Showing papers in "Global media journal in 2012"

Clash of Ignorance

Abstract: The clash of ignorance thesis presents a critique of the clash of civilizations theory. It challenges the assumptions that civilizations are monolithic entities that do not interact and that the Self and the Other are always opposed to each other. Despite some significantly different values and clashes between Western and Muslim civilizations, they overlap with each other in many ways and have historically demonstrated the capacity for fruitful engagement. The clash of ignorance thesis makes a significant contribution to the understanding of intercultural and international communication as well as to the study of intergroup relations in various other areas of scholarship. It does this by bringing forward for examination the key impediments to mutually beneficial interaction between groups. The thesis directly addresses the particular problem of ignorance that other epistemological approaches have not raised in a substantial manner. Whereas the critique of Orientalism deals with the hegemonic construction of knowledge, the clash of ignorance paradigm broadens the inquiry to include various actors whose respective distortions of knowledge symbiotically promote conflict with each other. It also augments the power-knowledge model to provide conceptual and analytical tools for understanding the exploitation of ignorance for the purposes of enhancing particular groups’ or individuals’ power. Whereas academics, policymakers, think tanks, and religious leaders have referred to the clash of ignorance concept, this essay contributes to its development as a theory that is able to provide a valid basis to explain the empirical evidence drawn from relevant cases.

Social Media's Function in Organizations: A Functional Analysis Approach

Abstract: System theorists believe that organizations that function as an open system have a greater chance of survival than organizations that function as a closed system due to the exchange of inputs and outputs between the organization and its publics. Public relations researchers have proposed adopting a dialogic approach to public relations where interaction between the organization and its publics are mutual, which is the underpinning to an open systems approach. This paper posits that organizations can function within an open systems approach to public relations by employing social media. Adoption of a functional approach is a fruitful way to look at the social functions various social media serve in the system of organizations and their publics. Research has considered the gratifications publics receive from social media; however, limited research has considered what social media do for the organization-public relationship system. It has been argued that organizations also have psychological and social motivations; therefore, applying a functional analysis approach might be a good of way determining what functions social media serve in the organization-public relationship system. Four functions are proposed in which social media may serve the system: maintenance of organizational identity, opportunity to build relationships with publics, ability to control issues management, and the chance to promote social corporate responsibility. Understanding social media’s role in the system can help practitioners identify the functions that may contribute to an open systems approach to public relations and ultimately an organization’s survival.

Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era

Abstract: The book, “Real-time Diplomacy: Politics and Power of the Social Media Era” by Philip Seib, as explained by the author, does not offer a narration of the Arab Spring, but rather presents an analysis of what the uprisings, and the changes they reflect, mean in the context of diplomatic practice.

Transmedia Storytelling, Corporate Synergy, and Audience Expression

Abstract: This article argues that transmedia storytelling evidences competing trends, exemplifying corporate synergy on the one hand while allowing for audience-generated participatory culture on the other. The essay examines these competing dynamics as well as new developments in transmedia storytelling across multiple media platforms. It assesses how well recent media theory has accounted for these transmedia storytelling trends. It also analyzes key examples, which include online interactive reality television and crowdsourced music videos.

Battles to Bridges: U. S. Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy after 9/11

Abstract: Zaharna has done a great service to those interested in international communication, more specifically public diplomacy. Students, international researchers, and public diplomacy practitioners can learn from the book’s documentation of the apparently well intended but flawed mistakes made by some experienced American communicators charged with promoting the U.S. image abroad, especially in the Middle East.

Social Media at State: Power, Practice, and Conceptual Limits for US Public Diplomacy

Abstract: Social media technologies represent a significant development for US public diplomacy: both in practice and in conceptualization. This article analyzes policy discourse regarding social media's role in US public diplomacy to characterize conceptual development of US public diplomacy practice. It critically assesses US strategic arguments for technology and public diplomacy, the relation of public diplomacy to traditional diplomacy after the so-called “public diplomacy 2.0” turn, and how the collaborative potential of these developments complicate the utility of soft power to justify public diplomacy.

