Changes in state policy for promoting a healthy lifestyle. (A historical aspect).

Healthy lifestyle promotion from the perspective of state policy, journalism, healthcare, sociology, and psychology was analyzed. The objective of the study was to analyze changes in the financial and agitation state policy aimed at increasing the motivational activity of citizens of the Russian Federation towards a healthy lifestyle (HLS) in the Soviet era and at the post-Soviet stage and assess the effectiveness of these measures. The effectiveness of the Soviet propaganda of healthy lifestyles among the population was evaluated. Crisis phenomena in public health, low persuasiveness of the media presentation of the healthy lifestyle value, the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties in implementing corporate health promotion programs in the workplace at individual en-terprises, and ignoring gender stereotypes in attitudes to health are the reasons that contribute to the adherence of Russian workers to unhealthy behaviors, that cause an increase in the incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases. The historical aspect of changes in state policy for health promotion made it possible to determine the tasks in developing health-saving programs.Copyright © 2023, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Domestic sources of China's wolf-warrior diplomacy: individual incentive, institutional changes and diversionary strategies

Many China observers have commented that Beijing is harsh and assertive on diplomatic occasions. By publicizing the nationalistic rhetoric and moves in internal propaganda, the PRC aims to please domestic audiences. This article examines China's practices of 'wolf-warrior diplomacy', explicates the rationale behind it, and provides three plausible explanations. Firstly, the individualist explanation highlights the personal motives of 'wolf-warrior' diplomats. However, wolf-warrior diplomacy is not the common practice of Chinese diplomats, as most Chinese diplomats, unlike these wolf-warriors, remain conservative, taking an orthodox approach to their duties. Secondly, the institutional explanation presents a potential conflict between propaganda and diplomacy agencies in conducting waixuan (external propaganda, overseas-targeted propaganda: (sic)(sic)). I elaborate on how the changing working doctrines of waixuan have encouraged wolf-warrior diplomacy. Finally, the strategic explanation highlights how Beijing diverts the popular attention away from its domestic issues and towards 'external threats' and rallies popular support at home by 'talking tough' and 'blaming others'. The diversionary use of assertive diplomacy also allows Beijing to avoid publicizing its policy failures, buy more time and room for manoeuvre, and plan tactical reforms while preserving its fundamental political system. I also argue that the wolf-warrior diplomacy is more of ad hoc response to perceived geopolitical risk in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic than a well-crafted strategy.

Advertising and Psychology: Strategies to Reduce Violence Against Women / Publicidade e Psicologia: Estratégias de Redução da Violência Contra a Mulher / Publicidad y Psicología: Estrategias de Reducción de la Violencia Contra la Mujer

Abstract The COVID-19 exacerbated violence against women. This study evaluated the possible efficacy of using advertising pieces containing the hypocrisy paradigm, the contrast principle, and moral disengagement mechanisms to prevent and reduce violence against women. We conducted two studies which included exclusively men as participants. Study 1 (n=400; M age =21.69; Me=20.00; SD=5.79) used traditional pieces on violence against women, manipulating only their moral disengagement phrases. Results suggest that the phrase combined with traditional images is either ineffective or has a rebound effect. Study 2 (n=303; M age =21.38; Me=20.00; SD=4.94) manipulated the image in Study 1, showing more effective results regarding hostility. However, physical aggression showed no significant differences. Finally, some pieces generated a rebound effect, increasing participants' self-perception of aggression. The use of advertising can act as an ally or an enemy of public policies if their effectiveness lacks proper testing.

