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Studies examining whether stimulus valence affects cognitive processing and motor responses yield mixed results, possibly due to treating negative words as a homogeneous category. Words related to pain may hold distinct status because of their relevance to survival. Thus, they offer a unique opportunity to investigate semantic influences on cognitive processing. This study aims to determine if words related to physical and social pain elicit stronger aversion than general negative words by assessing the Affective Compatibility Effect in implicit and explicit tasks. In Experiment 1, 35 participants performed a lexical decision task on 60 positive words and 60 negative words, of which 20 not related to pain, 20 related to physical pain, and 20 related to social pain. Participants held down the central key of a keyboard and released it to press a key far from the screen (avoidance condition) or close to the screen (approach condition) for words. In Experiment 2, 43 participants performed a valence evaluation task on the same words. They held down the central key and released it to press a key close to the screen for positive words and a key far from the screen for negative words (congruent condition), or the opposite (incongruent condition). In Experiment 1, we found faster RTs for social pain-related words compared to other categories. We also found faster RTs in the approach condition than in the avoidance condition, regardless of whether valence or semantics were considered as independent variables. In Experiment 2, we found faster RTs in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition when semantics was considered as independent variable. We also found an interaction valence*condition, with faster RTs for negative words in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition when valence was considered as independent variable. Our findings suggest that, notwithstanding pain-related words do not affect aversive behaviors compared to negative, pain-unrelated words, they are processed faster when conveying social pain. This supports the hypothesis that the cognitive system differentiates and responds congruently not only based on general semantic categories, like pain, but also possibly based on nuances within it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent political parties engage in debates about the same issues and how they respond to each other is highly relevant to democratic processes. Existing research on issue engagement has uncovered several interesting patterns and factors, but has neglected one important feature of contemporary democracies: nowadays, political actors have a wide range of communication channels at their disposal with the use of ‘newer’ forms of political communication (e.g., social media) potentially transforming discursive power relations between political actors. However, it remains largely unclear whether the extent and nature of issue engagement varies between more ‘traditional’ and ‘newer’ forms of political communication. To fill this gap, I apply unsupervised topic modelling to press releases and tweets from political parties in Austria, Germany and Switzerland (January 2019–September 2021). The statistical analysis shows substantial differences in issue engagement between political parties in press releases and on Twitter, now X. First, I find a higher likelihood of issue engagement between parties in tweets. Second, Twitter appears to moderate the influence of party‐level factors on issue engagement compared to press releases. The results show that for issue engagement in tweets, the importance of party size is smaller and the role of government parties is larger than in press releases, while the role of ideological distance does not seem to change. These findings add important insights to our understanding of the potential transformative effect of new communication technologies on party competition and political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the impact of news factors in press releases sent from scientific organizations on the representation of ocean plastic research in newspapers. We tracked 84 press releases discussing peer-reviewed ocean plastic studies, published between 2017 and 2021 on EurekAlert! and identified their presence in 495 English-language newspapers worldwide. Text comparison showed that press releases contribute highly to the construction of newspaper articles, with copied text segments in over half of the articles. News factors highlighting the prestige of the scientific study, like research published in high-impact journals or conducted by elite researchers were indicators of high newspaper coverage, as were the news factors bad news, magnitude, and social/economic relevance. Scientific press releases usually provide essential details about research, such as sample characteristics, research sites, and methods. However, funding information and research limitations were only marginally present. This study showed that providing research details does not reduce newsworthiness, instead sometimes even increasing it. Providing research details in press releases can influence journalists’ understanding and evaluation of the scientific study and thereby their decision to report. Hence, to assess the newsworthiness of scientific research, we propose that news factor analysis should include research details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's news has the characteristics of short text, frequent release, timeliness, etc. A media account releases dozens of news in a day. Developing suitable and attractive headlines for large volumes of news has become a major part of the work of media workers. Media workers