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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]

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 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]

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]

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]

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]