13463 research outputs found
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Covering the Games: Examining the relationship between the International Olympic Committee and sports journalists through the lens of defensive mediatization
Full text linkThis qualitative study investigates the complex relationship between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and sports journalists via the theoretical lens of mediatization. The study uses 50 in-depth interviews with journalists, broadcasters, IOC officials and Olympic sports experts as the primary source of data. Historically, sports organisations and media members have maintained a mutually-beneficial, symbiotic working relationship, with each party using the other for different professional purposes. The media requires sports organisations for online articles, column inches, videos, podcasts and news reports. In turn, organisations such as the IOC use journalists to generate positive coverage of their events and to uphold its image and reputation. This study examines how the relationship between the IOC and sports journalists has deteriorated over time due to the consistent application of restrictive media tactics which are strategically implemented to impede journalists. Sports organisations use both ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ mediatization strategies in tandem to elicit media attention and to deflect from press scrutiny when necessary. Due to challenging working conditions resulting from these defensive mediatization strategies, Olympic journalists find it increasingly difficult to provide the same level of in-depth coverage of the IOC and the Olympics than in the past. This has resulted in many Olympic journalists leaving the profession and others instead switching sides to work for sports organisations in-house. This study adds new empirical evidence towards an expanded understanding of mediatization by analysing the impact of defensive mediatization. By doing so, this study contributes new knowledge towards contemporary discussions about sports journalism’s future viability and the underlying motivations behind sports organisations communications policies
Podcasting in Cuba: Building a Sense of Community through Transmedia Storytelling and Co-creation Practices
Full text linkThis research examines podcasting in Cuba during the period 2018-2024, offering an empirical study into the development and evolution of the medium within the context of the Caribbean nation. It explores how podcasting fosters the experience of community through transmedia storytelling and co-creation practices in Cuba. Podcasting has emerged as an unregulated medium within a media landscape shaped by the narrative of the Revolution since 1959, functioning ‘as an element of the political system, legitimised by the normative discourse’ (Sosa Valcárcel, 2021, p. 25). The study traces the evolution of the Cuban podcasting landscape over six years, during which the country’s sociopolitical conditions influenced the emergence, consolidation, and subsequent dispersal of the podcasting movement. Drawing on analytical listening of 85 podcast episodes, 27 semi-structured interviews with 32 podcasting media practitioners, and two focus groups involving ten podcast listeners, the research examines how communicative practices in Cuban podcasting contribute to community-building. Grounded in a conceptual framework centred on community, transmedia storytelling, and co-creation, the study identifies podcasting communities as multidirectional networks of interactions, comprising podcaster-to-listener (top-down), listener-to-podcaster (bottom-up), and listener-to-listener (horizontal)
exchanges. These communities are formed and sustained through a series of interconnected interactions and communicative practices that generate meaning and contribute to the reconfiguration of the country’s communicative system. Furthermore, this research proposes a framework for recognising participatory and co-creative practices within
podcasting, thereby offering a significant contribution to the field of podcast studies, particularly in the underexplored area of podcast communities. Finally, the research shifts the analytical lens away from dominant Western perspectives in podcast scholarship and broadens the scope to include the Global South, with particular emphasis on Latin America and the Caribbean
Beyond the Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Hematology Cancer Patients’ Unmet Needs and Experiences of Cancer Care in Ireland and the UK
Full text linkThe rising incidence of hematological cancers, novel treatments, and increased survivorship highlight the need to understand patient needs postpandemic. This study explored the experiences of individuals
affected by hematological cancers in Ireland and the UK as COVID-19 restrictions lifted
Design and Development of an Interactive AI Toolkit for Engaging Older Adults in AI Discussions
Full text linkThis paper presents the design and development of a low-cost,
interactive Artificial Intelligence (AI) toolkit in the form of an animatronic ‘talking’ mask. The toolkit aims to democratise AI and make it more accessible, particularly for older adults, by facilitating hands-on engagement with AI technologies and engaging them in meaningful discussions about its opportunities and potential drawbacks. The toolkit is built using customisable features such as replaceable face, jaws and eyes, and modular software features like face tracking, speech recognition, speech-to-text and text-tospeech engines, and large language model (LLM). The customisable design provides a means to explore perceptions, raise awareness and encourage healthy discussions about different facets of AI, especially amongst technologically-challenged populations. It promotes co-design opportunities by leveraging its customisability to allow for adaption of its features to suit the technical abilities and preferences of the audience. Designed with an open-source approach, the project also encourages collaboration among makers and developers, fostering community-driven enhancements and
adaptations. This accessibility empowers others to build upon the
design, contributing to its evolution as a versatile tool for education and outreach. Evaluation of the platform with 3 distinct user
groups highlights its potential to demystify AI technologies and
engage diverse audiences in a conversation about the challenges
and opportunities they present. This paper concludes with the identification of future opportunities for this research, including the use
of co-creation methodologies with end users to extend the work to
suit their needs and provide a public engagement framework for
understanding emerging technologies
Integrated Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Retrofit Strategies: Balancing Operational and Embodied Carbon, Lessons from an Irish Housing Case Study