One tweet does not a revolution make : technological determinism, media and social change

Abstract: This paper discusses the problematic influence of technological determinism in popular news media coverage and analysis of the Arab Spring events of 2010-11. The purpose is to develop insights into how and why elements of a ‘soft’ technological determinism inflect both journalistic practice and news discourse in relation to the Arab Spring. In particular it discusses how the ‘bias of convenience’ and a journalistic obsession with the ‘continuous present’ connect with this determinist inflection to create a potential distortion in the journalists’ ‘first rough draft’ of history in relation to significant and complex events such as social revolution.

Percepciones sobre capital social en Argentina

Abstract: Social capital is an intangible which is very difficult to copy and is mainly composed of the relationships that an organization establishes with its stakeholders, i.e. groups that ensure its survival. Relationship networks can be as or more important than markets and hierarchies. However, the construction of social capital does not seem to be an organizational priority. By means of a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent groups, this research examines the level of awareness of the concept among communication practitioners in Argentina. The study verifies a notorious nescience of it. Thus, this intangible of great value for organizations is not being properly exploited. A recommendation is made to include this concept in topic-specific courses in management programs, particularly in communication, as well as specific continuous education for upper and middle management.

Social Media as a Tool for Online Advocacy Campaigns: Greenpeace Mediterranean’s Anti Genetically Engineered Food Campaign in Turkey

Abstract: Advocacy has been one of the main fields of study in public relations and is established amongst the main functions of public relations. The strong need of non-governmental organizations for public support in order to reach their goals locates public relations and advocacy at a central position for these organizations. Social media, which have been introduced by the further development of Internet technology, especially Web 2.0, has had a significant impact upon public relations and advocacy activities of non-governmental organizations in particular. This development also led non-governmental organizations towards online advocacy campaigns that promote active participation of supporters with more cost effective methods that can easily become widespread. The aim of this study is to place the advocacy campaigns of non-governmental organizations into the context of public relations and to discuss how social media can be utilized in online advocacy through the case study of the Yemezler! (We do not buy it!) campaign by Greenpeace Mediterranean that has been significantly successful in a short period in Turkey. The Dragonfly Effect model developed by Aaker and Smith (2010) is employed as a framework in the analysis of the Yemezler! campaign.

Is it the Medium or the Message Social Media American Public Diplomacy

Abstract: This article discusses communication concepts associated with the practice of public diplomacy 2.0, applying those concepts to analysis of American implementation of PD 2.0 directed toward Iran, a country with which the United States has lacked formal diplomatic relations for more than 30 years. Although interaction between the United States and the Iranian people may be limited, may not always take place in real time, and certainly cannot serve as a substitute for the interactions facilitated by a bricks-and-mortar embassy on the ground, the Virtual Embassy Tehran and its social media accouterments represent an interesting application of American public diplomacy priorities. The effort is consistent not only with the goals of 21st Century Statecraft, but also with the Administration’s stated preference for engagement while still pursuing vigorous economic sanctions toward the Iranian regime. The effort also has potent symbolic value given the United States’ promotion of global internet freedom as a foreign policy goal. The case of American engagement with the Iranian people as examined here is a unique study in the practice of public diplomacy 2.0 and it offers an opportunity to test some of the more idealistic arguments associated with application of social media to diplomatic efforts.

Consolidation in the Name of Regulation: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Concentration of Media Ownership in Pakistan

Abstract: Pakistani government circles consider policies of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to be responsible for the unprecedented progression of the media industry in the country, which paved the way for the concentration of ownership and the unbridled political influence enjoyed by the owners of media organizations. In fact, successive Pakistani governments have endeavored to revisit their previous policy vis-a-vis media regulation and licensing of electronic media in the country, and an erstwhile inefficient PEMRA has recently been instructed by the government to reconsider a few policy initiatives related to the cross-media ownership and licensing of new television channels. In this article, we explore the relationship between media regulation and concentration of ownership in Pakistan through the lens of the political economy of communication and conclude that owner-friendly policies of PEMRA and its inefficiency in implementing its mandate have resulted in the concentration of ownership, which facilitated diagonal growth of a handful of companies that control the airwaves in the Pakistani media industry.

