Beyond media imperialism: The challenges of theorizing global TV flows

Este artigo examina a jornada intelectual que me levou a estudar o desenvolvimento da televisão no Brasil. Discute-se como iniciei o estudo do desenvolvimento dos meios de comunicação social nos países do Sul global, no âmbito de um Doutorado em Relações Internacionais. Tal estudo me fez despertar um interesse especial no Brasil, principalmente quando descobri que o Departamento de Estado dos Estados Unidos estava disposto a me treinar na língua portuguesa e me mandar para lá para passar três anos. Discute-se o grande apoio intelectual que recebi para a minha pesquisa sobre a televisão brasileira, a TV Globo e a dependência cultural, do Prof. José Marques de Melo e outros da ECA/USP, onde outros, como Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva e Ana Maria Fadul, começavam a examinar algumas das mesmas questões. Discute-se também como foi interessante e útil a rede INTERCOM e ALAIC de pesquisadores para conhecer o grande crescimento das pesquisas brasileiras e latino-americanas que estava ocorrendo.This article reviews the intellectual journey that led me to study the development of television in Brazil. It discusses how I came to study how media were developing in countries of the global South as part of a Ph.D. in International Relations. It led me to get particularly interested in Brazil, particularly when I discovered that the US State Department was willing to train me in Portuguese and send me there for three years. It discusses the great intellectual support I received for my research on Brazilian television, TV Globo and cultural dependency, from Prof. José Marques de Melo and others at ECA/USP, in which others like Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva and Ana Maria Fadul were beginning to look at some of the same issues. It goes on to discuss how interesting and helpful the INTERCOM and ALAIC network of researchers was in learning about the great upswell in Brazilian and Latin American research that was taking place

Usage Dynamics of Telecenters in São Paulo, Brazil

Building upon the methodology developed and presented in Straubhaar, Ferreira, e Spence (2006), this article presents an introductory analysis of the trends of the user base for the Acessa São Paulo Program (Acessa SP), a digital inclusion initiative of the government of the State of São Paulo (Brazil) that since 2001 has offered free access to the Internet and e-government services through local partnerships. Acessa SP currently, as of November 2006, funds and operates telecenters installed in partnerships with community associations, government-funded organizations and local governments. The Ponline research is an annual survey applied online in all the 392 participating telecenters in the program, which mapped and profiled the frequent users’ habits and attitudes in relation to the new technologies and personal and community impacts. This article provides of a framework for the classification of the telecenters operated by the Acessa SP program, and utilizes an extensive dataset collected through the annual Ponline telecenter user survey, which was presented in November 2006 to the government of the State of São Paulo. Building upon the conceptual framework of the previous work this article will allow for comparative analysis between the telecenters of the Acessa SP network and similar national and international projects, as well as, complementary datasets.Construído a partir de uma metodologia desenvolvida a apresentada em publicação de Straubhaar, Ferreira e Spence (2006), este artigo apresenta uma análise introdutória de tendências de utilização da base de dados do Programa Acessa SP. O Acessa SP é uma iniciativa do governo de São Paulo de inclusão digital que desde 2001 tem oferecido acesso gratuíto a internet e a serviços do governo viae-mail através de associações locais, associações comunitárias, organizações governamentais e governança local. A pesquisa Ponline é um estudo anual aplicado on line em todos os 392 telecentros participantes do programa que mapeia e realiza o perfil das atitudes e hábitos dos usuários em relação as novas tecnologias e suas comunidades de origem. Este artigo propicia uma estrutura para a classificação dos telecentros operados pelo Programa Acessa SP utilizando um extenso banco de dados coletado através da Ponline (apresentado para o governo de São Paulo em novembro de 2006). Baseada em trabalhos anteriores este artigo irá permitir uma análise comparativa entre os telecentros da Acessa SP e projetos nacionais e internacionais similares, assim como ser concebido como uma base de dados complementar

Netflix originals and exclusively licensed titles in Brazilian catalog: a mapping producing countries

O objetivo do trabalho é mapear os países produtores de títulos originais e exclusivos do catálogo brasileiro da Netflix e verificar qual a participação da América Latina nesta constituição. Os resultados apontam para o investimento da Netflix na diversificação dos países produtores, apesar de ainda não ser suficiente para conter uma tendência à manutenção da dependência cultural da América Latina em relação ao avanço de conteúdos dos Estados Unidos. O caráter transnacional adotado pela Netflix levanta discussões sobre um desenvolvimento dependente-associado, em que produções da América Latina ganham espaço no fluxo global de televisão, mas submetidas a um mecanismo que beneficia também grandes companhias de mídia estadunidenses.The main goal of this study is to map the countries that produce the original and exclusive titles for the Netflix Brazilian catalog and to evaluate Latin America’s participation in this archive. The results indicate that Netflix is investing in the diversification of the producing countries, although this is not enough to contain the trend of the maintenance of Latin America’s cultural dependence in relation to the advance of the United States’ cultural productions. The transnational standard adopted by Netflix brings debates regarding the associated-dependent development, in which Latin American productions have grown, but associated with a mechanism that also benefits big American media companies

