Studying soap operas

This present issue of Communication Research Trends will focus on research about soap operas published in the last 15 years, that is, from the year 2000 to the present. This more recent research shows one key difference: the interest in soap opera has become worldwide. This appears in the programs that people listen to or watch and in communication researchers who themselves come from different countries

A large multilingual and multi-domain dataset for recommender systems

This paper presents a multi-domain interests dataset to train and test Recommender Systems, and the methodology to create the dataset from Twitter messages in English and Italian. The English dataset includes an average of 90 preferences per user on music, books, movies, celebrities, sport, politics and much more, for about half million users. Preferences are either extracted from messages of users who use Spotify, Goodreads and other similar content sharing platforms, or induced from their ”topical” friends, i.e., followees representing an interest rather than a social relation between peers. In addition, preferred items are matched with Wikipedia articles describing them. This unique feature of our dataset provides a mean to derive a semantic categorization of the preferred items, exploiting available semantic resources linked to Wikipedia such as the Wikipedia Category Graph, DBpedia, BabelNet and others

Mediating Conflict: Al-Jazeera English and the Possibility of a Conciliatory Media

Based on a multi-country survey, examines the role of the satellite news channel in educating audiences and providing a forum for cross-cultural communications. Analyzes its impact on viewers' tolerance toward others and engagement with competing claims

Counterhegemony in the media under rafael Correa's citizens' revolution

La Revolución Ciudadana, el proceso político iniciado en el Ecuador con la investidura presidencial de Rafael Correa en 2007, inició una transformación radical en los medios de comunicación comparables a otros experimentos gubernamentales progresistas de la región. El proceso político liderado por Correa ha buscado un cambio en las relaciones de poder y la propiedad, la introducción de la regulación, la desmistificación del discurso de los medios establecidos, y un abandono del mercado como principio rector en los medios de comunicación. Desde la perspectiva de la redistribución equitativa de poder de los medios, sin embargo, sigue siendo un proceso abierto cuyo resultado es incierto.The Citizens' Revolution, the political process initiated in Ecuador with the presidential inauguration of Rafael Correa in 2007, initiated a radical transformation in the media comparable to other progressive governmental experiments in the region. The political process led by Correa has pursued a change in power relations and ownership, the introduction of regulation, the demystification of the established media discourse, and an abandonment of the market as a guiding principle in the media. From the perspective of the equitable redistribution of media power, however, it is still an open process whose outcome is uncertain.Fil: Kitzberger, Philip. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Effects of a Physical Activity-themed Reality Show Concept on Physical Activity Behavioral Intentions among Potential Viewers

Physical inactivity is an important public health concern. Strong evidence exists linking insufficient physical activity (PA) with an increased risk of many adverse health conditions, including major non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast and colon cancers—all of which can drastically reduce one’s life expectancy. The media holds great potential to encourage positive health behaviors among the broader community. However, evidence to support traditional mass media campaign approaches to PA promotion remains inconclusive, with most televisionbased campaigns falling short of achieving the PA changes they were designed to promote. Researching alternative methods of delivering PA messages could improve the efficacy of television-based health promotion efforts. Reality television presents one such alternative. This dissertation consists of a systematic literature and two separate, but related, studies. The first study examined the associations between individual characteristics, health-related behaviors, impressions of a PA-themed reality television show concept, and intentions to engage in active transportation (AT) using a randomized two-group (independent) post-test pre-experimental design. Results showed that age, race, and education were significantly associated with impressions. Mild and moderate intensity exercise was significantly associated with behavioral intentions, while impressions of the show explained 19% of the variance in behavioral intentions. There was a statistically significant difference between TV show conditions with those exposed to the AT concept reporting higher AT behavioral intentions. The second study assessed the show concept in formative research and—in addition—examined the associations between individual characteristics, health-related behaviors, impressions of a PA-themed reality television show concept, and intentions to engage in active transportation (AT) using a non-randomized two-group (independent) post-test pre-experimental design as well as in-person, semi-structured interviews. Those exposed to the AT show concept showed higher behavioral intentions for AT, and there was a significant positive correlation between impressions and behavioral intentions in the AT show group. Semi-structured interview data indicated that a majority of research participants had positive impressions toward the PA-themed reality show concept and the show’s characters. However, the visual and design components as well as clarity of the show concept need improvement. These two studies demonstrate the acceptability of the potential effectiveness of a PA-themed reality show concept for conveying active transportation-related messages to viewers. Both studies showed that a PA-themed reality show concept positively influenced PA behavioral intentions specific to AT among those who watched it and impressions of the show as a correlate to behavioral intentions, thus confirming that innovative reality programming can be used to entertain viewers and potentially inspire positive health behaviors

Catalyzing personal and social change around gender, sexuality, and HIV: Impact evaluation of Puntos de Encuentro´s communication strategy in Nicaragua

Somos Diferentes, Somos Iguales (SDSI) is a communication for social change strategy whose objective is to prevent future HIV infections in Nicaragua, through mass communication actions that include educational entertainment programs, strengthening of local capacity, and the development of alliances within the communities. This report presents the results of an interinstitutional evaluation to explore the impact of SDSI on gender equity, stigma reduction, personalization of risk perception, knowledge and use of services, interpersonal communication, HIV prevention practices, and individual and collective effectiveness for HIV prevention. The impact evaluation showed that the SDSI strategy made a great contribution in key aspects of HIV prevention. In addition to individual changes in behavior directly associated with greater exposure to SDSI and changes at the social level identified in qualitative studies, the results validate the conceptual framework, of both the intervention and the evaluation

Credibility of Health Information and Digital Media: New Perspectives and Implications for Youth

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. This chapter considers the role of Web technologies on the availability and consumption of health information. It argues that young people are largely unfamiliar with trusted health sources online, making credibility particularly germane when considering this type of information. The author suggests that networked digital media allow for humans and technologies act as "apomediaries" that can be used to steer consumers to high quality health information, thereby empowering health information seekers of all ages

Mobilizing Public Will For Social Change

Examines the theory and strategies of "public will" campaigns and offers tangible criteria for their evaluation. It provides a rich inventory of strategies for use in mobilizing the public will through an integration of models of agenda building, social problem construction, issues management, social movements, media advocacy, and social capital. In addition, the paper provides cases and examples of public will campaigns directed at various social problems, along with criteria for evaluating these campaigns at various stages of a social problem's life cycle

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages