Casi doscientos municipios catalanes contaban en 2024 con una radio pública local. Durante años, especialmente en las décadas de 1980 y 1990, estas estaciones, conocidas también como emisoras municipales, han sido punto de encuentro entre ayuntamientos y ciudadanos, símbolo identitario, plataforma para la preservación de la lengua propia, punto de encuentro social y cultural, pero, sobre todo, canal de comunicación e interacción, lo que ha propiciado que los consistorios se hayan servido de ellas para ayudar a proyectar una imagen más positiva. Aunque el fenómeno de la radio local pública sigue muy vivo y activo, se ha tenido que adaptar a los nuevos hábitos de consumo mediáticos, a las nuevas realidades de la población y a las necesidades comunicativas que la sociedad actual exige de los ayuntamientos. Las radios municipales, pese a no haberse estudiado desde este punto de vista, pueden ser una excelente herramienta en el campo de las relaciones públicas. De hecho, en pleno boom de productos sonoros como los pódcasts, su uso estratégico aumenta los puntos de contacto con los usuarios, facilita la transmisión de los mensajes institucionales y abre el acceso ciudadano a la vida comunitaria. En un momento en el que las organizaciones necesitan hacer saber que su actividad se desarrolla bajo las premisas de la transparencia, la inclusión y la responsabilidad, las radios municipales se convierten en un aliado excepcional de las instituciones públicas locales para dar visibilidad a sus iniciativas en estos ámbitos.
La Comisión Europea ha destacado recientemente la importancia estratégica del sector de los videojuegos. Por ello, este trabajo pretende caracterizar su consumo entre los universitarios de España y Portugal, así como determinar la influencia que los agentes del sector ejercen sobre su opinión del mercado. Los resultados de una encuesta realizada con una muestra de 603 elementos señalan, en primer lugar, que los videojuegos conforman una realidad cultural para los jóvenes españoles y portugueses —tanto hombres como mujeres—, si bien se observan diferencias en el modo de participar en ellos: el género masculino opta en mayor medida por el juego en línea de pago con amigos en ambos países. El género femenino, al contrario, se decanta en mayor medida por el juego gratuito en solitario. Respecto a la incidencia de los medios de comunicación y otros agentes en la opinión de los universitarios, debe destacarse, en primer lugar, una confianza en los medios en general algo más alta en el caso de los estudiantes portugueses, al igual que el resto de los agentes del proceso de comercialización, salvo las redes sociales generalistas (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.). Además, en ambos países debe señalarse una valoración general más alta en el caso masculino que en el femenino. Finalmente, las valoraciones más altas de incidencia en la opinión corresponden a amigos y a plataformas audiovisuales especializadas (Twitch, Facebook Gaming, YouTube Gaming).
Current technological changes demand a reconfiguration of professional roles in journalism. This research analyses how professional roles in Spanish newsrooms are changing in an environment marked by digitalization and the advance of technologies powered by artificial intelligence. A qualitative methodology is employed, based on semi-structured interviews sent by email to 10 managers from representative media outlets across various sectors (digital press, radio, and digital-native media). This is complemented by an exploratory analysis of job postings for journalists with a technological profile on InfoJobs and LinkedIn over several months in 2025. The objective was to explore how AI is transforming professional roles, skills required, work processes, audience engagement and ethical perceptions regarding its use. The results indicate that although the implementation of AI tools in newsrooms is still limited, there is broad consensus about their potential to optimize repetitive tasks and enhance data analysis. However, there are notable gaps in specific training and in the development of clear ethical guidelines. Most media outlets have not yet incorporated technical roles or new editorial positions related to AI, although the future inclusion of hybrid profiles is viewed positively. The use of AI to facilitate or automate audience interaction is still in its early stages and has not yet been implemented in most cases. Interviewees agree that AI could present an opportunity to strengthen quality journalism if used as a support tool, not as a substitute. In conclusion, the impact of AI on Spanish journalism is in its early stages, with uneven adoption and a lack of systematic strategies for professional, educational and ethical integration in most of the media analysed.
