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Digital games are one of the most engaging forms of media. Players can have a first-hand experience and the possibility of feeling immersed within a digital setting where agency is exerted. This paper seeks to understand the role of digital games as new means of communication and their potential to convey messages that may defy gamers to question the moral grand narratives that shape contemporary societies. In a moment when many countries have opted to close or limit the circulation in their borders, it is important to think about the role played by the border as a historic liminal entity for the representation of societies and communities, distinguishing those who belong from those who do not. The representation of the border in digital games have tended to follow one of the main tropes explored in other media: the border as a physical space that set boundaries between different nations and different regions of the world. In order to assert the potential of digital games to offer a more comprehensive representation of the border as a liminal space, the case of Papers, Please! (2013) will be analyzed. Based on a qualitative methodology, having content analysis as primary data collection method, the paper intends to contribute to the discussion on how history may narrativized and, eventually, reinterpreted in digital games. Papers, Please! analysis will be centered on the relationship that is set between player and border, that is presented as a liminal space where the game's action takes places entirely. Moreover, the paper intends to discuss the role that has been played by digital games in the representation of serious topics and how they have evolved as communication tools beyond their role as entertainment products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maturation of artificial intelligence technologies, such as Machine Learning algorithms, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), and Natural Language Generation, is transforming the way users interact with technology. With the increasing prevalence of voice interactions, it is crucial to understand the process of training conversational agents. This systematic review examines how human data is collected for training these agents, with a specific focus on datasets obtained directly from human participation in real-life contexts of need and use. The study follows the PRISMA guidelines, and searches were conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases in English, covering the period from 2005 to 2020, to provide a comprehensive overview of published practices until July 2020. A total of 22 papers were included in this review from the search iterations. The primary findings of these papers indicate a common use of learning from demonstration/observation and crowdsourcing methods in system training and dataset cataloguing. Additionally, techniques such as handwriting and sentence labelling, as well as Wizard-of-Oz based studies, were employed in the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic led hospitals to work differently regarding legal procedures and eHealth services and brought a changing and fluctuating healthcare environment that affected communication among clinicians, patients, and families. These organizations were forced to make their corporate communication initiatives more efficient and interact with stakeholders differently, especially with patients and media companies. This paper aims to understand better hospitals' main corporate communication initiatives during the Covid-19 pandemic. We show that the most important communication initiatives implemented by hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak were related to the following main areas: a) professional management of corporate communication, b) transparency, c) human values, d) hospital's brand, and e) online corporate communication. During the pandemic, there was a lack of professional corporate communication in hospitals and the need to execute more than merely conservative communication strategies. There is a solid need to make hospitals' corporate communication initiatives more professional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the influence of functional value in the relationship with suppliers, functional value in communication with suppliers and functional value in business activities on the attitudinal and behavioural loyalty towards the WeChat social network by Chinese entrepreneurs based in Spain. To this end, several research hypotheses were proposed and tested by studying a sample of 57 Chinese entrepreneurs based in Spain. The results obtained from the regression models carried out show the key importance of the functional value variable in business activities on both types of loyalty; the functional value of communication with suppliers only exerted a significant influence on attitudinal loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout all European countries, disinformation, the prevalence of false narratives and the rise of online radicalism are recognized as profound instances of "dysfunctional communication" driving contemporary societies toward populist polarization and conflict. As traditional guardians of knowledge authority and epistemic commons, the news media takes a bold stance in combatting disinformation, even though the profession is facing significant challenges in terms of business and trust production. How should journalism education respond to the increasing epistemic uncertainties and develop the essential skills and capacities for digital information verification, while fostering the commitment for ethical communication and serving the public good? This paper discusses the development and teaching of contemporary journalistic professionalism as a social process sustained via different digital mediums and contextualized within real-world events. Using the example of the pilot study, it suggests that within contemporary journalism education, there is a growing requirement to cultivate a collaborative ethos among journalists and sources, starting within the university setting. The experience gained from the source verification class, tested with Lithuanian journalism students in a collaborative learning situation, reveals fact-checking practices that anticipate the development of epistemic capacities and self-efficacy, crucial for resilient journalistic professionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of artificial intelligence and its place in the new disinformation strategies is perhaps one of the most difficult issues to focus on nowadays, since we are at the beginning of a process of definition and ways of exploration. In this paper, first of all, we analyze the different approaches that are being applied to the regulation of artificial intelligence and that may affect the different disinformation strategies that are being identified. Secondly, we study how artificial intelligence is being used to identify disinformation content. In this regard, from the point of view of verification processes, one of the main challenges is when identifying deepfakes (images and video, mainly) linked to news cycles. From this perspective, a typology of deepfakes is proposed and its main characteristics will be described according to the verifications carried out by the Spanish fact-checking organizations. Finally, a set of recommendations will be presented to work from a media literacy point of view with the identification of deepfakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens increasingly use online platforms, and in particular YouTube, to get informed. This paper addresses the role of YouTube’s recommendation system in science communication to assess whether YouTube's recommendation system is creating filter bubbles on the climate change issue. It, therefore, contributes to the growing literature that finds that such filter bubbles actually do not exist. The paper shows that users are likely to get content with similar opinions, at least for a few recommended videos in a row. In addition, it was observed that the same promoters of climate denial appear over and over again in different recommendations. Given all