Vol 23, No 45 (2024): July - December

This article aims to analyze the Audiovisual Communication Services Law No. 26.522, enacted This article aims to analyze the Audiovisual Communication Services Law No. 26.522 (a.k.a. LSCA), passed in October 2009 in Argentina, to examine two specific concerns: to challenge how acknowledging the right to communication enabled the deployment of interventions on communication issues in the form of communication policies; and to inquire how such initiatives — implemented during the period 2009-2015, especially those aimed at the "non-profit" sector— helped set up State-deployed roles and rationalities. This examination of the categories that put together and justified State interventions at enforcing the LSCA —particularly its effects on the promotion of plurality and democracy— supports our reflection on the impact legal frameworks have had on regulating and actualizing the right to communication in modern societies. We propose a theoretical-methodological approach to recover the contributions of the "Foucaldean governmentality studies" to analyze and situate the notion of "rights" at a crossroads, where it is part both of a government and control dimension, and of a performative and productive dimension. This paper hypothesizes that Law 26.522 exceeded the frameworks of regulation, government, and order. Finally, the conclusions show that this law embodied legal transgressions not only in terms of statehood milestones, but also enabled political displacements and openings capable of articulating new emancipatory claims.

This research aimed to analyze the communicative practices fostered through dance, as an artistic and bodily expression among children and youth, in the activities promoted by Balcón de los Artistas [The Artists’ Balcony] —a corporation known as promoting social change in Manrique neighborhood, in the city of Medellín, Colombia. Following the theory of symbolic interactionism, this qualitative study gathered data through six semi-structured interviews with the corporation members.

The focus on the body as a means of communication through the dance practices promoted by this corporation is interesting for the field of social communication. Additionally, we discussed gesture in dance as a form of communication among children and young dancers in this collective, and examined the communicative intent of bodily narratives from an interactional and proxemics approach. From the six findings, we can highlight that this space of expression and creation generates experiences of change among its members in a subjective level and also in their social interaction environment.

This inquiry sought to (1) identify the conceptualization of dissemination and social appropriation of knowledge (SAK) through public policy, (2) to determine which actors are involved in reinforcing the relationship between science and society, and (3) to shed light on how much value these policies give to SAK. This work aimed to understand and compare ideas about SAK and dissemination in the public policies aiming to promote and strengthen the relationship between science and society in Colombia, Chile, and Spain. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted a comparative analysis of public policy documents to answer the question: what guidelines have Colombia, Chile, and Spain followed regarding the policy that promotes the transfer of knowledge to society, including the significant differences between an approach based on knowledge dissemination and one based on social appropriation? We found that the three countries are working towards the consolidation of a scientific culture, involving public and private actors, universities, research institutes, the State, and civil society. Colombia developed the notion of SAK, while in Chile and Spain, the concept of dissemination was proposed to strengthen the science-society relationship. This implies that, in the cases of Spain and Chile, their approach is still being addressed through dissemination, which correlates with valuing more the production of dissemination over SAK.

Audiovisual media as a source presents characteristics that require proper processing and updating by information and communication professionals. Scientific literature shows a dispersion in the theoretical and methodological approach to the factors that affect the processing of audiovisual information and communication. This study aimed to: (a) identify the conceptions built around the processing of audiovisual information and communication, and (b) examine the metadata, formats, and standards present in audiovisual media as a source. Addressing this topic allows for the systematization and updating of knowledge about the technical-formal processes associated with audiovisual media and the demands/uses of users in a transmedia environment. The research is descriptive, focusing on identifying the principles related to the processing of audiovisual information, and it uses both theoretical and empirical methods to obtain results. Methods such as analytical-synthetic, historical-logical, and inductive-deductive are used at the theoretical level, while at the empirical level, classical document analysis is applied through the review of sources and specialized databases on relevant topics. Relevant results are identified, such as the role of the Audiovisual Production Researcher, a novel conception that integrates functions of management, search, and storage, covering the entire information life cycle. Additionally, the Visual Metric methodology is a key element in the analysis and understanding of audiovisual documents.

