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## Meet the editors

Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali is currently attached to the Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia as a lecturer. She began her career in academia as an assistant professor in the Communication Department at International Islamic University Malaysia. She obtained a Ph.D. in 2017 from Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom. She is interested in health journalism, polit-

ical economy of media, power, ideology, and culture and media studies. She was exposed to real media practices in Malaysia through her work in corporate communication at TV9 and the Bernama news agency. Academically, she is an active researcher leading research projects and a co-researcher to other projects. She has authored a monograph as well as journal and newspaper articles presented at both local and international conferences and has been interviewed by local radio on vaccination advocacy.

Saodah Wok was a professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) before retiring in 2022. She gained a B Agric. Sc (Hons), a Master of Science in development communication, specializing in agricultural journalism, and finally earned her Ph.D. in mass communication, specializing in organizational communication, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research interests are in organiza-

tional communication, new media, journalism, health communication, women's studies, and people with disabilities. At IIUM, she was head of the Department of Communications, faculty Head of Research, and Deputy Dean of Postgraduate and Research. Saodah Wok was listed in *Who's Who in Asia* (2007) and *Who's Who in the World* (2008).

Shafizan Mohamed is an associate professor in the Communications Department at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. She holds a Ph.D. in media studies from Monash University, Australia. She is the author, co-author, and editor of several books, journal articles, monographs, and newspaper articles on media and communication. Her research covers the fields of new media theory, political communication, health

communication, and digital media literacy. Her recent research projects, based on her Malaysian experience, have examined the digital media skills of parents and underprivileged children and the communication of health issues in mainstream and social media. Aside from teaching and research, Dr. Mohamed loves food, music, and interior design.

### Contents


Preface

At the heart of this book is the belief that journalism is a great deal more than the essential techniques of writing and reporting. We highlight the importance of journalists working in the media industry not only informing but also playing more responsible and critical roles such as creating awareness, influencing public opinion, and assisting in decision-making on different issues. The media industry has been through tremendous changes, and in the current volatile media landscape, journalists face many ethical dilemmas. In addition to their essential journalism skills and knowledge, journalists' credibility in reporting news is strengthened by an understanding of the background economic, political, cultural, and societal factors. In order to stay relevant in the fluidity of digital media, journalists need to establish networks with academics from different fields, and with government, health, and political experts. This book seeks to inform the academic community about the importance of engagement with media players, and the fact that the two are mutually dependent. Each chapter presents a case study that captures the real problems, with proposed solutions to benefit both practitioners and academics. The issues addressed range from media credibility over addressing vaccine hesitancy, emotional trauma faced by journalists, and environmental communication, through framing, reporting conflicts, the promotion of religious liberty through social media, communicating children's rights, and

**Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali**

**Saodah Wok and Shafizan Mohamed** Department of Communication,

International Islamic University Malaysia,

Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Faculty of Languages and Communication,

the theory of modern media text.

## Preface

At the heart of this book is the belief that journalism is a great deal more than the essential techniques of writing and reporting. We highlight the importance of journalists working in the media industry not only informing but also playing more responsible and critical roles such as creating awareness, influencing public opinion, and assisting in decision-making on different issues. The media industry has been through tremendous changes, and in the current volatile media landscape, journalists face many ethical dilemmas. In addition to their essential journalism skills and knowledge, journalists' credibility in reporting news is strengthened by an understanding of the background economic, political, cultural, and societal factors. In order to stay relevant in the fluidity of digital media, journalists need to establish networks with academics from different fields, and with government, health, and political experts. This book seeks to inform the academic community about the importance of engagement with media players, and the fact that the two are mutually dependent. Each chapter presents a case study that captures the real problems, with proposed solutions to benefit both practitioners and academics. The issues addressed range from media credibility over addressing vaccine hesitancy, emotional trauma faced by journalists, and environmental communication, through framing, reporting conflicts, the promotion of religious liberty through social media, communicating children's rights, and the theory of modern media text.

#### **Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali**

Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

#### **Saodah Wok and Shafizan Mohamed**

Department of Communication, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

**1**

Section 1

The Ethical Dilemma

## Section 1 The Ethical Dilemma

#### **Chapter 1**

### Introductory Chapter: Ethical Journalism in the Digital Society

*Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali*

#### **1. Introduction**

The Internet has had a profound effect on the profession of journalism and media industries. One of the most significant impacts is how news is composed, transmitted, and consumed. The Internet has given rise to the phenomenon of online news sources, which are independent news outlets that are widely available without requiring a subscription. With the Internet, people can easily find and read stories from different news channels. This has led to a more globalized perspective on news and made it easier for journalists to report stories from other parts of the world. The Internet has also facilitated the use of digital media that enable journalists to take more creative approaches to news reporting. Some reporters, for example, use social media platforms to share photos and videos of events they cover to provide a complete picture of what is happening. This type of creativity is often absent from traditional news outlets, which give readers a more comprehensive and accurate view of events.

Despite the lucrative benefits digital media has offered, principal journalism remains unchanged. Journalists still need to find and report the news objectively and fairly while also being able to create engaging stories that will appeal to the audience. Not only that, the stories reported should help the audience make a decision on different issues. Journalism, in this sense, acts as a conduit that connects sources across the world to carry information so that what we hear and read can be woven together to make sense of reality.

#### **2. Ethical issues in journalism**

The world of journalism is not as desirable as what people may perceive through the representation of news anchors. In fact, journalists, and media organizations in general, carry responsibilities to promote truth and accountability within their communities. Regardless of the objectives of journalism, the remaining unsettled issues revolve around ethics. In different situations, journalists and news organizations face dilemmas in their duty to present information to the audience. As a journalist or researcher in the field, there are ethical issues with which one will deal. Therefore, it is vital to deliberate on these issues before making decisions to approach them and set the right example for others in journalism. Among them include being the first at the expense of credibility, conflict of interest, challenges to remain impartial, telling the truth and privacy, social media as sources, and others. Some of the ethical considerations detailed in this introductory chapter can be found embodied in the chapters of this book.

In the era of digital technology, the urge to become the first has, to a certain extent, relegated the quality of news. Not a few incidents involved reporters using unverified sources and publishing questionable information due to tight deadlines and wanting to be the first to bring up an issue. Alivi et al. [1] noted that "competition in the communication and media line makes media practitioners compete to become the first to report on certain issues" which has led to errors in the information. Bad reporting may have backfired on a specific media organization. The worst part, the backlash could affect the credibility of the media industry as an institution that upholds the truth. Therefore, no matter the reasons, journalists should endorse the idea that information should be produced based on truthful, responsible, and ethical principles. If journalism is to be high on the list of honorable careers, its practitioners need to understand the context and detail of an issue with source verification as the top priority before delivering it to the public [2]. Mehrabi et al. [3] argued that one of the key factors in assisting the public from perception of a media organization is through credible information they provide. In journalism, credibility should not be compromised.

Besides, journalism should also pay special attention to impartiality. However, when impartiality is the prime aim, conflict of interest could be deterrence. Journalists might be torn between being objective and maintaining the interest of others, such as power holders. It has become an unsettling element that has tarnished the true spirit of the profession. As Ghazali [4] discussed, the media is regarded as the government's institution of culture to reproduce and propagate its ideological hegemony. For as long as the media is not fully independent, it will continue to face intimidation to comply with the interest of others. Despite this, the open society offered by the Internet should become an urge for the media to relook at the need to be accountable in being impartial to provide a rational discourse on issues of public importance. Journalism practitioners should remember that the new media landscape has affected the way people think [5]. They are no longer a complacent audience who will accept information without verification through online sources. Having said that, if the media fail to deliver, it could be detrimental to the media credibility. Hence, journalists are in a position to continue serving the public by producing news and information with an ethical consciousness.

The discussion of journalism ethics further extends to media responsibility to the public. According to the University of Arizona Global Campus [6], the media organization is expected to provide the public with access to a poll of information they need in contrast to what they want. Even though, the direct competition with nonofficial news providers has heightened the fact that journalists are forced to approach issues assertively that providing information people should get becomes secondary. The media tend to focus on sensationalizing an issue. This can be traced back to the 1980s through yellow journalism, which refers to journalism that features sensationalism, scandalmongering, and other unethical practices done by media organizations and journalists. Though sensationalism might sell, it is "hurtful to the media's reputation" ([7], p. 1). Sensationalism also raises ethical conflicts with journalists' noble profession. Most often, sensationalism carries exaggeration and shifts attention from the principal issue. In other words, instead of focusing on the problem to create awareness, sensationalism diverts attention to the extraordinary side of the problem. This practice is deceiving since it often serves the interest of the media providers and individual journalists. Without a doubt, sensationalism works in getting the public attention when competition with other unofficial media sources on the Internet can be stiff, it has tarnished this noble profession.

**4**

### **3. Future challenges**

The discussion above pointed out that digital technology poses relentless challenges despite countless benefits if not properly addressed. Social networks, for example, could be perceived as providing sources of information to ease journalists working on issues getting their information sources. However, too much dependency on the platform may reduce journalists' creativity in finding reliable and credible information sources and decrease the critical traits journalists should enhance through practice. On this note, journalism is a profession that comes with great responsibility and accountability. Therefore, digital advantages garnered by current practitioners should not hinder them from upholding ethical conduct. Instead, it should drive them to frame and deliver news creatively with greater inclusivity for a sustainable future.

All in all, bearing on communication generally and journalism, in particular, the chapters in this book demonstrate that journalism does not only affect individuals but also the society that we live in. The effects can be social, political, economic, health, religious, cultural, and many others. This book may not be a comprehensive approach to journalism and media ethics, but rather a dedication to assisting media producers, researchers, scholars, and students in journalism as well as members of the public to ponder pressing journalism-related issues that could have wide-reaching consequences. It is hoped that this book will provide the crucial framework needed for ethical journalism and for understanding the importance of journalism to provide common knowledge that fits the needs of the audience while still reminding them to be critical consumers of media outputs.

### **Author details**

Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

\*Address all correspondence to: wannorshira@iium.edu.my

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

[1] Alivi MA, Ghazali AHA, Tamam E, Osman MN. A review of new Media in Malaysia: Issues affecting society. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 2018;**8**(2):12-29

[2] Wariya C. Krisis dan Strategi: Isu-isu semasa kewartawanan & media. Malaysia: Malaysian Press Institute (MPI); 2017

[3] Mehrabi D, Abu Hassan M, Shahkat Ali MS. News media credibility of the Internet and television. European Journal of Social Sciences. 2009;**11**(1):136-148

[4] Ghazali WNWM. Islam as the state ideology: Exploring from Gramsci's notion of power, culture, and ideology. Jurnal Komunikasi. 2019;**35**(1):338-352

[5] Chrisman R. Globalization and the media industry. The Black Scholar. 2008;**38**(2-3):14-16

[6] The University of Arizona Global Campus. 5 ethical dilemmas journalism students might face*.* 2021. Available from: https://www.uagc.edu/blog/5 ethical-dilemmas-journalism-studentsmight-face

[7] Ebisch B. Why sensationalised news stories are damaging to society. The Beacon. 2019. Available from: https://www.thewilkesbeacon. com/opinion/2019/04/16/whysensationalized-news-stories-aredamaging-to-society/#:~:text=The%20 practice%20of%20sensationalism%20 within,or%20untrustworthy%20of%20 the%20news

### **Chapter 2**

## Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The *ABC* as a Collaborator and Agitator of the Coup of 1936

*Lucía Noguerales García*

#### **Abstract**

This research proposes to analyze the role of the Spanish newspaper *ABC* as a collaborator and agitator of the coup d'état of 1936 in Spain by publishing false, exaggerated, or unverified information in order to create a climate of opinion favorable to the uprising against the republican regime. The chosen methodology is the case study and the content analysis of 177 news, editorials, opinion articles, electoral propaganda, and political speeches published in this Spanish newspaper from the 6th of February to the 19th of July 1936. Throughout the research, we confirm that the *ABC* used different strategies to justify the coup d'état, which led to Franco's dictatorship.

**Keywords:** *ABC*, Spanish civil war, propaganda, Second Republic, violence, fake news, media

#### **1. Introduction**

In Spain, throughout the spring of 1936, coinciding with the political victory of the Popular Front on February 16, right-wing leaders took it upon themselves to spread a story according to which Spain was mired in an atmosphere of unbridled violence, and there was an imminent risk that a communist coup d'etat took place. This catastrophic speech, constructed with the aim of demonstrating the illegitimacy of the republican regime and obtaining the necessary mobilization to carry out the coup d'état, was repeated incessantly by the Spanish right-wing parties, who made the parliament a place contrary to argumentation, and they found, in the monarchical press, a loudspeaker where they could spread their propaganda. Thus, as the journalist and professor, José María Calleja explains in his latest book: "Propaganda has always been a weapon for war. Throughout history, propaganda has preceded war, sustained it while it was ongoing, and remained when the conflict was over" [1].

This research aims to verify the role that the *ABC* newspaper, the one with the largest circulation at the time, during the last period of the Spanish Second Republic in times of peace—from the elections of February 1936 until the coup d'état of July 18 of that year—as a mobilizing agent for monarchist groups and the army, and to what extent it contributed to the coup.

It is based on the hypothesis that a large part of the right-wing press, and specifically the *ABC*, published false, unverified, magnified, or incomplete information with the aim of supporting the monarchist sectors, which were conspiring from the moment of the proclamation of the Republic. The intention was to mobilize the army, demonstrate to society that the sociopolitical environment had drifted toward violence and, in this way, justify military intervention to straighten out the situation by boycotting any attempt at democratization in Spain.

#### **2. Methodology**

The method followed is the *ABC* case study, which has been projected using the content analysis technique of 177 news, editorials, opinion articles, electoral propaganda, and political speeches published in this newspaper between February 6 and July 19 of 1936. Strictly speaking, the case study is not a methodology, but rather a technical approach to a specific object chosen for its uniqueness and representativeness in which the application of various methodological techniques is feasible [2]. According to Yin, the case study is "an empirical investigation that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in its real context, where the boundaries between the phenomenon and the context are not shown precisely" [3].

Thus, it has focused on a particular situation, event, or case to study it in depth, the ABC during the violent spring of 1936, and through inductive reasoning, principles, and generalizations that emerge from the analysis of data have been obtained. Ironically, during the Second Republic this newspaper—which was the editorial flag of the Monarchy—was the one with the largest print run in Spain, since it exceeded two hundred thousand copies, and, consequently, was of great influence. For this reason, it is considered that this header is representative of the ideological tendency and political objectives shared by other conservative headers.

Regarding the various methodological techniques, it has been decided that content analysis is the most appropriate, since, according to Berelson, it is a "research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communications" [4]. The complexity of content analysis lies in the fact that it combines the observation and production of data and the interpretation or analysis of the same. However, in a text it manifests, obvious and direct content can be perceived, but also the latent, hidden, and indirect meaning that the author intends to convey can be interpreted. Both express and latent data make sense within a context and, therefore, the text and the context are two fundamental aspects in content analysis. Krippendorff adds "context" to his definition of content analysis: "a research technique designed to formulate, from certain data, reproducible and valid inferences that can be applied to their context" [5].

In summary, **Figure 1** shows the percentages of the different established categories, corresponding to what we have considered strategies developed by the newspaper. Thus, it is found, first, that the "exaltation of violence" (32.76%) is the most repeated. The second category is the "incitement to rebellion against the government" of the Popular Front with a 28.16% presence. In third place is the "demonization of the opponent," present in 15.52% of the articles. Later it will be explained what each one consists of.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

#### **Figure 1.**

*Percentage of news, editorials, speeches, propaganda, and opinion articles analyzed according to the strategy used (source: Own elaboration through 177 news items extracted from ABC February 6–July 17, 1936).*

#### **3. Historical framework**

During the interwar period —in Spain and internationally— there was a politicization of the press, which stood out for its political and propaganda content over those of strictly journalistic interest. It should be noted, therefore, that the propagandistic interest and the tone of agitation were not exclusive to the right-wing press, but they had an important and substantial advantage over the left: it was solid and had financial, powerful, and tactical support.

"Popular Front" is the name —of communist origin but soon acquired universal use letter of nature— that was extended to baptize the electoral coalition between the center-left Republicans led by Azaña and Martínez Barrio on the one hand, and the different forces political and trade unionists of the left on the other, who signed the famous pact/program the 15th of January 1936 with which they planned to go to February 16th elections. It was the desire to dislodge the right wing from power that ended up overcoming obstacles.

With the proclamation of the Republic, the greatest social and political mobilization in contemporary Spain took place. Political violence had an internal component the breakdown of the conservative social order and the arrival of mass politics— and another external one—the fascism versus anti-fascism struggle—in Europe between the wars, which arrived late in Spain and further exacerbated the tensions. In these circumstances, the conflict was exaggerated by the conservative press and the radical left, which conveyed the idea of permanent social instability.

The *ABC* hit the streets daily for the first time on June 1, 1905. Its director, Torcuato Luca de Tena, set out to create a newspaper that would stand out for being, at the same time, graphic, informative, literary, and, in addition, easily manageable [6]. One of his hallmarks was the monitoring of royal activity, along with a pure conservatism that soon won the sympathy of the aristocracy, the upper bourgeoisie, the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and part of the army. With the proclamation of the Republic, *ABC* reaffirmed the editorial line maintained since its inception, showing its full

support for the monarchy: "We continue and will remain where we were: with the constitutional and parliamentary Monarchy, with freedom, with order, with the right [...] The Monarchy is the sign of everything we defend; it is the history of Spain."1

#### **4. Discussion and results**

After carrying out the content analysis of 177 news, editorials, opinion articles, electoral propaganda, and political speeches published in the monarchist newspaper *ABC*, between February 6 and July 19, 1936, the results obtained confirm the fulfillment of the well-known "Decalogue of Josef Goebbels Propaganda" written; however, by the psychologist Leonard W. Doob [7], who from the diaries of the Nazi Minister of Propaganda wrote an article summarizing the basic principles of Goebbels propaganda. Among the characteristics of the decalogue is the location of an enemy to turn into an object of hatred, the exaggeration and disfigurement of any anecdotal event to transform it into a serious threat, or the continuous repetition of ideas or slogans, so that they are considered true.

In the case of *ABC,* it is observed how its journalists and collaborators stirred up public opinion using various strategies —demonization of the opponent, dissemination of the myth of the communist revolution, disturbance of public order, exaltation of violence, appeal to political fraud, allusion to the unconstitutionality of the Republic, and incitement to rebellion against the government—for carrying out and justifying the Francoist coup d'état of July, 1936.

A comparison has been made between the different strategies used and their appearance in the analyzed genres. For example, it is observed that electoral propaganda mostly uses the technique of "demonization of the opponent" and "exaltation of violence." The latter is also the most used in the news that, in turn, incites "rebellion against the government" and deals with matters of "public order" and "political fraud." Likewise, in most parliamentary speeches, right-wing leaders exalt violence and promote rebellion against the government, just as in opinion articles.

Next, each of the categories corresponding to the strategies indicated and clearly revealed in the content analysis is explained in more detail.

#### **4.1 Demonization of the opponent**

Prior to the elections of February 16, 1936, the *ABC* published numerous electoral propaganda daily in favor of right-wing candidates. The strategy used in articles, images, and covers was what we have called "the demonization of the opponent" through the incessant repetition of disqualifications to present him as the personification of evil. Propaganda builds the enemy, and fills it with evils based on prejudices and mental frameworks rooted among the recipients of that propaganda [1]. In this way, voters or supporters of the Popular Front candidacy were called "Bolsheviks," "atheists," "revolutionaries," "communists," "separatists," or "anti-Spaniards," and, therefore, posed a threat to the integrity and values of the "real" Spain. On February 6, 1936, *ABC* published the following electoral propaganda:

*"If you don't vote for Spain, don't complain later if the immense misfortune happens that Spain falls into chaos, disintegration, and atheism. Leftist revolutionaries do not lie: they say that they aspire to repeat the Russian revolution in our Motherland and that* 

<sup>1</sup> ABC, 4/15/1931, p. 23.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

#### *"October" was nothing more than a rehearsal. Vote against the revolution and against its accomplices and accessories!*."2

The political discourse used by the extreme right in the electoral campaign and maintained during the war and after the war was based on the Manichaean opposition of symbols: "Civilization or barbarism," "for Spain or for Russia," "peace or revolution," "Christians or atheists" [8]. This stereotyping of the enemy through argumentative procedures of simplification, exaggeration, and distortion of reality sought to leave out of his conception of "Spaniards" all those who did not share his ideals:

*"Everything that constitutes Spanish nationality is in danger: unity, the economic system, religious feeling, civilized life, the future. Foreign powers subsidize and organize the revolution of extremists in our country. The next elections with the first stage to tear Spain apart and turn it into a conglomerate of tiny Soviet states. You can oppose with your vote. Vote for Spain!*.*"* 3

On February 14, the monarchist header was published on its front page: "Either you vote for Spain or for Russia." As can be seen in **Figure 2**, the electoral propaganda said: "There is no longer any room for error or confusion. The rights shout on their propaganda posters: 'Vote for Spain'. The so-called Popular Left Front, in this poster that we reproduce, declares that voting for him is voting for Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky."4

#### **4.2 Myth of the "communist revolution"**

Although the political and media campaign of the "communist danger" had already been carried out previously, during the electoral process of February 1936 the conservative press gave new impetus to the anti-communist maneuver denouncing the Popular Front policy as a Soviet "Trojan Horse." According to González Calleja [9], one of the justifying trump cards of the July military coup was the affirmation of the existence of an insurrectionary plan that was to explode on August 1. This falsehood was the result of an extensive intoxication maneuver by the Spanish right and its press, obsessed with spreading rumors of a revolutionary threat that would encourage and justify the uprising.

Thus, the conservative intellectuals who usually wrote for *ABC* warned of the Bolshevik threat that Spain and, specifically, Madrid were suffering, because according to collaborator Álvaro Alcalá-Galiano, after the elections the leftists "turned Madrid for 2 days into a branch of the Soviets."5 Following this line, Lázaro Fabre pseudonym with which José Gómez de la Serna signed—maintained that the future of Spain, "far from being a horizon of freedom and honor, like that of Italy, is a horizon of servitude" country fascist with Mussolini at the forefront—propitiated by "the Bolshevism to which the revolution that began in 1931 wanted to take us."<sup>6</sup> Likewise, the monarchist newspaper in its editorials influenced the manipulative strategy by warning of the intention of the communists and socialists to destroy the bourgeois Republic "and replace it with the Soviet-type Republic."<sup>7</sup>

<sup>2</sup> ABC, 02/06/1936, p. 38.

<sup>3</sup> ABC, 02/13/1936, p. 22.

<sup>4</sup> ABC, 02/14/1936, Cover.

<sup>5</sup> ABC, 03/13/1936, p. 3.

<sup>6</sup> ABC, 04/18/1936, p. 4.

<sup>7</sup> ABC, 05/15/1936, p. 17.

**Figure 2.** *Cover of the ABC newspaper of February 14, 1936 (source: ABC newspaper library).*

As González Calleja states [9], the Bolshevik threat campaign was perfectly in tune with the parliamentary catastrophism of the spokesmen of the extreme right. On April 16, Calvo Sotelo, after a speech in which he denounced public disorder, providing data of dubious veracity, stated that "those forces are going to establish communism in the political form of a dictatorship of the proletariat."8 , and assured that, if parliamentary democracy fails, "it will not inevitably lead to the dictatorship of the proletariat, because Spain will also be able to save itself with a formula of a corporate and authoritarian State."9

<sup>8</sup> ABC, 04/16/1936, p. 28.

<sup>9</sup> ABC, 04/16/1936, p. 29.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

However, on July 11—2 days before his assassination—Calvo Sotelo offered a very different view of the risk of the communist revolution to the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación. According to him, despite the increase in strikes, he believed there was less risk of another leftist insurrection than there had been in February:

*"Today, I sincerely say it, only through a criminal betrayal by some ruling party could Marxism rise to power. And even then, success would be fleeting. Significant Marxists are the first to doubt it and even to silently hope that it does not occur."*<sup>10</sup>

It was a group of monarchists, among whom was Antonio Goicoechea, leader of the Spanish renewal, who organized the conspiracy to end the Republic. His party became, from its foundation, the cover for the organization of a military plot and Goicoechea was outlined as the political leader of the Alfonsine conspiracy. As Viñas has shown in Ref. [10], on March 31, 1934, together with other representatives of monarchist groups, he signed an agreement with Mussolini for financing, sending weapons, training personnel, and collaboration for the restoration of the monarchy.

Undoubtedly, the political and media strategy on the Bolshevik threat penetrated the restless spirit of the conservative classes, laying the necessary psychological foundations to support a "saving reaction" − as the Count of Rodezno expressed in the Congress11− and justify the intervention of the army during the Spanish Second Republic.

#### **4.3 Public order**

One of the great problems that the Spanish Second Republic had to deal with was the deterioration of public order, which ended up being an argument to question the legitimacy of the regime and give it an aura of anarchy and misgovernment [11]. During the spring of 1936, the *ABC* published daily fixed sections that magnified all kinds of disorders and altercations and denounced the lack of authority due to the absence of a strong government. Before the elections, this section was entitled "social unrest and disturbance of public order in Spain," and later other sections appeared: "social issues and labor conflicts," "social issues and public order" or "the implementation of secularism in Spain."

The said news with biased headlines or manipulated information was intended to alarm the political "persecution" suffered by members of right-wing parties by opponents. On February 8, a piece of news was published with the title: Assault on the Spanish Falange in Vigo. One dead and several wounded. In the body of the news, it is explained:

*"The boys from the Falange Española, instead of being frightened, faced the assailants, and, at that moment, the light went out, starting a heavy firefight. [...] Inside the premises, one dead and five wounded were picked up; a trade unionist and four from the Falange [...] The dead man has not been identified, but it seems that he is a trade unionist. A CNT number was found in his pockets."*<sup>12</sup>

In short, the Falangists killed a man who, it seems, was a trade unionist, a fact about which there is no detailed information. That same day we found another piece of news entitled "Some individuals try to disarm the civil guard, one of them being killed":

<sup>10</sup> ABC, 07/15/1936, p. 22.

