Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item The Internet Research Agency Campaign to Influence the 2016 US Presidential Elections: A Rhetorical Analysis(John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2025-08-19) Nelson N; Hodgetts D; Chamberlain KThe centrality of information and communicative processes in persuading society has, historically, made the media one of the key networks of power and influence in society. The rapid expansion of social media platforms has, however, enabled revolutionary changes in how this power is wielded and how persuasion occurs. This has had a profound impact on how political, economic, and social issues are understood and addressed. While a comprehensive body of social psychological theory and applied practice on the topic of persuasion has been developed over many years, persuasion in the contemporary social media environment is one that researchers are yet to fully understand. Methods for achieving this understanding continue to evolve. This article draws on a large corpus of material (2218 Facebook advertisements and metadata) which documented the Russian Internet Research Agency campaign to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential elections. Drawing on Aristotle's rhetorical framework, this article presents a process analysis to understand how political persuasion is undertaken in the contemporary social media environment. The findings provide new insights into the social psychological processes of persuasion in contemporary society and demonstrate the utility of a rhetorical framework in understanding persuasion campaigns in dynamic digital settings.Item Russia's @RT_Com Twitter campaign supporting the 2022 Ukraine invasion: A rhetorical analysis(Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society of Political Psychology, 2025-05-28) Nelson N; Hodgetts D; Chamberlain KThe centrality of information and communicative processes in influencing and contributing to the beliefs held in a populous has, historically, made the media one of the key networks of power and influence in society. The rapid expansion of social media platforms has revolutionized how media power is wielded to influence how political, economic, and social issues are mobilized, understood, and addressed. Understanding how this process occurs is, thus, important, but methods for achieving this understanding continue to evolve. This article draws on a large corpus of material (2473 Tweets and associated metadata) produced by the Russian state media Twitter account, @RT_Com, as one part of a broader campaign to influence the Western response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. We identified five overarching narratives that @RT_Com developed to influence its target audience: No Russian invasion; the West is threatening Russian security; Ukraine is part of Russia; Russia will utilize nuclear weapons to protect its sovereignty; and economic, political, and social insecurity in the West. Drawing on Aristotle's rhetorical framework, this article presents a process analysis to understand how these narratives were developed into means of persuasion. The findings provide new insights into the processes of persuasion in contemporary society.Item The effects of annual cycle, source population, and body condition on leukocyte profile and immune challenge in a basal reptile, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus).(John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2023-12-03) Lamar SK; Frank HK; La Flamme A; Gartrell B; Ormsby D; Nelson NLeukocyte profiles are broadly used to assess the health status of many species. Reference intervals, and an understanding of the factors that may influence these intervals, are necessary for adequate interpretation of leukograms. Using a data set that spans over three decades, we investigated variation in leukocyte profile in several populations of the evolutionarily unique reptile, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus). To do this, we first established reference intervals for each leukocyte type according to best practices. Next, we determined that source population and sampling date were the two most important predictors of leukocyte makeup. We found significant differences in the ratio of heterophils: lymphocytes (H:L) between populations, with tuatara on the more resource-stressed sampling island having a significantly higher ratio of H:L. Finally, we found that sampling location, sex, and life stage did not explain variation in the responses of tuatara to stimulation with Concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide in both 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-di-phenyltetrazolium bromide and Griess assay experiments. Our results offer important insight into the function of leukocytes in reptiles.Item New Zealand's Counter Terrorism Strategy: A Critical Assessment(Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University, 23/06/2020) Ball R; Battersby J; Nelson NIn mid-February 2020 New Zealand released its long overdue ‘Countering terrorism and violent extremism national strategy.’ This article draws on the experience of three academic commentators who cast a critical eye over the document and whose respective thoughts are brought together here. The approach taken is to discuss the purpose and fundamentals of what strategy is to provide a framework with which to review New Zealand’s first publicly released counter-terrorism strategy. Unfortunately, this important and long overdue strategy, in the view of the authors, comes up well short of what it should be. The authors offer a challenge to New Zealand’s policy makers concerned with national security to seek more depth in the consideration of their approach, to present a strategy with less graphic design, more substantial discussion of the fundamental questions relating to the management of modern terrorism and violent extremism, and an appreciation of the nuanced New Zealand experience with political violence from late twentieth century to the present day.
