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This article examines how teenage refugees in Europe develop digital skills in and through conditions of vulnerability. We argue that recognising vulnerability as a productive force, rather than merely as context, is crucial if we are to fully understand the emergence, limits and lack of skills among young people experiencing perpetual marginality. Drawing on 96 interviews and five creative workshops with teenage refugees in the cities of Athens, Brussels and London, we discuss three ways in which vulnerability and digital skills become entangled: (i) (dis-)connection, especially in conditions of scarce, interrupted and unsafe digital connectivity; (ii) learning, especially in contexts where digital and transnational literacies co-exist, compete or compensate for educational inequalities; and (iii) digital bordering, especially as this relates to restrictive regimes of mobility control that prolong risks for young refugees' wellbeing and even life itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on gender differences in young people’s digital development has shown that boys and girls differ in frequency and type of internet use, but vital gaps in the literature remain. In recent years, gender is increasingly considered to be a multidimensional concept with a growing number of young people identifying as non-binary (i.e. genderfluid, an umbrella term for gender identities that are not conforming to the male/female dichotomy). Non-binary youth more frequently engage with a variety of digital risks such as misinformation, cyberbullying, and co-rumination than binary youth. Despite this, no research so far has investigated how digital development differs between non-binary and binary youth. In this online survey study among adolescents in six European countries (N=6,221), we focus on differences in digital skills and digital activities. Non-binary youth tend to make greater use of the internet for content creation and mental and physical health information than boys and girls. They also report greater content creation skills than boys and girls. Disparities in terms of entertainment and social relationship use are also found. Furthermore, findings on digital skills indicate that non-binary youth closely mirror boys in this regard. We conclude with recommendations for future research that should help bolster our understanding of how digital contexts may predict the development and well-being of non-binary youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers political scientist Jay G. Blumler's assertion that public broadcasters should explicitly and elaborately define the forms of services they intend to offer. He calls for the development of a monitoring system with a view to correcting the potential erosion of the values upheld by political broadcasters. Other topics discussed include political influence, independence of public service media, and the rise of misinformation.

