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Burlington, Ont.Aug. 24, 2022 The City of Burlington, with the expertise of a Certified Wildlife Control Professional, have eliminated the coyote identified by its victims in recent unprovoked attacks on humans in south central Burlington. The City would like to thank the support of the Halton Regional Police Services (HRPS) who were present to ensure public safety and were ready to assist, if needed.

A third recent unprovoked coyote attack on a human was reported to the City yesterday evening. Animal Services staff played a key role in tracking the coyote identified as being responsible for all three attacks.

During the evening, an 18-year-old girl was lying in the grass at the municipal lookout at the end of Market Street, south of Lakeshore Road, when she felt a tug on her hair. She turned to see a coyote which then bit and scratched her leg as she stood up. The girl was taken for medical attention and was released.

The two other recent attacks were also unprovoked but during the day. The first unprovoked attack was on a female adult on the Centennial Multiuse Trail at Seneca Avenue in the morning. The coyote jumped and bit her from behind. The second unprovoked attack was on a 2 year-old toddler seated on a deck in his fenced backyard less than two kilometres east of the first attack. There was no food, small animals or any other activity to attract the coyote. The toddler was also bitten on the back of the neck. Both victims were treated at Joseph Brant Hospital and released.

The attacks are uncharacteristic of coyotes and are the first reported attacks on humans in Burlington.

Municipalities are responsible for taking appropriate actions to manage resident encounters with coyotes and take appropriate action on municipal property. On the rare occasion that a coyote attacks a person, the City has a Council approved protocol in place that is currently being followed to prioritize and deal with the one coyote in question.

Anyone who sees a coyote is encouraged to let the City know by submitting an online report or calling 905-335-3030. Reporting coyote sightings, or potential problems related to overgrown building sites, garbage or someone intentionally or accidentally feeding a coyote, helps the City monitor the location and activity of coyotes in the community.

Burlington is a city where people, nature and businesses thrive. Sign up to learn more about Burlington at burlington.ca/subscribe and follow @CityBurlington on social media.

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Media contact:Carla MarshallCommunications Advisorcarla.marshall@burlington.ca

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City of Burlington has eliminated coyote identified in recent attacks on residents - burlington.ca

As Chinas military and economic power has grown, so has its ambition to shape global norms to suit its priorities. China believes that the UnitedStates currently dominates the international system, and sees growing Western opposition to China as evidence that the current order is now a threat to the continued security of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As such, Chinas leadership has come to see its ability to reshape the international orderor, at least, to decenter US power within itas essential to the partys future.

Chinas leaders have clearly articulated that they believe that Western countries, and especially the United States, have been able to exert global dominance because they possess what China terms discourse power (): a type of narrative agenda-setting ability focused on reshaping global governance, values, and norms to legitimize and facilitate the expression of state power.

For the CCP, gaining discourse power translates into an ability to increase Chinas geopolitical power by creating consensus around an alternative, China-led international orderone that privileges state sovereignty over civil liberties, and that subordinates human rights to state security. China has identified both the digital realm and the geographic regions of the Global South as arenas of opportunity in advancing its goals and gaining a discourse-power advantage over the United States.

Chinas leadership has been transparent in outlining its goals for both gaining discourse power and implementing a strategy for doing so. Chinese government scholars believe that discourse power comprises two, mutually reinforcing components: the power to speak, or to articulate a coherent vision for the world order, and the power to be heard, or to have audiences have exposure to, and then to buy into, this message. This involves embedding cultural values within a system so that it comes to structure the relations between statesin both subjective terms (such as norms) and objective terms (such as rules and standards). To operationalize its strategies for gaining discourse power, China has embarked on a major restructuring of the party-state to ensure that the CCP Central Committeethe seat of CCP leadership, of which Xi Jinping is the headretains direct oversight over the bodies responsible for carrying out Chinas discourse-power goals.

Chinese official and academic writings also show that the CCP has come to see the digital arena as crucial in its discourse-power strategy, seeing the opportunities brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution as offering a chance to disrupt the hegemony of the West. As one Chinese government official wrote in July 2020, technological changes in different periods throughout history not only bring about economic changes, but also affect changes in the global power structure [] The digital economy is prompting a reshuffle, and China has the opportunity to gain a first-mover advantage. Beijing has made clear its intentions to command the digital world, announcing its aims to dominate advanced-technology manufacturing by 2025, to lead in international standards setting by 2035, and to become a cyber superpower by 2050.

