International Communication

The Media and Public Diplomacy: A Strategic Contest over international Agenda Building and Frame Building

by Itay Gabay

This study focuses on the competition over international agenda building and frame building as one central strategic... more This study focuses on the competition over international agenda building and frame building as one central strategic activity of public diplomacy processes. It is the first analysis of a multi-actor contest over agenda and frame building in foreign media
focusing on two strategic acts with evident mediated public diplomacy objectives and implications: Israel’s disengagement from Gaza and the general elections in the Palestinian Authority. The success of the actors in promoting their agenda and frames in the U.S. and British news media is analyzed, revealing a complex media arena that includes the antagonists, foreign governments, and the media themselves as actors, each trying to promote its own agenda and frames. Cultural and political congruence between a foreign country and an adversary gives that antagonist an advantage over its rival actor. However, the antagonist actor still has to compete with the agenda and
frames of foreign governments and media organizations.

The Aggressor as a Witness: The Case of Breaking the Silence

by Itay Gabay

Testimonies collected by the Israeli organization Breaking the Silence from soldiers participating in the Gaza war... more Testimonies collected by the Israeli organization Breaking the Silence from soldiers participating in the Gaza war provide a case study for examining the process and the effects of bearing witness by the aggressors. By analyzing the testimonies and their media coverage the study concludes that although these testimonies were collected from soldiers, there was no change in public discourse. Conversely, members of the organization were attacked by different institutions, describing them as traitors.

Is it possible to define international communications?

by Emmanouil Melissourgakis

Is it possible to define international communications?

Selective Processing: A Strategic Challenge for Public Diplomacy. An Alternative Approach to Russian Public Diplomacy in the United States

by Yelena Osipova

Published in Gnovis Journal, Volume XII, Issue II, Spring 2012

The information age has made public diplomacy an integral component of statecraft. In essence, public diplomacy is... more The information age has made public diplomacy an integral component of statecraft. In essence, public diplomacy is transnational and cross-cultural strategic communication that aims to inform and engage foreign publics. Yet, developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have also made it much more difficult to overcome the cacophony and noise, especially in contexts where the audience is not predisposed to listening in the first place. Therefore, there is a need to approach the challenge through alternative communication strategies, incorporating them into the overall nature as well as specific techniques of any public diplomacy strategy. This analysis looks at the case of Russian public diplomacy in the United States, where, even twenty years after the end of the Cold War and various public diplomacy initiatives, public attitude towards Russia is still largely negative. The paper posits that selective processing of information is a potential explanation and suggests relational and network-based approaches to improve the effectiveness of Russian public diplomacy in the US.

America's Narrow Window to the World: an analysis of network global coverage

by Guy Golan

International Communication Bulletin (2003)

America's Narrow Window to the World: an analysis of network global coverage

by Guy Golan

International Communication Bulletin (2003)

Theorizing and Conducting Research of Glocal Phenomena

by Hernando Rojas

International Journal of Communication

Dialogue, activism and democratic social change

by Shiv Ganesh

Coauthored by Shiv Ganesh and Heather Zoller (joint first authors), published in 'Communication Theory,' 2012.

This article provides a systematic description of various positions on dialogue and their implications for... more This article provides a systematic description of various positions on dialogue and their implications for understanding activism and social change. It describes three orientations toward dialogue—collaboration, co-optation, and agonism—which are differentiated by
assumptions regarding the pervasiveness of dialogue, the role of difference, and conceptions of power. We argue for a multivocal, agonistic perspective on dialogue that centers issues of power and conflict in activism. Such a perspective illuminates a broad range of activist tactics for social change instead of privileging consensus-oriented methods. These approaches are illustrated with two ethnographic case studies that highlight the importance of lay theories of activism and dialogue.