Humor is generally considered beneficial according to theories, roles, and authors, but what about its specific and particular use in times of trauma or disasters, even as part of resilience? Memes are presented as something funny, but how are they actually used in times of crisis and disasters? What perspectives do they hold and express, and how do they impact society? This article provides answers to these questions. First, through a brief theoretical and documentary review on the topic, theories, styles, and functions of humor in general and memes specifically. Second, through a selection of their use during the pandemic, focusing on some historical moments, particularly the beginning and end of it, its origin in China, and its conclusion with one of the South African variants. Specifically, it presents how the pandemic was received in Mexico through memes, the parade of strains, some confusion among them, and how the last famous one also ended up passing through the country. As a result, it can be said that humor is beneficial even in adverse times and that memes were present at different moments of the pandemic with a humorous note, and sometimes even hopeful or at least refreshing.

Science journalism and science dissemination have gained prominence in recent years. Coupled with an increase in scientific production due to the COVID-19 pandemic, journalistic coverage published more and more content about science, which also occurred on digital social networks, where various scientists shared research or new findings. In this line, this research report aims to show how the boundaries of science journalism and science dissemination have been addressed in recent literature, based on publications in SciELO, Scopus, and EBSCO databases over the last 10 years (2011 to 2021) in the Ibero-American sphere. By analyzing 44 papers and research essays written in English, Portuguese, and Spanish languages, the two variables of this research were examined. Findings suggest some lack of clarity in referencing the concept of science dissemination (in half of the articles its meaning is not explicitly defined), as well as the theoretical similarity established between this and science journalism in various studies. The lack of studies on the reception of science news and the impact of science dissemination is highlighted. The main conclusions show that studies on science journalism increasingly focus on content analysis of messages and interviews with journalists to understand the characteristics of their production; however, consensus on the differences between the two professional activities has not yet been achieved.

Media system analysis requires establishing analytical simplifications addressing the unique, diverse, and contextualized nature of media around the world, especially in contexts where political change is contested and “discrepancies” with global processes are observed. This article draws on the context of Cuba during Raúl Castro's presidency (2006-2018) as a benchmark, aiming to identify dilemmas and theoretical-methodological options for the study of national media systems during periods of similar economic-political reforms. This contextual framework guides the strategy for searching, selecting, and retrieving information, employing a bibliographic-documentary review method. First, the article distinguishes and describes dilemmas related to the limits and centrality of politics, the relationship between the national and the transnational, the relationship between structure and agency, and the relevance of the cultural dimension. Then, it argues for three methodological strategies whose integration would address the aforementioned dilemmas, the complexity of studying a media system, the distinction of emerging interpretive frameworks, and the socialization of knowledge: the historical[1]spatial-temporal perspective, analytical regeneration, orientation towards the discursive, and knowledge representation. Conclusions highlight the relevance of applying a comparative approach to integrate the different strategies, and the positioning regarding the described issues is distinguished from a contextual, relational, changing, diverse, and interactive perspective between boundaries, actors, and structures.

This research aimed to learn how mothers use smartphones, in the city of Valparaíso —the main Chilean port city. In a context of high penetration of mobile devices, the lack of empirical studies that delve into the use and appropriation of mobile technologies and their impact and influence in mothers’ daily life motivated this research work. The research design was based on a qualitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study. Five focus groups were conducted in the city of Valparaíso, along with five semi-structured interviews with participants selected from the focus groups. Fieldwork was carried out between October and December 2019 and January 2020, in the context of the mobilizations under the so-called "social outbreak," with a conspicuous representation of feminist groups. Content analysis was performed with its findings aligned to the data gathered in the focus groups between October and December 2019. The main finding of the study shows prevalent presence of mobile phones in all the stages of upbringing and mother-child relationship, even before birth and early pregnancy stages.