This study explores the country-specific, regional and cultural differences and similarities between China and two European countries in their coverage of the European refugee issue and seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the various political interests, social values, and journalism cultures in the countries under study. It analyzed and compared 2,368 news articles in Belgian, Swedish, and Chinese newspapers from 2015 to 2017. The analysis demonstrated that Chinese newspapers put less emphasis on welcoming the refugees by politicians and citizens, but are more prone to report on Islamic religion in their coverage of the refugees than the Belgian and Swedish newspapers. The empirical evidence suggests that the differences in reporting are not only a representation of different political interests and social engagement of the three countries, but, to a large extent, a result of different journalism cultures across nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Flanders, citizens hold rather negative attitudes towards immigrants and refugees. This could be due to the news media, which depict newcomers in a rather negative way. The purpose of this study is to analyze whether there are separate media worlds at work in Flemish young people and adults and whether this results in different attitudes towards immigrants and refugees. To do so, we questioned 1,759 people aged 13 to 65 by means of an online questionnaire. Results indicate that overall news consumption increases with age, and that young people mainly use social media for their news consumption while adults still rely on traditional media. Interestingly, young adults are the most welcoming group towards immigrants and refugees. Although news media consumption seems to be related to fear of terrorism and attitudes towards newcomers to some extent, socio-demographic factors play an important role in the development of fear and negative attitudes towards newcomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Europe has seen a rise of authoritarian sentiments in both politics and among the public, which is frequently manifested through perceived threats from immigrants. This study investigates the link of news media consumption with right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation through an online survey sample in seven European countries (N = 10,599; Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden). Our findings indicate that viewing commercial television and reading popular newspapers is linked with greater levels of authoritarianism, and, in turn, greater perceived threat. Viewing public service television and reading quality newspapers is linked with lower levels of authoritarianism. We find this both through direct and indirect relationships. This pattern is replicated in most countries, although Hungary is an exception. Here, the pattern of public service and commercial television viewing is reversed. These results offer grounds for refinements and nuances in media effects theories and political debates in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study constructs and tests the building of social capital and integration among Turkish minorities (n = 967) residing in three countries with different integration policy realities according to the Migrant Integration Policy Index for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Through online and offline surveys, the study examines the extent to which bridging and bonding social capital, the dominant language of media use, and the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents affect their degree of integration. The results show that the degree of integration increases with a sense of belonging to a faith, length of stay in Europe, exposure to European mainstream media, and through bridging with natives in the host society. Integration levels decrease, however, with the retention of Turkish citizenship. The degree of integration among the Turkish diaspora varies widely across the three countries under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although young people spend increasing amounts of time online, many gaps remain in the literature regarding the effect of time spent online on young people's development of well-being. We focus on the influence of time spent online on feelings of self-reported (a) depression and (b) health of adolescents. We also consider the mediating role of digital skills and digital activities, each of which is broken down into five dimensions. We collected data through a two-wave longitudinal online survey among 3,942 adolescents aged 12–17 years in six European countries (first wave [W1] = 2021; second wave [W2] = 2022). We specifically want to understand how feelings of self-reported depression and health at W2 are affected by the time spent online at W1, and how digital skills and digital activities at W2 mediate these relationships. Findings indicate a significant increase in feelings of depression and a decrease in self-reported health between W1 and W2. Regarding digital skills, information navigation and communication and interaction were linked to greater well-being (lower depression and greater self-reported health). Regarding digital activities, the development of social relationships online was linked to lower self-reported depression and greater health, while frequently using the Internet to look up information on physical or mental health issues was strongly linked to greater depression and lower health. We discuss the implications of these findings for practice and policy on young people's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how children deal with problematic situations online is helpful in developing efficient awareness raising and online resilience building initiatives. In this article, we will discuss and develop typologies for online coping strategies. In a school survey, 2046 Flemish children aged 10-16 were asked about how they (would) respond when confronted with different types of online risks. Using principal component analyses and multi-dimensional scaling, we identified different types of cross-risk and risk-specific coping strategies, and explored which types of coping have similar underlying meanings. The results suggest to distinguish behavioral avoidance tactics from mere passive responses or indifference. Young people tend to perceive online coping strategies along two dimensions: engagement versus disengagement and technical versus non-technical measures. Behavioral avoidance is popular among younger children and is associated with a medium level of active engagement and often combined with communicative approaches. Girls are more communicative and respond more proactively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the mainstream media coverage on Germany’s integration debate between 2009 and 2014, while detecting main debate actors, topics, discourses, key events and their relations to one another. Media representations of Muslims, integration, immigration, multiculturalism and creation of otherness are scrutinized, considering different political alignments of mainstream newspapers. Furthermore, the Sarrazin debate is contextualized within recent events such as right-wing populism and anti-Islamization movements. A quantitative content analysis revealed pragmatism and culturalism as the leading discourses in one-third of all left and right leaning newspapers, while integration, immigration and populist language in politics were the most discussed topics. Mainly, events and actors related to the Sarrazin debate were mentioned. We argue that the Sarrazin debate has encouraged a variety of actors to speak out in favor or against Muslims. Our findings suggest a personal network analysis combined with qualitative research, in order to identify more actors, ties and network alliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of news production processes has not been extensively researched. This study identifies the factors that influence journalists' preferences for certain newsgathering channels to others at the genesis of news production: (1) the type of newspaper; (2) the centralization of the newsroom; (3) the story selection autonomy of the reporter; and (4) the specialization of the reporter in the topic of the story. During a six-week period, this study investigates the daily output of 20 domestic news reporters from the four main Flemish newspapers (N = 578). A multi-method approach was adopted, combining content analysis, reconstruction interviews with the reporters, in-depth interviews with their superiors, and newsroom observations. The findings show that stories from centralized newsrooms and non-specialist reporters, along with stories assigned by superiors, are more likely to be triggered by stories from other news media. For their part, stories from decentralized newsrooms and specialist reporters, as well as stories initiated by reporters themselves, are more likely to depart from classic routine channels such as press releases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fears exist that social media use by news media and journalists may affect basic journalistic tenets such as objectivity, gatekeeping, and transparency. As a result, more and more news media organizations are issuing guidelines to manage employee use of social media. In this article we discuss the complex relationship of a selection of market-leading news media organizations with prescribed use of social media. Applying content analysis to 12 existing social media guidelines, we elaborate on the various types of rules linked with the basic principles of journalism. A key intention of this research is to provide insights for media management and journalism scholars to better understand the use of social media by journalists and the implementation of guidelines by media organizations. More practically, this article can aid media organizations who are shaping their own set of rules regarding use of social media by their staff. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Identification with a superordinate entity, like Europe, reduces prejudice towards immigrants in general, but no research so far investigated if this differs between prejudice towards immigrants from inside and outside Europe. Using online survey data from four European countries, we determined whether national and European identification are (differently) related to attitudes towards immigrants from inside and outside Europe, and to which extent these relations can be explained by differences in refugee threat perceptions. We found that those who strongly identify with Europe hold more favorable views towards both European and non-European immigrants, while the reverse effect is found for strong national identifiers – an effect that can be explained by realistic and symbolic refugee threat perceptions. We did not find evidence for our expectation that the strength of the associations of national identification on attitudes and threat perceptions would depend on the level of European identification of participants. Overall, our findings provide mixed support for the Common In-group Identity Model because European identifiers, although more positive towards immigrants, did not make strong distinctions between European and non-European immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the frames used in reporting on the euro crisis. As far as the debt crisis is concerned, the media are the main source of information for European citizens. It is therefore interesting to carry out an in-depth content analysis of news coverage. The study looks into five dominant frames in Flemish (i.e. Dutch-speaking Belgium) and Dutch newspapers. War proved to be the most frequently used frame, followed by disease, natural disaster, construction and game. The prevalence of these frames was stable in both countries and from one type of newspaper to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predominant frames in news media representations of migration issues shape attitudes towards refugees. Being mostly confronted with negative news frames, people may be less inclined to believe stories that stress positive aspects of immigration. However, the frames' positive implementation hinges on their presumed credibility. The aim of this study is to better understand both how young and adult Flemings perceive dominant news frames concerning refugees and how they are affected by them. We distinguish between young people and adults since they differ in their news media use, news attitudes, and opinion towards refugees. Accordingly, a randomized, post-test, only between-subjects survey experiment was conducted (N = 2424). Our results show that young people are more receptive than adults to media messages, regardless of a positive or negative connotation. Furthermore, our study confirms that the perceived credibility of a news frame is associated with the audience's attitudes to migration, since an audience demonstrates a clear tendency to only accept the relevant frames as true, if they align with their own views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since Putnam (2000) made social capital a concept that should be mourned for its decline in the USA, researchers and policy makers in some western countries have adopted it as a solution to what they believe to be the failed practices of multiculturalism. Instead of preserving their individual cultures and traditions, critics would have them build social capital by bridging to people and institutions in their new countries and adopt the ‘shared values’ of the host countries and become ‘integrated’. This study, based on a study conducted in the Netherlands in 2006, and supplemented with survey findings from Flanders at the same time, examines whether this perspective is accurate, focusing on women migrants who live in the Low Countries (Netherlands and Flanders in Belgium), of the networks they have built or not and the reasons for that, and of the role of media and the internet in that process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study investigates how teenagers use social networking sites (SNS) and other online communication applications, to what extent they are exposed to online contact risks related to the use of these online tools and how they cope with these risks. A written survey was administered among 815 Flemish adolescents aged 14–19. The study controls for sociodemographics and psychosocial factors, and it concludes that boys, pupils in technical or vocational education, adolescents living in lower SES families, teens with either low or high self-confidence and those having a bad relationship with their parents are more at-risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Canada has played a leadership role in the development of multiculturalism and its use in ethnic and minority television broadcasting as an integrative tool for cultural and racial constituency groups. Canada has mainly opted to emphasize private ethnic broadcasting as the means by which to integrate minorities, along with the support of the public broadcasters’ progressive initiatives. After historically differentiating and framing ethnic/multicultural research and programming initiatives in Canada, this article identifies some lessons and best practices that have emerged from this experience. Using policy analysis from a historical perspective, the authors analyse the enabling mechanisms and strengths, as well as the obstacles and failures that have been experienced in an effort to build an integrated, cohesive and transformative television system in which all members of society are recognized as having a right to both fair portrayal practices and employment opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented to the articles in this issue including articles on multiculturalism in Canadian television broadcasting, an article on public broadcasting in the Netherlands and an article on language policy in Swiss television broadcasting.

