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Item Open Access What’s in my mince? Reader responses to news coverage about novel plant-based protein foods(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2025) Phillipov, M.; Buddle, E.; McLean, S.; Ankeny, R.Plant-based protein products have recently become more prominent on Australian supermarket shelves. However, despite rapidly increasing interest in meat-free or reduced-meat diets, limited research has explored responses toward these foods. Our research analyses Facebook comments (n = 1384) in response to two ABC News articles that covered the Australian launch of Naturli’s “Minced” product in 2018. Our qualitative analysis generated seven main themes, with comments relatively evenly split between self-declared meat consumers and those who did not eat meat. Our analysis shows that social media comments can provide real-time access to what we term “critical moments” in ongoing debates as well as values, in this case related to meat and meat alternatives. Hence people’s views on contentious topics relating to food are more robust and less open to persuasion than political and industry actors might hope or expect, and alternatives to use of framing approaches are required for any media analysis in domains where conflict is present.Item Metadata only A Sense of Home: two migrant personas during COVID-19(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2023) Barbour, K.; Ali, S.This article interrogates how the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic influenced the way that we produce online personas as migrants to Australia. By conducting comparative autoethnographic analysis of our online personas built on the social media sites Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, we unpack the role of mediated persona performance in connecting to our adopted homes as well as our connection to, and forced separation from, our countries of origin. There is a growing body of research on the impact of COVID-19 on migrants, particularly on forced migrants throughout Europe, and the impact of racism directed at migrants during the early stages of the pandemic. In Australia, scholars considered the role of technology in mediating relationships during lockdowns in 2020. This project broadens the scope of this body of research by looking at migrants who came to Australia with the intention of staying, by looking across platforms, and by considering not only what is shared and why, but what is absent: the ways we were – and are – strategically silent in our online persona performances.Item Metadata only Women and Persona Performance(Palgrave MacMillan, 2023) Barbour, K.This book works to unpack and explicate women’s personas. Drawing on global gender studies and feminist research, the author examines how ‘woman’ has been constructed socially, culturally, and politically throughout different historical periods and feminist movements. Case studies look at how women in different personal and professional settings construct, enact, and navigate their personas against a backdrop of shifting discourses on gender relations, continued patriarchal dominance, and western neoliberal capitalism. Chapters also delve into how women’s personas are constructed online through activism and community building. The author examines the diversity, flexibility, and slipperiness of the ways being a woman is experienced and strategically performed. This book will be useful for scholars and students in Gender Studies, Sociology, Psychology, and Media Studies.Item Open Access Youth Intimacy on Tumblr(SAGE Publications, 2015) Hart, M.I examine young people’s intimate relationships formed on Tumblr. Research has extensively documented how and why adults utilize online dating services to articulate relationships online; however, scholars of this phenomenon have largely overlooked the lived experiences of young people. This article presents the initial findings of a qualitative pilot study in which 10 young male and female Tumblr users participated in hour-long, in-depth, semi-structured, synchronous online interviews via Skype. The initial findings generated by the pilot study suggest that young people are engaging online technologies to practice intimacy and sociality in diverse ways. Responses suggest that young people conceptualize Tumblr as being distinct from existing social network sites (SNS) as a result of its perceived affordances. I con-clude that the ways in which young people engage and date and socialize on Tumblr suggest a rethinking of established contemporary notions of intimacy and community in the digital era.Item Open Access Media Messages About Sustainable Seafood: How Do Media Influencers Affect Consumer Attitudes(Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, 2020) Phillipov, M.; Farmery, A.; Gale, F.; Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)Item Metadata only Impact of Interactive Television Instruction (ITV) on Problem Solving Skills Among Out-of-School Nomadic Children in Northern Nigeria(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2023) Talabi, F.O.; Udeh, K.; Anselm U, A.; Talabi, J.M.; Aiyesimoju, A.B.; Oyeduntan, E.A.; Gever, V.C.The goal of this study was to determine the effectiveness of interactive television