Changing Revolutions, Changing Attention? - Comparing Danish press coverage of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Syria

Abstract: The Arab Spring has generated unprecedented attention to the Arab world in Western news media. This paper presents a comparative study of Danish press coverage of the uprisings in Tunisia and Syria during the early months of the Arab Spring (January-March 2011). The study is based on a mixed quantitative and qualitative content analysis aimed at identifying patterns of news reporting of the Arab Spring. The investigation looks into whether temporal developments of the Arab revolutions, the level of journalistic presence in the region, and national differences influence Danish press coverage of the Arab Spring. The findings indicate that media coverage of the Arab Spring points in different directions. On the one hand there has been a remarkable increase in media attention to the Middle East in purely quantitative terms. On the other hand the study finds that a number of traditional media patterns persist, not least in relation to media perceptions of Islam and democracy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the ability to reform the Arab world from the inside.

The Media and the Making of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

Abstract: While views may differ on the factors that made the 2011 Egyptian revolution possible, the role of mass media will remain undisputable. The Internet-based social networks caught the Mubarak regime by surprise, and the popular disillusionment with the ‘national’ media led the public to turn to private newspapers and satellite channels for keeping pace with the events. This paper examines the role of specific media during the 18 days of the 2011 Egyptian revolution – from 25 January to 11 February, 2011 – which we have divided into four parts. It discusses how these media contributed to the unfolding of events, conceptualized the protests and the demands of the public, and presented the actors that participated in or opposed the revolution. These points are addressed by discussing the content of the Facebook pages of the Sixth of April Movement and We Are All Khalid Said, as well as that of a private Egyptian newspaper, al-Shuruq, and the state-run newspaper al-Ahram.1 1 This paper was presented in the conference Covering the Arab Spring, Middle East in the Media – Media in the Middle East at the University of Copenhagen on 1-2 September, 2011. We would like to thank the conference organizers, Ehab Galal and Riem Spielhaus, as well as the two reviewers of Global Media Journal (German Edition) for their useful comments and suggestions.

Reaping and sowing the news from an Arab Spring: the politicised interaction between traditional and alternative journalistic practitioners

Abstract: The ‘Arab Spring’ has been discussed in the mainstream media as a ‘social media revolution’; a seismic shift away from the traditional news correspondence towards an era of citizen journalism and social media reporting. This paper reports on a preliminary analysis of the ways in which mainstream and alternative modes of journalistic practice in particular, interacted during the initial months of protest in Egypt and Libya in 2011. Using both quantitative and qualitative forms of analysis of mainstream news reports as well as social media and blogging, the paper compares the ways in which the two modes of journalistic practice collaborated to disseminate news and information about the protests. The preliminary analysis indicates that productive interactions did occur and led to changes in traditional journalistic practice, though true collaboration was hindered by the organisational constraints posed by the reporting practices of each group.

Piracy, Globalisation and the Colonisation of the Commons

Abstract: Over the last decade piracy has become a source of constant debate. While copyright organisations describe piracy as simple theft, others regard it as a legitimate form of cultural consumption in a digital environment. Piracy is, however, not a phenomenon unique to digital media of the 21st century. This article takes the history of copyright and piracy as a starting point for a discussion about piracy as a cultural and political phenomenon that goes beyond the contemporary preoccupation with particular piratical practices such as file sharing. It seeks to show how copyright and piracy are integrated aspects of modern society, equally situated in the urban, social space of the modern city and the global, geopolitical landscape of colonialism in the past and the present. One might call it a study of how piracy is constituted in space over time.The article sets out with a short overview of the colonial heritage of copyright, followed by a discussion of the re-contextualisation of copyright within the structures of international trade relations in the 1990s, moving on to discuss how this positioned piracy within a postcolonial order of power. It concludes with a brief discussion of how piracy has become an integrated part of everyday life in contemporary, postcolonial cities and how this development reflects piracy's role in the process of late capitalist globalisation.

Television Goes Online: Myths and Realities in the Contemporary Context

Abstract: New technologies impact industry and audiences, (re)opening a wide range of debates about costs, control, desire, culture, and strategic directions. Some polemicists have gone so far as to proclaim that new viewing platforms signal the death of TV, as public discourse is underlined by the assumption that television’s digital migration allows everyone to get what they want, when they want it, rendering traditional television irrelevant or redundant. Rather, it is important to critically assess such popular and tempting claims in order to provide a thoughtful and fair analysis of what might amount to popularly exchanged “myths.” Underlying this analysis is the nagging insistence that television is, after all, an industry, located in historically and geographically specific capitalist and commercial contexts that structure both content and access. The article will highlight some of these issues in the Canadian context, which is often under-represented in global literature, despite the success of this industry (domestically and globally); as well as its economically strong and culturally uneasy relationship with the American television industry. Canada is instructive, then, not only as a national context, but also as a tool for thinking transnationally about online television, a move that may bring to crisis several popular myths and rearticulate the importance of considering television convergence, conglomeration and consolidation in the online television discussion.

Framing Messages of Democracy through Social Media: Public Diplomacy 2.0, Gender, and the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract: This study examines how U.S. public diplomacy directed toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and public diplomacy from the MENA to other regions, including the U.S., uses social media. It analyzes how messages regarding recent events in the MENA are constructed for Western audiences, how public diplomacy rises from this construction, and the resulting the benefits and challenges within intercultural communication practice. Utilizing a framework for social media flow the processes of gatekeeping are examined, from both state and non-state actors representing MENA voices, and western actors who receive those voices, to illustrate public diplomacy from the MENA is a “glocal” construct of the traditions of both of those localities. To investigate social media flow we draw upon extensive field research in Tunisia and engage in discourse analysis to analyze online spaces created specifically for political engagement and agency, and for challenging hegemonic norms and political oppressions. The study highlights considerations such as women’s contributions to the recent MENA events as well as discourses concerning MENA women’s ‘advancement’, to illuminate the need for a culture-centric public diplomacy that moves beyond the essentializing tendencies of western discourses.

Journalists Strike Online: Visibility, Field and The Huffington Post

Abstract: Online journalism’s new economy of attention is bringing about profound changes in how journalism is defined and how individuals, organizations and causes achieve visibility. The 2011 strike against the online news organization The Huffington Post exemplifies how competing interests seek to circumscribe the field new means to gain attention. Journalists on both sides of the strike sought to discursively impose a vision of the field of journalism and define the relations between content producers and distributors. The institutionalization process that online journalism is currently undergoing involves both the reproduction of established journalistic structures and the opening of new possibilities through the struggles of actors in the field.

Exhibición y programación cinematográfica en Monterrey, México de 1922 a 1962: un estudio de caso desde la perspectiva de la “nueva historia del cine"