As such, China has embarked on a concerted strategy to gain discourse power via the digital domain. It has done so through several mechanisms: by shaping local information ecosystems via social and digital media platforms, by promoting CCP-approved norms for digital governance and Chinese-developed international technical standards, and by offering the physical digital and Internet infrastructure on which these information ecosystems rely at an affordable cost, and with no conditions for how it is used.

China also sees the Global South as potentially more receptive to its norms and governance principles, and as an attractive market for Chinese digital-infrastructure offerings. Chinas external propaganda narratives couch Beijings activities in the digital sphere as ultimately aimed at granting countries more power over the development and direction of their digital economies.

China has promoted the norm of cyber sovereignty ()in Chinas definition, the right of each country to exert total control over the Internet within its bordersin various international organizations, technical standards-setting bodies, and its commercial relations with countries interested in Chinese products and services. In its external propaganda messaging, China often targets audiences with narratives that erode the legitimacy of the liberal democratic framework and that resonate with local experience; for example, in the Global South, Chinese messaging on digital cooperation emphasizes a shared distrust of Western governments or a shared experience as developing (to use Chinas term) countries.

In actuality, however, Chinas strategy is less about a true attempt to make the digital world more inclusive, and more about supporting the Chinese governments leadership goals. While boosting its economic growth and protecting its ability to exert political control domestically are two major goals of Chinas promotion of cyber sovereignty, Beijing sees laying the necessary groundwork for gaining a discourse-power advantage over the West as another key objective. As Adam Segal puts it, cyber sovereignty represents a pushback against the attempted universalization of [Western] norms [regarding privacy, free speech, access to information, and the role of regulation] that has become the default of the current operating system, as well as a reassertion of the priority of governments over non-state actors.

China sees engaging in targeted messaging, and gaining support for its normative framework across various audiences, as better positioning it to gain the discourse power it sees as essential for reshaping the international environment in a way that better facilitates the expression of Chinese power. Additionally, Chinas leaders fundamentally do not believe that the Chinese perspective can be heard unless they can make the soil fertile globally for their message to seed.

As such, Chinas strategy around discourse power should not be understood as an attempt to turn the world into an authoritarian stage. China is clear in emphasizing its agnosticism with regard to the domestic political characteristics of the governments with which it engages. To this end, it is less important to China whether countries support cyber sovereignty because it offers them more freedom in determining their digital futures, or whether governments see support for this approach as an opportunity to clamp down on Internet freedoms. In either case, China gains discourse power by increasing buy-in for its vision of the global digital order, bringing it closer to achieving its aims of gaining a comparative advantage over the West.

Lastly, while China has advanced presence and strategy in standard-setting bodies, normative spaces, the digital information ecosystem, and the provision of physical infrastructure, the Western worlds approach has been more piecemeal and reactive. Notably, China is advancing much of this strategy through the very mechanisms the UnitedStates and its allies created to govern and shape a free, open, secure, and interoperable digital world. Chinese leaders have taken a bet on the Wests overconfidence in its systems and have built a relatively successful strategy of quietly shaping, repurposing, and encircling them to advance Chinas discourse power. Any effort to counter this reshaping, therefore, relies on the democratic world reinvigorating its engagement in these spaces, more clearly defining mutually reinforcing industrial, commercial, and geopolitical strategies, and doubling down on creating a more geographically inclusive, multistakeholder, collaborative system.

Related Experts: Kenton Thibaut, Iain Robertson, Graham Brookie, Emerson T. Brooking, Andy Carvin, Kat Duffy, Rose Jackson, Naima Green-Riley, Tuvia Gering, and Jessica Batke

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Chinese discourse power: Ambitions and reality in the digital domain - Atlantic Council

Size, morphology and replicative capacity differ between organoids derived from small intestine and colon

Intestinal organoids were established from isolated crypts obtained from the small and large intestine regions of male and female NF-B-RE-luc transgenic mice. The same procedure and the biopsy size (3cm pieces of tissue) were used for obtaining duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon-derived crypts. Nevertheless, the efficiency of the isolating procedure varied between the intestinal regions, being the ileum the segment with the lowest number of crypts recovered (data not shown).