Online communication patterns in low complexity project groups. Tasks, channels and functions.

by Fabian Bethge

Co-authored with Ana-Despina Tudor, Yuan Bo and Thomas Jung-Böhmcker

This paper investigated online communication patterns inside of four student project groups. The main goal of this... more This paper investigated online communication patterns inside of four student project groups. The main goal of this study was to get insights to regularities that influence the selection of specific communication patterns out of the overwhelming range of
online communication applications. A communication pattern was defined to consist of a task, a communication function and a channel. Respondents were told to make conceptual diagrams by connecting pre-defined snippets for tasks, channels and
functions in a way that represents their individual communication for the project. Afterwards they have been interviewed about their conceptual diagrams. The results show that those patterns are influence both by individual group processes and by specific technological factors that are not group specific.

THE EUROPEAN PROSPECT OF TURKEY AS PORTRAYED IN THE GREEK PRESS; THE CASE OF THE BRUSSELS’ SUMMIT: A FRAMES PERSPECTIVE

by Athanassios N. Samaras

6.30 Samaras Ath.N. and Katsara E. (2006) “The European Prospect of Turkey as Portrayed in the Greek Press; The Case of the 2004 Brussels’ Summit” Presented at the Political Studies Association of the UK. (Reading, UK,  4-6 April).

Conflict generating relations that exhibit a major discord dynamic, depth of time and stability with respect to their... more Conflict generating relations that exhibit a major discord dynamic, depth of time and stability with respect to their characteristics, tend to produce self-stereotypes and hetero-stereotypes, frames and schemata; their own interpretative ecology, which is instrumental in shaping the nation images. The relation between Greece and Turkey belongs to this category of relations par excellence. A paradigm shift of the broader master frame, by the Greek side with regard to the Greek-Turkish relations aimed to liberate the public image of the country from this continuous contradistinction with Turkey. This raises two major issues: (1) if, and to what extent, the portrayals of the European Prospect of Turkey and in particular the Brussels summit are organized by conflict frames? And (2) which are the axis around which this conflict is organized? In order to answer these questions the bipolar contradistinction as a framing device is being employed.
Bipolar contradistinction as a research instrument is used in order to examine of the degree of disassociation of the image of Greece from the conflict frame with respect to Turkey; to examine the temporal importance of Greece Vs Turkey contradistinction in relation to alternative ones, and the effects that the growing dissatisfaction of segments of European public opinion and political elites on the European Prospect of Turkey has on the overall structure of the conflict frame during  the media representation of  the 2004 Summit.
The articles of four Greek newspapers referring to the European Prospect of Turkey are analyzed for a period of three weeks, (two prior and one after the Summit)  for the 2004 summit. A grounded typology is developed. The findings of the grounded typology are aggregated into wider categories in order for issue specific / derivative frames to emerge and consequently there are further aggregated so that a typology of event specific / generative frames emerges. The final set of event specific frames were intergraded into the code-book and used for quantitative content analysis.
Nine basic divisional incisions are identified: Greek Interparty, Cypriot Interparty, Hellenism Vs Turkey, Europe Vs Turkey, USA vs. Turkey, Europe Vs USA, Intrastate internal contrapositions in Europe, Interstate internal contrapositions in Europe and Internal Contrapositions in Turkey.

Pacific solutions

by David Robie

Robie, D. (2005). Pacific solutions. The Walkley Magazine. No 33: 36-37.

Media students in the South Pacific are being taught how to respond to physical threats and attempts at bribery, as... more Media students in the South Pacific are being taught how to respond to physical threats and attempts at bribery, as well as journalism, says David Robie. Illustration by Rod Emmerson.

REPRESENTATIONS OF 11/9 IN FOUR GREEK NEWSPAPERS; A FRAMES PERSPECTIVE

by Athanassios N. Samaras

English translation of the essay :
Samaras Ath.N. (2005) “Représentations du 11-Septembre dans Quatre Journaux Grecs. Une Question de Cadrage”, Questions De Communication, Vol. 8 (p.367-388).

