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The practice of Dutch-Flemish film remaking that came into existence in the new millennium quickly appeared to be of great importance in the film industries of Flanders and The Netherlands – and consequently of Europe. Inspired by methods used in television (format) studies, this article conducts a systematic comparative film analysis of nine Dutch-Flemish remakes together with their nine source films. Considering the remake as a prism that aids in dissecting different formal, transtextual, and cultural codes, and subsequently embedding the practice in its specific socio-cultural and industrial context, we found several similarities and differences between the Dutch and Flemish film versions and showed how these can be made sense of. More generally, we distilled two encompassing principles that administer the remake practice: even though a great deal of the remake process can be explained through the concept of localization – or, more precisely, through the concepts of ‘manufacturing proximity’ and ‘banal aboutness’ – we found that it should certainly not be limited to these processes – as both (trans)textual, such as the mechanism of ‘filling in the gaps’, and contextual elements were found.

Apart from their primary role as news providers in disaster situations, news media can also assume a broader social role. Drawing on a critically informed qualitative content analysis of the Belgian news reporting on a national disaster, the article reveals a twofold articulation of this social role. The first consisted in newspapers highlighting the emotional dimension with potential societal implications of raising compassion and identification. Second, we found a strong articulation of a discourse of (national) unity and community, aimed at restoring the disrupted social order in the disaster’s aftermath. Both aspects were discursively established by a dominant presence of emotional testimonies, strategies of personalization and by the use of inclusive language permeated with references to nation or community. The study highlights the important social role of journalism in disaster situations and events involving human suffering.

Regarding the representation of Africa in western media, academic criticism often refers to the presence of Afro-pessimistic discourses, and more recently to a seemingly emerging Afro-optimistic discourse. However, Scott (2015, 1) points out that a systematic study of Africa’s representation is still missing as most research only includes mainstream media, news genres and formats and thus forms ‘an insufficient basis for reaching any firm, generalisable conclusions’. To address this, we explore the representation of Africa in MO* Magazine, a Belgian alternative news magazine that focuses on the Global South, including an extensive coverage of Africa. Applying Critical Discourse Analysis, we examined all articles covering Africa in 2015 and 2016 in addition to in-depth interviews with editorial staff. The study investigates how MO* constructs its alternative identity in the context of African news coverage. We argue that a mere empirical focus on features and narratives generally attributed to mainstream media, such as the presence of Afro-pessimistic and -optimistic discourses, is not sufficient to reach conclusions about the alternative identity of a magazine. The alternative value of MO* is reflected in the overall focus on the Global South and its key issues, the geographic diversity, editorial approach, and context-richness of the articles.

This study explores the discursive construction of online privacy through a critical discourse analysis of Flemish newspapers' coverage of privacy, teens, and Facebook between 2007 and 2018 to determine what representation of (young) users the papers articulate. A privacy-as-control discourse is dominant and complemented by two other discourses: that of the unconcerned and reckless teenager and that of the promise of media literacy. Combined, these discourses form an authoritative language on privacy that we call "control responsibility." Control responsibility presents privacy as an individual responsibility that can be controlled and needs to be learned by young users. We argue that the discourses contribute to a neoliberal rationality and have a disciplinary effect that strengthens various forms of responsibilization.

Journalists domesticate news about distant events to bring such events closer to the audience and thus make them more relevant and appealing; however, knowledge about the actual audience’s reactions toward domesticated news is lacking. Central to this study is understanding how an audience makes use of domestication strategies in viewing and reacting to mediated distant suffering. Earlier text-based research has found several ways of domesticating distant suffering that can invite an audience to care. Building further on this media-centered study, 10 focus groups reveal a two-flow model of domestication, consisting of first-level domestication on the production side by journalists and second-level domestication, in which audience members themselves use strategies of domestication to make sense of distant suffering.

