"Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK
...
(N=4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people’s awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation." (Abstract)
more
"Attacks on journalists have become a growing concern in democracies around the world. Past scholarship suggests that such attacks could lead to a chilling effect of journalists self-censoring their reporting. However, there is limited empirical work that substantiates the effects of attacks on jour
...
nalists. To empirically test the existence of chilling effects, this mixed-methods study uses the conditions of journalism under Jair Bolsonaro’s government in Brazil as an exploratory case study. We investigate how attacks (N = 901) and propaganda messages (N = 518,853) impacted news coverage (N = 20,998) in the first two years of Bolsonaro’s government, based on time series analysis and in-depth interviews with journalists (N = 18). Our results suggest that, despite the increase in government attacks, Brazilian journalists do not exhibit chilling effects; instead, they display what we call catalyzing effects. Our time series results showed that an increase in state propaganda leads to an increase in news coverage. Furthermore, our qualitative data affirms the concept of catalyzing effects. Findings from the interviews suggest that catalyzing effects operate as a form of resilience among journalists. Catalyzing effects do not necessarily manifest as more coverage, but as persistent coverage despite ongoing criticisms and threats (both social and physical). Our findings offer a path forward, highlighting the importance of bringing the discussion about violence and attacks against journalists back to the community of journalists experiencing this hostility. Network support, journalists said, has been crucial, which points to the need for a solidarity infrastructure that supports journalists’ constructive role in society.(Abstract)
more
"Many workers worldwide rely on digital platforms for their income. In Venezuela, a nation grappling with extreme inflation and where most of the workforce is self-employed, data production platforms for machine learning have emerged as a viable opportunity for many to earn an income in US dollars.
...
Data workers are deeply interconnected within a vast network of entities that act as intermediaries for wage payments in digital currencies. Past research on embeddedness has noted that being intertwined in multi-tiered socioeconomic networks of companies and individuals can offer significant rewards to social participants, while also connoting a particular set of limitations. This paper provides qualitative evidence regarding how this “deep embeddedness” impacts data workers in Venezuela. Given the backdrop of a national crisis and rampant hyperinflation, the perks of receiving wages through financial platforms include accessing more stable currencies and investment outside the national financial system. However, relying on numerous intermediaries often diminishes income due to transaction fees. Moreover, this introduces heightened financial risks, particularly due to the unpredictable nature of cryptocurrencies as an investment. This paper evaluates the effects of the platformization of wages and its effect on working conditions. The over-reliance on external financial platforms erodes worker autonomy through power dynamics that lean in favor of the platforms that set the transaction rules and prices. These findings present a multifaceted perspective on deep embeddedne ss in platform labor, highlighting how the rewards of financial intermediation often come at a substantial cost for the workers in precarious situations." (Abstract)
more
"Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube wield substantial influence over digital information flows using sophisticated algorithmic recommender systems (RS). As these systems curate personalized content, concerns have emerged about their propensity to amplify polar
...
izing or inappropriate content, spread misinformation, and infringe on users’ privacy. To address these concerns, the European Union (EU) has recently introduced a new regulatory framework through the Digital Services Act (DSA). These proposed policies are designed to bolster user agency by offering contestability mechanisms against personalized RS. As their effectiveness ultimately requires individual users to take specific actions, this empirical study investigates users’ intention to contest personalized RS. The results of a pre-registered survey across six countries – Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and the USA –involving 6,217 respondents yield key insights: (1) Approximately 20% of users would opt out of using personalized RS, (2) the intention for algorithmic contestation is associated with individual characteristics such as users’ attitudes towards and awareness of personalized RS as well as their privacy concerns, (3) German respondents are particularly inclined to contest personalized RS. We conclude that amending Art. 38 of the DSA may contribute to leveraging its effectiveness in fostering accessible user contestation and algorithmic transparency." (Abstract)
more
"98% ven televisión, 98% usan internet, 62% esuchan radio. 97 usan YouTube, 78% Whatsapp, 72% TikTok. 89% afirman que en el colegio les enseñaron sobre los medios de comunicación." (Página 1)
"A nivel de ciudades, las mayores diferencias se observan en la tenencia de cable e internet. En el primer caso se destacan Lima/Callao, Chimbote, Huaraz, Iquitos y Tarapoto, con porcentajes superiores a la media nacional (65%). En el segundo caso, se destacan por encima de la media nacional (81%) L
...
ima/Callao, Arequipa, Chimbote, Huancayo, Ica y Tacna. Con respecto al uso de equipos y medios, los más extendidos a nivel general son internet y la televisión. Es significativo que el uso de internet haya igualado al de la televisión, que incluso es probable pueda ser mayor en el futuro. Por otro lado, el uso de la radio muestra una clara tendencia decreciente (95% en 2016, 81% en 2018 y 62% en la presente medición). Por segmentos no se observan diferencias muy significativas. Las plataformas y redes sociales más usadas por los NNA son Youtube, WhatsApp y Tik Tok, en mayor grado entre los adolescentes respecto a los NN, salvo en el caso de Youtube y la televisión por internet, en los que ambos grupos obtienen porcentajes similares de uso. El uso de Facebook registra una significativa tendencia decreciente respecto a estudios anteriores (86% en 2016, 75% en 2018 y 58% en la presente medición). Cabe comentar que este medio es más utilizado en el ámbito rural respecto a los demás segmentos evaluados, con 76%." (Conclusiones generales, página 109)
more
"News media continue to play a central role in promoting public debate and the visibility of populist messages. This study discusses how Brazilian television journalism reacted to the populism of Jair Bolsonaro during the COVID-19 crisis. We adopted a content analysis and a framing analysis to ident
...
ify the main themes and frames in reports at the beginning of the crisis by the country’s 2main television news programs. The corpus consists of 26 editions of Jornal Nacional (JN) and 26 editions of Jornal da Record (JR). Our hypothesis is that these news programs had significantly different interpretations of the Bolsonaro government’s actions. The data show that JN voiced its opposition to the president, while JR assumed the role of the government’s official voice, creating mechanisms to normalize populism. These results have important implications for understanding how the political positions adopted by traditional media affect how populism is promoted in the public sphere." (Abstract)
more
"In recent years, the economic exchanges between China and Latin American countries have been further deepened, and news about Chinese foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the region responds to economic reality and the different stages of changing international relations and media characteristics.