After 24h of culture, crypts closed themselves, leading to a cyst or a spherical cellular structure (spheroid) (Fig.1a, Day 1). By day 4 of culture, spheroids grew in size and complexity, leading to the characteristic 3D architecture of cyst with a central lumen flanked by a simple polarized epithelium and the basal side of the cells oriented toward the outside. Organoids derived from the small intestine showed multiple new crypt-like structures or buds emerging from the center to the surrounding matrix, whereas organoids derived from the colon showed a symmetric spherical shape (Fig.1a, Day 4).

Culture of intestinal reporter organoids for NF-B activity. Intestinal organoids were obtained from crypts isolated from duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon of the NF-B reporter mice as described in Methods section. (a) Representative bright-field images of organoids at day 1 and day 4 of culture. (b) Replicative capacity of organoids expressed as spheroids generated from 1000 seeded single epithelial cells was quantified on day 4. (c) Growth was evaluated by measuring the area of the organoids at days 4 and 8 of culture; *P<0.05, significant differences between the same intestinal region-derived organoids at day 4 and 8 of culture. (d) The number of buds per organoid was manually estimated at day 8 of culture and the percentage of organoids without buds, with 13 buds or with more than 4 buds was compared between each type of organoid; *P<0.05, significant differences in the percentage of organoids with more than 4 buds; #P<0.05, significant differences in the percentage of orgnaoids without buds. (e) Circularity factor was measured in organoids at days 4 and 8 of culture. A value of 1.0 indicates a perfect circle. *P<0.05, significant differences with respect to the same intestinal region-derived organoids at day 4. Two biological replicates (organoids from two different animals) for each intestinal region were analysed. Each biological replicate was done in triplicate.

To better characterize the different types of organoids, morphological and growth parameters were analyzed from single-cell dissociated organoid cultures (Fig.1be). The number of organoids generated from 1000 single epithelial cells seeded, was evaluated after 4days in culture. This parameter ranged between 11.339.15 to 7.354.20 organoids, with no statistically differences among the different intestinal organoids (P=NS) (Fig.1b). Regarding growth parameters, organoids developed from single cells took more days to grow in size, compared with the culture isolated from crypts. By day 8, all organoids had increased their area several times compared with day 4 (Fig.1c) and their aspect resembled those of organoids derived from intestinal crypts at day 4 of culture (data not shown). There was a significant difference between jejunum and colon-derived organoids with respect to the numbers of buds developed in each organoid. Jejunum-derived cultures presented a higher percentage of organoids with more than four buds (55.025.76%, for jejunum; 26.257.86% for colon, *P<0.05), whereas colon-derived organoids showed a higher percentage of structures without buds (29.123.82% for jejunum; 49.732.82% for colon, #P<0.05) (Fig.1d). Circularity was in accordance with these results; small intestinal derived-organoids significantly decreased their circularity at day 8 of culture compared with day 4 (P<0.05), whereas colon-derived organoids maintained the highest value for this parameter (day 8, 0.720.19 circularity factor) throughout the evaluated period (Fig.1e).

Histological analysis of organoids derived from jejunum and colon revealed multiple well-differentiated and preserved ductal structures, organized from the outside by a delicate basement membrane (Fig.2). In colonoids a remnants of a strongly eosinophilic, amorphous matrix with a diffusely vacuolated appearance is observed. In both organoids the epithelial ducts have at least one-cell continuous layer of columnar-type epithelial cells, supported at their basal pole by a subtle eosinophilic extracellular matrix, with round to ovoid strongly basophilic nuclei. In those cases where clusters of ductal structures were observed, the epithelium were constituted by a epithelial cell multilayer (from 2 to 5 cells thickness), with similar histologic appearance to the previous description, always maintaining the ductal organization. Frequently, on the luminal border of these ducts, other less abundant rounded cells were observed, interspersed among the epithelial cell layers. These cells were identified by their clear eosinophilic foamy cytoplasm, with the presence of larger vacuoles, reminiscent of goblet cells. In the lumen of the ducts, it was also frequent to observe detachments of necro-apoptotic cellular masses, being rounded in appearance, with cariolisis, and with abundant and foamy cytoplasm (ghost cells).

