Consuming the news and building civic participation

This article argues that there is a connection between civic cultures and literacy levels and that this relation is enhanced by knowledge, a willingness to be informed and civic participation. It is considered that those who are educated towards the news possess a greater awareness of information and news on civic life (Moeller, 2009) and on participation (Milner, 2009:187). To understand the social implications of the modern mediatized society and the repercussions for civic participation better, we used a sample of twelve youngsters with different types and intensities of participation and news consumption in Portugal. By understanding their journalistic and participative characters, we can better perceive their social contexts. In considering this, we have established two main questions: What is the youngsters��� level of news consumption and what is its relationship to their participation activities? How do both of these aspects relate to social relationships and the youngsters��� ability to interact and deal with news media? Keywords: Young people, news, participation, literacy

International News Reporting in the Multidimensional Network: The socio-demographics, professional culture and newswork of foreign correspondents working across Sub-Saharan Africa

Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necess��rios �� obten����o do grau de Doutor em Media Digitais

New Opportunities for Development Journalism: Enlarging the Public Sphere with ICTs

The present study examines new opportunities offered by the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance the development journalism practice, in order to enlarge the public sphere and empower ordinary people to participate more actively in public debate on issues affecting their development. The analysis of the achievements and challenges faced by 32 radio stations under the UNESCO project ���Empowering Local Radios with ICTs��� offers an overview of the introduction of ICTs in different contexts, within and among seven countries in Sub- Saharan Africa. Even though the lack of ICTs access and knowledge is still a concern in the developing world, especially in rural areas, these new tools can be adapted to each context and foster a more pluralistic and participative media in order to address people���s needs and promote social change.

As fontes n��o governamentais nos media. As ONG'S enquanto fonte de informa����o

Este estudo debru��a-�����se sobre a presen��a das Organiza����es N��o-����� Governamentais nos media, partindo de uma an��lise a quatro meios de comunica����o social nacionais. As ONG s��o das entidades em que os cidad��os mais confiam, como ali��s indicam alguns bar��metros de confian��a (Edelman, 2012). Apesar disto as ONG raramente s��o capa de jornal, destaque de telejornal ou protagonistas de reportagens, e os seus profissionais, na maior parte das vezes, n��o s��o identificados como especialistas. O contacto com estas entidades define-����� se por alguma falta de frequ��ncia, e pouca presen��a nos media. Os jornalistas trabalham num contexto cada vez mais limitador, menos criativo. E as ONG n��o est��o a conseguir aproveitar este espa��o que muitos jornalistas deixam em branco, de investiga����o, de explora����o, e mesmo de novidade. Este estudo pretende apurar a rela����o entre os media e as fontes de informa����o n��o-�����governamentais, e como est��o representadas nos media. J�� que o papel de fonte de informa����o preferencial fica regularmente guardado para outras institui����es e entidades. Para conseguir responder a algumas quest��es que nos pareciam essenciais, no sentido de tentar contribuir para um espa��o p��blico e participativo mais plural, procur��mos esclarecer as din��micas atuais das ONG enquanto fontes de informa����o. Consider��mos, por isso, determinante descrever o processo de produ����o das not��cias, e o modo como este constr��i a agenda e reflete a realidade. Desenvolvemos o conceito hist��rico e social do conceito de Organiza����o N��o-����� Governamental Desenvolvemos uma an��lise minuciosa e detalhada das not��cias publicadas durante tr��s anos, entre 2009 e 2011, no jornal ���P��blico���, ag��ncia Lusa, RTP e TSF, para identificar as caracter��sticas mais relevantes das not��cias cuja fonte de informa����o �� uma ONG. Paralelamente �� an��lise dos meios de comunica����o, apur��mos ainda a pesquisa atrav��s da realiza����o de entrevistas com profissionais da ��rea n��o-�����governamental e jornalistas que nos apoiaram na constru����o de um trabalho emp��rico mais conclusivo e completo. Conclu��mos que mediante ONG mais ��geis e fortes, do ponto de vista da comunica����o, parece haver uma resposta por parte dos media. Assim cremos que as ONG s��o reflectidas pelos media como institui����es cred��veis, e �� esta mesma credibilidade que facilita o seu acesso aos media. Mas, os jornalistas, por seu lado, demonstram estar muito mais atentos ao trabalho das ONG se estas, al��m de cred��veis, forem ��geis nas respostas correspondendo assim ��s necessidades impostas pela atualidade informativa, produzirem conte��dos com relev��ncia jornal��stica, e dotados de valores-�����not��cia.