that, YouTube can lead to the creation of filter bubbles where users do not have access to all relevant scientific information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital media can provide an essential contribution to the development of local communities by creating digital environments that facilitate the sharing of information, dissemination of knowledge, and construction of organizational learning. Digital media can also promote interaction and collaboration processes among different regional agents, fostering a continuous flow of territorial-based innovation. The study reported in this paper was carried out within the research activities of the CeNTER project, aiming to deepen the knowledge about the conditions that influence the dynamics of community-led territorial-based innovation in the Centro Region of Portugal, focusing on the areas of Tourism, Health, and Wellbeing. As part of this project, a mobile application is being designed, aiming to strengthen the relationship among agents of local communities/entities and to promote mediation mechanisms among all stakeholders in the process of territorial-based innovation. This paper presents the main concepts underlying the development of the CeNTER application and the outcomes from a usability evaluation of the mobile app prototype. The first section discusses the most relevant topics that this paper covers. In the second section, an overview of the theoretical background in digital media used to promote territory-based innovation is presented. The third section describes the concept of the CeNTER application and the main features of the prototype/mobile app. The fourth section addresses the methodology adopted for evaluating the prototype and the fifth presents the main outcomes of this process. Finally, the sixth and final section presents the main conclusions about the potential of the CeNTER application, and current and future research activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to clarify the role of social networking sites (SNSs) in building the reputation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The point of start is that although it is not always infallible, SNSs have a vast potential in the digital environment, however, itis important to cope with the fact that SNSs used in SMEs are marketing-centred, engagement is promoted only with customers and is short term and results centred. The paper opts for a literature review to discuss the concept of engagement, reputation, and propose some SMEs limits to get reputation. Although SNSs have the power to manage corporate reputation, it is not always possible if they don't take into consideration some important issues related to the nature of SMEs and the nature of SNSs. In this sense, SNSs constitute a perfect context to get reputation for SMEs, but only if companies understand two special points: the three sequential dimensions of the concept (the dialogic dimension to start the communication and get interactivity, cognitive dimension for generating good and positive content, not neutral, and emotional dimension to make up a profound link with the organization) and how to manage it in a the proper level with all stakeholders notonly customers through a strategic communication approach (not a punctual action) in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recents studies suggest the existence of a European Public Sphere, especially in the face of events of significant importance. In the scope of the Covid-19 crisis, this paper aims to study the platformization of the discussion on European topics by political agents such as politicians and political parties. Focusing on four Southern European countries - Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain - that have a common past history in their relationships with Europe (PIGS), we analyze political agents' posts with the highest reach. The study was conducted on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube over a period of three months, between September and November 2021. Regarding the platformization and the success of communication strategies, overall right-wing politicians tend to be more effective in capturing the attention and mobilising the participation of social media users on Facebook and Twitter. Different political groups stand out in the discussion of different European issues on different platforms. However, for most countries, the Economy, related to Europe, was the main subject with the highest reach addressed by the political actors, thus reinforcing the idea of Structural Europeanization. However, with most posts having a national scope, this does not contribute to strengthening the construction of a European Identity (Normative Europeanization). These findings are aligned with previous literature regarding European issues being first and foremost used as leverage for national political struggles, especially due to national and populist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instagram has become an important tool to contact the audiences both in commercial and political communication. Of special interest is the use of this social network by politicians, who can use the image to portray a humanized version of themselves: it is not the candidate but the person who is talking to citizens through impacting images posted on their personal profiles. The present study posits that Instagram is a key tool for self-representation. This paper offers a specific study about the use of Instagram by the five main candidates in the Spanish general elections in 2019. The main aim of this paper is to study if the Spanish candidates showed themselves on Instagram in a more humanized way during the electoral campaign. Departing from Goffman's theory about the presentation of the self, a content analysis has been carried out as methodology, where Goffman's concepts have been operationalized. The analysis was applied to a total of 473 Instagram posts, covering both a pre-election period and an election period. Results show that Spanish candidates tend to show themselves as professional politicians, but some candidates of new parties increment their humanization in the elections period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse effects of the opening of the economy during the 1980s and 1990s in Latin America brought about a debate about the reform of the welfare state. However, the path to follow is still uncertain. This scenario has forced the emergence of socio-technological innovations to tackle problems such as socioeconomic inequality and technological unemployment which neither the market nor the state have been able to solve. The aim of this paper is to review the way in which the Mexican welfare state has impeded the alleviation of poverty and technological unemployment making, in consequence, the creation of an enabling technology-based social innovation environment a priority. For that purpose we carried out a documentary analysis as part of a broader research study which assesses empirically the role of the Mexican state in creating a technology-based social innovation environment as a way to alleviate social illness such as poverty and technological unemployment. We conclude that empirical approaches to the links between social innovation, the labor market and poverty are indispensable to advancing the discussion about the design of the provision of welfare in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the conjecture that traditional political communication patterns and strategies are broken within social network sites, this paper investigates the presence of Portuguese political parties on Facebook during a year with two major elections (European and Legislative), both from the posting activity aspect and the user engagement. The following research questions are formulated: Is it possible to identify distinctive styles adopted by different parties or to demonstrate that their audience acknowledges them in a different manner? If such distinction is possible, can it be correlated with the party's foundation time, relative size, or positioning within the political spectrum? Our analysis shows that the common assumptions that older parties do not behave like newer