Sedimented, hybrid and multiple? The new cultural geography of identities

O artigo explora a sedimentação de múltiplas camadas de uso das mídias e identida- des como elementos-chave da globalização geográfca cultural em transição. O texto examina a relação entre processos de hibridização de identidade e cultura no decorrer do tempo e a sedimentação ou acúmulo, manutenção e defesa de identidades com múltiplos níveis.This paper explores the sedimentation of multiple levels of media use and identity as a key element of the changing cultural geography of globalization. In this paper, we examine the relationship between processes of hybridization of identity and culture over time and the sedimentation or buildup, maintenance, and defense of multilayered identities

UNDERSTANDING THE VISUALITY OF A MEDIEVAL VISIONARY: FOURTEENTH-CENTURY DOMINICAN HENRY SUSO’S INTERWOVEN CONCEPTS OF DIVINE IMAGE, GENDERED IDENTITY, AND EPISTEMOLOGY

This dissertation is a study of visuality in fourteenth-century Swabian Dominican Henry Suso’s works. It explores the novel intersection of literary hagiographical discourses, scientific visuality discourses, and negative theological discourses, from late antique Greece to medieval Middle East, Spain, and Central Europe, culminating in Suso’s Middle High German works. Suso was rare among monks in that he wrote quasi-autobiographically in addition to more standard theological tracts. Previous scholars discussing Suso productively analyzed his use of devotional images, but they have failed to note the impact of the scientific understanding of vision in his works. The scientific component came to the Central Europe through Paris, where Franciscan scholars like Roger Bacon were reading, synthesizing, and adapting then cutting-edge Middle Eastern physiology as part of their natural philosophy. The most revolutionary tract on vision was Ibn al-Haytham's Optics, who pioneered central tenets of the modern scientific method and unified three disparate schools of thought on vision into one revolutionary theory of vision, which is reflected in Suso’s texts. Images emanate out of their originals and physically touch the eye. Suso believed that both the external eye and the internal mind's eye were malleable, taking the shape of the image they perceived. This influenced his concept of human identity, because he felt that the entire human body was spiritually malleable, and could be literally reshaped by religious discipline. For Suso, when one views depictions of Christ and imitates Christ's Passion, the internal mental image of Christ can reshape their body and soul to be a mirror image of the suffering Jesus. This builds on the negative theological tradition—Christ, as imago Dei, is the medium by which one can “see” the infinite apophatic divine, which itself cannot be captured by any image or name. As the medium, Christ is in unmediated contact with the original divine from which he springs forth. Suso intends for his readers to become image of Christ, literally, and so he presents his works as an exemplar, a “true image” of how to do so, interweaving narrative, theological, and visual media to push the readers to grasp something unrepresentable.Doctor of Philosoph

Critical Importance of Emphasising Working-Class Parents in Digital Inclusion: A US Latino/a Case Study

In this article, we draw on extensive qualitative data to analyse the specific case of a digital inclusion program launched by the non-profit organisation River City Youth Foundation, located in Central Texas. The case is particularly interesting because the organisation, which is primarily a youth centre, realised they needed to start including parents in their programs in order to achieve their first and foremost institutional goal: to increase the number of low-income youth in US colleges. For this study, we use Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of capital to analyse how the organisation integrates education in their digital inclusion program—called ¡TechComunidad! — and thus how they instil techno-dispositions and cultural capital about how US education works in parents of children in kindergarten to 12th grade (K-12). This case is also relevant because it is related to a specific community of low-income Latino immigrants, mostly of Mexican descent, who live in a neighbourhood, where most of the residents are Hispanic. The ¡TechComunidad! program may take between six and eight weeks, and at the end of the training, grants participants a Chromebook – a laptop with a Google OS that only works with internet connectivity. Our results suggest that the organisation managed to instil techno-dispositions and knowledge of education, but parents may still face other sorts of divides, once they bring their Chromebook home

Information 4G : the challenges that mobile technologies put in the information field

Neste artigo pretendemos destacar a emergência de um novo paradigma informativo marcado pelo desenvolvimento de um conjunto de periféricos móveis, dos quais se torna possível salientar os smartphones e os tablets. Estes dispositivos, aliados ao desenvolvimento da internet de banda larga 4G, prometem transformar o consumo informativo e o modo de produzir informação. Se no início os telemóveis eram utilizados para a realização de chamadas telefónicas e para o envio de SMS, hoje, com o desenvolvimento de softwares específicos, possuem capacidades que vão além do mero contacto pessoal. Adicionalmente, há ainda o surgimento dos tablets que aproximam os aparelhos móveis ao mais evoluído dos computadores. O trabalho apresentado visa expor os caminhos subjacentes ao projeto de doutoramento “Informação 4G: Os desafios que as tecnologias móveis colocam no campo da informação”, que intentará acompanhar a adaptação dos diferentes media às novas tecnologias de informação móveis.In this article we intend to highlight the emergence of a new informative paradigm marked by the development of a set of mobile handsets of which it becomes possible to emphasize smartphones and tablets. These devices, along with the development of broadband Internet 4G, promise to transform the informative consumption and how to produce information. If early mobile phones were used for making telephone calls and sending SMS, today, with the development of specific software, have capabilities that go beyond mere personal contact. Additionally, there is the emergence of tablets that put these devices in a similar stage as the most developed computers. The presented work aims to display the pathways underlying the doctoral project “Information 4G: The challenges that mobile technologies put in the information field”, which shall follow the adaptation of the different media to mobile information technologies