Histological analysis of NF-B reporter intestinal organoids. Colon-derived (ac) and jejunum-derived (df) organoids. (a) Cluster of colonoids of several sizes. Multiple epithelial ductal structures (columnar epithelium), associated by amorphous eosinophilic matrix (arrowhead). Hematoxylineosin staining (HE), 10. Bar=200m. (b) Colonoid epithelial duct showing different cell types described. Columnar epithelium organized from the subtle eosinophilic extracellular matrix (arrow), with amorphous and diffusely vacuolated eosinophilic material (asterisk), presence of some goblet-like cells in the luminal ductal surface were typical (arrowhead). HE, 40. Bar=50m. (c) High magnification of (b), showing epithelial cells (typical rounded and intense basophilic nuclei), interspersed with goblet-like cells with vacuoles in the luminal ductal surface (arrowhead). HE, 100. Bar=20m. (d) Cluster of jejunum-derived organoids of several sizes. Multiple epithelial ductal structures (columnar epithelium).HE, 10. Bar=200m. (e) Epithelial ducts showing similar cell types described in (b), with detachment of necroapoptotic cells in the ductal lumen. HE, 40. Bar=50m. (f) High magnification of (b), showing epithelial cells organized from the basal extracellular matrix (arrow), with less abundant goblet-like cells (arrowhead). HE, 100. Bar=20m.

Characterization of the epithelial cell population was performed by quantitative analysis of mRNA expression from organoids and intestinal tissue samples. Five specific genes, representative for the main intestinal epithelial cell types were evaluated, Lgr5 (intestinal stem cell), Lysozyme (Paneth cell), Villin (enterocytes), Chromogranin A (enteroendocrine cells), and Mucin 2 (Goblet cells). As shown in Fig.3a, the expression pattern of Villin, Chromogranin A and Lysozyme were similar between tissue and organoids from the same intestinal region. Lysozyme could not be detected in samples from tissues and organoids derived from the colon, since Paneth cells do not populate this intestinal region. Mucin 2 expression was reduced in colon-derived organoids, compared with the same tissue (P<0.05). Of note, except for ileum, Lgr5 levels were higher in organoids compared with the corresponding tissue (P<0.05). The presence of Paneth cells in small intestine-derived organoids were corroborated at the protein level by immunodetection of Lysozyme, whereas actively proliferating cells were found in both organoids, as indicated by the presence of Ki67 positive cells (Fig.3b).

Specific intestinal markers for cell populations in organoid cultures. (a) The presence of the major intestinal cell types where analyzed by qPCR for specific intestinal markers: intestinal stem cells (Lgr5), enterocytes (Villin); Paneth cells (Lysozyme), Goblet cells (Mucin 2) and enteroendocrine cells (Chromogranin A). The mRNA levels of each marker were normalized by actin expression. Data was expressed as meanSD of two (tissue) or at least three (organoids) different animals. *P<0.05, significant differences between the intestine tissue and the corresponding derived-organoid. (b) Detection of Paneth cells (Lysozyme positive cells in magenta) and proliferating cells (Ki67 positive cells in green) in organoids derived from small intestine and colon by immunofluorescence. Nuclei in blue; actin in gray. Scale bar=20m.

The activation of the NF-B transcription factor was evaluated by stimulating transgenic and wild-type organoids derived from the small intestine with different concentrations of Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-) as the pro-inflammatory stimulus. After 24h of incubation, luciferase activity was measured. As shown in Fig.4a, luciferase activity was only detected in NF-B-RE-Luc organoids, which showed a concentration-dependent response to the inflammatory stimulus. The maximum NF-B activation levels were attained at 100ng/mL TNF-, with more than 20 fold change increase compared with the control value (un-stimulated organoids) (P<0.05), confirming the ability of the organoids to report the activation of NF-B signaling pathway.

Response of NF-B reporter intestinal organoids to TNF-. Organoids were stimulated with different concentrations of TNF-. Luciferase activity was evaluated after 24h of incubation, and NF-B activation was expressed as fold change with respect to the unstimulated control. (a) Reporter activity from small intestine-derived organoids was specific for organoids obtained from NF-B reporter mice (white), as wild type organoids (gray) did not show luciferase activity; (b) NF-B reporter responsiveness varied among the different intestine region-derived organoids. The jejunum-derived organoids showed the higher response, whereas colon organoids were unresponsive. Results from one representative experiment are shown in a and b, and data was expressed as meanSD of triplicates; (c) both colon- and jejunum-derived organoids expressed mRNA for TNF receptors. The mRNA expression levels of each receptor subtype were normalized by actin expression and data was expressed as meanSD of at least three organoids obtained from different animals. *P<0.05, significant differences with respect to the unstimulated control.