The  terrorist attack on the Word Trade Center on the 11/9 led to the development of the War of Terrorism master... more The  terrorist attack on the Word Trade Center on the 11/9 led to the development of the War of Terrorism master frame in the USA. The message of the  military operations as well as all the other measures taken by the Bush administration in response to 11/9 has been coded according to this master frame. In Greece these events have been filtered by the Anti-Americanism master frame that has already been formulated by the Greek media in respond to Kosovo bombing. This paper examines the framing of the 11/9 and of the consequent reactions of the Bush administration in the editorial columns of four  Greek newspapers. This paper is divided in three sections. The first section presents the tool kit of frame theory and relates it with the domains of foreign policy and international communication . The second one explores the development of the War on Terrorism and the Anti-Americanism master frames and the third analyses the attributes of the editorials of the Greek newspapers.
Contrary to the  War on Terrorism master frame which decontextualizes the terrorist activity from its conditions and focuses on the terrorists, the victims, the future dangers and the punitive actions. The Anti-Americanism master frame contextualizes the terrorist attack; focuses on the wider conditions and by doing so it  explains terrorism. The responsibility for 11/9 is directed mainly to the USA for creating the conditions that resulted to the terrorist attack. The reactions of the USA to the 11/9 and the USA attack to Afghanistan are framed in terms of dominance rather than defense. The USA is presented predominantly as acting rather than reacting while its acts are largely framed by the strategic frame and more specifically the geo-strategic frame.

Comparing media systems and media content

by Małgorzata Kolling (Skorek)

Wessler, H., Skorek, M., Kleinen-von Königslöw, K., Held, M., Dobreva, M., & Adolphsen, M. (2008). Comparing media systems and media content. Journal of Global Mass Communication 1:165-189.

Η Οικονομική Κρίση και η Εικόνα της Ελλάδας,

by Athanassios N. Samaras

Συνέντευξη του Αθ. Ν. Σαμαρά στον Κώστα Βενιζέλο για την Εφημερίδα Φιλελεύθερος της Κύπρου.

Internal Communication and Innovation Culture: Developing a Change Framework

by Anne Linke

Co-authored with Ansgar Zerfaß

‘It is called 紧张 (Jin Zhang)’: Chinese Students’ Descriptions of Stress and Depression

by Jenn Anderson

Authors: Ndiaye, K., Zhuang, J., Anderson, J., Carpenter, A., & Glova, N.

This paper will be presented at the annual conference of the National Communication Association in New Orleans (2011).

This paper is under review at the Asian Journal of Communication

Communication constitutes meaning throughout our lives, and particularly with respect to health experiences. Culture... more Communication constitutes meaning throughout our lives, and particularly with respect to health experiences. Culture influences that communicative constitution of health experiences, especially in the area of mental health. The current study explores the ways that Chinese students describe stress and depression: how they define them, trace their causes and effects, and describe proper treatment of them. The results suggest that Chinese students blend traditional Chinese ideas with contemporary Western ideas in their communication about these mental health issues. Suggestions are provided for creating tailored health communication messages to increase Chinese students’ use of mental health services.

London Underground: Unlocking London by Tube

by Gyles Lingwood

Co-authored with Interbrand, London

This project aspired to explicate and define London Underground's brand vision, mission and operational implications... more This project aspired to explicate and define London Underground's brand vision, mission and operational implications through historical research and brand communications recommendations realised through an innovative print and digital media publication.

Toyota Europe Online brand intranet 'Toyota Brand Central'

by Gyles Lingwood

Co-authored with Interbrand, London

This design project aspired to resolve the inconsistency of brand communications that was the result of numerous... more This design project aspired to resolve the inconsistency of brand communications that was the result of numerous suppliers producing diverse communications designs that, in turn, weakened the Toyota brand.

Aim: develop a detailed rationalization of the Toyota Europe visual identity system that resulted in online guidelines detailing the Toyota visual identity elements (logo, typography, colour, photography and layout) and their specified use.

Result: conceived and produced as an online resource for in-house and third party suppliers for the production of all Toyota collateral resulting in the improved visual presentation of all aspects of Toyota’s public-facing and business-to-business activities.

This design project included the development and repositioning of the Toyota brand, including the evolution of the visual identity.

International Media Communication In a Global Age (Coll Routledge Communication Series)

by Guy Golan

Where In the World Is Africa?: Predicting Coverage of Africa by US Television Networks

by Guy Golan