need a system that automatically generates short text headlines to relieve their stress. To solve this problem, this study proposes a short text news title generation model. The model adopts sequence-to-sequence structure, using pre-trained language model and layered self-attention decoder in encoder and decoder respectively. In order to make the generated headlines contain the key information of the original news, a staged training method based on LCSTS data set and Weibo4 data set is proposed, and the model learns to extract the key news information and construct a stylized expression from the two data sets respectively, so that the generated headlines can accurately express the core content of the news and attract readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North Korean missile program has gained undeniable momentum in the twenty first century, highly sensitive to dialogues within the region. One could argue South Korea is accustomed to these repetitive launches splashing into the Pacific Ocean, at times nearing two dozen in a year, but the republic has its sets of policy alternatives when responding to the neighbor's aggression. To understand South Korea's decision-making mechanism, I utilize the 'Poliheuristic Theory' developed by Mintz. A decision matrix consisting of three policy alternatives (passive by-standing, reaching out, joint drills) is applied to three crisis moments from 2013, 2017, 2022. Primary and secondary sources like defense ministry press releases and news reports are used for data collection. The North's tests are closely observed by the South but usually not responded to provocations. When South Korea decides to respond, the tendency is to carry the issue to the international audience by citing U.N. Convention, Armistice Agreement, etc. The presence of the U.S. military in the peninsula plays a crucial role, as seen from the remarkably increased tests after the U.S. declared it would lessen military involvement. Several domestic and regional criteria (the Sunshine Policy, eventual unification possibility, U.S. military presence, asymmetrical capabilities, regional status quo) has possible influence over leaders' responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article re-examines debates about transparency in journalism by using a sociological framework that analyses how transparency is held in a dynamic tension with secrecy. I use a specific empirical case study as the grounding for my analysis and then proceed to expand its scope to consider significant developments in transparency in the media. I take as my case study the relationship between UK journalists and public relations (PR) practitioners. Specifically, I analyse the ways in which press releases are shaped by PR practitioners, targeted at journalists, and are taken up by journalists in a UK news media context in which such "information subsidies" may be becoming ever more prevalent. Reframing transparency as one element in a compound phenomenon (the secrecy–transparency dynamic), I argue that practices of both transparency and secrecy are not merely situated within social contexts but are active in creating society and social relations. This approach pays close attention to how power operates in this shifting dynamic and offers new challenges for thinking about journalism's role in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislative activity—whether votes or communications—is often represented in a single partisan or ideological dimension. But as lawmakers communicate in various venues (e.g., traditional, direct, or social media), the extent to which these estimates are interchangeable—reflecting a common underlying dimension—is unclear. We estimate a partisan dimension in members' tweets, Facebook posts, e-newsletters, press releases, and one-minute House floor speeches for the 116th U.S. Congress and test the extent to which representations remain consistent across different venues. We find that while Democrats are consistently separable from Republicans, members' relative intra-party positions frequently shift between venues. This is likely driven by differences in the affordances and audiences present in each venue, as venues with more nationalized audiences (such as social media) show higher levels of rhetorical polarization than venues with more local audiences (e-newsletters). These results suggest that the level of polarization we observe depends on where we look, and that the scholars of congressional communication should explicitly consider the input they use to measure partisanship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines the influence of press releases about scientific studies in terms of their impact on news coverage. Using an innovative approach that allowed for analysis of a large corpus of text and calculation of similarity scores, we were able to trace the uptake of press release materials into news media articles. In some cases, up to 65% of sentences in science news articles reflected high similarity to press release material—a potent indication of how powerful information subsidies can be. While our results contain some good news for public relations practitioners, they also carry a warning for consumers of journalism and for the public science agenda, which may be left vulnerable to bad actors undermining the trust that the public, and journalists, have in science. News organizations that had a history of producing award-winning science journalism were much less likely to draw on press release materials, indicating the importance of topic area expertise in producing independent science journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We draw on (Merton, The Journal of Finance 42:483-510, 1987) to develop