Ribak, R. (2013). Media and spaces: the mobile phone in the geographies of young people. In D. Lemish (ed.) The Routledge International Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media (pp.307-314), Routledge.

Abstract:

The control of spatiality is implicated in processes of maturation. Young people are defined by the spaces they are allowed and are not allowed to occupy, whereas parents are required to "know where their child is" but let go. The media in general and mobile telephones in particular play a growing role in constructing these spaces. The paper explores the ways in which mobile phones are used by parents and children to maintain and expand the distance between them, and how mobile phone use is involved in practices of being outside the home, in the city street or the school. The paper suggests that studies vary to the extent that they interpret distance as a threat or as a challenge, and construct the mobile phone as a medium for control or sociality. These representations of space and media may be important objects for future research.

Gabriel Weimann, New Terrorism and New Media, Wilson Center - Commons Lab, Research Series, V.2

This report examines how Al-Qaeda, its affiliates and other terrorist organizations have moved their online presence to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media outlets, posing challenges to counter-terrorism agencies. 

You can access a brief article derived from this project on Medium.

Neiger, M., Zandberg, E. & Meyers, O. (2014). Reversed memory: Commemorating the past through coverage of the present. In: B. Zelizer & K. Tenenboim-Weinblatt, K. (Eds.). Journalism and Memory. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 113-128.

Collective memory concerns the present no less (or even more) than it refers to the past.  Moreover, in some cases, "the present of past events" – that is, new details or developments regarding significant past occurrences – become the heart of the story and the main focus of the narrative, while the details of those past occurrences are pushed aside, or rather to the background. In the following article, we explore this phenomenon and suggest the concept of reversed memory:  the cultural mechanism and journalistic practice of focusing on the present while commemorating a shared past. i.e., reversed memory is a narratological device in which temporality works in a contrary direction: from the present to the past. Unlike the well-established argument that narratives of the past adapt “the image of ancient facts to the beliefs and spiritual needs of the present” (Halbwachs, 1980 [1950]: 7), in the case of reversed memory the past is not merely narrated in the service of current objectives; rather, the past is commemorated by means of the narration of the present.

Fundamentally, collective memory deals with shared pasts "there and then" while news coverage focuses on information concerning the present "here and now". Still, despite this apparent contradiction, reversed memory storytelling technique enables the creation of narratives that qualify both as news items as well as commemorative tools and so, shared manifestations of the past  become part of the "see it now" discourse of current events news coverage. News items that are constructed as emblems of reversed memory are more evident when they are part of several, simultaneous and complementing rituals, such as   national commemorative rituals, the media rituals that revolve around such “national occasions”, and at the same time, the everyday, secular ritual of news production and dissemination.

Within this context, our chapter offers a typology of reversed memory components and illuminates the phenomenon through an analysis of contents that appeared on Israeli media (internet, print, radio & TV news) during the state Remembrance Day for the Holocaust and the Heroism during  the last decade. In such items we refer to the shift in commemorative reporting from a focus on the events of Holocaust itself to a heightened emphasis on events that followed the Holocaust, and especially the establishment of the State of Israel and the revival of the survivors in their new homeland. 

Tsfati, Y., & Ariely, G. (2013). Individual and Contextual Correlates of Trust in Media Across 44 Countries. Communication Research.

Yariv Tsfati is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication. Gal Ariely is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics & Government at Ben-Gurion University.

Abstract:

Media research demonstrates that audience trust in the news media is a highly consequential factor, shaping audience selection of and response to media, and potentially impacting citizens’ perceptions of the political system at large. Still, our knowledge about the correlates of trust in media is limited. Only a few studies have utilized a correlational design to explore the associations between trust in media and other factors, and almost all of these studies originate in the U.S. context. The current investigation utilizes data from 44 diverse countries (n = 57,847), collected as part of the World Values Survey, to broaden our understanding of trust in media. The aim is two-fold—to learn about individual-level correlates across contexts and to demonstrate that macro-level factors play a part in shaping such trust. Our findings indicate that levels of political interest, interpersonal trust, and exposure to television news and newspapers are positively correlated with trust in media, while education and exposure to news on the Internet are negatively associated. On the macro level, postmaterialism emerged as a consistent predictor of trust in media. State ownership of the media industry did not have a main effect on trust in media after controlling for other factors. However, an interaction was found between state ownership and level of democracy: state ownership of television is positively associated with media trust in democratic societies and negatively associated with trust in media in nondemocratic societies.

Meyers, O., & Davidson, R. (forthcoming). The journalistic structure of feeling: An exploration of career life histories of Israeli journalists. Journalism.

Abstract:

The study explores 33 occupational life histories of current and former Israeli journalists. By doing so, it enables us to better understand how the fundamental changes that the journalistic profession underwent during recent decades shaped and influenced the occupational progression of Israeli journalists. Our interviews validate previous work on the partial professional standing of journalism showing that individuals enter journalism in a protracted and uneven manner. In addition, the analysis of modes of reasoning for entering journalism charts the informal boundaries of overt journalistic political identification. Finally, an exploration of self-narrated occupational highs and lows shows that career highs are always identified as personal achievements while career lows are mostly narrated as outcomes of larger organizational or institutional constraints. The current chaotic nature of journalism organizations, as reflected in our life history corpus, illustrates an environment in which there is a clear disconnect between actions and rewards.

Cohen, J. (in press). Mediated Relationships and Social Life: Current Research on Fandom, Parasocial Relationships, and Identification. In Oliver, M. B., & Raney, A. A.(eds.). Media and the social life (working title). New York: Routledge.

Abstract:

This chapter examines the role that media characters play in everyday lives. The chapter describes various reactions that media audiences have to media characters and the various types of relationships they form with characters: Fandom, parasocial relationships and identification. A survey of recent research is presented on the factors that enhance such relationships, including recent research on digital media and social media, as well as some of major consequences researchers have identified.