Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 38 Issue 1 -

Issue of Communications

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Contents
Journal Overview

Masthead

Publicly Available January 26, 2013

Articles

January 26, 2013

Academic publications in the age of post-Enlightenment

Friedrich Krotz

Page range: 1-12

Abstract

This essay deals with phenomena of the publication of academic work: the emergence of science slams, the transformation of open access and the role of the Social Science Citation Index. As a result of the argumentation it becomes clear that publication of scholarly work at least in part becomes an element of regulating academic work following interests which come from the outside. The question of whether a publication marks progress in communication studies is no longer in the focus of publication. This is why we speak of “post-enlightenment„.

January 26, 2013

(De)personalization of campaign communication: Individualization and hierarchization in party press releases and media coverage in the 2008 Austrian parliamentary election campaign

Günther Lengauer, Georg Winder

Page range: 13-39

Abstract

To restructure and systematize the concept of personalization, in this study we introduce a two-dimensional and relational typology of (de)personalization of political representation, comprising a horizontal (individualization) as well as a vertical dimension (hierarchization), and put it to an empirical test. We concertedly utilize content analyses of political newspaper and television coverage as well as of party press releases during the 2008 Austrian election campaign. With regard to the Austrian case, the findings outline that personalization of political representation is not a universal phenomenon; it rather appears as a context- and logic-sensitive communicational phenomenon. Political public relations shows significantly higher levels of horizontal as well as vertical diversification than the media by being more individualized and less monopolized by leaders and executive elites. Additionally, political representation in the tabloid press is more personalized than in quality papers, and the communication of catch-all parties is more individualized than of niche parties.

January 26, 2013

Internet-using children and digital inequality: A comparison between majority and minority Europeans

Leen d’Haenens, Christine Ogan

Page range: 41-60

Abstract

In this research we focus on ethnic minorities, one of the underserved groups in Europe. In particular, we address the internet use of Turkish ethnic children, aged 9 to 16, in several EU countries. We examine the extent to which they can be considered digitally disadvantaged when compared to the majority population in those countries. We also compare Turkish children living in Turkey to those in the diaspora as well as to the majority children living in those same European countries. The data used for this analysis is part of the EU Kids Online research (www.eukidsonline.net). Of the three groups of teenagers examined, those in the Turkish diaspora take a position in between their native European peers, who are the most fervent surfers on the internet, and the Turkish children living in Turkey, who use the internet least often. Generally speaking that is also true for online competencies and online activities. As far as exposure to online risks is concerned, European majority children are more familiar than the two other groups with receiving sex-related images and messages and with face-to-face meetings with online contacts. By contrast, children in the Turkish diaspora are relatively more familiar with cyberbullying.

January 26, 2013

A qualitative approach to the use of ICTs and its risks among socially disadvantaged early adolescents and adolescents in Madrid, Spain

Patricio Cabello Cádiz

Page range: 61-83

Abstract

An exploratory qualitative research was carried out in Madrid, Spain, focusing on early adolescents and adolescents from low-income families, most of them with a migration background. The main subject was to describe their perceptions about risk and harm in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Focus groups and creative workshops were conducted in order to identify risk perceptions, conflicts, solutions and the main agents involved in each case. Despite their lack of financial resources, these adolescents intensively use media and modern technologies with the support of formal and informal institutions outside the family. In this context, they use technology as a set of different resources coordinated in a network in order to achieve specific goals of early adolescence and adolescence. Risks emerge as this network affects their family rules, the social construction of age, and the status inside the family and among peers.

January 26, 2013

Online experiences of socially disadvantaged children and young people in Portugal

José Alberto Simões, Cristina Ponte, Ana Jorge

Page range: 85-106

Abstract

This article examines the conditions of internet access and uses by children and young people from socially disadvantaged environments in Portugal. Adapting the EU Kids Online questionnaire, a sample of 279 participants (9 to 16 years old) in an intervention program on digital inclusion was interviewed in order to analyze their online experiences, bearing in mind the EU Kids Online results and the wider debate on digital inclusion. This issue was examined at two levels: access, and practices and uses. Although economic deprivation, parents’ low educational attainment (affecting also family support) and children’s age and gender seem to matter in terms of access, reported uses were analogous to the average Portuguese and EU Kids Online data. However, with these children apparently being more oriented towards entertainment and having less informational skills, it is questionable if policies that merely assure access are entirely sufficient. Nevertheless, one cannot say straightforwardly that ‘social exclusion’ equates ‘digital exclusion’.

January 26, 2013

Cyberbullying by mobile phone among adolescents: The role of gender and peer group status

Mariek Vanden Abeele, Rozane de Cock

Page range: 107-118

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study in Flanders (Belgium) ( N = 264) on the relationship between adolescents’ peer group status, their gender and their involvement in different types of mobile phone cyberbullying. By means of a (within-classroom) free nominations procedure, likeability and perceived popularity scores were calculated for each respondent. Based on these scores, four groups were identified: popular controversial, popular liked, average and rejected adolescents. Even after controlling for age, gender, the frequency of voice calling and the frequency of text messaging, popular controversial adolescents were significantly more likely to make or send threatening/ insulting voice calls or text messages. They also gossiped significantly more frequently by means of voice calls or text messages. No relationship was found between peer group status and making hurtful pictures or videos. A significant interaction effect with gender was found for mobile phone gossiping: Popular controversial girls were more involved in gossiping than popular controversial boys.

January 26, 2013

Book reviews

Kevin Smets, Joye Stijn, Peter Mechant

Page range: 119-126

About this journal

Objective
Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research is an established forum for scholarship and academic debate in the field of communication science and research from a European perspective. Communication science is concerned with the investigation of the structure and function of communication processes and their impact on society, social groups and individuals. Communications highlights the concerns of this discipline through the publication of articles, research reports, review essays and book reviews on theoretical and methodological developments considered from a European perspective. The journal encompasses the entire field of communication science as its domain of interest. The contributions published in the journal cover a wide range of subfields in communication science.

Topics

Communication reseach
Structure and function of communication
Impact on society, social groups and individuals
Interpersonal communication
Intercultural communication
Mass communication
Communication theory
Philosophy of communication
Media history
Media development and communication technology

Article formats
Original articles, research reports, review essays, and book reviews