Resumo A violência contra mulheres é um problema pandêmico agravado pela COVID-19. Esta pesquisa objetivou verificar a eficácia de peças publicitárias em reduzir a violência contra mulheres por meio do paradigma de hipocrisia, o princípio de contraste e os mecanismos de desengajamento moral. Realizaram-se dois estudos com amostras masculinas. O Estudo 1 (n=400; M idade =21,69; Me=20,00; DP=5,79) utilizou peças tradicionais, manipulando apenas as frases de desengajamento moral. O resultado sugere que a frase combinada com imagens tradicionais são ineficazes ou geram efeito rebote. O Estudo 2 (n=303; M idade =21,38; Me=20,00; DP=4,94) manipulou a imagem e os resultados indicam maior efetividade das peças em relação à hostilidade. Entretanto, a agressão física não demonstrou diferenças significativas. Finalmente, algumas peças geraram efeito rebote, levando ao incremento da autopercepção de agressividade dos participantes. O uso da publicidade pode prejudicar políticas públicas de combate a violência contra mulheres quando sua eficácia não é devidamente testada.

Resumen La violencia contra la mujer es un problema pandémico agravado por el COVID-19. Esta investigación verificó el grado de eficacia de anuncios publicitarios para reducir la violencia contra la mujer utilizando el paradigma de la hipocresía, el principio de contraste y los mecanismos de desconexión moral. Se diseñaron dos estudios con muestras masculinas. El Estudio 1 (n=400; M edad =21,69; Me=20,00; DT=5,79) utilizó anuncios tradicionales, manipulando únicamente las frases de desconexión moral. El resultado sugiere que la frase combinada con imágenes tradicionales es ineficaz o tiene efecto rebote. El Estudio 2 (n=303; M edad =21,38, Me=20,00; DT=4,94) manipuló la imagen, y los resultados indican mayor eficacia respecto a la hostilidad. Pero la agresión física no mostró diferencias significativas. Finalmente, algunos anuncios generaron efecto rebote, incrementando la autopercepción de la agresividad. Así, el uso de la publicidad puede actuar como enemiga de las políticas públicas contra la violencia a la mujer cuando no se comprueba adecuadamente su eficacia.

The Presence of Political Bots on Twitter during the COVID-19 Crisis in Spain

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the decree of the State of Alarm in Spain and a severe home confinement that was softened in phases of de-escalation. During this period, social networks were used as a discussion tool. With this research we intend to find out if artificial intelligence tools were used in the political debate on Twitter. To achieve this, algorithms that determine the presence of bots in the conversation, their communicative roles and their relationship with the main political parties, were applied. The results show that disinformation campaigns were created by bots with the aim of manipulating public opinion. © 2023 Centro de Investigaciones Sociologicas. All rights reserved.

Public diplomacy in an age of perpetual crisis: assessing the EU's strategic narratives through six crises

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the EU's public diplomacy – towards both domestic and external audiences – during times of crisis. The EU's public diplomacy is examined across six major crises: the Eurozone crisis (2008), the Ukrainian crisis (2014), the migrant crisis (2015), the Brexit referendum (2016), the new transatlantic relationship (2017) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2019). The goal of examining these crises in conjunction is to derive policy-relevant insights.Design/methodology/approachThis article adopts a problem-driven approach – the problem being how successful is the EU at public diplomacy during times of crisis – that draws theoretical and empirical insights from Communication Studies, International Relations and EU studies via a "strategic narratives” framework. It situates the EU as a unique public diplomacy actor, one which is becoming more prominent due to the mediatisation of diplomacy, especially driven by the advent of cyberspace.FindingsThe article finds that the EU has been experiencing a cycle of crises that have affected the political, economic, symbolic and social foundations of the common project. The EU has had some notable success – such as restoring confidence at the height of the Eurozone crisis – and some notable challenges – such as effectively combatting disinformation. Regardless, the EU has the potential to better manage these and future crises by engaging in an effective public diplomacy strategy that tells a shared European story that informs and inspires people, both domestically and externally.Originality/valueThe article offers an original examination of the EU's public diplomacy response to six different crises. It looks at different types of crises and utilises concepts from different social science perspectives. It offers novel strategic and policy recommendations.