<sup>11</sup> ABC, 07/02/1936, p. 27.

<sup>12</sup> ABC, 02/08/1936, p. 43.

"In Cortes de la Frontera, Malaga, some incidents were recorded this morning due to work issues. This night, the Benemérita entered the El Círculo Mercantil café with the purpose of arresting, it seems, an individual with leftist affiliations who had distinguished himself in the incidents in question, and unexpectedly some subjects pounced on the guards, trying to disarm them. Then some of their companions fired several shots, resulting in Antonio Vázquez being killed on the spot, and his cousin, nicknamed Chiveles, seriously wounded."13

Despite the ambiguity of the headline, the information is that the civil guard killed a young leftist and wounded another.

The manipulation of information was common by the media and the leaders of the right in their parliamentary speeches, which made no allusion to the leftists killed at the hands of the security forces or Falangist groups. The *ABC*, far from complying with the journalistic ethics of disseminating truthful information, published falsified information to thus contribute to the sectarian treatment of the issue of public order in Spain.

Although censorship existed throughout the Republic to a greater or lesser extent, rumors of a military uprising further increased control of the press. However, the parliamentary debates were the only section not subject to censorship, so "the right-wing leaders used them to address public opinion, presenting with apocalyptic overtones the conflicts of public order that the conservative newspapers were in charge of airing" [12].

On April 16, 1936, the monarchist newspaper published the full speech of José Calvo Sotelo, who had become the most influential spokesman for the anti-revolutionary right, and one of the conspirators of the coup against the Republic, along with Ignacio Luca de Tena. During the parliamentary debate the day before, the former minister of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship presented the issue of public order in a markedly sectarian manner, extensively recounting alleged social clashes deliberately mixed with social and labor conflicts and even common crimes:

*"From February 16 to April 2 - my data does not cover the subsequent period - there has been the following: Assaults and destruction: in political centers, 58; in public and private establishments, 72; in private homes, 33; in churches, 36. Fires: in political centers, 12; in public and private establishments, 45; in private homes, 15; in churches, 106, of which 56 were completely destroyed. General strikes, 11; shootings, 39; aggressions, 65; robberies, 24; injured, 345; dead, 74."*14s.

The *ABC*, like the main conservative newspapers, published 2 days later a story about the same alleged violent incidents carried out by the left that Calvo Sotelo had detailed before the Cortes. Once again, in his role as spokesman for the extreme right, he uncritically collected this tendentious and deliberately exaggerated data to publish it as truthful and objective information.

On June 16, 1936, in another historic debate on public order, the leader of the CEDA, José María Gil Robles, read another statistic of violent acts carried out by the left from February 16 to June 15 of that same year:

"170 churches have been destroyed, 251 assaults have been committed, there have been 269 deaths, 1,287 injuries, 215 assaults, 138 robberies, 23 attempted robberies, 69 Centers destroyed, 312 assaults, 113 general strikes, 228 partial strikes, 10 newspapers destroyed, 33 assaults on newspapers, 148 bombs that exploded and 78 unexploded."15

<sup>13</sup> ABC, 02/08/1936, p. 43.

<sup>14</sup> ABC, 04/16/1936, p. 23.

<sup>15</sup> ABC, 06/17/1936, p. 15.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

On July 15, 1936, 3 days after the assassination of Calvo Sotelo and just a few days before the coup d'état, in the last parliamentary debate on the extension of the state of alarm, Gil Robles again shared some information of doubtful veracity about the leftist violence in the streets. To the figures that he had provided in his last parliamentary speech on June 16, he added 61 dead and 224 wounded.16 In his speech, published in its entirety on *ABC*, the Cedista leader warned of the atmosphere of violence that was growing in Spain: "what you have come to call fascism in generic terms, but which is nothing more than the desire to free oneself from a yoke and an oppression."17 Immediately afterward, Gil Robles blamed the Popular Front government for the death of Calvo Sotelo and for promoting violence:

*"You have the enormous moral responsibility to sponsor a policy of violence, which arms the murderer's hand; of having, from the blue bench, excited violence; of not having disavowed those who from the majority benches have spoken words of threat and violence against the person of Mr. Calvo Sotelo. [...] Rest assured that the blood of Mr. Calvo Sotelo is on you, and you will never take it off."*<sup>18</sup>

In short, according to the figures provided by Calvo Sotelo and Gil Robles in the parliamentary debates, from February 16 to July 13, inclusive, there were a total of 1511 injured and 330 dead in Spain. In addition to the data count carried out by other researchers —Cibrián, Payne, Cruz Martínez, Blázquez [13–16]— the most current and precise of González Calleja [11] collects a total of 272 incidents and 384 fatalities due to sociopolitical violence produced between February 19 and July 17, 1936. Although the number of this count is higher than that handled by parliamentarians at that time, González Calleja has denied the myth of the persecution of the right through statistical studies: 42.85% of the dead were people related to the left—mostly day laborers and workers— 29.64% were militants or sympathizers of the right-wing formations, and 5.4% police or military, some of them leftists.

Although, as has been shown in the investigations of numerous authors, the spring of 1936 was one of the bloodiest stages in the democratic history of Spain—only surpassed by the revolutionary situation of October 1934—the violence was not exercised by left-wing groups on the rights, nor was it born in the Popular Front stage, nor was it directly responsible for the serious conflicts that sought to be resolved through a coup d'état. Most of the disturbance of public order did not originate in a supposedly great political conflict but was due to multiple, atomized, and multifaceted confrontations of social, economic, and labor overtones.

#### **4.4 Exaltation of violence**

Political violence between gangs of young militants of different ideologies for the possession of public space had been frequent since 1934, but these clashes reached their peak in the spring of 1936. Falangist violence in the form of provocation or self-defense destabilized the democratic regime and polarized public opinion in one direction or another.

On March 12, the Falange organized what would be its most resounding violent act to date: an attack against Luis Jiménez de Asúa,—law professor, first vice-president of the Cortes and defender of the socialist Largo Caballero—who, after a shootout, managed to get out unscathed. However, the agent escorting him, the police officer,

<sup>16</sup> ABC, 07/16/1936, p. 20.

<sup>17</sup> ABC, 07/16/1936, p. twenty-one.

<sup>18</sup> ABC, 07/16/1936, p. 21–22.

Jesús Gisbert, was shot dead. In the *ABC* newspaper of March 13, we find a news story that tells in all kinds of detail how the attack occurred, but no allusion is made to the ideology of the culprits, who are always referred to as "aggressors."<sup>19</sup>

The strategy of provocation and tension, in which the Falange specialized, led to the calling of general protest strikes and demonstrations by left-wing groups that sometimes led to the assault and destruction of the premises of right-wing organizations and clashes with law enforcement. Thus, the attack against Jiménez de Asúa began a spiral of violence: after the burial of agent Gisbert on March 13, a crowd, historians do not determine their ideology, but it can be deduced that they were leftists, assaulted the premises of the Calvo Sotelo's newspaper *La Nación* in Madrid, looted the Café del Norte after a provocative shot, and the churches of San Luis and San Ignacio —on Montera and Principe streets— were set on fire.

When the Falangists saw that an attack against an influential personality generated such a response, the group of conspirators knew how to activate "the strategy of tension." On March 14, José Antonio Primo de Rivera and almost the entire political board of the party were arrested. In response to this harsh blow, on March 16, some gunmen—whose Falangist or traditionalist affiliation was not clear—shot up Largo Caballero's home located on Madrid's Viriato street.

As several studies have shown, while the altercations provoked by the left generally took place in the context of conflict socio-labor, political protest strikes, or meetings with militants from the other end of the political spectrum, the right-wing organized attacks against the public or influential personalities among the enemy ranks, or actions aimed at destabilizing the situation and promoting coup calls.

Thus, Falangism, disdained in the early days by broad sectors of conservatism, began to be considered and the elites close to Calvo Sotelo and Catholics began to finance the Falange while inciting it with their political strategy of "the worse, the better" [17]. Therefore, in their parliamentary speeches, the spokesmen of the conservative parties denounced the lack of authority by exalting political and social violence. In this line, after the altercations of April, Gil Robles recalled that "violence can only be answered with violence, and revenge is very tasty,"20 and added in a civil war tone: "There is a state of excitement that in some translate into aggressiveness and aggression, and panic among others. All this leads to a real civil struggle."<sup>21</sup>

This political and media campaign in which the different types of violence were extolled while at the same time emphasizing the lack of authority on the part of the government, was constant until the army carried out the coup d'état. The issue was not that the right-wing did not cooperate with the government in the search for ways of understanding that would contribute to relaxing the tension, but that they transmitted an amplified image of it, which they justified as a product of chaos, anarchy, and lack of respect for the custom and tradition that the Republic represented. *ABC* never hid its collaboration to end "the uncomfortable, unbearable, and dramatic situation in the country," as an editorial maintained22. In short, it was about making the disorder profitable, presenting it as the ultimate and determining cause in precipitating the crisis that led to the military uprising.

<sup>19</sup> ABC, 03/13/1936, p. 32.

<sup>20</sup> ABC, 04/16/1936, p. 18.

<sup>21</sup> ABC, 04/16/1936, p. 29.

<sup>22</sup> ABC, 06/13/1936, p. 15.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

#### **4.5 Political fraud**

On February 17, 1936, ABC reported the "absolute calm" with which the general elections of February 16 had been held:

*"No strike, no attacks, no scandals. Everyone voted as they wanted, with absolute freedom. Point out this important detail in honor of the Spaniards, because the same thing that happened in Madrid in all of Spain."*<sup>23</sup>

However, it seemed that the free exercise of democracy did not matter to those who had decided to put an end to the Republic since its proclamation. As soon as the victory of the Popular Front in the elections became known, the monarchist newspaper published an editorial alluding to the unconstitutionality of that government: "Since yesterday there has been a left-wing government […] It has come in this irregular way, without having yet legitimized its title, due to the irrevocable resignation of the Portela Government."24 In addition to referring to the political fraud by which the Popular Front would have come to power, and which would justify a coup against that "unconstitutional" government, with that news the ABC published false information since the new government was not spotty.

It is often said that, compared to 47.2% of the Popular Front, the right obtained 45.7% of the votes, with the intention of showing a situation close to a technical tie or the injustice of the electoral system [18]. But this only occurs if the votes of all the coalitions in which the CEDA was present are added up, thus equating its centrist allies, the radicals, or the Lliga with its monarchist and authoritarian allies and uniting all those votes in a coalition. That it did not exist because there was no counterrevolutionary front that appeared in all of Spain with a pact and a government program, for which those data would be justified.

Although reality shows that without the support of the center-right or moderate liberal Republican parties, the anti-republican right-wing alone won only 15 constituencies, the subsequent discourse of the conservative leaders, amplified by the press, was based on the fallacy that the Popular Front did not democratically win the elections, but they were rigged. Currently, this idea has been repeated by authors, such as Fernando del Rey and Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida [19], who review the course of the Republic from the opposition of "representative democracies" versus "antidemocratic ideocracies." Also, the work of Manuel Álvarez Tardío and Roberto Villa García [20] it is intended to be the definitive demonstration of a "ribbling" that would destroy the myth of the clean and incontestable victory of the left in 1936. These authors speak of the fact that "more than 10% of the total number of seats in the new courts, more than 50, was not the result of an electoral competition in freedom." However, they do not provide a figure of how many seats the Popular Front should have kept from the absolute majority if the alleged electoral fraud had not occurred.

To clarify the total data of the electoral victory and refute the arguments of these historians, González Calleja and Sánchez Pérez [21] conclude that, in the worst case, the Popular Front would have obtained 243 deputies —six above the absolute majority— and the opposition 230 seats. In other words, accepting the assumption that "the Popular Front did not even win the minorities in Cuenca, lost in Granada, La Coruña, Cáceres, Tenerife, two deputies in Valencia province, another in Málaga, another in Lugo, tied in Castellón, and would not get anything in Álava and Guipúzcoa" [21]. Therefore, assuming that all the doubtful or adjusted cases were unfavorable to him

<sup>23</sup> ABC, 02/17/1936, p. 13.

<sup>24</sup> ABC, 02/20/1936, p. 17.

and that the minutes commission had not challenged any act in favor of the Popular Front, the latter would have obtained, even so, an absolute majority. However, these same authors affirm that this does not mean that there was no corruption, abuses by the authorities, political clientelism, and rural caciquism in the electoral trajectory of the Second Republic.

Following the line of disinformation that it had adopted especially during the spring of 1936; the *ABC* published the following false information:

*"The most important point of the embassy is the one referring to the situation of violence in the Courts. We are not referring to the material order, to the incidents and clashes typical of the condition and style of a part of the majority. [...] It is about another type of violence: the arbitrary spirit and the abuse of power by the majority openly willing to impose the number against reason and the law, and to capriciously grant or deny the proclamation of the deputies according to their ideas and their affiliations. It is about snatching clean and indisputable acts from the right, such as those of Salamanca and Orense, and revalidating for the left those that are scandalously dirty, such as those of Coruña, Cáceres and Pontevedra. It is intended that Messrs. Gil Robles and Calvo Sotelo not be deputies."*<sup>25</sup>

The reality, however, was far from being an electoral fraud strategy to gain power. After the elections, there was a series of individual challenges that changed the order of the elected deputies in some provinces due to the annulment of tables and sections or the non-compliance by a candidate with the requirements to be elected. The most serious examples of irregularities took place in Salamanca, Cáceres, Cuenca, and Granada. In fact, these last two had to be partially and totally annulled, respectively, due to coercion, cacique violence during the campaign, and electoral fraud with suspicious final counts in favor of the right. In short, of the thirteen challenges, six benefited the Popular Front, a figure that does not seem decisive to change the landscape of the chamber.

As a result of these investigations that have studied the electoral irregularities of February 1936, it is known that there was no fraud, but that this argument, repeated by right-wing leaders and magnified in conservative newspapers such as ABC, is one more element of the black legend of the spring of 1936.

#### **4.6 Unconstitutionality of the republic**

With the continuous allusion to the political fraud of the Popular Front and the political use of fear by arguing the escalation of violence, the right-wing tried to make the republican government unconstitutional to incite the army and pressure groups to mobilize against it. They had the perfect argument: it was illegitimate.

In this context, the right-wing parties—some of whose formations were close to interwar fascism,—which had pressed from the beginning to end the Second Republic, became in the eyes of public opinion the defenders of Republican law. However, they did not hesitate to threaten the government with the adoption of "a definitive resolution" if their will was not respected.26 With the discussion about the acts, the monarchist minorities, and the CEDA decided, as part of their political strategy, to withdraw from Congress to strengthen the argument of the invalidity and unconstitutionality of the cortes and, therefore, of the government. The *ABC* published it this way in a news item: "We are facing a parliament that, before being

<sup>25</sup> ABC, 03/25/1936, p. fifteen.

<sup>26</sup> ABC, 03/24/1936, p. 15.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

constituted, has lost its virtuality. It is a parliament without opposition, as the majority has wanted."<sup>27</sup>

After the events that occurred on April 14, 1936, during the commemorative parade of the fifth anniversary of the Republic, the government sent a law that deprived retired soldiers of passive rights who supported illegal leagues, associations, organizations, or participated in disturbing acts of public order. In addition, he ordered the dissolution of all fascist leagues, which were declared illegal. The conservative forces did not take long to show themselves against the approval of the law. Specifically, Calvo Sotelo denounced in Congress the anti-democratic attitude of the government regarding the new norm:

*"The law prohibits campaigning against the republican regime […] This law is dictatorial, even if it comes out of Parliament. With it, the executive branch has the same powers that a dictatorship could assume."*<sup>28</sup>

As the months passed and the plan for the coup d'état was consolidated, the conservative politicians made greater allusions in their speeches to the unconstitutional nature of the regime. The *ABC* published these speeches in full, riddled with manipulated or directly false information. However, it was not only right-wing leaders who repeated the fallacy that the republican government was not democratic. This header published daily opinion articles written by different intellectuals of the time where, in one way or another, they repeated the conservative ideology of the time. Thus, Lázaro Fabre wrote in the monarchist newspaper:

*"The [Popular Anti-Fascist] Front is not a sincere alliance, but use of democracy and republican governments as access and disguise, to destroy as soon as they have rendered their service. [...] The Governments of the Popular Front are no longer parliamentary and liberal democracy; they are, in fact, a pre-Bolshevist dictatorship."*<sup>29</sup>

Among the *ABC* publications, there are also editorials with which the header, in tune with its own ideology, intended, by disseminating false or exaggerated information, to point out the inability of the Republic to solve public disorder and other problems and, thus, bring about a regime change:

*"Parliament shows signs of exhaustion, of impotence […] There is a majority that […] only remains compact to insult and attack the adversary. When it is not a question of tearing down, but of building, the discrepancies and antagonisms between the various groups of the Popular Front are exposed."*<sup>30</sup>

#### **4.7 Rebellion against the government**

Of the different tactics and arguments that were used to end the Republic mentioned above, the promotion of a coup is the most direct. In an editorial on February 21, the header shared the hope that the Popular Front would not last long in government, encouraging "good Spaniards" to action:

*"Spain is not such a weak body that it cannot resist the attacks of a political group without responding vigorously to its offensive […] The episode now will also save Spain. It is not necessary for it more than one thing: that the good Spaniards want it to be like this."*<sup>31</sup>

<sup>27</sup> ABC, 04/01/1936, p. 15.

<sup>28</sup> ABC, 04/19/1936, p. 44.

<sup>29</sup> ABC, 06/14/1936, p. 31.

<sup>30</sup> ABC, 06/19/1936, p. 19.

<sup>31</sup> ABC, 02/21/1936, p. 23.

As the spring of 1936 progressed and the presence of news about the social and political instability of the moment increased, so did the virulence of the attacks on the Republic. On April 9, *ABC* criticized in an editorial the "ups and downs" that the republican political regime essentially entailed and, following its monarchical and conservative ideology, called for "a nation that is organized based on continuity and stability as the substance of the government regime. As far as we know, Monarchy, and nothing else, is called that figure."32

According to González Calleja [9], the July coup was not only the result of the vulnerability of the republican regime or the organizational capacity of the right but also the fruit of the cultural construction of the counterrevolution. Specifically, in March 1936, the *ABC* published an opinion article in which the writer Ramiro de Maeztu, with a conservative ideology, commented: "I have been convinced for some time that all this period of confusion and hesitation will end up generating an overwhelming counterrevolutionary movement, from which the salvation of Spain must come."33 Here we see how the rhetorical rupture of normality through the dissemination of a catastrophic discourse turns the rebellion against the democratic government into a necessary and urgent task.

In short, the monarchists proclaimed themselves the most effective and radical group to save Spain from falling into a revolution, thanks to Calvo Sotelo, Goicoechea the one in charge of the negotiations with fascist Italy— and Sáinz Rodríguez in a joint civic-military plot [10]. Along these lines, the head of Renovación Española did not hide his support for those who wanted to put an end to the Republic:

*"There is no need to say that we monarchists would collaborate with a common design together with those who do not have the same conviction; but harbor ideas similar to ours regarding a transformation of the State in a corporate, hierarchical, Catholic, and national sense."*<sup>34</sup>

Similarly, in a parliamentary debate published in full on *ABC*, Calvo Sotelo alluded to the "military duty, which consists of serving loyally when commanded legally and in service of the Homeland, and reacting furiously when commanded illegally and in detriment of the country,"35 and barely a month before the Francoist coup d'état, the leader of the National Bloc promoted a military uprising in the Cortes: "I think that the military man who, at the forefront of his destiny, would not be willing to rise up in favor of Spain would also be crazy and against anarchy, should it occur."<sup>36</sup>

### **5. Conclusions**

The *ABC*, instead of informing, explaining the meaning of events, educating its readers — the three classic functions of the media described by Lasswell as "surveillance," "correlation" or "transmission of cultural heritage" [22] —or serve as entertainment— the fourth function added by Lazarsfeld and Merton [23] — used persuasion and manipulation as communication techniques with the aim of influencing public opinion, building myths and, ultimately modifying behavior.

<sup>32</sup> ABC, 04/09/1936, p. 31.

<sup>33</sup> ABC, 03/26/1936, p. 3–4.

<sup>34</sup> ABC, 05/16/1936, p. 19.

<sup>35</sup> ABC, 05/20/1936, p. 26–27.

<sup>36</sup> ABC, 06/17/1936, p. 26.

#### *Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

After classifying the results into different categories, it is verified that the monarchist newspaper carried out a defamation campaign, published false or unverified information, and omitted relevant information to mobilize public opinion and thus justify a coup d'état that was already planned by the monarchists since the beginning of the Republic. Also, the investigation confirms the initial hypothesis that the ABC served as an amplifier of the catastrophic speeches repeated by political bosses and conservative intellectuals even though there was no real threat of a communist revolution, nor was their unstoppable violence as a direct cause of the lack of authority of the Popular Front government.

Behind the different strategies used by the *ABC* during the spring of 1936 and analyzed in this work, the political use of fear to destabilize the Republic is found as a common denominator. According to González Calleja [8], "fear can mobilize when the source and potential of the threat is known, and it is thought that it can be eliminated through the use of preventive violence." Thus, the agitation of fear in the face of the threat was a political resource that conservative media, such as *ABC* used to accelerate events.

As has been seen, the monarchist and fascist right-wings always identified republican democracy with communist revolution and foreign invasion. Therefore, through the demonization of the opponent and the construction of the "myth of the communist revolution", the monarchist newspaper instilled fear and fueled hatred toward those who voted for the leftist candidates. This, in turn, accelerated a process of polarization in society and gave rise to a dynamic of preventive violence by some and a defensive response by others. The *ABC* promoted the exaltation of violence through the publication of deliberately manipulated figures and parliamentary debates that alluded to the lack of public order. The fear of revolution and irrepressible violence, together with the continuous accusations of political fraud in the February elections —which fed the fallacy of the unconstitutionality of the Republic—it was intended to highlight the inability of the government to maintain order and peace in Spain. Thus, the conservative leaders made constant appeals to the need to solve political problems through force and the use of authority, encouraging the achievement of the coup. With the outbreak of the civil war, "the fear of ideological adversaries gave way to terror against political enemies, aimed at their physical elimination." Conservative leaders made constant appeals to the need to solve political problems through force and the use of authority, encouraging the achievement of the coup. With the outbreak of the civil war, "the fear of ideological adversaries gave way to terror against political enemies, aimed at their physical elimination." Conservative leaders made constant appeals to the need to solve political problems through force and the use of authority, encouraging the achievement of the coup. With the outbreak of the civil war, "the fear of ideological adversaries gave way to terror against political enemies, aimed at their physical elimination" [8].

Ultimately, the goal of *ABC,* in line with the conservative parties and forming part of the political, military, and media framework that ended up overthrowing the republican regime, was to present the rebellion against the government and, therefore, the civil war as an inevitable trigger for the political violence suffered during the Republic. However, the violence of the spring of 1936 should not be interpreted as the direct cause of the civil war, but rather as the immediate manifestation of a state of social unrest and political struggle that is connected to the dynamics of confrontation between reactionary, reformist projects and revolutionary, typical of the interwar period throughout Europe. In this context, the press did not remain on the sidelines, but rather played a fundamental role in each of these political projects, agitating public opinion to opt for one.

#### **Thanks**

To my grandfather Carmelo, because when he was young earnt a living selling the newspapers that I have now studied. Thanks for being the best example to follow. To my parents, for their effort, trust, and love. My achievements are yours. To my sister, for her company and her infinite laughter.

### **Author details**

Lucía Noguerales García Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

\*Address all correspondence to: lucia.noguerales@gmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Fake News against the Spanish Second Republic: The* ABC *as a Collaborator and Agitator… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108149*

#### **References**

[1] Calleja JML, de España B. Una crónica histórica ante el ataque nacionalista que reivindica el valor de España. Madrid: Planeta; 2020

[2] Eiroa M, Barranquero A. Métodos de investigación en la comunicación y sus medios. Madrid: Síntesis; 2017

[3] Yin RK. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Applied Social Research Methods Series. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1989

[4] Berelson B. Content Analysis in Communication Research. Glencoe: Free Press; 1952

[5] Krippendorff K. Content Analysis Methodology. Theory and practice Barcelona: Paidós Communication; 1990

[6] El CV. deshaucio de la Monarquía. La prensa ante la llegada de la Segunda República. Madrid: Fragua; 2016

[7] Doob L.W. Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda. vol. 14(3). The Public Opinion Quarterly. Oxford University Press; 1950

[8] González CE. Los discursos catastrofistas de los líderes de la derecha y la difusión del mito del 'golpe de Estado comunista'. El Argonauta español. 2016;**13**. DOI: 10.4000/argonauta.2412

[9] González CE. Contrarrevolucionarios. Radicalización violenta de las derechas durante la Segunda República, 1931-1936. Madrid: Alianza Editorial; 2011

[10] Viñas A. ¿Quién quiso la guerra civil? Historia de una conspiración. Barcelona: Planeta; 2019

[11] González CE, Cifras cruentas. Las víctimas mortales de la violencia sociopolítica en la Segunda República española. Granada: Comares; 2015

[12] Seoane M.C, Sáiz M.D. Historia del periodismo en España. 3. El siglo XX: 1898-1936. Madrid: Alianza, 1996

[13] Cibrián R. Violencia política y crisis democrática. España. Revista de Estudios Políticos. 1936;**6**:1978

[14] Payne S. G. El colapso de la República. Los orígenes de la Guerra Civil (1933-1936). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros, 2005

[15] Cruz MR. En el nombre del pueblo. In: República, rebelión y guerra en la España de 1936. Madrid: Siglo XXI; 2006

[16] Blázquez MJ. Conflictividad en la España del Frente Popular (febrero-julio de 1936). Historia. 2003;**16**(328):76-95

[17] González Calleja E, Navarro CR. La España del Frente Popular. Política, sociedad, conflicto y cultura en la España de 1936. Comares: Granada; 2012

[18] González Calleja E, Cobo Romero F, Martínez Rus A, Sánchez PF. La Segunda República española. Barcelona: Pasado y Presente; 2015

[19] Del Rey F, Álvarez CG. Palabras como puños: La intransigencia política en la Segunda República española. Madrid: Tecnos; 2011

[20] Álvarez Tardío M, Villa GR. Fraude y violencia en las elecciones del Frente Popular. Barcelona: Espasa; 2017

[21] González Calleja E, Sánchez PF. Revisando el revisionismo. A propósito del libro 1936. Fraude y violencia en las elecciones del Frente Popular. Historia

Contemporánea. 2018;**58**:851-881. DOI: 10.1387/hc.19831

[22] Lasswell H. In: Bryson L, editor. The Structure and Function of Communication in Society in the Communication of Ideas. New York: Harper and Brothers; 1948

[23] Lazarsfeld P, Merton R. Mass Communication, Popular Taste and Organized Social Action. Urbana: University of Illinois Press; 1948

Section 2

## Media Roles in Advocating Different Issues

#### **Chapter 3**

### Environmental Journalism: Education on the Global South

*Veronika Yarnykh*

#### **Abstract**

This chapter focuses on the development of environmental journalism and the Global South. The material discusses the modern approach to pedagogical design in journalism study. It is important to pay attention to the new request for the learning process and learning technologies from generation Z (Gen Z). The response to the new request is new media educational technologies, including the formation of a unified educational and communication space. The global environmental news agenda is seen as a tool for integrated education and opportunities for professional specialization of students. Environmental journalism is one of the new integrated areas of journalism, which is shaping the educational space in a new way.