instruction in improving the problem solving skills of out-of-school nomadic children in Northern Nigeria. The study was a quasi experiment involving 470 out-of-school nomadic children who were randomly assigned into treatment group (n = 235) and control group (n = 235). The researchers carried out the study by exposing the respondents in the treatment group to an interactive television content that was aimed at improving their problem solving skills such as problem identification, alternative generation, consequence prediction as well as implementation. It was found that although respondents in the control and treatment groups did not significantly differ in their mean scores on problem solving skills at baseline, they significantly differ after the treatment with the treatment group reporting a significant improving in their problem solving skills. The researchers discussed the findings of this study and highlighted both the theoretical and practical implications.Item Open Access Domesticity and Persona(Deakin University, 2023) Barbour, K.; Humphrey, M.Because personas are performances of identity, strategically enacted for an immediate or imagined audience, the study of personas to date has concentrated on the public realm of life. Professional personas enacted in workplaces have taken up much attention, whether for artists, comedians, scientists, actors, musicians, or politicians. Similarly (and often overlapping the professional persona), the performance of self online that is constituted in and through social media has proven a generative space for research. Mediatised personas generally open up a space for understanding persona performances, while the non-human, the institutional, the collectively constituted persona come as a logical extension of the theorisation of persona as strategic identity display.Item Metadata only Passivity and exclusion: media power in the construction of the aged-care debate in Australia and Malaysia(Taylor & Francis, 2023) Imran, M.A.; Bowd, K.This article explores relationships between media power and older people in Western and non-Western settings, utilising the examples of Australia and Malaysia. Drawing on Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis and a dataset of articles from Australian and Malaysian newspapers, it reveals that despite differences in journalistic practices in the two countries there is a common thread of disparate representation of voices of older people and elites in news about older people. This demonstrates the exercise of power by journalists – and the influence of broader media and socio-political environments – in sustaining and reproducing social inequalities, including opportunities for people to have their stories and issues portrayed fairly and accurately. While the lack of critical engagement by Malaysian journalists can be linked to social norms and ideas of Asian-based development journalism, the absence of critical engagement from the Australian news media can be seen as conflicting with their Fourth Estate watchdog role.Item Metadata only The Dreamland: Isthmus - Interactive performance via the use of experimental AR (Augmented Reality) and escape game methodology(Adelaide Fringe Festival, 2023) Chan, O.Y.; Cook, S.Item Metadata only The Breath of Another: Mediated Testimony in the Play Manus(Routledge, 2023) Szorenyi, A.; Little, S.; Suliman, S.; Wake, C.The play Manus, directed by Iranian Nazanin Sahamizadeh and performed by Verbatim Theatre Group, is based on witness accounts from those incarcerated on Manus Island. Sahamizadeh developed the script in collaboration with Behrouz Boochani and other prisoners via mobile phone. In the play actors speak the words previously spoken by prisoners (in Persian with English surtitles), at times with imagery of the prison projected onto their bodies. The actors’ bodies are thus staged as both conduits for the ‘voice’ of prisoners, and as living, shaky, projector screens, emphasising the mediated and unstable nature of the performance. This paper draws on ethical concepts from Judith Butler and Emmanuel Levinas to explore the ethical relations between prisoners, actors and audiences that result, as the voice of one is spoken through the breath of another. Through a spoken emphasis on relationality, the use of bodies as screens, and recurrent performances of interrupted breath, the play stages proximity, relationality and distance. It thus both highlights voice, embodiment and affect, and at the same time painfully fractures them: giving a sense of the presence of the prisoners, yet emphasising their fragility and absence. In the Adelaide performance this staging, perhaps inevitably, led the audience to audibly sob, unable to catch their own breaths. In this shared discontinuity of breath can appear something about the vulnerability of bodies as they become implicated in one another’s lives, and something about the violence that keeps them apart, unable to share breath, separated by the borders of the camp.Item Open Access News Values, Older People and Journalistic Practices in Australia and Malaysia(University of Melbourne, 2022) Imran, M.A.This article builds on a research project examining news values, journalistic practices, and media power in Australia and Malaysia. These two countries differ from each other in socio-cultural, religious, regional, political perspectives, and journalistic practices but share the presence of indigenous people, appreciation for multiculturalism, and increasing numbers of older people. The comparison of journalistic practices – Asian-based development journalism and Western journalism practices – along with other differences, especially socio-cultural values, provides the rationale for the selection of these two countries. The study draws on Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis and Caple and Bednarek’s discursive news values analysis to explore the discursive practices of journalists in providing voices and prioritising different actors in news stories. 