Journal of Mass Communication & Journalism

With the goal of understanding social media habits, a panel discussion of almost 100 non-profit and for-profit organizations at “NEPABlogCon” identified similarities and differences in the areas of social media platforms, social media strategic plans, and social media policies between non-profits and for-profits. More social media similarities than differences existed among participants. In addition there are several key areas that should be investigated by participants to mirror best practices.

This study aims to analyze the extent to whichpolitical system factors influence media election coverage by investigating the local election press coverage in Norway and Sweden. According to Hallin and Mancini’s framework on media systems, both countries belong to the Democratic Corporatist Model. But despite these similarities there are differences between the politicaland media systems in the Nordic countries. One important distinction is when elections are held. In Sweden, elections to national, regional and local parliaments take place on the same day every fourth year. In Norway, local and regional elections are held in-between national elections in four-year cycles. The design of the study can be characterized as a most similar system design. Media system and the political system are similar, but when local/regional elections take place in relation to national elections are different. In line with theories of second-order elections, a number of hypotheses can be proposed, where national politics is supposed to be more influential in local election coverage in Norway compared with Sweden. This because research on second-order elections state that second order elections (such as local/regional elections) tend to be characterized as barometer- elections, as a poll, evaluating the national government and how the development of national economy develops. The empirical analyses are based on a content analysis executed on four local newspapers in Norway and Sweden in the local elections in 2007 (Norway) and 2006 (Sweden) during the last two weeks of the election campaigns.

This commentary article is an introduction about M-Theory of communication, its background, nature, process, elements and models which introduce superstructure and substructure of communication including some of its models. Furthermore it asks for further depth research in the field with experimentation. It constructs the claim communication as a multidimensional interaction from within as well as except communication discipline and its elements, which makes communication an existential process since 3,000 years and more.

Technology, in all its forms, has an impact virtually everyone. Information technology, with its complexity and dramatic change, has arguably the most profound impact on people. Even our measurement of a year has now changed to “an internet year”.