Abstract: El trabajo, inspirado en la perspectiva teorica sobre la Nueva Historia del Cine (New Cinema History), describe y discute la exhibicion y programacion de peliculas de 1922 a 1962 en la ciudad de Monterrey, Mexico, la tercera en poblacion en el pais. Con el proposito de ofrecer un estudio de caso fuera de los Estados Unidos y Europa que permita contrastar y refinar las afirmaciones previas sobre los factores sociales, culturales y economicos que influyen en la oferta cinematografica, el estudio describe la ubicacion geografica de las salas de cine de esta ciudad altamente industrializada y la evolucion de su programacion a lo largo de ese periodo. El estudio se basa en investigacion documental en los archivos de la ciudad y en las carteleras cinematograficas publicitadas en los diarios locales durante las cinco decadas cubiertas. Mediante informacion sobre el numero de cines en las diferentes partes de la ciudad y el origen de 12,462 filmes exhibidos durante 52 dias de cada uno de los cinco anos en la muestra, el articulo analiza la presencia historica de las peliculas de Hollywood en la ciudad, el auge y declive de la exhibicion de cintas nacionales durante los 1940 y los 1950 y los incrementos y decrementos historicos en el numero de salas cinematograficas asi como sus caracteristicas. En la discusion final se ofrece una reflexion sobre la manera en que los cines y sus estrategias de programacion interactuaron con las redes sociales y culturales de la poblacion, estableciendo las bases de una cultura de la pantalla entre las audiencias locales diferenciada principalmente de acuerdo a la clase social. El proyecto es una replica de un estudio similar realizado en Flandes, Belgica por Daniel Biltereyst (Universidad de Gante) y Philippe Meers (Universidad de Amberes). AbstractInspired in the new cinema history perspective, and with the objective of providing a case study from a location outside of the United States and Europe to contrast findings and refine assertions about social, cultural and economic factors influencing the supply and consumption of films, this paper discusses the exhibition and programming of motion pictures from 1922 to 1962 in Monterrey, Mexico, the third largest city in the country. Through archival research and the programming schedules of daily newspapers of the epoch, the study explores the way in which sites for film exhibition were situated in this highly industrialized Mexican city, geographically close to the United States and the historical evolution of their programming during that period. Using data on the number of cinemas in the different parts of the city and the origin of 12,462 films exhibited during 52 days of each of the 5 years in the sample, the paper discusses the historical presence of Hollywood films in the city, the boom and decline in the exhibition of national films during the 1940s and 1950s, and the historical increase and decrease in the number and characteristics of cinema venues. The paper concludes with a discussion on the way in which cinemas and their programming strategies interacted with the cultural and social networks of the city, establishing the basis for a screen culture among local audiences particularly along class lines. The project is a replica of a Belgian study coordinated by Daniel Biltereyst (University of Ghent) and Philippe Meers (University of Antwerp).

The Use of Social Media in U.S. Public Diplomacy

Abstract: The rise of social media is revolutionizing how state and non-state actors communicate with publics in the international community. While governments across the globe are scrambling to adjust, U.S. public diplomacy has emerged as a clear leader in the field according to a new report (Hanson 2012). This special issue explores the various dimensions of the use and impact of social media on U.S. public diplomacy and the public diplomacy of other state and non-state actors directed at the U.S. public.

Patterns of Mother-Daughter Communication for Reproductive Health Knowledge Transfer in Southern Nigeria

Abstract: Many reproductive health studies have examined trends and outcomes of adolescent sexual behaviour but have overlooked the patterns of reproductive communication between mothers and daughters that have implications on girls’ reproductive wellbeing. Although there is a need to safeguard adolescent health, not enough work exists at the interface between female reproductive change and communication. The patterns of communication determine the effectiveness of reproductive knowledge transfer to safeguard girls’ reproductive health at a time of social change. Despite widespread opinion about the taboo nature of sexual and reproductive communication in traditional African settings, its prevalence among mothers and daughters in Ugep, Nigeria, was found to be quite high. The context, form, direction and level of communication reveal that the females engage in reproductive communication in a private environment and through peaceful and friendly strategies. Communication is achieved through sharing of meaning and mutual understanding, which has implications for adolescent female reproductive health.