predictions for the benefits of voluntary disclosures by firms pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) prior to when they begin providing regulated financial information via their IPO prospectus. We find that voluntarily issuing press releases and attending investor and industry conferences are common disclosure activities prior to filing the IPO prospectus. Consistent with these disclosures enhancing investor awareness, we find positive associations with subsequent information acquisition by prospective investors and the financial press during the IPO filing period. These relations remain significant in tests exploiting the passage of the 2005 Securities Offering Reform as a source of variation in issuers' ability to provide disclosures designed to attract attention from prospective investors. Consistent with pre-prospectus disclosures enhancing the visibility of the firm, we find that, while direct associations between pre-prospectus voluntary disclosures and IPO pricing are limited, there are significant indirect effects operating through filing-period information acquisition by prospective investors and media coverage. We find no evidence that issuers' disclosure activities serve as hype, as the IPO price impact does not reverse post-offering. Overall our evidence is consistent with pre-prospectus voluntary disclosures benefiting issuers by enhancing awareness, which leads to improvements in firm valuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show how prospect theory uncovers critical decision-making insights in the design of sequential experiences by formulating a general framework and applying it to three experience design settings. First, we study the problem of releasing a piece of good news versus bad news, where a firm may incrementally reveal the news over a preemptive period. We characterize the optimal release strategy for both types of news and show that when the ultimate news is good (resp., bad) and the audience is sufficiently gain-seeking, it is optimal first to release information of a negative (resp., positive) sentiment. Second, we consider the problem of organizing an event such as a concert with performances of known valuations, where an event organizer needs to arrange the sequence of all performances. We show that for both loss-averse and gain-seeking audiences, interior peaks can be optimal, where pleasant and aversive performances are arranged to alternate throughout the event. Lastly, we investigate the problem of simultaneous versus sequential release of a series, such as songs or TV episodes, where a content provider does not know a priori the audience's exact valuation of each item. We show that if the audience's sensitivity to losses is sufficiently small (resp., large), the optimal strategy is to release all items in the series sequentially (resp., simultaneously). Across all of the settings, we show that the audience's sensitivity to losses relative to a reference point is a critical factor that governs how to design and manage the audience's evolving experience dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any tool, apparatus, machine, appliance, implant, reagent for in vitro usage, software, material, or other like or related item that the producer intends to be used, either alone or in combination, for medical purposes is considered a medical device. A thorough review was conducted for the purpose of revealing the medical device data and medical device industry in the current paper. Some of the data incorporated in this paper has been taken from Government Websites, Press Releases, Media Reports, Deloitte Report, Union Budget 2022-23 and dully citation was mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents research regarding impression management following a white-collar investigation and prosecution scandal by the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway. The authority issued 39 press releases in one year, which communicate focus on less serious crime cases combined with deterrence by taking on cases without ever bringing them to court. Deterrence strategy by investigations implies that the authority passes penalties on suspects who never have a chance to defend themselves in court. The penalty is suffering from negative public attention, lack of job opportunities, and time spent in detention and interrogation as an accused where they have to explain themselves. The authority then behaves like a court where they punish people. However, that is a role assigned to judges and not to investigators or prosecutors. The authority argues that it is difficult to obtain the necessary information without a thorough investigation. While this is certainly true, a policing principle seems forgotten that an investigation should only be launched when it is somehow obvious that crime has indeed occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-spike monoclonal antibodies represent one of the most tolerable prophylaxis and therapies for COVID-19 in frail and immunocompromised patients. Unfortunately, viral evolution in Omicron has led all of them to failure. We review here the current pipeline of anti-spike mAb's, discussing in detail the most promising candidates. We scanned PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov and manufacturers' press releases for clinical studies on anti-spike monoclonal antibodies. We present state-of-art data clinical progress for AstraZeneca's AZD3152, Invivyd's VYD222, Regeneron's REGN-17092 and Aerium Therapeutics' AER-800. The anti-spike monoclonal antibody clinical pipeline is currently limited to few agents (most being single antibodies) with unknown efficacy against the dominant JN.1 sublineage. The field of antibody-based therapies