This article applies a combination of an input–output content analysis and in-depth interviews with nongovernmental organization (NGO) communication professionals to determine whether the growing incorporation of press releases in editorial print content could be a new public forum through which international political actors, such as NGOs, could gain wider news access by serving as emerging key players in global civil society. The study indicates that Belgian news coverage of international aid issues is more often based on NGO press releases than government press releases. We also found that the agenda-building capacities of NGOs and government institutions are enhanced as journalists present information subsidies as original journalistic work in most cases. Nonetheless, we must tone down prevailing one-sided conclusions, as most press releases are not just copy-pasted. Instead, most are supplemented with additional sources and information. The data, moreover, identify different journalistic roles of NGOs according to their objectives. While some issue press releases to raise short-term public awareness and donations for humanitarian crises (mobilization), others have developed into established expert news source organizations that provide background information and reliable eyewitness accounts to journalists.

An emerging field of research within social sciences concerns itself with the issue of suffering. Following its growing (mediated) societal prevalence and impact in recent years, suffering has already spurred a rich and diverse body of work. Alongside its emergence within academia, questions arose about its disciplinary home and scope. Drawing on elite interviews with twelve leading scholars, this article positions the on-going research on media and suffering at the heart of social sciences and humanities as well as at the crossroads of different disciplines. This overall open view was reflected in discussions on the current and future scope of the research. Regarding future directions, empirical audience research is high on the academic agenda as are studies that look into the role of new media with regard to suffering. Other widely shared comments referred to a further opening up of the research in terms of methodological and disciplinary approaches.

Scholarly work on audience reactions to mediated distant suffering tends to focus on the moral, ethical and/or emotional aspects involved (Höijer 2001; Chouliaraki 2006; Scott 2014) while there is also a bias in foregrounding negative reactions such as denial, skepticism or indifference (Moeller 1999; Seu 2010). Hence, more complex and qualified aspects of audience reception risk staying under-explored in future scholarly work. This article acknowledges the complex nature and identifies a broad range of aspects (psychological, cultural, sociological,…) that can influence people’s attitude towards distant societies and suffering. The objective is to explore different processes and aspects that can be integrated in research on audience reactions to images of distant suffering, from different disciplines within social sciences. Cultural anthropology and sociology of new media are briefly discussed in this regard while social psychology is looked in more closely. An interdisciplinary theoretical basis is quintessential in understanding the audience and its complex relation to distant suffering. In this respect, the presented article responds to the call for more empirical and theoretical audience research in the field of mediated suffering by taking the first step towards interdisciplinary and multi-methodological research (Joye 2013; Ong 2014; Orgad and Seu 2014).

Several scholars have identified an important emotional role in news media’s covering of international disasters; inviting the audience to care for people in need who are not like us. This article addresses the question of how news media can attribute a local sense of relevance to global suffering by focusing on the journalistic practice of domestication. Following a case-based methodology, we investigate how two Belgian television stations have domesticated international disasters in 2011. As the study shows, rendering distant suffering more relevant to local audiences can be realized in several ways. A critical discourse analysis identified four key discursive modes of domestication. By drawing on these modes, news journalists try to incite involvement in their representations of distant suffering, hence inviting the local audience to relate with the distant other. Domestication can lead to possible feelings of cosmopolitanism and identification, although dominant power relations of global inequality remain largely unchallenged.

For most people living in western countries, disasters are a priori cases of distant suffering as they mainly affect cultural or ethnic others. News media thus play a pivotal role in giving publicity and meaning to the numerous instances of global suffering as it is essentially through media reports that the (western) world witnesses international disasters. Accordingly, several scholars define a disaster as a media construction; they exist only when recognized and covered by the media. This paper focuses on the conceptualization of a disaster as a media construction by exploring the inherently selective nature of news coverage, the representation of suffering in Flemish news media and the possible societal implications.

In our contemporary mediatized societies, philanthropy seems to be part of celebrities’ ontology, while celebrities have become indispensable for the charity industry. This has provoked both negative and positive appraisals, although the specific nature and consequences of celebrities’ involvement remain unclear. This article contributes to these debates by providing a systematic analysis of the roles celebrities play in telethons, which we redefine as charity media events, allowing us to study the shows in their full contextual complexity as ideological constructs. Applying qualitative content analysis, we have analysed two charity media events following the 2010 Haitian earthquake. In general, four distinct roles have been discerned: celebrities add an aura of exclusiveness and glamour, they render distant suffering relevant to domestic audiences, they function as principal motivators, and also contribute to the commodification of charity. Celebrities’ involvement thus reinforces charity media events’ dominant discourse of charitainment, in which a disaster is portrayed as a short term problem that can be remedied by supporting relief aid. Although this analysis does not disregard the usefulness and impact of fundraising campaigns and the contribution celebrities can make, it criticizes the oversimplified representation of complex issues and the decontextualized and depoliticized interpretations of distant suffering.