**Keywords:** environmental journalism, media educational technologies, journalism study, professional specialization, generation Z, global environmental agenda

#### **1. Introduction**

Modern journalism education is undergoing significant changes. Modern journalism today is very diverse and multifaceted. This is not just an integrated industry that includes communications, public relations, sociology, etc. Modern journalism has been significantly expanded due to the civic platform and civic journalism; it includes new formats of interaction with the audience, the use of new approaches and materials. In addition to a paradigm shift in the professional identity of journalism as such, a significant expansion of the boundaries of journalism through citizen journalism, vloggers, etc., digital transformation processes and the impact of the global thematic agenda also have a huge impact. Generation Z and a mix of generations Z and Y want to learn by discussing contemporary global issues, including environmental problems. Gen Z is overwhelmingly worried about climate change: 76% of them say that it's one of their biggest societal concerns, while 37% make it their number one concern [1]. Taking into account the digital transformation of education and the significant increase in the use of blended learning, there is a need for significant motivation of students to work in online and blended formats. Analysis and construction of training process on the basis of the modern global environmental agenda provides such motivation. Also, the ability to work with a modern social agenda and the environmental problems forms the ability to work with sources, highlighting fake news and disinformation, and creates a professional journalistic view. It is also important to note the fact that environmental journalism today is all about data and numbers. This

means that such a general professional journalism competence like a date—journalism increases in demand.

Environmental issues and the environmental agenda are extremely popular in the media today. Every day brings several dozen messages about scientific achievements in the field of the environment, as well as about problems, disasters, cases, etc. In fact, the global environmental agenda is very full today. According to Digital News Report [2], the most popular sources of information on environmental events are television (35% of respondents), online news sites from major news organizations (15% of respondents) and, finally, specialized outlets covering climate issues (only 12% of respondents). Television is not as dead as we all think. Moreover, it is important to note that the interest in the environmental agenda among people is quite high. On average, across all markets, around 69% of respondents of all ages stated that they consider climate change to be an extremely or very serious problem. Less than one in ten (9%) of respondents does not see climate change as serious while around one in five (19%) said they were somewhat concerned [2]. Based on these data, it should be noted that with such a sufficient high popularity of the topic, wide publication of unverified information, the appearance of unreliable expert comments, etc. is possible. In this regard, the specificity of the training for modern journalists appears in terms of the ability to analyze information, constantly adhere to the process of factchecking, etc.

It should be mentioned that the most popular topics of discussion in 2021, for example, in the Global South, were the issue of utilization of household and industrial waste, business and green washing, forest fires and climate change [3]. Bloomberg in February 2022 mentioned the problem of the cities as a threat for ecology and environment. The World's Fastest-Growing Cities Are Facing the Most Climate Risk according UN report [4]. The Global South is the most fast developing part of our world with great economic, industrial and human capital potential. But this potential and the fast growth are one of the reasons of environmental problems. The megacities of the Global South have major socio-economic and environmental problems, such as in increase in slum-dwellers, air and water pollution, resource depletion, and rising urban poverty [5].

The ability to understand such a diverse agenda is a separate competence. Environmental journalism has a fairly large technical and technological component. This does not mean that a journalist should have a technical education in general, but it means, to a greater extent, that the specifics of the training of such a journalist should also include a certain technical component, a much larger volume of development of critical thinking and analysis.

Thus, based on the data above, it should be noted that the training of an environmental journalist is a specific both from the point of view of journalism technologies (development of critical thinking, development of analytical data, technology of data journalism, etc.) and from the point of view of content (understanding of special terminology, the ability to interact with experts, a certain technical background, etc.).

The third major challenge is the use of blended or distant learning in journalism education. Such conditions, in the context of the digital transformation of education, are becoming an influencing factor in pedagogical design. And in these conditions, it is necessary to talk about new approaches to pedagogical design in journalism education in general, and especially in environmental journalism study [6]. The ongoing digital transformation of education, the use of a blended format requires the use of media educational technologies for the realization of opportunity of learning in a digital environment.

So it's important to note. The research problem is actualized by several challenges. First of all, this is the request of Gen Z to include in the educational process topics that are critical and important for them. The problems of climate change, environmental changes in general, certainly belong to such. The second important challenge in the presented interpretation is the change in approaches to pedagogical design and motivational learning tools. And the last challenge is the digital transformation of the learning process and the implementation of the Gen Z request for simplicity, comfort, familiarity and convenience of the learning process and communications.

#### **2. Theoretical and methodological aspects of the learning process in development of environmental journalism in the Global South**

Environmental journalism is an important specialization in journalism education today. Based on theoretical review of previous researches and theoretical studies, some key aspects are crucial to be considered to ensure the effectiveness of environmental journalism education in the countries of Global South. It's important to mention that such tasks are the critical doe development of journalism studies all over the world. It's crucial to consider some aspects.

The complex of methods of this research consists in the following. The analysis of theoretical sources on the issues under study, logical analysis, interpretation of the results of the functioning of the educational environment and practical educational experience, empirical methods of collecting information were used.

First of all, it's important to pay attention to the pedagogical (instructional) design plays very bright role in the journalism study today. There are two focuses of the process of pedagogical design in this case. The first important focus is about the pedagogical design of the entire training program for environmental journalists. This is either a training profile program (bachelor's or master's), or a specialization program (this is a bachelor's program with elective courses). In this case, it is necessary to talk about the program's content and their context.

The second important aspect of pedagogical design is the learning process and using media educational technologies. This is a paradigm shift in the role of the teacher in the learning process and the strengthening of the role of student-centeredness. Taking into account the focus of student-centeredness in the learning process, it is necessary to place a significantly greater emphasis on the group work of students during classes, the work of project groups during the study of the disciplines of the program, student activities in the learning process.

And finally, the third aspect of pedagogical design is the inclusion of a meaningful environmental agenda in the curriculum, the study of technologies and methods of covering global events, and the search for new opportunities for their coverage in social media. This focus plays the big role because it closely connects with motivation process of students. The inclusion of a modern global agenda in the learning process of international journalism will form the necessary motivation, especially in online and blended learning [7].

Nowadays the concept of pedagogical design is changing significantly. In the context of digital transformation, it becomes crucial to meet several challenges of the digital transformation era. First of all, it is necessary to talk not only about the pedagogical design of a discipline or course, which is certainly important. And we need to focus more on the pedagogical design of the information and educational environment as a whole [8]. And from this perspective, its worth talking about the design of

the educational environment, educational resource, educational material, motivation to learn. In the context of digital transformation, the issue of motivating students to learn becomes fundamentally important [9].

The transition to a distance learning format showed the need to introduce new tools for motivating people to learn, since the level of self-motivation in this case for Gen Z becomes rather low. It would be beneficial to draw the attention to the fact that among Gen Z, the request for training today correlates with the request for communication. Training should take place in a comfortable, familiar, convenient environment. Solving this important motivational task, it is necessary to build other approaches in the field of pedagogical design. As practice shows, to increase the motivation of students to learn, "flipped classroom" or "inverted learning" technologies work well.

Modern students are not interested in listening to a teacher for a long period of time during the seminar. This is boring and makes them instantly "leave the classroom" on social networks, on media platforms, on podcasts and find something more exciting for themselves. With the flipped classroom, students not only have to study the material, but also prepare it for presentation and present it orally to classmates using the skills of briefing text, group work, presentation and communication skills.

Also, an important condition for modern pedagogical design is the creation of a single informational and educational space. A single informational and educational space today is a controlled and dynamically developing system of effective and comfortable provision of information and communication services to objects of the learning process, taking into account modern trends in education modernization. An important point, based, among other things, on the principle of the convenience of obtaining information for generation Z.

There are several informational and studying blocks that it seems necessary to use within a single informational and educational space of the course. This is actually the information block itself with lecture notes, additional information materials, manuals, articles by researchers on a given topic, links to informational and educational platforms and resources, video platform materials, etc. The second block of materials is training materials, including questions for seminars and colloquia, cases for seminars, as well as cases for an inverted class, interesting and useful, relevant materials for quick reference. The third block of materials is the communication block, which allows you to communicate with students, answer their questions, build the process of E-mentoring on a horizontal and vertical level. And, finally, the fourth compulsory block of materials is the place for independent project group work of students and the space for group work on cases.

This structuring of materials in a single information and educational environment allows solving many educational problems. First of all, this is an opportunity for students to return to the materials if necessary, to study topics in a convenient format and time period, and most importantly, it is the opportunity to see the entire landscape of the course being studied with all information and educational materials and resources. This allows the student to calculate the time, see the entire amount of effort required to achieve the educational goals of the course, etc. And of course, such an approach and such a pedagogical design of the course allow the student to create conditions for a convenient, comfortable and familiar learning in communications.

Considering the issue of changing the concept of pedagogical design in the context of digital transformation, it should also be mentioned that today the pedagogical design should take into account the following conditions. This is a factor in the use of media educational technologies, and in general digital technologies in the framework of education. The technologies used must meet such requirements as convenience and

#### *Environmental Journalism: Education on the Global South DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109187*

ease of use. Here it is necessary to talk about the interface of the technologies used, and their simplicity as such, and the ability to master them very quickly if necessary. There are many models within the pedagogical design process. There are several characteristics that must be present in all training models. First, pedagogical design is student-centered: the focus is on the student and his/her academic performance. Student-centeredness is becoming more than just an important factor. This is, first of all, a change in the teaching paradigm in general, and a change in the role of the teacher as such. Second, pedagogical design is goal-oriented: well-defined goals are important. Third, pedagogical design is focused on real performance. It is necessary to create an environment in which students must demonstrate the behavior that is expected of them in the real world. This is an important point that becomes fundamentally important in competence-based learning. The development of project and communication competencies, teamwork skills are a fundamentally important task that must be taken into account by pedagogical design in the context of digital transformation. Also, pedagogical design focuses on outcomes that can be reliably measured. Building effective and reliable measuring instruments is essential. Another important characteristic is the understanding that pedagogical design is an empirical process. Data analysis becomes the heart of the pedagogical design process. Finally, pedagogical design is usually a collective effort.

Based on these four blocks, pedagogical design allows to build a curriculum or discipline for training environmental journalism. It is important to note that, depending on the training program or discipline, pedagogical design will focus on different constituent blocks of the program. Separately, I would like to draw the attention to the point that based on this approach in the field of pedagogical design; the following opportunities will open up for environmental journalism studies. These opportunities are associated with the formation of a single educational space for students, and most importantly, with the ability to very quickly update educational materials using news and analytical materials from environmental journalism.

#### **3. Pedagogical design in environmental journalism study**

Environmental issues will form the basis for a specialization in environmental journalism [10]. An environmental journalism agenda is also critical to the training of future journalists. It should be noted that, in general, the news agenda is used to educate future journalists [11]. Learning based on real examples, such as a pandemic, the environmental agenda motivates students to think about solving urgent problems, to use their skills to make informed decisions in future crises. Topical articles on science lead to an increase in students' curiosity, the emergence of issues relevant from the learning point of view, as well as to the creation of a unique educational environment. It is important to note here precisely the creation of an educational environment in which the discussion of the environmental agenda allows the entire group to be involved in the discussion.

Studying materials from well-known news sources helps to involve students in the learning process, since the published information often directly relates to their lives. This greatly helps to increase the motivation of students while studying the course. The involvement of Generation Z in the modern environmental agenda has already been noted above. These topics are interesting for future journalists as they constitute their own generational agenda for discussion. The second benefit in this case is also the motivation for specialization in environmental and science journalism.

The use of news and media material in the direct process can demonstrate how the knowledge and skills included in the theoretical curriculum can be applied in practice. A paragraph from a textbook ceases to be abstract; questions of the isolation of knowledge are removed by themselves. Topical examples of the news and scientific agenda in this case act as topics for the development of the necessary practical competencies. The formation and development of competencies such as group work skills, or project work, based on a modern news agenda, can be used. Also an important aspect in this case is the development of students' expert skills. Each student has their own area of interest (fashion, sports, environmental agenda, etc.). Discussing the modern environmental news agenda within the framework of practical seminars, some of the students for whom such an agenda represents an area of professional interest can act as experts in the work of project groups. This stimulates motivation for learning on the one hand, allows us to form the status of a student in a group, develops an expert position of student, etc. on the other [12].

News materials allow teachers and students to update the information given in the textbooks. This is one of the most important aspects of using the global environmental news agenda. Updating educational information allows to solve several problems. First, the formation of an actual journalistic position and knowledge of the top topics of modern media themes. Modern media agenda and topics of modern media discussion are forming a professional position. Secondly, it really is the actualization of the information in the textbook. Modern cases (especially at the level of the global agenda) make it possible to increase the digestibility of theoretical approaches and technologies, increase interest in learning and shape practice for further activities [12].

As noted by Hakan, Akcay et al., the above aspects affect the practical and theoretical aspects of both the training of journalists in general and environmental journalists in particular [11].

Thus, the following points should be noted. Environmental journalism studies have challenges in several directions. First of all, training programs or individual disciplines and courses in the field of environmental journalism require significantly new approaches in the field of educational design. Pedagogical design today makes educators, on the one hand, form educational content in a new paradigm, using the modern global environmental agenda. On the other hand, student-centeredness presupposes new educational technologies (which will be discussed below). The motivation of the student is becoming an important factor influencing the paradigm of pedagogical design, and the modern environmental agenda makes it possible to form such motivation. Then the issues of the environmental agenda are the subject of interest of Generation Z, at the same time these issues provide an opportunity to form a professional position for the student. Motivation in the blended or remote education format is becoming a particularly significant challenge. Questions that are the subject of interest of the generation as a whole allow to form such motivation and arouse interest in the learning process itself through content.

An important subject in this case also becomes a change in the role of the teacher, and the inclusion of group work and project work in the learning process, which is based on the environmental agenda, allows to support a paradigm shift and a change in the role of the teacher through the process of pedagogical design. And this is also a paradigm shift in pedagogical design.

And finally global environmental agenda could be used in two ways in instrumental (pedagogical) design. We could use it as basis for environmental journalism study as a whole or for professional specialization or professional identity.

#### **4. Media educational technologies and global environmental agenda in learning process**

Considering the basic foundations of modern training programs for journalists of different profiles, as noted earlier, the use of the global environmental agenda can be used precisely for specialization within journalism study. In this material, it is important to note that the specialization in environmental journalism was carried out in the training of international journalists. Based on the above approaches, it is necessary to consider in detail the media education technologies that can be used in such specialization. Thetheoreticalandmethodologicalbasisfortheimplementationofthisapproach (new pedagogical design, student-centered work, etc.) is media education technologies.

Speaking about media education technologies, it is important to note the fact that there is no established definition in the existing discourse. For example, the use of media in the classroom is depicted as media educational technology [13]. The use of classical educational technologies (project team, for example) in the digital space will also be a media education technology ([14], p. 78).

Nevertheless, I would like to highlight that the main media educational technologies that can be applied in this context to form the specialization of students in the field of environmental journalism in the framework of international journalism. It is important to note from this perspective that the use of the global environmental agenda, for example, looks very attractive and potentially.

As noted by Cai Melakoski, Richard Vickers and James Field, modern media education technologies are integrated on the one hand and implement an innovative and creative approach on the other ([15], p. 63). In classroom universities are looking for new forms of online learning, investing rather large budgets in the development of distance learning, eLearning, mobile learning, etc. Now the possibility of distance education and hybrid (blended) learning will be used widely. Media educational technologies today mean not only the use of media, but also the implementation of modern educational technologies in the digital environment into the educational environment. And the introduction of a global environmental agenda into the educational space is becoming an important factor in the specialization of a journalist.

The use of global news in journalism education in general, and within the framework of specialization has been used not so long ago. The global news agenda, the same example with COVID-19, fits into the format of phenomenon-based learning—a concept that is actively used in Finnish schools and has already begun to be applied around the world. It is also suitable for problem-based learning [16].

It is necessary to note the important areas of development of journalistic competencies, which are formed and developed through the use of the global news agenda in general and the environmental agenda in particular. First of all, it is the need to teach journalism students the basics of scientific literacy by acquainting them with important scientific views and selected theories of science and scientific communication. It is also vital to teach students to write about scientific discoveries and events to the general public in an accessible way. Another important task is to organize a discussion in the group using the relevant environmental agenda news to teach students to communicate their opinions and ideas to the rest of the group. The aim is for them to become competent facilitators and channels of the scientific worldview for the masses. It becomes important to teach students basic numbers and how to write about statistics in ecology. And finally, the skill of communication and interaction with scientists in the preparation of journalistic or media material in general becomes

an important competence. This is where interview skills become important. Such a task can also be implemented in the group work, or when working in couples. This achieves the complexity of specializing in environmental journalism.

It is necessary to highlight two components of proposed approach. To develop a professional specialization in the field of the environmental journalism, students can use work in project groups to prepare thematic essays and presentations, participate in seminars as internal experts on environmental issues, perform individual and group assignments, taking into account this topic. Preparation of materials for student media is becoming an important area of professional training, taking into account specializations in the field of environmental journalism [17].

The second direction of development considers the digital transformation of the learning process and is aimed at the formation of a single information and educational space (MS Teams, Google) and the use of knowledge management technologies. It's important to publish the presentation and lecture materials, links to information resources, articles, tutorials, materials of visual platforms, links to open materials of educational platforms in the single educational and informational space ([8], p. 68). These opportunities provide the work of student project groups, group work, E-mentoring within a single educational space. These media educational technologies are used to implement the tasks of pedagogical design, and to ensure the process of digital transformation of education.

The use of knowledge management principles is very important in the formation and development of training and specialization of a journalist. The concept of knowledge management itself is not new, but its use within the framework of the formation of a single information and educational space and the implementation of the principles of convenience, comfort and familiar for Gen Z gives many advantages. There are three major types of knowledge management systems: enterprise wide knowledge management systems, knowledge work systems, and intelligent techniques. Knowledge Management is a process where value is derived from knowledge by reframing, structuring, and storing data held within the organization. It has a multidisciplinary approach which is mostly used in aiming to achieve objectives through the best potential use of knowledge. The primary aim of Knowledge Management is to enhance the performance and to make a strategic approach towards the goals [18]. The main goal in this situation is very detailed, integrated and multilateral environmental journalism study. Paying attention to the best practices from corporate sphere it's possible to use the following elements of Knowledge Management as collaboration, constant access to the course materials, all tools in one place and easy communication with students and teacher.

#### **5. Global environmental agenda in journalism study's process**

As noted above, environmental journalism as a direction is developing rapidly. This is also based on the interest in existing environmental problems on the part of Gens Z and Y. Also, the global environmental agenda itself becomes an important factor and tool for training future journalists. The environmental situation on Global South takes one of the first place here.

It could show on the example of the using global agenda in journalism study in Russia. The Russian educational agenda is fully included in the global agenda of journalism education. As noted above, the profiling and specialization of journalism education today is under strong pressure from both changes in the demand of the students themselves and the emergence of new areas of journalism. Humanities

#### *Environmental Journalism: Education on the Global South DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109187*

education today looks much broader than even a few years ago, and the humanization of modern education as a whole contains a large humanitarian agenda [19]. As it was also noted earlier, the environmental agenda in the modern world is of growing interest and attracts the development of journalism as a new direction. Students of our faculty are in demand not only in Russia, they also work in international companies, and knowledge of the modern international journalistic agenda becomes a strength for them when looking for a job. In this regard, specialization in the field of environmental journalism and environmental journalism is becoming in demand among our students. It was these parameters that became the basis for reflection at the faculty when designing the learning process and choosing approaches in the field of pedagogical design.

The reliance on the experience of specialization and professional identification of journalists in the process of studying at the Master's program in international journalism allows us to speak of the following results. Specialization in professional spheres took place within the framework of several courses, one of them was "Modern Media Communications". Professional specialization went within the framework of this course in several directions, including environmental journalism.

Considering all the materials listed above, it's really crucial to talk about acquired results. First of all, the training within the framework of this course took place in blended format, which makes it possible to talk about the need to use the pedagogical design approach in the context of digital transformation. The main emphasis within the framework of the pedagogical design of the course was placed on motivating students to study in a hybrid format (both in the classroom and in a remote format simultaneously or sequentially), on the convenience and habit of receiving information and communicating in a digital environment, and maximum use of relevant materials and the global environmental agenda for the formation and strengthening of professional specialization in environmental journalism. From the point of view of the specifics of pedagogical design, a single educational space was formed for masters studying the course, the principle of reverse learning, group work of students and project work in blended space, and the use of the 3A concept were widely used. The Google Classroom ecosystem was chosen as a single educational space. As additional elements of the educational space Google Doc, Google Sheet and Canva, Google Chat and WhatsApp for fast communication were used during studying process.

I would especially like to share the following results. I would like to highlight the fact that within the course came the specialization of students in several directions, and environmental journalism was one of them. Students who chose a certain specialization became experts in the chosen field. They studied their direction, chose the most interesting materials for presentation during the seminars. Each lesson featured a presentation of the global agenda by student experts. Each student presented during the seminar three key news for a week in their area. It could be an event, or a discovery, or news that has become the most discussed over the past period. One of the directions for environmental journalism in the context of a pandemic has become information about COVID-19, for example. I would like to note the great interest of students in this expansion of their own professional identity. For example, during one of the seminars there was the topic of a significant increase in the volume of plastic waste in the form of used coronavirus tests and a huge number of used masks. This information sparked a lengthy and active discussion, after which students—experts in environmental journalism made a special group project presentation on the impact of COVID-19 on the environment. This significantly expands the media landscape of knowledge of students in different selected specializations and mutually enriches

their knowledge in different areas. This element of knowledge management of the course as a whole turned out to be in demand among students.

The second tool for the development of specialization in environmental journalism was the development of expert skills of students. During the seminars, discussion topics were formed in such a way that, in addition to theoretical knowledge on the subject, students could comment on the situation from the position of their expert position and use the modern global environmental agenda as arguments.

Also, a separate task within the course was an interview with specialists and experts in the field of the chosen specialization, in this case with experts in the field of the environmental agenda, and then the presentation of the results of the interviews during the seminars.

Separately, I would like to highlight group project work in a distance format in a single educational space in Google Doc, Google Sheet and Canva. The topics of this group essay and presentation were the preparation of materials on natural disasters, local environmental problems, poverty, hunger, food production, etc. As part of this work, it was necessary to analyze and compare the news coverage of any selected topic or news content in two or more newspapers, media channels or news sources. It was important to note the differences in lighting and the reasons for these differences. It was necessary to select one national, one global and one local news media.

Also, as part of the development of specialization in the field of environmental journalism, student round tables and mini-conferences were widely used. These media technologies have proven to be very effective. For example, the data about the conditions which were indicated by the students as the most important for their future work. Among more than 120 students of last 2 years 91% of students rated these tools as effective (internal data). This is because when preparing speeches and discussions in such an activity, students use and develop a variety of competencies. This is the skill of finding information, and the ability to prepare information briefs, the skills of speaking and presenting material to an unprepared audience (which is especially important for environmental journalism), the development of an expert position, the search for arguments to support the theses, critical thinking, the skill of widespread use of media tools and the media sphere. It is important to note here the complexity of specialization in environmental journalism. As noted earlier, the environmental agenda is very popular with generation Z on the one hand, which means it is difficult to interest the audience and find exclusive material. On the other hand, there are not so many serious and trusted materials in the media, which makes it difficult to prepare for such assignments. At the same time, it is important to note the large number of personal media resources in this area (blogs, groups on social networks, etc.) [20]. This always requires serious fact-checking the accuracy of the information and significant work with the sources of information. It develops critical thinking, attention to details, etc.

