Law-and-order politics, public-opinion polls, and the media

Over the past two decades, considerable political rhetoric has focused on the need to get tough on crime. Justification for this hard-line approach has been the public's apparent concem about rising crime rates and its increasing dissatisfaction with criminal sentencing. In this paper, we consider characteristics both of the measurement of public opinion and of the influences upon public opinion that may contribute to the depiction of a fearful, punitive community. In particular, we identify sources of bias in the methods and contexts of opinion-polling that promote a distorted representation of the discrepancy between community expectations of sentencing and the practices of the judiciary. We argue that the practices of pollsters, politicians, and media combine to create a self-sustaining obstacle to considered community discussion of crime and criminal sentencing.

The effects of cultural values in word-of-mouth communication

When new products and brands are introduced into other cultures, the speed and extent of the product's acceptance are important concerns for marketers. The spread of positive word of mouth (WOM) and the lack of negative WOM about the product or brand by early adopter groups are critical to the product's successful diffusion in a population. This is the first study to investigate the effects of consumers' cultural values on their WOM behavior. Data analysis from two samples indicates that the pattern, type, and target receivers of consumers' WOM activity depend on their cultural values. The authors use Hofstede's four cultural dimensions to test the effects of cultural values on WOM behavior to social in- and out-groups. They find that all four dimensions have significant effects on WOM engagement to those groups. Although the authors could not determine the causal nature of the relationships because of the sample design used, they argue that marketers should monitor the cultural values of their market to anticipate in- and out-group discussions and the choice of appropriate brand communication strategies in other countries.

Representation of female offender types within the pathways model of assault

Research into the heterogeneity of female violent offending is sparse, even though females constitute a growing part of the prisoner population. There is evidence that the majority of female violent offenders display over-controlled traits related to uncharacteristic offending. This hypothesis was explored through a multivariate model, the Pathways Model of Assault, with interview data from 17 female assault offenders. Five different offence types were displayed, reflecting the same offence styles as male offenders. However, only two participants displayed an over-controlled offence type. Qualitative differences within the data suggested that offender rehabilitation should be tailored specifically for different gender needs in addition to the needs suggested by the different offence types.

A method for the visual representation of historic multivariate point data

The visual representation of multivariate spatial and temporal data is important for interpreting and analyzing historical geographic patterns that change over time. The introduction of geospatial technologies in historical scholarship has challenged the suitability of current visual representations due to the need for greater temporal emphasis and the tracking of historical events over time. This research presents a holistic multivariate approach to historical visual representation for point based historical data. The method has been developed through extending the spatial presence in information graphics and through meaningful spatial classification. This paper demonstrates the benefits gained from integrating historical, geographic, temporal, and attribute data through the development of a case study on the history of Melbourne’s cinema venues between 1946 and 1986.

Closed vs open corporate social networking communities : a case study of the Victoria Police and Dairy Australia.

The availability of affordable, user-friendly audio-visual equipment, software and the Internet, allows anyone to become a content creator or media outlet. This exploratory case study examines the adoption of social networking by Victoria Police and Diary Australia, a non-media and non-profit organization respectively, in corporate communication, public infmmation and community relations. The paper initiates discussions on the implications for traditional media and audiences of this phenomenon. It content analyzed the two websites during a two-week period and conducted interviews with their moderators about the sites' content, functions and efficacy. The purpose, role and community acceptance of these sites are examined, along with organizational motivations for establishing these channels to reach audiences, bypassing traditional media's gatekeeping function. It highlights how these organizations may set both media and public agendas when traditional media use this web content in their news gathering and reporting, similar to using press releases in the past.