Amid the growing public interest in science and the increasing importance of social media as a communication platform, this study examines whether traditional media have adapted their content to the distinctive features of TikTok. It explores how legacy media outlets from Spain and Chile use the platform for science communication and provides comparative evidence on how scientific content is integrated into emerging digital environments, contributing to the broader debate on the adaptation of science to the digital ecosystem. Three legacy media TikTok accounts from each country were selected based on their popularity and posting frequency. A content analysis of 9,003 videos published in 2023 iden tified 326 posts related to science. The evaluation followed expert-based recommendations for effective TikTok use, assessing the degree to which each publication complied with these guidelines. Results show that in Spain, over 70% of science-related videos were replicas of content previously broadcast on television or published in the press, with little adaptation to TikTok's native format and language, while the percentage was notably lower in Chile. Contrary to expectations, replicated content generated higher levels of engagement than original productions. Original videos were scarce, as was the use of humour and entertainment, elements widely recommended by experts. The findings reveal a limited use of TikTok's interactive features and suggest the need to rethink adaptation strategies, acknowledging that reproducing traditional formats, though less innovative, may still foster engagement among younger audiences.
Media education is essential for cultivating critical and analytical thinking, enabling individuals to evaluate and engage responsibly with media content. This study examines the role of media education in countering extremist ideologies and misinformation, focusing on how it fosters media awareness and literacy among university students. Using a qualitative approach, the research employed in-depth interviews with twelve purposively selected media professionals, educators and experts, alongside focus-group discussions with students from Cairo University, Misr International University and the American University in Cairo. Findings show strong expert consensus on the importance of equipping youth with media literacy skills. Students primarily engage with digital rather than traditional media but exhibit limited understanding of media education concepts. The study concludes by recommending strategies to strengthen media literacy initiatives and integrate media education within educational systems to enhance critical awareness and resilience against misinformation.
Drawing on a semi-systematic review and a qualitative analysis of posts on Facebook and Instagram between November 2023 and March 2025, the article identifies several subtle practices through which news outlets mislead audiences, even when they can reasonably anticipate that these strategies will confuse typical users: (1) digitally manipulated images that fabricate or exaggerate threats; (2) authentic but decontextualised photographs that invite false associations; (3) emotional clickbait pairings of headlines and visuals in which corrective information is relegated to lengthy captions; and (4) ambiguous or omissive headlines that rely on pragmatic implicatures rather than explicit falsehoods. The analysis shows that journalistic disinformation on social media is often produced through editorial choices aligned with platform logics of visibility and engagement. Understanding these practices is key to rethinking media accountability in digital environments where most users engage only with headlines, thumbnails and brief snippets, rather than with full articles.
This comparative research study shows the influence of the ideological alignment of the media of the digital ecosystem concerning economic inequality and, specifically, the housing crisis. It focuses on two countries in the European Union that represent different models: Ireland, where a higher percentage of the population chooses to live in single- family homes, and Spain, whose population, on the other hand, lives more in apartments. They are also representatives of two different media systems: the liberal and the polarized-democratic one. The article explains how digital media shapes the agenda regarding the housing crisis at a time when this vector is discussed throughout Europe as one of the main manifestations of inequality. A content analysis has been carried out on a representative sample of news directly related to the housing crisis in the main Irish and Spanish digital media over three months. The results show greater diversity in the agenda of the Irish media, where there is an emergence of extreme right positions, not yet present in the institutions of the Republic of Eire, while the Spanish media show a more homogeneous agenda. Considering the housing crisis as an effect, and not one of the causes, of inequality leads to diverse positions. The main differences are found in the proposed legal and policymaking solutions in the case of the most left-leaning media.