To better characterize the model, the responsiveness of organoids derived from duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon were also evaluated with TNF-. The sensitivity of the reporter response varied between the intestinal regions and within the same region, among different cultures (see supplementary material, Table S1 and Figs. S1 and S2). Ileum- and jejunum-derived organoids were the most sensitive to the stimulus, showing a significant increase in the reporter signal with concentrations equal or higher than 1 and 2.5ng/mL of TNF-, respectively. On the opposite side, it was not possible to detect any reporter signal from colonic organoids. Organoids obtained from duodenum produced a detectable luciferase reporter response only at higher concentrations of TNF- (at 10 and 100ng/mL) (Fig.4b).

Organoids obtained from a responsive (jejunum) and unresponsive (colon) intestinal region were further studied for the presence of TNF- Receptor 1 and TNF- Receptor 2 (TNF-R1 and TNF-R2). Both intestinal organoids were able to express mRNA from TNF-R1 and TNF-R2 (Fig.4c), which suggests that they could bind the TNF- and respond to this stimulus.

Regarding the stability of the reporter system over time, the NF-B reporter activity of jejunum-derived organoids was evaluated with different concentrations of TNF- at different passages. As indicated in Table 1, the concentration of TNF- that gives half-maximal response (EC50 values) were similar among all the passages, indicating a stable reporter activity at least during 16 passages. Beyond this fact, we defined passage 12 as the maximum passage number for other assays.

Direct measurement of NF-B pathway functionality was evaluated by comparing TNF--induced translocation of NF-B in jejunum- and colon-derived organoids. Organoids were stimulated with 50ng/mL of TNF- for 3h and the nuclear translocation of NF-B p65 subunit was analyzed by confocal microscopy (Fig.5). Images show that in TNF--stimulated organoids, NF-B p65 signal is more homogeneously distributed between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, while in unstimulated controls, p65 signal predominate in the cytoplasm, being more evident the presence of non labeled-nuclei (Fig.5a, jejunum and colon). These findings suggest that TNF- induced the translocation of the p65 subunit to the nucleus, while in non-stimulated cells, NF-B was mainly detected in the cytoplasm. Nuclear translocation was quantified by calculating the ratio between the signal intensity of the nucleus and the cytoplasm (N/C ratio). In both jejunum and colon-derived organoids, the N/C ratio was increased (P<0.05) in the TNF--stimulated organoids compared to non-stimulated conditions, indicating nuclear translocation of NF-B transcription factor, a key step in the performance of the reporter assay (Fig.5b,c).

TNF- induces NF-B translocation into the nucleus of intestinal organoids. Organoids derived from jejunum and colon were stimulated with TNF- (50ng/mL) during 3h. Unstimulated organoids were used as control. NF-B was detected by using an anti-p65 antibody (green). Nuclei were stained with methyl green (blue). In both stimulated organoids, the NF-B signal was more homogeneously distributed between nucleus and cytoplasm compared to the controls, where non-labeled nuclei predominate (a). Nuclear translocation of NF-B was quantified using the green signal intensity ratio between the nuclei and the cytoplasm (N/C ratio) (b, c). Individual values in the graph represent one organoid measurement. Scale bar=20m. Data was expressed as meanSD. *P<0.05, significant differences with respect to the unstimulated control.

These results confirmed the presence of a functional NF-B signaling pathway in both jejunum- and colon-derived organoids. Thus the lack of reporter activity in colon-derived organoids would not be associated with an alteration of this signaling pathway.

In addition to TNF-, the intestinal epithelium is frequently exposed to other inflammatory stimuli. We next evaluated the ability of organoids to respond to three well known intestinal inflammatory compounds: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a heat-inactivated Salmonella enterica extract22 and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1). Neither of them induced a detectable reporter response in the NF-B-RE-Luc organoids, regardless of the intestinal region analyzed (Fig.6).

Activation of NF-B with different proinflammatory stimuli. NF-B reporter organoids derived from jejunum (a) and colon (b) were stimulated during 24h with LPS, IL-1 and heat-inactivated Salmonella enterica. NF-B activation was determined as previously described. There were no significant differences between the stimulated conditions and the unstimulated group. Data was expressed as meanSD of triplicates from one representative experiment.

Based on our results, TNF- induced a potent luciferase response at 10ng/mL in reporter organoids derived from jejunum. Therefore to validate the model, we selected this system and tested synthetic and natural compounds known to interfere with the NF-B signaling pathway.