ones fail when tested against the collected data. We also observe higher levels of user engagement attracted by newly founded, minor, and right-leaning parties, compared to their older, major, and left-leaning counterparts, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media have become a strategic tool for hospitals interested in boosting their corporate communication and achieving several organizational objectives such as improving patient's engagement or reinforcing their own corporate reputation. These platforms help hospitals adapt their communication strategies to a new context (new patients' demands, increasing competition between health organizations, development of health technologies, etc.). This paper aims to analyse Twitter's impact in branding initiatives led by hospitals. To do that, we carried out a literature review about corporate communication, branding and social media; and then, we analysed Twitter's corporate profiles of the best US hospitals in the treatment of oncological diseases. This paper concludes that hospitals interested in effectively using Twitter as a corporate communication tool for branding initiatives need to carry out a strategic reflection before launching any initiative on this platform, improve Twitter's integration with other social media platforms and mobile applications, and facilitate better collaborations between health professionals and communication experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a study on how Czech news consumers adapted to the personalization of news. Our study is the first one that tries to deepen the existing knowledge about Czech internet users’ reflections of the algorithmic news contents’ personalization. The goal of the research was to gain insight into consumers' perceptions of news personalization and to identify the needs and competencies they require to protect their personal data. The research is based on three focus groups consisting of 27 participants, two of which were ordinary users from the Czech Republic, and one consisting of experts from the same country. The qualitative analysis reveals that respondents see news personalization as a loss of control over search mechanisms and information delivery. They express doubts about the credibility of personalization and describe the respective algorithms as a "black box." The study outlines defensive tactics used by users to resist personalization algorithms, and the data indicates that readers view the process of algorithmic news personalization as a threat to the management of their personal data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to characterize the main themes of COVID-19-related posts delivered by WeChat official accounts targeting Portuguese news and explore their subscribers' information needs and preferences. Furthermore, the current study set out to evaluate the influence of the coronavirus situation in Portugal on the number of posts, view frequency and total engagement on the WeChat platform. Following the selection of COVID-19-related posts published in 2021 by four official accounts targeting Portuguese news, Chi-square tests were conducted to quantitively describe the differences between the four developmental stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. Negative binomial regression was employed to establish an association between categorical variables and count data. Regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between COVID-19 infection cases in Portugal and the metrics of selected posts. A total of 3292 COVID-19-related posts remained. The posts regarding the latest epidemic situation in Portugal, COVID-19 vaccination and the economic news were more prevalent. However, the predominant posts were not consistent with followers' information demands, and the most in-demand information did not generate more engagement. In addition, thematic categories were found to be significantly associated with view frequency and total engagement. Furthermore, a significant difference in thematic categories was identified among the four developmental stages, which in turn was related to the overall engagement of posts. The COVID-19 official case counts in Portugal are predictive of post frequency, view frequency and total engagement. The results of this study support the view that social media provided diverse information sources for the Chinese community during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is evidently clear from the findings that communicators have to leverage the characteristics of social media not only for delivering real-time news but also to gratify public information needs and attract more followers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines some critical formulations developed in the higher education space of the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA) about the implementation process of the interdisciplinary research perspective. The sense and significance of the concept of integration in the interdisciplinary implementation process, as well as its perspectives, challenges, and intellectual provocations, well describe the power struggles that both the institutions and the academic-scientific communities studied have historically experienced. In the analysis of the relations of knowledge and power exhibited by the actors and academic groups themselves, this theoretical essay seeks to answer what are, and what do they consist, the regional political initiatives that aspire to generate and promote a "new" institutional functioning of the implementation process of interdisciplinary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media platforms are no longer limited to digital natives, but include digital immigrants too. The senior generation also navigates into social media and has a fair share of participation as well. Therefore, the impact of new mediated spheres has targeted not only youngsters but all age groups, though the user experience, contribution and struggles vary based on their digital competencies and media literacy. Popularly, social media is studied and viewed as something related to youngsters who are born in the digital age. The senior generation is equally important, but the practice patterns, participatory aspects, and their challenges in mediated platforms need to be explored as the transition from conventional to digitalized media has made them make some changes. They also need to step forward to adopt media literacy, whether self-taught or assisted, as formal adult media literacy options are limited. This paper studies the ways adults use social media, specifically senior adults, how they participate in interactive mediated spheres, their struggles and vulnerabilities having insufficient skills, their media literacy level, and how they tackle the issues. For that, in-depth interviews have been conducted with twenty-five senior adults and data has been transcribed and analyzed through content analysis. The findings allow us to conclude that most senior adults also navigate into the digital space and use one or more social media platforms. Their purpose, using patterns, contributions and challenges are different, and insufficient media literacy options limit their choices to tackle their issues in mediated spaces. It's an exclusive phenomenon to design, include and engage this particular age group in media literacy programs and assist them in developing digital competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature produced in the last 15 years stresses changes in citizens' involvement in civic and political participation arising from digital and social technologies. When it comes to young people, literature also hints those concepts such as citizenship and participation, as well as the ways of experiencing them, are different in the eyes of young and older generations. Based on the results of a research that approached school as a privileged space to discuss citizenship themes through media creation and production, this article focuses the meanings adolescents attribute to citizenship and participation, as well as their roles as active citizens with a voice. Three specific questions are analysed: What do participation and citizenship mean to young