Full text linkThe residential building sector is a major contributor to global energy consumption and carbon emissions, making retrofit strategies essential for meeting climate targets. While many studies focus on reducing operational energy, few comprehensively evaluate the trade-offs between operational savings and the embodied carbon introduced by retrofit measures. This study addresses this gap by developing an integrated, novel scenario-based assessment framework that combines dynamic energy simulation and life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify whole life carbon impacts. Applied to representative Irish housing typologies, the framework evaluates thirty retrofit scenarios across three intervention levels: original fabric, shallow retrofit, and deep retrofit incorporating multiple HVAC technologies and envelope upgrades. Results reveal that while deep retrofits deliver up to 80.2% operational carbon reductions, they also carry the highest embodied emissions. In contrast, shallow retrofits with high-efficiency air-source heat pumps offer near-comparable energy savings with significantly lower embodied impacts. Comparative analysis confirms that reducing heating setpoints has a greater effect on energy demand than increasing system efficiency, especially in low-performance buildings. Over a 25-year lifespan, shallow retrofits outperform deep retrofits in overall carbon efficiency, achieving up to 76% total emissions reduction versus 74% for deep scenarios. Also, as buildings approach near-zero energy standards, the embodied carbon share increases, highlighting the importance of LCA in design decision-making. This study provides a scalable, evidence-based methodology for evaluating retrofit options and offers practical guidance to engineers, researchers, and policymakers aiming to maximize carbon savings across residential building stocks
New Frontiers in EU Trade Policy: Moving Beyond Conventional Trade Agreements
Full text linkAs the rules-based international trading system faces stagnation and increasing unilateralism, the European Union's trade policy
must evolve beyond conventional free trade agreements (FTAs). This article examines recent trends in EU trade agreements,
highlighting not only their expanded scope to include areas such as digital trade, sustainability, and regulatory cooperation,
but also the emergence of new negotiation formats such as two-phase agreements. It then explores alternative forms of trade
cooperation, including plurilateral agreements, mini-deals, and informal economic partnerships, as potential responses to geopolitical shifts and recent trade disruptions. Against a backdrop of renewed protectionist measures—particularly from the United States—this article argues that the EU must proactively forge deeper economic alliances with like-minded partners as a counterforce to this trend. The EU can do this by embracing adaptable negotiating formats that prioritise speed and flexibility without compromising on the core requirements for such agreements at the multilateral level. A strategic shift towards trade
arrangements that are adaptable and pragmatic, yet uphold the integrity of the rules-based system, is essential to preserving the
multilateral trading order in an era of growing economic unilateralism
Smart Tech is all Around us – Bridging Employee Vulnerability with Organizational Active Trust-Building
Full text linkPublic and academic opinion remains divided regarding the benefits and pitfalls of datafication technology in organizations, particularly regarding their impact on employees. Taking a dual-process perspective on trust, we propose that datafication technology can create small, erratic surprises in the workplace that highlight employee vulnerability and increase employees’ reliance on the systematic processing of trust. We argue that these surprises precipitate a phase in the employment relationship in which employees more actively weigh trust-related
cues, and the employer should therefore engage in active trust management to protect and strengthen the relationship. Our paper develops a framework of symbolic and substantive strategies to guide organizations’ active trust management efforts to (re-)create situational normality, root goodwill intentions, and enable a more balanced interdependence between the organization and its employees. We discuss the implications of our paper for reconciling competing narratives about the future of work and for developing an understanding of trust processes
Experiences of disabled students in online education: a systematic review
Full text linkA mixed-methods systematic review of the academic and psychosocial experiences and requirements of disabled students in online
higher education was conducted to understand what is known
and identify potential areas for improvement. Five databases were
searched for full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles published in
English between 2017 and 2023, focusing on students enrolled in
dedicated online education courses in higher education. Preliminary
searches resulted in 1229 studies, of which 14 were extracted for
thematic synthesis. Five themes were found: (1) The importance of
staff-student relationships; (2) Flexibility makes it easier; (3)
Challenges related to disability; (4) A need for adaptable support
services; (5) Isolation and stigma in peer relationships. Findings
showed that while the flexibility of studying online offers an additional access route into higher education for disabled students,
gaps in academic support and adaptable accommodations add
additional barriers, while fear of stigma from peers creates feelings
of loneliness and exclusion
The 2023 IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy: Considerations of Equity
Full text linkIn 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a new strategy to decarbonise international shipping, revising the one IMO adopted in 2018. This article analyses how considerations of equity are incorporated into the 2023 strategy. Some of the language included in the 2023 strategy reflects and – sometimes – explicitly refers to principles and norms of the international climate change regime. This article aims to shed light on the meaning of a just and equitable energy transition of international shipping on the basis of its understanding of the international climate change regime
Understanding Climate Change Attitudes in Europe: A Systematic Review using Social Ecological Framework
Full text linkUnderstanding climate change attitudes is key to addressing the most significant challenge of our time. This paper outlines a pre-registered systematic review (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/445108)
which uses Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory to examine the academic literature on person-centred social influences of climate change attitudes in Europe. After screening 4554 articles from four databases, we identified and synthesised data from 93 studies conducted in Europe. Across Europe, there is a high level of concern and belief in climate change. While we found that there are factors at multiple levels which appear to influence attitudes toward climate change, many of the findings are mixed, and the quality of evidence is relatively weak. Most included studies used a cross-sectional survey design. The available evidence suggests that no single factor explains the diversity of views on this critical issue, and instead climate change attitudes result
from a dynamic interplay between demographic factors, proximal influences, and broader socio political orientations. If we really want to understand what predicts attitudes toward climate change in Europe, there is a clear need for more rigorous, longitudinal research; such research would deepen our understanding of how climate change attitudes evolve over time and are influenced by changing political, social, and environmental conditions