Pathways to Understanding
Does News Source Credibility and Commentary Influence News-sharing Behavior via Social Media in the Emirates? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Azza Ahmed
Sharing news over social media has become an everyday practice among Arab social media users. This research investigates the factors that might predict the news-sharing tendency among youth in the United Arab Emirates. In this study, two variables are examined about news-sharing behavior: news credibility, and commentary on social media (SM) news posts. Using a convenience sample of 324 Arabs (Emiratis and Expats), results show no significant differences between Emiratis and other Arab nationalities in news sharing, commentary news sharing, and news credibility-checking. There is a significant difference between Emiratis and Arab ex-pats in news-sharing patterns and news source credibility-checking abilities. There is a positive significant correlation between news source credibility-checking abilities and news-sharing patterns while the correlation is negative and non-significant with news credibility. Commentary news sharing correlates positively with the perception of competency in source credibility-checking and negatively with news credibility-checking. The landscape of news sharing is continually evolving, influenced by technological advancements, and societal changes, among other factors. There are still some potential areas of focus that could shape the future of news-sharing research in the Middle East and Arab region. Some of these topics may focus on fact-checking techniques to combat the spread of misinformation, integration of technologies to verify the authenticity of news sources and platforms offering news content in multiple languages to cater to the linguistic diversity of the Arab world.
Possibilities and Challenges of Self-regulation in Media Concentration in Mongolia: Network Theory and Media Development
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Bolormaa Battsogt, Gunjidmaa Gongor
Free, fair, and independent media are essential for a democracy to function effectively. Media interact with politicians and other powerful members of society, play a significant role as a public watchdog, and serve the public. However, in a free democracy, the media must be held accountable and must be transparent. Journalists must follow specific legal and ethical regulations. Regulations for the media industry are generally divided into three categories: state regulation, independent self-regulation, and co-regulation with participation from civil society. Media Councils make ethical decisions on news coverage and journalistic behaviors applying the Code of Ethics consisting of professional journalistic standards. It is important to point out that they are independent institutions set up by the media industry. An effective media self-regulation system is essential to promote pluralism of journalism, diversity, and independent media, as well as to ensure citizens’ rights to seek and receive reliable and credible information. Consequently, they are neither authorities nor courts. This study focuses on the above three kinds of media regulation and their advantages and disadvantages in media concentration. It also explains the relationship between network theory and media development. Furthermore, it discusses the advantages of and opportunities for a media self-regulation mechanism in the current media development in Mongolia, based on resolved journalistic cases by the Media Council’s Ethics Committees.
Migratory Thinking: Moving Concepts Across Disciplines View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Liam Greenacre
This paper compares the inter/transdisciplinary process to migration. Ideas, concepts and language from one discipline can move to another. Migration is therefore more than a metaphor in understanding interdisciplinary social science, but also the process through which we can move ideas from one discipline into another. However, migration also entails hybridity, thus we can develop ideas that are neither fully in one discipline or another, this destabilises the frameworks we used to understand the social sciences- with migratory thinking one does not easily fall into a single category or discipline. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and drawing on the history of Late Antiquity/ the ’Barbarian’ Migrations, Critical Muslim Studies and also Tourism Studies, this paper shows how ideas can move contexts and hopes to show how we can use the study of migration to inform interdisciplinary social science. Migration of people and ideas are not dissimilar from the movement of ideas across the disciplines themselves and this comparison can help us escape the confines of mono-disciplinary thinking.
Low(er) Carbon Technologies In and For the Social View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Luisa Fernanda Ruiz, Karla F. Ricalde, Karla G. Cedano
The evolution of humanity has led to a close coexistence with science and technology, making energy use vital for daily activities. However, this progress has also resulted in the overexploitation of resources, highlighting the need to transition to low-carbon technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The energy sector plays a critical role in climate action, contributing about 70% of greenhouse gases. Thus, it’s imperative to decarbonize this sector through better energy management to reduce its negative impact. Despite the availability of necessary energy technologies, a shift towards more sustainable energy use and management will not occur until society embraces and adopts low-carbon technologies. Enhancing energy literacy is essential to achieve energy democratization, allowing people to manage energy services more sustainably. The research done in the project ‘UKRI-GCRF Energy Solidarity in Latin America [ESLtinA]’ (ES/T006382/1) presents strategies to improve energy literacy in vulnerable communities, recognizing technology as a social process. The focus is on how energy contributes to well-being and demonstrates sustainable solutions based on solar energy. One aspect of this approach is integrating humanities with energy concepts, while another is the adoption of solar technologies that are acceptable both economically and socially. The interventions underline the importance of avoiding top-down, welfare-oriented approaches that do not fully address the complexities of the energy transition. Instead, integrative and participatory strategies are crucial. These approaches foster a deeper understanding of people’s realities and energy contexts, promoting meaningful advancements in transforming the energy sector socially and sustainably.