Dado el creciente interés en las ciencias y la relevancia de las redes sociales como plataformas de comunicación, esta investigación analiza si los medios tradicionales han adaptado sus contenidos a las particularidades de TikTok. El estudio explora cómo los medios de comunicación tradicionales (en inglés, legacy media) de España y Chile utilizan esta red para realizar divulgación científica, y aporta evidencia comparativa sobre la integración de la ciencia en plataformas emergentes, con lo que contribuye al debate sobre su adaptación al ecosistema digital. Se seleccionaron tres perfiles de medios de comunicación tradicionales en el TikTok de cada país, considerando su popularidad y frecuencia de publicación. Se realizó un análisis de contenido de 9.003 publicaciones del año 2023 y se identificaron 326 relacionadas con la ciencia. La evaluación se basó en recomendaciones de expertos sobre el uso de la plataforma y se categorizó el nivel de cumplimiento de dichas directrices. Los resultados revelan que, en España, más del 70% de las publicaciones científicas son réplicas de contenido emitido previamente en televisión o en prensa, sin adaptación significativa al formato ni al lenguaje de TikTok, mientras que en Chile este porcentaje es sensiblemente menor. De forma contraria a lo esperado, las publicaciones que reproducen contenidos tradicionales generan mayores niveles de compromiso que las piezas originales. Las producciones inéditas fueron escasas, al igual que el uso del humor y el entretenimiento, elementos recomendados por expertos. La investigación evidencia un aprovechamiento limitado de las herramientas interactivas de TikTok y plantea repensar las estrategias de adaptación, considerando que la réplica de formatos tradicionales, aunque menos innovadora, puede favorecer la interacción con audiencias jóvenes.
The aim of this paper is to suggest how media literacy might be developed if worldview literacy is added as a needed complementarity. How do we promote more positive encounters among people of differing perspectives in today’s diverse media world where there are disagreements not only about the Ultimate Truth but also about basic facts of news? Worldview literacy education should be an integral part of media literacy training. Beyond understanding how media content is constructed and what purposes it serves, combining media literacy with worldview literacy can support complexity awareness and enable a more effective transformational learning process toward a more just world. In a polarizing society, disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation in the media, as well as populism and hate speech, also target religions and worldviews (Valaskivi et al., 2023). These different literacies together are important for gaining powerful knowledge that means systematically conceptual understanding which enables the student’s worldview to expand and to enlarge the mind. Even though human beings are not necessarily peaceful they are still capable of making peace which has been the UNESCO objective of building peace in the minds of men and women.
Los cambios tecnológicos actuales exigen una reconfiguración de los perfiles periodísticos profesionales. La presente investigación analiza cómo están cambiando estos perfiles en las redacciones de la prensa española en un entorno caracterizado por la digitalización y el avance de tecnologías impulsadas por la inteligencia artificial. Se emplea una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas semiestructuradas enviadas por correo a diez responsables de medios representativos de distintos ámbitos (prensa digital, radio y medios nativos digitales), que se complementa con un análisis exploratorio de ofertas laborales para periodistas con perfil tecnológico en InfoJobs y LinkedIn durante varios meses de 2025. El objetivo es explorar cómo la IA está modificando los perfiles profesionales, las competencias requeridas, los procesos de trabajo, la relación con las audiencias y la percepción ética respecto a su uso. Los resultados indican que, aunque la implementación de herramientas de IA en las redacciones es todavía limitada, existe un consenso general sobre su potencial para optimizar tareas mecánicas y mejorar el análisis de datos. Sin embargo, se detectan carencias en formación específica y en marcos éticos claros. La mayoría de los medios no ha incorporado perfiles técnicos ni nuevas figuras editoriales vinculadas a la IA, aunque se valora positivamente la futura incorporación de perfiles híbridos. El uso de la IA para facilitar o automatizar la interacción con las audiencias está en una fase inicial y aún no ha sido implementado en la mayoría de los casos. Las personas entrevistadas coinciden en que la IA puede ser una oportunidad para fortalecer el periodismo de calidad si se usa como herramienta de apoyo, no como sustituto. En conclusión, el impacto de la IA en el periodismo español está en sus primeras etapas, con una incorporación desigual y sin una estrategia sistemática de integración profesional, formativa y ética en la mayoría de los medios analizados.
