Archive for January, 2008

Garcia Canclini, Hallin and Schlesinger in Santiago

The founding congress of the Association of Spanish Research of Communication (AE-IC), to be held in Santiago de Compostela from January 30 to February 1, will have a real all-star of scholars of communication: Nestor Garcia Canclini, Daniel Hallin, Philip Schlesinger, Tapio Varis and Elizabeth Cowie, among others .

Garcia Canclini, a professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico, is the reference Latino urban anthropology and cultural studies. Something like the synthesis of Raymond Williams and the School of Sociology of Chicago. The congress opened with a presentation entitled “Investigating communication: Challenges scientific, social .”

Daniel Hallin, of the University of California at San Diego, is one of the leading U.S. researchers in political communication. His study on media coverage of the Vietnam War is a classic. Hallin is, with the permission of his colleague Michael Schudson, one of the best thinkers on the role of journalism in democratic societies. Speak, of course, on democracy and citizenship .

Philip Schlesinger, University of Glasgow, entered with a firm step in communication studies with an investigation into the journalistic profession ( Putting ‘reality’ together, 1982). However, his career has been aimed more toward the cultural dimension of communication, with some interesting reflections on the relationship between nation and communication and, lately, on the (im) possibility of a European public sphere. His presentation will focus on communication policies and culture .

Tapio Varis, University of Tampere in Finland, is the author, along with his colleague Kaarle Nordenstreng, the famous report ” TV circulates in one direction?. “Also known as study of Tampere warned in the mid-1970s on the U.S. global dominance in the distribution of audiovisual products. However, their recent academic interests seem well behind the claim that the so-called ‘cultural imperialism’ American. Varis is now dealing with issues related to the knowledge society, with special emphasis on global education and distance learning. That will speak in Santiago .

Elisabeth Cowie of the University of Kent, is one of the most prominent of the semiotics of film (especially documentaries). Their work presents a curious amalgam of influences and Freudian Foucauldian, with a strong emphasis on gender issues .

More information on the website of the AE-IC and on the website of the congress itself . The complete program is available in PDF format .

Technorati Tags: politicalcommunication, political communication, comunicacionpolitica, political communication, -ae ic, USC

Participatory media, public powerless

“Does the media become any better when it becomes more participatory?” ( “They improve the means something when they become more themselves?”). With this question of Professor Stephen Coleman, of the University of Leeds, started last Monday the conference “Broadcast News and the Active Citizen”, a conference that gathered in the heart of England to outstanding professionals and researchers from the media.

Peter Horrocks, editor of the BBC, said that journalists take seriously the reactions of their audiences, but acknowledged the difficulty of analyzing thousands of contributions, calms the daily that readers sent to the webs of BBC. His speech, published in full in the blog of the editors of the British chain, opened with a revealing anecdote: After the assassination of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, the BBC decided to close the forum commented that the death of former prime minister of Pakistan . Horrocks feared that the popular support they received several anti-Islamic comments could be understood as part of the editorial opinion of one’s own life. In order not to alienate part of their audience, the BBC chose to close the forum.

Paradoxically, instead of making the most pluralistic, open participation to the readers can turn into containers extremist views, unrepresentative of their own hearing. Perhaps because those readers with more motivation to publicly express their views often find, mostly at the poles of the political spectrum. Perhaps the example is somewhat extreme (Islam is a sensitive issue which could raise passions in a historical context such as this, in the terrorist massacres being committed in the name of Islam). But the moral dilemma for the journalist is there: Is it legitimate to close a forum for readers when the views expressed may be offensive? Is it not dangerous for democracy itself to silence these views? What value it should give input from readers when, according to the account itself Horrocks-less than one percent of the audience for the BBC’s website helps with your comments?

From the academic side stressed the Nick Couldry intervention, a professor at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Presented a summary of their research on the connection with the public, forgive the repetition, public affairs. Published in book form, the report concludes that the majority of citizens maintains a connection to the public, and that this connection is maintained primarily through the consumption of media. The majority of the population say they are quite concerned about certain public affairs, but said not knowing how to act to address these problems. Almost all the people consulted said they do have places to talk about politics. However, it did not find a way to establish a link between talk and action.

The media, therefore, do not seem to be the link between information and action that most impotent demand. But perhaps this is not its function. Or does it?

Technorati Tags: politicalcommunication, political communication, comunicacionpolitica, political communication, leeds .

Cyberdemocracy in the election campaign of 2008

Has just made public the blog of the research team on the political uses of information technology and communication in the election campaign in the Spanish general in 2008 (the date with the polls is the March 9).

Technorati Tags: politicalcommunication, political communication, comunicacionpolitica, political communication .