The social media cyber-war : the unfolding events in the Syrian revolution 2011

Abstract: This paper analyses how both the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) and the Syrian Free Army (SFA) have engaged with social media networks, ‘cyber war’, ‘cyber-attacks’, disinformation and propaganda in the Syrian revolution of 2011. The importance of information dissemination during the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ revolution was crucial in determining the outcome of the revolutions. Unlike in Egypt and Tunisia, the Syrian regime restored the country’s internet connection during the uprisings and left restrictions on Facebook and other social media platforms in a move to trap social media activists and crack down on them. To understand the role of social media during the Syrian revolution, the paper firstly draws on the framework of the Syrian revolution, how it started and the regime responses. Second, it sheds light on digital activism before and during the revolution. Third, it explores the social media cyber-war, the directed cyber-attacks by SEA to the revolutionaries and other international opponents. The theoretical framework is drawn from an information warfare perspective. This article is based on self observation of the SEA and SFA on Facebook and Twitter accounts as both a member and a follower. Satellite channels have been used secondary resources as they were instrumental resources in the conflict.

Cuando potencias hegemónicas riñen: "Televisa vs. Univision" Communications vista a través de una lente de gestión de medios

Abstract: The interests of Mexican television companies and the Spanish-speaking television sector in the United States have been closely linked since the 1960s, when insightful Mexican entrepreneurship, investment capitals and media programming were all exported to the North. Both industries had remained interrelated for over 50 years via a multiplicity of personal and contractual relationships, including a series of program license agreements (PLA). This article examines the three-year long legal dispute between two leading figures in their respective markets: Televisa (Mexico) and Univision (United States). The dispute, resolved in different stages in 2009 and 2010, centered on the value of Televisa programming based on its program license agreement with Univision, as well as digital media rights over Televisa programs broadcast over the web in the United States. This case and its resolution are analyzed in light of the half-century long relationship between these two companies as well as the way each of their administrative teams responded to the problems faced during a period of intense political, economic and technological change.

Análisis del discurso político infantil en primarias públicas de Guadalupe, Nuevo León.

Abstract: La presente investigacion analiza informacion recopilada a traves de entrevistas grupales focalizadas de 34 ninos que estudian en escuelas primarias publicas, realizadas en noviembre de 2010 en el municipio de Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon. La meta fue la busqueda de pensamiento critico o independiente en la opinion politica de los infantes (utilizando el analisis del discurso como metodologia para la interpretacion), asi como dar cuenta de la importancia de los medios de informacion y de la influencia familiar. Se identificaron ideologias, creencias, grupos de inclusion y exclusion, actores e instituciones politicas, implicitos de las expresiones discursivas, incluyendo su contexto personal y nacional en el aspecto educativo y de violencia. Los resultados indican que los ninos no son elementos pasivos pues hay visos de pensamiento contracorriente, fuera de la opinion publica. El paternalismo, la consideracion de funcionarios como individuos todopoderosos y de la ciudadania como un ente desprotegido, la dificultad de abstraccion y de plantear la posibilidad de romper con el sistema, asi como la lealtad de grupo, fueron algunos de los topicos encontrados. Ademas, insisten en la necesidad de participacion infantil, de mejora de educacion, de informacion y sobre todo, de ser tomados en cuenta por los adultos. AbstractThis research analyzes information collected through 34 focused group interviews of students in public elementary school; these interviews were carried out on November 2010, in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon (Mexico). The goal was to search for critical thought in the public opinion of children (using discourse analysis as the methodology for interpretation). As well, it attempts to identify the influence of media and their families in these children. Ideologies, beliefs, in-groups and out-groups, institutions and political actors, implicit elements in their discourse, including the personal and national context of the interviewees in regards to education and violence were all identified. The results suggest that children aren’t passive actors in the world and that there are gleams of counter-current thoughts in their discourse, which are different from the public opinion. Some of the topics found were: paternalism, politicians as all-mighty people versus citizenship as an unprotected entity, a difficulty for abstraction and establishment of the possibility to confront the system and political group loyalty (for a particular party). Above all, kids insist on their need for political participation, improved education and information, and above all, to be heard by adults.

La actualidad en YouTube: claves de los vídeos más vistos durante un mes.