Separately, I would like to highlight the results of increasing student motivation in a hybrid and distance learning format. It is no secret that such formats require additional motivation of students to complete assignments, on the one hand, and active work at seminars and colloquia, on the other. It was the concept of the "flipped class", the use of group work on cases to study theoretical material and then "collecting theory" in the framework of group presentations, speeches and discussions that gave the necessary activity during seminars and lectures. The main result is that the shift from the "usual" lecture format to independent study of theoretical material in a small group and then consolidating it in the process of discussion in the main group showed the value of knowledge and made it possible to manage knowledge within the discipline.

#### *Environmental Journalism: Education on the Global South DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109187*

Also, a separate result should be highlighted the use of quick surveys at the end of the classes using the resource www.mentimetr.com. Different survey formats make it possible to consolidate knowledge and complete a lesson of any format. Google Forms in this case turned out to be less spectacular in terms of presentation of results. And, of course, such surveys with the presentation of results in the process of answering questions played an important role in motivating distance learning. This is something that is familiar and comfortable for Gen Z.

An important development of environmental journalism study is the creation and development of students' own media resources for the chosen professional specialization. At the Russian State University for the Humanities, students have such an opportunity. For example, our students created their own media project dedicated to science: @ecotechscience. The students talked about clean technological energy, about scientific progress in the study of ecology, the creation of new ways of processing and production of alternative energy and much more. The goal of the project is to popularize ecology as a science in modern society. The same role is played by the personal pages of students in social media.

To evaluate the results of this approach and analyze the existing learning process at the faculty, a survey was conducted of 3rd and 4th year undergraduate and 1st year master's students in the direction of "International Journalism and Modern Media Communications". The survey was conducted during 2019, 2020, and 2021. In general, more than 120 students were interviewed. The survey was aimed at identifying the involvement and satisfaction of students with the learning process, teaching methods, etc.

Ease of using a single information and educational space in journalism education was noted by 87% of students of the Faculty of Journalism of the Russian State University for the Humanities (internal data). Also 83% of students noted that such specialization during the course was very useful and potential for them (internal data). The study of the methodological possibilities of the global topical agenda, the opportunity of professional specialization during training and media education technologies with professional specialization in the field of environmental journalism will create new opportunities and approaches in journalism education. At the same time, it is important to note that environmental journalism is one of the most potential directions in modern journalism, as well as on the global and local agenda. The inclusion of relevant issues on the global agenda will also create the necessary motivation in blended and online learning.

#### **6. Theoretical and practical conclusions of the global agenda's use in learning process in Russian State University for Humanities**

As the practice of implementing such an approach environmental journalism as a direction of specialization has shown, it turned out to be interesting for our students. This certainly lies in line with the global trend of journalism education in general. The inclusion of the global agenda as one of the tools for the development of specialization and profiling of environmental journalism did not just arouse interest among students in the discussions at the seminars. We can use the environmental global news agenda as a learning tool in integrated approach. On the one hand, it supports students' interest in the extremely popular Green Economy and allows them to be at the forefront of the modern agenda. As part of the existing educational process, the global agenda has become a learning tool that allows the formation and development of several complex

professional and universal competencies. The global agenda becomes the subject of educational projects for a group of students. An important component is the development of the student's expert position and participation in group projects as mentors and experts. And finally, the conclusions from the implementation of this process also allow us to propose a global agenda as a topic and a way to maintain interest and motivation for learning, especially in online and hybrid formats. The conclusions and results of using the global agenda in the environmental journalism learning process allow us to make an assumption about the potential of this journalistic tool in the further learning process. Many opportunities can be found in the educational program for the potential use of the global agenda. It is equally important to note the opportunities for the formation of specialization of future journalists in the field of environmental journalism. The potential of this direction, taking into account the current state of the economy, the situation of energy transition and the formation of new principles of the economy based on ESG approach the potential for the development of future journalism education is also very important.

### **Author details**

Veronika Yarnykh School of International Studies and Communication, Mongolia International University, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

\*Address all correspondence to: vyarnykh@gmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Environmental Journalism: Education on the Global South DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109187*

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[5] Arku G, Marais L. Global South urbanisms and urban sustainability— Challenges and the way forward. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities. 2021;**3**:692-799. DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2021.692799

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[8] Yarnykh V. Modern approaches and prospects of using journalistic education tools in the system of in-service training of teaching staff. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: "Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies", Series. 2017;**7**:66-70. DOI: 10.28995/2686-7249-2017-7-66-70

[9] Hsu V. A study of modern pedagogical effect of science and design college's student in Taiwan. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity. 2020;**10**(3):78-81. DOI: 10.18178/ ijssh.2020.V10.1018

[10] Sachsman DB, Valenti JM, editors. Routledge Handbook of Environmental Journalism. 1st ed. New York: Routledge; 2020. DOI: 10.4324/9781351068406

[11] Akcay H, Kapici HO, Yager RE. Using newspapers and advertisement as a focus for science teaching and learning. Universal Journal of Educational Research. 2017;**5**(1):99-103. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2017.050112

[12] Wallin A, Nokelainen P, Mikkonen S. How experienced professionals develop their expertise in work-based higher education: Literature review. Higher Education. 2019;**77**:359-378. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-018-0279-5

[13] Chawinga WD. Taking social media to a university classroom: Teaching and learning using Twitter and blogs. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. 2017;**14**(3):1-19. DOI: 10.1186/ s41239-017-0041-6

[14] Macgilchrist F, Allert H, Bruch A. Students and society in the 2020s. Three future 'histories' of education and

technology. Learning, Media and Technology. 2020;**45**(1):76-89. DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2019.1656235

[15] Vickers R, Field J, Melakoski G. Media culture 2020: Collaborative teaching and blended learning using social media and cloud-based technologies. Contemporary Educational Technology. 2015;**6**(1):62-73

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[17] Jaakkola M. Journalists as media educators: Journalistic media education as inclusive boundary work. Journalism Practice. 2020;**14**:1-21. DOI: 10.1080/ 17512786.2020.1844040

[18] Singh P. 6 Best Practices of Knowledge Management for 2021. KM Institute. 2020. Available from: https:// www.kminstitute.org/blog/6-bestpractices-knowledge-management-2021

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[20] Joosse S, Brydges T. Blogging for sustainability: The intermediary role of personal green blogs in promoting sustainability. Environmental Communication. 2018;**12**(5):686-700. DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2018.1474783

#### **Chapter 4**

## Vaccine Communication and the Media Credibility in Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: A Focus on Malaysia

*Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali, Shafizan Mohamed, Soadah Wok and Mohd Helmi Yusoh*

#### **Abstract**

The resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, diphtheria, measles and the like shows that the anti-vaccine movement is gaining popularity and effectiveness in bolstering its views. Multiple studies have shown worrying trends of distrust towards vaccines, medical professionals, vaccine scientists and the government agencies that promote vaccination. It is observed that the current anti-vaccine discourses and misinformation about vaccines on social media are fuelling fear of vaccination among the public. To minimise the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, the media has considerable potential to influence the public's understanding of how vaccines function. Therefore, this chapter proposed the adoption of a media guide to assist media practitioners in reporting vaccination stories. It will highlight an influential role that the media can play by enlisting the assistance of experts and health professionals to dispel erroneous beliefs about vaccinations and aggressively promote vaccination among influential persons and the general public. This chapter argued that responsible and ethical reporting will aid in raising awareness of the public health implications of the anti-vaccine sentiment, thereby combating the transmission of messages that drive vaccine fear and rejection. The chapter also addressed how insights provided by Ihlen on rhetorical communication can enhance the effectiveness of delivering vaccine-related messages.

**Keywords:** frames, media guide, rhetoric communication, strategic communication, vaccine uptake

#### **1. Introduction**

Despite being closely monitored by the Ministry of Health (MOH) through national immunisation programme, Malaysia has continually observed a rise in vaccine-preventable illness outbreaks. This may be the result of misinformation and falsity spread by anti-vaccination activists worldwide. In Malaysia, the vaccine refusal and rejection scenario became known in 2012 due to its concealed approaches [1]. However, the advancement of social media has facilitated the groups to set a strong foothold [2], particularly in spreading the anti-vaccination sentiment and influencing the public. The trend should be concerning as 65% of vaccine information on the Internet cannot be trusted since they come from antivaccination groups [3]. In this situation, official media providers must intervene through good reporting and play a more specific role to increase vaccine acceptance and consequently, vaccine uptake. The official media in this chapter refers to TV, radio and newspapers, which includes all online platforms used to reach more audiences, including incidental social media users [4]. This chapter began with a discussion of vaccine hesitancy issues followed by journalistic roles in increasing vaccine acceptance and uptake and the strategic approach to reporting vaccination. The conclusion of the chapter emphasised the need to respond to concerns about potentially harmful anti-vaccination messaging on the Internet through responsible and transparent reporting on vaccination.

#### **2. Vaccine reluctance among Malaysian parents**

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined vaccine hesitancy as a delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services. The fact that availability of health information on the Internet has empowered the public in making decisions on health-related matters. This infers that the public is also exposed to unreliable and even false information that could affect their trust in vaccinations and health programmes. Many factors lead to vaccine refusals including distrust in vaccine content which refers to suspicious ingredients, fear of vaccine side effects, conspiracy theories and religious reasons [5].

In Malaysia, Abdullah et al. [6] revealed that parents who chose not to vaccinate their children gave 'vaccinations are dangerous' as their reason. While Mohd Azizi et al. [7] showed that parents who delayed and refused to vaccinate their children blamed vaccine side effects (40%), safety and efficiency (37.4%), the number of vaccines given to children (64%) and a preference for children to self-develop immunity by getting sick (52%). Other parents have stopped immunising their children due to concerns that vaccines cause autism and Facebook posts about vaccine side effects [8]. Some parents believed that there is a hidden agenda behind vaccination, where pharmaceutical companies produce vaccines for profit rather than for disease preventions [9]. Mohd Azizi et al. [7] also found that non-Muslim parents were more hesitant to vaccinate their children than Muslim parents, despite the fact that vaccine difficulties are always associated with a false belief regarding the presence of pig DNA, which affects the halal status of vaccines.

In addition, personal anecdotes shared by others have a significant impact on vaccine acceptance and rejection. A number of studies have reported the impact of social media on vaccination and the increase in anti-vaccination sentiment. According to Shelby and Ernst [10], sharing anecdotes on the so-called 'vaccine injury' narrative on social media can be emotionally impactful and, to some extent, accelerates vaccine hesitancy among parents. 'Each "like" is an endorsement of the content of these anti-vaccine pages by an individual, often a parent, who has read through them' (p. 1796, [10]). The effects of personal anecdotes on various social media platforms can be seen as consistent with the number of unvaccinated children reported. Ghazali et al. [11] concluded based on several studies reviewed

*Vaccine Communication and the Media Credibility in Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: A Focus… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108353*

that the majority of the social media content related to vaccination was skewed negatively that disfavoured vaccine uptake. More specifically, in their 2021 study of Anti-vaxxers on Facebook, Ghazali et al. [2] found that when using Facebook for anti-vaccine discourses, the anti-vaxxers can be grouped into four categories which are persistent, moderate, uncertain and non-active. While the majority of them are uncertain (59%), which meant that they were mostly following and consuming antivaccine messages but are not the ones producing the messages, the persistent (12.5%) and moderate (17.5%) anti-vaxxers who were actively producing and disseminating anti-vaccine messages were significant. The persistent type of anti-vaxxers manifest their opposition through the content sharing of negative vaccine information. Their posts range from exposing severe vaccine side effects to distrust towards vaccines, amongst others. Most of the contents were re-shared posts from other accounts accompanied by their own comments. Unfortunately, the study also found that antivaccination advocates may use dishonest strategies to discredit the scientific validity of vaccination, which may include emotionally driven arguments. This is supported by Kata [12], who found that those anti-vaccine groups have utilised a variety of convincing and effective online engagement strategies.

#### **3. Media coverage of vaccination in Malaysia**

Ghazali et al. [2, 11] examined how the Malaysian media reported on the antivaccination movement. By analysing news coverage on vaccinations in Malay (2020) and English newspapers (2021), the authors examine whether the Malaysian news media is fulfilling its responsibility to cover vaccination concerns effectively. The authors initially examined vaccination coverage in two Malay newspapers, Berita Harian and Harian Metro. From January 2019 to September 2019, a quantitative framing analysis was undertaken on a total of 131 vaccine-related news articles collected over 9 months. The news was analysed in order to determine the volume of coverage, types of frames and sources utilised while reporting on vaccination difficulties. The data revealed disparities in the amount and nature of vaccination coverage between the two newspapers. Despite variations, the study discovered that Malay publications continue to place inadequate attention on immunisation. Vaccination is primarily regarded as newsworthy rather than as a topic to be addressed and emphasised. Considering the present health conditions, it is vital that Malay publications play a greater role in promoting the significance of immunisation.

Similarly, the authors examined the coverage of vaccination in two English newspapers in Malaysia [13]. From January 2019 to March 2020, a framing analysis was performed on 308 vaccine-related news articles collected for 14 months. The results revealed that there are few differences between how the two publications covered immunisation. Vaccination is generally treated as news rather than as a problem to be solved. Based on the findings, the authors proposed stronger attention to vaccine concerns in the Malaysian media so that it can become a national priority. In particular, by giving more planned and deliberate coverage, the media can promote awareness about the necessity of vaccination while highlighting the dangers of anti-vaccination views. The authors made a specific suggestion that government, researchers and media professionals should collaborate to inform, educate and raise public understanding about the significance and repercussions of vaccination.

#### **4. Journalism undertaking the role to improve vaccine acceptance and uptake**

In relation to all the research findings that demand more purposive media coverage of vaccination, there is no doubt that journalists and other media professionals should take on the responsibility of addressing anti-vaccine messages, given their traits and power for pushing towards quality and credibility reporting. From a journalistic perspective, producing newsworthy media reports may come with specific procedures and guides, especially on facts and sources. According to Shapiro et al. [14], maintaining quality news reporting, such as fairness, accuracy and clarity, is essential because it reflects the professionalism of both the journalists and the media they represent. Prioritising the quality of news reporting extends beyond protecting the credibility of journalists and the media entity. What is important, society gets the true and quality information as the public may be unable to independently verify information [15].

Besides journalistic quality, media professionals often consider the societal implications of a story [16]. For instance, a news story with accuracy and clarity of fact may have a devastating impact on society. Therefore, journalists are responsible to minimise these effects while preserving accuracy when involving sensitive matters. This idea is in line with Wagemans et al. [17] who proposed that the public needs journalists to play a deeper role in reporting an incident, in which they think and act beyond the surface, such as following the development of an issue and its impact on society.

As a gatekeeper, the media can set an agenda for public discussion and shape public opinion and determine the public's action on the issue. Happer and Philo's [18] study on the role of media in building public trust found that media had created a state of uncertainty among the public on the issue of climate change and prevented any change in attitudes among the society members. Therefore, journalists, especially those on the editorial board, should be realistic and vigilant regarding the circumstances. Saldana et al. [19] suggested that realistic editorial decision-making is important. In dire situations, editors must adjust their traditional-ethical standards and be reflective of the surroundings in order to address certain matters. These studies exemplified that the decisive role of the news media is needed, but wrong decisions can be hazardous.

Quality reporting of critical issues such as health is no exception to the discussion. There have been several cases reported in the media that speak out about the misrepresentation of news reports on health issues. For instance, Lister [20] asserted that the Lancet media deceived the public into not receiving the MMR vaccine. The media disseminated inaccurate and imprecise information regarding vaccines, including potential risks and side effects. There are several plausible causes for this. One of them is journalists' lack of expertise on health-related matters. This is reinforced by a study by Keshvari et al. [21] which found that most health journalists in Isfahan have minimal knowledge and were not well-trained in dealing with health issues. The study is in line with Safari et al. [22] which emphasised the importance of media getting appropriate training from experts in the medical field. The review saw that the lack of knowledge and training in health-related issues could result in incorrect or ambiguous information that steers society on the wrong path. In short, the media has to approach health issues a bit different from other issues as a wrong move might backfire on them. They should be aware of when it is appropriate to highlight, prioritise and emphasise specific issues to lead the agenda for the public.

#### *Vaccine Communication and the Media Credibility in Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: A Focus… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108353*

Evidence from Pew Research Centre found that Americans who closely follow news reports about vaccines have more positive attitudes towards childhood immunisation. The media reports raised public awareness of the importance of vaccination, thereby promoting free choice [23]. Media, in this sense, assists to educate people on the importance of vaccination. However, media can sometimes have the opposite effect. According to Tran et al. [24], media portrayal of vaccine side effects could also cause individuals to hesitate or even refuse vaccinations. Yu et al. [25] argued that media coverage of potential adverse side effects of the hepatitis B vaccine caused people's confidence in the vaccine to wane. While Bodemer et al. [26] expressed concern that balanced media coverage, such as stories that contradict scientific evidence, may actually provide an unbalanced portrayal of the HPV vaccine. These findings corroborated a claim that the media could be 'a poor vehicle for the communication of scientifically accurate information about health and medicine, prone to sensationalism, sins of omission, and sheer inaccuracy' ([27], p. 2).

In view of these discussions, systematic and conscientious means of reporting health issues should be standardised and endorsed within media organisations. As the world fights Covid-19 misinformation, the relevance of this measure increases. The use of a specific media guide could promote accurate, responsible and appropriate reporting on health matters, particularly vaccination. The guide is not a kind of censorship, but rather a methodology to ensure that all pertinent information is clear and thoroughly presented. The guide should also be viewed as a standard in maintaining news credibility and restoring the public's faith in the media. Standards, as suggested by [26] (p. 3754), 'will help consumers identify reliable and balanced information sources and will support the use of transparent formats to translate scientific knowledge'.

#### **5. Providing strategic reporting**

Studies have shown that reporting on vaccination could lead to a mix of responses on vaccination programmes. As pointed out earlier, while some people will take vaccines, others might be discouraged by vaccination misinformation and misleading news reporting. Therefore, this chapter suggested that the media professionals should adopt a strategic approach to report vaccination by using a standard media guideline. In journalism, the use of a media guide to report on issues is not uncommon. Several guidelines have been developed to ensure different topics are accurately and responsibly reported.

For example, the guideline for suicide reporting. Research explored that media reporting of suicide can encourage suicidal thought, thus leading to the act. To overcome the impact, the media professionals have been informed to follow a guideline to responsible suicide reporting. The guide recognised 'that there will be occasions when an individual's suicide will be newsworthy, and offer evidence-informed suggestions as to how to report such deaths in a way that raises public awareness about the issue of suicide without leading to a risk of imitation', ([28], p. 46). Machlin and colleagues suggested two key issues to avoid when reporting suicide: sensationalism and complete details of how the act of suicide. The reports should rather focus on providing information that offers help and support.

A second illustration is a guideline for reporting children. Children are seen vulnerable whose rights need special protection from the media. According to Gordon, McAlister and Scraton [29], negative labeling on children and young people has been found to produce a long-lasting poor reputation and negative stereotypes. Therefore, media professionals are reminded through Reynolds Journalism Institute [30] to perform responsible reporting by pointing out several concerns. This includes, but is not limited to, considering a positive portrayal of children and their rights interests, respecting their privacy, confidentiality and consensus during interviews, including their perspectives in issues pertaining to them and protecting their identity if disclosure is likely to cause harm. The guide is primarily viewed as a resource for media professionals to monitor how to generate ethical and high-quality reporting regarding children. The guide on reporting children also emphasises the significance of addressing children's rights, as poor media portrayals have harmful effects on their life.

In relation to the news treatment on health matters, Schwitzer et al. [16] pointed out that accurate and clear coverage is not adequate. They argued that the media should correspondingly and comprehensively reflect society's needs and issues when covering health news. The media should assume an educational function with the goal of imparting a comprehensive understanding on scientific knowledge [16] and influencing the attitudes and behaviours of the public towards an issue [31]. The argument is linked with Ihlen's [32] view that to effectively persuade people on certain matters, the messages created should be significant to their belief and values. Discussed through the lens of strategic communication and rhetorical theory, Ihlen [32] suggested that in ensuring effective messages can be formulated, target groups and their values should be first identified. Once a clear connection is established, messages can be better comprehended as meaning is co-created between the audience and the sender. Therefore, a guide which specifies messages and addresses particular concerns could aid media professionals in deciding how vaccination stories should be reported. In order to accomplish this, it is essential to comprehend the public's issues and develop relationships with relevant stakeholders.

Experts in medical, public health, social science and computer science fields as well as the public could provide insights on what matters the most to stop health and vaccine misinformation from aggravating. Efforts by health communicators to neutralise misinformation on vaccination through audience engagement are evident. Some of them used social media to build trust, give feedbacks to audience concerns, use evidence-based information, carefully refute information and collaborate with like-minded organisation [33]. In Malaysia, among the measures taken by the government include organising campaigns and providing complete information on vaccine and immunisation programmes on the Health Ministry website and its social media platforms. Medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and scientists similarly have been using a more amicable method to communicate with the public using social media platforms either personally or in teams such as Medical Mythbusters Malaysia, MedTweetMY and ML Studios.

Though, operating in isolation might be ineffective to combat anti-vaccination messages. This is true as some corrective strategy may backfire while some factual information may be incorrectly recalled over time [34]. Therefore, this chapter argued that media and various stakeholders must build intentional linkages. Through strategic engagement, input could be drawn, and initiatives could be made to develop a standard media guide to be used by media professionals.

#### **6. Conclusion**

Given the current characteristics of vaccine refusal and anti-vaccine sentiments, suggestions in this chapter are timely. This chapter argued that a media standard is

#### *Vaccine Communication and the Media Credibility in Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: A Focus… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108353*

necessary for reporting and correcting vaccination misinformation. The aim of the media guideline is not to censor and control, rather to help news producers, editors and journalists alike to have a clear idea of what constitutes reliable, responsible and ethical reporting pertaining to vaccines. In turn, this will improve awareness of the effects anti-vaccine views may have on public health. A reference to a transparent standard could increase the credibility and authority of mass media providers in Malaysia in comparison to social media networks that share the same content but cite unreliable sources.

In line with rhetoric and strategic communication discussed by Ihlen [32], the media guide should consider issues such as defining a target audience, setting specific purposes of writing, tackling facts, risk and benefits related to vaccines, identifying specific contents or themes and verifying with the right authority in reporting vaccination stories. This will ensure that the media reporting will not only revolve around events and incidents but deeper analysis on vaccination.

Though, it is uncertain as to how far the media guide is effective to report vaccination stories. One clear reason is that the communication of information about vaccination as a social phenomenon might not always fit easily with expectations of what makes news. As Machlin et al. [28] argued that some elements in media guidelines are not always easy to interpret. Hence, its use might be inhibited. Prescriptive media guidelines might not be fully accepted by the media professionals that would see it as a regulative norm. Admittedly, the adherence to the guideline might be challenging (e.g. [28, 29, 35]), but its adoption could help to improve media social responsible roles especially on vaccine-related matters.

Therefore, this chapter suggested that a long-term engagement between the media players and health authorities is a way forward to ensure voluntary adoption and effective use of the media guideline. Collaboration, consultation and training could be among the systematic strategies that the media could adopt. For example, health practitioners could provide information and expertise so the media could have a repository of significant and persuasive vaccine-related messages to counter antivaccination attitude in the community. The guideline could further provide insightful suggestions to both parties in planning and promoting effective policies and health programmes that support immunisation.

In this chapter, the proposal to improve journalistic practices through the use of a specific media guideline dealing with vaccination topics is significant in the field of health communication. The authors perceived that this effort would help counter pseudo journalism activities in the long run. As vaccine refusal individuals are 'highly media-savvy and unafraid to push their opinions that vaccines are dangerous' ([36], p. 6), strategic approaches are pertinent. Through these efforts, the authors recommended that the Malaysia media providers to be more pronounced in their attitudes to approach anti-vaxxers and combat anti-vaccination phenomenon with the aim of moving towards literate society.

#### **Acknowledgements**

This research is supported by Islamic Advisory Group entitled 'Developing a Strategic Communication Intervention Manual to Inform and Correct Misinformation and Misconception about Vaccination using Islamic Evidence' (Project ID: SPI22-122-0122).

*Journalism - The Ethical Dilemma*

### **Author details**

Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali1 \*, Shafizan Mohamed<sup>2</sup> , Soadah Wok<sup>2</sup> and Mohd Helmi Yusoh2

1 Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

2 Department of Communication, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

\*Address all correspondence to: wannorshira@iium.edu.my

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Vaccine Communication and the Media Credibility in Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: A Focus… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108353*

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#### **Chapter 5**

## Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution

*Chika Ebere Odoemelam*

#### **Abstract**

This chapter wittingly examines the framing of oil pollution news stories among newspapers in Nigeria. Evidence abounds in the literature showing that oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta has generated both local and international outrage and condemnation over many decades. The direct impacts cum problems resulting from oil pollution have led to economic depravations, destruction of farmlands, and livelihood of the people. This chapter explores the problems of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, the roles of newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in Nigeria, environmental communication in Nigeria, and framing oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers.

**Keywords:** newspapers, framing, oil pollution, Niger-Delta region, MOCs

#### **1. Introduction**

For this study, I seek to develop the modalities and strategies of framing oil pollution in print media. The critical analysis of the various meanings, perceptions, and methods of media framing of oil pollution, and other environmental problems in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and elsewhere contribute to this objective by referencing other relevant authors in environmental journalism. Such analysis has become necessary for readers and scholars to understand the enormous problems associated with oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. Moreover, it is the author's view that this systematic approach can be used to make a more nuanced, qualitative assessment of media coverage of oil pollution in Nigeria and globally, which, in turn, allows for comparison across the broader spectrum of environmental issues. The ability to compare across the board how cases of oil pollution are framed in the media is essential to achieving the second, third, fourth, and fifth goals of this chapter—problems of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, roles of newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, environmental communication in Nigeria and framing oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers.

