“Liberation technology?” : Toward an understanding of the re-appropriation of social media for emancipatory uses among alternative media projects in El Salvador

textThis dissertation explores whether and how alternative media in El Salvador incorporated information communication technologies (ICTs) for social change, and whether incorporating said technologies changed citizen participation not only in the media process itself, but also in a broader discursive sphere as well as civic and political life. Within the context of a digitally divided region, this project employed ethnographic methods—including in-depth interviews, participant-observation, and a content analysis—to interrogate the perceived potential value of ICTs in alternative media for contesting power, contributing to social change, and opening spaces for citizen participation in technology and through technology. This research is merely a beginning stage in learning how digital communication tools influence alternative media practices, and what that means for participation, mobilization and empowerment. This study contributes to burgeoning literature focused on communication for social change and technologies by adding an international focus, and by furthering our understanding of under what circumstances alternative media can (or cannot) employ new technologies in liberating ways, especially in a region where use of and access to these technologies is far from universal. Ultimately this dissertation advances existing literature with two main contributions: extending our understanding of the digital divide to include inequalities of social media and whether it is used in liberating or frivolous ways, and including technology use—whether liberating or not¬—as a fundamental approach to the study of alternative media.Journalis

Alternative media in a digital era: Comparing news and information use among activists in the United States and Latin America

As activists increasingly use the Internet to bypass traditional media gatekeepers, disseminate their own messages, and mobilize protests, this study explores how activists in the United States and Latin America view activism in relation to mainstream and alternative media, particularly online media. Results from a quantitative and qualitative survey show activists distrust mainstream, corporate media and most frequently get their news online. Also, despite the digital divide and concerns about corporate control of the Internet, activists were positive about the role of the Internet as an alternative public space for staying informed and for waging activism. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Porque los activistas utilizan cada vez más Internet para eludir los guardianes tradicionales de medios, difundir sus propios mensajes y movilizar a las protestas, este estudio explora cómo los activistas en los Estados Unidos y América Latina piensan sobre el activismo en relación con los medios de comunicación convencionales y alternativos, en particular los medios de comunicación en línea. Los resultados de una encuesta cuantitativa y cualitativa muestran que los activistas demuestran desconfianza en los medios de comunicación corporativos y masivos, y que más frecuentemente obtienen sus noticias en línea. Además, a pesar de la brecha digital y la preocupación por el control corporativo de Internet, los activistas fueron positivos sobre el papel de Internet como un espacio público y alternativo para mantenerse informado y para ejercer el activismo

Medios nativos digitales de Latinoamérica: Un panel de expertos

Informe de un seminario sobre medios nativos digitales en América Latina, organizado por el grupo de investigación Digidoc de la UPF, en el marco del proyecto de investigación doctoral Cibermedios nativos latinoamericanos como agentes de renovación del campo periodístico. El seminario, celebrado en junio de 2022, consistió en una serie de tres presentaciones continuas, realizadas por expertos, y una segunda parte de preguntas, deliberación e intercambio de experiencias entre los organizadores, los expertos y los asistentes. En la primera parte se abordan aspectos de la evolución histórica de los medios nativos, sus características distintivas y las posiciones liminales que ocupan entre los medios tradicionales y los medios alternativos. También se aborda el uso comparado de las redes sociales entre periodistas en Latinoamérica, así como los tipos de branding en redes sociales de los medios nativos. Finalmente, se presentan estudios de casos acerca de medios de Brasil, enfocados en poblaciones periféricas, con base en el trabajo participativo y colaborativo. En la segunda parte se intercambian preguntas y deliberaciones acerca de las percepciones periodísticas sobre la objetividad, los cambios en los usos de las redes sociales, el tratamiento de las emociones y la participación de las audiencias. Se incluye al final listado de referencias bibliográficas de los participantes relacionadas con medios nativos digitales

From #BlackLivesMatter to #Ayotzinapa: Rethinking Domestic and Foreign Protest News Coverage on Social Media

Research suggests news media negatively portray protests that challenge the status quo—a pattern known as the protest paradigm. Such de-legitimizing coverage has been shown to turn the public against protesters and their causes. Most research, however, neglects the external and internal factors that influence journalists’ coverage, especially in this digital era. In Professor Summer Harlow’s talk she will answer research questions examining how social media users’ sharing of protest news amplifies certain narratives that marginalize some protests and legitimize others. Using a quantitative analysis of “big” data based on social media sharing of news coverage of protests throughout the U.S. and Latin America, as well as qualitative interviews with journalists and activists, Professor Harlow will reconsider the applicability of the paradigm in a digital media landscape, and connect the paradigm to a broader critique of media, protest, and power, suggesting a hierarchy of social struggle with practical and theoretical implications

Reconfiguring and Remediating Social Media as Alternative Media: Exploring Youth Activists’ Digital Media Ecology in El Salvador

This ethnographic case study examined how the Salvadoran youth activistgroup Activista incorporated social media into its media ecology. Analysisrevealed four main themes: social media as alternative media; the relationship between Facebook and visibility, legitimacy, and community; a social mediadivide; and the challenges of the digital divide and a lack of a social mediastrategy. This study showed how, despite digital inequalities, Activista reconfiguredand remediated digital and analog tools and tactics, thus reconfiguringand remediating their relationship with journalists and social media users atlarge. Ultimately Activista managed to use social media as a mediated, hybridized, multi-dimensional mode of communication, contributing to our understanding of hyper-mediation and the way the digital and the analogwork together in a social movement’s media culture within a digitally dividedcountry. doi: 10.5294/pacla.2016.19.4.

