The societal context of professional practice: Examining the impact of politics and economics on journalistic role performance across 37 countries

The impact of socio-political variables on journalism is an ongoing concern of comparative research on media systems and professional cultures. However, they have rarely been studied systematically across diverse cases, particularly outside Western democracies, and existing studies that compare western and non-western contexts have mainly focused on journalistic role conceptions rather than actual journalistic practice. Using journalistic role performance as a theoretical and methodological framework, this paper overcomes these shortcomings through a content analysis of 148,474 news stories from 365 print, online, TV, and radio outlets in 37 countries. We consider two fundamental system-level variables—liberal democracy and market orientation—testing a series of hypotheses concerning their influence on the interventionist, watchdog, loyal-facilitator, service, infotainment, and civic roles in the news globally. Findings confirm the widely asserted hypothesis that liberal democracy is associated with the performance of public-service oriented roles. Claims that market orientation reinforces critical and civic-oriented journalism show more mixed results and give some support to the argument that there are forms of “market authoritarianism” associated with loyalist journalism. The findings also show that the interventionist and infotainment roles are not significantly associated with the standard measures of political and economic structure, suggesting the need for more research on their varying forms across societies and the kinds of system-level factors that might explain them

Digital footprint of hematology-oncology fellowship programs: Identifying gaps after the first virtual recruitment season.

11003 Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented restrictions to travel and in-person activities that limit hematology/oncology (HO) fellowship programs’ (FP) recruitment activities. Prospective applicants rely on websites and social media (SOME) to guide their decisions of applying or ranking a FP. We aim to evaluate HO FP’s digital footprint in order to identify informational gaps. Methods: The AMA Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) was queried for all HO programs. We searched Google, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for HO FP pages. Content was evaluated using published criteria. Qualitative content analysis of SOME posts is planned. Results: Our analysis includes 176 FP that actively recruited during the 2020 match season. Over half (57%, n = 100) were university-based and the median number of fellow positions per year was 4 per FP (range 0-16). Most FP had websites (95%, n = 167) with varying information (Table) for prospective applicants. Twenty percent (n = 33) included a diversity statement. While 63% (n = 106) of FP provided application information, only 51% discussed visa requirements. Few FP websites included key information such as why fellows chose a particular FP (7%, n = 12), accolades of fellows (3%, n = 5), or employment location of alumni (25%, n = 44). Only 42% (n = 69) provided city, and 5% (n = 8) showed fellows socializing. Thirty-four FP (19%) have informational videos (range 1-10) in YouTube (length range: 1:37-18:15min). Most (82%; n = 28) were published since May 2020 in alignment with the FP recruitment season. Twitter was the second most common SOME platform, used by 19% (n = 32) of FP. 56% (n = 18) joined Twitter since May 2020 correlating with the current recruitment season. The number of Twitter followers (median 119, range: 0-1408) and posts (median 47, range: 0-687) varied across FP. Only 4% used Facebook and 6% Instagram. Conclusions: Our analysis of FP’s digital footprint revealed that applicants participating in the 1st virtual HO recruitment season were provided limited online information. Programs can use online content to provide information on resources, research opportunities, and achievements of faculty and fellows that can guide applicant decision making. In the era of COVID-19, highlighting the diversity and breath of each FP, hospital, and city are vital to attract a diverse and talented pool of trainees.[Table: see text] </jats:p

Potential of low-cost subsurface irrigation system in boosting food production in high water scarcity regions

Improvement of agricultural practices under limited water availability is a key solution for arid and semi-arid areas food shortage problems. Pressurized irrigation technologies have made great improvement in the field water use efficiencies; however, the construction cost of these systems was usually beyond the dryland small-farmer means. Low cost porous material was used for maize water supply under typical dry environment. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of subsurface irrigation systems made of locally produced clay pots and clay pipes on growth, yield and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in the dryland of Sudan. Clay pots release point source water to the surrounding soil as emitters whereas clay pipes are envisaged as subsurface buried porous tubing. The maize yield obtained from plots having subsurface clay pipes irrigation system was significantly higher (30%) than the maize grown under surface irrigation system. The experiments proved that the clay pipe and pitcher irrigation method is a water saving technology, which optimizes yields per unit of water used when compared to surface irrigation method. Also the clay pipes and pitcher are conservation irrigation systems, which save about 96.58 and 95.46% of water used for irrigation respectively when compared to the surface irrigation system

Mentorship Experiences Are Not All the Same: A Survey Study of Oncology Trainees and Early-Career Faculty

Physician workforce diversity can be a driver of institutional excellence, improving innovation and reducing health disparities. However, the current diversity of the hematology/oncology (HO) workforce does not reflect that of the US population. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of current trainees and faculty within 5 years of completing terminal training in oncology specialties. Of the 306 respondents, 64 (21%) were under-represented in medicine (URiM) and 161 (53%) identified as male. URiM participants were less likely to have a primary mentor (66%) than non-URiM participants (80%; = .015). Among those who had a primary mentor, URiMs met less frequently (once every 3-6 months or less) with their mentor (19% 7% non-URiM; = .003). Furthermore, URiMs were more likely to report having mentors outside their own institution (47% 40% non-URiM; = .002) and making compromises to gain access to mentorship (36% 23% non-URiM; ≤ 0.001). URiMs were also less likely to apply for grants (34% 42% non-URiM; = .035) and awards (28% 43% non-URiM; = .019). In multivariable models, URiM individuals were more likely to make compromises to gain access to mentors (odds ratio [OR], 1.96; 95% CI, 1.01 to 3.82) and this remained significant for females (OR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.26 to 3.75). URiM individuals may be less likely to have effective mentorship and apply for awards and grant support. Understanding the challenges of URiM trainees can help shape training environments in academic medicine to ensure that they are grounded in diversity, inclusion, and retention