As a result, accounts in literature have shown that oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta has generated both local and international outrage and condemnation over many decades. The anger and frustrations were related to the constant destruction of livelihood and the natural environment of the oil-bearing communities by multinational oil companies (MOCs) operating in the region. The air and water in the region stink, while the fish and crabs smell pure "sweet bonny" light crude oil [1].

Consequently, the cumulative impact of this situation has impoverished millions of farmers of Niger Deltans that depend on streams, seas, rivers, and oceans for survival.

The above portrays a scenario of the numerous economic, social, and health impacts of oil pollution on the host communities of oil companies operating in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. There is a significant link between how these environmental problems are constructed and presented in the media and how it shapes opinion leaders' views. Therefore, there is a growing quest for information from the public on environmental issues, such as oil pollution. As a result, this chapter discusses the problems of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, the roles of newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in Nigeria, environmental communication in Nigeria, and framing oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers.

Annually, information from various outlets, including books, journal articles, and periodicals, shows that the Niger Delta region of Nigeria suffers from hundreds of oil pollution, which damages the environment and devastates the local population [2]. Powerful actors in the oil industry and the Nigerian government have failed to prevent and clean up the oil pollution. The negligence in the Niger Delta region has resulted in decades of contamination. As a result, Shell and other multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria's Niger Delta have made the region one of the most polluted places on earth [1]. The entire population of Nigeria's Niger Delta depends primarily on the marine ecosystem and other farm products for their survival. Hence, any environmental degradation that affects water resources and land reduces the potential for sustainable livelihood in the region.

Oil pollution has threatened the environment and local people for many decades. The pollution of farmlands and the collapse of the local economy of the people of Niger Delta is a further significant indicator of environmental contamination [3]. Also, over the years, oil pollution has negatively impacted the physical environment of oil-producing communities. Elum, Mopipi, and Henri-Ukoha [4] observed that oil pollution has increased the rate of environmental pollution in the Niger Delta and perpetuated food insecurity due to the death of fish, crops, loss of farmlands, and viable rivers for other economic activities. The pollution also threatens subsistence peasant farmers and the environment; hence, the entire livelihood and survival of the people [5]. The release of crude oil into the streams, lakes, rivers, beaches, seas, oceans, and land in the Niger Delta region can be identified as the primary cause of extreme poverty. Thus, when oil pollution occurs, it becomes poisonous and threatens the rich coastal habitat of the affected areas. Besides, Okonkwo et al. [6] argued that 70% of the people of the Niger Delta region live below the poverty line with less than \$1 a day and without essential amenities. The arguments by Okonkwo et al., Elum et al., Plessi, and Amnesty international showed that oil pollution has severely impaired the coastal ecosystem in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. It has also compromised the livelihoods of the region's impoverished residents and thereby causing restiveness among the youths. Therefore, the discovery of oil in Nigeria since the 1950s has made the country a victim of negative environmental consequences of oil pollution. These have manifested into a decrepit and squalor situation for the people and revealed how multinational oil companies in the region had neglected their corporate social responsibilities [7]. It is as a result of these environmental pollution issues in the Niger Delta that this chapter on framing oil pollution has become necessary.

First, it is of utmost importance to study the local newspapers, which are still the primary source of information for the locals to understand the oil crisis [8]. After all, it was evident that media could influence directly, by summoning an emotional

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

or intellectual response and indirectly by controlling exposure to particular events. Moreover, the complexity of those events in the media is subject to public scrutiny [9]. As a result, discussing the framing of oil pollution in the print media across the local newspapers in Nigeria is essential. This is done by setting the media agenda with news framing. The agenda-setting focuses on the association between media coverage and population perception of issue importance. It implies that the frequency of news story presentation and how the media conveys that coverage correlates to population perception about the importance of an issue or topic [10]. While framing "is the process of culling a few elements of perceived reality and assembling a narrative that highlights connections among them to promote a particular interpretation" [11]. Because of the above reasons, the media can shape and mold the Niger Delta leaders' views through coverage of specific topics [12].

Consequently, the success of any media organization in reporting environmental issues and fostering awareness of the dangers of environmental degradation and pollution caused in Nigeria by activities of multinational oil corporations depends on its ability to gather, process, and disseminate relevant and timely environmental news to the public. Thus, news framing and coverage of oil pollution by the media are worthy of study because they represent environmental issues that affect people nationally and internationally. Nerlich et al. argued that environmental problems, such as global warming receive more attention from the scientific community, whereas oil spills are mainly left out [13]. Similarly, to create environmental awareness and understanding, the mass media must be at the forefront of the crusade against environmental degradation while considering the public [14]. Besides, the newspaper culture in Nigeria is that of trust, mainly when information emanates from privately owned newspapers. The majority of the country's newspapers are owned by private individuals who often seek to ensure that the best work for them as men and women of the pen profession [15]. Therefore, newspapers have become potent tools to disseminate information about environmental pollution and other related topics. Scholars like [16] see it as the last beacon of hope for society. The media is the last beacon of hope as it is expected to fight injustice melted to the public by the government of the day without fear or favor through accurate and objective reporting of issues. Again, the press is the hope of society because it must ensure freedom of speech, respect for human rights, and act as a watchdog of society.

Privately owned newspaper outfits in Nigeria are usually more direct in their reports and are not given to unbridled propaganda to act as government mouthpieces. Without fear or favor, they typically report the story as it is. Some are more vociferous in criticizing government policies and get hounded and molested by agents of government [17]. As a result, privately owned newspapers have contributed immensely to the growth of oil pollution framing and coverage by being more responsive to the people of the Niger Delta region, critical of the oil giants and the government, and open to opposing perspectives in their coverage of oil pollution. They have also contributed to understanding the dangers of oil pollution by the people in the affected region by framing oil pollution as responsibility, human interest, economic consequences, conflict, morality, human health concerns, insecurity, and economic depletions. The above qualities associated with privately owned newspapers enhance public trust in every oil pollution news story and other news items. Against this backdrop, the content of this chapter is well understood and taken as a thorough picture of the environmental situation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. However, there are exceptions, and, in some instances, some newspaper proprietors project their sentiments and bias based on ethnic affinity. Likewise, privately owned newspaper outfits

rarely get advertisements from the government, its agencies, or individuals against the government.

On the contrary, government-owned media are mainly propaganda machinery to popularize government policies. They are subordinates to authoritative systems and are not independent of the government [18]. Thus, citizens do not place considerable trust in government-owned media compared to the private. In this chapter, oil pollution news stories and others from government media are seen as inaccurate and government cover-up due to lack of trust in government institutions. As a result, easy access to newspapers in Nigeria can give the print media a significant role in setting an agenda, framing, and influencing opinion leaders on oil pollution.

Consequently, this chapter investigates news framing of oil pollution as an environmental issue in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, the problems associated with oil pollution in the Niger Delta region, roles played by Nigerian newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in Niger Delta, what environmental communication is all about especially in the Nigerian context or elsewhere, and framing of oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers. The chapter ends with a conclusion. It is important to emphasize that mass media contributors and commentators often believe that the media is doing a good job or has done enough to create awareness about environmental catastrophes facing humanity, such as oil pollution, climate change, global warming, and greenhouse emissions. This assertion sometimes tends to support the notion that the media, especially in the "Western societies," often does not care about the environmental problems of the world's developing countries. Nevertheless, they forgot that as we live in a global society, whatever affects the poorer nations would invariably spill over to the developed countries. Based on this, new concerns, debates, and investigations about the rampant oil pollution ravaging the Niger Delta region of Nigeria be looked into and perpetrators brought to justice as often done in the developed world. The opening premise on how Nigerian newspapers frame news on oil pollution will continue to matter and generate tensions between the multinational oil companies (MOCs) operating the region and their host communities. This is because issues related to oil pollution in the region are more complicated than ever, thus necessitating more dialog between the parties and transparency on the government and the oil companies for better understanding.

Thus, the specific objectives in this chapter include exploring the different news frames used by Nigerian newspapers in their coverage of oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta; explaining the problems associated with oil pollution in the Niger Delta, the role of newspapers in the framing of oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, examine environmental communication in the Nigerian context, and framing of oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers. Hence, it is important to understand that Nigerian newspaper constructions and presentation of oil pollution in the Niger Delta region are still widely articulated with human health concerns, destruction of means of livelihood, economic loss, conflict, perpetrators of oil pollution, lack of empathy on the part of oil companies, sabotage, and environmental degradation.

#### **2. Methodology**

In examining the objectives of this study, content analysis (quantitative) was used as the main research method. Three newspaper contents, namely, *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian,* and *The Punch,* were analyzed to understand the various news frames used by these newspapers, the problems associated with oil pollution in the Niger

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

Delta, understand the meaning of environmental communication within the Nigerian context, roles of Nigerian newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, and newspaper framing of oil pollution in Nigeria. Boukes and Vliegenthart [19] note that examining the quality of a newspaper's coverage of an event is as significant as examining its quantitative report. This helps to provide a fair overview of how the media reports on problems.

Content analysis as a research approach is non-obstructive since no measurements are made that alter the things being examined. Similarly, content analysis is a systematic, objective, and quantitative examination and analysis of communication to quantify variables Kerlinger [20]. Clayton et al. [21] explain content analysis as a research "technique for making replicable and valid references from data to their content." In comparison, Mohajan [22] described it by listing three essential elements in content analysis—a systematic review, objective examination, and quantitative study.

The content analysis method was used to study the kinds of frames used by the selected three newspapers in news coverage on oil pollution in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Frames were observed in the texts and around the contexts of news production in the three selected newspapers chosen for this chapter. These newspapers include *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian*, and *The Punch*. They were chosen because they have a wider circulation, are readily available, maintain regional offices in all the federation states, and are ethnic-based newspapers. The content analysis method for this study followed trends in the five news frames that Semetko and Valkenburg [23] developed and used in framing news analysis. The five news frames developed by Semetko and Valkenburg are responsibility, economic consequences, conflict, human interest, and morality. The content analysis examined 1095 editions of the three selected newspapers from 2008 to 2018. *The Daily Sun* had 497, *The Guardian* 206, and *The Punch* had 392 editions. Only news stories on oil pollution from the three selected newspapers were examined and coded first via trial coding using the Semetko and Valkenburg [23] 20 questions in the coding sheet. According to Semetko and Valkenburg [23], there are two main approaches to confirm the existence of news frames using content analysis. The first approach is the inductive approach. An inductive process involves analyzing a news story with an open view and revealing possible frames. The merit of this research method lies in the unobstructed view to ensuring that no frame will go unnoticed. However, on the other hand, it is time-consuming, difficult to replicate, and for the most part, based on a small sample.

The second approach is the deductive method, whereby frames are extracted theoretically from literature and coded in standard content analysis. This approach requires a clear idea of frames that should be in the study. The advantages of this approach are; it is replicable, can manage large samples, and quickly detects differences in framing between media and within media. As a result, this study analyzed newspaper coverage in *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian*, and *The Punch* using the deductive approach model. Semetko and Valkenburg's [23] framing analysis model was used to determine the kinds of frames the three selected newspapers used to cover oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. This model has a set of standard content analytic criteria to measure the five conventional frames often seen in news stories.

The five news frames are first, (1) responsibility, which means issues are framed, so, their accountability is on organizations, individuals, or governments. The second news frame is the economic consequences, covering an issue or event in terms of how such an issue affects people's lives, works, and livelihoods. In contrast, the third

news frame is the conflict, which emphasizes conflicts between parties or individuals and stresses divergence between the opponents. The fourth (4) news frame is the human interest, which offers a personal and emotional perspective in presenting issues or problems to draw national and international attention. The fifth (5) is the morality news frame, which offers news stories or environmental pollution as issues concerning God, religious beliefs, and moral perspective. Numerous studies, such as [24–27] applied this question sheet to study framing analysis. Also, the various studies concluded that the 20 questions are reliable and validly reflect the frames.

Furthermore, attention was only given to headlines, environmental news pages, local news, and national news in all the pages of the newspapers. The systematic sampling technique was used to illustrate the newspaper sample for this study from the three selected newspapers—namely, *The Daily Sun, The Guardian,* and *The Punch*. Hence, every Monday–Friday was chosen bi-weekly as a sample because they are the week when the selected three newspapers publish environmental news [28]. Therefore, every edition of *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian*, and *The Punch* newspapers were examined to observe oil pollution reports within the period covered by this study (2008–2018). The author went through all the three papers' editions and looked for only straight news stories about oil pollution. This study's straight or hard news stories are only essential and concise oil pollution stories covered by the three selected newspapers. All the different pages, columns, and sections of the selected three newspapers were examined word-to-word thoroughly to ensure that no information was left. The author left environmental pollution stories from sources, such as editorials, feature articles, and opinion stories.

Reasons for not including them in the study were as follows; editorials are written by news editors to show the media organizations' position on a particular issue. Features articles are a form of storytelling, and opinion stories are from individuals outside the media. The study period was from January 01, 2008 to December 31, 2018. The years under review were selected because of increased incidences of oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, high incidents of militant attacks on oil installations, anti-government and oil companies' protests by their hosts' communities. Data analysis covered all the oil pollution news stories published by the selected three newspapers from January 01, 2008 to December 31, 2018.

Besides, content analysis is also well established in environmental pollution studies in Nigeria. For instance, Balarabe and Hamza [29] used content analysis to study Nigerian newspaper coverage of climate change from 2009 to 2010. In 2017, Emenyeonu [30] also used content analysis to study environmental issues beyond climate change in the Nigerian press. However, these studies were limited to 1 year and 2 years of studies, respectively. However, this study was for 10 years.

#### **3. Problems of oil pollution in the Niger Delta**

Over the years, the media in Nigeria has evolved into a societal institution that influences the nation through news coverage. For example, the oil pollution in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has become part of media coverage over the decades. Oil pollution in the Niger Delta is reported based on the destruction of the people's livelihood, human health impacts, economic depletion, people responsible for the pollution, insecurity, and ecological degradation. One way the media use in covering oil pollution is framing. Entman [31] explained that "framing makes a piece of

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

information more meaningful or memorable." The extent of news story coverage on oil pollution in the Niger Delta region in terms of frequency will influence the public's perception of its meaning or significance. The media plays a significant role in shaping popular opinions on oil pollution, the economy, and politics because the media coverage of events is the primary news source that people use to form opinions on public issues, such as oil pollution.

This section explores the problems of oil pollution in the Niger Delta region as reported in the print media in Nigeria. The presence of oil in farmlands, seas, oceans, creeks, and arable lands in the Niger Delta region has attracted attention from media professionals and research scholars. Scholars, such as [32, 33], have highlighted the public concern about the destruction of their means of livelihood, health impacts, the environment, and frequent conflicts between multinational oil companies (MOCs) operating in the Niger Delta region and the oil-bearing communities due to oil pollution. This anxiety emanates from their decades of experience over the negative impacts of oil pollution, leading to thousands of deaths and even forceful shutdown and expulsion of Shell workers out of the region in the late 1990s. Previous writings or studies in the Niger Delta region focused on oil pollution, massive landslides, air pollution, famine, erosion, climate change, and biodiversity (AIOmamuyovwi, 2017) [8, 34]. However, despite all this evidence, the government has not done enough to prevent these atrocities caused by multinational oil companies (MOCs) in the region daily.

Past studies on framing oil pollution news stories in Nigerian newspapers have focused on oil pollution as "conflict" and "war." However, they did not talk about the kinds of frames used and views of Niger Delta opinion leaders. Additionally, previous studies also revealed that 71.8% of Nigerians rely on newspapers as sources of information, especially in the South-east and South-west of the country [35, 36]. Although, in principle, the news media, in general, should be the fourth estate for the public, ownership of media could limit its roles and responsibility. Hence, it can be argued that any media organization may skew its news framing and agenda-setting towards the demand of the owners. Writing about the framing of oil pollution news stories in the Nigerian newspapers is essential because oil pollution has led to the economic crisis in the Niger Delta region. Elum et al. [4] posit that oil pollution has caused food insecurity, loss of arable lands for economic activities, death of fishes and other aquatic organisms. Also, Babatunde [37] adds that oil pollution is mainly associated with poverty, protests, insecurity, hunger, destruction of mangroves and livelihood, and damage to soil fertility. Since oil pollution leads to an economic crisis, it has become necessary to explore how they are framed in the Nigerian newspapers. This is because knowing how oil pollution is framed and the kinds of frames used would enable the members of the society to understand which newspaper is doing a great job in reporting the menace.

Furthermore, oil pollution is challenging to the environment and the farmers in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. This is due to the release of oil into oceans, creeks, rivers, seas, streams, rivers, and lakes in the Niger Delta region. As the region's people are mainly farmers, the immediate impact cum problems resulting from oil pollution have led to economic depravations, destruction of farmlands, and livelihood [5, 38]. Framing has become necessary to help journalists, and news editors explain why oil pollution news coverage is salient or important. This is because oil pollution poses a massive threat to farmers and the environment. As Duru [39] argued, oil pollution causes considerable damage to plants; oiled shoots of cash crops wilt and die, and crop yield is stifled. This reduces the amount of disposable income available to farmers and their families. Oil pollution also disengages farmers from their farming businesses, causing economic hardship to themselves and their dependents [40]. Therefore, it is known that oil pollution causes considerable damage to Nigeria's Niger Delta region's overall means of survival. From Idumah and Okunmadewa [40], the above argument shows that oil pollution reduces the quality and quantity of food available to households in the Niger Delta.

Besides, oil pollution poses a considerable challenge to the oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta region. For instance, when the oil-bearing communities eat food, such as vegetables, fish, and other aquatic organisms, exposed to oil pollution, it causes human health problems, such as skin diseases, rashes, neonatal deaths, birth deformities, and diarrhea [41]. On the other hand, when fishes get in contact with crude oil, the impact of natural and artificial elements levels in the sediments of fishes in Niger Delta water increases. As a result, oil pollution into streams, rivers, lakes, creeks, and farmlands could cause a 45% increase in the carcinogenic danger level in humans. Hence, after so many years of exposure to oil pollution, eating fish from these sources could cause harmful effects, such as cancer [42]. In the same vein, Sako [43] argued that plants and animals accumulate dangerous and harmful toxins in their tissues when exposed to oil pollution. In this scenario, media construction of oil pollution as human interest would enable the people to understand which newspapers, such as *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian*, *The Punch*, *Vanguard,* or *The Daily Post*, used it the most in the coverage of oil pollution in the Niger Delta. Also, people exposed to oil pollution show high disease symptoms and environmental distress, such as worries, annoyance, and intolerance as some of the region's health effects [44].

Oil pollution has led to constant conflicts in the Niger Delta region. Over the last fifty decades, oil pollution has led to numerous militant groups' arms struggle and proliferation in Nigeria's Niger Delta region [45, 46]. Thus, Babatunde [37] argued that the direct consequences of oil pollution have led to multi-dimensional and protracted conflicts in oil-bearing communities. Exploring the framing of oil pollution is significant to ascertain which Nigerian newspapers used the conflict frame more in the coverage of oil pollution in the Niger Delta region. This is because most of the affected communities sometimes resort to militancy as a last resort by joining groups like Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) or Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) to attract the attention of both the multinational oil companies (MOCs) and the government of Nigeria for compensation. Hence, it is known that oil pollution causes considerable conflict and damage to Nigeria's Niger Delta region [46]. Environmental pollution caused by oil plays a vital role in creating conditions for the present culture of conflicts in the Niger Delta. Such factors as poverty, media exposure, hopelessness among the youths in the region, and depressed economic situation are among other problems orchestrated by oil pollution.

Research from other countries, such as the United States, shows that US newspapers frame environmental and other public health-related matters to enhance general understanding. Framing also improves appropriate responses from individuals and communities [47]. Canadian newspapers' framing of environmental issues also influences reporters' news values and public opinions on topics, such as the Trans Canada Keystone XL oil pipeline [48]. In Malaysia, Saifudin [49] also acknowledged that when the media communicates environmental information via news articles and features, the public perceives the media as "green" and a "proper" media that takes responsibility for nature rather than profit-oriented. Thus, the public creates a relationship between the media and environmental non-governmental organizations

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

(ENGOs), especially when the public contacts the media to report environmental problems. Based on the above studies, those centered explicitly on media coverage failed to address framing, which is how a piece of news, such as oil pollution, is constructed and presented in the media. The argument over the ability of the Nigerian newspapers to use framing in the coverage of oil pollution are questions that continue to elicit varied responses.

#### **4. Roles of newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in the Niger Delta**

As the earliest form of traditional mass media, newspapers are widely read in urban and rural areas throughout Nigeria and African countries, including Ghana, South Africa, Liberia, Togo, and Ivory Coast. While some newspapers have a broader reach, others focus exclusively on the interests and information needs of the communities in which they operate. Community newspapers are published in the communities' native languages and provide residents with information that aids their development. Community newspapers are growing in readership because people rely on them to fill information gaps. In contrast, national newspapers are experiencing a readership decline due to the emergence and growth of social media [50]. Newspapers in Nigeria sometimes take the role of educators, reporters, communicators, and sometimes agents of change and stability. Thus, the role of newspapers in representing societal issues, such as the environment, is sometimes complicated, dynamic, and chaotic. Due to substantial environmental problems in Nigeria, such as oil pollution, climate change, air pollution, erosion, and flooding, journalists, are sometimes under pressure to report these environmental issues promptly. As a result, the roles of newspapers in the coverage of environmental problems are sometimes either sketchy or confusing due to the complicated, chaotic, and time constraints faced by journalists in Nigeria. One of the problems that complicate the role of journalists in Nigeria is ownership and control, as owners tend to dictate news coverage. Also, there is the problem of lack of proper training and education on the part of journalists, financial constraints, and commercialization of news, management policy, the dependence of journalists on press releases, lack of adequate facilities, and apathy for reading and research by journalists covering environmental and other issues facing the country [51].

As educators, newspapers have a critical position in the coverage of environmental issues in Nigeria because of their ability to interpret environmental programs to the public and even follow and record their implementation. As a result, newspapers have the mandate to educate the members of the public by explaining in straightforward terms the problems at hand. In the same vein, Aiyesimoju and Awoniyi [52] described newspapers as potent forces in educating the public about society's environmental and other social problems. Newspapers play significant roles in the existing knowledge of environmental problems in Nigeria in so many ways. Firstly, they are accessible to large proportions of the population. Secondly, newspapers dedicate more time and space to environmental topics. Thirdly, through newspapers, people are aware of crucial environmental information, such as oil pollution, climate change, and other forms of environmental issues.

Also, as a communicator, newspapers play the role of disseminating crucial environmental issues to all the relevant stakeholders, such as the multinational oil companies, government, and oil-bearing communities on the need to be environmentally friendly. According to Agwu and Amu [53], the media could offer valuable and practical information to the citizenry to make an informed decision about the environment. Newspapers also play the active role of communicating environmental problems in Nigeria and other issues, such as politics, business, entertainment, and other social issues. According to Uwaezu et al. [54], the role of newspapers as communicators is significant in the development of a world population that is aware of and concerned about the need and power of information. Additionally, newspapers act as educators and a catalyst for an informed society. However, it is also necessary to note that acquiring knowledge about making informed decisions about government programs and policies is one thing. Moreover, newspapers must ensure strict compliance and implementation of all relevant government policies, especially those bordering on oil pollution that has caused havoc in the Niger Delta region. It is vital to understand that newspapers play a significant role in the overall education of Nigerians about issues happening nationally and globally.

Newspapers play the role of agents of change and stability. They have the power to make aspects of environmental problems and other social issues more salient by drawing attention to them. Also, they have the power to distract attention from environmental issues and others facing the country by relegating them to the background. In this way, newspapers stabilize the state by thinking twice about the implications of their news reports before making them public. Similarly, Thaker et al. [55] argued that newspapers, as agents of change, have the responsibility to uphold the truth by being objective in their reportage at all times. So, there is a need for the media to always hold national interest utmost above personal or parochial interest for the country's stability. However, insufficient training and education for media professionals like newspaper reporters and ignorance of some critical global and regional concerns might encourage sensational journalism without proper recourse to the country's stability.

At this juncture, it is pertinent to argue that the public's interest in environmental information is sustained by complex environmental problems, which frequently provide readers with obvious facts and figures. Individuals are aided in environmental decision-making through such detailed reporting. Even in the United States, where access to the internet has increased social media use, the local population continues to rely on newspapers for environmental news [50]. For instance, in their 2015 study of how newspapers in the US frame environmental information in community newspapers, Andsager et al. found that 44.4% or N = 68 of the people living in the communities surveyed rely heavily on newspapers for environmental information, such as climate change, global warming, and health-related information like nutrition, 26.8% or N = 41 does not depend on newspapers, while 17.6% or N = 27 depend on other sources for and 11.1% or N = 17 were neutral in their response. Also, in Nigeria, Obar et al. [56] described newspapers as potent forces in educating the public about environmental and other social problems facing society. Their study focused on reporting environmental issues in selected Nigerian newspapers. The results of their study showed that 78.1% of Nigerians surveyed depend on newspapers for their daily environmental news and other news items. Thus, as part of their detailed news coverage, newspapers advocate for public action to support commendable environmental programs or policies against harmful ones [57]. Apart from the uncommon environmental news covered daily, Nigerian media devote many pages to environmental news in their daily editions. The content of the pages keeps the readers' informed of the newest environmental issues confronting the nation and potential remedies. Journalists contribute to environmental

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

education and awareness via professional research, discoveries, and confirmation from prominent environmentalists [58, 59].

Many readers are drawn to newspapers by the environmental sections, which they see as a repository for environmental knowledge; specific environmental stories are sometimes published in episodes (the narrative continues from one edition to the next). This strategy maintains readers' interest in following the story. The majority of newspaper readers are mature adults capable of making healthy choices for themselves and others (family members, friends, neighbors, and groups). Children, who account for most television viewers, cannot interpret environmental information, alone making environmental choices. They are characterized as a "politically powerless, positively-constructed group that attracts sympathy" [60]. This group accounts for a smaller share of the newspaper readership, which may be because reading and comprehending newspaper content require a certain degree of literacy. Even though a portion of the media audience is exposed to environmental news through broadcast media, they will still consult newspapers for specifics before making environmental judgments [61]. This is why newspapers have always stood the test of time as a major source of news and information among the members of society.

