on the logic of universal transmedial irrational rationality order because neoliberal capitalism has no center and visible entities total economic powers that are invisible in complete transparency as a real illusion of new media. The task of a mass media is neutralize lived, unique, of event and character of the world and in its place set up a complex universe of media which are homogeneous to one another as such , pointing at each other. They become reciprocal content to each other and that is totalitarian “message” consumer society. Instead means of information and communication medial reality becomes a means or purpose of social cultural survival and hyper accumulating capital. Totalitarianism is ideological – political term that encompasses all sectors of life and overall has complete control. Total supervision or control is synonymous with capitalist globalization. Totalitarianism sources of information are focused to provide solutions to the formula suggested by the audience. The entirety of information presented shall be made public if the narrative about the lack of choice or no alternative, apparent manipulation brought to grotesque degree. To a large extent, the present abuses of emotions as critical awareness replace emotional impulses clearing the way for the unconscious. Through the media increasingly overcome growing manipulation of consciousness, as a means of absolute control and power with a vast amount of “professional” guided mass and narrow elitist minority that decides everything. In a totalitarian view of the state, culture becomes an ideological means or purpose of governing the masses based media constructions of reality and shaping the man as a “lonely crowd” with the ultimate goal of creating a “new world totalitarian order”.

From Pledge-Fulfilment to Mandate-Fulfilment. An Empirical Theory

Author(s): András Körösényi,Miklós Sebők / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

The article presents a theoretical synthesis that could serve as the conceptual framework for empirical studies of the fulfilment of electoral pledges in modern democracies. Studies related to the program-to-policy linkage derived their hypotheses, for the most part, from an implicit, common sense model of mandate theory. The article presents a realistic version of positive mandate theory, one that is stripped of its normative assumptions and is suitable for empirical testing. It is informed by five theoretical building blocks: the concept of the binding mandate, the party theory of representation, the doctrine of responsible party government, modern normative mandate theory and the conceptual pair of delegation and mandate. The resulting framework incorporates the information content of the campaigns, the definiteness of the authorization and the strength of pledge enactment as its core components.

UNIA EUROPEJSKA JAKO ANTYWARTOŚĆ. NARRACJE EUROPEJSKIE W KOMUNIKACJI POLSKIEJ SKRAJNEJ PRAWICY

Author(s): Marcin Pielużek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2 (230)/2017

Rejection of the idea of the United Europe promoted by the European Union is the most common ideological pillar of the entire European extreme right movements. It does not mean, however, that these movements reject the pan-European cooperation since the extreme right groups are highly connected and cooperate on various international levels. In consequence, through the multilateral transfers of ideas, political programs, visions, and attitudes they create specific ideological offers and solutions. The main aim of this article is to reconstruct the image of the Europe and the European Union in the communication of the Polish extreme right. On the basis of the publications excerpted from the unofficially printed zines from 1990. and selected online publications published on the Polish extreme right websites within the period 2000–2010 the author tries to discover what kind of image of Europe and the EU predominates in communication of the extreme right, and what kind of alternatives for the idea of the United Europe have been promoted by the nationalist movements. The author uses methods and techniques of the corpus linguistics and refers to the constructivist theories of communication and the concept of the linguistic image of the world.

THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND MEDIA PLURALISM IN A EUROPEAN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Author(s): Beata Klimkiewicz / Language(s): English Issue: 1 (233)/2018

The concept of the public sphere introduced by Jürgen Habermas in 1962 has shaped major normative perspectives in media and political communication scholarship for more than 30 years. In its initial form, the public sphere was conceptualized as a social space where the exchange of information on matters of public concern contributes to the development of a public opinion that functions as political power. The matters or events of “public” concern refer those that are “open to all in contrast to closed or exclusive affairs.” The concept of the public sphere was subjected to a number of scholarly accounts and critiques, many of which led to reconsideration of the notion of the public sphere in changing geopolitical conditions (the notions of global, European public sphere), a technological and media environment (the public sphere as a network) as well as evolving models of democracy (a monitory public sphere in the age of communicative abundance).

MADAM ORKIESTRA. OSIĄGNIĘCIA I DOROBEK NAUKOWY PROFESOR TERESY SASIŃSKIEJ-KLAS

Author(s): Agnieszka Hess / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1 (233)/2018

O Pani Profesor Teresie Sasińskiej-Klas z pewnością można napisać, że jest wybitną solistką i równocześnie wyśmienicie gra w zespole. Umiejętności te nabyła w latach 1966–1971 w krakowskiej Szkole Muzycznej II stopnia na Wydziale Nauczania Muzycznego. Ukończyła kierunek dyrygowanie. Dyplom przygotowywała w klasie prof. Krzysztofa Missony. Już w szkole średniej interesowała się szeroko rozumianą problematyką społeczną. Podążając za swym przeznaczeniem, w 1965 roku rozpoczęła także studia z zakresu socjologii na Wydziale Filozoficzno-Historycznym Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego (UJ).