News carries a unique signifying power, a power to represent events in particular ways (Fairclough, 1995). Applying Critical Discourse Analysis and Chouliaraki’s theory on the mediation of suffering (2006), this article explores the news representation of the 2003 global SARS outbreak. Following a case-based methodology, we investigate how two Belgian television stations have covered the international outbreak of SARS. By looking into the mediation of four selected discursive moments, underlying discourses of power, hierarchy and compassion were unraveled. The analysis further identified the key role of proximity in international news reporting and supports the claim that Western news media mainly reproduce a Euro-American centered world order. This article argues that news coverage of international crises such as SARS constructs and maintains the socio-cultural difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’ as well as articulating global power hierarchies and a division of the world in zones of poverty and prosperity, danger and safety.

Cross-national and longitudinal comparative research on the media coverage of EU-related news has gained increasing interest and momentum, but is still rare and generally focuses on the EU as an intergovernmental institution, hence remaining largely ignorant of the particular flows of news in between the member states of the EU. The following analysis provides insight into the media coverage of the Polish EU presidency in the region of Flanders. For this quantitative content analysis, our scope is narrowed to three Flemish media sources. Based on a predetermined set of keywords related to the Polish case and using the newspaper search engine Mediargus, we collected 735 articles for analysis. In conclusion, the analyzed news sample devoted little attention to the Polish EU presidency. News items relevant to Poland’s presidency of the EU were concentrated around the presidential inauguration, limited in size, not necessarily political in nature, and favored objective news reporting with absence of a discernible attitude towards Poland.

Against the theoretical background of the concept ‘karaoke-Americanism’, this article compares the Belgian, Dutch and American version of the film Loft. Several (dis)similarities in the representation of sexuality, female characters, and ethnicity, as well as some formal changes, are observed. By combining these results with self-conducted, in-depth and press interviews with the filmmakers of these films, it is ascertained that, although the three versions share a similar use of specific Hollywood conventions, the changes in representation were motivated by perceived cultural differences. Building on known cultural stereotypes and clichés, filmmakers reinforce specific cultural (and national) identities, with the aim of enhancing the recognizability for their local audiences. In conclusion, the Dutch and Belgian filmmakers, in an attempt of localizing the universal, realized a hyperreal version of their own or another culture. Focussend op de Belgische, Nederlandse en Amerikaanse filmversies van Loft bestudeert dit artikel de relaties tussen interculturele mediapraktijken en de (re)producties van culturele identiteiten. Een vergelijkende tekstuele en contextuele filmanalyse van representaties van vrouwelijke personages, seksualiteit en etniciteit illustreert dat de verschillende versies van eenzelfde filmverhaal gerelateerd zijn aan hun specifieke socio-culturele contexten en aan het concept van karaoke-Amerikanisme.

Climate struggle: news coverage of climate change during the climate summit in Cancún in Flemish quality newspapers Climate struggle: news coverage of climate change during the climate summit in Cancún in Flemish quality newspapers This paper reports on the results of a qualitative content analysis of climate change coverage by two Flemish quality newspapers in the context of the Cancún climate summit. Important similarities as well as differences were found between both newspapers in terms of underlying assumptions regarding international relations.

