Sensemaking and crisis revisited: the failure of sensemaking during the Flint water crisis

ABSTRACT

This study operationalized Weick’s [(1988). Enacted sensemaking in crisis situations. Journal of Management Studies 25(4), 305–317 and (1993). The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Mann Gulch disaster. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38, 628–652] theory of enacted sensemaking to examine the communication processes associated with the Flint Water Crisis of 2014–2015. A content analysis of 389 emails and attachments from a total population of N?=?37,376 pages of publicly released e-mails and documents pertaining to Flint’s water issues, identified examples of failed sensemaking by government officials. These failures hastened and intensified a growing crisis of lead contamination and an outbreak of Legionnaires disease associated with Flint’s municipal water system. Analysis of email messages suggests that strong commitments by top leaders and limited capacity were important factors as were efforts to create and maintain consensus among officials. The Flint Water Crisis offers an important application of sensemaking theory and its utility for both organizational and risk communication scholars and for practical application. The authors emphasize the importance of questioning previous assumptions and commitments, insuring that communication practitioners are involved in decisions, and avoiding over reliance on image repair as a strategic response.     

Food (in)security communication: a Journal of Applied Communication Research forum addressing current challenges and future possibilities

ABSTRACT

This forum brings together food, (in)security, and communication. The authors participating in this forum center communication as both process and tool for understanding, mitigating, and making meaning of food (in)security. The nine authors together discuss the role of communication in food (in)security, the central challenges for scholars and practitioners working on food (in)security, and the creative possibilities and impacts influencing the future of food (in)security. The forum produces a call for applied scholars to re-imagine communication frameworks in order to make meaningful differences in their communities.     

政务B站号信息传播效果影响因素与实证研究

[目的/意义] 作为政府与青年群体沟通的重要平台，政务Bilibili账号的信息传播效果直接决定其沟通效率和效果。对政务Bilibili账号信息传播效果影响因素的研究有利于沟通效果的提升。[方法/过程] 本研究基于共青团中央Bilibili账号的471个样本，采用内容分析和回归分析等系统考察内容主题、视频类别、封面图类型、屏幕形式、字幕、组织形式、剪辑率和视频时长等因素对政务Bilibili账号信息传播效果的影响。[结果/结论] 结果表明，科技类、音乐类和时尚类主题的视频能够提升整体传播效果，科技类视频的贡献度最高；情景剧、实拍视频和监控视频都正向显著影响整体传播效果，实拍视频的贡献度最高。视频剪辑率、竖屏视频、字幕添加、合作创作等均能显著提高整体传播效果，竖屏在整体传播效果模型中的贡献度最大。视频时长和封面图的作用不显著。政务Bilibili账号运营应充分释放青年的爱国势能、创新视频形式、优化视频制作流程、创新组织形式。     

PCSI:一种单篇论文被引频次标准化方法

[目的/意义] 文章的被引频次一直是量化评价一篇论文学术影响力的重要指标。但在不同学科不同年份发表的论文会因该领域研究论文数、引用滞后等因素呈现较大的差异。因此在对比两篇论文时，难以简单依据被引频次的绝对值来评判论文影响力大小。为此，本文设计了一个新的可计算数学模型，使得每篇论文可以有一个标准化的指标，以便对不同学科不同年份发表的论文的学术影响力进行直接比较。[方法/过程] 通过分析2006、2017两年中国科技类学术期刊各学科论文的被引频次分布规律，采用同学科论文被引频次的分布形态最接近对数正态分布的先设条件，提出一种被引频次标准化指数——Paper Citation Standardized Index （简称PCSI，中文"论文引证标准化指数"）。最后以中国科协优秀科技期刊论文评选结果为例，将它们与论文所属学科全部论文进行实证对比研究。[结果/结论] 结果证明，PCSI对不同年份、不同学科论文的被引频次进行了标准化，反映了被引频次的线性差距，是一种较为理想的单篇论文学术影响力比较评价工具。     