#### **5. Environmental communication in Nigeria**

Rarely has studies or research ever opened discussions or criticisms on the importance of the media's role in informing the public about oil pollution and other environmental problems that they faced. What has triggered arguments for many years now was how effectively the media play their roles in different issues bordering on the environment [62, 63]. Torwel and Rodney [64] summarized this point as they identified newspapers, television, magazines, radio, and social media providers of environmental information that have helped the public to make proper environmental decisions. Similarly, efforts have been made to discuss how print media contributes significantly to the development of environmental communication by providing information that assists audiences in making vital environmental decisions and often serves as a common source of environmental information about emerging environmental threats, oil pollution, human health concerns, destruction of means of livelihood, environmental impoverishment and degradations, and those responsible for it at the national and international levels.

However, what often raises eyebrows in terms of media coverage of environmental issues, such as oil pollution in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria are the following—the degree of success or failure of news framing recorded through environmental communication by the media in a particular oil pollution incident, environmental degradation, or other environmental challenges in comparison to other risks; how effective has the use of salience in environmental communication strategy been in promoting environmental protection in a society in comparison to others; which environmental communication strategy is used to achieve what environmental communication development at a particular time?; what environmental factors influence mass media roles toward environmental communication development. This statement implies that whenever there is oil pollution in the Niger Delta region, the types of news frames, such as responsibility, economic consequences, conflict, human interest, and morality used by media will determine how the oil-bearing communities respond to such news stories. For instance, if the newspapers blame the oil companies as the perpetrators

of the oil pollution or repeatedly emphasize the damage done to the livelihood of the oil-bearing communities, the youths in the affected communities are likely to protest against the oil companies and the government. On the other hand, when such oil pollution incidents are treated with levity from the media due to corruption or journalists being afraid of losing their jobs for objectivity in their news reports, youths from the oil-bearing communities sometimes rebuke and see them working hand-in-hand with their oppressors. It will be empirically meaningless to attribute the Nigerian media's success or failure in news framing to their role in promoting environmental communication without defining a particular aspect of the environment concerned. To make the same attribution on the success or failure of the role of media in Nigeria in environmental communication is essential to know the part of the country involved and many other significant criteria for justifications. Therefore, it is evident that some environmental issues require a distinct media approach since many environmental challenges in Nigeria provide additional news sources for the media. Ascertaining a suitable media approach to an emerging environmental issue has been one of the media challenges in environmental communication. As a result, mass media sometimes vary their approaches toward an environmental threat or sometimes use multiple approaches when not yielding the target result.

Since oil pollution joined the compendium of environmental threats faced by the people of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the role of environmental communication has become more significant in the country and globally, subject to the prevalence of numerous environmental catastrophes ravaging the mother earth. Without discarding the findings of a study by Roelofs et al. [65] on the role of environmental communication in promoting environmental awareness in Nigeria, Africa, and other parts of the world, it sometimes surpasses the evaluation of short-term effects Torwel and Rodney [64]. It is indisputable that some environmental communication strategies might be off-target at the onset of environmental problems. Nevertheless, the media in Nigeria, Africa, and the globe, in general, has made tremendous progress in environmental protection and conservation through continuous news coverage and information dissemination. The decrease in media coverage and advocacy messages on oil pollution is not exclusive to Nigeria or Africa but affects other continents. Countless questions have been raised in Nigeria and other countries such as the USA on whether media institutions suffer from "OIL POLLUTION" fatigue. This is because journalists' coverage of oil pollution in Nigeria and other parts of the globe has dwindled over the years. Among the other criticisms leveled at the mainstream media is the inadequacy of coverage of global oil pollution problems, especially in the developed world; inconsistency in the environmental topics reported in the news, most notably between cleanup of oil pollution sites and prevention; and the media's lack of or inability to emphasize the salience of using improved technologies in oil exploration activities. Oforibika et al. [66] explained that—nevertheless, the adage that media does not tell the public what to think, but does tell them what to think about, suggests that declining coverage of oil pollution in the news in Nigeria and elsewhere might have some relationship to the public's decreasing understanding of the urgency of the problem. Consequently, coverage of environmental issues, such as oil pollution, by the news media serves as an influential gauge of how important the issue is on the nation's policy and cultural agendas. It also epitomizes how the media's general response to the environmental crisis has changed over time.

Even though oil pollution and other environmental problems are wreaking havoc in Nigeria, environmental communication is still relatively new for journalists.

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

Numerous other researches on environmental communication and oil pollution problems in Nigeria and Africa [64, 67, 68] show that environmental communication by mass media plays a critical role in bridging the awareness divide between citizens and environmental challenges and in encouraging people to follow sound environmental management practices. In this case, the media fails to frame environmental communication stories to influence public attitudes about the climate. Similarly, Keinonen et al. [69] argued that the emergence of environmental challenges, such as climate change and global warming, could have been a valid reason for the dwindling media agenda on oil pollution. Criticism of Nigerian and other African media is not only in environmental communication, but the media are also accorded either praise or blame on other environmental problems. For instance, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, various studies have discussed media involvement in environmental promotion. Others specifically emphasized how the various mass media outlets have influenced the oil-bearing communities toward environmental awareness and consciousness. While others, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as Friends of the Environment Nigeria, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, the Nigerian Environmental Society, and Amnesty International, also synthesized their coverage and reported about the environment to accommodate problem-identification and problem-solving approaches toward oil pollution and other environmental problems. An example of such research is the study by Amnesty International in 2018 concerning the oil pollution from the oil facility of Shell that polluted over two thousand hectares of farmland in the Bodo community of Ogoniland of Niger Delta. The study covered various health challenges (skin diseases, diarrhea, and cancer) in the community alongside the effectiveness of the media approaches used in the coverage of the menace. After conducting a critical analysis of the different media positions on the coverage of oil pollution in the Bodo community, the study identified many minor hiccups in the context of successful media roles in environmental communication and protection. After critically assessing the media's various roles in covering oil pollution, the study noted some inconsiderable hiccups for influential media roles toward environmental protection. Among the media errors found is that majority of the media stories on environmental pollution are not issue-based. Too much focus on oil companies and government agencies concerned overshadowed the analysis of the health consequences of oil pollution and, as a result, trivialized what should be the primary concerns.

In addition, the study found that environmental communication and editorial messages about oil pollution in the Bodo community were haphazard. The report also found that the Bodo oil pollution tragedy messages did not engage media audiences and critical stakeholders to develop positive attitudes toward environmental protection. Professionalism in environmental media reports has been questioned, as journalists have been at the mercy of oil companies and government agencies who frame environmental news. Many journalists who specialize in environmental reporting lack the investigative skills necessary to sniff out environmental pollution issues, such as oil pollution. They also lack the relevant skills to interpret oil pollution research findings by simplifying environmental jargon into terms easily understood by the average person and writing to warn, forecast, advise, encourage, or discourage people and policymakers on environmental issues. Another drawback observed by Amnesty International in their report was that the government's and media's positions amid environmental disasters did not corroborate the report's findings. Government and media campaigns on environmental communication strategies and coverage collided, resulting in cooperation and collaboration breakdowns between the two.

Consequently, the environmental community's goals were harmed, and the efforts were criticized. The differences between the positions played by the two major actors stem from the interests each is attempting to safeguard. Given the critical nature of environmental challenges among public interests, overcoming the illustrated entanglements would take a systemic solution. According to Schwitzer et al. [70], journalists' responsibilities in covering environmental news go beyond factual and impartial, which are essential criteria for accessing news other than climate change. Covering oil pollution and other environmental news, according to them, requires journalists should not only report competing agendas from news sources but also balance the report by emphasizing the evidence-based submissions for the audience's environmental decisions.

Other suggestions for environmental journalists include scrutinizing those media or environmental pollution topics that can deceive the public when using them to report on environmental communication issues. Every environmental terminology associated with the workplace that is likely to be misunderstood should be clarified in simple, unambiguous language. Journalists must also obtain collective perspectives on environmental issues in oil-producing countries. The majority of environmental issues covered by the media are those that newspapers deem newsworthy, not those that the population views as environmental threats. Involving the public in environmental matters that affect them will improve their comprehension of media content. This would, in return, enhance public behavior necessary to address the environmental threats under consideration. As a result, journalists' roles in promoting environmental communication should include advising the government and other relevant stakeholders to formulate and execute favorable environmental policies that address environmental conservation in the Niger Delta and elsewhere.

Thus, environmental communication is a tool for solving ecological problems accurately from different studies [71]. This statement from Saleh implies that environmental communication helps to solve problems our societies face. It also solves problems for corporations, organizations, government institutions, and members of the general public. Environmental communication solves problems by helping all the relevant stakeholders to understand the need for environmentally friendly practices. This definition of environmental communication implies that if members of the community behave responsibly toward their immediate environment, they are bound to enjoy a healthy environment. Hence, Hasan [72] argued that members of society are part of the atmosphere. All our actions concerning the planet are bound to negatively or positively affect the natural ecosystem and human society in general.

As a result of the discourse above, a pollution-free environment in Nigeria is possible in the nearest future. The government must develop common ground between the ecological balance in the oil exploitation and exploration activities in the Niger Delta region. Striking such a balance will ensure moral responsibility, transparency and accountability, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable interactions with relevant stakeholders in decision-making processes.

#### **6. Framing oil pollution in nigerian newspapers**

The opportunity afforded by media framing is not just that issues can be interpreted and seen from various viewpoints. However, many assertions can generate problems, changing the message design or how the public interprets or perceives the

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

message. According to the way media framing has been conceived in several studies, it would be unrealistic to conclude that a term encompasses it. Therefore, until a consensus is reached among media framing scholars on the concept's complete separation from other related media phenomena, such as media agenda setting and priming. The study of media framing will continue to accept interest-based concepts. Matthes [73] concurs that framing is a multifaceted definition. Although attempting to define the different ways the word is theorized and formulated, he noted that the term had been applied inconsistently. This was reflected in his attempt to define "what framing is and is not" when he examined different meanings of "frame" as synonymous with "framing." Besides, framing is also predicated on how a topic is portrayed in the news media may impact how the public perceives it. The way news stories are portrayed in the media impacts how the public perceives them is called framing. The creators of mass media messages determine when and what to emphasize in a story by their use of words, photographs, content, and style. Also, framing theory is concerned with how news organizations choose which subjects to cover. It examines the unique forms in which specific problems are presented.

Therefore, it is necessary to explore some of the meanings of framing to understand better how framing is conceptualized and how each study adapts its use to accommodate various areas of emphasis and adverse aims in framing studies. According to McCombs and Shaw [74], framing may be thought of as second-level agenda-setting in terms of the impact of salience on media coverage on the public interpretation of news reports. According to Entman [31], framing is the process of culling a few elements of perceived reality and assembling a narrative that highlights connections among them to promote a particular interpretation. Additionally, the study further addressed the four roles of frames—problem definition, causal analysis, moral judgment, and remedy promotion. Also, framing influences and changes audiences' interpretations and priorities by increasing the salience or obvious importance of some concepts and igniting schemas that enable target audiences to think, react, and decide in a specific way. According to Entman's study, framing is viewed in news reporting as a **causal** and **effect** feature. This suggests that if a news story is structured in a particular manner, the impact on the public is likely to be different if the news report is structured differently. Gitlin [75] defines frames as "principles of selection, emphasis, and presentation comprised of small implicit theories on what exists, what happens, and what matters." There is some similarity between Entman and Gitlin's meanings of "frame." Both emphasize making a choice from a plethora of competing information and structuring the choice to emphasize the message. For Goffman [76], the definition of framing is more sociological than communication. However, it is one of the earliest versions of the term. Goffman's study is broad in scope, encompassing the potential and need to construct frames of formal understandings of how various facets of the world work.

On the other hand, the definition by Iyengar [77] raised the question of journalistic integrity in news framing. He defines framing as a term related to subtle alteration in the way decisions and questions are stated or presented. The term "subtle alteration" implies that framing is not entirely free from bias during selection, inclusion, exclusion of words, and vocabulary during news writing and reporting. Gamson and Modigliani [78] are credited with developing a directional meaning that focuses on message form rather than on principles of selection and emphasis. They argued that a frame provides a core guiding idea or storyline that gives meaning to an ongoing sequence of events by weaving them together. However, it suggests that the controversy is the root cause. The essence of the definition is based on the premise that

similar past stories can be linked together to provide context for understanding the current event to influence audience decisions. For example, the lack of maintenance of thousands of obsolete oil pipelines that crisscross the Niger Delta region and oil pipeline vandalism may be cited as significant causes of oil pollution.

Understanding how newspapers in Nigeria frame news about oil pollution in the country, problems associated with oil pollution, roles of newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution, environmental communication in Nigeria, and framing of oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers have become necessary as part of the effort to explore environmental journalism practices in Nigeria. Exploring the kinds of frames used by journalists, why they use salience, and the problems they face while covering oil pollution becomes a focus to appreciate the foundation of how media news stories are framed [79]. Furthermore, Wasike [80] argues that framing involves emphasizing certain aspects of reality in a particular definition, interpretation, or evaluation. Besides, framing corresponds to the process, which implies a strategic selection (conscious or not) of language features for a purpose [81, 82]. The placement of a news item on the front page and format will help to render the story more salient. Thus, the more salient, "significant" news stories are typically located at the top of each page.

In contrast, the day's most important stories are displayed on the front page. Hwang et al. [83] emphasize how frames influence how people perceive or comprehend an event, potentially twisting their judgment. However, framing theory recognizes that individual or viewer frames may influence media content. Frames are shaped by psychographic, media usage, government, and socioeconomic factors. Druckman [12] and Chong and Druckman [84] emphasize that almost all policy discussions require some level of rivalry between contending groups to define and interpret the issues. For example, they clarify that as people partake in debates about Social Security, Foreign Aid, a Hate Group Rally, or Affirmative Action, they must contend with competing frames designed by opinion leaders to sway public preferences. Invariably, consumers of newspapers, magazines, and other information outlets are confronted with the stakeholders' opposing and conflicting frames.

According to [83], the frame's effectiveness depends on how well it suits a person's pre-existing schema. The effect might be more significant when a media frame is more closely aligned with an individual's experiences, ideology, or stored information. According to [85], framing theory is a mass media theory that examines how certain information is manipulated to make an issue salient for people's attention and understanding. The framing theory asserts that the media critically frames national problems, emphasizing some elements above others. Although framing emphasizes how contents are selectively organized, peoples' perceptions are mainly based on their interests. In the case of the oil pollution in the Niger Delta, the print media, namely, *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian, The Punch*, *Vanguard*, and *The Daily Post,* can either blame the government, multinational oil companies, or the oil-bearing communities for the environmental crisis. The media could even frame oil pollution as economic consequences, human interest, conflict, and morality frames. Additionally, the media could also focus on the oil pollution problem in the Niger Delta region by using thematic frames instead of episodic ones.

#### **7. How framing is used to analyze the works of literature in this chapter**

In the coverage of news events, including oil pollution, the media usually frame or label some issues with greater salience than others through some journalistic devices.

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

In using particular words or phrases, the media might influence how the readers perceive a situation, such as the oil pollution ravaging the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta. Against this backdrop, the multinational oil companies, politicians, the government, and other relevant stakeholders engage the media in framing. In media framing analysis, words and phrases are among the smallest or safest recording units, which help readers to understand a phenomenon as portrayed in the media. Also, journalists often have to decide which information to include in their news stories. Reporters and editors use frames to decide what information should or should not be included in news events. These choices combine to form a frame, which refers to presenting a point of view so that the audience member is prompted to interpret the news stories in specific ways. This conforms to the views of [74]; Entman [31] that framing may be thought of as second-level agenda-setting in terms of the impact of salience on media coverage on the public interpretation of news reports.

According to Adekola and Lamond [86], the environmental conservatives and the non-governmental organizations in Nigeria leverage the media to promote their environmental ideologies. Some of the methods used include slanting of stories, placements, words, and phrases so that the opponent would be viewed negatively by the readers. They found out that the choice of words, phrases, and images journalists make when covering a story sometimes conveys a broader "angle" as they take on a controversy that can substantially portray the very same event differently than the broader controversy it represents. They explain that alternative portrayal of frames can cause appreciable influence on citizens' perception of the issue and, ultimately, their opinions. The use of words like militant to refer to the youths in the Niger Delta region could have contributed to the increased oil pollution incidents in the region. This is because the youths, out of anger and frustration, often engage in oil pipeline vandalization to register their displeasure to oil companies and the government in the region.

Furthermore, according to Elliott [87], media organizations occasionally withhold information that may aid in comprehending news events. According to Ward [88] and Nygaard [89], this may include the journalistic norm of objectivity as an attempt by journalists to adhere strictly to deadlines. This is even though some news stories do not suit this style of journalism. Thorough coverage of oil pollution is one kind of journalistic endeavor that has shown its ability to withstand this deadline-driven approach to news reporting. Nonetheless, newspapers and radio stations have shown that they adhere to this time-honored practice of deadline journalism while covering news events. The argument by Ward [88] and Nygaard [89] is that the competitive nature of the mass media industry and the belief of many journalists that the public prefers news reporting were some of the reasons why the media adhere strictly to known news frames to cover news items like oil pollution in the Niger Delta. Hence, in a constantly polluted environment like the Niger Delta region, the media should pursue news framing and agenda-setting tasks, contributing significantly to thorough coverage of the problem. The media should provide content that enables journalists covering an issue like oil pollution to assess the situation and use the right news frame for the coverage.

The relationship between the use of the various news frame in oil pollution news reports and the opposition to oil pollution indicates a relationship between multinational oil companies, responsibility, and economic consequences and between conflict, human interest, and morality frames. Thus, according to Semetko and Valkenburg [23], there is a significant relationship in using the attribution of responsibility frame most commonly used in the news. It follows the conflict, economic consequences, human interest, and morality frames. Also, the use of these

news frames depended on both the type of media outlet and the kind of topic. In the circumstances of the current study, the responsibility frame shows the inevitability of journalists and news editors not to hold multinational oil companies, such as Shell, Agip, Chevron, and Total to account for oil pollution, in Niger Delta region. Also, this study revealed that journalists use the responsibility frame to hold the Nigerian government-owned oil company like the NNPC accountable for oil pollution in the Niger Delta. Because of oil pollution, the environment in the region, such as seas, streams, rivers, oceans, and creeks, is not safe for human consumption. For instance, most communities in the Niger Delta are fishing and agrarian communities. When their drinking water sources and fish in the river are contaminated, their livelihood is threatened. This leads to severe financial losses and lowers the quality of the people's economic lives. Also, the survival of other aquatic animals becomes uncertain. When people eat contaminated marine animals such as fish and crabs, they are equally exposed to health-related illnesses. Such illnesses include cancer, neonatal deaths, skin diseases, and diarrhea. Thus, human health implications set in, and people began to oppose the presence of the oil companies in their various communities. The opposition to MOCs is often in staging peaceful protests, which sometimes result in confrontation between the oil companies, security agents, and youths from the oil-bearing communities in the region.

Furthermore, numerous studies have reviewed the use of the news frames developed by Semetko and Valkenburg [23]. Still, their research objectives ignored the kinds of news frames used in reporting oil pollution [2, 45, 90, 91]. However, some studies in the literature have been found to use news frames to report environmental issues, such as climate change [53, 92–94]. Thus, the current study has found that the five news frames were used to cover oil pollution in the Niger Delta in *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian,* and *The Punch newspapers*. This study also found a relationship between responsibility and economic consequences, responsibility and conflict, responsibility and human interest, responsibility, and morality frames. As a result, it can be understood that the relationship between the kinds of news frames used in reporting oil pollution in Nigeria is linked or related to each other. For instance, using the responsibility frame in news reports leads to holding the firms accountable for the economic problems caused. Similarly, the financial issues in the form of income loss or depletion of means of livelihood lead to conflicts between the relevant stakeholders. The conflict between the stakeholders results in human health catastrophes, which asks questions such as "Do these multinational oil companies or even the government have a conscience at all." (morality). For the current study, the use of the different kinds of news frames as developed by Semetko and Valkenburg in reporting oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region is a chain reaction or multi-dimensional. This is because journalists and news editors cannot necessarily use the responsibility frame, for instance, without stating the apparent damage caused (economic consequences). This results in human problems (human interest), even disagreements, accusations, and counter-accusations (conflict), and sometimes rebuke or prescriptions for good behavior (morality).

Besides, journalists gave salience to the people's livelihood through repetitive coverage and amplification of the extent of damage done to the oil-bearing communities due to oil pollution. In this regard, information about loss of income, destruction of aquatic animals, farmlands, pollution of creeks, seas, rivers, and other sources of sustenance of the people mainly appeared as headline stories. The positioning of

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

these stories was strategic to the agenda of the selected newspapers. Such agendas include eliciting public attention and condemnation of the multinational oil companies (MOCs) atrocities, such as Shell, Agip, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total, and Texaco. Another agenda of the three newspapers is to publicize the destruction of the environment by government-owned companies, such as NNPC. According to Jonkman et al. [95], the salience of a particular issue on the public agenda is a function of its salience on the media agenda and its salience competing issues on both the media and public agendas. Just as Entman [96] puts it, "the essence of framing is sizing; magnifying or shrinking elements of the depicted reality to make them more or less salient." As a result, Moernaut et al. [97] argues that news values help to select and construct (the most) salient participants, attributes, actions, implications, or contexts.

Since Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm first proposed media agenda-setting, several academics have offered criticisms, changes, and improvements about it. The incorporation of significant perspectives based on ongoing research on the theory by various scholars is intended to ensure that agenda-setting is consistent with and prove right the findings in—various related communication issues of study regardless of the environment of studies, classification of audience structure involved, methodological approaches, and the type of media practices under which they are studied. Agendasetting is believed to apply to all matters vying for public attention. Mustapha [98] concurs that the public not only learns about competing issues through the media; "… they are primed to attach different importance to those issues in response to the media emphasis, and salience." Thus, the media narrow the public's attention to a specific issue such as oil pollution in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria by emphasizing it at the expense of others to achieve the agenda.

Agenda-setting means the "creation of what the public thinks is important." It occurs when the media present specific issues frequently and prominently to get large segments of the public to perceive those issues as more important than the others. It can also be described as "the more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to people" [74]. This description makes the theory the central obligation to manage news in favor of societal development in the real sense. The above argument remains valid as long as the media are ready to combine their editorial interests in prioritizing public interest stories such as oil pollution ravaging the Niger Delta region through agenda-setting and framing. As previously stated, there should be no fear of where the public interest lies since the media agenda affects news coverage. The media's agenda-setting sways popular opinion toward issues it deems vital for debating, prioritizing, and acting upon. Media emphasis on the issue transforms the issue into agenda and ultimately manipulates the audience to perceive the issue as the most significant. As a result, the audience attributes the importance to the government's decision to act or respond. Mustapha [99] concurs that the agenda-setting theory may be applied to a variety of topics.

Besdies, McCombs and Shaw [74] affirm that scholars have adapted the agendasetting theory to discuss and understand various topics. However, the question is how agenda-setting affects public agenda and decision-making. It is also about how media and public agendas move from one topic to the next, mainly as varying salience issues compete for audience attention and public concerns. As a result, mass media does not show the public what to think on that particular issue but tells its audience what matters to think about.

Over forty decades since the inception of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, other issues of equal importance competing for audience attention, such as air pollution, biodiversity, erosion, flooding, and deforestation. Mass media, mainly the three selected newspapers, explored the many news angles through which the issues surfaced to keep public interest aglow of the oil pollution problems in the Niger Delta. Making decisions from conflicting news stories that affect the media narrative is a challenge influenced by various factors, including the media's view of truth and the dynamics of the world. Audience suspicion is a binding force that distinguishes between what the audience considers significant and what the audience believes to be necessary, a dichotomy that leads to salience [100, 101]. Before the advent of massive oil pollution in the Niger Delta, air pollution, erosion, and flooding were the main agenda (media and public). Despite the increase in gully erosion and flooding in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, the media subdued its saliency. They focused more on oil pollution, which is at the center of public attraction [102].

Furthermore, agenda-setting theory emphasizes that the media significantly impact listeners by selecting which stories to deem newsworthy and how much prominence and space to devote to them [103]. The emphasis is on how media reports can influence the priority accorded to artifacts of media content (issues, candidates, events, and problems). According to [104], agenda-setting asserts that listeners derive salience from the press, adding identical sets of weight into their agenda. Although the transmission of these saliences is an unavoidable by-product of journalistic experience and culture, saliences are one of the characteristics of the messages conveyed to viewers. This description implies that the media influence how the public learns about problems. Bernard Cohen, credited with developing the principle of agenda-setting, argues that the press is something more than a conduit for facts and opinion. This is because they are more frequently than not effective in influencing readers' decisions on specific topics based on the salience assigned to those stories.

The agenda-setting theory often pays little attention to the impact of viewer experience on media message reception [105]. Everything portrayed in the media inevitably conforms to the audience's pre-existing stereotypes of the problems. For example, a segment of newspaper readers may accept the media's portrayal of events in the Niger Delta region. Thus, reinforcing the assertion that people subjected to similar media coverage have similar perspectives on the issues. However, oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta, directly impacted by oil pollution and other environmental hazards, economic hardship, human health problems, insecurity, corruption, and inadequate basic facilities, may deny the majority of stories that differ from reality on the ground. By applying agenda-setting theory to the selected three newspapers' coverage of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, it becomes clear that most oil-producing communities learn about oil pollution from what the media present to them. The public's interpretation of the oil pollution ravaging the Niger Delta region is shaped by how news reports about the problems associated with oil pollution are presented in the selected three newspapers for this study. Hence, this study suggests that oil pollution in the Niger Delta region is one agenda that the media should cover in their reporting on the economy, climate change, and global warming as continuous oil pollution and other environmental degradation in the region has dire consequences for other parts of the world.