...
The current study includes a content analysis by human coders of 308 news articles on Chinese FDIs in three types of Peruvian news outlets from 2001 to 2020, namely the Left-leaning newspaper (La República), the Right-leaning newspaper (El Comercio), and specialized economic news outlets (Gestión Online and Semana Económica). In this context, it explores how international economic news volume is related to real-world economic indexes and how news interpretations of Chinese FDIs, as manifested by news frames, are influenced by contextual and political factors." (Abstract)
more
"This article investigates harmful political content in public WhatsApp and Facebook groups of the radical Right in Brazil. Considering harmful political content as that which generates direct damage to the quality, reasonableness, and plurality of public discussion, we investigate the enunciative a
...
spects of four specific types of discursive action (uncivil, conspiratorial, hateful, and dangerous) and the non-enunciative aspects used for harmful types of communication and interaction. The database consists of 3,503,540 messages propagated in 1,676 public groups during the electoral process. Through a quantitative approach to a sample of 2,201 unique messages, we found, among other things, that (1) harmful content was more present on Facebook than on WhatsApp; (2) messages about the elections were associated with uncivil speech; (3) uncivil speech was usually associated with dangerous speech and opposed to conspiratorial speech. The results allow for more nuanced reflections on the actions and strategy of the Far Right in the digital public debate." (Abstract)
more
"Este libro reúne un conjunto de investigaciones que desde diferentes perspectivas, problemáticas y objetos de estudio hacen uso de la oralidad para la escritura de la historia. Es fruto del trabajo realizado en el XV Encuentro Nacional y IX Congreso Internacional de Historia Oral. Pasado, present
...
e y futuro de la historia oral en Argentina y América Latina, llevado a cabo en la ciudad de Mar del Plata en agosto de 2023. Aunados por la valoración del testimonio como una puerta de entrada privilegiada para la reconstrucción de relatos del pasado, los trabajos aquí compilados dan cuenta de la pluralidad de abordajes que la historia oral integra en la actualidad. Así, esta obra ilustra los principales aportes al desarrollo del campo a través de experiencias, proyectos e investigaciones en curso tanto en Argentina como en Latinoamérica." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
more
"En el primer eje -Memoria de la otra Comunicación- se compilan los aportes de mujeres que tempranamente trabajaron en experie ncias de comunicación alternativa, mujeres fundantes en la teoría y la praxis de la comunicación para el cambio social y que nos abrieron las puertas heredándonos el ca
...
minar y la palabra. [...]
El segundo eje –Prácticas de Comunicación Popular y Oficio Periodístico– recorre los trayectos de experiencias emblemáticas en comunicación surgidas desde abajo, movidas por la reivindicación de derechos en la esfera política, social, cultural y ecológica. De ahí que visibiliza el aporte de las mujeres diversas -indígenas, negras, campesinas, entre otras- que desde el campo popular han tomado la palabra como un gesto político de resistencia y lucha. Este eje revela cómo se ha sostenido el legado de la otra comunicación, se ha logrado pluralizar las voces, así como democratizar la comunicación desde un ejercicio de soberanía y autorrepresentación. [...]
Docencia e Investigación: Este eje convoca a diversas mujeres cuyo principal campo de acción es la academia; pero también comparten su vida -en un habitar anfibio- entre la ciencia y la militancia. Algunas de ellas están vinculadas a las luchas de género y feminismos, y otras a la consolidación de la comunicación como derecho y a la política pública. En los últimos años ha existido un importante despunte de académicas en el ámbito de la comunicación, que, por su formación doctoral y sus publicaciones científicas, gozan de prestigio profesional; sin embargo, el texto es finito y queda sentada la deuda pendiente. En esta sección hicimos un esfuerzo por honrar a las académicas que con su labor anfibia han dado un giro en la institucionalidad de la comunicación, en la política pública y, por supuesto, en la consolidación del campo de conocimiento." (Prólogo, páginas 13-15)
more
"Journalism, particularly in conflict reporting, poses significant emotional challenges, with journalists often grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder and other traumas. This research delves into the emotional dimensions of journalistic practice, examining journalists’ perspectives on menta
...
l health care, external support, and the imperative of emotional literacy in their training. Through semi-structured interviews with 20 Venezuelan journalists aged 30–62, this study sheds light on the emotional toll of reporting in Venezuela, where journalists face stressors such as economic uncertainty, political tensions, self-censorship, perceived repression, physical threats, natural disasters, and social unrest. Employing interpretative phenomenology and thematic analysis, the research reveals how pervasive risks render their work emotionally taxing, compounded by challenging living conditions and emotionally draining stories that spill over into their personal and family lives. While some seek psychological or religious support, financial constraints, cultural taboos, and geographical limitations hinder therapy for others. The findings underscore the necessity of emotional training for journalists, irrespective of gender, age, experience, contract status, or religion. Such training is proposed to equip journalists with coping mechanisms, ensuring the maintenance of ethical journalism amid adversities. Recognizing and addressing journalists’ emotional well-being emerges as crucial not only for their personal welfare but also for upholding journalistic standards." (Abstract)
more