99 news articles from 8 mainstream Australian newspapers – The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Advertiser, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail, The Herald Sun, and The Canberra Times – and 5 English-language Malaysian newspapers – New Straits Times, The Malay Mail, The Star, The Borneo Post, and The Sun – published between January 2011 and December 2013 are selected as the dataset in this study. The study finds that reference to elite persons remains a uniform news value in both Australian and Malaysian newspapers, indicating the role of journalists in reflecting and reinforcing the status quo, and the imbalance of power in society. This dominant news value amongst journalists tends to silence those who are not conceived as newsworthy or seen as less newsworthy, such as older people. While the dominance of elites can be linked to social norms in Malaysia that prevent challenges to the social hierarchy and the maintenance of a high regard for people in authority such as political leaders, the discursive practices of Australian journalists do not align with their role to provide a uniform forum for the exchange of ideas, as elderly Australians are given limited opportunities to be active participants.Item Metadata only Consumers and commodification: The marketization of aged care in the Australian press(Intellect, 2022) Imran, M.A.; Bowd, K.This article explores links between the Australian press and the marketization of aged care in Australia. By using critical discourse analysis as a research tool, and a data set of 61 news articles from eight mainstream Australian newspapers published in April 2012 and August 2013, this article argues that dominant discourses around ageing in the sampled newspapers are in the language of economic rationalism, and aged care is constructed as a commodity. Elderly people are constructed mainly as consumers of aged care, reflecting and reinforcing official narratives towards the marketization of care. The study from which this article is drawn found that most Australian journalists not only relayed official messages about the commodification of aged care without critical engagement, but also included few opposing opinions.Item Metadata only Development journalism and revitalisation of familism in Malaysia(SAGE Publications, 2024) Imran, M.A.This paper explores the role of Malaysian media in the revitalisation of familism, which seems to descend in most Asian societies. The examination of news articles published in English-language Malaysian newspapers between 2011–2021 through critical discourse analysis reveals that newspapers in Malaysia are playing a moral guardianship role by warning readers of the slipping of filial responsibility and the dangers of the alternatives. The papers construct a discourse in support of an established social norm of traditional family roles in caring for family members – particularly, elderly people who are on the rise throughout the world – something the government supports as well, as it relieves it of any obligation to elderly citizens. The role of journalists in the rekindling of familial piety can be linked to development journalism that emphasises the media's partnership with the government as care of older family members absolves the government from the cost of care associated with an increasingly ageing population.Item Open Access The Border Separating Us: Autobiographical comics of an Australian World War I internment camp(John A. Lent (Founder, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief), 2021) Humphrey, A.; Walsh, S.; Lent, J.Item Open Access Graphic medicine and health professional education: An internship comic book case study(ANZAHPE, 2022) Humphrey, A.Introduction: This study aimed to determine whether comics in medical education (“graphic medicine”) can enhance professional identity formation (PIF) of junior doctors. This was accomplished through a multi-year trial of an internship comic book handbook that was specially designed to be used as part of an internship orientation program at Mackay Base Hospital. Methods: A 24-page comic was distributed during the hospital’s intern orientation in 2014–2017. Surveys were conducted with 2014–2017 interns (n = 54) to assess how prepared they felt to meet the challenges of internship and how helpful they had found several orientation publications, with surveys of the 2013 interns providing control data (n = 13). Qualitative interviews from the 2014 cohort (n = 9) were analysed thematically and matched to groups of thematically