Peter Vasterman

University of Amsterdam | UVA · Graduate School of Humanities

The word media hype is often used as rhetorical argument to dismiss waves of media attention as overblown, disproportional and exaggerated. But these explosive news waves, as well as - nowadays - the twitter storms, are object of scientific research, because they are an important phenomenon in the public area. Sometimes it is indeed 'much ado about...

Project X Haren research revisited. A critical analysis of the research project about the role of the media in the Facebook riots in September 2012 Project X Haren research revisited. A critical analysis of the research project about the role of the media in the Facebook riots in September 2012 In September 2012 the Dutch town of Haren witnessed a...

In September 2012 the Dutch town of Haren Witnessed a real-time version of a Project X party, starting with a Facebook event page and culminating in riots and substantialism property destruction. The Cohen Committee Studied Alleged mobilizing the role of the news media and social media in the start-up phase. In this article a critical analysis will...

In September 2012 the Dutch town of Haren witnessed a real-time version of a Project X party, starting with a Facebook event page and culminating in riots and substantial property destruction. The Cohen Committee studied the alleged mobilizing role of the news media and social media in the start-up phase. In this article a critical analysis will be...

In 2009, the outbreak of a new flu virus in Mexico developed into the first pandemic in more than 40 years. For years the world had been warned about such a catastrophic global epidemic, but influenza A/H1N1 (also called swine flu or Mexican flu) turned out to be even milder than the common flu. This study is based on a content analysis of newspape...

Wilders and the role of the media Wilders and the role of the media Between 2006 and 2011 more than forty empirical studies were published about the Dutch populist Geert Wilders and the role of the media. This article examines which methods and theories are dominant in these studies, and which media and which aspects of the relationship between Wil...

De berichtgeving rondom de uitbraak van de Mexicaanse griep in het voorjaar van 2009 was intensief en verontrustend: de Mexicaanse griep zou zich kunnen ontwikkelen tot een gevaarlijke pandemie met veel (dodelijke) slachtoffers, ook in Nederland. Vergelijkingen met de Spaanse Griep en dagenlang nieuws over de wereldwijde verspreiding van het virus...

Het Copycat-effect is het effect dat plaatsheeft als er sprake is van een handeling die is uitgevoerd naar aanleiding van berichtgeving in de media over een eerdere soortgelijke handeling. Sommige mensen laten zich ernstig beïnvloeden/inspireren door de informatie die hen via verschillende media bereikt en vertonen naar aanleiding hiervan imitatieg...

Het Cry Wolf-effect is het effect dat optreedt wanneer regelmatig waarschuwingen voor een potentiële gebeurtenis worden gegeven, waarbij de daadwerkelijke gebeurtenis (meestal) uitblijft, waardoor bij het publiek het vertrouwen in en de geloofwaardigheid van het waarschuwingssysteem afneemt en de waarschuwing op zichzelf door het publiek geneutrali...

Journalism studies in the Netherlands: a research overview Journalism studies in the Netherlands: a research overview This article presents the results of a survey among journalism studies researchers from universities and schools of journalism in the Netherlands. It shows the themes they focus on, what they publish about, in what journals, books a...

Er zijn verschillende redenen om een speciaal nummer van het Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap uit te brengen over journalism studies in Nederland. Ten eerste staat de journalistiek, zeker na de moord op Pim Fortuyn, al geruime tijd in het centrum van de belangstelling, zij het lang niet altijd even positief. Ministers en Kamerleden beschuldi...

The Digital Pillory: The impact of the Internet on the development of scandals The Digital Pillory: The impact of the Internet on the development of scandals This article explores the consequences of the changing public arena for the way scandals develop. Scandals, defined as a process of public outrage over a (presumed) transgression of the domina...

PETER L. M. VASTERMAN The Digital Pillory: The impact of the Internet on the development of scandals This article explores the consequences of the changing public arena for the way scandals develop. Scandals, defined as a process of public outrage over a (presumed) transgression of the dominant morality, used to be the domain of the professional ma...

Journalism studies in the Netherlands: a research overview This article presents the results of a survey among journalism studies researchers from universities and schools of journalism in the Netherlands. It shows the themes they focus on, what they publish about, in what journals, books and book chapters, in what language, and what methods they g...

The media's coverage of risk issues is often criticized for neglecting the scientific perspective on risk. This criticism, however, ignores the social context in which journalists operate: they have to report on people's worries about health-threatening issues and they have to cover actions taken by the government to address these worries. The medi...

Disasters have always been breaking news, but in the current competitive media landscape the media have an interest in expanding the disaster into a news spectacle, spanning several weeks afterwards. After the immediate on the spot reporting, the media will concentrate on two major stories: human interest and the question of guilt and political res...

Media and disasters Disasters have always been breaking news, but in the current competitive media landscape the media have an interest in expanding the disaster into a news spectacle, spanning several weeks afterwards. After the immediate on the spot reporting, the media will concentrate on two major stories: human interest and the question of gui...

News often seems to develop a life of its own, creating huge news waves on one specific story or topic. The term ‘media-hype’ is often used in popular debate about this kind of self-inflating media coverage, but the concept has never made it into the scientific discourse, mainly because of its implicit value judgements. However, by excluding criter...

Disasters occur more often since the world gets overpopulated, air traffic is busier, terrorists are operating worldwide and therefore, risks are increasing. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency major disasters in the USA have been increasing in frequency, form fewer than 25 per year in the 1980s to more than 40 per year in the 90s....