The representation of the world in national Arab news agencies: an exploration of (trans)national networks in the official Arab media

The purpose of this paper is to draw a map of the representation of the world and of Arab states as reflected by the countries of the region. To do so, we have analysed the news (4,093 news randomly collected on February and August 2005) produced by the governments of the Arab states through their national news agencies. Several regional and world maps had been constructed to show the official Arab representation of the World, the Arab countries conflict agenda, the persistence of colonial ties (with the European metropolis) and the emergence of new relationships (Asian countries). The representation of the world that appeared in the analysis focuses its interest on the USA, the war in Iraq, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the United Kingdom, France, and Iran. The Arab regional powers organise the flow of information (Saudi Arabia and Egypt) and the colonial past determines the current structure of communication (French-speaking bloc and English-speaking bloc).

Graphical Representation of the Changes of Sector for Particular Cases in the Ponchon Savarit Method

A graphical and systematic analysis of particular cases where the compositions of the streams developed in the rectification column coincide with one of the vapor (yGFk) or liquid (xGFk) portions generated from the GFk can be found in this material (i.e.: yGFk=yk+1,1 or xGFk=xk,NTk).

Nostalgic representation of reality in television fiction: an empirical study based on the analysis of the Spanish television series Cuéntame cómo pasó

The Spanish transition from dictatorship to democracy is often described as an example of negotiation or agreement between the elites (Sánchez Cuenca and Aguilar, 2009: 433). Journalistic and political elites, aware of their important historical role, agreed a consensus on certain issues (democracy, constitution, amnesty) or characters (King Juan Carlos I), in order to ensure the stability of the democratic process (Zugasti, 2007, 2008). Television, which articulates the discourse of the masses, has been one of the basic means used to illustrate the development. Among the highlights of recent major audiovisual content, Cuéntame cómo pasó (2001-present) -a TV-series designed to explain changes with a nostalgic tone in Spanish society since 1968 until today- stands out. By choosing a random sample of episodes for this research we propose to verify the validity of the representation of the political process which contextualizes the series. By analyzing many elements, such as the opinions of the main characters, their personal, political and geographical situations, we try to show the construction of a focal point that sanctifies the official version. We also stress the pacifying and nostalgic tone, which constructs stereotypes and taboos about the process and which characterizes this series as a symbolic culmination of the democratization undertaken by the elites.

A Computational Model of the Belief System Under the Scope of Social Communication

This paper presents an approach to the belief system based on a computational framework in three levels: first, the logic level with the definition of binary local rules, second, the arithmetic level with the definition of recursive functions and finally the behavioural level with the definition of a recursive construction pattern. Social communication is achieved when different beliefs are expressed, modified, propagated and shared through social nets. This approach is useful to mimic the belief system because the defined functions provide different ways to process the same incoming information as well as a means to propagate it. Our model also provides a means to cross different beliefs so, any incoming information can be processed many times by the same or different functions as it occurs is social nets.