people? What do they understand by 'citizen'? How do they think citizens can express their voices? Action research with secondary school students, aged 15 to 18, attending two Portuguese schools was conducted. This paper explores the results of the exploratory questionnaire (N=197) presented in the diagnosis phase and the group discussions conducted in the reflection & evaluation stage. The results of the univariate statistical analysis of the questionnaire and content analysis of the group discussions indicate that even though young people share concrete ideas about what citizenship means to them. Dataset also points to a a lack of involvement in civic/political movements and associations and a widespread disbelief regarding the impact of their citizen voice, especially when expressed through traditional forms of participation. Moreover, there seems to be a significant - and tendentially negative - impact of adults with prominent roles in their lives on adolescents' opinions and perspectives. The conclusions stress the importance of further exploring concepts of citizenship and participation from a family context point of view and of adopting youthcentric perspectives when reflecting on issues related to youth citizenship and participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to examine the indirect effects of social media among Moroccan citizens on nonelectoral participation using the wave V data of the Arab barometer. The wave V of this data was obtained in 2019-2018 by surveying 2400 Moroccan citizens. Using the SEM, the results of testing the hypotheses indicate that, first of all, social media has a direct and significant positive effect on poor government performance and corruption perception among citizens. Second, the results point out that social media indirectly and significantly increases political distrust among individuals through poor government performance and corruption perception. Finally, the results show that political distrust significantly increases non-electoral participation. Thus, given the significance of all relationships in the research model, it can be argued that social media has significantly increased non-electoral participation among citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideology and political ideologies in general have been addressed both from theoretical and applied perspectives by media and communication scholars in an attempt to reveal whether pluralism is present or absent in the media. However, the complexity of such a task has proven to be high as well as very problematic. The efforts to systematise the study of ideology in the media in order to make it objective and systematic have been scarce. This paper tries to contribute to such systematising by providing a method to analyse political ideologies in the media that aims to be objective and replicable in the political context of Western democracies. Our work was inspired by previous studies that were mostly conducted in the field of political sciences and political communication. The main goal of this paper is to reach a deeper comprehension of ideology, in general, and political ideology in particular, and to conceptualise a method that aims to be instrumental in the analysis of the media from the viewpoint of political ideologies but without being restricted by traditional labels that may reproduce cultural biases. The theoretical-analytical method here suggested addresses ideologies in newspapers to identify worldviews according to four general values: individualism, communitarianism, egalitarianism and elitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though media industry studies are on the rise, there is a major issue: the concept itself is "fuzzy". The goal of this paper is to shed light on the concept. To do so, the paper analyses existing approaches, combining academic references as well as sources commonly used by practitioners (e.g. the OECD, the EU, DCMS). It allows to give three delineations to the media industry: (1) A novel theoretical delineation, (2) a sectoral delineation, and (3) a delineation through the NACE statistical classification system. The main research findings are: (i) the development of a so-called circling model that shows how "mediated content" is at the core of the definition of the media industry; (ii) through the convergence tendencies, many different media activities can play a supporting or facilitating role; (iii) a list of NACE codes to guide statistical analysies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is considered important or even necessary for a continuous exchange of scientific information that all relevant stakeholders can access the inner-scientific communication. The traditional publication model, however, does not provide an inclusive flow of communication but rather favours researchers affiliated with resource-strong institutions, oftentimes located in the Global North. Hence, there are increased efforts to establish an alternative, open access (OA) publication model. Since such a model can only be successful if scientists themselves support and use it, this paper presents a two-tier study examining the factors that might shape scientists' decision (not) to choose an OA option for disseminating their own work. Based on (semi-)standardized surveys of scientific organizations and individual researchers in the field of biomedical and health informatics, it provides an overview of individual and institutional frame conditions that influence the dissemination and reception of scientific knowledge. In order to account for regional differences, it draws on a global sample, comprising respondents from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America. Overall, the findings provide a heterogeneous picture of how OA is perceived and practiced. Respondents appreciate the convenient way to access OA articles as readers and the opportunity to reach broader (non-academic) audiences as authors. However, due to high publication fees and concerns regarding quality and reputation, a positive attitude towards OA does not necessarily translate into willingness to choose this publication model. Especially researchers from low-income countries benefit from a barrier-free communication mainly in their role as readers and much less in their role as authors of scientific information. This is also evident at the institutional level, as OA policies or financial support through funding bodies are most prevalent in Europe and North America. These findings call for more attention to inner-scientific communication as part of (science) communication research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today social media play an important role in the disseminating of journalistic content. Thus, audience engagement is becoming an important factor for media organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether post time and post type factors affect audience engagement in Facebook posts. We analyzed 2,630 posts of the Greek national broadcasting corporation (ERT). The findings indicate that the variables post time and post type affect user engagement in the posts. The user seems more positively involved in posting in the morning than in the afternoon, as well as being more active at the outset of the week. Posts that include a photo or a link motivate for user engagement. Based on the findings, media organizations can fine-tune their posting strategy in order to achieve higher user engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a review of literature and on a content analysis of nearly 12,000 photographs from 104 Instagram's users, this paper analyses the uses of photography as a self-representational device, comparing traditional vernacular usages with the new practices that emerged on Instagram. It seeks to understand the motivations underlying Instagram's uses, particularly focusing on its identitary functions, that helps to create visual self-representations in online environments. Identitary construction is understood as an active performance, in which each user is their own author, inventing and reinventing themselves at each moment, in a continuous flux of imagetic creation that expresses a sense of identity open to constant reinvention. This paper explores not only the creation of selfies, a practice analogous to the self-portrait, but also the parallel strategies used to avoid the discomfort often caused by direct self-representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to present and reflect upon some of the findings emerging from a research project entitled "Navigating with 'Magalhães': Study on the Impact of Digital Media on Schoolchildren" that was conducted at the Communication and Society Research Centre at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. The project focused on the politics of the governmental programme "One Laptop per Child" part of the Portuguese Technological Plan for Education, and the uses of the "Magalhães" computer, and other media, by children aged 8-10 years. This paper analyses the impact of this particular public policy on digital literacy of young children based mostly on the perspectives of parents and their modes of mediation. It also debates parents' and children's perspectives on parental rules on computer and Internet usage. It ends by concluding that the impact of this programme occurred mainly at the level of access rather than the social and educational uses and practices. It also highlights the importance of family in the way children access and use ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper focusses on two fronts forming a broad assault on journalism, extending from more autocratic settings to include liberal democracies, and leading to what is now widely perceived as a crisis in news. We analyze these two attacks by presenting a framework integrating their sources and causes. We argue that the first attack emanates from commercialized media, occurring at economic and normative level, and has created, at least in part, the conditions that have enabled the more recent attack, which is more directly political, associated with the re-emergence of forces that are loosely categorized as populist. What is new in the second front is the geography and the constitutional nature of the societies in which this antagonism has grown. It extends now to long-established representative democracies that have come to be governed, or where new influence is wielded, by emergent right movements and parties who seek to cast the press as the enemy within. Abuse and even mortal danger increasingly have become part of the occupational reality of news-making. We conclude that this development is inscribed in the current material conditions under which journalists work, as well as in the materiality of the media through which they do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on an analysis of the narratives present in a set of eight Instagram accounts devoted to sharing information on maternity in the Spanish context. In a qualitative approach that uses participant observation and content analysis (5184 posts), the main objective is to identify the narratives1 surrounding maternity and to elaborate their relationship with feminist discourses, thus comparing them with previous and current conceptions and representations of motherhood in media. A second aim is to understand the role of information and expertise in these spaces. The results reveal three approaches: affirmative and child-centred narratives, feminist counter-narratives, and discourses on professionalization and authoritative knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Death is one of the most prominent news values, especially when combined with another characteristic of newsworthiness: the notoriety of the individual. Based on the combination of death and prominence of the personality, this paper proposes an approach to media discourses on the death of the political Portuguese leader, António de Oliveira Salazar, former President of the Council during the dictatorial regime, known as Estado Novo (New State). Considering the newspapers published at the time of his death, July, 1970, and taking into account the existence of the censorship, this study analyzes the coverage of the event, as well as the apologetical discourse used by the journalists and the newsworthiness of the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the concept of intergenerational solidarity, this paper examines how relations of 36 elderly people with younger generations of their families influence their appropriations and uses of ICT. A multiqualitative approach - non-participant observation in ICT classes attended by the participants, followed by focus groups and semi-structured interviews - conducted in Brazil and Portugal reveals that the family contexts influence how older people deal with ICT in distinctive ways. In both countries, the influence happens either by building up social interactions and increasing communication inside and outside the family or by contributing to social and emotional isolation, even when family generations are physically close. Even within families - where supportive ties tend to be stronger than outside - intergenerational solidarity regarding digital access and use cannot be taken for granted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tmall Gala is a television event co-produced by Chinese internet company Alibaba and traditional television broadcasters to count-down for an emerging shopping festival: Double Eleven Shopping Festival. Mobile applications developed by Alibaba are applied as the second-screen for this television programme. This paper aims to study advertising strategies and audience engagement strategies on this cross-media television event, after the integration of internet technologies and companies into the cultural industries in China. Based on content analysis, we study general advertising tactics and the second-screen engagement strategies, as well as Alibaba's specific self-advertising contents in Tmall Gala 2018. This study shows that specific tactics are applied to avoid audience missing advertising information during the multitasking process. Alibaba's brand values blend with artistic performances and participative activities in the gala. These values legitimise the lifestyle relaying on e-commerce services and encourage users to subject themselves within the business of Alibaba. Finally, we argue that the ritual function of the television event does not disappear with the integration of the internet because producers can manage audience attention within the cross-media matrix. This case study can illustrate, on a global level, how a dominant internet company integrating with cultural industries, can embed its brand values in the consumerist culture in the society, which can, in turn, consolidate its infrastructural role in the internet macro-ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the main findings of a qualitative study of news on femicides appearing in leading native digital news outlets in Spain. The study focused on 267 news items published in five digital news outlets between 1 January and 31 December 2017. The selection of the news outlets was based on their readership numbers and whether or not their editorial lines adopted a gender or feminist perspective. In order to assess ethical quality, the tool designed by Zurbano-Berenguer and García-Gordillo (2017) was used. Based on this tool, the results indicate the following: (1) news about femicides is of medium quality; (2) native digital news outlets with a gender perspective offer better and higher quality coverage; and (3) the extent to which ethical recommendations are followed is still very patchy, thus calling for more in-depth multi-methodological analyses. These findings allow us to conclude that there is a need to conduct further qualitative research involving media professionals that helps us to understand why, despite the clear recommendations and rules established in media ethical codes, there are still considerable deficiencies in ethical quality and sensitivity when reporting on such a key issue for democratic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facebook identity management implies a selective front and backstage: users perform multiple social roles for a multiple spectator audience (boyd 2008). But as friend lists increase and the discussion about sensitive topics becomes more critical, people tend to protect their image by dealing only with content that may be interesting to all their contacts (Hogan, 2010). Starting from field research on Italian users (40 in-depth interviews with Facebook users aged 14-55), this paper discusses the idea of Facebook as a place where people are engaged in building their social relations and their self-representation by managing their online presence in a way that can be both intriguing and acceptable for most of their contacts. The paper will highlight the strategies of content homogenization and the online behavior adopted by users according to their perceptions of their «imagined audience» (Litt, 2012). The article aims at underlining that Facebook use is surprisingly consistent with mass-media and generalist-media cultural models: users seem to apply models of television spectatoriality, not only in terms of passivity (lurking), but also in terms of consumption (skipping uninteresting content) and content production performed for a generalist audience (developing a distinctive and acceptable style of interaction). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framing empirical research analyzes the construction (frame building) and influence (frame effects) of the frames with which different social agents interpret and communicate reality. Based on Entman's (2004; 2008) and Kuypers' (2008; 2009) contributions, this paper proposes and applies a qualitative methodology for the analysis of frame building in political discourse. It is located, therefore, on the strategic and methodological lines of framing research in political communication (Bartolomé; Rodríguez & Sádaba, 2012). As Kinder and Sanders state, frames are "invented and employed by political elites, often with an eye on advancing their own interests or ideologies, and intended to make favorable interpretations prevail" (Kinder & Sanders, 1990, p. 74). The paper includes a theoretical framework that reviews the evolution of framing literature in Communication, focusing especially on empirical studies. The contributions adopted for the elaboration of the methodology and the application process are explained in detail. The context of the case study, Bush's discourse about the War on Terror on his trip to Europe in February 2005, is revised. Finally, the results obtained and the conclusions are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretical and methodological revision which clarifies and organizes the concepts on the trade of audiovisual products between different cultural markets. It explores the concept of cultural proximity (Straubhaar, 1991) and the latest discussions on cultural translation (Conway, 2012) and cultural universals and lacunae (Rohn, 2010, 2011). After analyzing the various academic perspectives, the paper proposes a new framework, which defines more clearly the terminology, thus making a tool for comparative studies of audiovisual trade. This framework is divided into four aspects: market, product, people and process. Previous concepts are narrowed down and new concepts are developed to fill in the conceptual gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice reveals stance, position and other evaluative aspects of texts. In spite of its major role in establishing blogs’ recognition and participation in the social networking space, voice has not received adequate attention in online communication research. This paper attempts to explore the voice of blogs through examining personal blogs. Data were collected from three A-list Chinese personal blogs hosted on top blog service providers in China. Drawing upon appraisal analysis, this study examined the voice of personal blogs through analysing the written texts and images of the blogs. The findings revealed that personal blog authors employed different resources in constructing individualized voices. These were constrained by various factors such as gendered projections, audiences, and culturally specific rhetoric. The paper concludes with a suggestion that further research in exploring voice representations in blogs, however heterogeneous, needs to consider technological and semiotic resources, genre features, and sociocultural and institutional conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitization has greatly influenced the functioning of the television industry. This paper analyzes in particular how French television channels have innovated and adapted to digital technologies. We begin with a typology of innovation in the media by drawing a distinction between product innovations and process innovations, as well as between companies according to whether they were the first to adopt an innovation, or only adopted it once it was already well established in the field. A total of 21 criteria for innovation are analyzed for each of the 15 TV channels in our sample. This paper shows that TV channels have varied innovation strategies. Rather than some channels being innovators on all criteria and others being followers on all criteria, we show that channels adopt, more or less rapidly, certain types of innovation according to the channels' characteristics. The characteristics that play the greatest role are the age of the channel, whether it is public or private, and whether it is general or thematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calls for the adoption of a culturalist approach to the study of online participation. Notions of such as "civic cultures", "public connection", and "subactivism" represent effective theoretical and analytical tools that help grasp the meaning of online grassroots practices which emerge at the crossroads of politics and culture and are rooted in the realm of everyday life. Therefore, online participation is understood as the outcome of broader social changes and changes in the media environment, usually assumed under the labels "web 2.0" and "convergence culture", co-determining each other. Drawing on empirical evidence from three interrelated research projects focused primarily on young people, the paper shows how participatory uses are unevenly distributed among social network users and acquire different meanings depending on the civic cultures and the "convergent media ecology" inhabited by the individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze communication policies and the relationship between state and press in Portugal and Spain, with special emphasis on these two countries' particular characteristics within the Euro-Mediterranean model. A historical approach has been taken to explain context and measures of the past that have led to the current situations. Moreover, the paradigm shift that digital convergence is bringing about makes it necessary to reflect upon how these countries, each with a very definite journalistic tradition, are facing the future of the press. There is no guarantee that government measures of the past will be able to ensure the competitive vitality that converging international media requires. Finally, the paper also reviews how various policies of state aid and impact assessment contribute to paralysis in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blurring boundaries between producers and audiences are widely acknowledged (Bruns, 2005; Jenkins, 2007) Troubling of the distinction between producers and audiences is particularly striking in new media forms, such as social networking sites on the Internet. The role of the audience is no longer solely that of spectator, but now includes producing, spectating and socializing. The social network site Facebook has fast become a popular arena for socializing, and reached a 'critical mass' in Europe and, in the process of socializing participants must construct self-representations. The paper will analyze how the social network institution and the technological features shape the possibilities for socializing and self-representation. The paper will be in three parts, the first part exploring the socialization aspect, the second part exploring the self-representation aspect and the conclusion drawing out some implications of the combined analysis of socializing and self-representation. The media industry has increasingly recognized the potential in institutionalizing people's desire to be included in communities and to socialize in mediated spaces (Enli and Syvertsen, 2007). Online communities can be placed in a historical line of ideals of a more democratic media production (Brecht, 1979; Enzenberger, 1979; Corner 1994). New media are likewise expected to include more people in the process as producers and not just consumers of the product, through meaning production and digital storytelling. Social network sites such as Facebook have institutionalized and mediatized personal processes of socializing and display of identity, which traditionally have belonged to the private and non-mediated spheres. These online communities combine features from mass media with features from personal media. The paper will explore the concept of digital friendship, and discuss the arena for socializing and self-represenation. How do the users negotiate the hybrid position between being private and being public, with what implications? In the process of socializing online in Facebook, people construct textual representations. Representations are always mediated by what they consist of; texts, photographs, moving image, pencil drawing, for example, and how they are framed; in a gallery, on a website, on a cinema screen, for example. Of course mediation begins before, and continues well beyond the production and display of 'texts' (Silverstone, 1999; Couldry, 2006; Martin-Barbero, 1993). This paper will address one dimension of the mediation process: the 'processes of textual mediation' (Thumim, 2012, 2009) in order to explore self-representations in Facebook. Self-representation as it is used here points to members of the public representing themselves and thereby affecting an intervention into 'old' media practices whereby the public are represented by media professionals. Boyd (2007) argues that the cost of the social convergence occurring in social networking sites is a sense of exposure and invasion. The combination of exploring socializing and self-representation allows us to speculate as to possibilities and limitations for self-representation in the infrastructure in Facebook, and how these intersect with users' negotiation of their hybrid position between being in private and being in public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature on the media's role in criticizing the government is somewhat slim. While it pays ample attention to the process where the media mediate information to the public (Davis 2002, Thompson 2000), it is unclear who they mediate it from. This article is focused on media claims making critical remarks about the government. Public criticism is an important topic of research because it sets the range of disputable issues. It may affect the shaping of the government agenda. It warns the government of potential social tensions. In the best case scenario, public criticism enhances democracy as it gives voice to those disgruntled parts of the population, who cannot voice their dissatisfaction with the government through official channels of accountability. Public criticism should eventual increase electoral responsibility. It can swing public opinion and affect the chances of reelection of the government. Finally, media criticism of the government enhances transparency and enables the flow of information. This in turn allows citizens to make more informed choices. Given the importance of public criticism of the government, it is surprising how little attention the topic has received. The broad contents of media coverage have been widely analyzed, but specific criticisms of the establishment have not. In this paper, I analyze five models attributing various degrees of journalistic involvement in initiating criticism at the government- indexing theory, the Fourth Estate ideal, the social responsibility theory, the propaganda model and political parallelism. The paper advances a symbolic power model, which emphasizes the importance of the media as an arena for gaining political capital and public support. It tests the model on an original database containing about 6000 articles of accusations in Bulgaria, Germany and Russia in the period between 1995 and 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents findings from a qualitative study about sociality and the self in network-based social media, as examined through a case study of ordinary Danes' uses of Twitter. Drawing on Georg Simmel's work on networks of affiliation, the paper investigates the collaborative process through which individual users' expressions of self are negotiated in specific networks of affiliation on Twitter, and demonstrates the significant role played by these networks in this process. The communicative affordances of Twitter, and the interactional and relational dynamics create a pressure towards the expression of a particular, restricted version of the individual user's self. By enhancing certain aspects of the self and not other aspects, the user can connect to relevant others and become accepted and recognised in a network of affiliation. That is, the use can become 'one of the tweeps'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of pluralism in a cross-media scenario is a major concern for regulatory authorities in all democratic countries. This paper presents the outcome of in-depth interviews with members of six independent audiovisual regulatory authorities. They were questioned about the assessment of measures being taken to protect external pluralism in their respective countries, and about the problems and shortcomings they encounter during their implementation. In spite of the difficulties that arise when trying to compare different national realities and to gather qualitative data from legal bodies, this paper draws several conclusions on current policy trends for the protection of pluralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperlocal media has repeatedly been framed as a potential saviour of local journalism, but the democratic and civic role that often is ascribed to hyperlocals is not obvious or uncomplicated. The hyperlocals' vulnerable economic situation makes them dependent on free content, for example material produced by local councils or organizations. This paper investigates the role of hyperlocal media entrepreneurs and their interaction with local councils and other stakeholders. We examine how the hyperlocal media entrepreneurs supply their communities with news in places of a media void, and how they perceive their role in their communities. Findings from this qualitative study show that the media entrepreneurs view their news production as an important part of the local community. They provide a forum for debate and information for citizens, local governments and organizations. Their service also includes a channel for local events relevant for the community. The interactions with the local governments vary, as well as the hyperlocal entrepreneurs' evaluation of how the information provided by the councils can or should be handled. The relation between hyperlocal media entrepreneurs and local governments is a complex process, including both interrelated and contradictory goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social media use of young people has become a site of increasing public interest. Young people experiencing with sexuality and intimacy in digital media spaces, has evoked public debates on youth, sexuality and social media. Sexting in particular, has often been covered in print media articles as a 'risky' youth phenomenon, leading to media panics about the alleged risks of social media. Although the social media use of young people has been studied in previous research, there remains a need to understand the broader cultural discourses on youth, sexuality and social media in print media. With this article, we examine the discourses in news stories covering sexting. The qualitative research design of this paper exists of a textual analysis of print media articles. Our findings show that public discourses in newspapers and magazines mainly articulate youth sexting as a deviant behavior. This deviance discourse is strongly linked to a gendered representation of youth who engage in sexting, resulting in a victimization of girls and criminalization of boys. The article concludes that the binary discourse in print media may not only reinforce sexual double standards, but also leaves little space for a more diverse and active comprehension of sexting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and analyzes the findings relating to commercials for feminine hygiene products that emerged from an extensive feminist reception study which examined, for the first time, how Israeli women interpret images of women and femininity in TV commercials. Adopting a feminist and interpretive approach, the qualitative study was based on in-depth personal interviews with Israeli women from diverse cultural, economic, and social backgrounds. Grounded theory methodology, employed for analysis of the interviews, revealed that many Jewish women in Israel, in particular those who are traditional or religious, are deeply disturbed by commercials for feminine hygiene products. The focus of their criticism was that intimate private matters which should be kept hidden are exposed to public view, thereby arousing embarrassment, shame, and even ridicule, especially when younger family members are present. In addition, the women were both critical and scornful of the customary advertising strategies that are employed systematically in these commercials. The paper discusses all these findings in the Israeli socio-cultural context and attempts to identify different interpretive communities in the diverse population of Israeli women in respect to these texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a communication strategy aimed at promoting the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR1325) initiated by the New York based International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) in Sierra Leone. The paper aims to share results of a broader IWTC commissioned evaluation (which included projects in Uganda) carried out in Feb - April 2009. Four levels of analysis are pursued here: a) the media choices and rational i.e. community radio; b) content - radio drama series on UNSCR1325; c) processes - the nature of participatory and public deliberative processes involved and d) Outcomes. The aim is to examine the individual impact and interrelationships between the focal community of interest, i.e.: a) women's peace advocacy organizations; b) responses from the main stakeholder institutions1 and d) the general public studied within the complex local and national political, socio-cultural and legal frames and context. The role and impact study aims to establish the scope and nature of change the initiative has caused in terms of: action on UNSCR 1325; capacity development; awareness rising, attitudinal change and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper wants to challenge the tendency in media studies on gay and lesbian identities to remain within two dominant paradigms: the essentialist or the post-structuralist traditions. Consequently, we will elaborate on the question: if media research emphasizes social change, should it mainly adopt a political and strategic identity claim which refers to essentialism, or, should it acknowledge discourses as more important, and therefore use post-structural and queer theoretical insights? Since we discuss the case of gay and lesbian identities, we will focus on possible resistance in popular culture, which mainly involves offering alternatives to the continuous representation of heteronormativity. We will argue that for social change to occur, there needs to be a symbiosis between agency and structure. To this end, a dialectic approach is needed that bridges the gaps between, on the one hand, a post-structuralist project that creates awareness of norms, discourse and hegemony, and on the other, identity politics that have the potential to change laws and institutions. This paper will offer a mainly theoretical exploration and will use illustrations from popular media culture with a focus on television. To this end, this paper will illustrate how LGBT-targeted television channels employ the discussed strategies of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is the most populous democracy in the world. In the early years after attaining independence, as a new democracy, Indian development strategy was driven by what Francine Frankel (2005) calls the "the Gandhian-socialist consensus" that was predominantly value oriented. Frankel enumerates the areas of consensus - first, there was the general agreement that economic policy should aim for the progressive removal of inequalities in Indian society, and ultimately result in the complete disappearance of class distinctions. Second, the Gandhians and the socialists concurred on the need to limit sharply the existing scope of the acquisitive instinct in Indian economic life, and to create a new set of cooperative motives. The Nehruvian socialist state envisioned a strong industrial base under state ownership (Frankel, 2005) and wage labour was seen within the ethical context of productive employment and as a defining frame for good citizenship. This and the Constitutional guarantee of Fundamental Rights helped to give legitimacy to wage labour's expectation of citizenship rights through provision of jobs, better working conditions, better social services and healthcare. By the 1990s, after economic liberalization, the basic premises of this vision were discarded even in populist political rhetoric, while the state embraced neo-liberal ideology and economic policies. The changed economic agenda impacted severely on the working classes. Primarily because of the nature of growth and specifically because of the pressure from the Indian industrial houses, the policies encouraged relaxation of the already weakly implemented labour laws. This paper will examine the role media played in debating these issues. As media are event oriented and not process oriented in their coverage, coverage of labour issues is unlikely on an ordinary news day. This paper, therefore, will examine the news and opinion pieces that have appeared in mainstream media when the CEO of a multinational auto component manufacturer, Graziano Transmissioni, located in Noida, India, died following an altercation with the dismissed workers of the factory. The paper will begin by giving a background to the industrial dispute that provoked the event, followed by the perspectives on the role of media in a democracy. Prof Noam Chomsky and Prof Amartya Sen are two of the great contemporary philosophers who have written extensively on media's role in society, though from different analytical perspectives. The coverage of the event itself in the media will be presented and the paper will discuss the coverage from the two theoretical perspectives on media expounded by professors Sen and Chomsky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperlocal media has repeatedly been framed as a potential saviour of local journalism, but the democratic and civic role that often is ascribed to hyperlocals is not obvious or uncomplicated. The hyperlocals' vulnerable economic situation makes them dependent on free content, for example material produced by local councils or organizations. This paper investigates the role of hyperlocal media entrepreneurs and their interaction with local councils and other stakeholders. We examine how the hyperlocal media entrepreneurs supply their communities with news in places of a media void, and how they perceive their role in their communities. Findings from this qualitative study show that the media entrepreneurs view their news production as an important part of the local community. They provide a forum for debate and information for citizens, local governments and organizations. Their service also includes a channel for local events relevant for the community. The interactions with the local governments vary, as well as the hyperlocal entrepreneurs' evaluation of how the information provided by the councils can or should be handled. The relation between hyperlocal media entrepreneurs and local governments is a complex process, including both interrelated and contradictory goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]