As a result, the primary interests of agenda-setting and framing theories are distinct and of different impacts on the audience. Another challenge is what issue the public considers most important and how the problem is interpreted depending

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

on the organization of the news stories. Due to the unproven impact of second-level agenda-setting, it is not a complete resemblance of framing. Despite their related and supporting saliency positions for issues, the convergence of agenda-setting and framing is nevertheless subject to methodological justifications for the existence of the second-level impact on the public.

On all accounts, the overlap between second-level agenda-setting and framing is minimal, except for the duo's unfavorable influence on the public. Continuous consideration of scientific justifications for the contrasting impact on the viewer can close the difference, thus reconciling agenda-setting and framing. The argument made in several studies by McCombs and Ghanem [106] and Ghanem [107] that agendasetting is about issues salience reinforces the strong relationship between second-level agenda-setting and framing. This is because attribute salience is the importance placed on a subject by the media to make it seem more important to the public. At the same time, second-level agenda-setting is focused on attribute salience. However, discussions of similarities are insufficient to conclude that framing is a second layer of agenda-setting used to describe the same phenomena.

Furthermore, Aday [108] states that a frame is a more elaborated concept beyond stressing an issue's feature. Thus, framing might reinforce the first-level agendasetting by highlighting an issue attribute, which results in "frame-setting" [109]. This analysis does not highlight or diminish the importance of framing as an extension of agenda-setting or as a distinct theory with distinct attributes. Instead, the result of the theories (effect on the audience about oil pollution problems) remains the primary concern. The three selected newspapers' framing of oil pollution issues has improved considering evidence relating to early prevention and containment of oil pollution. Nevertheless, prioritizing oil pollution prevention strategies to minimize oil pollution's destruction of livelihoods, human health impacts, conflict, and economic consequences requires media attention. This has become necessary as the accumulated media attention on the oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta in the coverage of oil pollution will reinforce the three selected newspapers' coverage of the environmental problems in the region.

#### **8. Conclusion**

This chapter investigated news framing of oil pollution as an environmental issue in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, the problems associated with oil pollution in the Niger Delta region, roles played by Nigerian newspapers in the coverage of oil pollution in Niger Delta, what environmental communication is all about, especially in the Nigerian context or elsewhere, and framing of oil pollution in Nigerian newspapers. Thus, the study delineated the broad scope of environmental communication as embracing framing oil pollution by the print media as responsibility, economic consequences, conflict, human interest, and morality. Also, the three selected newspapers for this study mainly used the five news frames developed by Semetko and Valkenburg [23] to frame and cover oil pollution news stories in the Niger Delta region. The three selected newspapers covering the oil pollution in the Niger Delta used more responsibility, economic consequences, conflict, human interest, and less of the morality frames at different degrees. This implies that the three selected newspapers differed, to some extent, in their provision of an appropriate explanation for the oil pollution ravaging the Niger Delta, Nigeria. As a result, the people of Nigeria's Niger Delta region, to a certain degree, have good

background information for the region's oil pollution predicament. The use of more responsibility, economic consequences, conflict, human interest, and fewer morality frames to cover oil pollution enables the public to report current oil pollution events in the Niger Delta without comprehensively explaining the issues that led to this environmental problem.

Based on the findings of this research, there is a relationship with the understanding of the agenda-setting and framing theories of the press. As a result, this study concludes thus: The five news frames used in news coverage on oil pollution differed significantly between the three selected newspapers (*The Daily Sun, The Guardian,* and *The Punch*). *The Daily Sun* newspaper used more of the five news frames of responsibility, economic consequences, conflict, human interest, and morality in framing and coverage of news on oil pollution than *The Guardian* and *The Punch newspapers* within the study period. The three selected papers used the five news frames to heighten and convey information about the adverse effects of oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. They used words, such as pollution of our only source of drinking water, destruction of our means of livelihood, health problems caused by oil pollution, Shell has destroyed our environment, asking for compensation to frame their stories. Also, they used words like ecosystem and mangroves pollution; we can no longer go fishing, our people are dying because of oil pollution, oil pollution has brought insecurity, oil is a curse to our region to draw the attention of the Nigerian government and global community to the plight of the oil-bearing communities.

Findings also revealed that the various news frames used in the content analysis by the three selected newspapers to cover oil pollution were replicated among the newspapers to form part of the relationship between the three selected newspapers in their use of the frames. This means that there was enormous information on the frequent use of the various news frames by the selected newspapers to cover oil pollution in Nigeria. Vreese [110] noted that the potential of the framing concept lies in focus on communicative processes that involve frame-building, frame-setting, resulting in numerous types of frames. Likewise, Mercado et al. [111] explain that the framing process consists of the intervention of the productive routines of the media, the content generated, and the use of the various frames to communicate messages to the audience. In addition, the use of these frames in *The Daily Sun*, *The Guardian*, and *The Punch* provides empirical evidence to prove that journalists are echoing their views on Nigerian oil pollution issues. It also provides the journalists a forum to relay their voices more broadly than other forms of news media in the country. This notion is corroborated by De Vreese [112] that news framing has become one of the most popular concepts in communication, and recent overviews show the popularity and tremendous increase in the use of the idea in news coverage.

Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: The first recommendation is the inclusion of editorials, features, and opinion articles in future studies. It is imperative to understand that these news items provide the piece(s) of information to the mass audience. They also help to keep the public abreast of what is happening in society at any given point in time, just as straight news stories. As a result, the information about oil pollution from the editorials, features, and opinion articles news sources could improve the outcome of future studies. Secondly, another recommendation is that future researchers should endeavor to source funds on time before engaging in massive research of this nature to enable them to have the resources to reach out to the staff of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta. This is because oil pollution in the Niger Delta is a severe problem that

#### *Newspaper Framing of Oil Pollution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102731*

has lingered for decades in the region. Any meaningful study in the future should include the perpetrators of the pollution to get their views on the subject.

Besides, future researchers on framing oil pollution news stories in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, should include qualitative analysis (focus group discussion) to interview traditional rulers and their cabinet members since they are closer to people and would understand the impacts of oil pollution on them more than anyone else. These traditional rulers and their cabinet must be assured of confidentiality and anonymity as per information divulged during interviews. This allows the interviewees to reveal every possible information about oil pollution in their various communities without fear or favor of being reprimanded by the government in power.

On the part of journalists, it is recommended that they undergo some training or further studies, especially in environment reporting to learn the scientific jargon associated with environmental communication. As the fourth estate of the realm, it is not only the responsibility of professional journalists to be objective in their daily news coverage and report. They are also expected to understand the intricates of their profession to avoid being sued for misrepresentation of facts in the course of carrying out their professional duties. This is because, as educators, journalists have a critical role to play in the coverage and explanation of environmental issues to Nigerians because of their ability to interpret environmental programs to the public and even follow and record their implementation. As a result, journalists have the mandate to educate the members of the public by explaining in straightforward terms the problems at hand. In the same vein, [52] described journalists and news organizations as potent forces in educating the public about society's environmental and other social problems.

#### **Author details**

Chika Ebere Odoemelam School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

\*Address all correspondence to: ochikaebere@yahoo.ca

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Section 3

## Social Media, Communication and Theory

#### **Chapter 6**

### *Living Word* and Audiality as a Problem of Modern Media Text

*Eleonora Shestakova*

#### **Abstract**

In today's media communications, due to several objective factors, the media text is undergoing radical changes. Media text is increasingly filled with and oriented towards the sounding, living word in its essence and a culture of audiality. Audiality in media text makes the most of the achievements and language of the culture of emotional turn, which should be taken into account when analyzing media text and the media process. All this leads to a change in the status of reality, the human being, and the culture of understanding, which is also important for journalism and media communication in general, especially given the growth of non-verbal components in the media text. Media texts in which the auditory principle is strong have hardly become the subject of independent study. In this connection, two urgent tasks are central. It is important to justify, firstly, the living word as a key concept for describing audiality in media texts; secondly, the theoretical foundations and principles of the study of audiality in media texts.

**Keywords:** journalism, *living word*, media text, culture of audiality, emotional turn

#### **1. Introduction**

For traditional journalism, the leading factors were the figure of the author and politics, the reputation of the publisher, and the mass media. The role of a journalist, publicist, and also a writer, publicists were often played by the same person, a group of creative personalities. Historians of journalism, representing the East Slavic scientific tradition [1–5], have been writing about this for a long time. The journalism of the past was predominantly person-centered, directed, withdrawn to the publicist, journalist as a civic authority, a public intellectual. The voice of the audience in this model of journalism occupied the peripheral location of a kind of silent majority in the sense that the position of the audience manifested itself indirectly. Foremost of all, it was expressed in the subscription-support of the circulation of the media, in letters, calls to the editorial office of the publication. Changes in capabilities and priorities in the technical process have led to transformations in media communications.

In modern journalism, media text often occupies a leading place and attracts more attention than the personality of its author. The exception, perhaps, is a small percentage of columnists and public intellectuals. The media text, in a natural way, especially for new mass media, is saturated with the voices of the audience,

which sound through comments on the official websites of publications, in social networks, and on live broadcasts. As a result, the media text often turns out to be the dominant hero of the media reality and media process. A successful media text is often reprinted, distributed in full and in partial, disassembled into citations countless times, not always with links to the original source. The media process is becoming more and more text-centred, which for almost 20 years experts in media linguistics have pointed [6]. Since the 2000s Ukrainian philologists have dedicated several separate dictionaries to the media text [7–9]. One of the significant scientific results of such systematic work on the study of the media text is the creation of the International Medialinguistic Commission at the International Committee of Slavic Studies (UNESCO) in 2011 and the international scholarly journal "Medialinguistics" was established in 2014 [10].

Despite the active scientific interest of researchers in a media text, media language, media speech, media stylistics and media discourse, there are still many unresolved issues. Media communications successfully and quickly master the latest information technologies, which leads to changes in the nature, structure, and capabilities of the media text. The media text is more and more filled and oriented towards the sounding, in essence living word and the culture of audiality. With printed texts based on a culture of writing, as Derrida defines it, and the media texts with visual elements theorists and practitioners of journalism and media communications know how to work, what methods and techniques to apply to construct and analyze them (Barthes, Eco, Van Dijk, Courtin). Media texts, in which the audiality principle is strong, almost did not become the subject of separate research. Although, about the unreasonable secondary role of the living word in the text, speech, the importance of understanding its nature and the principles of opposition, coexistence with the culture of writing, sign already in the 60s twentieth century the French philosophers Derrida, Deleuze, Meschonnic. The evolution of the media text has shown that these ideas of French structuralism and post-structuralism must be taken into account and applied to the theory and practice of media communications.

Modern media text is increasingly focused on working with a living word. In this regard, in the theory of journalism, media communications, a conceptual and terminological difficulty has already arisen that needs to be overcome: there is a relatively new phenomenon in media text—the strengthening of the positions of audiality and living word, but there is almost no theoretical and methodological basis for describing them. So, one of the current tasks is the importance of justifying a living word as a key concept for describing audiality in media text. These general theoretical difficulties are not surprising, though.

In addition, there is one more factor. The sounding word is the most difficult phenomenon for both practitioners and theorists of journalism because of its peculiar "elusiveness", "no-object", and the unavoidable, unrecoverable difficulty of fixation. However, without taking into account the fullness of the meanings of the *living word*, the integrity of the media text cannot exist. The modeling and representation of reality in a media text based on the *living word* is always based on an ephemeral sense of the peculiar freedom, spontaneity and naturalness of such a media text. Media text focused on audiality culture creates the illusion of maximum objectivity, reliability and completeness of reflection of reality. But at the same time, a *living word* is most effective in its impact on a mass audience, and the illusory speed, completeness and ease of perception of information is deceptive. The audience must have a sensitive social-cultural, everyday hear to catch and understand the shades of the meanings of such a media text. Therefore, it is important to define and characterize the methods of

#### Living Word *and Audiality as a Problem of Modern Media Text DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103794*

studying audiality in the media text. It is necessary to show why post-structuralism, semiotic approaches are still important, and why they are limited.

In this regard, the section of this article on research methodology is not a designation of already existing methods and techniques for studying media text, but substantiation of the theory of methodology. In other words, as a theorist of journalism and the theory of media text, a representative of media linguistics, it is important for me to argue the theory of the methodology for studying audiality and the *living word* in media text. This is because this kind of theory has not been developed and has not been tested within the framework of the theory of media text. Such a task was at the margins of scientific interests also in connection with the fact that the process of globalization aims at a kind of unified media text, in which the information component prevails, firstly. Second, the media text in the global media process follows general patterns, being oriented towards a generalized, averaged audience. It is no coincidence that many mass media programs, projects and formats are sold and successfully broadcast all over the world. In this case, the media text is accompanied by subtitles, translations, or is adapted by local companies, channels, journalists, hosts talk shows, reality shows for national media spaces. This is where another problem arises. In the case of subtitles, translations into the national language, the media text loses, changes the essence, ideological, national, mentality sound of its living word, which leads to the transformation of the meaning of the media text as a whole. In the case of format adaptation, as is often the case with talk shows, reality shows, an alien nationalsocial-cultural model in a living space alien for itself receives a new embodiment, sound and shades of meaning through the performance of other national *living words*, and through them appears memory cultures. Consequently, the formal-meaning and semantic principles of the media text enter into ambiguous relationships. It is possible to clarify them only by taking into account the attentive attitude to the essence, specifics and principles of the existence of a living word in the media text, which in the era of globalization reveals the significance of national, local-regional cultures and traditions.

This all assumes that this article is largely staged and theoretical in nature, which predetermines its main goals and objectives. First of all, it is necessary to identify and comment on the problematic field of audibility, audiality in the modern media text and media process. Then, necessary to show and characterize the key context of the problems that led to the idea of isolating the phenomenon of a *living word* as an independent subject of research. It is equally important to outline those ideas, theories from scientific, philosophical thought of the second half of the 20th century, which served as the basis for defining the essence and tasks of the living word in modern social culture and media communications in particular. These are, first of all, the studies of French structuralism, post-structuralism and their followers, who worked with the concept of a *living word* and related phenomena and concepts related to it.

It is necessary to focus on the fact that only traditional journalistic materials from various national media spaces cannot be the material for the study of audiality and the living word. As the practice of the media process shows, the hosts of reality shows go into the podcast format, attract celebrities to talk about problems in reality projects to master and tame the new and popular format of the living word. In part, this leads the presenters of the show to the fact that they turn to the basics and principles of journalism, and it leads to the fact that the new format will be difficult to advance in the global media space. All this must be taken into account, described and investigated in a complex, which is also one of the tasks of this theoretical article in terms of its goals.

#### **2. Justification of the main areas of research: general formulation of the problems**

The range of modern media texts and related discourses includes traditional journalistic texts, advertising, PR, new media, the blogosphere, stories in the social media what that become more complex in structure, goals, functions, formats (Odnoklassniki, Facebook, Instagram, Clubhouse) and YouTube, TicTok. The main tendencies of this range of media texts development demonstrate of tending to further change the status, structure, functions of the culture of speech and reading in the media communications. Writing has ceased to be the leading, determining factor, but the speech sphere, the culture of visuality and audiality has become more active: media text "consists not only of verbal fabric, but is sequentially unfolded at several levels: verbal, video and sound, forming a single whole and acquiring features of volumetric and multi-layered" [6, p. 47].

In recent years, audiality has been more and more actively manifested in a media text. In electronic and new media, sounding speech, music, often accompanied by natural, artificial sounds, noises, is already the norm. Audiality fills the media text, diverting attention from what is written and attracting it to what is said, spoken aloud, designed, oriented for a quick and emotional reaction. This is typical not only for the usual live interviews, reports from the scene, live broadcasts, media text indicating "you can also listen to this news," podcasts. In this case, audiality is a natural informational, ideological and esthetic component of a media text.

However, modern media texts of various genres are increasingly using the capabilities of the *living word*, i.e., which came from the outside world and, as it were, unprocessed, manifesting with all its primordial strength. This is clearly seen in various talk shows. Talk show characters can be roughly divided into three groups. Firstly, these are talk show host with their inherent professional diction and the ability to build an image, set the atmosphere, create, change, and promote the necessary meanings and ideas. Secondly, these are famous media faces of politicians, businessmen, showmen, public intellectuals, experts in various fields of knowledge. They competently use gestures, facial expressions, vocabulary, and voice, sound to form the informational, social, ideological, esthetic integrity of their image and media text as a whole. Thirdly, these are talk-show participants, who are most common, ordinary people from the crowd or actors who diligently portray them. They speak their native *sociolect*, in theory Barthes [11], or diligently imitate the speech behavior of a modern ordinary person. In this regard, the genres of the reality world also play a leading role, declaring their principled focus on *living life* and *living word*.

In advertising, there is also simultaneously important professionally used music, expertly skillfully voice pronouncing advertising slogans; imitation of the living sound and noise, conversational elements of a modern metropolis, less often provinces, rural life. News media text, no less than analytical, journalistic genres is saturated with the element of the *living word*. Many new media focused on the verbal culture of presentation of material have recently begun to actively use formats in which the sounding living word occupies a leading position [12].

Audiality culture in the mass media is used for several purposes. First, the traditional journalistic purpose of recreating, conveying the natural environment, focusing on fact, event, unchanging striving for documentary, authenticity. Secondly, the creation of various kinds of emotional impact with the help of esthetic, ethical collisions, effects, affects, and plays of language. Thirdly, to show in a more voluminous, multidirectional, large-scale presentation of the polyphony of the modern world.

#### Living Word *and Audiality as a Problem of Modern Media Text DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103794*

Fourth, to form an audiality (sound) picture of the world in the mass media and to consolidate certain value meanings and ideas in the audience using a given spectrum of feelings, emotions and methods, models of their expression in voice. Mass media introduces fashion and strengthens the right to develop speech, voice, sound, and noise models of human behavior, society and everyday life.

The *living life, living word* and audiality, in general, are in an ambiguous relationship with the analytical-rational, intellectual language spoken by traditional journalism and which its audience sought to imitate. Modern journalism, primarily of high quality, good, tries to comprehensively but correctly combine analytics and emotions, speak with its audience in a language close to it, and at the same time create a new media language for new cultural circumstances. This must be taken into account by practitioners and theorists of journalism and media communications. Moreover, attention to the emotional turn is one of the general and key trends in the development of modern humanities [13–19]. Since October 2019 and throughout 2020–2021, Amsterdam University College "serves as a venue for a series of academic and public events focused on an amazing and highly sensitive dimension of human existence: the realm of emotions, affects and feelings" [19].

In recent years, attempts have been made to systematically investigate the mass media from a similar angle of view aimed at an emotional turn. For example, Wahl-Jorgensen, Karin in the article *Considering the emotional turn in journalism studies: Towards new research agendas* suggest to apply "…an increasingly nuanced investigation of the role of emotion in the production, texts and audience engagement with journalism" [20]. The mass media are understood as "generators of affect" (Reckwitz), as institutions that establish "rules of feelings" (Hochschild), form, control "affective flows" (Wetherell) [16]. However, develop the basics and tasks of the living word, audiality in media communications is still at the margins of research interests. There are separate articles on interjections in the media, about the ways of expressing emotions in reality TV [14, 21–30]. In 2018, Affective Societies Collaborative Research Center was created in Freie Universität Berlin. There are two special projects [31, 32].

Nevertheless, systemic studies of the issues of the *living word*, *living life* and the ways of their manifestation, consolidation, implementation in the media text, media space are virtually absent. This leads not only to the need to study audiality in the media text, but leads to the problem of changing the status of reality, subject, understanding, interconnected with the emotional turn, which is important for journalism and media communications in general, especially given the growth of non-verbal components in the media text. Until recently, the solution to these problems in the media text was achieved mainly through the traditional information and communication capabilities of the mass media, language, images, ethics, esthetics of writing and visuality. Visual culture and the physicality predetermined by it, with which media texts have been maximally saturated for the last half-century, have influenced the perception, self-perception, understanding and self-understanding of the subject. Researchers have long been talking about this. In this way, the mass media are trying to solve their classic problem: to get as close as possible to and master the reality, which they must impartially see, fix, documentary reflect, analytically, responsibly comment, and explain. At this moment, they are inevitably trapped by the reality trap, which they try to overcome, level or use. Podoroga noted: "This is what surprises us: not disappearance and erasure, but the growing multiplication of images of the real, increasingly reinforcing the blockade of reality. The growth of the real is especially noticeable against the background of the birth of a *new sensuality* that eliminates pain, is capable of prosthetics of the entire spectrum of everyday sensations,

which does not replenishing a *shortage* of reality, but reconciles with an excess of real" (italic of author—*E.Sh.*) [33, p. 310]. Reality, real, subject correlate primarily with tangible, visible, reliable and their various images, substitutes, prostheses, simulacra. This is also used by the mass media.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, to the problem of mastering reality through visuality, the problem of audiality and the ways, goals, possibilities, tasks of its presence in the media text were added. Audiality, *living word* discover new aspects of *new sensibility*, a *shortage* of reality, an *excess* of real, the *confusion* of the subject, and the importance of changing the rules, the principle of understanding. About it already reasoned philosophers, publicists, the writers of the mid-twentieth century. For example, Pierre Gamarra, a French poet, novelist and literary critic, described the meanings of the living meetings as follows: "Here, in Sofia, the writers of thirty countries met. They saw each other's faces, listened to the sounds of someone else's speech. I am far from minimizing the importance of paper and text. And yet we did not know each other's eyes and voices. Similarly, we must read the book about any people, to see this people with his eyes, hear his voice, present him alive" [34, p. 250]. It is noteworthy professor of English literature, a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet from the United States Scott Momaday, similarly to Gamarra, focuses on voice, audiality: what the nations with a languages having strong oral traditions have especially developed memory, the ability to listen attentively, to maximally load the word with meanings, there is an inherently specific linguistic plastic [35, p. 242].

It is clear that writers and publicists were aware almost half a century ago of changes in trend, lifestyle of human behavior, society, and sought to consider and analyze them by an accessible means—the written word. Transformation of the writing should occur so that the word written as much as possible approximation to *living life, living word*. This makes it possible to solve the problems of reliability, objectivity, responsibility before society and achieve social and moral goals, which must invariably be in a high-quality, good journalistic text, publishing house. Today it is obvious that modern culture, the mass media process is increasingly focused on oral speech, *living word* and audiality. In this regard, the study of the *living word* and audiality in the modern media process is relevant. This all leads to the need to justify and characterize the theory of the methodology for the study of the living word and audiality in media text.

#### **3. Rationale for key methods and approaches: the theoretical aspect of the problem**

In the twenty-first century researchers and practitioners of media communications when talking about the problems of reality, reliability, objectivity, ways of displaying them are increasingly turning to ideas, the possibilities of an emotional turn, which manifests itself in texts not only through writing, visuality, but also through a *living word*, audiality. It is they who initially, by virtue of their nature and tasks, are able to clearly, figuratively, quickly express not only clearly formulated meanings, ideas, feelings, but also the smallest shades of the spectrum of various emotional states such as joy, pain, righteous anger, indignation, glee, contempt. Modern media text is not only saturated with the traditional, professionally staged voices of journalists, host with their distinctive vocabulary, rhetoric and timbre, melodic and rhythm. To solve traditional tasks and functions, media text actively and purposefully uses as if natural, spontaneous sound-noise and voice element of *live life*.

#### Living Word *and Audiality as a Problem of Modern Media Text DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103794*

These can be interjections used as "vocal gestures" (Ameka [21]); or "affective signs" (Hougaard [29]); or "the flotsam and jetsam of mere performance" (Dingemanse [30]). As a result, the time for perceiving information is minimized and its comprehension is transformed predominantly into a feeling, an effect that is it would seem, almost accessible to analytical perception, comprehension. For example, interjections in media texts are no longer a characteristic and feature of oral communication. The tendency to anchor the written of word and the audiality is important for the contemporary verbal media text. So, many culinary bloggers, host reality shows, strive to capture, fix and convey in the announcements of programs, the atmosphere of audiality with the help of interjections, emoticons.

Sunny Anderson, for example, uses interjections to create a certain emotional mood in his written texts—announcements of cooking show, to activate emotions and their fixation in writing, amplification with emoticons and in cases when advertising products [36]. Similar communicative strategies are characteristic of another "star" chef—Geoffrey Zakarian [37]. This is quite revealing from several points of view: the format of the media text's existence; the role of the emotional element in it; re-educating the audience, reorienting it from visual to auditory perception; the attempt to develop new ethical, ideological and esthetic canons for speech and voice. Subscribers have also praised the new format of the media text, which uses a live voice.

Many professional media chefs have set up their own audio rooms and run live shows, which are essentially similar to live radio broadcasts. For the past year, there has been a trend which can be conventionally called "go to sound", "transitioning to in sound" or "tame the clear sound". For example, Giada De Laurentiis [38]. Thus, from the excessive reality of the photo showmen, bloggers move towards sound, voice. Paradoxical as it may seem, but it is the ephemeral, heightened sensitivity to the nuances of emotions that make *living words* and voice the determining factors in the struggle for reality, reliability, and authenticity.

The audiality culture of the era of an emotional turn makes the opinion leaders of the world mass media space to promote into its center not the face, but the voice. Making the voice recognizably means using both the power and possibilities of vocabulary, stylistics, speech patterns, the sound and melody of sound images, and a set of themes and problems that would lay down on the individual and unique sound of the host's or journalist's intonation. To a certain extent, this also means a return, a revival of the traditional foundations of journalism, which were oriented towards the individual. Now, however, the voice of the host, the journalist, must be more linked and associated simultaneously with his image, personality and the spectrum of problems, topics and discourses he presents in the media space. On the other hand, the audience, too, must develop a special sensitivity in their hearing to understand what is being said and how it is being said. This is one of the essential requirements of the era of a new sensibility, a new dimension of corporeality, which is already taken into account by the mass media.

