This study explores cinemediation, an innovative educational approach that integrates film language with mediation practices to foster conflict prevention and resolution in schools. Drawing on a comprehensive longitudinal case study spanning two years (“Cinema Without Conflicts Showcase” 2022–2023) involving over 5'000 participants in the Azores, Portugal, this research combines qualitative and quantitative methods. It integrates survey responses from 103 teachers with in-depth interviews conducted with nine educators across subjects such as science, maths, arts, and philosophy. Findings indicate that educators recognize and perceive carefully selected short films as effective tools, especially when discussed under teacher guidance. They agree that these films help stimulate reflection on complex social issues, such as bullying, diversity, and self-esteem, while also enhancing students’ empathy, communication, and conflict resolution skills. Quantitative data confirm educators’ positive perceptions, with high mean ratings for the relevance of cinema to citizenship education (M = 5.35/6) and conflict prevention (M = 4.95/6). Crucially, the study highlights the pivotal role of the teacher-mediator in facilitating dialogue and transforming film screenings into meaningful learning experiences. Cinemediation emerges as a promising complement to existing pedagogical strategies, offering schools a practical tool to promote emotional literacy, social skills, and citizenship education. By linking cinematic narratives to students’ lived experiences, this approach enriches educational practice and fosters more inclusive, reflective, and empathetic school environments.
The personalization of political communication has intensified in recent years, particularly on social media, where politicians increasingly expose their personal lives. This development raises questions about its democratic implications and makes it necessary to analyze how citizens receive and process such content. However, reception studies in this field rarely simultaneously consider socio-cognitive processing, the affective evaluations that may result from it, and interindividual differences. Based on thirty semi-structured interviews conducted in France, the findings highlight a three-step process of reception: reaction to personalized political content, reaction to the encouragement to establish a parasocial relationship, and, finally, the evaluation of the politician. Additionally, the study identifies three categories of receivers, differentiated by the degree of sacralization attributed to the political function. Affective receivers mainly rely on heuristic processing, accept personalization, and integrate it positively into their evaluations. Indifferent receivers favor central processing based on political arguments and distance themselves from personalization. Institutional receivers combine central and heuristic processing but reject personalization, which they perceive as a devaluation of the political function. By emphasizing the diversity of reception processes, this research invites a nuanced interpretation of the links between personalized political communication on social media and democracy.
The article provides a comprehensive overview of journalists in Switzerland based on the most recent wave of the Worlds of Journalism (WoJ) survey conducted in 2023. The study investigates the demographics, working conditions, role perceptions, and safety concerns of Swiss journalists. Building on past survey waves from 2008 and 2015, this study extends the analysis to 1 179 journalists across all three language regions. The findings highlight trends, including an increase in female journalists and higher levels of academic qualifications. Notably, the study also identifies persistent challenges, including gender disparities in management roles and specific journalistic beats, increasing economic pressures, the growth of part-time work, and declining job satisfaction. Additionally, the article addresses the risks journalists face, including workplace bullying and threats, which influence their likelihood of remaining in or endorsing the profession. This research underscores the importance of understanding the evolving professional landscape of journalism, informing both academic discourse and practical measures to support the industry.
In a landscape increasingly preoccupied with the societal implications of digital technologies, from the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence (AI) to the dynamics of platform power, Paula Bialski’s Middle Tech: Software Work and the Culture of Good Enough (Princeton University Press, 2024) offers a timely intervention that looks at the nature and technical origins of these issues. Amidst different narratives that often oscillate between techno-utopianism and dystopian alarmism, Bialski’s ethnographic study provides a counter-narrative that reconsiders the foundations upon which digitalization is built, together with the digital communication tools and platforms that dominate it. For researchers trying to make sense of the opacity of “black box” technologies (Carabantes, 2020; Olesen, 2025), the vulnerabilities inherent in digital systems (Ananny, 2023; Barassi, 2024), and the complex interplay between human agency and technology, Bialski’s book is a valuable contribution to the field of media and communication studies, science and technology studies (STS), and digital sociology.
Should we succumb to technopanic or embrace techno-optimism in this so-called post-truth era? In his latest book, Technopanic (currently available only in Italian), Alberto Acerbi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento, suggests a cautious middle path. Drawing on his background at the interface of cultural evolution, psychology, anthropology, and sociology, Acerbi provides a timely and, one might argue, much-needed, empirically grounded reflection on the contemporary anxieties surrounding digital technologies. Although some examples refer to the Italian sociopolitical context, the book’s arguments are highly transferable to broader international debates.