Dexamethasone (Dex) and Bay11-7082 (Bay) significantly reduced TNF--induced NF-B activation, as indicated by the decrease in the luciferase activity (NF-B activation as fold change with respect to the unstimulated control: TNF-=5.921.12; Dex=3.110.89; Bay=4.050.27) (Fig.7a). The natural peptide Vioprolide A (VioA) as well as Lactobacillus plantarum and L. reuteri conditioned media (CM), all were able to significantly reduce the TNF--induced NF-B activation as indicated by the reduction in the reporter response, without altering the basal value, when compared with the unstimulated control (NF-B activation in fold change respect to the unstimulated control: L. reuteri CM=2.570.71; L. plantarum CM=2.070.27; VioA=3.450.36) (Fig.7b).

Validation of the NF-B-RE-Luc organoids with anti-inflammatory compounds. NF-B reporter organoids were stimulated with TNF- 10ng/mL and incubated with synthetic and natural antiinflammatory compounds for 24h. NF-B activation was determined as previously described. Cells without treatment and cells treated only with TNF- or the different compounds were included as controls. (a) Known synthetic inhibitors of NF-B pathway Dexamethasone and Bay 11-0782; (b) conditioned medium from probiotic L. plantarum and L. reuteri and the compound Vioprolide A were used as natural anti-inflammatory compounds. Data was expressed as meanSD of triplicates from one representative experiment *P<0.05, significant differences with respect to unstimulatedorganoids for compounds alone, or to TNF- 10ng/mL for compounds co-incubated with proinflammatory stimuli.

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Jejunum-derived NF-B reporter organoids as 3D models for the study of TNF-alpha-induced inflammation | Scientific Reports - Nature.com

Role of media in crime prevention and social awareness: Keeping society together, keeping it strong

All around the world, media has continued to play a creative role in keeping the society strong. Apart from bringing fresh news from several sources, it is also seen as a guardian of peace and order. Medias role is not limited to just that but it is also recognised for its creative input into the making of a civil society.

Crime has tormented the civil society for centuries. Medias arrival in this regard can be seen as a blow to criminal organisations and syndicates. Often media has been successful at reaching the corners where police and other crime control institutions have failed to. There are thousands of such cases which were discovered and solved because of medias efforts and contribution.

Media is also credited for serving an important role in the collective war against terrorism and other evils known as the biggest plagues for the civil society.

Bringing up cases of corruption before publics eyes and covering cases requiring publics attention and being with the society in the times of crisis, media is known for its impartial contribution to peacekeeping and maintaining order across nations. Several times media has been able to successfully bring the deficiencies of the public agencies to light and raise the level of social awareness.

Social awareness has been recognised to be the best weapon to fight against crime and this cannot be achieved alone by the government agencies. Apart from the news media, the contribution of social media must be also recognised in this area. However, while the news media has often been criticised for churning dissatisfaction against the government agencies, still its role at fighting corruption and crime has been strongly felt by the society.

In the Asian countries where media has limited freedom compared to the Western and the developed nations, despite its limitations, media has played a very strong role as a vigilante. In these nations, the level of political and bureaucratic corruption has been very high. Media has played the role of a social representative in combating this kind of corruption. In the recent years while anti corruption struggle has kept growing stronger in China, India and Hongkong and produced mixed results in these regions, the role of media in helping people fight the war was appreciable.

Even in the U.S., media has kept rising in importance not only for criticising governments wrong economic or political moves but for helping it build a progressive and globalised society. Even the media houses are subject to several kinds of pressures. In the U.S., the government and law have subjected them to limitations which stop them from playing as openly as they can. This is done for the fear that medias influence can torment civil unrest. If media agencies were not there, the situation of immigrants and the coloured population in the U.S. might have been worse.

Not just this, in several cases where publics reaction has been unable to bring out quick outcomes, publics efforts were bolstered with the help of media. Whether it is the murder of a citizen of colour or cases of domestic violence, media has always brought the most pressing issues to everyones notice.

In this regard, it has also helped citizens by spreading awareness so people can remain ready for changes in the political and economic environment of their nations. Especially in the times of crisis, medias role grows more highlighted. Whether it is during a war or in times of economic or biological crisis, media has helped people by making them aware of sources from which they can find help and support.

In such times, you often see media working in tandem with government agencies to help people and create solutions that will empower the entire society. In several corners of the world where criminals and terrorist organisations or dictators rule, there is no other hope for people than media and other sources of information like news blogs. Media does not just inspire hope in these regions, but also helps build consensus over political and economic issues.

