International Journal of Mass Communication

Exploring the Future of Corpus Linguistics: Innovations in AI and Social Impact

2025-03-10T11:39:06+00:00

This paper explores the evolving landscape of corpus linguistics, focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and its social implications. Over the past two decades, the study of language through corpus linguistics has evolved significantly, prompting ongoing reflection on the field's transformation. These reflections naturally give rise to pressing questions related to how corpus linguistics will evolve in a world defined by rapid technological progress and changing societal priorities. To validate the suppositions and reflections addressed in this contribution, the study explores a corpus that comprises scholarly papers from scientific journals, and a collection of AI-related articles taken from the media. This dual corpus enables a comparative analysis of how AI-driven corpus linguistics is represented, in order to explore how the integration of artificial intelligence is transforming corpus linguistics, and hence the methodological, theoretical, and socio-political implications of this shift. The methodological framework combines quantitative corpus analysis with qualitative discourse analysis. Collocation and keyword frequency retrieval is applied to identify prevalent themes. As expected academic literature emphasizes methodological advancements and data-driven rigor, while media discourse highlights ethical concerns and societal implications. These findings support the overview and contribute to understanding how AI is shaping both the practice and perception of corpus linguistics in contemporary society.

Convergence Vs Homogeneity: Exploring Hong Kong’s Identity in Transition

2025-07-30T14:32:21+00:00

This article explores the multiple drivers behind Hong Kong’s identity transition through the lens of the disappearing neon signs. Its cultural and political significances are analyzed through the theoretical frameworks of identity politics, decolonization, and nationalism. The simultaneous forces of decolonization and mainlandization largely accounts for the intricate politicalization of many issues in Hong Kong, including its iconic neon signs, whose connotations has gone through several transitions: from being historical (Western influence), to economic (as a prosperous entrepot and shopping paradise), cultural (unique hybrid of glocalization), technological (becoming outdated in energy efficiency) and even political (fading away after the strengthened regulation in 2010), especially when its early development was a result of bottom-up participation at a grassroots level, while their removal came from a top-down approach through government regulations. The study design incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods by combining survey results with interviews and policy paper analysis to explore the multiple drivers and the perceived effects on Hong Kong’s identity. This then informs discussions of how to maintain Hong Kong’s position as a space for convergence while developing some new features of in-betweenness.

Catalyst for Change: A Grassroots Implementation of a Residency Communication Curriculum and Resulting Culture Change

2025-08-08T15:09:08+00:00

Issue: Effective physician-patient communication is essential to end-of-life care. The teaching approach of end-of-life care communication skills has evolved over decades, from an apprenticeship model to coached practice. With this evolution of practice and teaching, also comes a continuously evolving culture that often carries remnants of prior practices. Learning complex communication skills requires a curriculum of coached practice that may be challenging to implement in settings where apprenticeship models prevail.

Evidence: In this article we explore structures of change as an approach to ongoing curriculum development and associated culture change: the ‘path-goal theory’ and the ‘program development cycle.’ We explore these two models through iterations of a communication skills curriculum for internal medicine residents to understand the factors that contributed to each iterative change as well as the resulting effect on the institutional culture. We also highlight the importance of a grassroots voice in identifying tensions between culture and behaviors. Through this reflection, we show that a step-wise approach leads to incremental practice and culture change through the incremental support of all parties involved (students, educators, institution).

Implications: We show that an educational intervention that challenges existing cultural norms requires stepwise implementation and adaptation as stakeholders and resources evolve. Notably, local institutional culture shapes institutional practices and, in turn, influences the teaching of communication skills. This article provides a reflection on how residency programs can find success in curricular implementation by being attuned to local resources, structure, and learner practices.

Well-Being: The Keystone of Sustainable Social Development and Social Entrepreneurism

2025-08-23T09:54:41+00:00

In an interconnected world, global challenges like climate change transcend borders, complicating governance as national interests often clash. Unregulated information flows fuel misinformation and erode trust in institutions. Today’s governance resembles a complex puzzle, where addressing one issue may exacerbate another. The rise of e-commerce has transformed consumer purchasing behaviors and research, yet marketing lags in adapting to this shift, focusing on digital media rather than engaging consumers.

This paper investigates how societal narratives and digital engagement can guide governance and marketing in a complex, interconnected world where trust in traditional institutions is declining. It introduces the Virtual Living Lab (VLL), a tool that analyzes social media, Big Data, and AI to track emerging public priorities and behavioral patterns. Research conducted in Japan and the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals that well-being narratives play a vital role in shaping societal recovery and resilience. The findings emphasize that effective engagement requires not only relevant content but also emotional and contextual awareness, especially in times of uncertainty. As public perceptions of Well-Being evolve, particularly in Japan, organizations must ensure their messaging remains emotionally resonant and contextually relevant to foster behavioral change and promote healthier, more sustainable lifestyles.