An intermestic approach to China's public diplomacy: a case study of Beijing's COVID-19 communication in the early stages

PurposeThe aim of this study was to examine the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and the international communication management of Chinese diplomats as a case for extending the definition of intermestic public diplomacy. The goal was to reveal how Beijing subtly used both domestic and foreign social media to organize a network for communication about COVID-19 and purposefully soften the highly centralized and hierarchical political propaganda of the Communist Party of China (CPC).Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature on digital public diplomacy, the authors applied the existing concept of intermestic to Chinese politics in order to demonstrate the digitalization of public diplomacy, along with its forms and strategies under an authoritarian regime. A hybrid methodology combining quantitative network analysis and qualitative discourse analysis permits examination of China's intermestic online communication network dynamics, shedding light on how such an intermestic practice promoted Chinese values and power to international publics in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis.FindingsThe authors' findings extend the implications of intermestic public diplomacy from a democratic context to an authoritarian one. By analyzing the content of public diplomacy and para-diplomatic social media accounts in China and abroad at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the authors outlined China's early crisis management, explaining its intermestic public diplomacy transmission modes and strategies. Moreover, the authors identified changes in the narrative strategies of Chinese diplomats and journalists during this process.Social implicationsThe findings of this study underline that Beijing established a narrative-making virtual communication structure for disseminating favorable Chinese strategic narratives and voices through differentiated communication on domestic and foreign social media platforms. Such intermestic communication strategies were particularly evident and even further weaponized by Beijing in its large-scale Wolf Warrior diplomacy in the spring of 2020. Thus, the study's findings help readers understand how China digitalized its public diplomacy, its digital communication patterns and strategies.Originality/valueOn the one hand, geopolitical uncertainty and the popularity of social media have contributed to the evolution of the intermestic model of public diplomacy. This model allows actors to coordinate homogenous and differentiated communication practices to deploy their influence. On the other hand, the authors did not examine how intermestic audiences perceive and receive public diplomacy practices. In future studies, scholars should measure the agenda-setting capacity of diplomatic actors by examining the effects of such intermestic communication efforts.

Propagandization of Relative Gratification: How Chinese State Media Portray the International Pandemic

While many previous studies have investigated propaganda in connection with misinformation, disinformation, or "fake news” campaigns, they have given insufficient attention to the political messages which are not squarely factually inaccurate but manipulated. This study identifies a political communication strategy, the propagandization of relative gratification, through which propaganda media 1) highlight global chaos to nudge the public's downward comparison to a relatively stable domestic situation;2) portray the nation's adversaries as worse than its allies;and 3) leverages the public's anti-foreign attitude. This study empirically examines Chinese state media's approach to the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in 46 countries in 2020 by analyzing more than 3 million Chinese social media posts using the semantic similarity found in word embedding models. The results reveal that the global pandemic was depicted by the state media as generally more severe than China's domestic situation. The more distant a foreign country's relationship with China, the more severe its COVID-19 representation in China's propaganda, deviating from the country's actual epidemiological severity and what the Chinese general public thinks about it, indicating that a country's relationship with China is an important predictor of how its COVID-19 severity was presented in China's state media. This study extends the understanding of the sophisticated nature of propaganda in the current era. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Political Communication is the property of Routledge 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 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 . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Countering Beijing's Media Manipulation

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long sought to influence media coverage about China in other countries. Over the past decade, this campaign has accelerated, reaching new world regions and topics. This article examines how CCP-linked actors seek to manipulate foreign information environments in four key ways: disseminating propaganda, spreading disinformation, censoring critical coverage, and controlling the infrastructure used to convey news. This article considers which efforts have yielded gains for the regime, obstacles that Beijing has encountered, and the response of nongovernmental actors. It concludes by considering how to enhance democratic resilience to the covert and coercive dimensions of the CCP's global media influence.