MALALANA UREÑA, Antonio (2024) El cómic como fuente de información para investigar las crisis en Oriente Próximo (1948-2020) Madrid: CEU Ediciones, 145 p. ISBN 978-84-19976-08-6
This article analyses how institutional and non-institutional actors within the Brazilian far right engage with journalistic practices and media organisations. Previous studies on conflicts with media groups have largely focused on the behaviour of politicians and political parties. However, the far right in Brazil is politically diverse in its composition, and social media platforms enable a wide range of voices to influence the digital public sphere. In this context, the article compares discursive manifestations on Twitter, using the origin of the actors-whether institutional or non-institutional-as the independent variable. A total of 4,888 tweets referring to the media, published between 2019 and 2022, were analysed. The study examines the type of journalism referenced by these actors to determine whether the tweets contained attacks or criticism, and compares the data across far-right subgroups. The findings confirm that the degree of institutionalisation shapes the behaviour of these groups. Non-institutional actors are more likely to attack the press and rely more frequently on hyperpartisan media as sources, whereas state actors tend to use official government communications in their discourse.
Recent studies show that social media has replaced traditional media as the main source of information, especially among young people, for whom Instagram and TikTok have become key information channels. Much of the content consumed comes from influencers, who capture more attention than journalistic agents. In parallel, social media has been a space of disinformation for highly polarised debates on LGBTIQ+ issues, as seen with the Spanish Trans Law (Law 4/2023) debate. This research analyses how LGBTBIQ+ youth consume political information, focusing on their following of influencers and their opinions on issues related to sexual and gender diversity. The work is based on a qualitative empirical study with ten interviews with young people aged 20-28 in the Barcelona metropolitan area (Catalonia). The results show that this social group considers itself to be quite autonomous in its search for current affairs information, mainly through Instagram, search engines and alternative media. The following of influencers is scarce, although it stands out among lesbian women, who question the timeliness of the Trans Law, an issue on which there is a clear polarisation of positions and, in some cases, attitudes of rejection of dialogue.
This research analyses the role of citizen participation in cultural and creative districts. The main objective is to examine strategies for promoting effective citizen engagement and understanding its impact on brand image and community identity. The methodology includes a longitudinal study (2016-2024) combining participant observations and in-depth interviews in three UK districts: Digbeth (Birmingham), St. George's Cultural Quarter (Leicester) and Ouseburn Valley (Newcastle). The findings highlight that participatory strategies should be gradual, inclusive, and focused on empowering citizens, transforming them into key stakeholders. Effective governance, a shared vision, and consideration of emotional ties to urban spaces are fundamental to fostering collaboration and ensuring the socio-economic sustainability of cultural districts. By integrating community participation, these spaces enhance their brand image and catalyse broader social changes.
This research analyses the use that the main NGOs in Chile and Spain make of their profiles on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X and TikTok, with the aim of comparing the communication strategies on social networks of representative NGOs in Spain and Chile and finding out whether their profiles help to promote activism in social issues. To that end, a mixed methodology of analysis was used. A total of 3,611 publications from 20 NGOs were analysed, taking into account quantitative variables; the results were also contrasted with 12 in-depth interviews conducted with communication managers from these organisations. The results show that Facebook is the network with the greatest reach and X where most content is published; Instagram is more powerful in Chile and TikTok in Spain; furthermore, no Chilean NGOs and only two Spanish NGOs use the networks with an activist objective. Given the potential of social networks as environments for generating opinion and social activism, NGOs could take greater advantage of their profiles as channels of mobilisation for their purposes.
Disinformation significantly affects the senior population, a demographic group that often shows higher levels of vulnerability to fake news. This study explores the incidence of fact checking as a tool to mitigate the effect of disinformation among older people with special attention to the variables of gender and educational level. Responses to different types of news have been analysed using an experimental design with three symmetrical groups balanced in terms of gender, age, and geographical distribution. One group received four unverified news stories, another group received four correctly verified news stories, and the third group received four incorrectly verified news stories. The results suggest that the gender and educational level of the participants affect the reception and acceptance of information. According to the obtained data, fact-checking has greater impact on women than on men, as well as on the senior population with medium or low levels of education. Older women also show higher levels of unfamiliarity with verification platforms along with lower information consumption compared to men. The data also indicate that information consumption among the senior population is notable and that older individuals demonstrate an optimal ability to identify reliable sources to verify the information they receive. This study provides evidence on the effectiveness of fact checking in reducing the effects of disinformation in the senior population and highlights the need for media literacy strategies that consider sociodemographic differences.
