Homelessness in the Russian Federation: Regional and Local Context

The problem of homelessness in the Russian Federation has deep roots in history. Throughout much of the past century, it was a result of displacement of children during revolution, civil war, and wars with foreign powers. Even now, many of the economic problems that cause homelessness in Russia result from sanctions imposed by foreign governments. This article explains the roles of the state and charities in ameliorating the contemporary situation of people without housing. One of the most important programs of one charity involves providing some form of paid work to everyone in the shelters, so that residents can feel a sense of self-worth often lacking in purely charitable ventures. In the long run, no specialized programs that target the homeless can make a dent in the problem unless the state, civil society, and housing developers work together to produce more decent housing in cities and create more jobs in rural areas that are currently facing depopulation. The recent introduction of escrow accounts to reduce fraud in housing finance is already making a difference in promoting increased housing construction.     

Wirtschaft Online: Zweitverwertung oder publizistischer Mehrwert?

The present study analyzes the relevance and structure of business journalism in the internet aiming at a systematic analysis and evaluation of journalistic diversity in online business news coverage. Based on a multi-step procedure, 16 websites with high relevance for internet users were identified. In a subsequent communicator survey, the providers of these internet platforms were interviewed to derive insights into the structure and quality evaluation of online business journalism. Results indicate that internet-only business news coverage has not been able to establish itself yet. Further, the importance of traditional media brands for online communication could be confirmed. In spite of a judicial and organizational autonomy of the majority of the internet platforms, no provider generates his content independently of the umbrella brand. These facts may be attributed to limited personal manpower as well as differentiated and topic-oriented content recycling strategies aimed at the exclusivity of topics in general rather than content specific to certain channels.     

Akteursbeziehungen in der Zeitungsberichterstattung über die Online-Aktivitäten des öffentlich-rechtlichen RundfunksActor relations in the newspaper coverage about the online activities of public service broadcasting in Germany

Focusing on the media policy debate about the Internet activities of public service broadcasting in Germany this paper investigates in how far strategic interests of newspaper publishers impact upon the news coverage of their newspapers. Using a combined content and network analytic approach the study examines what further actors from the media policy field were presented in the media debate and how they are related to each other. Empirically, the study relies on a content analysis examining the news coverage about the Internet activities of public service broadcasting in three national daily newspapers (die tageszeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt). 156 articles were coded using the principles of relational content analysis that allow studying actors‘ interactions as symbolized networks. Results found indication of the assumed influence of publisher’s interest on their news coverage. Additionally it was found that the newspaper’s editorial line seems to have a moderating effect on this process. Results from the network analysis point to a very polarized debate that is dominated by private media corporations and their associations.     

Appeasement and compromise under a referendum threat

Standard legislative bargaining models assume that an agreed-upon allocation is final, whereas in practice there exist mechanisms for challenging passed legislation when there is lack of sufficient consensus. Such mechanisms include popular vote requirements following insufficient majorities in the legislature. This paper analyzes a one-period legislative bargaining game whose outcome can be challenged through a referendum. I study the effects of this institution on the bills passed in the legislature and analyze the incentives it provides for reaching legislative deals. The proposer party’s trade-off between a larger winning prize and a more threatening opponent in the referendum summarizes the bargaining problem. The results indicate that measures of post-bargaining power do not necessarily translate into higher equilibrium payoffs and that the equilibrium bill may include no concessions from the majority to the minority party. Moreover, caps on campaign spending may incentivize a costly referendum over unanimity in the legislature. These results carry policy implications for regulating various forms of post-bargaining power, such as campaign finance laws for referenda.     

Interessenvertretung auf Medienmärkten aus Akteursperspektive

Given the rising importance of political advocacy in the media sector, both with respect to national and transnational (EU) media policy making, this article focuses on media lobbyists as a specific group of media policy actors. Based on existing research addressing lobbying in policy making in general, the article first discusses in how far media lobbyists are characterized by distinct attributes (e.?g., due to the societal function of media and the actors’ privileged access to the public). Empirically, the paper relies on structured interviews with nine German media lobbyists examining their professional identity and working practices. Results confirm findings from studies on lobbyists in general (e.?g., with respect to necessary professional skills, experts’ career and academic background) whereby media lobbyists’ privileged access to the public cannot be confirmed. Overall, this study’s findings shed light on a so far neglected group of actors in media policy making.