Medios comunitarios como ejercicio de ciudadanía comunicativa: experiencias desde Argentina y Ecuador

Las recientes reformas latinoamericanas en el ámbito de la comunicación reconfiguran el rol y los desafíos de los medios populares, alternativos y comunitarios. El presente trabajo, basado en dos investigaciones de tipo cualitativo, una en Argentina y otra en Ecuador, analiza algunas experiencias concretas en este campo. El marco teórico de referencia se inscribe en la larga tradición de estudios latinoamericanos en torno a la comunicación popular para el cambio social, integrado también con aportes recientes de estudios europeos. El objetivo de las indagaciones era dar cuenta de la articulación comunidades-medios, intentando mostrar la existencia de vínculos recíprocos entre organización social y generación de contenidos. El análisis de los resultados evidencia que la participación directa en la fundación, gestión y sostenibilidad de estos medios por parte de la comunidad repercute en la generación de contenidos orgánicos a sus intereses y necesidades –normalmente desatendidos por los medios públicos y comerciales– y también en una mayor pluralidad y diversidad de la oferta mediática. Además, los resultados permiten avizorar que los medios populares, alternativos y comunitarios son espacios fundamentales para la democratización de la comunicación y para la construcción de una ciudadanía comunicativa. Un desafío que se desprende de las investigaciones es la necesidad de consolidar redes transnacionales para una acción concertada en el plano del orden global de la comunicación mediática, pudiendo medir su potencial incidencia en la agenda públicaRecent Latin American reforms in the field of communication reshape and strengthen the role and challenges of the popular, alternative and community media. This paper analyzes different experiences arising from the results of two pieces of research, one in Argentina and another one in Ecuador, both carried out through a qualitative methodology, namely in-depth interviews. The theoretical framework mainly draws upon the grounded tradition of Latin American studies on popular and alternative communication for social change, and it also includes recent contributions from European studies. The objective of both research projects was to account for the communities-media relationship, by unveiling the existence of mutual bonds between social organization and content generation. Analysis of results shows that communities’ direct participation in the foundation, management and sustainability of such media reverberates in the production of organic content related to their own interests and needs –usually neglected both by public and commercial media– and also in a greater media pluralism and media supply diversity. Moreover, results allow considering popular, alternative and community media as key environments both for democratizing communication and shaping communicative citizenship. Both studies highlight a common challenge, that is, the need to consolidate trans-local and trans-national networks in order to establish a common action at the level of the media global order, thus enabling to measure their influence on the public agend

Il bene comune tra scienza e senso comune. Linguaggi, concezioni ed esperienze

Il lavoro di tesi dottorale consiste in un'indagine teorica ed empirica volta ad offrire una definizione di "bene comune" che integri i costrutti teorici delle discipline che studiano la nozione da un punto di vista specialistico (Diritto, Economia, Scienze sociali e politiche) con le concezioni di senzo comune elaborate dagli attori sociali (cittadini romani) in occasione del referendum per l'"Acqua Bene Comune", tenutosi in Italia nel giugno del 2011. L'obiettivo principale cui questo lavoro mira è controllare empiricamente se e in che misura la partecipazione al referendum fosse associata ad un'idea di "bene comune", e se e quali aspetti della definizione tecnico-scientifica (elaborata a segueti di un'attenta ricognizione teorica sulla letteratura giuridica, economica, sociologica e politologica) fossero presenti nelle concezioni di senso comune rilevate

Il bene comune tra scienza e senso comune. Linguaggi, concezioni ed esperienze

Il lavoro di tesi dottorale consiste in un'indagine teorica ed empirica volta ad offrire una definizione di "bene comune" che integri i costrutti teorici delle discipline che studiano la nozione da un punto di vista specialistico (Diritto, Economia, Scienze sociali e politiche) con le concezioni di senzo comune elaborate dagli attori sociali (cittadini romani) in occasione del referendum per l'"Acqua Bene Comune", tenutosi in Italia nel giugno del 2011. L'obiettivo principale cui questo lavoro mira è controllare empiricamente se e in che misura la partecipazione al referendum fosse associata ad un'idea di "bene comune", e se e quali aspetti della definizione tecnico-scientifica (elaborata a segueti di un'attenta ricognizione teorica sulla letteratura giuridica, economica, sociologica e politologica) fossero presenti nelle concezioni di senso comune rilevate

FridaysForFuture

The book addresses the theme of youth climate activism building on the experience of FridaysForFuture activists and analyzing both their social representations of climate change and their social media usage practices. It accounts for the results of a qualitative research carried out with(in) the Roman group of the movement, adopting a solidarity-based epistemic stance that invites reflections both on activism and research practices. Drawing upon social representations theory, the authors analyze how the “Fridays” perceive climate change: as a socio-ecological crisis that comes from afar and has repercussions on the future, as something that affects everything and everyone; but also, as a generational problem whose environmental, social, and economic costs will be paid mainly by young people. On the other hand, guided by the literature on digital activism, the authors explore the way in which the activists inhabit social media: as constitutive environments of activism, where political and media practices define each other; but also, as environments that belong to young people and are characterized by age-specific communication styles. The two experiences related to climate change and the political usages of social media influence each other, giving rise to an unprecedented youth movement for the climate that can tell us about the transformations currently undergoing digital, environmental, and youth activism

Community Media as Exercise of Communicative Citizenship: Experiences from Argentina and Ecuador = Medios comunitarios como ejercicio de ciudadanía comunicativa: experiencias desde Argentina y Ecuador