A Beacon for Democracy: The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

Latin American Studie

Reconfiguración y remediación de los medios sociales como medios alternativos: explorando la ecología de los medios digitales de los jóvenes activistas en El Salvador

This ethnographic case study examined how the Salvadoran youth activistgroup Activista incorporated social media into its media ecology. Analysisrevealed four main themes: social media as alternative media; the relationship between Facebook and visibility, legitimacy, and community; a social mediadivide; and the challenges of the digital divide and a lack of a social mediastrategy. This study showed how, despite digital inequalities, Activista reconfiguredand remediated digital and analog tools and tactics, thus reconfiguringand remediating their relationship with journalists and social media users atlarge. Ultimately Activista managed to use social media as a mediated, hybridized, multi-dimensional mode of communication, contributing to our understanding of hyper-mediation and the way the digital and the analogwork together in a social movement’s media culture within a digitally dividedcountry.doi: 10.5294/pacla.2016.19.4.3Este estudo de caso etnográfico, analisou como o grupo de jovens ativistas salvadorenhos, Activista, incorporou a mídia social em sua ecologia dasmídias. A análise revelou quatro temas principais: as mídias sociais como mídias alternativas; a relação entre o Facebook e a visibilidade, a legitimidadee a comunidade; uma divisão das mídias sociais; e os desafios da divisão digital e a falta de estratégia de mídias sociais. Este estudo mostrou como, apesar das desigualdades digitais, Activista reconfigurou e remediouas ferramentas digitais e analógicas e as táticas, reconfigurando e remediando o seu relacionamento com os jornalistas e os usuários de redes sociais em geral. Finalmente, Activista conseguiu usar as mídias sociais como um modelo de comunicação multidimensional, hibridizado e mediado, contribuindo para a nossa compreensão da hipermediação e da maneira em queo digital e analógico trabalham juntos em uma cultura de mídia do movimento social em um país digitalmente dividido.Este estudio de caso etnográfico examinó cómo el grupo de activistas juveniles salvadoreños, Activista, incorporó los medios de comunicación sociales en su ecología de medios. El análisis reveló cuatro temas principales: los medios de comunicación social como medios alternativos; la relaciónentre Facebook y la visibilidad, la legitimidad y la comunidad; una brechade los medios de comunicación social; y los desafíos de la brecha digital y una falta de estrategia de medios sociales. Este estudio mostró cómo, a pesar de las desigualdades digitales, Activista reconfiguró y remedió las herramientas digitales y analógicas y las tácticas, reconfigurando y remediando así su relación con los periodistas y los usuarios de los medios sociales engeneral. Finalmente, Activista logró utilizar los medios sociales como un modelo de comunicación multidimensional, hibridizado y mediado, contribuyendo a nuestra comprensión de la hipermediación y la forma en la que lo digital y lo analógico trabajan juntos en una cultura de medios del movimiento social en un país dividido digitalmente

Reconfiguração e remediação das mídias sociais como meios alternativos: explorando a ecologia da mídia digital dos jovens ativistas em El Salvador

30 páginasEste estudio de caso etnográfico examinó cómo el grupo de activistas juveniles salvadoreños, Activista, incorporó los medios de comunicación sociales en su ecología de medios. El análisis reveló cuatro temas principales: los medios de comunicación social como medios alternativos; la relación entre Facebook y la visibilidad, la legitimidad y la comunidad; una brecha de los medios de comunicación social; y los desafíos de la brecha digital y una falta de estrategia de medios sociales. Este estudio mostró cómo, a pesar de las desigualdades digitales, Activista reconfiguró y remedió las herramientas digitales y analógicas y las tácticas, reconfigurando y remediando así su relación con los periodistas y los usuarios de los medios sociales en general. Finalmente, Activista logró utilizar los medios sociales como un modelo de comunicación multidimensional, hibridizado y mediado, contribuyendo a nuestra comprensión de la hipermediación y la forma en la que lo digital y lo analógico trabajan juntos en una cultura de medios del movimiento social en un país dividido digitalmente.This ethnographic case study examined how the Salvadoran youth activist group Activista incorporated social media into its media ecology. Analysis revealed four main themes: social media as alternative media; the relationship between Facebook and visibility, legitimacy, and community; a social media divide; and the challenges of the digital divide and a lack of a social media strategy. This study showed how, despite digital inequalities, Activista reconfigured and remediated digital and analog tools and tactics, thus reconfiguring and remediating their relationship with journalists and social media users at large. Ultimately Activista managed to use social media as a mediated, hybridized, multi-dimensional mode of communication, contributing to our understanding of hyper-mediation and the way the digital and the analog work together in a social movement's media culture within a digitally divided country

A political boss, partisanship and the press : the impact on democracy of two newspapers in Salvador, Brazil

textThis thesis analyzes levels of newspaper independence in Salvador, Bahia, considering how ownership shapes what news is printed and whether newspapers are drawn into clientelistic relationships with their owners. Through a content analysis of Salvador's two leading newspapers, A Tarde and Correio da Bahia, this study also examines whether the newspapers are including multiple perspectives in the news in an effort to engender civil society and strengthen democracy. This study will show that while the partisan Correio da Bahia has made its agenda reflect that of its owner, A Tarde has struggled to maintain its independence, attempting to include alternative voices and provide citizens with the information they need to participate in, and help further consolidation of, democracy. Such a systematic case study of the impact of owner influence on Brazilian media is rare in journalism literature.Latin American Studie