This article analyses journalists' views of the profession in the current context from two different positions: those who have just begun or have been working for a relatively short time (junior, less than 35 years old) and those who are already in the middle of their careers or have started the final stretch (senior, over 40 years old). The methodology used was two focus groups made up of a total of 16 working journalists, who were separated into two blocks by age group. From the reflections of the professionals, a complex and not very optimistic panorama emerged, especially in the agreement about the existence of structural problems in journalism that go beyond the already chronic problems related to working conditions. Some of the participants comment more deeply on what they consider to be a 'triple contamination' of journalism today: advertising-, institutional-and audience-based, which makes it possible to establish a current framework of the difficulties faced by professionals in carrying out their work as intermediaries with the public. In addition, they look at some of the consequences they consider to be derived from digital immersion, where factors such as the obligatory immediacy in the dissemination of news, the pressure of social networks, political polarisation, the 'trincherism' of news companies and the 'media illiteracy' of the audience, contribute to accelerating the attrition of professionals and deterioration in the quality of journalistic information.
La investigación analiza el uso que las principales ONG de Chile y España hacen de sus perfiles en Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X y TikTok, con el objetivo de comparar las estrategias de comunicación en redes sociales de ONG representativas de España y Chile y conocer si sus perfiles coadyuvan a potenciar el activismo en asuntos sociales. Para ello se ha utilizado una metodología mixta de estudio. Se han analizado 3.611 publicaciones de 20 ONG, tomando en consideración variables cuantitativas; además, se han contrastado los resultados con 12 entrevistas en profundidad realizadas a responsables de comunicación de estas organizaciones. Los resultados muestran que Facebook es la red con mayor alcance, y X, la herramienta en la que se publican más contenidos; Instagram es más potente en Chile, y TikTok, en España; además, ninguna ONG chilena y solo dos españolas utilizan las redes con un objetivo activista. Dada la potencialidad de las redes sociales como entornos para la generación de opinión y activismo social, las ONG podrían aprovechar en mayor medida sus perfiles como canales de movilización hacia sus propósitos.
This study examines the role of talk show presenters in Spain as key actors in the generation of public opinion and the mediation of the political sphere. Traditionally, the weight of public opinion on television has fallen on evening news and late-night debate programmes; however, the prolonged political polarization and the permanent ongoing campaign environment have shifted this conversation to daytime entertainment formats, where talk shows deal explicitly with political issues. The research analyzes four television formats and the role of their presenters during the campaign days of the European elections 2024: TardeAR (Tele5), Al Rojo Vivo (La Sexta), Espejo Público (Antena 3) and Todo es Mentira (Cuatro). A critical analysis methodology was used to analyze the content of the thematic approach, persuasive techniques, language and political conflicts dealt with. Likewise, it has been evaluated how the presenters’ interventions influence the construction of the political agenda and the molding of public opinion. The results offer clear conclusions on how the presenters and, by extension, the formats, exert a notable influence on the audience’s political opinion, consolidating their role in the media agenda and underlining the importance of greater ethics and informative transparency. At the same time, it highlights the need for diversity of opinion to foster a pluralistic debate and enrich the current media landscape.
Just Stop Oil and Last Generation have established themselves as two of the most prominent environmental activist movements, particularly in the context of the fight against climate change. Both movements have gained prominence through high-impact communication actions in both generalist legacy media and on social media. Given the significant influence and central role of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in promoting collective struggles and actions using hashtags, this study analyses the nature of the dialogue and the effectiveness of hashtags on the platform linked to the most controversial and subversive actions of these groups. Through an algorithmic analysis of nearly 280,000 tweets, the research characterises the main communities that have shaped the digital debate surrounding these ecological protest actions. Using social network analysis techniques, the study maps user interactions, identifies key nodes, and examines the centrality of influential actors within these conversations. Additionally, it assesses whether these actions foster meaningful engagement or, conversely, engender a polarised debate. The findings suggest that while these actions attract considerable attention, they may also contribute to a distorting effect associated with the increasingly prevalent paradigm of “climate obstructionism”, by shifting the focus away from substantive climate action towards divisive public discourse.