This study examines the impact of the use of multimedia, interactivity, and hypertext in Internet news reporting on learning from news. A knowledge experiment (N = 53) reveals that the use of multimedia, interactivity, and hypertext applications in online news indeed have an effect on recognition and cued recall, taking into account the level of difficulty of news content as well as users' Web expertise. Experienced Web users benefit from online features only if the news content is difficult, whereas the presence of online features results in a drop in inexperienced users' knowledge. Inexperienced Internet users benefit most from online features when the news content is easy, whereas in the latter case the scores of expert users tend to fall. This article provides insight into the way online features impact on the cognitive load and attitudes concerning news content and how these variables might mediate learning from online news. Online journalists could put these findings to their advantage when producing online news stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In search of a better understanding of young people's news media consumption in a European high-media environment, this study analysed the role of uses and gratifications motivations in driving time spent with television news, newspapers, and online news sites, while controlling for the effects of possible influential socio-demographics. Our findings confirmed that the need to get information about the world or one's environment is the strongest uses and gratifications predictor for time spent on television news, newspapers, and online news sites. Nevertheless, young people's news consumption is also driven by 'diversion' needs. Especially television news, which young people also watch to escape from the daily routine or to be entertained. One of the conclusions we can draw from these results is that traditional and online news platforms, although serving some needs that are mutually exclusive, overall are being consulted in search of the same gratifications, respectively information/surveillance and diversion gratifications. Nevertheless, the use of online news was not found to diminish the use of traditional news platforms. On the contrary, we found that the use of television news enhanced the use of online news and vice versa. These findings confirm young people's complementary use of traditional and online news platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State size matters. However, small states do not only share structural peculiarities but also feature different political and historic traditions. This helps explain why the connection between smallness and media regulation is far from clear. Thus, it is suggested here to amend existing typologies of media systems with the notion of smallness, which would allow for more systematic comparative research. In addition, future research on small states needs to consider issues of Europeanization and globalization, examining the role of small states in decision-making on the supranational and international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Belgium's broadcasting history can be considered a perfect example of the overall situation in Western Europe, the country's specific cultural makeup and political shifts are also reflected in its media environment. The media system is characterized by a fairly high degree of cross-ownership, while major differences can be found in the degree of cultural protection. This article examines the stances being taken in the French- and Flemish-Speaking Communities: contextually, in terms of cross-ownership regulation; institutionally, as to the mission of the public broadcaster (pur sang or broader); and content-wise, with respect to home-grown, high identity value productions, as opposed to transnational productions from foreign players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how the two leading Dutch newspapers use its key resources to attack the political career of the 53-year-old homosexual Pim Fortuyn who is also a former professor of sociology in Netherlands. It says that the two newspaper industry, namely "de Volkskrant and "De Telegraaf," has been demonizing Fortuyn's appearance since January 2002, the time he started his political career in Netherlands where he run in the national elections. The authors argue that the two Dutch newspapers applied the concept of framing on the grounds of biased reporting against Fortuyn.

New information technologies, liberalizing policies and rapidly changing societies from monoto multicultural entail serious consequences for the prospects of European public service broadcasters (PSB) in a network society. The European concept of PSB as a comprehensive and universal service is challenged by both European Union and national authorities at three levels: (1) mission and programme task (comprehensive or complementary programming?); (2) organization (central organization or 'distributed public service'?); and (3) financing (licence fee, advertising or 'state aid'?). There are pressures towards a more 'pure' model of public service broadcasting and/or towards de-institutionalization of PSB and 'distributed public service'. Recent pleadings for (e.g. in the Netherlands) and practices of (e.g. in New Zealand) new PSB policy directions will be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with ICT availability among ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands and Flanders. The rapid spread of ICT applications has affected various aspects of digital citizenship. The study results suggest that the world of ethnic minority youths in the Netherlands and Flanders, as with other western countries, is being digitized gradually. This is an irreversible evolution with tangible effects in new trends in communication and consumption. Ethnic minority youths orient themselves to the country where they live (bridging between cultures) as well as to their parents' country of origin (bonding of social capital).This article examines whether differences in information and communication technology access and use can be explained by culture-specific characteristics such as ethnocultural position, religion and language proficiency, apart from the usual sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex and socio-economic status). Examining the online activities of ethnic minority youths, it distinguishes between e-surfing, e-communicating, e-democratic citizens and e-cultural citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study of reporting of Islam activities in the Dutch periodical "Algemeen Dagblad." The study sought to find out the frequency of publication of Islam-related articles, the countries in which the events reported took place, slant of Islam-related articles, and the people chosen by the periodical to present Islam views. The study examined the periodical's reporting from 1998 to 2004. The study found out that the periodical's reporting of Islam-related events is fairly balanced.

The article presents information about the representation of ethnicity in domestic news in the European Union countries and the Netherlands. Portrayal is undoubtedly influential in the shaping of people's opinions about ethnic minorities, if only because most people do not have direct contact and exchange with ethnic minorities and thus rely on hearsay and the media as main sources for their knowledge about ethnic minority groups and issues. Although many media monitoring reports have assessed the position of ethnic minorities in the news, there are few whose scope goes beyond the national borders. Moreover, the existing single-country studies cannot be compared as they use different selection criteria, and the few cross-national studies that exist usually focus on a selected group of approximately six countries. The advantage of focusing on domestic news is that it avoids the methodological problem of dealing with groups of different origin, and minority v. majority status in domestic v. international news.

This article monitors news coverage on the European Union and EU-related matters in terms of news frames and news discourses adopted in online versions of seven quality newspapers (six European and one American) over a period of four months (December 2001-March 2002). During this period the EU Council Summit was held in Laeken, Belgium, on 14 and 15 December 2001. The selection of the national quality press outlets is carried out on the basis of a general, significant readership and centrality to the current media debate on European issues in the country. The seven countries are interesting cases in terms of their varying role in the history of European integration as well as their current attitude towards the EU. The research literature identifies five recurrent news frames (conflict, human interest, economic consequences, morality and responsibility): this article assesses the relative visibility of each of these news frames in the coverage on the EU and its institutions in the news outlets under study. Furthermore, it asks which discourse is more dominant when it comes to the shaping of European identity as portrayed in the news reporting. Four types of discourse (culture, expansion, in- and exclusion and power) are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How readers consume and recall news presented in online and print versions of two newspapers in the Netherlands are investigated in this experimental study. Few differences are found between the online and print versions in terms of news supply Reader attention to the news stories varies, depending on the newspaper and news category. No consistent reading pattern is evident and the print version readers do not read more than the online version readers. News Consumption seems to be more dependent on the news category; reader gender and interest in a particular topic than on whether the news appears in print or online. Finally, on the basis of cued and free recall questions, no consistent pattern differentiates readers of the print newspapers from the online versions. In conclusion, evidence has not been found that online readers consume and retain news differently from readers of the print versions examined in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural changes in the media world, including an increase in competition and commercialization, mean that the topicality and urgency of the notion of social responsibility in the media are increasing. Analogously, the discussion of the social responsibility of companies and organizations becomes a central concern in the business world and within government, as the relatively new concept of `good governance' shows. In recent years we have seen that the absolute belief in the free market is once again under debate. Rather than a return to a controlling government as the main provider of a context in the complex `ecology' of communication policy, possible solutions are now sought in greater responsibility for the media actors themselves (media companies and organizations, citizens, supervisory boards and commissions) and in self-regulation in the media profession. This article assesses accountability mechanisms currently in existence in the Netherlands and provides a comparative overview of interesting practices in other geographical contexts. This contribution also examines the academic reflection upon and conceptualization of such notions as social `responsibility' and media `accountability' in the division of labour throughout the market, the government and civil society. We are thinking of mechanisms for accountability such as a contract between the government and the broadcasters, an ombudsperson, forms of self- regulation, supervisory bodies, forms of public consultation, and the profession seeking contact with the citizens (e.g. civic journalism). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses the information and communication technologies in multicultural society. Patterns of media consumption; Internet in minority identity construction and perception; Role of the media in the development and perception of identity.

Examines the nature of news coverage of Canada in the on-line versions of Dutch newspapers. Criticisms on the performance of foreign correspondents when covering international news; Format characteristics and news functions considered in the investigation; Frames frequently used by journalists when reporting.

Assesses the nature of news coverage on Indonesia in the online versions of a number of Dutch newspapers and the paper of a current affairs magazine. Historical ties between the Netherlands and Indonesia; Analysis and in-depth interviews with newsmakers and experts; Information on research questions used.

Comments on the recurrent frames of news reporting concerning refugees in the Netherlands. Issues on the portrayal of migrant groups by the media; Concepts of agenda-setting by in the mass media; Influence of media frames on the attitudes and perceptions of the public.

Editorial. Introduces articles on Canada's media and telecommunications industries published in the June 2000 issue of 'Gazette.'

This article looks at policy options taken by the Canadian government in an age of globalization and information. A first part explores federal government initiatives pertaining to Canada's preparedness for the information society. A second part assesses some provincial government policy options, with a separate section paying special attention to the Quebec government's intentions, which include support for the production and online dissemination of content and services in the French language (undoubtedly to be understood as an element of the Quebec government's sovereigntist project). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When on 1 May 1995 TMF (The Music Factory) started off as the first local popular music television station on Dutch cable, it tried right away to compete with MTV. This article, based upon a telephone survey among a national sample of 400 people, shows ample evidence that people not only watch TMF more frequently than MTV, but that on average they like TMF a lot more. Moreover, TMF seems to be better able to fulfil the music needs of Dutch teenage viewers. TMF programming fits the youth subcultures of the ‘gabbers’ and the hiphoppers. The subcultures that are best served by MTV are those whose members like rock music: punk, alto, metal and skater. Hence the subcultures which TMF serves are much larger in number than MTV's. Therefore it seems that TMF has been able to adjust better to local conditions and that its programming is better suited to the local target groups than MTV's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This explorative study seeks to provide insights into the ways young Muslim adults experience and cope with Islamophobia in Flanders. For this purpose, in-depth interviews with 14 Muslims aged 19 to 33 were conducted in the spring of 2020. Our interviewees defined themselves as Muslims and all had been confronted with racism or anti-Muslim sentiment in their daily life. Depending on reported intentions, we identified seven coping strategies in the face of such sentiment: relativization, avoidance, communication, oppression, conciliation, reaction and passive coping strategies. These forms of coping are not mutually exclusive. They are often used in combination, and they may be interchangeable in some situations. This study seeks to complement and deepen the existing literature on anti-Muslim sentiment in Flanders. Its findings should be considered as a starting point for further deductive testing of the identified typologies, meant to inspire follow-up research and serve as evidence for future policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looks at the changes in the television broadcasting of news in Indonesia before and after the administration of President Suharto. Increase in the number of commercial stations; Extent to which the national context allows for quality in television news; Problem areas for news making; Roles played by Indonesian television news departments in the country's political upheaval and reform.

Focuses on the identification of the general trends and how the young people deal with the media offers. Integration of computer-based media and services; Description of differences in a cross-cultural studies; Occupation on the dominant position for television in the lives of children and teenagers.

An introduction is presented to the issue of the journal that discusses topics such as Islamic themes on Indonesian television, the communication styles of moderate Muslim leaders, and the fashion of urban Indonesian Muslim women.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments installed measures to contain the disease. Information about these measures was disseminated through news media. Nonetheless, many individuals did not abide by these guidelines. We investigated how perceived vulnerability to disease and personality characteristics related to support for public health measures. We analyzed survey data of 1000 Flemish (Belgium) adults, collected between March 17, 2020 and March 22, 2020. Older age, low educational attainment, gender (female) and work situation (no telecommuting) were associated with greater perceived vulnerability. Greater expectations of loneliness and more solidarity with our fellow men were associated with gender (female), younger age and work situation (telecommuting). Greater perceived vulnerability to disease was related to a greater belief that public health measures protect the population, but also to a critical stance towards the Belgian government's handling of the crisis. High agreeableness and high emotional stability were associated with respectively greater belief that health measures protect the population, and greater support for the government's crisis management. Watching television news was related to a greater belief that public health measures are necessary, and specifically consuming public television news increased support for public health measures. We discuss the implications for handling the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the papers published in a special issue of the "Gazette: The International Journal for Communications Studies," presenting research on media frames. This special issue is an attempt to take stock of the well-documented procedures entailing news selection and production. This particular research strand, which finds its origins in the all too well known fact that the media merely represent a very limited selection of reality, which is nonetheless perceived by many citizens as the one and only reality. All five articles in this special issue deal with the media texts in their contexts primarily: journalists' frames that have become media frames are identified in concrete media output. A frame can be defined as a consistent bundle of schemata, which emerges in discourse, exchanges with other discourses and influences information processing. The different media systems, journalistic practices and time periods covered are perceived here as the equally varied contextual ways of mapping out journalists' cognition on issues.

