mass media

The present study investigated the effect of practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability. The main question this study tried to answer was whether or not practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper has any effect on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability. To answer this question, 45 Iranian learners were selected via administering an OPT test with the criteria of at least 1 standard deviation below and above the mean of the Oral Proficiency Test (OPT). Reading section of Reading Practice Test was used as the OPT. It consists of 19 items. It takes approximately 25 minutes to complete the reading test. Learners were studying in three intermediate classes in Simin Institute of Ramsar, Iran. The participants were all female and ranged in age from 17 to 19. They were divided into three groups of 15 (N=15)ː two experimental groups and a control group. A pretest of reading comprehension was administered to the three groups. The first experimental group was treated by teaching reading comprehension plus domestic newspaper; the second experimental group was treated by teaching reading comprehension plus foreign newspaper and the control group was treated by a placebo. Finally; after 10 sessions, a posttest of reading comprehension was administered to three groups. One-Way ANOVA and Paired Sample were used to analyze the obtained data. The results of One-Way ANOVA and Paired Sample indicated that the participants’ practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper had effect on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability.

In American history, the ‘Black body’ has been commodified both during the slavery era and in the contemporary period whereby the private management of prisons has partly resulted to mass Black incarceration. The abolition of slavery some 150 years ago is still fairly recent compared to the 400 years it was practiced: thus some of the heinous treatments by slave owners were carried over into the criminal justice system, causing the police, jury, judges, etc., to treat Black people unequally and unfairly compared to their White counterparts. From the ‘proceedings of the rebellious negroes’ in the slavery era to the racialized media coverages of police brutality against Black people, Black protests, treatment of criminal suspects, etc., the American mass media have been identified as playing a major role in the maintenance of the deep racist structures that perpetuate mass Black incarceration. This paper links up some historical practices against Black people with the contemporary racist practices in order to show that slavery is still functionally alive in America and manifests concretely through the justice system: this paper aims at amplifying the ongoing debates toward obliterating the remnants of slavery in America.

The emergence of new social movements in the Middle East with the aim of reforming or changing the established system and with different characteristics from traditional and classical movements is one of the topics that has attracted the attention of sociologists and social researchers. In this study, using a descriptive-analytical method, based on Ted Robert Greer's theory of "relative deprivation", an attempt has been made to investigate the emergence of new social movements in the Middle East and to examine whether another factor was involved in the emergence of this phenomenon or not. In order to facilitate the process of research and show real evidence, the Egyptian revolution will be discussed as a case study. Thus we organize the present article in the framework of the following questions: "Does the theory of 'relative deprivation' have the ability to explain new social movements in the Middle East, such as the Egyptian revolution?" And "What factors besides this theory can enhance the ability to explain these movements?" The results obtained from the analysis of the January Revolution in Egypt and the role of social media Revolution indicate that although the developments of Islamic societies are rooted in the dissatisfaction of the people of these countries with the situation of their society, however, the role of "mass media" in motivating and organizing people to participate in the main streets and squares of the city cannot be ignored. In fact, the "relative deprivation" of Egyptian society during the rule of Hosni Mubarak has acted as a motivating factor of people and social media and networks such as Facebook have played the role of catalyst.

INTRODUCTION: Improving the social capital of the Red Crescent Society can play an effective role in crisis management also control and increase productivity in responding to incidents. This research aimed to explain the role of mass and social media in the development of the social capital of the Iranian Red Crescent Society. METHODS: This practical research was conducted using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The statistical population of the research in the qualitative part included 21 executive managers and pundits, who were selected using a purposeful and snowball sampling method. In the quantitative part, a total of 2,815 volunteer members of the Red Crescent Society formed the population, who were chosen by stratified random sampling method. The statistical data of the qualitative part were collected by holding semi-structured interviews, while those of the quantitative part were gathered using a questionnaire having content validity as well as the study of organizational documents. Data analysis in the qualitative part was performed through the thematic analysis method and in the quantitative part through the frequency and comparison of statistical data. FINDINGS: The findings showed that the effective role of the media should not be neglected. It was revealed that mass and social media played a role in the development of the social capital of the Red Crescent Society through three important components, namely news and information, mass education, and accreditation. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the current research, the Red Crescent Society can boost the productivity and effectiveness of humanitarian and public benefits programs and activities by understanding the very effective role of communication media and improving the level of cooperation and altruism culture in society with the help of mass media members, activists, and celebrities of social networks.