Propaganda Identification on Twitter Platform During COVID-19 Pandemic Using LSTM

Online social media has been evolved as a universal platform for sharing information. Termination being shared on these platforms can be dubious or filthy. Propaganda is one of the systematic methods by which behavior of user can be manipulated. In this work, various machine learning methods are used for detecting such types of information on online social media. Data is collected d from Twitter using its API with the help of various ambiguous hashtags. The results showed that proposed Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) based propaganda identification showed better results than other machine learning techniques. An accuracy of 77.15% is achieved using the proposed approach. In the future BERT model can be used for achieving better Accuracy.

Voting technology, democracy, and propaganda: Ontological considerations for the 2020 presidential election

The 2020 United States Presidential election was considered one of the most tumultuous political contests in the 21st century. During an international pandemic, travel restrictions and social distancing requirements created uncertainty about whether to vote in person or via absentee-mail-in ballot. The present study sought to investigate how voters experience different technologies in the 2020 United States Presidential election. Selected concepts in media ecology supplemented Fox and Alldred's (2013) framework for new materialist inquiry to explore the technical material characteristics of voting technology and the discursive elements of voter fraud propaganda. By tracing the history of voting technologies and voter fraud propaganda, the analysis argued that the vast array of technologies and experiences of voting in the 2020 election rendered the idea of an archetypal or monolithic voting method insufficient. Therefore, the present study suggests an ontological revision for the ways we conceptualize the relationship between voters, voting technologies, and democracy writ large. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Truth Is a Human Right: Türkiye's Stance on the Fight against Disinformation

We are experiencing the rise of unprecedented opportunities as a result of the digital revolution, but regrettably this has also been accompanied by a number of novel threats. One of the most visible manifestations of these threats is the rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation. The implications of this threat extend from the individual to the national and international levels, where misinformation and disinformation bring the risk of hybrid warfare and power competition closer to home. Needless to say, the breadth of these implications makes dealing with digital misinformation even more difficult. This commentary focuses on several global events where misinformation and disinformation were used as a tactical tool, including the 2016 U.S. elections, Brexit, and COVID-19. Then, we discuss the situation involving Türkiye, one of the nations that serves as both a target and a focal point of regional disinformation campaigns. The commentary then shifts to some of the Communication Directorate's most significant initiatives, such as the creation of the Earthquake Disinformation Bulletins, the Law on the Fight Against Disinformation, and the Center for Fight Against Disinformation. Finally, above all, this commentary aims to raise awareness of the dangers of online misinformation and urges international cooperation to ensure that the truth always prevails.

The Cultural Politics of National Tragedies and Personal Sacrifice

While the rest of the world is still battling the latest wave of COVID-19 and implementing lockdown measures to combat the spread of the virus, China has been celebrating its ‘victory' over the pandemic since the end of February 2020, with Xinhua (2020) announcing a book praising the country's success in disease control to be published in six languages. COVID-themed news reports, award ceremonies, documentaries, and TV series singing the praises of ‘everyday heroes' in controlling the virus have become a daily occurrence in the Chinese media. [...]the glorification of ‘sacrificial' and ‘grateful' citizens in these stories tantalises human desires to encourage citizens' willing compliance with the Party-State's transformation of a national tragedy into its narrative of victory. Expressions of the Party's leadership role are loud and clear in each episode, be it through the authoritative voices of CCTV News broadcasting the national deployment of resources in supporting Wuhan, or the parade of trucks and buses shipping supplies into the city.

Assessing risk among frail older adults in Ontario, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods evaluation of a telephone outreach program