requires boosting by both manufacturers and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After his re-election as the mayor of London, Khan underlined “the scars of Brexit” that are not healed yet. His political stance against leaving the EU has formed a critical interference of Khan in a foreign policy decision of national government. In the light of the literature on internationalisation of noncentral government, this study aims to explain Khan’s “actorness” in the aftermath of Brexit referendum by utilizing Hocking’s (1999) theoretical framework. Dimensions of the mayor’s involvement in the Brexit process are explained under the categories of initiators, channels and targets; yet a new grouping titled voices proposed by this study would complete the whole picture of analysis. The press releases derived from the official website of London government constitute the basis of research material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether geographic diversity – a salient characteristic of the firm's organizational structure – affects the timing and quality of voluntary disclosure. We find that firms with higher geographic diversity issue earnings forecasts that are more pessimistic, less precise, and less accurate. We also find that firms with higher geographic diversity are more likely to bundle managerial earnings forecasts with the prior quarter's earnings announcement and less likely to issue forecasts during the quarter. These results are consistent with geographic diversity increasing information acquisition costs associated with providing managerial earnings forecasts. Consistent with these findings, we provide evidence consistent with managers substituting managerial earnings forecasts with firm-initiated non-earnings press releases, which require less information acquisition, and that managerial earnings forecasts are less useful to analysts and investors when geographic diversity is higher. Overall, our findings suggest that a firm's organizational complexity is a factor that shapes the information environment of the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Social Sciences / Roczniki Nauk Społecznych is the property of Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawla II and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Abant Social Sciences / Abant Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Journal of Abant Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examines the nonlinear multiscale relationships and spillovers among the main cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, DASH, Ripple, and Monero) using spillover index methodology and wavelet approaches to hourly and daily price data. The results provide evidences of dynamic spillovers among cryptocurrencies. News releases influence the instability of spillovers. Monero is the largest transmitter of risk, and Ethereum is the largest receiver of risk from other markets. Monero and Ripple are net contributors of spillovers, whereas Bitcoin, DASH, Ethereum, and Litecoin are net receivers of spillovers. The correlation ranks for different scales show that the correlations increase with scale, indicating higher diversification benefits at low scales. A mixed portfolio composed of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies offers advantages over individual Bitcoin portfolios, particularly on a lower scale. Finally, the optimal portfolio weight shows that cryptocurrencies should hold more BTC than other cryptocurrencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consecration of Áron Márton as bishop was an unusual event in the life of the parish of Cluj-Napoca. His attachment to the parish and the organization of the ecclesiastical infrastructure of Cluj-Napoca led Áron Márton to be consecrated Bishop of Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár) on 12 February 1939 in the Church of St Michael in Cluj-Napoca. Áron Márton’s appointment as bishop was preceded by his appointment as apostolic administrator. He had to take over the governance of the Diocese of Alba Iulia under difficult circumstances, as the Dutch loan was a heavy burden on the parish of St Michael in Cluj-Napoca. The press releases preceding and accompanying the consecration of a bishop carefully cover the events leading up to, during, and following the consecration. In the first part of my short study, I will focus on some of the interesting press releases that preceded the consecration of Áron Márton as bishop, as well as on the major events of the days immediately preceding the consecration, and then briefly describe the consecration and the receptions and greetings that followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the representation of refugees in a non-governmental organisations' official media discourse. This study draws on Van Dijk's sociocognitive approach and Conceptual Blending Theory through the focus on the two notions of representation and conceptual blending networks. The corpus analysed consists of 331 press releases about the Syrian refugees posted between 2011 and 2021 on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' home website. The metaphor identification procedure and a reading of the concordances relating to the Syrian refugees led to the identification of the conceptual blending networks. The analysis of the conceptual networks relating to the Syrian refugees unveils how they are represented in the press releases. The study also specifies the representations backgrounded to foster a categorisation of Us and Them instead of Us vs. Them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how government press releases and online news articles presented the dioxin egg incident in Taiwan during each stage of