similar survey responses. Results: Interns reported feeling more prepared to face the challenges of internship following the introduction of the comic in 2014, compared to the 2013 control group, and this remained generally consistent throughout 2015, 2016 and 2017. At the end of internship, 92% of interns recalled the comic (n = 47) and 89% rated it as at least somewhat helpful (n = 42). The interviews and surveys were thematically grouped by the interns’ responses to the comic: resistant (n = 8), ambivalent (n = 9), ecumenical (n = 23) and enthusiastic (n = 7). A single variable linear regression analysis showed a statistically significant (p = 0.04) and mildly positive (r = 0.29) correlation between how helpful the interns found the comic and how well they felt they had been prepared for the challenges of internship. The comic was the only publication significantly correlated with preparedness (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Comics can be a useful tool for medical education. Further use of comics in internship programs could improve how prepared interns are for the challenges of internship and, therefore, enhance their PIF.Item Metadata only Contributors to social well-being from the perspective of older migrants in Australia(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2023) Liu, S.; Hong, Y.; Gallois, C.; Haslam, C.; Jetten, J.; Tran, T.L.N.; Dane, S.This study investigates contributors to social well-being from the perspective of older migrants in Australia. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 33 participants in the 66–91- year age group, from Chinese, Vietnamese, Dutch, and German heritage backgrounds. At the time of the study, they were clients of a community service provider in Brisbane, Australia, and participated in the monthly social activities organised by the agency. Many of them also engaged in other social activities not organised by this agency. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified three main contributors to participants’ social well-being: social integration through building strong connections with the ethnic community, social contribution through giving back to society, and social acceptance through assimilating into Australian society. However, the emphasis placed on these contributors was shaped by the participants’ age at migration, English language ability, and reasons for migration, as well as heritage cultural backgrounds. These findings highlight the need for tailored support to enhance social well-being among older people from diverse cultural backgrounds.Item Open Access APP intracellular domain acts as a transcriptional regulator of miR-663 suppressing neuronal differentiation(Nature Publishing, 2015) Shu, R.; Wong, W.; Ma, Q.H.; Yang, Z.Z.; Zhu, H.; Liu, F.J.; Wang, P.; Ma, J.; Yan, S.; Polo, J.M.; Bernard, C.C.A.; Stanton, L.W.; Dawe, G.S.; Xiao, Z.C.Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is best known for its involvement in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. We have previously demonstrated that APP intracellular domain (AICD) regulates neurogenesis; however, the mechanisms underlying AICD-mediated regulation of neuronal differentiation are not yet fully characterized. Using genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation approaches, we found that AICD is specifically recruited to the regulatory regions of several microRNA genes, and acts as a transcriptional regulator for miR-663, miR-3648 and miR-3687 in human neural stem cells. Functional assays show that AICD negatively modulates neuronal differentiation through miR-663, a primate-specific microRNA. Microarray data further demonstrate that miR-663 suppresses the expression of multiple genes implicated in neurogenesis, including FBXL18 and CDK6. Our results indicate that AICD has a novel role in suppression of neuronal differentiation via transcriptional regulation of miR-663 in human neural stem cells.Item Open Access The pedagogy and potential of educational comics(John A. Lent (Founder, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief), 2020) Humphrey, A.Item Metadata only Persona Studies: An Introduction(Wiley-Blackwell, 2020) Marshall, P.D.; Moore, C.W.; Barbour, K.This timely book helps readers navigate the changing cultural landscape while laying the groundwork for further research and application of persona studies.Item Metadata only The voices of African children(Routledge, 2021) Anyanwu, C.; Green, L.; Holloway, D.; Stevenson, K.; Leaver, T.; Haddon, L.African children exhibit immense creativity in overcoming the challenges of digital participation. Those children who go online embrace many opportunities but also face specific cultural risks. These include ‘cultural amnesia’ (Mazrui, 2013) and ‘homelessness’ (Khosravi, 2011). Some children can find it difficult to reconcile their cultural identity with their digital identity. This chapter explores how African sociocultural theories and principles of Ubuntu and Asuwada influence the way children participate in online environments. Examining how socioeconomic and technological challenges limit African children’s engagement with information communication technology, the chapter concludes with a range of suggestions to support African children’s digital agency.