We developed a pandemic telephone outreach protocol to identify risk for social isolation, health destabilization, medication issues, inadequate services and supports, and caregiver stress among older adults at high risk of destabilization. Screening, conducted between April 1, 2020, and May 8, 2020, was targeted to those who had previously been screened as frail or who were identified as vulnerable by their family physician. This study describes the implementation and results of this risk screening protocol and describes patient, caregiver, and health professional perceptions of this outreach initiative. Mixed methods included satisfaction surveys and interviews completed by patients/caregivers (N = 300 and N = 26, respectively) and health professionals (N = 18 and N = 9, respectively). A medical record audit collected information on patient characteristics and screening outcomes. A total of 335 patients were screened in the early weeks of the pandemic, of whom 23% were identified with at least one risk factor, most commonly related to the potential for health destabilization and medication risk. Follow-up referrals were made most frequently to physicians, a pharmacist, and a social worker. The outreach calls were very well received by patients and caregivers who described feeling cared for and valued at a time when they were socially isolated and lonely. The outreach calls provided access to trusted COVID-19 information and reassurance that health care was still available. The majority of health professionals (>86%) were "very" or "extremely" satisfied with the ease of completing the screening via telephone and value for time spent;for 79% the protocol was "very" or "extremely" feasible to implement. Health professional interviews revealed that patients were unaware they could access care during the pandemic lockdown but were reassured that care was available, potential crises were averted, and they supported future implementation. Risk screening provides a significant opportunity to provide information, support, and mitigate potential risks and is an important and feasible component of pandemic planning in primary care.

Anti-Democratic Malign Influence in the Time of COVID-19

Propaganda and disinformation activities by state and non-state actors represents one of the most pressing national security and foreign policy issues for the United States and its allies. This issue has been brought into acute focus as the global spread of the coronavirus has been partnered by a tsunami of malign influence activities targeting democracies. This paper argues that the propaganda and disinformation activities of state and non-state actors targeting democratic populations is best understood as ‘anti-democratic malign influence activities' because of a shared overarching strategic logic. The framework that emerges from this study is then used to explore how COVID-19 and government responses to it have been leveraged by anti-democratic actors. This chapter concludes by examining key policy implications based on the study's findings. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Development, the Politics of Change, Contestation, and Adaptation in Contemporary Southeast Asia

El futuro de toda el área estará muy influenciado por el Sudeste Asiático, que se encuentra en el corazón del continente y tiene la economía más vibrante del mundo. El sudeste asiático también ofrece una ventana a algunos de los temas políticos más importantes de nuestro tiempo. Las doce páginas que siguen ofrecen una descripción completa de la asombrosa variedad de estructuras gubernamentales, prácticas culturales y formas de vida tradicionales del Sudeste Asiático, todas las cuales están experimentando de manera uniforme una serie de cambios importantes. El futuro de toda el área estará muy influenciado por el Sudeste Asiático, que se encuentra en el corazón del continente y tiene la economía más vibrante del mundo.Alternate abstract:The future of the entire area will be greatly influenced by Southeast Asia, which is at the heart of the continent and has the most vibrant economy in the entire world. Southeast Asia also provides a window into some of the most important political themes of our time. The twelve pages that follow give a comprehensive overview of Southeast Asia's astounding variety of governmental structures, cultural practices, and traditional ways of life-all of which are uniformly undergoing a number of important changes. The future of the entire area will be greatly influenced by Southeast Asia, which is at the heart of the continent and has the most vibrant economy in the entire world.

The administrative grotesquerie of pandemic revanchism: propag(and)ating COVID-19 and the operational banalities of alt-health

This paper addresses U.S. pandemic-related propaganda, as a mode of administering society, selves, and the COVID-19 virus relevant to other national contexts. The paper examines what I call pandemic revanchism, which, in order to stoke U.S. culture wars, propag(and)ates the COVID-19 epidemic by sensationalizing the trivial and normalizing the extraordinary or absurd. Banal forms of administrative grotesquerie mobilize a community of alt-health (non)sense and tie freedom to a viral and literally infectious resentment and retaliatory collateral mortality. The paper first develops the framework of FOOB (‘folklore of operational banality') to scrutinize how ordinary health/medical administration and reactionary power relations alike level sense and non-sense. It then offers a performative analysis that shows human geographies of routinized anti-establishment refusal and conspiratorial organizing related to the pandemic. The FOOB approach refuses to simply admonish pandemic revanchism and, instead, tracks how this form of administration consolidates social terrains and quotidian online activity. The analysis seeks to level criticism in a way that undermines social division. It does so by remaining open to reasonable doubts about biomedicalization that are swept up in alt-health and pandemic-related propaganda, and by foregrounding how policy, affect, and storylines routinize extremisms within the American public terrain. © 2023 Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography.