Informação 4G: os desafios que as tecnologias móveis colocam no campo da informação

Neste artigo pretendemos destacar a emergência de um novo paradigma informativo marcado pelo desenvolvimento de um conjunto de periféricos móveis, dos quais se torna possível salientar os smartphones e os tablets. Estes dispositivos, aliados ao desenvolvimento da internet de banda larga 4G, prometem transformar o consumo informativo e o modo de produzir informação. Se no início os telemóveis eram utilizados para a realização de chamadas telefónicas e para o envio de SMS, hoje, com o desenvolvimento de softwares específicos, possuem capacidades que vão além do mero contacto pessoal. Adicionalmente, há ainda o surgimento dos tablets que aproximam os aparelhos móveis ao mais evoluído dos computadores. O trabalho apresentado visa expor os caminhos subjacentes ao projeto de doutoramento “Informação 4G: Os desafios que as tecnologias móveis colocam no campo da informação”, que intentará acompanhar a adaptação dos diferentes media às novas tecnologias de informação móveis.In this article we intend to highlight the emergence of a new informative paradigm marked by the development of a set of mobile handsets of which it becomes possible to emphasize smartphones and tablets. These devices, along with the development of broadband Internet 4G, promise to transform the informative consumption and how to produce information. If early mobile phones were used for making telephone calls and sending SMS, today, with the development of specific software, have capabilities that go beyond mere personal contact. Additionally, there is the emergence of tablets that put these devices in a similar stage as the most developed computers. The presented work aims to display the pathways underlying the doctoral project “Information 4G: The challenges that mobile technologies put in the information field”, which shall follow the adaptation of the different media to mobile information technologies

International Sales of UK Television Content: Change and Continuity in ‘the space in between’ Production and Consumption

Focusing on the UK, this article addresses key issues facing the international distribution industry arising from over-the-top digital distribution and the fragmentation of audiences and revenues. Building on the identification of these issues, it investigates the extent to which UK distribution has altered over a ten-year period, pinpointing continuities in the destination and type of sales alongside changes in the role and structure of the industry as UK-based distributors adapt to a changing UK broadcasting landscape and global production environment. At one level increasing US ownership of UK-based distributors and the arrival of OTT players like Netflix, highlight the tensions between the national orientations of UK broadcasters and the global aspirations of independent producers and distributors. At another level VOD has boosted international sales of UK drama. Although the full impact of SVOD on content and rights has yet to materialise, significant changes in the industry predate the arrival of SVOD

Adipocyte-specific Hypoxia-inducible gene 2 promotes fat deposition and diet-induced insulin resistance

OBJECTIVE: Adipose tissue relies on lipid droplet (LD) proteins in its role as a lipid-storing endocrine organ that controls whole body metabolism. Hypoxia-inducible Gene 2 (Hig2) is a recently identified LD-associated protein in hepatocytes that promotes hepatic lipid storage, but its role in the adipocyte had not been investigated. Here we tested the hypothesis that Hig2 localization to LDs in adipocytes promotes adipose tissue lipid deposition and systemic glucose homeostasis. METHOD: White and brown adipocyte-deficient (Hig2fl/fl x Adiponection cre+) and selective brown/beige adipocyte-deficient (Hig2fl/fl x Ucp1 cre+) mice were generated to investigate the role of Hig2 in adipose depots. Additionally, we used multiple housing temperatures to investigate the role of active brown/beige adipocytes in this process. RESULTS: Hig2 localized to LDs in SGBS cells, a human adipocyte cell strain. Mice with adipocyte-specific Hig2 deficiency in all adipose depots demonstrated reduced visceral adipose tissue weight and increased glucose tolerance. This metabolic effect could be attributed to brown/beige adipocyte-specific Hig2 deficiency since Hig2fl/fl x Ucp1 cre+ mice displayed the same phenotype. Furthermore, when adipocyte-deficient Hig2 mice were moved to thermoneutral conditions in which non-shivering thermogenesis is deactivated, these improvements were abrogated and glucose intolerance ensued. Adipocyte-specific Hig2 deficient animals displayed no detectable changes in adipocyte lipolysis or energy expenditure, suggesting that Hig2 may not mediate these metabolic effects by restraining lipolysis in adipocytes. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that Hig2 localizes to LDs in adipocytes, promoting adipose tissue lipid deposition and that its selective deficiency in active brown/beige adipose tissue mediates improved glucose tolerance at 23 degrees C. Reversal of this phenotype at thermoneutrality in the absence of detectable changes in energy expenditure, adipose mass, or liver triglyceride suggests that Hig2 deficiency triggers a deleterious endocrine or neuroendocrine pathway emanating from brown/beige fat cells