Michał Wenzel

Framing Effect of Media Portrayal of Migrants to the European Union: A Survey Experiment in Poland:

As a result of the rise of online communication and political divisions based on symbols, rather than structure (decrease in the importance of class-based voting), citizens are increasingly linked to news outlets that articulate and reinforce their views. The process is facilitated by the spontaneous processes of bottom–up communication that excludes, in an iterative process, people who express views that are inconsistent with the prevailing opinion. The emergence of “information verticals” is a significant influence on attitudes to some issues covered in political debate. These effects operate with regard to so-called easy issues, that is, those rooted in emotions and in the symbolic sphere. Our article is an empirical test of our hypotheses about the effects of media framing of “hard” and “easy” issues. We apply a survey experiment method to verify whether contact with news coverage has an effect on attitudes, taking into account the political orientation and cognitive skills of citizens. Our empirical analyses confirm that a hostile media framing of migration changes respondents’ attitudes no matter their level of cognitive engagement. The data come from Poland.

Związki zawodowe w świetle przemian cywilizacyjnych: możliwości, wyzwania i zagrożenia

The scientific and technological revolution, as well as rapid acceleration in business processes on a global scale, affect labour and capital in an asymmetrical manner. Capital is inherently more f lexible than human beings, who, in addition to economic constraints, live in a network of social relations. The position of the working class is additionally weakened by process automation, replacing workers by increasingly intelligent robots. The authors’ intention is to sketch a sequence of cause and effect of these processes: describe the basic aspects of the transformation of the labour market, their impact on trade unions, and outline the future outlook for the trade union movement.