THE NARRATIVES OF HATE USED BY ROMANIAN PARTIES LABELLED AS FAR-RIGHT. A COMPARATIVE NARRATIVE ANALYSIS

This article presents a qualitative comparative analysis of the primary hate narratives employed by three political parties: the Iron Guard Party propaganda, the Greater Romania Party (PRM), and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). The study focuses on the following variables: 'foreigners,' 'freemasons,' 'Jews,' 'protection of Faith and Nation,' and 'rotten political elites.' The analysis is based on official propaganda materials of each party, including patriotic songs, leaflets, newspapers, programmatic documents, and speeches of the leader for the Iron Guard. In the case of the PRM, the analysis includes the party's official program, ideology, poems, and pamphlets by the leader (Corneliu Vadim Tudor), speeches, interviews, press articles, and extracts from party journals Romania Mare (Greater Romania) and Tricolorul. The AUR's official website, political program and ideology, Facebook posts, pages, press interviews, articles, and speeches of its leaders constitute the object of analysis. The narratives extracted were analyzed using the ATLAS.ti software, revealing striking resemblances among the hate narratives employed by the parties.

Role of live webcast as a new medium in the propaganda and education of liver transplant recipients

Objective To evaluate the role of live webcast as a new medium in the propaganda and education of liver transplant recipients. Methods According to the contents of live webcast propaganda and education meeting for liver transplant recipients, relevant data of the live webcast meeting were counted and analyzed, including baseline data of participants, participation pattern, viewing frequency and duration, etc. The characteristics between live webcast and traditional propaganda and education meetings were compared. Results By the end of the live webcast meeting, 273 participants were registered, including 2 oversea participants and 271 from China. These domestic participants were from 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China. The total number of views was 1 526. Participants attended the meeting by clicking direct link (n=243), WeChat group access (n=22), WeChat chat access (n=7) and Dingding App access (n=1). The viewing duration was (68±5) min. Compared with the traditional method, the number and places of registers of the live webcast propaganda and education meeting were increased. The questioning methods and filling out follow-up information were more convenient. Participants could attend the meeting free from charge anywhere, and saved more time. The live webcast propaganda and education meeting was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and data statistical method was optimized. Conclusions Live webcast as a new medium, has a wide range of advantages, which provides a novel form of propaganda and education for the recipients after liver transplantation. It is of significance to improve the long-term survival rate and to enhance the quality of life of recipients after liver transplantation. © 2020 The authors.

The U.S.-Threat Discourse, Hawkish and Maneuvered Public, and China's Foreign Policy

It has been argued that Chinese public opinion is often instrumentalized by the government to accomplish maneuverability and flexibility in Chinese foreign policy. Meanwhile, the dynamic social media environment continues to develop in novel and sometimes unanticipated ways that have various consequences for Chinese foreign policy. Can the authoritarian Chinese government dynamically shape public opinion using social media as the main communication channel to produce and collect responses to international affairs? What effect does a highly unified public opinion have on China's foreign policy? The dynamics of posts on Weibo throughout 2020 and the frequency of comments pertaining to specific issues are examined in this study through content and sentiment analysis. The results demonstrate an alignment and suggest a correlation between Chinese public opinion and the attitudes of the party-state on China's foreign policy. The results indicate that Chinese public opinion exhibited an increasing sense of the superiority of China's achievements, an endogenous preference for more hawkish attitudes toward the U.S., and a drive for a "wolf warrior" diplomacy. This is both a consequence of governmental manipulation and education over the long term and a catalyst for a more hawkish foreign policy in the future. In the long run, the highly unified public opinion that has been intentionally created by the party-state may eventually require additional effort to justify foreign policy positions that the public considers insufficiently assertive.