高校图书馆参与公共文化服务体系影响因素研究

[目的/意义]构建高校图书馆参与公共文化服务体系影响因素模型，为高校图书馆公共文化服务发展提供理论和实践参考。[方法/过程]通过对10所高校26位采访对象的深度访谈，采用扎根理论方法，探索性研究高校图书馆参与公共文化服务体系影响因素，并构建其扎根理论模型。[结果/结论]高校图书馆参与公共文化服务体系影响因素主要包括4个主范畴：高校及其图书馆归因、政府机构归因、公众用户归因、其他归因。其中高校及其图书馆归因是主导性因素，政府机构归因是保障性因素，公众用户归因是驱动性因素，其他归因是制约性因素。在此基础上，提出高校图书馆深度参与公共文化服务体系策略。     

智能化时代传统媒介新闻理念的演进与方法创新

在新闻智能化传播的环境下,传统媒介的新闻信息资源理念发生变化,智能算法成为新闻信息资源获取和开发的重要手段。智能化传播的新闻信息价值判断,建构了新闻事实信息-社会数据信息-用户需求信息三位一体的新闻信息价值确认系统,体现了智能化新闻信息价值理念的特殊追求。新闻信息生产流程中人工智能系统与新闻传播者形成特殊的生产关系,新闻信息生产理念强调人机协作与共处,由此产生新闻报道视野和新闻产品形态的变化。智能化的新闻发布机制,促进了新闻信息的多渠道推送和分散化传播,也有力推动了传统媒介新闻信息传播理念的智能化转变。     

Modelling Quoting in Newswriting: A Framework for Studies on the Production of News

ABSTRACT

The Mediated Social Communication (MSC) approach considers mass media a venue for opposing and complementary societal groups to publicly negotiate socially relevant topics. This negotiation is conducted through representatives of these groups and mediated by journalists. Inspired by the MSC approach, this paper presents an empirically grounded model that structures the mediating process through the process of quoting. By identifying the key phases of newswriting as sub-processes of quoting, the paper argues that journalists (1) decide on a topical issue to be addressed (topicalisation), (2) identify groups of people who are linked to this issue (societal localisation), (3) pick some people as representatives of these societal groups (personalisation), and (4) verbalise these people's points of view, often by means of quoting, inter alia (verbalisation). The four-phase model is then operationalised into a data collection method that facilitates access to and fosters new insights into the subtle dynamics of newswriting. Hitherto, these dynamics have often remained obscure, because the craft ethos is adopted as tacit knowledge through implicit socialisation and is therefore difficult for journalists to verbalise. The paper concludes by calling for reconsideration of journalists’ role as gatekeepers who decide which issues and voices are heard in public discourse.     

新冠肺炎疫情下专业图书馆科研新媒体服务探究——以中国科学院文献情报中心“中国科讯”为例

[目的/意义] 以中国科学院文献情报中心"中国科讯"为例，分析专业图书馆应急科学传播服务的举措及成效，为应急事件下专业图书馆科学传播服务提供借鉴。[方法/过程] 梳理新冠肺炎疫情期间"中国科讯"微信公众号推送的服务内容，从日均用户增长和阅读量分析用户对不同类型内容的关注程度，提出应急科学传播服务的思考。[结果/结论] 疫情期间，"中国科讯"日均用户增长明显，电子资源保障类内容阅读量最高，其次为新冠病毒科技攻关进展相关内容、科普类直播和信息素养教育直播观看人数达到数万人。应急事件下，专业图书馆应加强特色服务的宣传、加强信息甄选和审核机制，重大公共卫生事件下应急科学传播工作预案缺失也需引起重视。     

Populist linguistic tone in recent U.S. presidential campaign discourse: a DICTION analysis

ABSTRACT

This study analyzed the tone of public campaign remarks of right- and left-wing populist (Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, respectively) and right and left-wing non-populist (Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton, respectively) U.S. presidential candidates using DICTION 7.0. Findings suggest that populists tended to use a linguistic tone that is high in pessimism, group abstractness, and exclusion. Pessimism and group abstractness were positively associated with immigration language in right-wing populist speech. Commonality and “we-ness” were positively associated with populist language in left-wing populist speech.