Digital Literacies and Civic Literacies: Theoretical Issues, Research Questions and Methodological Approaches

Whether seen from a “minimalist” or a “maximalist” model of democratic participation, the issue of the role of the internet in facilitating citizens’ participation in the public sphere has acquired a permanent place in the academic and public debate. Particular attention has been devoted to young people and their engagement with the internet and digital media. While a consistent body of writing has focused on assessing the efficacy of online participation in mobilising young people and promoting new citizenship models, a different approach has addressed the issue from the perspective of media literacy, investigating the links between digital and civic literacies. This second strand of research is rooted in, while at the same time originating, the shift from media literacy to digital citizenship operated at a policy and public level. However, the very concept of media literacy is a contested one, as it is its stretching so as to include civic competencies. On these premises, the present papers aims to provide a critical review of the current debate on media and digital literacies framed as social practices, and to investigate the relationship between digital and civic literacies on a theoretical and empirically-driven level, in order to identify which dimensions of both digital and civic literacy should be studied, and how

A interseção entre o “óbvio” e o “público catalisado” através do domínio de mediatização das culturas cívicas

Este artigo procura estudar o modo como as novas formas de interação e de envolvimento colocadas à disposição pelas tecnologias online interativas e participativas poderão ajudar a incentivar o empoderamento das práticas cívicas. Este trabalho enforma uma reflexão teórica sobre as potenciais áreas de interseção entre as audiências, enquanto “persona ficta” (Dayan, 2005) que emerge no papel de encenar a atenção face a uma performance externa, e o público, considerado enquanto entidade coletiva que chama a atenção externa, e que inclui uma orientação fundamental relativamente à ação partilhada e consensual. Defendemos que, para analisar a co-presença e a potencial sobreposição entre estas duas coletividades, é necessário adotar os conceitos de “mediação” (Silverstone, 1999) e de “culturas cívicas” (Dahlgren, 2009). O artigo desenvolve esta hipótese através da análise empírica de um estudo de caso focado em Beppegrillo.it, um weblog italiano que funciona como uma plataforma de comunicação para o desenvolvimento de um movimento cívico e político

The micro-macro politics of audience action

The political significance of audience practices takes on potentially new meanings in a changing media landscape.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Collaboration potentials in micro and macro politics of audience creativity

In our stakeholder consultation following up on trends concerning the micro and macro politics of audience action, we explore the potential impact of audiences’ micro-participation and connection to macro-actions. We address this issue taking into consideration intrinsic continuities and discontinuities between academia and the stakeholders’ perspectives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Listening, temporalities and epistemology: A hermeneutical perspective on mediated civic engagement

This paper explores the literature on audience and citizenship with the aim of catching sight of some latent and subterranean trends where embryonic and potential developments of the field may reside. By putting together three research routes within the most recent literature, respectively focused on listening, temporality and epistemology, the analysis shows how their juxtaposition illuminates an overlooked political dimension of reception that has to do with the pure interpretative endeavour which in itself contains some of the elements that nurture the experience of public connection. This enriched understanding of reception as a site for civic agency is made possible by a cross - fertilization between hermeneutical philosophy (Ricoeur, 1991; Alejandro, 1993) and media research. Drawing upon Ricoeur’s notion of second - order reference as a possible world that is disclosed in front of the text, the paper demonstrates how the performative power exe rted by media in convening and constituting publics derives and at the same time overcomes the content boundaries of the text, being rooted in the interpretative tasks of our human condition

Neonatal acute scrotum: do not forget Amyand hernia

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Televisione e infanzia. La parola ai protagonisti

Terzo, e ultimo, rapporto che chiude l’indagine triennale che OssCom, Centro di ricerca sui media e la comunicazione dell’Università Cattolica, ha realizzato con il supporto di Sky Italia per conto di Focus in media – Osservatorio della Fondazione per la Sussidiarietà sul tema della Children’s Television (CT), cioè della televisione rivolta ai bambini e ai preadolescenti nel nostro Paese. Dopo l’analisi dell’offerta di televisione tematica destinata a questo target specifico (primo rapporto) e la descrizione dei discorsi sociali a carattere normativo che esprimono le aspettative nutrite dai diversi attori e stakeholder nei confronti della CT (secondo rapporto), questo report presenta una raccolta ragionata di testimonianze privilegiate maturate nel contesto dell’intero ecosistema della CT. Le domande di ricerca a cui il report risponde è “quali condizioni rendono più facile che la CT risponda efficacemente a tali aspettative” e “perché la CT non è sempre in grado di soddisfarle”. Si è trattato, dunque, di cogliere punti di forza e punti di debolezza della CT in un’ottica sistemica: cercando, cioè, di prendere in considerazione la complessità delle relazioni che legano fra di loro gli attori della filiera produttiva e distributiva, le istituzioni volte alla regolamentazione e al controllo della programmazione, i pubblici diretti e indiretti di questa forma di produzione culturale

Televisione e infanzia. Le aspettative nei confronti dell'offerta televisiva per i bambini

Secondo report dell’indagine triennale che OssCom, Centro di ricerca sui media e la comunicazione dell’Università Cattolica, sta realizzando per Focus in Media, l’osservatorio sulla comunicazione e i media della Fondazione per la Sussidiarietà. In questo report si presenta l’analisi delle aspettative che i diversi soggetti sociali interessati (mercato, istituzioni, società civile, ricercatori) nutrono nei confronti della programmazione della Children’s Television

Modelling PCDH19 clustering epilepsy by Neurogenin 2 induction of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells

Background: Loss of function mutations in PCDH19 gene causes an X-linked, infant-onset clustering epilepsy, associated with intellectual disability and autistic features. The unique pattern of inheritance includes random X-chromosome inactivation, which leads to pathological tissue mosaicism. Females carrying PCDH19 mutations are affected, while males have a normal phenotype. No cure is presently available for this disease.Methods: Fibroblasts from a female patient carrying frameshift mutation were reprogrammed into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). To create a cell model of PCDH19-clustering epilepsy (PCDH19-CE) where both cell populations co-exist, we created mosaic neurons by mixing wild-type (WT) and mutated (mut) hiPSC clones, and differentiated them into mature neurons with overexpression of the transcriptional factor Neurogenin 2.Results: We generated functional neurons from patient-derived iPSC using a rapid and efficient method of differentiation through overexpression of Neurogenin 2. Was revealed an accelerated maturation and higher arborisation in the mutated neurons, while the mosaic neurons showed the highest frequency of action potential firing and hyperexcitability features, compared to mutated and WT neurons.Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that PCDH19 c.2133delG mutation affects proper metaphases with increased numbers of centrosomes in stem cells and accelerates neuronal maturation in premature cells. PCDH19 mosaic neurons showed elevated excitability, representing the situation in PCDH19-CE brain. We suggest Ngn2 hiPSC-derived PCDH19 neurons as an informative experimental tool for understanding the pathogenesis of PCDH19-CE and a suitable approach for use in targeted drug screening strategies