Raising the volume : Indigenous voices in news media and policy

This article explores Indigenous contributions to shaping public and policy agendas through their use of the news media. It reports on research conducted for the Australian News Media and Indigenous Policy-making 1988–2008 project that is investigating relationships between the representation of Indigenous peoples in public media and the development of Indigenous affairs policies. Interviews with Indigenous policy advocates, journalists and public servants identified the strategies that have been used by individuals and Indigenous organisations to penetrate policy debates and influence public policy. The article concludes that in the face of a neo-liberal policy agenda amplified through mainstream media, particular Indigenous voices nevertheless have had a significant impact, keeping alive debate about issues such as the importance of bilingual education programs and community involvement in the delivery of primary health care.

Spectroscopic study of the effects of pressure media on high-pressure phase transitions in natrolite

Structural phase transitions in natrolite have been investigated as a function of pressure and different hydrostatic media using micro-Raman scattering and synchrotron infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Natrolite undergoes two reversible phase transitions at 0.86 and 1.53 GPa under pure water pressure medium. These phase transitions are characterized by the changes in the vibrational frequencies of four- and eight-membered rings related to the variations in the bridging T−O−T angles and the geometry of the elliptical eight-ring channels under pressure. Concomitant to the changes in the framework vibrational modes, the number of the O−H stretching vibrational modes of natrolite changes as a result of the rearrangements of the hydrogen bonds in the channels caused by a successive increase in the hydration level under hydrostatic pressure. Similar phase transitions were also observed at relatively higher pressures (1.13 and 1.59 GPa) under alcohol−water pressure medium. Furthermore, no phase transition was found up to 2.52 GPa if a lower volume ratio of the alcohol−water to natrolite was employed. This indicates that the water content in the pressure media plays a crucial role in triggering the pressure-induced phase transitions in natrolite. In addition, the average of the mode Grüneisen parameters is calculated to be about 0.6, while the thermodynamic Grüneisen parameter is found to be 1.33. This might be attributed to the contrast in the rigidity between the TO4 tetrahedral primary building units and other flexible secondary building units in the natrolite framework upon compression and subsequent water insertion.

From blogging Central Asia to citizen media : a practitioners’ perspective on the evolution of the neweurasia blog project

This essay examines the development of one regional blogosphere, the Central Asian ‘Stanosphere’, through a focus on the neweurasia blog project. The neweurasia project began in 2005 as an Englishlanguage volunteer-run blog project about the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus, rapidly becoming one of the most visited blogs about the region. Following this auspicious start, over the next five years neweurasia developed into a multi-language locally driven project with more than 80,000 unique page views on average per month. Despite its indisputable successes, the project was often a steep learning curve for all involved. In this essay, we examine neweurasia’s evolution from ‘blogging Central Asia’ towards a citizen media project, and reflect on some of the issues and challenges encountered. On the basis of our discussion, we reflect upon how neweurasia, and citizen media in general, can maximise its impact on the nascent Stanosphere, in the process helping to give Central Asia a voice in the global blogosphere.

Problematic identities in women's fiction of the Sri Lankan diaspora

In her thesis, Watkins investigates the representation of ‘problematic identities in women’s fiction of the Sri Lankan diaspora’. As well as scrutinizing the literature for gender specific issues, both cultural and psychological, the thesis illustrates its collective significance as culture specific literature.

Bilingual education and the language of news

This paper presents evidence that shows for the first time that news media influence was a significant factor in the decision to dismantle the Northern Territory’s bilingual education policy in 2008. It identifies and discusses five media-related overlays that have affected public discussion and policymaking during the life of the policy. They include the media’s role in informing public understanding of the policy; media representation of Indigenous peoples and issues; the relationship between policymaking and journalism in general; neo-liberal discourses about education, especially literacy; and the reporting practices of journalists who have covered the issue. It draws on relevant literature, the history of the policy and interviews conducted for the Australian News Media and Indigenous Policymaking 1988-2008 ARC Discovery Project to interpret some of the connections and disconnections between these overlays and bilingual education policy. This analysis suggests that the news media exerted a complex and uneven range of influences on the 2008 decision to dismantle Australia’s first and most enduring policy of Indigenous self-determination.