the crisis and the emergency risk communication (CERC) model. This study analyzed the number, tone, and content of the reports during each stage by performing a content analysis. A discourse analysis was also conducted to analyze the social and cultural implications of the reports. Coverage of the incident decreased in the later stages, and the news did not sufficiently review the incident during the evaluation stage. Both the government press releases and online news articles focused on the government's response to the incident. The online news articles mostly had a negative tone, whereas the government press releases had neutral or positive tones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence that higher stock liquidity makes firms increase tone of press releases. I find that firms with higher stock liquidity have higher tone in press releases, relative to the tone of news initiated by media, than firms with lower stock liquidity. This relation is stronger for firms with greater short‐term pressure, that is, with greater transient institutional ownership, greater sensitivity of manager's wealth to stock price, and more analyst coverage. This finding suggests that stock liquidity, by producing short‐term pressure on firms, leads firms to boost press release tone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The list provides records of the exhibitions concerning Slavic and East European collections held by the New York Public Library. This includes the gallery spaces in which Slavic and East European materials were exhibited: The Library's main galleries, the Slavonic (Slavic & Baltic) Division's reading room, and the Second Floor Corridor Gallery. The list also describes the exhibits chronologically from 1928 to 2019 with reference sources of reviews, press releases, and illustrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the importance of accurate scientific communication through press releases and the potential consequences of disseminating inaccurate information. The authors address a specific press release about the water clarity of Lake Tahoe, which incorrectly attributed the improvement in clarity to zooplankton. They argue that the data and peer-reviewed scientific literature contradict this claim and suggest that other factors, such as sediment inputs and climate dynamics, are responsible for the changes in clarity. The authors also provide recommendations for improving the communication of scientific information through press releases, emphasizing the need for peer review and open data sharing. [Extracted from the article]

We examine the effect of negative news disclosures on acquisition decisions of firms. Using textual analysis of company press releases, we find that the percentage of negative news disclosed by a firm reduces its probability of acquisitions. However, for firms that do undertake acquisitions, the percentage of negative news disclosed is positively related to announcement‐period abnormal returns. Consistent with theoretical predictions, this positive relationship is more pronounced for acquirers with low pay‐performance sensitivity and those operating in concentrated industries. Overall, our results suggest that when managerial reputation concerns are high following negative news development, they make more prudent acquisition decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of words to label concepts is a weak point in CMT but one which is little discussed. This article considers the relative merits of image and writing as semiotic modes for identifying conceptual metaphor domains and whether image can offer an alternative to target is source formulae. It reports on an experiment in which MA translation students draw composite drawings to represent orientational metaphoric aspects of a UK government press release. Conventional metaphoric language deriving from the orientational metaphors, especially good is up/bad is down, plays a significant role across this text, forming a "metaphor chain" pattern. The drawings and post-task interviews with the participants reveal details of the internal structure of the source domain up and how it is conceptualized. Particularly of note is the strong horizontal forward aspect of orientation which emerges when the written text is represented pictorially. The article demonstrates how drawing can be used as a tool in metaphor-led discourse analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes a corpus of six texts written and published under the "publishing house" of two criminal organizations in Michoacan, Mexico, including a press release, an autobiography, a code of conduct, a journalist narrative, an advertising text and a motivational text, focused on the search of political legitimacy by criminal organizations. This article argues that, in spite of the heterogeneity in narrative styles, this corpus has a single political message: a discourse of legitimacy linked to a project to build criminal authority. Firstly, the idea of legitimacy and criminal authority is analyzed, then the context of legitimacy crisis and authority experienced in Michoacan and Mexico is addressed; next, each text, its characteristics and purposes are analyzed. Finally, the results are discussed and some ideas are considered as a conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Delft Self-Grasping Hand (SGH) is an adjustable passive hand prosthesis that relies on wrist flexion to adjust the aperture of its grasp. The mechanism requires engagement of the contralateral hand meaning that hand is not available for other tasks. A commercialised version of this prosthesis, known as the mHand Adapt, includes a new release mechanism, which avoids the need to press a release button, and changes