Recent Latin American reforms in the field of communication reshape and strengthen the role and challenges of the popular, alternative and community media. This paper analyzes different experiences arising from the results of two pieces of research, one in Argentina and another one in Ecuador, both carried out through a qualitative methodology, namely in-depth interviews. The theoretical framework mainly draws upon the grounded tradition of Latin American studies on popular and alternative communication for social change, and it also includes recent contributions from European studies. The objective of both research projects was to account for the communities-media relationship, by unveiling the existence of mutual bonds between social organization and content generation.’ Analysis of results shows that communities’ direct participation in the foundation, management and sustainability of such media reverberates in the production of organic content related to their own interests and needs –usually neglected both by public and commercial media– and also in a greater media pluralism and media supply diversity. Moreover, results allow considering popular, alternative and community media as key environments both for democratizing communication and shaping communicative citizenship. Both studies highlight a common challenge, that is, the need to consolidate trans-local and trans-national networks in order to establish a common action at the level of the media global order, thus enabling to measure their influence on the public agenda

FridaysForFuture

The book addresses the theme of youth climate activism building on the experience of FridaysForFuture activists and analyzing both their social representations of climate change and their social media usage practices. It accounts for the results of a qualitative research carried out with(in) the Roman group of the movement, adopting a solidarity-based epistemic stance that invites reflections both on activism and research practices. Drawing upon social representations theory, the authors analyze how the “Fridays” perceive climate change: as a socio-ecological crisis that comes from afar and has repercussions on the future, as something that affects everything and everyone; but also, as a generational problem whose environmental, social, and economic costs will be paid mainly by young people. On the other hand, guided by the literature on digital activism, the authors explore the way in which the activists inhabit social media: as constitutive environments of activism, where political and media practices define each other; but also, as environments that belong to young people and are characterized by age-specific communication styles. The two experiences related to climate change and the political usages of social media influence each other, giving rise to an unprecedented youth movement for the climate that can tell us about the transformations currently undergoing digital, environmental, and youth activism

The Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Diary Rating Scale (NPI-Diary): A Method for Improving Stability in Assessing Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia

Background: In health-care settings, the use of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home (NPI-NH) may not always be consistent with the authors’ guidelines, which affects its reliability. To avoid this bias, a diary version of the NPI (NPI-Diary) was developed. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties (internal consistency and reliability) of the NPI-Diary, and examined its convergence with the NPI-NH. Methods: Two raters administered the NPI-NH and NPI-Diary to 40 participants with Alzheimer’s disease, selected randomly from a hospital’s weekly turnover. Results: The NPI-Diary exhibited adequate internal consistency (total: α = 0.581) and test-retest reliability (total: ρ = 0.711; p < 0.01). The interrater reliability values (ICC) for the NPI-NH and NPI-Diary differed significantly (Total: NPI-NH ICC = 0.506, NPI-Diary ICC = 0.879; Frequency: NPI-NH ICC = 0.51, NPI-Diary ICC = 0.798; Severity: NPI-NH ICC = 0.491, NPI-Diary ICC = 0.809). The convergent validity between the two inventories was also significant (total: ρ = 0.48; p < 0.01). Conclusions: The NPI-Diary showed more appropriate validity and reliability compared to the NPI-NH, when administered in a highly variable sample, as is generally the case in the current health-care setting

Los medios de pueblos originarios en América Latina: Historia, aproximaciones y desafíos

En las últimas décadas hubo un incremento del número de medios de comunicación indígena1 en muchos países de América Latina. Asistimos a una proliferación de contenidos y espacios mediales producidos o gestionados por miembros de organizaciones y comunidades originarias donde se visibilizan sus culturas y luchas, ausentes en los grandes medios. En muchos países, este fenómeno está respaldado por nuevos marcos legales que reconocen a los pueblos originarios como prestadores de servicios audiovisuales. Este reconocimiento fue conquistado desde abajo por el mismo movimiento indígena en el marco de procesos políticos que, entre otras reivindicaciones, reclama(ba)n el derecho humano a la comunicación de los pueblos originarios y la democratización de los sistemas de medios. En este artículo proponemos una genealogía de la comunicación indígena masiva y mediatizada, una panorámica sobre las distintas aproximaciones teóricas al fenómeno y, complementariamente, una caracterización de los medios indígenas a partir de sus desafíos en el espacio público mediatizado. Para ello, partimos de asumir la articulación entre estos medios y los procesos de lucha que los pueblos originarios llevan a cabo en relación a distintos ámbitos de su existencia, pero atravesados a su vez por disputas vinculadas a las identificaciones étnicas de los sujetos.Fil: Doyle, María Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Estudios Avanzados; ArgentinaFil: Belotti, Francesca. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Siares, Ester Emilse. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentin

Psychotropic drug purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and their relationship with mobility restrictions

Recent literature on the mental health consequences of social distancing measures has found a substantial increase in self-reported sleep disorders, anxiety and depressive symptoms during lockdown periods. We investigate this issue with data on monthly purchases of psychotropic drugs from the universe of Italian pharmacies during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and find that purchases of mental health-related drugs have increased with respect to 2019. However, the excess volumes do not match the massive increase in anxiety and depressive disorders found in survey-based studies. We also study the interplay between mobility, measured with anonymized mobile phone data, and mental health and report no significant effect of mobility restrictions on antidepressants and anxiolytics purchases during 2020. We provide three potential mechanisms that could drive the discrepancy between self-reported mental health surveys and psychotropic drugs prescription registries: (1) stockpiling practices in the early phases of the pandemic; (2) the adoption of compensatory behavior and (3) unexpressed and unmet needs due to both demand- and supply-side shortages in healthcare services

Hybrid Approach to Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Sequential surgical thoracoscopic and electrophysiological (EP) ablation is gaining popularity as a novel approach for the treatment of patients with stand-alone, persistent and long standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF)