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This article examines media ownership transparency through the lens of European human rights policy and evaluates media ownership transparency in over 30 European countries based on data returned to the Media Pluralism Monitor. Using these data, we examine the existence and quality of two types of disclosure, ‘upwards’, to public bodies and ‘downwards’, directly to the public, enabling both the monitory and informational functions of ownership transparency to be fulfilled. We conclude that regulation is patchy and variable across Europe and that a coordinated, multi-actor approach is necessary to give effect to internationally recognized standards in the field.

This community effectiveness trial examined the feasibility and efficacy of a comprehensive psychosocial treatment for 28 children, aged 7 to 10 years with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs). Treatment included instruction and therapeutic activities targeting social skills, face-emotion recognition skills, interest expansion, and interpretation of non-literal language skills. A behavioral program was instituted to foster skills acquisition and reduce ASD symptoms and problem behaviors. Feasibility was supported in high levels of fidelity and satisfaction. Significant improvements were found for the children’s non-literal language skills and parent ratings of target social and communicative skills, broader social performance, and ASD symptoms. Secondary staff ratings corroborated parent ratings. Results suggest that the treatment, when administered by a community agency, was feasible and yielded positive outcomes similar to prior randomized clinical trials (RCTs).

There is a notable lack of manualized comprehensive school-based interventions (CSBIs) for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs). This pilot study examined the feasibility and initial efficacy of a CSBI for 12 children with HFASDs, aged 6 to 9 years. Treatment included a 3-week summer preparation program followed by a 10-month CSBI, composed of social skills groups, therapeutic activities, face and voice emotion recognition instruction, an individual daily note, and parent training. Feasibility was supported in high levels of treatment fidelity and teacher- and parent-reported acceptability and satisfaction. Pre–post comparisons suggested that children significantly improved their knowledge of target social skills and ability to identify emotions in facial and vocal expressions. According to parent and teacher ratings, children displayed gains in their use of target social skills and broader social performance, as well as reductions in ASD-related features.

In this pilot study, the authors evaluated a manualized administration of the Mind Reading (MR) program with in vivo rehearsal to determine the effects on emotion recognition and autism features of eleven 7- to 12-year-old children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (HFASD), and to determine the overall feasibility of the intervention. Following 12 sessions of MR over 6 weeks ( M = 15.87 hr per child), emotion recognition and ability to display emotion were rated to be significantly higher than pretest. Significant reductions were found on ratings of autism-associated symptoms on a standardized rating scale completed by parents. Assessment of feasibility indicated high levels of treatment fidelity and high levels of parent- and child-reported satisfaction. Effect size estimates were medium to large for scales on which significant changes were observed. Implications for more controlled studies are proposed.