Editorial. Discusses topics concerning the determinants of international news production. Comparison between developed and developing countries in terms of their handling of systemic determinants of international news flows; U.S. network news during international elections; Role of the community in deciding when and why some U.S. newspaper organizations invest in staff expertise in the field of international news.

A weeklong diary study (N = 460) into the exposure to news of Belgian (Flemish) adult media users (aged 25–45) shows that their information consumption is currently relatively diverse. An explanation for the observed diversity is that news consumers in Dutch-speaking Belgium have a wide array of internally balanced news titles and channels at their disposal, which they also actively consult. In addition, the study demonstrates that news consumption patterns span across all media platforms. This study thus illustrates that there is a weak influence of ideological attitudes and psychosocial dispositions on news consumption, measured in time of consumption per media title or channel. These findings call for a revision of theories of selective exposure that disregard the influence that the diversity of information supply can have on the selection procedures of recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, public discourse and political actors have increasingly used a deservingness rhetoric to refer to the arrival and permanent settlement of migrant groups. However, scholars have drawn on the concept of deservingness without developing a clear theoretical framework for it. Following our recent work on the migrant deservingness framework, in the present study we use the CARIN criteria (Control, Attitude, Reciprocity, Identity, Need) to establish the extent to which host nationals in eight nations impose conditions towards accepting permanent settlement among migrants. Specifically, we examine the links of these deservingness perceptions with news media consumption in seven European countries and Colombia using online survey panel data (N = 12,142). Our findings indicate that consuming news via commercial television and in popular newspapers, in particular, is linked to greater conditionality regarding migrant settlement. Consuming public television or quality news sources is only weakly linked to (reduced) conditionality. We discuss these findings using the migrant deservingness framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although young people spend increasing amounts of time on the internet, many caveats remain in the literature with regard to the development of digital skills. We focus on the influence of perceived discrimination given its strong link with youth development. We also consider the multidimensional nature of digital skills, focusing on five dimensions, and on digital knowledge. Using online survey data from 6221 children and young people aged 12–20 in six European countries, we seek to understand how discriminated youths may differ from their more advantaged peers with respect to digital skills. The findings show that young people who are discriminated against generally hold greater digital skills than their counterparts who are not being discriminated against. The relationship between perceived discrimination and digital skills is partially mediated by peer support and internet use. We discuss these findings in light of young people's increased social isolation due to discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that direct and indirect intergroup contact reduces levels of prejudice towards immigrants. However, no research so far has explored the association of these different forms of contact with attitudes towards refugees. The present study analyses the relationship between the frequency and valence of direct intergroup contact with people with a migration background, the frequency of indirect contact with news on refugees, and the perception of realistic and symbolic threat, and attitudes towards refugees among adults in four European countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden). Data were collected in 2017 via online questionnaires (N = 6,000). Using structural equation modelling, findings indicate that interethnic contact is positively related to attitudes towards refugees. Moreover, valence of direct contact is found to be more important to attitude formation than its frequency. Regarding indirect contact, exposure to news on refugees and public news consumption are positively related to attitudes, while commercial news consumption is negatively related to attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, refugee numbers in Europe have risen to an all-time high. Despite the desperate conditions of most refugees, many European countries have been reluctant to accept them. We investigate how refugees are received in five European countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Turkey) and the perceptions of the general population on these refugees. Our data were collected through face-to-face interviews (N = 2,649) in Turkey and an online survey (N = 6,000) in Western Europe. Our findings indicate that positive socio-economic conditions are related to more positive attitudes at the country level, whereas a high number of refugees are related to more negative attitudes. On the individual level, we find that attitudes are shaped by economic class, religiosity, religious piety, and settlement conditionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]