to the hand shape. This study is the first of its kind to compare two passive adjustable hand prostheses on the basis of quantitative scoring and contralateral hand involvement. Methods: 10 anatomically intact participants were asked to perform the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP) with the mHand. Functionality and contralateral hand involvement were recorded and compared against SGH data originating from a previous trial involving a nearly identical testing regime. Results: mHand exhibited higher functionality scores and less contralateral hand interaction time, especially during release-aiding interactions. Additionally, a wider range of tasks could be completed using the mHand than the SGH. Discussion: Geometric changes make the mHand more capable of manipulating smaller objects. The altered locking mechanism means some tasks can be performed without any contralateral hand involvement and a higher number of tasks do not require contralateral involvement when releasing. Some participants struggled with achieving a good initial grip due to the inability to tighten the grasp once already formed. Conclusion: The mHand offers the user higher functionality scores with less contralateral hand interaction time and the ability to perform a wider range of tasks. However, there are some design trade-offs which may make it slightly harder to learn to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As shown by Bélanger and Nadeau (2009), Québec's traditional identity-based axis appears less and less predominant on the political scene. This situation created a need for a different strategy in the various sovereigntist parties. In this context, how has the Bloc Québécois tried to reposition itself? To explore this question, we collected over 7,500 press releases issued by the party between 2002 and 2021. Using automated content analysis methods and a Latent Semantic Scaling approach developed by Watanabe (2020), we illustrate and discuss the prevalence of the sovereigntist issue throughout this period, as well as the party's tone on this issue. The results indicate that elections and election results play a crucial role in the Bloc Québécois' communications on the topic of sovereignty. More generally, we observe significant fluctuations in the attention paid to this issue, and significant variations in the framing of this issue around elections. This research note sheds new methodological light on the theories surrounding the political realignment underway in Quebec and the salience of the sovereignty divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess COVID-related communication by Swiss public health institutions (PHI) as well as the challenges they faced in implementing their communication strategies. This study uses a two-part mixed methods design, combining automated content analysis of press releases by PHI and semi-structured interviews with PHI communication experts. The automated content analysis uses natural language processing techniques to measure semantic themes and linguistic properties of 1882 press releases from national and regional PHI during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The semi-structured interviews with 25 communication experts from key PHI explore the challenges faced in implementing their communication strategies. The content analysis reveals key themes in press releases, including non-pharmaceutical interventions, quarantine, testing, contact tracing, hospital situations, and the pandemic's impact on the economy. The linguistic measures indicated a decrease in complexity and readability over time, with no significant differences between national and regional PHI. Interviews revealed challenges arising from organizational structures, the multi-systemic nature of the pandemic, and from expectations of the public. The study highlights the importance of agility in public health communication and the need for efficient coordination within and between PHI. Organizational structures should be adapted to allow for more agile modes of operation during crises. Policymakers should clarify roles and responsibilities of different actors in public health frameworks to ensure streamlined communication. Understanding the communication efforts and challenges faced by PHI during the pandemic helps preparing for future health crises and improve public health communication practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When do the media cover far-right protests? News coverage matters for the entrenchment of the far right in contemporary democracies, but little comparative research has looked at what drives news attention to far-right mobilization. We apply a classic input–output process model of news selection bias to test the hypothesis that the visibility of far-right protests events depends on the characteristics of protest initiators, type of action, and reactions. We appraise this via logistic regressions on an original dataset of 5972 protest events retrieved from online press releases by far-right groups (input) and national quality newspapers (output) in 11 European countries (2008–2018). The analysis confirms that news media are particularly responsive to contentious action, protest around migration issues, and action–reaction chains between political opponents. Our findings shed light on the role of news organizations in the success of the far-right and on the pathways by which these movements shape public agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the evolution of corporate Twitter usage from 2006 to 2021 using a comprehensive dataset of over 19 million tweets covering publicly listed US firms. Overall, we find that Twitter usage has changed substantially over the past 15 years, with