In the backward nations however, media can play an even stronger role in helping the citizenry bring their nation and society out of the dark. In the backward nations, the government and civil machinery can be very weak. People are easily exploited and fall prey to evils like drug and crime syndicates and trafficking gangs. Innocent people often find it difficult to get help from the government agencies and medias role has mostly been instrumental at creating pressure on government agencies for swift action. Whether it is genocide, war, terrorism or other types of crisis and even exploitation of the immigrants, media has been able to fill the gaps through its efforts and create harmony through social awareness.

Thinking

It is also among institutions with the highest influence on the society and people because of its knowledge of crime and deviance. Most of peoples knowledge of crime and crime patterns is derived from the media. While sometimes, it can give rise to unnecessary fears, it has also been able to warn the society and help people take preventive actions that could create a secure environment. Not just this, media has also played a role in highlighting peoples contribution to the preservation of law and order. The overall picture of crime and justice that the common citizen has in mind is mostly influenced by media.

From sexual assault to murder, burglary and even domestic violence, a common citizen often tries to see a solution in media. In the developed nations, the relationship between police and media has been seen as symbiotic where they together defend social order and peace.

Media consumption has often been related with increased fear of crime but on the other hand media has also been able to bring focus on crime and its havens using its investigative techniques and strategy. If we check the overall image of media in this regard then it is seen world over as a vigilante that through various ways helps the society defend itself against crime and several other social ills.

In the recent times, medias image has weakened in several regions where it has been found less than effective and it is true mostly about the Asia and Middle East or the smaller underdeveloped nations. Its credit goes to several factors like the rising competition in the media sphere, rise of the social media and its misuse, political support for select media agencies and more factors. This has also led to a decline in medias credibility and popularity as people have started turning towards better sources for credible information.

Despite this fact, media remains a source of credible information for people around the world on many issues including crime, politics and economy. Media is still seen as more responsible than several other social institutions. As more options for information dissemination have emerged, people are now also relying on other sources to understand political, economic and social dynamics and how their society is evolving. Medias role may have become limited compared to a decade ago but its participation in crime control and social awareness continues.

Sources:

https://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol10is2/dowler.html

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Role of media in crime control and social awareness - notesmatic

Navel-gazing journalists in establishment media think they are all that stands between democracy and dictatorship. As a result of this self-aggrandizing attitude, they think they must be the final arbiters of what the peasants are allowed to know.

That is the gist of Margaret Sullivans final column in the Washington Post. Sullivan, who is retiring her column and leaving the Post, signed off by giving advice to journalists on covering threats to democracy. After droning on about how great it is that reporters recognize the threat of former President Donald Trump, Sullivan makes her grand proposal: The media should tell people what to think.

Not that that's too surprising, but it's nice to hear them say it out loud.

According to Sullivan, it is better to wait until speeches, rallies, and debates have occurred and then present them packaged with plenty of truthful reporting around them. Voters are too stupid to make decisions for themselves based on what they hear at live campaign events, if Sullivan is to be believed. The media must hold the public's hand and tell them who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.

The Washington Posts equally self-important mantra, Democracy dies in darkness, is outdated. According to Sullivan, democracy can thrive only if establishment media keep voters in the darkness.

This will not work, of course. First of all, there are too many other ways for you to get information. Second, public trust in media is in the toilet, which is probably right where it belongs.

A Gallup poll from June found that only 16% of respondents have trust in newspapers (including Sullivans Washington Post), and 11% trust the television news a record low. Sullivan claims that journalists certainly shouldnt shill for Democrats in 2024, but that claim comes laughably late. Everyone sees how biased outlets like the Post have been for decades and how much worse it has gotten recently. The last thing people want to hear is how those outlets must protect them from live events and offer voters even more of their spin you know, for the sake of "our democracy.

Sullivans reality-based press isnt going to save anyone from anything. At this point, the only people who trust establishment media are the people who work in establishment media and not even all of them. Ordinary people see this for precisely what it is: liberal partisans preening about democracy as an excuse to promote Democrats and oppose Republicans on everything.

Sullivans advice will solve nothing, but perhaps her example can. If reporters with the same worldview as Margaret Sullivan want to restore media trust and truly protect democracy, they can help start that process by retiring now.

The rest is here:
Establishment media mourn their loss of control over the information you receive - Washington Examiner