Since its inception, WhatsApp has expanded the possibilities for media institutions to connect with audiences. A review of the literature reveals that international experiences primarily utilize it as a tool for distributing information ("broadcasting" functionality) and, to a lesser extent, as a channel for continuous feedback with audiences ("reception-broadcasting" functionality). This study mainly intended to characterize the dynamics of an experimental reception-broadcasting group created by a Cuban radio program to interact with its audience on local issues. This experience can not only shed light on how to reduce dissonance between media and their audiences in Cuba, but it also can be beneficial for any media outlet seeking greater audience participation and engagement. The study focused on the dynamics of the interactions and the relationship between the emerging thematic agendas in the group. To do this, theoretical production on interactions on the WhatsApp platform and the Agenda Setting Theory were used. The methodological design was quantitative. Content analysis was applied to 100% of the messages that appeared in the group, and a self-selected and self-administered online survey was conducted, to which a probabilistic sample of the members responded (34 out of 60 participants). The results showed high interaction between the media and citizens, as well as between citizens themselves, which fostered a significant correlation between the agenda proposed by the media and the topics of interest to the audiences.

This article links the notion of rhizome with the field of migration studies, specifically to reflect on the vitality and political becoming of in-transit migrants passing through Mexico irregularly. Under this light, we aim to answer the following questions: How can we interpret the movements traced by undocumented migrants in transit? With what connections do they pass or not pass intensities that allow them to move? What is the political becoming of this migratory journey? The rhizome category is used as a methodological figuration to explore the paths, journeys, and walkers constituted in this becoming, in order to situate and map the collective resistances and singular experiences that emerge from these displacements. The working thesis asserts that irregularized migration in transit articulates an ongoing political process. Migrants who transit without the required legal documentation, when confronting a border order, create spaces outside State control and configure a type of politicized subjectivity. We applied a multi-situated ethnography, by following up the migrant caravan that crossed Mexico from its southern border up to reaching Tijuana, at its northern border, at the end of 2018, and employed observation and in- depth interviews techniques to document migrants’ experiences, movements, journeys, and displacements. Findings allowed us to map the creative, singular, and collective resistances that are woven during these transits and that somehow challenge the regime of control and borders.

This article addresses the fundamental structures of imagination in political collectives in the city of Bogotá, understood as a process of rationalizing power and institutional teaching. Objective: to analyze the changes in the political imagination of youth collectives to understand their value attribution in relation to their country’s social reality. Justification: the importance of imagination is highlighted, as it influences the products, relationships, symbols, and aesthetics constructed within the culture, which are part of the meaning given to the social fabric. Methodology: it is a hermeneutic-phenomenological research based on content analysis, carrying out a geo referential tracing of the collectives in the city of Bogotá, followed by in-depth semi-structured interviews. Results: the identified trend in the imagination of political collectives moves within the dialectical dynamic of instituted imagination and instituting imagination, based on two core thoughts: domination and resistance. Conclusions: the imagination of political collectives is conditioned by the subject's instinctual imperatives, in which subjective representations are explained as a response to the objective environment. In this case, the coercive and repressive measures deployed by the State order generate imaginaries of resistance.

This recent research focused on examining gender representations and stereotypes in publications by various brands on Facebook. Given the growing impact of digital advertising communication on collective perception, it is crucial to unravel how gender stereotypes are delineated and reinforced, and the reach of their influence on socialization in highly digitized contexts. For this purpose, an analysis framework supported by 15 determined indicators was designed to evaluate gender constructions in the publications. The analyzed set included 316 publications, with an emphasis on the dynamics between stereotypes, product categories, gender roles, and both symbolic and contextual elements. Findings suggested marked discrepancies in gender representation. Specifically, the consolidation of conventional stereotypes was confirmed, with a particular emphasis on female figures. Notably, in areas such as food, appliances, and fashion, these representations are intensely correlated with certain physical traits. Despite traces of evolution in such representations, which might hint at changes in current social roles, the dominance of ancestral stereotypes is evident. These constructions significantly impact the collective imagination, reinforcing gender inequalities. This research work highlights the need to adjust digital content, and bestows a fundamental responsibility on brands and online entities in this context. Also, it urges diversifying research to include various platforms and broader data sets.