In connection with such trends in the mass media process, the focus is on promoting, looking for ways, language, conventionally speaking, more subtle, ephemeral phenomena than in the written and video media text. These are, for instance, nuances of feelings, smells, the culture of their perception and presentation. The same phenomena in media text include voice, sound, noise and the ways of their realization, including playing with melody, sound images, exclamations and interjections. Andreeva, working on voice, vocal gestures and interjections, has put them into a new context and methodology: "Rhetorical phonetics <…> therefore, the

timbre coloration of speech at the super-segmental level acquires special significance for research <…>" [39].

These *seemingly* ephemeral but very powerful manifestations of the *living word* inevitably reveal new aspects of the problems of reality, the subject, authenticity, objectivity, document, fact, perception, understanding, and communication. These notions cover a spectrum of extremely difficult to articulate issues of correlation between the *living live* and the media text. However, they are important for the creation and successful, effective perception, existence of a modern media text, the media process as a whole.

The following aspect related to methodologies of research on audiality in media texts needs to be emphasized. The media of the turn of our century, assuming the role of "generators of affect" (Reckwitz), actively mastered and implemented the paradoxes of the visual discourse, when, according to Mersch: "The term «representation» never only refers to the modalities of representation, but always at the same time to their *exhibition, showing, performing or execution*. In other words, *representations perform what they represent*" (italics by the author—*E.Sh.*) [40, p. 2]. Media text more and more consistently mastered the language, semantics, rhetoric, the poetics of visuality as an opportunity for the implementation of traditional journalistic, advertising, PR functions, as well as manipulation and propaganda. Media text has made the visuality an integral part of the struggle for reality, subject and understanding. However, this has quite quickly led simultaneously to a sense of increasing simulacra of reality, play, artificiality in the recreation of images of reality and inevitably to a loss of connection with *living life*.

This problem is relevant to contemporary culture and mass media. Derrida this is how he formulated the essence of this paradox: "In phenomenological interiority, hearing oneself and seeing oneself are two radically different orders of self-relation" [41, p. 76]. In a media text, this kind of relationship is most evident. They are tangible for both the author and the audience. Visual, including through written text, writing, and perception of information implies a distance of writing, reading, photo, gradual rational comprehension, "further props", as Derrida defines it. Through visuality, the distance of analysis, fact, and analytics is established in the media text. The voice, on the contrary, removes any "further props", returning, cultivating in the subject confidence in what only he himself can hear in the overflow of intonations, melody, sounds, timbre. Voice initially and irresistibly contains, suggests, gives instant perception and ""alive" words". They initially and invariably presuppose a special, almost immaterial "expressive activity" and meanings that "not to fall outside me, at a visible distance" [41, p. 76]. The *living word*, audiality in media texts implies an orientation not only on analysis, but first and foremost on feeling and interpreting what is heard, on taking into account the meaningful, meaning-rich, nuanced intangible expressive activity.

Modern society is increasingly dependent the "power of the voice", which is based and manifests itself, according to Derrida, through the unity of meaning and intuition, anchored and supported by sounding, sound, noise. This has again activated before the society and, hence, before media communications a system of questions associated with ideology, axiology and phenomenology of perception, world representation in media text, on the one hand. On the other hand, this makes rethink the methodology of research in media text. In 2004 Latour wrote an article *How to Talk About the Body? The Normative Dimension of Science Studies*. Latour, giving an answer to this question, built his reasoning on the culture of the *nose*, i.e., the culture of smell having: "<…> richly differentiated odoriferous world. <…> Acquiring a body is

thus a progressive enterprise that produces at once a sensory medium and a sensitive world" [42, p. 207]. Mass media, for objective reasons, cannot engage in the process of generating, manifesting the effects and affects significant to the culture of smell. But, the mass media are actively involved in the process of assimilating a new sensibility and the effects of the emotional turn. This is done through a capacity for audiality that allows the media to detect and present a world of multiple nuances and grounds for reasoning in it. In large part, because of this, there is a growth of the spoken word and the *living word* in the media.

As noted above, the *living word* is not just a problem predetermined by or limited to questions of style, rhetoric, use of new, trendy, topical words. It is a problem of listening culture. During the twentieth century, the problem of the living word was topical several times for the humanities that were faced with rapid changes in the role, position and functions of writing, gesture, sound, voice (Sievers, Zelinsky, Shpet, Bernstein, formalists, Derrida, Deleuze, Lyotard, de Man). For example, de Man one of the first takes as an example the texts of TV shows and TV serials popular in the 70s (*All in the Family*) [43]. de Man describes in detail the syntactic, lexical aspects of the construction of the dialog of the characters of the series, and focuses on the sign, the form, and the dramaturgy of the characters conversations. The voice, the sound-noise element in media texts have a special, fundamentally inaccessible to sight, to traditional reading, but no less powerful and meaningful language, rhetoric. de Man mentions this in passing, but does not offer a methodology for analysis or interpretation, considering them additional, embedded in the artistic beginning and the visuality of the television series. This localizes his vision of the media text and limits it to the culture of signs and writing. However, the problem of analysis has been outlined.

In 2015 a collection of articles *The Living Word: Logos—Voice—Movement—Gesture*. It highlights: "The central question that united the participants was posed as follows: *what exactly makes a word and movement alive*, what turns a frozen word fixed on paper into an emotional act <…>?" (Italics by the authors—*E.Sh.*) [44, p. 6]. There were several answers. One of them is the thesis, common and important to all authors: the *living word* is necessarily and sensitively oriented towards voice, sound, rhythm, noise, which are indispensable conditions for it to occur as a communicative phenomenon. The methodology of analysis has not been proposed.

The origins of methodology should be sought in Derrida's ideas. Voice, according to Derrida, is significant in that "<…> a medium which both preserves the presence of the *object before intuition* and self-presence, the absolute proximity of the acts to themselves. The ideality of the object, which is only its being-for a nonempirical consciousness, can only be expressed in an element whose phenomenality does not have worldly form. *The name of this element is the voice. The voice is heard*. Phonic signs ("acoustical images" in Saussure's sense, or the phenomenological voice) are heard [entendus = "heard" plus "understood"] by the subject who proffers them in the absolute proximity of their present" (italics by—*E. Sh.*) [41, p. 76].

For creating and understanding the essence of the contemporary media text, these ideas of French post-structuralism are directly relevant and practical. The voice in media text is simultaneously a sound image, the basis for rational perception of the meanings that the voice articulates or utters; a seeking/rejection of emotional and intimate intimacy with this voice, with the meanings and ideas it carries with it, an orientation, a dependence on intuition, without which dialog is impossible in the system of audiality. In media text, the voice directly, without the mediation of writing, reading, signs address the feelings and emotions of the person or corporeality. In this sense, the voice in media text is in many ways similar and fulfills the same function

as the nose in smell culture. The journalist activates extremely subjective channels, ways and possibilities for communicating with the audience. Voice in a media text is also the most effective means of penetrating into the personal and intimate space of the person as a perceiving subject. The process of conveying information and, more importantly, the meanings and ideas produced through it, through media text is oriented simultaneously towards rational-analytical and emotional, affective perception.

Voice in media text is also a specific break in equivalent communication between journalist and audience. The listener cannot shed light on, clarify the meaning of what has been heard, what has been performed. The word and its sound performance, implementation can generate a lot of shades of meaning, which the listener can only grasp and remain alone with his impression, his emotions, even after a serious analytical program. The listener often does not have the opportunity to respond with a public voice message to the journalist, to the editorial office. The listener can only express his reaction to the media text with a comment, post, smiley face or emoticon on the websites of publications and social networks. The exception is radio and blogs, stories in which a culture of the public-sounding voice of the ordinary person, of the various social starts of media text audiences, is beginning to take shape. So far, the publicly significant voice, the sound images, the element of audiality is the privilege of professional media texts and is curated by journalists, host, showmen, and publishing.

According to Derrida, because of the increased role of the subject, intuition in the creation and realization of meanings, it is important to look at the phenomenon of voice and audiality from the position of phenomenology: "It is implied in the very structure of speech that the speaker *hears himself*…" (italics by the author—*E.Sh.*) [41, p. 78]. This is a very important idea for various media text genres and formats that are designed for the *live word*, audiality, and must be taken into account by both media communication theorists and practitioners. Otherwise, the media text will not be able to achieve its leading goals: to establish a dialog with the audience, to correctly inform them about current events, facts and situations, to place semantic and ideological accents in a professional, ethical manner and to be perceived by the audience.

The power of the voice in today's media text is still largely the traditional strong control, management of those who create media products and replicate them. If a media text based on the culture of writing and visuality is a sign, can be subjected to a scrupulous, consistent analysis, then the auditory component can only be interpreted. This is the basis and trap of the power of the voice in the face of an emotional turn. The voice and the *living word* take on the functions of control, soft power, and the promotion of hidden ideological meanings. This complicates the tasks for both practitioners and theorists of media communications, who are accustomed to working with tangible, visible sequences of speech acts and signs.

In addition to the structural-semiotic, phenomenological approaches, which in one way or another have dealt with the problems of audiality in the text, the media text should be considered in terms of the methods and principles of media linguistics. This is a new sphere of knowledge in the humanities. Its main subjects are the media text and the media discourse [45]. It is clear that audiality is an indispensable component of a media text as a semantic, informational, communicative, esthetic integrity, due to the specifics of its media character. According to Duskayeva, media linguistics "… have required researchers to consider, first, those shades of meaning and additions to the linguistic tools that arise when the text (in the traditional sense) is transferred into the media sphere, and second, to take into account that means of

meaning transmission in the media are of a different semiotic nature" [46, p. 12]. All this defines the main characteristics of "media thinking" (Duskayeva) [47–49].

#### **4. Paradoxes of the** *living word* **and audiality in media texts**

Derrida, reflecting on the phenomenological nature of sound, of listening, of the essence of the voice done conclusion: "My words are "alive" because they seem not to leave me: <…> not to cease to belong to me, to be at my disposition "without further props". In any event, the phenomenon of speech, the phenomenological voice, *gives itself* out in this manner" (italics of the author—*E. Sh*.) [41, p. 76]. But this situation in media text, media speech is not fully possible: journalist, presenter, interviewers speak on camera and for the public space, existence. As a consequence, different kinds of "further props" of media inevitably emerge. They range from simple recording of conversations on camera; from voice-over to deliberate playing with the voice and manipulation, for emphasis of meaning and esthetic effect. In this sense, the voice in a media text is alienated from the person in the same way as its image: through the distance of hearing, the possibility of hearing oneself from the outside. It happens even when a journalist, announcer, host show or interviewees uses their voices in a way that is natural to them. It may be the professionally choreographed speech of the reporter, the power of the announcer's tone, the shimmering timbre of the showman, the spontaneous response of a passer-by to a journalist's question. But it is always the voice that makes the words in a media text come alive: the voice cannot be completely alienated from the person.

In media text, all of its characters, just as in everyday life, cannot step out of their voices without a trace, even when they are speaking someone else's text, are in the image. Media text that uses voice is always subjective and filled with the element of *living words*. As Derrida notes: "In writing, one is forced to use all the words according to their conventional meaning. But in speaking, one varies the meanings by varying one's tone of voice, determining them as one pleases. Being less constrained to clarity, one can be more forceful. And it is not possible for a language that is written to retain its vitality as long as one that is only spoken" [50, p. 315]. This is one of the fundamental paradoxes of the living word, of audiality in media text, which is simultaneously conditioned by the individual nature of the sound of the human voice and by the possibilities, ways of manifesting and using this property of mass media. As a result, requirements change not only for journalists working with voices and the elements of *living words*, but also for the audience, whose hearsay must be trained to hear and understand the range of meanings embedded in media texts. This kind of media text is more difficult to perceive, to analyze: it constantly eludes the certainty that is created by writing and even by photo-, video images, but tends towards a particular expressiveness, close to emotions, affects.

The media text initially has a system of its special strong "further supports" for the voice. It can be defined as follows.

Foremost, these are the traditional for journalism in general, professionally choreographed and trained voices, the speech of announcers, hosts and journalists. The *living word*, the voice is here as much as possible alienated by the media from the journalist, the host. In traditional journalism, just as in acting, the voice is simultaneously a unique feature of a specific person and part of his professional image and work. The voice is contiguous with writing and the visual in the sense that it is created, exists in a conditional media space and is designed to be listened to and heard solely from

the outside—even by those to whom it belongs. The voice in traditional journalism has to be read like a letter. The live word, the auditory nature is initially subordinated to the genre, the style and the objectives of the media text. The element of the voice is almost devoid of naturalness and is inscribed in the concept and objectives of the media text.

For example, Oksana Onishchenko, a journalist for the Ukrainian publication Дзеркало тижня, presented a piece on an urgent social topic: the criteria for the quality of education of schoolchildren during a pandemic, lockdown [12]. If the journalist had written the text, the reader would have learned about the incompetence, unprofessionalism and unwillingness of the team of Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet to understand the issue, that officials have shown themselves to be illiterate, non-specialists and falsifiers of data. But this text is spoken by a journalist. The modulations, the timbre of the voice, the rhythm of the phrases, words and sounds uttered initially contain irony and sarcasm, constantly emphasizes the general, well-known incompetence and inability to work professionally by the team of the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. The evidence bases, facts, analytics, stylistics, general composition of the text are serious, verified. If it were a written text, it would be perceived as a system of questions for an in-depth conversation with officials from the Ministry of Education and Science. But, the words, phrases and sentences, despite their business style, are not spoken in a neutral tone. The voice changes the meanings of words, as characterized by Derrida. Voice invalidated even the hope for effective communication between media and public officials. The voice of the journalist redirects the problem to the public. The intonation of the journalist reveals to the audience from the first seconds the depth and scale of the social problem. The voice and the text create for the audience a complex unity of informational, social and esthetic tension. As a result, the media text is ideological, conceptual and civic-moral rich. The meeting of text and voice creates a media text that needs to be heard, analyzed and interpreted at the same time.

In addition to the traditional journalistic "further supports" for the voice and the element of the living word, there may be more complex possibilities in media text, ways of their existence. These are, first and foremost, conditioned by the requirements of the channel, format, genre, and the inclusion in the media text of voices that seem to come from the stream of *living life*. It is traditional journalistic genres reportage, news, interviews. The voices, the element of the spoken word, the sound noises of the modern street, which are incorporated into the media text, are here, as in any journalistic text, intended to be documentary, authentic, objective and as close to reality as possible. These voices, *living words* have the effect of not only touching reality, but also modeling it.

A media text in which the professional voice of a journalist, an announcer, a host and the natural, unprocessed voices of living life meet and combine is a complex semantic and social-informational, communicative, social-ethical, esthetic unity. The strength of its expressiveness, persuasiveness, and reliability depends on the professional ability of a journalist, sound engineer, and editor to combine heterogeneous principles that represent different voices. And we are not talking about manipulation of words, opinions of interviewers, of random people who unexpectedly found them at the scene. It's not about simple journalistic tact, skill in presenting events from the scene, or the art of conversation. The problem is different. In the ability to embed expressiveness, emotional tension, affects of someone else's natural voice, speech into the media text in such a way as not to remain only within the generally understandable meaning of words and to take into account the intonation-conceptual

#### Living Word *and Audiality as a Problem of Modern Media Text DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103794*

transformations of the sounding speech as accurately as possible. This is the aspect of voice that Derrida characterized as the right to lose of the clarity predetermined by writing. The element of a *living word*, subject to sensitivity to it, will make it possible to manifest the true meanings of the media text. Otherwise, even a direct report from the scene of an event or a serious interview with a politician, for example, can turn into a farce, a direct quote, but with a misinterpreted meaning. How the words reproduced verbatim in writing and what they sound like may not be the same. A voice can drastically change the concept of what a person is speaking. This perspective on the existence of the *living word* often puts the journalist presenter in a bind, forcing him to react to the tone, timbre, emotional coloring of the sound of the word, rather than its lexical meaning. It is, on the one hand.

There is another side to this problem. It is not initially conditioned by the level of professionalism of the journalist, host and editor, but by the new formats for the existence of a media text. Common media phenomenon in new media is the combination of verbal, visual and audiality components within the boundaries of a single media text, with their verbatim transcription, essentially duplication by means of the written text. There is also the option of a media text with a complex structure, in which several heterogeneous and equal beginnings are present at the same time. The verbal part of the text duplicates what is said in the video. However, the voices, the spoken speech, the soundtrack, so important for informational, political, ideological, social-ethical, esthetic meanings, are not included in the verbal part of the text.

It is clear that a voice, a *living word* cannot be adequately translated into a written text. This is important to consider even if all the lexical, syntactic, stylistic features of the spoken text are carefully copied into the written text. In this case, the meanings conveyed by the writing and the spoken text may support, complement, distort or destroy each other's meanings, but they will not coincide. The part of the media text voiced by the journalist can still be professionally, taking into account the entire semantic, ideological, value register of word meanings and stylistics, transformed into a written text. But for the part of the media text that comes from ordinary people, noise, voices of spontaneous situations, such a decision is impossible and unacceptable. Preparing the media text for the issue, the journalist in the written part makes notes in parentheses to convey the communicative situation, the atmosphere, the emotions that are in the sound-noise element, the voice: a person laughs, cries, whistles, shouts, etc. However, the natural sound-noise environments of a town, village or nature, as well as specially selected background music are not part of the written version of the media text in any way. The whole sound environment is unmarked within a single media text, it is as if numb, disappears. From the completeness of this sound environment, only brief notations remain, denoting in the most general way the main feelings of the interviewer. These are media "further props" for the *living word*. But the power, the authority of the voice, the element of the living words, the fullness of the personality, will not be replaced by this kind of reception. Consequently, the meanings that the voice has expressed through the music and that the audience needs to hear will be distorted, lost. The voice, the noise, the music will be subordinated to the writing, to the sign, and so will push again to play with reality, to level the nuances of meaning, of emotion. Such subordination can tempt the desire to manipulate of meanings, idea, to convey the meaning of words too literally, without taking into account their incidental sensual tone (Ch. Bally), which exists and is felt in the voice, noise, sounds. The single media text will be heterogeneous in structure, concepts, meanings and ideas. This kind of media text is based on both the culture of writing and the culture of the spoken word and

voice. The realization of the meanings and ideas embedded in such a media text depends on which part of it the audience chooses: whether it will limit itself to reading or whether it will want to see and hear the text.

Consequently, information in a seemingly unified media text turns out not to be equal to itself: it depends on the choice, the preferences of the audience, and the mood of the individual at now. For modern journalism, which works with various types of communication channels and faces the need to quickly combine heterogeneous types of words, speech and communicative situations in unified media text, supplementary qualities, skills and ways of constructing a media text are important. In order to ensure that media "further props" do not become an aspiration for manipulation, a correction of reality, it is necessary to take into account Derrida's idea: "Thus writing is always atonal. The place of the subject is there taken by another, it is concealed. The spoken sentence, which is valuable only once and remains "proper only to the place where it is, "loses its place and its proper meaning as soon as it is written down" [50, p. 315].

The situation changes somewhat in the format of live radio conversations, when the voices of typical people from the big outside world, entering virtually unprocessed, fill the media text and create a media event. Although, the voice from *living life* can also be alienated from its hosts and recorded, producing already "dead words". The reclaiming and asserting of the voice of the audience in media text takes place in the newest formats and genres. Clubhouse, YouTube, TicTok, when people in media space want to hear each other and sounds, the fullness and naturalness or *as* if naturalness of the element of audiality.

However, there is another aspect to the paradox of audiality in media text. Its essence stems from the fact that language, speech, voice, sound, noise is in a media text always and inevitably a displayed and depicted language, speech, voice, sound, noise. Moreover, the voice, the element of *living words* in a media text is always and irreducibly complicated by the nature, tasks and functions of media communication. Consequently, the following must be recognized and taken into account, audiality, orality, the *living word* in the media text, has an inherently and invariably paradoxical nature that practitioners and theorists of journalism and the media must take into account.

#### **5. Conclusions and perspectives**

In contemporary media space is the complex, voluminous media text that is the centre of value and meaning that attracts and holds the audience's attention and that determines the main trends in the development of the media process. Media text is constantly becoming increasingly complex in nature, structure and genre range. At the same time, on the one hand, media texts remain oriented towards a culture of writing and visuals. The verbal and visual languages and images form the informational, ideological, ethical and esthetic meanings of the media text. Audiences have become accustomed to the verbal and visual language of media texts, and have learned to read and understand it. On the other hand, in media space, the role of sound and noise, voice, and spoken language are increasing. This is largely due to the activation of meanings, images, cultural and social language generated by the emotional turn.

It is important for a modern person to hear another individual, the world, to understand, perceive in their integrity. These moods have their origins in the 60–70s

#### Living Word *and Audiality as a Problem of Modern Media Text DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103794*

twentieth century. Media texts of various formats and genres have also become actively involved in this process, and have consequently become more oriented towards audiality culture and the element of the living word. The television and radio began to actively produce media texts, which used audiality, focused on the sounding word. Since the 90s the twentieth century, the Internet has strengthened and diversified the capabilities of the sound-noise environment in media texts of various formats and genres, including podcasts, which began to be used in even reality shows. Audiality began to claim in the media text the role of an objective, reliable reflection of the reality of the world, as visuality claimed on this in the twentieth century.

There may be a misconception that media texts are as close as possible and reflect *living life*, and do not create media reality. This impression, based on the increased role of the voice, sounding speech in the media text, is one of the most significant paradoxes of modern media communications. Its essence can be formulated as follows. After the heyday of visual images and language in the media text, the time has come for voice and audiality culture. The visual beginning in the media text, which insisted, seduced, as it were, with the maximum approximation to reality, with a reliable, objective, documentary reflection of the surrounding world, did not cope with its task. Catching and displaying the completeness of reality in the media text has now passed to *living word* and audiality. Although, it must be emphasized that compared to visual images in voices and sound images, as well as language have greater capacity and means to incorporate and manifest the phenomena of *living life* in media text.

Nevertheless, the theory of journalism, media communications has not yet developed techniques, methods of working with new growing phenomena of sounding speech, voice in media texts. The theory of journalism and of mass communication still does not have systems for analyzing, interpreting, "certification" of audiality and *living word* in the media test. In this regard, the approaches developed by semiotics, structuralism, post-structuralism does not always work due to the fact that they are focused on the culture of writing and sign. The exception is the ideas of Derrida about the phenomenon, authority and power of the voice. This is especially important also from the position of media linguistics, which cannot but work, in addition to "ordinary" words, texts, also with the moments of visual, audiality, which create the integrity of the media text. So far, one of the effort problems of media linguistics is the development of methods and approaches to the study of audiality and the *living word* in media texts.

Audiality—from the intonation pattern, sound's modulation of the image in various types of media texts to its musical accompaniment—is an important part of media text. It contains a significant emotional, expressive, ideological, semantic and esthetic load of words, expressions and sentences, which contributes to the formation of the background and memory of a native speaker and the recipient's attitude to the meaning of the media text. Audibility in the language of a media text creates and maintains that strong collateral sensual tone of the word, of which Bally wrote, and which determines and is determined by mass media tasks, goals and functions. Therefore, exclude the audibility, as well as the visual, from the language, imagery and concept of the media text is to focus solely on writing, which is wrong.

In this regard, a system of issues that are important from the point of view of the theory of media text is indicated. First of all, it is necessary to define and characterize what it means to grasp, to present in the media text the unity of language, speech, visual, sound and noise elements and media. Obviously, this cannot be done without answering the question: what is the role of integrity writing—sign—gesture—voice in this process. Then it is necessary to clarify how the tasks of a journalist and a

#### *Journalism - The Ethical Dilemma*

creative group are changing, when preparation is in progress creating a media text that is complex in nature and structure. Another group of issues is associated with the problems of professional training of journalists, specialists in media communications. It is important to determine what and in what direction should change in the education specialists of mass media, who should be guided not only by the culture of the written text.

The theory of journalism, mass communication, and media linguistics is only just approaching this range of problems. The study of media text and media speech from the position of audiality is the research not only of the sound-noise sphere, of the sound, the voice and the element of living words, but also the development approaches, methods are allowing to describe it in the media text. Hence, not only traditional journalistic, sociological and linguistic methods and approaches, and those that work with the visual, but also those aimed at the spoken word and the voice actualized by the specificity of the mass media, must be taken into account. For this purpose, it is necessary to draw on developments in the theory of the *living word* and audiality culture. This constitutes a range of future challenges.

### **Author details**

Eleonora Shestakova Independent Researcher, Donetsk, Ukraine

\*Address all correspondence to: shestakova\_eleonora@mail.ru

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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*Edited by Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali, Saodah Wok and Shafizan Mohamed*

*Journalism - The Ethical Dilemma* seeks to advance scholarly knowledge by encouraging discussion between authors covering multiple branches of the social sciences including communication, media, and journalism. The chapters in this book cover all the conceptual, theoretical, and application aspects of journalism, with a case study in each chapter illustrating the issues being addressed. The book emphasizes that despite the advances in digital media platforms, the basics and principles of journalistic practice are still pertinent. In order to stay relevant in the fluidity of digital media, journalists should work on establishing networks with academics from different fields, and with government, health, and political experts. The book is a useful compilation that will benefit researchers, academics, students, media practitioners, and other stakeholders involved.

Published in London, UK © 2023 IntechOpen © jordieasy / iStock

Journalism - The Ethical Dilemma

Journalism

The Ethical Dilemma

*Edited by Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali,* 

*Saodah Wok and Shafizan Mohamed*