The Paradox of ESG Performance and Audit Fees in the Energy Sector: Mediating and Moderating Effects of Green Innovation, Supply Chain Management, and Media Attention

2025-08-23T09:54:40+00:00

The ESG concept, which covers the dimensions of corporate environment, society, and corporate governance, has promoted the transformation of corporate goals from pursuing maximum self-interest to balancing environmental, social, and corporate governance values. The vast majority of current research focuses on how improving corporate ESG performance can reduce audit fees, and there is little literature specifically studying the relationship between ESG performance and audit fees for energy industry companies. This article takes energy-listed companies from 2018 to 2022 as samples to analyze the impact of ESG performance and its environmental, social, and corporate governance dimensions on audit fees in the energy industry. At the same time, this study explores whether ESG performance and its environmental, social, and corporate governance dimensions have an intermediary mechanism for audit fees through green innovation capabilities, supply chain integration management, and shareholder equity, as well as the moderating effect of media attention on the relationship between ESG performance, environmental, social, and corporate dimensions and audit fees. Research has found that: (1) the improvement of ESG performance, environmental performance, social performance, and corporate governance performance of energy companies cannot reduce audit fees; (2) Green innovation capability and supply chain integrated management play an intermediary role between corporate ESG performance and audit fees, supply chain integrated management and shareholder equity play an intermediary role between corporate environmental performance and audit fees, green innovation capability and supply chain integrated management play an intermediary role between corporate social performance and audit fees, and green innovation capability plays an intermediary role between corporate governance performance and audit fees; (3) Media attention has played a positive moderating role in the impact of corporate ESG performance and environmental dimensions on audit fees. The research has improved the ESG performance of energy industry enterprises in specific industries and the relationship between their performance in the environmental, social, and governance dimensions and audit fees. This will further promote energy enterprises to practice ESG concepts and achieve sustainable development.

Parallel Crises: The Underlying Science Infodemic Revealed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

2025-08-23T09:54:39+00:00

This study examines the relationship between news consumption behaviors and credibility assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers surveyed and interviewed participants and found evidence that political ideology and demographics significantly relate to news-seeking practices, trust in sources, and knowledge about the virus. Participants struggled to articulate coherent fact-checking strategies. The conflation of news and information resulted in widespread distrust. This study underscores the need for comprehensive news literacy education to generate critical thinking toward and informed engagement with news sources in a public health crisis.

The Media’s Impact on Democratisation and Conflicts in Africa: An Analysis of Recent Trends

2025-10-02T08:23:14+00:00

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the end of the Cold War, did not have an effect only on the Germans whose countries were re-united, or the combatants of the Cold War – the United States and the Soviet Union. Rather, the effects of these events affected many countries worldwide, especially developing countries who have since witnessed an unprecedented political and democratic reawakening.

As the wave of democratisation continues to move across Africa, conflicts have almost become a by-product, where people, divided on ethnicity and/or religion, fight to establish their presence and dominance in government. One institution associated with the democratisation process and conflicts in Africa is the media. This article reviews some of the democratic processes that have taken place in Africa and the associated conflicts and the role the media have played in both. The article thus contributes to the literature on both democracy in Africa and its associated conflicts and the media’s role. It concludes that, whereas the media played key roles in some conflicts, they have played crucial roles in the promotion of democracy in Africa.

Framing Conflict: American Media’s Framing of the Israel-Hamas War

2025-10-07T10:25:30+00:00

A content analysis of 335 news articles from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and Fox News published between October 2023 and March 2024 reveals that Fox News predominantly employs the ‘security threat’ frame, portraying Israel’s actions as necessary defenses, while The New York Times and CNN emphasize ‘humanitarian crisis’ and ‘moral responsibility’ frames, highlighting impacts on Palestinian civilians and ethical concerns. The Washington Post takes a more balanced but critical approach toward the war. We also interviewed 10 journalists from the four media channels, and they confirmed and elaborated on what we found in the content analysis. These outcomes demonstrate that in the coverage of an international conflict media framing may take a bidirectional nature, where media influence public opinion while simultaneously adapting to audience perceptions.

Algorithmic Audiences: Navigating Identity, Influence, and Power in the Age of Platformized Media

2025-10-07T10:25:29+00:00

Purpose: This article investigates the formation and operation of algorithmic audiences within platformized media environments, focusing on how processes of identity, influence, and power intersect to shape audience behaviour. It seeks to theorise the algorithmically produced publics that emerge from data-driven engagement on social media, streaming services, and online gaming platforms.

Methods: The study employs a critical conceptual synthesis of current literature in media studies, platform capitalism, and communication theory, supported by illustrative case studies of user-platform interactions. Through thematic analysis of secondary sources (2017–2023), it maps how algorithmic recommendation systems, identity performances, and influence mechanisms mutually reinforce each other to establish dynamic audience configurations.

Results: Findings reveal that algorithmic audiences are neither passive recipients nor purely autonomous actors, but datafied hybrid entities produced through collaborative interplays of user self-presentation, platform logics, and commercial surveillance. Identity construction increasingly depends on visibility metrics, while influence is redistributed through opaque recommendation architectures producing echo chambers and filter bubbles. Power asymmetries deepen as platforms gain control over information flows, data extraction, and behavioural manipulation, raising serious ethical and regulatory concerns.

Conclusion: Algorithmic audiences represent a paradigm shift in the understanding of contemporary media publics. Their emergence compels scholars and policymakers to move beyond traditional audience theories and to confront new questions surrounding data ownership, platform governance, and audience agency in the age of automated curation. Future research must address how regulatory frameworks and ethical design interventions can protect user autonomy while ensuring transparency and accountability within platformised media ecosystems.