a broader set of firms using Twitter and with more firms using Twitter to communicate financial information. The stock market response to tweets, measured using abnormal returns and trading volume, is positive and significant in all periods but has declined over time. Retweeting and "liking" behavior has increased substantially in recent years, suggesting broader dissemination. In addition, although firms continue to use press releases for the most economically important information, our results suggest that firms are increasingly substituting tweets for press releases. Moreover, we find that firms continue to be strategic with both the content and timing of their Twitter usage. Collectively, our findings provide useful context for the interpretation of prior studies and valuable information for the design of future studies on the corporate use of social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether classification shifting is associated with stock price crash risk. Unlike prior studies, our study is focused on bad news hoarding through classification shifting. Prior studies document evidence of the greater weight market participants place on core earnings and stock price crash resulting from delayed bad news releases. Building upon these findings, we predict that crash risk is positively associated with shifters' reversal of core earnings. Consistent with our conjecture, we find that classification shifting is positively associated with future stock price crash risk even if the bottom‐line net income is unchanged. This finding is robust after controlling for endogeneity and other determinants of classification shifting. We also find that the observed positive association between classification shifting and future stock price crash risk is pronounced for likely opportunistic classification shifters. Our research contributes to forming an enhanced understanding of crash risk by documenting differential negative market reactions to the change in core earnings driven by classification shifting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Na última década, a altmetria contribuiu para abrir espaço para indicadores de atenção e impacto social da ciência, e a repaginar a cienciometria, embora ainda persista a centralidade das métricas de performance na produção científica. Nesse sentido, há uma demanda por outras fontes de dados que contribuam para conferir contexto e também fornecer substrato para a construção de outros indicadores, capazes de atuar na interface ciência-sociedade de forma mais qualificada. Este trabalho demonstrará o potencial de que um banco de dados estruturado de press releases (comunicados de imprensa) seja um dos caminhos pelos quais indicadores de atenção social da ciência podem ser melhor contextualizados e compreendidos. Para isso, foi realizada a coleta de comunicados de imprensa de três agências de notícias de ciência: Eurekalert! (EUA), AlphaGalileo (Reino Unido) e Agência BORI (Brasil). Essas agências disponibilizam nos seus sites os press releases sobre artigos científicos; no entanto, informações importantes como título do artigo, conteúdo, data da publicação, URL, DOI, não estão disponíveis de forma estruturada. Foram utilizadas técnicas de web scraping na coleta, organização e análise dessas informações. A utilização de web scraping com o armazenamento em banco de dados MySQL mostrou-se eficaz para coletar e gerenciar informações de páginas web dessas agências, possibilitando com que análises abrangentes e contextualizadas sejam realizadas. Enquanto o comunicado de imprensa não é a única forma de qualificar e entender a atenção social da ciência, a construção do banco de dados e testes realizados demonstram que se trata de um material relevante nessa compreensão.

This research proposes a new methodology to analyse the process of transferring scientific information from its generation in institutes and research groups to its dissemination in society. This case study focuses on the analysis of scientific information coming from the community of Aragon. As part of the fieldwork, press releases from the Science Communication Unit of the University of Zaragoza were analysed and compared with their coverage in the audiovisual media. The results show a limited presence of scientific news in the main news programmes, with greater interest from public regional channels. It is concluded that the lack of audiovisual resources and limited airtime hinder television dissemination, while visibility in regional media is influenced by criteria such as informational proximity and institutional announcements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of floods on environmental assets are often not assessed. In this communication, we reflect on this issue by analysing the reported environmental consequences of the 2023 Emilia-Romagna floods. The information on the environmental impacts is constructed by collecting data from reports, press releases, and interviews in the aftermath of the events. The most frequently reported damage involves water resources and water-related ecosystems, with cultural and supporting ecosystem services particularly affected. Indirect effects in time and space, intrinsic recovery capacity, cascade impacts on socio-economic systems, and the lack of established monitoring activities appear to be the most challenging aspects for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Group of Seven (G7) and the Group of Twenty (G20) share the idea that they both matter in world politics. As a case study on practices of comparison, this article analyses how both groups 'make themselves matter'. It traces how both groups operate as global communities of practice that not only 'reflect' power, but through practices