Abstract: La presente investigacion toma como objeto de estudio las preferencias en cuanto a visitas de los usuarios de YouTube en un plazo de tiempo preciso, conformando asi un concepto de contenidos que resultan de actualidad en citado portal de video online. El objetivo fue establecer una categorizacion acerca de los contenidos difundidos con un seguimiento masivo durante un mes, que permitiera acceder a un perfil del usuario mas habitual y a las claves de sus elecciones. Paralelamente, a partir de los resultados obtenidos se espera intuir tendencias y dinamicas que permitan avanzar comportamientos de futuro tanto de usuarios como del propio canal. Aunque las conclusiones de este estudio reafirman la preferencia o la busqueda del usuario de piezas de origen profesional, con una distribucion simultanea a traves de otros medios, se subraya el crecimiento en el seguimiento de las piezas producidas por otros usuarios con un numero millonario de suscriptores. AbstractThe object of this research is to identify the preferences in terms of visits of YouTube users within a specific timeframe, creating highly topical subjects in this online video sharing site. The specific goal of this article was to classify the site content according to the most viewed videos in a month. This allowed the researcher to define the profile of the most frequent users and the keys of their elections. Simultaneously, based on these results, it is expected to be able to identify future trends and dynamics of both the users and the channel. The conclusions of this research highlight the user’s preference for professional clips with a simultaneous distribution through other media. It addition, a growth in views is emphasized for clips produced by users with more than a million followers.

Repoll, J. (2010). Arqueología de los estudios culturales de audiencia. México, D.F.: Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México.

Abstract: Consultar texto completo para acceder a la resena de la obra: Repoll, J. (2010). Arqueologia de los estudios culturales de audiencia. Mexico, D.F.: Universidad Autonoma de la Ciudad de Mexico.

Stuart Hall (2010). Sin garantías: trayectorias y problemáticas en estudios culturales. Eduardo Restrepo, Catherine Walsh y Víctor Vich (Eds.).

Abstract: Consultar texto completo para acceder a la resena de la obra: Hall, S. (2010) Sin garantias: trayectorias y problematicas en estudios culturales. Eduardo Restrepo, Catherine Walsh y Victor Vich (Eds.). Instituto de estudios sociales y culturales Pensar, Universidad Javeriana, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar sede Ecuador, Envion Editores.

Engaging the Diaspora: El Salvador and Costa Rica's Use of Social Media to Connect with Their Diaspora Communities in the United States

Abstract: This study explores the public diplomacy efforts of the Central American nations of El Salvador and Costa Rica to connect and engage with their diaspora communities in the United States using social media and other web-based communications. This qualitative case study revealed two distinct patterns of social media use. Costa Rica is using social media spaces mainly as electronic newsletters, as one-way communication outlets to inform about its foreign policy. El Salvador is using social media to foster dialogue with its migrants and to build longterm relationships with the diaspora. Comparatively speaking, El Salvador’s has a more sophisticated or effective social media strategy than Costa Rica for engaging its diaspora community. The analysis reflects on why these two patterns of social media use may have formed and suggests recommendations for ways in which El Salvador and Costa Rica can improve social media engagement with their diaspora communities located in the United States. These two cases suggests that the distinct social media style is linked to the level of development of each country’s political system and the perception that each nation state.

Altering courses in unknown waters: interaction between traditional and new media during the first months of the Syrian uprising

Abstract: This papers aims at investigating the relationship between traditional and social media during the first six months of the Syrian uprising. Thanks to direct testimony made available to the author by various cyber activists inside and outside Syria and through constant monitoring of the official propaganda and the coverage of the Syrian events by the two main pan-Arab satellite TVs, this article intends to investigate how both the regime and the activists attempt to represent the “real events on the ground”. In a country where the foreign and pan-Arab press have been mostly expelled since the beginning of the protests and the consequent repression, these two opposite poles heavily fight on the media level. On the one hand, the propaganda dominates traditional media and has sought to show familiarity with new methods, while maintaining the same content and rhetorical tone. On the other hand, the activists, masters of the new media, attempted to overcome the limitations of their tools, aiming at more traditional forms of communication. In both cases, the Internet has emerged as the main weapon of this media confrontation.