Cultural journalism in a digital environment : new models, practices and possibilities

Both culture coverage and digital journalism are contemporary phenomena that have undergone several transformations within a short period of time. Whenever the media enters a period of uncertainty such as the present one, there is an attempt to innovate in order to seek sustainability, skip the crisis or find a new public. This indicates that there are new trends to be understood and explored, i.e., how are media innovating in a digital environment? Not only does the professional debate about the future of journalism justify the need to explore the issue, but so do the academic approaches to cultural journalism. However, none of the studies so far have considered innovation as a motto or driver and tried to explain how the media are covering culture, achieving sustainability and engaging with the readers in a digital environment. This research examines how European media which specialize in culture or have an important cultural section are innovating in a digital environment. Specifically, we see how these innovation strategies are being taken in relation to the approach to culture and dominant cultural areas, editorial models, the use of digital tools for telling stories, overall brand positioning and extensions, engagement with the public and business models. We conducted a mixed methods study combining case studies of four media projects, which integrates qualitative web features and content analysis, with quantitative web content analysis. Two major general-interest journalistic brands which started as physical newspapers ��� The Guardian (London, UK) and P��blico (Lisbon, Portugal) ��� a magazine specialized in international affairs, culture and design ��� Monocle (London, UK) ��� and a native digital media project that was launched by a cultural organization ��� Notodo, by La F��brica ��� were the four case studies chosen. Findings suggest, on one hand, that we are witnessing a paradigm shift in culture coverage in a digital environment, challenging traditional boundaries related to cultural themes and scope, angles, genres, content format and delivery, engagement and business models. Innovation in the four case studies lies especially along the product dimensions (format and content), brand positioning and process (business model and ways to engage with users). On the other hand, there are still perennial values that are crucial to innovation and sustainability, such as commitment to journalism, consistency (to the reader, to brand extensions and to the advertiser), intelligent differentiation and the capability of knowing what innovation means and how it can be applied, since this thesis also confirms that one formula doesn��t suit all. Changing minds, exceeding cultural inertia and optimizing the memory of the websites, looking at them as living, organic bodies, which continuously interact with the readers in many different ways, and not as a closed collection of articles, are still the main challenges for some media.

Facebook como o novo canal de distribui����o de not��cias

As redes sociais est��o a mudar a forma como os leitores acedem a conte��dos noticiosos e interagem com eles, n��o s�� recomendando not��cias como facilitando conversas. Hoje, o Facebook �� parte do quotidiano de um quinto da popula����o mundial. Mas poder�� esta rede social ser um canal de distribui����o de not��cias online? Esta investiga����o a que nos propomos tem por base o estudo de caso do Correio da Manh��, um dos jornais portugueses com maior circula����o em papel e que se tornou l��der no digital, em grande parte, gra��as �� sua estrat��gia nas redes sociais. A an��lise e a aplica����o de conceitos sobre o uso do Facebook, com vista ao aumento das audi��ncias de um site noticioso, permitem tirar conclus��es, quantitativas e qualitativas, sobre a problem��tica em quest��o. Como podem as publica����es jornal��sticas tirar melhor partido do Facebook? Dever�� o jornalismo digital especializar-se na distribui����o de not��cias atrav��s das redes sociais? Quais as estrat��gias a aplicar para incrementar as audi��ncias de um website atrav��s do Facebook como canal de distribui����o? Neste contexto, pretendeu-se fazer uma an��lise sobre a forma como os meios de comunica����o social est��o a usar o Facebook para uma abordagem das melhores pr��ticas jornal��sticas nesta rede social. �� nosso prop��sito examinar o papel das not��cias no Facebook e a forma como os jornalistas se devem comportar, numa tentativa de criar regras para se tirar o melhor proveito do Facebook em fun����o das audi��ncias