Deze studie situeert zich binnen recente maatschappelijke tendensen zoals ‘healthism’ (Skrabanek 1994), medicalisering (Christiaens & van Teijlingen, 2009) en vergrijzing waardoor senioren een steeds belangrijker wordende doelgroep van gezondheidsinformatie zijn (Bracke et al., 2008). Een essentieel element in dit actueel debat is de enorme toename aan medische informatie via de massamedia, maar ook via andere spelers (of stakeholders) zoals overheden, educatieve en wetenschappelijke organisaties, en commerciële actoren. De vraag of dit proces senioren als patiënten/consumenten meer kennis en macht geeft (‘empowerment’) dan wel hen blootstelt aan subtiele manipulatie door misleidende of conflicterende informatie van stakeholders, blijft voorlopig voorwerp van intens debat (Fox et al., 2005; Santana et al., 2011). Dat komt mede doordat onderzoekers tot dusver eenzijdig gefocust hebben op de producenten van gezondheidsnieuws (bv. Applbaum, 2009), de nieuwsinhoud (bv. Goodfellow et al., 2013), of op de nieuwsconsumenten (bv. Lewis, 2006). Men onderzocht telkens een deel in plaats van het geheel en daarom hebben we tot op vandaag geen volledig inzicht in het proces van nieuwsconstructie en -deconstructie. Wij sluiten ons daarentegen aan bij de stelling van Rimal en Lapinski (2009) dat gezondheidscommunicatie benaderd dient te worden vanuit een transdisciplinair perspectief om inzicht te krijgen in de complexe interactiepatronen die vorm geven aan het discours over gezondheid. De centrale doelstelling van deze paper is daarom de ontwikkeling van een innovatief, transdisciplinair onderzoeksdesign dat kan toegepast worden om te onderzoeken welke rol de verschillende stakeholders opnemen in de constructie van discours rond senioren-gerelateerde gezondheidskwesties via de nieuwsmedia, en hoe het publiek van Vlaamse senioren gezondheidsinformatie verzamelt en deconstrueert. In navolging van Chiapello en Fairclough (2002, p.206) definiëren we transdisciplinair onderzoek als een “particular form of interdisciplinary research which (…) initiates a dialogue between two disciplines and frameworks, which may lead to a development of both through a process of each internally appropriating the logic of the other as a resource for its own development.” Uitgaande van de hierboven beschreven tendensen opteren we voor een transdisciplinaire samenwerking tussen communicatiewetenschappen, sociolinguïstiek, geneeskunde en sociologie. Methodologisch stoelt het onderzoeksdesign op een triangulatie van verschillende kwalitatieve en kwantitatieve onderzoekstechnieken. We onderscheiden vier convergerende onderzoekslijnen die sterk met elkaar verweven zijn: 1. De eerste onderzoekslijn brengt het discours van en de politiek-economische en institutionele relaties tussen de actoren in het veld van senioren-gerelateerde gezondheidskwesties in kaart. We combineren politiek-economische analyse, een stakeholder mappingtechniek en een reeks van semigestructureerde elite-interviews met vertegenwoordigers van de stakeholders. 2. Een tweede onderzoekslijn focust op de (productie)levenscyclus van nieuwsverhalen over senioren-gerelateerde gezondheidskwesties. Via een case-georiënteerde, ‘multi-sited’ linguïstisch etnografische benadering, onder meer in de communicatieafdeling van een farmaceutisch bedrijf en in een krantenredactie, wordt het complexe raderwerk van discursieve praktijken en professionele routines ontleed dat vorm geeft aan de berichtgeving over gezondheid. 3. Terwijl de tweede onderzoekslijn de productie van gezondheidsnieuws analyseert, focust het derde subproject op de uiteindelijke output van het nieuwsproductieproces: de nieuwsinhoud. Aan de hand van kwantitatieve inhoudsanalyse, frame en discoursanalyse onderzoeken we welke stakeholders, bronnen en discourses aan bod komen in senioren-gerelateerd gezondheidsnieuws in verschillende Vlaamse nieuwsmedia. 4. De laatste onderzoekslijn positioneert zich aan het ontvangersuiteinde van de nieuwsketen: de consumptie van gezondheidsinformatie. In twee series van focusgroepinterviews zal nagegaan worden hoe Vlaamse senioren informatie rond gezondheid ontvangen, interpreteren en evalueren in termen van betrouwbaarheid en waardevolheid. Zo kunnen we inzicht verwerven in de geletterdheid van senioren op het vlak van gezondheid (‘health literacy’) en de bredere sociale vraag naar transparante informatie over gezondheid. Zoals eerder aangegeven streven we naar een kruisbestuiving tussen de verschillende onderzoekslijnen. Daartoe voorzien we verschillende overlegmomenten en integratiefases. Het doel van deze paper is om uitgebreid te reflecteren over het onderzoeksdesign van dit ambitieus onderzoeksproject, meer bepaald over de transdisciplinaire benadering, de theoretische invalshoeken, en de gekozen onderzoeksmethoden.

Introduction: Most studies on information behaviour focus on individual behaviour, predominantly seeking, scanning and avoiding. This paper explores sharing, the understudied informal exchange of health information in everyday social settings. Method: Forty qualitative in-depth interviews were held with adults in the age range of fifty to eighty in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium. Analysis: Thematic data analysis was carried out to identify and single out sharing behaviour. Using a grounded analysis approach, data findings were compared with and placed within the literature and conceptual frameworks. Results: The study finds that health information sharing is a common and frequently occurring type of health information behaviour, embedded in everyday social and supportive interactions. The sharing of knowledge, experiences and advice takes place intentionally and in a premeditated fashion, as well as spontaneously and unintentionally when opportunities arise. Respondents observe and learn from others about health conditions, although the doctor remains the foremost expert. Conclusions: Driven by social motivations, sharing plays an important role in the acquisition, exchange and circulation of health information. This suggests that more attention should be paid to the social, collective and collaborative aspects of information behaviour, specifically everyday information sharing.

Introduction. This study explores health information non-sharing behaviour in everyday social settings and interactions. The novelty and relevance of the study lies in the fact that it explores a common yet understudied information behaviour, as very few studies have examined information non-sharing. Method. Forty qualitative in-depth interviews were held in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium, with adults between the ages of fifty and eighty. Analysis. A contextual framework was drawn from information studies and health information and communication research, consisting of the concepts of health orientation, information avoidance, uncertainty management, to help understand health information non-sharing. Thematic analysis was employed to identify reasons for non-sharing behaviour. Results. Seven key themes or reasons emerge for health information non-sharing behaviour; health as a non-topic, avoid being labelled as ill, individual responsibility, avoid burdening others, lack of trust in others, lack of trust in the internet, and avoiding information overload. Conclusions. This study is not only more nuanced than earlier work on sharing behaviour, but also leads to new questions about outcomes of health information non-sharing. The findings further illuminate 'non-information behaviour' within information studies, while also offering insights relevant to health communication researchers and healthcare practitioners.

Inter Press Service (IPS) is widely considered to be distinctly different from the conventional news agency. Research on this alternative news agency has mainly focused on the IPS news to underwrite this statement, but much less attention has been paid to the broader production context. Drawing on the findings of twenty-six semi-structured in-depth interviews, this article explores the value and role of IPS in the digital news market of the 21st century as perceived by staff members, stakeholders and independent scholars. In general, interviewees argue that IPS and its news copy are a useful and necessary addition to mainstream news media, as well as a crucial source of information and a partner for the global civil society. However, the study also indicates that IPS will need to face a number of professional, organisational and financial challenges if the news agency aspires to continueits unique role of sensitising the public and bridging the information gap between North and South. Inter Press Service (IPS) je običajno obravnavan kot povsem drugačen od konvencionalnih tiskovnih agencij. Raziskave o tej agenciji so običajno usmerjene na proučevanje novic, s čimer naj bi bila dokazana različnost, mnogo manj pozornosti pa je namenjeno širšemu produkcijskemu kontekstu. Članek na temelju rezultatov 26 poglobljenih polstrukturiranih intervjujev obravnava vrednost in vlogo IPS na digitalnem trgu novic 21. stoletja, kot ju zaznavajo zaposleni v IPS, deležniki in neodvisni raziskovalci. Intervjuvanci vidijo v IPS koristno in nujno dopolnilo dominantnim medijem, bistveni vir informacij in partnerja globalni civilni družbi. Hkrati pa raziskava kaže, da se bo moral IPS soočiti s številnimi profesionalnimi, organizacijskimi in finančnimi izzivi, če naj bi agencija še naprej imela edinstveno vlogo v senzibilizaciji javnosti in preseganju informacijskega prepada med severom in jugom.