of power comparison also define, and permanently re-define, what that power entails. To pursue this goal, we briefly introduce the historical-sociological concept of practices of comparison as underlying the construction of power and being anchored in relevant communities of practice. We then provide an empirical analysis of the discourses in the G7 and the G20 through a detailed analysis of both groups' documents (final declarations, reports, and press releases) from 1975–2022. We demonstrate how 'mattering' and the associated understanding of power undergo changes reflecting and co-constituting the coordinates and meanings of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several billionaires have recently emerged as leaders of climate governance. So far, little research has examined how they legitimize their involvement in climate networks. We argue that billionaire governance entrepreneurs have high levels of resources but low procedural legitimacy. They pursue output legitimacy to support their political action, highlighting their effectiveness in managing climate issues. Their main strategies, depoliticization, outgrouping, and technical solutionism, may give them short-term legitimacy but risk undermining their long-term goals of addressing climate change. We analyze the discursive legitimation strategies of a successful billionaire entrepreneur in transnational climate governance, Michael Bloomberg. Our empirical analysis is based on the study of more than 800 statements, speeches, and news releases related to Bloomberg's climate action from 2010 to 2021. It contributes to the study of entrepreneurship, leadership, philanthropy, and transnational actors in climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the behaviour of credit rating agencies (CRAs) during the ebbing 'pink tide'. It claims that the actions of S&P Global, Moody's and Fitch contributed to dismantling left-wing regimes in Latin America, to the benefit of their right-wing competitors. The methodology draws on case studies of Brazil and Argentina, where the governments of Dilma Rousseff and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were replaced by those of Michel Temer and Mauricio Macri, respectively. The research is based on sovereign ratings, reports and press releases the agencies issued during those transitions, which are analysed in the light of critical theories of their modus operandi and confronted with the political processes unfolding in both countries. This allows us to draw conclusions that are consistent with the presented argument, thereby contributing to advance the research agenda around the CRAs and to shed light on Brazil and Argentina's recent critical presidential transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Research on crisis communication related to terrorism deals mostly with governmental institutions and states as actors, but little on non-state actors attempting to influence perceptions of Muslims in society. The present article scrutinizes crisis communication of Muslim organizations in Germany after terrorist attacks with Islamist background and Islamophobic attacks. We analyzed all publicly available statements as reported in press releases, social-media accounts, and newspaper quotations from Muslim organizations in response to attacks between 2015 and 2020. In total, 226 statements and eight different categories of responses were identified and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. When responding to Islamist attacks, Muslim organizations highlighted general responsibility of the society, and the ways in which Muslims are themselves victims of such attacks but avoided taking more direct responsibility. When responding to Islamophobic attacks, Muslim organizations gave more background information on the attacks. Press releases by more active organizations were taken up more frequently in newspapers than press releases by less active organizations. Overall, the strategies that Muslim organizations utilize to minimize harm to the reputation of their organization and Muslims as a group are in some respects like those employed by enterprises. More research into the effectiveness of these different strategies is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, Latin America has been a fertile ground for the emergence of populism. Scholars have identified several waves of populist governments flourishing in the region during the last century. The third wave began in the 2000s when leftist leaders came to power in some Latin American countries, a phenomenon called "the Pink Tide". Two of the most notable examples of populist governments in this wave were Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006-2019) and Rafael Correa in Ecuador (2007-2017). Both leaders promoted an anti-elitist rhetoric highlighting a confrontational divide between domestic elites (as perpetrators of injustices) and the people (as victims). This rhetoric also involved external actors. The relationship with the great powers was permeated by the populist discourse based on the logic of "them vs. us". In this context, the paper analyses the rhetoric of Evo Morales and Rafael Correa concerning the role of the European Union in their countries. Primary sources (speeches, press releases and official documents) are examined to understand the image built around the EU and to grasp how populist rhetoric portrayed the EU's role in areas such as trade and migration. The result is a complex assessment of the ideas about the EU disseminated by these leaders, examining how Morales's and Correa's rhetoric evolved over the years and identifying similarities and differences between their approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]